Articles by Lara

The China Tourism Academy reports that total revenue in the country’s tourism industry is expected to grow 13% to hit a high of USD 205 billion in 2010 as the country rolls out favorable policies to back the industry.

In this regard, the forecast point towards 2.1 billion Chinese tourists taking domestic trips this year, up 12% from 2009 while the number of inbound trips by overseas tourists would reach 136 million, up 8% from a year earlier. On the other hand, the forecast for outbound trips is expected to advance 15% to 54 million. The Chinese government has indeed posted guidelines last December to promote the development of the tourism industry, vowing to lower market threshold and simplify approval procedures for tourism enterprises, and encourage local authorities to attract overseas investment, opening the domestic tourism market to foreign companies.

Preliminary figures released by the Association of Asia Pacific Airlines (AAPA) provide further evidence of a modest recovery in air traffic demand. A total of 11.1 million international passengers were carried by AAPA member airlines in November, 4.5% more than in the same month last year.

International passenger traffic, measured in revenue passenger kilometre (RPK) terms, grew 3.5%. With available seat capacity having been cut by 3.1%, the average AAPA international passenger load factor for the month reached 76.3%, 4.9 percentage points up on the same month last year. AAPA international air cargo demand, measured in freight tonne kilometre terms (FTK), registered growth of 12% compared to the depressed levels of a year ago, and marking a continuation of the slow but steady recovery witnessed in 2009. The AAPA average international air cargo load factor was 8.2 percentage points higher at 71.1% for the month.

Commenting on the results, AAPA Director General Mr. Andrew Herdman, notes that’s given the difficult year in which AAPA international passenger traffic fell 8%, and international air cargo traffic registering a 14% decline, the November traffic figures are mildly encouraging, in line with the broader economic recovery underway being led by the Asia Pacific region. In absolute terms however, demand remains well below pre-recession levels. In addition, the aviation industry is still wrestling with the problem of low yields and continuing oil price volatility, so a recovery in airline profitability is still some way off making the overall, market conditions remain extremely challenging.

Japan Airlines carried a total of 402,587 international passengers during the Japanese New Year vacation period from 25 December 2009 to 5 January 2010. Load factors on flights to most international regions showed considerable improvement due to substantial reductions in capacity.

Measured in available seat kilometers, total capacity on international routes was 21.1% less than the holiday period last year. The overall seat load factor at 83.6% is 8.9 percentage points higher than the previous period despite a decline of 11.8% in international passenger numbers. On their part, the troubled JAL Group operated 76 additional flights, both scheduled and charter, to such destinations as Guam, Honolulu, Cairns, Fairbanks, Siem Reap, Bali and more while on domestic routes, JAL decreased seat supply by 6.9% against the same period last year, transporting 1,327,578 domestic passengers, 7% down versus the number of passengers carried during the festive period a year before.

Overall load factor on domestic Japan flights was recorded at 2.1% points lower to stand at 63.3%. During this holiday period, JAL Group operated an additional 128 domestic flights to meet demand on popular routes in Japan, such as Tokyo – Miyazaki, and Tokyo – Kagoshima.

According to recent surveys conducted at Amadeus the key concerns faced by travel agents across Asia Pacific are notably competition from online travel agents, the general travel downturn, and ways to generate more revenue in 2010.

The majority of respondents from Hong Kong and the Philippines felt that the competition from online travel agents was the most pressing issue, while respondents from Japan see the general downturn in travel as their key challenge. Travel agents from Hong Kong and the Philippines had different views from Japanese travel agents on the strategies that would be most effective to overcome these challenges in their respective markets. The majority of respondents from Hong Kong and the Philippines indicated that widening their target groups to generate business and adopting new technology would be critical in revenue and profit generation. Whereas most travel agents in Japan are exploring ways to implement cost cutting measures such as streamlining resources, work processes and operational expenses to best maximize profits.

The two tactics cited by travel agents in Japan in comparison scored lowly amongst agents in Hong Kong and the Philippines. According to the Vice President of the Business Solutions Group, Amadeus Asia Pacific, Peter Smith, the survey highlights how different markets have their own unique challenges for their customers and equally so their responses and strategies to counter such challenges. The survey in addition identified customer loyalty as a critical factor in reviving business in the travel industry. In this regard, the industry players have been advised to harness the power of technology to differentiate themselves from competitors and keep a high level of customer satisfaction and loyalty given the challenges confronting the travel industry.

The Association of Asia Pacific Airlines (AAPA) has questioned the effectiveness of the latest airport security measures introduced following the Christmas Day attempt to blow up an aircraft in the United States.

The AAPA has in effect said that treating each of the six million passengers who fly daily as potential terrorists and subjecting them to virtual strip searches and pat-downs, borders on the absurd particularly when compared to the approach the Association has adopted to ensure public security in other aspects of people’s daily lives. The regional association acknowledges that whilst new screening technologies are constantly under evaluation, including full body scanners and automatic explosive detection systems, there is however insufficient evidence regarding their effectiveness to justify their immediate deployment, not to mention unresolved health and privacy issues.

This limitation in the use of technology further exacerbated by ongoing debate on the merits or otherwise of passenger profiling raises a number of other important issues of fairness and preservation of human dignity, given the fact that 99.99% of passengers, even from supposedly higher risk categories, are entirely innocent. The AAPA on its part contends that rather than laying much focus on more intrusive passenger screening, the key lesson from the recent and all previous terrorist threats and or incidents, is the critical importance of effective intelligence gathering and analysis suggesting for reinforcement of both inter-agency and inter-governmental cooperation.

Commenting on the current state of affairs, the Director General of the AAPA, Andrew Herdman, asserts that despite recent events over terrorist threats in the air, public confidence in the safety of air travel remains high. The Director however cautioned over the undermining of traveler confidence by ill-judged reactionary measures being taken by those entrusted with maintaining public safety noting that the sudden introduction by national governments of uncoordinated new security requirements, without prior consultation, makes practical implementation difficult. Far from reassuring passengers, such unprecedented counter measures are likely to result in further confusion and unnecessary inconvenience.

Figures released by the Pacific Asia Travel Association (PATA) show that the numbers of international visitors to the Asia Pacific region grew by 2.2% year-on-year in October 2009, improving the overall position for the year (over 10 months), just 4% down when compared with the same period in 2008.

Within Asia, Southeast Asia recorded a strong gain, standing at 7% growth in international visitor arrivals, boosted by another impressive month for Malaysia (+14%) coupled by better outcomes from Indonesia (+3%) and for Thailand (+11%). In Northeast Asia, arrivals to Chinese Taipei (+13%) and Korea (ROK) (+13%) maintained stable growth momentum, while arrivals to Hong Kong SAR (+9%) and Macau SAR (+5%) continued to improve. However, weak arrivals were reported for China (PRC) (+1%) and sharp declines experienced by Japan (–11%); factors that limited the overall growth rate for the sub-region to 3%. In South Asia, Maldives (+11%), Nepal (+11%) and Sri Lanka (+7%) reported robust growth in visitor numbers for the month of October but where India’s tourist numbers were down by 1%.

As a result, the overall growth for the sub-region was reportedly a modest 2%, reflecting the dominance of the India’s inbound travel market in the region. The Pacific, on their part, recorded a 3% growth, with Australia (+6%) and New Zealand (+8%) leading the rebound. However, trends in visitor arrivals remained depressed for Guam (–9%) and Hawaii (–0.3%). According to the Associate Director of PATA’s Strategic Intelligence Centre (SIC), Kris Lim, the month of October marked the third straight month of above the line gains for international visitor arrivals to the Asia Pacific region. The growth rate of 2.2% achieved in October was acknowledged as being by far the best year-on-year improvement in a very depressed year.

Despite these intermittent growth recorded for the region, the first 10 months of the year was however 4% off the pace in terms of arrivals growth compared to 2008 levels, and about 3% off vis-à-vis 2007 levels. PATA however expressed its confidence for stronger gains expected for the remaining two months of the year, given that preliminary estimates for November from a number of destinations support those expectations given that growth in arrivals is in the double-digit range for Chinese Taipei, Korea (ROK), Malaysia, Thailand and Vietnam in November.

India is acclaimed for its huge medical tourism potential with states like Kerala, Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka, specifically identified in offering a lot of scope for medical tourism. In recognition of India’s potential as a choice destination for medical tourism, the Travel Agents Association of India (TAAI) has taken upon its stride to help in promoting medical tourism and have in effect showcased the key features of India’s medical tourism at an annual conference held in Dubai in last October.

According to the President of TAAI, Mr. Rajinder Rai, optimism is indeed high for India’s medical tourism especially for clients from the Middle East where the Dubai showcase will seek to change the scenario. The annual conference held from September 29 to October 2, saw over 2,000 delegates taking part. Experts from both India, as well from the Middle East nation, took part in this conference and exchanged their views, prospects and experiences. The President further categorically noted that the annual conference of the Travel Agents Association of India will contribute to a very large degree to promote and to market Dubai in India, which has been showing positive and strong signs of growth for quite a few years now.

The medical tourism market in India has been growing rapidly since the last decade and private as well as Government corporations are taking initiatives to sustain and continue the growth. The country’s potential as a choice destination for medical tourism has equally seen the Indian Medical Travel Association (IMTA) in partnership with a leading business federation, the FICCI, to promote Medical Value Travel to India from the African Continent. Dubbed ‘Namaskar Africa’, FICCI will lead an Indian business expedition from 14-16 January 2010 to Lagos, Nigeria with due support from Ministry of Commerce, Government of India and ECOWAS Commission where in effect the Indian delegation will be lead by India’s Minister of Commerce and Industry, Shri Anand Sharma.

Targeting Africa for clients is based on the steady growth in the volume of international patients coming to India for medical treatment, especially from West Africa and particularly from Nigeria. Indeed more than ten thousand visas were issued by Indian High Commission in Nigeria alone during 2009 to patients who wanted to travel to various Indian hospitals for medical treatment. According to the Executive Director, Indian Medical Travel Association, Pradeep Thukral, Africa is a prime market for promoting medical value travel to India and where ‘Namaskar Africa’ will seek to provide opportunities for the Association’s members to promote their services and also explore business opportunities for setting up Diagnostic and Clinical facilities in the African region.

The event endeavors to provide excellent networking opportunities between Indian African healthcare professionals and will help to further boost the flow of international patients referrals from Africa to Indian hospitals.

Predictions point towards a return to normalcy in the Australian tourism industry. This forecast, made early into the year, is based on the country recording its strongest growth in overseas arrivals since 2005.

