July 29, 2015 Tourism Staff Reports 10 a-g 1 of 54
DIRECTOR’S REPORT- Jack Wert
June – July 2015
ADVOCACY ACTIVITIES
Meetings with Comm. Taylor on TDC and BCC agendas
DMAI Advocacy Committee Meetings
Naples Chamber – Opportunity Naples Facilitation Committee meeting
TOURISM INDUSTRY ACTIVITIES
Meetings with Naples Chamber and Museum staff on new location for Downtown Visitor Center
Conference calls with Miami Dade Aviation Authority on possible regional event
Visit Florida International Marketing Committee meetings
Met with UK Consulate at Spirit of 45 event
Facilitated Annual Marketing Summit at Botanical Garden
DMAI Accreditation Board Conference Calls
TRADE SHOWS/TOURISM INDUSTRY CONFERENCES
DMAI Annual Meeting- Presented two sessions on destination marketing
Attended Accreditation Board Meeting
PUBLIC RELATIONS
WINK TV Interview on June statistics
PROMOTIONAL ACTIVITIES
Coordinated sweepstakes offerings for our Fall golf events
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GROUP SALES - Debi DeBenedetto
June 9, 2015 July 19, 2015
Industry Relations – Sales
• Final Visit Florida Sales committee meeting complete for the year • Attended 2015 Annual Marketing Summit CVB event July 1. • 2016 Trade show list started • Planning for 2016 Sales plan has begun – due date 7/24 • Judges selected and confirmed for Tourism Awards event on September 16th New Product Development
• Sales mission complete for North Carolina, June 23, 24, 25 for Charlotte, Chapel Hill & Durham/Raleigh. Tri city sales mission was successful with completed entertainment of over 32 Meeting planners. • Midwest Milwaukee and Minneapolis July 7-9. Two events completed with entertainment of Twins game for 17 planners in Minneapolis and 6 planners in Milwaukee at a Splash paint competition event. Rfp’s will be received. Follow up TBD. • Indianapolis August 20 cancelled for lack of partner participation. • Completed meeting flyer collateral • CVB services post card mailed to post show meeting planners as follow up to all events attended • Monthly newsletters complete • Continual proofing of Ad agency collateral and ads, etc. includes advertorial • Prepare for Connect show August • Prepare for SMU (Successful Meetings University) in August Trade shows attended
• Attended Collaborate show in Orlando June 11-13 26 with two hotel partners - Naples Grande & Ritz-Carlton
• Plan Your Meetings Raleigh, NC – met with 40 planners in speed dating format and attended educational event. • Collaborate show follow up complete • M&I event Milwaukee event attended. Trade show for all Meeting & Incentives company planners and sourcer contacts July 29, 2015 Tourism Staff Reports 10 a-g 3 of 54
Fams/Site Visits
• Pre-planning & Conference call for Golf Meeting Planner Fam confirmed to host and have hospitality suites at the LPGA– still planning and looks to be a promising event with good local hotel support – Nov. 20-23 • Collaborate Fam – post show Fam hosted successfully 13 planners 2 ½ day destination Fam June 13-16 • Three site visits upcoming planned or escorted pending June/July/August
Requests for Proposal (RFP’s) and Booked Business • Current report dates – June 9, 2015 – July 19, 2015 • We sent out 23 RFP’s – potential of $8.2 million EOC with 10,201 room nights
• Booking totals for report dates 9 booked for 3149 Room nights • Economic impact estimate for bookings this report date $2,366,503.55 • Open RFP’s pending with over $23.5 million in potential economic impact Sponsorships & RFP Enhancements • We had 4 enhancement requests granted for RFP submittals this period. Two RFP’s with enhancements we reported booked by our partners.
July 29, 2015 Tourism Staff Reports 10 a-g 4 of 54
LEISURE & STATE ASSOCIATION SALES- Claudia Cianfero-
June 13 – July 14, ‘15
Industry Relations – Sales – Memberships
• Attended monthly partner sales lunch. • Attended the Home Based Travel Agent Show June 22 – 24. Education, roundtable presentations and tradeshow to travel agents. • Attended the Global Travel Marketplace with hotel partner Naples Grande Beach Resort. Appointments with 58 luxury travel agents. • Met with partners to discuss September Sales Mission. Naples Grande, Everglades Area Tours and Naples Beach Hotel. New Product Development
• Strategic Partner Forum- July 1- Leisure and State Association discussions. • First draft of FY 2015-16 Leisure Sales Plan, tradeshows and budgets. • Final preparations for FSAE and ABA – July and August shows. • Ongoing proofing of Ad agency materials for leisure newsletter, ads, etc. Sales Missions/trade shows
• Working on Toronto Sales Mission week of September 28th. Familiarization Trips
• Escorted New World Travel/Dertour FAM June 20-21. • Final itinerary and rooming list sent for Visit USA Austria FAM. September 10 – 12, 2015. • FAM for Willy Scharnow Foundation FAM – dates set for Dec 9 – 12. Established Contacts/Leads – Leisure
• Presentation to 120 Travel Agents at roundtable discussions as part of the Home Based Travel Agent Show. Follow up done to agents. Also I received attendee list and sent follow up letter and Visitor Guide to the 850 travel agents. • 6 minute meetings with 58 travel agents over 2 days at the GTM show. Follow up done with all the agents. Also received full attendee list and sent out letter with Visitor Guide. • All contacts and lists shared with partners. July 29, 2015 Tourism Staff Reports 10 a-g 5 of 54
Florida State Association
• Attending the FSAE Annual Conference July 15 – 17, 2015. Co-hosting VIP Reception with all the Executive Members.
