Edition 115 · August 2017

The Workshop program for Global Eco Asia-Pacific Tourism Conference has now been released and features some 35 national and international speakers.

The speakers will cover themes critical to best practice ecotourism, including; Geotourism, Ecotourism and Wildlife Interactions, Building and Marketing Ecotourism Experiences, Tourism in Protected Areas, and Community Involvement and Strategic Partnerships. The papers cover critical policy, planning and case studies that will be invaluable to delegates attending the conference.

This year the Global Eco Asia-Pacific Conference is headed to Adelaide, South Australia 27- 29 November, 2017.

Global Eco brings together the key players that can evolve this critical sector of the tourism industry – the operators, protected area managers, destination developers, applied researchers and destination marketers.

Global Eco will be staged at the state-of-the-art Sanctuary, at Adelaide Zoo just a few minutes’ walk from the city centre.

Register now to attend the world’s leading ecotourism conference:
https://2017.globaleco.com.au/registration

To view the full workshop program, visit:
https://2017.globaleco.com.au/program

VizEat, the Airbnb of food, is the world’s most popular social eating platform allowing travellers to make meaningful connections with locals as they discover the world and eat local. It has over 20,000 home cooks and trained chefs in more than 110 countries around the world offering to host unique food events from gourmet dining experiences to relaxed and authentic supper clubs.

Further information:
https://www.vizeat.com/

The Queensland Government has allocated $40 million for parks projects in the 2017-18 to revitalise the State’s national parks and boost the eco-tourism industry. The funding includes $5 million over two years to support the implementation of a new planning framework to ensure national parks are managed effectively for future generations.

Further information:
http://statements.qld.gov.au/Statement/2017/6/15/40-million-to-revitalise-queenslands-national-parks

Travel site KAYAK is now allowing users to search global destinations using cartoon-like figures (emojis). Launched on World Emoji Day, the city and symbol pairings have been created through online voting and crowd-sourcing. Travellers can use emojis to search for their flight or hotel search in the U.S. and Canada via desktop and mobile devices as well as Facebook Messenger. KAYAK is an independently managed subsidiary of The Priceline Group and is the world’s leading travel search engine for flights, hotels, rental cars and vacation packages.

Further information:
https://www.kayak.com/news/search-destinations-by-emoji

A new Aboriginal tourism business Mandjoogoordap Dreaming, Mandurah Aboriginal Cultural Experience, has been launched with assistance from the Aboriginal Tourism Development Program. The program aims to raise the standard of product delivery and promotion of Aboriginal tourism in regional Western Australia. It is run by the Western Australian Indigenous Tourism Operators Council with funding from Tourism Western Australia.

Further information:
http://www.mandurahdreaming.com.au/

Airbnb has partnered with Flight Centre Travel Group to provide corporate customers with the broadest range of travel management services across Australia and New Zealand. The new partnership will mean that FCM Travel Solutions, Corporate Traveller, Campus Travel and Stage and Screen will now give its corporate customers access to more than three million listings worldwide.

Further information:
https://press.atairbnb.com/airbnb-flight-centre-travel-group-partner-expand-accommodation-options-business-travellers/

Tenderfoot is an e-concierge app that provides personalised travel advice to millennial travellers or flashpackers throughout Europe. The program also includes a web platform for hotels and hostels to build and manage their own sites where they can post information about the local area and interact with their guests in real time via mobile devices.

Further information:
http://tenderfoot.com/

Brand USA has launched a new project that involves creating personalised video welcome messages for international travellers who are considering trips to the United States. The One Big Welcome project invites destination and other travel-industry partners to produce additional video messages that welcome prospective travellers to the United States. Participants will draw on their own experiences and recommendations for places to visit before sharing on personal social-media feeds using the hashtag: #VisitTheUSA.

Further information:
http://www.thebrandusa.com/one-big-welcome

Ponant Cruise Line is building four new ships that will include the new ‘Blue Eye’ feature. The ‘multi-sensory underwater lounge’ allows up to 40 passengers to experience the sub-sea environment in comfort with large viewing windows, hydrophones and lighting to illuminate the sea floor.

Further information:
https://en.ponant.com/ponant-explorers

AirHelp has released a list of the world’s best airports based on Skytrax ratings. The report evaluated 76 airports across the globe over a three-month duration focusing on the quality, service, punctuality of flights and analysis of more than 130,000 tweets.

Further information:
https://www.airhelp.com/en/blog/airline-rankings/

The East Japan Railway Company is looking to develop a futuristic train that caters for customers who want to enjoy a relaxed journey through Japan with a top speed of 110kph. The 10-car sleeper train would only carry 34 guests over 17 suites with a 5-star lounge and dining area, as well as an observation car with floor to roof windows.

Further information:
https://www.jreast.co.jp/shiki-shima/en/train.html

Inspired by Iceland has introduced a new initiative to encourage tourists traveling the country to do so safely and responsibly. Iceland is the first country to introduce an initiative aiming to positively change behaviour and develop a more informed tourist community. After completing the oath, participants receive a digital badge to demonstrate their support on social media.

Further information:
http://www.inspiredbyiceland.com/icelandicpledge/

The Citizens of the Great Barrier Reef Foundation has published an industry toolkit for tourism businesses to generate awareness and recruit Citizens. The free toolkit has a range of resources to help people from all around the world positively impact the Great Barrier Reef’s health and future. Citizens will take part in actions such as pledging to go plastic free or cutting their carbon footprint.

Further information:
https://toolkit.citizensgbr.org/

The Association of Arctic Expedition Cruise Operators has produced a set of responsible community guidelines for visitors to the North Atlantic and High Arctic regions. This new initiative has been undertaken in cooperation with Visit Greenland, Visit Svalbard, Northern Norway Tourist Board and Cruise Iceland. It aims to promote best practices in the interaction between expedition cruise operators and their guests, as well as communities visited.

