Newsletter - July 22 , 2002
Aftereffects
of 9/11 still hurting tourism in Europe
(AP) -- Lisette Biret's souvenir store has a prime
location on the Champs-Elysees and a dizzying choice of kitsch: T-shirts
emblazoned "I Love Paris," gaudy porcelain miniatures of the Eiffel
Tower, and wooden baguettes that open into bread knives. The only thing
missing, it seems, are hordes of tourists.
"Usually, we're absolutely full at this time. ...
You can't move. Now look," she said one recent weekday, glancing
forlornly at four solitary shoppers. "Everybody says it's not going to be
a good year."
For all its romance, the City of Light is still
contending with the aftereffects of September 11. Make no mistake, tourists
are here in force, talking in a babble of languages on Paris boulevards and
queuing, guidebooks in hand, for the Eiffel Tower and other must-sees.
But the numbers show tourism has yet to recover fully
from the terror of the attacks. Other European destinations are also affected.
Americans, among those most rattled by September 11, are proving hard to lure
back.
Keeping a low profile
France,
Sweden and Britain are among countries still seeing fewer Americans than
usual. And among those Americans who are traveling, some are keeping their
nationality hidden.
Karen
Morian and her classmates from the O'Fallon Township High School in O'Fallon,
Illinois, said their teacher warned them not to wear American labels, shorts
and heavy makeup, or to speak loudly in English during their eight-day trip in
June to Paris and the southern resort city of Nice.
"She
said it was like waving a red flag," said Morian, 17, looking tres
parisienne in a summer skirt. "She didn't want us to be easy
targets."
Terrorism
isn't the only factor making would-be tourists think twice. Morian and her
classmates said Paris' notorious pickpockets and bothersome romantic proposals
from French men were among their chief concerns.
Britain,
meanwhile, is still trying to recoup from an outbreak of foot-and-mouth
disease last year that, although harmless to humans, contributed with
September 11 to a $3 billion drop in British tourism revenue last year.
Tourism
officials hope concerts and other events this year to mark the 50-year reign
of Queen Elizabeth II will woo visitors.
"The
core elements of the celebrations are pomp, heritage and royal celebrations.
They are already one of the top reasons why people, particularly from North
America, come to Britain," said Elliot Frisby, a spokesman for the
British Tourist Authority.
Britain
had 1.6 million North American visitors from January-May, down 3 percent
compared with the same five months in 2001.
For
France, the surprisingly strong support voters gave to far-right, xenophobic
candidate Jean-Marie Le Pen in the first round of presidential elections in
April was hardly an image booster. Nor was a spate of anti-Semitic attacks.
Targeting, among others, synagogues and cemeteries, they prompted some
American Jews to cancel or delay visits and forced French tourist officials to
issue assurances the country is safe.
Meanwhile,
the growing strength of the euro, the European currency now hovering around
parity with the U.S. dollar, is eroding American tourists' buying power.
But
many still cite September 11 as the biggest reason why some would-be tourists
are staying home.
"Americans
and Japanese are still hesitant about traveling," said Eric Gastineau,
financial director for Paris Vision, a tour firm that saw 20 percent fewer
clients this May and June than at the same time last year. "We're not
very optimistic about this summer."
"It
will take time to get over what happened," said Joachim Scholz, a market
researcher with the German National Tourism Board.
Slow recovery
But
there are also some signs the fallout from September 11 is easing. Germany's
capital, Berlin, saw an 8 percent increase in overnight stays by Americans in
April compared to the same month in 2001, according to Natascha Kompatzki, a
spokeswoman for Berlin Tourism Marketing.
Italy
and Sweden also see better business ahead.
"We're
optimistic that with summer, the flow of American tourists coming to Italy
will pick up and cancel out the decline in numbers we've had since the
September 11 attacks," said Franco Paloscia, head of Italian national
tourism agency.
In
Stockholm, "we're seeing a lingering effect in travel from the United
States and Britain," said Visitors Board spokesman Soeren Falk. "On
the other hand, countries like Canada have increased strongly. We're also
seeing an increase in visitors from other Nordic countries."
The
Swedish capital had 16 percent fewer bookings by Americans in the first five
months compared to January-May 2001.
In
France, the number of Americans booking into hotels was down 16.5 percent in
the first five months of this year compared to 2001, according to the
government's tourism department. After the attacks, American bookings plunged
33 percent.
But
the Eiffel Tower says it got more visitors this May than last, though overall,
figures for the year are down about 5 percent.
