Despite the global financial crisis and swine flu, inbound tourist arrivals to Australia remained static in 2009, compared to a four per cent decline in tourism worldwide. According to Tourism Australia’s latest Global Market Monitor, while January 2010 arrivals are expected to remain flat year on year due to the later Chinese New Year, beyond February there are “clear signs” of recovery and improving consumer confidence in North Asia with China and Korea showing signs of growth. The report found “a general sense of cautious confidence in the UK, Europe, US and Canada although the continual improvement of consumer sentiment worldwide is constrained by high unemployment, declining wealth and cautious lending”. Read full story on Thumbrella

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TA Global Market Monitor shows steady inbound arrivals to Oz despite worldwide decline

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The number of foreign visitors to the United States in 2009 was 9 percent below 2000. A new bill that passed the Senate last week, and is expected to be signed into law, aims to reverse that trend. The Travel Promotion Act would create a national tourism board to develop ad campaigns and raise awareness of United States security and visa procedures. The tourism board would be financed by a $10 fee on foreign visitors who do not need a visa to enter the United States. The travel industry has long advocated for a tourism board, arguing that the United States is one of the few industrialized nations without one. A January 2010 study by Oxford Economics, a forecasting and research group in Britain, estimated that a tourism bureau would bring in 1.6 million additional foreign visitors yearly, as well as pump about $4 billion into the U.S. economy. Critics of the bill, including some Republicans and some airline industry representatives, say that the slump in foreign tourism is not a public relations issue, but rather a result of strict immigration rules that subject visitors to unwelcoming, and even humiliating procedures. Souirce: NY Times

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Bill to Create U.S. Tourism Board

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Talking about technology standards can be mind-numbingly boring, and I should know – I talk about them all the time. It’s my job, and usually I like it; sometimes though I’d rather just talk about the weather. But talking about standards at the Tnooz #tcamp2 this week in London was not boring; it was, amazingly, fun. You probably think I’m exaggerating or at least taking a bit of editorial license, but I’m not. It was great to be surrounded by experts in travel distribution whose opinions were shaped by experience, good and bad, working with XML-based standards and who, with beer in hand, were more than willing to share those opinions. We started off by agreeing on the general usefulness of standards. After all, light bulbs work in lamps because the manufacturers agree on standard fittings and wattage, and we can all play music on our various players because of the MP3 standard. Can’t argue with that. We moved onto how standards can stimulate innovation, but here opinions diverged a bit. The argument was put forth that standards could stifle innovation, but a counter-argument was made that standards are usually created for a generally commoditized product (a light bulb) or service (providing information or availability for a tour or a resort or any type of travel product via some electronic means). Standardizing the commodity and re-using it (in our case, transmitting information via standard XML messages) frees up intellectual and financial capital to innovate the non-commodity – like the lamp and the lampshade, or more to the point, the presentation, servicing and fulfillment of the tour, resort or other travel product. How much a given company should standardize, especially in a non-regulated industry like travel, is of course a business decision that can only be made by that company, and lots of heads nodded at that statement. And everyone knows there is no monolithic “travel industry”; adventure travel is very different from cruising, which is very different from renting a car. Electronic distribution is a continuum, from the most basic online information on one end (hours of operation, for example) to complex transactions on the other. Travel products land on that continuum based on the type of product, the supplier and the market, and do not have to move toward the transactional end. Just because the rental car space heavily utilizes standard transactional XML messages doesn’t mean eco-tourism can, or should, to the same degree. Standards shouldn’t force a company to distribute its product in a way that doesn’t meet its business needs, and an effective standards body should heed that message. Sounds great, doesn’t it? Go ahead, admit it – now you wish you’d been there too. Source: tnooz.com

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Why travel technology standards should not be a snooze

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Newly appointed Tourism Australia managing director Andrew McEvoy has labelled the backpacker market “essential” to its strategy with the working holiday visa program a key contributor. Speaking to Thumbrella last week, McEvoy said backpackers are essential to tourism in Australia as they turn into travellers of the future. “It introduces first time travellers to our country and nine times out of ten they become massive advocates, they grow up and become great professionals and then older independents and they hopefully come back and see us again. So they’re essential,” he said. Read entire story on Thumbrella

