Focus on tourism in the Solomon Islands

THE Solomon Islands government is looking to the tourism sector to attract 60,000 visitors annually by 2025, in the process netting the country’s economy SBD1 billion. With International visitation to the Solomon Islands growing on average nine per cent annually, the destination is hopeful of achieving the 30,000 mark by the end of 2019.  

Addressing delegates attending the 2019 ‘Measure What Matters’ Tourism Focus in Honiara, #SolomonIslands caretaker prime minister, the Hon. Rick Rick Houenipwela said contributions from tourism in recent years had now grown to the point when the sector was now looked at to plug the gap left by the country’s former key economic drivers, including forestry and mining."

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Up in the air . . .

IN October 2018, the Lufthansa Group airlines welcomed around 13.2 million passengers. This shows an increase of nine percent compared to the previous year’s month. The available seat kilometres were up 8.9 percent over the previous year, at the same time, sales increased by 9.4 percent.

The Network Airlines including Lufthansa German Airlines, SWISS and Austrian Airlines carried around 9.6 million passengers in October – 7.4 percent more than in the prior-year period. The strongest passenger growth of the network airlines was recorded at Vienna hub followed by Zurich.

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The Quest for the right traveller

POPULAR European cities are wooing more upmarket, niche and cultured travellers – and fewer mass-market tourists, according to the new report “Megatrends Shaping the Future of Travel” from global market research provider, Euromonitor International unveiled at World Travel Market London.

Euromonitor International’s new study reveals the tourist boards of many European destinations are on a “quest for the right traveller”, amid media headlines about overtourism.

Euromonitor International’s research team also predicts a ripple effect across the continent when the UK leaves the European Union in March 2019, as the outbound British travel market will be affected by the outcome of trade talks.

The Euromonitor International research found that Europe’s tourism industry has proved remarkably resilient, despite economic and political turmoil, the migrant crisis, and terrorist attacks over recent years.  As well as a shift away from the mass market, Euromonitor International identified a trend towards being “respectful of local cultures and residents”.

It cites the case study of Amsterdam which is trying to shed its party destination image and is piloting several initiatives to minimise the negative impacts of tourism and events on local residents.


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Must visit, Moscow

EVERY year the number of tourists visiting Moscow grows significantly. In 2017 21.6 millions of tourists visited #Moscow, by the end of 2018 the growth of the tourist flow is expected to increase by at least 10%. 

Moscow is the biggest cultural center of the world. Every year more than 500 recreational and cultural events take place and there are more than 270 functioning museums and 170 functioning theaters in the city. One third of the Moscow territory is covered by park areas. In 2017 a new park “Zaradye” was opened in the very center of the capital, it was included by the “Times” magazine in the list of the best places in the world 2018.

Today there are 1586 classified accommodation facilities in Moscow from hotels to hostels. The transport infrastructure is widely developed and there is Wi-Fi in public places. The city pays considerable attention to safety measures – there are more than 184 000 surveillance cameras around the city.

There is even a special service PASSCITY in Moscow, which lets you visit museums, restaurants, sport centers and use the public transport for free.

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How things have changed

SIXTY years ago, British Airways, then called BOAC – British Overseas Airways Corporation – became the first airline to fly a turbo jet engine aircraft between Europe and New York, reducing the journey time from 18 hours to around seven. First jet engine flight across the Atlantic On October 4, 1958 the airline flew two de Havilland Comet 4 aircraft, one from New York to London and the other from London to New York.

Back in 1958, Comet 4 could fly just 48 customers every day from London. Today British Airways operates up to 12 flights a day from the capital, offering around 3,500 seats. On the Comet there were two cabins, Deluxe and First Class. Today, British Airways flights feature four cabins, to suit all budgets – World Traveller, World Traveller Plus, Club World and First. In 1958 a ticket to travel on the Comet staggeringly cost the equivalent of £8,000.

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Up in the air . . .

IN August 2018, Frankfurt Airport (FRA) welcomed some 6.8 million passengers an increase of 8.1 percent year-on-year. Since the beginning of 2018, FRA has achieved growth of 8.7 percent, with European routes continuing to drive passenger traffic.

Lima Airport (LIM) in Peru saw traffic increase by 6.6 percent to about 2.1 million passengers.

Bulgaria's Twin Star airports of Varna (VAR) and Burgas (BOJ) registered combined growth of 5.8 percent to nearly 1.4 million passengers.

Traffic at Antalya Airport (AYT) on the Turkish Riviera surged by 14.7 percent to about 4.9 million passengers.

Ljubljana Airport (LJU) in Slovenia recorded an increase of 3.1 percent to 202,423 passengers.

