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WTM London unveils Sri Lanka as Premier Partner for 2019

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Sri Lankan Tourism will be the Premier Partner at WTM London 2019 as the island’s tourism industry continues it’s resolute for recovery.

The high-profile partnership will ensure global coverage for the Indian Ocean destination, which has also teamed with legendary Sri Lankan cricketer Kumar Sangakkara to help tourism bounce back.

As a spokesman for Sri Lanka Tourism and the first non-British to be elected to the Presidency of Marylebone Cricket Club MCC based at Lord’s, Sangakkara will promote the destination’s key tourist attractions which are being marketed under the new brand ‘So Sri Lanka’.

During an interview announcing the partnership, Sangakkara said: “I am very confident that tourists who come to Sri Lanka will have a wonderful time. I have seen the country recover very well in terms of ensuring the security of both its nationals and tourists from all over the world. Those who come to Sri Lanka want to experience the country in full.”

The Premier Partnership deal with WTM London will mean thousands of international travel trade professionals and buyers will see the new ‘So Sri Lanka’ branding, and hundreds of journalists and influencers will hear about the country’s culture, scenery and heritage.

The Sri Lanka Tourism Promotion Bureau will share its exhibition space at WTM London (Stand AS200) with 67 travel trade partners, including hotels, travel agencies, resorts and operators – all united in their mission to help the country rebuild its tourism trade.

Tourist numbers plunged by 70% in the wake of April’s tragic events, but concerted efforts by the Sri Lankan tourist industry mean the recovery is happening faster than expected, with these efforts, in September the drop was narrowed to just 20%, the destination outlook is positive to bounce back at the end of the year.

According to the Minister of Tourism Development, Wildlife & Christian Religious Affairs Hon. John Amaratunga: “The government has done everything possible to regain the popularity for the destination by building confidence carrying out various aggressive promotional campaigns.  We are fortunate to have the world unitedly supporting us and rallying around to help the tourism industry, this has helped spread economic benefits far-reaching to many other important economic sectors too; and also to local communities who need it most.

“Tourism is a lifeline to Sri Lanka’s economy, unlike in the past, it has become connected to everyone in the country. Before long, tourism will definitely be the number one revenue earner for Sri Lanka”

Tourist arrivals in 2018 had reached a record 2.3 million – worth almost $4.4 billion – and numbers still look set to top two million in 2019.

Coverage of the island’s remarkable natural beauty, rich heritage and welcoming locals are certainly playing a role in supporting its recovery. It has almost 1,600 kilometres of palm-fringed coastlines, while the interior offers the chance to explore tea plantations, spice gardens, national parks, lush jungle and waterfalls. Sri Lanka is one of the top places in Asia for spotting wildlife, such as elephants, sloth bears, leopards, wild buffaloes and even the elusive blue whale, in their natural habitat.

Along with natural wonders, the island has thousands of years of history for visitors to discover, including six cultural UNESCO World Heritage Sites, plus palaces, temples and monasteries.

Visitors can also experience the benefits of Ayurveda, Sri Lanka’s traditional art of healing, and restore their body and soul at the island’s many wellness retreats and resorts. Furthermore, food and hospitality play a crucial role in the country’s culture, with tourists able to enjoy a wide variety of curry and meat dishes, soups, seafood and vegetarian cuisine. Coconut milk is a distinctive ingredient in many meals, and the island is world-renowned for its tea.

WTM London’s Senior Director, Simon Press, said: “WTM London is delighted to announce Sri Lanka as its Premier Partner for 2019.

“It has been so heartening to see the country recover from the appalling events last Easter, and it looks set to have a busy winter season.

“Being WTM London’s Premier Partner means Sri Lanka can entice trade buyers and media from across the globe, which will help visitor numbers return to or even surpass the levels seen in 2018 – boosting the country’s economy and helping to provide jobs for thousands of workers.”

For more information about WTM, click here.

WTM London unveils Sri Lanka as Premier Partner for 2019
WTM London

About World Travel Market

World Travel Market (WTM) portfolio comprises eight leading B2B events across four continents, generating more than $7 billion of industry deals. The events are:

WTM London, the leading global event for the travel industry, is the must-attend three-day exhibition for the worldwide travel and tourism industry. About 50,000 senior travel industry professionals, government ministers and international media visit ExCeL London every November, generating about £3.4 billion in travel industry contracts.

