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CALIFORNIA EXPECTS TOURIST SPENDING
TO FALL 8%
The San Francisco Chronicle reports that the good news at a conference hosted Tuesday by the San Francisco Convention & Visitors Bureau, as one keen observer put it, is that February is almost over - so we're making progress at putting 2009 behind us. Visitors to California spent $96.7 million in 2007, and while the 2008 final figure is not yet in, it is expected to be roughly the same, said Dan Mishell, research director of the nonprofit California Travel & Tourism Commission, which seeks to plant the image of California in minds of potential visitors across the country. Read More... CALIFORNIA ACADEMY OF SCIENCES
CLOSES RAIN FOREST EXHIBIT FOR REPAIRS IN
SAN FRANCISCO
The attraction is closing its new rain forest exhibit this week to replace several cracked glass panels. The attraction's four-story dome houses the largest spherical rain forest exhibit in the world. It is the cornerstone of the Academy's $488 million expansion, which opened in September. Read more... 1.9 BILLION CAL EXPO ARENA PLAN WOULD
CLOSE WATERPARK IN SACRAMENTO,
CALIFORNIA
National Basketball Association consultants proposed a redevelopment plan, which would include an arena for the Sacramento Kings basketball team, an enclosed fair exhibit space, a mall, offices, and residences. The Cal Expo board will begin a search for qualified developers. If the project proceeds, the existing waterpark would close in 2016. Read more... OCTOPUS FLOODS SANTA MONICA PIER
AQUARIUM IN CALIFORNIA
The small, two-spotted octopus apparently disassembled the recycling system's valve, flooding the area with about 200 gallons (757 liters) of seawater. The only significant damage was to newly installed cork flooring. Read more... ANIMATRONIC LINCOLN SHOW TO RETURN
TO DISNEYLAND IN ANAHEIM,
CALIFORNIA
The Disneyland Opera House will close on March 16 for renovation and will open later in the year with "The Disneyland Story, featuring Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln." The original Lincoln show was created by Walt Disney and his Imagineers for the 1964 New York World's Fair and debuted at Disneyland in 1965. Read more... |
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TRAVEL INDUSTRY SCRAMBLE TO COPE AS
AMERICANS SPEND LESS
The sinking U.S. economy is forcing many Americans to cut back on or give up a hallowed tradition: the family vacation. A USA TODAY/Gallup Poll finds that 58 percent of people who normally take an annual vacation away from home will shrink their vacation spending this year -- or just not go. Read more... U.S. ATTRACTIONS OFFER TOURISTS DEEP
DISCOUNTS, FREE NIGHTS
Hoping the prospect of sales will woo cash-strapped travelers, the nation's tourist destinations are taking a page from the retail playbook, offering tourists deep discounts and freezing gate prices. Free night stays at Walt Disney World in Florida, Coupons worth $15 off at Pennsylvania's Hersheypark, Admission to the Georgia Aquarium, the world's largest fish tank, at last year's prices. Read more... PHILLY LEVERAGES 'LOVE' TO PROMO ART,
HISTORY
Philadelphia is launching a new series of local, regional and national tourism marketing efforts to promote an array of art, history, science and culture events that are converging there this year. The efforts, by the Greater Philadelphia Tourism Marketing Corporation (GPTMC), the Constitution Center and by the new "America I AM" exhibition on African-American culture, will spotlight such museum events as... Read more... NEW ORLEANS OPTIMISTIC ABOUT 2009
TOURISM
A spokeswoman for the New Orleans Convention and Visitors' Bureau is optimistic about 2009 but says officials early in the year will be watching whether the national recession affects tourism numbers. Mary Beth Romig says no conventions have canceled so far but companies may send fewer attendees to meetings. Read more... ZOOS AND AQUARIUMS LEFT OUT OF
UNITED STATES ECONOMIC STIMULUS
FUNDING
Museums are eligible for funds from the recently passed $787 billion federal stimulus legislation, but zoos and aquariums are excluded. After the United States Conference of Mayors submitted a list of potential projects that could help stimulate the economy, some zoo and aquarium projects were criticized, leading Congress to add an amendment prohibiting them from receiving funds. According to the Association of Zoos and Aquariums, its 216 members generate $7.6 billion in annual economic activity and support more than 74,000 jobs. Read more... COMPETITION INCREASING FOR UNITED
STATES THEME PARKS JOBS
Seasonal employers, including theme parks, are receiving more job applicants this year, especially from laid-off, older workers. Theme parks will hire close to 500,000 employees for the summer, about the same as last year, according to IAAPA. Read more... |
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VISIT BRITAIN CHIEF: GRUMPY BRITISH
HOTEL STAFF SCARING AWAY TOURISTS
Grumpy staff and poor value for money blight British hotels, deterring foreign visitors when the economy needs them most, the government's tourism boss was quoted by Reuters as saying on Thursday. Tourists have to put up with a failure to provide basics such as soft towels and fresh bars of soap, said Christopher Rodrigues, chairman of VisitBritain. "We're now in an environment where you have to do quality. Read More ... TOURISM DOWN UNDER IS
