Spotlight: Destinations
President Obama Takes Actions to Increase Travel and Tourism in the United States
January 23, 2012
Assistant Editor’s Note: The following statement from the United State’s White House press office was released on January 19th 2012. This morning, President Obama will sign an Executive Order and announce new initiatives to significantly increase travel and tourism in the United States. The U.S. tourism and travel industry is a substantial component of U.S. GDP and employment, representing 2.7% of GDP and 7.5 million jobs in 2010 – with international travel to the United States supporting 1.2 million jobs alone. The travel and tourism industry projects that more than 1 million American jobs could be created over the next decade if the U.S. increased its share of the international travel market. Today’s announcement offers important steps to bolster job creation through a range of steps to better promote the United States as a tourism destination and improve secure visa processing. This is the most recent of a series of executive actions the President has announced to put... Read More →
Spotlight: Destinations
UK Tour Operators Face ‘Make or Break’ 2012, Says KPMG
January 18, 2012
According to an article on InAudit.com, tax audit and advisory conglomerate KPMG has warned that many United Kingdom tour operators will go under this year unless they make undertake big strategic changes in their business models. Such changes would be in response to a challenging market environment where money-pinched consumers are flocking to low cost carriers and online bookings, and are to see increases in fuel and air surcharges. Richard Hathaway, KPMG’s Head of Travel, Leisure and Tourism, said: The traditional high-volume tour operating model based on customers pre-booking flights and accommodation packages well in advance is in long term decline as more and more travellers opt for self-packaging online and niche solutions. To survive, operators must ensure that they are flexible and in a position of financial strength. Operators who do not adapt their business model to meet the demands of today’s holidaymakers will face increased risks in the next year, including takeover or... Read More →
Spotlight: Destinations
Zimbabwe: Introduce Dual Pricing System, Mzembi Tells Tour Operators
January 17, 2012
According to an article on All Africa by Patrick Chitumba, the Minister of Tourism and Hospitality Industry in Zimbabwe, Walter Mzembi, has indicated that tour operators must introduce a dual pricing system for domestic and international tourists or face government regulation, as locals are being pushed out of the industry due to high prices. Recently, the Zimbabwe Parks and Wildlife Management Authority local entry fees of US$7, as opposed to the regular US$30. However, adventure operators maintain prices unreasonable for local families to afford: Rates for both locals and international tourists per person charged by operators include sunset boat cruise US$40, walk with the lions US$90, elephant ride US$90, bungee jumping US$120, game drive US$110, airport transfer to town US$20 one way. Mzembi stated: Locals do not have excess income like regional or international tourists and the fact that they were beginning to understand and appreciate tourism means there is a need to give them... Read More →
Spotlight: Destinations
UAE Looks to Gain Major Boost as Global Tour Operators Look to Off-set Losses from ‘Arab Spring’ Movements
December 13, 2011
Thomas Cook, Europe’s second-largest tour operator, will bolster its tour offerings to the United Arab Emirates (UAE) in 2012 to try and offset almost £20m in losses after it had to cancel trips to Egypt and Tunisia in response to the unrest caused by the Arab Spring – a move likely to be echoed by other major industry players, according to an article by Shane McGinley in ArabianBusiness.com. Egypt alone had previously accounted for seven percent of Thomas Cook’s profit, and the company had to obtain a rescue loan due to assisting vacationers affected by the events. McGinley elaborated on the toll in the region: The Arab Spring has taken a toll on tourism in cash-strapped nations from Jordan and Egypt to Morocco and Tunisia, costing the region more than $7bn, according to the Arab Tourism Organization in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia… Tourist arrivals to the Middle East are predicted to fall six percent across 2011 due to the impact of regional political unrest, the World Travel... Read More →
Spotlight: Destinations
U.S. Travel Applauds Western Governors Association Support of Visa Reform
December 13, 2011
Support continues to build nationwide among policymakers to reform the U.S. visa system in order to welcome more international visitors, create millions of American jobs and add billions to the U.S. economy. The Western Governors Council, an organization representing the Governors of 19 states and three U.S.-Flag Pacific islands, adopted a resolution to improve visa approval procedures for international travelers visiting the United States. The resolution supports visa reform advocated by the U.S. Travel Association, including: Setting a visa processing standard of two weeks and using visa fees to hire enough State Department personnel to focus only on processing travel visas while maintaining the same strict security standards; Introducing videoconferencing to conduct visa interviews in key markets; Expanding the Visa Waiver Program to new countries; and Granting Chinese travelers visas that are valid for at least five years versus the current one-year visa. “During a time of high... Read More →