Next event: Monday 4 – Wednesday 6 November 2019 – London #IdeasArriveHere

About Reed Exhibitions

Reed Exhibitions is the world’s leading events business, enhancing the power of face-to-face through data and digital tools at more than 500 events a year, in more than 43 countries, attracting more than seven million participants. Reed’s events are held in the Americas, Europe, Asia Pacific and Africa and organised by 41 fully staffed offices. Reed Exhibitions serves 43 industry sectors with trade and consumer events. It is part of RELX Group plc, a world-leading provider of information solutions for professional customers across industries.

About Reed Travel Exhibitions

Reed Travel Exhibitions is the world’s leading travel and tourism event’s organiser with a growing portfolio of more than 22 international travel and tourism trade events in Europe, the Americas, Asia, the Middle East and Africa. Our events are market leaders in their sectors, whether they are global and regional leisure travel trade events, or specialist events for meetings, incentives, conference, events (MICE) industry, business travel, luxury travel, travel technology as well as golf, spa and ski travel. We have more than 35 years’ experience in organising world-leading travel exhibitions.

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Julia Newbound – WTM Portfolio Press & PR Lead

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Nicole Smart – WTM Portfolio PR & Events Consultant

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Hisham Zaazou now part of African Tourism Board: Egypt connection

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The African Tourism Board (ATB) announced today that Mr. Hisham Zaazou has joined its Pan-African organization and will serve as an honorary board member.

Mr. Zaazou was the Minister of Egypt until he resigned in 2016 to become the special adviser for the then UN World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) Secretary-General Dr. Taleb Rifai.

With Zaazou joining the African Tourism Board, he is now sharing the board with Dr. Taleb Rifai who has since been appointed patron of the UNWTO organization. He assumed this special advisor position in October 2017.

ATB Chairman Cuthbert Ncube said: “We’re welcoming Mr. Zaazou as a new board member of the African Tourism Board. Hisham Zaazou as the long-serving Minister of Tourism for Egypt adds an important focus to our organization and underlines the importance Egypt plays in the African Travel and Tourism industry.”

Zaazou has never been shy to solve issues with a hands-on approach. Following a fatal attack on the Sinai Peninsula in August 2012 in which 16 Egyptian soldiers were killed by armed men who subsequently infiltrated into Israel and were killed by the Israel Air Force, Zaazou denied that there was a negative impact on tourism following the attack. He said that tourism agencies did not cancel reservations and that he was personally calling them to make sure this was the case. Zaazou stressed that tourists should feel secure in Egypt.

After his departure from public office in 2016, Zaazou returned to the private sector as a consultant working with a number of prestigious international and local organizations. The International Public Relations Associations (IPRA) – Paris named him Man of the Year in 2013.

In addition to a Bachelor of Commerce in Accounting degree from the University of Ain Shams in Cairo, Zaazou earned a specialized Certificate in PPP (Public Private Partnership) from Harvard Kennedy Business School, and an MBA & Ph.D. from the international business school of IBRA, Delaware, USA.

Zaazou, who attended many seminars and workshops both locally, regionally, and internationally in the field of tourism was the first Egyptian travel pioneer that specialized in Green Tourism projects and the first to head the Green Tourism Unit at the Ministry of Tourism as well as green-related projects. He was the Ministry of Tourism representative for the mobilization of the Dahshour World Heritage site for a community development project – a model for development of cultural and natural dimension with a social perspective in partnership with UN agencies (lead by UNDP – United Nations Development Program). He was also the Head of the Supreme Committee for transforming Sharm El Sheikh into a green city.

Zaazou has served on the boards of various prestigious associations including the Egyptian Tourism Federation, Egyptian Tourism Authority, Tourism Development Authority, and the Arab Tourism Organization in addition to being a member of the UNWTO as Vice Chairman of the Business Council. He was chosen to be the supervisor of the Arab tourism strategy by the Council of Arab Ministers of Tourism in 2014 among other endeavors.

Founded in 2018, the African Tourism Board is an association that is internationally acclaimed for acting as a catalyst for the responsible development of travel and tourism to, from, and within the African region. For more information and how to join, visit africantourismboard.com.

