The Official Monthly Newsletter Of The NJTIA

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US Recession Threatens World Tourism Market

The world's tourism industry could shrink this year if the United States falls into a deep recession and drags other economies with it, the World Tourism Organization said on Tuesday.

But Francesco Frangialli, Secretary General of the World Tourism Organization (WTO), added he remained optimistic the number of tourists arriving in foreign countries would rise for the fifth consecutive year, albeit at a slower rate than last year.

"The best prediction we can give today is that we do not predict negative growth for 2008, except if the American economy falls into a deep recession followed by the rest of the world," Reuters reports Frangialli told a news conference at the U.N. body's Madrid headquarters.

Last October WTO experts were already warning that growth of tourist arrivals would slow to around 4% this year – the long-term average – from 6% in 2007 and 5.4% in 2006 on the back of economic uncertainties sparked by the U.S. subprime mortgage crisis.

Frangialli said it was important to remember that the United States made up only 10% of tourist receipts despite accounting for a quarter of world GDP.

"We are cautiously optimistic for 2008, though we don't think it will be as good a year as 2007," the Frenchman said.

Super Sticker Shock At The Super Bowl

No matter that the airfare topped $1,000 and requires a detour through Tucson. Or that the rental-car tab for two days was above $400.

The New York city chefs who called travel agent Charlene Ocone-Pecora this week to book a trip to Phoenix for the Super Bowl just cared about seeing their New York Giants. "They're die-hard fans," the owner of 4 Seasons Travel Bureau said. "It (money) is just not an issue."

Passionate fans planning a last-minute trip to Arizona to watch the New England Patriots battle the Giants in Super Bowl XLII can expect some sticker shock reports The Arizona Republic. A sampling of prices shows airline fares from Boston and New York have quadrupled over the past week. Some rental-car prices have more than tripled. And some suburban hotels are charging as much as six times a typical weeknight rate.

            Plan to cruise to Scottsdale clubs in a rented Cadillac Escalade or have a chauffeur guide you around in a stretch limousine? Expect to pay up to double the amount you would pay seven days later. Organizers of Super Bowl XLII predict Arizona's economy will be the ultimate winner of professional football's championship game, with as many as 125,000 visitors looking to spend millions to book rooms, rent vehicles, shop and party with celebrities.

            Still, some fans are surprised by the cost of attending the big game - or even of hanging out in the metro area where the game is to be played.

            "The prices in Phoenix are ridiculous right now," said Tom Bielenda, a Boston-area resident and Patriots season-ticket holder. "The rooms that are available are going for five times the price of what they are worth."

Commentary From The UK: Boycott Travel To America

In the recent article “Travel to America? No thanks,” The Sunday Times of London says it would like to apologise for a terrible omission in last Sunday’s feature 10 Steps to a Stress-Free Summer. We forgot to include “Don’t go to the USA”.

Fortunately, says the writer, Michael Chertoff, baldie boss of the Department of Homeland Securitisation, has now reminded us that we’re not wanted says Or, rather, that we are wanted (because tourists bring lots of nice money with them), but only if we jump through lots of hoops in the process.

Chertoff has let it be known that Europe is a platform for terrorism. He says it’s important to step up checks on travellers. Yes, that’s right, step them up. In fact, it would be really, really great, he didn’t say, but was probably thinking, if all we prospective visitors could be so good as to stay at home and just send our holiday money over in an envelope.

“Travelling to the US offers experiences like nowhere else on earth.” That’s what it says at discoveramerica.com, the official travel and tourism website of the United States, and it’s absolutely right. Nowhere else can a visitor expect such a spirit-crushingly frosty reception.

A preflight e-interrogation, epic queues at immigration, thin-lipped questioning from aggressive border guards, and an outside chance of a rubber-gloved rectal rummage are all part of the fun. So, if Chertoff and co want to tighten Fortress America further, it’s time we considered other more welcoming holiday options. Such as Iran or North Korea.

Thinking About Tomorrow

Let's get this out of the way first says The Wall Street Journal – in the next 10 years, no one will travel to work by jet pack or have robot maids that serve dinner. But technology will continue to transform the rituals of everyday life – sometimes in startling ways.