Indeed last year saw the Australian tourism industry suffer its sharpest decline in total tourist consumption since the 2003 SARS outbreak. A turnaround in 2010 is therefore expected in that the value of the tourism industry to the economy is set to increase by 3% to AUD 92 billion. Overseas arrivals to Australia has been fuelled significantly by strong growth from the U.S and Chinese markets, and where this growth is expected to rise 4.3% after performing above expectations during the GFC. Domestic tourism, which was hit by a 5.4% decline in 2009, is on the other hand, expected to pull out of its slump this year and grow in value by 2.9%. According to the chair of the Tourism Forecasting Committee, Bernard Salt, a solid recovery of 4.3% is a good figure for the new year, given the strong growth out of the US and China for 2010.

Given the trend, international travel to Australia is expected to rise 4.9% in 2011 and 4.7% in 2012, thanks to the global economic recovery and a release of pent-up demand. Outbound tourism will still, on the flip side, continue to outstrip inbound arrivals due to factors associated with cheap airfares and the rising value of the Australian dollar, a trend that began in 2008 and is expected to remain as such for at least a decade.

A new study reveals preference among majority of business travel managers in seeking out alternatives to travel provided by technology in 2010 amidst signs suggesting stabilization in the economy and in anticipation of the end of the current global recession. The study entitled “2010 Corporate-Travel Spend Plans & Tactics”, was conducted by Kotler Marketing Group, in conjunction with the Association of Corporate Travel Executives (ACTE).

The key findings of the study indicate that majority of business travelers will rely on electronic alternatives more in the future than they have previously, in order to meet their travel spend reduction goals. Further, the study notes how companies who had widely deployed conferencing technologies saw, on average, greater reduction on travel spending in 2009, with conferencing having the biggest impact on internal travel. Another key finding was a continued increase and high expectation in the use of electronic alternatives for purposes ranging from team meetings to large events, to meetings with suppliers and partners. More than 40% of companies indicated the need to have their organizations replacing more sales-related travel with conferencing over the next few years.

Despite these plans to rely more on conferencing technologies, doubts and confusion persist about the effectiveness of these technologies as travel replacements. Indeed web-conferencing was “usually” an effective replacement, while video-conferencing was not rated as “usually effective” by a majority of respondents. The study was based on a survey of more than 200 corporate travel managers from across the globe, and provides an in-depth analysis of the current and expected usage of travel alternatives (e.g., web- and video-conferencing) broken down by region, industry sector, and company size. The research also investigated travel spend patterns, including T&E-to-sales ratios, and tactics travel managers plan to employ to control travel spend in 2010.

Speculation continues to grow about the fate of Japan Airlines (JAL) after its shares plunged to record lows amidst effort by Japan’s national carrier to restructure itself in order to get itself back on solid footing. In this regard, a government-backed corporate turnaround body, which is responsible for restructuring JAL, has proposed to the airline’s creditor banks that the struggling carrier be placed in court-backed bankruptcy proceedings.

This proposal has however seen banks rejecting the liquidation proposal because of fears of widening losses and concern that bankruptcy could disrupt the airline’s operations. The latest news reports that the Development Bank of Japan has nonetheless agreed to increase the amount of its unsecured loans to the airline. This is the fourth time the troubled carrier has been bailed out by the state-run Development Bank of Japan since 2001. According to the Centre for Asia Pacific Aviation (CAPA), the renewed uncertainty over JAL’s future creates ever-widening ripples. Indeed the new bankruptcy concerns appear certain to force a downgrading of the carrier’s credit rating, and already the premium it must pay to insure its loans has increased significantly.

A further issue noted by CAPA was that in the event of JAL’s bankruptcy and any sharp reduction in airline size, the government would be anxious not to allow a scramble for any airport slots consequently released at Tokyo’s capacity constrained airports. Delta Air Lines, the world’s biggest airline operator, and its rival American Airlines, have been vying for a stake in JAL in a bid to expand their Asian networks, with Delta offering a US$1 billion offer to lure JAL from American. The latest news is that Japanese airline, All Nippon Airways, is considering taking over the international routes of its struggling rival. All Nippon is reportedly looking to increase its overseas flights by targeting profitable routes to Europe and the United States and has allegedly informed the Japanese government of its interest. All Nippon competes with JAL on more than 30 of All Nippon’s 40 international routes.

Several cabinet ministers are reported to have asked JAL to completely withdraw from overseas flights and hand the business over to All Nippon. JAL has of late been making temporary adjustments to its international flight frequency and fleet plan. This has seen frequency flights on two international routes, namely that from Tokyo (Narita) to Sao Paulo via New York, and Tokyo (Narita) to Shanghai, reduced for a period of two to three months between January and March 2010, strongly attributed to weak passenger demand on these routes. Capacity is also expected to be lowered with the downsizing of aircrafts used on three other international routes between Tokyo and Beijing as well as Hong Kong for a similar length of time.

The Pacific Asia Travel Association (PATA) has warned that the past year shaped itself at becoming one of the worst for many years for international arrivals into Asia Pacific destinations.

Indeed the full-year contraction in arrival numbers is estimated to be as much as 5%, meaning that the region ended up with close to 17 million fewer visitors as compared to the 377 million recorded in 2008. According to the associate director of PATA’s Strategic Intelligence Centre (SIC), Kris Lim, the dismal performance is equivalent to a loss of two years in growth. Figures released by PATA show that the numbers of international visitors to the Asia Pacific region grew by 0.7% year-on-year in September 2009. However, growth in arrivals for the region is still down by 5% year-on-year for the first nine months of 2009. Prospects for 2010 however look promising given that the global economy is expected to expand by 3% in this New Year, with the Asia Pacific region expected to grow at double the global estimate.

This growth, PATA’s associate director warns requires all stakeholders continuing to work together to lead the industry out of its current stalemate. PATA acknowledges the single bright spot case example of Sri Lanka’s tourism sector where visitor numbers continue to improve, recording a 29% increase in arrivals for September 2009.

Travel market research conducted by Japan Association of Travel Agents (JATA) from the end of October to early November revealed that the diffusion index (DI) of overseas travel for the period October – December stood at minus 66. As much as this figure still stays submerged in the negative zone, this is indeed a modest recovery compared to the minus 72 recorded in the last survey covering the period July – September.

The outlook for the next three months indicates a DI of minus 62, suggesting a slow but continued improvement. Seen by type of business, full-line travel agencies reportedly rose to the highest level DI level at minus 46, a sharp rise of 14 points from the last survey. On the other hand, retailers and house agents are turning for the better; retailers with sales exceeding three billion yen saw an improvement of 22 points. However, agencies specializing mainly in overseas travel with sales of more than five billion yen lost 16 points. Overseas package tour wholesalers also sank by 11 points. In the outlook for the next three months predicts that full-line agencies will record a minus 60 DI, package tour wholesalers minus 78, and the agencies specializing in overseas travel minus 56.

These indexed figures therefore point towards mixed sentiments for the immediate future among the different businesses. In the current assessment by market segment, the survey by JATA notes that business and inspection trips and senior market exhibited an uptick of nearly 10 points. Seniors, above all, recorded the highest in DI at minus 33. Honeymooners, on the other hand, went a notch higher in comparison by two points to minus 57, while ratings for families went down by 6 points to minus 66. In the outlook for the next three months, ratings for students will rise by 12 points to minus 63 as their travel season begins. In reading the present sentiment by destination, Asia will steadily move up 4 points to minus 41 with travel to Korea and Taiwan shows a strong sign as nearby choice destinations among the Japanese, while China will gain an upswing of 16 points to minus 43.

Travel to Hawaii, Oceania, and Micronesia, besides choice destinations in Asia will significantly improve given the DI signals for the next three months. The DI for domestic travel on the contrary fell 9 points to minus 66, but indications point towards an upturn of 6 points for three months ahead to minus 60.

A new industry panel will offer opportunities for indigenous tourism operators to boost their presence in overseas markets, develop successful businesses and attract more tourists to Australia’s shores. This has been revealed by the Australian Tourism Export Council’s (ATEC) new indigenous Tourism Advisory Panel (ITAP) which has been formed to help train and market indigenous tourism businesses to compete effectively in the global tourism marketplace.

ITAP is made up of key indigenous tourism suppliers, a number of mainstream tourism operators, and representatives from both the online and ITO distribution system as well as Indigenous Business Australia (IBA). According to ATEC chairman, John King, with the assistance of the Indigenous Tourism Advisory Panel, is in a unique position to accomplish three things: firstly, increase the presence of indigenous tourism within the global distribution system; secondly, use mentoring, education, employment and training to bring a broader array of indigenous tourism products to export-ready standard and thirdly, to really bring indigenous tourism from a niche product to a core component of the unique Australian tourism experience.

ATEC has worked with Tourism Australia and IBA to organize the first export-ready Indigenous Tourism Champions workshop, where top-line operators were brought in to meet indigenous operators from around Australia to increase the presence of indigenous tourism products in international markets. As well as advising the ATEC National Board on indigenous tourism development programs, ITAP will also be able to initiate projects of its own, such as workshops or training programs.

The number of Australians heading overseas reached record levels in October, according to analysis of the latest Overseas Arrivals and Departures data by the Tourism and Transport Forum (TTF). While arrivals for the month grew 6.5% to 485,600 compared to October last year, Australian departures grew 19.6%t to 547,700.

This travel however comes at a cost to local tourism businesses. TTF executive director, Brett Gale, notes that these growing outbound visits reflect the gradual return of demand after a period of poor international arrivals and the substantial new aviation capacity which is available on key routes with more of those seats are being taken by Australians than tourists to Australia. The TTF director exemplifies this by noting that visitors from the United States are up an impressive 26%, although Australians visiting the US are up 46.7%. Indeed over the past 12 months Australians have made more than 6.1 million overseas trips.

As the outbound booms, the trend is that this continues to hurt domestic tourism, but more optimistically, opportunities are seen in that here are so many new airline seats available to bring overseas visitors into Australia though adopting extensive and rigorous international marketing that is capable of making a difference by taking advantage of returning confidence and aviation capacity.

Key trends highlighted by ITB Berlin’s report on ‘World Travel Trends’ shows that Asian travel demand will close 5% down for 2009 in part due to sharp declines in travelers from South Korea while long-haul destinations such as Europe are being hit hardest as Japanese, Chinese, Indians and Thais also choose to stay home or travel within Asia. The latest ITB World Travel Trends Report further notes that travel demand for 2010 is likely to pick up, but spending is likely to lag at around 2005-2006 levels. Prospects for 2010 will however be greatly determined by any return of consumer confidence in Japan and China.

