Green light for the transformation of WTO into a specialized agency of the United Nations
The World Tourism Organization may soon gain more international status and recognition as a specialized agency of the UN. The Economic and Social Council of the UN (ECOSOC) adopted a resolution by consensus on 24th July 2002 that has opened the way for WTO to become a specialized agency of the United Nations Organization. The resolution provides for a negotiations process that could lead to the transformation of WTO. The resolution adopted by ECOSOC authorise the President to appoint members of the Council to a Committee to Negotiate a relationship agreement between the UNO and WTO. The draft relationship agreement has to be submitted to ECOSOC for consideration at its substantive session of 2003. Following a positive conclusion of negotiations the new status of WTO would require a final approval by both the UN General Assembly and the General Assembly of WTO. he Secretary-General of WTO Mr. Francesco Frangialli stated in his address to ECOSOC Members that the WTO transformation from related into a specialized agency of the UN will "constitute a remarkable step forward, which can be characterized by three words: recognition, effectiveness, and impetus". Recognition, because it acknowledges the fact that travel, leisure and tourism constitute a powerful part of modern society that cannot be ignored. Effectiveness, because, due to tourism's multidisciplinary nature, many agencies and organs of the system are involved in its expansion in the performance of their own specific responsibilities. Transforming the WTO into a specialized agency would mean greater coherence by increasing the synergies among those different stakeholders and enhancing the coordination carried out by ECOSOC. And impetus - because we expect to achieve greater visibility that would prompt governments as well as multilateral institutions, especially the Bretton Woods institutions, to pay increased attention to an industry that brings development," said Mr. Frangialli. Tourism has become one of the dominant activities at the beginning of the 21st century. In 2001, in spite of the first crisis to affect the industry, 693 million visitors travelled from one country to another. They spent some 462 billion dollars, making tourism one of the top categories of international trade. "And this figure, impressive as it is, does not even include expenditures on air transport, or the activity generated by domestic travel in the different countries, which is bigger still," underlined Mr. Frangialli. The World Tourism Organization was established in 1975 as a result of the transformation, of the International Union of Official Travel Organizations (IUOTO) into an intergovernmental institution. WTO-UN relationship began with an agreement approved by the United Nations General Assembly and the General Assembly of WTO in 1977. Since 1976, WTO has been an executing agency of the United Nations Development Programme and, in this capacity, it carries out a large majority of the tourism development projects it finances around the world. WTO also has an observer status in ECOSOC. At the internal level, WTO's staff comes under the "common system", and in 1996 the Madrid-based organization joined the United Nations Joint Staff Pension Fund. Visit the World-Tourism Website »

	Rwanda and Uganda safe for tracking
Prompted by reports alarming tourists about tracking in Uganda and Rwanda, Harriet Trinkaus of Africa Online recently wrote to eTurbo News to set the record straight. According to Trinkaus, Rwanda and Uganda are both safe for tracking. "Tracking Gorillas in Uganda and Rwanda have been one of the most popular African Safaris in the past two years," wrote Trinkaus who hinted that the negative reports could be because "the Congo has been marked 'Insecure' due to political turmoil and war." "As you may or may not know, Uganda has half of the remaining endangered mountain gorillas in the world," wrote Trinkaus who also stated that gorilla tracking in Uganda's Bwindi National Park has been ongoing. Although slight changes have occurred such as the price permit going up from US $250 to US $275 per person per day, effective July 1, 2002. Trinkaus also noted another change, the number of permits issued a day to any one park is now 12. Aside from these changes, Trinkaus also wrote of another development. Trinkaus mentioned that the gorilla family in Bwindi, has split into two, the second referred to as the HB family. This simply means that they now have extra permits available per day; four more permits a day making it a total of 16 permits a day. And on security concerns, "Security in the Bwindi and Mgahinga areas is good and should be noted by everyone," said Trinkaus. Trinkaus also stated that accommodation options vary from 4 stars to Bandas. "In many cases you will find that permits for Bwindi are sold out and tracking has to be done in Rwanda," added Trinkaus who noted that that all accommodations would still be in Uganda. Trinkaus advised people interested in tracking gorillas to get the right information about these primates.

