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Fraport Group: Stable performance achieved during the first six months of the year

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During the first half of fiscal 2019 (ending June 30), the Fraport Group achieved growth in both revenue and earnings. Group revenue increased by 5.2 percent to €1,513.9 million, after adjusting for revenue in connection with capital expenditures made for expansion projects at Fraport’s Group airports worldwide (according to IFRIC 12). At Frankfurt Airport, factors contributing to revenue growth included higher proceeds from ground handling services and infrastructure charges, as well as from the retail and parking business. In Fraport’s international portfolio, major contributions came from the Lima Airport Partners subsidiary in Peru, as well as from Fraport USA and Fraport Greece.

The operating result or Group EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization) advanced by 10.9 percent or by €50.2 million to €511.5 million in the reporting period. This amount includes a €22.8 million positive effect resulting from the first-time application of the IFRS 16 accounting standard. When adjusting for this effect, EBITDA grew by €27.4 million or 5.9 percent. The increase can be attributed, in particular, to the positive performance of the Ground Handling and Retail & Real Estate business segments in Frankfurt, with both segments benefitting, among other things, from traffic growth at Frankfurt Airport.


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Effective January 1, the mandatory IFRS 16 international financial reporting standard establishes new rules for the accounting of leases. Specifically, this affects the accounting of lease contracts concluded by the Group’s Fraport USA subsidiary. The application of IFRS 16, on the one hand, led to lower operating expenses with a respective positive impact on EBITDA. On the other hand, this positive effect was offset by higher amortization and depreciation in the amount of €21.6 million and by a €5.8 million increase in interest expense. Thanks to an overall improved financial result, the Group result (net profit) rose by €24.1 million or 17.1 percent to €164.9 million in the reporting period.

Fraport AG’s executive board chairman, Dr. Stefan Schulte, commented: “In the first half of 2019, we successfully held our ground amid the overall challenging market environment. I am particularly pleased that we have been able to further increase our passenger satisfaction levels despite intensified peak traffic, while also reducing wait times at the security checkpoints. We remain strongly committed to further optimizing our processes.”

In the January-to-June 2019 period, operating cash flow expanded by 13.0 percent to €367.5 million. In contrast, free cash flow decreased noticeably – as forecast – by €282.5 million to minus €305.7 million. This was due to higher capital expenditure at Frankfurt Airport and some Group airports in Fraport’s international portfolio.

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Frankfurt Airport (FRA) welcomed more than 33.6 million passengers in the first six months of 2019, representing an increase of 3.0 percent year-on-year. Most of Fraport’s Group airports worldwide also recorded passenger growth in the reporting period. Only the two Bulgarian airports of Varna (VAR) and Burgas (BOJ) saw combined traffic drop by 12.9 percent, with this trend expected to continue over the course of the year.

For the full year 2019, Fraport AG’s executive board is maintaining its traffic forecast for FRA, where passenger numbers are expected to rise between about two and three percent. The executive board also confirmed the company’s financial outlook for the 2019 business year, as outlined in the Annual Report 2018: Group EBITDA between about €1,160 million and €1,195 million; Group EBIT between about €685 million and €725 million; Group EBT between about €570 million and €615 million; and Group result (or net profit) between about €420 million and €460 million.

You can find the Group Interim Report 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

Seychelles titled Number 1 island destination in Africa & Middle East by Travel + Leisure 2019 World’s Best Award

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Seychelles has been named the top island destination in Africa & the Middle East.  It is the third time that Seychelles is rated in the top spot in this category by Travel + Leisure.

The exotic destination’s nomination results from the annual survey conducted by Travel + Leisure, which allows readers of the New York-based travel magazine to rate their travel experiences around the globe. Readers get to share their opinions on top hotels, islands, cities, airlines, cruise lines, spas, among others.

The best islands by region are rated on a number of characteristics including the destination’s natural attractions, beaches, activities & sights, restaurants, food, people & friendliness and value. The destination’s romantic appeal also features as an optional criterion. For each characteristic, respondents are asked to give a rating based on a five-point scale of excellence.

Boasting lush tropical vegetation, powder-white beaches and clear turquoise waters, Seychelles – a 115-island archipelago in the western Indian Ocean came out on top of the readers’ list when it comes to the Africa & Middle East region.

It is during a cocktail event at the Times Square Edition in New York City on Tuesday July 16, 2019 that Seychelles was revealed as No1 island Destination in Africa & Middle East.

Mr. David Di Gregorio, Executive Board Member of (APTA) Association for the Promotion of Tourism to Africa, of which Seychelles is a member, received the Award on behalf of the Seychelles Tourism Board (STB). Jacqueline Gifford, Editor in Chief and Jay Meyer the SVP/ Publisher presented the recognition to the destination to Mr. Di Gregorio.

