China Expert Sees 2022 Outbound Recovery
“China will reclaim its top position as main source market for international tourism,” exclaimed Dr. Wolfgang Georg Arlt, CEO of the China Outbound Tourism Research Institute (COTRI). Citing the work of CONTRI Analytics, the research part of the organization’s apparatus, Arlt said in a statement accompanying the release of a new report that China’s outbound travel will reach a full recovery by the end of 2022.
Essentially shut down earlier this year by the impact of a global pandemic brought on by the COVID-19 virus, outbound travel from China has a bright outlook, suggested Arlt, noting, “Travelers from Mainland China can be expected to be responsible for more than a million border crossings, with the Special Administrative Region Macau as main destination. However, a number of other countries in Asia welcome Chinese visitors again, including Thailand, Laos, Japan, Singapore and others. Chinese citizens within the Schengen region in Europe can also travel between European countries.”
“Obviously China is the ‘tallest within a group of dwarfs’ in this development,” he added. “In November 2019 more than ten million Chinese traveled abroad and other source markets also sent out millions on international business and leisure trips. However, it is important to notice that the often-cited ‘light at the end of the tunnel’ looks very much like a Chinese lantern.”
Next Year Looks Better and the year after should see a full recovery! For the whole year of 2020, COTRI ANALYTICS expects a number of 18 million Chinese international trips, most of which however happened in January, representing about 10 percent of the number for 2019.
| For 2021, COTRI Analytics forecasts around 100 million international trips of Chinese citizens. |
According to Arlt, “There are many million Chinese waiting eagerly to travel abroad again. With CoViD-19 almost defeated in East Asia and vaccines hopefully becoming available in a few weeks, we should see a wave of Chinese outbound travelers starting Chinese New Year travelling to Asia and after Easter to Europe. It will take time to get visa regimes and air connections back on track, that’s why we only forecast about 100 million trips in 2021. In 2022 however, we are very likely to see a new record number of outbound trips.”
Said Arlt: “China will recover quicker than other source markets and Chinese travelers will look for new, less crowded and friendly destinations offering quality products adopted to their specific demands, which will be different in post-virus times compared to previous years. Destinations and service providers better start now to prepare for these ‘new’ Chinese guests.”
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And then there is this, from pandaily.com:
“As travel bans were lifted and people settled into the post-pandemic new normal, China’s tourism has been revived by citizens eager to make up for the trips they missed during the lockdowns. Premium quality tourism products and themed tours are taking China’s tourism by storm, according to the 2020 Domestic Tourism Revival Report jointly released by research institution China Tourism Academy and travel agency Trip.com.” (Click here to read the complete article.)
When, Oh When, Will “It” Restart?
The discussion at last week’s “Connect with Tour Operators” virtual roundtable focused very much on when the travel and tourism industry in the United States might restart in 2021. Sponsored by Connect Travel, the roundtable also spent time during which participants paid attention to the importance of
international visitors to the United States. The three panelists who took part in the event included: Umang Malbari, president, Discover Destinations; Chris Pilley, CEO, Rocky Mountain Holiday Tours, LLC; and Jeremy Butzlaff, President, MTRWestern. Moderating the panel discussion was Shari Bailey, vice president of Connect Travel, and general manager, Connect Travel Events
Key Takeaways from the Roundtable
1.There is a “pent-up demand” for travel among clients of the operators. Both U.S. residents and international visitors, especially those from Europe, who are accustomed to taking two or three holidays every year, can’t wait to “break loose.” Along with the pent-up demand, there is a level of frustration among potential travelers, many of whom are experience some degree of a lockdown in their home countries.
2. With a possible vaccine that could put an end to the COVID-19 virus and the global pandemic that it caused notwithstanding, it appears that an impact on tourism won’t be immediate. Operators expect/hope that barriers to travel and travel-related activity to ease, and travel to re-start by the third or fourth quarter of 2021, with some product possibly launching in the second quarter; this depends on the lifting of travel bans.
3. Out of necessity, some operators began selling domestic product as the global pandemic continued in 2020. However, none expected domestic travel to comprise a significant share of their inventory. Yet, those operators who have taken to packaging and selling small, private tours, might maintain these items in their product line.
