Last month's UNWTO conference in Budapest focussed on one of the most important challenges faced by every DMO... creating competitive advantage for your destination. For those of you who weren't able to attend the conference, we've included some of the key presentations in this issue.

Don't forget, if you have any presentation material that would be of interest to readers, then please get in touch. I look forward to hearing from you!

Roger Carter
Managing Editor

Make Your Festival a Tourism Success Special events and festivals have long been used as a means to increase tourism and the revenue that comes from tourism. Regular DW contributor, Dr. Peter Tarlow, offers some advice on how to make your tourism event a success.

Is Your Destination in Decline? 'Tell me who visits your destination, and I'll tell you whether it's in decline!' This was the bet made by analyst Dr Stanley Plog when he developed his model for matching traveller profiles with phases in a destination life cycle. Find out more...

Climate Change: What is Tourism's role? The tourism sector has a vital role to play in creating sustainable solutions to the twin challenges of climate change and poverty, according to the World Tourism Organization. Read UNWTO's call for a holistic response from the industry.

Cultural destinations are winning more and more of tourists' hard earned cash, according to Euromonitor International's latest report, The World Market for Travel and Tourism.

The report describes how cultural destinations have witnessed an impressive increase in value sales of 51% from 2000 to 2005, with tourists increasingly willing to spend their travel and leisure time on more educational visits.

Caroline Bremner, Global Travel and Tourism Manager at Euromonitor International, explains: 'The growth of attractions such as historic buildings / sites, art galleries and museums is a reflection of demographic changes, such as ageing populations. In particular the baby-boomer generation is helping to give rise to the trend towards more cultural types of attractions.'

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New research reveal that young travellers aged 16-24 are the travel industry's fastest growing sector, representing over 20 per cent of all international visitors.

Compared with average tourists, adventurous young backpackers stay longer, spend more, seek out alternative destinations and enjoy a wider mix of travel experiences. Not surprisingly they are increasingly being viewed as the future of global tourism by the travel industry yet a recent study by the World Youth and Student Educational Travel Confederation (WYSE) and UNWTO shows that few countries are currently engaged in developing youth travel, despite the fact that 60% recognise this market as fundamental to the future of their tourism industry.

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A strong, consumption-driven economy, a large and increasingly affluent middle class, and the ongoing liberalisation of air transport will contribute to a 10 per cent annual growth in Indian outbound travellers to Asia Pacific over the next three years, according to a new report released last week.

Titled Total Tourism India, the 280-page report is a comprehensive, independent and authoritative analysis on India's tourism sector released by the Pacific Asia Travel Association (PATA) and Visa International. The report reviews all aspects of India's inbound, outbound and domestic tourism flows, and outlines a seven-point action plan to advance India's tourism development in achieving the sector's full potential.

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A free white paper from MoreVisibility offers an in-depth review of the Fundamentals of Site Optimization and highlights core elements that directly relate to web page optimisation, such as site architecture, keyword research, robots.txt and website analytics.

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The latest edition of the ETC (European Travel Commission) document Tourism Trends for Europe is now available online in English, French and German.   

The report provides an analysis of tourism's global external environment, an examination of the trends likely to influence tourism demand, and a discussion of changes influencing the operation of the tourism industry.

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Groups and Meetings: Market Opportunity Redefined is PhoCusWright's first ever study to track and report on online behaviour, trends and opportunities in the burgeoning groups, meetings and corporate marketplace.

This report, available online at US$300, is aimed at hoteliers, meeting planners, travel agents, travel technology firms, and anyone interested in the groups and meetings industry as it presents an insider's understanding of the current trends and technologies affecting the groups and corporate meetings market.

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A new book, Designing Emotions in Online Travel, aims to dispel the myth that consumers rely simply on facts and figures when booking a holiday online. The book, by Soraia Cardoso & René Vaartjes, takes the reader on a journey through the emotional stages of people while booking a holiday online and demonstrates consumers' need for a 'journey through the senses'.

The book provides case studies based on empirical research (online surveys and in depth interviews and can be ordered online for EURO 39.95.

