All eyes were on London earlier this month as the city was chosen to host the 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games. It will be the first time the games have been held in the capital for over sixty years but there was more than just pride at stake throughout the highly competitive bidding stage... analysts are suggesting that the real prize could be the estimated £2 billion additional tourism revenue that the games will generate.

Welcoming the decision to bring the games to the UK, Visit London's chief executive James Bidwell said: 'In the last two years London has increased its market share of global tourism. Between now and 2012, we will be focussing year on year to bring visitors to the capital, fully maximising the opportunities that holding the Olympic and Paralympic Games can bring.'

Analysts are predicting that between 50% and 75% of the additional revenue will originate from tourism. VisitBritain's chief executive, Tom Wright, commented: 'The games provide a great platform to boost the international marketing of both London and Britain as leisure, business and sporting destinations, particularly in new and emerging markets such as China, Greece, Korea, Poland and Thailand'.

Seven months after the largest tidal wave in human memory devastated the Indian Ocean coastline, much has been done to kick-start the recovery of the region's tourism industry. Money has been raised, energetic marketing campaigns have been launched, precautions taken to safeguard against further disasters ... but has it been enough to convince tourists to return?

Tourism recovery has varied widely around the region, with PATA, the Pacific Asia Travel Association, describing overall visitor figures for the first half of this year as disappointing. Airline capacity has been significantly reduced and many hotel chains have reported occupancy rates of 50% or below, although this is expected to rise in the second half of the year.

However, the Sri Lanka Tourism Board has reported increases in visitor arrivals of up to 35% over the previous year. A spokesman commented: 'In a cruel twist of fate, nature has presented Sri Lanka with a unique opportunity, and out of this great tragedy will come a world class tourism destination.'

In a message to the delegates at a recent TOURCOM international conference for travel industry communicators, the UN special envoy for tsunami-affected countries, former US President Bill Clinton said: 'Part of our task is to convince people around the world that so many places in the region have been rebuilt and are ready to accept tourists today.' He added: 'The public will come to realise how many tourist destinations are even safer and more welcoming than they were prior to the day the tsunami struck.'

DMOs are facing increasingly difficult decisions about the way they approach the opportunities presented by new consumer technologies. With the distinction between online and offline growing ever less clear, tourism professionals are having to think hard about the way in which they provide information.

New technology that will allow internet data, such as tourist attractions, traffic flow and photographs, to be 'meshed' with web-based maps and satellite imagery is set to revolutionise the way DMOs service their visitors' information needs.

Programming tools, released by Google, Amazon.com and Yahoo!, can be used to create a computer simulation of the physical world, providing travellers with a search experience that will allow them to see what a location is like and explore what they can do... before they arrive. Similar software from Microsoft, Virtual Earth, is due to launch later this summer.

Destination guidebooks that come in an electronic format and can be downloaded onto PCs, Macs and mobile devices such as Palm Pilots may seem futuristic but Rough Guides, a leading publisher of printed guidebooks, has created a series of e-books, each containing a mini CD with searchable information and live hyperlinks.

Mark Elllingham, founder of Rough Guides, described the move as: '...a radical step - not just a new series but a whole new format and approach. Travel has changed enormously in the past four or five years, so we went back to the drawing board to look at what a guidebook should do.'

It's clear that, as consumers' interconnectivity is increasing and technologies are converging, DMOs will need to be prepared to meet the challenges this will bring.

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East Asia and Pacific:
The world's most dynamic tourism region

With a growth rate of 29% in international tourist arrivals in 2004, East Asia and the Pacific has become the most dynamic tourism region in the world, according to the World Tourism Organisation. A number of new marketing initiatives, including the Yokoso Japan Campaign, Dynamic Korea, Indonesia: Ultimate Diversity and Discover Hong Kong, have contributed to this growth, along with a relaxation of visa restrictions in Vietnam and Indonesia.

New Zealand:
Funding boost announced

Additional funding of $8.9 million for 2005 - 2006 will be used to strengthen New Zealand's presence in the UK, USA and Japan and to build on the solid advertising base established with its 100% Pure New Zealand campaign, according to tourism minister Mark Burton.