4. Nothing has warranted the attention of operators as much as the issue of safety and cleanliness. For the operators in this roundtable, the importance of these two features—safety and cleanliness—is high on, if not the top of, concerns of international travelers. Operators now include scrupulous attention to clean and safe practices in their own workplaces and among their employees; in the buses they use and the drivers and the tour guides who escort travelers; in the hotels they contract to use; and among the attractions, restaurants and activities that are a part of tours.
5. Related to the challenge of addressing safety and cleanliness concerns for operators is the frustration they all expressed over have over the absence of a single source of information on the various (and changing) regulations and different levels of requirements imposed on clients as they and the buses that carry them go through one destination after another. DMOs could be helpful, operators suggested, if they could help coordinate the information flow so that operators can more easily adhere the different regulations and requirements they find as they go from town to town and from hotel to hotel.
Selected Quotes
Chris Pilley: “It’s been a bit challenging here. But I think we’ll see a lot of pent-up demand. It might not be all there in 2021, but over the next few years there’s gonna be demand coming back.”
Jeremy Butzlaff: “For 2021 we’re looking at 25 percent of our 2019 capacity. So, it was basically going from 1.1 to 1.2 million to 300 000. That’s better than what we had in 2020, which was zero or, maybe, I think it was like 16 people … but people are anxious. They want to book. They want to go.”
Umang Malbari: “I think it’s a spring waiting to explode. People are ready to travel and I think the they want to travel. It’s there. There are just a lot of unknowns.”
Chris Pilley: “Right now our strongest market for 2021, by far, is the UK. But we’re still getting bookings from Germany, Belgium, The Netherlands and Italy—pretty much all of our main markets over there. It’s just not a normal volume, and yeah I think there’s just too much uncertainty.”
Umang Malbari: (Asked “Have you made decision to focus on the domestic market?) Yes and no. Domestic ball game’s a completely different ball game all together and our focus has always been more of the group side of travel. Even domestically, group travel is really not happening to the same degree as it was in 2019.”
Jeremy Butzlaff: “We spent a lot of the last eight nine months just foundationally (working on safety) What does that look like? How do we do it always as a carrier? It always starts with safety. For us, it was revamping how we train the drivers and how we get all the equipment done and maintained. And then there’s the internal safety of protecting people from COVID. How do we do that with electrostatic sprayers. And what’s our policy in the office?”
Chris Pilley: “We ended up getting some domestic bookings and that might continue some into
the future but that will be a small part of our business you know right now our focus has been
um one of the big changes is trying to get every activity company um get rates from them or we can do private tours.”
Umang Malbari: “Pretty much everybody in the travel industry right now is trying to revamp. And they’ve got a lot of extra time, so they’re all trying to develop new products. I think everyone is kind of asking ‘What else can we do rather than the major cities?’”
Chris Pilley: “Right now. I think the big enticement is allowing last-minute cancellations. They can get the thing at the cheapest price but if there’s a non-refundable 50 percent fee, they’re just not going to book it because they don’t know what’s going to come up in the next six eight to months.”
Umang Malbari: “It’s going to be really important for DMOs to continue marketing in these (overseas) destinations because we’re competing as the United States. We’re competing against the world um and for us to pull out of those destinations is going to be it’s going to be even harder to climb back out of it.”
Click here to list to/watch the video recording of the webinar.
Ready, Set … Brand USA Set to Go
Last week, the board of directors of Brand USA held its final meeting of the calendar year—but also its first meeting of the new Fiscal Year 2021. Because of the damage wrought by the COVID-19 virus, Brand USA’s directors and senior staff, like every other professional in the U.S. travel and tourism industry, had a sense that good news—really good news—was possible for the first time since the virus began laying waste to the industry early this year.
The possibility that a vaccination for the COVID-19 might soon be available to at least part of the U.S. and global populations definitely had an impact on the mood and hope of the remote board members gathering in front of terminals throughout the country.
