“But, as was the case with other sectors, it was hit hard by the credit and housing market collapses last year that triggered the deepest recession since the Great Depression,” said Jean-Claude Baumgarten, WTTC’s President & CEO, launching the council’s annual research results at ITB Berlin recently.

World GDP fell by 2.1% in real terms, with developed economies, a major source of demand for travel and tourism, the most severely affected. Households curtailed leisure travel plans, substituting lower-cost short-haul and domestic travel for more expensive long-haul trips, and corporations reduced business travel budgets.

“Within the travel and tourism sector itself, investment plans were shelved or delayed, even in some previously dynamic, expanding destinations, Baumgarten said. Finally, the A(H1N1) influenza pandemic instilled a fear of travel in many markets, at least, until the less virulent nature of the disease was recognised, and government immunisation programmes got underway.”

As a result, and despite the resilience of some, notably Asian, emerging economies, activity and employment contracted across the sector. Global travel and tourism economy GDP declined by 4.8% in 2009 and this caused the loss of almost 5 million jobs or 5.6 million since 2008. All regions experienced significant contractions in visitor arrivals, spending and Travel & Tourism Economy GDP, and Travel & Tourism investment declined by over 12%. Only residents’ spending on domestic trips increased, and that was by a mere 0.7% in real terms.

235 million employed in travel and tourism worldwide, despite the downturn.

Nevertheless, even in such a depressed year for activity as 2009, travel and tourism still employed over 235 million people across the world, 8.2% of all employment, and generated 9.4% of world GDP.

The global economy has now moved into a recovery phase, although the pick-up in developed economies is expected to be gradual as households, corporations and governments all battle to rebuild their balance sheets. “Despite recent encouraging short-term indicators of tourism activity, the recovery in world Travel & Tourism is expected to be muted”, Baumgarten warned, adding “with both firms and households examining travel plans carefully and continuing to limit expenditure, spending in real terms is expected to increase by a mere 1% , while business travel spending will again decline by nearly 2%.

The recovery should gain momentum through 2010 and 2011.

Given current credit conditions and delays in restarting large projects, travel and tourism investment is also expected to decrease for the second consecutive year by 1.7%. Thus, travel and tourism economy GDP is forecast to grow by just 0.5% in 2010 overall. But stronger second-half momentum will continue into 2011 to boost growth next year to 3.2%.

In the longer run, travel and tourism will sustain its leading role in driving global growth, creating jobs and alleviating poverty. Emerging economies, in particular, are expected to be engines of growth, boosting international travel, with China alone set to provide almost 95 million visitors for other destinations by 2020, and also generating an increasingly vibrant domestic travel sector.

“But developed economies will continue to dominate global travel and tourism for the foreseeable future,” Baumgarten noted. While many are mature markets reaching a ceiling in terms of propensity to travel, a growing preference for and priority focus on leisure is expected to provide clients for new destinations once consumers fully regain confidence.

“The popularity of short breaks, both domestic and international, will continue to increase. And innovation by the travel and tourism industry will create new products and markets”,  he said.

Overall, the Travel & Tourism Economy is forecast to grow by 4.4% per annum in real terms between 2010 and 2020, supporting over 300 million jobs by 2020, i.e, 9.2% of all jobs and 9.6% of global GDP. This confirms that travel and tourism will continue to grow in importance as one of the world’s highest-priority sectors and employers.

A sale of the 1m square foot office complex on the outskirts of Edinburgh would be the clearest example yet of the new management’s break with the past.
Gogarburn was Sir Fred Goodwin’s pet project as chief executive of the bank, which is now 84pc-owned by the state after being bailed out with £53.5bn of taxpayer money. The executive wing became known as “Fred’s folly” and his involvement is said to have stretched right down to choosing the wallpaper.

The site, set in 100 acres of woodland on the site of a former psychiatric institution, cost £350m to build and was opened in 2005.
Although a strategic review of the group’s £4bn own-premises portfolio has begun, Stephen Hester, the new chief executive, has stressed there is no question of moving the 3,200 staff.

However, insiders said a sale and leaseback could be a more efficient use of the bank’s resources. One said: “Stephen Hester and the new finance director have every area of cost under challenge and review. There are lots of feasibility studies on every aspect of the operation. This sounds like one of them. Like all these things, some will fly, some won’t.”
RBS has a further £4bn of investment properties, currently rented out, that could also be put up for disposal. Should it be sold, Gogarburn alone would be expected to raise more than £500m.