Commenting on the award, the STB Regional Director for Africa & the Americas, Mr. David Germain stated that the prestigious title results from continuous collective efforts between the Seychelles authorities, including the STB and all its stakeholders.

“Achieving the distinction of Top Island in Africa and the Middle East for the third time is a tremendous honor for the Seychelles, recognizing that the region has much to offer in terms of world-class island experiences,” Mr. Germain.

Mr. Germain also pointed out that the STB’s maintains the hard work to maintain solid trade relations with the USA and Canadian outbound tour operators, travel agents and other trade partners in North America. He said that winning the award for a third time, is evidence that the STB’s marketing strategy in North America is working.

“The Award helps to garner recognition and provides a significant amount of visibility for our islands in North America and the region. The STB will continue to share and present the culture and tourism attributes of Seychelles to both the trade and consumers in the various North American cities, with the aim of increasing tourist’s arrival to Seychelles from this part of the world,” said Mr. Germain.

According to latest figures, the North American market has shown an increase by 8 percent from January to May 2019 in tourism arrivals in the Seychelles.

MEDIA CONTACT: STB News Bureau, Tel: +248 4 671 354 / +248 4 671 313, stbnews@seychelles.travel  www.seychelles.travel

Meet the United Greats of America at WTM London’s 40th Anniversary show

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Travel and tourism representatives from all over America have committed in huge numbers to WTM London 2019 – the event where Ideas Arrive.

As the US gears up for one of its most important holidays – the fourth of July – new and repeat exhibitors from the Land of the Free and the Home of the Brave have confirmed their attendance at this year’s WTM London, which itself celebrates a special occasion, turning 40.

North America Sales Manager, Lisa Hopgood, said: “As WTM celebrates its 40th anniversary event, it really is a case of welcoming the United Greats of America. The USA will be out in force, with plenty to entice visitors to this diverse and constantly evolving destination.

“We are hugely excited to be welcoming such a large contingency of US exhibitors once again to WTM London. With an unprecedented amount of new US attractions, destination developments and new routes, WTM continues to deliver ideas and fuel business opportunities for our buyers and exhibitors.”


In line with WTM’s commitment to showcasing New Possibilities, the Brand USA Pavilions will include new partners such as SHOP*DINE*PLAY*USA, Travel Oregon and The Cultural Traveler Magazine.

Major new airlift from the UK and Europe across the pond means there is a wealth of new opportunity for travellers and travel companies to discover destinations such as Pittsburgh and Charleston.

Better known regions, cities and states also have exciting new developments to share. Firstly, Visit California is promoting Road Trip Republic; NYC & Company celebrating a monumental year with new areas such as Hudson Yards, while Las Vegas is introducing more than $6 billion of new tourism offerings from hotel developments to new sporting facilities such as the Las Vegas Stadium.

Popular theme-park operator Universal Studios will be showcasing exciting new rides and attractions launching this year and next, including the new addition to its Wizarding World of Harry Potter at Universal Orlando Resort. Hagrid’s Magical Creatures Motorbike Adventure is the world’s first ‘story coaster’ – taking theme park experiences to a whole new level. 

Just as impressive is Universal Studios Hollywood’s new mega attraction, Jurassic World – The Ride, which opens this summer. Back in Orlando, all 2,800 rooms and two-bedroom suites at Universal’s Endless Summer Resort – Dockside Inn and Suites, which opens in May 2020, can now be booked.

Not to be outshone, Miami’s WTM London 2019 presence will be bigger and better, showcasing impressive new cruise developments and additional airlift from American Airlines.

Greater Miami and the Beaches continues to evolve and enhance tourism infrastructure, investing millions in cruise lines, airlines, hotels, restaurants, nightclubs, family attractions and a new $620M reimagined Miami Beach Convention Center. 

In line with WTM’s focus on Innovative Perspectives, which identifies how the industry will look in three-five years, Brightline, America’s first new major private intercity passenger railroad in over a century will be revealing future plans. It recently announced a new strategic partnership with Virgin Group, to establish a powerful new brand, Virgin Trains USA. Brightline launched its service between Miami, Fort Lauderdale and West Palm Beach in May, 2018 and plans to expand to Orlando and Tampa.

Visit Seattle and the Port of Seattle will have a larger presence this year, promoting all the city and surrounding area has to offer. In line with the fast-growing appetite among UK and European travellers to explore lesser-known states, aided by iconic and inspiring films such as National Parks Adventure and Americas Musical Journey, Cruise America the nation’s largest motorhome rental firm, has added five new international rental locations in Bozeman, Montana; Nashville; Baton Rouge; Charlotte and Long Island.