“I’d have to say that the recent news about a vaccine is certainly, I think, better than anticipated,” said Chris Thompson, the organization’s president and CEO. “It potentially moves its impact of getting on top of the pandemic and restoring confidence both within the country and around the world maybe a quarter sooner than we had planned.”
As has every other organization in the industry, Brand USA has had to make do with less (the table at the end of this article sketches out the presentation of Don Richardson, Brand USA’s chief financial officer).
Alluding to its need to make do with less, Thompson said, “There was a deliberate attempt to scale back in activities and operations, but I can tell you that, in getting ready for this meeting. it’s been a really busy time for us, these past three months. It really had to do with a lot of the front-end loaded activity that is going to allow us, in our state of readiness, to still remain relevant.”
Tracy Lanza, senior vice president, integrated marketing, told board members “It is our intent deploy a strategy of reset and go. That’s what we really want to do. We want to be able to pick up and go when the time is right.” (Check out the extensive details in Lanza’s presentation here.)
Brand USA Marketplace Update: It has launched! Driven by the global pandemic to go virtual, Brand USA last month kickstarted its Brand USA Marketplace.
Synchronized, as it was, to increase awareness of the (virtual) Brand USA Travel Week Europe, which took place Oct. 26-29 and had a heavy program of presentations and networking opportunities), the new, “always open” marketplace is performing well and, it is hoped, should grow steadily in the future. Said Thompson to potential users in a message that was a part of a program segment on the Marketplace: “The only way it’s going to reach its potential? It’s going to require your ongoing support, your ongoing engagement, your ongoing feedback.”
Meanwhile, the second Travel Week Europe 2020 (the first edition was held last year in London) registered some encouraging numbers, some of which follow:
Other Numbers on the Brand USA Travel Week Europe, 2020:
• 750—Total number of attendees
• 17—Keynotes, enrichment sessions and market updates
• 2,600-plus—one-on-one, pre-scheduled appointments
• 24—Live networking sessions
Still Available: Video Market & Research Updates (approximately 30 minutes long) given by in-country industry experts.
• Market Updates. These cover: Emerging Markets; France, Germany & Austria; Ireland; Italy; The Netherlands; Spain; Switzerland; and the UK.
• Research Updates: These include sessions on Europe; France; Germany; and the UK.
Some Exhibitor Survey Results
—a 99 percent of respondents said that they found Brand USA Global Marketplace helpful in achieving their goals for Brand USA Travel Week Europe 2020.
—91 percent of respondents said that they were satisfied with Brand USA Global Market Place.
—90 percent of respondents said that they were satisfied with Brand USA Travel Week Europe 2020.
—On a scale of 1-10:
• How likely are you to attend Travel Week Europe in the Future? (8.7)
•How likely are you to recommend Brand USA Travel Week Europe to others? (8.5)
• How likely are you to recommend building a pod on Brand USA Global Market Place to others? (8.0)
Some Exhibitor Survey Results
—97 percent of respondents said that they round Brand USA Global Marketplace helpful in achieving their goals for Brand USA Travel Week Europe 2020.
—95 percent of respondents said that they were satisfied with Brand USA Global Marketplace.
—96 percent of respondents said that they were satisfied with Brand USA Travel Week Europe.
—On a scale of 1-10,
• How likely are you to attend Travel Weekly Europe in the Future? (8.8)
• How likely are you to recommend Travel Week Europe to others? (8.6)
Now, let’s get back to live: The next meet-in-person version of Brand USA’s Travel Week Europe will take place Oct. 25-29 at County Hall, London.
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Key Budget Figures: A key number in the explanatory insert that Brand USA’s CFO, Don Richardson, used to discuss the organization’s budget is the $69.5 million less in total partner cash contributions and in-kind contributions than it was a year ago.
When Will it be OK to Take That 1st Trip?
Follow-up to early COVID-19 impact survey shows respondents trust themselves more than governments and public policies: In late September and October of this year, Oliver Wyman—a New York City-headquartered research and consulting firm with offices in more than 60 cities worldwide—conducted its second global survey of travelers to capture how views of travel are changing as the COVID-19 pandemic, and responses to it, evolve.