Fraport's two Brazilian airports in Fortaleza (FOR) and Porto Alegre (POA) reported combined traffic growth of 4.6 percent to about 1.2 million passengers.

The Group's 14 Greek airports achieved overall positive growth of 6.6 percent to some 5.4 million passengers in August 2018.


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Travel & Tourism generated 18% of New Zealand’s GDP in 2017

RESEARCH published by the World Travel & Tourism Council has shown that in 2017, the total contribution of Travel & Tourism accounted for 17.9% (NZD$47.5bn) of New Zealand’s GDP. This figure is set to rise by 2.9% per annum and forecast to account for 20% of New Zealand GDP over the next decade. 

The travel sector grew by 3.2% in 2017, faster than the economy as a whole which grew at 2.9% in the total wider economy. New Zealand is the 32nd largest travel economy in the world.

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Visitors flock to historic properties

VISITENGLAND'S Annual Attractions Survey shows historic properties experienced significant growth in visitor numbers in 2017.

Of the 1,400 English attractions surveyed the research found that historic properties such as mills, monuments, boats and burial grounds saw the largest increase in visitor numbers, up 8% on 2016.

The British Museum was the most visited 'free' attraction in England in 2017 for the 10th consecutive year with nearly 6 million visitors, and the Tate Modern came a close second with more than five and a half million.

The Tower of London topped the list as the most visited ‘paid for’ attraction for the ninth year running with 2.8 million visitors and Chester Zoo came in second place with 1.9 million.



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Travellers bound for Abu Dhabi

THE latest figures from Abu Dhabi show the number of hotel guests staying in the emirate during June rose by six per cent compared to the same month a year ago.  The UK posted a 14.5 per cent increase for the month, and a 12.9 per cent increase for the first six months of 2018.

In total 339,592 visitors were guests of Abu Dhabi’s 162 hotels and hotel apartments during June, an increase of more than 19,000 over the previous year.

For the first six months of 2018, the figures show #AbuDhabi upping the total number of hotel guests to the emirate by five per cent on the year, with 2,413,230 guests in total arriving.


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Asia Pacific a force to be reckoned with

STRONG economic growth across the Asia Pacific has gone hand in hand with tourism, both inter-regional and international. The UN reports that Asia is the world’s largest region in economic output, with the region’s gross domestic product surpassing that of the Americas for the first time in history in 2016. Between 2000 and 2016, Asia experienced the fastest economic growth across the world, driven by China and India.

Asian countries have awoken to the benefits of promoting tourism by opening markets and encouraging increased air routes. Data by the UN shows that the Asia Pacific is the second most visited region in the world after Europe and has seen the fastest growth. In fact, the region outperformed all other regions around the world, marking eight consecutive years of growth since 2010.

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The skies the limit for Edinburgh Airport

EDINBURGH Airport has been named as Airport of the Year at the Scottish Transport Awards.  The airport recorded the busiest ever year for a Scottish airport in 2017, handling more than 13.4 million passengers – an increase of 8.6% on the previous year. It also added 34 new routes in 2017, 32 to international destinations.

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Interstate visitor numbers start to improve

FIGURES released by Tourism Research Australia show the total number of interstate visitors to Western Australia grew by 4.8 per cent in the year ending March 2018.

The results of the National Visitor Survey (NVS) also shows the total number of intrastate visitors grew by 3.6 per cent and daytrips by 4.2 per cent over the same period.

However the average length of overnight stays dropped from 9.3 to 7.4 nights – largely driven by a fall in the nights spent by people visiting friends and relatives or here for business purposes. One positive sign was interstate holidaymakers increasing by 18,000 when compared to the previous year, which represents a 4.7 per cent rise.

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Mexico grows as a world destination

THE Mexico Tourism Board (MTB) announced that Mexico's global air connectivity continues its growth trajectory with the addition of 1.5 million seats on direct flights to #Mexico in 2018. The increase in air connectivity is expected to result in nearly 30 million seats by the end of the year to accommodate travel demand to Mexico's top tourist destinations. Mexico welcomed 10.6 million tourists in the first quarter of 2018, a record-breaking number compared to the 9.4 million documented international visitor arrivals during the same period in 2017.

Mexico is now the 6th most visited country in the world with 39.3 million international visitors in 2017, of which 18.6 million traveled by air. Mexico's strong commitment to increasing air connectivity to match consumer demand has led to investments in developing close partnerships with airlines, hotels, and the tourism industry, diversifying tourism products, promoting new and established destinations, and offering travelers Mexico's world-famous friendliness, hospitality and first-class service.

