For Immediate Release | Official News Wire for the Travel Industry

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Archives for November 2019

African Tourism Board and African Union Development Agency in talks

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The African Tourism Board is taking leadership for the continents’ travel and tourism industry in working hard to establish relationships and forming alliances with all relevant players.

On Monday, the African Tourism Board Chairperson Cuthbert Ncube and the ATB Chief Executive Officer Doris Woerfel met with African Union Development Agency  Martin Bwalya , head of the Industrialisation Division at the AUDA head offices in Midrand, South Africa.

Both Organisations have agreed to work together in fulfilling the objectives and mandate of the UNWTO and AU’s Sustainable Development Goals that were adopted in 2015 by all countries of the UN.

Traditional development efforts have often focused on one issue at a time, i.e first hunger, then clean energy, then inclusive institutions. The SDGs recognize that Development must balance economic, social and environmental sustainability— and that interventions in one area will affect outcomes in others. For example, actions to support women’s and girls’ empowerment may also catalyze local economies, enable safer childbirth, and build more inclusive communities.

The emphasis dwelt on collectively engaging both parties on implementation on projects earmarked for Development within the continent.

The Chairperson emphasized that ATB believes with a full conviction on Africa’s resources, in fact, it is the wealthiest landmass on the face of the earth. This wealth can be found in its abundant mineral resources and in its huge agricultural potential. Africa’s mineral wealth includes a wide variety and huge volume of resources that are critical to the technical and industrial development of humanity.

However, because this wealth is unevenly distributed, showing no relationship to the artificial, imperialist imposed divisions of the continent, this wealth can only benefit the masses of African people when shared on a continent-wide basis.

This strategic partnership with the African Union will see a more robust and accelerated approach in acknowledging the need for the continent to appreciate and unify this effort.

Only a united Africa, with it’s more than one billion people, can provide the requisite market size to stimulate large scale production. How ever, as it stands, a weak and divided Africa has been forced to turn its purchasing power over to foreign industrialized nations of the world.

These nations, in turn, use this opportunity to flood Africa’s markets with goods, many of which are of very dubious quality, produced by their large scale factories, plants, and farms.

More on the African Tourism Board: www.africantourismboard.com

MEDIA CONTACT: TravelMarketingNetwork, 954 Lexington Ave. #1037, New York, NY 10021 USA, PH: (+1) 718-374-6816, [email protected]velmarketingnetwork.com   

Minister Bartlett proposes tourism crisis communication strategy for the Caribbean… Global Resilience Centre to formulate

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Jamaica’s Tourism Minister, Hon. Edmund Bartlett says that the Global Tourism Resilience and Crisis Management Centre has been tasked with developing a tourism crisis communications strategy which will help Caribbean nations ‘build back better’ following a disaster.

Speaking at the opening ceremony of a Tourism Crisis Communications and Disaster Risk Management event yesterday at the Jamaica Pegasus Hotel, the Minister said, “In responding to the call to build tourism resilience in the Caribbean, I am very proud that the region’s first resilience centre was recently established at the University of the West Indies, Mona Campus Jamaica.

“The Centre is going to focus heavily on crisis communication and will develop an official Tourism Crisis Communication Strategy. We believe that we have established ourselves to provide part of the institutional framework and the physical capacity that the region needs to implement and to have actualised some of the outcomes which we seek to have from our efforts,” he added.

The facility, which is the first of its kind, will assist with preparedness, management and recovery from disruptions and/or crises that impact tourism and threaten sector-dependent economies and livelihoods.

It is focused on deliverables including the establishment of an academic journal on resilience and global disruptions, the drafting of a blueprint for resilience, the creation of a resilience barometer and establishment of an Academic Chair for resilience and innovation. This is in keeping with the Centre’s mandate to create, produce and generate toolkits, guidelines and policies to guide the recovery process following a disaster.

“Building resilience will require a system-approach based on strengthening collaborations at the national, regional and international levels among tourism policymakers, lawmakers, tourism enterprises, NGOs, tourism workers, education and training institutions and general populations to reinforce institutional capacity to anticipate, coordinate, monitor and evaluate actions and programmes to lower risk factors,” said the Minister.

While the Centre has been created to assist all tourism nations across the globe, the Minister shared that the Caribbean is particularly vulnerable because it is the most tourism dependent region in the world.

“The most recent economic data indicate that the livelihood of one in every four Caribbean residents is linked to tourism. While travel and tourism contributes to 15.2 % of the region’s GDP in general and over 25% of the GDP of more than half of the countries. In the case of the British Virgin Islands, tourism contributes to 98.5% of GDP.
These figures underscore the importance of developing strategies for mitigating potential hazards that can destabilize tourism services in the region and cause long-term setback to sustainable growth and development,” he said.

During his presentation, the Minister announced that the Centre’s physical space is about 90% completed but is globally linked.

