Laura Vida

A recent white paper by Hotels and Resorts Middle East, on The Future of Hotel Design in the Middle East, found that with over 154,000 hotel rooms under construction, the Middle East is currently one of the most dynamic and innovative regions in the world in terms of shaping the future of hotel design. Led by Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Qatar, the next generation of Middle East hotels will deliver optimal experiences at a reduced environmental and financial cost.

This abundance of development does however face challenges where solutions must be found. These include improving the sustainability of hotels, delivering personalised guest experiences, appealing to Milllenials, achieving green design and operations, effective digital management systems and room technologies, and embracing emerging technologies.

Some outstanding development projects have already been achieved, surpassing challenges and displaying spectacular design. The Abraj Kudai in Mecca, Saudi Arabia, with an investment of US$3.5 million has achieved a fusion of contemporary and traditional design, non-intrusive security and surveillance systems, amenities suited to the 4/5 star guest, good transport links and access to the Grand Mosque. The Bulgari Resort and Residences in Dubai, is another example of exceptional design. Once opened, it will achieve new heights of luxury in a city already brimming with spectacular hospitality. Incorporating a man-made island in the shape of a sea-horse, and exteriors and interiors designed by a renowned Italian architect, it will demand the most expensive room rates in Dubai.

With increased demand expected for Expo 2020 and other mega events in the region, hotel brands must look beyond their existing models and create stand out designs to get ahead of the competition. As all eyes turn to the region, hoteliers are already rising to the challenge. To find out more on the future of hotel design and the effects on tourism, get in touch.

In the last six months, The Blueroom Project (TBP) has won four important accounts to consolidate their position as the leading boutique consultancy in Spain, specialising in communication and marketing for the tourism and lifestyle sector.

Early in the year TBP was selected to manage communications and PR for Qatar Airways in Spain and Portugal. The main aim is to increase awareness of this 5-Star airline along with its products and services on board. In April, TBP took over responsibility for communications and PR of the first Japan Tourism Office in Spain. In this role they will manage media relations and promote tourism, develop the honeymoon segment, and establish close links with tourism professionals. In May, TBP was selected by Transmediterranea, a leading shipping company in Spain, to strengthen their leadership and image, and establish them as a reference point for all transport of freight and passengers in Spain. The final prestigious account to be won was for South Africa Tourism (South Europe) where TBP will strengthen media relations, increase knowledge of this wonderful destination and create strong ties with the tourism sector. This prominent account is shared with fellow Pangaea Network members AIGO in Italy and Indigo in France.

A recent white paper by Trendwatching examined how precious a customer’s time is, and how best a brand can seize or save it. Despite a world of digital empowerment many feel time-starved. Customers value their time and attention, if it has been wasted you won’t be forgiven.

Saving attention during the customer journey is often invisible. Methods may be noticed the first time and then become routine. This attitude has been driven by on-demand expectations, virtual intelligence and the perception of a higher status the busier you are.

Tools to save attention include:

Outsource the thinking process – use hidden intelligence to make decisions for the customer such as a sensor and mobile app that tracks tire data.

Shorten the customer journey – improve the experience at each step such as groceries delivered straight to your fridge.

Eradicate pain points which waste attention.

Seizing attention is getting harder. To get consumers to engage, brands have to break loose and pop up in surprising places and delight new customers.

Tools to seize attention include:

Shock and awe – surprise your customer, redefine expectations.

Self-improvement – hard to impress clientele seek colourful stories to share with peers.

Experience factor – brand driven venues for work, coffee or performance can bring people together and seize attention.

The fundamental question is, are you seizing or saving your customer’s attention? It won’t be possible to be a saver or seizer throughout the customer’s journey, methods may vary at each step and from one customer to another but it is vital that you ask yourself the question on how best you can achieve this.

To find out more about how your tourism brand can seize or save attention at every single encounter with travellers, get in touch.