The ITB World Travel Trends Report findings show that Asian travel demand averaged a more than a 10% decline January-June, but where on the other hand, some market recovery has been recorded since July 2009, indicating that the Asian travel industry is over the worst. While intra-Asian trip volume fell by only 5% from January through August 2009, travel to Europe (14% of total trips) was down 10%. Asian travel to the Americas (9% of all Asian trips) slumped by a more damaging 15%. The report notes that Chinese travelers may be more recession-proof than the Japanese, but they don’t spend as much. In Europe, for example, the total spend by Chinese tourists on transport, accommodation, food and beverages and incidentals (i.e. excluding shopping) was €240 per night, as against €320 for Japanese, €185 for Koreans and €180 for Taiwanese.

In 2009, the report notes, destinations dependent on Chinese travelers were also disappointed for different reasons. The Chinese government for instance issued an edict earlier in the year stating that no Chinese government employee could travel abroad in 2009. The biggest decline so far in 2009, in terms of outbound travel, has come from South Korea, down more than 10% over the same period in 2008 – a decline due in large part to exchange rates. In the six months from September 2008, the won went through a period of great volatility, involving massive depreciations. The report notes that South Korea was already weak as an outbound travel market in 2008 following several years of consistently strong growth. Even within Asia, the once high-flying low cost airline sector suffered in 2009.

Despite rock-bottom airfares, the sector has experienced capacity cuts, which resulted in lower seat availability and, inevitably, rising airfares. Analysts remain divided on signs of full recovery in Asia with some seeing a second dip into recession while others suggest that government stimulus packages have got anyone through the worst of it. The price of oil and the threat of H1N1 remain the unknown factors. According to the Vice President CompetenceCenter Travel & Logistics, at Messe Berlin,Dr Martin Buck, the ITB report predicts a modest increase in outbound trip volume for Asia, but expenditure and yield levels will still be at pre-2008 levels. Within Asia one can still expect to see shorter, cheaper trips, closer to home and at off-peak times.

The report concludes that there are currently too many uncertainties to be able to make certain predictions in terms of travel and tourism demand from the world’s leading source regions. The best guess suggest that neither Europe nor North America will do better than achieve a flat year in terms of growth, unless the economic recovery is much stronger in the USA than currently expected. But Asia Pacific should see at least a modest increase in outbound trip volume – mainly for intra-regional destinations – a trend also forecast for South America and the Middle East.

Critics of the recently released Long term strategy for Australian tourism note that the report appears rather flimsy for a national tourism industry which purports to have contributed AUD 40 billion to Australia’s GDP, AUD 23 billion of export earnings and directly employs half a million Australians.

Critics further note that as a response to the far more weighty Jackson Report submitted to the Minister of Tourism a few months earlier, the Long Term Tourism Strategy generates more questions than it addresses. As a strategic report it does not even bother to set a target date. Essentially the report contained nine key points namely: Positioning for Long Term Growth; Leadership; Research; Facilitating Investment and regulatory reform; Labor and Skills; Responding to Challenges; Excellence in Product and Service Delivery; Strengthening competitiveness with industry and product development and Measuring performance. Critics note that the issue which this report manifestly fails to address relates to means at which the country seeks to attract both a larger number of overseas tourists who spend money and do more to encourage Australians to see their own country rather than everywhere else.

It is acknowledged that Australia has done exceedingly well in the qualitative measures of inbound tourism but where its visitor numbers are far lower than the potential. It is suggested that a strategic report worthy of its name should have addressed these pertinent issues.

The Australian federal government has released the long awaited aviation white paper that outlines the needs of the country’s aviation industry for the next decade. Transport Minister, Anthony Albanese, cautions however on the need for investment in state-of-the-art air space management technology, including satellite technologies, to cope with ever growing air traffic, especially in reflection of issues affecting Sydney’s Kingsford Smith Airport, prompting the government to look for a second airport site.

However, the white paper did not recommend a second airport site to compliment Sydney’s Kingsford Smith Airport, but instead ruled out the anticipated site of Badgerys Creek, which has been overtaken by years of urban growth in the area and is inconsistent with future NSW spatial planning and land use development plans for the south-west region of Sydney. In regards to security, the government will implement less stringent rules, allowing passengers to take “low-risk” items on to planes such as knitting needles, crochet hooks and nail files and in addition will also allow the use of metal cutlery knives on aircraft and at airport facilities. The new rules will allow security screeners to focus only on items of real risk.

The Japan Tourism Board (JTB) anticipates that the number of overseas travelers for the year-end and New Year period (December 23, 2009 – January 3, 2010) is expected to decrease by 4.1% to 565,000, a record third straight negative trend since 2007/2008. The agency notes that the low traveler figures is attributed mostly to an unfavorable holiday calendar that will last for only four days, from December 31 to January 3.

With this restricted holiday period, most travelers are instead opting for nearby destinations for short stays that will average just 3.5 days, short by 0.2 days than is the usual. On the contrary, outbound travel is favorable attributed to by factors associated with appreciation of the Japanese yen coupled by reduction in oil surcharge mostly to Korea, where a 4.7% year on year growth estimated to 111,000 on a weak won, will be gained surpassing even the spiked level of visitors attained a year ago. Travel expenses are also assumed to be curtailed by 15.1% on smaller surcharge amount and a bigger share of short-haul destinations. Total travel expenditure among the Japanese is currently estimated at 109 billion yen, down 18.6%.

As Korea is the only destination that exceeds the result achieved a year earlier, China, Malaysia, Canada, and New Zealand are nonetheless maintaining the same level of Japanese visitors year on year. On the flip side, the destination that marks the biggest decline in Japanese outbound visitors is South Pacific, down 25% at 3,000 travelers, followed by the U.S. mainland, down 15.2% (equivalent of 5,000 people) at 28,000 travelers. Domestic travelers are, on the other hand, estimated at 28.5 million, down 2.5% with travel expenses averaging 32,400 yen, down 3.6%, and total travel spending is expected to be 923.4 billion yen, down 6%. JTB’s report that anticipates negative growth contrasts to the low sales recorded by travel agencies in the country.

For instance on their part, Kinki Nippon Tourist (KNT) posted 38.2 billion yen in travel sales for October 2009, down 15% from last year, of which overseas travel was 11.5 billion yen, down 21.7%, and domestic travel was 25.4 billion yen, down 13.3 %. In overseas travel sales, group travel sank 23.9% to 4.0 billion yen with ordinary groups falling 22.8% to 2.7 billion yen and student groups down 26.1% to 1.2 billion yen. Package tours also plunged 24.4% to 4.1 billion yen with Holiday dropping 24.3% to 4.1 billion yen and other packages plummeting 71.8% to 2 million yen.

According to figures derived from a Nikkei survey of 19 key hotels in Tokyo and 18 in Osaka reveal that occupancy rates at major hotels in the Tokyo area climbed to 82.7% in October, up 3.2 points on the year and the fourth straight month of year-over-year increases.

This increase is attributed to an influx of Chinese tourists to the area, and in the number of business travelers from Europe and the U.S., the latter travel segment that bounced back since declining in the wake of last fall’s financial crisis. On their part, the Hilton Tokyo which had experienced 30-35% fewer foreign business customers than in 2007, reportedly rebounded to being down just 10-15% in October. The Keio Plaza Hotel in Shinjuku on its part recorded an occupancy rate of 91.9% in October, a 0.8-point increase from the same month a year earlier.

The Tokyo Prince Hotel saw its occupancy rate climb 3.2 points to 85.5% attributed to a strong inflow of Chinese tourists, many in groups of four to eight. Increases in business clients have mostly been customers from pharmaceutical companies from the United States of America. Compared to Tokyo, occupancy rates in the Osaka area slipped 2.4 points year-over-year to 80.7% after improving in September for the first time in 14 months.

Korea Tourism Organization (KTO) aims to double the existing number of Australians travelling to the country by 2012. This was revealed by KTO’s Auditor General, Mr Lee Won Hyung, who further notes that 2009 has seen approximately 100,000 Australians travel to Korea.

An estimated 200,000 Australians are expected to visit Korea at the end of the Visit Korea Year 2010-2012 campaign. Korea, in this light, equally hopes to garner more Australian exchange students, from 200 each year to around 500 by 2012, and boost the number of Australian – Korean sister schools, from the current 40 schools. It is hoped that the welcoming of more Australian exchange students will increase the awareness of, and interest, in Korea as well as improve the existing political relationship between both countries. Visit Korea Year 2010-2012 is a pan-national campaign which envisions focusing on building the Korean tourism brand and developing high-quality tourism products to draw in 10 million foreign visitors.

Each year of the Visit Korea Year campaign will be accompanied with a different theme to highlight the unique culture and many offerings of Korea, including themes such as City and Style (2010), Nature and People (2011) and Blue Ocean (2012). City and Style will centre on Korean pop culture, urban tourism, culture and fashion, while Nature and People will focus on the IAFF World Championship in Athletics in Daegu, green tourism and the country’s rivers and mountains. The International Exposition, Yeosu Korea 2012, will kick off Blue Ocean, which will focus on Korea’s IT technology, maritime tourism, cruise tourism and island tourism.

Figures released by the Pacific Asia Travel Association (PATA) show that the numbers of international visitors to the Asia Pacific region grew by 0.7% year-on-year in September 2009. The region is this year expected to welcome 360 million travelers for the full year of 2009, a drop however of 5% when compared to last year’s figures.Only two sub-regions experienced positive growth that of Southeast Asia and the Pacific, where international visitor arrivals to the former region grew by 14% while arrivals to the Pacific were up 9%.

The boost in arrivals for Southeast Asia comes against the strong 25% growth in arrivals to Malaysia and the rebound in arrivals to Thailand (from a low base in September 2008). Arrivals to most destinations in the Pacific also increased compared to September 2008. Notable gains were equally recorded for Australia (+9%), New Zealand (+9%) and Hawaii (+8%) which all showed positive trends. In comparison, international visitor arrivals to Northeast Asia, the largest sub-region by number of arrivals, were down by 2% in September 2009 and, together with the Americas (–3%) and South Asia (–1%), offset the positive growth seen in Southeast Asia and the Pacific. Falling foreign inbound numbers for China (PRC) (–4%) and Japan (–16%) depressed growth in the Northeast Asia region in spite of positive results from Hong Kong SAR (+3%), Macau SAR (+4%), Chinese Taipei (+11%) and Korea (ROK) (+16%).

