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PATA faces stiff challenges ahead –
A report from Macau
The 55th PATA Annual Conference will take place in Pattaya in April 2006
Reinhard Hohler
The 54th Pacific Asia Travel Association (PATA) Annual
Conference officially opened on April 17 with a spectacular reception at the
Taipa Houses-Museum, organized by, the Macau Host Committee, comprising
representatives of the SAR’s public- and private-sector tourism
stakeholders.
In the Opening Ceremony on April 18, H.E. Edmund Ho,
Chief Executive of the Macau Special Administrative Region welcomed 1,176
delegates from 44 countries to Macau. “We foresee a strong and solid
growth in the tourism industry as well as the vast opportunities,” said Mr
Ho. “We have no illusions about the challenges ahead of us.” He added:
“As you are fully aware, many of these challenges are not unique but
universal, shared by many of our partners in this region. We value our
participation in PATA and we firmly believe that we all will become stronger
and better through our closer partnership and co-operation.”
Macau
Tower, the venue of this year’s PATA Annual Conference
During the PATA Presidential Address, Peter de Jong asked
delegates to stand for one minute of silence in remembrance of the more than
170,000 people killed and some 100,000 people still missing and feared dead
as a result of the December 26, 2004 Indian Ocean quake and tsunami.
Mr de Jong said: Sadder but wiser from our recent
years’ experience dealing with the Bali bombing, with SARS, with Avian
Flu, and our successful Phoenix recovery campaign, PATA is now, more than
ever, ready to respond rapidly to crises that threaten our region.”
Mr de Jong went on to outline the Association’s rapid
and authoritative response to the December 26 quake and tsunami tragedy. He
said: “Our response to the tsunami, when viewed in total, is part and
parcel of PATA’s transformation into an agile, knowledge-based and
advocacy-embracing travel trade association.”
Following a colorful Macanese cultural performance,
International Air Transport Association Director General and CEO Giovanni
Bisignani delivered the opening keynote address on the Conference theme
“Connecting Tourism’s Stakeholders”.
“Globally, tourism is responsible for 5% of GDP. In
PATA countries, tourism directly accounts for up to 50% of GDP,” said Mr
Bisignani. “If one link in the value chain is weak or broken, everybody
suffers. This has been the lesson of Asia Pacific’s recent crises.” He
added: “Everyone in this room has felt their impact. In a global world of
instant news, coordinated action is critical.”
The next three days, the Conference delegates heard from
experts on strategic travel industry topics, such as changes in the aviation
sector’s competitive environment; poverty alleviation through tourism; the
industry’s sustainability; the relationship between tourism and the arts;
and China (PRC)’s rise as a tourism destination and source market.
Panelists on the well-attended “Windows on China”
session agreed that the China (PRC) and Japanese governments needed to
initiate reconciliation in the wake of anti-Japanese demonstrations in China
(PRC).
The 54th PATA Annual Conference closed on April 20 with
speaker Vincent Lo drawing from his own experiences to describe how to
“build success”. Mr Lo is Chairman of Shui On Holdings, a group engaged
in property, construction and construction materials which has successfully
created value for destinations through leisure and lifestyle property
developments.
Mr Lo asserted that tourism and property development are
parallel industries. “Tourism and property development can go
hand-in-hand,” he said. “Success in both is based on some common
fundamentals: people, environment, culture, architecture, facilities, and
supporting services.”
Threats and challenges identified by PATA’s ongoing
Total Tourism Survey included bird flu, terrorism, environmental degradation
and the ability of tourism infrastructure to handle one of the world’s
fastest growing industries. An interesting preliminary finding of the survey
is that bird flu is perceived by tourism professionals as a greater
potential threat than SARS. Respondents were also worried about future
terrorist activity, with the majority saying that governments should pay for
security. To pre-empt and be prepared for most of these challenges,
delegates learned that it was essential for tourism stakeholders to develop
credible and targeted communications strategies.
The 55th PATA Annual Conference will take place in Pattaya, Thailand in
April 2006.
Singapore to have two integrated resorts
A four-decade long casino ban in Singapore has ended with
the announcement of not one, but two, multibillion dollar integrated resorts
with casinos to be built at Marina Bayfront and Sentosa Island. Prime
minister, Lee Hsien Loong, said in parliament the decision made was based on
the “overriding need to remake the city and economy”.
The two integrated resorts are expected to cost
developers over S$5 billion (US$3.2 billion), generate 35,000
tourism-related jobs, and boost Singapore’s tourism competitiveness.
