The year 2012, for most markets worldwide, is being seen as a year of caution, where the best

scenario for most developed economies would be to avoid negative growth. In the Indian context, TND believes that 2012 will be a year riding high on expectations from the government, for it to be more assertive on the global platform and more involved with the industry at home, and of course if there is one wish, that is common to all, it is the wish for the global economy to recover soon. The Union Government’s Budget 2012-13 played spoilsport to the Indian hospitality industry. Contrary to the recommendations put forth by the industry, no noticeable tax relief or benefit has been granted to the tourism industry. Without offering much, it has in fact, further disheartened the industry by proposing a two percent hike in service tax from the existing 10 percent to 12 percent. The industry had been demanding a five percent tax cut or a complete withdrawal since November 2011. We look at the market sentiment and bring you the Indian tourism industry’s ‘Wish list for the financial year 2012-13’:

Subhash Verma, President, ADTOI (Association of Domestic Tour Operator India) & Chairman – Travel PlusWish 1: I wish the government would give some incentives, if not subsidies, to domestic travel that would benefit the end domestic traveller via tour

operators. Wish 2: Government to consider some tax incentive for every family once a year for travelling within India, and offer some income tax rebate as well.Wish 3: LTC travel, which is now applicable only to PSU/Government sector, must be open to private sector employees as well.Wish4: We have been demanding seamless travel within states for many years, and the rationalisation of taxes in different states must be done without any further delay.

Arjun Sharma, Managing Director, Le Passage to India (LPTI) It is more of wishful thinking that something positive and measurable will eventually happen! The list has been pruned many times over, and issues and concerns debated, but in vain. Wish 1: I wish the Ministry of Tourism had more teeth and powers to act as ‘more than a facilitator’, on requests of the industry, with other concerned stake holders, so as to make tourism a priority on their agendas .Wish 2: We wish that all stakeholders in the government work together fo--r the growth of the industry by coming together under one platform, so that tourism gets the priority it deserves, and decisions atthe Central and State level are taken collectively and timely.

Tamir Kobrin, General Manager, The Leela Palace New DelhiWish 1: In addition to wishing for an improvement in the global economic scenario and an increase in tourist numbers, both long and short haul, I would like to wish for a visible increase in consumer confidence vis-à-vis spends on quality. Wish 2: It is imperative that the Indian government eases the Indian visa regulations to give a boost to spontaneous travel.

Wish 3: Luxury travel is the key catalyst to our success and this is bolstered through economic confidence and stability, which the government and authorities must aim to achieve.

Rajeev Menon, Area Vice President – India, Pakistan, Maldives And Malaysia, Marriott InternationalWish 1: The wish list starts with the need for better infrastructure, which we have been emphasising upon for a long time. It still remains the single biggest challenge, and it is imperative to expedite and improve basic requirements. Wish 2: We need ease while conducting business in the country. Taxation, licenses, and the long list of bureaucratic processes are a major hindrance.

Ajay Bakaya, Executive Director, Sarovar Hotels & ResortsWi sh 1 : I w i sh f o r g r e at e r professionalism in the industry in terms of project management and related skills. It is a bit of a challenge to arrive at accurate dates or deadlines and costs of a project. Wish 2: There is a wish for a larger mid-scale hotel segment. It is difficult to operate in the mid-scale sector mainly due tothe high cost of land. Players do not prefer to buy expensive land and opt for SEZs or zones with high concentration of BPO activities etc.

Praveen Chawla, Vice President Operations, Asian Hotels West LimitedWish 1: We wish that the current year sees the world economy stabilising and the Indian economy growing. Wish 2: Also, the government should change its stance from being slow and passive being aggressive. The government needs to send signals to the world that India is a safe place for investments and tourism, and put reforms back on track.

` 50 / us $5 16-30 April 2012Volume i l issue 11 pages 24 www.travelnewsdigest.in

Wish list 2012-13: Indian Hospitality & Tourism Industry

Brazil tourism leading in Latin America

Ministry of Tourism and MoCA sign MoU

1. Proactive Government

2. Tax incentives

3. Infrastructure - high time!

4. Consumer confidence

5. Ease in visa regulations

6. Mid-scale hotel segment

etc. etc.

Wish List 2012-13

05

Inauguration of VUSACOM- India Chapter 02

17

Events 02 n Americas 04 n Africa 06 n Caribbean 08 n Europe 09 n Asia 13 n India 17 n Interview 21 n Oceania 22

The Taiwan Tourism Bureau’s (TTB) Educational Seminar was recently held in Mumbai. The aim of the seminar was to educate and update travel agents

vis-a -vis TTB’s tourism products and initiatives. The proceedings were kicked off by Noel Saxena of the TTB Representation Office in India. TTB had invited Outbound Travel Operators Association of India (OTOAI) to share the platform. This was the first event of the OTOAI’s Western Chapter that facilitated their introduction to the travel fraternity of Mumbai.

Pune joins the TTF circuit

Visit USA Committee-India, (VUSACOM), was inaugurated by US Secretary of Commerce, John Bryson, in Mumbai and was attended by many prominent members of the travel industry. The Indian chapter has been established at the behest of the US Commercial Service, with the purpose of increasing tourist arrivals from India to the US, and will function under the guidance of the US Consulate.

President of VUSACOM India, Ashwini Kakkar said that VUSACOM India was delighted to have Secretary Bryson “kick off” the proceedings. The Committee has plans for aggressive expansion on a pan India basis and aims to establish many regional chapters by the end of 2012. Speaking onthe plans for expansion, Vice President Manoj Gursahani stated, “We will be setting up chapters in mini metros like Jaipur, Surat,

Coimbatore and Chandigarh, because there is a lot of growth spurt of SMEs in these regions”. He added that the Committee’s official website would soon be developed into an interactive medium that members could use to facilitate connections with hoteliers and travel and hospitality companies in the US.

Talking about some of the other ‘concrete actions’ the US government has taken for making visits as easy as possible, Secretary Bryson said, “The US State Department has established a pilot programme that will allow certain applicants to apply for visas without being interviewed in person by a US consular officer. We will continue to find more ways to make travel from India to the US as simple as possible”. He ended his address with an assurance of the US government’s commitment to VUSACOM-India.

In this issue : TTB Mumbai, Indo-Zimbabwe Travel Council, Malaysia Water Festival, VUSACOM-IndiaEvents

Inauguration of VUSACOM-India

Board of DirectorsExecutive Director – PublishingHarsh Agarwal

Publishing DirectorSantosh Goenka

Executive Director – MarketingGazanfar Ibrahim

Executive Director – FinanceRajiv Agarwal

Chairman & Managing DirectorSanjiv Agarwal

EditorialEditor & PublisherSanjiv Agarwal

Editorial ConsultantNeelam Mathews

Managing EditorLotica Thukral

Associate EditorSharmila Chand

Assistant EditorUrvee Modwel

Editorial TeamManisha DhingraPritisha BorthakurDebasree Banerjee

MarketingGeneral ManagersNaresh PurohitJaideep Sinha

Chief ManagerAnurag Kumar

Dy. Chief ManagersNaveen TandonGirish Gopal

Project ManagerAnant Kumar

Consultant – Marketing & AlliancesSanjiv Bhasin

ProductionMedia DirectorJune Mukherjee

Manager – New Media ProjectsDebasree Banerjee

Design TeamShipra Sharma Jaipal SharmaDilip MannaTulika SahaHirak Roy

Web ManagersApurv BhagatDipika Dey

Events MarketingGeneral ManagersRaj Kapoor SinghTarique EbrahimR MaheshAzmin Irani

Project ManagersFatima D’CostaSriram SureshArif SiddiqueYC AnilSandeep Trivedi

Assistant ManagersShruti AggarwalPratiksha RajapureNidhi Gandhi

AdministrationChief Manager – OperationsBrahmadutt Upadhyay

Accounts ManagerUma Sureka

Administrative Assistants Durga KrishnamurthySuman Pramanik

Travel and Tourism Fair (TTF) 2012 will now woo Pune. Pune will now get an opportunity to play a vital role in the tourism sector. Selecting Pune was a strategic decision since it has become one of India’s primary revenue generators. The TTF portfolio already encompasses eight cities - Chennai, Bangalore, Mumbai, New Delhi, Kolkata, Hyderabad, Ahmedabad and Surat; Pune will be the ninth participating city. The dates for TTF Pune are September 14, 15 and 16, 2012. This fair gives an opportunity to organisations, based in India as well as abroad,

to display their products and services to the travel and tourism industry as a whole. TTF has

a committed visitorship and a large number of foreign country representations.

Over 1.5 million Central Asians travelled in 2011, and the figure is expected to grow in 2012. Outbound tour agencies now offer travel all over the world. Yet there are still many problems plaguing the outbound sector in this region; the most common of which is poor client service. For a variety of reasons, Central Asians face problems in getting visas, booking a room in their chosen hotels, buying an airline ticket on the planned dates, etc. These issues and more will be analysed by leading specialists at the Discovery Central Asia Travel Forum. The travel forum will take place in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, on April 28-29.

TTB’s education seminar in Mumbai

Central Asia Travel Forum

‘

In our last issue, we incorrectly named the founder of Neemrana Hotels (Page 7). The information now stands corrected: Aman Nath & Francis Wacziarg, Co-founders, Neemrana Hotels.

Mohan Tickoo was wrongly designated in the National Tourism Awards feature (Page 5). He is the Managing Director of Kash Venture Travels.

TTFKolkata : 13, 14, 15 July 2012

Hyderabad : 20, 21, 22 July 2012

Ahmedabad : 24, 25, 26 Aug 2012

Surat : 31 Aug , 1, 2 Sept 2012

Mumbai : 7, 8, 9 Sept 2012

Pune : 14, 15, 16 Sept 2012

Chennai : 4, 5, 6 Jan 2013

Bangalore : 11, 12, 13 Jan 2013

2012

Travel News Digest (TND) is printed and published by Sanjiv Kumar Agarwal on behalf of Fairfest Media Ltd.

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Editor - Sanjiv Kumar Agarwal

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responsibility can be taken for accuracy.

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Volume I - Issue 11

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The Deputy Prime Minister of the Republic of Zimbabwe, A r t hu r O G Mu t a mb a r a c o m m i s s i o n e d t h e In d i a Zimbabwe Travel Council (IZTC) in New Delhi last month. The key objective behind the formation of the IZTC is to promote a better rapport between outbound and inbound tour operators in India and Zimbabwe. In his keynote address at the commissioning ceremony, Mutambara stated that tourism is the fore-runner of trade, and

economic investment thereby being the mainstay of economic development. He stressed that tourism between the two countries needs to be differently handled and can’t simply be business as usual.

‘Art and Tourism’ is the first international fair dedicated to cultural tourism and art. It will be held in Florence between May 18 – 20 at the Fortezza da Basso in Italy. This new trade show will see the best of national and

international cultural and major tour operators converge in the heart of Italy.

Recent market data estimates t h a t a p p r o x i m a t e l y 3 0 0 million tourists visit ‘cultural’ destinations annually.

Indo-Zimbabwe Travel Council commissioned

Malaysia Water Festival

3 EVENTS TrAVel neWS dIgeST AprIl 2012

The annual conference of the Vietnam Olympic Committee said that an important task of the Committee in 2012 would be implementing a campaign for hosting the ASIAD 2019. This is also defined as a key task of Vietnam’s sport sector from now to 2020.

United Arab Emirates soon plans to head to China for a five city roadshow aimed at building inbound visitation from China, which is now the emirate’s eighth largest source market for hotel guests.

The recently held Meedex, the meetings and events fair, at Carrousel du Louvre in Paris, France was attended by about 1,200 visitors. Meedex comprised over 150 exhibitors from 25 countries and was attended by influential representatives of companies from France and Belgium who organise international events around the world.

The Saudi Commission for Tourism and Antiquities (SCTA) recently organised a high profile forum on Saudi Travel and Tourism Investment at the Riyadh International Exhibition Center as part of its initiative to promote domestic tourism in the Kingdom.

Tourism Minister, India, Subodh Kant Sahai is looking at FIFA world Cup for advertising India as a tourist destination. If all goes well, you just may be able to spot Incredible India banners and other advertisements showcasing India as a tourist destination during the 2014 FIFA World Cup in Brazil.

The India Tourism Development Corporation (ITDC) and the

National Scheduled Castes Finance and Development

Corporation (NSFDC) signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to jointly conduct a skill development programme for scheduled caste youth to facilitate their employment in the tourism and hospitality sector. The MoU, signed by Chairman & Managing Director, ITDC, Lalit K Panwar and Chairman & Managing Director, NSFDC, Hardip Singh Kingra, is an initiative to promote the Ministry of Tourisms’ ‘Hunar Se Rozgar’ programme. H S Kingra believes that this is the one way to prepare our youth for the future. “Skills are the only way to succeed. Skills are good, but multi-skills are more important. We are empowering people, and that is

a good thing,” said Kingra at the event, which took place at Ashoka Hotel in New Delhi. The objective of the MoU is to pool strengths and resources of both associations to impart vocational training.

