by editor’s office, pata

Latest figures released on August 28th, 2009 by the Pacific Asia Travel Association indicate that the numbers of international visitor arrivals to Asia Pacific* fell by an estimated six percent in Jan-June 2009 compared to H1 2008. The extremely challenging operating environment continued to dampen tourism demand and the month of May confirmed the second major flu outbreak this decade. The travel and tourism sector in Asia Pacific immediately felt the impact with a steep 10 percent decline in visitor numbers. There was, however, a slight improvement in June.

Plaza de Trascorrales will hold the welcome reception that the City of Oviedo (Spain) will offer to MITM Euromed attendees, next September 28th. The celebration of this important event for business tourism in the Asturian capital came out from an agreement between the City of Oviedo and the trade show’s organizing company (GSAR Marketing) as part of the promotion plan made by Oviedo Convention Bureau and Club de Empresas Oviedo Congresos (Oviedo’s Congress Corporate Club).

The Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre recently hosted the 30th Annual General Meeting and dinner of the Malaysian Bailliage of La Confrérie de la Chaîne des Rôtisseurs.

With an origin and ancestry that can be traced back to the year 1248, the Chaîne des Rôtisseurs today is an international gastronomic society that continues to be steeped in ritual customs, traditions and history.

Another chapter in the German capital’s success story in the conventions business: From January to June, 2009, Berlin welcomed 3.97 million trade visitors attending 50,850 events. This marks a three percent plus in visitors and a 0.3 percent plus in events compared to the corresponding period of the previous year. These are the findings of a recent statistic on conventions, conducted by Berlin Convention Office (BCO) of Berlin Tourismus Marketing GmbH.

In the second quarter of 2009, the consolidated revenue of Air Berlin PLC decreased by 3.8 percent to EUR 836.2 million due to planned capacity reductions, as compared to EUR 868.9 million in the second quarter of the previous year. EBITDAR reached EUR 134.9 million (Q2/2008: EUR 131.6 million). EBIT increased by 33 percent to EUR 17.6 million (Q2/2008: EUR 13.2 million). Net profit for the second quarter of 2009 reached EUR 7.1 million (Q2/2008: EUR 7.8 million).

The year 2009 is being tipped as the ‘Year of the Deal’ when online travel in Asia will come into its own. Online Travel Agencies operating in the region are still reporting growth in transaction volumes albeit yields are down. Low cost carriers taking advantage of the economic downturn and trading down of consumers, are expanding and aggressively promoting cheap fares on their websites. Premium airlines such as Singapore Airlines are also pushing special fares online.