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Are you looking to take a more customer-centric view of your organisation? Or are you wondering how to sift through the overwhelming number of customer relationship management (CRM) application choices? A free white paper by Pivotal, The Five Principles for CRM Success, available via the TechnologyEvaluation.com website, offers advice on how CRM can address the processes unique to individual industries.

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The Insider's Guide to Great Customer Service on the Web, a publication from Right Now Technologies, offers ten secrets for delighting customers and reducing costs.

This white paper distils the experience and proven best practices from more than 1,400 successful web-based service implementations across a wide range of industries. It also provides a simple test for determining your organisation's Service Quotient.

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During 2000-2005, bednight volumes in European city destinations increased by 16.5%, outperforming the growth rates of European nationwide tourism that increased by only 1.4% during this period, according to European Cities Marketing.

These are among the main findings of the recently published third edition of the European Cities Tourism Report, which provides facts, figures, analysis and new insights into the total tourism development in European city destinations over the last 5 years.

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Switzerland, Austria and Germany have the most attractive environments for developing the travel and tourism industry, according to the very first ranking of its kind in the Travel and Tourism Competitiveness Report 2007, released earlier this month by the World Economic Forum (WEF). Iceland, the United States, Hong Kong, Canada, Singapore, Luxembourg and the United Kingdom complete the top ten list.

Jennifer Blanke, Senior Economist of the WEF's Global Competitiveness Network, said: 'Our study is not a 'beauty contest', or a statement about the attractiveness of a country. On the contrary, we aim to measure the factors that make it attractive to develop the travel and tourism industry of individual countries.'

World Tourism:
Another decade of growth

Worldwide travel and tourism is expected to generate in excess of US$7 trillion in 2007, rising to over US$13 trillion over the coming decade according to the World Travel & Tourism Council's (WTTC) Tourism Satellite Account (TSA) research, sponsored by Accenture and prepared by Oxford Economics.

The new TSA results show strong performance for travel and tourism demand in 2007, growing at a rate of 3.9 per cent. This forecast points to a mature but steady phase of growth in the short and medium term, averaging 4.3 per cent per annum, between 2008 and 2017.

The WTTC's latest findings reveal that the world's largest travel and tourism economies are holding strong in the top 10 list for 2007. The US continues in its pole position with travel and tourism demand accounting for more than US$1,689.3 billion this year.

Over the next ten years considerable ground will be gained by China which currently stands in third position behind Japan and is forecast to move up to second position by 2017. This progression is buoyed by a percentage growth in real terms of 9.6 per cent, per annum, over the next 10 years.

Notably, by 2017 the Russian Federation will enter the top 10 list of countries expected to total the largest amount (in absolute terms) on travel and tourism demand, where it has not figured previously.

The world's high performers - defined as countries set to grow fastest over 2007 and the decade to come - WTTC results show that Montenegro, China and India top the list, with demand growing each year at a rate of 10.1 per cent, 9.1 per cent and 7.9 per cent respectively. These countries have consistently appeared in the top three positions over the past 4 years, consolidating their growth year on year.

Other countries featured on WTTC's high performers list include Croatia, Romania and Namibia, all of which are countries that recently adopted a Simulated Tourism Satellite Account, empowering them with an economic measurement tool that can direct sound decision-making.

In summary, this year's forecasts show all-round consolidated growth. In contrast to the steep end of the curve experienced in 2006, 2007 is a year where growth trajectories are rounding off to more mature levels. The outlook is one of healthy and stable progress for the industry.

A change of branding direction for Thailand has been announced by the recently appointed head of TAT, the Tourism Authority of Thailand. The country's Thailand Unforgettable strapline has been scrapped and its previous campaign, Amazing Thailand, relaunched.

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Carl Jung, a brand strategist? Well, author Michel Jansen argues in his new book, Brand Prototyping: Developing meaningful brands, that the Swiss psychiatrist's theory of archetypes - that all human behaviour can be traced to instinctive urges - can indeed be applied to brand identity.