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A new record for U.S. travel

TOURISM officials have announced a historic milestone in the travel industry as #Orlando became the first U.S. destination to surpass 70 million annual visitors. In 2017, 72 million visitors traveled to Orlando, an increase of more than 5 percent over the prior year, once again making it America's most-visited destination.

Home to seven of the world's top theme parks, Orlando, Theme Park Capital of the World, is the No. 1 family vacation destination and the most visited destination in the United States. An unparalleled mix of unique experiences create cherished memories for visitors, including legendary theme parks, an array of world-class water parks, entertainment venues, an award-winning food scene, shopping and nightlife. Orlando offers more lodging options than nearly any other destination in the world, from expansive resorts to uniquely themed hotels.

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Time out for good behaviour

TO mark the launch of its new spring menu, research from Bella Italia has found that despite over half (60%) of Brits saying they see eating together frequently as an important way of keeping their family together, a fifth (21%) have admitted that restaurants are the only place their families have a conversation without distractions such as tablets, mobile phones and the TV.

The survey, which polled 2,000 UK adults, revealed families are on best behaviour when they eat out together, with Londoners most likely to say that this was the case. Indeed, 14% of us schedule a meal out as family time at the weekend with the same number using it as a treat for good behaviour.

However, despite the obvious benefits of dining out, it's money (45%) and time (31%) that were cited as the reasons we aren't going out with our nearest and dearest more often.

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The average person in the UK has visited 9.58 countries

BRITISH people are travelling to 37% more countries on average than compared to 2013, according to a survey commissioned by London City Airport.

Evidence of the increasing travel bug has been revealed following a YouGov survey of over 2,200 Brits, with the average number of countries visited by a UK adult - across the full range of age groups - now 9.58. It represents a significant increase from the figure of 7 countries generated from the same question posed to 2,000 people in 2013, as part of a OnePoll survey commissioned by the airport.

The island nation clearly still has an appetite for adventures overseas, with Brits almost twice as likely to visit a new country on holiday (60%) than return to a favourite place (33%), and 94% have been abroad at least once in their life.

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British? . . . Beach holiday please

THE global tourism industry has been flourishing over the past few decades and vacation or holiday travel is one of the key sectors in this industry. Travelers seem to choose beach holidays more often, which makes the beach holidays segment more popular than most of the others in vacation travel domain. More than any other reasons, holidaying currently seems to be one of the top reasons to travel, besides business tours. Leading holidaymakers in the United Kingdom have been offering several vacation plans for those who wish to travel abroad but evident rise in the number of ‘staycations’ within the UK since the past few years is expected to provide a decent boost to the growth of holidays market in UK.

According to a report by Market Research Hub (MRH), a majority of UK consumers choose to travel with their friends and family just to relax, experiencing the sun and beach. This tendency will play a key role in strengthening the potential of UK’s beach holiday industry. Italy, Spain, and France have been topping the list of consumers’ choices over the years. However, holidaymakers are now deliberately promoting local, nearby beaches, which could present a range of more convenient and affordable choices to those who are planning a beach holiday in coming years.

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Record numbers blow into the windy city in 2017

VISITORS to the city of #Chicago in 2017 reached 55.2 million – a new record and 2.5 percent increase over the previous year. The increase of 1.4 million reaches the Mayor’s ambitious goal of 55 million visitors annually – two years early.

2017 marked another major increase in leisure visitors to the city as Chicago hotels reported an overall annual increase of 6.3 percent. This increase of the leisure segment was particularly strong in the key summer months as hotels reported an increase of 7.4 percent during the four-month period June through September – more than double the growth of the previous summer. Overall, Chicago hotel demand in terms of rooms occupied grew 3.3 percent in 2017.

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Commonwealth Games influx

THE latest International Visitor Survey released today shows a record 301,000 people visited the Sunshine Coast in the 12 months to December 2017. 

Fittingly, the Sunshine Coast’s record figures were supported from the key nations of New Zealand (65,000), UK (60,000) and Canada (14,000); as the region looks to welcome nine international teams and over 500 visiting athletes and officials in the lead up to the #commonwealthgames. 

Teams using the Sunshine Coast as their pre-Games training base include Scotland, England, Wales, New Zealand, Isle of Man, Singapore, Niue and St Helena along with a number of athletes from domestic sporting teams, including Australia’s Olympic champion women’s sevens rugby squad.

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Big year for Canada

MORE Australians visited #Canada than ever before during 2017, with visitation up by almost 12.6 per cent on the previous year. A total of 375,395 Aussies made the trip to Canada during the year, typically spending more and staying longer than any other foreign market. It was a big year for Canada as it celebrated its 150th birthday with a record-breaking 20.8 million tourists from around the world, the highest number in Canadian history.

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