An interesting take on world tourism

Anything that does not fit elsewhere can be discussed here.

Moderators: DJKeefy, 4u Network

Post Reply
User avatar
Horus
Egypt4u God
Egypt4u God
Posts: 12363
Joined: Fri Dec 05, 2008 2:15 am
Location: UK
Has thanked: 1658 times
Been thanked: 2213 times
Gender:
United Kingdom

An interesting take on world tourism

Post by Horus »

I have copied this verbatim from a Yahoo news item, seems to me it sums it all up quite nicely ;)

The world's tourism map is being redrawn at lightning speed as holidaymakers switch preferences prompted by terror attacks, epidemics and migrant crises.
Jihadist attacks on tourists in Tunisia last year and the October 31 crash of a Russian plane which took off from its Egyptian Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh have devastated the tourism sectors in both countries.
But Muslim countries everywhere are the main losers of the shift in tastes, sector professionals say, as tourists move to destinations they consider safe -- so long as they're also sunny.

Overall, world tourism has never been in better shape. Nearly 1.2 billion people travelled abroad in 2015, an increase of 4.4 percent over the previous year, but the casual observer could be fooled by the sight of deserted North African beaches, once tourist hotspots.
Tunisia, which built its tourism industry on guaranteed sunshine and rock-bottom prices, is the most stunning example of the devastating impact of security fears after murderous attacks targeted foreigners.
Visitor numbers to Tunisia tumbled by two million in 2015, leaving coast resorts empty, hotels idle and the economy in tatters.
Tunisia's tourism sector accounted for almost 10 percent of the nation's economy.

'Muslim countries are suffering'
Turkey is another victim of attack fears. Germany's TUI, the world's biggest tourism group, said Tuesday that it had seen bookings to Turkey drop by 40 percent in the wake of an Islamic State suicide attack in Istanbul.
Turkish media, meanwhile, reported that visitor numbers to the top Turkish resort of Antalya dropped by 17 percent last month, the lowest level for the month of January in a decade.

Some destinations are collateral damage from attack fears, as tourists appear to make little distinction between countries within the Middle East or North Africa, as Jordan has found to its cost.
"There was no attack, but we were affected tremendously by a drop of visitors coming from Europe," Jordan's tourism minister Nayef al-Fayez said recently.
"All Muslim countries are suffering to a greater or lesser degree, even those which have been made totally secure, like Oman," said Jean-Francois Rial, chairman of French travel operator Voyageurs du Monde.

"The only exception is Iran, but they've started from scratch," he told AFP, noting that many European agencies have begun offering travel to Iran since Western powers have started dismantling sanctions.
"There is no doubt that the whole Middle East region is today associated with insecurity in the mind of the Western tourist," said Wouter Geerts, analyst at the Euromonitor research company.

"We expect countries such as Greece, Portugal and Spain to largely benefit from the situation, offering similar weather, competitive prices, and security," he said.
The sudden surge in demand is leading to higher prices in these destinations.
"Hotel owners tell clients 'Instead of charging 50 euros per double room, I'm going to charge 55, take it or leave it. If you don't want it, others will'," said Olivier Petit, at the In Extenso firm.

Cuban bottlenecks
Cuba, which already got a boost from the thawing of relations with the United States in late 2014, is now also battling with bottlenecks, with daily arrivals of huge cruise ships in the Havana bay.
"I have a group of 250 people arriving this week and I've just heard that I can no longer count on 80 rooms that were booked and paid for in March, all because of over-booking," said Stephane Ferrux, director of French specialist travel agency "Cuba autrement" ("Cuba with a difference").
Tourism numbers in Cuba rose by 17 percent in 2015, "but the country is not ready, they don't have the quality to justify prices that have gone up by half in a year. Everybody wants a piece of the cake," he said.
Haiti's unspoilt beaches are also becoming a magnet for tourists, six years after the country was devastated by an earthquake.

Battalions of tourists have been going to Colombia, Peru, Mexico and Argentina, but Latin American destinations could soon be affected by the spreading Zika crisis, experts say, pointing to the impact on sub-Saharan Africa of Ebola, of Chikungunya in the Carribbean and MERS Coronavirus, or Camel flu, in South Korea.
The migrant crisis has also taken a heavy toll on Greek islands, once a very safe bet for operators, but where masses of refugees have landed, scaring tourists.
"The Greek islands, especially tourism in Kos, have been severely damaged, as holidaymakers feel uneasy about the situation," according to Euromonitor, pointing to data saying that there were 178,000 cancellations of Kos bookings between January and August 2015.