Jansen introduces a dozen Jungian archetypes - such as sage, creator, jester, and lover - along with examples of brands from each. A brand's archetype relates to (and provides a way to maintain and further develop) the customer's relationship with the brand - without confusing or alienating that customer. An excerpt from the book is available on the BrandChannel website.

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A new brand was launched by The Seychelles Tourism Board (STB) earlier this month at Berlin's ITB. The launch of the brand - The Seychelles Islands... Another World - included publication of a new consumer brochure, posters and a brand toolkit on DVD.


The new logo illustrates the wide spectrum of the Seychelles experience, from the blues and turquoises of the sea, to white sand beaches and lush green foliage, as well as the vibrancy of the Creole culture and the islands' unique flora and fauna.

The official international launch of the new brand at ITB follows a year-long process of research, consultation, planning and implementation, including workshops with hoteliers and other tourism stakeholders in and outside of Seychelles in 2006.

Some key dates for travel and tourism professionals taking place over the coming months:

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The top 10 secrets of the perfect travel website is the subject of a live audio conference on the 4th April. The conference will be presented by AudioEducator.com and Travel Distribution Report.

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Next month's TravelCom Res-Expo 2007 will focus on how user-generated content, social media and other emerging web innovations are reshaping the travel marketplace. The event will take place in Las Vegas, USA, between the 4th and 6th April.

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Need to grow your business through search engine marketing? Take a look at the Search Engine Strategies 2007 conference and expo taking place in New York, USA, 10th - 13th April.

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More than 16,000 visitors from nearly 100 countries attended last year's Arabian Travel Market (ATM). This year's event will be held in Dubai, from 1st - 4th May.

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The 32nd Annual Africa Travel Association Congress will present Africa's diverse destinations, airline carriers, tour operators, and hotel and resort brands in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia from the 6th - 11th May.

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This year's World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC) Global Travel and Tourism Summit will take place in Lisbon, Portugal, from the 10th - 12th May. The summit is one of the industry's highest profile events and presents debates between leading public and private sector decision makers.

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Indaba brings together a showcase of Southern African tourism products and services for the international travel trade. This year's exhibition will take place at the International Convention Centre and the Durban Exhibition Centre, Kwa-Zulu Natal, South Africa, from the 12th - 15th May.

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Organized by The International Ecotourism Society (TIES), Ecotourism Norway and The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), the Global Ecotourism Conference 2007 will review and celebrate the achievements in the ecotourism field, as well as assess the many challenges facing the industry. This inaugural event will take place in Oslo, Norway, 14th - 16th May.

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Keynote speakers, informative workshops and networking opportunities are on offer at the International Gay and Lesbian Travel Association's annual convention. This year's event will be held in Canada, from the 17th to the 20th May.

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CMEx, the Caribbean Media Exchange on Sustainable Tourism, is a four day event that aims to debate and highlight the many ways in which tourism can help to enhance culture and protect the ecology. The event will take place in San Juan, Puerto Rico, from the 17th - 21st May.

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The 4th International Institute for Peace through Tourism (IIPT) African Conference is being organised in partnership with the Africa Travel Association (ATA) in support of the UN Decade of Peace and Non-Violence for the Children of the World and the UN Millennium Goals.

The theme of this year's conference is building strategic alliances for sustainable tourism development, peace and reconciliation on the African continent. The event will take place in Addis Ababa from the 6th - 11th May.

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The Travel Distribution Summit Europe 2007 provides travel suppliers and tourism professionals with the chance to network and to source technology and marketing solutions. London is the venue for this year's event which takes place 22nd - 23rd May.

Here are a few key presentations from last month's World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) conference on Creating Competitive Advantage for Your Destination.

Presentation One
Ensuring the Competitiveness of Destinations - Facing the Challenges of the Rapidly Growing Tourism Market Environmnent was the title of Thies Rheinsberg's presentation on the first day of the conference. Thies is Director - Corporate Development at TUI.

Presentation Two
The presentation by Manfred Gaulhofer, Managing Director, ICG Culturplan Unternehmensberatung GmbH (Graz), focussed on: Cultural Capital of Europe - Maximising the Tourism Potential of Graz.

