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Middle East visitors to Egypt to increase 50% by 2022, ATM report reveals

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Arrivals from the Middle East to Egypt are expected to increase 50% from 1.49 million in 2018 to 2.23 million in 2022 with visitors from Saudi Arabia driving this growth, according to data published ahead of Arabian Travel Market 2019, which takes place at Dubai World Trade Centre from 28 April – 1 May 2019.

While arrivals from Europe are expected to be the largest contributor on a regional basis, increasing from 6.2 million in 2018 to 9.1 million tourists in 2022, the latest research from Colliers International revealed arrivals from the Middle East will actually witness the highest Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) at 11%.

Danielle Curtis, Exhibition Director ME, Arabian Travel Market, said: “Over the last 12 months, Egypt’s tourism industry has witnessed healthy and steady growth, with arrivals up 14.5% from 8.3 million in 2017 to 9.5 million in 2018. Growth has been fuelled by the cheaper Egyptian Pound and government incentives for charter airlines operating international flights.

“Adding to this, we are witnessing this growth first hand at ATM with the total number of attendees coming from Egypt increasing 16% YoY.”

Taking advantage of this resurgence in tourists are some of Egypt’s most prominent tourism companies including Dana Tours, Nicolas Tours and Standard Tours who will exhibit at ATM 2019 – and of course the Egyptian Tourism Promotion Board who will have a major presence too.

Egypt tourism capital investment is estimated to reach US$ 4.2billion (EGP 75bn) in 2019, up 25 per cent on 2018, as the country strives to keep pace with an ongoing leisure travel boom and GDP growth.

The data from Colliers revealed that Egypt’s total tourism revenue will increase at a CAGR of 16.5% between 2018 and 2022 – outperforming the business segment. During 2017 and 2018, the leisure spend was US$ 13.79billion (EGP 239bn) and US$ 16.67billion (EGP 289bn) respectively, while business totaled US$ 1.93billion (EGP 33.5bn) and US$ 2.36billion (EGP 41bn) over the same period.

“The overall revenue generated by the leisure segment in 2018 represented 87% of total tourism spend and we expect this growth to continue as a series of new government and private sector attractions and investments are unveiled – including the development of new airports and new luxury hotel resorts in Red Sea destinations Sharm El Sheikh and Hurghada,” Curtis said.

Egypt has a diverse range of source markets – decreasing the risk of being over-reliant on one specific market. Germany, Russia, the UK and Italy are Egypt’s top four source markets, with the first and last in top gear – both growing 29% in 2018 – and showing the highest CAGR growth of 11%.

The UK, which recorded just a 4% increase in arrivals between 2017 and 2018, has traditionally been a long-standing major source market for the Red Sea resort of Sharm El Sheikh. However, an ongoing ban on direct flights between the two destinations has stifled visitor numbers.

Curtis added: “It is hoped the recent resumption of Serbian flights to Sharm El Sheikh after a six-year absence and the introduction of Turkish Airlines’ daily flight from Moscow to the Red Sea via Istanbul, will kick-start direct flights between the UK and Egypt, and of course Russia and Egypt.”

ATM, considered by industry professionals as a barometer for the Middle East and North Africa tourism sector, welcomed over 39,000 people to its 2018 event, showcasing the largest exhibition in the history of the show, with hotels comprising 20% of the floor area.

Brand new for this year’s show will be the launch of Arabian Travel Week, an umbrella brand comprising four co-located shows including ATM 2019, ILTM Arabia, CONNECT Middle East, India & Africa – a new route development forum and new consumer-led event ATM Holiday Shopper. Arabian Travel Week will take place at Dubai World Trade Centre from 27 April – 1 May 2019.

About Arabian Travel Market (ATM)

Arabian Travel Market is the leading, international travel and tourism event in the Middle East for inbound and outbound tourism professionals. ATM 2018 attracted almost 40,000 industry professionals, with representation from 141 countries over the four days. The 25th edition of ATM showcased over 2,500 exhibiting companies across 12 halls at Dubai World Trade Centre.  Arabian Travel Market 2019 will take place in Dubai from Sunday, 28th April to Wednesday, 1st May 2019. To find out more, please visit: www.arabiantravelmarket.wtm.com.