Further information:
https://www.aeco.no/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/2017-Community-Guidelines.pdf

Public feedback is being sought on the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority’s draft policy for cruise ship operations in the Great Barrier Reef which describe best practice management, access, waste discharge, compliance, environmental management charge and permitting arrangements. The Marine Park Authority will also consult further with the tourism industry, cruise ship permittees and Traditional Owners.

Further information:
http://www.gbrmpa.gov.au/media-room/latest-news/consultation/2017/consultation-open-on-the-great-barrier-reef-cruise-ship-policy

Founder of MONA, David Walsh has unveiled intentions for a 172 room, 5-star hotel on the museum’s current site in Berriedale, Tasmania. The proposed $300 million building dubbed HOMO (HOtel at MOna) also includes a new spa treatment centre, public library, 1075 seat theatre, outside stage, restaurant and bar, auditorium, art-of-the-state conference centre and function and retail spaces. Designs for the hotel are yet to be submitted to Glenorchy City Council for approval.

Further information:
https://mona.net.au/museum/homo

Tourism Industry Aotearoa is encouraging tourism operators to work with local councils and community organisations to apply for new Government funding to help them maximise the benefits of tourism for their communities. The new Tourism Infrastructure Fund is offering $25 million a year to help communities provide new tourism-related public infrastructure like carparks, toilets, sewerage and water facilities.

Further information:
https://tia.org.nz/assets/Uploads/TIA-urges-communities-to-apply-for-tourism-funding.pdf

The New South Wales Government has released a $6 million Regional Conferencing Strategy and Action Plan aimed at driving more business events and visitors to rural and regional areas of the State. It includes 11 strategic imperatives and 64 actions including the establishment of a Destination NSW Regional Conferencing Unit, a website portal, Toolkit and a Regional Conferencing Development Grants Pilot Program with $500,000 available between 2017-2018.

Further information:
http://www.meetinnsw.com.au/

The Adventure Travel Trade Association has released a study highlighting the status of women leaders in adventure tourism. The Out in Front: Tracking Leadership in Adventure Travel report has found that compared to other tourism sectors, women working in adventure believe their companies provide equal opportunities and pay for men and women. The report also includes an overview of women’s representation at each level of adventure companies, workplace benefits and staff profiles.

Further information:
http://www.adventuretravel.biz/research/out-in-front-tracking-womens-leadership-in-adventure-travel

According to a new report by Travelport and the World Travel & Tourism Council, the fastest growth for the business travel sector is expected in the emerging markets with Asia-Pacific leading the way. The report also incorporates White Paper proposals underlining the need for investment in technology and infrastructure, the removal of visa burdens, tackling cyber security and personalising services for travellers.

Further information:
https://www.travelport.com/company/media-center/press-releases/2017-04-27/business-travel-sector-grow-37-annually-2027-new-tech

According to a global survey, passenger satisfaction is higher during the airline journey when self-service technologies are used particularly at bag tag, collection and passport checkpoints. The 12th edition of the SITA Passenger IT Trends Survey 2017 shows that passengers are increasingly using smarter, mobile-enabled websites to book flights and check-in. The survey was conducted with more than 7,000 passengers from 17 countries across the Americas, Asia, Europe, the Middle East and Africa.

Further information:
http://www.sita.aero/resources/type/surveys-reports/passenger-it-trends-survey-2017

Tourism Australia has released an update of research into how international consumers view Australia and what most motivates them to visit. Over the last five years over 90,000 international long-haul travellers have been surveyed via online consumer research panels. Insights from the Consumer Demand Project have been used to support the development of strategy, campaigns, as well as to inform the tourism industry of potential opportunities to build the value of Australian tourism.

Further information:
http://www.tourism.australia.com/statistics/consumer-demand-research.aspx

The World Ecotourism Expo 2017 (WET-EXPO) will be held in Ipoh, Perak, Malaysia from 27-29 October 2017. Nearly, 90% of the 120 exhibition booths have been taken up from both the domestic and foreign markets. The main objective of the WET-EXPO 2017 is to promote ecotourism as a preferred holiday destination within the Southeast Asia region. Alongside the exhibition, Buyers & Sellers Meetings will be hosted by several State Tourism Authorities in Malaysia.

Further information:
www.wetexpo.com

The 2nd International Conference on Global Tourism and Sustainability will be held in Portugal from 27-29 September 2017. The event is aimed at researchers, academics and practitioners in the field of tourism and sustainability.

Further information:
http://tourism.greenlines-institute.org/

The Forum Advocating Cultural and Eco-Tourism (FACET) conference will be held at Government House in Perth from 9-11 October 2017. The conference program will provide an informative and innovative platform to raise awareness and appreciation of our unique and ancient landscapes.

Further information:
http://facet.asn.au/conference.aspx

The Adventure Travel World Summit will be held in Salta, Argentina from 16-19 October 2017. Produced by the Adventure Travel Trade Association the Summit is for tour operators, adventure travel writers and influencers, tourism boards and industry partners.

Further information:
http://www.adventuretravel.biz/events/summit/

The Wine and Culinary Tourism Futures Conference will be held in Kelowna, Canada from 17-20 October 2017. The event will bring together academic and professional specialists to share ideas and practices on the transformative potential of wine and food tourism.

Further information:
http://wineandculinarytourismfutures.ca/

Ecotourism Australia’s Global Eco Asia-Pacific Tourism Conference will be held in Adelaide, South Australia from 27-29 November 2017. The annual conference will be staged at the state of the art Sanctuary Adelaide Zoo conference centre located in the city centre for its 25th anniversary.

Further information:
http://www.globaleco.com.au/