Property experts said Gogarburn would make an attractive acquisition for a large property group, such as British Land or Land Securities, due to its unique attributes. Mr Hester is a former chief executive of British Land.
“Goodwin may have made some bad decisions, but Gogarburn was not one of them,” a source said. “If RBS ever did decide to leave, a developer could easily arrange the premises for a number of different companies.”
The complex is famous for the “street”, a glass-ceilinged concourse lined with shops and restaurants. There is also an on-site nursery and a shuttle bus service direct to Edinburgh centre.

Gogarburn is the jewel in RBS’s property crown but the bank is also reviewing its London properties. Some 20,000 staff are spread across 18 sites in London and teams are assessing whether they should be consolidated.
RBS is not averse to sale and leasebacks. Two years ago it raised £800m in property sales, including its landmark Coutts building. HSBC recently sold its Canary Wharf headquarters in a £773m sale and leaseback transaction.
A decision is not thought to be imminent as the strategic review is in its early stages.

The bank is in the process of selling off assets, including its RBS Sempra commodity trading joint venture. An outline £2.5bn deal had been agreed with JP Morgan but it has been jeopardised by US plans to ban banks from conducting proprietary trading.
RBS is now negotiating to sell JP Morgan just the international operation, which accounts for roughly half the business. Its partner, Sempra Energy, may attempt a buy-out of the rest. As a trading firm, Sempra Energy is exempt from the planned US rule.

Royal Bank of Scotland, which is 84 per cent owned by the Government, may be on the hook for almost $1 billion to the US over the next decade under a stringent new levy announced by the Obama Administration yesterday. Barclays could face a total bill of about $5.6 billion over ten years, while HSBC may have to hand over $3.8 billion, Joseph Dickerson, an analyst at Execution, calculated as the details of the US levy emerged.

The three UK lenders were scrabbling to clarify their exposure to the tax, proposed by President Obama to claw back billions of dollars from banks that have been saved from collapse by state support. If approved by Congress, the new tax — which the White House called a “financial crisis responsibility fee” — would force about 50 banks, insurance companies and large broker-dealers collectively to pay the US Government about $90 billion over ten years. About 35 would be US companies and 10 to 15 US subsidiaries of foreign groups.

Barclays and HSBC are thought to be among the biggest foreign banks to be caught by the tax. RBS’s exposure is smaller than it would have been because it has in recent months reduced its US assets. The UK banks are caught despite not participating in the Troubled Asset Relief Programme because they benefited from systemic support from the US Government.

The tax is set to be on banks’ US assets, less their capital and deposits. The rate, at 0.15 per cent, will effectively be on their wholesale funded business. Mr Dickerson said that along with the bonus tax in the UK, “this is clearly going to be a cost of doing business in the Western world”.

The White House plans to lobby Britain and other G20 nations to introduce their own version of the tax. However, the Treasury said last night that such a tax would not be necessary in Britain, where the Government expected eventually to recover all of the bailout funding provided to banks at the height of the crisis.

Mr Obama timed the announcement of the levy to coincide with the start of the bank reporting season when bonuses are announced.

The President said that he was determined to recover “every dime” the American people were owed. “We want our money back and we are going to get it. My determination to achieve this goal is only heightened when I see reports of massive profits and obscene bonuses at the very firms who owe their continued existence to the American people.”Most of the biggest banks refused to comment.

The new tax, which will become payable on June 30, will apply to companies with more than $50 billion in assets, whether or not they received bailout money. Sixty per cent of the money is expected to come from the ten largest institutions. These are likely to include Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan Chase, Deutsche Bank, Morgan Stanley, Citigroup, Bank of America and GE Capital. AIG, the insurer, would be liable for the tax but Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the housing financiers, and carmakers such as General Motors and Chrysler, all of which were funded under TARP, would be exempt.

Qatar Airways recently announced its long-term commitment to growth, undeterred by the current economic climate, with ongoing investment in new aircraft, routes, infrastructure and continued environmental efforts to reduce carbon emissions.

With six new routes planned across India, Australia and Europe over the next 10 months, new aircraft joining the fleet at an average rate of one a month and the $1 billion being pumped into expanding facilities at Doha International Airport, including extension of the exclusive premium terminal, the airline is driving forward with resilience.

The airline announced it has become the first and only Middle East carrier to join the aviation Global deal (AGD) Group- an industry-wide body made up of a select-few airlines which aims to help develop a global policy for tracking aviation emissions.

The airline’s fleet size of 68 will increase to more than 110 planes by 2013 and destinations served are set to rise from 84 to 120 in the next five years. Long-term, the airline has placed orders for more than 200 aircrafts worth over $ 40 billion.