About Arabian Travel Week

Arabian Travel Week is an umbrella brand comprising four co-located shows including Arabian Travel Market and ILTM Arabia as well as CONNECT Middle East, India and Africa – a new route development forum launching this year and ATM’s first ever consumer event – ATM Holiday Shopper. Providing a renewed focus for the Middle East’s travel and tourism sector – under one roof over the course of one week – the inaugural Arabian Travel Week will take place at Dubai World Trade Centre from Saturday 27th April – Wednesday 1st May 2019. For more information visit: arabiantravelweek.com

About CONNECT

CONNECT Route Development Forum delivers a total networking experience, bringing together airports, airlines and aviation suppliers in a format that offers formal one-to-one pre-arranged meetings, engaging industry seminars together with social opportunities to cement relationships with existing clients and engage with new ones. Created and organised by The Airport Agency-France, CONNECT is now in its 16th year and set to attract over 650 participants in June 2019 at its flagship event taking place in Cagliari, Sardinia. For more information, visit: www.connect-aviation.com

The inaugural CONNECT Middle East, India & Africa event will be the first and only networking forum in the Middle East. Ideally located in Dubai to address the booming aviation market of the Middle East, it will bring together the aviation and the tourism industry which are the backbone and catalyst to economic development. For more information, visit: www.connect-aviation.com/2019-meia/

About ATM Holiday Shopper

ATM Holiday Shopper is the brand-new travel event for consumers offering the very best travel and tourism discounts and deals plus the chance to learn about a range of emerging and unexplored destinations and activities from destinations around the world.  The inaugural event will take place in Hall 1 of the Dubai World Trade Centre on Saturday, 27th April 2019 from 12:00 – 20:00. For more information, visit: www.atmholidayshopper.com

About ILTM Arabia

International Luxury Travel Market Arabia is an exclusive event for those looking to attract HNW travellers from the Middle East to their destination. Returning for its third year, ILTM will allow international luxury suppliers and key luxury buyers to connect via one-to-one pre-scheduled appointments and networking opportunities. ILTM will take place on Sunday 28th April and Monday 29th April 2019. For more information, visit: www.iltm.com/arabia/

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

Strongest year-by-year growth in a decade expected

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The number of business trips and the cost of those trips is set to rise in 2019, according to the 14th annual International Travel Management Study (22 October 2018). Almost half (45 percent) of the 777 corporate travel managers surveyed by AirPlus in 24 countries expect their company to travel more in the year ahead. That figure is up from 35 percent in 2018 and the highest since the global financial crisis of the late 2000s.

Only 10 percent of travel managers believe their company will travel less, while 44 percent expect no change. India is the country where the highest number of travel managers (83 percent) forecast more trips in 2019. In contrast, 33 percent of Russian travel managers, more than any other country, predict less travel.

Travel managers are economic optimists

Almost half (46 percent) of travel managers expect the global economy to affect business travel positively in 2019. That is well up on last year (27 percent) and the highest figure in the six years the study has asked this question. Only 16 percent of travel managers expect the economy to affect business travel negatively, down from 20 percent in 2018.

The optimism among travel managers may seem surprising given several risks threatening to slow the global economy in 2019, including Brexit, slower growth in the Chinese economy and international trade disputes. But at time of writing the International Monetary Fund’s 2019 forecast is for global GDP growth of 3.5 percent (slower than 2018 but still a relatively high figure), and business travel volume and GDP have long been shown to correlate.

Expect business travel to cost more in 2019

The almost inevitable consequence of more travel is more cost, and sure enough, 51 percent of travel managers expect their company to increase its travel spend in 2019 — up from 41 percent in 2018.

“Our travel managers’ prediction of increased corporate travel highlights the importance that business travel has gained over the years. Regardless of any possible positive or negative effects of the global economy, travel managers consider business travel to be necessary and essential in order to gain new business and meet corporate challenges”, says Yael Klein, a marketing director. “But more travel also means companies need to pay increased attention to controlling their rising spend. Luckily, there are many excellent tools and techniques to help track and manage travel spend. 2019 is definitely the year to put these good travel management practices in place, or review them if you already have a strong managed program.”

