View: Carbon offsets may ease your flight guilt, but they aren’t saving the planet

Book a flight and you’ll usually get the option to pay to offset your carbon emissions. In essence, your contribution funds tree planting and other projects intended to counterbalance the carbon you emit.

It’s a clever marketing ploy. But carbon offsets are a dangerous distraction from the need to reduce emissions.

While global aviation emissions almost halved during the pandemic, they are predicted to reach pre-pandemic levels by the end of this year. In fact, they’re on track to rise a further 25 per cent by 2030 – with disastrous consequences for nature and climate vulnerable communities.

Carbon offset schemes perpetuate the idea that the climate crisis shouldn’t stop aviation from increasing. They assuage climate guilt, while passing the problem onto someone else.

Experts also agree they don’t work. In 2017, a European Commission report found that 85 per cent of offset schemes established under the Kyoto Protocol Clean Development Mechanism failed to reduce emissions. And last year, the EU stopped counting offset schemes in emissions reductions targets.

There are better ways to cut your holiday emissions. So, what should travellers do instead?

Fly less and stay longer

Limiting the number of flights, you take is the simplest and most effective way to reduce your holiday carbon.

Data from the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) calculates that a return economy flight from London to New York emits an estimated 0.62 tonnes of CO2 per passenger. That’s 11 per cent per of the average Briton’s annual carbon footprint, and equivalent to the average Ghanaian’s total emissions a year. The more you fly, the heavier your footprint will weigh.

So, fly less, and instead stay longer. You’ll enjoy a more relaxing holiday and an opportunity to explore your destination in more depth too.

Swap planes for trains

Making the journey part of your holiday is a feasible option across much of Europe. Good connections link a multitude of popular holiday destinations. Taking the train from London to Madrid, for example, emits an estimated 174 per cent less CO2 than flying according to the Ecopassenger calculator.

Responsible Travel now offers over 160 flight-free holidays to Europe, while other tour operators such as Byway Travel, Exodus, and Cycling For Softies offer train travel as part of their tour packages too. Alternatively, The Man in Seat 61 is an excellent resource for independent travellers wanting to travel by train.

If an international flight is unavoidable, cut out other domestic flights if you can and explore your destination at a slower pace overland.

Explore destinations actively, or with emissions-free transport

Human powered exploration is not only emission-free but often wonderfully unexpected and eventful. Walking, cycling, or kayaking gives a more intimate perspective to your holiday and can lead to memorable chance encounters with local people. Electric bikes can take the strain when lungs or legs can’t.

On the electric front, some safari lodges in places like Kruger National Park, South Africa or Ol Pejeta Reserve, Kenya, now have lower-emission electric safari vehicles available. These have the added benefit of being quieter and less disturbing for wildlife.

Watch your ‘foodprint’ on holiday

With 37 per cent of global greenhouse gases coming from food production, what you eat on holiday can significantly impact your total carbon footprint too.

Choosing to eat local limits how far your food travels before it hits your plate. Farmers markets and restaurants serving fresh, locally sourced produce are a good place to start. As a bonus, this usually gives you the chance to try local delicacies and discover the dishes that make your destination sing.

If you want to go one step further, a plant-based diet can reduce your personal footprint by up to 73 per cent.

New alternatives to carbon offsets

Major airlines including British Airways, Lufthansa and KLM have recently launched schemes which allow passengers to fund the use of sustainable aviation fuel (SAF). Mixed in a 50 per cent ratio with standard aviation fuel, SAFs have the potential to lower flight emissions by up to 80 per cent.

However, their long-term effectiveness in decarbonising travel is still unknown and these schemes are still voluntary and expensive. What impact they will have remains to be seen.

When you do fly, make it count

The pandemic has thrown into sharp relief what can happen when tourism stops.

According to non-profit Conservation International, COVID lockdowns drove an increase in illegal mining and deforestation in Colombia and Brazil. In Africa, the charity says, the collapse of the tourism industry has driven an “alarming increase” in poaching and wildlife trafficking.

The World Travel and Tourism Council estimates that tourism accounts for 319 million jobs globally. As well as protecting forests from more extractive industries, it funds crucial anti-poaching patrols, and has helped establish marine and terrestrial reserves that preserve global biodiversity.

Saving the planet will need both reductions in carbon emissions, plus extensive rewilding. If you do choose to fly, look for nature-positive holidays which actively benefit wildlife and habitats, and pick trips that ensure the money you spend ends up in local hands.

Carbon offsets aren’t even a sticking-plaster solution to our climate crisis.

Want to be a greener traveller? The truth is you’ll need to fly less and do more in your destination to reduce your carbon footprint. And when you do fly, make it count. You might find it makes for a more memorable holiday for you too.