And
Jean Bruel, owner of the famous Bateaux Mouches, boats that offer romantic
views of Paris from the River Seine, says they have almost fully recovered
from a 50 percent plunge in clients after September 11.
For
some tourists, traveling has almost become an act of defiance, a way of
showing that terror can't win. Said Dan Callahan, an Illinois native visiting
Barcelona: "You can't let everything scare you or you'd never leave the
house."
Online
Travel -- Might Congress Step In?
Internetnewst.com -
The possibility of
Congressional action in the online travel sector was raised today at a House
subcommittee hearing in Washington called to examine supplier-owned online
travel sites such as Orbitz.
Representatives of the
site owned by a consortium of airlines did not attend, citing lack of notice
and a scheduling conflict, but Orbitz said
in written testimony for the hearing that "the purpose of Orbitz is to
bring new competition to automated distribution: new price competition, new
technology, competition in the quality and content of the information
provided, and new customer service competition."
But some of the panel
members of the House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Commerce, Trade and
Consumer Protections weren't buying that, and neither was Travelocity.com's
CEO, Sam Gilliland, who told the panel that Orbitz "precludes selective
price discounting by airlines, including in deals with independent travel
sites."
"The concern is that
we typically don't get guarantees as to the quantity of fares made available
to us. We get dribs and drabs, crumbs, not a slice of the cake," he said,
adding that it "makes it difficult to compete."
Paul Ruden, senior vice
president for legal and industry affairs at the American
Society of Travel Agents, said that if a pending Justice Department
investigation of Orbitz does not rectify the situation, "Congress may
need to step in to address this aggregation of market power."
"Independent
distributors are at risk of being displaced," he said.
Ruden said that in ASTA's
view, "the e-commerce marketplace for travel services is being distorted
and misused by airlines who seek collectively to dominate the Internet space,
and indeed all distribution channels, while throwing roadblocks in the way of
competitors."
"The government is
going to have to take some swift and strong action to stop the trend toward
airline domination of this space," he said.
Gilliland said that Orbitz
has in its airline agreements what has come to be called "Most Favored
Nation" status, meaning that contractually, every fare on an airline's
Web site must be given to Orbitz . "Simply removing the MFN language
would go a long way" toward leveling the playing field, he said.
Orbitz, in a statement
prepared by Gary R. Doernhoefer, its vice president and general counsel, said
that since the airline site launched 13 months ago, "price competition
has increased (with several of our larger competitors for the first time
engaging in price reductions on the cost of making a booking."
He also said that customer
service at many Web sites, both online agencies and individual airline sites,
has improved considerably in competitive response to improvements in customer
service first launched by Orbitz.
Last month the U.S.
Department of Transportation issued an inconclusive report on Orbitz, the
third most visited travel site. The agency cited no anti-competitive fallout
from Orbitz so far, but it said the ticket venture could potentially have a
negative effect on airline competition.
Orbitz, which has an IPO
pending, is owned by American Airlines, United Airlines, Continental, Delta
and Northwest Airlines
Legacy
profit rises as hotel demand recovers
(Reuters) - Legacy Hotels (LGY_u) said on Thursday its second-quarter
profit rose as demand for luxury hotel rooms recovered slightly, but added it
remained cautious because it was difficult to predict business levels as
tourism and travel recover from the Sept. 11 attacks.
For
the quarter ended June 30, Legacy, a real estate investment trust 35
percent-owned by Fairmont Hotels & Resorts Inc. (FHR),
reported a profit of C$25.6 million ($16.6 million), higher than the C$22.9
million it earned in the same period last year.
Distributable
income, which is returned to unitholders, was C$23.9 million, or 28 Canadian
cents per unit, slightly lower than C$24.3 million, or 29 Canadian cents per
share, in the year-ago period.
Legacy,
with 22 luxury hotels across Canada, said minimal new hotel supply in key
markets should "facilitate a continued recovery."
Biz
travel associations form global alliance
TravelWeeklyEast.com
- A group of business
travel associations from around the globe announced today the formation of a
new international alliance.
NBTA,
the Institute of Travel Management (ITM), the business travel association of
the UK and Ireland, the Canadian Business Travel Association (CBTA), Verband
Deutsches Reismanagement (VDR), the German Business Travel Association, and
the Australasian Business Travel Association have joined together in the
Paragon Agreement.