The 1% decline in arrivals to South Asia was largely driven by the 4% fall in international arrivals into India. Tourism demand in Sri Lanka, on the other hand, continued to improve, recording a 29% increase in arrivals for September 2009. With these forecast findings, PATA finds that while figures are becoming healthier, with September actually showing growth of 0.7%, strong contractions earlier in the year is likely to cause a full year decline in tourist numbers. According to PATA’s Strategic Intelligence Centre Associate Director, Kris Lim, the year is shaping up to be one of the worst for many years for international arrivals into Asia Pacific destinations where the full-year contraction in arrival numbers could be as much as 5%, equating to a growth in loss of two years. PATA is however optimistic that the prospects for 2010 appear promising.

The large number of broadband Internet users in China, combined with an exponential increase in mobile subscribers, is paving the way for travel-related companies to introduce rich media and mobile applications. This has been revealed in a report by PhoCusWright on the Emerging Online Travel Marketplace in China, which highlights that an impressive 84% of China’s 300 million Internet users now have broadband access.

PhoCusWright’s Emerging Online Travel Marketplace in China explores the unique characteristics of Chinese travelers, and looks specifically at how the emergence of rich media, user-generated content and social networking are impacting their travel planning behavior.The research further found that as the Chinese population has become increasingly well-connected to the Internet, they exhibit a clear preference for online media content. This shift suggests considerable opportunities for applications in the travel searches, shopping and buying processes. PhoCusWright’s General Manager Asia Pacific, Ram Badrinathan, asserts that as China emerges as the largest broadband user market in the world, coupled by an additional 650 million mobile users in the country, points towards a tremendous opportunity for companies in the online travel space to create and deliver practical and dynamic tools and services to China’s increasingly sophisticated travelers.

The study was based on a comprehensive, six-month study of the Chinese travel marketplace providing a detailed examination of the Chinese travel industry, with an emphasis on trends and opportunities in the online space. The reports repute to have cleared the mysteries of this rather complex and regionally diverse market, paving the way for innovative companies to take advantage of the vast Chinese travel opportunity. The PhocusWright study aligns with that of Abacus International which had earlier revealed that the “star performer” of the travel industry in 2009 is the online travel booking segment, which has shown “remarkable stability” through the otherwise volatile market of the past 12 months and where this segment is expected to continue growing in the second half of the year.

In terms of volume growth, Abacus International reported that a very real opportunity exists for travel suppliers to position themselves to tap into upcoming online markets including Malaysia, which is regarded as the next emerging market where online travel booking is tipped to boom in the coming years. Further along the timeline, China, Indonesia, Vietnam and Thailand were equally tipped to develop into the next group of online markets.

As the second largest economy in the world with a population of 126 million, Japan offers the highest numbers of high net worth individuals in the Asia Pacific region and where the country’s baby boomer market is one of the wealthiest and largest consumer groups in the world.

These key attributes have precipitated hosting of a new luxury travel event-Blossom Japan-by Lucioles, the recently launched company headed by Jay Martens, co-founder of Reed Exhibitions’ Asia Luxury Travel Market (ALTM). Blossom Japan is a premium trade event exclusively for the development of the high-end travel market of Japan. In a press statement, Lucioles reports that the event would provide worldwide participants with the opportunity “to tap into the lucrative but hard to penetrate Japanese market by presenting a forum of exceptional one-to-one business opportunities”. The invitation-only event is slated to be held from January 18-21, 2011 and will start with a full day conference followed by a three-day exhibition at the Tokyo International Forum. One free day in Tokyo is included in the package to allow participants to experience the city.

Espoused for being an event of its kind in the Asia Pacific region, Asia Luxury Travel Market (ALTM) brings together the world’s most sought after destinations, ultra-luxurious accommodation, elite transportation and unique travel experiences, showcased for the most discerning Asian luxury travel buyer. Such events are usually by invitation only and offer luxury travel providers the opportunity to reach Asia Pacific’s VIP Buyers. Shanghai, China is in line to host the event in June 2010 coming after equally hosting this year’s event. Asia Luxury Travel Market is a registered trade mark of Reed Exhibitions Limited.

Japan Journeys is the first tour operator in the country set to offer a specialist gastronomic tour of Japan. This comes in the wake of news that Tokyo has leaped ahead of Paris as the city with the most Michelin-starred restaurants, precipitating the tour operator to run its first ever Gourmet Tour of Japan starting in May 2010.

The latest edition of the Michelin guide to Tokyo reveals that the city now has 11 three-star restaurants, with the city as a whole boasting over 260 Michelin stars. Japan Journey is thus set to offer a ten-day itinerary that will include a cookery class in Tokyo, as well as a tour of a sake brewery, a visit to the biggest fish market in the world and the opportunity to sample some of the world’s best cooking at Tokyo’s Michelin-starred restaurants. Travelers with Japan Journeys will in this regard get to experience firsthand why Tokyo was voted the newly crowned gastronomic capital of the world by participating in a cooking class in the city, trying a traditional o-bento and visiting the city’s best ramen noodle bars. The tour also takes in Kyoto and Nara, giving travelers the chance to take a trip on Japan’s famous Bullet Train and attend a Sumo Tournament.

Already a growing interest in gastronomy tourism is gaining ground in the Asia region as explored in a cross-national study by Hurng and Tsai* where they explored the contents of the cuisine and gastronomy websites of Hong Kong, Japan, Korea, Singapore, Taiwan and Thailand, analyzing the techniques used to introduce and promote these East Asian tourist destinations’ cuisine and food culture. Specifically, the researchers examined the capacity of government websites to introduce and advertise traditional and local foods, restaurants, gastronomic tours, recipes and culinary cultures (including table manners and other dining customs). They also looked more generally at culinary tourism marketing strategies, including the use of restaurant guides and certifications.

The scholars found that the content of government tourism websites is very important for promoting a tourist destination’s exciting cuisine and food culture. These websites help to shape a country’s, region’s or locality’s culinary-cultural image; and they create a virtual experience for culinary tourists.

According to a recent report, the cruise industry remains the standout performer in the Australian tourism sector, with its contribution to the national economy increasing 54% to USD 1.2 billion in 2007-08. Forecasts made in the Access Economic Report indicate that cruise industry is set to achieve an annual growth of 7% over the next decade, significantly outperforming the Australian economy.

Cruise Company, Carnival Australia, believes that the cruise industry’s economic contribution could exceed AUD 3 billion by 2020 given that the latest report from Access Economies is a compelling addition to the intensifying debate around all the critical issues facing the cruise industry now and into the future. According to the Company’s Chief Executive, Ann Sherry, the company will seek to continue working with governments to ensure the development of long term solutions to overcome capacity constraints that could impede the sector’s continued expansion.

Indeed Carnival Australia indicates its enthusiasm in the progress made to improve port facilities but much remains to be done to ensure that this key part of the tourism sector continues to provide thousands of jobs in major ports around Australia given the expectation that the total cruise sector activity will increase 7% each year over the next decade as more Australian families cruise onboard ships which regularly visit major ports such as Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Fremantle, Cairns, Adelaide and Hobart.

The importance of Sydney as a destination is acknowledged as critical to the growth of the cruise sector in terms of attracting international (Cruise) tourists to Australia and where advice has been issued around the provision of suitable infrastructure in Sydney and elsewhere in order for the sector to reach its growth potential.

Australian arrivals to Japan during the month of October increased 9.3% on 2008 figures according to a preliminary report released by the Japan National Tourism Organization (JNTO). The total Australian arrivals for the period were 19,900 compared with 18,200 for the same period last year.

The JNTI attributes the rise in the number to factors associated with the appreciation of the Australian dollar against the yen, special airfare sales, and an increase in media promotions targeting the Australian market. Furthermore, with the launch of the Visit Japan Year 2010 Campaign, a marketing effort aimed at increasing travelers to Japan and achieving Japan’s goal of 10 million international visitors by 2010, JNTO is optimistic that Australian arrivals will continue to increase, especially with Japan’s ski season scheduled to begin soon. Indeed the Australian dollar has been making a steady recovery with one dollar now worth around 80 yen compared to 60 yen at the same time last year.

The figures released by JNTO are based on arrivals of Australian passport holders and include business, leisure, and stopover visitors. Australia remains the sixth major Japan inbound market ahead of the UK, Thailand, Canada and France and behind South Korea, China, Taiwan, USA and Hong Kong.

Hotels in the Asia Pacific region experienced decreases (in U.S. dollars terms) for all three key performance metrics for October 2009. This is according to data compiled by STR Global, year-on-year measurements of the Asia Pacific region’s occupancy rates which show a fall of 0.6% to 67.1%, and where ADR declined 2.5% to USD 128.09 and RevPAR fell 3.1% to USD 85.89.

The star performers in terms of monthly RevPAR growth across the region are Australia, Guam, Indonesia, Malaysia, New Zealand and South Korea, which benefited partly due to a weak U.S. Dollar exchange rate. Among the key markets in the region, New Delhi, India, reported the largest occupancy increase, up 14.7% to 77.5%, followed by Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia (+12.4% to 74.1%), and Sydney, Australia (+11.9% to 88%). Two markets posted double-digit occupancy decreases those in Manila, Philippines (-11.3% to 63.4%), and Bali, Indonesia (-10.8% to 77.1%).

Melbourne, Australia (+28.5% to US$160.78), and Sydney (+28.5% to US$161.24) reported the largest ADR increases. Two other markets also reported ADR increases of more than 20% namely Brisbane, Australia (+23.2% to USD 153.32), and Seoul, South Korea (+22.7% to USD 170.59). On the other hand, largest ADR decreases were reported for Phuket, Thailand (-22.8% to USD 72.72), Shanghai, China (-22.2% to USD 117.22), and Beijing, China (-22.1% to USD 95.68). Sydney, Australia experienced the largest RevPAR increase, jumping 43.8% to USD 141.84. Three markets reported RevPAR decreases of more than 20% those of Phuket (-28.2% to USD 42.47); Shanghai (-25.2% to USD 66.82); and Beijing (-20.5% to USD 60.56).

According to the managing director of STR Global, Elizabeth Randall, all sub-regions across Asia/Pacific saw occupancy stabilizing in the month of October, helping to soften RevPAR decline by only 3.1% overall and where monthly improvements saw hotels across the region losing just USD 22.04 in RevPAR value year-to-date compared to year-to-October 2008.

