Well, Maybe Next Year—Or Maybe Not
Those who held on to the notion that there were some prognosticators around who might project that the outlook for international inbound tourism to the United States would have a robust ending to 2019 will be disappointed with the latest snapshot and forecast contained the U.S. Travel Association’s Travel Trends Index (TTI) for September, which came out smack in the middle of things, day two, of last week’s World Travel Market in London.
Prior to the release of the TTI data INBOUND’s team of sources on site at London’s ExCel in East London had heard nothing from anyone that would suggest a change in the USA’s slightly downward glide path, and after the TTI release, the sound of nothing and no one speaking continued, especially as one read US Travel’s sober and official language:
“International inbound contracted in September (-0.4 percent), continuing the segment’s weakness. The Leading Travel Index (LTI) projects that inbound travel volume will decline about 0.6 percent over the next six months compared to the same period last year.”
While 0.4 percent and 0.6 percent are not large declines, they take on a different scale when one considers the size of the overall inbound tourism market—about 80 million visitors in 2018.
The year-on-year decrease for the month of September—minus 0.4 percent, which marked the fifth month in negative territory in 2019—is generally consistent with the direction of arrivals contained in a report from the U.S. Department of Commerce’s National Travel & Tourism Office (NTTO) cited in the previous issue of INBOUND, in which overseas arrivals (this excludes Mexico and Canada) to the U.S. declined by a full 5 percent, year-on-year.
What no one seems to want to accept, however, is the forecast that inbound tourism traffic will decline, however slight it might be, through the next six months, which comprise some of the peak travel booking months for key international markets.
Overall, though, the health of the travel and tourism business in the United States is good. The TTI’s Current Travel Index reading of 51.1 in September 2019 indicates that travel to or within the U.S. grew 2.2 percent in September 2019 compared to September 2018. The TTI’s predictive component, the Leisure Leading Travel Index, predicts that “travel growth will moderate through March 2020, a result of softer growth in domestic leisure travel and continued weakness in international inbound and domestic business travel.”
Here is what the key graphic in the latest (September) TTI looks like:
Source: Oxford Economics, U.S. Travel Association
Note: The TTI is prepared for U.S. Travel by the research firm Oxford Economics. The TTI is based on public- and private-sector source data which are subject to revision by the source agency. The TTI draws from: advance search and bookings data from ADARA and nSight; airline bookings data from the Airlines Reporting Corporation (ARC); IATA, OAG and other tabulations of international inbound travel to the U.S.; and hotel room demand data from STR.
NYC Increases Share of Overseas Inbound
Last year 26½ percent of all visitors from the USA’s overseas source markets—this excludes Canada and Mexico—came to New York City. This translates into an increase of 473 thousand overseas visitors, which is larger than the total amount of overseas that most cities in the United States receive in a year.
The dominance of the New York area is not a solitary phenomenon. If you review the latest posting of data by the U.S. Department of Commerce’s National Travel & Tourism Office (NTTO), you will be able to see that just six destinations (New York, Miami, Los Angeles, Orlando, San Francisco and Las Vegas) attract about 4 out of every 5 overseas visitors—or more than 79 percent of such visitors. Below, the recently released city data for 2018 and 2017 are arranged in roughly the same format as you’ll find them on the NTTO website.
For a fuller account of the Top 25, including commentary on each of the attractions, click here.
The World’s 25 Best Attractions—Five are in the USA/North America
We’ve seen a fair number of lists touting the top attractions in the world, but what makes the most recent entry into this genre of travel information is that its author, the London-based operator ROL Cruise, with itineraries in every part of the world, has ranked a mix of both the natural and built as well as the ancient (thousands of years old) and the new (opened within the past decade).
And for operators who promote and sell Visit USA product, the appeal of using this new list is that five of the 25 attractions listed are USA products, with one of the five being a part of both Canada and the United States/.
In creating its list, ROL compared a wide range of the most popular attractions around the globe to try and determine which is the “best,” comparing factors such as entry price, online reviews, Instagram hashtags and more, we have assessed which attractions performed the best in each category, as well as determining which attraction comes out on top. Sources used in this endeavor include: TripAdvisor, Google Reviews, Lonely Planet, Instagram and UNESCO.
For a fuller account of the Top 25, including commentary on each of the attractions, click here.
