For Immediate Release | Official News Wire for the Travel Industry

Where press releases are breaking news

Asia Pacific Tourism: 700 million international arrivals in 2018 and growing

by

Asia Pacific destinations collectively received almost 700 million international visitor arrivals (IVAs) in 2018, an increase of 7.7% over the 2017 figure, according to PATA’s Annual Tourism Monitor 2019 Early Edition released today.

This report is the latest in a series that dates back to 1951 and, in this edition, covers 47 destinations across the Asia Pacific region. The data contained within this publication provides useful, practical data on traveller structure and movements and is an essential input into strategic, development and marketing plans for all suppliers to this significant contributor to the tourism economies of the Asia Pacific region.

Rising from an arrivals volume of just almost 562 million in 2014, the annual growth of visitors into and across the Asia Pacific region has increased consistently each year, peaking in 2018 at 699.6 million international arrivals.

The distribution of these arrivals has been relatively constant over the past five years, although marginally favoring Asia, largely at the expense of the Americas.

Within each of those destination regions there are differences across both individual destinations and at the sub-regional level. Between 2014 and 2018 for example, Southeast Asia gained 1.34 points of share in terms of IVAs into and across Asia Pacific, while North America lost 1.55 points of share.

There are several main indicators of particular interest at this level, particularly the top five destinations by volume of visitor arrivals in 2018. Clearly China was the number one destination for visitor arrivals, with close to 161 million in 2018. That alone represents 22.6% of the total visitor volume into and across Asia Pacific, in that year.

The remaining four destinations in this top five list cover North and Central America as well as Northeast and West Asia. Collectively, these top five destinations accounted for 54.8% of the total visitor arrivals into and across Asia Pacific in 2018.

A second destination indicator considers the top five destinations that received the most additional volume added to their respective inbound counts between 2017 and 2018.

This particular list is remarkably similar to the previous one, except that Mexico has been replaced by Macao, China. In total, 12 destinations of the 47 covered in this report had annual increases in excess of one million IVAs apiece between 2017 and 2018.

This top five group received a total of over 30 million additional arrivals between 2017 and 2018, which was just over 59% of the total net arrivals for Asia Pacific over this period.

A third indicator looks at the longer-term growth of Asia Pacific destinations, in particular, the top five destinations that showed the strongest percentage growth in arrivals between 2017 and 2018.

While the volume of arrivals varies greatly for most of these destinations, they are of particular interest given that annual growth is often a precursor to some significant tourism opportunities presenting themselves. Turkey in this regard, shows clearly how it is rebounding from the recent contractions in visitor arrivals, appearing in the top five lists by volume and annual growth rate.

So too with Nepal, which has been on a strong growth track for a number of consecutive years now and which received more than one million foreign arrivals in a single year for the first time ever, in 2018. Similarly, with Papua New Guinea which has rebounded strongly since 2016, growing its annual growth rate strongly since then.

Over the longer term – between 2014 and 2018 – it is interesting to see the top five destinations that received the most additional IVA volume added to their inbound counts over that period. China tops the list with over 34.2 million additional arrivals added to its inbound count, followed by Japan with a gain of close to 17.8 million IVAs over that period and then Thailand with almost 13.5 million additional IVAs.

Mexico and Vietnam close out that top five list with period increases of 12.1 million IVAs and more than 7.6 million.

In similar fashion, it is interesting to see which Asia Pacific destinations had the strongest average annual growth rates (AAGRs) between 2014 and 2018, as this metric can often (but not always) indicate a more continuous growth rate over time. It is obvious that Japan and Vietnam in particular have been expanding their foreign arrivals counts with some strength, given the AAGRS of almost 24% and 18% respectively. This is supported by the fact that both of those destinations also appear in the top five list of the increase in absolute numbers of arrivals between 2014 and 2018.

Interestingly, Nicaragua appears to have been performing well against this metric between 2014 and 2018, however that now seems to be all but unraveling, given the political issues being faced there at the moment.

In addition, and based on these top five AAGR results, Indonesia is certainly a destination to keep watching, as is Cyprus in West Asia.

PATA CEO Dr. Mario Hardy pointed out that, “across Asia Pacific, calendar year 2018 continued to demonstrate volatility in markets and destinations, some caused by external factors, including politics, but others by changes in consumer wants, needs and basic preferences.”

“While growth out of many traditional markets begins to waver or stagnate, at least into some destinations, newly emerging markets appear and offer opportunities for those agile enough to not only recognize them but also to be able to change their marketing and promotional efforts at a moment’s notice and capture those fleeting”, he added.

