WELCOME banquets of PATA conferences in the past were events to look forward to. Usually, they were held in venues that were only possible only if real strings were pulled. Why, I remember the first PATA conference in Beijing in 1997; as one of our night-outs, we were guests of the Mayor of Beijing and were treated to a formal banquet in the Great Hall of the People, followed by a visit to Chairman Mao’s offices above the Gate of Heavenly Peace, which looked down on Tiananmen Square.

But last night’s PATA 60th Anniversary & Conference Welcome Banquet showed how times had changed. Not only was it held just in a mere hotel ballroom, one of the main acts was by a group of elderly dancing ladies whose average age must be 60 years.

Don’t get me wrong – they were adorable, fun and entertaining – but as I watched them and looked around, I wondered if the entertainment was being pitched to the average age of the PATA attendee. Or may be a literal way of celebrating PATA’s 6oth anniversary? Or may be a way to acknowledge an important travel market, ie, seniors?

The elderly dancing ladies were followed by a choir by children. I thought, aha, surely the middle segment would follow next? Alas, the only adult entertainment that ensued were grave speeches.

That’s when I decided to hit the bar. Some things do not change.

By Adam Tan

ASIAN NTO chiefs meeting at PATA say they are mulling about what to do with the Japan market, which has been in a serious decline following the tsunami.

Tourism Malaysia is expecting a 30 per cent drop this year in the Japan market, its ninth largest source last year with 415,881 visitors.

For a destination like Guam, things are worse: even after an attempt to diversify the business mix since the 90s, Japan still accounts for 74 per cent of all its international arrivals, from over 90 per cent before. Business is immediately down 15 per cent to18 per cent, said Guam Visitor Bureau (GVB) general manager Gerry Perez.

Hong Kong Tourist Board (HKTB) is expecting the market to decline by 20 per cent and is “watching the situation like a hawk”, said HKTB executive director, Anthony Lau.

PATA is projecting a 10 per cent in Japan outbound overall this year as a result of the crisis, but Asian NTO chiefs such as Tourism Malaysia’s acting director Dato Azizan Noordin said the fall-out was definitely bigger than 10 per cent for Malaysia.

“This is why it is so important that we have real, up-to-date insights into the market, so we are able to work out a plan with Japan’s outbound agents, airlines and media to stimulate the market to travel again. Now might not be the right time probably to do any hardselling, but we need to hear from the horse’s mouth, ie, from the outbound agents themselves, when will the right time be, or whether we could promote in other parts of Japan which aren’t affected by the tsunami,” said Azizan.

He said that although Tourism Malaysia could rely on its offices in Tokyo and Osaka for the sentiment on the ground, this only covered the perspective of agents it does business with. “A bigger perspective covering the Japan outbound market is needed, so we could learn where the various opportunities are, and this I feel is the priority PATA should focus on, especially when we are confronted with not just Japan, but the Middle East (crisis).”

Perez said that the quandary was whether or not to market in Japan. “Some believe that no matter how much money you pour in during this period, it’s not going to produce results due to the psychological factor. But I personally believe that to completely pull out is also not a good idea, as you want to be top-of-mind when sentiments change.”

GVB is rolling out a campaign appealing to Japanese travellers in western and northern Japan to “take two to three days off as a kind of a healing process”. It is also stepping up investment in South Korea, Taiwan and the Philippines.

Perez said that not only was Guam seeing a decline in Japan visitors as a result of the so-called “psychological factor”, it was seeing a drop in arrivals from markets such as South Korea, which perceived Guam as equally unsafe due to it three-hour proximity to Japan.

SINGAPORE Airlines (SIA) believes that Finnair’s upcoming launch of direct Helsinki-Singapore services (TTG Asia e-Daily, March 4) at the end of next month will be beneficial in the long run.

“Singapore Airlines always welcomes competition. More supply creates more demand,” said SIA’s Helsinki-based sales representative and PATA Finland Chapter chairman, Hanna-Leena Halsas, at the sidelines of PATA 60th Anniversary & Conference in Beijing.

Finnair will be the only airline offering a daily service between Singapore and Northern Europe when it launches its new route on May 30. SIA operates services from Amsterdam, Copenhagen, Frankfurt, London, Manchester, Munich, Paris and Zurich to Singapore.

“Some point-to-point traffic may be lost, since what Finnair is offering is a non-stop direct flight between the two locations, and the shortest way from Northern Europe to Asia is via Helsinki,” said Halsas. “But the effect on our business is not as bad as it looks, since SIA has a very strong network. Our other core strengths are our young fleet and excellent service.”

According to Halsas, about 13,000 Finns visit Singapore annually. Their top two destinations in Asia-Pacific are Indonesia (about 80,000 per annum) and Thailand (about 93,000 per annum).

“They use Singapore as a stopover and transit point, not so much as a mono destination,” said Halsas. “They usually fly on to Bali and Australia, and Manado for diving.”

With there being many Finnish companies in Asia, like Nokia, Halsas believes that there is much room for growth for the Finnish market to Singapore. She said SIA currently works with travel agents in Finland to create promotions, and organises workshops to educate them on how to sell Singapore as a destination.

“We also hold roadshows with 10 to 12 sellers who are PATA members, and visit the six biggest cities, including Helsinki, Turku and Oulu,” she added.

RECENT global disasters have revived PATA’s efforts to build a crisis support system, with it considering a new Rapid Response Team that aims to improve information exchange and protect the industry’s interests.

The idea was presented yesterday at the PATA Industry Council meeting by Bert van Walbeek, chairman of the PATA Emergency Information Exchange Panel (PEIEP), an initiative he pronounced as “dead” after two-and-a-half years of trying to make it work.

Walbeek said several attempts to get PEIEP off the ground were met with poor responses, with only four to five people keen to actively participate.

Following renewed interest in such a system, the plan is to set up a volunteer team that will collaborate with professional risk assessment companies, as well as local assistance and relief organisations that have access to real-time information on the ground and existing mechanisms to react efficiently, he explained.

Walbeek said the focus was on gathering accurate data to update industry members on “what is the real story behind the news story”.

At yesterday’s press conference, PATA interim CEO, Bill Calderwood, referred to Japan’s earthquake and the floods in Queensland, saying those were examples of where “misinformation or the misinterpretation of information” had an impact on travel demand.

“We will work with the media in different ways to try and get the right information out very quickly so that we can speed up the recovery,” he added.