Travel Trade Monthly Issue 22

Middle East and North Africa Edition

August 2011, Issue 22

INVESTIGATION: TRAVEL BOOKINGS Along with cutting-edge technology gaining ground in our daily lives, travel booking methods and applications are developing at such a rapid pace that telephones almost seem obsolete.

The recent Tunisian revolution greatly undermined the nation’s tourism industry, on which its economy is reliant. In its aftermath, Travel Trade Monthly examines how the UNTWO and Tunisia’s tourism stakeholders are working together to enable the country to look forward to a bright future.

3 ONSITE: CHINA Following more than two decades of isolation, China has swung its doors wide open to take pride in its inimitable fusion of a 4,000 yearold history and cutting-edge innovations.

Today, China is one of the most talked about countries in the tourism industry, where the Great Wall is the only barrier remaining to the rest of the world.

11 In This Issue MARKET UPDATE INVESTIGATION: Travel Bookings VISIT: Tunisia EXPLORE: Palestine ONSITE: China TOUR: Switzerland TRAVEL TALK TRAVEL CHANNELS LONG HAUL: Indian Ocean EXCLUSIVE: Solo Travel WHO’S MOVED RENDEZVOUS NEWS & EVENTS AUGUST 2011

ISSUE 22

2 3 6 9 12 14 16 17 18 21 22 23 24

VISIT: Tunisia

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www.traveltradeweekly.travel

TRAVEL TRADE WEEKLY Managing Editor Mary Kammitsi mary@traveltradeweekly.travel Journalists Rita Kasziba Duncan MacRae Marianna Keen Design & Layout Elina Pericleous Sales & Marketing Maria Demetriadou Brighite Ess Directors Andreas Constantinides Mary Kammitsi Headquarters P.O. Box 25255 Nicosia 1308 Cyprus Tel: +357 22 820888 Fax: +357 22 318958 Website www.traveltradeweekly.travel Emails info@traveltradeweekly.travel editorial@traveltradeweekly.travel sales@traveltradeweekly.travel Printed in Cyprus Cyprint Plc P.O. Box 58300 CY-3732, Limassol, Cyprus Tel: +35725720035 Fax: +35725720123 Email: info@cyprint.com.cy

Dubai’s Aviation Expansion Plan Gets Green Light Dubai’s aviation industry is to receive a strong boost, after the emirate’s USD7.8 billion airport and airspace expansion programme was endorsed.

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esigned to sustain the sector’s steady growth with the aviation infrastructure’s development, the ample project has been advocated by H. H. Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoun, vice president and prime minister, UAE, and ruler of Dubai.

The plan, which will further facilitate Dubai’s economic expansion and is expected to generate 22 percent of total employment and 32 percent of the emirate’s GDP by 2020.

In response to a 10 year traffic forecast for Dubai International (DXB) and Dubai World Central (DWC), that indicates an average annual growth rate of 7.2 percent and 6.7 percent respectively, the programme will boost the capacity at DXB from 60 million to 90 million passengers per year by 2018.

The strategy, which also includes aggressive expansion plans for airspace, airfield, aircraft stands and terminal areas, will optimise investment, deliver timely capacity and create a robust revenue stream. It will, in the longterm, also fuel the development of DWC. Ahmed Bin Saeed Al Maktoum, chairman, Dubai Airports and president, Dubai Civil Aviation Authority, elaborated on the project.

“By 2020, 98.5 million passengers will pass through our airports. The fleets and networks of Emirates and flydubai will grow considerably to accommodate traffic and

capture market share. Similarly, our infrastructure must expand to enable this growth and facilitate the trade, tourism and commerce that in turn will support the prosperity of Dubai.”

As part of the programme, airspace expansion plans will focus on optimising runway capacity and implementing efficient systems and processes in order to accommodate the gradually growing aircraft movements.

In accordance with airspace’s evolution, the ground will also be expanded with additional areas such as terminal floors. In addition, Dubai Airports will upgrade its baggage systems and increase cargo capacity.

Paul Griffiths, CEO, Dubai Airports, commented that the programme will balance demand with capacity.

“Our plan effectively responds to the need to accommodate rapid traffic growth with timely, efficient and high quality infrastructure. It recognises the need to match capacity with service quality. It augments our ability to provide quick and easy transfers that effectively solidify Dubai’s status as a hub that connects the world.

And it optimises cash flow to fund future development.”

Our plan effectively responds to the need to accommodate rapid traffic growth with timely, efficient and high quality infrastructure

Jazeera Airways: Retained Leading Position MENA Exchange Rates Accurate as of 27/7/2011 Currencies shown in red are fixed against the US Dollar COUNTRY UAE (AED) Egypt (EGP) Saudi Arabia (SAR) Lebanon (LBP) Bahrain (BHD) Jordan ( JOD) Syria (SYP) Kuwait (KWD) Qatar (QAR) Oman (OMR) Tunisia (TND) Morocco (MAD) Iran (IRR) Yemen (YER) Algeria (DZD) Libya (LYD)

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CURRENCY Dirham Pound Riyal Pound Dinar Dinar Pound Dinar Riyal Rial Dinar Dirham Riyal Rial Dinar Dinar

1USD= 3.67 5.97 3.75 1,514.49 0.37 0.71 47.38 0.27 3.64 0.38 1.36 7.82 10,551.80 213,75 72.77 1.20

Jazeera Airways has secured its leading market-share position on most of the routes it operates for the 23rd consecutive month, according to the airline’s latest monthly report.

Based on data from Kuwait’s Directorate General for Civil Aviation (DGCA), Jazeera Airways carried 90,530 passengers in May, of which 24,354 flew between Kuwait and the Levant region, 25,706 between Kuwait and Egypt, 36,615 between Kuwait and other Gulf countries, and 3,853 between Kuwait and other destinations.

The report indicates that Jazeera Airways secured its number one position in market-share in most routes since July 2009. The airline retained its number one operator position between Kuwait and four cities in Egypt (Kuwait-Alexandria: 48 percent; Kuwait-Assiut: 77 percent; Kuwait-Luxor: 93 percent; Kuwait-Sohag: 45 percent), Kuwait and Amman (36 percent) as well as Kuwait and Damascus (49 percent). Jazeera Airways also remained the leading Kuwaiti operator between Kuwait and Dubai (19 percent), Kuwait and Bahrain (20 percent) as well as Kuwait and Beirut (38 percent).

As the only airline operating between Kuwait and Aleppo and Kuwait and Deir Ezzor, Jazeera Airways grabbed 100 percent market share on these routes.

The report does not include the Kuwait-Jeddah and Kuwait-Riyadh routes, where the airline has lower seat-allocation restrictions compared to other Kuwaiti airlines. It features, however, the KuwaitCairo route, launched on May 18, on which the carrier possessed an 11 percent market-share during its two-week operation.

AUGUST 2011

- Travel Bookings

The Evolution of Booking Along with cutting-edge technology gaining ground in our daily lives, travel booking methods and applications are developing at such a rapid pace that telephones almost seem obsolete. Travel Trade Monthly investigates whether or not technology could spell the end for travel agents.

Rita Kasziba writes

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ue to the personal approach during the travel sales process, many travellers still prefer the traditional way of reserving their travel and opt for booking with the assistance of a travel agent. Bookings, however, have started to migrate from offline to online and, moreover, from desktop to mobile.

A report, released by travel industry research authority PhoCusWright, predicts that by the end of 2012 travellers will book one third of the world’s travel sales online and that online leisure and unmanaged business travel bookings is forecasted to surpass USD313 billion at that time.

Based on the report, the US and Europe represent more than three quarters of all online sales with a likely upward trend in online bookings in the emerging markets of Asia Pacific and Latin America. The combined share for Europe and the US is predicted to drop to 73 percent in 2012, and continue to fall thereafter.

Lorraine Sileo, vice president research, PhoCusWright, elaborated on the forecast.

“As online penetration growth in the more mature US and European travel markets slows, travel companies are looking to the Asia-Pacific and Latin America regions for the next pot of gold. In these emerging markets, macroeconomic gains, increased travel and growing technology adoption will continue to fuel significant growth in online bookings.”

Google has gone even further by predicting that eight percent of mobile users will be booking travel from their smartphones by 2012.

According to Google Travel, it is foreseen that travellers using offline methods to organise their trips go directly to using their advanced mobile devices. eMarketer notes that as this year progresses, 50 percent of all new internet connections worldwide are being established via mobile devices. Furthermore 19.5 percent of all hotel queries have already been implemented by mobile devices, further accelerating mobile bookings which have increased at a rapid pace in past years: from USD20 million in 2008 to USD200 million in 2010.

Euromonitor International’s report at the World Travel Market 2010 suggests that online travel and tourism will experience solid growth, driven AUGUST 2011

by fast improvements, particularly in the Middle East and Africa. Based on the study, air is likely to remain the most robust online category globally. It made up around 10 percent of value sales in 2010 in the Middle East and Africa, and is predicted to experience a 13 percent compound annual growth in the region between 2010 and 2015, while online hotel sales in the region are projected to increase by 12 percent over the five-year period.

One of the Middle East’s leading airlines, nasair, already receives a significant rate of bookings online, noted Simon Stewart, CEO. “There are two basic forms; indirect and direct marketing, and there’s an LCC principle whereby direct marketing is the way to go. Really we are getting all the bookings done through the website and we are running about 40 percent direct.”

There are two basic forms; indirect and direct marketing, and there’s an LCC principle whereby direct marketing is the way to go A survey, carried out by hotelbook.com has concluded that one in five travellers book their holidays just five days before departure, hoping that they could score better deals. However, most of them are likely to reserve their airplane ticket in advance to secure the date and the best price. Interesting statistics from travel website Expedia show Monday to be the most popular day for managing trips, with 16 percent of

bookings on Expedia sites being made on the first day of the week, between 7-9 pm. Travellers, however, do not tend to spend any time with reservations at the end of the week: only one in 10 books on Saturdays, and Sundays are even more quiet.

Going online Egypt-based expert, Hazem Poncho, director of planning, National Travel Service, has no doubt about hi-tech’s conquest.

“Even though I fully agree with these forecasts, there are still some markets that will prefer to go directly to the retailer’s office and see the person who will book them the trip as this reflects some kind of guarantee.”

Despite the widespread usage of hi-tech devices, technology is unlikely to spell the end for travel agents. “They will take the majority of business but, for sure, the real agents will have a share of the tourism market. However, maybe this share will shrink during the coming years,” concluded the expert.

Transformation Technology provider Amadeus’ recently released report indicates that mobile technology will ultimately change the way airlines and passengers interact.

Entitled, ‘The always-connected traveller: How mobile will transform the future of air travel’ the global report indentifies how mobile functionality and applications are likely to be used by carriers to better serve the rapidly growing number of hi-tech using passengers.