Lalit Panwar reinforced that this is the time to be socially relevant. “You cannot have an island of prosperity surrounded by a sea of poverty. There is a need for social development through tourism. Our goal is to have 100 percent placement”. He also said that he dreams of having an ITDC university of hospitality in the future.Last year, ITDC provided job skills to 1590 youth, exceeding its target of 1500. It’s new target is to provide job skills to 5000 youth.

MoU signed for skill development

FIFA to promote Indian tourism

In Brief

Peru Travel Mart (PTM) is scheduled to take place from May 19-22 at The Westin Lima Hotel & Convention Centre in Lima.

PromPeru and Canatur (Peru’s Tourism Chamber) wish to showcase an event comprising of Peruvian tourism sellers including

tour operators, hotels and airlines and over 150 international buyers. PromPeru’s coordinator for Asia Pacific, Rosana Guinea, believes Peru Travel Mart is a perfect opportunity to educate operators and highlight new areas of interest and new products in Peru.

Guinea said, “We have seen a number of significant developments in Peru within the tourism sector, particularly with new areas like northern pre-Inca Moche Route opening up to welcome tourists”.

Peru Travel Mart 2012 in May

Florence to host first Art and Tourism Fair

Organised by the events unit of the Ministry of Tourism, Malaysia, the annual water festival will take place from April 27 till 29th. Highlights of the event are the International Fishing Tournament, the Round Island Kayak Challenge and the Labuan Cross Channel Swimming Challenge. There will be other activities like shore fishing, Borneo Battle of the Band, beach volleyball, and the Bike Festival etc. Also on offer will be water sports like yachting, boat rides, and fishing.

HPI, a regular survey based on traffic at hotelbooking.com, surveys hotel prices across major cities in the world. This year’s findings revealed that Americans’ top three favourite domestic cities are New York City, Las Vegas and Orlando. It also reported an increase of five percent in average hotel room prices in North America. New York City ranks as the number one US destination for foreign travellers. The survey proved that the demand for travel to New York City, Honolulu, Boston and Miami would naturally make them the most expensive US cities to

visit. On the other hand, Columbia, Macon, Dothan and Lima were among the least expensive.

In this issue : Cajun Country, Brazil, Columbia, Mexico, AcadianaAmericas

The head of the Federal Aviation Ad m i n i s t r a t i o n s ’ ( FA A ) commercial space office has said that the Obama administration is prepping for a space tourism industry, which in 10 years is expected to be worth $ one billion. Rocket planes and spaceships are being built and tested, with

commercial flight services targeted to begin in 2013 or 2014.

Associate Administrator for the FAA’s Office of Commercial Space Transportation George Nield, said “This is a new and growing industry. If you look at the last 25 years, almost all the launches were for the same basic

purposes - to launch a satellite, like a telecommunications satellite, to orbit - and that level of business for that part of the industry is continuing today”. NASA has hired two companies to fly cargo to the International Space Station, a $100 billion research complex orbiting 386 km above Earth. Also on the horizon are commercial flights that reach at least 100 km above Earth, exposing passengers to a few minutes of weightlessness and a view of Earth juxtaposed against the black sky of space. Virgin Galactic, an offshoot of Richard Branson’s Virgin Group, already has collected about $60 million in deposits for rides that cost $200,000 per person.

US space tourism to launch soon Celebrate in ‘The Festival Capital of America’

Hotel rates increase Despite reports of violence and repeated warnings against travelling to Mexico, the Carnival cruise line has decided to invest more than $150 million in helping the expansion of port infrastructure in Mexico.

Carnival announced that it will invest on both the Pacific and Caribbean Coasts, including nine new projects. A cruise terminal in Cozumel and another in Baja California Sur state is also on the project list. Carnival President and CEO, Gerald Cahill, said, “Mexico is an attractive destination for the development of tourism business”. However,

Cancun tourism leaders are trying to counter alerts constantly being issued by US authorities, through the ‘Stop Warning, Our Tourists Are OK’ campaign.

Authorities in Texas have

issued alerts warning students against going to Mexico this spring. Each year, during spring, Cancun and the Riviera Maya welcome an average of 50,000 students from across the US.

Carnival to invest in Mexican port

Known as ‘The Festival Capital of America,’ Acadiana, celebrates a festival to honor everything from cracklins to crawfish, gumbo to Zydeco, accompanied with lots of

traditional fanfare and gaiety to bring in the crowds. Here’s a sampling of upcoming 2012 celebrations in towns throughout the country:

The Adventure Travel and Trade Association (ATTA) that comprises of about 800 members has recently joined hands with a member-based travel trade organisation, American Tourism Society (ATS). ATS’ motive behind this decision is to bring its geographic specialisations within The Baltics, Central Europe, The Mediterranean Sea, Russia and the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) into the limelight.

Last December, the ATS Chairman, Emeritus Alex

Harris, along with the ATS Board of Directors voted in favour of dissolving the ATS entity and encouraging its members for transitioning into ATTA. Since then, 59 ATS members have made the transition. Talking about this convergence, ATTA President, Shannon Stowell said, “Both our organisations bring strength and value. The time is right to come together to make greater strides in influencing critical issues such as sustainable development and responsible growth in tourism”.

ATS joins hands with ATTA

1 New York City NY2 Las Vegas Nev3 Orlando Fla4 Miami Fla5 Los Angeles Calif6 San Francisco Calif7 Honolulu Hawaii8 Chicago Ill9 San Diego Calif10 Washingto n DC

Top Ten us Cities for international Visitors

AprilApril 25-29: Festival International de Louisiane, Lafayette, La (Lafayette Parish)

MayMay 4-6 : Breaux Bridge Crawfish Festival, Breaux Bridge, La4 (St Martin Parish)

JuneJune 22-23: Smoked Meat Festival (Le Festivale de la Viande Boucanee),Ville Platte, La (Evangeline Parish).

JulyJuly 7 : Lebeau Zydeco Festival, Lebeau, La (St Landry Parish)

AugustAug 23-26 : Le Cajun Music Awards and Festival, Lafayette (Lafayette Parish), Aug 16-18 : Gueydan Duck Festival, Gueydan, La (Vermilion Parish)

SeptemberAug 30-Sept 3 : Louisiana Shrimp

and Petroleum Festival, Morgan City (St. Mary Parish) Sept 7-8 : Cajun Food Fest, Lydia, La (Iberia Parish)

OctoberOct 12-14: Festivals Acadiens e t C r e o l e s , L a f a y e t t e (Lafayette Parish)

Oct 18-21: International Rice Festival, Crowley (Acadia Parish)

Oct 21: St Martinville Pepper Festival, St Martinville (St Martin Parish)

NovemberNov 3-4: Giant Omelette Celebration, Abbeville, La (Vermilion Parish) Nov 7-11 : Rayne Frog Festival, Rayne, La (Acadia Parish)

DecemberCajun & Creole Christmas, parades, dancing and more in different locations throughout the region between Thanksgiving and New Year’s Day.

Destination WatchMachu picchu, peru

A UneSCO World Heritage SiteThe most visited tourist destination in PeruFamous sites- Funerary rock Hut, royal Tomb, Sacred PlazaPopular activities- Mountain climbing, surfing and hiking

LAN to conduct performance based navigation

AMErICAS 05 TrAVel neWS dIgeST AprIl 2012

Brazil has seized more than 2,000 websites promoting Latin America’s biggest country as a sex tourism destination. The Tourism Ministry said that out of 2,169 websites 1,100 of the websites have eliminated their sex-oriented content and that it was trying to convince the remaining sites to do the same.

Amadeus announced ‘Back to Basics 2012’ - the new four-city road-show series. The events will educate North American travel agencies on how they can get back to the basics of achieving business growth through the use of effective technology solutions.

The North American International Auto Show 2013 will be organised at Cobo Center in Detroit. The press preview, industry preview and charity preview is scheduled to take place on January 14 - 15; January 16 - 17, and January 18, 2013 respectively.

The newly launched Disney Fantasy cruise liner in New York is loaded with fun features. One can scribble one’s character at the dinner table and watch Mickey Mouse bring it to life with music. It’s an impressive ship that already has families queueing up.

The Mexico Tourism Tianguis 2012, the main business platform in the tourism sector in Latin America, was recently inaugurated by Mexico’s President Felipe Calderón. He said that the country is destined to become a world power in tourism sector because of its rich cultural and natural resources.

Brazil, that directly contributed US$79 billion to the GDP in 2011 in travel and tourism sector, is proving itself as being the fastest growing travel and tourism economy in Latin America. Research released by President and CEO, World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC), David Scowsill, forecasts that the Brazilian travel and tourism economy will increase by 7.8 percent this year. This is

more than any other country in the region, like Chile and Colombia (both with a growth of 4.7 percent); Argentina (3.7 percent) and Peru (3.6 percent). If the estimated growth in Brazil is achieved, it will add around 200,000 new direct jobs in 2012. At present, nearly 7.7 million jobs in Brazil are supported by this sector. Besides international tourism, domestic tourism is also doing well here.

Colombia observed good tourism growth in 2011. The nominal income of travel agencies increased 13.1 percent in 2011, as compared to a 1.8 percent decrease reported in 2010 as per the Colombia’s Administrative Department. Interestingly, 2011’s last quarter saw a 16.8 percent increase in income while the same period in 2010 showed a 4.7 percent decrease. Similarly, employment was also up 1.4 percent in 2011, while 2010 experienced a 4.9 percent decline. Colombia’s tourism board has done a lot to fix Colombia’s international image as a ‘dangerous place’. It also launched a promotional campaign in South America last year, with the slogan, ‘the only risk is that you’ll want to stay’.

Pursuing its international growth strategy, La Quinta Inns & Suites recently announced its expansion into Colombia at the 2012 La Quinta Conference. La Quinta’s Executive Vice President and Chief Development Officer, Rajiv Trivedi, said, “We are happy to announce this agreement and even more delighted to do so with our franchise partner Group TAO.

We are thrilled to bring La Quinta to Colombia, an exciting market

in a dynamic region like South America”. Besides this, La

Quinta is also building i t s i n t e r n a t i o n a l infrastr ucture by

appointing a new Director of Franchise Development for Central and South America in 2011 and has recently announced the opening of two new hotels in Ontario, Canada.

Brazil has been ranked as the third most attractive destination in Latin America in 2011 by the Travel and Tourism Competitive Index (TTCI). The industry is expected to grow at a significant pace. Domestic tourism is expected to grow at a CAGR of 7.32 percent over the forecast period.Why tourism in Brazil is booming ?•The quick recovery of Brazil’s

economy after the global economic downturn has attracted many foreign investors, which led to tremendous growth in international tourist arrivals in 2011 to 5.38 million.•Major factors attracting tourists during the review period were government initiatives, infrastructure improvements, a growing middle-class population, and the increasing popularity of

leisure travel.• Since Brazil is hosting the FIFA World Cup in 2014 and the Olympic Games in 2016, the country will attract many more foreign tourists.•An international tourism plan has been framed by the Brazilian Ministry of Tourism, Plano Aquarela 2020, whichoutlines the international tourism motives that Brazil aims to achieve by 2020.

Latin America’s first flight that used performance-based navigation (PBN) procedures from takeoff to landing was conducted by GE Aviation and Chile’s LAN Airlines recently. The demonstration flight, involving a LAN Airbus A320,

flew from the tourist destination of Cusco, to Lima’s Jorge Chavez

International Airport.According to GE, the procedures will save participating airlines 19 track miles ( on average), 6.3 minutes, 450 pounds of fuel and 1,420 pounds of CO2 emissions per flight. LAN flies the Cusco-Lima route 11 to 17 times daily.

Brazil leading in latin America Promoting sex tourism, a big no-no!

Mexico Tourism Tianguis 2012

In Brief

Olympics to promote tourism in Brazil

Colombia’s incomes increase

La Quinta inns & suites expands to Colombia The average US citizen travels

by air 1.8 times each year.Latin America’s aviation

sector is growing faster than the global average and that potential for growth has not yet been exhausted. Brazil, for example, has significant untapped potential. paul Steele Executive Director, Air Transport Action Group

VOICESTND

Abercrombie & Kent was voted ‘Africa’s Leading Luxury Tour Operator’ by 213,000 travel professionals representing 200 different countries at the World Travel Awards held at Sharm el Sheikh, Egypt. Winners were judged on their ability to understand guest expectations, undertake enterprising product expansion and development, and foster innovation. “With the dramatic changes sweeping

the travel industry, it is an honour to be singled out for our uncompromising standards, high level of personal service and attention to detail,” said Founder, Chairman and CEO of the Abercrombie & Kent Group, Geoffrey Kent. This year Abercrombie & Kent has also been named ‘Best Africa Tour Operator’ by readers of Travel Weekly, TravelAge West,Recommend and Agent@Home.