The previous survey was conducted in April/May and those results can be found here. The second survey involved more than 4,600 people across nine countries (Australia, Canada, China, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, United Kingdom, United States), all of whom had flown at least once in 2019. A third also have traveled by air and/or rail in the past six months. The first survey was conducted after the initial peak in COVID-19 cases, border closures, and lockdowns; the second was conducted as COVID-19 cases began to grow to a new peak in Europe.
In deciding when they will be ready to travel, survey respondents are putting less weight on government and public policy and more on personal risk assessment, as compared to the May survey. Despite cases being on the upswing during the survey period, some 30 percent of respondents in France and Italy and 25 percent in the United States think it’s okay to travel now.
Oliver Wyman’s second survey took place in September and last month, involving more than 4,600 people across nine countries (Australia, Canada, China, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, United Kingdom, United States), all of whom had flown at least once in 2019. A third also have traveled by air and/or rail in the past six months. The first survey was conducted after the initial peak in COVID-19 cases, border closures, and lockdowns; the second was conducted as COVID-19 cases began to grow to a new peak in Europe.
Findings/Exhibits
In deciding when they will be ready to travel, survey respondents are putting less weight on government and public policy and more on personal risk assessment, as compared to the May survey. Despite cases being on the upswing during the survey period, some 30 percent of respondents in France and Italy and 25 percent in the United States think it’s okay to travel now.
Exhibit 1: “When do you think it will be okay to start your first trip after the COVID-19 outbreak?”
First choice, % of total survey respondents
Source: Oliver Wyman 2020 Traveler Sentiment Survey, Oliver Wyman analysis
Leisure Travel: Interest in leisure travel remains strong, with 63 percent expecting to travel the same amount or more post-pandemic. Half or more of leisure travel respondents in Canada, United Kingdom, France, and Germany expect their next leisure trip post-pandemic to be international (Exhibit 2). In Europe and Asia/Australia, leisure travelers largely expect their next international trip to be within their own regions. More than half of Americans planning an international next trip, however, want to go to Europe.
Exhibit 2: “Leisure travel: When COVID-19 travel restrictions are lifted, what is your likely destination for your next leisure trip?”
% of country’s respondents
Source: Oliver Wyman 2020 Traveler Sentiment Survey, Oliver Wyman analysis
Teleconferencing is becoming the communications tool of choice, but business travelers are less convinced that teleconferencing is effective for building new relationships (Exhibit 4). For travel companies, these findings suggest that their messaging to customers will need to focus heavily on the importance of people coming together to forge or maintain relationships.
Exhibit 3: “Do you agree or disagree with the following statements on teleconferencing?”
% of respondents, only those that travel for business
Source: Oliver Wyman 2020 Traveler Sentiment Survey, Oliver Wyman analysis
For the complete early report, which contains findings on the matters of cleanliness and safety, visit here.
International Student Numbers Decline
More than one-third of the million-plus international students in the U.S. are from China: For the first time in decades, the number of international students studying in the United States—a lucrative market to a number of U.S. destinations—has declined.
The just-released annual Open Doors Report, which is a census produced by the Institute of International Education (IIE) of students who attended U.S. universities and colleges in the most recent school year declined from 1.095 million in the 2018-19 school year to 1.075 million in the 2019- 20. This represents a decline of 1.8 percent.
The report, which is supported by the U.S. State Department, also showed that, once again, China and India together generated more than half of the total number of international students in the U.S.
New Enrollments Drop Substantially: While the annual numbers are not that great, a statement accompanying the release of this year’s Open Doors Report last week in Washington, D.C. noted that the new enrollments of international students so far this school year, or semester, are off by 43 percent because of COVID-19 and global pandemic it has caused. Nearly 40,000 students (mostly incoming freshmen) have deferred enrollment of U.S. institutions to a future term.
Also, said IIE, of the more than 1 million enrolled international students in the U.S., 20 percent have opted for online learning this semester due to COVID-19-related shutdowns. Some international students have returned to their home countries, while others are living off-campus or under strict regulations on campus.
