Throughout the world prospects for travel and tourism growth are improving. Rehab Saad reports from Doha on an international tourism summit What are the latest global trends and what impact will they have? What are the best strategies to deal with the changing environment? What are the main challenges faced by governments and how will they be met? Which do the leading entrepreneurs consider the hot investments to be? Which markets will provide the best growth potential? How do we prevent unnecessary panic in case of bad news? Over 800 public and private sector decision- makers and journalists from over 40 countries around the world attended the Fourth World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC) Global Summit, hosted by Qatar Airways in Doha from 1 to 3 May, to find answers to such major questions and issues, all of which relate, directly or indirectly, to tourism. "Over the past couple of years, the series of crises that has affected travel and tourism has increased awareness, more than ever before, of the contribution of travel and tourism to the creation of wealth, jobs and prosperity at all levels of the economy," Jean-Claude Baumgarten, WTTC president, told delegates gathered for the meeting. "Travel and tourism is uniquely placed to a close contact between peoples and cultures, thereby promoting greater international understanding, tolerance and respect for different cultures, religions and values." WTTC officials strongly believe that the various crises of the past couple of years have been a catalyst for some fundamental changes in demand that have been slowly emerging since the mid-1990s -- changes that include a redefinition of personal behaviour and lifestyle. "Together with socio-demographic shifts, these will be the main factors influencing demand for travel and tourism in the upcoming years," stressed Vincent A Wolfington, WTTC chairman. " It is critical for the industry to take stock of all these changes and ensure all stakeholders -- whether governments, host communities, the private sector of the industry, or the media -- work together to drive changes in supply that will ensure the sustainable and profitable growth of the sector ... bringing benefits to everyone." Most tourist officials, entrepreneurs, hoteliers and company CEOs believe that the industry is poised for a robust recovery in 2004. The stage has been set for the demand for travel and tourism to return to normal levels of growth, following three years of economic uncertainty and reluctance by consumers to travel. "I am cautiously optimistic that we have weathered the ... storms of terrorism, war and health concerns that created a disproportionate toll of concern and impact on our consumers, the industry and our economy," said Baumgarten, referring to the attacks of 11 September 2001, the war on Iraq, the weak global economy and SARS. In that respect, the WTTC expects the tourism sector in the Middle East to witness "strong growth" in 2004. The demand in the region -- which includes the consumption of the tourist products, investments, government expenditure and exports -- is set to grow by 6.8 per cent in 2004 to a total of $108,5 billion, in addition to an expected annual growth of 3.9 per cent in the period between 2005 and 2014. Moreover, it is expected that international tourism revenues will set a new record at $20.5 billion in the Middle East, i.e. 13.1 per cent over the revenues of last year, constituting about 6.5 per cent of total international tourism exports. The travel and tourist industry's rate of direct effect on the region's GDP is estimated to reach 2.5 per cent this year, according to WTTC officials. Meanwhile, the combined direct and indirect effects of the tourism and travel economies on this GDP are estimated to reach nine per cent in 2004. Baumgarten believes that the tourism sector will create 61,000 additional job opportunities in the region in 2004. Thus, there would be a total of 1.2 million jobs available in the travel sector, constituting three per cent of the region's job opportunities as a whole. In an exclusive interview with Francesco Frangialli, secretary-general of the World Tourism Organisation (WTO), he said that it is surprising that, despite the conflicts in the Middle East -- in Palestine and Iraq -- arrivals of tourists in the region unexpectedly became more numerous. "Everybody was expecting a collapse in the business, but this was not the case," Frangialli told Al-Ahram Weekly. "There was an increase of 17 per cent in the number of arrivals to the region in 2002, and 10 per cent in 2003. Some countries, like Egypt, Syria, Lebanon and the Gulf area, were doing fine; others, such as Jordan, had some difficulties." Frangialli explained that the region may have attracted fewer Americans and Europeans, but that in return, there have been more travellers from Asia and Eastern Europe, in addition to an increase in intra-regional movement. "Arabs, in the last period, tend to travel to destinations within the boundaries of the Middle East and the Gulf area due to complications they face concerning security measures in some foreign countries and the difficulty in obtaining visas," he said. Frangialli believes that each of the countries of the region has its own unique product. "Countries like Egypt, Lebanon and Tunisia have history, culture and archaeology, whereas countries in the Gulf region have a limited potential for culture and environment. However, these countries are developing things from scratch and are trying to find a place for themselves in the tourism world. Countries like Bahrain, Qatar and Kuwait are expected to emerge as major tourist destinations." He argues that, due to the closed links between Gulf countries and some Asian countries such as India, tourism in the Gulf might have a big push. "The economy in India is growing fast and India, for the first time, is listed by the WTTC as the second fastest-growing travel and tourism economy in the world following Montenegro and proceeding China, Vietnam, Angola, Laos, Chad, Guadeloupe, Fiji and Uganda. With this growing economic situation of India and its policy of opening skies and travel facilitation, I expect that this would have a positive impact on tourism in the Gulf." Under the theme called "Driving Change", the Fourth Global Summit featured an impressive list of well-known speakers from different sectors of the industry and government, and representing all regions of the world. In contrast to the majority of conferences, the Summit revolved around a series of highly interactive discussions moderated by some of the world's most prominent TV and travel industry journalists such as Nik Gowing from BBC World, Peter Greenberg from NBC, Eric Lecourt from Le Figaro and others. Panelists, audience, and moderators in the Summit recommended that both governments and the private sector should act to facilitate the sustainable growth of travel and tourism and drive change. Governments should work on safety and security measures that need to be continuously enhanced -- in consultation with the industry. Attention must also be paid to help understand and eliminate the root cause of "terrorism". Travel advisories should be more specific in terms of both geography and the nature of threat in a particular location. They should be continuously reviewed and updated so as to minimise their impact on tourism, trade and development. Governments should also have a favourable fiscal policy, a climate that is conducive to business -- offering incentives for investment -- sustained and effective marketing and promotion, and policies that respect the environment and local cultures. There was nonetheless consensus at the Qatar Global Summit that, while governments can do a lot to facilitate travel and tourism by providing much needed infrastructure and human capital, change can only be driven by the private sector. The private sector should harness technology, including the Internet, to drive new business strategies and develop new business and new pricing models. It should also understand people as a resource rather than as a cost, and ensure they get the people equation right -- in relations with customers and staff, as well as in staff development, training and leadership generally. Budget airlines and hotels could co-exist with full service airlines and luxury hotels; the key is a proper segmentation of the market and an offer that provides value for money. WTTC is a membership organisation representing the leaders of the global travel and tourism industry. It is a forum for global business leaders including presidents, chairs and CEOs of 100 of the world's foremost companies. It is the only body representing the private sector in all parts of the travel and tourism industry worldwide.
