organisations-operators

The Moroccan National Tourism Office (MNTO) is deploying special measures for its participation in the World Travel Market (WTM) London 2023, taking place from 6-8 November. A strong Moroccan delegation is actively involved in this exhibition, with the presence of 44 professional co-exhibitors and representatives from Morocco’s 12 regions.The delegation is led by the Minister of Tourism, Handicrafts, Social and Solidarity Economy, Fatim-Zahra Ammor, Adel El Fakir, General Director of the MNTO and Hamid Bentaher, President of the National Tourism Confederation.
A must-attend event for the travel industry, WTM is one of the world’s largest B2B trade events, generating nearly 35 billion Dirhams (2.8 billion GBP) in contracts. For the 2023 edition, Morcco has been announced as Premier Partner. Morocco will benefit from the exceptional branding opportunities and an exclusive presence at the openeing ceremony.
The MNTO is taking advantge of the opportunity to unveil its new stand concept, which will be redeployed at all Moroccan trade events between 2023 and 2024. The Morocco pavillion boasts a record surface area of 760 m², including 130 m² dedicated to the Marrakech-Safi and Agadir-Souss Massa regions, two of the most popular destinations for British tourists.
On the sidelines of the show, the MNTO signed a 5-year partnership with British TO JET2, the market leader. The primary goal this agreement is to integrate Morocco as a top destination in the programming of the leading British TO. In the first year of the agreement, 17 flights a week will be scheduled from several UK departure points, with this number expected to eventually increase to 28 per week.
The MNTO has also signed a 5-year partnership with eDreams ODIGEO, the world’s leading travel subscription platform, which owns the eDreams, GO Voyages, Opodo and Travellink brands. The purpose of this contract is to triple current annual targets, with an annual growth rate of around 30%.ADVERTISEMENTThrough this unprecedented participation at WTM London 2023, the MNTO continues its dynamic « Light In Action » strategy by deploying its sales force at one of the world’s largest B2B travel industry exhibitions. The aim is to strengthen Morocco’s presence in its traditional markets, and to conquer new growth markets capable of contributing to the rise of Morocco as a destination.

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Active Ibiza: Experience The Island As A Major Sporting Destination In 2024