MEDIA CONTACT: TravelMarketingNetwork, 954 Lexington Ave. #1037, New York, NY 10021 USA, PH: (+1) 718-374-6816, [email protected]    

Nepal promoted as a “Fountain of Buddhism” in Vietnam, Cambodia and Thailand

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Nepal Tourism Board (NTB), in coordination with Society of Travel and Tour Operators Nepal (SOTTO-Nepal), organized Nepal Sales Missions in Hanoi, Phnom Penh and Bangkok, the major cities of Vietnam, Cambodia and Thailand on June 10, 12 and 14, 2019 respectively. The Sales Missions were focused on promoting Nepal as a “Fountain of Buddhism” as well as a premiere holiday destination in the emerging source market.

‘Nepal Presentation’ featuring on major tourism attractions and activities of Nepal was made by NTB officials in the Nepal Evening Programs in Phnom Penh and Bangkok. The Presentation was also highlighted on Visit Nepal Year 2020 Campaign and Lifetime Experiences that tourists can have in Nepal. Nepal promotional video that was screened in the programs drew the attention of the audiences and awared them about destination Nepal. Mr. Ghanshyam Upadhyaya, Joint Secretary of Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation, in his remarks amid the audiences tried to enhance the confident of the local travel trade people by emphasizing the priority concern of Government of Nepal for tourism development. Nepal promotional video made by SOTTO-Nepal was also screened in the programs. Mr. Madhusudhan Upadhyaya, President of SOTTO-Nepal, addressing the audiences requested the local travel trade to join in hands with Nepali counterparts to sell Nepal as a destination choice for Buddhist pilgrims.

The participating travel trade companies from Nepal had business to business (B2B) meetings with the local buyers. The buyers were found interested in selling Buddhist site specific packages of Nepal. The meeting helped to enhance confident among the local outbound operators to keep Nepal in their travel itineraries.

In the Nepal Evening Program in Bangkok, His Excellency Mr. Ganesh Prasad Dhakal, Ambassador of Nepal to Thailand, expressing his satisfaction over the remarkable diplomatic relations existing between the countries since last 60 years, appealed the local travel agents to incorporate Lumbini in their outbound packages. Mr. Bikram Pandey, Goodwill Ambassador for Lumbini, had an insightful presentation on ‘Buddhist Circuits on Buddha’s Life across South Asia’. The program in Bangkok was coordinated by The Embassy of Nepal, Bangkok.

Thus, the Sales Missions have provided an opportunity to showcase tourism products of Nepal amid a gathering of local media and outbound travel companies of those countries, to educate them about Nepal as a must travel destination and finally create a strong network among the operators. It is hoped that more tourists will be visiting from these countries in the year 2020, when Nepal is celebrating Visit Nepal Year 2020.

These three countries are Buddhist dominant countries. So, Nepal can be a must visit destination for people of these countries. In the year 2018 around 12,454 tourists from Vietnam, 3,790  from Cambodia and 53,250 from Thailand visited Nepal. Nepal is well connected with these countries via Bangkok. Nepal Airlines operates three flights a week in Kathmandu-Bangkok-Kathmandu Sector. Similarly, Thai Airways and Thai Lion Air operate daily flight in the sectors.

Nepal Tourism Board was represented by Managers Mr. K. B. Shah and Mr. Suman Ghimire. Similarly, Immediate Past President of SOTTO-Nepal Mr. Anil Lama and 1st Vice President of NATTA Mr. Achyut Prasad Guragain were the special delegates along with other delegates form Nepali travel trade companies.

MEDIA CONTACT:  Sudhan Subedi [email protected]    

Compass Edge wins 2019 CTW Chinese Tourists Welcoming Award in Innovation Category

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Since 2004, the CTW Chinese Tourist Welcome Award has been organised by COTRI China Outbound Tourism Research Institute. Evaluated by an international jury of experts including Ctrip, the award is recognised inside and outside China as the most important quality sign for the international Chinese outbound market. Compass Edge was presented with the award during ITB China on May 16th, 2019 in Shanghai, for providing innovative products for the growing Chinese Outbound Tourism market. Other awards recipients include Viking Cruises, Dubai Duty Free, Manchester Airport, Los Angeles Tourism and Convention Board, etc.

According to the Ministry of Culture and Tourism, Chinese tourists made 149.72 million outbound trips in 2018, up 14.7 percent over the previous year, more than half of these trips were outside Greater China regions. Chinese tourists will venture off the beaten path to visit new destinations. A recent report by China Luxury Advisors and Coresight Research saw a surge in independent travelers from 20.7% in 2017 to 26.8% in 2018. This trend will continue in 2019 and beyond.

