ASIA - PACIFIC TRENDING
ASIA - PACIFIC TRENDING DESTINATIONS INDIA… AS INCREDIBLE AS EVER Developing new multi-pronged tourism approach A number of new initiatives are underway in India’s tourism sector aiming to provide visitors to “Incredible India” with a spiritually enhancing, culturally enriching, physically invigorating and mentally rejuvenating experience. © Messe Berlin GmbH In the past few years, India has committed a sum of nearly €860m under two major schemes of the Ministry of Tourism for development of tourism circuits, preservation and maintenance of monuments, human resource development, Information Technology, etc. In addition, a large sum of money has been invested expanding and modernising the nation’s infrastructure in airports and airlines, railways, national highways, hotels and transport. A total of 17 prominent tourist sites are being developed into iconic tourism destinations by following a holistic approach involving infrastructure and skill development, progress in technology, attracting private investment, branding and marketing. Meanwhile, a new certification programme has been established for tourist guides. Yogendra Tripathi, the new Secretary of the Ministry of Tourism for the Government of India explains, “The Ministry of Tourism has rolled out the Incredible India Tourist Facilitator Certification (IITFC) Programme in New Delhi to enable Indian citizens to develop and enhance the skills associated with tourism, and where one can incorporate knowledge about facilitating tourists visiting the country. The certification programme comprises basic and advanced self-paced courses designed in a manner that the users can learn in their own time, space, path and pace. The basic course, comprising of 7 modules, is aimed at training the facilitators for knowledge, skills and attitude domains. Successful completion of this programme enables the learner to become a Certified Tourist Facilitator of the Ministry of Tourism, Government of India” ITB TRADE SHOW MAKES ITS WAY TO THE SOUTH ASIAN SUBCONTINENT IN 2020 WITH THE INAUGURAL EDITION OF ITB INDIA Organised by world-leading trade fair company Messe Berlin, ITB India will be a three-day business-to- business travel trade show and convention focusing on the Indian travel market. It will take place at the Bombay Exhibition Centre in Mumbai, India, from 15 to 17 April 2020. “In recent years, we have given the ITB brand an increasingly international dimension,” said Dr Christian Göke, Chief Executive Officer of Messe Berlin. “From a global and regional perspective, India is a vast source market for the travel industry with a huge growth potential. We are delighted that ITB India will in future complement the trio of ITB Berlin, ITB Asia and ITB China, making it a quartet and strengthening the global ITB brand”
Hotel & Tourism SMARTreport #43 2019 Summer Edition 29 29 Mount Fuji DESTINATION JAPAN New challenges for the nation’s tourism industry ahead of Tokyo Olympic Games As Japan passed the 30-million international travellers’ mark for the first time, the country now looks to spread tourism benefits all across to new destinations Last year, Japan recorded 31-million international travellers, representing a threefold growth over the 10 million international travellers recorded just five years before, back in 2013. The interest in destination Japan is likely to continue unabated. This is due to a combination of a relatively weak Yen, the abolition of visas for many countries and continuous growth in air transport capacities. As an example, All Nippon Airways is adding this year routes to Vienna- Tokyo and Perth-Tokyo while Japan Airlines is returning to Seattle after more than 25 years. With an eye on the hosting in Tokyo of the Summer Olympic Games and Paralympic Games in 2020, the government is targeting 40 million international travellers that year. Recently Japan’s largest travel agency and tour operator JTB Corp released a forecast over inbound tourist arrivals in 2019. JTB expects that growth will reach 12% translating into 35.5 million foreign arrivals. For 2030, the government has the ambition to accommodate 60 million foreign visitors. The sharp increase in inbound tourism in recent years however brings some challenges. There is a need to diversify arrivals’ sources. In 2018, 74% of all travellers came from Northeast Asia – China, Korea, Hong Kong and Chinese Taipei. Southeast Asia generated another 14% while the rest of the world represented only 12% of all arrivals. Increased promotion such as Japan’s presence at ITB seems a necessity. Another challenge is to lure travellers outside of the three big metropolitan areas consisting of Tokyo, Nagoya and the Kansai region (Osaka and Kyoto). This “golden tourism triangle” today attracts 59% of all foreign overnights. The government has set a target of increasing the share of foreign visitors who stay outside the three areas to 50% in 2020 and 60% in 2030. Increased advertising internationally and additional direct overseas flights will be a priority over the coming years TOHOKU: NEW WEBSITE AND VIDEO SERIES LAUNCHED The Japan National Tourism Organization (JNTO) has announced the launch of a new website and video series dedicated to the Tohoku region, the "hidden gem" of northern Japan. JNTO has also worked with Nathan Thornburgh and Matt Goulding, founders of travelogue and publishing house, Roads & Kingdoms, to produce a series of captivating videos which showcase the breadth and depth of the region, targeting American visitors
