Achieving corporate social responsibility objectives alongside existing targets is a growing challenge for destination professionals, especially those in the meetings industry. In this issue, guest contributor and TEAM Associate, Tony Rogers, shares a valuable case study of two UK conference venues where providing a tangible social legacy for the local community was a key focus throughout the development.

In addition, regular DW contributor, Peter Tarlow, offers some suggestions for ways in which destinations can increase their meetings and conference business; and John Hendrie looks at what the hospitality business can learn from the retail industry.

I hope you enjoy these articles and all the news and intelligence contained in this issue of Destination World.

Roger Carter
Managing Editor

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Seeking Greater Convention Business: For the travel and tourism industry, conventions can provide major economic boosts to the host community. Regular DW contributor, Peter Tarlow, presents some new ideas for getting the most out of your convention business.

Corporate Social Responsibility: Meetings industry specialist and TEAM Associate, Tony Rogers, takes an in-depth look at an innovative and pioneering way in which two new meetings venues have included a CSR focus throughout their development.

Do You Really Need New Customers? Those of us involved in hospitality often forget that we are a mere spoke in that wheel called retail and that there is much we can learn from the way in which the retail industry is managed, according to hospitality specialist, John R Hendrie.

Demographic changes, such as rising populations, increased life expectancy, urbanisation, migration and changing family structures, will have major implications for the tourism sector over the coming decades, but also present important opportunities, according to a new study from the World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) and the European Travel Commission (ETC).

Demographic Change and Tourism sets out the main demographic trends through to 2030 in major current and emerging source markets and describes how destinations and the private sector can make the most of these in terms of product development and marketing. The study can be bought online at a cost of EUR 75.

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Two new reports from analysts, PhoCusWright:

European travel gross bookings declined by 10 percent in 2009 and, as the industry moves into recovery mode, understanding consumer attitudes and behaviour is vital. A new publication by PhoCusWright - European Consumer Travel Report - aims to provide an overview of consumer travel in three key European markets (France, Germany and the UK), identifying trends and attitudes. The report is available online at a cost of USD 1,495.

How do travellers interact with travel companies through social networks? How many travellers are carrying Smartphones? PhoCusWright's Traveler Technology Survey 2010 takes a close look at travellers' adoption levels and examines their attitudes toward new travel platforms, features, and functions powered by technological innovations. The report, which costs USD 995, can be bought online.

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BRICI countries will have 1.2 billion internet users by 2015 - nearly double 2009 levels, according to a new report from The Boston Consulting Group. The Internet's New Billion: Digital Consumers in Brazil, Russia, India, China and Indonesia examines online behaviour in these countries, drawing from thousands of interviews and numerous focus groups conducted across ten cities. Copies of the report are available online free of charge.

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Expedia Media has released insights from a new study on destination marketing organisation (DMO) advertising trends, focusing on the shift of spending to online media and the use of social media to connect with travellers.

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The latest eTravel Benchmark Study from eDigitalResearch reveals that online travel websites are still failing to deliver adequate customer service. 43 out of the 47 websites reviewed have been affected by 'satisfactory', 'poor' or 'very poor' customer service scores, with the airlines sector failing to answer over 51 percent of all e-mail queries. The full report including league tables is available online (registration required).

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Some key publications from PATA, the Pacific Asia Travel Association. Members' prices are shown in brackets:

• Asia Pacific Tourism Forecasts 2010-2012: Provides detailed forecasts of travel demand across the region. USD 1,500 (750).
• Annual Tourism Monitors 2010: Provides a comprehensive overview of inbound and outbound travel for all major destinations in the region, plus details of average length of stay, visitor expenditures and the latest available updates of arrivals data for 2010. USD 1,000 (500).
• Are You Ready? For International Chinese Travellers: A self-study programme especially designed to help tourism professionals understand the special characteristics of this market. USD 499 (350).
• China Outbound Tourism Yearbook 2010: This publication summarises and highlights the overall position of China's outbound travel market, identifying key travel trends and patterns. USD 1,000 (500).
• Annual Report of China Outbound Tourism Development 2009/2010: 54 million Chinese in 2010, rising to 100 million in 2015, will be holidaying overseas but who are these travellers and what are their expectations? This report provides an authoritative answer with more than 330 pages, 150 tables and graphs, presenting up-to-date data about all aspects of China's outbound tourism. USD 499 (350).

