Optimism for Asia Pacific tourism midst challenges

By Shezna Shums

The Asia Pacific tourism leaders who met in Colombo last week concluded that midst record tourist arrivals in the Asian region and optimistic forecast there are several challenges to be addressed as well.

Sri Lanka hosted the 23rd Joint Meeting of the UNWTO Commission for South Asia and the UNWTO Commission for East Asia and the Pacific in conjunction with the UNWTO Conference on Mainstreaming Tourism in the Media.

At the conclusion of these meetings it was highlighted that amidst record tourist arrivals in the Asian region there were some challenges yet to be resolved such as the jobs lost during the recession which are yet to be recovered as well as changing environmental conditions which could affect all sectors of tourism.

The strong growth of Asia is said to be a reflection of the broader global economic situation, which is set to dominate trends in 2011 and the foreseeable future.

A key aspect that dominated this session was the success of the Asian regions and the intra travelling of the people while on a negative note it was said that long haul flights may be reduced by rising oil prices and austerity measures by western governments.

This meeting is the first of five more session to be held over two months.

The Secretary General, UNWTO Dr Taleb Rifai said that Asia has had the best recovery after the recession years, and that more tourism growth is gravitating towards this region.

Highlighting that Asia now holds a market share of 22 percent of the world’s tourism, and one attribute to this was the increased intra travel within the Asian region and the expansion of the middle class sector especially in India and China.

Popular events being held in countries within the region, new hotels and resorts are also attracting tourists who see them as a reflection of the dynamism in these places.

Tourism has also become a high priority in the national policies of governments, and the political support to the tourism sector in Asia, is another factor attributed towards the increased tourism levels it was highlighted during the meeting.

For the year 2011, it is estimated there will be a growth of four to five percent globally with regard to the tourism sector.

The problems in the Middle East and Japan are expected to be short term problems and will not have long term effects, it was presented yesterday.

One of the issues highlighted was that there may be a reduction in long haul flights given the increasing cost of oil, and austerity measures taken by some western and European governments, while currency fluctuations is also a matter of concern.

However travel within the Asian regions is expected to be high. Intra regional travel will be less affected it was presented.

Given these positive notes there were also some negative highlights which was the fact that there still remains a clear persistence of high unemployment as the jobs lost during the recession period, are yet to be recovered.

Interest rates and high inflation picking up are another factor while budget cuts could also affect European travellers.

Another issue talked, with its close relationship to the environment and climate, tourism and travel is considered to be highly climate sensitive economic sector.

Tourism destinations and tourism operators are affected by climate variability in a number of ways where direct climate impacts competitive relationships between destinations and intra regional tourism flows, increased infrastructure damage, additional emergency preparedness requirements, higher operating costs and business interruptions.

Indirect environmental change impacts include changes in water availability, biodiversity loss, reduced landscape, increased natural hazards and coastal erosion diseases.

The issue of climate change has been of international concern for several decades.

Action to reduce current green houses gases will not only minimise the threat of climate change but will also provide an opportunity to develop a sustainable global economy.

Any mitigation policies should be developed and implemented in a considered way so as not to negatively disadvantage the least developed countries and the tourism industry contributing to poverty reduction and economic development.

The other issue brought up at the session was the future launch of the 2030 forecast and vision which is to be completed and launched in the near future.

UNWTO also responded to the contemporary world issues with repercussions on international tourism.

Other activities on the agenda included measures that the UNWTO is taking to mainstream tourism on the global agenda, latest developments on the implementation of the tourism satellite account, the Tourism 20 Ministers initiative, a brief on the UNETO-ILO study on tourism and employment as well as the study planned on the importance of domestic tourism.

A host of countries took part in these sessions which included Australia, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Cambodia, China, India, Iran, Japan, Laos, Hong Kong, Macau, Malaysia, Indonesia, Bussan, Mongolia, Philippines, Thailand, Vietnam and Italy.

It was noted that Asia and the Pacific had a 13 percent increase and was the first region to recover from the recession hit world, and has been growing strongly with international tourist arrivals at a new historic record of 204 million in 2010.

A double digit growth rate is a common result for destinations in this region, where international travel is boosted by a strong development of the local economies. With 23 million additional visits the region has secured a share of 22 percent of the international tourism market.

The factors underlining this growth are the resurgence in economic growth and international trade, and in particular intra regional trade, bringing with it an increase in demand for business travel.

Rising middle class incomes in many countries, associated with the popular enthusiasm for ‘rising Asia’ the continued easing of travel restrictions and visa requirements.

The other reason being the bandwagon effect of the high level investments new resorts, hotels, attractions, and air line services are coming on stream, bringing with them the need for the marketing efforts to fill them and the news of new products and services to be seen and experienced.

As well as the often relatively inexperienced travellers of Asia are notoriously sensitive to bad news, but the year for 2010 was generally positive.

Speaking to the Daily FT Malraj B. Kiriella Acting Managing Director of Sri Lanka Tourism Promotion Bureau said that this is an important event especially after the country regained peace after 30 years war.

“This is the first conference for tourism that the country is having, after the war,” he said. During the sessions, Sri Lanka had the opportunity to show the delegates the country’s new Logo, Refreshingly Sri Lanka, Sri Lanka 2010, Wonder of Asia.

“We want to show that the country is ready for business, and a new concept being the 12 themes for the year,” said Kiriella. He also said that the people who attended this conference are well connected in the tourism industry and they in turn may promote Sri Lanka, which is why it is important to hold such events.

The object of Sri Lanka’s rigorous tourism promotion is to show the world that Sri Lanka is back to being a peaceful nation, and we want to show the diversity of the country,” he explained.

The World Tourism Organisation (WTO) has also organised a group of high level media personnel and photographers to tour the country and see for themselves what the country has to offer and tell their respective people.

“This is the right time to showcase the country,” said Kiriella, who also highlighted the new tag line, noting that tourists will be very much interested in the country’s beaches, historic site and other places of interest.

South Asia showed the greatest growth when it came to tourism arrivals for the year 2010 and Sri Lanka in particular showed the strongest percentage increase of 46 percent.

“We have had tremendous growth and it was peace above all that saw these tourism arrivals up,” he added that there were high numbers of tourists from all the markets which normally visit Sri Lanka.

This year Sri Lanka hopes to have more than 700,000 tourists and increase the yield per visitor from US $80 to US $ 130 per capita.

By the year 2016 Sri Lanka hopes to see 2.5 million tourists and five million tourists by the year 2020.

“We want to get more high spenders, and have sustainable tourism development,” he presented.

At the 23rd Joint Meeting the UNWTO research and publications were discussed and all countries were urged to take advantage of the eLibrary and use the information available in making their tourism policies and plans with the information available.

At the session it was highlighted that the second half of 2010 saw a multi speed recovery which was faster, stronger and steadier in developing countries than it was in the developed countries.