The International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) decided to launch an Africa-wide training organisation, which will help to improve aviation safety. An official of the Kenya Civil Aviation Authority (KCAA) said, “All over Africa we have a serious problem of getting more pilots. It is a bigger problem where the aviation sector is growing at a fast rate, like Kenya. The new association is meant to inject quality criteria, set standards, and promote the creation of government owned and private owned aviation academies. Kenya Airways mostly sends pilot student trainees abroad until they are professionally trained”.

The World Travel and Tourism Council’s (WTTC) Economic Impact Report 2012 for Botswana projects that travel and tourism activities will directly contribute P3.25 billion to Botswana’s GDPthis year. The report reads, “This not only reflects the economic activity generated by industries such as hotels, travel agents, airlines and other passenger transportation services, excluding commuter services, but it also includes,

the activities of the restaurant and leisure industries directly supported by tourists”.

According to WTTC, travel and tourism activities contributed P3.01 billion to the economy in 2011, narrowly missing the Council’s original estimate of P3.1 billion. Researchers for this year’s report estimate that tourist arrivals in Botswana will reach 2,374 million in 2012, with the visitors collectively spending

approximately P6.5 billion. Known as visitor exports, the spending includes both business and leisure trips by tourists. It also comprises spending on transport.

The travel and tourism industry’s stronger performance in 2012 will be supported by the government’s massive infrastructure investment programme that has seen billions pumped into expanding the country’s airports.

In this Issue: Uganda, rwanda, South Africa, Botswana, Kenya, Morocco, Sudan

“South Africa (SA) should take its place in the international tourism arena as a destination of choice; not stand cap in hand asking travellers to visit because it’s a “cheap” long haul destination”— That’s the word from Director of Sales, Marketing and Revenue for the Protea Hospitality Group, Danny Bryer. Protea is the largest in Africa with s o m e 1 3 0 properties in eight countries. He said the country’s travel industry had slashed prices in the past two years because of the depressed global economy compounded by the words “long haul”, when it should have been concentrating on telling travellers why their first choice destination ought to be SA.

B r y e r s a i d “ G l o b a l

competitiveness in the travel and tourism sector has affected the whole of the African continent; many people in the industry are labouring under the misapprehension that to get business to SA it has to be destination that only competes on price. We’ve opened our arms to visitors gracing us with a few

dollars and euros, when in reality we have everything to offer the world in terms of business

and leisure travel”. According to the World

Tourism Organisation, in 2010 there were some 940 million global tourists who spent $919 billion on travel. Of those tourists, Africa received only 49 million and South Africa 8.07 million.

The newly created Tourism Police in Uganda will patrol all places that are thought to be frequented by tourists. This includes setting up bases at night clubs where patrol vehicles will be stationed.

This move comes after the country was named the ‘Tourist Destination for 2012’ by Lonely Planet. The problem of tourist insecurity is not yet alarming but

there has been an outcry from tour operators, said Simon Peter Okashi, the commandant of the unit. He cited rape and robbery as some of the most common attacks so far.

Tourism contributes 9.2 percent of Uganda’s GDP ($ 662 million). Uganda is the source of the River Nile and home to the endangered gorilla.

Several markets are being set up in tourism destinations across Kenya, and the growing curio business is acting as a catalyst in bringing in more tourists to the region. The Kisumu Village of Craft has seen the biggest growth in the production and sale of the cultural artifacts which include paintings, beaded ornaments and African traditional attire. To develop facilities that go hand in hand with the hospitality

industry, the Kenya Tourist Development Cooperation, in collaboration with the Ministry of Tourism, has been encouraging investors in the sector to apply for loans.

International and domestic tourists, coming for projects initiated by NGOs, are a regular sight . Infact, the opening of Kisumu International Airport promises to draw even more tourists to the region.

The third Morocco Golf Festival is due to commence on October 7th, 2012. The event is played for one week on the golf courses surrounding Marrakech. Events like cocktails, city sightseeing t o u r s a n d g a l a d i n n e r s accompany the competition, which will end on October 14th. Kenzi Farah Hotel, in the city centre of Marrakech, is offering a variety of attractive

deals for aspiring competition attendees. Tournament Director, Morocco Golf Festival, Jo Maes, assures that all the golf courses in Marrakech are quite flat and easy to walk on, thus making the competition open for all. The winners may expect to receive prizes, ranging from trophies, to Moroccan handicraft gifts, to vouchers for free golf holidays in Morocco.

SA needs to repair marketing strategy

Teeing off in Morocco

Aviation safety training in Africa

Police unit to protect tourists in Uganda

Curio business flourishing in Kisumu

Tourism in Botswana to generate P3.25bn

Abercrombie & Kent ‘Best Tour Operator’

Africa

Destination WatchDestination WatchCape Town, South Africa

Best destination in the world: TripAdvisor Travelers’ Choice Awards (2011) Second rank: Top 10 Beach Cities in the World, lonely Planet Awards 2011 & national geographic 2011Table Mountain: One of the new 7 Wonders of nature

Discover a world of wonders in ZimbabweThe Africa Travel Association (ATA) has recently announced that registration is now open for the 37th Annual World Congress, to be held from May 18-22, at Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe. The event will be hosted by the Zimbabwe Tourism Authority (ZTA) . The theme is ‘Africa Tourism: Partnering for the Future.’

As Virgin Atlantic celebrates its second year anniversary of operations in Ghana, the airline has announced that it will now fly five times a week between Accra and London.

Air Namibia announced three new regional routes that will commence on May 15. Acting Managing Director, Theo Namases said the new routes are part of the national airline’s new business strategy for 2011 to 2016 which aims to make Air Namibia profitable in five years time.

In a bid to increase its share of MICE traffic from India, the Mabula Game Lodge in South Africa recently launched the ‘MICE in the Bush’ campaign in the Indian market. The Mabula Game Lodge is owned by Kingfisher Resorts, which is a part of the United Breweries Group, India (UB Group).

The newest additions to the FTTSA family in the Western Cape are the Monkeyland Primate Sanctuary, the world’s first roaming, multi-species primate sanctuary and Birds of Eden, world’s largest free flight aviary and bird sanctuary.

Industry players in Kenya have said that beach operators are a major hindrance to tourism, keeping in view the growing number of complaints of harassment made by tourists. Kenya Hotel Keepers and Caterers Association North Coast, Chairman Phillip Chai, said, that the majority of tourists prefer the countryside because of the influx of harassing beach operators. The operators confront tourists, sometimes abusing them if they refuse to buy their wares. “Tourists don’t

like to go to the beaches for fear of being harassed,” he said. Chai added that they have had several meetings with the provincial administration and the police but no solution has as yet been arrived at.

He also asked the Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) to monitor all the marine reserves to ensure there is peace on the beaches. He cited Bamburi beach, Mombasa as an example where the KWS had helped streamline operations and created a proper environment for the tourists.

A n e w h e a d q u a r t e r w a s inaugurated at Boma National Park in South Sudan. It was built with funding from the US Agency for International Development, USAID. The world’s newest nation, South Sudan, claimed its independence on July 9, 2011, but fighting still rages. South Sudanese and US government officials hope that the establishment of protected area management and local governance infrastructure will contribute to security, stability, eco tourism and economic growth.

US Ambassador to South Sudan, Susan Page said, “It is so

important that we continue to work together to preserve this area and its wildlife, which are threatened by hasty and unplanned development, or by poachers, who ruin a world treasure for their own short-term benefit”.

Theproposed direct flights from South Africa to St Helena by 2015 gives hopes to African tourism of a unique add-on in the form of an exotic island destination. Construction of the airport is already on track and is expected to strengthen commercial and family links between South Africa and St Helena. Development Executive of St Helena Tourism, Mike Dean stated that the presence of an airport will ensure rapid growth in the tourism sector.

AFrICA 07 TrAVel neWS dIgeST AprIl 2012

The summer season has proved to be a successful period for Cape Town-based hotels. According to Director of Sales and Marketing

at Pepper Club Hotel, Bruce Deneys, the hotel has recorded occupancy increases of 21 percent and 53 percent for December 2011

and January 2012 respectively. “In the past we relied on traditional markets such as the UK , Netherlands and Germany, and while we still receive business from these regions, we are now noticing growth in emerging market visitors, from countries such as Brazil, Columbia, Chile and India. We have also seen a significant increase in visitors from China. South Africa Airways’ new direct flight from Beijing to Cape Town has contributed to the increase in visitors from the region and will also foster business tourism from the region,” explains Deneys. He adds that the increase of visitors from emerging markets is a good sign for South Africa as a whole.

Beach boys creating trouble in Kenya

South Sudan endeavours to preserve wildlife

St Helena airport to boost tourism

Tourism to boom in 2012

FTTSA certification awarded to Monkeyland

In Brief

The 2011 tourist statistics indicate that South Africa had extremely robust inbound

traffic last year, as compared to other countries. I am optimistic about the potential for future growth in South Africa’s tourism industry.

Marthinus Van SchalkwykTourism Minister, South Africa

VOICESTND

In this Issue : Antigua & Barbuda, Jamaica, Bahamas, dominicaCaribbean

The Caribbean Fisheries’ three day forum held under the chairmanship of Director, Department of Marine Resources, Bahamas, Michael Braynen, concluded its tenth sitting on March 28 in Nassau, Bahamas. The Forum strengthened the region’s comittment to combat the rampant illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing.

Lionfish has become a main ingredient in many Caribbean dishes. The Lionfish Cookbook produced by the Reef Environmental Education Foundation, has dubbed it ‘the Caribbean’s new delicacy’.

Chinese tourism in the Bahamas and in the Caribbean has been a much talked about issue among tourism officials. However, according to a top executive at

Air China, direct service to the Bahamas is not yet an option for Chinese travellers. Vice President and General Manager for North America at Air China, Zhihang

Chi, said that the airline has ordered $10.7 billion worth of new aircraft that will help it achieve this end. Speaking at the Routes of America 2012 conference, Chi stated that the carrier has grown between 10 to 12 percent in the past few years and the only way to make flights work into the Caribbean is to fly into cities like Miami, Atlanta or New York. From there, Chinese passengers can take the connecting flight operated by JetBlue or Southwest or American Eagle. The Bahamian government is pursuing an e-distribution system to make the process of obtaining visas for Chinese tourists simpler.

The Jamaican people are a mixture of many ethnicities and their culture and history is as dynamic as it is fascinating. This makes Jamaica an ideal place to understand the culture of the Caribbean. It provides for a lot of historical sightseeing. “The Meet the People” programme offers travellers an insight into the traditional Jamaican

experience; it will take you beyond the normal resort and beach settings into Jamaica’s colourful lifestyle, tradition and culture. Birthplace of the reggae icon Bob Marley, Jamaica is a Mecca for music lovers as well. Last but not at all least; Jamaica’s gastronomic legacy continues to attract food connoisseurs from across the globe.

Barbados-based airline REDjet, that had branded itself as the region’s first low-cost carrier, with flights to Trinidad and later expanding to Guyana, Antigua, St Lucia, St Maarten and Jamaica, has suspended its flight operations after just 10 months. The airline said it would seek government aid to resume competition against its state-backed rivals. “We have seen other carriers drastically cut their fares in an effort to shut down REDjet and return to high

fares and business as usual, with no regard to the negative impact on travellers,” the airline said in a notice on its website, announcing the suspension of flights “until further notice”.

“Unlike us, they do not have to be profitable to stay in business,” the notice said. The company said it wanted “a small part of the state assistance others receive” to restart. Passengers that were affected will be offered refunds or the option to travel with REDjet upon commencement of services.

The Caribbean’s only remaining population of indigenous people, known as the Kalinago, live in Dominica. Visitors now have the opportunity to experience the unique heritage of Dominica’s first settlers firsthand by participating in the Kalinago Territory Home Stay Programme.

P a r t i c i p a n t s i n t h e programme are provided simple

accommodations in private residences. Visitors can stay in a conventional residential home, a mix of conventional and traditional residential home, or a traditional accommodation - thatched/wooden huts. Meals are optional.

The Kalinago live a simple, communal life on Dominica’s east coast, about 20 miles from the capital city.

Antigua and Barbuda has been voted ‘Most Romantic Caribbean Destination’ in About.com’s Romantic Reader’s Choice Award. The destination prepares to launch the sixth year of the Romance Month promotion in June. The twin island destination received 62 percent of the popular

vote, beating other Caribbean finalists – St. Lucia, Jamaica and the Bahamas. The online contest ran for three weeks in March and readers were allowed to vote once a day. Earlier this year, the destination was voted ‘Sexiest Destination’ by Caribbean Travel and Life Magazine.