Boeing has predicted that the Asia-Pacific will dominate the world in terms of airline activity within the next two decades with airlines in Southeast Asia requiring more than 2,100 new aircraft valued at approximately USD 330 billion in this regard.
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The Association of Asia Pacific Airlines (AAPA) has been urged to woo major airlines in China to strengthen the clout of the association on the global stage. Singapore Airlines CEO, Chew Choon Seng, affirms this need as the association acknowledges China’s present status and ability at taking a leading position on the world stage.
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Amadeus, a provider of technology and distribution solutions to the travel and tourism industry, has identified the emergence of the “Amateur-Expert Traveler”, one who is more knowledgeable, more adventurous and more likely to live in an emerging economy than ever before, and whose rise coincides with advancements in the trip experience and the growth of niche travel in the post-recessionary environment.
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Singapore Airlines has been named Airline of the Year in the 2009 OAG Airline Industry Awards. The carrier also won in several categories including Best International First Class, Best Transpacific and Best Europe to Asia/Australasia airline.
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An online survey conducted by Apple World on the year-end and New Year travel plans reveal positive intentions among the Japanese to make a trip this year. The survey results point towards a strong indication among the Japanese to have more positive intentions to travel this year than last.
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A new study suggests that the explosive growth in the outbound Chinese travel market is set to continue especially among business and leisure travelers. Undertaken by a lead market information company, TNS, the study probed the travel preferences of mainland Chinese businessmen and holidaymakers from tier 1 and 2 cities across the country.
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According to a recently released October 2009 STR Global Construction Pipeline Report, the development of hotels in the Asia Pacific hotel industry shows 985 hotels currently under construction and which altogether comprise 235,931 rooms. Among the key markets, Shanghai, China, reported the largest amount of rooms in the total active pipeline (12,445 rooms) and equally in the “In Construction” phase (9,291 rooms).
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The traditional package holiday requirements of sun, sea and sand will be replaced with sightseeing, shopping and status as emerging markets shape the travel industry in the new Millennium.
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Services and not just goods attract the traveling Australian shopper. This has been revealed based on returns from the weekend Malaysia’s Year End Sale, or better known locally as simply M-YES. With the Australian dollar powering through, and no indication of slowing down, Australians are now considered among the top three countries for tourist spending in Malaysia.
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According to the UNWTO, a moderate growth is expected for 2010 based on forecasted estimates given that the decline in international tourism may have started to bottom out. According to the latest edition of the UNWTO World Tourism Barometer, international tourist arrivals at a global level declined by 7% between January and August 2009, with the rate of decline easing further in the past few months.
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Euromonitor International launched the 2009 World Travel Market Global Trends report revealing seven trends of the future in an effort to provide insight into how the travel and tourism industry can entice the next generation of travelers, despite the economic uncertainty.
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Tourism Australia staged an event at the Shibuya 109 Studio in Tokyo to introduce a visiting team of “Aussie Oji (Prince)” in sync with its “Aussie Oji Campaign” intended for the purpose of providing Japanese tourists, especially the market-leading women in their twenties and thirties, with opportunities to mix with friendly and upbeat Australians.
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Efforts are now being made to enhance the promotion of human exchange between Japan and Sweden through the introduction of Swedish lifestyle through music, design works, and cuisine. This was revealed during a travel seminar themed, “Destination New Sweden” that was hosted by the Embassy of Sweden and the Scandinavian Tourist Board (STB) in Tokyo.
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A research conducted by Japan National Tourist Organization (JNTO) reveals that the lack of signboards, maps, and street signs translated in foreign languages is indeed the main constraint faced by majority of foreign visitors to the country.
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Singapore Airlines and Tourism New South Wales have signed a joint marketing agreement aimed at boosting visitor numbers to Sydney and beyond. Under the terms of the MoU, both parties will jointly explore and implement activities to promote tourist traffic to New South Wales, by way of Singapore Airlines’ services between Singapore and Sydney.
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Travelers both young and old are increasingly using mobile devices for flight notification, check in, and seat selection, and are also willing to accept advertising with free travel applications. These findings were revealed in a global mobile survey of travelers, conducted by Sabre Travel Network, a provider of high-performance solutions for the travel industry, among 800 corporate and leisure travelers from Asia Pacific, Europe, Latin America and North America, covered topics ranging from preferred features to fees travelers might pay for travel applications.
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Landmark sporting events such as the FIFA World Cup, Commonwealth Games and Winter Olympics and Paralympic Games will influence the travel calendar in 2010. In addition, a growing trend towards eco-tourism puts Stockholm on the map, while Istanbul is expected to be one of the most visited European destinations in recognition of its recent accolade as the ‘European City Of Culture’.
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Tourism New Zealand and Tourism Australia have been challenged to work together more closely in order to benefit the region as a whole. This call was made by the CEO of Tourism Holdings Ltd (THL), Grant Webster, during the company’s annual meeting, who suggested for the two neighbors to adopt easier customs and border access, such as Smart Gate, for instance in order to derive needed benefits.
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Vienna’s Kunsthistorisches Museum’s “The Habsburg – Treasures of the Hapsburg Monarchy” exhibition intends to lure Japanese visitors to the country by providing visitors opportunities to enjoy the geographical spread of the Habsburg Monarchy. This was revealed by the Managing Director of Vienna Tourist Board, Nobert Kettner, in Tokyo recently. The exhibition is part of the commemoration of the 140th jubilee of the friendship treaty between Japan and Austria and will be taking place at The National Art Center in Roppongi, Tokyo until December 24 and then later in Kyoto from January 6 to March 14 at Kyoto National Museum.
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Hong Kong Tourism Board (HKTB) disclosed that year-to-date total of Japanese visitors to the nation state through September was 878,670, down 9.3% from last year’s estimate. Four months, from April to July, had witnessed a down turn in the number of arrivals, which the HKTB attributed to anxieties that characterized the industry over fears over a re-emergence of A(H1N1) influenza.
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Emirates, the International airline of the United Arab Emirates, announced plans to expand its footprint in the Asia Pacific by increasing its capacity to Bangkok, Sydney, Manila and Jakarta. As per this plan, the carrier will over a period of two months, starting December 2009 introduce 17 more flights per week, representing a 13% growth in seat capacity.
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Japan’s national carrier, JAL, has confirmed discontinuation of operations on 8 international and 8 domestic routes, as well as 1 cargo route. Flight frequency on 2 international routes is also expected to be reduced. The total effect of these changes is a trim down of 61, 91 and 3 weekly return flights in the international, domestic and cargo networks respectively. Within the three fiscal half-years of April 2009 to September 2010, reductions and suspensions are to be carried out on a total of 13 international, 15 domestic and 2 cargo routes, along with the closure of 4 overseas and 2 domestic offices.
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Japan National Tourist Organization (JNTO) released preliminary estimates of Japanese outbound travelers for the month of September indicating a 15.3% growth of up to 1.58 million, bringing the year-to-date total to 11,511,000, albeit down 4.8% to the same period last year. The two-digit growth in outbound travelers was witnessed for the first time in over four years, essentially since April 2005. JNTO attributes the growth to three key factors namely a renewed sense of value of overseas travel emanating from temporary suspension of oil surcharge after June this year, the appreciation in the value of the Japanese yen, and demand triggered by the Japanese Silver Week holiday in September.
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Australia remains the country that most people have on their wish list to visit but the Obama effect has seen the United States earn the coveted top spot for the first time in the fifth annual FutureBrand Country Brand Index (CBI). Australia fell to number three, with New Zealand hot on its heels in fourth position.
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The number of Australians travelling overseas has topped six million in a 12-month period for the first time, according to analysis of the latest ABS Overseas Arrivals and Departures data by the Tourism & Transport Forum (TTF). The analysis indicates that almost 630,000 Australians went overseas in September, taking the total for the year ending September to a record 6,019,700.
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The Pacific Asia Travel Association (PATA) recently released figures showing improvement of the numbers of international visitors to the region was by a marginal 0.5% during the month of August 2009 compared to August 2008.
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The latest air traffic results from the International Air Transport Association (IATA) for end October show flat passenger demand year on year, while airline costs have equally risen. This result comes against a backdrop of carriers cutting capacity to match demand but where this has lead to aircrafts flying fewer hours, leading to a rise in non-fuel costs.
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Two surveys by American Express predict that China will lead the global recovery in business travel coupled with investment in the country by global companies increasing as well by next year. The surveys were undertaken among Amex’s Global Business Partnership (GBP) clients, as well as other clients based in Shanghai, Beijing, and Guangzhou through its annual China Business Travel Survey (The Barometer).
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Walt Disney has won approval from the central government of China to build a Disneyland-style theme park in Shanghai. With this news, analysts estimate that Shanghai Disneyland, minus hotels and resort infrastructure, will cost USD 3.5 billion, making it one of the largest-ever foreign investments in China.
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A recent consumer market study reveals that fashion lovers across Asia Pacific are expanding their wardrobes with outfits from overseas online malls and boutiques in order to keep pace with the latest trends. The Visa e-Commerce Consumer Monitor for Q1 2009 survey reveals that the most popular online purchases on overseas websites in the past 12 months were clothes/shoes, followed by airline tickets and travel accommodation.
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According to data compiled by STR Global, hotels in Asia Pacific recorded a year-on-year occupancy rise of 1.4% to reach 62.3%; while ADR declined 7.7% to USD 123.72, and RevPAR fell 6.3% to USD 77.12.
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According to a PIB release, more than 90 foreign film productions have been cleared for shooting in different locations all over India over the last three years. Permission was granted to 22 foreign film productions in 2006, 27 each in 2007 and 2008 and 17 till date this year.
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Hong Kong is looking at focused at promoting cruise vacations. In this regard, the semi-autonomous state is embarking at developing a new cruise terminal with an investment of HKD 7.2 billion with operations set to start in 2013. With this new terminal, the berth is expected to handle two mega vessels with facilities like immigrations, shopping, dining and entertainment etc, and where this new terminal and homeport will act as an added benefit to Hong Kong as a choice destination.
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The Korean Association in India (KAI), in partnership with Korea Tourism Organization (KTO) New Delhi Office, recently organized for the first time the Korean Festival 2009 in New Delhi. Thefestival showcased authentic Korean cuisines and various Korean cultural activities including music, martial arts and also Bollywood dances. The festival also took advantage of displaying a wide array of electronic consumer products.
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Australia has been chosen as the perfect destination for the rookie Japanese overseas traveler because the country has only a few hours’ time difference to Japan, precipitated by a good travel season during summer. This initiative has been mooted by Kanto Regional Sales Administration Group of H.I.S. and started to promote its Australian tour campaign for first timers on October 19.