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- Travel Bookings Whilst mobile services are still emerging in the travel industry and in the airlines’ offerings in particular, travellers expect, demand and adapt to them at a rapid pace. Based on the report, 16 percent of the 2,978 travellers surveyed worldwide use their smartphones to book trips. The rate is even higher amongst the 18-35 age groups (18 percent), and frequent travellers tend to take it as a convenient way with 33 percent of them using their smartphones when managing travel.

Julia Sattel, vice president airline IT, Amadeus, remarked on the mobile services’ ground gaining.

“Mobile continues to shake-up how companies interact with and meet the needs of customers. It provides travellers with a personal, alwaysconnected device that offers unlimited potential to transform how people travel. The challenge for the industry is to deliver an intuitive and compelling mobile user experience and services that help travellers get the information they want and buy the things they need.”

The online trend is firmly established and is set to continue well into the future Amadeus strives to continuously break the boundaries of online travel technologies. As part of the developments, the company has recently launched an intuitive search solution for online travel agents.

Amadeus Extreme Search was designed to revolutionise the way consumers browse.

According to PhoCusWright’s report, 40 percent of European travellers start planning their trip

without having a desired destination in mind, and 80 percent of travellers carry out online research when managing their trips. Therefore, Amadeus Extreme Search enables and encourages travellers to ask open questions in real time, saving them from observing the potential destinations one by one.

Johan Elwin, director of business development, European Travel Interactive (eTRAVELi), commented on how the solution is a reflection of travellers’ attitudes.

“The ability to inspire the traveller to search easily in the same way they think, with quality content, gives us a considerable competitive edge and serves the interest of today’s traveller.”

Travelport, the broad-based business services company and a provider of critical transaction processing solutions, revealed that more than half of business customers now use mobile technology to find and book their hotel. Rahib Saab, managing director and president for Middle East and Africa, Travelport, commented on the evolution of travel bookings.

“The online trend is firmly established and is set to continue well into the future. Along with that, travel bookings are increasingly being made online both in business-to-consumer, and business-to-business capacity. Travelport is at the forefront of enabling online travel bookings by providing a range of B2B solutions and support that empower travel agencies, OTAs, corporates, TMCs and developers to expand online.”

Beijing-based travel company, Trekiz, strives to change the way people see the world and the way they manage their trips. Yanfeng Wang, technical development manager, elaborates on the company.

Mobile continues to shake-up how companies interact with and meet the needs of customers “The Trekiz platform is the only real-time multidestination trip planning and booking tool for creating and booking customised itineraries, combining travel ‘components’, including activities, flights, hotels and so on. It utilises resources from a wide range of partners so your itinerary can be as unique as possible, making things much more convenient and actually fun.”

Trekiz aims to extend its global reach and establish partnerships, particularly in the Middle East and Africa. “Through Trekiz, travellers can experience many more destinations and activities outside the typical limited set of ‘mainstream’ packages.

Currently there are more than 600 activities all

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across China on offer,” added Yuechun Liu, senior business development manager.

Charles Yang, global market business development manager, Trekiz, elaborated on their penetrations in the Middle East region.

“We are relatively new to this important market region. Our plan is to establish mutually beneficial partnerships with hotels, local tour operators and travel agencies as well as other travel related service providers. We would like to offer MENA customers our widely varied and top quality China tours at good prices. Also, we would be more than happy to send customers from China into the MENA. It’s our goal to promote travel to and from the MENA region, and bring local citizens and travellers from around the world closer together.”

Plenty of room for growth Hotels also strive to surprise travellers with new, cutting-edge technologies. InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG) has recently joined the ever-enhancing lists of lodging companies applying cutting-edge technology by launching iPhone booking apps for each of its seven brands.

The new addition to IHG’s offerings allows customers to browse, check rates, book hotel rooms or cancel their reservation. Over the last year, IHG experienced nearly 1,000 percent increase in room night bookings from mobile devices, and in the first five months of the year, the company has already surpassed the total number of room night bookings of 2010. Most of these guests book their stay for the same or the following night. The new application will further accommodate this rapidly expanding new trend, noted Michael Menis, vice president, web and interactive marketing, IHG. “We are continuing to build on our mobile strategy by making our brands more accessible to today’s travellers who seek solutions that assist them through every step of the travel planning process. Our initial iPhone efforts were targeted at our Priority Club Rewards program, currently totalling 58 million members.” n AUGUST 2011

- Tunisia

Tourism Will Blossom Following Jasmine Revolution The recent Tunisian revolution greatly undermined the nation’s tourism industry, on which its economy is reliant. In its aftermath, Travel Trade Monthly examines how the UNTWO and Tunisia’s tourism stakeholders are working together to enable the country to look forward to a bright future.

Duncan MacRae writes

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he Jasmine Revolution in Tunisia back in January led to the overthrowing of president Zine El Abidine Ben Ali, and marked the dawn of a new political era.

That dawn, whilst bringing about renewed confidence and enthusiasm for the future amongst the Tunisian people, has also brought a great deal of uncertainty with it.

Although the government has been overthrown and an interim government is attempting to steady the ship in the short-term, a new government is not expected to be elected until October, and almost 100 newly formed political parties are in the running.

The nation’s travel and tourism sector has certainly not remained untouched by the destabilisation and doubt.

Mehdi Houas, Tunisia’s interim minister for tourism, estimates that the number of tourists visiting the country this year will drop to 3.5 million, compared to the 7 million visitors in 2010.

With that, the tourism industry’s turnover is expected to fall to TND1.8 billion (USD1.3 billion), compared to the TND3.5 billion (USD2.5 billion) it generated in 2010, according to Houas.

“It’s terrible for the economy as a whole because it is 50 percent of our foreign trade. We lost a lot, especially when compared with what we should have had.”

Samer Slim, general manager, Le Royal Hotels & Resorts, Hammamet, commented on why many tourists have been put off visiting the country.

“This year’s political unrest in Tunisia has seen its tourism industry suffer significantly, creating a lack of confidence for tourists to travel. People Port el Kantaoui

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Djerba

feel that it is still too early to set foot into the country as they expect further conflicts, especially since we still await a new government.

People, at present, have many other options and, therefore, do not need to travel to North Africa.

They are considering safer destinations, available for similar prices, such as Spain and Turkey.”

Christian Antoine, district director resorts for North Africa, Egypt and Jordan, Rezidor, commented that he has also noticed the hugely negative impact the unrest has had on tourism.

“Since January this year, the tourism industry in Tunisia has registered an important decrease. It could, maybe, be one of the worst seasons that the country has ever had. Flight capacity has been cut.

The government has been investing heavily in various marketing and promotion campaigns targeted at traditional, as well as new, source markets A lot of tour operators have cancelled or reduced their programs and demand on local and neighbouring markets is not really at its strongest.”

In late January, immediately following the Jasmine Revolution, credit rating agency Fitch cut this year’s growth forecast for Tunisia from five percent to two percent. The company stated that the political unrest would hit the tourism sector hardest.

“That is a crisis for this country of 10 million people,” Slim explained. “Because the tourism

Tunisia in Brief Capital: Tunis Currency: Tunisian dinar (TND) Language: Arabic sector employs about 400,000 Tunisians, and hundreds of thousands more live indirectly from it.”

Slim indicated that the sector’s prospects have not significantly improved since the protests came to an end. “It has not developed much since the unrest. It is still suffering across the country and in the region itself. Numbers have remained low. Nonetheless, the interim government has launched the ‘I love Tunisia, the place to be…

Now’ campaign in order to attract people back to the country. In the meantime, tour operators have significantly slashed their prices.”

New Marketing Drive Tunisia’s tourism authority has embarked on a new, and somewhat controversial, marketing campaign in order to lure foreign travellers back.

The new marketing campaign was introduced at this year’s ITB in Berlin, which took place in March. At the launch, Mohamed Laribi, regional commissioner for Hammamet, Office of National Tourism, noted that he hoped that the tourism sector would make a quick recovery.

“Now is the time to visit the new Tunisia. Come to Tunisia after the revolution. Come to see the new Tunisia, a modern Tunisia. It is useless to say in six or eight months we will be back to where we were. It is a matter of first steps. First, we need to know it is safe for tourists. It is important that our commercial partners understand the situation. We AUGUST 2011

- Tunisia hope as many tourists as possible come, but probably this summer will not be like last summer.”

The World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO) has also offered support to the country, signing an agreement with the Tunisian government that will result in the organisation offering policy guidance, marketing and training for the nation’s workforce.

Taleb Rifai, secretary-general, UNWTO, commented that the partnership will help to encourage international tourists to return to Tunisia in the short-term, and support the improved competitiveness of the destination in the medium-term.

“International tourists are gradually returning to Tunisia. UNWTO will be providing Tunisia with technical support and assistance to sustainably reinforce this tourism recovery, the country’s principal sources of income, jobs and development.”

UNWTO will offer Tunisia up-to-date market intelligence, tourism movements and trends, as well as guidance on policy tourism. Local officials will be trained on the latest tools and strategies available to reposition Tunisia among the world’s leading destinations. UNWTO will also assess the country’s tourism education needs, linking Tunisian tourism institutions with UNWTO certified universities around the world.

Rifai believes that the Tunisian Government is working hard to help revive the tourism sector but thinks that more needs to be done to reassure tourists.

“Tunisia is facing what we call a crisis of perception and this is naturally an issue which will take some time to recover. Tunisia’s tourism sector is functioning as usual and we expect to see demand recover towards the end of the year.

The government has been making excellent work in terms of marketing and promotion and this will surely pay off in the short term.”

In the current situation, the biggest priority for tourism authorities is to reassure travellers that it is safe to visit Tunisia.

Difficult Circumstances The government has been investing heavily in various marketing and promotion campaigns targeted at traditional, as well as new, source markets. Further measures being taken include incentives, familiarisation and press trips, public relation campaigns and special promotions.

There is a key message and that is that tourism in Tunisia is fully open for business and that people are eager to welcome tourists back.

Slim and Antoine feel that their companies have been doing their best in extremely difficult circumstances to encourage travellers to visit AUGUST 2011

Tunisia. Antoine noted that Rezidor is adopting a ‘business as usual’ approach.

“We have kept our marketing plan as it is. We did not cut our promotion budget. We are keeping quality of service and trying to prepare for the upcoming season.”

Le Royal Hotels & Resorts, Hammamet, has also been attempting to reassure would-be visitors that the country is safe again.

“We have been sending reassuring confirmations to tour operators that the area is safe and tourists should not hesitate in choosing Tunisia as a holiday destination. Prices have been tweaked in order to adapt to the circumstances but we have remained at a respectable level in order to keep the hotel’s standard and prestige,” added Slim.

Those working in Tunisia’s tourism industry are not short on ideas regarding how to encourage growth and development of the sector again, but the general consensus is that it will require a unified effort.

As far as Slim is concerned, the government should invest more money on advertising, while the country’s tourism offices abroad need to work harder to promote Tunisia under a unified strategy.

