First UNWTO/PATA Tourism Trends and Research Conference. Guilin, China, 29 June July 2007

Transcription

1 First UNWTO/PATA Tourism Trends and Research Conference Guilin, China, 29 June July 2007 World Tourism Organization Madrid, Spain 2008

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3 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS The World Tourism Organization would like to express its thanks and heartfelt appreciation to the Municipal Government of Guilin, particularly the Guilin Tourism Administration and the Pacific Asia Travel Association (PATA) for successfully hosting and organizing the First UNWTO/PATA Tourism Trends and Research Conference. UNWTO is equally grateful to the organizers for the warm hospitality that was extended to all of the participants of the conference. UNWTO would also like to thank all participants and particularly the speakers for contributing to the success of the conference, whose presentations provided both an instructive and informative insight into the key tourism trends, destination performance and strategic research issues in different regions and countries in the Asia and Pacifics region. Thanks also goes to the academic institutions which shared their latest research findings related to the emerging tourism trends in the same region. This publication has been edited and produced by the UNWTO Regional Representation for Asia and the Pacifics.

4 Table of Contents 1. Introduction 2. Objectives 3. Synopses of Speeches and Presentations 4. Conclusions 5. Opening Ceremony Opening speech by Mr. Francesco Frangialli, Secretary General, UNWTO Opening speech by Mr. Michael Yates, Vice President-Operations, PATA Opening speech by Mr. Cheng Wendong, Former Vice-Chairman and special envoy of the Chairman Opening speech by Mr. Mu Hong, Deputy-Governor of Guangxi Province Opening speech by Mr. Zhang Xiulong, Mayor of the city of Guilin 6. Day One: Experts Session World Trends Mr. John Kester, Chief, Market Intelligence and Promotion Section, UNWTO Asia-Pacific Travel Trends Mr. John Koldowski, Director Strategic Intelligence Centre, PATA Country and tourism business trends 1. Australia 2. Cambodia 3. Canada 4. Dubai 5. Fiji 6. Federated States of Micronesia 7. Hong Kong 8. India 9. Indonesia 10. Japan 11. Macau 12. Malaysia 13. Phillipines

5 14. Papua New Guinea 15. Thailand 16. USA Tourism Competitiveness Mr. John Kester, Chief Market Intelligence and Promotion Section, UNWTO Country cases 1. Australia 2. Hong Kong 3. Malaysia 4. Singapore 5. Thailand Tourism Commercialization, Heritage Preservation and State Intervention in China s Historical Towns Professor Bao Jigang, Sun Yat-sen University The Human Resources Challenge, a regional perspective Professor Walter Jamieson, University of Hawaii Public-Private Partnership in Tourism Dr. Lisa Beesley, University of Queensland Consumer Travel Perceptions & Spending Patterns Mr. Paul Wilke, Director, Corporate Relations South & Southeast Asia, VISA International 7. Day Two: Plenary Session UNWTO World Tourism Barometer Mr. John Kester, Chief Market Intelligence and Promotion Section, UNWTO Tourism Trends in Asia Pacific Mr. John Koldowski, Director - Strategic Intelligence Centre, PATA Impacts of the Global Economy on Travel Mr. John Walker, Chairman & Chief Economist, Oxford Economics Connecting China with the World: An Aviation Perspective Mrs. Zhang Chunzhi, Air China Findings of a New Study on Asia Pacific Low Cost Carriers The Hong Kong Polytechnic University Travel Distribution Evolution, a regional perspective Mr. Peter Smith, Vice President, E-Commerce, Amadeus Asia-Pacific In Depth Market Observation: What changed in Japanese Outbound Market

6 Mr. Hiroshi Kurosu, Senior Researcher, Japan Travel Bureau Foundation Research Trends in Europe Mr. Brian Maher, Vice-Chairman, Market Intelligence Group, European Travel Commission The significance of China (PRC) as a Travel Generator Dr. Grace Pan, Head of Travel and Leisure Research, AC Nielsen China Maximizing Tourism Marketing Investments, a Canadian perspective Mr. Roger Laplante, Research Manager, Canadian Tourism Commission Using Market Intelligence in the Commercial World Mr. Dennis Pyka, General Manager World Travel Monitor, IPK International 8. Conference Programme 9. List of Participants

7 1. Introduction The First UNWTO/PATA Tourism Trends and Research Conference was jointly organized by the United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) and the Pacific Asia Travel Association (PATA) in collaboration with the Municipal Government of Guilin, and it was held in Guilin, China, from 29 June 1 July More than 150 delegates participated in the two-day event. The participants included officials at senior and operational levels from National Tourism Administrations and National Tourism Organizations especially dealing with marketing, promotion and human resource management. The conference also attracted a number of industry participants including tour operators, hotels, transport services, consultancy firms and media such as BBC World (media support) and CNN. Renowned scholars from major universities in China and abroad also attended the conference to share their latest research findings related to the emerging tourism trends in Asia Pacific with their academic colleagues and industry executives. The first day of the conference focused on the Expert Session with the active involvement of participants dealing with key tourism trends, destination performance and strategic research issues while the second day of the conference offered a Plenary Session conducted by renowned international speakers from the tourism sector and academic institutions. 2. OBJECTIVES In an increasingly dynamic global environment, the travel and tourism industry continues to expand and becomes more complex, and new challenges arise. Tourism is not only facing changes on the consumer profile and behaviour, but is also dealing with the development of new products and industry restructuring. Against this background, tourism trends analysis has turned into a key tool for the different stakeholders to respond to short- and long-term changes in demand. Research is the cornerstone of a successful development of tourism worldwide, on which effective marketing lies. Thus, the First UNWTO/PATA Tourism Trends and Research Conference aimed to: - identify and explore key tourism trends, focusing in the Asia-Pacific region - enhance the role of research as means to improve tourism stakeholders performance. 3. SYNOPSES OF SPEECHES AND PRESENTATIONS The two-day Conference was divided into an expert session (first day) and a plenary session (second day) conducted by renowned international speakers from the tourism sector. Day One: Experts Session The first part of the conference on day one featured two keynote presentations Tourism Trends and Prospects the World Trends by Mr. John Kester, Chief of Market Trends, Competitiveness and Trade in Tourism Services Section of the UNWTO, and Asia Pacific Travel Trends by Mr. John Koldowski, Director of Strategic Intelligence Centre, PATA. Mr. Kester highlighted the world tourism trends based on the UNWTO World Tourism Barometer, which is published three times a year. The focus of the barometer is to present an overview of short-term international tourism trends. According to Mr. Kester, the growth rate of world tourist arrivals in the first 4 months of 2007 was 6.3% while the figure for Asia Pacific was 8.6%, indicating that Asia Pacific outperformed all other regions in terms of tourism growth. The high growth of tourist arrivals/receipts in Asia Pacific was driven mainly by the fast economic growth of the emerging economies such as China and India. In his presentation, Mr. Koldowski further illustrated the spectacular growth of international travel within Asia Pacific region. A clear message emerged from his presentation is that the intra-regional travel will continue to play a significant role in the growth of international tourism demand within the region. He also pointed out that although tourism demand in this region will continue to increase in terms of total volume, the growth rate will decline from