Imagine televisions that project 3-D images into the middle of the living room, for a theater-in-the-round experience. And while we won't get those robot maids, our appliances might start "talking" to us through email alerts, letting us know when a part is getting worn down and needs to be replaced.

Many other changes will be more subtle, as technology finds new ways into our daily routine. Commuters will still carry newspapers to work but will likely download them to a pocket-size computer that can also show TV news broadcasts. Shoppers will still be greeted at Wal-Mart, but a computer may be the one saying hello – and reminding them of what they bought on their last visit. Friends will still send each other birth and wedding announcements, but the process will be virtually automated, thanks to alerts on social-networking sites.

Most of these changes will spring from a couple of rapidly improving technologies. Mobile devices will get smaller and more powerful, and will connect to the Internet through high-speed links. The result: People will be able to do anything on a hand-held that they can now do on a desktop computer.

In fact, they'll be able to do even more, as mobile gadgets increasingly come equipped with global-positioning-system gear that can track your every move. As you drive around, for instance, you might get reviews of nearby restaurants automatically delivered to a screen in your car – maybe even projected onto the windshield.

The spread of GPS hints at another big change on the horizon. We're going to be under a lot more pressure to make our personal information public – everything from where we surf online to where we're standing at a particular moment. Companies will offer us special deals and other incentives so that we'll let them track our activity. That information, in turn, will let the companies present us with a steady stream of intensely focused marketing whenever we go online, turn on our cellphone or even walk into a store. (Think of that computerized greeter at Wal-Mart.)

Kindly Return That Wine Glass You Stole From Our Hotel...

Keith McClinsey didn't bat an eyelash when he spotted a silver Champagne bucket for sale on eBay that had been filched by the seller's father during a long-ago party at the Renaissance Mayflower Hotel. He was a tad perplexed, however, to learn of a 5-gallon punchbowl that vanished after a holiday fete in the 1950s.

"How does someone carry a 5-gallon punchbowl out of a Christmas party?" muses the hotel's senior sales manager.

And last month, after picking up two 1920s banquet chairs in suburban Virginia for repatriation to the historic hotel, McClinsey still had no idea how they got away.

USA Today is reporting that The Mayflower recently put out word it was launching a no-questions-asked amnesty program for return of items pilfered throughout its eight-decade existence.

The effort coincides with the publication of McClinsey's Images of America: Washington, D.C.'s Mayflower Hotel (Arcadia Publishing, $19.95), which highlights the hotel's colorful history. But the program is as much about gathering stories as it is about reclaiming stuff, both of which eventually will be on exhibit together.

"We get a lot of random calls from (adult) children cleaning out closets," McClinsey says. "They'll say, 'I found this, and it had your name on it. Do you want it back?' As these folks are passing on, the stories are passing with them. We're interested in the stories as much as the items."

Other historic hotels have made similar attempts. The Peabody Memphis is seeking artifacts for its memorabilia room. The Hotel Del Coronado in San Diego, where a director of heritage programs receives returned artifacts, is on the lookout for historic photographs to display this year when the hotel celebrates its 120th anniversary.

Study: Most Business Travelers Don't Need Wi-Fi On Planes

In the span of only a few weeks, JetBlue, Alaska Air, American Airlines and now, Southwest have all announced plans to begin testing Wi-Fi service on select flights. But according to data from a new Orbitz for Business Corporate Traveler Survey, a majority of business travelers don't feel the need or desire to be connected at 30,000 feet says Online Media Daily.

When asked if they would take a less convenient or more costly flight to get Wi-Fi access, 56% of business travelers said it was not a necessity. Some 36% said that they would try to get a flight with Wi-Fi available, but wouldn't be bothered if it weren't. Meanwhile, just 8% said that wireless Web access is very important – and would pay more or take a less convenient flight to have it.

Orbitz for Business surveyed nearly 650 adults ages 18-65 who had traveled for business within the past year, using a MarketTools online panel. San Francisco-based MarketTools is a market research firm that directly manages a nationally representative online panel of more than 2.5 million individuals.