Source: Euronews

Dubai ranked as top global destination for business events

Dubai was among the first destinations to resume in-person business events after the Covid-19 pandemic, hosting them as early as October 2020

Dubai has been named the number one destination globally for association meetings and business events in 2021 by a report of the International Congress and Convention Association (ICCA).

The newly published ICCA Statistics Report, published by state news agency WAM, ranked Dubai the top city in 2021 both for the number of meetings organised by international associations and estimated participants at these events.

Dubai is showcasing its excellence in hosting business events at the 2022 edition of IMEX Frankfurt, the world’s leading meetings industry exhibition, with its largest ever delegation at the trade show.

The record participation underlines Dubai’s position at the forefront of the global business event sector’s recovery and the strong interest from meeting planners across the world to explore the city’s offerings and capabilities.

Dubai was among the first destinations to resume in-person business events after the Covid-19 pandemic, opening itself to hosting international meetings and attendees as early as October 2020.

Helal Saeed Almarri, director general of Dubai’s Department of Economy and Tourism, said, “Dubai’s number one ranking reflects the priority placed on restarting business events in Dubai and engaging with the association community to highlight the city’s readiness and safety measures. We continue to work closely with international associations to ensure that Dubai can provide a platform for their business events and add momentum to the recoveries of the respective professions and industries they serve.”

Issam Kazim, CEO of Dubai Corporation for Tourism and Commerce Marketing, said, “We continue to see a robust and growing appetite among meeting planners and association executives to rebuild their event calendars and collaborate with destinations that can provide them with safety, stability and a diverse range of offerings. Our partners from across the city have once again stepped up to ensure that Dubai is able to present a unified and comprehensive proposition to a global audience.”

Source: Gulf Business

IMEX Frankfurt Asks Attendees to Take Pledge on Sustainability

As the business events community gathers in Germany for the 20th anniversary of IMEX Frankfurt, not only is there is focus on reconnecting after being away for two years but on sustainability as well.

As the business events community gathers in Germany for the 20th anniversary of IMEX Frankfurt, not only is there a focus on reconnecting after being away for two years but on sustainability as well.

IMEX asked all in attendance to take its People and Planet Pledge, consisting of four simple actions including choosing sustainable food options, recycling, and carbon offsetting travel.

IMEX is committed to the Net Zero Carbon Events initiative and will publish its pathway to net zero by the end of 2023. It uses the UN Sustainable Development Goals as a guide with the help of its sustainability consultants MeetGreen.

“We are committed not only to implementing best practices in event sustainability ourselves but also to using our influence to encourage everyone in our industry to maximize their efforts,” said Carina Bauer, CEO of the IMEX Group.

Not only is sustainability a focus of education programming at IMEX, but there is the IMEX-EIC People and Planet Village, a nature-inspired experiential area that highlights sustainability best practices.

For those interested in sustainable building design concepts, Kap Europa Messe Frankfurt was the world’s first convention building awarded Platinum Certification by the German Sustainable Building Council. Attendees had the chance to explore this venue in a behind-the-scenes tour.

In turn, many of IMEX Frankfurt’s exhibitors seized the opportunity to promote their sustainability efforts.

Destination Canada announced the launch of its Canadian Business Events Sustainability Plan, a first-of-its-kind national program aimed at improving the economic, social, and environmental sustainability practices of business events hosted in Canada. Actionable programs tailored toward the unique Sustainable Development Goals of individual cities will be rolled out to global clients to accelerate the industry’s progress toward net-zero targets.

“Developing and launching sustainable business event programs is not an option anymore. If our industry is to meet net-zero targets by no later than 2050, the entire supply chain must work in partnership to find and implement powerful solutions,” said Virginie De Visscher, Senior Director of Business Development, Economic Sectors, Destination Canada Business Events.

Another IMEX Frankfurt sustainability-focused initiative features the Scottish Event Campus (SEC) in Glasgow, which has pledged to plant a tree for every meeting the company hosts at the show. The SEC has an existing relationship with the charity Trees for Life, which it has worked with for the last 15 years, contributing to the growth of 170,000 trees. The SEC, which hosted the globally recognized COP26 conference last year, has also announced its ambition to achieve net zero by 2030.

PROMTUR Panama, the country’s official destination marketing organization, was on hand promoting its new brand, “Live For More,” which focuses on Panama’s culture and biodiversity offerings. Three heritage pillars are featured in this new campaign – its multifaceted culture and ethnic groups, including seven indigenous groups that coexist, biodiversity, and the ocean. Read more about Panama’s sustainable efforts here.