8 around 11% in 2006 to 7.3% in This is likely to be caused by the increasing competition from other destinations outside Asia Pacific and the increasing concerns about such issues as sustainable tourism development, carrying capacity, preservation of natural and historic heritage, and global climate change and security. The presentations by Kester and Koldowski were followed by the updates of country/region specific trends. Representatives from Australia, Cambodia, Canada, Dubai, Fiji, Federated States of Micronesia, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Japan, Macau, Malaysia, Papua New Guinea, Philippines and Thailand presented the tourism performance indicators on both inbound and outbound tourism with a view to giving the audience a broad picture about the situation of tourism in these countries/regions. In particular, over the past two years China has been one of the key markets for most of these countries/regions in terms of tourist arrivals. For Hong Kong, Macau, and Japan, Chinese arrivals have been ranked the top on their source market lists. For Australia, the inbound tourism demand will continue to increase but the rate of growth will be stabilized for the period One of the challenges faced by Australia in the coming years would be the growth of outbound tourism at the expense of inbound tourism due to the continuous strengthening of the Australian Dollar (AUD) against the US Dollar. Cambodia s strong economic growth together with its continuity of peace has attracted an increasing number of tourists from Korea, Japan, USA, Taiwan and China (the top five source markets, respectively), which contributed about 10% to the country s GDP, which is one of the highest within the region. Canada has been facing an overall tourism export deficit (outbound tourists exceed inbound tourists). However, tourist arrivals from Asia Pacific to Canada has overtaken outbound tourists from Canada to Asia Pacific suggesting that tourists from this region have been a key tourist receipt generator for Canada. Dubai has positioned itself as a leading tourism destination and commercial hub in the world. With this vision, Dubai has attracted more than 6.3 million tourists in 2006, and achieved the top positions in terms of the hotel occupancy rate, room rate and RevPAR. Fiji s tourist arrivals and foreign exchange earnings from its tourism exports had been on the rise until the coup in The income from international tourists in Fiji contributed about 60% to the country s total foreign exchange earnings in However, both tourist arrivals and receipts have been declining after 2005 due to the 2006 coup. As a result, the country s Tourism Action Group (TAG) was revived with a key objective to restore confidence in the destination in order to increase tourist arrivals and tourism receipts. However, the working of the strategies of TAG remains to be seen. Spreading across 2,500 km (1,800 miles) of the Western Central Pacific Ocean, just north of the equator, the Federated States of Micronesia (FSM) has been enjoying beautiful natural sceneries and a rich culture. The island state has been attracting around 19,000 visitors per year over the past few years. The key source markets for FSM have been USA, Japan and Pacific Islands. As the Asia s world city, Hong Kong has been enjoying a fast increase in inbound tourism over the past few years with the exception of 2003 due to SARS. China has been the largest source market for Hong Kong with a market share of more than 50% in This trend will continue into the future due to the Independent Visitor Scheme (IVS) to be applied to more cities in China. Although the volume of tourists has been huge, the length of stay of visitors in Hong Kong has always been a concern. On average, the length of stay for holiday visitors were 2.99 and 2.91 in 2005 and 2006, respectively, as a large proportion of the visitors who visited Hong Kong on vacation purpose tend to be transit visitors. The challenge faced by Hong Kong is therefore to increase the length of stay of visitors in order to increase the per capita tourist expenditure. The Incredible India campaign has been very successful. About 4.5 million international visitors patronized India in 2006, which generated about US$ 6.6 billion foreign exchange earnings.

9 India s tourism contributed about 5.9% to the country s GDP and about 8.8% of the country s employment was tourism related in the same year. It is predicted that India would be one of the fastest growing tourism economies in the world over the next decade. Tourism is also expected to generate US$90.4 billion and 28 million jobs by The capital investment for achieving the above targets is predicted to be around US$ 21.4 billon. Singapore keeps its first position in inbound tourism of Indonesia since year 2000 on, with sending an average of about 1,300,000 visitors per year, more than twice as Japan and Malaysia as the second and third biggest markets for this destination. However the United States holds the record for the highest average expenditure per visit which may suggest Indonesian policy makers to conceive developing such markets following the sustainable tourism development concerns. Since 2003, Indonesian outbound tourism has been constantly increasing with again Singapore as the first destination holding71.13% of this market s share together with Malaysia as the two main tourism partners of the country. Japan s inbound tourists have been increasing over the past three years after SARS, and the growth rate has fluctuated around 10%. The main source markets for Japan in 2006 were China (24%), Singapore (22.5%) and Korea (21%), respectively. On the other hand, Japan s outbound tourism has been stagnated over the past three years with a zero growth rate. It is worth to note that the growth rate of Japanese travelers to China surpassed all other destinations, suggesting that China has become a popular destination for Japanese travelers. Among all the representative countries/regions, Macau s tourism growth has been the most impressive. Tourist arrivals in Macau were 7.4 million in 1999 when Macau was handed over to China. This figure increased to 22 million in 2006, about 3 folds over a 7-year period. Macau has been perceived as a gaming destination in the region. In order to diversify tourism products, the Macau government has been placing emphasis on cultural tourism, convention tourism and family tourism. The promotion campaign - Visit Malaysia 2007 Celebrating 50 Years Nationhood showed a continuous effort made by the Malaysian government in attracting international visitors to the country following the successful Malaysia Truly Asia campaign. Tourist arrivals in 2006 reached 17.5 million representing a 6.8% increase over 2005 and the average length of stay of tourists was 6.2 nights, which is one of the highest among all destinations in the region. Papua New Guinea attracted about 77,730 tourists in 2006 and most of them were from Australia (55%), Asia (19%), and America (10%) followed by Europe (7%) and Japan (5%). More than 60% tourists who visited Papua New Guinea were for business purpose and only 35% of the visitors were pure holiday makers. The challenge faced by Papua New Guinea is how to effectively promote the country s tourism products to leisure and holiday visitors. Total tourist arrivals to the Philippines have been increasing over the past three years after SARS. In 2006 the figure reached 2.8 million. The top source markets for the Philippines were Korea (20.1%), USA (20%), Japan (14.8%) and China (4.7%). Given the size of the country, there is room for improvement in terms of total tourism arrivals. The government has made continuous efforts in accelerating the demand in existing core markets such as China, Japan, Korea and Filipino Americans; increasing investment and focusing promotion programs in strategic markets such as Australia, Russia, Germany and US/Canada; and reinvigorating the marketing efforts in traditional sources such as UK, Italy, Spain and France. International tourist arrivals to Thailand have been increasing after the tsunami in Although there was a military coup in 2006, the demand for Thai tourism has not been affected. In 2006, the total tourist arrivals were 13.8 million which generated a receipt of US$12.8 billion. The main source markets for Thailand were Europe, Northeast Asia and ASEAN countries, and the demand for Thai tourism by visitors from Europe, America and Asia are still on the rise.