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The online travel industry in India has experienced tremendous growth and is attracting large numbers of national and international players. A new report by Netscribes, The Online Travel Industry in India 2010, provides an in-depth overview of the online travel market, providing an analysis of market size, growth and market share of key segments, key drivers and challenges. The report can be ordered direct from Netscribes at a price of US$400.

Destination marketers now have an unprecedented array of communication channels, from traditional mass media advertising and niche market channels through to social networks and guerrilla tactics. The latest issue of the Wanderlust Report suggests that a well-defined brand position, a clear communication of brand values and a few simple tools can help marketing professionals stay true to their brand's promise.

This free report offers advice on creating differentiation, establishing a brand personality, setting boundaries and tourism brand guidelines, maintaining consistency with a Travel Advertising Toolkit and communicating travel brand positioning.

Some key events for tourism destination professionals taking place over the next few months:

The World Tourism Conference 2010 (WTC 2010) will be held in Malaysia from the 4th to 6th October. The conference is jointly organised by the World Tourism Organization and will focus on generating income and accelerating growth in the travel and tourism industry.

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The Adventure Travel Trade Association is staging the 2010 Adventure Travel World Summit in Scotland, UK, from the 4th to 7th October.

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The EyeForTravel Online Marketing and Social Media Strategies for Travel Summit Europe 2010 will be held on the 5th and 6th October in Prague, Czech Republic. The event will examine key strategies for engaging customers in the new media landscape and share insightful case studies, best practices and ideas.

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The EyeForTravel Travel Distribution Summit India 2010 will focus on India's booming travel industry, divided into two tracks - future trends and technology in travel - planting the seeds for profit and the expert analyst's perspective of the Indian online travel market. The summit will take place in Mumbai from the 6th to 7th October.

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Oman is the venue for the 4th International Conference on Responsible Tourism in Destinations, which will take place from the 10th to 12th October and explore issues such as tangible and intangible heritage, responsible tourism marketing and tourism in a finite world.

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The 11th Annual e-Tourism Summit, scheduled to be held in New York, USA, from the 12th to 13th October, offers updates on the latest developments with leading e-commerce providers and the technology most relevant to the travel and tourism industry.

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The International Summit on Medical Travel, Wellness and Retirement will examine the future of the medical tourism and healthcare travel industry over four days in the Philippines, from the 12th to 15th October.

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Now in its 12th year, the EyeForTravel Travel Distribution Summit North America will take place in Illinois, USA, on the 13th and 14th October.

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The World Youth and Student Travel Conference is the annual event of the WYSE Travel Confederation and one of the most important trade events for the global youth, student and educational travel industry.

This year's event will be hosted in China for the first time, from the 17th to 20th October.

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The WIT (Web in Travel) Conference 2010 is one of the largest and most diverse gatherings of travel industry professionals in the Asian travel distribution, marketing and technology sector. WIT 2010 will host a programme of 80 speakers over two days, from the 19th to 20th October, in Singapore.

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ITB Asia is a key trade show for the Asian Travel Market. This year's event will take place from the 20th to 22nd October in Singapore.

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A new conference on Destination Branding: Branding Regions, States and Cities will take place in Malaysia from the 24th to 26th October. The conference will bring together experts in the field of destination branding and include examples of successful destination brands.

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The 2010 Global Eco Conference will be held from the 25th to 28th October in Queensland, Australia.

The conference will bring together practitioners from around the world to discuss the opportunities presented by ecotourism. The conference will also include the launch of the Indigenous Tourism Forum, featuring international case studies, news of government programmes and new technology tools.