He commented: 'We bucked international tourism trends, and actually increased spending and visitor numbers during what was quite a tough time for many countries over the last few years'. The 100% Pure New Zealand campaign, developed by NZ Tourism was launched 5 years ago and has since won several industry awards.

Meetings Industry:
Will recovery lead to change?

The signs of a confident recovery in the meetings, incentives, conferences and exhibitions industry (MICE) may be a prelude to a period of significant change. According to ICCA, the International Congress and Convention Assoication, Europe still has the largest global market share at 60%, with Asia's slice of the market increasing from 16% in 2003 to 18% in 2004. However, the EIBTM 2004 Industry Trends and Market Share Report (PDF file), suggests that competition from emerging markets such as India and China will increase dramatically in the future.

USA:
State tourism spending rises

State tourism offices plan to spend more than $600 million on travel and tourism development and promotion in 2004 - 2005, an increase of over 10% on last year's actual budget, according to the Travel Industry Association of America. Figures published by the TIA reveal that international advertising and sales promotion accounts for only $21 million of the total budget with most states opting to concentrate on domestic advertising and sales promotion.

Performance:
UK's new benchmarking tool

A new tool to help DMOs benchmark performance data has been launched by Destination Performance UK. DPUK, a membership organisation comprising 140 local authority tourism services, developed the tool following a detailed survey of finances, resources, outcomes, levels of service quality and performance indicators. More information is available from the national coordinator, David Phillips.

Student Travel:
Campaigns target lucrative market

The competition to attract foreign students is heating up with the launch of two new initiatives. In the UK, 'Study London' promotes the capital as the best place to be a student. The campaign includes an interactive online game and a downloadable promotional guide.

Students thinking of travelling or studying in Singapore can take advantage of an innovative orientation programme created by the Singapore Tourism Board which offers practical advice and support, presentations and tours and a free International Student Privilege Card. Plans are also in place to set up a learning hub for students to access education counselling and opportunities for integration with the local community.

Scotland:
Pilot project supports small tourism businesses

An innovative scheme, aimed at providing small tourism enterprises in Scotland with information, support and funding for training has been launched. Companies able to demonstrate how training will improve their performance, expand their organisation and help them enter new markets can apply for a Business Learning Account, provided by Scottish Enterprise.

The internet:
.travel becomes a reality

Registration of .travel domain names will begin in early September, following a four year independent evaluation by ICANN, the organisation responsible for managing the systems and protocols behind the internet.

The new industry-backed top level internet domain is sponsored by the Tralliance Corporation and the travel and tourism industry through the Travel Partnership Corporation.

India:
$10million online travel investment

MakeMyTrip.com, one of India's leading online travel companies, has secured $10 million investment from the SB Asia Infrastructure Fund (SAIR). The funding will enable the company to expand its market penetration and introduce customisable online transactions, including real-time flight and hotel reservations. Plans also include a range of outbound and domestic travel services for the leisure and small business traveller. Company founder and CEO, Deep Kalra, said: 'This investment is testimony to the inherent potential of the online travel industry in India.'

Asia:
New travel search engine

One of the first travel search engines to target specifically Asian consumers has been launched. Qunar.com, which translates as 'Where are you going?' in Mandarin Chinese, provides real-time availability and cost comparisons of flights, hotels and tour packages. English, Korean and Japanese versions are due to launch later this year.

Travel Search Engines:
Top five experience massive growth

The launch of Qunar.com comes at a time when travel search engines are enjoying unprecedented growth. According to reports by travel intelligence monitor Hitwise the market share of the top five travel meta-search engines - CheapTickets, Expedia, Orbitz, Travelocity, and Yahoo! Travel - grew by more than 300% in the first six months of the year.

New Zealand:
Consumer site wins Webby

New Zealand's consumer website has scooped first prize in the travel category of the Webby Awards, the online equivalent of the film industry's Oscars. The site was commended for honouring excellence in web design, creativity, usability and functionality.

Ireland:
Web sales top 60 percent

For the first time, online bookings figures have exceeded telephone and personal sales, with a rise of 12% from 49% in 2004. The value of these web-based tourism sales, according to Gulliver Ireland, the country's reservation and information system provider, reached nearly €8million in the first half of 2005, a 30% increase on the same period last year.