The
Paragon Agreement will serve to support the travel management profession and
the international business travel industry and provide a forum for the
exchange of ideas amongst its members.
2002
Manhattan Hotel Performance to Approximately Equal 2001 Occupancy and
Average Daily Rate
/PRNewswire/
-- PricewaterhouseCoopers today issued its 2002 and 2003 forecasts for
Manhattan hotels for the rest of the year. In 2002, occupancy will be 74.0
percent and average daily rate will be $187. In 2001, occupancy was 73.3
percent and average daily rate was $197.
Lodging performance in 2001 for all Manhattan hotels was weakening prior to
September 11, and was followed by a dramatic decline after September 11.
According to Smith Travel Research, during the eight months prior to
September 11, 2001, the Manhattan lodging market achieved an occupancy level
of 75.1 percent and average daily rate of $199.17. In the four months of
2001 following the events of September 11, occupancy fell 14.4 occupancy
points to 70.2 percent, and average daily rate declined 24.9 percent to
$191.29, compared with prior year levels.
In the first two quarters of 2002, PricewaterhouseCoopers estimates
occupancy will have grown to 73.8 percent and average daily rate $182.40.
During the last two quarters of 2002, PricewaterhouseCoopers forecasts
occupancy will be 74.2 percent and average daily rate will be $191.50.
Occupancy and rate will show some recovery in the second half of this year,
as a result of strong convention business, and a small increase in leisure
travel, said Sean Hennessey, director of PricewaterhouseCoopers Hospitality
& Leisure Practice. However, business travel to Manhattan has decreased
along with international tourism, and hotels are competitively pursuing
domestic leisure business with special rate packages. This is why there will
be only moderate improvement in room rate.
PricewaterhouseCoopers forecasts occupancy will rise to 76 percent in 2003,
and average daily rate will rise to $199.
PricewaterhouseCoopers is the leader in econometric modeling and providing
reliable U.S. lodging industry forecasts that offer true industry-wide
samples based on proven econometric models. The group predicted every
industry turning point in the last ten years, usually two years in advance
of each market move.
In July 1991, PricewaterhouseCoopers predicted a return to profitability for
the industry in 1993, and average daily room rates surpassing inflation. In
April 1996, PricewaterhouseCoopers issued an early alert that there would be
an occupancy decline in 1997. In October 1996, the firm predicted
occupancies would decline in 1997. And in September 1997,
PricewaterhouseCoopers said room starts would decline in 1998.
In January 2000, PricewaterhouseCoopers forecasted a U.S. lodging industry
slowdown in late 2000 and early 2001.
PricewaterhouseCoopers Hospitality and Leisure Group provides services
including management, technology, human resources and financial consulting
in North America, Europe, the Middle East, Africa and Asia Pacific.
Hotel
business centres are money spinners
TravelAsia.com
- Hotels say
their business centres are profit centres, showing incremental growth
year-on-year. This despite the fact that inroom facilities and services like
internet connectivity are readily available.
“Our
business centre offers naturally-lit work areas,” says Hanum Yahya,
director of public relations of Hotel Inter-Continental MidPlaza Jakarta,
Indonesia. “It is equipped with personal computers, laser printers, and
100 Mbps internet access.” Some of the business centre services are also
available in 71 guestrooms located across two business floors, allowing
guests the option of working from their laptops in the privacy of their
rooms. But support services like photocopying, printing and technical
support are still necessary, and available at the business centre, says
Yahya.
“The
popular services [provided by the business centre] on a daily basis are the
internet access, photocopying and printing of documents,” adds Linda
Pecoraro, director of rooms, Renaissance Kuala Lumpur Hotel, Malaysia.
“These services are very much in demand. Businessmen may travel with
laptops, but not photocopiers or printers.”
For
Holiday Inn Golden Mile in Hongkong, the business centre remains an integral
part of the Executive Club. “It’s not regarded as a separate entity,”
says Lyndon Discombe, director of rooms. The most popular services are
internet and PC access as “there are still quite a few business people who
do not travel with laptops,” he explains. The hotel also provides a laptop
rental service if guests want to work from their rooms. All suites, along
with selected rooms, have personal facsimiles and broadband internet access.
The
three hoteliers interviewed maintain that business centres are profit
centres and despite duplication of services offered in guestrooms, business
rooms play an essential, and still-relevant part of the busy executives’
lives. “Meeting rooms, contact information and secretarial services are in
demand,” says Discombe, whilst “video and tele-conferencing facilities
and boardrooms” are constantly being requested, says Hotel
Inter-Continental’s Yahya. At Renaissance KL, “our equipment rental
revenue comes from seminars and conventions,” says Pecoraro.
