Tourism Triangle

TOGETHER with Jimmy Morales , president of Guatemala , and Salvador Sánchez Cerén, president of El Salvador , Juan Orlando Hernández, president of Honduras , announced, the inclusion of El Salvador in the Customs Union of the Northern Triangle. The three countries cover an area of ​​more than 77,000 square miles and represent about 60 percent of the Central American population.

This integrated economic bloc will promote free movement of people and goods between the three countries while creating jobs that increase trade opportunities, improve regional security and facilitate the conditions for tourism. The three countries cover an area of ​​more than 77,000 square miles and represent about 60 percent of the Central American population.

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Up in the air . . .

TRAVELLERS around the world recognized the quality of service and exceptional experience offered by Avianca selecting it as the “Best Airline in South America” at the 2018 Skytrax World Airline Awards. This is the eighth time the has company received this award. Avianca also received the award for “Best Economy Class in the Region” and ranked 51st in the Top 100 ranking of best airlines in the world. www.avianca.com

Iberia’s first A350 flight from Madrid landed at London Heathrow on 20 July. It is configured with 31 business class seats, 24 premium economy seats, and 293 economy seats and will fly between Madrid and London on selected weeks between July and August and then from Madrid to New York City. Iberia’s new planes are also good for the environment with fuel consumption and CO2 emissions 25% lower than similar aircraft. www.iberia.com

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Go economy 'light' with Lufthansa

AS of summer 2018, Lufthansa Group passengers will be able to book a so-called Economy “Light” fare on routes to North America served by Lufthansa, SWISS, Brussels Airlines and Austrian Airlines. 

As the basic rate, the new fare is the least expensive option for price-conscious passengers only travelling with carry-on luggage and who do not require any ticket flexibility. 

For an additional fee, passengers will be allowed to add one piece of luggage or request a seat reservation on an individual basis. Meals and drinks will continue to be served to passengers on board free of charge.

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Upgrade your airline

EMIRATES, the Best Airline in the World and Best Economy Class according to the 2017 TripAdvisor Travellers’ Choice Awards, released its latest marketing campaign to promote travel on its award-winning Economy class. Emirates’ latest ads feature a series of characters who try to wrangle a seat upgrade at an unnamed airline’s check-in counter. 

Each spot ends with the ultimate tip for travellers: “Don’t upgrade your seat, upgrade your airline. Fly Emirates.”

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Finnair brings Nordic flavours to business and economy class

FINNAIR is investing in its food offering as part of the acclaimed carrier’s drive to present customers with a unique Nordic experience. Finnair General Manager – Australia, New Zealand and New Caledonia, Geoff Stone said food was one of the items that frequently comes up in airline customer satisfaction surveys, especially on long-haul flights, where dining has a strong impact on the overall customer experience. 

Finnair has been delighting its business class customers with signature menus designed by top Finnish chefs since 2013, and is now introducing its first Nordic cooperation with top Swedish chef, Tommy Myllymäki, a nominee for Chef of the Year in Sweden and Creative Director for five Stockholm restaurants who has also represented Sweden, enjoying great success in the prestigious Bocuse d’Or competition.

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Extra comfort from Thomas Cook Airlines

THOMAS Cook Airlines has today launched Economy PLUS on its short and medium haul flights.

Customers choosing the Economy PLUS package will enjoy a priority security lane and check-in, an additional 4kg of hand luggage, 25kg of hold luggage, the option to reserve a seat, and complimentary in-flight drinks and premium James Martin meal. They will also have access to Thomas Cook’s mobile in-flight entertainment service, Sunstream.

The Economy PLUS upgrade is on sale now for £59.99 one way. It is available to customers on all short and medium haul flights, departing from 1st November 2017.

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Dubai's 3 Day Super Sale

GET ready for a rewarding shopping experience in #Dubai at the 3-day Super Sale, a new citywide #retail initiative, which kicks off on 18 May with over 1,000 outlets offering a diverse range of items from local, regional and global brands, at significantly low prices.