Attendees also gauged their sustainability efforts at the visitBerlin Berlin Convention Office booth. Experts from the Sustainable Meetings Berlin initiative will apply 65 measures included in the document Sustainable Guidelines Berlin, which outlines steps for sustainable event planning. These include CO2-friendly arrivals for participants, selecting regional foods for catering, and the use of energy-friendly technology.

Hanse Mondial, the recently appointed ground handler for IMEX in Frankfurt, is managing hosted buyer transfers to and from Messe Frankfurt during the show.

The company has technology at the forefront of its service, with measures including an app to ensure service runs efficiently and sustainably during the three days of the show. The company also offsets its carbon footprint through an extensive tree planting program, with nearly 3,000 trees planted worldwide over the past eight months.

Source: Skift

Russia-Ukraine crisis has less impact on airlines – IATA

Impact from the conflict in Ukraine on air travel has been limited, according to the International Air Transport Association (IATA).

It further said effects of the Corona virus Omicron variant continued to be largely confined to Asian domestic markets.

The latest IATA industry report shows total traffic in March as measured in revenue passenger kilometers was up 76 per cent compared to March last year.

Although that was lower than the 115.9 per cent rise in February year-over-year demand, volumes in March were the closest to 2019 pre-pandemic levels, at 41 per cent below.

Domestic traffic was up 11.7 per cent compared to the year-ago, far below the 60.7 per cent year-over-year improvement recorded in February.

This largely was a result of the Omicron-related lock downs in China. March domestic revenue per customer was down 23.2 per cent versus March 2019.

International revenue per passenger rose 285.3 per cent compared to same period last year, exceeding the 259.2 per cent gain experienced in February versus the year-earlier period.

Most regions boosted their performance compared to the prior month, led by carriers in Europe.

“With barriers to travel coming down in most places, we are seeing the long-expected surge in pent-up demand finally being realised,” IATA’s director general Willie Walsh said.

He added that unfortunately, there are long delays at many airports with insufficient resources to handle the growing numbers.

”This must be addressed urgently to avoid frustrating consumer enthusiasm for air travel,” he said. 

African airlines had a 91.8 per cent rise in March compared to a year ago, improved compared to the 70.8 per cent year-over-year increase recorded in February.

 Air travel demand is challenged by low vaccination rates on the continent as well as impacts from rising inflation.

Capacity in March was up 49.9 per cent and load factor climbed 14.1 percentage points to 64.5 per cent.

European carriers continued to lead the recovery, with March traffic rising 425.4 per cent compared to same period last year. It improved 384.6 per cent the previous month.

 The impact of the war in Ukraine has been relatively limited outside of traffic to and from Russia and countries neighbouring the conflict.

Capacity rose 224.5 per cent, and load factor climbed 27.8 percentage points to 72.7 per cent.

Europe was followed by Middle Eastern airlines’ whose traffic rose 245.8 per cent during the month under review compared to similar period last year.

March capacity rose 96.6 per cent versus the year-ago period, and load factor climbed 31.1 percentage points to 72.1 per cent.

Latin American airlines ‘March traffic rose 239.9 per cent compared to the same month last year, a little change from the 241.9 per cent increase in February.

 The region benefited from the end of bankruptcy procedures for some of the main carriers based there.

March capacity rose 173.2 per cent and load factor increased 15.8 percentage points to 80.3 per cent, which was the highest load factor among the regions for the 18th consecutive month.

North American carriers experienced a 227.8 per cent traffic rise in March, slightly down on the 237.3 per cent rise in February.

Capacity rose 91.9 per cent, and load factor climbed 31.2 percentage points to 75.4 per cent.

Source: The Star

Will the metaverse change the way the travel industry operates?

Covid-19 has pushed us to try out alternative ways to satisfy our urge for travel. It has also prompted organizations to accelerate technology adoption, fueled by the demand to find a substitute for travel. While there aren’t too many major solutions that have emerged in this space so far, a lot of work is going on behind the scenes. Technologies such as Augmented Reality (AR) and Virtual Reality (VR) will make it possible to provide a more immersive virtual travel experience in the future. Enter the game-changer – the ‘Metaverse’.

Owing to a quantum leap in technology advancements, the line between what is physical and digital is gradually getting blurred. Off late, there has been a lot of buzz about the metaverse and the fact that Facebook changed its parent organization’s name to ‘Meta’. It has sparked debate about the future of the metaverse and its impact on various businesses and the way we live our lives. The views on this topic are ‘diverse’, so to speak.

So, what is the metaverse? In simple terms, we would say it’s the immersive version of the internet, or a centralized virtual world, or a parallel digital universe. Something that we can all probably relate to, is Second Life – an online virtual world where one creates digital avatars of themselves, and lead digital lives, just like they would in the outside world. But the metaverse is much more than that. As a concept, it is in its infancy – there’s still long way to go before any real use cases emerge. A lot of what we are hearing right now is mere speculations and marketing hype. One thing to bear in mind though is that it may be what defines our future – just like how the internet took root in the seventies.

