 Key Article: Destination World's managing editor, Roger Carter, was at last month's Wired Travel Asia event to offer his views on destination portals and the elements needed to create a one-stop shopping experience for travellers. He also shares a 10 point plan for e-marketing success.  Key Article: The online travel market in India is booming, with analysts suggesting that its value will rise from an estimated US$300 million in 2005 to US$2 billion by 2008. We take a look at the complex reasons behind this growth and the opportunities it presents.
 Special Feature: One of the fastest growing travel segments is the eco-tourist and they're asking some hard questions. Hospitality specialist, John R. Hendrie, offers some thoughts on how we can be good stewards of the environment AND make money. Welcome
 A warm welcome to our second anniversary edition of Destination World. Over the last two years, we've brought you news and commentary, interviews and special in-depth features on key industry issues, and we're delighted with the positive feedback we've received from you over this time.
I'd like to take this opportunity to offer all Destination World readers our very best wishes for a successful, peaceful 2007 and we look forward to keeping you up-to-date and informed over the coming twelve months.
Roger Carter
Managing Editor
Research and Reports - What's New?
 Last year was a record-breaking year for the Asia Pacific region, according to the PATA Annual Statistical Report 2005. International visitor arrivals totalled nearly 330 million, representing an annual growth of 7.6% and a new regional record.
PATA's report is the only publication to bring together data on Asia Pacific arrivals and departures and other tourism-related statistics, such as length of stay, visitor expenditure, hotel occupancy rates, national tourism organisation budgets, etc.
The full report is available on the PATA website at a cost of US$250 (non-members US$350). Alternatively, the more compact Summary and Extracts version can be bought for US$25 (members) and US$75 (non-members).
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A series of Global Market Intelligence Reports has been released by VisitBritain. The reports provide a snapshot of more than 30 overseas markets, including an overview of economic prospects, current outbound travel trends, market insights, etc. Reports are free and can be downloaded from the VisitBritain website.
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Two new guides from online business optimisation specialists, Omniture, are now available. Five Essential Steps to Effective Web Measurement and Seven Steps to Increasing Website Conversion are free of charge although registration is required.
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If you're looking for a compact guide to key industry trends, search engine marketing, blogging, viral marketing, e-mail and other strategies that online travel companies can use to attract visitors and keep them coming back, then this is for you... A new guide – The Essential Guide to Marketing Analytics for the Travel Industry – has been produced by WebTrends.
The guide covers issues such as how to use search engine marketing to build your travel brand, the best value-added services for building loyalty and value for customers, and identifying the most effective content for engaging and converting customers.
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 Updates on all the European Travel Commission's work to boost and secure Europe's share of the international tourism market are included in the ETC 2005 Annual Report. Details of the new tourism portal visiteurope.com and the creation of the new European brand identity, BrandEurope, are highlighted. A PDF version of the report can be downloaded from the ETC website.
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A free white paper from RightNow Technologies offers advice on how to deploy marketing tactics such as building customer profiles, optimising landing pages, segmenting lists, as well as personalising and co-ordinating campaigns. The document, Vital Marketing: Ten Core Tactics to Improve Marketing Campaign Effectiveness and Efficiency, can be downloaded from the RightNow website (registration required).
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A recently published study by Dr Dimitris Koutoulas, an Athens-based tourism and hospitality consultant, explores the Market Influence of European Tour Operators on Greek Resort Hotels. More information on the findings of this research is available from the author.
And coming soon...
Groups and Meetings: Market Opportunity Redefined is PhoCusWright's first study to track and report on online behaviour, trends and opportunities in the burgeoning groups, meetings and corporate marketplace.
The report will offer facts, figures and forecasts for market size, future technologies, growth trends, key players and new market entrants. Copies of the report, which will be published in January 2007, can be pre-ordered from the PhoCusWright website at a cost of US$330.
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A new study by ETOA (the European Tour Operators Association) - The Chinese Outbound Tourism Market – will be published in March 2007. The research has been commissioned by the European Travel Commission ( ETC) and UNWTO, the World Tourism Organization.