Antoine feels that the government and tourism authority need to come up with new ways of selling the nation as a tourism destination to foreigners.

“The government needs to support hoteliers and travel agencies, and better communicate what the country has to offer. It really needs to develop new ways to position Tunisia as a destination.”

Tour operators need to promote the country better, keep charter programs and do more familiarisation trips Tour operators and hoteliers have their parts to play too, Antoine added. “Tour operators need to promote the country better, keep charter programs and do more familiarisation trips.

Hoteliers need to keep and improve their quality of service and maintain their hotels, maintain a normal price policy. They also need to keep hold of their employees and train them better.”

Rezidor already has plans to expand its presence in the country, with a Park Inn and Radisson Blu in Hammamet in the pipeline, along with a Radisson Blu in Sousse.

“In the short-term, the situation is unclear, and we will still have some difficult months ahead of us. But it is sure that in the long-term tourism in

Tataouine

Djerba market

Tunisia will improve and business opportunities will grow,” Antoine explained.

Middle Eastern travellers have tended to shy away from Tunisia as a holiday destination, instead seeking a different type of climate to experience on their trips abroad.

“Once visa restrictions are eased, and with the right kind of promotion, we could see an increase in this segment. Travellers from the Middle East would have a great impact on Tunisia’s tourism industry if they decide to travel here. The income generated by the country would open doors to new infrastructure and business since they have high purchasing power. Lebanon, Egypt and Turkey are increasingly attracting travellers from the region, and there’s no reason why Tunisia can’t compete as well,” added Slim.

UNWTO’s Rifai is adamant that a full recovery for Tunisia’s tourism industry is only a matter of time and he is encouraging stakeholders within the sector to do their bit to help improve the situation.

“In order to fully recover, Tunisia should continue to invest in the area of communication and promotion to restore market confidence and stimulate tourism demand. Promotional trips for tour operators and travel agents, and particularly for the media from key source markets, can also be effective in showcasing Tunisia’s readiness for business. Tunisia has the full support of UNWTO as its tourism sector begins to recover and contribute once more to the economic and social wellbeing of the country.” n 7

- Palestine

A Spiritual and Political Journey Pilgrimages, cultural visits and alternative tourism to Palestine have increased, in part due to changing international perceptions of the territory under occupation. With an application to the UN for state acceptance hoped to improve tourism further, Travel Trade Monthly explores progress in the region’s turbulent industry.

Marianna Keen writes

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ccording to the Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities, tourism’s contribution to Palestinian GDP in 2010 was the highest since the establishment of the Palestinian authority. Majed Ishaq, marketing director of the ministry, highlights the growth experienced in the unstable industry. “Tourism in Palestine is very much related to political issues. When we have stability as we have in last two years, we will have more tourists coming to our areas. We used to get three percent of our revenues from tourism, now we are getting seven percent. But even so, we are still very afraid because we know that things can change quickly.”

What helped to revive Palestine’s tourism industry between 2006-2010 is private sector re-investment into the sector of close to USD300 million, commented Ishaq, including new hotels and upgrades, recreational parks, resorts, restaurants, cultural centres, and new transportation fleets.

With the industry currently looking positive, prime minister Salem Fayyad announced a plan that includes boosting tourism in the West Bank and to having all institutions needed to run and finance a state operational by the middle of this year. With application for membership to the UN planned for September, the region anxiously lies in wait and the tourism industry continues in its upheaval despite restrictions.

“Over the last two years, we have intensified our marketing and promotional activities locally, regionally and internationally. One of the main activities is participation in key international tourism exhibitions and fairs,” emphasised Ishaq.

The ministry has organised Palestine’s participation at more than twenty international shows in traditional and new markets, including the UK, Spain, Germany, Italy, France, Poland, Turkey, Russia, Mexico, Brazil, Canada and the US. “Tourism Fairs give Palestine the chance to promote Palestine as an independent tourism destination with equal opportunity,” added Ishaq.

Palestine also participated in a tourism festival held in Foz do Iguacu, Brazil, in June. Ibrahim AlZabin, Palestine’s ambassador to Brazil, discussed with energy officials the possibility of training Palestinians in the field of energy, and 8

Monastery in Jericho

invited specialists in water and energy to visit Palestine in the next few months.

According to Khouloud Daibes, minister of tourism, the main source of tourism is religious, although areas of environmental and cultural tourism are gaining popularity.

In addition to the Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities, non-govermental organisations (NGOs), including Open Bethlehem and the Alternative Tourism Group (ATG) promote tourism to the West Bank.

Bethlehem Since 2000, the travel market collapsed by more than 90 percent in Bethlehem, although the market has since been drastically revived, according to Open Bethlehem. The tourist market to Bethlehem has increased by an average of 10 percent a year since then, with a sharp 45 percent increase in 2010 from the previous year. According to the statistics, in 2010, there were 1.45 million visitors to Bethlehem with 600,000 staying overnight, 68 percent of which were from Europe.

Russia, Italy and Poland are the top three source markets for foreign visitors to Palestine, including for overnight stays, although other traditional markets are growing and visitor numbers from new markets such as Indonesia, India and Brazil have increased, added Ishaq.

Open Bethlehem has made efforts to increase tourism while improving people’s understanding of the situation in the Israeli controlled territory, commented Cathy Lloyd, a volunteer with the NGO. “We hope to achieve a sense of reality for those who visit the town so that they may understand both the history and the present day difficulties that are faced by Bethlehemites living under occupation.”

Palestine in Brief Administrative Centres: Ramallah, Gaza Language: Arabic Accepted currencies: US Dollar (USD), Jordanian Dinar ( JOD), New Israeli Sheqel (NIS) and in Gaza, Egyptian Pound (EGP) Lloyd suggests that the media has long shaped public perception of the situation in Palestinian territory, but this is gradually changing, thanks to exposure from independent groups. “Visitors are constantly surprised by the reality that is not communicated in the media. There has been a massive groundswell of change of opinion in the UK public in the last 10 years about Palestine and life under occupation, spread by peace groups and other groups such as Open Bethlehem, which has filtered through to British media.”

Although tourism has improved, there remains the challenge of retaining tourists for overnight stays.

“Overall in recent years, approximately just 10 percent of international Christian pilgrim visitors to Bethlehem will stay overnight,” commented Lloyd. “Influencers include religious affiliation as well as the availability of cheap accommodation, while international marketing from Israel will affect perceptions,” she added. The lack of international investment by commercial travel agents, who have to plan six months ahead and often feel that buying up rooms in Palestine offers high risks, is also a restriction.

“There are seasonal variations of course, with packed hotels over the Christian festivities of Christmas and Easter, and often at other times hotel occupancy is down to 20 percent or under,” commented Lloyd, pointing out that Christian pilgrims make up over 50 percent of visitors who AUGUST 2011

- Palestine stay in Bethlehem. “The Quartet [an entity involved in mediating the peace process in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict], with Tony Blair as its envoy, has been involved in both pursuing international investment as well as negotiations with Israel, to allow more freedom at Bethlehem checkpoints,” she added.

Hotels With the long term tourism market looking more optimistic, hotel developments and renovations are underway. “Today, there are just over 6,000 rooms across the country. There are also several new hotels under various stages of planning and development with a combined additional 1,500 rooms. The overall goal of the industry is to double the number of rooms to around 10,000 in the next five to 10 years,” Ishaq reported.

Growth for existing hotels, however, has been affected by the impact of recent events in the MENA region, highlighted Nuha Abu Saada, sales supervisor, Jacir Palace InterContinental Bethlehem.

“Most reservations and groups cancelled their trips in the first half of 2011. A gradual recovery is taking place in the second half.” The hotel attracts nationals from around the world, including Russians, Italians, Germans, Philippinos, Greeks, Poles and Koreans, in addition to the local market. Since guest numbers have increased, the hotel has made improvements, opened new outlets and hired new staff. Saada suggests that the current number of accommodation establishments in Bethlehem is 32, with close to 3,000 rooms.

The Grand Park Hotel in Ramallah is currently under complete renovation, including the addition of more meeting rooms, with reopening expected for November. Business tourism in the area is strong and there are also leisure guests, commented Hayel Handouli, director of sales.

“In Ramallah, you have a lot of political and business meetings and NGOs whom conduct a lot of workshops. Ramallah city is a business city and not a real tourism city like Bethlehem, but it’s the only city that has a real night life where you can find many nationalities and especially Europeans.” The main target markets for the hotel are Palestinians living in Israel and

businessmen, he highlighted, adding that the hotel’s room occupancy reached 35 percent in 2010, up nine percent from 2009. Everything Handouli commented, will be connected to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and whether Palestine achieves statehood at the UN General Assembly.

Over the last two years, we have intensified our marketing and promotional activities locally, regionally and internationally A recent addition to the political capital is Mövenpick Hotel Ramallah, the first international five-star hotel to the city, which opened its doors at the end of 2010. Mai Takrouri, marketing coordinator, is delighted that the hotel has already enjoyed much success. “Whilst the hotel is mainly used by politicians, diplomats and international business travellers during week days, we are very happy to see the increasing number of local and regional leisure tourism over the weekends, including many families.

“Occupancy rates as well as RevPAR are showing a very positive trend and we are most satisfied with the current forward bookings.”

Alternative Tourism Alternative tourism in Palestine ranges from nature trips to participating in solidarity groups.

One aim of ATG is to immerse tourists into the reality of Palestine’s situation and to the injustice that is felt, explained Rami Kassis, executive director of the NGO. “Our focus is on ‘encounters’. In other words, our whole intent is to get the visitor and the visited to meet on common ground and engage with eachother.

Really, what distinguishes ATG from mainstream tour operators is that there is a justice dimension to all our programmed tours.”

Among the packages and tours it operates, the organisation offers something for any group or individual seeking a rich experience of Palestine, and these are aimed at instilling a deep sense of reality. “Palestinians live under occupation and that is an important dimension of our being as

Dome of the Rock

Nablus Market AUGUST 2011

people. Our encounters introduce visitors to this harsh reality. Those who seek a mixture of adventure and reality take treks into distant villages and meet the Palestinian in those settings.”

Like other organisations in the travel and tourism industry, ATG has recorded a rise in visitors as well as a change in prominent markets. Whilst Europe and North America have been the origin of most visitors in the past, there are now increasing numbers coming from parts of Asia, including Korea, Philippines and India; Africa, notably Nigeria and Latin America, particularly for pilgrimages. “One could say that the so called pilgrim market is the big one today,” added Kassis.

ATG has thus launched the Pilgrimages for Transformation (PIFT) initiative, which tries to exploit demand by linking institutions and providing visitors with a profound experience, which hopes to change minds. “The justice tours that link travellers to people, NGOs, civil society groups, ecumenical and church groups, youth associations, peace movements in Israel, progressive Jewish peace advocates in Israel, are the ones which give people an understanding of the true facts as well as what are possible lasting solutions,” Kassis emphasised.