This not-to-be-missed retail promotion running across Dubai offers an extensive range of choices for shoppers preparing for their summer holidays, followed by the Eid holiday period, and is part of efforts to further enhance Dubai’s position as a year-round shopping destination.

The 3-day Super Sale is also part of Dubai’s annual Retail Calendar that features major retail-based festivals, new season launches, mega sales and clearance events, exclusive retail experiences and attractions aimed at further enhancing the retail sector, a main contributor towards Dubai’s economy. 

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American Airlines to start selling basic economy fares

AMERICAN Airlines (Nasdaq:AAL) has announced it will begin selling Basic Economy fares in addition to the wide range of Main Cabin fares currently offered.

Basic Economy fares will go on sale in February in 10 select markets, with the first flights occurring shortly thereafter and expansion to additional markets expected later this year. Not every American Airlines flight will offer Basic Economy fares.

“American Airlines now has something to offer every customer, from those who want simple, low-price travel to those who want an ultra-premium experience via First Class,” said American Airlines President Robert Isom. “Importantly, this new fare product also gives American the ability to compete more effectively with the growing number of ultra low-cost carriers."

American Airlines and American Eagle offer an average of nearly 6,700 flights per day to nearly 350 destinations in more than 50 countries. American has hubs in Charlotte, Chicago, Dallas/Fort Worth, Los Angeles, Miami, New York, Philadelphia, Phoenix, and Washington, D.C.

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Should we stay … or should we go?

Go Holiday editor David Kernek looks at the case for the UK staying in the EU, and finds it … underwhelming

WITH a Keep Britain in the European Union coalition that includes the President of the United States, the leading bigshots in the 28 member states of the EU, almost all of Britain’s mainstream political parties (Conservative, Labour, Liberal Democrat, and Scottish and Welsh nationalists), a couple of ex-heads of MI5 and MI6, a former boss of Marks & Spencer, major players in the travel and tourism industries and not forgetting former prime minister Gordon Brown and Sir Richard Branson – no scrub that, let’s forget them – should those of us who had been intending to vote for a UK exit from the EU conclude that we are insane, exceedingly dense, or just in need of a cup of tea and a few hours of rest in a dark room, after which we’d realize that all of these eminent people really do know best?

There isn’t time or space enough here to highlight all of the deceptions, exaggerations, and absurd assumptions – and all of the examples of confused thinking – that characterize the Remain discourse, but I’ll have a go.

Never mind that the UK’s prime minister in his negotiation with the EU asked for a few slices of bread and came back with a handful of crumbs, or that in no meaningful sense do the new membership terms he finds acceptable leave us with a ‘reformed’ union.

No matter that British politicians have since 1973 deceived voters – and perhaps themselves – about the fundamental purpose of the Brussels project, which was and remains the creation of a continental superstate, the downsides of which have been inflicted so far chiefly on Greece (where the results of general elections now count for nothing), Italy (where an unelected cabinet was installed to head off a euro debt crisis), Spain, and Portugal.

Let’s not look at the way in which defence and security issues have been hauled in, as if the EU plays any useful part in the military and intelligence alliances that protect these islands … as if the open borders in the useless Schengen Zone have prevented terrorist murders in the capitals of Western Europe … as if a third continent-wide war might or could or possibly be the consequence of leaving what we were told was simply a free trade block, albeit one in which the laws of nation states are secondary to legislation approved by the EU’s Commission and so-called parliament – that’s the parliament that sits at enormous financial cost in both Brussels and Strasbourg. There are, believe it or not, defence experts in both the US and Britain who say a UK exit would have no adverse impact on the Anglo-American alliance.

Don’t give a second thought to the fact that many of the great and the good who are warning of the direst consequences of a British exit were the same great and the good who led the cheerleading for a UK entry into the financial and political swamp that is EU’s single currency zone … or that many of them have in one way or another had – or still have – a first class seat on the Brussels gravy train. When a university or research outfit sings the praises of the EU, ask how much folding money it gets from Brussels, and how much of it came in the first place from UK taxpayers.

