NEWS TRAVEL WEEKLY BUSINESS CONTINUED FROM THE BACK


any time of the year we have 500,000 customers somewhere in the world who we have to take care of. That is a big ask, but that is what we have to do.” Fankhauser reported on consumer research by Thomas Cook that found: “One in five went on package holidays in the last three years more [than before]. Two-thirds want to personalise their holiday. Three in 10 said the hotel is more important than the destination. Nine out of 10 said the design and decor of a hotel is important. And nine out of 10 said they want their holiday company to take care of sustainability and animal welfare.” He said: “Customers want personalisation and want to be eco-travellers with a good tour operator, a tested environment and a good price. They want to travel with a company that takes sustainability seriously. They [also] want a cool design; we have to offer Instagrammable hotels.” Fankhauser told fellow industry leaders: “There is a lot to do internally in Thomas Cook to convince people sustainability is important. We started with animal welfare. We audited animal attractions and theme parks and took out 45. We said ‘We won’t sell attractions with captured orcas’. That did not make friends.” He revealed plans for a new plastics policy and said: “I urge every CEO to implement one. If every one of our customers takes one plastic bottle from a beach it will make a big difference. “With a bit of creativity, we could do so much.” Fankhauser insisted:


“We have to get better as an industry, to learn from incidents and share as an industry, to make it safer and better for customers.”


WTTC Europe Leaders’ Forum: Industry leaders discuss city touris


Portugal unveils five-point plan to maintain growth


Portugal’s booming tourism sector can maintain its momentum and grow sustainably, according to economics minister Manuel Caldeira Cabral.


Caldeira told the World Travel &


Tourism Council Europe Leaders’ Forum in Lisbon: “Portugal is living in a good moment of tourism.” He reported Portugal’s tourism


revenue grew 19% year on year in 2017 and has grown a further 14% so far this year. Caldeira said: “We made a big


effort to be aligned with the private sector, and it is private interests that responded and knew how to deliver. We focused on five things. First, we have a 10-year strategy to promote more in the shoulder seasons and to tourists who don’t have to travel in peak season. “Tourism that is concentrated


creates problems. Hotels are packed and then empty. It is not good for jobs and it is damaging for the quality of tourism.” Second, he said: “We are


‘Cities unprepared for growth and need managing’


City tourism cannot continue to grow without better management, the WTTC Europe Leaders’ Forum were told.


Tim Moonen, managing director


of London-based consultancy The Business of Cities, said: “A city’s tourism capacity depends on its management and the capacity it has to grow. There are huge opportunities, but cities are unprepared for this growth.


70 travelweekly.co.uk 20 September 2018


promoting different parts of Portugal, areas that need the jobs more. Third, we can’t grow tourism without investment in renewing hotels and building new hotels across the country. We have more than 100 new hotels being built, mostly four and five-star, and we are renewing hundreds. “Fourth, innovation – we put


tourism at the centre of our digital strategy. Fifth, but the first thing, is training. Tourism is about people


Tourism has all the benefits we know about, but there are all kinds of other effects. “There is no choice but to manage tourism better. A city can’t be a great city without tourism, but it needs management tools.” He said: “Enforcement and


regulation is half the battle, but it can’t be the only solution.” He advocated “smart


technology” and said: “There is a push for more intelligent use of public funds and to capture revenue in fees and levies. “We have to think about nudging


techniques to get citizens’ buy-in.” McKinsey & Co senior partner


Alex Dichter told the forum: “Tourism is considered an extractive industry by the World Economic Forum, likened to mining in that it eats away at resources.”


CALDEIRA: ‘We made a big effort to be aligned with the private sector . . . and it responded and knew how to deliver’


dealing with people.” Caldeira insisted: “We will continue [to grow] without putting too much pressure on our cities and our nature. If we spread [tourism] we can have not just more jobs but with more sustainability.” He added: “Portugal is a global leader in renewable energy – 65% of our energy came from renewable sources last year and we are expanding solar energy.”


Tim Moonen


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