10 Following the country/region updates on tourism performance, Mr. Xu Jing, Regional Representative for Asia of UNWTO spoke about regional tourism strategies and policies. He stressed the need for policy changes from quantity to quality for some destinations within the region. These include the implementation of tourism policy in different countries/regions that encourages pro-poor tourism, eco-tourism, rural tourism, and sustainable tourism. He summarized his speech with slow sometimes is better and less may be more to emphasize the importance of policy changes within the region. The afternoon session concentrated on Improving Tourism Performance through Research. Mr. John Kester first presented the latest Travel & Tourism Competitiveness Report produced by the World Economic Forum, with the support of UNWTO. The report is a cross-country analysis of the drivers of tourism and travel competitiveness and provides useful comparative information for business and policy decision-makings; the analysis also provides a platform for a dialogue between the industry and policymakers to address the obstacles to tourism and travel competitiveness in a particular destination. Although there were questions about the way in which the competitive indexes were compiled, the audience did agree that this report is a good attempt in analysing and evaluating destinations competitiveness. Mr. Kester s speech was then followed by Australia, Hong Kong, Malaysia, Singapore and Thailand s presentations on their experiences in enhancing tourism performance through research. It is clear that all these destinations have put much emphasis on research with a view to assisting tourism policy and industry decision-makings. In particular, Australia leads tourism research in the region in terms of its research strategies. Australia has a comprehensive tourism research network. The Central Tourism Agency cocoordinates tourism policy research; Tourism Australia (NTO) is responsible for marketing research; Tourism Research Australia is engaged in passenger surveys, tourism impact assessment, and tourism demand forecasting; and Australian Bureau of Statistics (NSA) is a data warehouse that provides all national statistics including tourism data. In addition, the Sustainable Tourism Cooperative Research Centre, which is a consortium, consists of members from a number of universities and is responsible for specific research topics that are of significant interest to both public and private sectors. The work of this Research Centre covers such topics as state and territory tourism satellite accounts (TSAs), CGE economic impact models, consumer choice modelling, event evaluation (financial, economic and environment), forecasting and seasonality, indigenous tourism and climate change. Mrs Tong from the Hong Kong Tourism Board (HKTB) talked about the use of market research in Hong Kong s strategic tourism planning. HKTB as a semi-government office of the Hong Kong SAR has been actively engaged in such tourism research as Inbound Visitors Surveys, Departing Visitor Survey, Mega Event Tracking Surveys, Survey on New Attractions, Convention & Exhibition Tracking Survey, Cruise Passengers Survey, SkyPier Passengers Survey, Mainland IVS Departure Survey, Hong Kong-Macau Combo Visitors Survey, Hotel surveys and the list goes on. All these surveys and related marketing research have provided useful information for the SAR government and industry in their decision-making processes. Tourism Malaysia s Research Division is responsible for all tourism related research activities, and its main objectives are 1) to guide Tourism Malaysia and the industry players in formulating marketing strategies based on the information and data collected through marketing surveys; 2) to ensure that the compiling, processing and analyzing of information is beneficial to the development of tourism industry in Malaysia; and 3) to analyze and evaluate the promotional programs that have been carried out by Tourism Malaysia. With the concerted efforts of the research team, the research findings have played a significant role in the government decision-making process and resulted in an increasing awareness of Malaysia tourism by visitors from the region and beyond. Tourism research in Singapore was presented by the representative from the Singapore Tourism Board (STB). Tourism research in Singapore has been mainly done through the annual STB Overseas Visitor Survey. The survey includes collecting data on tourists profiles, the length of stay, expenditure and satisfaction of visitors during their stay in Singapore. In

11 recognizing the importance of these visitor surveys in helping tourism decision-makings, Singapore also identifies a few problems and limitations of these surveys. Same as the other four destinations, Thailand regards tourism research as an important instrument for the implementation of tourism related policies. They also realize the difficulties in the tourism research, which may also be shared by other destinations. These difficulties include the lack of understanding of the nature of tourism by both government and the general public; the research conducted by the government and academic institutions tend to be fragmented without continuity; and the research findings are not fully utilized by practitioners due to lack of trust in the research outputs. In order to solve these problems, Thai Tourism Authority recommended establishing more research centers concentrating on major tourism research projects that facilitate the government s long-term tourism policy formulation and implementation. To achieve this goal, more government funding is expected. The first day of the conference was concluded by four presentations on some specific strategic issues. These issues are Commercialization of China s Historic Towns by Prof. Jigang Bao of Sun Yat-sen University, The Human Resource Challenges A Regional Perspective by Prof. Walter Jamieson of University of Hawaii, Public-Private Partnerships - Approaching Innovation through Knowledge Management by Dr. Lisa Beesley of University of Queensland, and Consumer Travel Perceptions and Spending Patterns by Mr. Paul Wilke of Visa International. Prof. Bao s research on the commercialization of historic towns in China was aimed to explore whether commercialisation is an inevitable outcome as a result of tourism development in China if external intervention is absent; and to provide recommendations for state interventions in order to preserve national heritages in China s historic towns. He found that many historic towns in China have turned their streets and residential houses into sites for tourist shopping and other economic related activities. Tourism commercialization in these towns is normally culminated in a shopping centre encrusted with variegated heritage symbols so that these historic towns completely lost their authenticity and originality as living spaces for the locals. This contradicted the UNESCO s principle of heritage preservation. He suggested that state intervention can be used as an accepted mechanism in preventing the fast commercialization process in China s historic towns. In his presentation, Professor Jamieson analyzed the demand and supply situation in Asia Pacific. He suggested that the demand for qualified labours will continue to increase due to the growing demand for hotels, budget airlines, ground related travel, airports, new attractions, and cruise industry in the region. He predicted that a growth in HR needs in the next 10 years would be between 6% and 19%, indicating the challenges faced by the tourism industry in the region are going to be huge. This situation compounds when we factor in the high industry turnovers. Professor Jamieson suggested that some measures could be taken to address the shortage of HR. These measures include 1) increasing the corporate social responsibility by employing more women, minorities, the socially disadvantaged and the poor in the industry; 2) raising the bar of HR quality through redefining the Asia service standards; and 3) enhancing the reputation of the industry by PR campaigns, image building, and education. He also suggested that the industry needs to do more applied research and organize more forums in which the best practices in terms of operational and management models could be shared and promoted. Dr Beesley s presentation illustrated that in the knowledge-based economy with the tri-lateral arrangement of knowledge (Research Innovation Product/services Profit), the public and private partnership (PPP) would be crucial for knowledge creation, diffusion and adoption. The role of different parties in the process of transferring the knowledge was very well illustrated within a PPP knowledge transfer model. She suggested that transferring knowledge through PPP could further enhance the competitive advantage of the industry, and increase economic and social benefits within the knowledge-based economy. Mr. Paul Wilke presented the report of the PATA/Visa 2007 Asia Travel Intentions Survey. This report suggests that 52 percent of those intending to travel internationally in the next two years considered Asia as their next travel destination; Thailand was rated as the number one destination, followed by Japan and China; 56 percent believed that Indonesia was still severely