As part of WTM’s bid to open up Inspiring Fresh Thinking to its global audience – feeding in new content to its conference programme from motivational speakers, entrepreneurs, leadership, wellbeing, sports, travel, music travel and inspiring stories – musical tourism and increased airlift is fueling increased interest and visitation to the south. As a result, Travel South USA will be back at WTM London with new partners such as West Virginia.

About World Travel Market

World Travel Market (WTM) portfolio comprises seven leading B2B events across four continents, generating more than $7 billion of industry deals. 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. http://london.wtm.com/.

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

MEDIA CONTACT:

Julia Newbound – WTM Portfolio PR Executive

E: julia.newbound@reedexpo.co.uk

T: +44 (0)20 8910 7056 / M: +44 (0)7775 036 858

Travellanda takes on a trio of sales stars  

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Travellanda, the award-winning and fastest-growing wholesale travel company in the UK, has appointed three new Sales and Business Development Managers to help it expand into India, the Middle East and Spanish-speaking markets. They are Ajay Rohila, who will take responsibility for the Indian subcontinent, Meltem Balkan, who will look after the Middle East, UK and Ireland and Carlos Correia, who will cover Portugal, Spain, South America, the USA and Canada. All have strong track records of well over a decade in sales and account management, working for highly regarded companies in the travel industry.

Ajay has joined from WebBeds, where he was responsible for building new strategic partnerships in the Indian subcontinent. Previously, as Country Manager, he established the TransHotel Online Reservation System in India; he was responsible for channel sales in the Delhi and NCR Region for Thomas Cook; he was a senior client relations executive at Cox & Kings and he was a Sales Executive at Global Tour Management Company in Delhi.

Meltem has joined from Tripedia in Istanbul, where she was CMO, developing the Tripedia tours and activities platform through its start-up phase. Previously, she worked at Metglobal in Istanbul, where she managed a portfolio of meta and travel search sites, helped create the XML platform for Hotelspro and ran business development activities for B2B and B2C brands. She has impressive intellectual credentials, having won full scholarships to study as an undergraduate at Bilkent University in Ankara and as a postgraduate at Amherst in the USA. She enjoys working on the introduction of new technologies and analysing numbers.

Carlos is a life-long tourism evangelist. He joined from Altura Destination Services, where he was a Key Account Manager, responsible for sales, business development and marketing strategy. Previously, he was an Account Manager at Hotelbeds, and prior to that a Host Manager at Iberostar Resorts. He is fluent in four languages.

Denise Atkinson, Head of Sales, Marketing & Cross XMLs, said: “I am very pleased that we have been able to hire three such strong sales professionals. With them on board, we will be much better placed to achieve our objective of increasing turnover by 10%, as we will have more capacity to help of our loyal clients grow and to increase the number of clients who work with us through our various IT platforms. It will also be possible to organise ourselves on a geographical basis rather than on a product basis, which will enable us to operate more efficiently and to provide an increasingly seamless service.”

About Travellanda

As a leading B2B Accommodation Wholesaler, Travellanda is one of the travel industry’s fastest growing companies. It has grown to over 40 staff and a turnover exceeding £60 million in less than eight years. Through cutting edge technology, it provides highly competitive wholesale rates on an inventory of over 300,000 hotels worldwide. Using the Travellanda XML Connectivity, Online Reservation System or White Label solution, travel agencies, tour operators, B2B online systems and OTA’s have access to a wide range of hotels and apartments from self-catering and one-star accommodation to deluxe five-star properties. This year, it was included in the London Stock Exchange 1000 Companies to Inspire Britain and for the 2nd year running in The Financial Times Top 1,000 Companies in Europe. It was also named Best Online Wholesaler 2018 in the UK Enterprise Awards and Best Online Hotel Wholesaler 2018 – SME Greater London Enterprise Awards. Travellanda’s head office is in London and it has local offices in Bangkok and Istanbul.

MEDIA CONTACT:  Vikki Barclay, Marketing Manager Travellanda, marketing@Travellanda.com on +44 20 3384 5410