He adds that by providing this unbiased outlook, disinformation can be mitigated. “The way in which the Israel travel industry operates, most travellers never even get a slight glimpse of the conflict in its real dimensions. At best, they get a propaganda talk.”

Occupation Tourism As well as promoting interfaith cooperation, ATG provides opportunities to work with Israeli and Palestinian solidarity groups. Organisations have to be careful, however, to retain sufficient respect and social responsibility in what has been termed occupation tourism, since some activists committed to the struggle can be antagonised when surrounded by tourists. There is also an obvious danger posed during protests.

Roy Wagner, an Israeli activist regularly attending the Bil'in protest, marching to the separation wall in support of villagers, told the Guardian newspaper that despite his reservations he would rather such tourists did continue to show up at Bil'in, since they would hopefully leave more committed to the struggle; however, given the risks, he thinks visitors should undergo full and proper preparatory training beforehand. There are few of these kinds of tourists and they are typically already sensitised to some degree to the Palestinian situation.

9

- Palestine “Our travellers are encouraged to take up development issues in Palestine and to contribute to developing the Palestinian economy, to assist in the furtherance of a mature, vigilant and alert civil society,” added Kassis.

Arrival Tourists to Palestinian territories arrive overland.

Ishaq explains that tourists coming through Jordan have to cross over Allenby Bridge or Sheikh Hussein Bridge, both controlled by the Israelis and the Jordanians. Through Israel they come via Ben-Gurion Airport in Tel Aviv, and others arrive from the Taba crossing point with Egypt, which is under Israeli control.

“We now have plans ready in the Palestinian Authority for a national airport in the area of Jericho in the Jordan Valley as part of our plans towards building the institutions of the future Palestinian state of Palestine, but the realisation of such project depends on the developments in the political process,” added Ishaq.

Currently, ATG does not host visits to Gaza.

Foreigners have not been allowed to cross in and out of Gaza unless they have a special permit which can only be arranged through their embassy. “We all look eagerly forward to the day when the blockade of Gaza is lifted. There is much to see by way of history and even more by way of current reality,” Kassis highlighted.

Heritage Sites The wealth of cultural and natural heritage is an important resource for the development of Palestine and the sustainability of both the territory’s economy and identity. However, Palestine is not yet a state party to the World Heritage Convention. “Bethlehem cannot be registered as a World Heritage Site because it doesn’t fulfill the criteria of being in a recognised state,” remarked Lloyd.

In light of the Palestinian bid for statehood recognition at the UN, Israel and Palestine are competing to claim cultural heritage sites in the West Bank. Both are investing in excavation and development, as well as in branding sites as their own. Rules on who owns cultural property and who can make changes to or profit from heritage sites are unclear and cooperation has been discouraged by the void, it has been suggested.

“I do not see Israeli-Palestinian partnerships towards the conservation of sites,” remarked Kassis. “In case Jerusalem becomes a unified city during final status solutions, then there will be a case for promoting joint management of sites.”

The justice tours that link travellers to people are the ones which give people an understanding of the true facts as well as what are possible lasting solutions “As far as the cooperation between Palestinian and Israeli Ministry of Tourism is concerned, we can say that the joint technical committee established after Oslo and Paris protocol is facing problems because the Israeli counterpart is claiming that the framework of cooperation is no longer acceptable. Israel is taking illegal actions and measures to confiscate, renovate and promote tourist and archeological sites within the West Bank,” Ishaq adds.

When prime minister Salem Fayyad launched the Palestinian two-year state-building plan in 2009, the goal was to develop infrastructure, including upgrading the Ministry of Antiquities and Tourism and creating sustainable tourism at heritage sites. Although cooperation still looks ominous, developments have taken place.

“The Ministry of Tourism has been actively

The Ministry of Tourism has been actively renovating and restoring key sites 10

Hisham’s Palace

renovating and restoring key sites such as Hisham’s Palace and Tell Al-Sultan in Jericho.

Tell Balata site development is also underway and includes developing paths, a small museum, and an information centre. Several new museums are also being developed, including the Samaritan Museum in cooperation with UNESCO, Dura near Hebron, Al-Bad in Bethlehem, and the Al Riwaya Museum in Bethlehem’s Peace Centre,” explained Ishaq.

The Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities also announced that last year Jericho marked 10,000 years as the oldest residential spot in the history of human civilization, thus a government plan aims to unleash the untapped potential of the city.

The project also aims to strengthen the historical, natural, and cultural ties between Jericho and the Jordan Valley and involves key socio-economic sectors with a strong focus on tourism, agriculture, infrastructure, and community development.

Attendance at cultural celebrations across Palestine is suggested to enrich the visitor experience. Other programmes launched by the ministry include biking, hiking and bird watching opportunities. The overall message to the global travel industry, indicated Ishaq, is that Palestine is safe, with rich offerings and hospitable people, where tour operators are ready to handle groups in a professional way, with competitive prices. The ministry calls all international tour operators to not only promote the holy land under Israel, but also to include Palestine, achieving just tourism in the region.

There is still a wide scope for improvement in Palestine’s tourism market which counts on public and private sector contribution and mainly on their cooperation. “While proactive marketing and promotion are needed to communicate what Palestine has to offer, these need to be part of a more holistic developmental plan which includes issues such as policy and regulatory reform, institutional building, developing the actual infrastructure to support the sector, and public/private partnerships,” suggested Ishaq. This will rely very much on a peace deal between Israel and Palestine or with negotiations failing, the attainment of UN recognition of a Palestinian state on all of the West Bank, Gaza Strip and East Jerusalem. n AUGUST 2011

- China

Tourism Boom - Made in China Following more than two decades of isolation, China has swung its doors wide open to take pride in its inimitable fusion of a 4,000 year-old history and cutting-edge innovations. Today, China is one of the most talked about countries in the tourism industry, where the Great Wall is the only barrier remaining to the rest of the world.

Rita Kasziba writes

M

ajor reforms in the late 1970s, extensive construction and imposing developments across the country, colossal improvements in services and the gradually rising middle class, have driven China’s tourism industry into an era of prosperity for both inbound and outbound traffic. China’s instrumental role is well demonstrated in the International Air Transport Association’s (IATA) forecast, which indicates that by 2014, 3.3 billion people will be travelling by air (an increase of 800 million from 2.5 billion in 2009) with the impressive growth driven by China. Of the hundreds of millions of new travellers, 360 million (45 percent) are expected to travel on Asia Pacific routes and, of those, an estimated 214 million will be associated with China, with 181 million domestic and 33 million international travellers. Thus, China emerges as the fastest growing market for international travellers with a rate of 10.8 percent, and it is likely to seize second position after the US (671 million) in terms of domestic passenger volume with 181 million additional travellers, reaching a total of 379 million.

According to the World Tourism Organization’s (UNWTO) World Tourism Barometer, China grabbed the position of the third most visited country, toppling Spain off the top performer’s podium. Taleb Rifai, secretary general, UNWTO, predicts that China will retain its position in a long run.

“It is clear that the strong players of Asia are going to continue to be strong players, not only China, but particularly in China. The world is changing, the geopolitics of the world is changing, the centres of gravity are changing and we can’t expect tourism to be away from that.”

Outbound market Driven by the flourishing economy, the rising middle class and a pent-up demand to explore the rest of the world, China turned into a major outbound tourism market, with all parts of the world, including the Middle East, willing to capitalise on it. According to the Government of Dubai, in the first quarter of this year, China AUGUST 2011

Shanghai

became the eighth largest source market for Dubai, with more than 52,000 Chinese visiting it.

To further foster the existing relationship between the regions, Sharjah Commerce and Tourism Development Authority (SCTDA), participated in the annual Beijing International Tourism Expo 2011 (BITE). The emirate experienced a sudden upsurge in Asian and Chinese tourist interest in past years, where in 2010 the number of Chinese visitors to Sharjah increased by 248 percent, from 8,231 to 28,608.

H. E. Mohamed A. Al Noman, director general, SCTDA, remarked on the Chinese outbound market’s significance.

“Every year, we have been trying to make our presence at Beijing Expo a focal point, in order to attract Chinese tourists to Sharjah, and we are extremely optimistic of the benefit of the openness and dynamism of Chinese trade and tourism markets on the tremendous potential increase in the tourist inflow to Sharjah.”

Inbound market According to the China National Tourist Office’s annual report for 2010, with more than four million arrivals (up 27.49 percent), Korea represented the major generating market, followed by Japan with 3.7 million visitors (up 12.47 percent) and Russia with 2.4 million (up 35.99 percent).

Tang Dynasty Travel, one of China’s most renowned travel agencies and operators of inbound tours, has experienced a massive

China in Brief Capital: Beijing Currency: Chinese Yuan (CNY) Language: Mandarin increase in bookings from all around the world.

“China has been proved as a great attraction to all kinds of tourist,” said Fanny Zhang, marketing department.“ Our customers are majorly from the US, European countries, Canada and Australia.

Based on almost 20 years of experience, we found that priority is given to history and culture, natural scenery and ethnic groups and folklore.”

To further increase the number of international visitors and better serve them, China has steadily improved its tourism related services.

“Nowadays, most of the young generation can deal with very simple daily communication in English. Generally speaking, big cities, like Beijing and Shanghai, or tourist cities, like Guilin, are better compared with inland parts of China.”

Charles Yang, global market business development manager, Trekiz, a Web 3.0 online travel company based in Beijing, remarked on the increasing number of visitors from MENA. “In terms of the inbound travel market, the five countries that provide the bulk of inbound travellers are the US, Korea, Japan, Russia and Malaysia, however we see a growing trend for more and more people from MENA coming to explore the land’s beauty, cultures, history and booming business.”

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- China Airlines The massive improvement in both international and domestic transportation and airline traffic has been vital to China’s tourism boom. Travel from the Middle East to the Asian country became convenient with Qatar Airways and Emirates alike, operating services to Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou.

Etihad Airways has recently announced the addition of Chengdu to its route map, effective from December 15. The new route, which will be served four times a week, will provide the first link between the UAE and Sichuan province.

James Hogen, CEO, Etihad, remarked on the increasing importance and potential of the Chinese market.

“This will further stimulate the growth of commerce and trade between the UAE and China, already the UAE’s third largest trading partner. With the purchasing power of the Chinese consumer rising in synch with annual GDP growth of 7.5 percent up until 2030, the Chinese travel market has enormous latent potential. We will continue to work together to strengthen ties between the UAE and China and help forge strong, new links between the communities at both ends of the route.”

The next step in Etihad’s Chinese expansion will be daily non-stop, return services between Abu Dhabi and Shanghai, subject to government approval. Scheduled to commence on March 1, 2012, Shanghai would mark the airline’s 70th destination.

Air China, which in 2010, carried 60 million domestic and international passengers with an average load factor of 80 percent, operates flights to Dubai and Kuwait.