A Must Read—Skift’s UK Traveler Profile
It also covers the effects of Brexit: As usual, last week’s World Travel Market in London was the time and venue for the release of numerous travel and tourism industry reports, studies and white papers on trends and projections. And, as expected, there were accompanied by the predictable release of material aimed at promoting the interests and/or attractions of a particular destination or supplier.
Midst this environment, it was not difficult to take notice of the truly substantive work that was released, discussed or presented. And among the best of these was the Skift Research report, “UK Traveler Profile and Key Statistics,” that contains a section on the effects of Brexit. (Skift Research is the official research arm of Skift, which is known primarily for its travel-related news publication.)
The 35-page report zeroes in on the current condition of the UK market, with information on: the number of UK residents who travel and how much the average household spends on travel; historical time series data on travel volume and value from 2006–2018; insight into trips and spending broken down by age, trip purpose, and destinations; key facts about the Brexit process, and how it is forecast to impact the travel industry; and a 2019–2024 forecast data based on three Brexit scenarios: the UK remains in a single market, the UK leaves the EU with a deal, or the UK leaves the EU without a deal.
What INBOUND has done is to digest some of the key points of the full Skift Report, which you can access here. One small note: in reviewing the tables and references that cite the British pound sterling (₤) vs. the U.S. dollar as INBOUND prepared for distribution was $1.26.
Profiling the UK Traveler—The desire among UK residents to travel outside their country’s borders: According to data from 2016—the latest date for which reliable numbers are available—more than 60 percent of UK residents that travel made at least one international trip, which is much higher than other major European economies like France, Spain, and Italy where domestic trips take precedent. Only Germans exceed UK residents in this perspective.
UK Residents Take High Proportion of International Trips:
Travel Spending:
It also covers the effects of Brexit: As usual, last week’s World Travel Market in London was the time and venue for the release of numerous travel and tourism industry reports, studies and white papers on trends and projections. And, as expected, there were accompanied by the predictable release of material aimed at promoting the interests and/or attractions of a particular destination or supplier.
Over £400 per household is also spent on domestic trips, although this amount will also be higher in reality. Not only does this include households that do not travel at all, holiday spending is not captured for domestic trips by the Office for National Statistics (ONS), nor are modes of transportation other than air travel (with car and rail more likely modes for domestic trips).
Source: Skift Research from the ONS (Office for National Statistics) Components of Household Expenditure.
Average household figure is calculated using total households in UK, including those that do not travel.
Package holidays take up a large proportion of spending: This factor highlights that, despite the September 23, 2019 collapse of Thomas Cook—the UK’s oldest package holiday provider—there is a future for package holidays in the UK. According to an ABTA survey, half of UK holiday travelers took a package holiday in 2018, a figure that has remained the same since 2004. Data from the UK’s Office for National Statistics (ONS) shows that 38.6 percent of outbound holiday trips taken in 2018 were packaged, representing 44.8 percent of outbound holiday spending. There has not been a significant downward trend in package holidays, and 2018 actually saw a significant uptick in packaged holiday spending according to the data
The nature of packages has completely changed though. The ABTA survey notes that preferences have shifted towards “packages that include tailor-made trips, tours that take people off the beaten track, adventure holidays, river and ocean cruises, well-being breaks, and all-inclusive.”
Outbound and Domestic Breakdown: A note on Sources: For a closer look at domestic and outbound travel behavior we can turn to two surveys: the UK’s Office for National Statistics ()NS) collects data on outbound departures through the International Passenger Survey, and the tourism boards of England, Wales, and Scotland collectively gather domestic tourism data through the Great Britain Tourism Survey.
According to the two surveys, UK residents undertook 134.2 million domestic trips with at least one overnight stay, and 71.5 million overnight outbound trips in 2018. As can be expected, in spending terms, outbound trips accounted for higher spending than domestic trips, with £45 billion spent on outbound trips and £27 billion on domestic trips.
Source: Skift Research from ONS TravelPac and Great Britain Tourism Survey
Which Age Demo Travels Most? In terms of spending, the 45–54 age group trumps any other group in both international and domestic trips, but when comparing with population data there is very little difference in spending behavior between the 35-44, 45-54 and 55-64 age groups. Despite the growing focus on younger generations, these older age groups continue to be the bread basket for many travel operators around the world, and no less so in the UK.