Never mind that for every so-called expert who warns of chaos and failure for a Britain outside the EU, I could call in aid an economist, investment specialist, or defence expert to put the counter argument. Here are FIVE of them:

‘1.History amply demonstrates to us that when you impose artificial borders and artificial unity on a group of human beings, it tends to blow up nastily, and usually in your face.’ That was John Stepek, Editor, MoneyWeek

2.‘Contrary to the claims of many authors and commentators, it is probable that the impacts of Brexit on trade would be relatively small. Moreover, it is certainly possible that leaving the European Union would leave the external sector better off in the long run, if Britain could use its new found freedom to negotiate its own trading arrangements to good effect. It is plausible that Brexit could have a modest negative impact on growth and job creation. However it is slightly more plausible that the net impact would be modestly positive. There are potential net benefits in the areas of a more tailored immigration policy, the freedom to make trade deals, moderately lower levels of regulation, and savings to the public purse.’ That was Capital Economics.

3.‘The truth about Brexit from a national security perspective is that the cost to Britain would be low. Brexit would bring two potentially important security gains: the ability to dump the European Convention on Human Rights — remember the difficulty of extraditing the extremist Abu Hamza of the Finsbury Park Mosque – and, more importantly, greater control over immigration from the European Union. Britain is Europe’s leader in intelligence and security matters and gives much more than it gets in return. It is difficult to imagine any of the other EU members ending the relationships they already enjoy with the UK. Richard Dearlove, chief of MI6, 1999 -2004.

4.‘I don't mean to be arguing against the European Union, but with regards to these kinds of questions, the union is not a natural contributor to the national security of each of the entity states. In some ways it gets in the way of the state's providing security for its own citizens.’ General Michael Hayden, former head of the CIA.

5. ‘I am not saying for one moment that Britain couldn’t survive outside the European Union. Of course we could. We are a great country. The fifth largest economy in the world. The fastest growing economy in the G7 last year. The biggest destination for Foreign Direct Investment in the EU. Our capital city a global icon. The world, literally, speaks our language. No one doubts that Britain is a proud, successful thriving country. A nation that has turned round its fortunes though its own efforts. A far cry from the ‘sick man of Europe’ at the time we entered the European Economic Community four decades ago. Whether we could be successful outside the European Union is not the question.’ That, in November 2015, was none other Prime Minister David Cameron, attempting to argue not that Britain would be unsuccessful outside the EU but that it would be even more successful if it stayed in. He declined to offer a guess as to how much more successful – the Treasury has since cobbled up a calculation of how much worse off the average household would be in 2030 outside the Brussels Empire – and has since moved on to prophesying WW3. In doing so, he doesn’t seem to have noticed that the political, economic, and social fissures created by the drive to a United States of Europe has nourished the growth in France, Germany, Austria, Greece and elsewhere of parties at the very unpleasant end of the Right-wing spectrum. He’s now saying the economic consequences would be ‘terrible’; what does he know now that he didn’t in November last year?

Travel, tourism, and holiday companies, and their lobbying organizations, have been vocal in their opposition to the restoration of the UK as an independent, self-governing state. Richard Branson, the Association of British Travel Agents, easyJet, Ryanair have joined in the scaremongering, warning of the end of cheap travel and holidays, visa barriers, and a risk to jobs in the tourism industry. There has been talk of this island being isolated, cut off, and of ‘economic suicide’.

Some people of nervous disposition have been frightened by this tosh. Interviewed on BBC Radio 4 recently, an undergraduate with a nervous disposition said she wouldn’t be able to have inter-rail holidays in Europe. How on earth did she get into a university? My first trip to France was in the late 1960s which, history graduates might know, was when Britain was not a member of the then European Economic Community. I bought my ferry ticket, showed my passport … and I was in. Cheap package holidays in the Spanish Costas began some years before Britain made the mistake of joining the EEC. Visas weren’t needed then: why would they be required if the British vote for independence?

Are the governments of France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Portugal, and the rest likely to put up British Tourists Not Welcome signs? I suspect that’s as improbable as a German chancellor wanting to start a tariff war that would make it much more difficult for the Bayerische Motoren Werke Company to sell its excellent cars in Britain. Now, all that really would be economic suicide. What’s the German – or French – for cutting off your nose to spite your face?