The Marina Bayfront project, expected to be bigger than
Suntec Singapore, will target the large business and convention markets,
while the Sentosa project is expected to be more family-friendly. (TTG Asia)
Sri Lanka bid scuttled
Sri Lanka’s bid to host the PATA Annual Conference in
2008 in Colombo was scuttled on April 18 when board members expressed
concerns over “too high room rates”, which sources said were in the
region of US$175 to US$200, and the lack of better air support.
The deadline for bids for the conference has now been
extended to June. This means other countries can still bid to host the
event, a fact not lost on Sri Lanka, which nearly had the event in its
pocket as no other bid stood in its way.
Clinching PATA 2008 would have meant a boost for the
country, whose tourism industry is slowly bouncing back from the tsunami
tragedy.
Sri Lanka Tourism director marketing, Malraj B Kiriella,
who made a presentation to the PATA Board , said he would go back and review
the concerns.
He said Sri Lanka was definitely keen to host PATA.
“Delegates will have the opportunity to see how Sri Lanka is developing
after the peace process (with the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Elam) started
two years ago.
“The tsunami hit when our arrivals were climbing. We
reached our 500,000 mark in 2003 for the first time. Last year, 566,000
visitors came, a little short of our 600,000 arrivals target because of the
tsunami. But by now, arrivals are returning strongly after heavy declines in
January and February.”
This year’s conference was attended by 1,176 delegates
from 496 organizations from 44 countries at this event. Next year’s event
will be in Pattaya, Thailand, and in 2007, it will be held in Chinese
Taipei. (TTG Asia)
Marriott to pay agents weekly commission
Marriot International is expanding its weekly hotel
payments to travel agents under a new partnership with Pegasus Solutions, a
provider of commissioning processing services.
Marriott International vice-president for global sales,
Fred Miller, said the new tie-up would ensure virtually all travel agencies
would now receive their Marriott commissions weekly whether they receive
their payments through Pegasus or Marriott’s Central Travel Agent
Commission system.
More information on the new policy is available from the
chain’s new website designed for travel agents by travel agents at
www.marriott. com/travelagents. (TTG Asia)
Abacus rolls out new enhancements, services
Abacus International has enhanced its travel agent
workstation booking solution, Abacus Whiz 3.1, to include more ticketing
options, increased language support and wider access to other solutions.
The improved Abacus Whiz 3.1 is now able to support the
Russian language, print tickets for domestic bookings on Indian Airlines and
includes the latest in security technology. It is available in all markets
employing version 3.1, including Hong Kong, India, Kazakhstan and Taiwan.
Meanwhile, Abacus has claimed to be the first travel
facilitator in Asia-Pacific to provide automated miscellaneous documents
(MDs) with ticket limit control capability to travel agencies. This will
enable airlines to better manage the number of MDs from which an approved
travel agency location can issue in a reporting period.
Abacus-connected travel agencies in Taiwan will be the
first to have the service, with the Hong Kong and Singapore markets to be
upgraded within the next few months.
The auto MDs will have its own set of system generated
ticket numbers and can be used on excess baggage charges, class upgrades,
hotel accommodation and deposits or down payments. (TTG Asia)
THAI buys more Airbuses
Thai Airways International (THAI), which took delivery of
a new Airbus 340-500 earlier this month, confirmed today it will be
receiving four more Airbuses before the end of the year.
First to arrive on April 29, was another A340-500 for
deployment on the Bangkok-New York route. A third A340-500 will be delivered
in October for use on one of the carrier’s other premium routes, either
Europe or South Africa.
In June, it will take delivery of its first A340-600; the
second is due a month later.
The five new aircraft are all fitted with low fuel-burn
engines which will help to offset the increase in fuel prices that is
hitting airlines worldwide.
In 2006 and 2007, THAI will bring into service a further
two A340s (one 500 and one 600) and in 2008 it is due to take delivery of
six double-deck A380s. (TTG Asia)
Australia hikes budget to reach Chinese tourists
Tourism Australia is stepping up its campaign to woo
China’s mature travelers.
The NTO has allotted A$5.7 million to promotions in China
this year, up 68 percent from the previous year. Its tourism brand campaign,
Australia, A Different Light, will be aired via TV commercials in Beijing
and Shanghai, outdoor advertising and a new Australia.com China website.
Already China is Australia’s second largest Asian
tourist market and holds large growth potential, with forecasts suggesting
the arrival of one million Chinese annually by 2013. (TTG Asia)
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