Image
User avatar
LovelyLadyLux
Egypt4u God
Egypt4u God
Posts: 11596
Joined: Sun Nov 29, 2009 9:12 pm
Location: Canada
Has thanked: 417 times
Been thanked: 2714 times
Canada

Re: An interesting take on world tourism

Post by LovelyLadyLux »

Super interesting article H and IMO a pretty darn apt reflection of what is going on.

I missed my own fall holiday and this spring isn't looking much better either. I'm considering Puerto Vallarta Mexico or Hawaii (USA). They're not particularly interesting as I've been there before but they're hot, sunny and relatively safe and I can relax on the beach, people watch, explore about old haunts. Really no hassle or aggressive touts.

I budget my holidays so since I haven't taken one for 2 seasons now my tourist travel budget would allow for a really good trip somewhere and whilst there are some places I'd like to see I just can't bring me to venture forth solo to a destination that could suddenly swarm with Migrants or suffer an ISIS attack or ???

Too much unknown going on right now so I'm gonna go to a KNOWN destination.
User avatar
Grandad
Egyptian Pharaoh
Egyptian Pharaoh
Posts: 6924
Joined: Fri Dec 05, 2008 2:15 am
Location: South East UK
Has thanked: 797 times
Been thanked: 2254 times
Gender:
United Kingdom

Re: An interesting take on world tourism

Post by Grandad »

Nowhere can be considered totally safe so I think it is up to individuals to take their chances. The odds of being caught in some terrorist event are still quite long. The inference is to stay in Europe but recent events would suggest that Europe is no safer than Egypt or Turkey.

I am sure Iran will become a popular new tourist destination. We are still most likely to go to Croatia again in April/May but waiting for Robbo's feedback after her trip to Luxor in a couple of weeks.
:gg:
Robbo70
Senior Member
Senior Member
Posts: 263
Joined: Fri Dec 05, 2008 2:15 am
Location: liverpool uk
Been thanked: 78 times

Re: An interesting take on world tourism

Post by Robbo70 »

Which hotel would you normally stay at in Luxor Grandad? I am getting a bit of feedback at the moment off friends who either still live there, or visiting friends I knew when I lived there. It would seem the majority of tourist restaurants are still open. The hotels are running at around 35% occupancy at the moment, although that will rise through march due to the African film festival.

From what I gather, the hassle from kalesh and taxi drivers is still rather intense, so depending on how you deal with hassle that could be a major factor. I personally just stare blankly and don't even engage, Omar tends to tell in Arabic to leave the tourists alone and ends up in a full on slanging match. comical considering I am the narky one of the 2 of us :lol:
Dont get your knickers in a knot. It solves nothing and just makes you walk funny
User avatar
Grandad
Egyptian Pharaoh
Egyptian Pharaoh
Posts: 6924
Joined: Fri Dec 05, 2008 2:15 am
Location: South East UK
Has thanked: 797 times
Been thanked: 2254 times
Gender:
United Kingdom

Re: An interesting take on world tourism

Post by Grandad »

@Robbo
We always stay at The Nile Palace (Steigenberger) and have a couple of preferred rooms that we try to reserve in advance. Hassle doesn't worry us but as we have not been for 3 years we will notice that it has intensified.
We do use the restaurants in 'Little Britain Street' ;) but also go to Karnak and occasionally Sofra.

We are still undecided but any recent feedback would be appreciated after or during your visit. Thanks a lot. :up
:gg:
User avatar
Ruby Slippers
Royal V.I.P
Royal V.I.P
Posts: 1972
Joined: Fri Dec 05, 2008 2:15 am
Has thanked: 357 times
Been thanked: 632 times
Gender:
United Kingdom

Re: An interesting take on world tourism

Post by Ruby Slippers »

Robbo, any snippets on Aswan that you can garner in your conversations would be much appreciated by me too! :)
User avatar
Horus
Egypt4u God
Egypt4u God
Posts: 12363
Joined: Fri Dec 05, 2008 2:15 am
Location: UK
Has thanked: 1658 times
Been thanked: 2213 times
Gender:
United Kingdom

Re: An interesting take on world tourism

Post by Horus »