Currently, avatars exist within the platforms that provide the immersive experience, and they are not interchangeable. The concept of the metaverse is that avatars will be platform[1]agnostic, and we can seamlessly move around our digital assets from one platform to the other. This means that it’s interoperable and allows users to move around freely just like they would in the physical world.

So, the question is, if this parallel digital universe keeps expanding, what would its impact be on the Travel industry? Will people stop traveling altogether, and rather look to experience global destinations in virtual reality mode only? Will life as we know it transforms into a sci-fi movie? Not quite yet.

There’s no replacement for the human senses – it’s a combination of all the senses that help us experience various places. But if only one or two of those senses are being employed, then how can you really say that you’re experiencing a place? How do you substitute the feeling of droplets from a waterfall splashing on your skin, the gush of wind in your face, the smell of the earth after the rains, or the warmth of the sun caressing your face on a cold morning? Similarly, there is no replacement for human interaction – speaking to bots cannot give you the same feeling of meeting someone for the first time, building a connection, having a laugh together, or just enjoying each other’s company.

As you can see, the metaverse cannot replace travel completely. However, it will complement travel in a big way, and over time, it will be an essential part of the travel ecosystem. It could even change the way in which travelers engage in pre, post & in-trip purchases.

Here are the top 8 areas where I think the metaverse may change the Travel industry:

  1. Destination Window Shopping: Think about how it would feel if you had the ability to check out a destination before you travelled there. Imagine wandering down the streets of Rome, making plans and bookmarking the places you’d like to visit before the actual trip? It would be wonderful, wouldn’t it? The opportunities are endless – one could compare destinations before deciding where to visit, evaluate whether an attraction is worth visiting or have a look at the view before picking a hotel. This new immersive experience will be a great leap from the current modes of vacation planning that include reading blogs/magazines and watching YouTube videos. To make the experience even more immersive, an embedded AR technology can guide you through your virtual visit just like a tour guide would.
  2. Historical Travel: I want to travel to the Colosseum from 1,000 years ago, but alas, I was born a millennium too late. Can the metaverse make this dream a reality though? How cool would that be?! The metaverse can be used to recreate landmarks and buildings in all their past glory – a simulation of course, but effective, nonetheless. This will allow travelers to learn about history and experience how our ancestors lived.
  3. Hotel and Cruise Walkthrough: Before I choose a hotel room, I would like to virtually walk through the entire property and decide whether it matches my tastes, rather than just reading about it through reviews and looking at airbrushed pictures uploaded by the property. I really want to see how the room looks, and which direction it would be facing before I finalize my stay. That kind of detail is normally not available today even with 360-degree views, and many-a-times, we are in for a rude shock when we reach the room. I’m quite certain that the metaverse is going to be an integral part of the hotel booking experience soon, and hoteliers will have to have their presence in the metaverse. On the same note, cruise experiences are unique, and many different cruises have different layouts and standards of stay. Just like hotels, if customers could get a sense of the amenities onboard beforehand, it would help them avoid buyer’s remorse and enable them to plan their vacation better.
  4. Travel Bucket List: There are many places that are in my bucket list, and I realize that there are a lot of those that I probably would never be able to visit. I would rather be able to visit those places virtually, than not visit them at all. That’s another area that the metaverse experience can help generate value and generate additional revenue streams, if monetized properly. Even theme parks can have a presence in the metaverse, which can be accessed by kids and adults who can’t make the trip to experience it in person. Think about an underprivileged child enjoying the ‘Revenge of the Mummy’ ride in Universal Studios virtually – would that not be awesome?
  5. Airlines: Both Boeing and Airbus want to make metaverse work in the aviation industry and are betting big on it. Boeing is entering the metaverse to develop aircrafts, which may be ambitious and could be a strategic move, but at least they have started thinking about the future. Airlines may also start thinking about adopting the metaverse experience to boost the air travel experience – being able to check out the seats, legroom, cabin baggage fitment, infant bassinet placement etc. on the plane, for instance. This can enhance customer experience and help them shop for flights.
  6. Metaverse Tourism: Virtual experiences can be a boon for disabled and elderly people whose mobility is constrained. It can transport them to far-flung places from the comfort of their home and allow them to tick off the destinations on their list which they could never go to. It will also help reduce anxiety, loneliness, and improve their mental health. This in turn will enable rehabilitation and increase the overall quality of life. Historical travel will allow the elderly to take a trip down memory lane, quite literally!
  7. Train Stations and Airports: Once when I was at the tube station in Kings Cross in London, which had multiple levels of stations underground, I was a little overwhelmed. I found it hard to navigate around the station, and I was about to miss the train which would connect me to the airport. I remember thinking to myself, if only there was a virtual experience that would have helped me familiarize with the station beforehand. Busy places can be overwhelming at times, especially when you are with family and small kids. It is a similar case with busy airports, with multiple terminals. The metaverse experience can help travelers be comfortable with the location before they travel there.
  8. e-Commerce: What if you could shop at a metaverse store at one of your favorite travel destinations, and ship it home? That would be a perfect merger of tourism and eCommerce in a digital[1]physical handshake? Shops at these physical locations can increase their footfall by extending their presence into the metaverse. This will bring forth a new digital economy – one where users can create, buy, and sell goods with NFTs/cryptocurrencies. If a virtual shop gains popularity in the metaverse, at any destination, the opportunity arises to make a physical replica of it at the tourist spot. Sounds very futuristic, doesn’t it? Taking it even further, think about a scenario where a shop in the streets of San Francisco is owned by someone and the same shop in the metaverse may be owned by someone else. That would be quite odd, wouldn’t it?