July 29, 2015 Tourism Staff Reports 10 a-g 6 of 54
PUBLIC RELATIONS & COMMUNICATIONS - JoNell Modys, Erin Smith
TOP ACTIVITIES U.S. Travel Association IPW Media Marketplace event with international and USA travel journalists U.S. Travel Association IPW travel tourism trade show Post press releases, photos, videos to IPW’s online TravMedia platform Twelve press releases distributed 60+ media submission and photo requests fulfilled Completed and posted new video about sea turtles in the destination for ParadiseCoast.com and YouTube channel CVB Strategic marketing retreat EOC Hurricane event exercise participation, WebEOC training Content updates including listings, events, deals, articles for website Social Media posting, conversation with followers Write and submit Collier Tourism columns to The News-Press Daily regional media monitoring and sharing of news to staff and strategic partners Compilation of local and national top publicity for CVB and Destination News Submission of media monitoring services vendors for purchasing approval Rally support for USA TODAY 10Best voting for Best Al Fresco Dining Neighborhood – 5th Ave. S. Updated Arena Facebook Permissions Implemented mobile navigation redesign Updated Meetings Deals section of website Overhaul and update of Web events section Updated the Major Annual Events listings
NEWS RELEASES What’s New 2015 Naples backgrounder release updates Marco Island backgrounder release updates Everglades City backgrounder release updates Fun Facts release updates AAA Living custom release – featuring a “Made In” locally-made product and major events for 2016 Stone Crab Festival 2015 Fact Sheet DMAP Re-Accreditation Destination Awards & Accolades – updates to previous version Pet Friendly Paradise Coast
MEDIA IN DESTINATION Sandra Friend, John Keatley – Florida Hikes Brazilian Motor Home FAM – Erin organized itinerary for 10 journalists, post-IPW Sonja Weisner – German blogger Simone Farret – Brazilian journalist
July 29, 2015 Tourism Staff Reports 10 a-g 7 of 54
MEDIA INFO SUBMISSIONS
>U.S. Travel Association – Jack Wert recorded lobbying video segment in favor of the Jolt Act for expansion of visa waiver program > ESPN Southwest Florida – ongoing submissions for outdoors, fishing, dining and entertainment news and events for weekly broadcast >eBella magazine – submitted article on Dolphin Explorer for the Naples Naturally column >News-Press – submitted every-other Thursday column highlighting destination features, benefits of Collier tourism >Florida Weekly – submitted lots of information on how restaurants and businesses promote during summer; also numbers showing that as far as hotel occupancy is concerned, there’s not much of an off-season any more. >Florida Weekly – assisted with inquiries and Jack Wert interview for marriage story in the wake of marriage equality ruling News-Press – info to Laura Ruane for pet-friendly story >Florida Hikes – working to schedule intense research FAM June 21-24 >Destination Weddings & Honeymoons – Fact checking for article, result of Sarah Sekula FAM >AAA Living – Submitted extensive information for their 2016 editorial calendar consideration, including a local business for the “MADE IN” feature; unique experiences available in Gulf Coast Everglades/Big Cypress for 100th Anniversary of US National Parks, extensive info on our major annual events >Gulfshore Life/Life in Naples – submitted tourism data >Lisa Cheng, Freelance for major national newspaper – submitted info and photo for rooftop lounge at Inn on Fifth for national story on rooftop spaces available for private parties >Florida Travel & Lifestyle magazine – provided photos for Sept/Oct issue Naples story; Nov/Dec issue Holiday issue >Statistic request follow-up Diane Loveless Gulfshore Life Magazine >Help Buzzy create basket /photos for eblast offer >Draft 4th of July Events PR/Blog >Send list of dog-friendly attractions/restaurants to Lou Hammond >Multiple Media requests Laura Ruane The News-Press >Media requests Nicole Papageorge WINK TV >Photo Media Request – Kim Bernstein AAA Auto Club South >Photo Media Request – for insurance company (meetings at Ritz-Carlton) >Photo Media Request – Kathy for Spotlight Magazine >Photo Media Request – Gregory Bailleul (macadamspirit.com) French Travel Agency >DMAI/DMAP photo caption request >Photo Media Request – Andrew Bender Forbes >B-Roll Media Request – Mylan Cannon US Travel Association >B-Roll and photography Request – Gabirelle O’Boyle Ritz-Carlton >Paradise Advertising information requests > Dana Spotlight Magazine – facilitated interview with Jack >Scott Simmons – facilitated information and interview with Jack >Requests from Lou Hammond – images, copy, etc. >Cleanpix photo request – Florida Vacation Homes, blog to supplement vacation rental website >Cleanpix photo request – Destination Weddings & Honeymoons, photos for a How to Marry: Florida story in the Sept/Oct 2015 issue >Cleanpix photo request – Images to promote October 2014 conference in Naples >Cleanpix photo request – images for Ted Soliday retirement brochure >Cleanpix photo request – images for AAA Auto Club Facebook post promoting Naples July 29, 2015 Tourism Staff Reports 10 a-g 8 of 54