Year-on-year
profit growth realised by the hotels’ business centres range from 35
percent up. “Our revenue [for the centre] increased by 35 percent, and we
anticipate continued annual growth,” says Yahya. The centre’s three
boardrooms – for up to six, 12 and 20 people respectively – are usually
full, with prior bookings an absolute necessity.
For
Renaissance KL, “the profit margin of the centre is 60 percent,” informs
Pecoraro. She estimates some 40 percent of business has been “diverted”
from the centre as the guests have inroom fax and internet access, and
guests are carrying their own laptops more often. “We expect to meet our
budget for the year 2002,” she says, declining to reveal further although
acknowledging the profits generated by the business centre has grown over
the last three years.
The
International Council of Tourism Partners announce its participation in the
upcoming Second Global Summit on Peace
The International Council of
Tourism Partners announce its participation in the upcoming Second Global
Summit on Peace through Tourism to be held in Geneva, Switzerland on
February 5-8, 2003.
Other events are planned in Asia,
Africa, North America and South America in 2003.
This Summit will be sponsored by
the International Institute for Peace through Tourism (IIPT). Keynote
speakers will be Nobel Peace Prize winners, international travel and tourism
industry statesmen, and world leaders in the areas of culture and heritage,
economic development, and environment. The Summit will feature a
"Government - Industry - Donor - NGO Roundtable, with leaders from each
of these sectors. The Roundtable will focus on a beginning strategy for the
role of travel and tourism in poverty reduction. We look forward to your
participation with us in this milestone event, as we address the
contribution that the world's largest industry can make in building a better
world for all.
One of the many objectives that
ICTP sets out to accomplish is the facilitation of communication channels
for the discussion of peace initiatives. The post 9-11 world is ready for
another watershed event that will mark the beginning of dialogue - where
there is violence; respect and tolerance - where there is hatred and
suspicion; hope - where there is despair; competitive sport - in place of
combat; sustainable development - in place of destruction; and a beginning
celebration of our cultural diversity and the wonders of all creation.
ICTP endeavors to be at the
fore-front in the drive to promote peace through tourism because there is no
industry that is better placed to initiate such a watershed event than the
travel and tourism industry. There is no better place to make it happen than
Geneva, a city where people of all races, creeds and color live in harmony;
a city which is home to some 200 international organizations - all potential
partners in "Building a Culture of Peace." There is no better time
than in this second and third year of a new Century and Millennium - and UN
Decade of Peace and Non- Violence for the Children of the World. It is with
such a spirit that the Second Global Summit on Peace through Tourism is
being convened.
For more information on this
upcoming Summit and the latest information about ICTP, visit their web-site
at www.tourismpartners.org
or call +1-808- 536-1100 or e-mail members@tourismpartners.org
About International Council of
Tourism Partners
About the International Council
of Tourism Partners: Members of the travel trade, government, associations
and tourism offices as well as individuals loving peace through tourism and
believing in communication among civilization. The organization has members
in 85 countries around the world and is based in Haleiwa, Hawaii.
3rd
Annual E-Tourism Summit to Focus on New 24-Hour TV Travel Network
/PRNewswire/
-- The Third Annual E-Tourism Summit will go beyond the online world to
explore how (and if) the convergence of home-shopping style travel will work
with the Internet to give rise to a new channel of sales and destination
promotion.
Scheduled for Sept. 18-19 at the Adolphus Hotel in Dallas, Texas, the
E-Tourism Summit has emerged as the leading travel industry forum for
exploration of trends and developments in the online component of travel
distribution, marketing and promotion.
This year, we have enhanced the mix of presenters and program topics, said
Jake Steinman, president of the NAJ group, organizers of the event. Of
course, we have all the major online players taking part. This includes
America Online, Yahoo!, Priceline, Hotwire, Pegasus, and more. But we also
have Stephen Welton, the CEO of TV Travel Shop. Steinman explained that the
concept behind TV Travel Shop, owned by Barry Diller's USA Interactive, is a
24-hour interactive television travel shopping network that has developed a
winning format in the U.K. and throughout western Europe. It will be
interesting to see how USA Interactive, which also owns Expedia, Hotels.com,
Classic Custom Vacations and the Home Shopping Network, begins to integrate
and cross-promote its assets, observed Steinman. We have all-news channels,
cartoon channels, and The Weather Channel, and it appears that the time has
come for a travel product-and-sales channel.