Economic Impact: IIE indicated that tuition and fees can mount to $70,000 a year for an undergraduate degree in the U.S. and that 56 percent of international students pay out-of-pocket for their U.S. education. Also, visits to and from the campus by family members help to make students from abroad a significant market for those destinations that are home to U.S. colleges and universities attended by the students.
To give one an idea of the size of the student market, consider the case of China. It sent 372,532 students to the United States in 2019-20 school year. This is slightly behind the 384,000 visitors sent to the U.S. by Chile which ranks No. 23 among overseas country markets for U.S. inbound tourism.
Key findings of the IIE Open Doors Report are contained in the tables below. For additional information, visit www.opendoorsdata.org.
Connecting with Canadian Tour Operators
Those who attended Connect Travel’s recent virtual roundtable webinar that focused on issues and questions having to do with the Canadian market to the United States, received a wealth of information and insight from the panelists who responded to the numbers questions that were posed to them.
Panelists included: Chloé Dumont-Samson, sales & marketing manager, Ruby Range Adventure; and Kristine Geary, president & CEO, Maple Leaf Tours. Moderating the discussion was Shari Bailey, vice president, Connect Travel, and general manager, Connect Travel Events.
Top Takeaways: For attendees of the webinar, there were the following top takeaways:
1. Canadian Market: The Canadian market is strengthening; however, current destinations are largely domestic and the Caribbean. 2021 and onwards our panelists feel Canadians will stay in Canada or travel towards Europe once opened. It will take time for this market to return to the US. They feel strongly that once US/Canadian borders open consumers will need to once again confidence in the United States before they choose to travel.
2. Travel Patterns: Canadians are staying closer to home and travel volumes are low. Group travel is slow and will take longer to return; when it does, expect smaller groups. Focus on the FIT market; it is currently growing due to the increase in road trips. Our panelists feel the summer of 2021 will see a return to travel and agree that demand will be huge.
3. Flexibility: Flexibility continues to be a hot topic for our panelists. Our panelists interpreted it as reviewing their own policies and making changes. Think COVID-19 insurance, waivers, medical forms, online compliance & registration. Our panelists are creating new programs for Canadians to travel in their “Own Backyard”, vacation packages that include any required quarantine, US trips to outdoor open spaces, and pre-cruise packages for Summer 2021.
4. Connect: While our speakers felt there is a long road to recovery, they are updating current packages and creating new ones. Reach out with product ideas and no matter what, stay connected!
Selected Quotes:
Kristine Geary: When this all started, we all thought, ‘OK,’ this is gonna be a couple weeks. And then, we thought, ‘Let’s learn how to bake bread.” Then, it got to be summer, and we were going to be outdoorsy and fun. And now everybody’s going into to fall and they’re just all. like, completely shot. We’re not gonna start the whole bread thing again. We just can’t eat that much bread.”
Chloé Dumont-Samson: (After pointing out that 80 percent of her Canadian company’s Yukon-based business comes from Europe) “I see this entire pandemic as a really great opportunity to look into the local market. By local, I mean the Canadian market. There will definitely a desire by Canadians to travel within their own country.”
Shari Bailey: “Back in May, it was February 2021—that’s when things were really going to pick up. And then we saw that slowly moving back to the end of March, maybe this summer. I think that the collective wisdom that we hear right now is that summer 2021 is what we should be looking at.”
Kristine Geary “How am I doing? Terrible. Terrible. We haven’t had a sale since March 14th. That has not changed even when things seem to be picking up. We continuously do refunds. We had a sold-out tour that was expected to go Florida in February. We have cancelled that because the clients just will not go.”
Chloé Dumont-Samson: “Being in nature. Empty spaces. Wildlife. Hopping on a canoe trip for two weeks. These ae all things that will be very interesting for people—not to say that people will not want to visit cities any more, but I think there will definitely be a hype about being outside.”
Shari Bailey: “We’ve heard this on couple of our webinars—what this extra time we have is providing us It’s providing us with an opportunity a way to review products we have and ways that we operate –across all industries, not just for tour operators, not just receptive operators.”
