Every month I like to put together a few quotes and links to interesting news items from around the world that catch my eye and are related to the travel and tourism industry. Here are a few for November.

Alaska
An interesting article about nature-based tourism in Southeast Alaska that is generating millions of dollars for companies.

Carribbean
Post-gazette.com reports that the Carribbean Tourism Organisation is concerned over the new US passport requirements. It could mean a possible loss of over $2.6 billion dollars in visitor exports and travel and tourism jobs if US travellers decide to cancel or postpone trips due to the new passport regulations.

Fiji
Lots of coverage on the effect a possible coup in Fiji is having on Fiji’s tourism industry. ABC news online and stuff.co.nz

Japan
Internet Travel News reports Expedia, Inc. has launched its Japanese web site Expedia.co.jp. Japan represents the second largest travel market in the world and there are more Japanese travellers shopping on the US Expedia.com(R) than any other country in the world outside of North America.

Consumers around the world booked over 37 million room nights on Expedia sites from October 2005 to September 30, 2006.

Malta
Di-ve news reports Malta’s tourist numbers for January- October 2006 reached 1,006,214 with a fall of 5.1 percent compared with the same period last year. UK, Germany and France tourist numbers were down, however there was an increase in tourist numbers from Italy, Russia and Denmark.

United Kingdom
Easier.com reports a record 2.5million Britons are planning to skip the country this Christmas with 47% visiting friends or family abroad. The most desirable Christmas travel destinations are the Canary Islands, Florida, Egypt, the Caribbean, Australia and India.

Vicky Watson from Halifax Travel Insurance
“Britons no longer feel compelled to spend Christmas in the traditional fashion. More and more people want to use the time off work as another opportunity to indulge their passion for travel. However it’s good to know that while the scenery of a traditional Christmas may be changing, the desire to celebrate with friends and family remains strong.”

Australia
Sydney Morning Herald reports the new Queensland campaign - “Escape to Paradise” is targetting rich Britons. (Good timing!)

Queensland Tourism Minister Margaret Keech
“United Kingdom visitors represented Australia’s largest international source market for revenue and room nights for the year ending June 2006, and they are well aware of Queensland’s beautiful beaches, tropical islands and heritage-listed rainforests,” she said. “However, this campaign showcases that you can experience all these natural wonders in sumptuous six-star luxury.”

India
And India is in the limelight this month with foreign investors moving in with new developments planned to take advantage of India’s growing tourism industry.

International Herald Tribune reports tourist arrivals rose in India by 13 percent in the first nine months and Indian tourism could expand at a rate of 8.8 percent a year behind only Montenegro and China. Accor and Hilton have both set up ventures with Indian partners last week and John Keells Holdings, the biggest Sri Lankan hotel operator is investing and building resorts in India.

Gunewardene (deputy chairman of Keells).
“Tourism in Sri Lanka is taking a dip,” said. “There’s a massive shortage of hotels and resorts in India and there’s enough space to play.”

In regards to the outbound tourism sector, Newindpress reports that it is beginning to flourish, growing at a rate of 100 percent.

Debasis Mishra, Assistant Manager Leisure of Thomas Cook India Ltd.
‘‘The definition of a good vacation today isn’t about visiting the backwaters of Kerala or the mystical deserts of Rajasthan. The ‘in’ thing today varies from a 15-day tour to Malaysia to a 10-day tour to Europe or even Egypt.’’

And The Red Independent reports on the realities that come with rapid economic growth and foreign investors.

Azim Premji, chairman of Wipro
“Our American friends in particular,” he said, “are either in honeymoon or divorce mode. There is nothing in between. There is a huge groundswell of interest in India, and rightly so, but please don’t come here with unrealistic expectations”.

I went along to the annual Adventure & Backpacker Industry Conference (ABIC) at Sydney’s Maritime Museum last Thursday. A one day event this year, the theme of the conference was “So where the bloody hell are we?” Delegates converged from Australia, New Zealand, Canada, Chile, Ireland and South Africa to hear from keynote speakers and industry leaders about the current state of the industry (locally and globally), the opportunities and challenges ahead.

By the end of the day it was clear that the outlook for the adventure & backpacker industry in Australia was looking pretty good. Fantastic products, experienced operators, improvements to the WHM (Working Holiday Maker) Scheme, low cost airlines, a strong economy, a pro-active supportive government and an inbound market set to double in the next 10-12 years.

Questions were raised around sustainability, how to cope with an ageing industry, labour shortages, the internet and new emerging markets and competition. However, practical recommendations managed to keep the conference upbeat and everyone excited about the industry’s future.

Delegates were encouraged to really know their markets, understand the habits and trends of Generation Y, make use of the marketing and resource tools (research and statistics) available to the industry, embrace change, be willing to adapt, pass on knowledge, learn new skills, look out for new opportunities and work more closely together.

One segment that helped put things in perspective was the global updates. Representatives from the adventure and backpacker industry in Canada, Chile, Ireland and New Zealand all reported that they had received little or no government support and the number of backpackers were either down or flat. However, the exception was Ireland who reported a booming industry and attributed their success to a positive attitude plus their desire to deliver the best product and customer service.

The conference ended on a high with “space travel with Virgin Galactic”. The ultimate adventure travel experience priced at a cool $200,000.00 for a 2 hour flight. It was a great presentation as it highlighted a new opportunity and a feasible mode of transportation for future adventure travellers and backpackers. And while the current ticket price is high for most people around the world, there is no reason to believe that it will stay like that. We’ve all experienced incredible changes over the past decade with new technologies now readily available to millions of people around the world, so who is to say that space travel can’t become more accessible to the general public in the future. Imagine this “Cheap fast space flights from London to Sydney in 30 minutes - $2,000.00″.

For me the conference was a success this year. I really enjoyed meeting up with industry colleagues and friends and I got the impression that people in the adventure and backpacker industry do know where they are and have a pretty good idea where they’re going. And that is reassuring for an industry that will continue to experience change and opportunities ahead.