by the World Tourism Organization
International tourism continues to recover from the decline of 4.2% suffered last year under the impact of the economic crisis. In the first eight months of this year, the number of international tourist arrivals exceeded the record achieved during the same period of the pre-crisis year 2008. According to the latest issue of the UNWTO World Tourism Barometer, worldwide arrivals between January and August 2010 totalled 642 million, some 40 million more than duri
Once again I can say that "I survived WTM London." World Travel Market, the leading global event for the travel industry is held every year in November at London's Excel conference center. WTM is a vibrant must-attend four-day business-to-business event, presenting a diverse range of destinations and industry sectors to travel professionals from over 160 countries. By attending WTM, participants gain immediate competitive advantage for their business and stay abreast with the latest developments
You can’t blame travel suppliers and companies for their myopia. For all too many years they’ve had a Pavlovian response to their brands: promote them, and get around to taking care of customers later.
Or maybe never.
In spite of all the brouhaha that suggested social media is the way to connect with and service customers, the facts speak differently, according to Hotelmarketing.com.
They report that 62% of customers are looking for more support through social media. But, brand reputation an
I have been going to the World Travel Market since 2007, and this year’s WTM, in my opinion, is going to be the most interesting yet, and the event that I have always looked forward to the most is the World Responsible Tourism Day.One of the most frequently heard complaints in the world of travel and tourism is that when things go wrong, few people accept responsibility. Instead visitors are forced to hear a jet stream of excuses, or simply see a shrug of the shoulders or are simply ignored. In today's world travel and tourism are hard, and when travel and hospitality professionals simply look the other way or ignore a problem, a hard situation becomes both stressful and often intolerable. Taking responsibility is more
Today’s travel agent is more akin to an advisor or consultant than the booking agent of the past.
Makes sense.
If you wanted to travel say to the mountain village of Chefchaouen, Morocco, in the Riff Mountains (enjoy the blue houses and weavers), then wanted to spend a few nights in Tunisia’s Sidi Bou Saidbefore heading for some Sahara Desert camping, which online sites would you use?
Probably none.
The smart thing would be to visit a travel agent with in-depth North African experience.
Are there any
This summer much of the world's eyes will be on London, England and the Summer Olympic Games. Perhaps the world premier sporting event begins on July 27th and continues until August 12. Needless to say, such a major event, even for a city as large as London is no simple matter. Organizing such a major event is no easy matter. For example the Olympics will have over 23,000 security professionals and it is estimated that security alone will cost more than one billion British pound sterling. (ab
No, price isn’t everything in travel. It counts for a great deal in making travel decisions, but those merchants of “low, low prices” are missing the point.
What seems to drive travel choices is the ability for the traveler to connect with a brand; to feel and identify with it.
At least that’s what the Harris Poll EqiTrend 2012 (EQ) study tells us.
The poll is a study of the health and function of major brands, and Travel Daily News has a neat summary in its newsletter.
Stating a travel axiom,
Reports to the contrary, the travel agent is alive and well.
A couple of blocks from where I live is a a storefront travel agency. Been there for quite a while, as long as I can remember, anyway.
The space is crammed with brochures, books, all kinds of magazines and old posters. It’s almost always full of people. Some come and sit on the uneven naugahyde chairs and chat with the owner and each other.
Others are actual paying customers booking one kind of trip or another.
Business gets done amid
You can’t blame travel suppliers and companies for their myopia. For all too many years they’ve had a Pavlovian response to their brands: promote them, and get around to taking care of customers later.
Or maybe never.
In spite of all the brouhaha that suggested social media was the way of connecting with and servicing customers, the facts seem to speak differently, according to Hotelmarketing.com.
They report that 62% of customers are looking for more support through social media. But, bran
Members of the Association of Travel Marketing Executives (ATME) met recently at Random House/Fodor’s Travel in New York City for their annual lunch to discuss trends in travel market. Fodor’s Travel and Weather Underground sponsored the event.
ATME is a non-profit, professional association made up of experienced and innovative travel industry marketers. Now in it’s 30th year, ATME remains dedicated to helping travel professionals
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| From NMT Images |
By Roy Heale
In South America July usually signifies the cold of winter, but in Buenos Aires from July 21st to 23rd the temperature will heat up when hundreds of LGBT tourism industry professionals gather together for the third annual GNETWORK 360 conference. This important award-winning FREE event is the major global gathering each year for LGBT travel and tourism networking, educational forums, panel discussions, exchange of ideas, and renewing old acquaintances or making new ones.
Recently the
