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Italian Exhibition Group returns to China to promote international tourism

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Italian Exhibition Group (IEG) is returning to China to promote international tourism business. The appointment is at the Shanghai World Travel Fair (SWTF), one of the major tourism industry expos of Eastern China, the 16th edition of which is being held from 18th to 21st April.

Over 750 exhibitors from 53 countries and regions of the world are awaited at the Shanghai Exhibition Center.

SWTF, co-organized by Europe Asia Global Link Exhibitions (EAGLE) – joint venture created by Italian Exhibition Group (IEG) and VNU Exhibitions Asia – and Shanghai International Convention & Exhibition Corp. Ltd (on behalf of Shanghai Municipal Administration of Culture and Tourism), offers the sector’s trade members a unique business platform and, for the general public, an all-round insight on tourism products, all in the largest tourism region of the Chinese market, Eastern China (China is the world’s largest outbound tourism market, with 149.72 million outbound journeys and a 14.7% increase in 2018).

With over 15,000 trade members expected and a public of 50,000 visitors, the 2019 edition of SWTF will host a busy calendar of appointments and new features. Visitors will explore tourist destinations from all over the world, including Argentina, Australia, Bulgaria, Cuba, Gabon, Germany, Italy, Japan, Kenya, Madagascar, Morocco, Papua New Guinea, Peru, Russia, Sri Lanka, South Korea, Tanzania, Turkmenistan and Vietnam. SWTF will highlight the entire tourism chain, starting with tourist offices, travel agencies and tour operators, OTA, hotel, airlines, theme parks and resorts, as well as travel services and insurance companies.

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On a professional level, SWTF reconfirms its role as a great opportunity for matching to all effects. Over 3,000 B2B appointments with selected buyers from all over Eastern China will take part in the events and the panel scheduled on the latest trends in outbound tourism, organized in cooperation with China Travel Agent. Regarding this, an exclusive B2B area has been realized, which will be accessible to the sector’s trade members exclusively via a face detection system, in order to ensure the quality of the meetings with international suppliers.

Emerging destinations, digital marketing, developments on visa policies and MICE, are just some of the issues that will be covered in the panels by the sector’s opinion leaders, ready to share their successful case histories with the public. Plus, among the speakers, there will also be representatives of the top management of companies such as Ctrip, Tuniu, Uzai, Spring Tour and Tongshen Group, as well as the directors of the Tourism offices of New Zealand, Switzerland and Serbia with branches in Shanghai.

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Oxford Economics: Brand USA’s marketing initiatives drove record international visitor spending

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Today, Brand USA, the destination marketing organization for the United States, announced that a study by Oxford Economics shows Brand USA’s marketing efforts are generating a high return on investment (ROI) and driving significant incremental international visitation and spend, which is helping to fuel the nation’s economy. The report shows Brand USA has consistently driven strong results over the past six years, including record results in Fiscal Year 2018 (FY2018) for incremental international visitor spending, tax revenues generated, and total economic impact.

Highlights of the study show Brand USA’s marketing efforts in FY2018 alone (October 1, 2017 – September 30, 2018) helped drive:

• 1.13 million incremental international visitors to the USA who spent
• $4.1 billion on travel and fare receipts with U.S. carriers, and generated
• $1.17 billion in federal, state, and local taxes and
• $8.9 billion in total economic impact, and supported
• 52,305 incremental U.S. jobs

The resulting FY2018 marketing ROI was 32:1—meaning that every $1 Brand USA spent on marketing generated $32 in spend by international visitors.

The study also shows that the cumulative results of Brand USA’s marketing efforts over the past six years (FY2013 through FY018) has helped bring:

• 6.6 million incremental visitors to the USA who spent
• $21.8 billion on travel and fare receipts with U.S. carriers, and generated
• $6.2 billion in federal, state, and local taxes, and
• $47.7 billion in total economic impact, which has supported, on average,
• Nearly 52,000 incremental U.S. jobs each year

The six-year results equate to an average marketing ROI of 28:1.

