|
Asia Pacific In The Spotlight At ITB 2004
Jyoti Koul - New Delhi
The Asia Pacific region won hands down at the recently concluded ITB Berlin
2004. The year has been designated as ‘South Asia Tourism Year’, at
the event, to commemorate the 20th year of the establishment of SAARC. The region
has been declared as most promising in the near future, which was based on reports
and studies conducted by travel practitioners while analysing the tourism and
travel trends of the future. Their study also revealed that there is a growing
interest in travel as far as Asia pacific is concerned. Positive predictions
have been made about the future of Indian tourism, were the benefits of the
region would work as an advantage for India.
As per ITB reports, travellers from China, India and Russia are set to grow
in numbers, while on the other hand there would be a drop in the market share
with regards to Europe, America and Japan. The reports has also mentioned that
as the Asia-Pacific economies grow and intra-regional travel flourishes, it
will have a major impact on marketing spends, investment and product development.
There are also a number of events that would help boost the tourism product
in the Asia Pacific region. The fact that the region has been declared as a
region for tourism in 2005, will work to the advantage of SAARC members. They
would be in a position to utilise this opportunity either individually or jointly
by organising special events to gain maximum returns.
ITB 2004, also served as an effective marketing and communication forum for
the entire tourism industry. Many experts highlighted that travel is becoming
more popular like never before and that there is a massive upsurge in interest
especially in long haul travel. “The economies are growing very strong
in the Asia-Pacific region and the awareness about tourism products rising tremendously,
highlights that the region will be one of the hottest travel zones in the near
future. The region offers lot of products and has the potential to become the
most important region in world travel,” said Subhash Goyal, Chairman, civil
aviation and tourism committee, ASSOCHAM.
Various studies conducted during ITB also predicted that while Europe will continue
to remain an important source market, it will continue to decline in terms of
market share. This will have a significant impact on marketing dollars and how
and where they are spent. However, “India as well as the region can gain
in a number of ways, if international travel shows such as the ITB will thrust
upon the positive developments taking place in the world tourism industry, than
glorifying the negatives. Since, ITB Berlin is a prime meeting and marketplace
besides being a driving force behind the tourism industry, the opinions generated
there and the view points exchanges and discussed does have an impact, which
in a way, shapes the trends with respect to travel. There needs to be an effort
to develop a positive attitude amongst people towards travel,” mentioned
a senior official. The events at ITB, represents the entire product spectrum
of the tourism industry and at the same time, these events form the basis for
the development of new ideas, global approaches and targeted marketing, therefore
focussing on better future is all we advocate.
Sharing his views on ITB 2004, Goyal further said, “The overall event has
proved to be a grand success. The gatherings, forums, meetings, besides the
press conference were all well attended. Current tourism trends and the effects
of global tourism were examined by experts. There was lot of admiration for
the Asia Pacific Region despite the fact that the past few years have witnessed
a series of crisis in the region”.
|