Notes on Trip Purpose
—The data show the importance of holidays (55 percent in trips, 67 percent in spending in 2018) as the main purpose of travel for UK residents.
—Visiting friends and relatives (VFR) accounts for 30% of trips, but this trip type accounts for only 17 percent of spending.
—There was a clear downturn in outbound holiday trips as the economic crisis of 2008/09 hit. In terms of spending, domestic spending was slightly up, but could not compensate for the strong decline in international spending in 2009.
—Business trips fared worse, also seeing a decline in outbound trips, and almost no stronger uptake in domestic business trips to compensate. Both in volume and value there was a strong decline.
—Holiday stays are on average longer than business trips, although average nightly spend is significantly higher for business trips.
—Visiting friends and relatives (VFR) trips are generally longer, but as the spending on accommodation tends to be less, the average spend per night is significantly lower.
Preferred Destinations
Spain is the largest beneficiary of UK travelers, taking 20 percent of the money spent outside UK borders by travelers. The U.S., while only accounting for 5 percent of trips, received 10 percent of UK spending in 2018.
The Brexit Effect: The Skift study explores at considerable length the history of “Brexit” (British voters narrowly approved a referendum exiting from the European Union on June 23, 2016), which was supposed to have had the UK completing its departure earlier this year. But a series of attempts at getting the British Parliament to approve an arrangement for doing so, combined with delays in a “must act” deadline has had an impact on travel in the UK. Skift looks at developments (and non-developments), along with important impacts
In sum, says Skift, Brexit negatively impacts travel, the question is by how much? Since the 2016 vote in favor of the UK leaving the EU, travel’s performance has started to decline. 2018 saw declines in inbound, domestic, and outbound trips, and a strong decline in inbound spending. This downturn is expected to continue as the actual split with the EU becomes more imminent. Skift Research forecasts show an impact between -7 percent and +3 percent in inbound arrivals between 2019 and 2024, depending on the scenario that will play out. Outbound trips will see similar results.
For Skift’s complete nine-page take on the Brexit impact—in addition to the full Skift study—click here.
Key Takeaways
—The UK is a “net-exporter” of travel: While different sources provide slightly different data, it is clear that UK residents spend considerably more on outbound travel than the country receives from inbound travel spending. Data from official UK sources shows that the UK received 37.9 million travelers and £23 billion ($28.3 billion) in spending in 2018, while UK residents made 71.5 million trips and spent £45 billion ($55.4 billion) on international travel. Domestic travel is also a sizable market, responsible for 118.6 million trips and £24 billion ($29.5 billion) in spending.
—Package Holidays remain popular: The average UK household spent just short of £2500 ($3075) on international travel in 2018. Over half of this spending is on packaged holidays, highlighting that despite the UK’s biggest packaged holiday provider Thomas Cook going into administration, the sector still offers great potential.
—Gen X and Baby Boomers continue to be major travel spenders: While travel marketers love to focus on Millennials and Gen Z’ers, the older Baby Boomer and Gen X travelers are still the highest spenders. As time progresses, we will start to see this shift.
Holidays are the main purpose to travel: The vast majority of travel originating in the UK is for the purpose of holidays, or leisure trips. Holidays accounted for 55 percent of international and domestic trips, and for a total of 67% of travel spending in 2018.
—Business travel remains male dominated: Despite a decades-long push for greater equality in the workforce, there is surprisingly little movement towards this in the business travel segment, where 76 percent of UK international business trips are still undertaken by men. This has only slightly come down from 80 percent 15 years earlier in 2004.
—The link with the EU is strong — at least in terms of destination choice: The importance of Europe as a destination is clear, receiving 81 percent of trips taken and 67 percent of all UK spending. Spain is the largest destination in terms of both volume and value, accounting for 22 percent and 20 percent respectively.
—Brexit negatively impacts travel, the question is by how much? Since the 2016 vote in favor of the UK leaving the EU, travel’s performance has started to decline. 2018 saw declines in inbound, domestic, and outbound trips, and a strong decline in inbound spending. This downturn is expected to continue as the actual split with the EU becomes more imminent. Skift Research forecasts show an impact between -7 percent and +3 percent in inbound arrivals between 2019 and 2024, depending on the scenario that will play out. Outbound trips will see similar results, while domestic trips are likely to fare better, between -1 percent and +6 percent.
