INTERNATIONAL tourism receipts in destinations around the world grew by 3.6 percent in 2015, in line with the 4.4 percent increase in international arrivals, according to the United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO).

For the fourth consecutive year, international tourism grew faster than world merchandise trade, raising tourism’s share in world’s exports to 7 percent in 2015. The total export value from international tourism amounted to US$ 1.4 trillion.

“Tourism is today a major category of international trade in services,” said UNWTO Secretary-General Taleb Rifai addressing the 60^th Regional Commission for the Americas meeting in Havana, Cuba.

“Despite a weak and slow economic recovery, spending on international tourism grew significantly in 2015, proving the sector’s relevance in stimulating economic growth, boosting exports and creating jobs for an increasing number of economies worldwide,” he said.

Income generated by international visitors on accommodation, food and drink, entertainment, shopping and other services and goods reached an estimated US$ 1,232 billion in 2015, an increase of 3.6 percent accounting for exchange rate fluctuations and inflation. International tourist arrivals (overnight visitors) increased by 4.4 percent in 2015, reaching a total of 1,184 million.

Alongside international tourism receipts – which is the travel item of the balance of payments –  international tourism generated US$ 210 billion in exports through international non-resident passenger transport services, bringing the total value of tourism exports up to US$ 1.4 trillion, or US$ 4 billion a day on average.

UNWTO figures show international tourism represents 7 percent of total world exports and 30 percent of services exports. The share of tourism in overall exports of goods and services increased from 6 percent to 7 percent in 2015 as for the fourth consecutive year international tourism outgrew world merchandise trade, which grew 2.8 percent in 2015 according to recent data reported by the World Trade Organization.

As a worldwide export category, tourism ranks third after fuels and chemicals and ahead of food and automotive products. In many developing countries, tourism ranks as the first export sector.

Unusually strong exchange rate fluctuations in 2015 seriously influenced receipts for individual destinations and regions, expressed in current US dollars.

Taking into account exchange rate fluctuations and inflation, receipts in the Americas, Asia and the Pacific and the Middle East all grew by 4 percent, while in Europe they grew by 3 percent and in Africa by 2 percent.

TOURISM LEADERS

China, the US and the UK led outbound tourism last year, fuelled by their strong currencies and economies.

China continues to lead global outbound travel after double-digit growth in tourism expenditure every year since 2004, benefitting Asian destinations such as Japan and Thailand as well as the US and various European destinations.

Spending by Chinese travellers increased 25% in 2015 to reach US$292 billion, as total outbound travellers rose 10% to 128 million.

Tourism expenditure from the world’s second largest source market, the US, increased by 9% in 2015 to US$ 120 billion, while the number of outbound travellers grew by 8% to 73 million.

Expenditure from the UK, the fourth largest market globally, increased 8% to US$ 63 billion with 65 million of its residents travelling abroad, up 9%. By contrast Germany, the world’s third largest market, reported a small decline in spending (US$ 76 billion), partly due to the weaker euro.

France’s expenditure on outbound tourism reached US$ 38 billion, Russia’s US$ 35 billion and that of the Republic of Korea a total of US$ 25 billion.

The Caribbean, Central and South America show strong growth in international tourism receipts

The Americas continued to enjoy robust results both in international arrivals and receipts in 2015, with a strong US dollar fuelling outbound travel from the United States and benefiting many destinations across the region. The Caribbean, Central America and South America all recorded 7% growth in receipts, while North America saw a 3% increase.

“As prices of raw materials have decreased, tourism has shown a strong capacity to compensate for weaker export revenue in many commodity- and oil-exporting countries,” said Mr. Rifai. “Tourism is increasingly an essential component of export diversification for many emerging economies as well as several advanced ones,” he added.

The United States, China, Spain and France remain the world’s top tourism destinations

The United States (US$ 178 billion), China (US$ 114 billion), Spain (US$ 57 billion) and France (US$ 46 billion) continue to be the top destinations both in international tourism receipts and tourist arrivals.

The above data is preliminary and subject to revision. 2015 has shown some unusual strong appreciation of the US dollar to many currencies, rendering receipts earned in these currencies lower in US dollar. Furthermore, China revised both its international tourism receipts and expenditure series substantially in 2015 and retrospectively for 2014 due to methodological changes.

UNWTO World Tourism Barometer

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THE ICONIC Gold Coast Meter Maid service – originally set up 50 years ago by Gold Coast Mayor Bruce Small, as a novel promotional service to feed parking meters for visitors – is about to create another Australian first.