Contact Information:
Chloé Dumont-Samson, sales & marketing manager, Ruby Range Adventure – chloe@rubyrange.com.
Kristine Geary, president & CEO, Maple Leaf Tours – Kristine@MapleLeafTours.com.
Shari Bailey, vice president, Connect Travel, and general manager, Connect Travel Events – sbailey@connecttravel.com
Click here to hear and see the complete webinar session.
eTourism Summit 2020 Announces Winners in Third Annual eTSY Awards
Connect Travel, owner and producer of eTourism Summit, is pleased to announce the winners of the 3rd Annual eTSY Awards. The recognition goes to destination marketing organizations and their media partners during the recent eTourism Summit, now in its 21st year.
Powered by Expedia Group Media Solutions, the eTourism Summit Excellence Awards celebrate the best of 2019-2020 tourism promotion with awards in 11 categories covering destination campaigns focused on website content, video, email, augmented and virtual reality, website, influencers and innovative approaches.
“The quality of digital marketing in the travel and tourism industry is impressive. Every category was highly competitive,” said J. William Seccombe, president of Connect Travel. “We applaud everyone for submitting examples of great work and congratulate the winners.”
eTSY Awards 2020 judges: Monya Mandich, Brian Matson, Matt Stiker
The call for entries opened in May 2020 and concluded four months later, garnering strong interest from city, state, county, and regional DMOs and attractions throughout the U.S. Appreciation goes to a panel of expert judges: Monya Mandich, Global Vice President, Marketing at Expedia Group Media Solutions; Brian Matson, Senior Director of Strategy & Education at TwoSix Digital; and Matt Stiker, Founder of Capital M Marketing who considered budget as well as three key criteria: strategy and objective; creativity; and impact/measurability.
“With the uncertainties brought on by the pandemic, this year’s submissions demonstrated agility and creativity as travel brands continuously adapted their efforts to remain relevant and engage with consumers in meaningful ways, even when they’re not traveling,” said Mandich. “The importance of travel—now and in the future—was highlighted across the submissions and the campaigns illustrated how travel brands are using this time to reflect, improve and innovate to maintain connections and continue inspiring consumers to dream of travel, she added.
Regarding 2020 eTSY Award entries, Matson said, “This year showcased the versatility and creativity required to execute remarkable online campaigns during an extremely challenging time. It’s great to see that so many DMOs innovated in ways that serve to inspire and elevate the marketing efforts of the entire community.”
Trade Talk
• Citing impact of COVID-19 and global pandemic, Korean Air acquires Asiana: Korean Air Lines is acquiring its competitor, Asiana Airlines, in a government-supported move that is aimed at helping the country’s two largest carriers survive the COVID-19 crisis. In a transaction worth more than $1.35 billion, Korean Air acquire 63.9 percent in Asiana—supported by the state-run Korean Development Bank. The bank said that it “realized that without restructuring in the aviation industry it is unclear whether the flag carriers would survive even after the coronavirus pandemic ends.” “With the deal,” the bank statement noted, “the integrated flag carrier will be one of the top 10 global airlines.” Meanwhile, the Hanjin Group, owner of Korean Air, said, “The main reason behind Korean Air’s decision to acquire Asiana Airlines at this time is to stabilize the Korean aviation industry, which is suffering from the COVID-19 pandemic.”
• Half-year sales for dnata Travel drop 95 percent: The big players in global tourism are posting big numbers that help to illustrate how devastating and far-reaching the global pandemic drive by the COVID-19 virus is. Recently, TUI announced figures suggesting that it will likely seek help from the German government to prevent a financial shortfall. Next, it was dnata, the Dubai-based company which is the largest travel company in the Middle East (it also has extensive holdings in the UK.)
Dnata’s travel division announced that it suffered a 95 percent slump in sales in the six months ending with September 30 as Covid-19 brought travel to a virtual standstill.