To access the full report, “UK Traveler Profile and Key Statistics,” click here.
When Receptives Talk, Suppliers Listen
Notes from a Receptive Tour Operator Discussion at Connect Travel’s RTO Summit: Three different panels of two receptive tour operators each fielded questions on some of the issues of the day during Connect Travel’s recent RTO Summit in Orlando. The two-person panels—each panel represented expertise in a specific global region—were largely in agreement when responding to questions posed to them by moderator Fernando Harb, Connect Travel’s senior director of sales. The panels were as follows: (1) Latin America: Maria Hulsewe, president, North America Destinations; and Bernardo De Lucia, general manager, Kaluah Tours. (2) Asia: Owen Teng, director of operations, New Creative Tours, Inc; and Chris Ellis, CEO, 7M Tours. (3) Tomás Rey, president, Rey Royal; and Maria Wahby, contracts manager, Miki Travel.
Because of the overlap and similarity in some of the responses to the questions asked of them, we’ve digested and excerpted our account of the discussion, which follows.
Q: What differentiates you from a bedbank?
Hulsewe: “Personalization. We take care of each guest.”
De Lucia: “I couldn’t agree more … Our clients know our names and faces. They know who they’re going to talk to. There is a level of trust. Trust is key.”
Q: What should suppliers do to get to the top of a receptive’s list? That is, what should supplier have to do in order to get more business?
De Lucia: “Partnership is important. Having better rates helps. (Suppliers/hoteliers) know they’re going to get a fair markup.”
Q: What about the imposition of resort rates?
DeLucia: “We don’t like them. It’s not fair to the consumer. It’s not part of the rate. Our clients don’t like them at all. When an agent does research and they find, say, a rate of $100 a room, they have difficulty pricing it, because the resort rate is not listed.”
Rey explained that his company includes the resort fee in packages. “The problem is that, when people use OTAs, they are surprised when they learn that they are charged a resort fee.”
Wahby: “We’re very clear that the resort fee is not included.”
Rey: “(Hotels) have discovered that they are not competitive if they don’t have a resort fee.”
And, to much laughter, Rey noted sarcastically that, in New Orleans, “a resort fee means the hotel has a coffee shop.”
Q: How is the political climate affecting business? Is there a “Trump Effect.”
DeLucia and Hulsewe more or less answer jointly: “We have seen some business—summer business— go to Canada. But the exchange rate in Brazil is what is making it difficult. If it (the Brazilian Real) gets up to a specific, they’ll start buying again.
Q: How does Marriott-Expedia exclusivity affect receptive tour operators? (Marriott International recently negotiated an agreement in which the online travel agency Expedia is now the exclusive distributor of its wholesale and promotional rate.)
Hulsewe suggested that receptives “are already connected to more brands” and would continue to do so.
Harb joined the dialogue by suggesting that bedbanks will compete … and that, while online transactions have appeal, “personal recommendations count.”
Ellis said that “brand confusion complicates the picture” in India, where a “midscale” in India is higher in scale in India.
Teng and Ellis were asked about their take on the political situation between the U.S. and China and its impact on business.
Teng explained that much of the tension had to do with the Chinese government’s warning in May 2019 (and the previous year as well) to travelers to be wary about visiting the U.S. because of violence and anti-Chinese sentiment. But, he added, “Remember, it’s still a new market. Don’t give up. Everything will come back.”
Ellis used the discussion at this point to note that some receptives are already asking, “Is India the new emerging market?” He cited data from the U.S. National Travel & Tourism Office (NTTO) that showed a steady increase in visitors to the U.S. from India during the past decade. (In 2008, India moved up in rank to become the Number 8 source market in overseas arrivals.)
Ellis also said that a growing market from India will present some challenges for receptives when they create itineraries, as travelers from India—because a trip to the U.S. is such a long journey—like to visit multiple destinations: “It is so hard to get here and it takes so long … that, when they come to the U.S., they want to make the most of it.” As well, “for Indian groups, it is important to find specific properties that will meet their needs—such as vegetarian cuisine.”
