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Hong Kong remains world’s priciest housing market

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Hong Kong has kept the crown as the most expensive city to buy property in, while two other Chinese cities also made the top five list, according to new research that covers 35 cities around the globe.


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The average price of property in the southeastern Chinese city, infamous for its unaffordability, is more than $1.2 million, which is 5.5 percent more than last year’s cost, real estate consultant CBRE said in the fifth edition of its Global Living report. Meanwhile, the price of buying an average prime property stands at nearly $6.9 million, making it the champion for luxury housing as well.

Last year’s hotspots managed to keep their positions in the rating, with Singapore coming in second, followed by Shanghai and Vancouver, with the average home costing between $815,000 and $874,000.

Shenzhen, a new addition to the report, took the fifth place and became the third Chinese city in the top five. The city is the tech capital of China and is located just 30 kilometers from the world’s most expensive urban center. It hosts the headquarters of many international and Chinese businesses, including Huawei, ZTE and Tencent.

Los Angeles, New York, London, Beijing, and Paris also made the top ten list of the world’s most expensive cities.

Hong Kong’s property market has long been known for its unaffordable prices. In June 2018, it achieved a world record with a single parking space being bought for a whopping $760,000.

Travel News | eTurboNews

Gleam of hope for tourism

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On March 27, all roads led to Mombasa, Kenya, for a joint business meeting organized by Uganda and Kenya and the two Presidents of both countries actually attended. The meeting gathered ministers, key business persons from both countries to discussing topics of mutual interest for the growth. I was personally hesitated to go because my wife and daughter were traveling same week and did not want them to leave without me saying a goodbye.

I also do not like meetings where people talk and do not come up with real solutions for the existing problems. I only made the journey after my family blessed it. I took a morning flight aboard Kenya Airways to join two Kenya friends (Shivam Vanayak and wife) out of Nairobi to Mombasa and thankfully, they had managed to secure three tickets on Madaraka train. Securing seats on the train from Nairobi to Mombasa is an uphill task because of high traffic.

I had been to Nairobi a number of times with an aim of securing seats and failed because of the demand. The business class is even worse because the tickets are booked out first way in advance.

The staff of Madaraka train dress more like air hostesses with a proper Kenyan hospitality. The train carries about 1,500 people each way and there are two trains departing Nairobi daily for Mombasa and vice versa which means 3,000 individuals are dropped into Mombasa daily which is a massive business opportunity for the Mombasa service providers such as hotels, restaurants, taxi drivers, entertainment joints, boats, bars, etc.

The train goes through Tsavo National Park which is Kenya’s largest and oldest standing at 13,747 square kilometers. While on the train, we also saw the 300 kilometer long Yatta Plateau, the longest lava flow in the world. Tsavo is home to the larger mammals, vast herds of elephants, rhinos, buffaloes, lions, leopard, pods of hippo, crocodiles, water bucks, lesser kudu, genenuk and the prolific bird life.

At the business forum in Mombasa, I was given an opportunity to address the audience which included President Museveni and President Uhuru Kenyatta on behavior Uganda and Kenyan tourism group. My address focused on seven points we had agreed upon before the Presidents arrived at Sarova sands where the meeting took place.

The first point focused on the flights between the East African countries especially Kenya and Uganda. Our observations are that the tickets between Uganda and Kenya are very expensive because of the high taxes levied by both governments. Kenya for example charges $50 on every ticket and Uganda charges $57 which makes a total of $107. That figure is what should be the cost of a ticket between the two countries. We actually recommended that flights between the two countries be domesticated.

The second point focused on the East African tourists’ visas which have Uganda, Kenya and Rwanda working together. Our proposal was that the two presidents convince the Tanzanian leadership to join the good arrangements. Many tourists are finding it easy paying $100 for a visa that covers the above three nations which allows them to move back and forth.

Since some local airline operators such as coastal want to fly into Ugandan national parks, it would positively affect the tourism business between the four nations. The third point focused on politics. Overtime, we as the tourism operators in the region have seen politics affect tourism a lot especially during campaigns and since insecurity and tourism can’t co-exist, foreign tourists will fear to travel in the region.

The leaders were asked to remember what their actions mean to business and practice restrain. This particular point was well received by both leaders and we hope to see some change with time. The fourth point focused on trans-boundary tourism opportunities which focus on the shared tourism attractions such as Lake Victoria and Mountain Elgon.

The tourism fraternity feels we need a combined effort in exploiting the above because we miss out on potential billions of dollars that could come out of activities such as cruises, sport fishing, water transport, accommodations on the shores and the many islands found on the lake. We also talked about the joint marketing opportunities across the globe that would see millions flock to Uganda and Kenya hence more revenues.