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Once exclusively known as Spain’s main party island, Ibiza has been growing its sports and wellness offering, to become a burgeoning tourism hotspot for athletic travellers and avid sports fans. Unique for its beautiful landscape of golden beaches, rolling hills, pine forests, lush mountains and warm climate with 300 days of sunshine a year, Ibiza is embracing the great outdoors with a diverse array of exciting sports events taking place in 2024.
In 2022, Ibiza hosted 9 sports events attracting 28,800 visitors to the island with an average spend of €1,047 per person and generating an economic impact of €30.1 million, according to the Institute of Statistics of the Balearic Islands.
PTO European Open
The Professional Triathletes Organisation (PTO) European Open will return to Ibiza next year on 28 -29 September, ready to crown the new ‘European Champion’. The announcement was made by the PTO and Spanish Triathlon Federation at World Travel Market 2023, in the company of the island’s president Vicente Mari, who is there to promote Ibiza’s growing reputation as a world-class sports destination.
Vicente Mari, president of the Consell de Ibiza, says:ADVERTISEMENT“It’s really important for our image and income to be recognised as a world-class sports destination because we saw when the PTO Tour came to our island at the beginning of May this year it helped create the best start to a summer season in our history. The triathlon races brought in twelve thousand [12,000] extra visitors, which in turn helped generate an estimated economic impact of €12.5 million Euros as well as repositioning how people think about us. It will also change when they consider coming to the island, by sending a clear message that we are ‘open for business’ from early Spring right through to the Autumn, rather than only over the Summer months of June, July and August.”
The course will start on the south side of the island, at Figueretas Beach, before the athletes headed out on their bikes towards San Antonio and finish with a run through Ibiza Port into the World Heritage protected old town. The event is back by popular demand, after the success of 2023, which brought in 12,000 additional visitors to the island, and provided a significant economic boost at the end of the summer season. Click here for more details and to sign up to race.
The island has an array of other exciting sporting events in the pipeline, that will help to extend the season and encourage people to travel to Ibiza before, and beyond the summer months.
10K Ibiza-Platja d’en Bossa
Kickstarting the year on 28 January, the Ibiza-Platja d’en Bossa is one of the fastest races in Spain. The race is characterised by its wide and long roads that run at sea level, through the pine-fringed park of Ses Salines and the tourist enclave of Platja d’en Bossa. A race to inspire keen aspiring runners!
www.10kibiza.com
La Ruta de la Sal Regatta
Taking place 28 & 30 March 2024, The Ruta de la Sal is the most important offshore regatta in the Mediterranean where hundreds of amateurs gather every year. It provides a unique opportunity to be part of a team of experienced and inexperienced crew members, together with professionals from the nautical world, in one of the most special events of the year.
www.larutadelasal.com
Ibiza Cycling Tour
Ibizan October is synonymous with road cycling, and this beloved cycling event, which has gained popularity over the years, seamlessly blends the love for cycling with the breathtaking beauty of the island – some locations are the best-kept secrets on the island.
­­­www.ibizabtt.com
Ibiza Marathon
Taking place on 13 April, the Ibiza Marathon is one of the most scenic. With the refreshing Mediterranean breeze and warmer April climes, Santa Eulària Ibiza marathon is physical and mental challenge, on one of the prettiest parts of the island.
www.ibizamarathon.com
Ibiza Half Marathon
The Ibiza Half Marathon will take you, covering the official distance approved by the Royal Spanish Athletics Federation, through picturesque places on the island from the town of Sant Josep to the town itself of Ibiza. The race attracts close to a thousand athletes, opening in San José and covering emblematic points such as Cala Jondal, Sa Caleta and San Jorge, culminating in the emblematic Port of Ibiza. The end of the race will give way to an event in the Port of Ibiza, full of sports exhibitions, musical performances and opportunities to enjoy, specially designed for both athletes and their companions.
www.ibizamediamaraton.com
Ibiza Trail Marathon
The Ibiza Trail Marathon is a physical and mental challenge, yet also one of the most scenic. Taking place at the end of October in warm autumnal climes, this marathon is one of the 10 races considered of tourist interest by the Consell Insular de Ibiza, providing a unique way to visit the island.
www.ibizabtt.com
With Ibiza’s year-round sunshine and quick accessibility, located just 2 hours from London, the island is the ideal holiday destination for outdoorsy travellers to get involved in key sporting events, or watch from the sidelines. Treat yourself to a stay in one of the new hotels opening on the island next year too, with the launch of Hyde Ibiza Hotel, Mondrian Ibiza or Los Felices.

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The Balearic Islands Government Provides Insight Into Its New Tourism Strategy At WTM