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Don't miss the last few weeks of the Shanghai Expo in China which ends on the 31st October. The event is the first world exposition to take place in a developing country and provides a platform for economic, scientific, technological and cultural exchange.

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The eCommerce Academy is organising a Trends and Innovation Travel Distribution Summit which will take place in Sofia, Bulgaria, from the 3rd to the 5th November. The aim of the conference is to address the impact of the internet on the travel industry and to provide technology solutions for travel businesses.

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Staged annually in London, UK, the World Travel Market is a business to business event presenting a diverse range of destinations and industry sectors to travel professionals. This year's event takes place from the 8th to 11th November.

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The PhoCusWright Conference, scheduled for the 16th to 18th November in Arizona, USA, aims to discover, confront and capitalise on the latest trends and opportunities in travel.

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The World Green Tourism interactive conference will take place in Abu Dhabi from the 22nd to 24th November and is the first global event in the region to be dedicated to the investment and development of sustainable tourism.

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And some upcoming events from the World Tourism Organization diary...

• Regional Seminar on Tourism contributing to poverty reduction - 1st to 3rd October, Burkina Faso
• Global Tourism Conference - 4th October, Malaysia
• Tashkent International Tourism Fair (Tourism along the Silk Road) - 7th to 8th October, Uzbekistan

...for more details, visit the UNWTO website.

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...and a look ahead to events in 2011:

FITUR 2011 will be the 31st year of this leading travel show which, annually attracts industry professionals from over 170 countries to share their knowledge, initiatives and techniques. This year's event will take place from the 19th to 23rd January in Madrid, Spain.

Stephany van Willigenburg, Business Development Manager, Mobile EMEA, Google, provides an update on how mobile travel queries are growing on Google, in this EyeForTravel interview.

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Kenneth Wardrop, Chief Executive of the Destination Edinburgh Marketing Alliance, talks to Valere Tjolle about the way that the city uses festivals to create success for the city.

DATES FOR YOUR DIARY
DESTINATION BRANDWATCH
E-BUSINESS NEWS
INTERNATIONAL NEWS
INTERVIEWS
RESEARCH AND REPORTS
International tourism stats
Silk Road progress
MICE industry goes green
Britain polishes etiquette
Mobile use by travellers
New Social Media platform
Facebook Places tool expands

International Tourism:
Growth continues

The first six months of 2010 saw international tourist arrivals grow by 7 percent according to the UNWTO World Tourism Barometer. This result confirms the recovery trend beginning in the last quarter of 2009 and is expected to continue in the second half of the year at a more moderate rate. Growth was positive in all world regions, led by a robust performance of emerging economies expanding at 8 percent compared to 6 percent in advanced economies. Asia and the Pacific (+14 percent) and the Middle East (+20 percent), where results were already positive in the second half of 2009, continue to lead growth in the first half of 2010 with the majority of destinations in both regions posting double digit growth rates.

UNWTO Secretary-General, Taleb Rifai, said: 'Although we are witnessing a clear recovery in international tourism, we must remain cautious. In many advanced economies, namely in the USA and in some major European markets, economic recovery has still to consolidate.'

Preliminary Asia Pacific international visitor arrivals figures released by the Pacific Asia Travel Association earlier this month reveal that Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam experienced a strong revival in visitor arrivals for the first half of the year, though Thailand's first-half year growth of 14 percent came mainly from the first three months of the year. Growth in the second quarter of the year for the popular destination was -4 percent due to the political turmoil.

Silk Road:
Project progresses

To mark the beginning of a new phase in its Silk Road Programme, UNWTO will meet with stakeholders on the 8th and 9th October to agree new concepts for Silk Road branding and marketing, destination management and travel facilitation, and to set out key strategies for the Silk Road Action Plan 2010-2011.

A key priority will be to inspire increased collaboration among member states and establish a framework for easing travel facilitation to create a more seamless Silk Road travel experience. 'There is significant potential for tourism growth along the Silk Road,' said UNWTO Executive Director, Zoltan Somogy.