The Hong Kong-based Cathay Pacific offers scheduled flights to a number of destinations in the Middle East including Bahrain; Jeddah and Riyadh as well as Dubai and Abu Dhabi,with the latter having joined the carrier’s route map in June this year. Ivan Chu, chief operating officer, Cathay Pacific, elaborated on the new route.

“Cathay Pacific is committed to the Middle East, having served this ever-growing market for more than 30 years. The new Abu Dhabi service, our Great Wall of China

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fifth destination in the region, will enable travellers here to enjoy great connectivity Cathay Pacific offers via the Hong Kong hub to our extensive network in Asia, Australia and China.”

H. E. Sheikha Lubna bint Khaled bin Sultan Al Qasimi, Minister for Foreign Trade, UAE, commented that the additional service will further cement the existing ties between the two countries.

“While China is already the UAE’s second most important trade partner, the strengthening of cooperation in trade between the UAE and Hong Kong shall further serve to enhance the trade and economic ties between the UAE and China.”

Hotels The increasing potential of the Chinese market encourages a range of hotel chains to consolidate their presence in the Asian country. This year, Guangzhou’s accommodation offering enhances with Sheraton, Westin, Hilton, Marriott and W hotels opening there. In addition, Aloft, Four Points, Hyatt, InterContinental, The RitzCarlton and St. Regis are all expected to expand their Chinese-portfolio across the country within the next few months and years.

In 2010, Starwood Hotels in gateway cities around the world experienced double and triple digit growth in the number of Chinese guests.

The company has recently rolled out Starwood Personalised Travel, a dedicated programme of initiatives designed to better serve the increasing number of Chinese guests. Debuting in 19 Starwood hotels in key cities around the world, the project will offer Chinese visitors an array of benefits. The launch of the programme coincides with the relocation of the company’s entire senior leadership to the Asian country.

The developments turn Starwood into the largest operator of high-end hotels in China, noted Frits van Paasschen, president and CEO, Starwood Hotels & Resorts.

“As Chinese travellers begin to travel beyond their borders, they, like their Western counterparts, will gravitate to the hotel brands they know from home, and with Starwood’s leading footprint in China, this gives us a great advantage. Just as our hotels in China have Hangzhou, Westlake

historically catered to American and European travellers with familiar amenities from home, now our hotels globally will provide the same services to Chinese travellers.”

In the next two years, half of all new Starwood hotels, slated to open in China, will fly the Sheraton flag, out of which seven are scheduled to open before the end of September this year.

Summer openings include the second Sheraton branded property in Beijing and in Xian and the first in Chongqing, Yantai, Guangzhou, Zhenjiang, Wanning and Hangzhou. The new additions to the brand’s portfolio will bring the number of Sheraton properties in China to 42, moving the company towards its goal of operating 100 hotels in China by the end of 2012.

Hoyt Harper, global brand leader, Sheraton Hotels & Resorts, elaborated on the expansion.

“The remarkable success of Sheraton in China continues to drive Starwood’s growth and widen its position as the country’s leading operator of four and five-star hotels. Sheraton is focused on meeting the needs of Chinese travellers within China, as well as across our portfolio of more than 400 hotels around the world.”

Marriott International has recently opened its first dedicated global reservation, sales and customer care centre in the city of Guangzhou. The facility marks another significant step in the company’s strategy in greater China, noted L. Kaye Dengel, senior vice president of global sales and customer care. “Marriott International is committed to China and to serving our ever-increasing number of Chinese guests in a location that offers an impressive labor talent at a great value. With more than 50 hotels in China, and at least another 100 in some form of planning, China is a crucially important market to us – and is now by far our second biggest market anywhere in the world.”

Another renowned international brand, Accor, has enhanced its Sofitel portfolio of China to 20 with the opening of Sofitel Guangzhou Sunrich.

As the first French luxury hotel in the city, the 493-room property set to bring peerless style to Guangzhou’s scene.

RCI, part of the Wyndham Worldwide family of brands, has recently announced a new resort affiliation with Huangshan Grandview Resorts Hotel. The company strives to further cement its presence in the Chinese market with the resort, which forms part of a mixed-use development, noted Adrian Lee, managing director, RCI. “This stunning resort is a remarkable addition to the collection of our diverse portfolio of destinations we offer to our members worldwide, and a continuous effort to expand our footprint in China.” n AUGUST 2011

- Switzerland

Swiss Keen to Attract Middle Eastern Tourists Switzerland is officially the world’s number one country when it comes to tourism competitiveness and it has already recorded impressive visitor figures this year. Now, it has set its sights on the Middle Eastern market to help bolster its tourism sector, as Travel Trade Monthly discovers.

Duncan MacRae writes

Zurich

T

his year, for the second year running, Switzerland took pride of place in the top spot in the World Economic Forum’s (WEF) Travel and Tourism Competitiveness rankings.

It is no mean feat when being compared and contrasted to 138 other countries across the globe. The ranking results were published in WEF’s report in March, in which the organisation heaped praise on the country for what it can offer as a touristic destination.

In order to rank the 139 nations, WEF examines 14 different categories relating to travel and tourism competitiveness, which, in turn, consist of a number of other sub-categories.

Switzerland’s only disappointment was price competitiveness, but it scored impressively in the overwhelming majority of all other aspects.

Andrea Scherz, general manager, Gstaad Palace, feels the country offers value for money. “Above all, it’s the quality of service and the tourism infrastructure that makes the difference in the country. In Switzerland, travellers get value for money. What is also appreciated is the economical and political stability and especially in the mountain regions, there is an unparalleled level of security.”

Swiss alps

AUGUST 2011

Hotel chain Hyatt, which has had a presence in Switzerland for a number of years, is far from surprised that the country’s tourism sector was rated so highly overall, according to Kurt Straub, general manager, Park Hyatt Zurich.

“Switzerland’s image and variety as a destination in regards to safety, nature, economic stability, world renowned resorts, just to name a few, creates an aspiration within leisure and business travellers alike. Furthermore Switzerland Tourism’s innovative sales and marketing actions support this uniqueness within the tourism industry.”

As well as being an attractive leisure tourism destination, Switzerland is also regarded as an important business travel hub, with a number of international exhibitions and conferences held in the country every year.

The Swiss tourism authority, Switzerland Tourism, has been particularly focusing its efforts on attracting Middle Eastern travellers for the past nine years. In 2001, the country registered 217,000 Gulf visitors, up 15 percent from 2000.

This figure has risen year-on-year, which is attributed to a major promotion and marketing drive, suggested Jörg Peter Krebs, director IMEA, Switzerland Tourism.

“Overall, hotel overnights in Switzerland have grown by 3.4 percent over the past 10 years (2000-2010). However, what has markedly changed is the impressive increase in hotel overnights of guests coming from the Gulf countries (+123.3 percent over the past 10 years).

Currently, overnight stays of guests coming from the Euro Zone are also decreasing due to the effects of the weak Euro against the Swiss Franc, while overnights of tourists coming from India,

Switzerland in Brief Capital: Bern Currency: Swiss Franc (CHF) Language: German the Gulf countries, China and Russia continue to show a strong growth.”

Above all, it’s the quality of service and the tourism infrastructure that makes the difference in the country Dubai Office It was in 2002 that Switzerland Tourism opened an office at the Dubai headquarters of SWISS International Air Lines, offering tour operators and travel agents promotional and support services for Arabian tourists, as well as the region’s large expatriate community.

At the time of its opening, Jamal Kleibo, representative, Switzerland Tourism, noted that they were marketing Switzerland as the number one destination of choice among GCC residents.

“We’re targeting travel agents across the region for both leisure and corporate business, and have produced a number of brochures highlighting different aspects of this spectacular country.

Switzerland offers a wealth of incentives from beautiful scenery, warm hospitality, excellent hotel accommodation, efficient transport system and security, to world renowned private schools, health and wellness centres and, of course, luxurious shopping.

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- Switzerland It offers the perfect climate to escape from the region’s hot summer months, while also a haven for winter sporting enthusiasts.”

Since then, Switzerland has stepped up its efforts to endear itself to the GCC, with the help of familiarisation trips for travel agents, tour operators and members of the media.

In 2010, it also embarked on a promotional tour around Saudi Arabia, with participation from representatives of luxurious hotels and touristic sites.

The organisation has largely been concentrating on family tourism programmes, which have been made available to travel agents throughout the Kingdom.

These have been prepared in Arabic and include details about the array of touristic sites that can be visited in the country and discounts available.

Hyatt’s Straub commented that Middle Eastern guests do have a high impact on the Swiss tourism sector, particularly in certain destinations, such as Geneva and, more recently, Zurich.

“The travel habits have changed and people explore different destinations within Switzerland instead of staying in one area for the entire trip.

Park Hyatt Zurich being one of Zurich’s leading hotels is focusing on strong relationship management and extended services without losing its Swiss identity.”

Importance of GCC Gstaad Palace also recognises the importance of Gulf travellers to Switzerland, according to Scherz.

“These tourists are important for us as they represent about three to four percent of our business. They regularly book higher categories of rooms and are good spenders in the hotel. We continuously participate at trade shows in the Middle East and our director of sales conducts sales calls in these areas.”

While the Swiss tourism authority has been working tirelessly to encourage GCC travellers to visit the country, airlines have been working equally as hard to make sure the nation is easily accessible and the demand for flights can be met.

SWISS International Air Lines operates daily flights to Switzerland from Muscat, Oman, via Dubai, UAE. It also offers daily flights from Cairo, Egypt, to Zurich.

Myriam Ziesack, media officer, SWISS International Air Lines, comments that the carrier has kept a keen eye on the supply and demand for flights from the Middle East region, and cannot see this demand decreasing anytime soon.

“We constantly monitor all markets for possible opportunities but do not see any major changes 14

Chateau de Chillon Castle, Montreux

in the near future. Switzerland has always been very popular as a summer destination for customers from the UAE and Oman and we don’t expect this to change. Many local Emiratis even have apartments or houses in Switzerland.”

If anything, Emirates expects the demand for flights from the GCC to Switzerland to continue to increase. The carrier has been flying to the country since 1991 and there are currently three daily connections between its Dubai hub and Switzerland. The airline flies to Zurich twice per day and to Geneva once per day, according to Carmel Bonello, spokesperson, Emirates Airways.

“Zurich is one of our top destinations in Europe and we see great potential in Switzerland as a

Swiss Alps

whole. Exactly for this reason, we started operating our new service to Geneva on June 1.

We are constantly assessing the Swiss market. If we see further potential for growth, we will act accordingly.”

Flights to Switzerland are particularly popular with visitors from certain countries within the GCC region, Bonello noted.

“These routes are especially popular with highpremium visitors from Middle Eastern countries, such as Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Kuwait.

Switzerland is a hugely popular destination for winter sports as well as summer relaxation.