There’s no doubting the economic importance of in-bound tourism to all of the four nations of the UK. The UK tourism industry – accounting for 9.6% of total employment – keeps more than three million in work. What can be doubted are the assertions that a Britain outside the EU would have an adverse on the industry; that, simply, fewer people would want to visit, that airlines would take the country off their destination lists.

There’s no reason to believe that the current passport arrangements with our neighbours in Western Europe would change. The island’s tourism assets – history, heritage, landscapes, Shakespeare, Stonehenge and the rest – would continue to be a major draw, along with, for many, our funny habit of driving on the wrong side of the road and the country’s reluctance to ditch a currency, the roots of which can be traced back to Anglo-Saxon England. The pound sterling is the world's oldest currency still in use. The importance of tourism from EU states can also be exaggerated. VisitBritain reports that the top three markets which have recently shown the highest absolute growth in value (on average during the last five years) are all long haul to the UK: the US, China, and Australia. On what basis can it be feared that a Britain outside the European Union would be of diminishing interest to people in these markets? There isn’t one.

Many of the so-called arguments in favour of Britain’s participation in the dystopian Brussels project are not greatly unlike those heard more than half a century ago, when the original six-nation European Economic Community was created and when in the 1960s, one of the most useful contributions was made by General Charles de Gaulle who as France’s president twice vetoed UK applications to join.

‘Compared with the motives that led the Six to organize their unit,’ he explained, ‘we understand why Britain – who is not continental, who remains, because of the Commonwealth and because she is an island, committed far beyond the seas, who is tied to the United States by all kinds of special agreements – did not merge into a Community with set dimensions and strict rules. In short, the nature, the structure, the very situation that are England’s differ profoundly from those of the continentals.

‘England is maritime, she is linked through her exchanges, her markets, her supply lines to the most diverse and often the most distant countries; she pursues essentially industrial and commercial activities, and only slight agricultural ones. She has in all her doings very marked and very original habits and traditions. The question is whether Great Britain can now place herself like the Continent and with it inside a tariff which is genuinely common, to renounce all Commonwealth preferences, to cease any pretence that her agriculture be privileged, and, more than that, to treat her engagements with other countries of the free trade area as null and void — that question is the whole question.’

The general – whatever else he got wrong – knew it would never work. This referendum – something reckoned unthinkable for Britain’s political class a decade ago – is proof that he was right.
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7.2 million new jobs in 2015 – thanks to tourism

#TRAVEL and tourism added 7.2 million jobs to the global economy and contributed over USD$ 7.2 trillion in gross domestic product (GDP) in 2015, says the World Travel & Tourism Council in its annual Economic Impact Report. 

David Scowsill, the council’s president & CEO, says: ‘Despite uncertainty in the global economy and specific challenges to travel & tourism last year, the sector grew by 3.1%, contributing a total of 9.8% to the global GDP. Travel & Tourism also supported a total of 284 million jobs in 2015, an increase of 7.2 million, which means it now supports, directly and indirectly, 1 in 11 jobs on the planet.’

‘Travel and tourism,’ he added, ‘once again has proved its resilient nature. Terror attacks, disease outbreaks, currency fluctuations, and geopolitical challenges have impacted the sector at a country or regional level, but travel and tourism at the global level continues to produce another robust performance.’

All of the world’s regions showed growth in total travel and tourism’s contribution to GDP last year. South-East Asia was the fastest growing region with growth of 7.9% followed by South Asia, which grew 7.4%. The Middle East grew 5.9%, Caribbean 5.1%, Sub-Saharan Africa 3.3%, North America 3.1%, Europe 2.5%, North-East Asia 2.1%, Latin America 1.5%, and North Africa 1.4%.

Security concerns, border policies, oil prices, the strength of the US dollar relative to other currencies, and other macro-economic developments will continue to influence travel trends in 2016 and beyond, says the council, but over the next decade, travel and tourism are expected to continue to outpace the world economy, growing by 4% on average annually.

