Travel Daily Media » World Travel Market

Abu Dhabi explores South America’s tourism potential

Charmaine Fernz — Thu, 04 Apr 2013 00:12:14 +0000

Abu Dhabi tourism is keen to explore the tourism potential and opportunities in South America. In line with the initiative, the Abu Dhabi Tourism & Culture Authority (TCA Abu Dhabi) is heading to Sao Paolo for the inaugural World Travel Market Latin America.

The Authority is looking to build awareness of the destination ahead of Etihad Airways’ June launch of non-stop flights from Sao Paulo to Abu Dhabi International Airport.

TCA Abu Dhabi will be participating with 20 stakeholders such as Emirates Palace, St Regis Saadiyat Island Resort and Park Hyatt Abu Dhabi, Anantara Hotels & Resorts – the Eastern Mangroves Hotel & Spa, the Desert Islands Resort & Spa and Qasr Al Sarab Desert Resort & Spa, Jumeirah at Etihad Towers, Orient Tours, Yas Island and Ferrari World Abu Dhabi among others.

“Etihad’s Sao Paolo-Abu Dhabi service opens the destination up to one of the most important segments on the world tourism stage,” said Mubarak Al Nuaimi, Director Promotions & Overseas Offices, TCA Abu Dhabi. “Driven by a strong currency and a desire to shop abroad, Brazilians continue to explore international destinations. Just going by the sheer size of potential is telling – some 5.4 million Brazilians travelled abroad in 2011, recording 2% growth from the previous year.”

The number of Brazilians staying in Abu Dhabi’s hotels is on the increase. In 2012 some 3,605 Brazilians stayed in the emirate’s hotels and hotel apartments delivering 14,627 guest nights and an average-length-of-stay of just over four nights.

Jeffrey to leave WTM

Amanda Greenwood — Tue, 19 Mar 2013 15:22:27 +0000

Jeffery received an OBE for services to travel and tourism

Fiona Jeffery OBE is to leave World Travel Market (WTM) after 26 years at the exhibition, it has been announced.

Jeffery is to leave the exhibition to “pursue other interests in the global travel and tourism industry” but will remain as chairman of water aid charity Just A Drop.

She set up the charity in 1998 and also launched World Responsible Tourism Day and the Ministers’ Programme with UNWTO.

WTM will continue to be organised under director Simon Press.

“I am sad to go after all this time but proud of the achievements that have been realised by myself and the World Travel Market team”, said Jeffery. “I leave behind a business that has grown to become a strong global brand.”

WTM fails to draw in Thursday crowd

Amanda Greenwood — Mon, 26 Nov 2012 11:58:25 +0000

World Travel Market’s fourth day failed to see a large increase in visitors this year despite an increase conference programme, its figures have revealed.

Despite high-profile speakers including easyJet’s chief executive Carolyn McCall and others from Birds Eye and Saatchi & Saatchi on stage on the final day, the show saw a 1% increase in visits compared to 2011, with around 472 of 13,000 of its Meridien Club members attending a speed networking session.

However, Monday’s invite-only day saw numbers up 5% and Wednesday saw a 9% boost, while Tuesday visitation, the most popular day of the show, was up 1% year-on-year. Overall its unaudited figures showed a 3% rise in visitors across the week.

The World Travel Market cruise debate…

Sam Ballard — Fri, 16 Nov 2012 16:32:43 +0000

The panel at WTM's cruise debate

For those who weren’t able to make the WTM cruise debate with Carnival chairman and CEO Micky Arison; chief executive of Carnival UK David Dingle; and Michael Thamm, CEO of Costa Group; we’ve got the highlights for you below…

Micky, the fact that it’s been a difficult year for cruise has been well documented. How bad has it been this year compared to recent years and has the cruise sector turned a corner?

Micky Arison: Well as you mentioned, it has been a challenging period for us. However, despite those challenges, and there have been many – from the tragedy at the beginning of the year to the continuing issues in the Arab

countries starting with the Arab Spring and the economic issues in Europe. Despite those challenges the industry has fared relatively well. We continue to be extremely profitable, to have good cash flow and continue to deliver a good price to our guests.