Consequently, the flights are usually very well booked.” n

Switzerland has always been very popular as a summer destination for customers from the UAE and Oman and we don’t expect this to change

AUGUST 2011

Mohammed Sultan Al Owais

Patrick Brannelly

UAE Ambassador to India

Vice President Corporate Communications Product, Emirates

“The UAE has invested an estimated USD6 billion in India and 1.8 million Indian expatriates make their livelihoods and careers here in the UAE. These figures show the strength of the relationship between our two nations and the addition of more direct, quality, affordable flights will help to enhance that relationship for the benefit of both countries.”

“As a global airline serving 113 destinations on five continents, our passengers are as diverse and unique as our routes.

Emirates strives to make our service the most comfortable and entertaining in the world.

This year’s Skytrax ‘World's Best Airline Inflight Entertainment’ award once again underlines our relentless commitment to providing the best inflight entertainment in the air offering more content, in more languages and ultimately more choice, than ever before.”

Patrick Brannelly

The UAE has invested an estimated USD6 billion in India and 1.8 million Indian expatriates make their livelihoods and careers here in the UAE Mohammed Sultan Al Owais

Emirates strives to make our service the most comfortable and entertaining in the world

Paolo DeRenzis Thomas van Vliet

Regional Commercial Manager, British Airways

Vice President Operations and Development, Swiss-Belhotel International, Middle East “Our expansion in this region [Saudi Arabia], including our latest developments in Iraq and Kazakhstan, are all coordinated and managed from our regional office in Dubai and in line with the volume of this expansion, we have already and will further adapt our operating structure in Dubai, and at future hotels in Saudi Arabia. The staffing ratios will be in line with industry standard for Saudi Arabia with the Thomas van Vliet right local and expatriate employee mix.”

“With the increase in traffic from the Middle East we have some of the best prices going at the moment. British Airways customers will experience our world-class products and services, all at great value for money.”

British Airways customers will experience our world-class products and services, all at great value for money

Our expansion in this region [Saudi Arabia], including our latest developments in Iraq and Kazakhstan, are all coordinated and managed from our regional office in Dubai Paolo DeRenzis

Travel Talk is your space – this is a casual forum for travel industry professionals to discuss current issues and share stories. We want to hear from you, so send your comments, questions, frustrations and observations to editorial@traveltradeweekly.travel 16

AUGUST 2011

Middle Eastern Culture and Heritage Recognised A total of 25 sites have made their way onto the World Heritage List this summer, bringing the number of such historic sites to 936.

Palmyra, Syria

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hese sites, scattered around the globe, are recognised as being of great cultural significance and are all afforded protection that it is hoped will preserve them for many generations to come.

Of the 25 newcomers, three are located in the Middle East, in Iran, Syria and the UAE. The Persian Garden in Iran is a property that includes nine gardens in as many provinces.

Al Ain AUGUST 2011

According to United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO), they exemplify the diversity of the Persian garden designs that evolved and adapted to different climatic conditions, while retaining their roots in the times of Cyrus the Great, sixth century BC. The gardens are always divided into four sections, representing earth, plants, sky and water, with the water playing an important role in both irrigation and ornamentation.

These gardens are also thought to have influenced the art of garden design in countries as far off as India and Spain.

The ancient villages of northern Syria were also deemed worthy of recognition and preservation.

UNESCO noted that the 40 villages grouped in eight parks in the north-west of the country provide remarkable testimony to rural life in the late Antiquity and during the Byzantine period.

The settlements date from the first to seventh centuries and were all abandoned in the eight to 10th centuries.

They feature well preserved landscapes and architectural remnants, including those of dwellings, pagan temples, churches, cisterns and bathhouses.

The villages are said to illustrate the transition from the ancient pagan world of the Roman Empire to Byzantine Christianity.

The UAE may be more renowned for the glitz and

Kenyan Lake, Great Rift Valley

glamour of Dubai, but its cultural sites of Al Ain have now been added to the World Heritage List.

As far as UNESCO is concerned, Hafit, Hili, Bidaa Bint Saud and Osases in the UAE constitute a serial property that testifies to sedentary human occupation of a desert region since the Neolithic period with vestiges of many prehistoric cultures.

Hili received particular recognition for featuring one of the oldest examples of the sophisticated aflaj irrigation system, which dates back to the Iron Age. Notable additions to the list based elsewhere in the world include the Kenyan Lake System in the Great Rift Valley, and Senegal’s Saloum Delta, where fishing has sustained human life for more than two millennia. n 17

- Maldives

Uniting MENA and the Maldives With the Maldives being a Muslim country, it has long attracted visitors from the MENA region, however this market has failed to be highly capitalised on. With recent developments indicating improvements, Travel Trade Monthly looks at what the islands anticipate offering their Arab visitors.

Marianna Keen writes

T

he Maldives’ tourism overall is looking more promising, with President Mohamed Nasheed estimating that tourism receipts are worth approximately USD2.5 billion. The industry has strengthened and, as a result, the islands are attracting more travellers in search of tranquility and warm service.

Current hotels in the Maldives confirm a rise in MENA tourist numbers. Magdalena Rungaldier, marketing manager, Baros Maldives, commented on prominent markets. “So far in 2011, UK and Germany are our strongest markets. We have recently decided to focus more efforts on the MENA region. The main reason for this being the Maldives’ close proximity to this region, excellent flight connectivity on world class carriers, high proliferation of affluent inhabitants with expandable income and interest in our kind of resort and the luxury experience that we offer.”

Recent renovations to Baros Maldives include the first resort eco-dive centre in the Maldives, which began operation at the end of 2010. In addition, the hotel engages in further environmental focus.

“We have entered into a number of green initiatives in order to make our resort more environmentally friendly, such as: recycling of all grey water; installation of led light systems; and all chemicals used for cleaning are biodegradable, to name a few,” highlighted Rungaldier.

the destination as our current branding has been there for over 10 years and the product of the Maldives has changed. The main focus is to change the image that Maldives is a destination for only honeymooners and beach lovers. If everything goes as planned we hope to launch the new brand next year.”

A new strategy may include an increased spotlight on culture. Baros Maldives this year opened the Maldivian lounge which seeks to give visitors a sense of Maldivian culture and identity.

Included is the best collection in the world of ancient maps of the islands.

Along with brand changes, Maldives Chamber of Commerce and Industry has suggested that large business groups across the world are enhancing trade relations with Maldives, with investors from the Middle East on the increase.

Attracting Toursim Economic reforms proposed by the government to strengthen the country’s economy have restricted investment by some players in the travel and tourism industry.

Maldives Tourism Promotion Board has announced that its budget is very limited for the year. Aminath Hudha, senior marketing officer, highlighted methods taken to promote tourism from the MENA region. “We will be focusing on the usual promotional activities such as participation in Arabian Travel Market and organising of press trips from the [MENA] region. There is huge growth from Saudi Arabia over the years. Hence, we are trying to focus on these emerging markets.”

Concerning the organisation’s overall tourism strategy, Hudha added: “We are trying to rebrand

A Middle Eastern Touch Jumeirah Group opened its first resort, Jumeirah Dhevanafushi, in the Maldives in May, located in the Gaafu Alifu Atoll, 400km south of the capital city of Malé.

Another UAE-based company, Mubadala Development Company, has revealed that it will open the luxury Viceroy Maldives resort on September 1. The joint venture between Mubadala and Maldives-based luxury hotel developer, EoN Resorts, brings the new property to the 17-acre Vagaru Island in Lhaviyani Atoll of the Maldives.

Hani Lashin, general manager, Dubai’s Jauhara Group, has suggested that given that the Maldives is a 100 percent Muslim country, the fact that no Islamic resort exists in the country is surprising.

The group hopes to develop an Islamic resort in the Maldives, which would offer privacy for both

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Maldives

Maldives in Brief Capital: Malé Currency: Maldives Rufiyaa (MVR) Language: Dhivehi sexes in compliance with Islamic Shari’a and it would not offer alcohol or pork. It is suggested that the resort will be completed by late 2013 or early 2014.

Other international developments in the Maldives include the first Hyatt hotel on the islands, Park Hyatt Maldives Hadahaa, which opened on April 1. It is the first resort in the Maldives to follow Earth Check certification standards for construction and operations.

Anantara opened its third property in the Maldives, Anantara Kihavah Villas, on the Baa Atoll. The five-star resort, with Green Globe certification, is located on the secluded Kihavah Huravalhi, a 35-minute seaplane ride from Malé.

Air Airlines have long flown from MENA to the Maldives. Rula Tadros, corporate communications, Emirates, reported that flight numbers have recently risen temporarily. “Up to November 2010, Emirates operated 19 services a week between Dubai and the Maldives. This was increased to 21 a week in November 2010 and will continue through this winter through to March 2012.”

With innovative investments underway, and a change in tourism strategy from the Maldives Tourism Promotion Board on the horizon, targeting new tourists, including the emerging MENA market, the islands look underway to improving their global tourism status and overall economy. n AUGUST 2011

- Seychelles

Eco-luxury in the Seychelles The Seychelles archipelago is reputed for being one of the most romantic locations on earth, and the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge’s recent honeymoon there has raised its profile even further. While they reap rewards in this sector, industry players are beginning to look towards emerging markets, and with MENA visitors representing one of the fastest growing markets, Travel Trade Monthly takes a look at what the islands have to offer.

Marianna Keen writes

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rystal blue waters lapping white sandy beaches, and striking flora and fauna have long enticed visitors to the Seychelles, and the islands’ tourism industry continues to focus on its tranquil and romantic image. The destination’s economy relies strongly on the travel and tourism industry, suggests the World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC) Seychelles Report. It is estimated that the industry’s total contribution to GDP, including its wider economic impacts, will rise by 4.1 percent per annum from SCR7,481.0 million (USD613 million and 57.6 percent of GDP) this year to SCR11,149.7million (USD914 million and 58.3 percent) by 2021.

Line Mancienne, public relations coordinator, Seychelles Tourism Board (STB) expressed her delight in the destination’s increasing appeal. “The royal honeymoon in Seychelles has given the islands a great deal of exposure.” Prince William and Kate Middleton spent 10 days on the ecoluxury retreat North Island.

“Seychelles will continue to refine its romantic products and promote the islands as the best venue for romance on the planet,” added Mancienne.

The Seychelles Tourism Board is increasingly recognising that Middle Easterners, too, are interested in nature and tranquility, particularly when paired with luxury.

Airlines Flight options between MENA and the Seychelles are improving. “The Seychelles has several international cooperation agreements, including air service agreements with countries from the MENA region and it’s very keen to increase trade, tourism and cultural exchanges with them. Soon we will have Etihad Airways serving Seychelles to become the third airline from the Middle East,” observed Mancienne.

Etihad Airways recently announced it will debut services to Seychelles International Airport in Mahé with four return services per week from Abu Dhabi, effective from November 2.