The Silk Road is a network of routes which, for centuries, served as a vital link between the East and the West. The Silk Road was a hub for the exchange of cultures, crafts, ideas, technologies and beliefs, travelled by conquerors, traders and missionaries, all of which has left a rich cultural heritage for visitors to enjoy today.

More information is available on the UNWTO website.

Meetings Industry:
Green Key programme

Online meetings solutions provider, Cvent, is to join with Green Key Global to help the 65,000 monthly meeting planner users of the company's online site selection and sourcing tool, plan 'green' meetings and events.

An 'environmentally friendly' filter on the Cvent Supplier Network and Green Key ratings on venue profiles will enable meeting planners to easily research, identify and do business with Green Key-certified hotels and hotel meeting facilities in the US and Canada.

The Green Key Eco-Rating Programme is the first of its kind to rank, certify and inspect hotels and resorts in North America based on their commitment to sustainable green operations.

Olympics:
Britain polishes etiquette

Tips on how to extend a warm welcome to overseas visitors in the run up to the 2012 Olympics have been prepared by VisitBritain, the national tourism agency.

The guidelines are available in a new online resource designed to help everyone in tourism - from hoteliers to taxi drivers - provide an efficient and helpful customer service that takes account of cultural needs, avoids misunderstandings and boosts the country's performance in customer care.

Research by Oxford Economics suggests that the post-event legacy will be worth more than GBP 1.25 billion for the UK and close to GBP 0.9 billion for London.

Sandie Dawe, Chief Executive Officer of VisitBritain, said: 'Overseas visitors spend more than GBP 16 billion a year in Britain, contributing massively to our economy and supporting jobs across the country. So giving our foreign visitors a friendly welcome is absolutely vital to our economy.

'With hundreds of thousands of people thinking of coming to Britain in the run up to the Olympic and Paralympic Games in 2012, this new advice is just one of the ways that VisitBritain is helping the tourism industry care for their customers - wherever they come from.'

Mobile:
Use by travellers

Three out of ten cell phones in use in the US are now Smartphones with internet connectivity and nearly two in ten of these Smartphone users have downloaded a travel-related application (app) to their device. Among these, nearly half have navigated a destination using built-in GPS functionality or searched for the latest information on flight schedules and delays.

Nearly three in ten have compared airfares or hotel rates or shared information or photos about their travel experiences using their Smartphone and approximately one in six has booked air travel or lodging or viewed a virtual visitor guide. These facts and more are revealed in new research, carried out by Ypartnership and the Harrison Group - the new 2010 Portrait of American Travelers. Copies can be ordered online.

Social Media:
New travel platform

A new innovative social network referral platform for hotels, online travel agencies (OTAs) and airlines has been launched by travel technology company, Rategain. Rumbido allows organisations to set up and manage their own company-branded referral and reward programme in many of the popular social networks such as Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn. Customers join voluntarily and receive incentives for their referrals, creating a self-sustainable and mutually rewarding relationship.

'Regular social media initiatives like fan pages and creation of official accounts fail to (or simply don't know how to) extend brand visibility beyond the direct network of fans and followers' said Bhanu Chopra, RateGain CEO.

Social Media:
Facebook Places tool expands

The rollout of Facebook's new location-based Places service which began in the US has now reached the UK. Facebook Places allows people to 'check in' wherever they are and view details of local businesses and attractions.

It also allows users to upload photos, videos and links about their activities and post comments on the destination, hotel, travel service, etc. Places is accessed via Smartphones through Facebook's mobile site and will soon be extended to other countries.

Many of the presentations made at the recent Ecotourism and Sustainable Tourism Conference (ESTC) are now available online for those unable to attend the event earlier this month. ESTC is one of North America's largest conferences focusing on sustainability in travel and tourism.

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The 4th UNWTO / PATA Forum on Tourism Trends and Outlook, held earlier this month in China, examined global and regional trends in tourism and the broader environment. Many of the presentations are now available online.