The Development and Promotion of MICE in Thailand

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The Thailand Convention & Exhibition Bureau (TCEB) is leveraging the development of Thai MICE business in long haul markets in collaboration with foreign chambers of commerce representing Australia, UK, USA and Germany.
​Mr. Chiruit Isarangkun Na Ayuthaya, President of Thailand Convention & Exhibition Bureau (Public Organization) or TCEB, disclosed, “The signing of this MOU – The Development and Promotion of MICE –  between TCEB and Foreign Chamber Alliance (FCA), comprising 4 chambers of commerce representing our main target countries, which are Australia, UK, USA and Germany.
It’s considered another remarkable step of TCEB in altering our role to leverage MICE by serving as a business partner who joins hands with foreign organisations to promote the development of Thai MICE in international markets, as well as to penetrate into long haul MICE markets in Oceania, Europe and the USA, side by side with our main short haul target markets in Asia.
“Indeed, the collaboration is a new dimension of promoting Thai MICE business in long haul markets with concentration on Oceania, Europe and the USA. This is the very first time that the Foreign Chamber Alliance – FCA, which represents Australia, UK, USA and Germany, signed an MOU with a Thai government agency. Interestingly, FCA has more than 20,000 members that include businessmen, investors, entrepreneurs from business, industrial and service sectors, such as Minor Hotels Group, AccorHotels Group, Marriott Hotels Group, convention centres business, as well as oil, mining, pharmaceutical, automobile and other industries,” he added.
“These are considered high potential business groups for propelling the national economy and are included among the targeted industries that the Thai government is keen to encourage in line with the 4.0 Policy. For this reason, this is a lucrative opportunity for us to collaborate to develop and raise the competitiveness of Thai MICE. The 4 chambers of commerce have recognised the importance of using MICE as the gateway to the development of commerce and investment in Thailand and ASEAN,” he said.
With this MOU, the framework for the development of MICE business will embrace 5 dimensions of operation:
• The sharing of MICE statistics and events
• MICE business development
• MICE market promotion
• MICE business research
• MICE personnel development.
Mr. Chiruit further said, “The initial collaboration to mutually promote MICE business will mainly focus on hospitality service, because members of the FCA have long records of investment in Thailand, which have been running alongside their nationwide service businesses. Hence, they have eyed to extend collaboration with Thai government agencies, as they believe the endeavour will open a new door to operate MICE business in Thailand and ASEAN.
“This, in turn, will allow them to study about the dynamics and direction of the Thai MICE market. By joining with TCEB in formulating a marketing development scheme, the synergy will open a new door to connecting with other alliances who relate with the promotion of Thai MICE business in targeted countries. Moreover, there will be co-operation in drawing international events into Thailand, marketing promotion and provision of support for events previously held in Thailand,” he said.
“Target groups and alliances will be invited to participate to strengthen the potential of MICE events held here in Thailand. The FCA will join with us in the exchange of marketing information related to targeted industries held by allied chambers of commerce and TCEB will exchange information on Thai MICE business, including statistics and events, to fully bolster mutual MICE business development,” said the TCEB President.

​He went on to say, “Nevertheless, the FCA expects the Thai government to leverage the competitiveness of Thai MICE business in order to serve global competition. For example, facilitation of customs and immigration procedures; development of infrastructure and transportation; construction of convention centres; development of MICE personnel that meets international standards, and establishment of One-Stop-Service MICE centres. All of which will open a new door to the holding of MICE events in Thailand by efficiently offering enhanced convenience for MICE entrepreneurs and organisers,“ he declared.

Proposals to establish MICE service centres has been included in TCEB’s earlier strategic plan, and the Ease of Doing Business project as well  as the draft of a national strategy of NESDB (National Economic and Social Development Council).
​Mr. Chiruit went on to explain, “After the completion of MOU signing, TCEB is set to discuss with the FCA on the preparation of Phase I work plan, which lasts two years. Both parties will encourage practical co-operation in a rapid and consistent manner. Initially, we have planned to attract events and provide support to the holding of events that relate to targeted industries according to the government’s 4.0 Policy, particularly in the provinces governed by the administration of EEC (Eastern Economic Corridor),” he said.

​“TCEB expects that the collaboration will not only leverage the competitiveness of Thai MICE in long haul markets in Oceania, Europe and the USA, but will also help to attract international events into several regions in Thailand, especially those considered main markets in MICE City project, which are Bangkok, Pattaya, Phuket, Chiang Mai and Khon Kaen. Definitely, we believe the rapport will encourage transfers of technology and knowledge of each industry among one another, and thus will promote advancement in all regions and stimulate income distribution to communities nationwide,” concluded Mr. Chiruit.

Mr. Benjamin Krieg, Vice President, Austcham, explained, “The role of the Foreign Chamber Alliance (FCA) in Thailand and the purpose of signing the MOU combines key Foreign Chambers and their members through this important collaboration, we provide a common voice on advocacy to develop and grow opportunities that can benefit our members and the country of Thailand,” he said.

“The MICE industry is growing, and will also continue to grow in importance and contribution to the overall tourism sector within Thailand, and of course the greater Thai economy. Our primary aim is to continue to increase and grow the competitiveness of Thailand as a leading destination for MICE not only within Asia, but the world, further complimenting the amazing tourism industry that we already are so fortunate to be a part of,” concluded Mr. Krieg.

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