NEWS TRAVEL WEEKLY BUSINESS CONTINUED FROM THE BACK
beginning to encourage acts of violence. It’s acting in a counterproductive way. “We need to be more
intelligent about the advisory.” Dr Mario Hardy, chief
executive of the Pacific Asia Travel Association, said travel advisories after the Bangkok bombing of 2015 saw the entire country suffer due to an event that affected one street in the city. He suggested travel could
“create a platform where people can self-assess their own risk in travelling to certain destinations”, placing some of the responsibility on to the traveller to decide. “I’m very risk tolerant, but everyone reacts differently,” he said. David Scowsill, president and
chief executive of the World Travel & Tourism Council, said the industry must oppose “government overreaction” to security incidents, particularly over the tightening of visa rules. “Tourism is more than economics: there is a human side to what we do,” he said. “It [tourism] puts smiles on people’s faces, it alleviates poverty across the world and provides employment to some of the most remote places around the world. It certainly makes the world a better place, and certainly a more peaceful place.” Dr Rifai warned against the
creation of secure zones for tourists that cut off visitors from local populations. “The more tourists integrate
with the people, the safer they are,” he said. “The more we put them in bubbles, the more dangerous it becomes. “I sometimes do not understand some of the logic behind the [travel] advisories.” The day-long ITCMS is the
first of many summits that will bring together public and private-sector bodies to share expertise and best practice. Find out more at
itcms.travel.
World Travel Market 2016: Destinations and suppliers converged on
Finnair targets UK airports ahead of Heathrow growth
Finnair is planning to increase its regional flying programme from the UK as it embarks on a new era of accelerated growth.
Chief executive Pekka Vauramo said building Heathrow’s third runway would “take time”, allowing the carrier to entice UK passengers with alternative international connections. “We are definitely going to
increase the number of airports [we fly to] in the UK,” said Vauramo. “We have the capacity.” Vauramo said the Brexit vote
had prompted an immediate spike in demand for travel to London as people looked to take advantage of the weak pound to shop. On the wider implications of
Brexit, Vauramo said there were concerns about open skies but he was confident of a positive result for travel following Britain’s negotiations to leave the EU. “We would hope people can continue to travel the way they are used to. I’m trusting this will eventually take place.” Vauramo said Finnair was
Brazilian minister: Zika stories were a type of bullying
Scare stories about the Zika virus amounted to “bullying” against Brazil ahead of its hosting of this summer’s Olympic Games, a minister from the country claimed. Vinicius Lummertz, president
of tourism authority Embratur, pointed out there were no cases of the virus in the country during the games, but said the country was still suffering from the fallout.
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travelweekly.co.uk 17 November 2016
“We are definitely going to increase the number of airports [we fly to] in the UK”
now “in growth mode” despite problems with deliveries of new A350s from Airbus. “We need to take growth in our
own hands. We believe there is room in this business for really good service,” he said. A key part of Finnair’s growth
“The disease was eliminated
from Brazil in the 1950s,” he told Travel Weekly. “It went out of
Brazil then came back in 60 other countries. Zika was bullying. “We have a sensationalist press in the world that lives on the thrill of emotions. It [the Zika stories] made investment very difficult. Of course we have lost some of the lustre that we could have had if we didn’t have this kind of attitude.” Lummertz promoted Brazil as a sustainable tourism destination at WTM, saying the country aimed to capitalise on the 541,000 tourists who came to Rio for the Olympics.
VAURAMO: ‘We believe there is room in this business for really good service’
plan is digital transformation and the growth this could spark for ancillary products. Vauramo criticised global distribution systems for being slow to update their platforms but said Finnair had not been tempted to follow Lufthansa in levying a GDS booking fee. He said: “We are networking with other airlines so heavily and GDS is the glue that makes the operation tick. But if you look at the speed the GDSs have responsed to a changing market, it’s been way too slow.”
LUMMERTZ: ‘The Zika stories made investment very difficult’
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