Your third quarter figures were better than expected which, is surprising given the year we’ve had – how has your company specifically fared?

Micky Arison: The important thing is that we continue to offer great vacation value to our customers – people will continue to take their vacations even in difficult times. While we had to sharpen our pencils, and price a little lower than we wanted to, the value of our product really came through. And because of that demand – particularly in the peak summer season – we strengthened as we went through the quarter and outperformed our expectations.

How has the European market fared in comparison?

Michael Thamm: I don’t think that there is a general answer to your question. We have certain markets, like Spain and Italy, which are not looking strong right now. And then we have seen high growth in Germany, Austria, Switzerland and France. We won’t be seeing the double-digit growth that we’ve had in the past but overall Europe will supply us with growth.

The audience at the WTM Cruise Debate

And what do you think David?

David Dingle: The Passenger Shipping Association has released figures saying it expected the number of British tourists to take a cruise to increase by 20,000 to 1.72 million in 2012.

So, a good year?

David Dingle: The UK has performed better in 2012 than we all expected.That’s virtually no growth – just a 1% increase in carryings – but that’s against a backdrop of no UK specific capacity. The industry filled its ships, and as Micky alluded to, pricing held up. It came through a little bit later but it held up. Therefore there wasn’t the need

to use price as the market stimulant. I think that it was a credible year for the UK especially considering all of the economic news we’ve had.

How successful have you been as a company at growing the market?

Micky Arison: I think it’s very brand specifi c and really depends on how those brands are positioned and their location. In the developing markets in the Far East and Japan it’s all about growing the market – because there is no market! We see huge potential in those areas. In the more established regions like North America and Europe it really is the contemporary brands and short cruises which are attracting first time cruisers. While there is a difference in the respective markets, one thing is clear: we will definitely continue to grow the market. Because we operate at such a high level of occupancy, we can only grow the market by the amount we can take in and our growth rates and capacity growth will be much slower going forward compared to the 90s. The growth will be slower but it will be more global and it will continue.

What’s the reason for that growth? Is it brand identity or product?

Micky Arison: It’s both those things and many others. Today in North America you can cruise from virtually all over the country. Twenty years ago it was all South Florida and maybe New York. Now we have homeports all over

the country and within driving distance for many of our guests. Obviously the same is true of the UK, Italy, France – you can drive to the cruise and that is making it more affordable and easier to get passengers on the ships.

Why do you think that many of the major online retailers – Expedia, Last Minute, Travel Republics – have established themselves and have a very good use of technology, yet they don’t sell cruise. Is the industry suffering as a result?

David Dingle: Let’s not think that cruising isn’t being sold actively in the online space in the UK or anywhere else. There are many emerging and already successful online travel agents doing great cruise business. A key point is that cruising remains more of a specialist product. To an extent it uses its own language, it needs more customer information – particularly to new customers. Cruising is not a commoditised industry, it is an industry of distinct brands. That is a great strength and the online partners we work with are real specialists in cruise knowledge and in really representing the individuality of the whole suite of companies the industry provides. One day those big online retailers may come up with a useful proposition but at the moment we have plenty of great online cruise distributors who are doing a good job for us.

Micky Arison: In the US what sets the cruise product apart is that – as David said – it’s not commoditised. We as a company and some of the other players in the industry have tried to create a level playing field. Very often the very large internet agencies seek price advantage to promote and we try not to do that.

You made your move to stop discounting a little while ago now. How has that gone? Do you feel that UK agents have changed since your move?

Micky Arison: Looking at the results for the year the UK has done extremely well. If you base what we’ve done on results then it’s been a success. I think there are a lot of misconceptions on this issue; the focus should be on how we can be more efficient regardless of distribution. We love having tens of thousands of people out there promoting our products. Travel agents are a valued asset to our industry. On the other hand, we need them to operate in the most efficient way possible. People talk about direct business as if there’s some panacea to it. The reality is that efficient travel agents are as efficient to us as business coming directly into our call centres. The key for us and all of our brands is to operate through all of our distribution channels and to do so in the most efficient way possible.

Something that has been talked about a lot is the method in which you went about reducing commissions and the way that Royal Caribbean has been a lot more collaborative. Do you regret the way you went about it?

