| Research and Reports - What's New? |
 Why are some tourism destinations more successful than others? A new report by Tourism Intelligence International takes an in-depth look at destinations such as Australia, Barbados, Dubai, Singapore and Thailand and reveals the secrets behind their success.
The 250 page report, Successful Tourism Destinations: Lessons from the Leaders, is available from Tourism Intelligence International at a cost of US$1,525 / Euro 1,295.
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A report released earlier this month suggests that there is no long-term boost to tourism in countries which host the Olympic Games. Instead, there is a demonstrable drop in tourism growth in the years surrounding the event.
The report, by the European Tour Operators Association (ETOA), claims that there was a clear pattern of decline in visitor arrivals for least four out of the last five Olympics host countries. * * *
 The lucrative 'grey' travel segment will grow in size and value over the next decade, according to a report by Abacus International, a leading travel facilitator in the Asia-Pacific region. High disposable incomes, active lifestyles and extra leisure time are providing major a stimulus to an ageing but increasingly wealthy and mobile population.
The report, available in the June / July issue of the Abacus International newsletter, Watch, draws from research undertaken by Compete, ACNielsen and IPK International and is available from the Abacus International website.
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The European Travel Commission's second annual report on the state of the travel and tourism industry reveals that Europe enjoyed another record year in 2005, with arrivals across the region up more than 4% over 2004. And prospects for 2006 remain positive, with a projected overall growth of 2 to 3%.
To find out more, download a copy of European Tourism Insights 2005 and Outlook for 2006 from the ETC website.
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The future of Asia Pacific economies and their potential impact on the travel and tourism industry is the subject of last month's Issues and Trends, the monthly publication for members of the Pacific Asia Travel Association (PATA).
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There's been an attitudinal shift in the U.S. business travel market over recent years, with more travellers now likely to take time out for leisure on either side of a business trip. That's according to marketing agency, Yesawich, Pepperdine, Brown and Russell, whose 2006 National Business Travel Monitor highlights the latest business travel data.
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Travel is the largest and fastest-growing e-commerce category on the internet and the entry of travel-specific search engines has added a new dimension to the online travel marketplace.
A new report from EyeForTravel – A Strategic Analysis of the Travel Search Engine (TSE) Market provides extensive insight and data on the best opportunities and latest trends in the TSE market. The report can be bought online for US$ 995.
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| Special Features |
Surviving Tourism Office Politics:
An insider's guide
 The travel and tourism industry is notorious for office politics and for rapid changes in leadership, with many cities and nations changing CEOs at such a rapid rate that programmes often never get off the ground.
Tourism sociology specialist, Dr. Peter Tarlow, offers some new ideas on how tourism managers and staff can protect themselves from organisational adversaries, increase their power base and maintain their authority.
Go Green:
Increase revenue, reduce costs, then market your commitment
 Over 75% of travellers support the 'green' movement, so why aren't destinations doing more to conserve energy, recycle waste, save water? Hospitality specialist, and regular Destination World contributor, John R. Hendrie, offers some new ideas for how destinations can make a positive impact on the environment, both locally and globally.
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| Key Articles |
New Orleans:
Gets back to business
-LoRes.jpg) Despite the destruction wrought by Hurricane Katrina, one of the USA's biggest modern-day natural disasters, the city of New Orleans is back in business with a multi-million dollar marketing campaign.
At a time when the city's national image needs repair and advertising dollars are at their scantest in years, the New Orleans Tourism Marketing Corporation (NOTMC) has launched a $2.7 million marketing campaign aimed at informing travellers both regionally and nationally, that the Crescent City is a viable tourism destination ready to welcome them back.
The TV and print campaign, which encourages travellers to 'Come Fall in Love with New Orleans All Over Again,' is synergistic with the Louisiana Office of Tourism's own $7 million travel promotion, allowing both agencies to maximise exposure of New Orleans and Louisiana as leisure destinations.
