PATA Micronesia Chapter, which was established in 1986, has revitalised efforts in developing the region’s tourism sector, with a flurry of new initiatives launched since January.

The chapter’s chairman and Guam Visitors Bureau marketing manager, Pilar Laguaña, said the chapter had ceased to be sufficiently active over the years.

“Micronesia’s economy relies on tourism (but) many travellers don’t realise that the islands beyond Guam have a lot to offer,” she said.

Of the 1.6 million arrivals to Micronesia annually, some 1.3 million footfalls are received by Guam.

She added: “On top of that, these islands lack the resources to develop and promote (themselves).”

The Republic of Palau, for example, has more than 250 islands with world-class dive spots.

Although Micronesia comprises five different governments, Guam Visitors Bureau has taken the lead in building up the region’s tourism potential.

Armed with the authority to represent PATA Micronesia Chapter, the bureau has invited the islands to join forces in destination promotion efforts.

Marketing missions undertaken since the start of 2013 include driving awareness of all destinations within Micronesia in the marketplace and establishing Micronesia as a brand.

In May, the chapter launched a Facebook page and website – www.micronesiatour.com.

“We do not have a lot money and resources to hire a marketing agency, so we start with the website to reach out to the world,” explained Laguaña.

Training programmes have also been introduced to help local travel industry players sharpen their skills in customer service and new product creation.

“Guam has had a success story in developing tourism and (it is time) to also develop (the tourism potential of) the neighbouring islands. If they prosper, Guam will too,” she said.

With the new initiatives in place, the chapter has so far managed to grow its membership from 30 to 80. Laguaña expects membership to reach 111 by the end of this year.

She explained that growing the chapter’s membership is critical as membership dues fund marketing and product development.

Meanwhile, in anticipation of arrivals growth, the government of Guam has developed incentive programmes to attract international hotel investors and alleviate the destination’s room crunch.

INHABITANTS of Papua New Guinea’s (PNG) Miline Bay are “working round the clock” to welcome P&O Cruises’ maiden sailing there this November, which will double the province’s arrivals immediately.

Sailing from Brisbane to Miline Bay, the superliner Pacific Dawn will ferry over 2,000 passengers into Miline Bay, said Joel Keimelo, marketing officer at Papua New Guinea Tourism Promotion Authority.

During the 10-night sail, the cruise ship will call on provincial capital Alotau, as well as Doini Island and Trobriand Islands within PNG.

“We have about 300,000 people living in Miline Bay but this is the first time we are welcoming so many tourists into the province,” he said. Miline Bay welcomed under 1,000 arrivals for the full year of 2012.

Keimelo said buildings, shops and craft markets were being developed to the tune of five million PNG kinas (US$1.9 million) ahead of the cruise, adding: “We will definitely show them our traditional dance, and we have another surprise that we cannot reveal yet because we want to save it for our visitors.”

Pacific Dawn’s call at Miline Bay coincides with the traditional Canoe and Kundu Festival, where locals compete in canoe races, costume displays and cultural performances. “PNG brings tourists into a different environment altogether because of our rich culture. We have so many festivals every year.”

“With so many different provinces, every product is different culturally.”

Emphasising PNG’s adventure tourism potential, Keimolo said village tours, cultural festivals, bird watching, trekking and sea activities are popular tour products.

With 21 provinces in PNG, Keimolo hopes the cruise will build tourism awareness locally.

“Right now we have to educate our people to show them how and why tourism will benefit them directly, and it is important to involve everyone so tourists can leave the country with a lifelong memorable experience,” he commented.

CHENGDU Cultural Tourism Group (CDCTG) has signed a three-year strategic memorandum for cooperation with Ctrip, Visa Worldwide and TripAdvisor to promote the Chinese city on various platforms.

Under the agreement, Ctrip will take over international promotion efforts for Chengdu, especially in Taiwan and Hong Kong. Jennifer Lan, deputy general manager for Ctrip, said: “We have been working with CDCTG before, but this official partnership symbolises a long-term strategic partnership.

“We have established a special expert group to conduct multiple field research and come up with the first (themed) travel routes characterised by cultural features.”