Dr Hardy concluded that, “everything continues to change, morph and evolve, but now it is happening at speeds unthought of just a decade ago. As an important global industry sector, we need to change even faster and get ahead of that curve, if we are to remain viable and significant into the future. To do that efficiently, like all industry sectors, we need faster and better information upon which to act, leveraged by technology. It is no longer ‘business as usual”.

Media Contact:

PATA Paul Pruangkarn
Director – Communications & External Affairs
+66 (02) 658-2000 | [email protected] | Bangkok, Thailand

New Artisan Village part of Tourism Inclusive Growth Strategy

by

Jamaia Minister of Tourism, Hon. Edmund Bartlett, says the artisan village being constructed at Hampden Wharf in Trelawny forms part of the overall inclusive growth strategy to increase earnings among local suppliers.

The US $5.7 million project will have 47 shops along with the establishment of the island’s first artisan village which will accommodate 18 shops along 540 square metres.

Speaking at a recent walk through of the construction, Minister Bartlett highlighted the key role of the facility in creating more earning opportunities for local small and medium businesses.

“The artisan village will connect immediately the market or visitors with our products. When visitors come off the ship, they will be able to go straight to the artisan village and walk away with a piece of authentic Jamaican culture,” said Minister Bartlett.

The project sits on 1.6 hectares of land along the historic Falmouth Port and is being executed by the Port Authority of Jamaica and the Urban Development Company. 

“This artisan village is critical in our reimagining exercise where we are providing opportunities for entrepreneurship at the very base of the population. Tourism will be made more meaningful to the average Jamaican when access is provided for income generating activities and also for creative production.

This is a new and exciting opportunity for various levels of producers in the country that we have not paid enough attention to and not provided arrangements for. The artisan village will also provide a secure, safe and seamless operation for visitors and locals alike,” added Minister Bartlett.

The artisan village is slated to be ready by the end of the year to coincide with the start of the traditional winter tourist season in December.

For more information, contact:

Corporate Communications Division

Ministry of Tourism

64 Knutsford Boulevard

Kingston 5

Tel: (876) 920-4926-30

Fax: (876) 906 1729

SITA: Tracking airline passenger bags drives 66% improvement in baggage delivery

by

Airlines that are adding tracking at more points of the baggage journey are enjoying a huge improvement in bag delivery globally. The SITA 2019 Baggage IT Insights – officially launched at an event in Abu Dhabi International Airport today – shows that where tracking is done at check-in and loading onto the aircraft, the rate of improvement is as high as 66%.

These results come as the record drop in the baggage mishandling rate achieved globally over the past decade plateaus, with the rate steady at around 5.7 bags per thousand passengers over the past three years. In 2018, the rate was 5.69 per thousand passengers.

Over the past year, an increasing number of airlines and airports have started to introduce tracking at key points in the journey – check-in, loading onto the aircraft, transfers and arrival – to improve baggage management and further reduce the chances of a bag being mishandled. SITA’s research provides the first glimpse of the success of this tracking. It reveals that where bags were being tracked when loaded onto the aircraft, the rate of improvement ranged between 38% and 66% depending on the level of tracking introduced.

Peter Drummond, Director of Baggage at SITA, said: “While the mishandling rate has started to plateau over the past few years, this comes against a continued growth in passenger numbers and their bags. In 2018, 4.36 billion travelers checked in more than 4.27 billion bags. More bags makes things more challenging. Everyone across the industry needs to look beyond the process and technology improvements made in the past decade and adopt the latest technology such as tracking to make the next big cut in the rate of mishandled bags.”

Ahmed Juma Al Shamsi, Acting Chief Operations Officer at Abu Dhabi Airports, said: “For our passengers the timely delivery of baggage is key to ensuring a seamless passenger experience and therefore an area in which we continue to make further improvements. Looking forward, baggage tracking is fundamental to driving more accurate bag delivery not only at Abu Dhabi International Airport but across the entire passenger journey. We have led the way with the introduction of tracking on arrival and we have already seen significant improvements.”

Transferring baggage from one aircraft, or airline, to another remains a pinch point in the journey and in 2018 it was again the main reason for bags being mishandled. Transfer bags accounted for 46% of all mishandled bags.
Drummond added: “Transfer is by far the most difficult stage to track a bag as there are multiple airlines and airports involved. However, data from this year’s report shows that tracking at key points in the journey, such as transfers, will go a long way to eliminating mishandling and will allow airlines and their passengers to keep tabs on where their bags are at every step of the way.”