'After creating some initial tourism momentum with Mardi Gras publicity, this new marketing campaign is designed to let travellers know that New Orleans is ready and waiting with open arms for them to visit,' says Sandra Shilstone, President and CEO of NOTMC. 'To help expand the reach of our message, we adapted a similar version of the state's own campaign so that our limited advertising dollars will make the maximum impact when combined.'
-LoRes.jpg) This year's carnival 150th anniversary Mardi Gras celebration, held in February, christened a new era of tourism for a city that had posted record visitation in 2003 and 2004, and which was on pace to shatter all records in 2005, before the storm essentially wiped out travel for the remainder of the year.
However, the spirit of the people of New Orleans and the resiliency of its tourism and hospitality industry were not defeated, and the city has made great strides in reopening tourism-related businesses and attractions and readying itself to host numerous special events in 2006.
Regular bulletins on the current state New Orleans' recovery programme are published on the NOTMC website.
Air Travel:
Predicting demand and competing more effectively
Two rules of thumb often cited in the airline industry are 'Demand for air travel grows twice as fast as gross domestic product' and 'Airline yields always drop over time'. Both statements are, in general, considered to be at least partly true. Yet a report by The Boston Consulting Group (BCG) argues that industry planners often overlook how fundamentally intertwined they are.
Demand for air travel does indeed grow at a multiple of GDP, according to Understanding the Demand for Air Travel: How to Compete More Effectively. 'However, managers often extrapolate from historical growth rates as the starting point for capacity planning,' explained Ross Love, leader of BCG's travel and tourism practice and co-author of the report.
 The historical rate, explains Love, is the sum of two very different types of demand growth: underlying growth, which occurs naturally over time and is driven by external factors, and induced growth, which arises whenever airlines choose to increase a market's capacity. Once excess capacity enters the market, airlines often conclude that the economics of filling those extra seats with discount tickets are better than the economics of allowing the seats to go empty. The number of passengers (or demand) increases to fill the excess capacity, but at a lower overall price.
The report suggests that, by understanding the difference between the two types of demand, an airline can predict future yields and economics for each of its routes with more accuracy and make better decisions on crucial strategic questions of where and how to compete. For the industry as a whole, a sharper focus on matching decisions about fleet size to the true outlook for underlying demand growth will help avoid the problems of overcapacity that have plagued it in the past.
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| Destination Brand Watch |
 Awareness of Australia is at an all time high, according to Tourism Australia's managing director, Scott Morrison. And it's all down to the controversial but undeniably successful campaign, So Where the Bloody Hell Are You?
Morrison was speaking at the launch of the Australian Tourism Exchange and added: 'This activity has generated a huge global buzz about Australia as a destination. We have to take advantage of that to maximise high-value, high-yielding business to Australia.'
Visits to the Tourism Australia websites, including the main campaign site, are up by more than two thirds, with an estimated 3 million people across 200 countries viewing the advert online.
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When jaws drop, that's a SayWA moment. Or so they're saying in Washington State, USA. The state's new brand has been 18 months in the making, with extensive research, a brand audit of existing local marketing offerings, and interviews with small target audience groups along the way.
On the most basic level, WA=Washington. So 'SayWA' is, in effect, 'Say Washington'. The intention is to keep Washington on the short list when considering travel destinations.
 John Cooper and Laureen Lund, co-chairs of the Washington State Tourism Brand
Development Task Force, commented: 'We're extremely excited about the new Washington Tourism brand. Having the tourism industry participate in the selection of this new brand identity has led to an end product we all love.'
A website, charting the brand development process, has been developed. Plus, the effectiveness of the recently-launched brand will be closely measured, with visitor profile and visitor spending studies, as well as details of visitor traffic to the consumer website, posted on the research section of the SayWa website.
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| Dates for Your Diary |
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Here are some of the key dates for travel and tourism professionals taking place over the coming months:
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Travel Distribution China 2006, now in its second year, offers the opportunity to meet industry professionals in the world's fastest growing travel market. The event will be held next month (22nd - 23rd August) in Beijing. Find out more by visiting the EyeForTravel website.