The Chief Executive Officer, Akbar Al Baker said the global tourism industry remained resilient despite the current economic climate and the Middle East aviation industry was the only sector experiencing significant growth with the capacity and passenger figures rising.

“The state of the global aviation industry amid the current economic situation and concerns over global health concerns are understandable,” said Al Baker, while addressing the media at the opening of the Arabian Travel Market in Dubai in May.

“But whatever is happening around the world will not affect our growth plans. We are commited and remain committed to growth and all our expansion is pressing ahead on schedule,” he stressed.

“Our expansion is growing at a remarkable pace .with new aircraft joining our fleet at an incredible rate of one month for the foreseeable future and new routes being added to our global network, we need the airport infrastructure to be able to cope, hence the creation of a new transit terminal and more seating capacity at our exclusive premium Terminal.”

Over the next 10 months, the airline will add six new routes to its burgeoning network — Goa and Amritsar in India; Sydney and Melbourne in Australia marking its first foray Down under; and two further cities in Europe.

“India has been, and remains, one of our most important destinations and we are pleased to be strengthening economic and cultural ties with one of the world’s fastest growing economies,” said Al Baker, pointing out that the airline already serves nine destinations across India.

“With the growth of the Indian economy into a potential global powerhouse and Qatar’s drive to spread its economic wings globally, increasing air links with India is of paramount importance.”

“We are extremely excited to enter the new market of Australia with the addition of Sydney and Melbourne, and expanding our presence further in Europe with two more two more routes.”

He added that expansion of the existing airport infrastructure was key to facilitate growth and a number of initiatives were well underway ahead of the opening of the New Doha International Airport in two years’ time.

A new transit facility at Doha International Airport is due to open at the eastern apron for passengers with less than 60-minute flight connections. At present, all passengers use the main terminal for arrivals, transfers and departures, which limits the time available for travellers who have tight connections.

The number of parking bays at the eastern apron has increased to 16, while the main apron has seen the number of parking bays rise from 16 to 23.

In addition, the airways’ premium terminal, for exclusive use by its First and Business Class passengers, will have more than 80 percent extra seating space following the opening next month of an extension to the dedicated Business Class section.

A new drive-through side entrance to the premium terminal has already opened. Expansion of the first floor Business Class lounge will see the current capacity of 320 seats increase by 250-or 80 percent-together with more shower rooms, buffet and dinning areas. Duty free space will be almost doubled to cater for a wider range of high-end premium products ranging from fragrances, cosmetics, electronics and clothing.

Al Baker said that the airline was easily able to shift capacity around, where necessary, according to the market conditions.

Since March, the airline has introduced a new daily non- stop route between Doha and Houston and increased frequency to a number of destinations across its international network, including Geneva, Lagos, Manila and Muscat.

Since June1, flights to the Malaysian capital Kuala Lumpur rose from 7 to 10 flights a week; Algiers will be served with six weekly flights instead of the current four from october1; and Tunis will see its weekly capacity rise from four to five flights, effective October 5.

“We operate a young and modern fleet of aircraft, fully flexible to move capacity as needed and as we receive more aircraft, we are able to increase frequency and introduce more routes to the network. This year is a year of continued frequency and route growth which remains undeterred.”

As part of the airline’s growing corporate social responsibility (CSR) drive, the airline’s partnership with the Aviation Global Deal (AGD) Group, demonstrates the momentum that is now building to develop an industry position on how emissions from the sector could be tacked under a global deal on climate change.

The airline currently accounts for only two per cent of the world’s carbon emissions, yet is taking a positive stance towards reducing levels as part of its environmental commitment.

“We are delighted to have joined the Aviation Global Deal Group, working with our peers across the industry to tackle what is a serious environmental issue.” said Al Baker.

“Society worldwide is becoming ever more conscious on the impact of climate change on our daily lives. It has affected, is affecting and will continue to affect the world- and the onus is very much on the corporate world to ensure we strive towards zero carbon emissions to make the world a safer and cleaner place.”

He stressed that Qatar Airways was investing heavily in new, modern and cleaner aircraft which, he said, was a concerted effort to keep the carbon emission count to a minimum and, in doing so reduce the impact on the environment.

It was suspected that in 2009, the Arabian Travel Market held at the Dubai World International Convention and Exhibition Center in the U.A.E. would suffer a severe blow following the pangs of the global recession, however, the turnout was not only a positive surprise, it also reflected the true players in the game of travel and tourism in the region.