The Baha Mar Resort in Nassau, Bahamas, will use new technology called Seawater Cooling District (SDC) system to meet the resort’s air conditioning requirements. This $100 million system will supply chilled water from a depth of over 3,600 feet in the Atlantic Ocean, saving 90 percent of the energy costs of utilising traditional energy supply. SDC will use no refrigerants, and reduce energy consumption by roughly 25,000 tons of carbon dioxide emissions a year.

DCO Energy and Ocean Thermal Energy Corporation (OTE) have tied up on a number of projects to use this technology for cooling and power generation without using fossil fuels.

Chairman and CEO, OTE, Jeremy Feakins said, “Our choice of DCO Energy as the contractor was made much easier because of their experience in offering solutions to renewable energy and construction projects”.

President and CEO of DCO Energy, Frank Di Cola said, “This project is groundbreaking for a number of reasons, from a system standpoint, an environmental standpoint, and an economic standpoint”.

rEDjet suspends operations

Home stay programme

Most romantic Caribbean destination Eco friendly cooling

for mega resort

Jamaica’s unique culture

Tourists from China to the Bahamas on the rise

In Brief

Destination WatchOcho rios, Jamaica

First landing spot of Christopher Columbus in this region Famous for: Maritime artifacts, Spanish colonial buildings, dunns’ river falls and dolphin CoveActivities: Scuba diving, fishing and other water sports

Sir Richard is being honoured at the New York’s Caribbean Week. He is an inspirational

individual who is setting an example for all with initiatives such as the launch of The Branson Centre of Entrepreneurship - Caribbean. Felicia persaud , Invest Caribbean Now convener and CEO, Hard Beat

VOICESTND

In this Issue : denmark, Seychelles, Sweden, Malta, Albania, Serbia, egypt, luxembourgEuropeEurope

The latest handbook ‘The Isle of Man Group Travel Guide Issue

2’ for group travel organisers has been launched by the Tourism of

Isle of Man. It is a comprehensive guide to the diverse attractions of the Island for group visits designed to demonstrate the tremendous value for money options available to groups visiting the Isle of Man. It also covers travel and transport options, accommodation options, tours, attractions and eating out.The guide also aims to explain the Taste Isle of Man quality assurance where groups will find the best home grown food on restaurant menus and supermarket shelves including award winning Manx Queenies, smoked kippers and rare breed Loaghtan lamb.

After almost five years, the largest collection of historic figureheads in the world, assembled in the early 20th century by a fanatical collector of merchant shipping memorabilia, will be displayed

together for the first time from April 26, when the clipper ship Cutty Sark reopens in Greenwich, south London. The team at Richard Rogers Conservation in Surrey, who have spent months working on them, are carefully preserving every scrap of original paint or historic repair. Curator of the Cutty Sark, Jessica Lewis said the assemblage included a sad pile of disembodied heads, hands and feet, including one hand clutching a purse of sovereigns that came into the collection with a tattered label.

Group Travel Guide launched Sark’s gallery reopens

WiFi is now accessible on the fast craft, Dublin Swift and cruise ferry Ulysses, at no cost. Both sail between Holyhead in North Wales and Dublin; and on the Isle of Inishmore ferry service between Pembroke in South Wales and Rosslare. The WiFi services extended by Irish Ferries to Ireland can be accessed by all travellers; not just those in Club Class.

Head of passenger sales, Declan Mescall said that the service has been introduced so that tourists can relax with a coffee in Boylan’s Brasserie and plan their route around Ireland.

Free WiFi on the Irish Sea

The World Wildlife Fund and Cleantech Group ranks Denmark first in the world when it comes to cleantech innovation. Denmark topped the list of ‘The Coming Clean’ report after competing with37 nations on 15 different factors related to clean technology start-ups. The country scored 4.7 in the Cleantech Innovation Index. The report examined where new cleantech companies are growing, and which countries are best at creating innovation in green technology. It is a high priority for Denmark in forming

a green alliance to develop new kinds of green technology.

Denmark tops the list of cleantech leaders

A M e m o r a n d u m o f Understanding was signed between the Midgardsskolan of Sweden and the Seychelles School of Music to ascertain the

cultural priority of the existing cultural cooperation between Umeå in Sweden and Seychelles. Minister St Ange said, “We are all relooking at the way forward with a new eye to ensure we are able, as a ministry, to unlock all the cultural potential of our country and its people. The cooperation with Sweden is already providing for one young Seychellois to follow training in Sweden in the field of music. We are now working on the possibility for a second young Seychellois to be able to travel to Sweden”.

Culture, a priority for Sweden & Seychelles

Northern Ireland’s largest airline, easyJet launches its winter 2012 schedule this week with 17 of its low-fare routes.

Since some 6,598 winter flights are now on sale, with than a million (1,059,816) seats available for travel, passengers can secure the best fares early from 28th October 2012 through to February 2013.

easyJet is also continuing to expand its offering to business passengers, and the recent addition of London Southend, easyJet’s brand new connection to London, means that the airline offers direct

access to key locations in London via Gatwick, Luton, Stansted and Southend. Capacity has been added to destinations including popular city break favourite Amsterdam and ski enthusiast

favourite Geneva. easyJet UK commercial manager, Ali Gayward said launch of the winter schedule will offer both leisure and business passengers the best choice of low-fare destinations.

easyJet launches its winter schedule

I oppose claims that our country, Bulgaria, has an image of being a cheap

destination and a destination for alcohol tourism. The aim is to assert the image of the country as being a year-round destination offering excellent conditions for balneology and SPA tourism, eco and rural tourism and golf tourism.

Ivo Marinov, Deputy Minister of Economy, Energy and Tourism

VOICESTND

EUrOpE 10 TrAVel neWS dIgeST AprIl 2012

The Association of Independent To u r O p e r at o r s ( A I T O) disapproved the advice of Foreign Secretary, William Hague urging holidaymakers in Greece to register with the British Consulate in case of civil unrest

in the country. The advice was dismissed by AITO terming it as far from reality.

AITO Chairman, Derek Moore said, “Our specialist h o l i d ay c o m p a n i e s a r e unanimously reporting that there is no problem, except in two very small, highly-contained areas – firstly, around Syntagma Square, by the Greek Parliament in Athens, and, secondly, in central Thessaloniki, Greece’s next largest city. This is nothing new – it’s exactly the same situation as the past three years. To claim that Britons living in Greece or visiting on holiday are likely to need emergency evacuation is, quite frankly, ridiculous”.

A weeklong trip to Malta is now costing just one pound over its cost last year, becoming the most popular destination for tourists

looking for cheap package holidays and unadulterated sun worship! Though the increase in Air Passenger Duty (APD) sinceApril

1st has become painful for a family holiday abroad, Malta still has a lot to offer.

The study of 10 Commonwealth countries showed that, for a seven-day holiday including flights, Cyprus (£1,199) had the lowest total costs, with Malta next (£1,230) and Kenya third (£1,435). Head of travel money at M&S Money, Jane Lawson said, “In the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee year many people will be tempted to follow in the footsteps of the Royal Family and see what the Commonwealth has to offer. Luckily, favourable exchange rates and lower inflation mean many countries in the Commonwealth will continue to offer great value for money”.

From May 1st, Air Malta will operate weekly charter flights to Birmingham, Bristol, Cardiff, Exeter, Newcastle and Norwich Airports, running until October 30th. The airline will resume charter flights to six regional airports in the UK this summer. The charter operations to these airports will be in addition to the airline’s regular schedule services to London Heathrow, Gatwick and Manchester Airport.

Air Malta Chief Commercial Officer, Philip Saunders said,

“These charter flights increase accessibility to Malta and Gozo from regional UK airports and therefore offer travellers the opportunity to reduce travelling time and costs”. These operations further confirm the airline’s commitment to boosting incoming tourism to Malta from the UK, which is Malta’s primary tourism market. “We expect to carry around 48,000 passengers on these services”, informed Saunders.

Albania and Serbia have been trying hard to entice Israelis to think different for their next vacation. The adversaries travelled to Tel Aviv to promote their respective destinations.

Albanian tour operators are promoteingAlbania as a ‘new Mediterranean love’. The Albanian delegation came to Israel because the country is

emerging as a tourist destination after more than four decades of

being cut off from the outside world. N e i g h b o r i n g Serbia also has a great deal to o f f e r I s r a e l i visitors. Director of the Tourist

Organisation of Belgrade, Dejan Veselinov, hyped the city as a n “urban vacation” destination, with world-class nightlife.

Recent statistics indicate that the numbers of tourists visiting Egypt in the first three months of 2012 were down around 25 percent from the same period last year. According to the state run news agency MENA, around 2.34 million tourists visited Egypt in the first quarter of 2012, which was down from the previous year’s numbers (3.1 million tourists). Despite the overall disappointing numbers,

“tourists visiting Egypt from Saudi Arabia in the first quarter of 2012 doubled to 220,000, from 110,000 the previous year,” pointed out Assistant Tourism Minister, Hesham Zaazou. Egypt also witnessed 462,000 Arabs visitor during this quarter. The tourism industry in Egypt is one of the biggest sources of foreign currency, which suffered following the political unrest in 2011.

In a bid to scare away birds that are pecking away at the 2000 year old Roman Colosseum, falcons are to be introduced into the skies above it. Seagulls, ravens and blackbirds are the cause of multiple recent incidents at the iconic arena, where masonry has fallen away, only narrowly missing passers-by.Officials are already in talks with several pest control firms to bring in the falcons, which are seen as

the most effective way to reduce the number of birds which nest inside the Colosseum.

Director of the Anfieatro Flavio, Rossella Rea said that in previous years the problem was just pigeons and their excrement that was damaging the stone.

The method is seen not only as environmentally friendly but appropriate in areas from well known tourist sites to waste depots.

Malta offers Britons best holiday bargain

Falcons to scare away birds at Colosseum

Air Malta to operate charter flights to UK regional airports

Albania and Serbia promote sites together

Uncertainties take toll on Egypt tourism

Foreign Secretary criticised by AITO

Destination WatchDestination WatchZagreb, Croatia

More than 3.6 million various exhibits in over 30 museum and gallery collections 20 permanent or seasonal theatres and stagesFamous for two statues of Saint georgeMore than 700,000 tourists visited the city in 2011

Visitors to London will be able to book rooms and suites in Buckingham Palace and Kensington Palace during the 2012 Olympics period. Easytobook.com has confirmed that rooms and suites will be amongst the latest accommodations available once the new website design goes live.

Former CEO of McDonald’s Italian operations, who was appointed in 2008 by the government of Silvio Berlusconi to be Director-General of the Culture Ministry, Mario Resca, has pushed for private investment in the country’s museums and galleries and the seemingly insatiable Chinese and Indian appetites for art and archaeology as the way to pull the country out of its recession.

Spain NTO to launch MICE Community in US MarketTourist Office of Spain selected i-Meet’s global technology platform to create a collaborative community in Chicago called Spain Meetings & Events Community @i-Meet for its clients, prospects, partners and suppliers worldwide.

Hundreds of jobs at Gatwick Airport are under threat as a result of a cost-cutting initiative. British Airways revealed that 400 baggage handlers, drivers and loaders would see their jobs outsourced, while 170 customer service staff and management support employees will be made redundant under the proposal.

Figures from the Office for National Statistics in UK show that the number of overnight visitors to Scotland rose by nine percent in 2011. The ‘staycation’ market helped push up Scottish tourism figures in 2011. There was also a 10 percent increase in visits from Great Britain.

11 EUrOpE TrAVel neWS dIgeST AprIl 2012

JetBlue Airways and LOT Polish Airlines have announced a partnership that will allow travellers to book connections between the two airlines through JetBlue’s hub at John F Kennedy International Airport and LOT’s hub at Warsaw’s Chopin Airport. The partnership creates new connection options for passengers of the two airlines, including connections to Europe, the Middle East, and Asia.

LOT offers nonstop service from New York to Warsaw, and connects to more than 45 destinations from its hub.

Travel websites Expedia and TripAdvisor have filed complaints, as part of a probe into whether Google is abusing its position on the Internet. The probe said the complaints concerned Google Flight, which like Expedia and TripAdvisor

allows users to search for and buy flight tickets online. The European Commission is probing whether Google was rigging the online search market. The commission said it had received several complaints by smaller companies of “unfavourable treatment” of their services in both unpaid and sponsored search results. C o m m i s s i o n au t h o r it i e s said they would also probe whether Google’s own services, including YouTube, were getting “preferential placement” when users punch in search queries.

A new application has been released to keep readers up to date with all the latest news and happenings regarding the European Capital of Culture Maribor 2012 event.

