The World Tourism Conference 2013, organised by Ministry of Tourism and Culture Malaysia in association with the United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) and the State Government of Melaka, recently concluded on a high note in Malaysia. The Conference was held on 21 and 22 October 2013 in the UNESCO World Heritage City Melaka in Malaysia.
Centred around the theme ‘Global Tourism: Game Changers and Pace Setters’, the Conference’s panel discussions mulled over pressing issues of the global travel industry, and invited to the dais industry experts from around the world to pick their brains about the challenges they have faced and how they kept their head over water and ploughed ahead in the face of adversities.
Yab Tan Sri Dato’ Haji Muhyiddin Bin Haji Mohd Yassin, Deputy PM of Malaysia; YB Dato’ Seri Mohamed Nazri Abdul Aziz, Minister of Tourism and Culture, Malaysia; Datuk Seri ir. Hj Idris Bin HJ Haron, Chief Minister, Melaka and Zoltan Somogyi, Executive Director, UNWTO were among the delegates present at the inauguration, in addition to representatives from 46 countries, as well as the Malaysian travel trade and global media.
Delivering the inaugural keynote address, Yassin opined that the outlook of tourism is very bright, an opinion supported by UNWTO statistics. “My optimism is based mainly on the key trends of growing world population with rising income and a better quality of life. Consequently, there will be a greater wealth effect that will result in an increasingly higher demand for world travel,” he said.
Speaking about the theme chosen for the Conference, Aziz stated that it will have a great impact on tourism. He further added that the conference will provide the industry a platform to exchange ideas and expedite the growth of tourism, as well as build relations and gain from mutual benefits. Referring to the UNWTO statistics, Somogyi commented that, in the first eight months of 2013, the travel numbers have surpassed the annual forecast, with South East Asia witnessing maximum growth in tourism. Addressing the Conference through a video message, Taleb Rifai, Secretary-General, UNWTO stated that, in two years, traveller numbers will cross 1.8 billion, which makes the theme of the conference apt in the current scenario.
“The main question at this Conference is, how do we leverage on the game changers and pace setters to increase tourism opportunities? During the economic crisis, tourism was a key sector for Malaysia. Funds were pumped and the Malaysia Truly Asia campaign was launched. It raised our profile and nurtured a strong private sector for investments in tourism. In 12 years, from 1998 to 2010, our tourism numbers quadrupled. Our goal is to make Malaysia a developed country by 2020 and tourism is a key factor in this plan. Our VMY activity is also aimed at the same – getting a nation ready by changing its mindset to become a tourism friendly state,” said Yassin.
Panel Discussions:
Session I – Beyond Mass Tourism
Moderated by Victor Wee Eng Lye, Former Sy. General, Ministry of Tourism, Malaysia; the panel consisted of Hermes Navarro del Valle, Advisor to the Minister of Tourism of Costa Rica; Yoshiaki Hompo, Former Japan Tourism Agency Commissioner and Thuji Dorji Nadik, Acting MD, Tourism Council of Bhutan.
The panel focussed on the necessity of a balance between tourist footfall and ecological safeguarding. According to Navarro del Valle, footfall is not the only measure of success, and a crowded destination takes away from the enjoyment of travel. Offering a presentation with a twist, Hompo first spoke of the mistakes Japan Tourism made while trying to develop the destination for tourism, thus highlighting the downside of mass tourism and revealing the country’s corrective measures.
For Bhutan, Nadik revealed that high value low impact is their tourism principle. “We have been accused of being elitist but we are trying to increase yields while keeping numbers low. Usually, when room numbers increase, quality falls along with room rates, and we want to avoid that,” he said.
Session II – Innovative Marketing
This panel was moderated by Sandra Carvao, Chief of Communications, UNWTO and speakers were Charm Lee, CEO, Korea Tourism Organization; Rob Torres, Head of Travel, Google and Christopher Rodrigues, Chairman, Visit Britain.
Lee spoke about the success of what the Koreans call the Hallyu Wave, which refers to the growing popularity of Korean pop culture, entertainment avenues and so on, with the Gangnam Style at the helm. According to him K-Pop has grown to a point where shooting locations of popular Korean TV programmes and movies are being promoted as tourist attractions. Torres highlighted the growing success of online promotions by destinations, such as youtube videos and online brochures. He spoke about the various google inventions that help tourism as well, such as Google Hangouts and Google Glasses, which he termed revolutionary in the field of tourism.
Rodrigues stated that, what matters is not what tourism is, but what it can be. He opined that developing a destination is about collaborations and partnerships, and used the Olympics as an example of the various facets of tourism coming together to deliver a great event. “Mega events are a team marathon, not an individual sprint. Nothing can be achieved without collaboration,” he concluded.
(Coverage of the remaining sessions will feature next month)
