Richard Barnes Editor-in-chief richard.barnes@cleverdis.com Tel: +33 (0) 4 42 77 46 00 <strong>Hotel</strong> & <strong>Tourism</strong> <strong>SMARTreport</strong> <strong>#32</strong> 2016 Winter Edition 3 FOREWORD LOCAL FLAVOURS ON A GLOBAL SCALE Touching the real thing… Experiences… through sight, sound, touch, smell, taste and most importantly, sentiment, are what travellers want today. Gone is the epoch of the “global” hotel. In this edition of the <strong>SMARTreport</strong>, we look at a number of wonderful examples of hotels that immerse one in the local culture and flavour. This differentiation through localisation is underlined in our exclusive interview with Laurence Onfroy, CEO and founder of TemptingPlaces. Her understanding of the evolution of market demand has spawned a vision that is very much in line with this trend towards veritable local experiences. Catering to sentiment and personal situations of the traveller at any particular time in his or her life governs what they want to see and do, and this is the subject of our interview with elite travel advisor Olivier Glasberg of Succès Voyages in France. In this edition, we also spotlight the evolution of travel and tourism in the Americas, where the strong Greenback has created a new dynamic over the past year. And our innovations and technologies section highlights ways hoteliers are leveraging “new tech” to not only create a more comfortable and interesting stay for the traveller, but also create new streams of revenue. Enjoy the read! CONTENTS 4 EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEWS 4 DEFINING A NEW BRAND OF UNIQUENESS Laurence Onfroy, CEO & Founder, TemptingPlaces 6 MALAYSIA, EVEN GREATER VALUE FOR MONEY THANKS TO EXCHANGE RATE Abdul Rahim Haron, Director, <strong>Tourism</strong> Malaysia (France, Spain and Portugal) 7 EVOLUTION IN CHINESE OUTBOUND TOURISM Conor Yang, Chief Financial Officer, Tuniu Corporation 8 EVENTS 8 WORLD TRAVEL MARKET (WTM) LONDON Discover the world 10 THE “BIG EVENT” IN SPAIN IFEMA prepares staging of the 37th FITUR trade show for January 2017 11 EVENTS CALENDAR 13 ELITE TRAVEL TRENDS 13 IMMERSION AND ADVENTURE SHINE AS KEY INSPIRATIONS TO TRAVEL 14 THE RECIPE FOR SUCCESS IN TRAVEL PLANNING Olivier Glasberg, Associate Director, Succès Voyage 15 GOOD THINGS OFTEN COME IN SMALL PACKAGES Tim Davis, Vice President Brand & Marketing, Small Luxury <strong>Hotel</strong>s 16 STAY DIFFERENT Stefan Leser, CEO, Jumeirah Group 18 THE EPITOME OF EXCELLENCE Hamad Abdulla Al-Mulla, CEO, Katara Hospitality 19 GOLF TOURISM CONTINUES TO GROW 19 SHOPPING TOURISM: KEY FOR DESTINATION MARKETING 20 LUXURY TRAVEL PROS FLOCK TO THE CITY OF STARS 21 AMERICAS & CARIBBEAN 21 THE AMERICAS – A NEW TOURISM DYNAMIC 22 CARRIERS AIR TRANSPORT IN THE AMERICAS 25 AMERICAS & CARIBBEAN INBOUND • TRENDS & FIGURES STRONG US DOLLAR BOOSTS REGIONAL TOURISM 26 • TRENDING DESTINATIONS BEYOND THE GATEWAYS Chris Ellis, Director, Global Trade Development, Brand USA 27 THE (HAPPILY) “WEIRD” SIDE OF TEXAS Austin grows as meeting and convention destination 28 THE BEACH IS JUST THE BEGINNING Jean-Marc Flambert, Vice-President, Sales & Marketing, UK & Europe, Antigua Barbuda <strong>Tourism</strong> Authority 29 TRENDING IN LATIN AMERICA Anna Avanesova, General Manager, Ada Tours 30 • TRENDING HOTELS 33 AMERICAS & CARIBBEAN OUTBOUND GETTING THE WELCOME RIGHT Tim Hentschel, CEO at <strong>Hotel</strong>Planner.com and Meetings.com 34 • TRENDING HOTELS 35 INNOVATIONS & TECHNOLOGIES 35 THE TWO WAYS OF CONSIDERING TECHNOLOGY 37 IN THE FIELD WITH DAVID ESSERYK DISRUPTIVE TECHNOLOGIES IN HOSPITALITY 38 THE FUTURE IS OUT OF THE BOX Yves Lacheret, Senior Vice President Entrepreneurship Advocacy, Accor<strong>Hotel</strong>s 39 LEVERAGING CHANGE 40 REDEFINING THE HOSPITALITY EXPERIENCE Samsung introduces six step innovation roadmap 43 A SOUND DIFFERENTIATOR Yamaha brings ideas and solutions to help an establishment truly stand out in the crowd 44 TOTAL CONTROL Putting the guest in the driver’s seat!