12 affected by the 2004 tsunami; terrorism remained a key area of concern and tsunami concerns reduced; more than 80 percent of respondents said that they would be inclined to choose environmentally-friendly products when planning a holiday and half would pay extra; and visitors to the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games plan to visit other parts of Asia, too. Day Two: Plenary Session The second day of the conference was organized in such a way that researchers and practitioners including government officials could take part in the open dialogue on some important research issues related to tourism development in Asia Pacific. The conference was formally opened by the officiating guests including Mr. Francesco Frangialli, the Secretary General of UNWTO, Mr. Michael Yates, Vice President of PATA, Mr. Cheng Wendong, Former Vice Chairman and Special Envoy of Chairman, CNTA, and Mr. Mu Hong, Deputy-Governor of Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region. Following the Opening Ceremony, Mr. John Kester of UNWTO and Mr. John Koldowski of PATA provided overviews of World and Asia Pacific Tourism Trends in order to set the scene for the open dialogue. The contents of both presentations were similar to those presented on the first day of the conference. Mr. John Walker, Chairman and Chief Economist of the Oxford Economics supplemented Mr. Kester and Mr. Koldowski s presentations by looking at the Impact of the Global Economy on Travel. Based on the Tourism Decision Matrices (TDM) developed by Oxford Economics, Mr. Walker looked at the globalization and integration of the world economy and its influence on the travel industry in the Asia Pacific region. In particular, Mr. Walker presented the inbound and outbound tourist expenditure patterns over the period , and provides the forecasts of the expenditure patterns for The forecasts of the tourist expenditures, however, look rather conservative for the whole region as well as for the key countries like China, Japan and India. The first half of the afternoon session was a panel discussion devoted to regional and industry specific trends. The first two papers presented were about the aviation industry. Ms. Gong Jinying, Director of Market Research of Air China spoke on Connecting China with the World: An Aviation Perspective. She highlighted the historical development of Air China, the role that the airline played in China s domestic and international tourism development. Prof. Haiyan Song of the Hong Kong Polytechnic University presented the Findings of a New Study on Asia Pacific Low Cost Carriers. Through a content analysis of the major travel trade magazines/journals, Prof. Song identified the following trends related to LCCs in the region. The wave of low-cost carriers (LCCs) is pushing toward west and north of the Asia- Pacific. LCCs first swept across Oceania (Australia and New Zealand) in the 1990s, and then spread northward to Southeast Asia in the early 2000s before raging in South Asia, especially in India after India is also predicted to become the world s largest LCC market with a market penetration to reach 70% by It is speculated that the next LCC wave may hit Northeast Asia, but government regulations and the protection that some of the legacy or national carriers enjoy do not create a level playing field for LCCs. In addition to a more regulated environment, political antagonism between China and Japan and between Japan and Korea may also deter the intra-subregional open skies policy to be materialized. Therefore, LCCs development in Northeast Asia is likely to be confined initially to domestic routes, especially among the above three countries. However, LCCs in Hong Kong and Macau prefer to enter into long haul service to differentiate themselves from other competitors. Mr. Peter Smith, Vice President of E-Commerce, Amadeus Asia Pacific, talked about the Travel Distributions in Asia Pacific Region. In his presentation, he identified the following phenomena related to the travel distribution, which are 1) the consolidation of the tourism industry through technology development, 2) new distribution models and 3) new revenue models have been created, 4) consumer behavior is changing as a result of technology development and 5) the size of distribution channel matters. Mr. Hiroshi Kurosu, Senior Researcher of Japan Travel Bureau Foundation presented the Latest Trends on Japanese Outbound Market. A very interesting finding of his research is that the demand for travel to Americas, Europe and Oceania by Japanese travelers has declined while the demand for travel within Asia has increased significantly over the past 10 years with

13 2003 being an exception. Within Asia, Korea and Thailand have been the two main destinations for Japanese travelers, but the biggest growing markets have been Croatia, Dubai and Macau with growth rates of about 90%, 55% and 30%, respectively. The last session of the conference was Panel II where four speakers talked about Research Trends in Europe (Mr. Brian Maher of European Travel Commission), Significance of China (PRC) as a Travel Generator (Dr. Grace Pan of AC Nielsen China), Maximizing Tourism Marketing Investment a Canadian Perspective (Mr. Roger Laplante of Canadian Tourism Commission) and Using Market Intelligence in Commercial World (Mr. Dennis Pyka of IPK International). The views shared by the presenters on this panel further echoed the previous presentations on the importance of research in understanding the operation of the tourism businesses and tourists behaviors within Asia Pacific. 4. Conclusions The conference was a huge success in bringing together researchers and practitioners to share their views on the latest trends and research related to the development of tourism and hospitality industry within Asia Pacific region. The key issues emerged from this conference include: Tourism in Asia Pacific will continue to grow in the future but the growth rate will be stabilized for some destinations due to increasing competition among destinations within the region, and concerns on such issues as security, sustainable development and global climate changes. It was also projected by both UNWTO and PATA that the growth potential in Asia Pacific is much bigger than that in other parts of the world. Recent developments in Information Technology have changed the behavior of tourists in terms of the product purchase and destination choice. In responding to the changes in travelers behavior, tourism enterprises have to change their business models in order to stay competitive. The fast development of LCCs within the region has also fueled the travel industry s transformation from the traditional business operation models to more IT friendly models. The growth prospects of the tourism industry have brought greater challenges to the tourism industry in terms of human resource management, training and education in the region. PPP is recognized as a key factor that facilitates knowledge transfer in the tourism industry. Closer collaboration between different stakeholders, both public and private sectors, could ensure the maximization of the economic and social benefits within a destination. Tourism research should be one of the core activities of NTOs, as it helps with the long term policy formulations for destinations. China and India will become the major source markets for many destinations in the world. Tourists from these two countries are likely to reshape the world tourism in terms of service quality perception and the ways in which tourism businesses operate. Many destinations will have to be culturally conscientious towards tourists from these countries if they want to be competitive. Sustainable tourism development is concerned by a number of destinations within the region. Policies aimed at attracting mass tourists may have to be changed to the ones that encourage high-end and high spending tourists who may be more environmentally conscientious. Slow sometimes is better and less may be more might be the way forward for some of the nature- or culture- based destinations.

