News 07.11.18 RESPONSIBLE TOURISM
Information ‘key to better animal welfare’
Abigail Healy
There is a “huge appetite” for tourists to be better informed on animal welfare issues but some global markets are less receptive than others to the issue.
That was the opinion of a panel at Tuesday’s “Wildlife: Animal welfare and conservation” session at WTM London.
Dr Tom Moorhouse, a postdoctoral researcher at Oxford University, revealed the results of a survey that asked 3,200 respondents from Australia, the UK, Canada, the USA and China how much they would like to visit 10 mock animal attractions. Five of the attractions included negative animal-welfare practices while the other five were totally responsible outfits.
INSIDER INFORMATION
Panellists discussed how to raise awareness of animal welfare
The research revealed that the largest percentage of respondents wanted to be involved in good animal welfare practices but a free-type box at the end of the survey saw many ask why such information wasn’t publicly available. “There is a huge appetite for consumers to be better informed on this,” Moorhouse said. The panel agreed that NGO
Experts’ tips on getting ahead of the luxury curve
Leading luxury travel experts gave their predictions for the sector in the “Luxury travel in 2019: how to stay relevant to the affluent traveller” panel session, moderated by ttgluxury editor April Hutchinson.
Kate Warner, product and PR manager, Black Tomato: “We are seeing trends towards Europe, but also for more undiscovered regions such as Georgia and the Caucasus, and Russia post-World Cup. A lot of people were inspired by that and want to delve deeper into that region. Generally, wilderness destinations are popular.”
Chris Donnelly, founder, Verb Brands: “Main advertising platforms like Google are stealing part of the [online booking] journey from brands themselves, so a lot of the purchase information, discovery around hotels and price comparison is actually happening on Google.”
Cathy Tull, chief marketing officer, Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority: “Trying to work out how to break through the clutter will be important, given all the privacy laws. How do we make sure we can follow our customer to target and retarget them when they’re bouncing all over the place?”
Anna Masing, acting head of food, beverage and hospitality, Stylus: “With the growth of the gig economy, one consumer will want two different types of time spaces, for example, a last-minute getaway one year and a two-month holiday the next. It’s that idea of time being a luxury, whether it’s short or long.”
Lisa Cooper, director of trade and representation, KBC PR & Marketing: “It’s time, it’s service and it’s personalisation… as well as trying to get people to picture themselves where they’re going to be.”
STANDS THAT DELIVERED: Magnetic Latvia (EU1780) was awarded Best New Stand by WTM London yesterday, as part of a raft of accolades presented to the most innovative exhibitors. Las Vegas (NA150) received the Best Stand Feature for its interactive cinema experience, while the Canary Islands (EU800, EU850) was recognised as Best Stand for Doing Business. Mews Systems (TT525) was awarded Best Stand Design at the Travel Forward conference.
06
To get today’s news from WTM London, make sure you sign up for our email news alerts at
ttgmedia.com/newsletters 07.11.2018
campaigns could be a solution to the issue, but that the situation was complex.
Xavier Font, professor of sustainability marketing at the University of Surrey, said as well as campaigning, a three-pronged approach was required. “We need to remove the worst, work with the best and train the rest,” he said.
Jane Edge, of Fair Trade Tourism, which promotes responsible tourism in South Africa, said: “It makes a difference in some markets but the Indian and Chinese markets are not as sensitive to these messages and lots of attractions still thrive off them.” Font said there had been much progress in raising awareness around animal welfare but that there was still a long way to go. “I think there is a key opportunity for an inbound tourism association to be the first to say that in its country all animal attractions are responsible and to promote themselves on that basis,” he said.
RESCUE HERO
Thailand honours Brit caver
Tom Parry
Thailand (AS800) has used WTM London to celebrate the heroics of a British cave diver who helped rescue a football team of 12 young boys and their coach.
Robert Harper, who oversaw the operation to save the group trapped by flooding in the Tham Luang Nang Non cave system in the Chiang Rai province, northern Thailand, this summer, appeared at the tourism authority’s stand yesterday. He was part of a seven-strong British team of divers who worked with Thai special forces and experts from around the globe to free the children, who were finally rescued after 18 days underground.
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68