Please note: All the photographs within this presentation are © Graz 2003 Kulturhauptstadt Europas Organisations GmbH

Presentation Three
UNWTO and TEAM consultant, Mike Fabricius was titled: Maximising the Destination Brand - Understanding the Role of Branding for Destinations, Working in Partnership with Other Sectors, World Examples, including India. (7 MB)

Presentations Four and Five
Dr Terry Stevens, Stevens and Associates, and Yvonne Crook, View Marketing, presented Case Studies on Aviemore and the Cairngorms, Park City, Utah, and Zell am See plus offered some ideas on the topic of Destination Management: Learning from the World's Best Mountain Destinations.

Note: These presentations are all © protected. Contact the authors for further information.

Destination Excellence Centre
Lonely Planet links down under
New growth in MICE industry
Religious travel is on the up
How DMOs are going green
Australia tourism cash boost
USA strengthens brand
Worldwide web use figures
Tourism search engine launch
Tourism's SOS travel portal
Search engine ad spend soars
Global cell phone solution
Canada wins web award
New hotel review channel
Now singalong with Virginia
CONFERENCE HIGHLIGHTS
DESTINATION BRANDWATCH
E-BUSINESS NEWS
INTERNATIONAL NEWS
DATES FOR YOUR DIARY
RESEARCH AND REPORTS

Tourism Destinations:
World Centre for Excellence founded

The World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) has founded the World Centre of Excellence for Tourist Destinations (CED) in Montréal.

A non-profit organisation, the centre's mission is to provide tools to develop competitiveness and sustainable development in tourism in order to improve the experience offered to tourists and to strengthen the character of a destination. The CED will also be a global portal of tourism expertise to support research as well as a discussion and communication forum for anyone involved in promoting and managing tourism destinations.

Montréal minister, Jean-Pierre Blackburn, commented: 'Canada's new government is delighted to welcome the arrival of the World Center of Excellence for Tourist Destinations, the only centre of its kind that will be operating in this sphere of activity and one whose contribution will reach throughout the world.'

Australia:
New partnership with Lonely Planet

For the first time, Lonely Planet will be extending its global Bluelist concept to an individual country - Bluelist Australia. The Bluelist is a concept whereby consumers recommend travel experiences via a Lonely Planet Bluelist website and these are extended to a retail book published annually.

The campaign, organised in conjunction with Tourism Australia, will target the domestic and global experience seeker and aims to showcase unique Australian experiences through the eyes of the traveller. It will include integrated online, TV and print.

Meetings Industry:
Continued growth expected

The meetings industry is expected to remain healthy for the fourth year in a row, according to MPI (Meeting Professionals International). Recent research reveals that planners are expecting to manage more meetings in 2007 and expect to see larger budgets, both in dollar terms and as a percentage of their total budget.

Religious Travel:
New group to spur growth

Two of the most recognised faith based travel authorities have launched the World Religious Travel Association (WRTA).

The Religious Market Consulting Group and Christian Travel Finder have joined together to advise, build and connect the $18 billion worldwide religious travel industry. The association comes at a pivotal stage in the burgeoning religious travel industry that, according to the World Tourism Organization (UNWTO), is one of the fastest growing travel segments.

Environment:
DMO to offset carbon emissions

Tourism Vancouver has committed to 'greening' all of its flights by buying carbon offset credits to balance emissions from air travel. Tourism Vancouver is the first destination marketing organisation (DMO) in Canada to commit to this action.

In 2007, 220 metric tons of emissions resulting from the organisation's air travel will be offset through investment in sustainable green energy projects that have been government approved. This includes not only flights taken by staff travelling for sales and marketing business, but also those flights bought to bring travel influencer clients, customers and media to Vancouver.  

Tourism Vancouver president and CEO Rick Antonson said: 'Having such a spectacular destination means that we're no strangers to getting out and truly enjoying our environment and we understand that we need to make a commitment to preserving it.

Australia:
Regional tourism cash boost
The Australian government has allocated AUS$4 million of tourism funding for innovative and regional tourism projects through its Australian Tourism Development Program (ATDP).