“Next week we go to Kenya to launch at the Kenyatta University, the first satellite centre for the Global Tourism Resilience and Crisis Management Centre and then we will head to Kathmandu in Nepal on the first of January to launch the second one. There are also a number of others, which will be launched in 2020,” he said.

The two-day event is being hosted by the Ministry of Tourism in collaboration with the IDB’s Environment, Rural Development and Disaster Risk Management (RND) Division and their Caribbean Country Department.

Over 50 local and regional experts in the field of tourism crisis management and communications and disaster risk management have participated in the event, which is taking place under the theme “Reinforcing Crisis Communication as a Critical Element of Caribbean Tourism Resilience and Disaster Risk Management.”

The event also forms part of part of the IDB’s series of consultations with authorities known as Regional Public Dialogue.

MEDIA CONTACT: Jamaica Ministry of Tourism, Corporate Communications, 64 Knutsford Boulevard, Kingston 5, Tel: 920-4926-30, Fax: 920-4944

Brazil Corporate Travel and Cruise Specialist AZ Travel joins UNIGLOBE

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UNIGLOBE Travel has expanded its network in South America with the addition of UNIGLOBE AZ Travel in Curitiba. 

Owned by Alessandro Azevedo, UNIGLOBE AZ Travel has been in business since 2010 and specializes in corporate travel management and cruises. “We were seeking to join an international franchise network that could help us to scale up our operations and service offerings to clients,” says Azevedo. “We chose UNIGLOBE over other brands because of their local support, including a regional management team here in Brazil, that makes us feel truly connected to the global network.”  

The UNIGLOBE Brazil Region, led by regional president Patrick Tytgadt, has locations in urban centres across Brazil, including the nation’s capital Brasilia, Campinas, Curitiba, Goiânia, Rio de Janeiro, Sao Paulo, São José dos Campos, Uberlândia and Vitoria – Vila Velha.

Says UNIGLOBE Travel International founder and Chief Executive U. Gary Charlwood, “I have great respect for Patrick and his team and I am delighted that Alessandro has chosen to become part of our expanding network in South America. On behalf of our leadership team in Vancouver, I welcome everyone at UNIGLOBE AZ Travel to our international family.”

About UNIGLOBE
Working globally to serve clients locally across more than 60 countries, UNIGLOBE Travel leverages current technologies and preferred supplier pricing to save clients time and money on business and vacation travel planning. Since 1981, corporate and leisure travelers have depended on the UNIGLOBE Travel brand to deliver services that go beyond expectations. UNIGLOBE Travel was founded by U. Gary Charlwood, CEO and has its world headquarters in Vancouver, B.C., Canada. Annual system-wide sales volume is $5.0+ billion.

Media contact: [email protected]

WTM London 2019 sees increase in industry leaders

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WTM London 2019 – the event where ideas arrive – saw a 77% increase in ministerial attendance as well as a higher quality of WTM Buyers’ Club Members. It confirms WTM London as the place for senior travel professionals to interact, connect and understand the trends that will determine the future of the tourism industry.

In total, almost 50,000 visitors from 182 countries attended the three-day event at ExCeL London. There were around 1.2 million business meetings conducted and over 110 conference sessions held. This all contributed to a total of £3.75 billion worth of travel industry business deals being signed.

This year the WTM Buyers’ Club was re-formatted to include a stricter vetting process, which focused on inviting only the top industry buyers with the best reputation and purchasing power.

During the event itself, many landmark deals were signed for the travel and tourism industry. These included a deal between easyJet and Atout France that will see a €1 million advertising campaign launched in the UK to promote French destinations.

In addition to this, several large booking deals occurred at the event this year, which will see clients such as Saudi Arabia, Indonesia and the Seychelles secure increased stand-space heading into the 2020 edition of WTM London.

Furthermore, as this was the 40th anniversary of WTM London, this was a show with a difference. Celebrations took place across the regional inspiration zones to mark the significance of this anniversary, with countries from around the world bringing a slice of their unique culture to London.

The event programme for WTM London continued to advance to reflect the modern trends dominating the travel industry. There were sessions on topics as diverse as responsible tourism, LGBT travel, aviation and the crucial role of technology in the future of travel – thus creating a conference programme filled with fascinating content.

With high-profile events such as the annual Leaders’ Lunch and the UNWTO & WTM Ministerial Summit, tourism ministers flocked to the event; there was a 77% increase, taking it from 43 Ministers in 2018 to 76 this year.

The co-located Travel Forward event also saw similar successes this year with visitors experiencing the latest in travel technology. In only its second year as a dedicated travel technology show and conference – exhibitor stand space at Travel Forward increased by 9%, including 49 new exhibitors debuting their companies to the global travel industry.

Highlights of the innovative Travel Forward conference programme included sessions from leaders in the travel tech industry such as Sector Director for Travel UK at Google, Becky Power, and Managing Director of Virgin Hyperloop One in the Middle East & India, Harj Dhaliwal – to name only two. All of the 33 sessions covered insightful topics outlining how the future of travel will look alongside the next developments in technology.