The Maribor 2012 Mobile Application offers an overview of the events of the European Capital of Culture Maribor 2012; it entails a calendar of the events, highlighted

happenings, and news and updates concerning the event, as well as a programme of the LifeTouch strand and other digital guidelines of the aforementioned project. The designers have leaned heavily on augmented reality technology.

The application also features geo location technology, which will help users to find their own way around the scheduled events. Besides the Maribor focus, the app will also be supplemented with content on various other European Capital of Culture projects outside of Maribor, as well as presentations of partnering towns.

A successful tourist season could bring revenues to Bulgaria against a five to six percent increase in number of tourists, according to Deputy Minister of Economy, Energy and Tourism, Ivo Marinov. The Minister predicted a growth of up to 20 percent in visitors from Russia. Over Easter, Bulgaria witnessed more than 100,000 Romanian visitors coming for festivities. Tourism is among the country’s highest economic priorities, and accounts for 10.5 percent of Bulgaria’s gross national product. In 2011, 6,330,000 international tourists visited the country.

Fairmont Hotels & Resorts is making its first foray into Eastern Europe as it opens the Fairmont Grand Hotel Kyiv in Kyiv (Kiev), Ukraine. The hotel features 258 guest rooms including suites and lavish Royal and Presidential units overlooking Podil Square and the Dnipro River.

Besides swank rooms and general Fairmont opulence, the hotel also includes the Grand Cru Champagne Bar, and the Vintage Cocktail Bar, which offers cocktails, cigars and world-class shisha. Dining options include The Strand Grill which offers savoury steak and seafood fare, and the Atrium Lounge and Pâtisserie for drinks and light bites. Other upscale

amenities include meeting rooms, a ballroom and access to tennis and golf facilities

An “Opening Offer” package is being presented to celebrate the

new upscale property for its newest guests till August 31, 2012, which includes a two-night stay for the price of one. Rates start from $422, based on double occupancy.

JetBlue and LOT partner for Connecting Flights

Maribor 2012 mobile application released

Govt focuses on Bulgaria Tourism 2012

Fairmont enters Europe In Brief

I would be satisfied if the number of tourists entering Croatia this year was on the

same level as last year, although we expect better financial results this season. I am expecting Croatia to reach seven billion Euros in earnings from tourism this season. Veljko Ostojic Tourism Minister Croatia

Expedia, TripAdvisor complain against GoogleVOICES

TND

In this Issue : Qatar, Jordan, Malaysia, Singapore, China, dubai, Bangkok, Cambodia, UzbekistanAsia

The World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC) forecasts an approximate 13.2 percent growth in Qatar’s tourism sector this year. The report states that Qatar will grow fastest while Syria will see a dramatic fall of about 20.5 percent due to a bad political scenario. For Syria, it represents a huge decline after the country attracted 14 percent of international arrivals in the Middle East in 2010, second to Saudi Arabia.

Qatar reported the largest

expected growth, up 69.9 percent, if all 7,340 rooms in the country’s total active pipeline are open.

According to the WTTC’s

latest research, the tourism industry’s direct contribution to the global economy should exceed $2 trillion in GDP.

Jordan’s quality healthcare services and facilities is one of the main reasons that helped the country become one of the most popular medical tourism destinations in the world, say local and international health experts.

A global healthcare expert, Prem Jagyasi, said that though there are countries that provide healthcare services at a cheaper price, there are a few distinguishing factors that prompt patients from across the globe to choose Jordan. He said, “Accessibility and government support through facilitating visa issuance, and security are among these reasons”.

The medical tourism sector annually generates over $1 billion in revenues and the number of foreign patients seeking treatment in the Kingdom stands at over 240,000 per year.

Despite a recent tsunami warning, tourists have already returned to the beaches in Thailand’s destinations like Phuket, Krabi and Phangnga, with only 20 percent hotel cancellations during Songkran, the Thai festival.

The Thai Hotels Association’s

Southern Chapter says most hotel cancellations are coming from local travellers. “Today, Patong Beach is full of tourists,” said President, Thai Hotels Association Southern Chapter, Suchart Hirunkanokkul. “The tourism atmosphere has returned to normal and we

strongly believe that if the situation continues, the tourism business won’t be hurt as was expected”.

President, Policy and Planning, Tourism Council of Thailand, Kongkrit Hiranyakit, called it an opportunity to highlight the good management of natural disasters as a strong selling point.

Hiranyakit suggested to the Phuket Tourism Association that hoteliers and tourism operators in the south should not play with pricing. “Don’t let travel agents reduce prices as tourist reaction is still very positive,” Hiranyakit said. Some groups from Japan have cancelled trips to Phuket but the figure is insignificant.

All the major international hotel chains are expanding in the Middle East. Accor, with brands including Ibis and Novotel, has plans to recruit 4,000 staff to work at the 23 hotels it aims to open in the Middle East over the next three years. It is also on a drive to recruit 1,500 employees for the eight hotels it is opening in the UAE this year, including the new luxury Sofitel hotel on the Corniche in Abu Dhabi. The hotel chain, that is also intending to open hotels in Saudia Arabia and Bahrain among other countries, already has about

7,000 employees at its 56 hotels in the region. Marriott plans to open a JW Marriott hotel on Sheikh Zayed Road in Dubai this year and is recruiting 1,150 employees. Hilton, meanwhile, projects that it will take on more than 9,000 employees over the next three years just for its hotels

in Saudi Arabia. According to the data from the World

Tr ave l & To u r i s m Council, the total direct

contribution of travel and tourism to the economies of GCC countries should reach US$44 billion (Dh161.6bn) this year, up 27 percent from 2009.

A new fully air-conditioned pedestrian walkway recently opened in Kuala Lumpur (Malaysia) to connect the Kuala Lumpur City Centre (KLCC) and Bukit Bintang, two popular tourist sites in the city. KLCC is described as a city within a city. It features several shopping, dining, and nightlife options, and attractions, including the Petronas Twin Towers – the tallest twin structures in the world. Bukit Bintang is recognised as Kuala Lumpur’s trendiest

shopping and entertainment center. The KLCC-Bukit Bintang walkway makes it easy for locals and foreigners to visit each center.

The walkway is a RM100-million project financed by Petronas as part of its social contribution program. It is also part of the Comprehensive Pedestrian Network joint initiative, which aims to improve the experience of commuting among people by providing better connectivity between various public transport services.

AC walkway in Malaysia

Qatar to attract maximum tourists this year

Hospitality brands are booming

Jordan: A leading medical tourism hub

The Dubai Corporation for Aviation Engineering Projects was created by a directive from Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE, Sheikh Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum.

It was created mainly to help the emirate leverage its expertise and strengthen its leadership position in planning and developing airports. It will have a juridical personality, and financial independence.

DCAEP established

Tourists unconcerned about Tsunami warnings

Southeast Asia as a whole is really interesting for cruising because of the many islands that

form the archipelago of Indonesia, as well as the Philippines and the long coastlines of our neighbours like Malaysia, Vietnam and Thailand.

Aw Kah peng CEO, Singapore Tourism Board

VOICESTND

Hilton has signed a management agreement with Magnolia Finest Corporation to introduce the first Waldorf Astoria hotel in south-east Asia, and Hilton Worldwide’s ninth property in Thailand. The 170-room Waldorf Astoria Bangkok is scheduled to open in 2015. Towering 60-storeys above the city and built as a mixed-used development, Waldorf Astoria Bangkok will offer guests fine culinary experiences at its all-day dining restaurant, two specialty restaurants, two bars and lounge.

Sitting between the Chit

Lom and Ratchadamri BTS stations, the hotel will have 170 guest rooms, making it one of the largest inventory of hotel rooms in a Bangkok hotel.

Waldorf Astoria now in South East Asia

The Singapore Tourism Board (STB) has unveiled its new strategy and campaign ‘Singapore – The holiday you take home with you’ - to appeal to Indian travellers.This is the third in a series of differentiated marketing campaigns targeted at top overseas markets, and follows similar initiatives aimed at China and Australia. The brainchild of STB’s Assistant Chief Executive, Tony Lai, these tourism strategies were conceptualised over a period of two years, taking into account input from the Tourism Consultative Council, which comprises of representatives from the country’s business, lifestyle,

entertainment, marketing, travel and hospitality industries.

The strategy is based on four core facets – family fun, active lifestyle, culinary and romance.“The campaign attempts to draw Indians by appealing to their personal interests, rather than just selling Singapore’s major attractions,” said STB’s regional director for South Asia, Middle East & Africa,Randall Tan, who went on to explain that the India campaign focuses on imparting enriching experiences.

Thomas Cook (India) and Mercury Travels have also been roped in to offer travel packages based on the four key tenets.

Centara Hotels & Resorts is to open the second hotel in Bangkok under its new Centra four-star value brand in summer 2012.

C e nt r a C e nt r a l St at i o n Bangkok is located on the edge of the city’s Chinatown district, a five minute walk from the Hua Lampong mainline railway station and the MRT subway’s Hua Lampong terminus.

Guests will therefore have easy access both to the train service that operates to the provinces and resort destinations, and to the subway and skytrain system that links the key districts of Bangkok.

14 ASIA TrAVel neWS dIgeST AprIl 2012

Strong efforts are on to attract one million Japanese tourists to Malaysia by 2014. Tourism M a l ay s i a a n d t h e Ja p a n Association of Travel Agents (JATA) inked a memorandum on April 10th at the Four Seasons Hotel Chinzanso, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo to achieve this initiative.

Tourism Malaysia was represented by Deputy Director General of Marketing, Chong Yoke Har while JATA Deputy Chairman, Takashi Sasaki signed for the other side. “This is our first programme to attract a million Japanese tourists. If successful,

it will be a big milestone for the tourism industry,” Chong said while thanking JATA for its enthusiasm in implementing the initiative. “We look forward to warmly welcoming all Japanese visitors, especially those who have yet to visit Malaysia,” he added. Sasaki said the targeted figure of one million was achievable. “We will place our efforts on expanding tourism exchange programmes, as well as encouraging mutual understanding and improving relations between Japan and Malaysia,” he said.

Malaysia wants a million Japanese

Singapore wants to deliver quality tourism Brand hotel in Bangkok

Destination WatchBoracay, philippines

Second rank –‘Best Beach in the World’ - Top Islands in Asia by Travel+leisure magazine(2012)It is the site of an 18 hole, par 72 golf coursePopular for water sports 350 beach resorts

Cambodia’s Angkor Wat temples, one of the World Heritage Sites, attracted 1.6 million foreign visitors in 2011, an increase of 23 percent from 1.3 million a year earlier, according to the statistics of Siem Reap provincial tourism department. Among the top ten countries visiting the temples, South Korea was ranked first with 265,000 visitors, up 31 percent; Vietnam at second with 251,400, up 45 percent; Japan at third with 120,200, up 5 percent; and China at fourth with 119,900, up 81 percent.

The statistics also showed that Thai tourists to the temples had slightly declined by 0.2 percent to

42,250 due to border dispute that led to armed clashes in February and April last year. Siem Reap’s Angkor archeological park is the country’s largest cultural tourism destination. The entrance fees to visit the Angkor archeological site is 20 US dollars a day for a foreign visitor, 40 US dollars for a three-day visit and 60 US dollars for a weeklong visit, said Chhoeuy Chhorn.

The tourism industry is one of the main four pillars supporting the Cambodian economy.

Tourists in Angkor heritage site up by 23 percent

Myanmar’s aviation market is poised to enter a major period of growth as the country begins to open up, following landmark elections that were won by the National League for Democracy. The election was seen as a turning point and the start of a more favourable business environment, including for aviation. Several Asian carriers and airport operators have identified near-term opportunities in Myanmar. The

opportunities for all types of carriers – local and foreign, domestic and international, low-cost and full service – face no limitations in the medium term as the market is now the most unde-rserved market in ASEAN. Myanmar’s two existing international airports are to be partially privatised while a recently opened new airport at the capital of Naypyitaw will soon start to handle international flights.

The Philippines Department of Tourism (DoT), Department of Foreign Affairs and Bureau of Immigration have jointly agreed to expand the validity of an existing visa-free facility from 21 to 30 days for 161 source markets, with additional provisions for China and India. “With these visa reforms, we will be at par with the entry policies of our neighbors in the region and, for some markets,

be even more liberal . This will definitely help in achieving our target of 10 million foreign visitors by 2016”. said DoT secretary Ramon R Jimenez Jr.According to the latest figures from DoT, the Philippines received 42,844 Indian visitors in 2011, compared to 34,581 the year before. In the meanwhile, arrivals from China rose 29.71 per cent in 2011 over the previous year.