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New Tourism Australia MD considers backpacker market essential to strategy

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Intrepid Travel has started the year with a positive surge in business, announcing last week that sales results year-to-date is up nearly 20 percent for the Australian industry compared to a year ago. The adventure travel company said Vietnam was the best-selling destination year to date in terms of passenger numbers by Australian agents. Other best-sellers that followed included Egypt and South America (equal), South Africa, Cambodia and India respectively. Destinations that are showing the fastest growth year-to-date include North America, Western Europe, Tibet, Italy and Central America and Egypt (equal) respectively. Intrepid Travel’s Global Industry Sales Manager James Thornton told e-Travel Blackboard that adventure travel was “no longer the domain of the young.” “The majority of our passengers are aged 25 to 39 but we are seeing growth in older passengers too. “People want to get away from the resorts to truly experience the places they visit. Travellers of all ages who are looking for culturally rewarding holiday experiences are turning to Intrepid.” Another trend he noted was that booking periods were starting to lengthen again. “Shorter booking periods were a key trend last year but with the economy more buoyant, we’re already seeing a shift away from them in 2010. “This is particularly evident for destinations like Africa and Latin America where people are booking over six months out.” He added that the company was confident that the 20 percent growth seen from agents would continue for the rest of 2010. Source: etravelblackboard.com

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Intrepid Travel forecasts positive 2010

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Australia is the number one destination for Japanese school excursions and study tours, according to a report by the Japan Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology. In the 2007-08 Japanese financial year, 43,669 Japanese students visited Australia, of whom 34,802 arrived for school excursions and 8,867 came for language study tours. After Australia, the next most popular destinations for students are the United States (including Guam and Hawaii) and Korea. Last year Japanese school trips were heavily affected by H1N1 Influenza. To reassure the market, Tourism Australia has been working to promote Australia as a safe destination for school excursions, with marketing activities targeted towards decision making teachers. Tourism Australia has refreshed the educational website http://school.australia.jp/ and over the coming months, further activities are planned, including a new e-newsletter for teachers, an Aussie excursion education manual for schools and a series of educational familiarisation trips in partnership with the State Tourism Organisations. Source: Tourism Australia newsletter

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Australia the top choice for Japanese school excursions

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Susan Goldstein – WYSTC Managing Director is given BETA Youth Travel Award for her outstanding contributions to the industry in Dec 09.

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Susan Goldstein given BETA Youth Travel Award_video

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Tourism Minister, Margaret Hodge MP praised those working in the youth and educational travel industry for rising to the challenges facing the sector, when she addressed the annual British Youth Travel Awards in London last week. Organised by the British Educational Travel Association (BETA), the awards acknowledge the crème-de-la-crème in student, youth and educational travel, recognising and celebrating the achievements of outstanding companies and individuals operating within the youth travel market. “Travel and tourism is one of the biggest industries in the UK economy, employing 1 in 8, and so the government must keep thinking of tourism so that we emerge well from the recession,” the Tourism Minister said.

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BETA Youth Travel Industry Award Winners

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On November 25, 2009, China’s State Council approved Guidelines to Accelerate the Development of the Tourism Industry (”Tourism Guidelines”), which will foster development of the tourism industry and make it a strategic pillar of the national economy. According to the Tourism Guidelines, more effort will be made to improve tourism infrastructure and enhance training of personnel in the industry

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China government supports tourism as strategic economy pillar

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China has granted Canada its Approved Destination Status (ADS), making it easier for Chinese nationals to visit the North American country. Canada joins more than 130 countries with ADS, which allows Chinese travel agents to promote Canada as a destination for group leisure travel. Canada’s ADS is projected to grow the number of Chinese visiting Canada by 50 percent by 2015.

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China gives Canada Approved Destination Status

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