United Spirit Nordic as Visit Jordan’s representative, was given the challenge to increase and retain visitor numbers from Scandinavia to Aqaba in Jordan, a popular holiday area with Scandinavian tourists. Jordan Tourism Board, with Royal Wings, decided to add three direct flights to Aqaba, from Helsinki, Stockholm and Copenhagen. United Spirit Nordic managed to allocate all seat allotments with tour operators, monitored seat allocations and followed up with coop marketing funds for all three markets, in only 4 months. Together with the flights, United Spirit Nordic designed an awareness campaign which included outdoor branding, online presence and social media advertising and presence. The campaign was designed to fill the direct flights and increase visitor numbers. The campaign achieved increases in visitor numbers of 18.1% from Sweden, 103.2% from Copenhagen and123.2% from Finland (as of Feb 2017).

According to Euromonitor International, Authenticity is one of the latest Top 10 Consumer Trends.
Authencity has been identified as the key word helping sell items on eBay in 2016, by researchers Andrew Kehoe and Matt Gee from Birmingham City University’s School of English, when looking at the most lucrative words used by sellers. Company efforts to ensure authenticity are part of this reach for the real.

Real-world holidaying
In a backlash against digital dependency and the difficulty of uninterrupted reflection,several tour operators, cruise lines and resorts are promoting their unplugged vacations to help consumers get away from “synthetic” digital life.

Another authentic-leaning travel trend is the social impact holiday.
Companies target professionals aged 29–36 working in areas like tech, the media and other creative fields who holiday to mentor underprivileged fellow citizens, sharing their business acumen. Cruise lines aim to respond to customer hunger for purpose inviting passengers  to on-board self-improvement seminars and impact activities on land such as making water filters.

The international scene of high-end travel is undergoing a radical transformation: digital and hyper-connectivity are permanently changing the market and at the same time consumers and their values have evolved which has changed the traditional meaning of “luxury”. We can talk about the new direction of luxury travel and the new travel experience associated with it and this has real value when it is personal and shared.

Organised by AIGO, a leading Italian tourism marketing agency, and presented by Conde Nast Traveller Editor in chief Arch. Ettore Mocchetti, the conference  “The New Way of Luxury” – was aimed to explore the trends and various aspects of luxury travel.  The panel was composed of Joakim Everstin (Head of Innovation and Tech Evangelist, Sabre), Antonella Bertossi (Marketing Manager, Global Blue), Maurizio Saccani (Global Director of Operations, Rocco Forte Hotels), Mimma Posca (CEO, Vranken Pommery).
During the event the research “Post-Luxury Travel: The Changing Expectations of Luxury Travelers”conducted by Wouter Geerts, Euromonitor Senior Travel Analyst, was also previewed.

To download the presentations pls visit this page

The medical tourism industry is valued at $439 billion in a new report by VISA and Oxford Economics, which also found that 11 million individuals travel abroad each year in search of medical services. It is expected that medical tourism will grow by 25% annually over the next 10 years as an estimated 3% – 4% of the world’s population travel abroad to receive medical services. This in turn could lead to an increase in value of $3 trillion per year by 2025.

Using VISA transaction dates, the report studied cross-border spending in more than 176 countries. It found the most common reasons people leave their home country for health care include a higher quality of care and service, reduced costs, obtaining treatment and medication not available in their home country and the desire to combine medical procedures with attractive destinations and traditional tourism activities like sightseeing.

The growth in medical tourism is believed to driven by an aging global population, rising health-care costs and a boom in international transportation infrastructure development, such as the estimated 340 new international airports opening worldwide over the next decade.

The VISA and Oxford Economics report also incorporates data from a new report by the Medical Tourism Index (MTI) that lists the top 41 destinations for medical tourism in terms of quality and value. That report found Canada to be the top overall destination in the world for medical services, followed by the U.K., Israel, Singapore and India. Canada was also the leading country in terms of country environment and medical tourism costs, while Costa Rica was the most attractive destination and Israel had the best facilities and services.

Asia drives global outbound growth while Spain takes the lead for inbound tourism
Asia remains the number one source market region for growth in international travel with an overall increase of 9 per cent compared to the previous year, followed by South America with 5 percent. Outbound trips from North America and Europe both grew by 3 per cent. In absolute terms however, Europe prevails as the number one source market with more than half of the outbound travel volume worldwide. Yet when it comes to inbound tourism, Spain outperformed the US as the number one travel destination in 2016. Germany remains in third place while Italy and France follow in fourth and fifth place.
Source: IPK International @ITB Berlin