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Sargassum Clean-up Costs Caribbean US$120 Million – Bartlett

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The unprecedented levels of sargassum seaweed that washed up on Caribbean beaches in 2018 resulted in estimated clean-up costs of US$120 million, according to Minister of Tourism and Co-Chair of the Global Tourism Resilience and Crisis Management Centre (GTRCM), Hon. Edmund Bartlett.

In addition to costly removal, tourism stakeholders have become increasingly concerned about the seaweed’s unsightly appearance, visitor complaints and the possibility of reputational damage, the Tourism Minister noted.


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“As active stakeholders in the sector we understand the inestimable value of tourism to stable and prosperous Caribbean economies.  Tourism remains the single most important catalyst of sustained economic livelihoods in the region,” Minister Bartlett said in opening remarks at the GTRCM Roundtable on Sargassum today (July 26) at the University of the West Indies’ Region Headquarters, Mona.

The Caribbean is the most tourism-dependent region of the world, where it is the main economic sector in 16 out of 18 Caribbean states and supports close to 3 million jobs.

Noting forecasts of a 12% growth in tourist arrivals to the region for 2019, Minister Bartlett said, “Despite these promising indicators and its (tourism’s) historical resilience, we remain well aware that the tourism sector is very fragile and prone to disruptive elements.  The last ten years have witnessed an evolution of the threats facing the sector.  These threats have become more unpredictable and more devastating in their impact and certainly more difficult to manage.”

Sargassum is one such threat.  Accordingly, the GTRCM saw an urgent need to facilitate the coming together of regional tourism and environmental stakeholders to share ideas, best practices and possible solutions to the adverse effects sargassum in having on national and regional economies.

Sargassum Clean-up Costs Caribbean US$120 Million – Bartlett
Professor Lloyd Waller (left), Executive Director, Global Tourism Resilience and Crisis Management Centre (GTRCM); Professor Mona Webber, Director, Centre for Marine Sciences and Discovery Bay Marine Laboratory; and Minister of Tourism and GTRCM Co-Chair, Hon. Edmund Bartlett (right) discuss the sargassum threat to Caribbean tourism during the GTRCM Roundtable on Sargassum at the University of the West Indies Region Headquarters, Mona.

Since 2011, thick mats of seaweed have increased in density to generate an 8850-kilometer-long belt (weighing 20 million metric tons) known as the Great Atlantic Sargassum Belt that extends from West Africa to the Caribbean Sea and Gulf of Mexico. Scientists believe this algal explosion in the Atlantic Ocean and Caribbean Sea could signify a new normal. 

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The sargassum phenomenon is believed to be driven by a combination of man-made and natural factors, including climate change and increased sea surface temperature; change in regional winds and ocean current patterns; and an increased supply of nutrients from rivers, sewage and nitrogen-based fertilizers.

In the open seas, sargassum provides critical habitats for marine and bird life.  However, when it inundates beaches it rots and smells, becoming an environmental and economic nuisance.  Tourism on Mexico’s Caribbean Coast dropped an estimated 35% in 2018 due to sargassum washing up on the 480-kilometer-long stretch of otherwise pristine beaches.

Minister Bartlett told local and overseas participants at the GTRCM Roundtable that a strong regional response at both the political and technical level is urgently required to address this rapidly evolving sargassum problem.

“The effective countering of this threat will require the different nations’ governments coming together to conduct research, mitigate contributing factors, identify global best practices in adaptation strategies and develop a comprehensive scientific initiative to establish the most efficient ways to collect the sargassum in the open sea without harming the ecosystem,” said the Tourism Minister.

Presentations were made by Andres Bisono Leon and Luke Grey, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) Precision Engineering Research Group; Professor Mona Webber, Director, Centre for Marine Sciences and Discovery Bay Marine Laboratory; and Marion Sutton, Oceanographer and Project Manager, Collecte Localisation Satellites, France.

MEDIA CONTACT:

Corporate Communications Division

Ministry of Tourism

64 Knutsford Boulevard

Kingston 5

Tel: 920-4926-30

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

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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 | communications@PATA.org | Bangkok, Thailand

Passenger volume climbs at Frankfurt and most of the Group airports

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Frankfurt Airport (FRA) welcomed more than six million passengers in
April 2019, a gain of 5.1 percent year-on-year. This noticeable
increase can also be attributed to the Easter traffic, which occurred
completely in April 2019 due to the later Easter holidays this year
(compared to 2018). FRA posted a 3.3 percent increase in total
passenger during the first four months of 2019.

Aircraft movements in April 2019 climbed slightly by 1.8 percent to
43,683 takeoffs and landings. Accumulated maximum takeoff weights
(MTOWs) rose by 1.6 percent to about 2.7 million metric tons. In
contrast, cargo throughput (airfreight + airmail) fell by 6.0 percent
to 178,342 metric tons – due to weaker global trade and the later
occurrence of the Easter holidays.

Most of the Group airports in Fraport’s international portfolio
recorded growth in April 2019. Traffic at Slovenia’s Ljubljana
Airport (LJU) remained almost unchanged, increasing by 0.1 percent to
157,992 passengers. With combined traffic of about 1.2 million
passengers, Fraport’s Brazilian airports in Fortaleza (FOR) and Porto
Alegre (POA) saw traffic climb by 12.1 percent.