However, Teng pointed out, generating some chuckles, Chinese travelers are different because “they eat everything.” He also said that, for many Chinese groups, New York and California are the most popular states to visit, but “they ae searching for additional destinations, such as Atlanta and New Orleans.”
There were a few more chuckles after Teng suggested that on-property amenities are not that important in the selection of a hotel for Chinese travelers: “They don’t do anything at the hotel except sleep and shower. They’re not interested in a pool or a gym.”
Q: Has there been any impact on business due to Brexit?
Rey: “Brexit has had no effect on travel from Europe.”
Wahby: “Ditto, but the political environment, the ‘Trump Slump,’ has hurt the Trump brand.
And, finally: What should everyone take away from the discussion this morning?
Hulsewe: “What you need is partnerships. Get to know us by name. Let’s create partnerships.”
De Lucia: “That’s why we are here today—because of the relationships … and that builds trust.”
Rey: “We’re not a low-rate business. We will sell what have a demand for. We take pride in what we do. And, of course, partnerships are important.” (As an example, Rey noted how Lisa Catron, international sales manager for Memphis Tourism—she’s been with the agency for nearly 20 years—will flag him when a new hotel is planned for the area or is about to open. This is an invaluable help to his business.)
Gol and CVC are Top of Mind Brands in Brazil’s Tourism Industry
The recently announced Top of Mind awards for companies and organizations of all economic sectors in Brazil recognized two easily recognizable brands familiar to the tour and travel industry of Brazil: the airline Gol and the tour operator/travel agency CVC.
Awarded by Folha de São Paulo, one of the country’s top newspapers—it has been in business for 98 years—the Top of Mind awards are highly sought after and highly prized by those who receive them. Overall, the Top of Mind awards cover 15 categories, with products and/or services that range from food to home appliances. Following is a condensed version of what Folha (most people in Brazil refer to the publication simply as Folha) had to say about the winners in the tourism category.
—Gol: The past year has been a turbulent year for Brazil’s airlines. There was the collapse of Avianca Brazil, which formally went out of business this past June 24th. And a competitive factor in the South American market air carrier segment came into play with the entry of Sky Airlines into some Brazilian destinations. According to Kayak, after the carrier’s arrival the average ticket price fell by 23 percent on the routes in which they operate.
Of Gol, Folha de São Paulo said “its solo lead flight took of inf 2018 when it left TAM (now Latam) behind on the tie-breaker, ‘awareness.’ In 2107 the two competitors share the victor. This time, Gol … received 29 percent of the spontaneous mentions and gave way to the top, as TAM received 20 percent—a decline of 5 points from the previous year.”
CVC: There aren’t many laudatory adjectives that haven’t been used to describe this veritable giant of Brazil’s tourism industry. It is the largest tourism retailer in the Americas, noted Folha de São Paulo, with 1,300 franchise units and 6,500 accredited multi-band agencies, operating in 430 cities and in all of Brazil’s 26 states and its Federal District which has the national capital, Brasilia. CVC opens a new store every three days. Almost 4 million customers travel via CVC.
Folha de São Paulo also took note of the way CVC has been diversifying its revenue sources. Its product line now includes travel insurance, theme and amusement park tickets, car rentals and extra lodging nights. Packages that are customized by the customer with single services account for some 70 percent of CVC sales.
“The Chinese FITs like to book directly with the service providers”
From all the news releases, news conferences, news media coverage and discussions at last week’s World Travel Market of subjects that ranged from America to Zanzibar, few had such simple and direct value as the headline of this article. The reason is that, as most of those who work the USA’s overseas inbound tourism have known for the past five years, the vast Chinese market has dramatically grown as an FIT source market.
The quote came from Adam Wu, CEO of CBN Travel during the WTM China Tourism Forum, as reported by Tatiana Rokou in the Travel Daily News International. In what follows, INBOUND has taken the information and arranged it into bytes that might be easier to digest:
- Chinese travelers took nearly 150 million outbound visits made by Chinese travelers in 2018, up 14.7 percent year-on-year, according to a report by the China Tourism Academy and Ctrip.
- They are the world’s highest spenders on overseas travel, splashing out $277 billion last year, which was twice as much as Americans, six times more than the French and four times more than the British.