Visa will bank on China’s new policies for 72-hour visa-free transits for international tourists in cities such as Beijing and Shanghai to roll out a marketing campaign with themed activities.

Meanwhile, TripAdvisor will launch a dedicated destination marketing organisation page on its website for Chengdu.

THE ailing Spanish economy, which has been in the doldrums for the past five years, has taken a toll on outbound business to Asia.

Teresa Sans, manager of Sol D’or, a Barcelona-based travel agency where corporate and incentives comprise 75-80 per cent of its business, said: “Outbound leisure and incentive segments have been quiet this year, although the corporate segment is still good. Our incentive business has dropped 15 per cent since two years ago, while leisure business went down by 20 per cent during the same period.”

According to Emily Bong, Asia Pacific contract manager for transHotel, the global B2B travel services provider headquartered in Madrid has also seen business volume originating from Spain dip by 20 per cent since 2012.

Meanwhile, repercussions of the Spanish economic slump are felt by South-east Asian sellers.

“Since last year, the Spanish market has gone down by a third during the low season of July to September (the peak outbound travel season for Spanish nationals). While the Spanish market used to make up five to 10 per cent of our business, it is now less than five per cent,” said Sabine Widmann, chief sales officer, ICS Travel Group, a regional tour operator based in Bangkok.

Ray Clark, general manager of The Samaya Bali, commented: “The Spanish market used to represent about 18 per cent of our European business, but it is now down to one to two per cent. We have since turned to Germany, the UK, France and Switzerland to pick up the slack from Spain.”

As Spaniards’ buying power erodes, Spain has inevitably evolved to become a very price-sensitive market, trade players observed.

Clark has observed shorter length of stay among his Spanish guests, from 21 days in the past to the current average of seven days.

Budget-conscious Spaniards who are now drawn to last-minute, discounted offers from travel agencies, are also booking only one to two months ahead, instead of six months in advance, according to Sans.

With Spain’s unemployment at a crippling 27 per cent despite the government’s continued austerity measures to rein in public debt, it looks unlikely that outbound travel from Spain will change dramatically anytime soon.

EGYPT, whose tourism trade has suffered in the hands of political instability in 2010 and again in August this year, is stepping up destination promotions to regain the confidence and interest of travellers and tour operators.

Egypt Tourism Office director for Asia, Adel El Masry, told TTG Asia e-Daily that the situation in the historical destination had stabilised and more budget would be set aside for upcoming promotions. He has, however, declined to reveal the amount of funds allotted to campaigns in Asia.

According to Masry, arrivals to Egypt had improved after the 2010 revolution, although it was a shadow of pre-crisis tourism performance. Prior to the revolution, the country welcomed 14.7 million tourists annually. In 2012, arrivals was around 11 million.

Widely reported riots in August that followed the crackdown on supporters of ousted president Mohammed Morsi had caused arrivals to dip by some 20 per cent.

“Tourism contributes to Egypt’s economy in a big way, providing direct and indirect employment to 12.6 per cent of the workforce and it is the country’s second largest source of foreign revenue.Therefore, it is critical that our tourism offices around the world…address the concerns of prospective travellers to the country,” said Masry.

Commenting on Egypt’s tourism recovery efforts, Masry said: “We are planning media campaigns, familiarisation trips for the media and tour operators, as well as working with tour operators to produce brochures.

“(Our efforts) will start in the next couple of weeks until the end of the year, and we will increase our budget for 2014 too. Our goal is not only to (restore) confidence but also to increase the number and (demographic) profile of travellers from Asia.”

The NTO also aims to broaden its network of tour operator partners through participation in travel trade shows.

Meanwhile, Egypt Tourism has started raising the awareness of attractions beyond the pyramids and Nile cruises, which are traditional favourites. “We are introducing new products such as golf, adventures and religious tours. We are also trying to attract MICE groups,” said Masry, adding that the mass market would be targeted.

India, China, Malaysia, Thailand and Singapore have been identified as key Asian source markets, and visa-on-arrival for some Asian nationalities was offered recently.