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A new report aiming to help resorts embrace online marketing has been published by the Hospitality Sales and Marketing Association International ( HSMAI) Resort Marketing Special Interest Group. Best Practices on Internet Marketing and Distribution for Resorts benchmarks resorts in key internet metrics such as marketing efficiency and offers comparisons between web revenue and web marketing expenditure.
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The Online Travel Sector Usability Report showcases some of the key issues for travel websites and includes practical advice and examples of best practice throughout. The report is available free of charge (registration required) from the Webcredible website.
Key Articles
Wired Travel Asia 2006:
Destination dashboards of the future unveiledMore than 200 delegates last month attended Wired Travel Asia (WTA) which, this year, was based around the three key themes of innovation, inspiration and imagination. All major travel distribution issues were covered with a special focus on the new wave of travel websites featuring online communities and user generated content.  Destination World's managing editor, Roger Carter, was there to offer his views on destination portals and the elements needed to create a one-stop shopping experience for travellers. Dr Carter said DMOs and tourism boards had to change and adapt or perish. He identified many of the factors that are affecting the way destinations marketed themselves and warned that some could become irrelevant, particularly in the face of new websites such as the social networking portals where consumers were 'telling the truth' about places and experiences. He also highlighted the three main drivers of change which affect the role of DMOs:
- The central role of the internet and e-business for communication with visitors and potential visitors, market intermediaries and tourism businesses;
- Demanding and connected consumers who are price conscious, demanding immediate attention / bookings, expecting rich, accurate information and able to exchange information with other consumers;
- Commercial players who have developed over the past 10 years and are now operating in DMOs' traditional marketing space, and who are customer-focussed, had efficient business processes, effective distribution and continual improvement.
He continued: 'DMOs must be clear about where they can add value and offer (or develop) a high level of competence. If their systems, data, processes and customer focus are inferior, then they do their destination a disservice. They must become expert in exploiting the opportunities that ICT (information communications technology) and the internet offer, which must become central to their operations.'
 To secure the future, Dr Carter said, there must be interoperability between the different levels of DMOs within a country and he shared 10 principles to future success in e-marketing:
- Reach as many potential customers as possible
- Maximise the lifetime value of customers, by maintaining the relationship
- Be aware of what consumers are saying about them through community websites and seek to influence it
- Create a compelling website experience
- Maintain high quality content
- Deliver sales, directly or indirectly
- Offer customised packaging
- Engage tourism businesses to deliver the inventory
- Demonstrate return on investment – performance evaluation and benchmarking
- Ensure effective electronic distribution of information to travellers and visitors
This article has been adapted from a report by Yeoh Siew Hoon at Wired Travel Asia.
India:
Exponential growth in online travel market
The online travel market in India is booming. Estimates suggest that its value last year hit the US$300 million mark and that it will continue to rise to around US$2 billion within the next 3 years.
According to market intelligence specialists, IDC, online travel is the fastest growing e-commerce sector, with sales accounting for nearly two thirds of the total e-commerce market.
PhoCusWright analysts suggest that there are a number of reasons for this high speed growth: 'The travel market in India is subject to a unique blend of forces driving growth in an online channel that is projected to quadruple in just two years. Drivers on the supply side are dovetailing with social and economic forces on the demand side to both boost online travel adoption and enable India to leapfrog distribution technologies. The result is booming travel demand and rapid uptake of online transaction methods.'
 The population in India is projected to exceed that of China within the next 40 years, according to the United Nations. An estimated 100 million plus internet users in India will be online by the end of 2007 and travel companies have been quick to seize this opportunity with a number of new online ventures launching this year.
Further findings from PhoCusWright are available in their recent publication: The Emerging Online Travel Marketplace in India. The report can be bought online at a cost of US$395.
Destination Brand Watch
Two new white papers by BrandChannel.com tackle the subject of destination branding. The first - There's No Place Like Nome – provides examples of successful place branding and includes a short case study of Orange County, California, or, as so many now refer to it, the OC. The second white paper - Rebranding Nigeria: Critical perspectives on the Heart of Africa image project – looks at many of the challenges involved in destination branding on a large scale.