Kelsey Paquin, manager corporate communications, Etihad Airways, commented on the decision. “The Seychelles has a strong and AUGUST 2011

Seychelles

growing appeal as a premium leisure destination, with increasing numbers of UAE residents and European travellers holidaying there.”

Emirates also has expansion plans for flights to the Seychelles, highlighted Rula Tadros, Emirates group corporate communications. “By the end of this year, Emirates will have doubled the number of flights on this route to reach 14 flights a week. In 2010, we intensified our marketing drive and the response we received has greatly motivated us to go for the double-daily.

Since the launch of Emirates’ service to the archipelago in 2005, the number of tourists from Russia and Asia has doubled. It must be noted that the demand for the Seychelles on our network has always been there, but there was the problem of shortage of rooms. We are witnessing investment in the tourism sector of the Seychelles and this augers well for the future,” added Tadros.

Agents and Hotels Emirates Holidays and the STB teamed up to boost tourist traffic to the Seychelles this year, with the ‘Be Smart, Be Carnaval' programme.

Travel agents from the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Bahrain, Lebanon, Jordan, Russia, Cyprus, Greece and Turkey were invited to keep track of their bookings to the Seychelles from June 15 to January 31, 2012, and the four top performing travel agents will be sent to the Seychelles Carnaval International de Victoria in 2012. The countries which have been selected are said to constitute new markets with high potential for the archipelago. “These types of cultural exchanges are expected to increase,” remarked Mancienne.

Increased investment in the Seychelles has included the opening of new accommodation.

Seychelles in Brief Capital: Victoria Currency: Seychelles rupee (SCR) Language: Creole, English, French Kempinski announced it will open Kempinski Seychelles Resort, Mahé island, in October, featuring 173 rooms and suites.

Recent additions include Raffles Praslin Seychelles Resort, which opened in February; and Hilton Seychelles Labriz Resort & Spa, which opened in March. Elaine Reed, corporate communications for Middle East and Africa, Hilton Worldwide, remarked on expanding markets. We are increasingly seeing more tourists from Russia and, because of the direct flights from Dubai airport, we are seeing more guests from the UAE and the wider GCC.” STB has also noted that tourism from the MENA region is expected to rise. “Although visitors from MENA account for only about five percent of total visitors to Seychelles, it is one of the fastest growing tourism markets for the Seychelles. In 2010, visitors from the region recorded a 40 percent growth. The Seychelles is trying to diversify its tourism markets so that we are not too dependent on Europe,” highlighted Mancienne. Banyan Tree Seychelles noted an increase in visitors from the Middle East and Africa as well as Asia and Europe.

Strategy for the future of the islands’ tourism industry will be marked out in a ‘green paper’ of the Seychelles Master Plan for Tourism, following President James Michel’s call for STB to be the drivers of the islands’ tourism brand. Suggestions for the tourism plan, which is expected to be published at the end of November, are urged. n 19

- Mauritius

A Multi-Faceted Mauritius Mauritius offers a unique opportunity for guests to combine leisure, wellness and healthcare in a single trip, as well as offering other tourism focuses, increasing visitor sectors. Travel Trade Monthly examines the diversity in the destination’s tourism and how this appeals to international markets.

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he total contribution of the industry to the island’s GDP, including its wider economic impacts, is forecast to rise by 6.4 percent per year from MUR101.5 billion (USD3.6 billion, amounting to 31.7 percent of GDP) this year to MUR188.6 billion (USD6.6 billion and 39.8 percent) by 2021, according to the World Travel and Tourism Council’s (WTTC) Mauritius report released in February.

Mauritius’ tourism success appears to emanate from diverse sectors. It is a popular place to get married and take a honeymoon, thanks to its stunning scenery, warm tropical climate and the warm hospitality of the Mauritian people.

Adhering to this tranquil and relaxing vibe, spa and wellbeing tourism is another prime sector, sponsored by international leading brands such as Clarins, Givenchy and Shisheido. The competitive nature of the market has resulted in a range of pampering treatments and state-of-theart health and beauty facilities. Furthering the wellness focus, medical tourism has also grown, ranging from cosmetic surgery to dentistry.

Diverse Markets Mauritius has not ignored its diverse terrain and has successfully tapped into the adventure tourism market, with more reserves and domains beginning to open up to tourists. The north is famous for watersports, while the east of the island is wilder and less developed, offering scenic treks and the south-east is known for its high cliffs. Other activities include canyoning, horseriding and scuba diving. A main ‘green’ attraction is the Black River Gorges National Park, which extends over 16,680 acres.

With a plethora of activities and superior facilities on offer, the island is an ideal destination for luxury MICE tourism, highlights the Mauritius Tourism Promotion Authority.

With its bilingual population, business friendly atmosphere, new five-star accommodation options as well as a diversified mix of hotels and brands, the Indian Ocean's largest convention centre and simplified visa entry facilities, the island easily caters for big incentive groups as well as corporate hospitality needs.

Air Mauritius, which operates daily flights from 20

Mauritius

worldwide destinations, has embarked on an initiative that offers additional features to MICE buyers, seeking to promote the sector’s travel to Mauritius. Offerings include competitive group fares, helicopter sightseeing, ‘heli-lunches’ or ‘heli-golf ’ excursions at preferential group rates and free carriage of golf clubs, up to 23kg per bag.

Emirates has helped to sustain tourism to the island in other ways, suggested Rula Tadros, Emirates group corporate communications.

“We have supported the island in difficult times without decreasing the number of flights. In fact, we increased frequencies in 2009, amidst the crisis. It is known that Emirates has greatly contributed to developing new markets, such as Russia and other Eastern European countries.

Mauritius is an important destination for Emirates. The Dubai-Mauritius route is a popular and successful one with a load factor of more than 85 percent. We started our operations to the island in 2002 with four weekly flights and over the years, we have gradually increased the frequencies to nine weekly flights.”

of hotels are enjoying high occupancy from this market. Mövenpick Resort & Spa Mauritius has received low numbers from this region due to lack of secure relationships, suggested Geraldine Bajee, sales and marketing manager of the hotel. “[Yield is] very poor in this market. We try to deal with new collaboration in order to secure volume in this market. The Indian market has proved to be the main visitor for our resort due to heavy efforts to create awareness for our product. However, the French market remains our best market island wise.” This suggests that more cooperation from both Mauritian and MENA tourism players is required to strengthen tourism ties and facilitate more widespread exploitation of the region’s travellers.

Accommodation Accommodation in Mauritius ranges from charming villas right through to luxury resorts, to appeal to all visitor types. Major hotel groups include Accor, Apavou Hotels, Club Med, Constance Hotels, Starwood Hotels & Resorts, Sun Resorts, Veranda Resorts and One&Only Resorts, while tax incentives offered by the government have helped to attract further reputable international hotel chains such as Four Seasons, Hilton, InterContinental, Le Meridien, and Sofitel.

Despite an apparent increase in MENA visitors to the island, not all of the increasing number

Strategy The Ministry of Tourism and Leisure is focusing on emerging markets such as India, China and Russia, with the objective of minimising adverse effects from the euro crisis and external shocks.

In order to promote the island, Nando Bodha, Minister of Tourism, also unveiled a security campaign that may include new legislation, which aims to protect the one millon tourists expected this year from crime. With Mauritius clearly appealing to a wide spectrum of travellers, with an expanding flight network, tourism from throughout the world looks set to expand in accordance with forecasts from the WTTC. n

Mauritius in Brief Capital: Port Louis Currency: Mauritian rupee (MUR) Language: English

AUGUST 2011

- Solo Travel

Solo but Not Lonely – Going it Alone!

Booking for one person and having only a suitcase or backpack for company is a way of travelling which is fast gaining popularity.

However, one is never really alone when travelling. In fact, travelling solo provides the experience of the ultimate self-indulgence, when one can take in every sight, sound and smell with unfiltered prejudices. For various reasons, more and more travellers opt for being captain of their own destiny and travel solo.

Rita Kasziba writes

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ravelling solo is one of the most rewarding yet challenging experiences with plenty of pros and cons to consider. One can choose to book a single ticket to enjoy the ultimate freedom of making every decision based on one’s own senses and beliefs while others have no other option due to having to consider a partner. Often, however, many solo travellers go on their own not only to reach a new state of mind, but to carry out projects or gain work experience, noted Tina Zorman, director, Eternal Yemen, a travel and tour operator.

“There are many single travellers, slightly more male then female. Many of them are single male backpackers, either photographers or freelance journalists. However, in Yemen there are not many very young individual travellers or couples under the age of 30, as the country is relatively expensive for travelling. Both, male and female backpackers and students in particular, rarely seek package deals, as they want to spend as less money as possible.”

While remote destinations and exclusive resorts offer the ideal locations for a family holiday or honeymoon, solo travellers tend to opt for centrally situated hotels, where instead of a tranquil haven they can easily discover the destination and blend in with the locals. Although being a rewarding experience, travelling alone means there is no one to watch your back.

“Travelling on your own in Yemen is quite different from doing it in other countries,” added Zorman. “First of all you cannot just start your travel immediately, but you first have to obtain

AUGUST 2011

the travel permit that is issued by tourist police upon the approximate plan of your travel. Some regions cannot be visited individually and usually travellers skip those regions, or they rent a car for just few days. Another disadvantage is that Yemen does not have very developed bus system, there are no trains in Yemen and in some places the roads are still very bad.”

As groups are too often lost in conversation, one often fails to discover what the place really has to offer. Therefore, many of those choosing to escape the four corners and the daily routine, opt for going it alone to shatter this invisible shield hoisted up when travelling in a group. They prefer to take in all that the destination has to offer by mingling with locals and other travellers.

Many often start their journey by looking for travel companions and in the last couple of years several websites have been launched in response to the growing demand for partnering with someone for travel.

In general, it is good to have self-confidence and not to be overbearing Travelinlove.com provides a meeting platform for those who would rather start their trip with a new companion, and acts as an information source with comprehensive reviews about an array of destinations, noted Stefan Alt, project manager.

“The destinations are diverse as our users vary holiday plans and itineraries. The list includes well-known countries like Spain and exotic places

like, for example, Tadzhikistan. So far our most popular destinations, according to the number of travel plans, are Turkey and Egypt.”

Besides finding a travel partner, these kinds of websites also help solo travellers to get all the information they need to best adapt to the destination’s culture and customs.

“In general, it is good to have self-confidence and not to be overbearing. In some countries it is maybe useful to wear apparel adapted to the country. You also have to keep in mind that you have to look after yourself, so it is advisable not to take expensive valuables with you. The average age of our users is about 35 and 60 percent of them are men while the remaining 40 percent are women,” added Alt. Solo Woman in the Middle East Travelling solo is always challenging, especially when a woman decides to take a plunge into the unknown in the Middle East. To experience the magic of travelling solo, one must consider the fact that differences between certain parts of the region exist, noted Zorman, a seasoned traveller herself.

