Major deals for adventure travel market

This week has seen Expedia & Flight Centre venture into the lucrative GAP Year market following major deals being struck with two world-leading youth travel specialists. 

Flight Centre Limited has announced the acquisition of a majority stake in social network and travel site GapYear.com for an undisclosed sum.  UK Managing Director from Flight Centre, Chris Galanty said ‘The global gap year market valued in excess of US$10 billion has enormous potential and is a brimming with user-generated content’. In a separate deal, Expedia has signed an exclusive partnership with Gap Adventures which will enable its Australian customers to search and buy specialist adventure tours online, from mountain trekking in Nepal to sailing around the Greek Islands, in more than 100 countries worldwide.

The deals have caused a stir at the industry’s annual conference ‘The World Youth & Student Travel Conference’ (WYSTC) which is taking place this week in Beijing. Hundreds of CEO’s and leaders from international backpacker, adventure and educational travel companies have gathered for the sector’s most important trade event of the year which started on Sunday.

Large numbers of tourism boards and trade associations are also present at the conference, keen to attract the lucrative international student market in the wake of the recession, and take advantage of new cultural exchange opportunities with China. Representatives from national tourism boards have pushed for a new global youth travel strategy to be developed during today’s OTO round-table session at the conference. 

Hosted in a different location each year, WYSTC 2010 is taking place in China for the first time ever, reinforcing the growing importance of the Chinese market for the global youth & student travel industry. Qiu Xiaoping from the Beijing Municipal Commission of Education welcomed delegates saying "The Chinese government is more open to international academic programs as an increasing number of overseas students are coming to study in China". Conversely, China is now also the world’s biggest source market for students wanting to study abroad at universities worldwide – with the USA, UK, & Australia being their most popular locations.  

Responding to a growing demand from western backpackers wishing to visit China, a new Hop-On Hop-Off bus recently launched in China by Australian company DragonBus, provided familarisation trips for WYSTC delegates wishing to see the sights of Beijing.  

With so many global industry leaders gathered under one roof, it’s not surprising that WYSTC is where the sector’s new initiatives are first agreed and unveiled.  And in what could prove to be one of the most significant announcements in backpacking for many years, a group of world-leading backpacking operators joined forces this week to form a joint global marketing organisation.
 
‘The ‘Backpacker Transport Operators Network’ has been formed  by founding companies Stray Asia, Stray New Zealand, Oz Experience, Dragon Bus China, Bamba Bus Latin America, Moose Travellers Network Canada, and Falafel Bus Middle East.  Establishing operational guidelines and an international code of conduct was high on the network’s priority list.  “Ensuring that all members operate to the highest possible standards that reflect positively on each other’s business is a key component to the success of this organisation,” stated Oz Experience Director, Greg Zammit. The founding members will also work toward sharing their databases of customers to enable joint marketing efforts and a referral programme. The international network is expected to grow substantially with new members over the next few months.

In a separate meeting taking place at the conference, the language and education sector received a boost with the announcement of a new trade association called STUDY WYSE being launched in support of the market. During an open meeting attended by 80 language and educational travel specialists,  the industry threw its weight behind the need for a global association to collectively lobby governments and improve visa access for international students.
The World Youth & Student Travel Conference is taking place this week at the China World Hotel in Beijing. For daily news, follow the conference blog http://wire.wyst

Valere Tjolle
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Valere Tjolle is editor of the Sustainable Tourism Report Suite: EXTRA SPECIAL OFFER at: www.travelmole.com/stories/1144671.php