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Japan’s Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism (MLIT) has framed its budgetary request for the fiscal year 2010, earmarking JPY25.6 billion (USD 283 million) for tourism, 4.1 times the amount appropriated this year. The rise in tourism-related budgetary allocation relates to the country’s effort at scaling up targets set for foreign visitors, namely, the goals of 20 million arrivals in 2016, 25 million in 2019, and ultimately 30 million in the future, from the previous set goal of 20 million in 2020.
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Despite the global recession, the online travel marketplace in China is growing rapidly. This has been revealed by a travel industry research company, PhoCusWright Inc., which further predicts that online travel revenue in China will as a consequence of this growth increase by 19% this year alone.
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The Pacific Asia Travel Association (PATA) has reportedly launched the ‘PATA Sustainability Index’ with UK’s Sustainability Intelligence, an organization that operates the Green Globe Index program worldwide.
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Preliminary figures released by the Association of Asia Pacific Airlines (AAPA) show that member airlines carried a total of 10.8 million international passengers in September 2009, effectively matching the numbers carried in the same month last year for the first time in over twelve months. International passenger traffic, measured in revenue passenger kilometers (RPK), was 0.9% lower in September, but this marked a significant improvement compared to the steep monthly declines recorded over the past year.
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Australian tourism businesses have nominated the rising Australian dollar as a key concern to spur more inbound visitor numbers, as the industry continues to struggle in the wake of the global financial crisis and the swine flu outbreak. This is the revelation highlighted by a new research by the Tourism & Transport Forum (TTF).
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A recent survey by Hotels.com reveals that a third of Australian respondents are planning to spend all of their tax returns on a holiday. The survey showed that Australian’s were “burnt out” and desired a relaxing holiday (more than half) or city break (19%) or a cultural trip (16%). About 40% of respondents believed the extra cash from the tax refund was a good reason for taking a holiday while 30% noted that they needed a break from a stressful year.
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The Canadian Tourism Commission (CTC) has announced its intention to allocate a bigger portion of its budget in 2010 to travel-related industries for the Japanese market. This plan was unveiled by the Vice President of CTC International, Charles McKee, and the General Manager of Japan at CTC, Anthony Rippingale. The total budget allocated by CTC for the Japanese market remains unchanged in terms of Japanese yen, but the amount appropriated to the trade has increased to one third of the total from a quarter in 2009.
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Japan, Korea and China have agreed to a joint cooperation in tourism administration. This was revealed in a joint communiqué by representatives of the three countries at the 4th Meeting of Tourism Ministers convened at Nagoya and Takayama on October 18. The meeting equally dealt with measures against travel impediments including impacts of a renewed insurgence of influenza, promotion of tourism linked with international events like the Shanghai Expo 2010, and simplification of visa issuance, all aimed at paving the way for an advent of “grand tourism era in East Asia”.
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Germany is trying to woo more Australians to its cities. This was observed during a presentation by Berlin Tourism promoting its ‘10 Magic Cities of Germany’ campaign where indeed Sydney’s travel trade and media caught a glimpse of.
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Despite the global recession, online travel in China is growing rapidly and thus aide marketers tap into that market. This was revealed by PhoCusWright, which further predicts that given such demand, online travel revenues will increase by 19% this year. China’s current online travel space is estimated up to USD 6.9 billion, accounting for about 11% of the country’s entire travel market.
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The Singapore Tourism Board (STB) has dismissed renewed suggestions that it is an expensive destination compared to its South East Asian neighbors. The agency notes that it puts emphasis on value rather than price. STB’s director of destination marketing, Chew Tiong Heng, notes that consumers are indeed ready to a premium to visit Singapore because of the enhanced value.
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Demand for international education, backpacking adventures and cultural exchange is reported to have remained high throughout the recession period as more young people continue to travel, study and develop new skills. This trend is expected to continue until the economy recovers.
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A survey of more than 14,500 frequent travelers, representing 160 countries around the world, voted Singapore’s Changi airport as the world’s favorite, closely followed by Hong Kong’s Chek Lap Kok.
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Online travel agency, Expedia, recently released insights on consumer travel demand that indicate consumer response to value-driven offers from Asia hotels is spurring an increasing interest in regional travel. To spur demand, airlines and hotels in the past year significantly reduced rates into and across the region.
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Tourism Australia has announced its inclination to competitively boost Australia’s profile in order to get a larger slice of the international incentive travel market. Speaking to media during the recently held Dreamtime 2009, Tourism Australia Executive General Manager Marketing, Nick Baker, notes that strategic steps were being taken to ensure real opportunities were provided for Australian sellers to showcase their products to the incentive travel sector.
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The Canberra International Airport has announced that its AUD 350 million terminal project is on hold because of uncertainty generated by the global financial crisis. The airport had announced plans last December to build a new three-storey terminal with extra check-in counters, air bridges and car parking.
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Garuda Indonesia has announced plans to restore its European services from June 1 next year. In this schedule plan, the Jakarta-Amsterdam service will be first up, with the service operating via Dubai.
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The Japanese Tourist Board (JTB) has announced plans strived at reorganize its inbound travel unit in order to strengthen and streamline business operations. JTB Global Marketing and Travel Inc. (JTBGMT) has in this regard been identified to play a leading role in the restructuring process, collaboration with JTB Asia Tourist Corp. (JTBATC), the latter which specializes in inbound business from Asia.
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Japan National Tourist Organization (JNTO) has announced plans to set the year 2010 as the “Visit Japan Year”. In this regard, the Agency has started comprehensive promotions toward the goal of attracting 10 million foreign visitors to Japan. Given that the circumstances in which numbers of inbound travelers have slumped have been on account of the current global economic crisis and appreciated value of the Japanese yen.
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The number of international passengers carried by Japan Airlines (JL) during the month of August declined by 4.3% to 1,039,603 compared with the same period last year. On the other hand of this decline however, Japan’s national carrier’s average seat load factor in the month of August had for the first time registered a decrease of less that 5% since April 2008, showing possible signs of recovery from the sluggish travel demand.
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In efforts to further lure Japanese tourists to Austria, food tourism is set to become the next themed promotions after cultural tourism, with Austrian wine constituting one of the major food culture attractions. This was revealed by the Federal Minister of Economy, Family and Youth of the Republic of Austria, Reinhold Mitteriehner, during a press conference held by a mission of Austrian businesspeople who are visiting Japan to commemorate the 140th anniversary of an establishment of diplomatic relations between the two nations.
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The International Air Transport Association (IATA) warns that a 12% drop in premium traffic was recorded in August compared to the same month last year, although this estimate was better than the 23.5% drop in May.
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Australia’s premium tourism agency, Tourism Australia, warns that the country must commit to corporate social responsibility (CSR) in order to remain competitive in the cluttered tourism market.
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A survey conducted by the Japan Tourism Agency (JTA) in August reveals that people’s awareness of the Agency grew to 62.5%, up 26.7 points from the last survey undertaken in October last year. The survey on “Government Policy of Tourism Nation and JTA” further highlights that in general, the Japanese locals do not have the correct knowledge of the Agency’s role given that only 55.5% of respondents knew it by name but not by function compared to 7.0% who correctly comprehended its activities.
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ITB Asia and partners are scheduled to hold a responsible tourism networking event on October 22 in Singapore and whose objective is to share experiences and strengthen contacts and business opportunities between environmentally and socially responsible travel operators.
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According to the American Express Global Business Travel Forecast released at the end of September, pent up trip demand coupled with supply base changes are likely to cause rates to slightly increase in most travel categories by the end of 2010. Business class airfares in particular are expected to increase in line with reduced capacity and on-going business demand for international travel.
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Figures released by the Pacific Asia Travel Association (PATA) show that the numbers of international visitors to 41 key destinations in the Asia Pacific region fell by an estimated 6% in July 2009 compared to the same period last year. This figure was however an improvement over the months of May and June which recorded year-on-year reductions of 10% and 8% respectively.
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The strength of the Australian economy makes Australians ‘flavour of the month’ for tourism marketers around the globe competing for travel budgets, according to peak national body, Tourism & Transport Forum (TTF). This label comes amid a recently released report by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (SBS), where figures for the month of August show the number of Australians heading overseas was up 8.5% while arrivals of international visitors to Australia were down 0.8% on August 2008, meaning that 110,000 more Australians headed overseas vis-à-vis than international visitors coming into the country.
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The Pacific Asia Travel Association (PATA) has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the China Outbound Tourism Research Institute (COTRI) to prepare jointly a series of practical manuals and training modules for service providers in the travel and tourism sector.
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Australia recently played host to the 2009 ‘Nordic Exposed’ agent workshop. Some 300 agents across Sydney, Brisbane and Melbourne attended the “Four Seasons, 1000 Regions” workshops, which included both overseas partners, as well as local representation from Nordic Travel, Beyond Travel, Hurtigruten Cruises, Globus & Cosmos and MyBentours.
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The UNWTO recently announced that conditions of the tourism market are starting to indicate stronger prospects for a recovery in 2010 based on macroeconomic upward revisions from the IMF together with preliminary international tourism figures until August this year. According to the UNWTO Panel of Experts Confidence Index, these trends indeed reflect stronger confidence in market conditions.
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The confirmation by Japan Airlines over the launch of its new restructuring plan is indication of its “guarantee” that the airline was not going under as envisaged. Urging the industry to keep selling JAL tickets, the airline says that it will be completely re-hauled with the support of the Japanese Ministry of Land Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism.
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Figures released on scheduled traffic for the month of August by the International Air Transport Association (IATA) notes that passenger demand was down 1.1%, which was an improvement compared to the 2.9% decline in July, while freight demand fell by 9.6%, also an improvement when compared to the 11.3% drop in July.
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Japan Airlines (JAL) has reportedly called off its current talks with Delta Air Lines and American Airlines. The loss making Japanese national carrier has been discussing a possible cash injection of USD 300m. No reason has so far been given regarding the move. The move by JAL come after it sought the new Democratic Party government in Japan for public money to tide it over its financial crisis.
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More Australian carriers are operating than ever as companies attempt to recover against impacts of the economic downturn by looking around at their grasp of market share. This is not however the case with Australia’s national carrier, Qantas, which has moved backwards in market share.
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Approximately 84% of Australian travelers over the age of 40 years intend to travel overseas in the next three to four years especially to Europe. This outcome is based on a survey undertaken independently by Galaxy Research for Trafalgar Tour based on the survey study on Travel Trends – Australian Travelers over 40 which is expected to be released in four parts over the next 12 months, and cover aspects from family travel to value for money.