Action points recommended to control budgets include:

  • Make sure you have a good corporate payment solution providing the best possible travel spend data.
  • Review your policy to identify fresh potential savings.
  • Re-visit your supplier deals. If you have more spend, you also have more spending power.
  • Communicate. Tell your travelers that costs are increasing

Travel News | eTurboNews

WTTC: Travel and Tourism is Zambia’s 2018 fastest-growing national economic sector

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The World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC) is getting ready for its Annual Summit in Seville next month, and Africa will be happy.

Report after report is confirming enormous growth potential for the African Travel and Tourism industry.

Alongside WTTC’s good numbers, a new initiative spearheaded by the eTN Corporation is the African Tourism Board which will launch on April 11 at an ATB Conference in Cape Town, South Africa.

“This all confirms the important role Africa has established globally,” said eTN President and Interim African Tourism Board Chairman Juergen Steinmetz.

Travel and Tourism is Zambia’s 2018 fastest-growing national economic sector, contributing US$1,846.9MN (ZMK19.4 billion) to national economy, reported WTTC, and 318.9 thousand jobs to the Zambian economy in 2018 while posting a +6.3% Gross Domestic Product (GDP), making it the fastest and bullish economic sector in the country.

International visitors alone spent ZMK8.4 billion representing 8.3% of the total Zambian exports, and in terms if spending characteristics the leisure sectors account for a total of 38% while business was at 62%. Domestic spending on tourism and travel stood at 47% while international spending was 53%. The industry is estimated to create a total of 464.6 thousand jobs in 2019 with an estimated 1.1million expected international visitors in 2019.  This is according to the World Travel and Tourism Council’s annual review of the economic impact and social importance of the sector released this month.

Tsogo Sun Garden Court Hotel Kitwe Zambia – Photo courtesy of Garden Court Kitwe Management

WTTC is an international non-governmental organization which represents the Travel and Tourism private sector globally with over 170 membership that includes CEOs, chairmen, and presidents of the world’s leading Travel and Tourism businesses from across the globe covering all industries. The organization works to raise awareness of Travel and Tourism as one of the world’s largest economic sectors, supporting one in 10 jobs (319 million world wide and generating 10.4% of the world GDP in 2018).

The World Travel and Tourism Council is the global authority on the economic and social contribution of Travel and Tourism. The organization promotes sustainable growth for the Travel and Tourism sector, working with governments and international institutions to create jobs, to drive exports and to generate prosperity. Together with Oxford Economics an international consulting firm headquartered in Oxford United Kingdom and prides itself as a global leader in forecasting and quantitative analysis, produces annual research that shows Travel and Tourism to be one of the world’s largest sectors. WTTC has been producing comprehensive reports quantify, compare and forecast the economic impact of Travel and Tourism on 185 economies around the world for nearly 30 years. In addition to individual country fact sheets, and fuller country reports, WTTC produces a world report highlighting global trends and 25 further reports that focus on regions, sub-regions and economic and geographic groups.

Commenting on this extraordinary data by WTTC, Zambia’s celebrated tourism pundit Dr. Percy Ngwira stated that WTTC has revealed something that needs thorough reflection and validation in line with Zambia’s national data produced relevant national competent institutions. He was, however, quick point out that the travel and tourism sector in Zambia has indeed being growing arguably so in the past five years owing to the current governments implantations of conducive policy and commitment to develop the sector.

According to the Zambia’s Minister of Tourism and Arts Charles Banda who is also UNWTO Executive Council Chair the current Zambian government has recognized prioritized the tourism and placed it as the second most important economic sector in the country that is poised to play  a significant  role in the country’s economic emancipation towards the achievement of Zambia’s  national Vision 2030, which aims to transform the country  into a prosperous middle income nation by the year  2030 and to create a new Zambia which is a strong and dynamic middle-income industrial nation that provides opportunities for improving the well-being of all, embodying values of socio economic justice.

Recently Zambia has witnessed growing investment in the tourism sector, many new hotels have been built including Hilton Hotel group that opened a $100m luxury 20-floor mixed-use Hilton Garden Inn hotel in the Zambian capital Lusaka in 2018.

The Zambian copper rich region located near the Democratic Republic of Congo also had a new state of art hotel by Tsogo Sun of South Africa Garden Court Kitwe that was open late last year.

eTN is a media partner for WTTC.

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