2013 Ministers tourism briefing out next week

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This year’s Sustainable Tourism Ministers Briefing, sponsored by Discover Ltd and the Kasbah du Toubkal is out next week, it can be bought for half price (£50) as a pre-publication special offer… or as part of a subscription to the Sustainable Tourism Report Suite which includes 11 other reports for just £100 – a 93% discount.

Here is the introduction:

All that glisters is not gold

Last year world tourism crossed the one billion barrier – that’s over one billion international tourists putting a trillion tourist dollars into the world economy. And this is only the tip of the iceberg, it is said that the world’s domestic tourism represents at least five times more. This makes a grand total of six billion tourists and possibly up to six trillion dollars of tourism spend.

This year the total is forecast to grow by 4%, in a difficult economic period, that’s more than most countries economies can manage.

But figures are only figures, from any sensible destination’s perspective, real success is represented only by real destination profits – not by numbers, however big.

The fact is that each and every tourist arriving in a destination represents a cost until they spend real money and that is only a benefit to the extent that the money stays in the local economy AND provides all those good things that profits can bring including good jobs, contributions to infrastructure upkeep and other benefits to local people.

Those destinations that bear this in mind and act accordingly rather than mindlessly lauding increased arrivals will be really on the sustainable ladder.

The key global tourism development over the next ten years or so is the movement of source tourism markets towards the east and the south – in other words it is clear that the BRIC countries will take their places in the top table. Already China is by far number one tourism source market both in numbers of international tourists and total spend.

From a socio-economic point of view another massive, world-changing movement is occurring – the increase in numbers of the middle classes in developing countries. It is forecast that this will increase to 2.1 billion by 2020 – a 700% increase.

This massive new market for international tourism will be looking for new experiences, both in travel and in other aspects of their lifestyles.

A key movement in the west over the last twenty years has been the LOHAS (Lifestyles of Health and Sustainability) market which is said to represent in excess of 10% of the population and levels of spend, and commitment that are much higher than average.

It is not beyond the bounds of possibility that the rising global middle classes will join this marketplace. Here will be tourists that will not only benefit from thoughtful destinations, but will also contribute to them.

And it is not beyond the wit of destinations to create the tourism products that will target these markets and make sure that their citizens benefit from this movement.

Intangible cultural heritage is what creates the background for many tourism offers, food and wine, music and dance provide many opportunities for soft-selling destinations. This will be a key asset in targeting the LOHAS market who relish above all authenticity.

Another big tourism issue covered by this year’s report is the power of the global tourism distribution systems. We currently estimate that these intermediaries are taking a cool $100bn in commissions and possibly forcing another $100bn in price cuts from hotels, B&Bs, restaurants, car hire and other tourism products. It is sad that local tourism providers feel that they have nowhere else to go. There have been a few successful disruptive innovations in this market recently including AirBNB and Couchsurfing – maybe it’s time for a few more.

And although there is stagnation on climate change action – ultimately it will take place. Those destinations that have already established reputations for mitigation and adaptation will find that it holds them in very good stead in the tourism marketplace.

Finally, in this briefing there are a number of inspirational stories from successful tourism destinations doing the best for their inhabitants and their visitors. It is absolutely clear that it is possible to create destinations that are both good places to live in and good places to visit.

Valere Tjolle

This briefing is designed for tourism ministers, ministries and anyone else that is looking for a broad global view of the tourism industry and its sustainable tourism opportunities.

It includes sections on last year’s events and their impacts, tourism delivery mechanisms, a broad view of the international marketplace, forecasts, country branding, environment winners and losers, plus examples of successful destinations… and more. In fact everything you need in a short briefing document to understand the current world of sustainable tourism and engage with its massive opportunities

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