A part of the Emirates Group, dnata has brands that include Travel 2, a trade-only provider of tailor-made holidays; Global Travel Group; Sunmaster.co.uk; Travelbag, long-haul specialists; Netflights, a UK online long-haul specialist; Gold Medal, a trade only brand; and Travel Republic, an OTA serving the UK and Ireland. Revenue from the Emirates-owned tour operating business fell to $26 million from $488 million for the same period last year. In a statement coinciding with the release of the figures, the Emirates Group (dnata is a part of the group) said: “This reflects the significant refund volume and pay-out in cancelled customer bookings mainly during the beginning of the pandemic.” The sum of all the above is—this was the first half year loss recorded in more than 30 years.
• OAG strikes deal with ForwardKeys: Forward Keys, a leading global travel analytics firm that has become widely known for research models that are able to, among other features, predict air travel passenger activity using booking data and other measures, has deepened its hold over the travel industry by cementing a new deal with global flight information provider OAG, which has data sets for measures such as on real-time flight activity worldwide A statement from ForwardKeys said the move came following a study that began earlier this year because of the COVID-19 crisis. This review ultimately led to the long-term agreement with OAG in which the latter will provide data and, at the same time, receive: a weekly feed of the latest worldwide airline schedules; a daily feed of schedules changes to understand volatility better; a daily feed of flight status data to track flight cancellations worldwide; and improved modelling and identification of aircraft configurations used on specific routes.
Meanwhile, the partnership will enable ForwardKeys to provide even more accurate data to its list of clients keen for a real understanding of seat capacity figures in a world of last-minute cancellations and refunded tickets: “Seat Capacity and schedule data is a core, strategic asset for ForwardKeys. It is not only a dataset that is consumed directly by a significant number of clients via our online platforms and offline reports, but it is also used extensively in the company and is a key component for our algorithm to model and generates total air market estimates,” says Olivier Jager, CEO, and Co-Founder of ForwardKeys, which is based in Valencia, Spain. OAG is headquartered in Luton, England.
• And, most importantly, ipw is less than 10 months away: If you missed the Tweet by the U.S. Travel Association, exhibitor registration for #ipw21 is now open. Following a well-received digital edition for 2020 held earlier this year, the next ipw is scheduled to take place September 18-22, 2021 where, US Travel said, “we rebuild, reconnect and most importantly, reunite. Register now at ipw.com. Questions? Contact the IPW Team at 202.408.8422.
HODGE PODGE: Appointments and Changes
Kyle Edmiston, president and CEO of the Lake Charles/Southwest Louisiana, has been named chair of the board of directors of Brand USA, the nation’s national destination promotion agency. Edmiston, who was voted by his colleagues on the Brand USA board, succeeds John F. Edman, director of Explore Minnesota Tourism, whose tenure on the board had expired. Members are appointed for a maximum of two consecutive three-terms. (The U.S. Secretary of Commerce, in consultation with the U.S. Secretary of State and the U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security, appoints the 11-member board according to specific sectors of the travel and tourism industry. These appointees serve staggered three-year terms and work together to provide leadership and overall guidance to Brand USA’s mission and operations.) Edmiston has been with the Lake Charles/Southwest Louisiana bureau for nearly three years. Previously, he was assistant secretary of the Louisiana Office of Tourism.
Toronto-based VoX International has announced that Jacqueline Kuehnel has joined the company as business development director. Jacqueline brings more than thirty years of travel and tourism experience in Canada and the USA, as well as expertise in corporate social responsibility and sustainable tourism. VoX International Inc. provides a wide range of public relation and marketing solutions for the travel and tourism sectors and is active within the North America market. Kuehnel has held senior executive positions with travel companies including Signature Vacations, Canada and most recently the Apple Leisure Group, USA.
Steve Allen, a former senior vice president at dnata travel and based in Dubai, has returned to the UK to join the Firebird Partnership, a start-up consultancy created to help businesses rebuild from the impact of the COVID-19 crisis. He had been in Dubai for three years. Allen has had experience in both the business and leisure travel sectors, including roles as chief executive of Portman Travel, managing director of Wexas, marketing director for holiday exchange firm RCI and commercial director at Thomson Holidays.