The 14 Greek regional airports achieved a 7.2 percent jump in traffic
to a total of 1.4 million passengers. The busiest airports included:
Thessaloniki (SKG) with 523,498 passengers (up 0.3 percent), Rhodes
(RHO) with 228,921 passengers (up 16.3 percent); and Chania (CHQ)
with 168,911 passengers (down 12.9 percent).

Serving 1.8 million passengers, Peru’s Lima Airport (LIM) advanced by
7.3 percent in the reporting month. Bulgaria’s Burgas (BOJ) and Varna
(VAR) airports reported a 14.6 percent drop in traffic to 106,205
passengers. At the gateway to the Turkish Riviera, Antalya Airport
(AYT) received 2.2 million passengers, representing growth of 16.0
percent. Russia’s Pulkovo Airport in St. Petersburg’s (LED) grew by
6.0 percent to about 1.4 million passengers. Traffic at Xi’an
Airport (XIY) in central China reached 3.8 million passengers, up 4.0
percent.

MEDIA CONTACT: Torben Beckmann, Fraport AG, Corporate Communications, Media Relations, 60547 Frankfurt, Germany, E-mail:  t.beckmann@fraport.de , Facebook:  www.facebook.com/FrankfurtAirport

FRAPORT: Revenue and earnings increase – Outlook confirmed

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The Fraport Group has successfully started off the new business year, achieving higher revenue and earnings in the first three months of 2019.

Supported by solid passenger growth at Frankfurt Airport and almost all of Fraport’s airports worldwide, Group revenue rose by 17.9 percent to EUR803.8 million. Adjusted for revenue in connection with capital expenditure for expansion projects at Fraport’s Group companies worldwide (according to IFRIC 12), revenue grew by 5.3percent to EUR678.5 million. At Frankfurt Airport (FRA), traffic growth led to higher revenue, particularly from ground handling services, as well as security services and infrastructure charges.

Moreover, the retail and parking businesses had a positive impact on revenue. In Fraport’s international portfolio, major contributions came, in particular, from the Lima (Peru) and the Fraport USA Group companies. In the U.S. market, Fraport recently took over management of retail areas at New York-JFK’s Terminal 5 (April 2018) and at Nashville International Airport (February 2019).

The operating result or Group EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization) advanced by 14.8 percent to EUR200.6 million in the reporting period. This amount includes a EUR10.9 million positive effect, resulting from the application of IFRS 16 (effective January 1, 2019). The positive effect is offset by additional amortization and depreciation in the amount of EUR10.4 million and a EUR2.8 million increase in interest. Establishing new rules for the accounting of leases, the IFRS 16 standard specifically affects lease contracts between the Fraport USA Group company and respective concession lessors. Thus, Group EBIT climbed by 4.6 percent to EUR86.1 million. Supported by a better interest result, the financial result improved from minus EUR56.1 million in Q1 2018 to minus EUR49.6 million in the first quarter of 2019.

Correspondingly, Group EBT soared by 39.3 percent to EUR36.5 million, while the Group result (net profit) jumped 42.9 percent to EUR28.0 million.

Commenting on the Group’s positive business performance in the first quarter of 2019, Fraport AG’s executive board chairman, Dr. Stefan Schulte, said: “We had a robust start to the new business year, supported once more by the ever growing contributions to revenue and earnings from our Group airports worldwide. In Frankfurt, we successfully managed the first stress test of 2019 during the busy

Easter travel period. Together with our partners, we will continue striving to accommodate the high demand of our customers in the best possible way. To achieve this goal, we will further optimize andstreamline processes and improve infrastructure utilization, as well as vigorously moving our expansion projects forward.”

Operating cash flow jumped noticeably by 60.2 percent to EUR129.0 million in the first three months of 2019, reflecting the positive operational performance across the Group’s airports. When adjusting for the changes in net current assets included in the statement of cash flows, operating cash flow improved by EUR12.6 million or 9.1  percent. Despite increased operating cash flow, free cash flow dropped strongly to minus EUR245.9 million in the first quarter of 2019, due to higher capital expenditure both at Frankfurt Airport and in the international business (Q1 2018:  minus EUR66.9 million).

FRA welcomed almost 14.8 million passengers from January to March 2019, up 2.5 percent year-on-year. FRA achieved this increase despite the fact that traffic in March 2018 received an additionally boost from the earlier timing of the Easter school holidays. This year, in comparison, the Easter break fell during April. Fraport’s Groupairports worldwide largely reported positive traffic performance, although the different timing of the Easter holidays impacted some Group airports serving tourist destinations.

Following the end of the first quarter of this year, the Executive Board maintains its forecasts for fiscal year 2019.

You can find our Interim Release Q1 2019 (http://ots.de/HFMbNo) on the Fraport AG website.

MEDIA CONTACT: Torben Beckmann, Fraport AG, Corporate Communications, Media Relations, 60547 Frankfurt, Germany, E-mail:  t.beckmann@fraport.de , Facebook:  www.facebook.com/FrankfurtAirport

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

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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.

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