14 OPENING REMARKS OF THE SECRETARY-GENERAL OF THE WORLD TOURISM ORGANIZATION (UNWTO) FIRST UNWTO/PATA TOURISM TRENDS AND RESEARCH CONFERENCE Guilin, China, 29 June-1 July 2007 His Excellency Mr. Mu Hong, Deputy Governor of Guangxi Province, His Excellency Mr. Zhang Xiulong, Mayor of Guilin, His Excellency Mr. Cheng Wendong, Former Vice Chairman of CNTA, Distinguished Ladies and Gentlemen, I am very pleased to be here today and to welcome you all to the First UNWTO/PATA Tourism Trends and Research Conference, which the World Tourism Organization is organising jointly with the Pacific Asia Travel Association. It is equally my pleasure to underlie the fact that even though this is the first time UNWTO and PATA are joining hands to organise this conference on tourism trends and research, it is certainly not the first time we are undertaking a joint project together. Over the years, we have enjoyed close collaboration on both political and technical levels. PATA supported us recently in Macao, China, when we presented our first 7 Asia-Pacific Market Studies on Australia, China, Hong Kong, India, Japan, Republic of Korea and Thailand. This was during our first Ministerial Roundtable on Asia-Pacific Tourism Policies. UNWTO has been and still is a regular participant of PATA s annual Conference. We have also collaborated in the production of technical reports, the most recent of which is the Asia-Pacific Manual on Crisis Management in the Tourism sector. We are equally grateful to PATA for its valuable contribution to the Phuket Action Plan which UNWTO initiated for the recovery of the tourism destinations that were affected by the 2004 tsunami. In fact, this occasion also calls for the expression of my appreciation to PATA for its financial support to UNWTO s on-going ST-EP projects in the Viengxay area of Laos. This conference thus serves as another brick to reinforce the foundation of this long-standing relationship between UNWTO and PATA. It is our first research platform for the Asia and the Pacific region. This joint research initiative has been successfully tested in Europe with the PISA Research annual meeting in collaboration with European Tourism Commission and IPK International. We have taken our cue from this and intend to use our umbrella role to bring together reputable researchers, professors, national tourism administration and national tourism organization officials to take stock of major trends in the tourism sector and to map out the course of action in tourism research for the region. Ladies and Gentlemen, it is an indisputable fact that the Asia and the Pacific region has been experiencing one of the highest growth rates of international tourist arrivals since It boasted a robust average annual growth of 7.1 per cent from 1990 to 2006, which is almost 3 points above the world average of 4.2 per cent. It grew by nearly 8 per cent, both in 2005 and 2006, recording over 167 million international tourist arrivals last year, while global growth was around 5 per cent in both years. The same trend is visible in terms of international tourism receipts. It is my pleasure to announce, here today, that Asia and the Pacific reached in 2006, and for the first time, a volume of earnings from international tourism that is similar to that of the Americas, i.e US$ 153 billion, or 21 per cent of the world s US$ 735 billion receipts. In 2002, Asia and the Pacific had already surpassed the Americas in terms of international tourist arrivals, becoming therefore the second most visited region in the world after Europe. And it is now firm on its way to doing so in terms of international tourism receipts in the coming year(s). China has been, undoubtedly, one of the most important drivers of this development, both as a destination and as a source market. The country is rising in the ranking of the world s top tourism destinations - it achieved the 4 th position in terms of international tourist arrivals in At the same time, China is a powerful tourism generator for the region, as well as for an increasing number of destinations all over the world. In fact, in 2006, China ousted Italy from the sixth position in the league of the world s top tourism spenders.

15 Tourism in Asia and the Pacific is gradually changing world tourism scenario because it is one of the major motors propelling global tourism. This trend is again confirmed by the first 2007 results that UNWTO is pleased to release in the framework of this conference. Data included in the latest issue of the UNWTO World Tourism Barometer (from which you will have the opportunity to know more in depth later this morning), show that Asia and the Pacific was once again the fastest growing region in terms of international tourist arrivals. While international tourist arrivals worldwide grew by an encouraging 6 per cent during the first four months of this year, Asia and the Pacific amply exceeded this with a 9 per cent growth rate. UNWTO s forecast shows that tourist arrivals around the world would reach 1.6 billion by This growth forecast is even more outstanding in the case of Asia and the Pacific region whose international tourist arrivals are expected to grow from 111 million in 2000 to 417 million in Undoubtedly, this is positive on one hand but on the other hand, if the growth is not adequately managed it could pose problems for sustainability. Other challenges of global nature but which have repercussions on Asia s tourism include political uncertainties, foreign exchange fluctuations, the rise in aviation fuel, climate changes and the threat of avian flu epidemic. Of course, Asia and the Pacific region has its own concerns ranging from natural disasters to terrorist attacks and health scares. Against this background, the question we need to ask ourselves is what is the way forward? How do we get Asia s tourism to outperform itself without causing undue damage to the very resources on which it depends? How does it also respond to changes in the consumer profile and behaviour as well as the development of new products and industry restructuring? How can Asia s tourism continue to keep up in a globally unstable environment that isn t always conducive to growth? Ladies and Gentlemen, these kinds of questions back the essence of tourism research, the reason for which we are here today in this beautiful city of Guilin. And please join me to express my heartfelt gratitude to the Mayor of Guilin, Mr. Zhang Xiulong and the people of Guilin for their warm hospitality and the hard work put into the organisation of this conference. I said at the beginning that this is not the first time UNWTO is collaborating with PATA; I have to repeat myself in the case of Guilin too. Guilin hosted UNWTO s Regional Seminar on Tourism Partnerships in Destination Development and Management in December In 2005, the City welcomed us again to organise the National Workshop on Sustainable Tourism Indicators. One of the outcomes of this workshop was the laying of a foundation stone for the construction of the UNWTO/Yangshuo Observatory on Sustainable Tourism Development. With this, Guilin pioneered a historical occurrence in the life of UNWTO. But that is not all. UNWTO is currently providing technical assistance to the Guilin Institute of Tourism (an affiliate member of UNWTO since 2005) in the design and development of a Diploma Programme in Hospitality Management. UNWTO has created a worldwide network of education and training institutions where courses, seminars, think-tank and research initiatives are carried out, and Guilin Institute of Tourism is UNWTO s pilot scheme for capacity-building and research in tourism training and education. I am confident that this Conference will serve as another landmark in the cooperation between UNWTO and Guilin. It is also our intention that Guilin does not only become the spot for UNWTO s observatory on Sustainable Tourism. We would want Guilin to become the seat of UNWTO and PATA s research conferences. Ladies and Gentlemen, I am happy to note that the wide range of erudite personalities from Universities as well as experts and professionals from the tourism industry gathered here, will make light work of the challenges we need to address. I wish the Conference full success! Thank you.