Orbitz for Business also questions business travelers about how they would use Wi-Fi on flights if it were available. While 21% claimed that they would use it solely for business, the majority (59%) said that they would use the serviced equally both for business and pleasure. And the remaining 20% said that they would use the wireless Web access for pleasure only.

Wisdom Of The Web

It may be a little late to the game, says The New York Times, but business travel is now the subject of a variety of blogs.

In the last two years, companies in the travel business including Starwood Hotels and Resorts, Marriott International, Delta Air Lines and Southwest Airlines have introduced blogs to promote their products and brand images, as have business travelers who want to narrate experiences and share complaints.

One of the newest sites useful to business travelers is BoardingArea.com, a portal created by Randy Petersen, the frequent-flier program expert and founder of the online forum FlyerTalk. BoardingArea is essentially a directory to blogs that address issues of interest to business travelers.

According to Forrester Research, in the second quarter of 2007, 21% of business travelers who use the Internet read blogs, not just ones about business travel, but also those involving sports, business, finance and other topics. “This indicates that organizing a portal for business travel blogs, especially with good content, means the site has potential,” said Henry H. Harteveldt, travel analyst for Forrester, a research firm.

Tracy Gamble, vice president for business development at Propylon, a software company, has found travel blogs to be a great resource. Ms. Gamble, who is based in Dallas and spends half her time traveling, reads three or four travel blogs regularly, including the Informed Traveler, CloudTravel and Gridskipper.

“I regularly consult these blogs before making client dinner reservations,” she said. She also uses them, she said, to keep up on travel news like changes in government security procedures.

Last fall, she was too busy to visit her own doctor to get a flu shot. But after reading a post on Gridskipper, she learned that she could get a shot at a kiosk in O’Hare International Airport. So in November, when on a layover at O’Hare, Ms. Gamble went to the kiosk and was done in 10 minutes.

“If I’d seen the kiosk without having seen it on the blog, I wouldn’t have stopped,” she said.

Hotels, airlines and other companies in the travel business have also harnessed blogs to promote their brands and offer insights from their employees.

One of the most prominent bloggers is J. W. Marriott Jr., chairman and chief executive of Marriott International, who began a blog, Marriott on the Move, a year ago. It includes four or five posts a month and podcasts.

“I love it. I read an awful lot of responses we’re getting,” he said. “It gives us a chance to communicate with the world and a chance for people to communicate back.”

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TUI To Form Budget Carrier With Lufthansa

TUI and airline Lufthansa are working on creating a new low-cost carrier. The partners have signed a letter of intent for a merger of TUI Travel, Hapag-Lloyd with Lufthansa units Germanwings and Eurowings.

Albrecht Knauf, who is a partner with Lufthansa in Germanwings and Eurowings, is to hold a significant stake in the new business says Airline Travel News.

TUI and Lufthansa would each own 40%, with Knauf holding the rest. If the deal goes ahead, the combined carrier would transport about 30 million passengers a year.

Higher Prices Boost Royal Caribbean's Profits

Royal Caribbean Cruises has said that its quarterly profit jumped 52% on higher prices for its voyages. Recovering demand in the Caribbean market has pushed the increase.

According to Hotel Travel News, the resilience in the cruise industry as a whole, with its all-inclusive packages appealing to value-conscious vacationers has also buoyed profits.

Nuke Tourism Growing In Czech Republic

Nuclear power is in vogue. Not only have soaring energy prices and rising energy demand put atomic power on the public agenda, but it seems they have boosted the curiosity of tourists, as well.

The cooling towers of the Czech Republic’s two nuclear power plants, both operated by the state-owned power giant CEZ, are successfully wooing visitors who may be more typically accustomed to the spires of Gothic cathedrals, castles, spas and other traditional sights.

In 2007, says The Prague Post, CEZ’s nuclear power plant in Temelín, south Bohemia, which has been a source of safety concerns for neighboring – and anti-nuclear – Austria, pulled in a record number of visitors. “Last year 26,875 people visited the information center at the Temelín nuclear plant,” said Marek Sviták, the plant’s spokesman. The information center even hosted a wedding ceremony there last summer, he added.