Just when the bikini-clad Meter Maid service has begun struggling to make ends meet in their tourist ambassador roles, and with meters on the Gold Coast going electronic – they have innovated again by combining with mobile food ordering company AirService to serve patrons on Surfers Paradise Beach. 

The service will utilise local Surfers Paradise restaurants and food outlets and has the blessing of the local tourism industry. Opposition to the plan may come, ironically, from the current Gold Coast City Mayor, Tom Tate and some councillors.

The service will allow beachgoers to order and pay for food via the Maid to Order app, powered by the AirService platform. Customers will then have their order delivered directly to their spot on the beach by the iconic bikini-clad Meter Maids. 

It will initially be available on the main Surfers Paradise beach with the aim of rolling out to other beaches within the area over time. 

The service provides long-time local vendors with a new way to connect with their customers, offering a true premium service and convenience. 

“Imagine you’re a family on the beach with children, or in particular a single parent. Now if you want to order lunch, or even just some ice-creams and drinks, you don’t need to drag the kids off the beach, carrying all your gear,” AirService co-founder and CEO Dominic Bressan said.

“You just place your order, and the Meter Maids will deliver it straight to you.”

In addition to helping local businesses thrive, the app also provides a different direction and purpose for the Gold Coast Meter Maids, giving them a new way to relate to and serve the local community.

“The 90s were controversial years for the Surfers Paradise Meter Maids, so too will be 2016. Trying to keep up with changing times and social attitudes, the Meter Maids decided to branch out and do something different - deliver food to the beach,” Meter Maids owner and manager Roberta Aitchison said.

“We are trying to keep up with the times and as our business is to support our community first and foremost, what better way to do this than help local restaurants keep their heads above water with the Maid to Order app and also take the Meter Maids in a new and exciting direction.”

Mr Bressan said the launch catapults the Gold Coast’s beaches ahead of other global beachside tourist hotspots — using technology for the ultimate in beachside food delivery. 

Food delivery services are available at some of the most exclusive beaches in the world, including the Nikki beach clubs across Europe, South East Asia and the US, and Waikiki Beach in Hawaii, where bars and restaurants will serve patrons on the sand.

“None of these, however, do so with the convenience of the Maid to Order app, where customers don’t have to flag down waiters to take their orders, or worry about having cash or their credit cards on them,” he said.

Theo Kostoglou, the owner of the Greek Street Grill at Surfers Paradise gave his support to the venture: “Surfers Paradise is a tourist destination for the whole of Australia, so it should be in line with the rest of the world where food is served and delivered to the beach. We’re behind the times.

“It’s better that the Meter Maids are taking food to the beach than forcing patrons to cross the road, which is more dangerous. It also means that tourists get to enjoy the beach longer. This app could increase customers by up to 15 percent.”

www.airservice.com/maid-to-order/

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A TOTAL of 35 exhibitions are already on the calendar for International Convention Centre (ICC) Sydney’s initial 2017 business events season.

Opening in December this year, ICC Sydney is a landmark $1.5 billion project within the $3.4 billion revitalisation of Darling Harbour and it has drawn worldwide attention from the business events industry for conventions, exhibitions and entertainment. 

“In addition to the 35 events (announced), we have a further 30 under negotiation,” ICC Sydney CEO Geoff Donaghy said. “We couldn’t be happier with the strong response from the exhibition industry, its support for the project and the excitement building around ICC Sydney’s opening.

“Exhibitions are critical to the business mix of a global city.  When ICC Sydney opens Sydney will have an international business events venue to suit its status as Australia’s centre of business and innovation.”

Events have been secured with all of the major exhibition operators in Australia, including Reed Exhibitions, Diversified Communications Australia, Expertise Events, Australasian Gaming Expo and Boating Industry Association, which runs the iconic and much loved Sydney International Boat Show.

“The amount of interest and excitement about ICC Sydney is booming and we are thrilled to see the exhibition industry returning to its rightful home in Darling Harbour,” NSW Trade and Tourism Minister, Stuart Ayres said. The NSW Government is funding the redevelopment of  Darling Harbour and ICC Sydney, which is being managed by AEG Ogden.

“A major contributor to the New South Wales economy, the exhibition industry attracts more than half a million people each year and generates about $100 million annually in economic benefit to the state of New South Wales,” Mr Ayres said. 

Boating Industry Association National CEO Howard Glenn said investment in the future of the exhibition industry through the delivery of ICC Sydney would help set his industry up for increased business success in the years ahead.

The Sydney International Boat Show, he said,  is one of those events that promotes Sydney as a fantastic place to do business on an international scale while driving business for both the industry and the state.