All of this and beyond, is possible in a parallel virtual world, which will be a digital replica of the physical world. I’d like to reiterate – the opportunities are endless. The metaverse can help boost the Travel & Tourism industries, including hospitality, airlines, cruises, etc. People have opposing views of the metaverse at this time, since it’s still in its initial stage. But it is moving fast as bigger corporations including the likes of Meta (Facebook), Microsoft, Nvidia, Google and a handful of other companies have started investing in this space including, but not limited to, gaming, hardware, networking, virtual platforms, payment services, social media, etc. This augments various tools and standards, leading to a more mature, and real metaverse. The younger generations can adopt metaverse at an unimaginable pace, being digital-natives and tech-savvy travelers, so it is just a matter of time before one realizes the metaverse is here, and that it’s here to stay.

Source: Times of India

Digitalisation of Africa’s Airports Key to Economic Recovery

Critical airport worker and capacity shortfalls in Africa that threaten to keep flights and passengers grounded and impede the continents’ economic recovery can be rapidly and affordably addressed with the adoption of trusted, secure cloud-based solutions, according to SITA, the air transport industry IT and communications systems provider.

Recent experiences in the UK, Australia and other parts of the world exposed airports inability to cope with the surge in demand for air travel as countries are opened up and begin to put the COVID-19 pandemic behind them.

“As the recovery of Africa’s air transport market currently lags many bigger markets by a year, there is a golden opportunity for cash-strapped airports, including smaller provincial and regional facilities, to take pre-emptive steps and future-proof their operations to ensure they do not become transport and economic choke-points as they ramp-up. They can achieve this by digitalising their various passenger processing systems,” said Hani El Assaad, SITA’s President for Africa and the Middle East.

“With so many skilled and experienced people having left the industry during the pandemic, the clock is ticking for airports to ensure they are ready and able to meet the ever-increasing volumes of travellers, their luggage and cargo shipments. The solution is for all airports – from mega-hubs to small municipal and regional facilities — to digitalise and automate time-costly processes like passenger processing and baggage handling. Agile cloud technology platforms that are efficient, flexible, and scalable to fluctuating passenger volumes can help alleviate the pressure. By empowering passengers to use their mobile phones as a remote control for travel, we can reduce bottlenecks and offer a more seamless passenger journey,” El Assaad added.

Until recently, tech-infrastructure costs and support requirements deterred many smaller African airports from investing in digital systems. However, capable and scalable cloud-based technology has become significantly more affordable. It is now also well within reach of smaller, regional airports that need to meet the combined needs to be integrated into the global air transport system and to be able to instantly switch-on additional capacity.

In Africa, so much economic activity depends on airports having sufficient capacity to facilitate efficient, reliable, secure, and safe air transport services. By transforming the passenger experience and meeting their customer airlines’ demands for better efficiencies, smaller airports will be promoting themselves and the communities, industries, and markets they serve as safe, convenient, competitive, agile, and user-friendly destinations.

Over the past decades, the air transport industry has encouraged governments, regulators, and airport and airline operators to embrace digital technology. The result has been the advent of things we now take for granted, such as customer self-service check-in and self-baggage drop solutions, smart-phone boarding passes and various mobile apps, and Digital Health declarations and Trusted Travel Passes for storing and verifying boarding passes and COVID vaccination status, and more. SITA’s print is all over such technologies, and the post-pandemic recovery is a golden opportunity to accelerate and expand digitalisation and take full advantage of the benefits and opportunities it unlocks.