We asked the presidents to go easy on the yellow card requirements for citizens from both countries because it inconveniences the business travelers most since they are frequent.

Travel News | eTurboNews

The Internet knows you are planning a vacation and will charge you more

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People are starting to plan their summer vacation, and for many, the planning process itself is the beginning of a well-deserved rest. However, it does cause frustration when after a couple of price checks on the Internet, one starts to notice how flight ticket and apartment booking quotes take an upward trend. Such behavior is called price discrimination and is a prevalent tactic across the travel industry, but there are ways to protect yourself from it.

Intuitively unfair, the concept of price discrimination (if not based on race, religion or national origin) is legal and can take many forms. Its general principle is that potential customers get to see different prices of the same product or service based on their willingness to pay as perceived by the seller.

“Many online retailers who use special algorithms to create an illusion of high demand and an increasing price. Let’s say, the quotes for all the hotel rooms you checked yesterday have increased only to encourage you to make a fast decision to book,” explains Naomi Hodges, Cybersecurity Advisor at Surfshark. “The same goes for flight tickets and car rentals so that excellent offer you found an hour ago might have deteriorated to ‘it’s still ok, but I have to hurry’ at your second check.”

Various online businesses are using personalized pricing techniques to manipulate people’s emotions. The leaders in this field, for example, Uber, hire behavioral economists who help to craft the logic of algorithms of differential pricing.

The core ingredient to make the algorithms work is your online data which is acquired when websites insert cookies into your browser and get to know your IP address.

“Such information can reveal where you live, how new or expensive device you use, which websites you visit, what are you interested in, whether you are an easy spender or not, and much more,” says Naomi Hodges.

When your data is being used for personalized pricing, the car rental might become expensive if you already booked a flight to some destination. The same goes for hotel and domestic flight booking.

The price manipulation can go even further by knowing that you are a user of a brand-new iPhone model which indicates higher purchasing power and in turn – your willingness to pay more than other customers.

How to avoid price discrimination?

Naomi Hodges reveals that it is rather easy to check if you are being differentiated from other potential travelers. Taking a few steps can help you save a sum worth a couple of nights at a great hotel or even a return flight ticket if you are an occasional traveler.

If you notice a higher flight ticket/car rental/hotel booking price than before, relax and follow these tips:

  1. Clear your recent digital footprint. You can do that by clearing your browser cache, history, and cookies in the browser settings.
  2. Turn on a virtual private network (VPN) app. This trick can help you change your location by giving you a different IP address. In many cases prices are based on the device’s location, so you can avoid higher prices simply by pretending that you are in another country. Check different countries to see how people there
  3. Turn on Incognito Mode (Chrome), Private Mode (Safari) or Private Window (Firefox) in your browser. This step will allow you to browse cookie-less.
  4. Check the prices using a different device. Differentiating between desktop and mobile users is a common practice.
  5. Change the top-level domain (.com, co.uk, .fr, .net) to a different one. For example, flights4u.com might display different prices than flights4u.de.

Best results can be achieved if all these tips are used simultaneously.

Travel News | eTurboNews

Maldives Tourism: Changes needed say local travel industry leaders

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The Corporate Maldives blog recently published an interesting analysis on how tourism leaders in the Indian Ocean Island Republic think.

The information sheds some light on what tourism professionals think, do and what issued they have in running the largest industry in the country during politically difficult times.

Tourism is the largest industry in the Maldives making the biggest contribution to the GDP of the country. In order to further understand the views of those who are not from the country on Maldives, our team conducted a research through social media. Our research showed that many people thought of Maldives as an intense and expensive destination that only the rich can afford. Due to this, we had a sit-down with Mr. Ibrahim Inad, former Director of Sales at Velaa Private Island Island to discuss ways to change the mindset of such people and to market Maldives in the most effective ways possible. Below listed are the 5 key components he believes are required to be changed in order to properly promote our destination.

1. Finding a new concept in destination marketing

Maldives resorts are mainly made to fit into the concept of one Resort in one Island. Every resort markets itself as a seclusive getaway to get away from the hustle and bustle of the busy world. Mr. Inad believes that it is more than about time that this concept changes and we get introduced to newer concepts. He acknowledged the CROSSROADS project as it is a multi-island resort development project. He requested other companies to find inspiration from the CROSSROADS project and bring about a change in the concept of Maldivian resort tourism.