David Dingle: When you’re the market leader you need to be the first into anything like this. You’re responsible for breaking the bad news and taking the responses. We collaborated enormously and it wasn’t a surprise when we made the move. Some people just didn’t like hearing it. I strongly believe that 5% is the correct base number. We absolutely had to rid this business of travel agents rebating large amounts of commission, confusing customers, and in some cases threatening their own livelihoods and creating financial exposure for us. All of those things and we wanted to take control of our own pricing by not having it in the hands of a third party and that is very important for our revenue management. That was for the good of everybody.

With regard to Costa Concordia, we know that legal proceedings are underway so we can’t go into too much detail, but there are still things we can cover. It had a huge impact on your company and the industry as a whole. What lessons have been learnt, and from the entire industry?

Michael Thamm: This has been total shock for us – as a company and as an industry. We have to split the legal part from the moral part and for us it will remain an obligation. If someone asks what we think, that’s the word that we say: ‘obligation’. My obligation and the obligation of my people is that this kind of accident will never happen again. This is my obligation. There are also lots of good things – the industry has proved that in a crisis it is able to work together. It can implement things quickly when it needs to. We are very, very sorry about the casualties that have been taken by this incident and I can tell you that one of the cases that have affected me the most is the poor little girl that was taken. Obligation has a face also. My company passed 107 safety inspections in the year before the incident. That’s an inspection every third day. They’ve all been passed either fully or with very minor changes needed. The industry is heavily regulated and I do not think that we need more rules, we need to continue to move forward and evolve.

Micky Arison: I would just like to reiterate that under these circumstances the industry really comes together. The developments that have come about from the disaster are incredible. There have been many initiatives which have been approved by the entire CLIA membership and have been sent on to the IMO. A lot has been done and a lot continues to be done. Prior to this tragedy we had a tremendous safety record and we are totally committed to having a tremendous safety record in the future.

New look OTT launches

Amanda Greenwood — Wed, 07 Nov 2012 10:42:49 +0000

OTT unveiled its new name, logo and website at WTM yesterday.

The online training provider will now have its courses available through www.ott.travel with a new logo and redesigned website and courses to make the site more user-friendly for agents.

In addition travel agents will now be able to collect achievement badges as they complete courses, similar to those found on video games or foursquare, which can be shared through social media.

Outside of the UK the website will become multi-lingual with new courses to be launched in the Middle East and India, as well as Australia and Canada.

Its name shortening to OTT has been made official following the abbreviation of Online Travel Training often used by the industry more than the full name.

RateGain announces London office

Amanda Greenwood — Wed, 07 Nov 2012 00:25:44 +0000

Technology firm RateGain has announced it is to open an office in London next year.

The office opening comes as the company prepares to boost its customers in Europe, with staff to focus on sales, marketing and research growing to a full client service centre and account management.

“We have had tremendous success over the last few years and we continue to see potential for more growth in Europe. The new office allows us to build the market, promote the RateGain brand and provide Europe with a new level of support that RateGain is known for in the global market,” said Bhanu Chopra, CEO of RateGain.

The announcement comes as the company also launched its next-generation channel manager at the show. Its new tool, RezGain, aims to help hotels gather information from OTAs, wholesalers and ‘new age’ websites into one system. It also allows hotels to designate a room and apply price and availability updates across different extranets.

“RezGain is the first Channel Manager to utilise intelligent algorithms to dynamically manage rates and effectively distribute the hotel’s common pool inventory. The enhanced reporting offered in RezGain helps hotels identify the key performance indicators of individual channels and effectively optimize their distribution mix,” explained Chopra.

77% “check work emails on holiday” but is detox on the way?

Amanda Greenwood — Tue, 06 Nov 2012 23:46:19 +0000

Smartphones are stressing us out with around 77% checking work emails while on holiday, according to a new survey.

Research released by LateDeals.co.uk, in conjunction with today’s National Stress Awareness Day, showed 77% regularly check work emails and 65% will respond to them. The majority (81%) access emails through their smartphone with 89% admitting they find it difficult to switch off. According to the results we do not even wait long until we check our phones, with Brits looking only 4.5 hours into arrival and 39% take phones to the beach.