Survey: Experiential Marketing Budgets To Grow In 2008

A new survey of marketers reveals widespread plans to increase usage of and spending on experiential marketing in 2008. Indeed 75% of marketers surveyed by Jack Morton Worldwide in the US, the UK, Europe, China and Australia affirm they will increase spending on experiential marketing in 2008. Jack Morton Worldwide is an experiential marketing company.

Of those planning an increase, half plan to spend 5-10% more than in previous years, 12% will increase spend by 11-25% and almost one in ten says they will increase spend by over 25%.

The global survey of almost 300 marketers revealed the level of significance now placed on the marketing function by industry professionals – 70% of whom say that experiential marketing is extremely or very important to their organizations, and 71% of whom report that experiential marketing will become increasingly important in the year to come.

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Report: Top U.S. Hospitality Trends

The credit crunch, a weak U.S. dollar, new construction, green building, globalization and rapidly shifting US demographics are all factors that will shape the U.S. hospitality sector in 2008, according to a report released today at the Americas Lodging Investment Summit (ALIS) by Ernst & Young.

"Conventional wisdom might suggest that the U.S. hospitality sector is likely to suffer if we head into a recession, but the unique fundamentals of the hotel industry over the last few years suggest otherwise," said Michael Fishbin, director of hospitality & leisure practice for Ernst & Young U.S. Fishbin points to a supply growth slowdown prior to last year's correction in the debt markets as contributing to the positive cycle in the hotel sector.

"With the financing tap essentially turned off for a few months and underwriting terms changing dramatically, there will be less new construction in the next two to three years than originally planned," said Fishbin. "Essentially, supply will continue to maintain a balance with demand."

According to ModernAgent the report points to globalization as another major influence on growth in the hospitality sector. The weak U.S. dollar is attracting capital into the U.S. hotel sector from a variety of sources including sovereign wealth funds, which is the new major player in world finance. At the same time, U.S. hotel operators and investors are looking to Europe and Asia in search of new opportunities.

Based on recent survey research of hospitality industry leaders, Ernst & Young said it expects to see more international investment from major U.S. hotel companies in the near- to mid-term, and this may include new U.S. entrants to the international hotel scene beyond those already operating internationally.

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In Recessionary Times Local Marketing Is More Crucial Than Ever For Hotels

When we think of our guests who eat, sleep, celebrate, and do business in our hotels, it is natural to assume they are coming from far away. This is especially true for properties in busy urban or popular resort destinations. It is easy to lose sight of the fact that some of our most important marketing efforts to put heads in beds, diners in our restaurants, and the health-conscious in our spas need to be done locally – within a 100-mile radius – of our hotels.

Local marketing is now more crucial than ever. Just look at the state of our economy. Experts have predicted a slowdown in spending and even a possible recession for 2008. Travel is always one of the first expenses to be slashed in corporate America during economic crunch times. This won’t necessarily stop companies based in your market from holding meetings and conducing training. However, instead of traveling to another market, they will be more likely to hold their events locally to save on the cost of airfare.

On the leisure side, locals looking for a few days of R&R will scale back their trips and stay in the region versus traveling to far away, pricey destinations. And, if gas prices continue to soar, families will trim that 300-mile driving vacation with the kids down to 50 miles.

Utilize your property management system to determine from what areas your leisure and business guests are coming from, concentrating on Friday and Saturday arrivals for vacationers and Monday through Thursday arrivals for business travelers. By knowing which local markets your guests are originating from, you can more effectively concentrate your marketing, promotions, and advertising in those specific communities.

Given all these factors, you want to be poised and ready to capture this incremental rise from both local business and leisure clientele. With the proper marketing, your hotel can become THE place that locals think about first.

For some good suggestions on local marketing read the full article in HotelInteractive.

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Want To Give TSA A Piece Of Your Mind?

Frustrated by long airport-security lines? Certain those screeners aren't paying attention? Wondering why your grandma always gets frisked?

The federal government wants to hear – or at least read – your gripes at the "Evolution of Security" blog the Transportation Security Administration introduced Wednesday. And it promises those complaints and suggestions won't vanish into thin air.

The Washington Post reports that the blog, at http://www.tsa.gov/blog, is getting a rather "blah" response from aviation analysts and passengers advocates who say it will do little to improve process or perception.