As recently as 10 years ago, the distribution of the travel product was
promoted almost exclusively through the print medium. Today, it is done
through a multi-media mix in which the Internet has become a significant
component. Still, all media remain important to those who supply and market
the travel experience. The E-Tourism Summit is crucial to suppliers who need
to understand and use the media mix.
In addition to Welton, 33 other presenters have confirmed including: David
Litman, chairman and CEO of Hotels.com (formerly Hotel Reservations
Network); Jeffrey DeKorte, executive director, travel, America Online; Chris
Howard, senior producer, Yahoo! Travel; Mike McDevitt, Director of
Partnership Marketing and Integration, Expedia; Chris Soder, president
hotel, automotive and business development, Priceline.com; Spencer Rascoff,
vice president, corporate development, Hotwire. Adrian Coppieters, CEO,
Hotel Distribution Network; Mike Stacy, vice president, marketing
Travelocity; Joan England, vice president, corporate payment systems,
Pegasus Solutions; George DeMakos, President, Hotel Distribution Network. Ed
Netzhammer, vice president, revenue management, Starwood Hotels and Resorts;
Greg Cross, senior vice president, revenue management, Hilton Hotels; Mike
Peterson, director, revenue management, Wyndham Anatole Hotel Group.
The event is limited to the first 120 registrants. Early bird discounts are
available to those that register before July 30th. For a complete list of
presenters and topics and to register go to: http://www.etourismsummit.com/
or call 415-554 -0282.
South
Pacific update
New
Caledonia tourism arrivals increase Tourism arrivals into New Caledonia have
increased by four cent during the first five months of this year. Since
January this year, some 39,963 tourists have landed at the international
Tontouta airport. Although there was a drop in arrivals from Japan and New
Zealand (-32 percent), other markets such as Australia were on the rise.
Analysts said the figure comes in spite of adverse factors, such as the
September 11 attacks, a reduction in New Caledonia's tourism promotion
budget, the withdrawal of French airline AOM, the closure of one major Club
Med resort in Nouméa and the recent murder of a Japanese tourists in South
of Nouméa. Tourism stakeholders have also recently developed New Caledonia
as a business and seminar destination. Tourists from metropolitan France
increased by an impressive 18.5 per cent.
Eco-tourism
kit for the region launched in Rarotonga A tool kit on eco-tourism has been
launched in Rarotonga at the halfway mark in the 7th Conference on Nature
Conservation and Protected Areas. The kit aims to help Pacific islanders
manage and develop ecotourism in conservation areas, South Pacific Regional
Environment Programme (SPREP) director Tamari'i Tutangata said. Ecotourism
has been found to be an effective and popular income-generating activity in
community-owned conservation areas, he said. An example is the Takitumu
Conservation Area on Rarotonga, which is proving to have the potential to
become one of the more successful ecotourism experiences. The Ecotourism
Tool Kit contains instructional material and resources to help with
management and development of ecotourism initiatives.
TV Campaign
urges 'Think Vanuatu' Vanuatu is to run a major 5 months long television
advertising campaign in Sydney and Brisbane to encourage holidaymakers
thinking South Pacific to 'Think Vanuatu' for everything from honeymooning
to diving, family holidays and soft adventure activities. Its 15-second
commercials will run daily in conjunction with Seven Nightly News and
selected daytime and evening programs from this week until July 27, and from
July 28 to mid-December within Friday, Saturday and Sunday nightly news
programs. General Manager of the Vanuatu National Tourism Office, Ms Linda
Kalpoi said the campaign was aimed at highlighting Vanuatu's unique culture,
its diverse activities for holidaymakers, and to counter a recent decline in
visitor numbers. "We want Australians who think South Pacific, to Think
Vanuatu first.
Air Niugini,
Qantas code-share deal approved Financially troubled Air Niugini has been
given a reprieve, with the go-ahead to enter a five-year passenger
code-sharing agreement with Qantas. The code-share deal means Air Niugini
will not compete with the Australian giant on Papua New Guinea-Australia
routes from September, but instead the airlines will work together. However,
as part of the deal Qantas insisted Air Niugini replace its ageing Airbus
aircraft with a Boeing 767. Air Niugini's revenue had lifted during a
previous five-month code-share with Qantas, which ended in February
Ehotelier.com is a proud sponsor of the Center
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