16 在首届联合国世界旅游组织和亚太旅游协会旅游趋势与研究大会上的致词 尊敬的联合国世界旅游组织秘书长弗朗加利先生, 尊敬的亚太旅游协会主席狄森先生, 尊敬的穆虹副主席 张秀隆市长, 女士们 先生们 朋友们 : 中国国家旅游局局长特使程文栋 (2007 年 6 月 30 日 ) 大家上午好! 今天, 在 山水甲天下 的中国桂林市, 世界旅游组织和亚太旅游协会隆重举行首届旅游趋势与研究大会 借此机会, 我谨代表中国国家旅游局, 对莅临本次会议的海内外嘉宾表示最诚挚的欢迎! 本次会议提供了研讨国际旅游发展的重要平台和机会, 使世界旅游组织和亚太旅游协会官员 有关国家旅游官员 重要的区域性旅游协会组织代表和专家学者聚集一堂, 认真研究旅游发展案例, 提出旅游业竞争和合作的积极建议, 共同探讨世界旅游业的发展趋势 我相信, 本次会议的成果, 将对全球旅游业发展产生积极的推动力和重要的影响力 各位朋友, 近年来, 在联合国世界旅游组织的积极推动下, 在世界各国政府的高度重视和支持下, 在国际和区域旅游协会的共同努力下, 全球旅游业克服各种困难, 保持持续增长, 获得蓬勃发展 旅游业已发展成为世界经济中最具活力 最具合作性的新兴产业, 成为各国社会经济进步的强大助推力, 在推进国际合作 促进经济增长 减少贫困人口 保护生态环境 增进不同国家和民族之间交流与互信等方面, 发挥着日益显现的独特作用 随着全球经济一体化, 世界旅游业正站在一个新的起点上, 同时也面临着一系列新的挑战 因此, 各国应继续加强合作, 推动旅游业可持续发展 目前, 亚太地区经济迅猛发展, 涌现出越来越多的新兴工业化国家, 民众的生活水平稳步提高, 形成了不断增长的旅游需求, 形成了巨大完备的旅游市场 亚太地区旅游业增长迅速, 已占全球旅游市场约 20% 的份额, 为全球旅游经济发展作出了巨大贡献 亚太旅游经济体已经成为全球最活跃 发展最快的旅游经济体, 有可能在未来 10 年内成为全球旅游经济的新引擎 仅就亚洲而言, 以中国为代表的东北亚地区旅游业持续 高速增长, 是世界旅游业发展最快的区域 经济社会迅速发展的中国, 将成为亚太地区旅游持续增长的最主要动力, 而 2008 年北京奥运会则是一个强有力的推动因素 2006 年, 中国全年入境旅游者 1.25 亿人次, 增长 3.9% 其中, 入境过夜旅游人数 万人次, 增长 6.63%; 外国人 2221 万人次, 增长 9.7% 旅游外汇收入 亿美元, 增长 15.9% 国内旅游人数 13.9 亿人次, 增长 15.0%; 国内旅游收入 6230 亿元, 增长 17.9% 旅游总收入 8935 亿元人民币, 增长 16.3% 全年出境旅游 3452 万人次, 增长 11.3% 我国继续保持世界上第四大入境旅游接待国 世界上最大的国内旅游市场和亚洲第一大出境旅游市场的地位 各位朋友, 中国是一个有着五千年文明历史的古老国度, 有着丰富的旅游资源和独特的旅游文化, 有北京的长城和故宫, 有大气时尚的现代上海, 有诗情画意的江南, 有改革开放的前沿阵地广东, 有山水甲天下的桂林, 有长江三峡 丝绸之路 香格里拉 青藏铁路 边境风情 乡村新貌等, 我们希望更多的各国朋友来亲身感受古老中国的文化之美 自然中国的景致之美 现代中国的发展风貌 中国也是一个充满生机与活力的发展中大国 在科学发展 和谐发展 和平发展的道路上, 在建设持久和平 共同繁荣的和谐世界的进程中, 中国政府和各级地方政府高度重视旅游业的发展, 使中国旅游业一直保持着较快的发展势头, 为世界旅游业发展作出了应有的贡献 我们认为, 世界各国和地区政府以及旅游组织机构参与旅游业发展的成功经验, 为中国旅游业的可持续发展提供了有益的借鉴 中国将本着互利共赢的原则, 与世界各国和地区开展旅游交流与合作, 共同推进世界旅游业繁荣发展 各位朋友, 桂林山水是我国观光旅游的经典品牌, 桂林是我国著名的风景游览城市和历史文化名城, 是深受海内外游客喜爱的旅游城市 世界旅游组织在桂林阳朔建立了旅游发展观察点, 在桂林旅专建立了旅游培训基地, 有效地帮助和推动了当地旅游业以及经济的提升发展 我们非常感谢世界旅游组织 亚太旅游协会多年来对中国旅游业发展的具体支持和帮助! 最后, 祝本次大会圆满成功! 谢谢大家! 在首届世界旅游组织和亚太旅游协会旅游趋势与研究大会上的致词