ASIA 15 TrAVel neWS dIgeST AprIl 2012

Thai AirAsia and Tune Hotels have launched their joint loyalty programme in Thailand. The Thai subsidiary of the popular Southeast Asian budget carrier and its low-cost hotel brand unveiled the rewards programme ‘BIG’, following the company’s reports of a successful launch in Malaysia and Indonesia last year.

Thailand’s national cabinet has given the green signalto plans on enhancing tourism to the southern Thai provinces along the Andaman Sea and Phang Nga. The plans encompasses major renovations at Phuket’s international airport.

The Indonesian government will build a highway train from Jakarta to Bandung, stretching 144 kilometres. The train, which will be modeled on the Shinkasen, is scheduled to be completed in 2020.

Deal.com.sg has launched DEALivery.sg that provides customers access to 19 types of cuisine that include Singaporean, Thai, Indonesian, Malaysian, Indian and Vietnamese. The food is delivered within 60 minutes and has a no minimum order value policy. Some of the brands featured on DEALivery.sg include Sakae Sushi, Indian Express, Popeye’s Louisiana Chicken, Ramen Ten, Spizzico and Song of India. The company has already featured over 50 F&B merchants in the past month.

Dorsett Regency Kwun Tong, Hong Kong will be the latest addition to Kosmopolito Hotels International’s four-star business hotel portfolio when it opens this summer.

Situated at Hung To Road, Kwun Tong - a major industrial area in the eastern part of Kowloon - the hotel will offer 361 rooms, a restaurant serving Chinese cuisine and Western buffet breakfast, as well as a fitness centre and outdoor swimming pool.In conjunction with its opening, Dorsett Regency Kwun Tong is offering several introductory packages incorporating discounted rates,

complimentary room upgrades, and 20 per cent off F&B purchases at La Maison de l’Orient restaurant.Existing properties under the brand include the 209-room Dorsett Regency Hong Kong, and one each in Wuhan and Kuala Lumpur.

Dorsett Regency now in Hong Kong

AirAsia launches BIG loyalty programme in Thailand

Phuket Airport to be expanded in Andaman tourism plans

In Brief

A total of S$265 million (US$210 million) will be invested by the Singapore Tourism Board (STB) to help the country’s tourism industry stakeholders build up their manpower capabilities. According to Second Minister of Trade and Industry, S Iswaran, STB will build on basic tourism-related courses already offered by the Singapore Workforce Development Agency and Employment and Employability Institute, and ramp up advanced specialist training in key areas such as conference management and attractions operation.

The Tohoku Tourism Promotion Organisation has launched a new buzzword, ‘reconstruction tourism’, that is, launching tours to areas that are being rebuilt after the tsunami hit Japan over a year ago, and cajoling world travel leaders to use tourism’s potential to help rebuild crisis hit destinations. Its chairman, Hiroaki Takahashi, told TTG Asia e-Daily that the reconstruction tours were aimed at students in particular, “so that they will remember the disaster”. The organisation is collaborating with related parties to form these tours. Travel consultants are

being prepared to string up such tours, and tour guides affected by the crisis are being retrained to be

‘tellers of stories’, he said. He also emphasised on Tohoku’s natural scenery and onsens.

Visa-free handshake to India, China

Myanmar to become next aviation market

Boosting manpower capabilities

Tohoku launches ‘reconstruction tourism’

‘Miracle Year of Amazing Thailand 2012’ is aimed at

promoting domestic travel and at the same time, encouraging international tourists to visit the kingdom. The varied tourism events will also commemorate three special royal occasions.

Chumpol Silapa-archa, Deputy prime Minister & Minister of Tourism and Sports, Thailand

VOICESTND

ASIA 16 TrAVel neWS dIgeST AprIl 2012

Dubai hotel establishments’ 86.2 percent occupancy levels in the month of January, up from 75.4 percent last year, has placed it on top on the list of 15 top performance destinations. Dubai also stood at seventh position in 2010 and 2009 and fifth in 2008 during the same period. The number of Dubai hotel rooms increased to 74,613 in 2012 from 56,599 in 2008.

Despite fighting against its current regime, Syria’s tourism department is leaving no stone unturned in pitching to Indian travellers. In order to attract them, Syria’s tourism office plans to introduce direct flights (that were stopped years ago) twice a week to Delhi over the next three months. There are plans to connect Damascus with India and China.

The business jets market in the Middle East is ready for steady growth with more than 200 aircraft to be delivered to the region by 2015. According to projections made by global research and consulting firms, around 400 business jets are set to be ordered over the next seven to eight years.

Entrepreneurs in UAE have introduced the region’s first online restaurant booking gateway- Tawilati. The site acts as a search engine for some 500 restaurants in the UAE. The company is amidst negotiations with several high-end hotel groups with the aim of further expanding to the entire Middle East region.

President of Turkmenistan, Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov, held a meeting at which he appointed the members of the new Cabinet of Ministers on March 19th, 2012. High-ranking officials in charge of the cultural sphere were appointed to various posts. Ferhat Arjanov was appointed Chairman of the State Committee for Sport and Tourism. The aim of the ongoing reforms in the spheres of science and education, health care, sport and tourism was to create conditions conducive to revealing the creative, intellectual potential

of the nation and bringing the country to the innovative path of development, said the President.

Calling upon the newly appointed officials to work effectively, Berdimuhamedov wished them good luck and great success. Gurbanmammet Elyasov was appointed Minister of Health and Medical Industry.

Uzbekistan’s national air carrier, Uzbekistan Airways, said it would ramp up its flight frequency with the Malaysian capital city to five times a week, from three currently.

Uz b e k i s t a n A i r w a y s ’ Commercial Director, Erkin Ubaidullaev, said the two extra flights between the Uzbek capital Tashkent, and Kuala Lumpur would be added from the end of next month.

The country’s national carrier

will add yet another flight in November 2012. “We expect that in November, when we introduce six flights per week, there will be more tourists going to Kuala Lumpur,” the Malaysian-based, Business Times news agency reported the airline director as saying. Uzbek citizens outnumber Malaysians as passengers, with most flying to the Malay capital of Kuala Lumpur between the months of November and March.

According to statistics released by the Ministry of Tourism of Uzbekistan, 85 percent of tourists are older people and are generally interested in excursions to see the country’s monuments. They visit Uzbekistan when the weather is most favourable for that type of activity, i.e., in April and May, and September and October. These statistics support that Uzbekistan is not yet a victim of mega tourism that sometimes brings cultural shocks, worker exploitation, prostitution, and other environmental imbalances.

However, Uzbekistan needs a longer tourism season for

developing broad-based tourism, and the country is now planning to formulate a strategy for increasing the duration of its peak season, which lasts only around three months of the year. The country will soon offer low-season, special offer tours to foreign travel agencies, tour company managers, and journalists.

According to the President of Uzbekturism, Rustam Mirzayev, who is also the Tourism Minister of the country, this project involves 214 foreign tour operators and aim s to attract tourists from Italy, Spain, France, Japan, China, and other countries.

New Chairman for Sports and Tourism

Uzbekistan Airways to increase flights to Malaysia

Uzbekistan revamps tourism strategy

In Brief

Extending further into Central Asia, three sustainable tourism organisations from Tajikistan have joined The Region Initiative (TRI). TRI is an associate member of the International Council of Tourism Partners (ICTP). The Pamirs Eco Cultural Tourism Association (PECTA) is now a member of TRI. It is one of the organisations of Central Asia that has been working for sustainable tourism since its inception. Pamir Highway Adventure is a Tajikistan-based, adventure travel company, founded and run by local people and is one of the

main tour operators of the Pamirs and Tajikistan that has also joined TRI. Murghab EcoTourism Association (META), which was established in 2003, also joined TRI. The association participants, chosen from among the most economically vulnerable families, received basic training, and a code of ethics was also adopted by all the stakeholders.

It may be mentioned that Milal Inter - an organisation working for cross-border tourism with Afghanistan, Uzbekistan, and Kyrgyzstan - is already a member of TRI.

Three tourism organisations join TRI

Destination Watch paro Valley, Bhutan

Second largest town Tourists’ favourite destinationSecond rank -Top Country destination and Top Worldwide Airport by Wanderlust Travel AwardsPopular for Paro museum, palaces and temples

Dubai listed among top performance destination

Syria pitching for Indian travellers

In order to promote India as a preferred destination in the domestic and international tourism markets, the Ministry of Tourism (MoT) and Ministry of Civil Aviation (MoCA) have formalised a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU), wherein MoT will use all

platforms available with the MoCA for promoting the brand Incredible India in domestic and international markets. The initiative broadly includes Incredible India branding at airports in the country, screening of promotional films on flights at Indian airports, joint participation in road shows and events, promotion of upgraded airports, and collaboration to take forward the MoT’s Clean India campaign. Union Minister for Tourism, Subodh Kant Sahai said that the move will go a long way in helping India’s branding and promotion in the domestic and international markets.

In this Issue : Himachal Pradesh, Bangalore, Mumbai, Ahmedabad, Pune, OdishaIndia

Rural Tourism in Himachal Pradesh is set to receive a boost as the Tourism Department has identified 12 villages to be developed for promoting Rural Tourism under scheme ‘Har Gaon Ki Kahani’

scheme. Chief Minister, HP, Prem Kumar Dhumal, said, “New circuits will be developed for rural tourism to boost local handicrafts, i n d i ge n o u s p r o du c t s a n d cultural activities”.

As per the plan, the tourism department has selected one village from each district to be developed under the scheme. Managing Director, Himachal Pradesh Tourism Development Corporation (HPTDC), Lokendra Chauhan also said that Tourist Reception Centres are being set up across the state. In order to provide the necessary infrastructure, such as lodging and boarding in tribal areas, the Minister proposed that all new hotels in tribal areas would be exempted from payment of luxury tax for a period of 10 years.

The hospitality sector is feeling let down by Budget 2012. The increase in service tax (from 10 percent to 12 percent) is bound to have negative impact. CRISIL Research indicates that with the abatement for hotel accommodation reduced from 50 percent to 40 percent, the effective service tax for accommodation will increase to 7.2 percent f r o m f ive p e r c e nt . Hotel companies will however have limited ability to pass on the increase in service tax through higher room rates, due to competition.

The only good news for the food sector is that the excise duty on processed foods is brought down to six percent. Hoteliers and travel agents fear the proposal will adversely affect states like Kerala, where tourist inflow is high.

The proposal to raise service

tax by two percent is expected to make a huge impact in this state.

Vice President of Taj Hotels, T Damu, also shares this concern. “This, coupled with the proposed

hike in airline fares, will cut down t h e i n fl ow o f tourists, especially

d o m e s t i c . We should keep in

mind that Kerala is competing with

Maldives and Sri Lanka”.

The Indian Association of Tour Operators (IATO), which has been asking the government to do away with the 10 percent service tax charged earlier, was taken aback.

“We are shocked; more areas have been included for service tax which has

bearing on tourism,” said IATO President, Subhash Goyal.

H e s a i d t h e i n cr e a s e i n t a x

w i l l m a ke I n d i a uncompetitive, compared to countries like Thailand, China and Malaysia.

Data released by the Indian Ministry of Tourism in January 2012 showed the country maintained high levels of tourist arrivals growth throughout 2011. Over the year as a whole, arrivals grew by 8.9 percent, with arrivals at 6.3 million. Growth was particularly strong in the first half of the year, with the highest growth rate being registered in April, when arrivals grew by 17.7 percent year on year. The growth rate dipped

slightly towards the end of the year, registering 4.7 percent and 5.2 percent in November and December respectively. An area of concern is the lower growth rate in November and December, which is the peak inbound season.

After registering the highest-ever daily booking o f 4 5 0 , 0 0 0 e a r l i e r t h i s year, the Indian

Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) is tying up with airlines to sell air tickets

through its portal and will be taking seat blocks to be marketed and sold. “We will expand our airline ticket booking operations by offering corporate travel and also provide packages. This would be a major thrust area for us now,” said Managing Director, IRCTC, Rakesh Tandon. To maintain its

position in the domestic travel booking space, IRCTC intends to introduce innovative facilities such as branded cards and booking through SMS. On average, the portal records about 370,000 bookings a day. “We are targeting 750,000 bookings a day by 2015,” said Tandon.

Hp gives thrust to rural tourism

Steady tourism growth throughout 2011

Budget depressing for industry

The government has approved a turnaround plan (TAP) to restructure cash-strapped Air India’s operations and finances. The plan, approved by the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA), includes the infusion of additional equity. As part of the restructuring plans,

the government announced the infusion of Rs 4,000 crore during the Union Budget 2012. This would raise the airlines’ equity base to Rs 7,345 crore. The issue of induction of the much-awaited Boeing Dreamliner-787, was also given the green signal by the CCEA, official sources said.

