16 EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW
16 EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW WE HAVE SPECIAL PLAN TO HOST 200,000 FRENCH TOURISTS ANNUALLY Masoud Soltanifar Iranian Vice-President and Head of Cultural Heritage, Handicrafts and Tourism Organisation With inbound tourism growing at an estimated annual rate of around 5% and tourism revenue in 2015 of USbn, the country’s government has launched an active plan to encourage growth in the industry, set to boost revenue to an annual rate of USbn by 2025, and part of this will come from an active plan to improve relations with France. IFTM Daily was honoured to speak with Iranian Vice-President and head of Cultural Heritage, Handicrafts and Tourism Organisation, Masoud Soltanifar, whom we asked to tell us more about the plan. During the past year, a high-level Iranian delegation led by our President visited France. During this travel, cooperation documents in different fields were signed between the two countries. One of these documents is related to cooperation in the tourism. This document, which focuses on five principles, is the first independent tourism document in the history of our two countries. Could you please tell us more about the principles of the agreement? The educational cooperation and taking the advantages of the experience of the French side in tourism to enhance the level of services and tourism facilities in Iran is the first point of this agreement. Providing investment opportunities for French private sectors in Iran is the second axis of this agreement. Some months ago and during the travel of French delegation to Iran for initial evaluation, they found this market quite attractive. However, sanctions had not been lifted on that occasion and thus they declared that when the sanctions end, they are ready to invest in different sections of tourism in Iran. At the present time, all the circumstances have been prepared and it is an excellent opportunity to take advantage of the investment of French private sectors in developing facilities and especially hotels in Iran. Last year, one of the prominent French holding companies (AccorHotels) took over the management of two Iranian airport hotels and is ready to take more hotels. The third point of this agreement is planning for increasing the number of tourists between our two countries. In 2013, Iran hosted 8,000 French tourists approximately. This number increased to 13,000 in 2014 and I think it was nearly 18,000 at the end of 2015. The annual growth rate is 50% to 60%, but since the absolute value is somewhat low, it does not seem significant. We have special plan to host 200,000 French tourists annually and in order to achieve this goal, there should be significant growth in number of tourists to reach our objectives. I think that should be possible. French companies are showing great interest in entering the Iranian market. The same trend is happening for the French tourists as well. Setting up overseas tourism representative offices in France is the fourth axis of the agreement and as it is predicted, we hope to run two agencies in two cities in France by the end of 2016. Cooperation in commercialisation of tourism products - especially for mountain and ski holidays is the fifth point of this agreement. In a meeting with the French private sectors in Iran, a French institute with 200 sub-agencies, expressed its interest in mountain and ski tourism in Iran. So to summarise, there are a number of reasons for going to Iran… Indeed. Iran, with the mentioned capacities and the historical, cultural and natural attractions can be a very desirable destination History, Culture, Civilisation and Natural Attractions Iran opens its doors to the world… and works towards strong relations with France in the tourism sector for French tourists. Evidently, the exchange of tourists demonstrates a satisfactory interaction and communication between our two countries. I take this opportunity to invite all tour operators and travel agencies of France to the Tehran International Tourism Exhibition which will be held on 6 th -9 th February, 2017 and here I state the slogan of this exhibition as my key message to the French tourism industry activists: “See Iran Differently” IFTM Daily • Monday 3 rd October 2016 www.iftmdaily.com
EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW 17 PHILIPPINES New President, New Impulsion for Tourism “More Fun in The Philippines” campaign a great success… but what’s next? With a new president in the Philippines, a new policy for tourism is in the making. The election of Rodrigo Duterte last June translated into a new government taking over the power in the Philippines. The elected president already declared in his speech to the nation his commitment to tourism, making it a priority sector to the country’s economic development. So far, Philippines tourism in 2016 continues to reap the benefits of its dynamic campaign “It is More Fun in the Philippines”, launched in 2012. The campaign gained strength in 2015 and 2016 thanks to a Visit Philippines Year. Between January and July 2016, the country has already garnered a total of 3,539,310 international visitors, up by 13.8% over the same period of 2015. “ We have seen a double-digit growth almost every month since January”, explains Verna Covar-Buensuceso, Director and Office-In-Charge Market Development Group, Department of Tourism. Asia accounts roughly for 60% of all international arrivals, followed by the Americas (18%, essentially due to a comprehensive Philippinesoriginated Americans in the USA and Canada) and in third position, Europe with an 11% market share. Korea remains the biggest visitorgenerating market with arrivals topping 828,911, a market share of 23.42% of the total. The USA is steady at the second spot with 529,069 visitor arrivals (14.95%) while China is consolidating its rank as the third largest source market for the Philippines with 422,801 arrivals, a share of 11.95%. Europe also enjoys high growth rates with most incoming markets growing double-digit. France is performing best among Europe’s top markets. From January to July, French travellers numbers jumped by 21.9% to reach already 35,500. “We received last year some 45,000 travellers from France and it is very likely that France will pass the 50,000 mark. We see more French tour operators including the Philippines in their Asian circuits. French are particularly interest in the Philippines with the northern part of Luzon Island -particularly Banaue, the home of Ifugao ethnics; Palawan and the Visayas”, adds Ms Covar- Buensuceso. Ms Covar-Buensuceso explains that while they are no direct flights from Paris to Manila, the tourism authority is working in close cooperation with Gulf carriers as well as Turkish Airlines to propose attractive fares. “We are waiting also for Philippines Airlines to receive its recently ordered Airbus A350. I believe that they are already talking about new routes to Paris, Frankfurt and Rome. But this will not come before 2018.” FRANCE – AN IMPORTANT SOURCE MARKET France is the Philippines third source of travellers from Europe. The UK remains number 1 with 104,000 travellers from January to July, up by 13.8% followed by Germany with 52,000 tourists during the same period (up by 19.5%). Following France, the Netherlands generated slightly over 19,000 arrivals from January to July. “The interest of the Philippines is growing as the country can be considered a bit like ‘a last frontier’ in Asia. Not so many European travellers have been to our country and they are starting to realise how attractive it is, particularly for its nature, its seaside and its rich culture”, underlines Covar- Buensuceso. Changes are however in the air for a new marketing campaign. The arrival of Wanda Corazon Teo, owner of a large tour operating company in the Philippines, as Tourism State Secretary is accompanied by a new thinking about tourism. She already announced in a recent press conference to replace “It’s more fun in the Philippines” brand with a new one, the launch of which is already planned for 2017. “I can only tell you that we will surprise the industry with our new slogan. We work very hard on the new campaign”, says Covar-Buensuceso. The new brand will also be accompanied by a new promotional plan. “Promotion to our regional neighbours will be one of the central points of our future strategy, especially as we want to emphasise more regional destinations such as Mindanao or Palawan”, adds the Director of Market Development Verna Covar-Buensuceso Director and Office-In-Charge Market Development Group, Department of Tourism, Philippines I CAN ONLY TELL YOU THAT WE WILL SURPRISE THE INDUSTRY WITH OUR NEW SLOGAN. WE WORK VERY HARD ON THE NEW CAMPAIGN IFTM Daily • Monday 3 rd October 2016