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 Readers of the Condé Nast Traveller Magazine have voted enthusiastically in the ninth annual awards. Rome won the prize of best city, beating Barcelona and Sydney into second and third places and Italy was awarded best country, beating New Zealand and Australia by a narrow margin.
San Francisco was declared the winner of the Best US Destination City and Glasgow was voted Best UK City. Categories included airlines and airports, cities and countries, tour operators and hotels, plus an overall top 100 list.
Dates for Your Diary
Here are some of the key dates for travel and tourism professionals taking place over the coming months:
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Hyper-Tourism, a conference that aims to explore the many and complex ways in which the idea of tradition has been destabilised by globalisation, will be held next month (15th – 18th December) in Bangkok, Thailand.
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This year's Revenue Management and Pricing in Travel Asia, organised by Eye For Travel, will be held in Bangkok, Thailand, from the 17th – 18th January 2007.
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Ljubljana, Slovenia, will be the venue for ENTER 2007, the 14th annual conference organised by IFITT, the International Federation for IT & Travel and Tourism. The event will showcase leading solutions for Destination Management Organisations under the overall conference theme of Connecting Destinations.
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Find out how to optimise your CRM and customer service strategy and thrive in today's competitive marketplace at the Eye For Travel inaugural CRM in Travel USA 2007 conference. The event will be held in San Francisco, USA between the 23rd – 24th January.
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Creating Competitive Advantage for your Destination is the title of the World Tourism Organization ( UNWTO) International Conference on Destination Management which will be held in Budapest, Hungary, from the 7th – 9th February 2007.
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South Africa's second business tourism conference, encompassing all sectors of the industry, will be held on 27th February in Johannesburg. Meetings Africa 2007 will take an in-depth look at the issues currently affecting business tourism in South Africa.
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-.jpg) Look out for the International Tourism Exchange ITB Berlin which will be held between the 7th and 11th March 2007. This year's anniversary event attracted nearly 11,000 exhibitors from more than 180 countries.
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The Travel Distribution Summit Asia has established itself as a key event for travel executives in pricing, marketing and technology. Next year's exhibition will be held in Singapore, Malaysia, from 13th to 14th March. Travel Distribution France 2007 will take place in Paris immediately after, from 14th – 15th March.
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GLOBE 2007, a business to business event, is aiming to attract a wide range of exhibitors, including technology and communication suppliers, consulting and training companies. Globe 2007 will held in Rome, Italy, from the 22nd to 24th March.
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International News
UNWTO:
Gears up for growing global challenges
Plans to strengthen the World Tourism Organisation and broaden its policy direction have been launched in an effort to respond to the growth of the sector amidst challenging external conditions.
Two new roles have been established, focussing on external relations and policy cohesion, and a new management structure established. Francesco Frangialli, UNWTO's Secretary-General Frangialli, commented: 'This will ensure that UNWTO continues to respond rapidly to the needs of a growing constituency and positions itself to address strategic issues like poverty alleviation, climate change, competitiveness and information, communications technology'.
Global Warming:
Fails to dampen demand for air travel
World leaders seeking to make political capital from global warming issues are making little headway with consumers, according to recent research from aviation analysts, OAG. Last month, demand for air travel was at its highest level since 9/11, with a 3% increase in the number of flights scheduled in October over the previous year.
The figures are revealed in OAG's latest Quarterly Airline Traffic Statistics, a regular snapshot of airline activity around the world. OAG collates data from more than 1,000 scheduled airlines on a daily basis to give an overview of anticipated travel demand.
Duncan Alexander of OAG, said: 'In the 21st century, air travel is an economic necessity, not a luxury. The aviation industry as a whole continues to make enormous efforts to reduce its impact on the environment, and business and leisure travellers alike clearly understand and appreciate that fact.'
Africa:
Tourism surges ahead
A range of initiatives has been launched by UNWTO aimed at advancing tourism to, and within, Africa. These include a joint development strategy with the African Union and a STEP programme to link sustainability and poverty elimination activities.