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 The International Conference on the Impact of Movies and Television on Tourism will take place in Hong Kong, China, from September 7th to 9th. More information is available on conference website.
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Tourism Africa 2006 is an international event, with around 40 countries exhibiting and themed forums on key issues such as international business development. The event will be held in Geneva on the 12th - 15th September.
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The Pacific Asia Travel Association (PATA) Travel Mart 2006 will be held in Hong Kong on the 12th - 15th September. For the last 28 years, the event has attracted destinations and suppliers from throughout Asia Pacific, making it the region's premier travel trade event and offering extensive contracting and networking opportunities.
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This year's PhoCus Wright Travel Conference, to be held in Brussels, Belgium on the 25th - 27th September, includes an online competitive intelligence workshop and an analysis of the Hitwise tool. Details on the PhoCus Wright website.
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 Travel and tourism in India is expected to generate US$28 billion by 2008, rising to a massive US$90.4 billion in 2014. Travel Distribution India, to be held from the 25th to 26th October in New Delhi, offers an introduction to the world's fastest growing online travel market.
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Last year's Wired Travel Asia attracted more than 250 high-profile delegates and this year's event, to be held in Singapore between 26th and 27th October, is expected to build on that success.
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This year's Ecotourism Australia International Conference will take on the theme of 'Ecotourism: Building on Natural Advantages' and be held from the 30th October to 3rd November in Townsville, Australia. More information is available on the Ecotourism Australia website.
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The World Travel Market 2006 will be held between the 6th and 9th November in London. More information is available on the WTM website.
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The Third International Forum on Chinese Outbound Tourism will be held in Shanghai between the 13th and 14th November. The forum offers a unique opportunity to explore the potential of this new market.
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It's a Hollywood setting for the PhoCusWright Executive Conference which takes place 13th - 15th November. The event focusses on how companies can differentiate themselves in today's dynamic travel distribution marketplace. More...
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ENTER 2007, the 14th International Conference on Information Technology and Travel and Tourism, will be held in Ljubljana, Slovenia, from the 24th to 26th January 2007. The event will focus on innovation in destination competitiveness.
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Meetings Africa 2007 is South Africa's only one-stop shop for meeting planners, event organisers and incentive travel professionals and will take place at the Sandton Convention Centre from 27-28 February 2006. More details are available on the event website.
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-.jpg) The dates for the ITB Berlin 2007 are March 7th - 11th 2007 and more information is available on the ITB website.
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| International News |
Tourism:
Upward trend continues
According to the World Tourism Organization (UNWTO), spending by tourists abroad now averages more than US$2 billion a day. An estimated US$ 682 billion was spent abroad by tourists in 2005 - up US$49 billion or 3.4% on the previous year, and the trend has continued for the first half of 2006.
If spending on foreign passenger transport of US$130 billion is added, the total export spend is more than $ 800 billion. This represents some 6% of global export of all goods and services.
'Visitor spending continues its strong overall growth,' said UNWTO Secretary General Francesco Frangialli, 'contributing substantially to global services exports and particularly to the overall trade balances of developing economies.'
Security:
Course for destinations
A new course has been launched, designed to help tourism professionals understand the importance of safety and security within a destination, as well as provide them with the tools needed to create a secure environment for both visitors and residents.
Safety and Security for Tourism Destinations: Achieving a Safe and Secure Tourism Environment has been developed by international travel security expert and Destination World contributor, Dr. Peter Tarlow. The course is available from the George Washington University via internet-based distance learning.
Europe:
Moves towards a Single European Sky
A dramatic new initiative that will change the way in which European air space is managed has been brought a step closer with the initiation of the European Common Aviation Area treaty. The aim is to introduce more efficient air traffic management systems based on actual flight patterns, rather than national boundaries.
The European Commission's Single European Sky initiative is expected to be fully operational by 2010.
Australia:
Campaign targets 150m viewers globally
A new global partnership deal with Discovery Networks Asia and National Geographic has been announced by Tourism Australia. The deal aims to reach 150 million potential visitors in key international markets and will complement the recent 'So Where the Bloody Hell Are You?' campaign.
