Asia travel spending growth seen to benefit PH

By Doris Dumlao Philippine Daily Inquirer Most Read MANILA, Philippines—The Philippines is well positioned to capture a substantial portion of the fast-rising travel spending among Asians, which can catapult tourism into an even more significant revenue-generating industry than business process outsourcing, a visiting travel and tourism expert said. In an interview on Friday, Amadeus Asia-Pacific president David Brett said industry trends were pointing to Asia accounting for a bigger share of the global travel spending as well as growing volume of shorter-duration trips or regional traffic. Amadeus, a leading global technology solutions provider to the travel and tourism industry, recently commissioned a study, “The Travel Gold Rush 2020,” which predicted that Asia would represent 32 percent of global travel spending by 2020, up from 21 percent at present. Brett said that gobbling up a third of global travel spending would likely happen even faster than such projection, noting the rapid shift in economic growth favoring Asia. At the same time, he said the rising volume of travelers was making traveling much more affordable to a broader market. Amadeus welcomed the Philippines’ increasing focus on investing in infrastructure and new property projects targeting tourism. “The Philippines always has a great potential,” Brett said, noting that tourism could be a major driver “even more” than BPOs given the country’s natural endowments. “Also, the people here speak English, which is a major advantage and heritage is extremely interesting and most people don’t know what the heritage is,” Brett said. He, however, noted that the Philippines had missed a lot in the past. He said the Philippines is still unknown to many. Whatever limited knowledge of the country many have would likely be about bad news, such as typhoons or the hostage-taking crisis, he added. “People need to know more about the country to put everything in perspective,” Brett said. But the country’s strategic location—its proximity to Hong Kong and Southern China—should allow the country to benefit from the enormous influx of short-duration trips. Regional travel, he said, was more resilient than long-haul travel. The potential opening up of the new international airport terminal to foreign carriers, he said, would help a lot in boosting the travel and tourism industry. The Amadeus-sponsored study showed that the global travel industry was making an uneven recovery from the recession. This year has seen a return to growth with global arrivals increasing 5.6 percent in the first six months of the year. However, Europe remains sluggish and there are lingering economic concerns. The study noted that the hot spots remained Latin America and Asia-Pacific. Other highlights of the study are: Ancillary revenue generation has spread from low-cost carriers to major carriers, involving a mixture of fees and charges for services and/or service improvements beyond the base fare as well as revenues from third-party partners such as hotels, travel insurance and car hire. Airlines and agents must explore new models that take a more comprehensive view of the total travel experience. Airlines may adopt a broader (or generic) approach to travel and integrate activities more closely with the rest of the travel value chain. Traditional cabin classes may be replaced by “virtual classes” as individual traveler preferences create a personalized experience. Face-to-face (F2F) travel agents are set to become more highly valued. As travelers increasingly try out new experiences and destinations, it is likely that F2F agents may be able to play to their strengths of being there. Demographic changes and health advances will mean more travelers with more free time, who travel for longer periods and who are still able to incorporate a variety of travel experience. When in Cebu City, please visit gregmelep.com for your real estate and retirement needs.