Compass Edge was founded in 2008, originally just as a reseller of best-of-the-breed hotel online solutions. In 2014, Ms. Anita Chan was appointed CEO of Compass Edge. Recognising Chinese Outbound Tourism especially Free Independent Travel (FIT) is an important uprising trend yet China online market is so complex and fundamentally different from the West, Anita led the company to launch its own Go China Online Branding Solution in 2015 to help overseas hotels to establish a China-Visible strategy. In March 2018, Anita co-founded LN Hotel Alliance with Ling Nan Hospitality, China Southern Airline and GZL Travel Services, a first-of-its-kind Chinese centric loyalty program with 46Million+ loyalty members. Later in 2018, in addition to the digital agency business, Anita transformed Compass Edge to be a technology provider, developing B2B2C WeChat Mini Program solving pain points for both Chinese travelers and overseas tourism and hospitality partners. Compass Edge has successfully implemented over 120 China-Ready strategic projects.

COTRI congratulates Compass Edge for the Silver Award Innovation of the CTW Chinese Tourist Welcome Award 2019. “The award reflects the fact that Compass Edge has for a long time supported hotel companies around the world with innovative services to create satisfied customers and a healthy margin”, says Prof. Dr. Wolfgang Georg Arlt FRGS FRAS, founder and director of COTRI.

According to Anita, “while most overseas hospitality and tourism companies want a piece of Chinese outbound business, the China market is fundamentally different. It requires deep dive expertise, time and huge money resources to start. Before, it is always a “big boy game” and it is hard for smaller companies to have the same playing field. This pushes me to come up with creative and cost-effective programs like Go China branding solution and WeChat Mini Program to help smaller companies to have the chance to be in game for the China FIT market.” “All these efforts have paid off with the recipient of this CTW Silver Innovation Award,” Anita concluded.

About Compass Edge

Compass Edge is a company offering online solutions to independent hotels. It is a niche service provider offering cost-effective branding solutions for overseas hotels to establish an online presence for the booming Chinese FIT market. Its latest WeChat Mini Program offers solution to solve Chinese travelers pain points and capturing ancillary revenue for hospitality and tourism companies.

Israel Loves Africa: African Tourism Board and Rwanda Air Take Action

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African Tourism Board representative in Israel Mr. Dov Kalmann, has sent his congratulations to H.E. Ambassador Joseph Rutabana of Rwanda to Israel:

“In the name of the African Tourism Board, please accept our warmest congratulations as a result of this important development which will have a major impact for both the Israeli and Rwanda tourism industry, Israel is a nation with booming outbound and incoming tourism figures. The Israelis are excited to explore new amazing travel destinations whereas Israel has such a wide variety of tourism products to offer to the African travelers. The importance of this new series of flights is far beyond the scope of Rwanda only and will be felt by the whole region. We salute Rwandair for this decision and will be at your disposal for creating the brand awareness of Rwanda in Israel.”

Rwandair will start operating direct flights connecting Kigali in Rwanda with Tel Aviv, Israel starting on June 26, 2019. This is according to an agreement signed by the Ministry of Transport Israel Katz and the Ambassador of Rwanda Rutabana . Each country is entitled to operate up to 7 weekly scheduled flights between the countries, without any limitations regarding equipment or type of aircraft

Last month Dov Kalmann was appointed in Cape Town as the Israeli representative for the African Tourism Board.  He gave an extensive overview of the booming Israeli outbound travel industry and the huge potential for the Africa travel industry to promote to Israeli travelers.

He explained: Israel has a  population of less than 9 million. In 2018 Israeli tourists went on almost 8 million trips, compared to less than 3.5 million trips in 2010.  During the WTM Africa, at least 4 more African airlines approached Dov with news about their intention to operate direct flights to Tel Aviv.  All of them want to work with the African Tourism Board to create brand awareness of these destinations in Israel.

African Tourism Board Marketing Chairman Juergen Steinmetz said: “We encourage airlines with services to Africa to join the African Tourism Board and work with us on our vision to promote Africa as one tourist destination.”

Founded in 2018, the African Tourism Board an association that is internationally acclaimed for acting as a catalyst for the responsible development of travel and tourism to, from the African region.

Dov Kalmann operates Pita Marketing in Tel Aviv. African Tourism Board is currently working on a promotional plan for ATB Members interested in promoting their destination or tourism business in Israel. More information and to join visit www.africantourismboard.com

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