London Travel Week was officially launched over the first week of November and encapsulated the various events surrounding WTM London throughout the capital. With tens of thousands of senior travel professionals ascending on London for WTM, London Travel Week’s diverse collection of networking sessions, conferences and awards helped to create a truly global hub for the travel and tourism industry.

WTM London’s Senior Exhibition Director, Simon Press said: “WTM London 2019 was unquestionably a great success. We are delighted to have been able to facilitate the business and creative connections of 50,000 attendees, exhibitors, buyers and media in order to form the future of the travel industry.

“By welcoming almost 80 Tourism Ministers and increasing the quality of Buyers’ Club members at the event this year, it proves that WTM London is not only the event where ideas arrive, but where decisions are made.

“We challenge ourselves to keep developing this event and to make sure that everyone who travels to WTM London, Travel Forward and London Travel Week – as well as BorderlessLive in September – gets the best possible experience.

“With more than £3.75 billion worth of deals being generated at WTM London 2019 – this has shown how crucial it is to attend from a business perspective. We are incredibly proud of all that WTM London has achieved in the last 40 years and can’t wait to see how it develops over the next forty years.”

eTN is a media partner for WTM London.

About World Travel Market

World Travel Market (WTM) portfolio comprises eight leading B2B events across four continents, generating more than $7 billion of industry deals. The events are:

WTM London, the leading global event for the travel industry, is the must-attend three-day exhibition for the worldwide travel and tourism industry. About 50,000 senior travel industry professionals, government ministers and international media visit ExCeL London every November, generating about £3.4 billion in travel industry contracts.

Next event: Monday 4 – Wednesday 6 November 2019 – London #IdeasArriveHere

About Reed Exhibitions

Reed Exhibitions is the world’s leading events business, enhancing the power of face-to-face through data and digital tools at more than 500 events a year, in more than 43 countries, attracting more than seven million participants. Reed’s events are held in the Americas, Europe, Asia Pacific and Africa and organised by 41 fully staffed offices. Reed Exhibitions serves 43 industry sectors with trade and consumer events. It is part of RELX Group plc, a world-leading provider of information solutions for professional customers across industries.

About Reed Travel Exhibitions

Reed Travel Exhibitions is the world’s leading travel and tourism event’s organiser with a growing portfolio of more than 22 international travel and tourism trade events in Europe, the Americas, Asia, the Middle East and Africa. Our events are market leaders in their sectors, whether they are global and regional leisure travel trade events, or specialist events for meetings, incentives, conference, events (MICE) industry, business travel, luxury travel, travel technology as well as golf, spa and ski travel. We have more than 35 years’ experience in organising world-leading travel exhibitions.

MEDIA CONTACTS:

Julia Newbound – WTM Portfolio Press & PR Lead

E: [email protected]

T: +44 (0)20 8910 7056 / M: +44 (0)7775 036 858

Nicole Smart – WTM Portfolio PR & Events Consultant

E: [email protected]

T: +44 (0)20 8910 7032/ M: +44 (0)79 1955 5510

Top-selling agents of Emirates Holidays visit Seychelles on a FAM trip

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The Seychelles Tourism Board (STB) through its office in Dubai, in partnership with Emirates Holidays and with the support of local partners in Seychelles organized a familiarization (FAM) trip to the paradise destination for top travel agents across Dubai.

The visit was organised in line with the STB strategy to increase Seychelles’ visibility through the education of its close partners.

As part of their visit in the destination, the small group of agents were given the opportunity to experience and be inspired by the beauty of the islands, partaking in activities such as touring of the capital, Victoria and its cultural landmarks, ziplinging and cruising the islands.

During their visit, the Dubai agents received a warm Seychellois welcome from the various hotel partners including Constance Ephelia, Four Seasons Resort, Constance Lemuria, Hilton Northolme Resort, Raffles Seychelles, Kempinski Resort Seychelles, Banyan Tree Resort, and Avani Seychelles Barbarons Resort & Spa and were able to familiarize themselves with the products and services offered by these establishments.

The Account manager for STB office in Dubai, Mr. Ahmed Fathallah commented on the FAM trip, stating “The entire experience enhanced their knowledge to better promote and sell the destination and they can impart their personal experience to their clients, which can help them entice travelers to visit the beautiful Seychelles. We will definitely be working on having more FAM Trips in the future as incentive to the hardest working agents. These FAM Trips serves not only as a motivation but as well as an educational experience to provide edge and added knowledge about the destination.”

Prior to the FAM trip, Emirates Holidays ran a campaign among their agents – the top sellers of Seychelles will get the chance to win a place on a FAM trip to the destination.

Compared to the previous year, market performance in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) has seen positive increases; the UAE to 22%, Kuwait to 14%, and Saudi Arabia to 18%, making the region increasingly significant to the Seychelles.

MEDIA CONTACT: STB News Bureau, Tel: +248 4 671 354 / +248 4 671 313, [email protected]  www.seychelles.travel