	Travel outlook strong despite stock market dip
People plan to travel through the end of this year despite the stock market's recent slump, according to a national survey by Yesawich, Pepperdine & Brown marketing firm. The national poll shows more than nine out of 10 adults who planned a trip before year-end still expect to take those trips. There was little difference between investors and non-investors despite the stock market decline. In addition, business travelers, both non- investors and investors, are keeping their travel plans YP&B also asked survey respondents how likely they are to take certain kinds of trips given the current state of the economy. Leisure travelers with stock market investments said they are less likely to take an international vacation (58 percent), gambling trip (57 percent), or a trip to a theme park (38 percent). Business travelers, investors and non-investors, said they are less likely to take an incentive trip (48 percent), attend a corporate meeting (34 percent) or attend a professional or trade association convention (34 percent). Maitland-based YP&B surveyed 801 adults right after the stock market sharply declined during the week of July 22. The survey has a margin of error of plus or minus 3.5 percent.

The Changing World of Trade Buyers

Issues Facing Buyers By and large, buyers (comprising of travel agents, tour operators and wholesalers) are being affected by the following factors: 1) Consolidation among both buyers and sellers 2) Market-share battles by the mega-groups 3) Airline financial problems, commission- and other forms of cost- cutting, restructuring and development of loyalty programmes 4) Insurance costs 5) Consumer protection regulations 6) Changes in lifestyles, consumer travel habits, including concerns over safety, fickle loyalty, shorter booking periods and shifts to ÒstableÓ destinations 7) Development of Internet booking systems and the growth of direct-sell, bypassing middlemen 8) Internal costs of restructuring, re- equipping, training and marketing, to name just a few challenges. At the same time, this is impacting on both travel marts and sellers themselves. Buyers are becoming very selective about the marts they attend, and mart-organisers have to make sure that participating buyers will find the products they are looking for. Both have to ensure improved quality of contact. AustraliaÕs Advantage For the most part, Australia qualifies as a Ògood buyÓ for several reasons: It is a stable country, relatively free of personal safety fears and travel advisories; it has reversed seasonality; has a multi-cultural, environmentally-conscious infrastructure with a huge diversity of tourism products; and the industry is generally well-managed and responsive. It is, overall, a ÒdesirableÓ destination with potential for generating high-yield business. The Australian Tourist Commission also spends an enormous amount of time researching market trends and customer profiles, constantly fine- tunes its product offerings in line with those trends and supports productive buyers with tools to improve their business performance. These factors, among others, make the Australia Tourism Exchange an attractive show for buyers. At the same time, it yields a rich harvest of information about the changing profile of buyers.

The Globalisation Onslaught The global consolidation and expansion onslaught by the major U.S. and European travel groups will have a significant impact on the future of the industry. They are seeking to cut unit costs and build market share by linking up with other companies with access to distribution networks and databases. This is being done via outright purchases, cross-equity links, franchises, etc. Their ability to use negotiating power to drive down prices and seize business is obvious. The borderline between wholesaler and retailer is fudging. All are cross-pollinating. At the ATE, one major German wholesaler made this quite obvious by offering six different brochures and the potential to sell via 10,000 travel agencies. Here are some of the emerging trends: All aspire to become one-stop shops to encourage the customer to buy everything from the one place, and keep buying from that place in the future. Many are now selling directly over the Internet and using their own magazines and direct mail systems to reach customers. The days of printed brochures are set to fade. They are broadening their choice of products and services, but narrowing the number of suppliers in key categories like hotels. Some are trying to get into niche-market territory by setting up specialist departments focussing on destinations or fast-selling niche-products like wellness and ecotourism.

The Future of the Independents For the independents, it has clearly become a matter of life and death. But their biggest asset is the value they place in their independence. With that comes a corresponding determination to avoid becoming part of a large, monolithic organisation with its constant restructuring, cost-cutting, staff transfers, internal politics, ego battles and other problems. One clear opportunity lies in specialisation. In terms of products, huge opportunities are emerging for small and medium-sized independent operators to focus on market segments that are still beyond the return-on- investment targets of the mega-groups. Such segments include senior travel, sports travel, travel by youth, students and backpackers, upmarket products, indigenous travel, wine tours, honeymoon packages, gay and lesbian travel. Here are some examples of new trends: One European company that specialised in group travel is "now changing more and more to upmarket and deluxe FITs." One Irish agency is run by a husband and wife team. Formerly a High Street retail travel agent, they now operate a Web-booking engine, business house travel section and wholesale arm specialising in Australia and New Zealand. Wanting to become a one- stop shop for Irish agents, they also hold GSAs for various Australian products. Some niche-market agents are establishing partnerships with other tour operators and wholesalers who can cross-sell their products. For example, a specialist in golf tours links up with a wine-tour specialist. One Italian operator began focusing on Australia after years of specialising only in the Caribbean. One U.S. tour operator specialising in gourmet tours now works with wine-tasters and top chefs to develop cooking courses. Another U.S. agent focuses only on filling off- season beds and seats at "great prices." Travel Web sites are also buying directly. One invited Web site buyer, who was formerly an airline ticket consolidator, claims to be the leading online pan- European tour operator and is planning a significant expansion of its land product programme to give passengers "the widest range of accommodation and broadest choice of ancillary product across all regions of Australia." One South Pacific tour operator specialises in handling the French military traffic which it describes as having high amounts of disposable income and high yield. Some are specialising in accommodation only. In addition to offering some mainstream products, they offer boutique hotels, luxury resorts, private homes and apartments. This product range is being buttressed with luxury cruises and boat charters. One Belgium group says it only offers exclusive small-scale properties in unique locations. One buyer specialises in wildlife holidays to remote locations. One group has linked up with ticketing companies to sell only sports events like cricket matches, football, rugby, World Cup, Olympics, etc, calling itself a ticketing and tour operator. Others are also adding theatres and concerts, anything that involves tickets. There were two buyers from such companies, one of which is focussing not just on selling tickets but the entire management of visitors to sports events complete with logistics, transport schedules, accommodation, security and passes.