SHAKEN
The land of the kangaroos is going through its worst possible condition as far as its tourism is concerned says Hotel & Resort Insider. Australia's outbound Tourism is suffering heavy losses even before the world economic slowdown hit hard. The $90 million tourism industry will not find any solace from it local tourism industry. Read More ... FRANCE 'REBRANDS' ITSELF IN PURSUIT
OF MORE TOURISM DOLLARS
With the opulent French Riviera, iconic Eiffel Tower and luscious vineyards, France stands tall and proud as the world's No. 1 travel destination. But it's not No. 1 in tourism revenue, to the chagrin of the country's tourism authority SAYS Associated Press. So it's launched a campaign to "rebrand" France, a place already considered a dreamland by would-be travelers across the globe. Read More ... TOKYO FISH MARKET OVERWHELMED BY
TOURISTS
Tourists are known for acting silly sometimes says Associated Press. You have to cut them some slack. But licking the tuna? Overwhelmed by an increasing number of misbehaving tourists at the world's largest seafood market, Tokyo fishmongers last month decided to put their foot down, temporarily banning all visitors from one of the most popular tourist destinations in the city - their predawn tuna auctions. Read More ... |
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U.S. HOTEL RATES FALL AS OCCUPANCY
PLUMMETS
U.S. lodging industry occupancy and revenue per available room dropped by double-digit percentage levels in January compared with the previous year, according to data released by Smith Travel Research. Occupancy for the month fell to 45.9 percent, down 10.7 percent from the 51.5 percent occupancy levels seen in January 2008, the data indicated. Read More ... HOTEL INDUSTRY'S OBAMA PROSPECTS
Making the United States a more desirable destination, defeating so-called "card check" legislation, facilitating entry to the U.S. and funding a robust marketing campaign are key priorities for hotel industry leaders. While they indicate that achieving these goals will be challenging, they also suggest that prospects of a brighter domestic tourism picture are in the cards. Read More ... GREEN HOTEL CHAIN LAUNCHES IN US
American hotel group Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide has launched a chain of eco-friendly hotels which it says will help make guests more environmentally responsible. The first green hotel - called Element - will open in Lexington, Massachusetts this summer and will be followed by others in Las Vegas, Houston and Baltimore reports ehotelier. Read More ... DEMAND, SUPPLY GREW FOR EXTENDED-
STAY HOTELS
While extended-stay hotels have taken a hit during the economic downturn, they continued to see demand growth in the closing months of 2008 even as the rest of the lodging industry saw demand declines, according to a research article published this week by Smith Travel Research. U.S. extended-stay hotel year-over-year demand growth dropped steadily as the year closed, with growth at 3.8 percent in September, 2.6 percent in October and 0.6 percent in November, says BusinessTravelNews. Read More ... DUBAI HOTELS CUT RATES AS OCCUPANCY
SLUMPS
Dubai hoteliers are waging a price war, with room rates cut by as much as half as they try to lure tourists hit by the global financial crisis reports Business Intelligence Middle East. The recession in Europe, Dubai's largest tourist source market, has caused a sharp drop in visitor levels, with occupancy rates down 25% on those enjoyed at the same time last year. Read More ... |
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A RARE DIP IN AIRLINE TRAFFIC IN
2008
U.S. airline traffic fell in 2008 for only the fifth time since the government began tracking the data 35 years ago as the global economy weakened and carriers slashed schedules. Traffic, measured in miles flown by paying passengers, slid 2.3% for the seven biggest U.S. carriers, led by a 6.5% drop for United Airlines reports the Los Angeles Times. Any positive results pending from smaller airlines won't be enough to make up the shortfall and prevent 2008 from snapping a streak of five annual gains. Read More ... SOUTHWEST TESTING WI-FI ON
BOARD
BlackBerry addicts, rejoice (perhaps)! Southwest Airlines is testing the idea of wireless Internet accessibility on its planes says MarketingDaily. The air carrier rolled out its first WiFi-enabled airplane earlier this week, and will add three others by March. Read More ... TULSA PASSENGERS TRY OUT TSA'S FULL-
BODY SCANNERS
The 35-year reign of airport metal detectors began its slow descent this week in Tulsa, where for the first time some passengers are skipping metal detectors. People are instead being screened in a 9-foot-high portal with glass shields that rotate to produce vivid pictures of what is underneath passengers' clothing. Read More ... ECONOMY PUTS MORE SMALL PLANES IN
THE AIR
Smaller turboprop and jet planes are not new to aviation, but they have grown in use since the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, which caused a steep decline in air travel. In response to that, as well as the economic downturn, many of the country's largest carriers have been mothballing larger jets or using them on long- haul flights exclusively. Read More ... |