I love Aswan, never stayed in a hotel there, always been on a boat and visted it quite a few times, but always thought it a lot nicer is many ways than Luxor, shame it didn't have a few more places to visit.
Image
User avatar
LovelyLadyLux
Egypt4u God
Egypt4u God
Posts: 11596
Joined: Sun Nov 29, 2009 9:12 pm
Location: Canada
Has thanked: 417 times
Been thanked: 2714 times
Canada

Re: An interesting take on world tourism

Post by LovelyLadyLux »

When one thinks about mass tourism - as in how does an area get people from all other areas to come there - it is rather a daunting task. The coordination between airlines to hotels to on ground transit to beaches/recreational sites to say nothing about food must be phenomenal.

Am sure there are definitely triggers that prompt people to want to come to an area but what exactly is it? Flooding the TV channels with commercial ads or people frolicking in the sun or do you wait for travelers to stumble across your paradise and then via word of mouth spread the word to others?

Wonder what makes an airline want to serve an area? Do you make the airport first and then hope they'll come or ?

Tourism is definitely interesting.
User avatar
Horus
Egypt4u God
Egypt4u God
Posts: 12363
Joined: Fri Dec 05, 2008 2:15 am
Location: UK
Has thanked: 1658 times
Been thanked: 2213 times
Gender:
United Kingdom

Re: An interesting take on world tourism

Post by Horus »

I think that you always have to have something to offer :up
Image
Roaatyworld
New Member
New Member
Posts: 1
Joined: Fri May 26, 2017 9:20 am
Gender:
Cambodia

Re: An interesting take on world tourism

Post by Roaatyworld »

The world's tourism map is being redrawn at lightning speed as holidaymakers switch preferences prompted by terror attacks, epidemics and migrant crises.
Jihadist attacks on tourists in Tunisia last year and the October 31 crash of a Russian plane which took off from its Egyptian Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh have devastated the tourism sectors in both countries.
When one thinks about mass tourism - as in how does an area get people from all other areas to come there - it is rather a daunting task. The coordination between airlines to hotels to on ground transit to beaches/recreational sites to say nothing about food must be phenomenal.
User avatar
Horus
Egypt4u God
Egypt4u God
Posts: 12363
Joined: Fri Dec 05, 2008 2:15 am
Location: UK
Has thanked: 1658 times
Been thanked: 2213 times
Gender:
United Kingdom

Re: An interesting take on world tourism

Post by Horus »

Welcome to the forum, a good summation of the current situation and basically many people are now turning to taking holidays at home to avoid places of conflict and also because of the increased hassle in travelling to other holiday destinations. In the UK we are blessed with more places of beauty and historical interest than you can shake a stick at, but alas we are hostages to our fickle climate.
Image
User avatar
LovelyLadyLux
Egypt4u God
Egypt4u God
Posts: 11596
Joined: Sun Nov 29, 2009 9:12 pm
Location: Canada
Has thanked: 417 times
Been thanked: 2714 times
Canada

Re: An interesting take on world tourism

Post by LovelyLadyLux »

I was in Hawaii this past February and it is definitely a tourist "hot spot" for all coming from Asia! Most of the store sport Japanese names i.e. Tommy Nakamura Ties or Johnny Hazokawa Shoes etc. I'm not sure but I'd say the English language is the second language spoken there. Chinatown however is not thriving as it once was. When I went there it had shrunk in size again, was dotted with new bistro restaurants NOT offering Asian fare, the street markets much less and I saw fewer and fewer older Asian residents.

Mexico IMO seems to be thriving more and more and they sure don't seem to be lacking tourists either. There are lots of vacancies but so the tourist areas (Cancun and the Yucatan on the east coast and Puerto Vallarta/Cabo) seem relatively safe not that I was walking around in the wee hours of the morning. Can't say when I was walking around the city of Puerto Vallarta I saw so much as one Druggie on the street or any nefarious or criminal activity (which I DID SEE in Hawaii).

I think tourists are struggling to find a safe relaxing place to go.

Personally I'd love to get away to another really super interesting exotic place - BUT - do I want the hassle of always having to look over my shoulder (Middle East areas) OR do I want to put up with super high prices and crowds (Europe) all struggling to find a safe spot to holiday?

I also know that our local University here offers a Masters program in Business with an emphasis on Tourism. That program is always FULL and growing and expanding.
Post Reply
  • Similar Topics
    Replies
    Views
    Last post