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New record for Oz tourism

AUSTRALIA’S visitor economy continues to grow, with the latest numbers confirming that 2015 was another record-breaking year for overseas arrivals, says the Tourism & Transport Forum Australia (TTF). The number of overseas tourists rose by 8.2% to 7.4 million, of whom 4.2 million were return visitors. 

The country’s four leading source markets were New Zealand, China, Britain, and the US.

Total tourist spend for the year was A$13.4 billion.

‘There are very few industry sectors in #Australia at the moment that can claim to be seeing consecutive years of strong growth as we can say about tourism,’ said Margy Osmond, TTF CEO. ‘We are continuing to see massive growth in the China market which has recorded 21.9 per cent growth in 2015 compared to the previous year.

‘This is what happens when you invest in the tourism sector – you see a strong uptick in visitor numbers and that means more Australian jobs and more economic activity in our cities and regional communities. Tourism is a booming industry for Australia and it’s one of the key pillars of our future economic success. We need a stronger partnership between government and industry that puts tourism at the heart of Australia’s future economic growth strategy to help fill the post-mining boom void.

‘We need to see more investment in Australia’s tourism industry by federal, state, and territory governments – they are all making tough financial decisions in their up upcoming budgets, but the evidence shows that investing delivers a strong long-term financial return.’

Ms Osmond said that more than 63 percent of overseas visitors in 2015 had been to the country previously, which highlighted the importance of the return visitor market to Australia’s tourism economy. ‘The first rule of any good business is that retaining existing customers is cheaper than attracting new ones – so it’s crucial to provide the best visitor experience possible and strong attractions with smart marketing to keep them coming back, because return visitors spend just as much on average as those during their first visit.’

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UK outbound travel worth £28.3 billion annually

THE outbound travel sector is worth £28.3 billion a year to the UK economy, says the Association of British Travel Agents (ABTA).  

Its study, carried out by the Centre for Economics Business Research, found that this figure was equivalent to 1.8% of the UK’s gross domestic product. Outbound travel supports 214,000 jobs directly and 435,000 in the wider economy. This represents a greater UK employment contribution than the country’s postal and courier industries, and those involved in the manufacture of food products and electrical equipment.

The report says that holidaymakers spend in excess of £34 billion in the UK before they go abroad, highlighting the economic contribution outbound tourism makes to the UK economy.

Mark Tanzer, ABTA chief executive said: ‘Outbound travel is a key part of the UK’s vibrant tourism mix and has enormous potential for growth. MPs and the government must ensure that we have in place the right policy and tax framework to allow the UK’s tourism mix to reach its full potential in the years ahead.’

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Tourism boom as more airlines fly to NSW

ALMOST one million extra seats are on offer from seven international airlines flying to Sydney, #Australia, providing a massive boost to #tourism during the busy summer months. 

New South Wales minister for Trade, Tourism and Major Events, Stuart Ayres, said the airlines will provide a huge economic benefit to Sydney and regional accommodation, restaurants, retailers, and visitor attractions.

‘Our state is Australia's home of international travel, and the NSW government through our tourism and major events agency Destination NSW, has developed key international partnerships to attract the world's best airlines,’ Mr Ayres said.

International visitors to NSW spent more than AU$8 billion during the last 12 months, an increase of 15 percent in the last year, with a significant jump in visitors from China.

New services by All Nippon Airways, Xiamen Airlines, Solomon Airlines, American Airlines, Indonesia AirAsia X, Hainan Airlines, and Qatar Airways will result in more than 980,000 seats in the next 12 months, providing an estimated AU$400 million economic injection of visitor expenditure to NSW.

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Visitors tuck in as NSW food and wine provides huge boost to economy

NEW SOUTH WALES has shown it is a food-lover’s paradise: the results of the state government’s campaigns featuring food and wine have delivered an additional domestic and international visitor spend of more than A$20 million in the last 12 months.

Minister for Trade, Tourism and Major Events Stuart Ayres said: ‘NSW is enjoying somewhat of a food and wine tourism revolution with more visitors coming to our state to enjoy our award-winning beers, ciders, wineries, fresh produce, and world-class restaurants.