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This year’s Business Traveler Awards 2009 saw Singapore Airlines impressing by garnering five awards for Best Long-Haul Airline, Best Business Class, Best Economy Class, Best Cabin Staff, and Best Asian Airline. Virgin Atlantic won best Premium Economy Class, easyJet took Best Low-Cost Airline, and Emirates was a surprise winner of Best First Class for the first time.
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With the global airline capacity stabilizing in August, analyst can now confirm that capacity growth is once again possible in September showing a slight lift of 1.4% or 4,130,744 seats, compared to September 2008.
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According to the American Express Global Business Travel Forecast released at the end of September, pent up trip demand coupled with supply base changes are likely to cause rates to slightly increase in most travel categories by the end of 2010. Business class airfares in particular are expected to increase in line with reduced capacity and on-going business demand for international travel.
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Airlines in the Asia Pacific region can adopt strategies around ancillary services and onboard sales to strengthen their position and leverage opportunities as the Asian economy starts to turn around. According to John Devins, regional director for Asia Pacific at GuestLogix, airlines in the region need to choose whether to perform short-sighted triage on current expenses, or to take a cue from US airlines and consider onboard retail solutions that translate to improved long term business performance.
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Australia’s accommodation sector is shedding jobs at an even faster rate than during the post-200 Sydney Olympics period and six times faster than the economy as a whole, according to peak national body, Tourism & Transport Forum (TTF).
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The Australian tourism industry is tipped to be one of the first sectors to show signs of recovery. An IBISWorld report forecasts that the sector will be worth USD 79.18 billion in 2010, an increase of 1.1% from the previous year given that the country’s tourism industry has actually proved quite resilient in the face of the global financial crisis.
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Japan Airlines Corp. (JAL) will consider a breakup of the company along with a range of other options, as the ailing carrier faces pressure from lenders and the government alike to turn around its operations. Executives from JAL are scheduled to meet with Transport Minister, Seiji Maehara, to discuss plans to straighten out the unprofitable company. The transport ministry is supervising the rehabilitation of JAL, which has already received three government bailouts since 2001.
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Finnair has announced plans to fly daily to New Delhi as of 25 September 2009. Thanks to Helsinki’s excellent geographical location on the great circle route, the flight time to Delhi is now only 6 hours 30 minutes.
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According to data compiled by STR Global, occupancy rates in the Asia Pacific region’s hotel industry dropped 3.3% year-on-year to 63.3% in August 2009; ADR declined 24.7% to US 117.22; and RevPAR fell 27.1% to USD 74.18. China reported the largest decreases of the region ever since the country hosted the Summer Olympics from 8-24 August 2008, dropping 50.5% in ADR and 47.5% in RevPAR for the month.
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A survey undertaken by Japan Association of Travel Agents (JATA) on travel trend from the end of July to the middle of August found that overall, the diffusion index (DI) of travel market improved from the last survey both in overseas and domestic travels. The DI is an indicator that shows how pervasive any particular business sentiment is in the market. According to the findings, the Japanese overseas travel market showed signs of a “slow recovery” aided by removal of oil surcharges and subdued rampancy of H1N1 swine flu influenza virus coupled by demand in travel due to the long September holiday week.
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Australian holiday arrivals and a strong ski season have helped New Zealand enter new territory for visitor arrivals over winter. Latest figures from Statistics New Zealand show that Australian holiday arrivals over the winter season of June, July and August were up 28% on the same three months last year. In addition, Australian holiday arrivals for those three months were also 2% higher than arrivals over the peak 2007/2008 summer months of December, January and February.
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China’s booming domestic tourism has offset the negative impact of a declining number of inbound travelers during the first half of this year. This positive growth comes amidst earlier trends where the number of foreign tourists visiting China declined 8% in the first six months compared to the same time last year.
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Asia Pacific travelers stretch their travel budgets by shopping at duty free stores, according to a survey commissioned by Visa. The Visa Travel Smart Survey asked 2,226 travelers from across the Asia Pacific region on their travel spending habits and found that Korean and Chinese travelers spent the most on duty free items on their last trip with an average expenditure of USD 358 and USD 333 respectively.
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Australian travelers have taken over from the UK and US to become one of Destination Asia’s biggest source markets in recent months. According to the company’s CEO, James Reed, who visited Sydney last week to meet with key industry contacts and incentive companies, the first half of 2009 represents a 10% drop but has been picked up due to the increase of Australian FIT visitors to Asia.
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Following a strong period of recent growth in the Australian inbound market, the Cook Islands has recorded its most phenomenal burst of visitor numbers yet, due in no small part to the success of its latest advertising campaign, spearheaded by Australian representative, the Unique Tourism Collection.
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Australians become more adventurous the older they get, according to the latest research from Expedia. The survey of 1,000 adult Australians, conducted by independent research company Pureprofile on behalf of Expedia.com.au, found respondents in their fifties are significantly more open to exploring off-the-beaten-track destinations and experiencing culture shock than younger travelers.
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Australia’s tourism industry is facing immense challenges this year. This was revealed by Tourism Research Australia in the just released Travel by Australians: June 2009 Quarterly Results of the National Visitor Survey. In the June quarter 2009 overnight trips for holiday purposes declined by 2%, visitor nights increased 3%, and overnight spend declined by 8% compared to the June 2008 quarter.
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Airbus’ latest Global Market Forecast reports that some 25,000 new passenger and freighter aircraft valued at USD3.1 trillion will be delivered from 2009 to 2028. This demand is attributed to factors related to emerging economies, evolving airline networks, expansion of low cost carriers and the increasing number of mega-cities as well as traffic growth and the replacement of older less efficient aircraft with more eco-efficient airliners.
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Shares of Japan Airlines Corp. surged amid speculation that American Airlines and Delta Air Lines are vying to buy stakes in the money-losing carrier. Under a major restructuring plan, Japan’s national carrier is looking to raise 250 billion yen (USD 2.8 billion) from banks, investment funds and airlines including Delta. With the news, JAL stock soared almost 8% to 176 yen on the Tokyo Stock Exchange, beating a sharp slump in the overall market. The Nikkei 225 stock average however tumbled 2.3% to 10,202.06 as the dollar fell to a seven-month low against the yen.
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Global airline losses could total USD 11bn for the year, according to the International Air Transport Association’s (IATA) latest prediction; a loss that is USD 2bn more than the forecast of USD 9bn announced by the association in June, the latter estimate which was almost double the forecast in March of a USD 4.7bn deficit. This revised prediction was based on rising fuel prices and what the airlines’ Association dubs as “exceptionally weak yields.”
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Estimates released by the Department of Tourism and the Bureau of Immigration note that despite the global crisis, the Philippines has recorded a 4% increase in the number of foreigners arriving in the country in August compared to the same month last year. This increase has been attributed to aggressive marketing approach taken by tourism secretary in marketing the Philippines as world-class tourist destination in addition to innovative schemes being implemented by the immigration bureau.
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Alongside other regional winners- Athens (Europe), Dallas Fort Worth (Americas) and Jomo Kenyatta, Mombasa (Africa), New Zealand’s Christchurch International Airport has taken out the 2009 World Routes Airport Marketing Award in the Asia Pacific region.
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The Hotel Price Index, which looks at hotel prices for January to June 2009 compared to the same period the year before, revealed that hotel prices around the world fell 17% in the first half of the year, their lowest level in five years. This is indeed great news for travelers in that consumers are now paying as per 2003 prices. With the exception of the Caribbean, every major region around the world experienced the sharpest price-falls since the Hotels.com Hotel Price Index began in January 2004.
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As Finnair celebrates its 10th year with oneworld alliance, its seeks, through its membership, to bring significant additional passengers to its Asia route network by enabling onward connections on the flights of oneworld’s Asian members namely that of Qantas, Japan Airlines, and Cathay Pacific.
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Switzerland Tourism is striving to increase the repeat traffic by attracting FIT with many of the country’s tourism promotions planned for next year will focus on this travel group. According to the Regional Director Asia, Switzerland Tourism, Roger Zbinden, within this promotional concept, Switzerland Tourism will endeavor to boost FIT as the 2010 objective for the Japanese travel market.
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Australia is set to play host to the 2009 ‘Nordic Exposed’ agent workshops, with the theme ‘Four Seasons and over 1000 Reasons to visit Denmark, Finland, Norway and Sweden’. The workshops are slated to be held in Brisbane, Melbourne and Sydney in early October highlighting the incredible year round experiences the Nordic region has to offer Australian visitors.
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In an effort to create new demand, and uplift the level of professionalism in the overseas travel industry, Japan Association of Travel Agents (JATA) intends to organize several overseas study tours over the year. These trips will forms part of the human resource development program toward the “next step for growth” outlined in its business plan for the fiscal 2009.
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Australians are still travelling, with all respondents to a recent Visa survey saying they will take a trip in the next two years, though agents canot expect them to plan too far in advance as one in three now describe themselves as a “spontaneous traveler”.
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Airline industry association International Air Transport Association (IATA) notes that more than 50 global airlines lost USD 2.021 billion during the second quarter, bringing industry losses for the first half to over USD 6.0 billion. The airline association reports that while European and Asian-Pacific carriers were worse off than a year ago, North American airlines managed to trim their losses while Latin American and Middle Eastern carriers reported a rise in profits.
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The Asia Pacific region is acknowledged to be the world’s largest market in the forecast for new airplanes in terms of both units required and market value. Boeing forecasts that the Asia Pacific region will rank as the world’s largest aviation market over the next 20 years, requiring 8,960 new commercial jets valued at approximately USD 1.1 trillion.
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On the back of a hugely successful Tourism Queensland campaign, two Chinese women have been hand-picked out of thousands of hopefuls to travel across the Northern Territory’s Top End. Their adventures are set to be featured on China’s largest TV station, reaching 520 million viewers as well as online. A Chinese film crew will follow the adventures of Ms Yan and ski instructor Bei Liu over the next fortnight.
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According to a recently released report by PhoCusWright on the Asia Pacific Online Travel Overview, there is an expected downturn in the APAC travel industry in 2009, with all the major segments namely that of air, hotel and car, declining due to decreased passenger demand.
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A growing number of Japanese consumers showing more interest in moderately priced tours on nearby, short-haul destinations brought Japanese major tour wholesalers to step up efforts in attracting more female consumers or the so-called OL (office ladies).
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The China National Tourism Administration (CNTA) recorded 291,200 Japanese tourists in July, ending 18 consecutive months of decline. Considered the first increase since December 2007, the 4.44% rise in Japanese arrivals is believed to be brought on by strong promotions and introduction of China-bound products aimed powerfully at the women’s market which helped fuel bookings by double and triple-digit levels from July to September.
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Cash-strapped Air India may get a fresh lease of life with the government agreeing to infuse a performance-linked equity of INR 5,000 (USD 103) crore over the next three years into the state-owned airline.