“I think there are quite some differences for women travelling solo among different Arab countries. Many times, the girls complain about receiving ‘too much’ of boys’ or merchants’ attention in countries like Egypt or Morocco.

Well, the case is different in Yemen. Yemen is a very safe country in many senses. There are almost no pickpockets or thieves; the chances of being the victim of kidnapping or terrorist attack are almost non-existent, although there is so much talking about this. Women receive all the possible help and kindness from the men and women.” n 21

Henning Fries

Henning Fries

Henning Fries has been promoted to regional vice president, UAE for Fairmont Hotels & Resorts. In his new role, Fries will spearhead the operation of all properties in the Fairmont UAE portfolio and he will also be responsible for the hotels under development, including Fairmont Fujairah. Fries will continue his work as general manager of Fairmont Bab Al Bahr, the hotel, which, under his leadership since 2010, has already gained acknowledgment. With a career spanning over 25 years across four continents, Fries brings a wealth of experience to his new role. Prior to joining Fairmont, he held various executive positions with leading hotel companies, including Mövenpick Hotels & Resorts, Mandarin Oriental Hotel Group and InterContinental Hotels Group. From 1987 onwards he worked in food and beverage roles at Fairmont Empress, Fairmont Royal York and Fairmont Château Laurier. He then continued as a consultant for hotels and hospitality related enterprises before rejoining the operational side of the industry as regional director, UAE Refad Hotels & Resorts, and general manager, Monarch Dubai.

Catherine McNabb

Catherine McNabb Pep Lozano

Catherine McNabb has joined Dusit International as vice president sales and marketing. McNabb has been tasked with driving the sales and marketing initiatives globally for the brands in Dusit’s portfolio, which includes Dusit Thani, Dusit Princess and dusitD2.

McNabb, who has had a long and successful 22-year career in the tourism and hospitality industry, brings extensive cross-cultural management expertise within both the public and private sectors and solid commercial acumen to the role. Previously, she held positions with Tourism Toronto, Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts, New World Hotels and Fairmont Hotels and Resorts. During her five-year tenure with the Singapore Tourism Board she was instrumental in a number of key projects, including the co-creation of ITB Asia, Wildlife Asia Film Festival and Champions of the Earth/Business 4 the Environment. She also spearheaded the commercial development of the inaugural Youth Olympic Games in 2010.

Stefan Buchs

Stefan Buchs Stefan Buchs has been appointed as vice president hotel operations, Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) at Banyan Tree. Based in London, Buchs is in charge of supervising all existing hotel operations and upcoming developments in the region as well as in the Seychelles and Mauritius.

He has also been tasked with developing the group’s EMEA business through new opportunities in accordance with Banyan Tree’s global expansion plan. Buchs brings a wide range of experience to the role, having previously held positions at large-scale premier properties with deluxe facilities and spas in Europe. Most recently he worked as vice president of CHI Hotels & Resorts, a high-end hotel management company and the exclusive operator and developer for the luxury Corinthia brand.

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Pep Lozano Pep Lozano has been appointed as general manager of The Ritz-Carlton Abu Dhabi, Grand Canal. In his new role the Spanish hotelier is in charge of all operations and sales activities, as well as guest and employee engagement, at the 532-room hotel, which is due to open at the end of the year. Most recently he held the general manager position of The Ritz-Carlton Doha for two years. He began his career at Hotel Arts in Barcelona, a Ritz-Carlton managed property, in various food and beverage roles. In 2000, he moved to the US to work as director of food and beverage in the opening phase of The RitzCarlton Washington DC Lozano then returned to Spain where he held the general manager position of Hotel Arts and then of Abama Golf & Spa Resort, Tenerife, another Ritz-Carlton managed property. A RitzCarlton veteran, Lozano played vital roles in the opening of several properties of the company around the world.

AUGUST 2011

Q & A with Hani Dahlan With travel booking trends evolving along with technological advancements, travel industry players have had to continually adapt. Hani Dahlan, general manager, UNIGLOBE Dahlan Tours & Travel, explains to Travel Trade Monthly why he launched the online portal, TravelSheikh.com, the first of its kind in the Middle East, and how it is hoped to retain a sustainable business model.

Travel Trade Monthly: When was Travel Sheikh established?

Hani Dahlan: Travel Sheikh is a project that has been under development by Dahlan Tours & Travel for the past two and a half years. We just launched it in July.

of its kind. Travelsheikh.com features flights, hotels, car rentals, transportation and much more with the most competitive prices. A year from now, we will be able to understand the online booking patterns of the Middle Eastern consumer.

Travel Trade Monthly: What spurred the Travel Trade Monthly: What do you think launch of the company? Has it been Travel Sheikh, with online travel booking prompted by existing booking trends in the platform, will bring to both the business and ME? Do you think the online booking trend leisure sectors visiting Jordan and the rest of is set to rise? the Middle East?

Hani Dahlan: The travel industry, like many Hani Dahlan: Travelsheikh.com was others, is shifting to the digital era. We, in the Middle East region, have taken some time to make this shift to online commerce due to many obstacles with the infrastructure of internet connections and payment gateways. At Dahlan, we decided to take the initiative even though it means we must also educate the public about booking travel online and the safety and convenience of it all by introducing www.travelsheikh.com.

During the past few years, we have noticed that both walk-in and corporate clients have been increasingly using international online portals.

However, it started with the simplicity of checking the rate online and then contacting their travel agent to book the same. Recently, it has evolved into actual online sales and the agents therefore lose business. The online travel business is the future of travel bookings globally, so if travel agencies aren't set to go online then they won't have a sustainable business model.

If travel agencies aren't set to go online then they won't have a sustainable business model

established, and will always be based, in Jordan, yet we cover the whole world. Therefore we target both inbound travel to the Middle East and outbound travel from the Middle East. Our aim is to be the first choice for travellers visiting the Middle East and Jordan so they can get a real sense of what to expect and what this region has to offer. Our main target now is to make online travel booking simple and easy and provide a platform for all our colleagues in the travel industry to be visible online.

Travel Trade Monthly: What new, sophisticated travel technologies will the company adopt?

Hani Dahlan: We continuously shift our business model to accommodate technological advances, hence the inception of travelsheikh.com. Since we already have the most updated software and secure payment gateway, we will now focus on the convenience of customising travel packages and vacations. The idea is to make it a fun process rather than a rigid business deal.

Travel Trade Monthly: What does Travel Sheikh foresee for the future, with regards to the company and its strategy as well as for Jordan?

Hani Dahlan: We are hoping and are preparing

Travel Trade Monthly: For what type of product do you expect demand for your for the unknown as we can’t foresee the future services will be higher? with the lack of data on online travel patterns. We Hani Dahlan: It is difficult to project which strive to position the region and be more visible service will generate more demand as there is no basis for reference since we are the first website AUGUST 2011

in the international market, as progressive members of the online travel community.

Hani Dahlan

The idea is to make it a fun process rather than a rigid business deal Travel Trade Monthly: How will Travel Sheikh secure collaborative relationships with travel operators across the Middle East?

Hani Dahlan: We welcome all travel suppliers to become Travel Sheikh suppliers and we already work with many across the region. Being an online portal which caters to both B2B (www.trasys.dahlan.com) and B2C (www.travelsheikh.com), we are confident that we can achieve a collaborative effort in the industry and make these portals successful. With the concept and model we are working on, we must cooperate with all suppliers, in order to properly serve all customers. Basically, we are everybody’s online sales channel. May the ones with the best rates and best level of quality yield the most sales! n 23

World Travel Market to Focus on BRIC Economies This year’s World Travel Market (WTM) in November will focus on the world’s BRIC economies, with its first-ever dedicated headline session on the travel and tourism potential of Brazil, Russia India and China.

WTM 2010 highlighted the tourism development in the BRIC nations in its inaugural World Travel Market 2010 Industry Report.

The study, which polled 1,300 WTM exhibitors and buyers from the Meridian Club, as well as 1,000 UK holidaymakers, found that almost half of the industries believe the BRIC economies will provide one of the biggest growth opportunities of the next five years.

Simon Press, exhibition director, WTM, commented that these economies will become increasingly influential in the coming years.

“The BRIC economies will play an ever-increasing role in the future of the travel and tourism industry. The desire by the people of these countries to travel abroad as well the growing interest from tourists to visit these countries means they will be at the forefront of decisions made by the industry’s leading organisations.”

Oman Developments Will Boost the Nation’s Tourism Oman will open new national attractions, along with a record number of leisure and travel properties this year, in an effort to bolster its tourism and hospitality sectors.

In the past few months, about 1,400 new hotel rooms and the Royal Opera House Muscat have been opened. MuscatKhasab routes from Oman’s National Ferry Company have also been extended.

Salem Al Mamari, director general of tourism promotions, Ministry of Tourism Oman, commented on the developments.

“The launch of new resorts and hotels will be welcome developments as demand can be very overwhelming during peak seasons. We also need to broaden the base of mid-range and budget hotels as this segment is attracting more patrons.”

Meanwhile, construction on Oman’s Convention and Exhibition Centre is on track for a late 2013 opening. The facility includes a 3,000-seat plenary, 25,000m2 of exhibition space and four hotels with a total of 1,000 rooms.

China Incentive, Business Travel and Meetings Exhibition Beijing, China, August 30-September 1, 2011 (www.cibtm.com) A leading event for the meetings, incentives, business travel and events industry in China and Asia.

Cityscape Dubai Dubai, UAE, September 26-29, 2011 (www.cityscape.ae) A B2B networking exhibition and conference for emerging real estate markets globally.

PATA Travel Mart New Delhi, India, September 6-9, 2011 (www.pata.org) Asia Pacific’s premier travel trade show with networking and contracting opportunities.

Kazakhstan International Tourism Exhibition Astana, Kazakhstan, September 27-29, 2011 www.leisure.kz The eighth Kazakhstan International Tourism Exhibition in Astana caters for both the B2B and B2C markets and features a vibrant mix of inbound and outbound destinations.

Top Resa, International French Travel Market Paris, France, September 20-23, 2011 (www.iftm.fr) An international travel and tourism trade fair for networking, doing business, innovating and keeping abreast of market developments.

The World Youth and Student Travel Conference Palau, Spain, September 20-23, 2011 (www.wystc.org) An event for organisations that serve today’s young people who travel. It provides an opportunity for attendees to pursue innovative partnerships, develop creative marketing and distribution channels and access new markets.

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CIS Travel Market St. Petersburg, Russia, October 12-14, 2011 (www.restec.ru) An event focusing on the CIS countries with airlines, tour operators, travel agencies, accommodation providers and tourist associations.

ITB Asia Suntec, Singapore, October 19-21, 2011 (www.itb-asia.com) An event where international exhibitors, Asia Pacific’s leading companies and emerging enterprises meet top buyers.

AUGUST 2011