Air India’s turnaround plan approved

IRCTC ties up with airlines

Ministry of Tourism and MoCA sign MoU Destination Watch

Varkala

The only coastal town in Southern Kerala with cliffs adjacent to the Arabian SeaVarkala Beach listed in top 10 beaches of India.Famous for the 2,000-year old Janardana Swami Temple

18 INDIA TrAVel neWS dIgeST AprIl 2012

The state government of Odisha is battling to regulate functioning

of unauthorised travel agencies across the state. The recent

kidnapping of Italian national Bosusco Paolo, who was allegedly running a trekking agency at Puri illegally, brought the issue into focus. Soon after Paolo’s “unrecognised” agency was brought to light, the tourism department in Puri found another 53 unregistered agencies. Yet, none of them has come forward to comply with the tourism department guidelines.

Only 19 travel agencies in Odisha are recognised by the state tourism department.

Sahara India is planning to acquire, through its subsidiary Aamby Valley Ltd, 85 percent stake in Sant Singh Chatwal’s flagship property, Dream Downtown Hotel in New

York. The Chatwal group will retain the remaining 15 percent stake, while the existing franchise agreement with the Wyndham Hotel Group to run Dream

Downtown will continue to remain in place even after Sahara takes over.New York based Chatwal Hotels & Resorts LLC was planning to invest $200 million in India to open more than 50 hotels over the next five years. Chatwal Hotels, which has given the franchise and management rights of its five star deluxe brand Dream and four star brand Night to Wyndham Hotel Group, plans to expand them in India through the franchise model and develop them with the help of local partners. Sahara group is also already in talks to acquire The Plaza, a 105-year-old landmark property in New York.

InterContinental Hotel Group (IHG) is looking for a new domestic partner to expand the InterContinental brand in India. Earlier, the company had parted ways with its Indian partners, The Lalit Group. “We

are clear that we will partner with a domestic player to expand the InterContinental brand in India,” said Chief Operating Officer, South West Asia, IHG, Chris Moloney. “We would form a special purpose vehicle and expand through it”.

At present, IHG has 12 hotels in India. The company is planning to go aggressive for other brands, mainly Holiday Inn and Holiday Inn Express. “There are 47 hotels in the pipeline and our plan is to have 150 hotels in India by 2020,” said Senior Vice-President Development, Asia, West Asia and Africa, Paul Logan.

Travel Agents Association of India (TAAI) has asked the government to roll back the proposed hike in service tax to 14 percent on air tickets. TAAI also appealed for a second look into the issue of weekly settlements.

“Earlier, there was a cap of 12 percent. We want a roll-back of the service tax on ticketing as this will negatively affect the travel industry,” said TAAI President, Iqbal Mulla. TAAI and Travel Agents Federations of India (TAFI) are jointly submitting a

representation in this regard to the Tourism Ministry and the Finance Ministry. “Due to rise in service tax, we expect 30 per cent reduction in tourism traffic. Also if no measures are taken, the domestic industry will be strangled,” he said.

TAAI demands roll-back in proposed tax hike

Illegal travel agencies flourish

IHG in search for an Indian partner

Hotel giant, Accor, has announced the opening of its first Novotel property in Bengaluru. Novotel

Bengaluru Techpark is a part of the first combo property for Accor in India. Sharing the same site is ibis Bengaluru Techpark, which opened last November.

General Manager, ibis & Novotel Bengaluru Techpark, Puneet Dhawan said, “Bengaluru is one of the most promising hospitality markets in the country for domestic and international travellers. With the increasing cosmopolitan attitude of the city people and their need for quality offerings, we are quite certain that this hotel will create a niche for itself”.

First Novotel property opens in Bengaluru

French hospitality chain, Louvre Hotels Group (LHG) has announced plans to set up 50 hotels in India by the end of 2015. Managing Director South Asia, LHG, V J Singh said, “Right now we are operating nine hotels and looking at adding 10 more by the end of 2012. We plan to add 10 to 12 hotels each year, there on; so our target is 50 hotels in 2015. We have already invested USD 50 million and in the next year we will invest around USD 200 million”.

LHG targets 50 hotels by 2015

Sahara India to acquire stake in Dream Downtown

As part of our plans to market India, we are looking

at the FIFA World Cup for a big-time advertisement opportunity. The idea is to garner as many eyeballs as possible. We are also looking at advertising during the London Olympics in July 2012.Subodh Kant Sahai, Union Tourism Minister

VOICESTND

In a bid to increase its share in the Indian market, Dubai based Destination Management Company (DMC) Lama Tours will set up offices in Tier II Indian cities. Initially, the company plans to open offices at Ahmedabad and Pune. Said Managing Director, Lama Tours, Kulwant Singh, “Although our major business

comes from the metros, the Tier-II cities in India have opened new avenues for tour operators”. To tap the burgeoning weddings segment in India, they are planning a separate Weddings Division, wherein they will set up a team for designing Indian wedding packages in each of its India offices.

The DMC is also planning to launch special summer packages titled ‘If you get less than this, you get it for free’, across the Indian market. Furthermore, Lama Tours aims to do a radio campaign in the country.

INDIA 19 TrAVel neWS dIgeST AprIl 2012

The construction of the Navi Mumbai International Airport (NMIA) is not likely to commence before September 2013 because of the delay in securing clearances from the City and Industrial Development Corporation of Maharashtra (CIDCO) for the proposed airport site, which it was to get from the Maharashtra Forest Department.

Kenya Airways will launch direct flights from New Delhi to Nairobi from May 16, 2012. New Delhi is the second city in India that the airline will be flying to, the first being Mumbai. India ranks fifth amongst the largest tourism source markets for Kenya.

French Hotel Group Accor has brought its budget hotel brand Formule 1 to the country with the launch of its first property located in Greater Noida. The hotel group is also looking to add 10 more hotels by the end of 2013.

Marriott Hotels has tied up with Rajasthan Royals for this season of the Indian Premier League (IPL) and will be the official hospitality sponsor for the team. The team will sport the Marriott logo on their headgear. Marriott will use the Rajasthan Royal team logo in all its promotional activities.

The Union Government plans to add 100 budget hotels by 2016 in a bid to encourage the hospitality sector. The Ministry of Tourism wants to set up these hotels through a PPP in one, two and three star categories, besides adding 3,440 rooms.

Hotel room prices in India went up by two percent on an average in the second half of 2011, due to inflation as compared to the same period last year. Globally, the rates rose by four percent, according to the latest Hotel Price Index (HPI) report by Hotels.com.

Akbar Travels has opened a new ticketing counter at the domestic terminal 1B of Mumbai airport. This new counter offers all travel services to passengers and is open 24-hours a day. T h e c o m p a ny c u r r e nt l y operates car rental and foreign

exchange counters at various airports in India. “Our plan is to expand these services to all major airports in India, for the convenience of passengers”, said Vice President and Head of Airport Operations for Akbar Travels, TV Unnikrishnan.

Yatra.com has announced Bollywood actor Salman Khan as its shareholder and brand

ambassador. The actor is the face of Yatra.com’s new marketing campaign in India and the US.

With this partnership, the online travel company is looking at tapping consumers from Tier II and III cities and increasing the brand’s recall value, thus driving traffic to the website.

Commenting on the association with Salman Khan, Yatra.com’s CEO and Co Founder, Dhruv Shringi said, “The partnership is a part of our overall strategy to reach out to newer mass markets and associating with Salman Khan would enable us to do the same”. The online company has also revamped its website.

Expressing disappointment over the Railway Budget, President, Travel Agents Association of Kashmir (TAAK) Rauf Tramboo said, “We had high expectations, hoping it would contain proposals as would give some boost to the tourism sector in Jammu & Kashmir but we are disappointed”. The association had earlier approached the Railway Ministry in New Delhi with a representation seeking increase in the number of trains to

the state.“But it seems the railway ministry has turned a deaf ear to our pleas,” said Tramboo. “We had pleaded that ahead of tourist season, the frequency of trains to the state should increase, as during summer months the tourist rush to the state from Gujarat, West Bengal and Maharashtra increases and tourists from these places mostly travel by train,” he said. Last season, a large number of bookings were cancelled due to lack of trains.

Abacus International has launched its first customised application, or ‘Sabre Red App’, for its Abacus WorkSpace solution. Jointly developed by Abacus, Kuoni India, Excellent Management Limited Hong Kong and Sabre, the new customer profile app will run on all Abacus WorkSpace terminals at Kuoni India locations.Similar to the concept of mobile phone apps, authorised third party developers will have access

to a Sabre Red Apps Developer Toolkit to help build travel agency applications that can run on Abacus WorkSpace. “Sabre Red Apps

have unlimited potential. Whether it is automating agency tasks, managing travel reservations, providing destination tips to travellers or finding restaurant or spa

reviews, these apps can drive revenue opportunities for travel agents or integrate with social media channels,” said Managing Director of Kuoni, Rajiv Duggal.

Akbar Travels opens new ticketing counter

Salman Khan: New ambassador for Yatra

Rail Budget disappoints Travel Agents Association of Kashmir

Workspace app launched for Kuoni

In BriefLama Tours to open offices in Tier II cities

Destination WatchMorjim-Asvem-Arambol strip

Secluded beach in the northern tip of goaThe beach, laced with palms, is a 10 mile wide strip of silvery white sun roasted sand This place comes as a surprise since it is quiet, and blissful

INDIA 20 TrAVel neWS dIgeST AprIl 2012

Visitors to Chennai airport can expect congestion-free movement of vehicles following the introduction of a computerised access-controlled car parking management system. Six computerised lanes with barriers, for entry and exit of vehicles have been created. Swissôtel Hotels & Resorts, has signed a management contract for a flagship project in India; the Swissôtel Grand Mumbai. Due to open in 2014, this is in addition to another hotel under development for the brand, in Bangalore. Taking a step forward to promote tourism in north eastern states, India Tourism Kolkata recently organised a roadshow for tour operators. The delegates discussed policy issues, marketing initiatives, individual branding and promotion exercises for the north east.

India is seeing an increase in women tourists. They account for a 12.5 percent growth - that is 2.3 million of the 5.7 million tourists that visited India in 2012. A decade ago, the share of women travellers was as low as 24.5 percent. It has now risen to 40.7 percent of total tourist arrivals. The tourism industry however expects this to reach 50 percent over the next three to four years.

Hyderabad’s monuments are witnessing a drastic reduction in domestic tourists with the Charminar, Salar Jung Museum and Golconda Fort witnessing a nearly 30 percent decrease. The number of foreign tourists however has not been affected. All three have been receiving around forty to fifty tourists daily.

India Hospitality Corp, the owner of Mumbai eateries Jazz by the Bay and All Stir Fry, has bought UK’s Adelie food group, which supplies ready-to-eat food to retail chains such as Starbucks and Sainsbury’s, for $350 million

from Private E firm Duke Street Capital. The transaction will make IHC India’s largest food services company and help strengthen its presence in the rapidly growing out-of-home food market in the country. “We have signed the deal. We will make packaged food readily available for Indian consumers which they may buy from supermarkets and even from some mom- and-pop stores,” said Indian Hospitality Corp Chairman, Ravi Deol.

The fourth edit ion of Food&Bev Tech is to start on April 25 at the Bombay Exhibition Centre in Mumbai. The event, organised by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII)’s Food and Agriculture Centre of Excellence (FACE), will go on for three days. It is supported by the Ministry of Food Processing Industries (MoFPI). Gujarat is the partner state of the event. CII’s objective is to position India as a major global player in the processed food sector and in making the country

the food factory of the world by 2015. About 135 exhibitors are likely to take part.

Amadeus has signed a new five year agreement with UNIGLOBE Travel, the single brand travel franchise, to provide global content distribution services and IT solutions. The new contract will extend UNIGLOBE’s access

to Amadeus’ inventory of 430 airlines, 110,000 hotels, 30 car rental companies and 22 cruise lines. The agreement will cover India, along with several countries in the EMEA region, such as the UK, Germany, Italy and South Africa.

Abacus will intensify the promotion of its mobile technology offerings in India. The company, which offers Abacus Mobile, a web based application for travel agents, will aim to increase product awareness among Indian agents. The application allows agents to support customers, especially during urgent situations such as a flight cancellation or last minute date change.

Bangalore based ABCTCL that runs Café Coffee Day (CCD) is

planning to expand its premium coffee chain format, Square, to

counter the entry of US major Starbucks in India. The brand will bank on its large chain size to match up to its American competition.

The joint venture between Tata Global Beverages and Starbucks, which plans to invest Rs 400 crore and open 50 outlets by the end of 2012, is looking at outlets measuring 3,000 to 3,500 square feet.“Square is a tough format to expand,” said President, Marketing, Café Coffee Day, Ramakrishnan K. “Typically it requires a 2,000 sq ft space and we need experts in terms of staff working there”.

CCD’s ambition is to retain the over 60 percent market share.