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Japan Tourism Agency (JTA) is set to request JPY 7,208 million (EUR 54 million) for it’s 2010 budget, up 14% from this year allocation. The Agency, while slashing general administrative expenses by 1% to 2,270 million Yen (EUR 17 million), seeks to allocate JPY 4,939 million (EUR 37 million), up 23%, to three of its envisaged major projects namely that’s of increasing foreign visitors to Japan to 20 million, developing world-class tourist destinations in Japan, and improving conditions and environments for spurring travel demand to the country.
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According the latest Nielsen China Outbound Travel Monitor, the Internet has become the most popular medium for Chinese travelers seeking information about their trips. The Nielsen survey found that travelers will search for conventional destination information ahead of their trips (61% of leisure trips taken), and then turn to online travel discussion forums (48%) to fine-tune their plans.
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Air France and China Southern Airlines, both members of the SkyTeam airline alliance, have expanded their codeshare agreement. In this regard, Air France will place its code on China Southern’s Guangzhou-Kunming, Guangzhou-Xiamen and Guangzhou-Wenzhou services, say the SkyTeam alliance members.
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Luxury hotels in China are reportedly suffering from drop in demand as business travelers continue to opt for more economical accommodation amid the financial crisis. According to Jones Lang LaSalle Hotels, transaction volumes of Chinese hotels fell from USD 1.6 billion in 2006 to USD 1 billion in 2007 to USD 0.3 billion in 2008.
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Australia’s inaugural Health and Wellness travel conference has seen delegates issue the ‘Cairns Declaration’, outlining the broad principles of Australia’s planned entry into the lucrative and growing medical tourism sector. More than 60 delegates representing the tourism, health, medical and government sectors heard experts from around the globe outline the opportunities available in the Health and Wellness travel sector.
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Latest figures released by the Pacific Asia Travel Association (PATA) indicate that the numbers of international visitor arrivals to 41 destinations in Asia Pacific fell by an estimated 6% in Jan-June 2009 compared to the same period last year. All five sub-regions of Asia Pacific posted declines in visitor numbers for the first half year of 2009, with South Asia recording the largest fall at 8.1%.
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Global airline capacity is showing marginal growth for August 2009, the first month of positive growth for a year. This has been revealed by OAG, a leading business in aviation data, based on its monthly report on trends in the supply of airline flights and seats.
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Destinations across the Asia Pacific are indeed highly dependent upon cruise ship arrivals to boost tourism revenues and provide much-needed income to local economies and communities. The industry has however of late been striving to adapt to the changing market conditions brought on by the global economic downturn and H1N1 pandemic.
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Australian flag-carrier, Qantas, recently announced that it had posted an 88% drop in annual net profit to USD96.6 million and has as a consequence unveiled a massive cost-cutting plan to counter the crippling financial burden facing the company. The carrier, which also recorded its first half-year loss in six years, blamed the worse-than-expected result on weaker domestic and international demand for travel during the current global financial crisis.
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Korean Air reports that it returned to profit in the second quarter due to lower fuel costs and large currency gains. After six quarters of losses in a row, the airline is resurrecting as its net profit for the quarter ending June 30 was KRW 78.5 billion (USD 63.56 million) compared to a net loss of KRW 288.9 billion (USD0.231863) a year earlier.
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A new survey from Visa shows that travelers are turning to blogs, family and friends for travel information when planning a trip rather than television, newspapers or magazines. Travelers today are shunning “expert” opinion from TV shows, newspapers and specialty travel magazines in favor of bloggers and information from friends and family.
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The latest Nielsen China Outbound Travel Monitor shows that the Chinese outbound travel market continues to boom, even under current financial pressures, and is likely to grow further. The study reveals that Chinese consumers continue to show strong interest in travelling outside the country in 2009 despite the economic downturn.
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When is it best for North Americans to visit Asia amidst the global economic downturn? US based travel agencies propose that this is the right time noting that countries such as China and the Philippines are leading the pack offering once-in-a-lifetime journeys that are fast becoming extremely value oriented and spurring strong completion with short-haul destinations for North American visitors.
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Southeast Asia’s largest budget carrier, AirAsia, has finalized a plan to raise up to USD 171.6 million in a share placement to strengthen its balance sheet and increase its financing flexibility. The carrier plans to place out up to 481.1 million shares, representing a 20% stake, to buyers who will be identified later.
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A recently released report entitled ‘Travel Sentiment 2009’ by the travel company, Abacus, reveals better than expected results in travel segments such as online bookings, low cost carrier airlines, emergence of high performing markets, a new trend for early booking lead times, and a growing focus on intra-Asian and domestic travel.
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As a follow up to a major shareholder restructuring process undertaken in June 2006, a number of airlines in the Asia Pacific region have made significant changes in their collective shareholdings.
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Japan Tourist Board (JTB), Kinki Nippon Tourist (KNT), Nippon Travel Agency (NTA), and JALPAK Travel have announced their optimism in recording favorable customer estimates during the current spring/summer season. These optimistic estimates, the aforementioned travel industry players note, will be comparable to or exceeding that of last year after suffering from setbacks in customer numbers in May and June due to impacts related to the H1N1 Swine Flu outbreak.
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The A [H1N1] swine flu epidemic has severely curtailed China’s outbound travel industry since April, outpacing the effect of the current global financial crisis in the first quarter of 2009 as anticipated.
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A notable outcome from the recently held Asia Luxury Travel Market (ALTM) in June in Shanghai is the optimism expressed by Indian outbound agents that the luxury segment is still holding up well despite pressures from the global economy.
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Scandinavian Airlines (SAS) is set to offer Australians what it terms ‘bargain’ business and economy class airfares to over 40 European destinations via the carrier’s main hub in Copenhagen, Denmark. This offer comes amidst the strengthening of the Australian Dollar, which gives a great advantage for both holidaymakers and business travelers heading to Europe.
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In a new marketing campaign, Australia’s New South Wales Government is attempting to reach younger travelers from overseas through social networking tools such as Facebook, MySpace, and YouTube. The NSW government will in this regard attempt to make Sydney and NSW a more attractive travel, work, and study destination to those aged between 18 and 30 as part of their Global Youth Program strategy that seeks to employ different campaigns slated for different international markets.
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A recent announcement by the International Air Transport Association (IATA) shows international passenger demand for May declining by 9.3% compared to the same month last year, and freight demand equally down by 17.4%. International passenger demand weakened from the -3.1% recorded in April to -9.3% in May. But both of the past two months have been slightly stronger than the 11.1% decline in March. IATA notes that a capacity adjustment of -5.0% in May did not however keep pace with the fall in demand during the same month. Although the impact of the recession appears to be stabilizing, strong headwinds from debt and low asset prices are expected to further weaken and delay any significant recovery.
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Reports indicate that Southeast Asia will this year suffer a fall of around 4% in international arrivals compared to 2008. This was revealed by PATA’s Strategic Intelligence Centre which notes that there is every chance that the continuing spread of the Type A (H1N1) influenza virus will further undermine the confidence of business and leisure travelers and prompt drastic preventative measures by national governments and other public and private sector organizations that will also hinder cross-border traffic.
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What entices the Chinese to visit Britain? For a start, Britain is the prize for 1,300 employees from Perfect China, a major manufacturer headquartered in Guangdong province. Every year the company sends their successful direct sales representatives on an international trip as a reward for their achievements and has chosen Britain for 2009.
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Tourism Australia has decided to close overseas offices in Thailand, Taiwan and Dubai. All three offices have to pay off staff and settle all financial obligations by June 30, a move that will cost TA a huge bill in severance pay and office rentals that have to be terminated.
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Is Macau back in business? This seems to be the case as the tiny former Portuguese colony on the coast of southeast China attempts to reel out of the effects of the current global financial crisis that affected employment conditions in recent times coupled with restrictions imposed on Chinese travels to the country that severely affected its economy.
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According to a new survey by MasterCard, dining and entertainment will be the top spending priority among consumers in Asia Pacific over the next six months showing remarkable resilience in the face of recession. The Consumer Purchasing Priorities survey, released twice yearly, provides valuable insights into consumers’ discretionary spending priorities for the six months ahead.
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Indonesia’s Garuda is set to resume flying to Europe in the first half of 2010. This announcement comes after the EU Air Safety Committee recommends the lifting of the flight ban on Garuda and three other Indonesian carriers. The country’s Transportation Minister, Jusman Syafii Djamal, intonated that the European Commission should allow Garuda, Mandala Airlines, Airfast Indonesia, and Prime Air to fly in EU airspace.
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Despite the weakening global economic environment, the fifth edition of UFI’s annual report on the trade fair market in Asia reveals that the market expanded by 8.7% in 2008 with net area sold by organizers in Asia reaching a total of 14.3 million m2. Within the industry, China’s growth continues to outpace the rest of the region.
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Latest trend data compiled by Smith Travel Research (STR) Global indicates that hotel occupancy in the Asia Pacific region in May 2009 dropped 14.9% to 55.4% when compared to the same period last year, while the average daily rate declined 15.2% to USD 117.86. Revenue per available room fell 27.9% to USD 65.26. Occupancy levels dropped the most within the region for the month of May and in the year-to-date numbers of any region.
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With the Australian summer correlative to the United States summer there is a lot more opportunities to place capacity in Australia as ships retire from the northern cruising season. Royal Caribbean International President and CEO, Adam Goldstein, therefore, hopes that infrastructure to facilitate the types of ships that Royal Caribbean houses in its fleet are in place when they come calling.
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Both international and domestic air travel bookings made through travel agencies in Australia remain down by around 12% compared to last year with business class travel, affected most by the credit crunch, posting a 36% slump. This was revealed by Amadeus, one of the largest processor of travel bookings in the world, who note that bookings by Australians to European destinations suffered a 25% drop, followed by that to North America by 22%, and Asia-Pacific by 12% compared to last year.
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Early indications in the months of April and May showed that businesses in the Asia Pacific region were beginning to resume long-haul travels after a long slump. In effect, the demand on key corporate routes to long-haul destinations in the US and Europe were on the rise.
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According to the June edition of the UNWTO World Tourism Barometer, Asia Pacific has recorded a 6% decline in demand, a severe dip- when compared to results from recent years. This decline appears less grim when compared to the 8% drop in general international tourism between January and April compared to the same period last year.
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International airline routes are generally much more complex, and involve more choices of airlines and connection points, than domestic flights within any single country. Airlines claim code sharing and alliances enable them to offer better services through ticketing, baggage transfers, and frequent flyer mileage credits between alliance partners.
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