Travel News Europe - #89 - December 2008 - (Page 3)

TRAVEL NEWS EUROPE The information you need to make decisions www.travelnewseurope.com December 2008 Issue 89 inside NEWS n n I T B B E R L I N C O N V E N T I O N M A R K E T T R E N D S & I N N O VAT I O N S : Travel & Tourism Recovery Could Start Within 12 Months Park Hyatt Istanbul - Maçka Palas Opens Its Doors Etihad Voted Airline Of The Year At British Travel Awards 2008 Travel News Europe interviews Jan Tissera, President, TravelCLICK International n DESTINATIONS Cyprus Singapore Leading European outbound markets in terms of growth PAGE 10 PAGE 14 were Russia and Finland, with Norway and Spain joint 3rd. BUSINESS MICE Cyprus MICE PAGE 16 PAGE 19 Luxury Travel Exhibitions PAGE 20 PAGE 22 “Our challenge is to see through today’s pressures and prepare for a different world,” said Rolf Freitag, President & CEO of IPK International, at the close of IPK’s annual ITB Berlin sponsored ‘World Travel Monitor Forum’ (Pisa, November). “But predicting the end of the economic crisis and the start of recovery is an even bigger challenge, although we have every confidence in tourism’s longer-term resilience.” After 4 years of sustained strong growth, outbound travel demand slowed from June 2008, slipping into negative figures from September in some regions. Tourism experts believe that growth in demand for international tourism (expressed in outbound trip volume) will struggle to reach 3% this year. The financial crisis has reached international travel markets. Many airlines and tour operators have reduced capacity for 2009. Demand for international travel is expected to reduce by 1% in 2009. However tourism experts do not believe that the crisis will last longer than 12 - 18 months. Some parts of the world may see the beginning of a revival in 2009, but, given the lack of clarity regarding the main drivers of the crisis and its impact on disposable incomes, oil price uncertainty and currency fluctuations, tourism demand recovery may prove elusive. According to the Pisa participants, this is why the world will only see a strong recovery of travel and tourism in 2010, accelerating to new records in 2011 and 2012. Over the first 8 months of 2008 Europe recorded a 3% growth in both number of trips and foreign overnight volume. But the overall monthly average fell from +6% (January – April) to +1% (May – August), reflecting the impact of the financial crisis and high oil prices on demand. Leading European outbound markets in terms of growth were Russia (+15%) and Finland (+9%), with Norway and Spain joint 3rd (each up 3%). The only European market to suffer an outbound decline was France (-4%). Although the trend appears to have reversed since late summer, European business and MICE travel grew by twice the rate of holiday travel (+8% compared to +4%) January - August, while other types of leisure trips declined by 5%. Outbound travel from other leading and emerging markets showed similar 2008 trends to those in Europe - a shift from long- to short-haul travel, reduction in secondary trips, and a modest decline in low-cost air travel in favour of surface transport trips. With the exception of travel to Mexico, US outbound air travel was flat in the first 5 months of 2008, but it fell by 4% to Europe and 5% to Canada. Thanks to the low US dollar, in the first 8 months of 2008, Canadian outbound travel was buoyant (+13%). Strong travel this year from Latin American markets (especially Brazil and Argentina) is expected to slow in late 2008. In Asia, one of 2007’s strongest outbound travel growth regions, disappointing performances were exacerbated by reduced airline capacity on many routes, tightened security surrounding the Beijing Olympics and higher travel and living costs. Asia is expected to record 3% growth in outbound trips for the entire year (half the rate recorded in 2007) with no growth or declines from Japan, South Korea and Taiwan. Download the ITB World Travel Trends Report: www.itb-berlin.com http://www.travelnewseurope.com http://www.itb-berlin.com

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Travel News Europe - #89 - December 2008

Cover
Contents
NEWS
DESTINATIONS - Cyprus
�- Singapore
BUSINESS - MICE
�- Cyprus MICE
Luxury Travel
Exhibitions

Travel News Europe - #89 - December 2008