Africa has been one of the strongest growth markets over the last 5 years, with international tourist arrivals increasing from 28 million to 40 million – an average annual growth of 5.6% compared to the worldwide 3.1%. In the same period Africa's international tourism receipts doubled from US$ 10.5 billion to US$ 21.3 billion.
Speaking at the Tourism Africa Exhibition, UNWTO Secretary General Francesco Frangialli said: 'This surge in African tourism clearly shows the great potential of our sector of the economy to help trade and development in the region and, in so doing, to make an important contribution to the Millennium Development Goals aimed at reducing poverty systemically by 2015 – particularly in Africa'.
Rural Tourism:
A promising future
Rural tourism must be carefully harnessed if it is to reach its potential and benefit local communities, according to organisers of the recent Rural Tourism Forum in Guiyang, China. A major theme at the forum was the importance of local ownership and control, with fair distribution of profits and benefits. Experts stressed that, without the buy-in of village residents, rural tourism development can be neither successful nor sustainable.
Other key themes of the conference included the importance of local products and handcrafts; the need for training, communication, and quality product development; the role of governments; and the evolving preferences of today's tourists for more active, participatory, and authentic experiences.
e-Business News
Online Booking:
Will rise to 40% by 2008
Almost 40% of all types of travel bought in Europe will be booked online by the end of 2008. The findings are part of a major study conducted this summer by PhoCusWright across five major European markets and reveal that transaction volume will more than double the proportion of 2005.
In addition, over the next 3 years, online corporate bookings will grow at twice the rate of online leisure /unmanaged business travel. By 2008, one out of every five Euros of corporate travel spent will be transacted online, up from one out of every 20 in 2005.
Hotel Bookings:
Growth of 20% in last quarter
Major chains have reported internet booking growth of 20% in the 2nd quarter of 2006 as consumers continue to choose electronic channels to shop for hotel accommodation.
This 3 year upward trend is profiled in TravelCLICK's eTRAK results which shows that online bookings contributed 37.3% (or over 7.5m) of the total number of reservations at major hotel brands, a 19.9% increase compared to the same period in 2005.
The data also highlights the continuing importance of Global Distribution System (GDS) e-commerce with 36.4%, or 7,425,301 bookings, of Central Reservation Office (CRO) reservations coming through those channels, a 4% increase over the first quarter of 2006. This is the first time that internet reservations have surpassed GDS reservations.
Travel 2.0:
Industry debates role
The changing face of online travel was debated at the recent PhoCusWright Travel Conference in Belgium. No longer tied to the transaction alone, online travel offerings now aim to engage travellers' imaginations, connect them to informative resources (including each other) and empower them to envisage, discover and buy their travel experience online.
The conference brought together travel industry executives from around the world for three days of workshops, analyst presentations and keynote speakers. Workshops covered online competitive intelligence, optimising hospitality distribution channels and dynamic pricing.
City Guides:
Now available on PlayStations
Travel content specialist, Lonely Planet, and software publisher, Sony, have launched a major new partnership to develop a series of fully interactive and up-to-the-minute city guides for use on PlayStation Portables. The Passport to... range, which currently offers guides to six leading European weekend break destinations, will be sold in 110 countries.
The partnership sees this as the next step in the evolution of the travel guide, creating an immediate and accessible travel resource with a dynamic mix of film, audio, photography and copy based content. A dedicated website will offer further content to be downloaded, ensuring the guides are continually relevant and up-to-date.
Helen Hewitt of Lonely Planet said: 'Our partnership with Sony allows us to extend our product range by offering a new type of interactive guidebook, designed to meet the evolving needs of the technology-savvy traveller. We're working with local networks in each territory to ensure this is a really high impact and integrated campaign to engage the consumer.'
Each guide includes details on 250 of the most popular bars, clubs, hotels, shops, services and attractions; interactive road and transport maps; bespoke photo and video; three 'off-the-beaten track' audio tours to key areas of each city; pre-planned itineraries from arts tours to 'foodie' experiences; as well as essential language phrases with audio.
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