CROSSROADS project which spans 9 islands and boasts 1,300 rooms and a retail space of over 11,000 sq m

2. Recognize demand level to know how to supply

With each passing year, more and more resorts are being opened, hence increasing the competition within the industry. However, how many of us actually took the time to think about whether or not we actually needed all these new resorts or not? According to Mr. Inad, with regards to the amount of tourists that visit Maldives on a yearly basis, we do not exactly need to open newer resorts every year without being able to have proper occupancy rates in the existing ones. He added that we should first let the demand grow to a point where we are unable to host anymore tourists, and that’s when newer resorts should join the market.

Angsana Velavaru

3. Know your competitors

When looking to promote the tourism industry of Maldives, we also need to consider that we have competitors who offer similar services in similar environments. Mr. Inad explained that it is wisest to keep an eye on our competitors to learn about their moves in order to come up with better strategies in marketing Maldives.

Sugar Beach, Sun Resort in Mauritius

4. Promote celebrations for special occasions

Mr. Inad shared that while working in Velaa, he found that many chose to visit Maldives for occasions such as their birthdays, Christmas, Easter, New Year and more. It is not a secret that so many resorts host exciting and marvelous celebrations for the previously mentioned occasions. This could be used as a point in our marketing strategy and in creating a position for ourselves in the market. Once we are able to develop ourselves as such a destination, we will be able to make ourselves a name in this cut-throat competition the industry puts forward.

Christmas tree at Kuredu Island Maldives Resort

5. Make use of digital marketing

While conducting the social media research, one thing we were able to gather was how people of our competing countries, used any opportunity to promote the cheap services available at their countries. They made sure to prove to convince people that their country was worth visiting. According to Mr. Inad, this sort of digital marketing is one aspect we really need to work on. If we, as individuals, promoted all sorts of tourism in the Maldives, it would reach a greater audience and hence, aid in bringing in more tourists to the country.

A phone displaying social media apps which can be used in digital marketing

So many more things need to change in order for our country to keep developing. We need to do proper marketing and show the world that we have the luxury to offer for all classes rather than just the high-end population of the world. We should make them feel like they do not need to have a luxury branded things in order to access the beauty Maldives has to offer. Once the correct message has been delivered, even more tourists will keep visiting the country and we shall keep improving more and more. Maybe one day will be able to become a destination able to compete with the biggest markets in the world.

Travel News | eTurboNews

Tourism Safety in Jamaica: Risk, reality and a new way forward

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Safety and security are becoming the center point and the basis of a new way forward for the visitors’ industry on this Caribbean Island nation according to Jamaica’s Tourism Minister, the Hon. Edmund Bartlett. 

Dr. Tarlow reports from Kingston:

I spent Yesterday in meetings dedicated to innovative ideas regarding tourism surety, that is the point where safety and security meet economic development and reputation.  During the day I had the chance to meet not only with the minister of tourism but also the minister of public safety and security.

We discussed a great many issues: From tourist security to security for Jamaica’s citizens, from technology to the need for police raises, from the fact that in the long-run prevention is less expensive than crisis management.  What we meant by that last statement was that the best way to handle a crisis is to avoid it if at all possible.  This discussion leads to the question of risk, and the reality that to be alive is to deal with risk.

Many of these same discussions are being held around the world.

What I have found unique here in Jamaica is not only the open dialogue, but the willingness intellectually to debate the issues and the realization that a tourism center must always seek ways to reinvent itself.  Tourism dare not be satisfied with past success but must also think creatively about future problems.

An example of the rapid changes faced by the world of tourism is the knowledge that we live not only in a world of social media but also in a hyper-connected world.

Ours is a new world where a smartphone can create a revolution, and where the solving of one problem all too often produces new problems and unintended consequences.  For those who have studied Hegelian philosophy, we see that tourism, like society, is a constantly changing dynamic and perhaps the industry’s biggest threat is the fear of meeting new situations, analyzing them, and seeking solutions in a world without permanent solutions.

What I have learned once again here in Jamaica is that in life there are no easy solutions, but despite this reality, we dare not flee from the challenges of an ever-changing world;  to do less is to run from the ethical and enter into a den of paranoia.

Having debated great issues all day with Jamaican colleagues I have come to understand that the real beauty of this land goes beyond its mountains and its beaches but in the creative spirit of its people.

They have taught me once again that change is a part of life and that either we control the change or it will control us.

Best wishes from Jamaica!

Dr. Peter Tarlow is leading the new eTN Travel & Tourism Safety Training Program, a partnership between  Tourism & More, Inc. and the eTN Group. Tourism and More has been working for over 2 decades with hotels, tourism-oriented cities and countries, and both public and private security officers and police in the field of tourism security. Dr. Tarlow is a world-renowned expert in the field of tourism security and safety. He leads the eTN Travel Security and Safety Training team. For more information, visit travelsecuritytraining.com.