Source: This Day

DET launches ‘Service ambassador’ programme to enhance shopping experience

Dubai’s Department of Economy and Tourism (DET) has launched a ‘Service Ambassador’ programme with the objective of improving the customer experience in Dubai and thereby reduce consumer complaints. The programme, developed by DET’s Commercial Compliance and Consumer Protection (CCCP) Sector and Dubai College of Tourism (DCT) in cooperation with the Dubai Festivals and Retail Establishment (DFRE) features a specialised course designed to assist employees in businesses and commercial groups elevate the quality and efficiency of their customer service.

The Service Ambassador programme is part of a series of innovative initiatives being launched by CCCP to support business and enable merchants to maintain cordial relations with their customers. The course content will be offered online on DCT’s smart learning platform. Merchants can subscribe to the programme and trainees can log in and start learning from anywhere, anytime.

Mohammed Ali Rashed Lootah, CEO of Commercial Compliance and Consumer Protection sector stated that the Service Ambassador programme has been meticulously developed to address the most important aspects defining customer happiness, including service quality, warranty obligation as well as merchant-consumer relations and interaction.

“Shopping being a major factor in driving growth of tourism and retailing in Dubai, it’s important for businesses and all commercial outlets to maintain an exceptional level of customer service. The Commercial Compliance and Consumer Protection Sector and Dubai College of Tourism have jointly developed this programme drawing on our insights on the customer’s journey and expectations on shopping in Dubai,” Lootah said.

Ahmed Al Khaja, CEO, Dubai Festivals and Retail Establishment, said: “Dubai continues to grow its reputation as a top retail destination globally through an integrated shopping experience that features a broad spectrum of dining and entertainment. The new ‘Service Ambassador’ programme sheds light on the employees’ role and aims at elevating the customer experience through world class service. Excellent customer engagement does add a critical dimension to the shopping experience and is just one more compelling reason for UAE residents and global travellers to come to Dubai and also make a repeat visit to the city.”

Essa bin Hadher, General Manager, Dubai College of Tourism, said: “As Dubai aims to become the most liveable city in the world, it is crucial for those employed in customer-facing roles to deliver exceptional experiences across the board to both residents and visitors. The training programme that has been jointly developed by DCT and CCCP is structured to guide participants on ways of enhancing their customer service skills. Our College’s vast experience in developing and managing bespoke training programmes will be of immense benefit to both participants and their business establishments, as they work towards creating unique value and the best experience for customers.”

The Service Ambassador programme consists of two segments – one for customer service employees and sales staff, and another for supervisors of outlets and stores. Each programme is tailored to the role and functions of the respective target groups and their responsibilities towards consumers.

DET will supervise the programme for continuous improvements and support all subscribers and merchants to achieve the best outcomes. Ultimately, the programme seeks to support businesses and investors by increasing consumer confidence in Dubai and providing a unique shopping experience for residents and tourists.

Source: Zawya

Uganda’s tourism agency on charm offensive to boost cross border trade

Uganda Tourism Board (UTB) is seeking to partner with Kenyan tour operators to boost intra Africa tourism between the two East African countries with a focus on encouraging more tourists from Kenya to explore the natural, adventure, leisure, business and cultural attractions that Uganda has to offer.

The roadshow comes in the wake of an intensified campaign by UTB to reposition Uganda – The Pearl of Africa’ as a leading tourism destination in Africa under a new brand dubbed “Explore Uganda”. To kick off the activities, UTB has launched a roadshow at the Sarova Stanley Hotel in Nairobi, Kenya, from 23 rd to 25 th May in a bid to increase tourist arrivals from Kenya by 50% in 2023.

Kenya is a key tourism source market making up almost half of the African arrivals to the country. With Kenya’s developed travel trade sector, coupled with its connectivity to the rest of the world, Uganda Travel Trade partners will bank on the roadshow to secure partnerships that increase tourists to Uganda from Kenya. Over 278 operators from Kenya will create business linkages with 35 operators from Uganda.

Speaking at the launch ceremony, Uganda’s Deputy High Commissioner to Kenya, His Excellency Evans Aryabaha, hailed the tourism industry as a powerful catalyst that will enhance the bilateral and cultural relations between the two countries.

On her part, Ms Claire Mugabi, UTB Marketing Manager said that Kenya is the biggest source market of tourists in Uganda, and outlined future plans to increase awareness of Uganda as a destination that offers an adventure of a lifetime.

“Our refreshed destination brand identity captures the essence of the Pearl of Africa with its mesmerizing experiences catering to the needs of diverse travellers with its endemic and endangered flora and fauna, pleasant year-round weather, punctuated by unique scenery,” she added.

