News 07.11.13 AIRLINE GROWTH
SriLankan touts Colombo as new ‘hub’ for Asia
SRILANKAN AIRLINES hopes that joining the oneworld alliance next year will help position Sri Lanka’s capital, Colombo, as a new Asian hub. Speaking at WTM on Tuesday, chairman
Nishantha Wickremasinghe said: “In order to be a hub, you need to be able to connect to lots of other destinations within two hours, and I’m confident that when we join oneworld we will have that situation. “Our network will become three times
bigger overnight, and with our delivery of 10 new aircraft [six A330s and four A350s] by October 2014, we will be even stronger in the Indian subcontinent.” The European market still has more
potential, he added, citing plans to increase to daily its routes to European cities including Frankfurt and Paris. However, while Wickremasinghe rejected
suggestions that British Airways’ launch of a London-Colombo route has dented SriLankan’s business, he admitted that this particular route is not as profitable as it could be for the airline. “BA improves the marketability of the
whole country as a destination; what we offer is not the same,” he explained. “The numbers are definitely there on our
London route. [But] what we need to improve is the yield on the route, by improving our product,” he said. “If we improve the product, I’m
confident this route will be one of our top European routes.” The airline has been ramping up its CSR
activity and is currently sponsoring a charity walk coordinated by cricketing legend Sir Ian Botham, which is expected to raise more than £150,000 for the Laureus Foundation. Other CSR projects include support for a
blue whale identification project, with SriLankan announcing it will be selling whale shark cuddly toys onboard from next week, to raise money for the Whale & Dolphin Conservation Society. Sri Lanka is one of the best places in the
world to see the blue whale – the largest mammal in the world.
SAT unveils Pilgrimage
Abigail Challenor
SOUTH AFRICAN tourism has high hopes of continuing its growth with a new marketing campaign as the country celebrates 20 years of democracy. Following 10.2% growth in tourist arrivals in 2012 and an additional 5.1% in the first half of this year, the new campaign will encourage visitors to follow in Nelson Mandela’s footsteps. Speaking to TTGat WTM, Thlani Nzima,
chief executive of South African Tourism, said he hoped to coin it “The Pilgrimage”. “There will be 10 different locations to put on your bucket list and you can tick them off as you discover them,” he alluded. “The idea is that it may take visitors a number of trips to tick them all off but once their list is completed they will be awarded some sort of points or prize.” The milestone year will also be marked by the Nelson Mandela biopic Mandela: A Long Walk to Freedom, starring Idris Elba and it coincides with Cape Town taking on the title of World Design Capital 2014. But it’s not only major events that are
spurring the tourist board on to achieve successful growth. “We are identifying new trends as we exit the period of recession,” said Nzima.
UK FOCUS
New Great Lakes guide to target sports tourism
Katherine Lawrey
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14 07.11.2013
GREAT LAKES USA launched a dedicated sports guide for the UK market at WTM. Executive director Toby McCarrick said the decision to publish the guide had been promoted by Brand USA’s focus on sports as a tourism driver. “Brand USA has done its research and chosen sports as key pillar,” he said. “If it is going to put millions of dollars into advertising in key markets, then it’s a good time to piggyback on what it’s doing.” Great Lakes USA produces an annual
travel guide, which focuses every other year on a niche theme. McCarrick said the project
Celebrate the launch are, from left: George Zimmermann, Travel Michigan; Dave Fantle, Travel Wisconsin; Paul Sherburne, Explore Minnesota; Keith Kirsten, Detroit; Toby McCarrick, director of Great Lakes USA; and Jan Kemmerling from Discover Illinois.
was in its infancy but its overall aim was to increase awareness of the range of sports in the destination [Illinois, Michigan, Minnesota, Ohio and Wisconsin] and to encourage tour operators to add more sports tickets to their packages. The guide includes spectator sports such
as American football, basketball, baseball and football, and participation sports such as fishing and sailing. McCarrick said: “Sports tourism is another niche to separate us from the Disneys and the Las Vegas’s of this world.”
South African Tourism is identifying new trends “Visitors are opting to travel shorter
distances, their length of stay is shortened, they have less disposable income and they have moved from demanding opulence to focusing on experiences. And this all means South Africa is doing well. “After the 2010 World Cup we did not rest on our laurels. We launched a campaign, 20 experiences in 10 days, and we identified the need to show that we were more than just a safari destination. “We looked to food and wine, music,
culture, sports and adventure to distinguish ourselves from other safari destinations. “Take our younger visitors. They are
adventurous and happy to hire a car and explore. Yes they want to go on safari in the daytime but they want evening activities too.”
VISITOR ARRIVALS
Chinese flock to ‘fresh’ Canada
Katherine Lawrey
CANADA HAS seen double digit year-on-year growth in the number of arrivals from China, Australia and France, with a healthy increase from Mexico. The number of arrivals from China was
up 38%, Australia 12%, France 10% and Mexico 9%. Jon Mamela, vice-president, international,
Canadian Tourism Commission, said: “It’s outstanding to see that level of growth after a four-year global recession.” There were 200,000 Chinese visitors to
Canada in the period January-August 2012, which increased by nearly 25% to 245,000 in the same period for 2013. “Historically we viewed China as an
emerging destination,” said Mamela, “but it’s on course to rank alongside the UK and Germany as our biggest source markets.” Mamela explained why the Chinese boom
was a recent development: “Canada was one of the last major destinations to achieve approved destination status for Chinese tourists. Before that [2009] it was difficult to get a leisure visa,” he said. “So the Chinese still see Canada as fresh and unique. We are selling Canada to them as a high-value, experiential destination. We benefit because of what our Chinese visitors have seen and done elsewhere in the world.” Mamela attributed the strong summer
overall to the conversion of interest from spring marketing campaigns, the improving economy and pent-up demand from consumers.
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