“With one in five boat sales for the year occurring either at the show or as a result of it, the opportunity to exhibit our product is critical to our industry’s success,” Mr Glenn said.

The boat show delivers $500 million of turnover either during the show or immediately after it and in 2015 delivered $27.6 million in economic impact for the state of New South Wales.

“We hope a reinvigorated precinct on one of the world’s most beautiful harbours will help us to improve upon that,” Mr Glenn said.

Having confirmed its flagship events for ICC Sydney, Stephen Steenson, the director of operations for Reed Exhibitions said the company couldn’t wait to return to Darling Harbour and the new first class facility being unveiled in December.

“The esteemed Reed Gift Fairs, OZ Comic Con and Beauty Expo are amongst Reed Exhibitions’ events gearing up for a huge 2017 at ICC Sydney,” Mr Steenson said. “The combination of first class events, an inner city destination and a fantastic new venue at ICC Sydney provides the best opportunity for our customers to realise their business outcomes.”

Diversified Communications Australia operations director, David Longman said his group was excited to confirm its high profile trade and consumer events for ICC Sydney in 2017, counting Fitness Sydney, Fine Food and FoodPro among them.

“We have an exceptional calendar of events scheduled for ICC Sydney and a host of new opportunities for businesses to connect with clients to exhibit, sell and innovate,” he said.

According to Mr Longman, Fine Food alone was expected to attract up to 20,000 visitors across four days and generate in excess of $50 million in economic benefit to the state of New South Wales.

The growing gaming industry is also keen on ICC Sydney as the integrated convention, exhibition and entertainment model will allow it to build a seminar and convention component to the event that has grown year on year to become the third largest in the world.

“As well as the diversity and flexibility of event spaces on offer at ICC Sydney, its proximity to the CBD and its access to transport and nearby accommodation is expected to greatly improve attendance at the 28th Australasian Gaming Expo at ICC Sydney in August 2017,” Gaming Technologies CEO Ross Ferrar said. “We can’t wait to bring our event to an innovative and contemporary venue in the heart of the city.”

Amongst the events confirmed today by Expertise Events were its Jewellery Fair as well as, a favourite event for regional New South Wales visitors, the Craft and Quilt Fair, which brings in 55 coach tours from regions including Coffs Harbour, Orange and the far South Coast of NSW.

Expertise Events managing director Gary Fitz Roy said both he and his exhibitors were looking forward to returning to a rejuvenated precinct at Darling Harbour.

“From what I've seen of ICC Sydney, I know our exhibitors are going to love doing business there,” Mr Fitz Roy said. “The high calibre venue and supportive operations team are enhanced by a variety of options available for follow up meetings and business networking locations in and around the building.”

ICC Sydney is being delivered by the NSW Government and is operated by venue management group AEG Ogden.

www.iccsydney.com

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NEW integrations with the Concur TripLink cloud platform are opening up innovative ways Australian businesses can manage their corporate travel expenses, integrating with websites such as Booking.com and AirBnB.

TripLink is adding the capability to realise corporate discounts, monitor policy compliance, fulfil duty of care responsibilities, and report on bookings made directly with leading organisations that have partnered with Concur. 

Concur, an SAP company, recently partnered with globally-recognised Marriott, AccorHotels Group, Starwood hotels, IHG, Omni Hotel, Hotel Tonight and the Booking.com and AirBnB websites, integrating these sites with its TripLink platform.

Concur’s TripLink platform aims to offer business travellers the freedom to book accommodation with these brands, or wherever they find the best deal, while also capturing the details and providing organisations with the visibility needed to manage their travel and expenses budgets.

“The new partnerships represent a tremendous advance in corporate travel oversight for businesses in Australia, Europe, USA, and other regions,” said Concur director of business development for Asia Pacific, Murray Warner.

“While the new partnerships continue Concur’s momentum in expanding the list of suppliers joining the platform, it also means that Australian customers of the companies we’ve already partnered with have increased booking flexibility and the assurance that they are receiving the best rates on offer with these companies’ branded sites.

“Through these partnerships, Concur is providing all the benefits of its platforms while also providing visibility into direct bookings with some of the largest travel and accommodation brands in the world.

“Concur is tackling the problem of unmanaged travel bookings by helping travel managers fulfil duty of care requirements and  by providing and increasing corporate negotiated rates with suppliers by having access to all of their employee’s business travel booking data,” Mr Warner said.

“It also provides great benefits to corporate travel agencies who now have the ability to provide a more comprehensive managed travel program by having access to more travel data.  The suppliers themselves will also benefit by building unique relationships directly with the business travellers.”

www.concur.com.au

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