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The first day of World Travel Market London 2023 – the world’s most influential travel and tourism event – kicked off with some key international gatherings.
The WTM Ministers’ Summit, now in its 17th year, had 40 representatives present for 2023. This year’s session, in association with the United Nations World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO) and World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC), was entitled Transforming Tourism Through Youth and Education.Natalia Bayona, Executive Director of UNWTO pointed out, “tourism is more than hotel administration,” stating that 80% of relevant degrees were focused on this subject.
Among ministers commenting at the summit, the UK’s Sir John Whittingdale said the prospect of good social mobility should be an enticement. “[In the travel industry] there are no ceilings, so you can go in at the bottom and reach right to the top… start on a hotel reception and end up running a group of hotels.”
Destinations showcased their sustainability credentials on the Discover Stage, with examples of best practice from around the world.
The German National Tourist Office is encouraging tourists to stay longer to relatively reduce their carbon footprint while the tourist boards of Greece, Italy, Spain and France outlined how they are enticing more holidaymakers to visit during the shoulder and winter seasons, as well as more off-the-beaten-track places to ease pressure on hotspots.ADVERTISEMENTPedro Medina, Deputy Director at Turespaña, the Spanish Tourist Office, said his country also has a focus on slow travel, encouraging holidays by train.
Brazil’s Embratur, highlighted Bonito, heralded as the world’s first carbon neutral ecotourism destination and Tourism Australia showcased the Discover Aboriginal Experiences collective.
Jonah Whitaker, UK and Ireland Managing Director at Visit California, said the tourist board has shifted to a “position of stewardship”, to encourage sustainable tourism practices.
Gilberto Salcedo, Tourism Vice President at Procolombia, said the country is reframing its “violent past” to ensure history won’t be repeated. Caguan Expeditions, for example, employs ex-guerrillas as guides and shifts them “from guns to paddles”.
Further innovation was celebrated on the Discover Stage when InterLnkd was named winner of the WTM Start-Up Pitch Battle, in partnership with Amadeus.
InterLnkd’dplatform connects travel and hospitality suppliers with fashion and beauty retailers.
It has a proprietary matching engine which means that travellers are presented with products from partners that are appropriate to their trip. CEO Barry Klipp said his business fills an ancillary gap and is a new, free revenue stream for the travel industry.
Simple things such as using easily readable fonts on signs are among easy ways to make neurodivergent people feel more at ease, a session entitled Spotlighting Hidden Disabilities: Successful Strategies for Inclusive Travel heard.
Neurodiversity Consultant Onyinye Udokporo said searches for the term ‘neurodivergent’ increased 5,000 per cent on Google last year, highlighting the growing importance being attributed to people with hidden disabilities. She said 15-20% of the global population is neurodivergent.
She said hotel companies, airlines and other corporations should also make changes internally. “If you don’t look after your employees, but look after your customers, it doesn’t make sense,” Udokporo told the audience.
Hotels could help by incorporating adjustable or dimmable lighting when redesigning rooms. Another suggestion was to offer weighted blankets, which can reduce anxiety.
“Start by fixing the simple things and take a moment to consider how it may affect people who are neurodivergent,” Udokporo said.
Former WTM Director Fiona OBE joined a panel session on Empowering Women to Change Travel, in which she discussed founding clean water project Just A Drop.
She said: “My mission was to try to encourage the travel and tourism industry to give back.” Also on stage was the First Lady of Iceland, Eliza Reid, who said the country is the closest in the world to closing the gender pay gap.
Several destinations took the opportunity of WTM London to detail their plans for the years ahead. The Balearic Islands outlined how sport and culture were to be a key strategy, partly to help to extend its tourism season. Forty low season events are planned in the next year, one of which is a new triathlon in Ibiza in September.
Marga Prohens, the islands’ president, said: “One of the first decisions by the new government (elected in May) was to put tourism, culture and sport into a single department.”
Jose Marcial Rodriguez, Majorca’s tourism minister, said the island had almost reached 100% of 2019 visitor levels and looked forward to a winter with increasing airlift. Together, the four Balaeric islands saw just under 1,200,000 travellers between October 2022 and May 2023, a 24% increase year on year.
Saudi Tourism Authority chief executive Fahd Hamidaddin detailed its Vision 2030 tourism plan which he said is vital for the country’s future.
“Vision 2030 is a national transformation agenda,” he said, explaining Saudi Arabia’s population was 60% below the age of 30 and that unemployment was a threat, which tourism could alleviate.
“To us, Vision 2030 is opportunity on steroids,” he declared, adding tourism was “expected to be our greatest bridge with the world”.
He was “very hopeful” the country would hit its 2030 target of 100 million visitors this year and had revised the original target to 150 million. A total of $800 billion would be spent by 2030, he revealed.
The country’s first Red Sea resort opened on November 1, with two more expected next year on the coastline, which stretches 1,700km.
Greece is on the threshold of a “new era in sustainability”, according to the country’s tourism minister Olga Kefalogianni. Speaking at WTM London she called it, “an integral part of our identity.”
Despite the pandemic, geopolitical situations and climate change, Greek tourism has demonstrated “remarkable resilience and resurgence”, she added, with arrivals in the year to August up 18% year on year and tourism receipts up 15%.
“There are solid indications that numbers will surpass the record year of 2019,” she said.
“Success brings its own challenges, and we are now embarking on a new chapter with sustainability at its core.”
She said investment in sustainable developments will disperse visitors throughout the country and extend the season beyond the peak warmer months.
Other developments include the modernisation of ski resorts and mountain refuges; a spotlight on Greece as a diving destination; funding to make marinas more energy efficient and accessible; and initiatives to include local farm produce in the breakfast buffets of big hotels.

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Amazing Thailand Press Conference at WTM 2023

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The Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) is using the WTM 2023 as a platform to launch its new ‘Meaningful Relationship’ marketing communication concept to a worldwide tourism industry audience as well as to celebrate winners of the Responsible Thailand Awards 2023.Present at the Amazing Thailand Press Conference on 6 November were Minister of Tourism and Sports, H.E. Ms. Sudawan Wangsuphakijkosol, and TAT Governor, Ms. Thapanee Kiatphaibool, as well as TAT executives. The event was attended by members of the global media and industry professionals.