            "This will just make it easier for them to receive complaints for them to ignore in the name of national security," said David Stempler, president of the Air Travelers Association.

In the blog's initial post, TSA Administrator Kip Hawley said the goal is to provide a forum for the agency to explain why travelers must go through certain steps at checkpoints since interaction at airports is often harried and halted, resulting in "feedback and venting ... circulating among passengers with no real opportunity for us to learn from you or vice versa."

"We will incorporate what we learn in this forum in our checkpoint process evolution," Hawley wrote. "Our postings from the public will be reviewed to remove the destructive, but not touch the critical or cranky."

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USA Today reports the world's largest passenger jet will take off for London from Singapore on March 18, marking the Airbus A380's first commercial flight to Europe.

Singapore Airlines said on Wednesday that it will start the daily service to London's Heathrow Airport after it takes delivery of its third new superjumbo in mid-March.

The first two A380s that were delivered to Singapore Airlines since October are making daily flights between Singapore and Sydney.

The national carrier launched the first Sydney flight with much fanfare, as passengers bid between $560 and $100,380 for tickets as part of a charity auction to drum up publicity.

And From The "Making It Easier To Check For Concealed Weapons” Department…

German nudists will be able to start their holidays early by stripping off on the plane if they take up a new offer from an eastern German travel firm.

Travel agency OssiUrlaub.de said it would start taking bookings from Friday for a trial nudist day trip from the eastern German town of Erfurt to the popular Baltic Sea resort of Usedom, planned for July 5 and costing $735.

"It's expensive, I know," managing director Enrico Hess told Reuters by phone. "It's because the plane's very small. There's no real reason why a flight in which one flies naked should be more expensive than any other."

The 55 passengers will have to remain clothed until they board, and dress before disembarking, said Hess. The crew will remain clothed throughout the flight for safety reasons.

"I wish I could say we thought of it ourselves but the idea came from a customer," Hess told Reuters by phone. "It's an unusual gap in the market."

Nick-At-Sea: SpongeBob's Parent Teams With Royal Caribbean 

Nickelodeon and Royal Caribbean International are joining forces, launching the "Nickelodeon Family Cruise with Royal Caribbean," with its first cruise scheduled for August. Departing from Miami, the seven-day adventure will include guests like Dora the Explorer, SpongeBob SquarePants, and plenty of games featuring Nickelodeon's trademark green slime.

According to Marketing Daily, Nickelodeon, a division of MTV Networks, has been expanding its brand to hotels, theatrical shows and theme parks, and it says cruises represent a logical next step. "Combined with the ground-breaking of our first Marriott Hotel and the opening of the biggest indoor theme park in the country at the Mall of America, Nickelodeon will be offering more family experiences this year than ever before," it says in its release of the announcement.

A spokesperson says the company is targeting families with kids between the ages of 2 and 14 – the target audience for Nickelodeon's TV programming. Marketing support includes TV, with spots running on Nickelodeon, Nicktoons and The N, and online banner ads on company-owned sites, including Nick.com, Nickjr.com, ParentsConnect.com and GoCityKids.com, as well as print ads in Nickelodeon and Nick Jr. Magazine.

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Starwood Hotels Plans To Grow Portfolio By 50% In 5 Years

Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide Inc. said it expects to increase its portfolio by 50% over the next five years, across all its brands.

According to Dow Jones Newswires the White Plains, N.Y., hotel-chain operator said its active pipeline includes 500 hotels and 120,000 rooms, and half of future openings are expected to be outside of North America.

Starwood said it expects to open 80 to 100 hotels this year, a 50% increase from last year.

Strong Boston Tourism Pumps Up City Hotel Sales

The stellar performance of Boston's hotel industry coupled with a brisk business at the Boston Convention and Exhibition Center resulted in $1.8 billion worth of hotel sales in Greater Boston last year. Last year's performance is a whopping 300% increase over 2006 says the Boston Business Journal.

A number of large hotels sold early in 2007 – including the Westin Boston Waterfront for $330 million in February – and deals continued throughout the year with sale of the Renaissance Boston Waterfront for $163 million at the end of December.