“International visitation is an important driver for the nation’s economy—benefiting a wide range of industries well beyond travel and tourism,” said Christopher L. Thompson, president and CEO of Brand USA.

According to the U.S. Department of Commerce, international travel to the United States is the nation’s top services export and represents 11 percent of all U.S. exports, contributing a $77.4 billion trade surplus.

“The FY2018 ROI study reinforces the effectiveness of our promotional campaigns and how our efforts are supporting communities and employment throughout the country. The United States provides international travelers more value in its diversity of experiences than any other place in the world, and we look forward to continuing to work with our partners to market the USA as the ultimate travel destination,” added Thompson.

Each year, Brand USA deploys a number of market-driven platforms and programs as part of its mission to increase incremental international visitation, spend, and market share for the United States in order to fuel the U.S. economy and enhance the image of the USA with worldwide travelers.

Brand USA also collaborates with federal partners to communicate U.S. visa and entry policies and correct misperceptions about those policies as required by the Travel Promotion Act.

The Oxford Economics study includes an analysis of Brand USA’s work in nine markets – Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, Germany, Japan, South Korea, Mexico, and the United Kingdom—and also considers the organization’s total impact in other international markets where Brand USA’s marketing was active during the year via consumer, trade outreach, and cooperative marketing programs.

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Korean Air and the Hanjin Group Chairman and founder of Skyteam died in Los Angeles

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Yang Ho Cho, 70, Chairman and CEO of Korean Air and the Hanjin Group, died peacefully April 7 in a Los Angeles hospital after a brief illness.  He was considered to be an Air transport pioneer.

Mr. Cho’s reach extended far beyond Asia.  He was a founder of the Skyteam international airline alliance and led the bid committee that took the 2018 Winter Olympics to Korea.  He recently completed development of the iconic Wilshire Grand complex in downtown Los Angeles, the tallest building west of the Mississippi.

He served on the Board of Governors of the International Air Transport Association (IATA); the Board of Trustees of his alma mater, University of Southern California; and has received honorary doctorate degrees from Embry Riddle Aeronautical University (Florida) and the Ukraine National Aviation University.

Under his guidance, Korean Air became a global powerhouse flying to 124 cities and 44 countries, emerging as America’s largest Asian airline with 15 North American gateways. He recently negotiated a joint venture with Atlanta-based Delta Air Lines, that created the industry’s most comprehensive transpacific network. The airlines are scheduled to launch a new non-stop route between Boston and Seoul on April 12.

Mr. Cho was in the airline industry all his life, as his father, Choong-Hoon Cho, had acquired and privatized Korean Air 50 years ago.  The younger Cho was named the airline’s Chairman and CEO in 1999 having served as President and CEO four years earlier. Mr. Cho began working for Korean Air as a manager in the Americas Regional Headquarters in Los Angeles in 1974 after graduating from the University of Southern California.

Three weeks ago Korean Air investors removed him from the board in a victory for shareholder activism.

Mr. Cho’s leadership has been widely recognized over the years. He was awarded the title of `Grand Officier’ in France’s Légion d’Honneur, ‘Polaris’ in Mongolia and also the `Mugunghwa Medal’ in Korea – all of which are the highest order of civil merit awarded in these countries.

In addition to his corporate responsibilities, Mr. Cho was vice chairman of the Federation of Korean Industries, co-chairman of the Korea-U.S. Business Council, and served as the co-president of l’Année France-Corée 2015-2016’, celebrating 130 years of diplomatic relations between Korea and France.

Mr. Cho is survived by his wife, Myung-hee Lee, son Walter, daughters Heather and Emily and five grandsons.  Services are pending in South Korea.