The statistics were echoed in World Travel Market’s annual report, which said 41% of holidaymakers use the internet between 30 minutes and three hours each day of the holiday with 86% checking personal emails and 15% looking at work emails.

Scientist Baroness Susan Greenfield CBE suggested that Brits may feel more inclined to have a ‘digital detox’ in the next few years in her speech at this year’s ABTA Travel Convention. However with more hotels, restaurants, tourism businesses and cities providing free WiFi it’s likely that the digital takeover is not only set to continue, but grow.

Meanwhile in the planning sphere, WTM’s Global Trends Report has predicted smartphone televisions will be the next technology to “take off”. With televisions now integrating the internet and social media there will be a development of apps with Teletext Holidays amongst retailers already getting in on the act.

New campaign unveiled by Rhodes

Amanda Greenwood — Mon, 05 Nov 2012 21:48:08 +0000

Tourism authorities from Rhodes unveiled a new marketing campaign at WTM today aimed at the British market.

Its ‘Sunkissed by Rodos’ campaign will see its ‘sunkissers’ hug and kiss pedestrians across London in a bid to ‘spread the sun’ around the capital and help promote holidays to the island.

“It’s no secret that it’s been a particularly wet summer for the UK. So we thought it would be a great time to spread a little sunshine and happiness from Rodos, and what better way than through hugs and kisses,” said Babis Palogiannidis, general manager of the Rodos Tourism Promotion Organisation.

More than 250,000 Brits have visited Rhodes so far this year, growing an average 6.9% each year.

World Travel Market unveils industry report

Amanda Greenwood — Mon, 05 Nov 2012 14:51:59 +0000

Headlines from WTM’s annual Industry Report

Industry prefer Heathrow R3 or Boris Island to regionals

Members of the travel industry would prefer to see an extra runway at Heathrow or a ‘Boris Island’ development over regional expansion, according to a new report. World Travel Market’s annual Industry Report from two surveys found one in three of the industry supported Heathrow expansion, while a quarter were in favour of the east-based hub dubbed Boris Island. In comparison only 21% agreed with regional expansion or further runways at other London airports, while 34% of consumers backed the east hub. Around 53% of those in the industry recognised the need for expansion in the south-east compared to 18% which said no and 29% ‘not sure/don’t know’.

Meanwhile the report also showed 36% of the industry believes holidaymakers will shun long-haul holidays due to Air Passenger Duty. Half of the industry and consumers said they have been impacted by the tax, with around a third believing fewer long-haul holidays have been taken.

Brits taking more holidays

Britons are taking more holidays than pre-recession levels, according to World Travel Market’s 2012 Industry Report. A consumer survey by the show found 53% had taken more than one holiday this year, compared to 41% last year and 24% in 2010. In addition 34% had been on more than two holidays, compared to 28% in 2011.

Editor’s Eye 05Nov12

Amanda Greenwood — Mon, 05 Nov 2012 10:52:49 +0000

Expect lots of out of office replies. Expect thousands of tweets, perhaps even a trend. Expect no sleep if you’re attending. Yes the Marmite of the travel industry calendar World Travel Market will fling its doors open today for flat-shoed and diary-bursting delegates to meet with companies and authorities from across the world.

We all know that WTM is a time when many companies release their news, whether it’s new initiatives for travel agents; new products or campaigns or simply their company results. There is also all the conference side to the show, keeping the industry up-to-date with statistic-heavy trends and predictions to mull over when back in the office.

For exhibitors themselves this is the opportunity to show the British travel industry what it’s all about. I was interested in an article from the Financial Times earlier this week that described how Korean-popstar Psy had changed perception of the country through his annoyingly catchy song and vibrant video for ‘Gangnam Style’. He has perhaps done what no tourism board campaign could do in such an instant and the FT then continued to say how this should be embraced going ahead. That unashamed element of ‘what makes this country, this country’ is something I love to see around WTM stands as these are ultimately the foundations for why we visit particular countries, no matter what else there is to see and do.

So in true British spirit, I suspect I will see most of you in The Fox after the show. First one to dance Gangnam Style to me gets a pint. See you on the exhibition and dance floor.