- Previously Chinese travelers preferred to travel in groups but, now, 56 percent take FIT trips. Said Wu: “There is widespread information available, 1.2 billion are using WeChat, we go directly to you, the incoming service providers …. “The Chinese FITs like to book directly with the service providers. You might want to be ready.”
- The most popular destinations* for the Chinese last year were:
- Thailand
- Japan
- Vietnam
- Singapore
- Indonesia
- Malaysia
- USA (it fell from No. 4 in 2016)
- Cambodia
- Russia
- Philippines
*(INBOUND would point out that the USA remains the favorite long-haul international destination)
- Thailand, Japan Vietnam, Singapore, Indonesia, Malaysia, USA (having fallen from fourth place in 2016), Cambodia, Russia and the Philippines.
- European destinations are working closely with China to increase visitor numbers that have seen big rises include Croatia (+ 540 percent), Latvia (+ 523 percent, and Slovenia (+497 percent).
- Shopping is not number one for Chinese travelers, according to Wu, who told his audience that what Chinese visitors want are heritage, culture and authentic experiences. In surveys, more than 20 percent said attractions were their most important consideration, followed by food (15 percent) and shopping (6.5 percent).
- Said Wu: “To the Chinese, heritage matters. We pay attention to this. … Anything that we have seen on film is also important, I take my daughter to anything to do with Harry Potter, it’s not heritage but when they have seen a film, they want to experience the real thing.”
- Also, he noted, tourism businesses needed to make it easy for Chinese visitors by having websites in their language, guides able to communicate with them, and payment via WeChat, pointing out to listeners, “You need to make it easy for Chinese to pay, I can guarantee that someone who has WeChat pay will get more sales than one that doesn’t. We want easy of spending.”
TourOperatorLand’s Partner of the Week: Shasta-Cascade in Upstate California
“There’s gold in them thar’ hills!” — Prospectors exclaimed as they descended on northern California for instant riches. Many towns in the Shasta Cascade region have not changed dramatically in more than 150 years. Visitors will discover gold rush history, volcanoes, granite spires, waterfalls, authenticity and genuine hospitality.
For more information, click here. Or contact Lisa May, director of tourism development at the Shasta Cascade Wonderland Association: lisa@shastacascade.org
HODGE PODGE: Shifts, Shakeups and Occasional Shaftings in the Tour and Travel Industry
Matthias Rotter has stepped down from his post as DER Touristik’s managing director for European and long-distance business. Rotter is leaving the company immediately, by “mutual agreement.” Rotter first joined the company as a trainee in 1986. He left DER Touristik between 1999, when 2003 he was responsible for cruises, long-haul holidays and city trips at Thomas Cook.
Ruth Hilton has been promoted to head of commercial UK at travel and event management company The Appointment Group (TAG). Hilton, who previously worked for Trafalgar and Insight Vacations as sales and business development director, joined TAG a year ago as a consultant heading up Private Travel, TAG’s leisure division. In her new role, she will also oversee the UK’s supplier relations, fares desk, corporate sales and marketing teams, and manage supplier relationships and new corporate business.
Matt Harding, former head of Freedom Travel Group, which was a part of the now-defunct tour operator Thomas Cook, has joined Travel Counsellors as head of strategy for independent agents. In the new role, Harding will be tasked with building on Travel Counsellors’ success of attracting independent agency owners to its homeworking business model. Harding was head of Freedom for a year and prior to that was senior manager of business operations from April 2017. The Freedom travel agency consortium collapsed as part of the Thomas Cook Group in September.
Joe Robinson has been named chief growth officer at RocketRez—a relatively recent (late 2011) startup based in Nashville featuring a platform that processes customer sales. He joins the company from Redeam, where he served for a little more than a year. Previously, he was senior vice president at BIG Bus Tours, where he served for almost 5 years.
René Herzog, who stepped down from his job as CEO of Central Europe for DER Touristik and took a brief break from work, will become a senior advisor for the Boston Consulting Group beginning in January. Herzog spent a total of 15 years at TUI during two different stints—from 2001-2007 and from 2010-May 2019.
Isaac Pacheco has been named director of sales at The National September 11 Memorial & Museum. He joins the organization from Hornblower Cruises and events, where he was national sales manager. Previously, Pacheco was tour and travel sales manager for Entertainment Cruises, where he served for nearly a dozen years.