Adelie food group bought by IHC

Food&Bev Tech 2012 to be held in Mumbai

Amadeus renews GDS deal

Abacus pushes mobile technology

Cafe Coffee Day gears up to compete with Starbucks

The obsession with inbound tourism must be put through a reality check. The figures show

domestic travellers comprise around 300 million, Indians travelling abroad exceed 12 million and foreigners visiting- less than 6 million! Inbound tourism must yield space to other segments of the travel and tourism industry.

In Brief

Gautam ChadhaCEO, TIrUN Travel Marketing

Hyderabad heritage losing out

VOICESTND

An ICRA Ratings report on India’s aviation industry says passenger demand is expected to remain stable and grow between 12-15 percent, assuming there is no major weakness in GDP growth. The turbulence in the aviation industry is not over, with high aviation turbine fuel prices and over capacity. In the short

term, challenges faced by airline operators are related to high debt and liquidity constraints; most operators need significant equity infusion to rev up balance sheets. In the long run, operators need to focus on improving cost structure through rationalisation at all levels, including mix of fleet and routes, aimed at cost efficiency.

Passenger demand stable

What is your outlook for the travel and tourism industry in 2012?Sincere efforts need to be made to promote tourism, as the current scenario in the West is not favourable and the economy worldwide is also not encouraging. However, India is doing well on promoting tourism. The government needs to develop good infrastructure facilities; rationalisation of taxation is needed as well as the reduction of service tax. Overall, the government should conduct roadshows and take tourism expos abroad. Having

said that, the niche segments that I see further picking up are the medical tourism segment, followed with religious, wellness and wedding tourism.

How is the business model going to evolve in the future?India is a growing market for tourism. International tourism boards are looking at attracting Indian travellers. Our business model is also undergoing a change with the emergence of GDS, online travel agents and new technologies. Travel agents have always been known as ticketing agents but

with changing times, agents are no longer the principal sources for tickets. Hence we are focused on getting ourselves recognised as travel consultants.

Interview

What is your outlook for the travel and tourism industry in 2012?Despite being the third largest industry segment globally, travel and tourism remains susceptible to numerous vicissitudes - natural and manmade. India has seen the peculiar phenomenon of domestic air traffic increasing by close to 19 percent year on year, but domestic airlines continue to reel under colossal losses. The economic meltdown of 2008-09 left an impact on the industry and the euro zone crisis threatens to derail

global tourist movement. But the industry is resilient, and I have no doubt that most of us will ride out this rough patch. What’s needed, however, is a fresh approach with greater professionalism and a need to specialise.

How are you looking at adopting technology for business success?Not all of us need to make huge investments in technology. Sure, you need a decent website which works for you but more than that it is the ability and the attitude to use the technology that is available, which is required. Meta search engines, social media, e commerce and comparison shopping are all available to even the smallest agent. What’s not so common is the ability to recognise the value and uses of what’s available for free, so the investment perhaps needs to be in skilled manpower, which will harness the available technology to suit your individual business needs.

How do you think the current economic scenario will impact the global travel scene?Travel is cyclical. The industry will revive. Skype can never replace a hug; people will travel, though the travel patterns might change. You need to continue braving the challenges and need to keep abreast of new trends.

How do you see the travel and tourism industry shaping up in 2012?With positive economic growth, ‘cautious optimism’ would best describe how the travel and tourism industry would perceive 2012. With the partial positive mood in the US and the concurrent pressure on European economies, the travel and tourism sector and the hotel industry, will continue to see reduced spends. On the upside, the extent of economic activity in India has not decreased. India is integral to the growth plans of most economies

in the world. The slowdown notwithstanding, travel into the country will sustain.

What will be the driving forces of development?As I said, the outlook for the economy is positive and there is a direct co-relation between GDP and tourism. This is also evident in the fact that there is awareness today about our leisure segment, driven by business travel into the country. This reflects on the dynamism of the Ministry of Tourism and bodies like The Experience India Society. In fact,

public-private partnerships have been successful in promoting the ‘Indian experience’, evident in forums like the WTTC and HAI.

How do you think the current economic scenario will impact the global travel scene?The growth story in the Indian economy continues to be positive despite the challenges that have gripped the European and US economies. The year 2011 has been consistent with expectations, with most markets showing marginal growth in demand over last year. Introduction of new supply at the luxury and fringe five star segments has impacted individual hotel performances in some cities like Delhi, Chennai and Bengaluru.

What are your aspirations for ITC Hotels in 2012?At ITC Hotels, we look to further consolidate our position with the opening of the ITC Grand Chola, a 600-room integrated hotel complex in Chennai as we continue to deliver on our ethos of ‘responsible luxury’. We are committed to competitive growth and deploying our full portfolio across all segments because that is what we believe is required to successfully deliver on our ambition and goal to attain competitive growth.

2012 HOlDS A lOT OF ExpECTATIONS FOr pOSITIVE DEVElOpMENTS IN THE TrAVEl AND TOUrISM INDUSTry. TND lEArNS WHAT SOME OF THE COUNTry’S lEADING TrAVEl AND TOUrISM prOFESSIONAlS FOrESEE FOr THE INDUSTry IN THE yEAr AHEAD.

2012 looks good for the industry

‘Cautious Optimism’ for the travel and tourism industry is the watchword in 2012, according to Nakul Anand, Executive Director, ITC and President, Hotel Association of India.

Iqbal Mulla, President, Travel Agents Association of India (TAAI) believes that the business model is undergoing change with the emergence of GDS and new technologies.

Ajay Prakash, President, Travel Agents Federation of India (TAFI) is optimistic about the year ahead and believes that the travel industry is resilient and will steer clear of this rough patch.

In this Issue: Soloman Islands, Indonesia, new Zealand, Australia, Fiji, Papua new guineaOceania

It is expected that more than 3000 artists and cultural practitioners from 27 Pacific countries will travel to Honiara, Solomon Islands in the first two weeks of July to showcase their arts and cultures, making it Solomons’ largest tourism event ever. The festival is recognised as a major international cultural event, and is the largest gathering in which Pacific people unite to gain respect for and appreciation of one another within the context of the changing Pacific.

The festival has been held every four years since 1972. The theme this year is ‘Culture in harmony

with nature’. The 2012 festival is an opportunity for Solomon Islands to showcase its cultural diversity to the Pacific region and the world.

It will be a time of unification

and celebration for Solomon Islands, creating much-needed opportunities in the field of arts and culture, and contributing to social and economic progress.

Tourism Australia Managing Director, Andrew McEvoy believes that, as the fastest and only direct connection to Australia from South America, the new Qantas Santiago service will provide a critical tourism gateway. “Given the market’s growing importance to Australian tourism, we’re delighted that Qantas is maintaining a strong presence in South America,” he said. “It will help the fast-growing tourism and cultural ties between the Asia-Pacific and South American markets. The new service will certainly compliment

the other indirect capacity into Australia delivered through US-based carriers, including Virgin, Delta and United as well as Air New Zealand.

Visitor numbers from South

America are growing sharply, with arrivals from Chile, Brazil and Argentina up by around nine-ten percent in 2011, which suggests that there will be demand for the new service,” McEvoy said.

Virgin Samoa, a joint venture between Virgin Australia and the Government of Samoa, flew into Samoa from Auckland on February 24th featuring its new Virgin Australia-style livery and interior. The airline’s 737-800, ZK-PBK Tapu’itea was repainted and had its interior upgraded by Air New Zealand. “Today we take the national airline of Samoa into the future,” CEO of Virgin Samoa Mark Pitt said. “The new livery

will increase the airline’s visibility in the eyes of local Samoans and those living abroad as Samoa’s national flag carrier. Since announcing the new name in December last year, the response has been positive”.

According to the Ministry of Economic Development, New Zealand, travellers made 17.7 million overnight trips last year, an 11.3 percent increase from 15.9 million in 2010. One of the largest increases was in the number of business trips, up 31 percent to 14.1 million. The number of travellers taking day trips was up 14.7 percent from 28.2 million in 2010 to 32.4 million in 2011. It is believed the large increase shows

New Zealander’s were simply spending less on travel during the recession. The survey also showed a significant increase in the amount travellers spent on transport, which totalled $3.4 billion in 2011, up 16.9 percent from $2.9 billion.

The next biggest increase in expenditure for travellers was food and beverages, increasing by 12.9 percent from $2.3 billion to $2.6 billion.

Solomon Islands to host 11th Festival of Pacific Arts

Virgin Samoa features a new style

Tourism Australia welcomes Qantas Santiago services

Officers of the Tourist Police Unit in Fiji will now exhibit the traditional iTaukei hairstyle known as buiniga as part of their outreach programme to tourists.

The inspiration for this came from retired Sergeant Major Leone Lesi, whose traditional hairstyle was a hit with tourists

said Assistant Superintendent Setaita Tikotani. She added that police officers were doing their bit “in adding value to the tourist dollar”. The role of the tourist police unit is to provide security and travel advisory to tourists and to attend and investigate complaints by tourists.

New Zealand has been nominated as Australasia’s Leading Tourist Board in the World Travel Awards (WTA) for 2012. New Zealand tourism businesses and destinations feature in 24 out of 31 award categories including:

Air New Zealand for Leading Australasian Airline; Wellington International Airport for Leading Australasian Airport, and Ninety Mile Beach and the Abel Tasman National Park for Leading Beach Destination

Traditional hairstyle in Fiji

World Travel Awards (WTA) nominates New Zealand

NZ domestic business travel surged in 2011

The reborn Mandala Airlines and Pacific Royale Airways,(PRA) a new full service airline under CEO Samudra Sukardi, will take off in early April from Indonesia. Mandala Airlines ceased operations in January 2011 but has since received new investments. It plans to resume operations on 4 April. The airline has recently received two Airbus 320 aircraft and both have passed tests. Pacific Royale Airways meanwhile is in

the final stages to receive its Air Operator Certificate (AOC). The airline has ordered two Fokker 50 planes, and plans to receive four

Airbus 320 and one Airbus 330 aircraft. PRA plans to serve the international routes of Surabya-H o n g k o n g , and Surabaya-

Singapore, while domestically it will fly Jakarta-Surabaya, S u r a b a y a - B a n y u w a n g i , Surabaya-Madiun, Batam-Natuna, and Batam-Kerinci.

Indonesia gets two new airlines

Destination WatchQueenstown, New Zealand

Purest destination in the world: elite Traveller, ChinaPopular for concerts, adrenaline activities, wine and foodVisited by filmmakers, wine enthusiasts Intense alpine energy

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OCEANIA 23 TrAVel neWS dIgeST AprIl 2012

Hawaii Tourism Oceania (HTO) announced the dates for its upcoming Aloha Down Under road show from May 14 to May 17, 2012. Along with 30 Hawaiian partners, the show will host events on the Gold Coast, Brisbane, Sydney, Parramatta and Melbourne.

As the 2012 Gay Pride travel season begins, more than 140 Hilton properties worldwide are offering a special package called “Stay Hilton. Go out” for LGBT which will sponsor major LGBT events and a chance to win a VIP experience at Gay Days Orlando.

HTO announces roadshow dates

Hilton woos LGBT with special packages

In Brief

In 2011, the Papua New Guinea (PNG) travel and tourism industry welcomed more than 164, 000 international visitors – an increase of 14 percent. Visitors are estimated to have spent K1.6 billion (US$700 million). This marks the seventh year to see growth in this sector. Growth is expected to continue as the PNG Tourism Promotion Authority in the last five years had set out clear long-term plans, which they intend to implement and if they are able to achieve their objectives, tourism in the next 10-20 years will be a significant contributor to PNGs national economy.

Tourism Australia carried out new consumer research across 13 of China’s fastest growing cities to further enhance its ten year marketing plan aimed at continuing to lure China’s affluent and travel hungry middle and upper classes to visit Australia.

The release of the findings aligns to latest international visitor arrival and spending figures confirming China’s ongoing status as Australia’s fastest growing and most valuable international tourism market, worth more than A$3.8 billion in 2011, up 15 percent on the previous calendar year.

A record 558,600 Chinese visited Australia last year. Tourism

Australia’s commissioned study - carried out by research consultancy GfK Blue Moon - represents the first time Tourism Australia has undertaken comprehensive

research into the travel behaviour and preferences of consumers living in China’s rapidly growing secondary cities, including Chongqing, Chengdu, Hangzhou, Nanjing, Qingdao, Shenyang, Shenzhen, Tianjin, Wuhan and Xiamen. The research provides key insights into the Chinese consumer, their purchasing intentions and desire for experiencing travel.

The findings revealed that Australia is the most desired long haul destination of the Chinese tourists, and also identified high consistency in consumer behaviour and trends across both China’s largest primary cities and its emerging secondary cities.

Growth in PNG tourism

Australia researches China’s growth strategy

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