Miss Sudawan said “The Thai Government is committed to making the tourism sector become more environmentally friendly and applauds TAT’s establishment of the Sustainable Tourism Goals. The annual Responsible Thailand Awards also reflect our determination and enhance the image of Thailand as a responsible tourism destination.”
The annual Responsible Thailand Awards recognises the kingdom’s champions of sustainable tourism in six categories comprising 1) Animal Welfare, 2) Nature, 3) Marine and Heritage, 4) Community-based Tourism, 5) Hotel, Eco Lodge/Eco Hotel, and 6) Green Steps. This year, the winners are Mahouts Elephant Foundation, New Heaven Reef Conservation Programme, Kao Thep Pitak Community Restaurant, Devasom Khao Lak Resort, Elephant Hills, and Pattaya Elephant Sanctuary.
Following the Awards presentation, Ms. Thapanee delivered a media briefing and unveiled a new TVC on the ‘Meaningful Relationship’ communication concept.ADVERTISEMENTMs. Thapanee said “The new ‘Meaningful Relationship’ marketing communication concept is designed to encourage travellers to engage in a meaningful connection whether it is with themselves, the local people, the community, nature, or even with Thailand. When travellers form a relationship with the people they meet and the place they visit, they will have an opportunity of creating lifelong friends, cherished recollections, and enjoyable time.”
The concept will be incorporated into TAT’s ongoing promotion of Thailand as a sustainable and responsible tourism.
As well as the annual Responsible Thailand Awards, TAT has developed and implemented its own Sustainable Tourism Goals (STGs) in line with the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by the United Nations Development Programme.
TAT’s STGs encompass the entire Thai tourism industry in a Sustainable Tourism Acceleration Rating (STAR) system. Businesses that comply with the goals will attain a corresponding number of stars. Currently, there are 251 businesses with STAR certifications in Thailand.
Meanwhile, the biannual Thailand Tourism Awards has long signified the quality and excellence in Thailand’s tourism and hospitality operations. In the latest edition, this year awards included a new category of low carbon and sustainability.
TAT’s partner, the Thai Ecotourism and Adventure Travel Association (TEATA) in collaboration with Tourlink has developed seven carbon-neutral travel routes for travellers wanting to explore Thailand, while helping reduce the impact on the environment. Featured destinations include Bangkok, Ratchaburi, Phangnga, Trat, Phetchaburi, and the three Isan provinces of Udon Thani, Nong Khai, and Loei.
Along with sustainable and responsible tourism experiences to create meaningful relationships, TAT continues to shape supply and elevate quality in the areas of luxury, wellness, and secondary destinations.  To promote Thailand to be an all-year-round destination for the long-haul market, the ‘Thailand 365 Days’ campaign will be launched to attract the flow of international tourists to explore the diversity of events and festivals as well as destinations nationwide.
Ms. Thapanee concluded, “TAT is delighted to work with all partners, both in and outside of the tourism industry under ‘Partnership 360.’  For the tourism sector, we will continue to collaborate with strategic airline partners and tour operators to increase air access and stimulate demand. TAT will also span and strengthen joint efforts with other sectors, such as trade, real state, banking, and investment. This way will promote tourism more successfully.”
For the UK market, TAT will place focus on potential segments with higher spending, a tendency to stay longer, wanting to explore local areas and care for the environment. These segments include luxury, wellness, responsible travellers, and repeater and first-timer – Millennials and new UK cities.
From 1 January – 31 October 2023, Thailand recorded over 21.6 million arrivals and generated over 20.61 billion Pounds Sterling (927 billion Baht). The top five markets are Malaysia (3,342,819), China (2,778,595), South Korea (1,313,781), India (1,283,340), and Russia (1,097,361), while the UK market contributed 617,017 tourists.
By the end of 2023, TAT expects to see around 80 per cent of the overall tourism revenue generated in 2019, or at 52.88 billion Pounds Sterling (2.38 trillion Baht). This includes tourism revenue of 33.33 Pounds Sterling (1.5 trillion Baht) from around 25-30 million arrivals. From the UK market, the expectation is 795,214 tourists and revenue of 1.37 billion Pounds Sterling (62,000 million Baht).
The 2024 target is set at total revenue of 66.66 billion Pounds Sterling (3 trillion Baht) with 42.66 billion Pounds Sterling (1.92 trillion Baht) coming from the international market. From the UK, the target is 940,000 tourists and revenue of 1.88 billion Pounds Sterling (84,860 million Baht).

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