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IATA announces judges for Diversity and Inclusion Awards

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The International Air Transport Association (IATA) announced the members of the independent judging panel for the IATA Diversity and Inclusion Awards as:

  • Angela Gittens, Director General, Airports Council International
  • Gloria Guevara, President and CEO, World Travel and Tourism Council
  • Mark Pilling, Vice President Publishing and Conferences, FlightGlobal
  • Karen Walker, Editor-in-Chief, Air Transport World

“We are honored to have such a renowned and diverse panel of experts as judges for the IATA Diversity and Inclusion Awards. Our aim is to inspire greater diversity and inclusion across the aviation industry by recognizing role models and company initiatives that are driving critical change,” said Alexandre de Juniac, IATA’s Director General and CEO.

IATA also announced the following important changes for nominations:

  • Eligibility: The Young High Flyer Award will be extended to nominations for women under the age of 40 (previously 30). This is to better accommodate the contributions made as nominees develop their careers and networks within the industry.
  • Deadline: The deadline for all nominations will be extended to 6 PM Central European Time, Monday, April 15. This will ensure ample time for any new nominations as a result of the category criteria adjustments.

Sponsored by Qatar Airways, the IATA Diversity and Inclusion Awards will honor excellence demonstrated in the categories of: (1) Inspirational Role Model, (2) Young High Flyer and (3) Diversity and Inclusion Team. The first awards will be presented at the conclusion of the 75th IATA Annual General Meeting and World Air Transport Summit to be held in Seoul, South Korea (1-3 June 2019).

For more information on the Awards visit the webpage.

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Korean Air abandons teens in South Korea

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Two unaccompanied teenage minors, ages 15 and 16, were left stranded in South Korea after being booted from their flight from Seoul to the Philippines before takeoff.

The sons of Rakesh and Prajakta Patel had gone to visit their grandfather in a hospital in Atlanta, Georgia, and were on the return journey to Manila, where their father is working a temporary job. They were making the transatlantic trip on their own.

The return trip began with a 14-hour Delta flight from Georgia to Seoul, South Korea. This first leg of the journey went fine, but their travel plans took a turn for the worse when the boys attempted to board a second flight from Seoul to Manila with Delta partner Korean Air as a result of one of the boys having a deadly peanut allergy.

Prajakta Patel, the mother of the teens, had informed Delta of her older son’s severe peanut allergy ahead of their big trip, so the brothers were shocked when a gate agent told them that peanuts would be served in the high skies. The boy’s allergy is so severe that even airborne particulates from peanuts could be extremely dangerous.

 

After explaining the situation, the teens were allegedly told that they could either take the flight or exit the aircraft and miss the trip. Though the Patel’s sons chose to board the plane, they were soon booted off.

“The gate agent came on the plane and told my sons to get off,” Mrs. Patel said. “One of my kids was shaking — they’re alone in a different country. Where were they supposed to go?” Mrs. Prajakta claimed that the gate agent even pulled on her son’s shirt “to encourage him to move” off of the aircraft.

Confused, the teens found themselves back in the gate area and told flight officials that they were willing to sit in the back of the plane with the brother with nut allergies wearing a mask. Despite their offer to compromise, a gate staffer reportedly told the boys that were not allowed to get back on the plane that was now “closed.”

Shaken, the boys called their parents, who tried to help them get to Manila without success. The mother spoke with a Delta representative who told her the boys could fly on a different carrier, however, not knowing other airlines’ nut policies, it was decided to fly the boys back to Atlanta, Georgia, on Delta.

Mrs. Patel is pushing for more than just an apology with the hopes that airlines will improve their employee education policies on nut allergies. She has filed a complaint with Delta and Korean Airlines and is reportedly seeking a refund.

Delta and Korean Air issued the following statements regarding the matter: “We’re sorry for this family’s ordeal, particularly during what is already a difficult time for them. Delta and our partner Korean Air are communicating with the family and examining the processes surrounding this incident; we will use our findings in our work to create a consistent experience for customers flying Delta and our partner airlines.”

A spokesperson for Korean Air, too, offered similar sentiments: “Korean Air is aware that peanut and food allergies are an industry issue and no airline can guarantee a food allergy-free environment. But we are reviewing ways to deal with this issue in a safe and feasible way. We totally understand the risks faced by passengers with nut and food allergies and will certainly try to accommodate them better in the future.”

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