Trends in Asia GROWING MATURITY OF THE CHINESE MARKET: After the initial chaos of the early days of outbound travel, the growing professionalism of the Chinese market is noticeable. Chinese buyers are part of huge conglomerates with huge economic strength and an extensive business network that gives them a good source of regular, corporate and incentive travel. Many are cross-linked with companies in Hong Kong SAR to access that market. They are increasingly becoming members of international organisations such as IATA and PATA and seeking higher standards of certification and professionalism. Some of them are moving beyond groups and into individual travel, study tours or special interest travel. Many are spending time working on improving multi-language capabilities for their guides. Chinese operators dominate the turf in their respective regions. All appear to be very conscious of their reputation, size, level of respect and the number of travellers they send overseas. Some are setting up specialised departments to sell specific destinations such as Australia and New Zealand. Many are looking for new products to cater to the evolving taste of Chinese travellers. Most do both inbound and outbound. In future, they will soon be at the professional level of operators in Hong Kong SAR where FIT travel is the rage and payments can be made over the Internet. Sellers wishing to tap the Chinese market will need people who can speak the language. Australia has many ethnic Chinese who are robustly capitalising on this asset. MEGA-GROUPS EXPANDING: In Hong Kong SAR, Singapore, India and many other parts of Asia, mega- groups are making inroads and finding no shortage of local partners anxious to get global coverage, bring in a number of business travel accounts, and secure access to training, automation and distribution. Travel companies affiliated to charge-card companies are also growing their distribution networks. One Hong Kong SAR agency, focusing on niche markets such as special interest tours, study programmes, events management and deluxe FIT travel, has set up another company to take care of conferences and incentives. INDIA, ANOTHER BIG GROWTH MARKET: Like China (PRC), India is another big potential growth market, but one with a much less structured industry. The sheer size and diversity of the market means infinite opportunity for operators to tap into niche segments: conferences, honeymooners, students, adventure, incentives, cruises, etc. Buyers are also Internet-savvy and anxious to establish new destinations. However, culinary requirements are very specific. Operators also have to provide services like visas and foreign exchange handling. They are spreading their offices nationwide and acquiring GSAs. While the widespread use of English is an advantage, they are very sharp negotiators due to the size of the market. JAPAN, MORE SPECIALISATION: The mass-market tour operators are expanding their distribution networks into more cities and becoming more specialised, leading the specialist tour operators to burrow even deeper. One operator linked to a major airline has now opened a division focusing only on the silver market. Another buyer who specialises in hotels has begun to sell direct to customers. In addition to hotel vouchers, it is now adding vouchers of other travel components to FIT trips. For example: sightseeing, optional tours, golf packages, weddings, cruises, rent a car. KOREA (ROK), STRONGER INDUSTRY EMERGING: Since the 1997 economic crisis, Koreans have won plaudits for the way they have restructured many of their companies. Before 1997, Korean tour operators were considered mostly tour-group oriented and interested mainly in shopping commissions. Today, one of the invited buyers at the ATE described his company thus: ÒWe've made our multidisciplinary focus and integrated approach the foundation of building strategy, marketing segmentation, sales promotion, online strategy, enterprise systems and processes for our clients' competitive advantage.Ó Several are expanding into specialist niches such as honeymooners, backpackers, young adventurers, etc, all of which indicates the growing sophistication of the market.

SOURCE: PATA BANGKOK