By the Numbers
$1.3 Trillion Hispanic Market Is Focus of Industry Task Force
January 18, 2012
Assistant Editor’s Note: This article, by Nick Verrastro, was originally published on TravelMarketReport, and is re-published here with full permission. Las Vegas, NV – Tapping the $1.3 trillion travel market of U.S. Hispanics is the focus of a joint ASTA-NTA task force announced at NTA’s annual convention here. The task force will research the needs of Hispanic travelers and educate members of both associations about how to serve the growing market effectively. Miami travel agent Olga Ramudo, president of Express Travel, is heading the task force. A member of both ASTA and NTA, Ramudo noted that this is the first time the two industry associations are “jointly getting behind this market.” Photo courtesy of TravelMarketReport.com ‘Enormous potential’ “I’m passionate about serving the Hispanic travel market, which holds enormous potential for the travel industry,” she said. “The numbers are powerful.” Hispanics have higher discretionary spending than... Read More →
By the Numbers
International Tourism to Reach One Billion in 2012
January 16, 2012
International tourist arrivals grew by over 4% in 2011 to 980 million, according to the latest UNWTO World Tourism Barometer. With growth expected to continue in 2012, at a somewhat slower rate, international tourist arrivals are on track to reach the milestone one billion mark later this year. International tourist arrivals grew by 4.4% in 2011 to a total 980 million, up from 939 million in 2010, in a year characterised by a stalled global economic recovery, major political changes in the Middle East and North Africa and natural disasters in Japan. By region, Europe (+6%) was the best performer, while by subregion South-America (+10%) topped the ranking. Contrary to previous years, growth was higher in advanced economies (+5.0%) than in emerging ones (+3.8%), due largely to the strong results in Europe, and the setbacks in the Middle East and North Africa. “International tourism hit new records in 2011 despite the challenging conditions,” said UNWTO Secretary-General, Taleb Rifai.... Read More →
By the Numbers
U.S. Lost Travel Jobs in 2010, Even with Increased Visitor Spending
December 13, 2011
Despite high inbound travel numbers (a record of 60 million) and increased tourism spending (+12 percent) in 2010, employment in the tourism industry declined for the third year in a row, according to an article by Danny King in Travel Weekly. The decline totals almost 1.1 million from 2007 to 2010, and likely continued last year as travel companies look to recoup losses or boost productivity before adding new hires. The article is based on updated information from the U.S. Department of Commerce’s International Trade Administration last month, which stated: Clearly, the economic downturn has taken a major toll on this industry. In fact, the three years of declines in 2008, 2009 and 2010 are more than double the number of jobs lost in the three years following 9/11. King reports that while travel employment data from 2011 is not yet available, the U.S. Travel Association has released information that numbers may be rebounding, although there’s no indication yet of when a full... Read More →
By the Numbers
PATA: Asia/Pacific Visitor Arrivals Up 6% in September
December 11, 2011
Bangkok: The Pacific Asia Travel Association (PATA) today released its preliminary results of international visitor arrivals into Asia/Pacific destinations1 for September 2011. Figures at hand show a collective year-on-year increase of 5.7%, a decline of half a percentage point from the previous month’s growth rate. For the first nine months of 2011, all Asia Pacific sub-regions maintained a positive performance, although at different levels of growth as follows: - South Asia + 14% - Southeast Asia + 12% - Northeast Asia + 4% - The Pacific + 1% South Asia led the pack for the month of September with an 11% increase. It added nearly 60,000 more international visitors to the sub-region over the corresponding period last year. For the four smaller volume destinations reporting source market information (i.e. Bhutan, Maldives, Nepal and Sri Lanka) arrivals from Asia increased significantly in terms of both volume and growth rate. The number of arrivals from Asian origin markets – supported... Read More →
By the Numbers
New Research from Amadeus Pinpoints How High-speed Rail Must Evolve to Meet Changing Traveller Demands
December 11, 2011
New research from Amadeus pinpoints how high-speed rail must evolve to meet changing traveller demands • Online survey by YouGov on behalf of Amadeus asked survey respondents in six countries about their future rail travel preferences, to reveal new insights that will inform the new age of rail • Nearly 60 per cent of adults would like to be able to reserve connecting rail travel and other modes of transport in advance when booking their long distance, high speed rail journey Madrid, Spain – Amadeus, a leading travel technology partner and transaction processor for the global travel and tourism industry, announced the results of a pan-European rail passenger survey conducted by YouGov, the leading professional research and consulting organisation. Over 7,000 rail passengers across six European countries – France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Sweden and the United Kingdom – were polled in the survey which explores traveller expectations and preferences for rail travel as long-distance,... Read More →
By the Numbers