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RESORTS CONNECT VIA SOCIAL
NETWORKS, BLOGS, :HSMAI
Today, says Hotels, resorts are seeing the value of engaging prospective or recurrent guests online through social networks, blogs and review and photo sharing sites. More than 35 resorts participate in HSMAI's Resort Marketing Special Interest Group "Best Practices Initiative"; the most recent study from this group, Online Marketing and Social Media, was conducted earlier this year to analyze online marketing approaches today. Read More... LEVERAGING YOUR MARKETING SPEND
WITH THE YOUNG, HIP AND MOBILE
As marketers in today's tight economy, we are forced to look at channels that spread our message to the broadest audience in the quickest amount of time with the least amount of cost. However, the question remains: How exactly do we do this? For certain brands, let's say in the retail and entertainment space, the easy answer is just to hit the trendy types because we know word-of-mouth is the most influential form of communication. Read More... STUDY: SPAIN AND ITALY LEAD EUROPEAN
ONLINE TRAVEL GROWTH
At the close of 2008, online leisure/unmanaged business travel bookings represented 29 percent of the EUR 246 billion European travel industry, the world's largest regional travel market according to a new study by PhoCusWright. Online travel bookings will grow significantly faster than total gross bookings, which are projected to increase by 3 percent. Read More... CUSTOMERS SPEAK LOUDLY AND CARRY A
BIG CLICK
Back in the day, one advertiser encouraged us to "fly the friendly skies." But if we found those skies less than friendly, we probably relayed our dissatisfaction to a few friends and family members. If we were really disgruntled, says an article in OnlineMediaDaily, we'd sit down and write a complaint letter to the airline. But suffice it to say that our opinions and experiences -- both negative and positive -- had little (if any) impact on other consumers. The landscape has changed completely. Read More... INTERNET USE GROWS AT MEETINGS, AS
DO CHALLENGES
Until recently, travelers attending conferences or trade shows had simple Internet needs. They would check e-mail messages and maybe look up information on the Web or connect to the home office. Now, meetings are likely to include streaming video and online interaction says The New York Times. And back in their rooms, travelers are downloading movies and logging onto peer-to-peer networks. Read More... |
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SOURCES
Appreciation is given to Ted Molter, CalTIA Board member and Director of Marketing for the San Diego Zoo & Wild Animal Park, for his effort in gathering the many valuable sources of information to produce this newsletter. E-Turbo News and Travel Wire News Publisher: Thomas Steinmetz , Editor-in-Chief: Nelson Alcantara, Copyright © 2006 eTurbo News, Inc. All rights reserved. eTurboNews, Inc, PO Box 208, Haleiwa, Hawaii 96712-0208 USA PH: +1-808-521-2800 US/Canada Toll-free: 1- 888-884-8822 Global Toll-free: ++800-520-0280 FAX: +1-310-362-8973 / www.eturbonews.com / www.travelwirenews.com TravelDailyNews International is a project of Travel Media Applications. TMA is the travel industry's leading technology company, assisting travel companies to take advantage of the Internet and new technologies. TMA owns and operates TravelDailyNews Greece & Cyprus & Travel For All, offers communication tools and services for the tourism market and represents major tourism exhibitions such as International Luxury Travel Market (ILTM). Travel Media Applications 47 & 49, Byzantiou Street 171 22 N. Smyrni, Athens, Greece Tel: +30 210 93 74 050, +30 210 93 74 052 Fax: +30 210 93 74 051 E-mail: tma@tma.gr Ferri & Partners Marketing & Tourism Trends is provided free-of-charge to leaders in the industry by Ferri & Partners, a communications and public relations agency specializing in strategic communications and marketing. newsletter@ferriandpartners.com. International Association of Amusement Parks and Attractions (IAAPA) member e-newsletter. |
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The California Travel Industry Association
(CalTIA),
incorporated in 1981, represents the
California travel industry. It is an independent,
nonprofit association unifying California's many
travel-related businesses to ensure the future
health of tourism through our collective strength
and corporate activities. CalTIA's mission is to
serve as a catalyst for the various
elements of our industry. It is dedicated to
increasing our educational standards, articulating
our political concerns, and promoting the economic
well-being of California tourism. CalTIA is a
partnership of action, in action! The Association
serves as a vehicle to support our industry. Only
through our willingness -- yours -- to become involved,
can we effect the necessary changes and ensure the
future health of our businesses, the California
economy, and the California travel industry.
(916) 932-2580
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