17 尊敬的联合国世界旅游组织秘书长弗朗加利先生, 尊敬的亚太旅游协会主席狄森先生, 尊敬的国家旅游局局长邵琪伟先生, 女士们 先生们 朋友们 : 大家上午好! 广西壮族自治区人民政府副主席穆虹 (2007 年 6 月 30 日 ) 今天, 联合国世界旅游组织和亚太旅游协会在桂林隆重召开首届旅游趋势与研究大会 本次高规格的会议选择在广西桂林市举行, 使我们感到非常荣幸 首先, 请让我代表广西壮族自治区人民政府, 对大会的顺利召开表示热烈的祝贺, 向参加这次会议的各位贵宾 各位专家学者以及在座的各位朋友, 表示热烈的欢迎! 各位朋友, 广西是中国唯一的沿海沿边的少数民族自治区, 下辖南宁 柳州 桂林 北海 梧州等 14 个城市, 面积 24 万平方公里, 人口 4890 万, 聚居有壮 瑶 苗 侗等 12 个民族 广西处于中国华南经济圈 西南经济圈和东盟经济圈的结合部, 是中国西南地区最便捷的出海通道, 也是联结粤港澳与西部地区的战略要道 2003 年东盟 (10+1) 领导人会议确定, 从 2004 年起每年在中国广西南宁市举办中国 东盟博览会 随着中国 - 东盟自由贸易区的构建, 作为中国连接东盟的枢纽, 作为多区域合作的平台, 广西的战略地位和作用越来越凸现 广西正在进一步扩大对外开放, 积极推进 一轴两翼 区域合作战略, 加快北部湾的开放与开发, 促进社会经济又好又快发展, 力争形成我国沿海发展新的一极 广西是我国旅游资源大省, 有享誉世界的桂林山水, 有被称为 中国第一滩 的北海银滩, 有世界第二 亚洲第一的德天跨国瀑布, 有世界第一的百色大石围天坑群, 有世界第五的盘阳河长寿区, 有神秘的花山崖壁画和以刘三姐壮族风情为代表的多彩多姿的民俗风情 从 1973 年至今, 已有包括美国前总统尼克松 克林顿, 日本前首相海部俊树等在内的 150 多位外国国家元首及政要到广西考察和旅游 每年有 7000 多万国内游客 近 200 万的海外游客到广西旅游观光 广西壮族自治区人民政府明确提出要把旅游业培育成为支柱产业, 建设特色鲜明 设施完善 服务一流 驰名中外的旅游强省 我们将全面构筑 一个旅游龙头 两条黄金旅游带 两大旅游集散中心 五大旅游特色 六大旅游品牌 七大特色旅游线路 八大旅游区 的总体旅游发展框架 即 : 不断完善提升广西旅游龙头桂林市, 进一步发挥桂林对广西旅游业的龙头辐射和带动作用 建设完善 桂林 / 贺州 柳州 / 河池 来宾 南宁 钦州 防城港 ( 东兴 ) 北海 和 梧州 玉林 贵港 南宁 百色 / 崇左 南北 东西两条黄金旅游带 改造和完善桂林市 南宁市两大旅游集散中心 突出自然山水 滨海休闲 边关揽胜 民族风情和红色旅游五大旅游特色 着力打造桂林山水 德天瀑布 北海银滩 百色天坑 民族风情 左右江红色旅游六大旅游品牌 整合建设大桂林山水文化 环北部湾滨海跨国 南国边关风情 桂西奇山秀水生态风情 桂中民俗风情 桂东宗教历史文化 左右江红色之旅等七大特色精品旅游线路 全面推进大桂林山水文化旅游区 南宁壮乡绿城会展商务旅游区 德天跨国大瀑布旅游区 环北部湾滨海跨国旅游区 百色大天坑群旅游区 大瑶山生态民俗文化旅游区 桂东宗教历史文化旅游区 左右江红色旅游区等八大旅游区的规划建设 各位朋友, 中国 东盟合作方兴未艾, 北部湾开发热潮涌动, 广西旅游发展前景更加广阔 我们非常愿意与全球各旅游目的地城市加强合作, 共同推进世界旅游的新发展 我们热诚欢迎与会代表到广西各地考察观光, 对广西旅游产业发展给与积极的指导和帮助 在这里, 要特别感谢联合国世界旅游组织和亚太旅游协会多年来对广西旅游的支持和帮助 最后, 预祝本次大会取得圆满成功! 祝各位贵宾在桂林期间身体健康, 工作顺利, 生活愉快! 谢谢大家 在首届世界旅游组织和亚太旅游协会旅游趋势与研究大会上的致辞