U.S. Travelers Set to Return to Europe – New UNWTO/ETC Report
November 15, 2011
Despite the downward revision of the countries’ economic growth forecast, US tour operators predict US travelers will return to Europe in growing numbers. This is the main finding of a new World Tourism Organization (UNWTO)/European Travel Commission (ETC) report on US outbound travel presented at the World Travel Market with the support of the European Tour Operators Association (ETOA) (London, UK, 8 November 2011). The report offers reassuring insights into the US outbound market, indicating that in spite of the downward revision of national economic growth forecast, US travelers will gradually return to Europe in growing numbers (detailed overview of some of the main findings follows this release). “Although the industry’s focus has turned towards emerging markets like the BRIC countries, we should not forget Europe’s most significant market, the USA,” said Petra Hedorfer, ETC President. “In 2010, Europe attracted 11 million US citizens, a figure expected to rise... Read More →
By the Numbers
Social Media Continues to Play Role in Travel Decisions
November 15, 2011
Social media sites such as TripAdvisor and Facebook have increased their importance to holidaymakers when deciding where to go over the past 12 months, reveals the World Travel Market 2011 Industry Report released at WTM today. More than 1,000 Brits who had taken at least one holiday of seven days or more during the past year were polled for the survey. Four in ten (40%) referred to social media this year, an increase on the 36% who used social media to book their 2010 holiday. TripAdvisor remains the dominant brand, used by two-thirds of social media users. Facebook and travel and tourism web sites each attracted around one in four holidaymakers. Blogs are still struggling to become a mainstream source of travel information, with only 10% of social media users viewing them. More than one-third of people using social media ended up changing their hotels as a result of what they found on social media networks, a similar finding to 2010. The influence over the choice of operator, agent, resort,... Read More →
Business Insights By the Numbers Social Media Trend Watch
Social Media Round-up: Why Facebook Is Now Your Most Important Tool (or Not) and How to Use it (Or Not)
October 12, 2011
by Nicole Petrak, Assistant Editor and ATTA Special Projects Unless you have been out in the field for the last few weeks (with your head buried in the sand), you’ve seen the buzz around the new Facebook changes, which have drawn everything from near rapturous reviews from techie press to renewed public outcry around privacy issues. Whatever your take, its clear these updates are going to continue, and as they develop, likely translate into big opportunities for businesses and brands to extend their reach to consumers – check out a more in-depth analysis of these shifts here. Facebook is moving full steam ahead in their attempt to become the global interface for people to connect, share, and increasingly research, influence, shop and purchase. According to The L2 Digital IQ Index®: Travel, a study by digital research & consulting organization L2 Think Tank, Facebook already dominates the social web when it comes to the travel industry (a key section in their report is titled... Read More →
By the Numbers
Tourists from Mideast, Europe Are Crowding into Turkey
September 15, 2011
Inbound Turkish tourism is undergoing a major boom, according to a recent Wall Street Journal article by Joe Parkinson, due to the country’s weak currency and its stability compared to neighboring countries in the region, which have been economically disturbed by various forms of political unrest. Istanbul hotels are reporting the highest occupancy in all of Europe, and many conference halls and beach resorts are booked between one and two years out. The latest data on Turkey’s $25 billion tourism industry show the number of tourists—local and foreign—increased by almost 11% in the first seven months of this year compared with the same period in 2010, according to the Ministry of Tourism. And 2010 was a bumper year. The visitors include record numbers arriving from Europe and the Mideast. The crowds are bringing with them a welcome injection of foreign currency. A heavy increase of Middle Eastern tourists has also been noted, with Iran falling close behind Germany and the... Read More →
By the Numbers
U.S. Department of Commerce Releases First Cultural Heritage Visitor Profile
August 22, 2011
International Cultural Heritage Traveler Arrivals Up 14 Percent Over 2009 The U.S. Department of Commerce announces the release of its first Cultural Heritage Visitor (CHV) Profile. The CHV profile showcases select characteristics of overseas visitors who participated in one or more of the following activities: art gallery/museum, concert/play/musical, cultural heritage sites, ethnic heritage sites, American Indian community, historical places, and national parks. The profile can be accessed directly from the Office of Travel and Tourism Industries’ website: http://www.tinet.ita.doc.gov/outreachpages/download_data_table/2010-cultural-heritage-profile.pdf The United States welcomed nearly 15.4 million overseas cultural heritage travelers in 2010, outpacing the average growth of all overseas arrivals to the United States (14% and 11%, respectively). Since 2004, the number of travelers participating in CHV activities has increased from 10.6 million (68.7% of the market) to the current... Read More →