Tourism Australia Managing Director, Scott Morrison, said: 'Australia's best prospects are a group of global consumers called Experience Seekers, who travel more widely, spend more, see more and stay longer. Discovery and National Geographic have the programming and media networks to put Australia in direct contact with our Experience Seekers around the world.'
Yucatán Peninsula:
UN links with Expedia
Two new programmes aimed at promoting sustainable tourism in the Yucatán Peninsula have been launched by Expedia and the United Nations Foundation.
They are the first major programmes to be launched under the recently created World Heritage Alliance and will benefit World Heritage sites, nearby communities, consumers who travel to these sites, and Expedia employees.
The Expedia Employee Programme will pair selected volunteer staff with a local community-based tourism enterprise. The World Heritage Alliance Industry Training Programme on Responsible Tourism, will work with hotels, tour operators, and other tourism companies.
Asia-Pacific Tourism:
Action hero is new ambassador
Action film hero Jackie Chan has a new battle to win as the World Tourism Organization's (UNWTO) first Asia-Pacific Tourism Ambassador, a role that will see the star promoting tourism as a means of fighting poverty throughout the region.
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'I am really honoured to receive this Asia-Pacific Tourism Ambassador award, he said. I will do my best to promote tourism in a healthy and sustainable way, and to help people who are less fortunate through tourism.'
China / UK:
Building strong relationship
A new conference, aimed at developing a solid relationship between the British and Chinese tourism authorities, will be held at this year's World Travel Market. The event has been co-ordinated by the World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC) and will focus on a range of practical issues.
Europe:
WTTC calls for rethink on air taxes
Recent debate by the European Parliament on the impact of aviation on climate change did not look closely enough at the bigger issues, according to the WTTC (World Travel and Tourism Council).
The travel and tourism industry is one of Europe's largest providers of jobs and wealth, accounting for more than 10% of GDP in 2006, but WTTC President, Jean-Claude Baumgarten says the European Parliament's proposed ticket and fuel taxes will stifle long-term growth. |
| E-Business News |
Africa:
UNWTO links with Microsoft
The UN World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) and Microsoft Corporation have announced a long-term partnership to expand information communications technology in the tourism sector. It will provide ICT systems and tools for emerging tourism economies to help improve their export competitiveness, product quality and support skills.
The collaboration will focus primarily on Africa and the first two projects to be set up are a new promotional portal, 'Windows on Africa', and support for the UNWTO Emergency Response System.
Online Travel:
Two new planning tools
Two new travel planning tools have been launched by online giants, Expedia and Yahoo.
Earlier this month, Expedia launched a free tool to help consumers plan customised travel itineraries based on their personal interests, trip preferences and travel style. The Virtual Guidebook is being delivered through a partnership with internet specialists, Home & Abroad.
Yahoo's Trip Planner is now out of its beta development stage and offers online travel shopping and interactive map searches, together with networking and information sharing options.
Online Bookings:
A 40% rise reported
Early analysis of research undertaken recently by SITA, an air transport communication and IT solutions provider, reveals that the number of people booking their travel online has risen dramatically by 40% over the last year. The rise of self-service bookings means an estimated 560 million plane tickets are now sold online. The full research will be published by SITA in September.
Dynamic Packaging:
New product launched
A product providing consumers with fully customised travel planning has been launched by Belgian company, DeciZium. Labelled 'smart dynamic packaging', the Your Tour software offers both travel professionals and consumers the chance to plan accommodation and sightseeing tours, based on budget, specific interests and personal preferences.
Europe:
New biometric passports
EU (European Union) citizens are a step closer to being issued with biometrics passports following a recent move by the European Commission. The passports use fingerprint identification technology and are being introduced in an effort to strengthen security and data protection.
Vice-President Franco Frattini, commissioner responsible for freedom, security and justice, declared that: 'The EU is among the first in the world issuing passports with a high level of protection against unauthorised access, whilst at the same time complying with the recommendations of the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) in order to ensure interoperability'.
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