Featuring over 2,000 exhibitors from 69 countries, ATM covered the Middle East and North Africa, Europe, Asia, South-East Asia and Australasia, the Americas and Africa.

This year also saw ATM celebrating its 16th anniversary. Though there were some changes, what remained was a positive vibe and the business outlook remained strong.

Due to the global economic meltdown, it was expected that there would be a softening of all businesses including travel, however the Arabian Travel 2009 post-market analysis actually found a substantial increase in attendance compared to 2008.

With 15,026 visitors, there was a 6.5 per cent rise in attendance, a 1.9 per cent increase in the Buyers Club as well as 5.14 per cent increase in travel trade professionals.

The purpose of these shows is for travel product and service providers from around the world to see what each other has to offer and in hope of scooping some serious business on their behalf.

The event encourages promotion of inbound and outbound tourism products within the Middle East and to a wide-diversity of decision executers around the world.

The primary organizers of ATM-Reed Travel Exhibitions demonstrated faith in the show’s delightful energy, which resembled not only the industry itself, but also the attitudes of those working within it.

Mark Walsh, Reed’s Group Exhibition Director stated: “The feeling on the show floor is most certainly one of optimism, underlining a sense of belief which characterizes the Middle East’s tourism as a whole. The region is still the world’s fastest growing market and has the infrastructure, vision and determination to maintain this growth”. In order to maintain this growth however, what was being promoted through comprehensive marketing campaigns was enhanced awareness of the current existing markets as opposed to entering new ones. This way the market does not have so much of a gambling feel to it”.

The exhibition also sought to extend its seminar program to heighten discussions in order to alter the cold trading conditions situation within the economic climate. What they hosted was 16 free-to-attend sessions, hosting over 25 industry leaders speaking during the first three days of the show. This was to encourage all in attendance to discuss what was presented in the forums and in hope that it would instigate further confidence within the industry.

The highlighted topics held at the seminar addressed issues such as maximizing business advantages in the expanding Middle East cruise lining industry, further invested interest in getaways such as luxury spas and the outlook upon the Gulf’s MICE industry and aviation.

Regarding the tourism itself within the U.A.E., there were speculations as to what statistics and comments would be released. Some encouraging words came from His Highness Sheikh Ahmed Bin Saeed Al Maktoum, Chairman, Dubai Airports, and Chairman and Chief Executive, Emirates Airline & Group said: “Travel and tourism demand in the UAE and the region remains strong. In fact, the Middle East is the only region which has seen an increase in air passenger traffic in March, when every other region saw a drop. Many of the countries in this region have invested massive resources to boost their travel and tourism infrastructure”.

“Increasingly, international hospitality and travel brands are looking to this region as the ‘bright spot’ in the global economic downturn, and are investing here. I am confident that Dubai, the UAE, and the region as a whole, is well placed to weather the current challenges and come out even stronger,” HH Sheikh Ahmed added.

Al Diar Siji is a five-star business class hotel. It is situated in the heart of its city and enjoys an ideal location in central Fujairah, a city in the northern Emirates. The general manager said that though there had been a decline in the arrivals from Europe, localized tourism had risen.

He said the hotel itself caters more for business travelers, and he mentioned the facility’s spectacular conferencing outlay as well as a high standard of other services, which have enhanced the hotel’s capabilities for the market segment.

This also reflected on what the exhibitors were echoing throughout the show, that catering ultimately for the market that is already available to a business is going to encourage it to fare much better than if attempting to market themselves aimlessly at new clientele.

Overall, the success of the Arabian Travel Market did not only prove as business expanding to some, it enabled everybody who attended to see that though the world is suffering in the slums of the financial crisis, the travel and tourism industry is extremely capable of prevailing and making serious revenue. The underlying factor that is set to exacerbate this hope is by businesses putting their logic and marketing skills into practical use and therefore they will benefit. When it comes to service and tactic, the message was obvious. Better service, better deals for the clients and travelling will then become not only easier to access, but if the experience they get is unforgettable, then they would be willing return and invest their holiday expenditure in these primary locations.

The event gives you the opportunity to for you to ideally unlock your business potential within the Middle East and pan Arab Region, which therefore teaches you how to:

Do business with the largest audience of travel meet the most qualified buyers face to face, build new ideas for the international face, increase your company Arabian Travel Market is more than just an exhibition. It also entails a marketing and PR campaign.

The Arabian Travel Market is held under the patronage of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE, Ruler of Dubai, and under the auspices of the Department of Tourism and Commerce Marketing, Government of Dubai.

For further information about participating at the trade show in 2010, you can visit the website www.arabiantravelmarket.com