Louisville Tourism has hired Jessica Morgan as tourism development director. Prior to her appointment, Morgan operated her own business for several years. She has considerable experience in the travel and tourism industry, have once served as the vice president of industry relations for the U.S. Travel Association in Washington, D.C. and as marketing and public relations director for the Bradenton Area CVB.
Duncan Bureau has been tapped to be the new senior vice president global sales and distribution, for Etihad Airways, which has become a major connector/feeder of air passenger traffic into North America via its hub at Abu Dhabi International Airport in the UAE. Bureau had recently served as president of Air Canada Rouge, and as vice president, global sales, Air Canada. He was also senior vice president, global sales and distribution for Malaysia Airlines. He also held several different senior positions during a 10-year tenure with WestJet Airlines.
Barbara Finn has been appointed managing director of Debut Journeys, a network of independent luxury travel advisors and a division of Travel Professionals International (TPI). She joins the company from The Luxury Travel Agency. Finn’s résumé includes senior positions at various Canadian travel companies.
Hotelbeds has appointed Richard Solomons as a non-executive member of its advisory board. Solomons also becomes president of the Hotelbeds Advisory Committee. Solomons had previously served as CEO of InterContinental Hotels Group from 2011 to 2017, where he was previously its chief financial officer. He was most recently president of Rentokil Initial plc, a publicly traded company in the London Stock Exchange and is a component of the FTSE 100 index. The Hotelbeds non-executive advisory committee was established in 2016 after Hotelbeds became an independent company backed by the Cinven and Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPPIB) investment funds.
Charlotte Peltier has joined the Paris-headquartered Directours, a brand of the tour operator NG Travel that sells North American product, as director of production and business development. Peltier, who previously worked for Directours from 2002 and 2006, has also held a senior position at the Karavel Group’s B2C operation and, recently, she was tours package manager at Perfecstay.
James Zale has been promoted to the position of chief digital officer for Visit Philadelphia, the regional DMO that promotes the Greater Philadelphia. Zale, who moved up from his job as senior vice president, digital strategy, has been with Visit Philadelphia for more than 17 years.
Gisel Vidals has been appointed business development head at OYO USA. She comes to the post from Big Bus Tours, where she was head of global sales. She served at Big Bus Tours for more than five years. Previously, Vidals served in several senior-level sales and marketing positions at such companies as Skyline Sightseeing NYC and SuperShuttle.
John Felice has been hired as director, leisure sales, Western Canada, for Vision Travel. Widely known in Canada and the USA, Felice is a travel and tourism industry veteran whose résumé includes 17 years as a membership of the leadership team of CruiseShipCenters. Vision Travel is a Direct Travel company. Direct Travel was recently listed at #9 on the Travel Weekly Power List with sales of $5.4 billion last year.
Oscar R. Perez Laffarge has been appointed contract manager-sourcing, Canada, at Hotelbeds. He joins from Portland, Maine-based Creative Travel, where he was president and CEO for 10 years. Previously, he was director of product contracting for Tourco.
Eric Gordon has been named director of travel agency strategy at Hornblower Experiences in New York. He comes to the company after spending 16 years with Beyond Times Square, lastly as executive vice president of business development.
British Airways has hired Mark Muren as head of global sales. Uren will join later this year from United Airlines where he was managing director of global accounts. He will report into chief commercial officer Andrew Brem and oversee the airline’s relationships with agents, travel management companies and corporations.
Ensemble Travel Group has announced the appointment of Una O’Leary as vice president of supplier relations. In this new role and in keeping with the consortia’s commitment in this area, she will oversee supplier partnerships with a focus on growing existing relationships and building new ones as well. Familiar with the U.S. travel and tourism industry, O’Leary was most recently with Carlson Wagonlit Travel since 2014 where she held positions as senior director, marketing and strategic partnerships and previously as senior director, marketing and supplier management, North American leisure. Prior to that, O’Leary held positions with American Express Travel Partner Network (TPN) and AmEx Canada Inc.