Kenya Association of Tour Operators Chair Mr. Fred Odek emphasized the need for joint tourism promotional activities by Kenya and Uganda tourism stakeholders.

“We see a great opportunity for outbound tourism to the East African Community (EAC) countries to get more tourists to Kenya and simultaneously send tourists from Kenya to other countries in the region. Uganda will benefit significantly owing to its geographical proximity and long history of good relations with Kenya,” said Mr. Odek.

Over 278 Kenya tourism and travel agents are expected to participate in the roadshow that is aimed at enhancing Destination Uganda’s presence in the Kenyan market. The event will also boost business-to-business opportunities while strengthening Explore Uganda brand in Kenya. The highlights of the three-day roadshow include Pearl of Africa brand launch in Kenya, direct engagements with key tourism trade partners, government representatives and travel media.

Before the pandemic, Uganda received over 1.5 million tourists in 2019 and registered over 512,000 travellers in 2020. However, the country’s tourism industry is poised for recovery with renewed emphasis on intra-African travel market as a key marketing strategy. in 2019, the Tourism sector contributed 7.7% of Uganda’s GDP and over 667,000 jobs. 58% of the Uganda tourism workforce is composed of women.

Tourism data from 2019 shows the top three Africa source markets in included Rwanda (32%), Kenya (24%) and Tanzania at 6%. President Yoweri Museveni described the new brand Explore Uganda, Pearl of Africa as a key strategy to re-imagine Uganda’s tourism sector and position the country as a competitive international travel destination.

Source: UG Standard

How travel companies can boost revenue with cloud

Eighty-two percent of travel executives say that increasing revenue is their top priority over the next two years, according to Accenture recent travel cloud survey. This view is no surprise considering the travel industry is still below 2019 revenue levels. But I think it raises two critical questions. What do customers want from travel companies? And how do travel companies deliver?

What do customers want from travel companies?

Seamless delivery.

Across almost every interaction, we (as customers) feel the strain of travel operations ramping back up. We feel the strain of staff as they cope with old and new demands, lower staffing levels, sickness and fellow travelers’ frustrations. We see the broken stitching between processes and departments across a journey that doesn’t go perfectly. And when we arrive at our destination, we’re relieved it’s over.

While we’re there, we see and feel the seams of hospitality travel technology in ways that weren’t noticeable before. Vouchers feel antiquated. Food waste is conspicuous. Queues are commonplace. Any lack of cleanliness is more noticeable—even though destinations are sparkling. When a switchboard operator asks, “To whom may I direct the call?,” it feels old-fashioned, but not delightfully quaint.

We want travel experiences to feel like other experiences, even though the experiences themselves are fragmented across so many travel service providers. First touch resolution is common across so many B2C industries that we suddenly expect it from travel companies.

And they can’t deliver (yet).

We also want travel companies to excel at upselling services—theirs and others’—that lift our experience through a retail marketplace. Many of us are open to paying for supplemental products and services from travel provider if they improve our experience. These extras could include everything from sports classes and fashion consultations to curated food boxes. Comfort, convenience and brand relevance will influence what actually sticks.

How do travel companies deliver?

In my view, travelers’ new expectations are a call for travel companies to finally break out of the strong process foundations laid at the beginning of the age of rail travel in the 1800s. These processes get in the way of delivering what customers want – new processes and technology is critical to doing this. The good news? Coming out of COVID, 51% of CXOs aspire to pivot into a tech-driven business model1, as part of their strategic priorities over the next two years.

It is certainly easy to say, “Here’s a quick fix. Migrate commercial, operational, and financial systems to the cloud and innovate from there. Today’s problems will be solved.” However, this isn’t true. The travel industry’s needs don’t have scalable quick fixes to these problems. Experience short-falls, contextual upsell problems, and rough seams between departments and providers, are a product of our existing, deeply ingrained ways of doing business in travel.

Right now, travel companies are unlocking smaller opportunities to grow ancillary revenue streams and improve differentiation, while many are avoiding addressing the larger opportunities. Ecosystem partnerships are essential. In fact, 44% of travel executives say that building ecosystem partnerships to combine complementary capabilities is a top business priority today. As digital blurs industry boundaries, there are so many possibilities to deliver multidimensional experiences.

Beyond migration to innovation

To take advantage of these possibilities and further diversify some of their revenue portfolio, travel companies need cloud. And it’s true that travel companies are migrating workloads to cloud and benefiting from cost savings and efficiency. However, those travel companies that go further and activate what we call the “Cloud Continuum” can have much greater success with ecosystem partners.

What does this “Cloud Continuum” mean? 