‘With the development and regeneration of urban areas, as well as a focus on local product, Sydney and NSW is experiencing a restaurant renaissance.’

Destination NSW chief executive officer Sandra Chipchase said the promotion of food and wine experiences had become an integral part of the agency’s marketing campaigns, with NSW boasting world-class dining experiences for visitors. ‘More than 36,000 agents globally took part in NSW food and wine training and more than 70 new food and wine packages were delivered to our priority international markets including Japan, China, South Korea, Singapore, New Zealand, USA, India, and the UK.’

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Self-catering sector worth £1.9 billion to Spain’s economy

A STUDY of the vacation rentals industry in Spain by the ESADE Business School in Barcelona found that in 2014, more than 27 million tourists visited Madrid, the coastal areas of Majorca and Calpe, San Sebastian, Granada, and Barcelona – the areas that account for almost half of tourism in Spain. Of the 27 million, 3.7 million stayed in holiday rentals.

Gerard Costa, professor of Marketing Management at ESADE says: ‘We were able to verify for the first time in Spain that holiday rentals have been the vanguard of a form of tourism that is becoming a great global trend: foreign families seeking a convenient and comfortable house, consuming local commerce, valuing the deal with the owner as well as the fact that the money goes to an individual rather than a corporate chain, and recommending the experience.’

The study’s main findings:

•  Approximately 79% of the 3.7 million people who visited the key tourism areas and stayed in self-catering accommodation were foreign.

• The average number of nights they spent in rented accommodation was 7.4

• This type of tourism contributed almost €2.7 billion (£1.9 billion) to the Spanish economy in 2014

•   The average expenditure was €726 (£510) per tourist, of which €249 (£175) was spent on accommodation and €477 (£335) on activities, transport, and meals

•  Despite the growth of this holiday option in Spain, 73% of accommodation owners believed that current national and regional laws and regulations did not make renting out property to tourists an easy option.

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Travel & tourism sector contributes €1.8 trillion to euro economy

#TRAVEL AND #TOURISM in #Europe generates more income than automotive manufacturing, chemicals manufacturing, banking, agriculture, and mining, new research reveals. The sector made a contribution of €1.8 trillion (£1.32 trillion) in 2014, according to the study by the World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC).

Travel and tourism’s contribution accounted for 9.2% of Europe’s gross domestic product, making it the fourth largest sector of eight studied in the WTTC’s Benchmarking Europe Report.

The report compares travel and tourism to other sectors, which are considered to have similar breadth and global presence, across 26 countries.

The sector also sustained 35 million jobs, or 9% of total employment in Europe.

WTTC president and chief executive, David Scowsill, said: ‘This research demonstrates the huge importance of travel and tourism as an economic generator in Europe. Not only does the sector account for 9.2% of GDP, but it also supports one in 11 jobs in Europe. With the growth of the European economy, it is critical that governments and private companies step up together to ensure that the sector is able to build the infrastructure capacity to meet the future forecast volume of people.

‘Travel and tourism is the second-fastest growing sector in Europe in terms of direct GDP after banking. Forecast to grow at 2.8% per annum over the next 10 years, the sector’s growth will outpace the global economy, which is estimated to increase by 1.9% per annum over the next decade.’

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How many tourists do one job make?

A COMMON question asked in many countries is: how many jobs does the tourist industry sustain? 

But a report commissioned by Malta’s government puts the question in a slightly different way: how many tourists are needed to maintain one full time tourism job?

The answer, in Malta, is: an average of 83.

The study looked at the contribution of the tourism industry to the Maltese economy in 2014. It found that tourism was directly responsible for 20,500 full-time equivalent jobs, approximately 11% of the total. But it is also indirectly responsible for an additional 7,300 jobs.

On average, the report found, every €10 million (£7.36 million) in tourist expenditure sustains 137 jobs – roughly €73,000 (£53,700) per job – while every 10,000 visitors sustain 121 jobs.

The report shows that tourism is responsible for one-in-seven jobs in Malta, but the proportion goes up to one-in-five jobs in Gozo.

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