Tourism minister, Fran Bailey, said the government was committed to helping attract more tourism dollars at a regional level to help create jobs: 'Tourism is a $75 billion industry that creates jobs for more than half a million Australians, including 200,000 jobs in regional Australia. Tourism also earns Australia $19 billion in exports, and importantly, about 48c in every tourism dollar is spent in regional Australia.'

USA:
Moves to strengthen brand
The Discover America Partnership's (DAP) US$300 million strategy to resolve the USA's travel industry 'crisis' and rebuild 'Brand USA' has formed the basis of a US Congress action plan to attract more overseas visitors, as well as to strengthen the country's security. The strategy has also attracted more than 1,000 news stories since its launch last autumn.

Internet Use:
Worldwide figures

The US remains the single largest internet market in the world with 181.9 million users in 2006, but China is likely to take the lead before the decade is out, according to a new eMarketer publication, Worldwide Internet Users: 2005 - 2011.

Author of the report and senior analyst at eMarketer, Ben Macklin, commented: 'eMarketer estimates that by 2011 there will be 211.3 million users accessing the internet at least once a month, up from 175.4 million in 2005.

'By 2008, two-thirds of the population will be internet users in the USA, and this will rise to over 70% of the population by 2011. But while the US internet population continues to grow,' says Mr. Macklin, 'the rest of the world is growing even faster. And nowhere is it growing faster than in the Asia-Pacific region.'

Search Engines:
New tourism SE launched

A new search engine aims to help internet users find virtually everything they need to know about travel and tourism. Everything About Tourism.com can be searched by country and category e.g. accommodation, boat trips, etc. as well as by business name. Related businesses and organisations can also submit their details for inclusion.

.Travel:
Emergency travel portal

The World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) is to use .travel for the domain name of its emergency management system. This portal, which is currently focussing on avian flu preparation, will be extended to a one stop shop tracking system for all emergencies and crises affecting tourists and the sector.

'We decided to use SOS.travel as the signature domain of our global system because it describes exactly our goal - the place on the internet for industry stakeholders and tourists themselves to go for essential information in emergency situations', UNWTO Assistant Secretary-General Geoffrey Lipman said. 'SOS is the international call sign for help and the .travel domain clearly identifies the sectoral focus.'

Search Engines:
Massive increase in ad spending

A new study, undertaken by Outsell Inc, of search engine ad spending shows a projected leap of 39 per cent.

The comprehensive national study of advertisers who, between them, control about US$6.5 billion of spending, shows that companies plan to increase their online spending by 18 per cent this year, faster than for any other major media type. Advertisers also plan to increase their spending for advertising on search engines by 39 per cent, the fastest of any online media.

Mobile Phones:
Affordable solution launched

This month sees the launch of the National Geographic Talk Abroad Travel Phone, designed to provide travellers with a reliable and affordable global cell phone solution.

Pay-as-you-go coverage is offered across more than 100 countries, with call charges as low as US$0.90 a minute from some destinations. The phone is available online.

Canada:
Web marketing award

The Canada.travel website has been awarded a Gold Web Marketing Award at the HSMAI Adrian Awards in New York. The awards recognise outstanding work in advertising, public relations and web marketing.

And nominations are already being accepted for another prestigious website competition - the 4th annual TravelMole Web Awards in association with YouTravel.com.

Online TV:
New hotel review channel

A new online TV channel, dedicated to hotels, reviews, information, features and city guides, has been launched and claims to be the first independent video hotel review site. Hotels.tv delivers live presentations, videos, downloads, interviews and localised content, as well as online booking.

And finally...
Musical tourism promotion

It's top marks for innovation to the Virginia Tourism Corporation for their latest online campaign. The Crooked Road website includes unique 'sing back' technology which enables visitors to build a personalised bluegrass song to send to friends and family.

'The Crooked Road is one of Virginia's richest destinations in terms of musical heritage,' said Alisa Bailey, president and CEO of the Virginia Tourism Corporation. 'This is an exciting combination of cutting-edge technology and traditional music that takes tourism promotion in a whole new direction. The new site aims to get visitors personally involved in Virginia's Crooked Road online before coming to visit in person.'