Real estate executives who specialize in the sale of hotels said the property type has finally attracted large numbers of investors thanks to strong market fundamentals and high construction costs that have kept rooms full and supply down. Hotels have also become more sought-after than ever thanks in part to the steady bookings at Boston's largest convention center. The BCEC last year booked 125 events resulting in 364,577 hotel room nights, according to the Massachusetts Convention Center Authority.

Singapore Targets S$15.5bln Tourism Receipts

Singapore aims to achieve S$15.5 billion in tourism receipts and attract 10.8 million visitor arrivals to the republic this year says Bernama.com. The numbers are a year-on-year increase of 12.2% in tourism receipts and 5.4% in visitor arrivals.

Singapore's Minister of State for Trade and Industry S. Iswaran said tonight these targets were achievable if the industry players could leverage on the cruise, hotel, and business travel and meetings, incentive travel, conventions and exhibitions (Mice) industries.

Speaking at the Singapore Tourism Board Industry Night here he said cruise industry had been identified as the new growth opportunity for Singapore's tourism sector, with 1.5 million cruise passengers expected throughout Asia by 2010.

He said more international cruise companies were strengthening their presence in the region, using Singapore as a homeport for their ships as they cruised within Asia.

He added a new International Cruise Terminal at Marina South here would be developed to attract the new generation of larger cruise ships to Singapore.

Toronto Sets Tourism Record In 2007

The Canadian Press reports the Toronto tourism industry set a record in 2007 with more than 10.6 million overnight visitors.

Toronto Tourism president David Whitaker says the city showed resilience despite challenges, such as new passport rules and the rising dollar. He says visitors to the city spent more than $4.5 billion on hotels, restaurants, attractions and shopping.

The greatest number of overseas visitors – about 280,000 – were from the United Kingdom, while Mexico and China were the fastest-growing international markets at about 15% growth each.

Whitaker also says hotel occupancy in 2007 across the Toronto region rose to 68.3%, its highest level since 2000.

Virgin’s Branson Unveils Passenger Spacecraft Model

U.K. billionaire and Virgin Group chairman Richard Branson and the aerospace designer Burt Rutan Wednesday unveiled a model of SpaceShipTwo, the vehicle they hope will be able to take passengers about 62 miles above Earth for the fun of it, with test flights possibly beginning this year.

"Breathtakingly beautiful," was Branson's assessment of the ship, now under construction at a hangar in the Mojave Desert.

Speaking to reporters at the American Museum of Natural History, the pair also showed off a model of the big, four-engine jet that will help launch the craft into space.

The twin-fuselage airplane, called the White Knight Two, will carry SpaceShipTwo high into the sky beneath a single 140-foot wing.

The spacecraft, with short wings, a pair of rotating tails and plenty of 18-inch portholes, would then separate from the plane and rocket into space - where as many as six passengers and two crew members could unbuckle themselves for a little while and experience weightlessness and an unparalleled view before gliding back to Earth.

Passengers would get about 4 1/2 minutes of zero-gravity time, floating about a cabin roughly the size of a private jet with the floor removed, before buckling themselves back in for the descent. The seats in the craft will lay passengers nearly flat to put less stress on their bodies and give them more room to float while they are in space.

Will Whitehorn, president of Branson's space tourism company, Virgin Galactic, said construction on the White Knight Two is already more than 70% complete. SpaceShipTwo is about 60% complete, and the company and Rutan's aerospace outfit, Scaled Composites LLC, hopes to begin test flights this summer.

According to The Wall Street Journal about 200 prospective passengers from 30 countries have made reservations, shelling out $200,000 apiece.

Newspaper Web Sites Draw Record Viewers

A record number of readers visited U.S. online newspaper sites last year, according to figures released on Thursday, confirming the Web as one of the few bright spots for the struggling newspaper industry.

The Newspaper Association of America reported the number of unique visitors to newspaper Web sites last year rose more than 6% to a monthly average of 60 million says Reuters. Monthly visits climbed 9% in the fourth quarter from a year ago.

It said that during the fourth quarter, 39% of all active Web users visited newspaper Web sites, with visits averaging 44 minutes a month.

The figures come as the newspaper industry becomes increasingly reliant on advertising revenue from Web sites, with print advertising under pressure, particularly when it comes to classified ad sales