Effective Jan. 1, 2020, Martina Grönegres will become the new managing director of Lufthansa City Center International (LCCI). Grönegres succeeds Uwe Müller, who took over the LCCI management in 2017 for 3 years and who will go into preretirement in January 2020. Grönegres began her career with Lufthansa in 1996 in Frankfurt, with a senior position in the company group strategy. Over the years, she has worked in Peking and Shanghai, where she opened the Lufthansa Service Center in Grönegres, transferring back to Berlin. In January 2016. she additionally assumed the additional sales management for the NRW territory. Since September 2016, the Manager has been responsible for regional Sales Services as senior director sales services DACH and global accounts of Deutsche Lufthansa AG. Lufthansa City Center (LCC) is one of the worldwide largest independent franchise systems in the travel agency market with over 570 offices in 95 countries, and is active in the areas of both leisure and corporate travel and tourism.
Andrew Pickering, long-time Thomas Cook media and partnerships manager, has joined the tour operator Vacations to America as product and partnerships manager. Pickering joined Thomas Cook in 1999 and stayed with the company, save for a tenure of less than a year with Planet Destinations, until Cook shut down in September.
Happy Work Anniversaries To:
Melissa Gulliver for 7 years at Hotelbeds
Tony JIN for 6 years at CAISSA Touristic (Group) AG
Howard Pickett for 6 years at San Francisco Travel
Heidi Walters for 5 years at Economic Development Partnership of North Carolina (Visit NC)
Marlies van Sint Annaland for 3 years at AccessibleTravelOnline
Frances Lopez for 1 year at Smyrooms, part of Logitravel Group
Jeff Guaracino for 1 year at Visit Philadelphia
Source: LinkedIn
Posted Industry Jobs
From SearchWide Global:
—The St. Louis Convention & Visitors Commission (Explore St. Louis) has an opening for a vice president of sales. Click here for more information
—The Evansville, Indiana Convention & Visitors Bureau is searching for a chief executive officer. For more details, visit here.
—The Hawaii Visitors & Convention Bureau is searching for a senior vice president of convention sales. For more information, visit here.
—Visit SLO CAL in San Luis Obispo County, California is looking for a chief marketing officer. Click here for additional details.
—The San Diego Tourism Authority is searching for a president and CEO. For more information, visit here.
—The Monterey County Convention & Visitors Bureau is looking for a president and CEO. For more information, visit here.
—The Corpus Christi Convention & Visitors Bureau is searching for its next chief executive officer. For more details, click here.
—Brent Robinson Vacation Rentals on the Alabama Gulf Coast has an opening for a director of marketing. For additional details, click here.
—Crayola Experience is looking for a head of marketing at its Easton, Pa. location. For more information, click here.
—PRA Business Events has an opening for a reginal sales manager in Las Vegas. Click here for additional details.
—Apple Leisure Group is searching for a senior director of Supplier Strategy & Investment. For more details, click here.
—The El Paso Convention & Visitors Bureau has an opening for a director of convention development. Click here for more details.
—Visit Milwaukee has an opening for a director of sales. Click here for more information.
—The Fort Worth Convention & Visitors Bureau and Will Rogers Memorial Center is searching for a general manager. Click here for details.
—An international hotels & resorts company has an opening for a regional director of sales and marketing; the position is based in Vancouver, B.C. Visit here for details.
—Visit Dallas is looking for a president and CEO. For more details, click here.
—The Miami Beach Convention Center (Spectra) has an opening for a director of sales. Click here for more information.
—Visit Sacramento has an opening for a director of sales. Click here for more information.
—An Irvine, California-based hotel management company is searching for a corporate director of revenue strategy. Click here for more details.
—A hotel management company is searching for a remote director of revenue management for the Embassy Suites Brand who will oversee two recently renovated hotels. For more information, click here.
—Great Wolf Resorts is looking for someone to fill the position of vice president of sales. Visit here for more information.
—The Saugatuck Douglas Area Convention & Visitors Bureau is searching for a new executive director. Click here for more information.
—The Greater Miami Convention and Visitors Bureau has an opening for a vice president of people strategies. Click here for more information.
From HARP wallen Global Executive Recruitment and Search:
—A luxury tour operator is seeking a marketing consultant for a 2-year fixed contract. Located in the Home Counties. For more information, visit here.
—The marketing department of a specialist cruise company situated in Greater London has an opening for a marketing services executive. Click here for details.
—An international tourism business located in Central London is searching for a senior portfolio tourism manager-12 month fixed term contract. For more information, visit here.
—A travel organization in North West Surry, has an opening for a cruise marketing executive. Click here for details