Matthias Gehring, head of TUI.com and the travel agency branches of TUI, is leaving the group at the end of the year. Gehring is leaving for “personal reasons.” The decision was “not easy” for him, according to a German trade publication. In a statement, TUI told Gehring “We as the management of TUI Germany say a big personal thank you for your commitment to our company. We will miss you, as a person, as colleagues and as a manager.” A successor to TUI.com and the head of TUI branches will be announced shortly.
It’s now Doctor Richie Karaburun. A veteran of the tourism industry and familiar to many in the New York City area, Karaburun has earned his doctorate in marketing from New York University. He has been teaching at NYU for much of the past decade, and has also operated his own consultancy. Previously, he served as managing director, North America, of Roomer, an online peer-to-peer marketplace for travel. Prior to Roomer, Karaburun was vice president of global supplier relations at RADIUS, president at GTA North America, and vice president of product development and contracting at American Tours International.
John Hays, founder of the UK’s largest independent travel agent, Hays Travel, passed away Nov. 13 after collapsing at the firm’s head office. John Hays, 71, was the managing director of the Sunderland-based firm, alongside his wife and co-owner Irene. Well-known in the USA, the company has been in business for 40 years and it sells a considerable amount of Visit USA product. Hays Travel has since appointed Jonathon Woodall (right) as chief operating officer. Woodall joined Hays Travel in 2004 and worked closely with John Hays for more than 16 years when he has held positions including finance manager, head of Independence Group (IG) and head of commercial.
Josh Collins, well-known IT guru and speaker in the travel and tourism industry, particularly in the DMO sector, has joined destination marketing, research and IT company Entrada Insights, which is based in Salt Lake City as its head of community & education. Collins joins the company from Bethesda, Maryland-based Streetsense, a firm that specializes in brand positioning. He has also served as digital communications manager at Visit Franklin (Tenn.).
Giovanni Pedaccini has been named as the new commercial manager at Airport Dimensions, a global lounge and airport experience specialist. Pedaccini has worked on major consultancy projects for airports across the world. He initially worked for Mott MacDonald as an analyst, and then with Atkins as a planner, where he was involved with the latest Masterplan for Abu Dhabi International Airport.
Lissette García Arrogante has been appointed tourism and culture director for the city of Miami Beach. Familiar with the position because of her work—she has worked as a contemporary art advisor for nearly nine years—García Arrogante also served as director, cultural resources & Savannah Cultural Arts Center.
Kari Tarnowski has joined the American Queen Steamboat Company, part of the Hornblower Group, as senior vice president of marketing. She previously served as vice president of marketing for Crystal Cruises. As senior vice president of marketing, Tarnowski will be responsible for the organization’s overall marketing strategy, including multi-channel customer demand generation, brand positioning, public relations, customer insights, guest feedback, loyalty and retention, competitive analysis and partnership marketing. Tarnowski joins Hornblower Group with her more than two decades of strategic marketing experience in the cruise and hotel industries.
Posted Industry Jobs
From SearchWide Global:
—The Bermuda Tourism Authority is looking for a chief sales and marketing officer. For additional details, click here.
—The Little Rock Convention & Visitors Bureau has an opening for a director of sales. Click here for more information.
—Visit Orlando is searching for a new president and CEO. For more information visit here.
— Brett/Robinson Vacation Rentals on the Alabama Gulf Coast has an opening for a director of operations. Visit here for more details.
— Sports Facilities Management is searching for a senior project manager to join its facility planning and finance support services team. For more details, visit here.
—The Oklahoma City Convention & Visitors Bureau has an opening for a new president. Click here for more information.
—A new president and CEO is being sought by Destination Madison (Wis.). For additional details, click here.
—The Branson/Lakes Area Chamber of Commerce is looking for a president and CEO. For more information, visit here.
—The Sedona Chamber of Commerce & Tourism Bureau is looking for a new president & CEO. Click here for more information.
—The City of Omaha has an opening for the position of director, parks, recreation and public property. Visit here for additional details.
—The Virginia Tourism Corporation (it is the state’s DMO) has an opening for a director of research and market intelligence. Click here for more information.—In the Charlotte/Concord area of North Carolina, Great Wolf Resorts as an opening for a director of sales and catering. For details, click here
