HANOI – While this week’s Asean Tourism Forum turned the spotlight on regional travel and youth travel as targets to aim for in mitigating the impact of the global financial crisis, the president and CEO of the Pacific Asia Travel Association (PATA), Greg Duffell, saw an opportunity to exploit the economic downturn.
He said there were a lot of senior management people who had taken early retirement packages and had the money and the inclination to travel.
“These are people who don’t want to put their money in the bank, they want to spend it on travel,†he said.
Duffell listed the early retirees with cash to spend as among the niche opportunities to be pursued.
Others niche opportunities in Asia were golf and spa packages. “Other countries cannot compete with what we in Asia have to offer those seeking spa and golf vacations,†he said.
Duffell said PATA saw small but sustainable growth in the ASEAN region of between two and four percent in 2009. “It’s survivable growth, enough to keep going,†he said.