Spotlight: Destinations
Pancakes with the President: Iceland Tourism Gets Creative
November 15, 2011
According to a recent article by cnbc.com, Iceland is engaging in a unique campaign to revive its faltering tourism industry, which has yet to fully recover from the the volcanic ash cloud last year that so badly disrupted both air travel and further impaired the country’s economic woes since 2008. The small country is now advertsiing “Inspired by Iceland,” a project initiated by President Ólafur Grímsson and revolves around engaging tourists with Icelanders – locals, including politicians are opening their homes up for homestays as well as other colorful social attractions: If you have interest in pancakes with a president, sushi with a mayor, or a footbath with a government minister, this may be the time to make a trip to Iceland… “We want visitors to our country to become Icelanders, to ‘be Icelandic.’ The ash cloud last year made us think really hard about what coming to Iceland meant,” said Katrín Júlíusdóttir, minister for tourism. To... Read More →
Spotlight: Destinations
Middle Eastern Travel Growing Stronger, IATA Reports
October 11, 2011
Assistant Editor’s Note: The International Air Transport Association (IATA) has issued a report around the growth of Middle Eastern aviation market share, published here as it is of interest to our members in terms of global travel trends and shifts. Investment in Middle East infrastructure has proved a wise decision, with the region’s global aviation market share growing from 4% to 11% in the past decade. That figure is likely to rise given that the region is spending some $200 billion on new aircraft in the next 15 years. About $100 billion has been committed to airport expansion. Dubai has become the figurehead for the region’s progress. Aside from Dubai International, the emirate has opened Dubai World Central, which will become the world’s largest airport, ultimately handling 160 million passengers a year and 12 million tonnes of cargo. “If London Heathrow had a third runway, would we have seen the BA-Iberia merger?” asks Paul Griffiths, CEO of Dubai Airports. “We... Read More →
Spotlight: Destinations
Foreign Investor Interest Crystallizing in $15-Billion Tourism Project in Russia
October 11, 2011
New Agreement Signings Add Impulse to Planned Mega-Development of Caucasus Mountain Skiing, Hot Springs Spa and Caspian Sea Beach Resorts –Cardinal Emphasis on Ecological Sustainability Sochi, RUSSIA – Foreign investors will join Russian political and commercial elite in this southern seaside resort town tomorrow at a high-profile government economic conference to sign the first large-scale international agreements toward development of a sustainable tourism industry in the North Caucasus, Europe’s most unspoilt alpine region. Against the backdrop of the 10th Annual Sochi International Investment Forum, the first ground-breaking deals involving French, Korean and German companies are scheduled to be inked, providing impetus for the stream of international investment that will be required to implement this $15-billion development project. President Dmitri Medvedev announced plans earlier this year to build a constellation of varied resorts spanning the several republics... Read More →
Spotlight: Destinations
License to Kill: Should China Grant Foreign Tourists Visas to Hunt Limited Numbers of Protected Species?
September 30, 2011
A debate around granting international tourists special licenses to hunt protected animals as part of ‘adventure travel’ tours is taking place in China. A website dedicated to environmental issues, chinadialogue, recently reported that a special committee has granted permission to a group of American citizens to hunt the Bharal and Tibetan gazelle in the Dulan International Hunting Ground in China’s far western region of Qinghai - animals otherwise protected from hunting under Chinese law: While trophy-hunting tourism has largely been out of the news for the past five years – since public anger forced a halt to the first and only auction of international hunting quotas – the debate has been quietly raging on: does allowing select hunting ultimately benefit wildlife, or lead to disaster? …Wang Wei is president of China’s largest international hunting firm, Beijing-based Zheng’an Travel Agency, also known as China Adventure Travel. Speaking at an event organised... Read More →
Spotlight: Destinations
ITB Berlin Reports on European Sports Tourism Trend, Hiking & Cycling Top Trends
September 15, 2011
Higher growth than cruises – German tourists keenest on sports – Austria the most popular destination for sporting holidaymakers Sporting holidays are destined to become a winning trend. According to the latest survey of the World Travel Monitor®, commissioned by ITB Berlin, over the last five years there has been a double-digit increase in sporting holidays among European tourists, which has even overtaken cruises, which five years ago ranked ahead of sporting holidays. Germans in particular are keenest on sports, and account for 42 per cent of the nine million sporting holidays taken by Europeans abroad. At 14 per cent the Dutch rank second. In other European markets sporting holidays make up only six per cent or less. Among sporting holidaymakers the most popular destination is Austria, which among Europeans attracts 24 per cent of the market, followed by Italy and Germany, which each account for 11 per cent. During the last five years Germans also preferred Austria for testing... Read More →