Over the past decade, total number of mishandled bags per annum has plummeted 47% from 46.9 million in 2007 to 24.8 million in 2018, while the annual bill footed by the industry has shrunk 43% to $2.4 billion, down from $4.22 billion in 2007.

Travel News | eTurboNews

Moscow selected to host annual GSMA Mobile 360 Series event

by

Eurasia conference, a regional event held as part of the activities of GSMA (Global System for Mobile Communications Association), will be held in Moscow, October 8-9 2019.

The decision to host the event in Moscow was adopted as a result of an active work of the Russian Convention Bureau which provided the proposal for venues, and organized an inspection visit for representatives of the international association.

The event will be held in Moscow for the second time, following the successful launch in 2018 which gathered over 600 attendees from 21 countries and 52% were Director-level and above.

In 2019, the conference and exhibition will bring together over 600 policymakers, regulatory authorities, international organisations, Mobile Network Operators, mobile technology solution providers and broader ICT ecosystem players from Russia, the CIS region and the international market leaders in 5G technology. The event will be held at the Lotte Hotel Moscow.

Anton Kobyakov, Advisor to the President of the Russian Federation, said: “The sphere of mobile and high technologies plays a key role in stimulating economic growth, attracting foreign investments and increasing global competitiveness through development of science and technology. Adding more industries to the list of events organized by the Russian Convention Bureau will not only facilitate the development of corresponding areas of the real economy sector but also help create the image of the country on the international arena as one of the most meaningful players on the market of the event industry.”

Alexey Kalachev, Director of the Russian Convention Bureau, said: “We use various tools of working with international associations as we work to attract various business events to Russia. We are ready to offer universal and customized solutions that will correspond to the needs and expectations of conference organizers of various scale in different industries.”

Travel News | eTurboNews

Mediterranean Resort & Hotel Real Estate Forum returns to Greece

by

Now in its fifth year, the Mediterranean Resort & Hotel Real Estate Forum (MR&H) will return to Greece for the second year in succession this October. The event, hosted by Questex, is dedicated to the investment, development and operation of resorts and hotels within the Mediterranean region. This niche, but highly specialized area, comprises various elements; hotel, residential, marinas, health clubs, children’s activities, retail, sports facilities, F&B, all of which need to be carefully woven together with seamless operation to create a successful resort.

The conference will be held at the Hilton Athens on the 29-31st October 2019. A fitting venue for Hilton’s celebration of 100 years in hospitality and the continuation of the premise that the group was founded on; “travel can make the world a better place”.

The dynamic growth of tourism in Greece continues to boost investment activity throughout the country and throughout the wider Mediterranean region. Speaking at MIPIM last month, Secretary General for Tourism Policy and Development George Tziallas said; “Half of all funding under Greece’s 2016 development law has been channeled into tourism ventures, while more than 400 investment plans have been submitted in the last three years to the tourism ministry for approval.”

This statement is supported by data recently released by Horwath HTL during the International Hotel Investment Forum (IHIF) which revealed Greece is a prime investment opportunity for international hotel chains as only 1.7% of total units currently operate under an international brand. Results from the joint investor sentiment survey from Tranio and IHIF showed Greece listed as one of the European countries that is most attractive for hotel real estate investment.

Stakeholders from leading operators including Thomas Cook, Club Med and Nobu attend the event alongside investors from KSL, Starwood Capital Group and Dolphin Capital all recognizing the value of coming together as a collective to debate, converse and discuss.

Registration for MR&H 2019 is now open and delegate tickets can be purchased at the best value Early Bird rate until the end of May.

Enterprise Greece have pledged their continued support for MR&H and Grigoris Stergioulis, Chairman & CEO at Enterprise Greece said in relation to the ongoing collaboration; “Building on the success of the event last year, the positive working relationship with Questex and the significant opportunities that exist for investors in the Greek hotel market, we’re thrilled to once again partner with MR&H and look forward to welcoming the event to Greece for the second year.”

Alexi Khajavi, Managing Director of EMEA Hospitality + Travel Group, Questex said; “The tourism and hospitality prosperity that Greece is enjoying is leading to significant activity from serious investors and developers. As a conference host, our role is to facilitate these meetings, connections and interactions in an environment that is educational and energizing. With the continued support from Enterprise Greece, Hilton providing the setting, and amongst very encouraging industry data, we’re confident that MR&H will prove to be an event not to be missed for those currently active or keen to do business within the Mediterranean resort and hotel space”.

Travel News | eTurboNews