Cloud can already transform how ecosystem partners work together, making it easier to onboard new capabilities and service providers. It’s the foundation for simplified booking, merchandising discoverability and attribute-based selling, and integrated loyalty programs. In the Cloud Continuum, travel companies will move ever closer to interacting with travelers, combining who they are with their current transactional needs. None of this is possible unless travel companies adopt an ambition to seize cloud’s full potential.

A breakthrough approach to cloud

In our study, my colleagues found that Cloud Continuum companies make up just 12 to 15% of companies globally. Yes, cloud delivers cost savings and efficiencies for them, but their cloud investments are powering continuous reinvention. My colleagues also identified what it takes to become a Cloud Continuum company.

Know where you want to go. With so much pressure to transform experiences and serve “new travelers,” travel companies focus on acting for now instead of developing a flexible strategy over time. It’s essential to understand how cloud should factor into the ecosystem strategy with a realistic view of the gap between the current state and the desired future state.

Establish cloud practices to address your business needs. Continuum travel companies simultaneously focus on non-technology related capabilities across the workforce to smooth the transition and speed positive outcomes. In other words, the business must become infused with the vision of what improvements are possible now, using cloud technologies. Talent and skills development is hugely important because it generates the “pull” that helps improve the business processes driving agility.

Accelerate innovation to deliver exceptional experiences. Cloud Continuum companies make it a top priority to innovate with the experience. The thought shouldn’t be, “What can cloud do?” Rather, decision makers should ask, “What do travelers want from experiences? How do partners want to interact? And at a more technical level, how can cloud enable these expectations?” You can imagine this will require fundamental operating model changes in many travel companies.

Keep committing to the strategy. Cloud Continuum companies have an abundance mentality, not a scarcity mentality. Constantly thinking about costs and limiting resource use is naturally narrow because it ignores the downstream benefits from well-designed innovation and automation. The Cloud Continuum is the opposite of naturally narrow. It pushes leaders to think big and broadly—to go beyond the current state to see the possibilities down the road.

A continuum of new travel revenue opportunities

As we move into the next phase of travel’s revitalization, I expect that we’ll see many fascinating experience bundles from both aviation and hospitality players. The companies that excel here—in making the experiences seamless for the travelers and service providers they work with—will be on the Cloud Continuum, no doubt. They will find an abundance of opportunities to boost revenue.

Source: Accenture

Kenya Welcomes Indian Travellers as Tourism Recovery Takes Shape

Nairobi — The tourism sector has received a major boost from the Indian market with a visit of about 300 tourists for an excursion of the country’s tourism products.

Last week, Kenya played host to 150 Indian travellers for a tour of attractions within Nairobi and Masai Mara while another group is expected to the jet in first week of next month.

The trip which is part of an incentive programme organized through Reliance Industries (RIL’s), an Indian multinational conglomerate company, is a shot in the arm to the sector that is picking up from the travel restrictions as a result of the covid-19 pandemic.

The visit comes as part of efforts by Kenya’s Ministry of Tourism to boost MICE and B-leisure tourism, which is ideal for top executives and mid-level management visitors.

While receiving the first group of travellers at the Nairobi National Park, Kenya Tourism Board (KTB) termed the visit as a strong endorsement of the country’s resilience to the impact of the pandemic as well as a first step toward restoring the confidence of Indian travellers in the destination.

“We are delighted to welcome the first batch of an incentive travel group from India. It shows that the destination is quickly re-opening and going back to normal travel business as it were and we are ready and prepared to receive visitors from all corners of the world,” said KTB acting director of Marketing Development Fiona Ngesa.

According to KTB, the growing demand and preference for personalized service, preference for sustainable and responsible travel and affinity for experiential travel are key emerging travel trends that Kenya has adopted to cater for the tourists’ needs.

India is a top five tourist source market to Kenya and whose performance is expected to rise courtesy of incentive programs and other promotional campaigns that KTB has lined up in the market.

On his part, Destination Management Company (DMC) Safari Trails CEO Rajay Thethi, said Kenya’s decision to remove PCR testing for arriving passengers into the country and the resumption of daily flights to India has been key in the increasing interest to travel into the country.

“India is one of the emerging markets we have been focusing on and we are very grateful to the Kenyan government for allowing the resumption of daily direct flights from India on Kenya Airways and also making sure that travel between Kenya and India is eased,” Rajay noted.

Ease of access to Kenya through the national carrier, Kenya Airways, that flies twice daily from Mumbai to Nairobi among other airlines have increased in the past, the flow of visitors into Kenya from the Asian market

Kenya had in 2021 imposed restrictions on travellers from India with the country being one of the worst-hit by the Covid-19 Delta Variant.

However, after the decline in number and the vaccination of citizens, both countries have lifted the restriction with visitors being allowed to travel freely.

Source: Capital FM