18 尊敬的各位来宾, 女士们 先生们 朋友们 : 桂林市人民政府市长张秀隆 (2007 年 6 月 30 日 ) 有朋自远方来, 不亦乐乎 在热情似火的盛夏时节, 美丽的桂林市迎来了参加首届世界旅游组织和亚太旅游协会旅游趋势与研究大会的海内外嘉宾 借此机会, 我谨代表桂林市人民政府和全市各族人民, 对大会选择桂林作为举办地表示深深的感谢, 对大会的顺利召开表示热烈的祝贺, 对各国嘉宾的到来表示热烈的欢迎! 当前, 世界经济进一步复苏, 经济全球化进一步发展, 亚太地区已成为世界上经济发展最快和最富活力的地区 在世界旅游组织和各国政府的大力推动下, 旅游业已成为当今全球经济中发展势头最强 产业规模最大的产业之一, 对促进社会经济发展 国际和区域合作 减少贫困人口 保护生态环境等方面发挥着重要的作用 在此背景下, 来自世界各地的旅游官员 专家学者和业界精英集聚桂林, 围绕世界和亚太地区旅游发展趋势主题开展探讨与对话, 这必将会进一步增进各国各地区旅游业的交流与合作, 推进世界旅游业的繁荣与发展 各位朋友, 桂林是著名的风景游览城市和历史文化名城, 是我国最早发展旅游的城市 桂林 山水甲天下, 自然资源得天独厚, 人文资源丰富灿烂, 生态环境优美宜人, 区位交通优势突出 漓江 三山两洞 乐满地休闲世界 兴安灵渠 桂海碑林 两江四湖 愚自乐园 龙脊梯田等都是桂林享有盛誉的旅游品牌 自 1973 年发展旅游以来, 桂林逐步发展成为众多旅游者的首选目的地, 已接待了近 1 亿人次国内游客 1380 万人次入境旅游者和 150 多位外国国家元首及政要 2006 年, 桂林共接待中外游客 万人次, 其中海外入境游客突破 110 万人次 发展到现阶段, 桂林旅游业已进入一个新的时期, 生态环境得到有效保护, 城市基础设获得极大改善, 产业规模不断发展壮大, 旅游产品逐步优化升级, 国际和区域合作实现逐年拓展, 市场营销新模式不断创新, 可持续发展后劲不断增强 桂林被誉为中国旅游业的一个成功典范 桂林旅游乘势而上谋求更大的发展 我市正在重新调整旅游产业发展布局, 为旅游业可持续发展提供更大的发展空间 ; 正在大力发展交通基础设施建设, 特别是继续扩建旅游必须的航空机场 高速公路 高速铁路和旅游通道 ; 正在继续增加桂林旅游的文化内涵, 提升旅游产业素质和服务功能, 提供更多的旅游产品 ; 正在积极培育市场主体, 鼓励和扶持旅游企业的壮大发展, 打造更多的旅游精品和品牌 ; 正在建设适应旅游业发展的公共服务体系 各位朋友, 我们的发展目标是建设现代化国际旅游城市, 积极融入世界旅游大格局中 在世界和中国旅游快速发展的环境中, 桂林旅游面临着有利的发展机遇, 也面临着严峻的挑战 我们有信心在旅游业发展中发挥更大的作为 我们将继续加强与世界旅游组织 亚太旅游协会以及国际 区域间旅游组织机构的合作交流, 全面扩大深化合作交流领域, 为推进旅游业发展作出积极贡献 我们希望加快将桂林建设成为东盟和大湄公河次区域旅游门户城市的步伐, 具体落实中国 - 东盟自由贸易区合作目标, 助推东南亚旅游业发展 我们愿意与世界各旅游城市增加互信了解, 在共同关注的领域开展旅游多方合作交流, 实现资源互补和发展互助, 促进旅游业共赢和进步 我们将进一步开放旅游市场, 营造良好的综合环境, 积极为旅游企业间合作经营 架桥铺路, 热情地欢迎各国的旅游企业集团到桂林投资 建设和发展 我们将致力于建设国际化城市环境与和谐发展的文化氛围, 为世界各国的旅游者提供深刻的山水文化体验以及多元化的旅游体验 各位朋友, 世界各国在旅游发展方面创造和积累了许多先进的经验和做法, 很值得桂林借鉴和学习 ; 本次旅游趋势与研究大会形成的积极成果, 也是促进桂林旅游发展的宝贵财富 我相信, 首届世界旅游组织和亚太旅游协会旅游趋势与研究大会在我市的成功举办, 必将会为桂林旅游进一步快速发展起到积极的推动作用 希望各位嘉宾代表到桂林各处考察指导, 为桂林旅游发展建言献策 最后, 预祝首届世界旅游组织和亚太旅游协会旅游趋势与研究大会取得圆满成功! 祝各位在桂期间, 身体健康, 工作顺利, 万事如意! 谢谢!

19 Day One: Experts Session

20 Day Two: Plenary Session UNWTO-PATA Tourism Trends and Research Conference

21 29 June 1 July 2007, Guilin, China (PRC) Programme Day 1 Friday 29 June 2007: Expert Session 8:30 Registration 9:00 Tourism Trends and Prospects Moderator: Prof. Kaye Chon, Hong Kong Polytechnic University Setting the Scene World Trends Mr. John Kester, Chief, Market Intelligence and Promotion Section, UNWTO Asia-Pacific Trends Mr. John Koldowski, Director Strategic Intelligence Centre, PATA Country and tourism business trends 10:30 Coffee break 11:00 12:00 Regional Tourism Policies Mr. Xu-Jing, Regional Representative for Asia, UNWTO Open discussion Conclusion 12: 00 Lunch 14:00 15:30 How to Improve Performance through Research Moderator: Mr. Brian Maher, European Travel Commission Setting the Scene Tourism Competitiveness: Mr. John Kester, UNWTO Country cases Open discussion 15:30 Coffee break 16:00 17:45 18:00 Dinner Strategic Research Issues Tourism Commercialisation, Heritage Preservation and State intervention in China s historical Towns Professor BAO Ji-gang, Sun Yat-sen University The Human Resources Challenge, a regional perspective Professor Walter Jamieson, University of Hawaii Public-Private Partnership in Tourism Dr. Lisa Beesley, University of Queensland Consumer Travel Perceptions & Spending Patterns Mr. Paul Wilke, Director, Corporate Relations South & Southeast Asia, VISA International Q&A Conclusion

22 Day 2 Saturday 30 June 2007: Plenary Session 08:30 Registration 9:00 9:45 9:45 10:15 10:15 12:00 12:00 Lunch 13:30 15:00 15:00 Coffee break 15:15 16:40 16:40 17: 20 Official Opening Ceremony Mr. Francesco Frangialli, Secretary General, UNWTO Mr. Brian Deeson, Chairman, PATA Mr. Cheng Wendong, Former Vice-Chairman and special envoy of the Chairman, China National Tourism Administration Mr. Mu Hong, Deputy-Governor of Guangxi Province Mr. Zhang Xiulong, Mayor of the city of Guilin Coffee break / media briefing (30 minutes) Overview on Current Tourism Performance and Prospects UNWTO World Tourism Barometer Mr. John Kester, Chief Market Intelligence and Promotion Section, UNWTO Tourism Trends in Asia Pacific Mr. John Koldowski, Director - Strategic Intelligence Centre, PATA Impacts of the Global Economy on Travel Mr. John Walker, Chairman & Chief Economist, Oxford Economics Q&A Panel 1: Regional Trends Connecting China with the World: An Aviation Perspective Mrs. Gong Jinying, Director of Market Research, Air China Findings of a New Study on Asia Pacific Low Cost Carriers The Hong Kong Polytechnic University Travel Distribution Evolution, a regional perspective Mr. Peter Smith, Vice President, E-Commerce, Amadeus Asia-Pacific Latest trends on the Japanese Outbound Market Mr. Hiroshi Kurosu, Senior Researcher, Japan Travel Bureau Foundation Q&A Panel 2: Research Trends and Issues Research Trends in Europe Mr. Brian Maher, Vice-Chairman, Market Intelligence Group, European Travel Commission The significance of China (PRC) as a Travel Generator Dr. Grace Pan, Head of Travel and Leisure Research, AC Nielsen China Maximizing Tourism Marketing Investments, a Canadian perspective Mr. Roger Laplante, Research Manager, Canadian Tourism Commission Using Market Intelligence in the Commercial World Mr. Dennis Pyka, General Manager World Travel Monitor, IPK International Q&A Closing