>Cleanpix photo request – images for meeting event invite >Cleanpix photo request – Florida Homes magazine, images for their excursions page for a story on things to do in Naples >Cleanpix photo request – French tour operator, destination photos and video >Cleanpix photo request – Ochopee Post Office, LHA providing to media >Cleanpix photo request – Forbes – 10 Best Beaches coverage, image of Barefoot >Cleanpix photo request – Spotlight magazine tourism story >U.S. Travel Association – destination B-roll video footage to be used to accompany a video interview of Jack Wert discussing the benefits of the Visa Waiver Program to Naples economy. The final video will be used as part of the U.S. Travel Association's advocacy efforts to expand the program. For website and social media channels, non-commercial. >Cleanpix photo request – Barefoot Beach images for Honeymoons.com blog post >AmericAMagazine – Netherlands magazine for tour operators/travel agents proposal for sponsored content involving in-depth press trip visit – forwarded to German marketing office for consideration, budget
TOP PUBLICITY See spreadsheet attached.
DIGITAL JUNE 2015 Updated Arena Facebook Permissions Implemented mobile navigation redesign Posted various Press Releases Updated Partner Listings Updated Meetings Deals section of website Boosted Sports Facebook Video Updated Google API Promoted Pure Florida Facebook Contest Conducted Gift Basket Contest for subscribers Conducted a meeting with Miles Media in regards to redesigning the Paradise Coast Film Website Updated the Major Annual Events listings Constructed “Stakeholder Satisfaction Survey” for the CVB Marketing Summit
July 29, 2015 Tourism Staff Reports 10 a-g 9 of 54
FILM OFFICE – Maggie McCarty PRODUCTIONS . Leftfield Entertainment – TV series Producers shot in Naples for an episode of the popular HGTV series, Extreme Homes Nation. The series features an amazing assortment of unexpected and unique homes from around the world.
. SWFLTV – TV/digital media Local Film Company is working with Collier County capturing many of the county’s assets via drone photography
. Independent film –Jonathan Yaskoff, producer Independent film using several Naples locations. 220 room nights; 15-day shoo. Spent: $100,000
. Paradise Advertising – Summer CVB campaign Completed three-day shoot for the Paradise Coast Meeting Planners Guide. Locations included: Tiburon Golf Course, Keewaydin Island, The Edgewater Beach Hotel, the Inn on Fifth, Avenue 5 Restaurant, and the Naples Princess.
Here Fishy, Fishy, Fishy! Pure Image and Paradise crew coax our celebrity fish to hit his mark off
Keewaydin Island.
July 29, 2015 Tourism Staff Reports 10 a-g 10 of 54
WORKING LEADS . “Battle of the Great Christmas Light Fight” – ABC TV series Producer was interested in several local neighborhoods that go “all out” in the holiday spirit with trimmings and decorations.
. Brand USA/Miles – video Working with Brand USA on video content of the Paradise Coast area that will be geared to the Brazilian traveler. Tentative shoot scheduled for late-August.
. Mojo Ranch/Honda – still shoot/video Car company looking for picturesque drives and architecture for a commercial in our area. Especially interested in fountains and other water fixtures.
. Authentic Entertainment – TV series Producers are looking for locations that have venomous snakes for their program, Venom Hunters. Luckily our area is home to Florida coral snake, the cotton mouth and several rattlesnakes: diamond back, cane back and pygmy. Water moccasins are plentiful as well. We connected the show’s associated producer with contacts in both the national and state parks.
. Location Resources – TV commercial Representing an airline, the Miami-based location company wanted information and photos on Naples-area beaches.
. Klinik TV/Australia- TV series Producing a fishing adventure show for Network Seven in Australia. Segment will feature the Everglades, currently shooting and will air September in Australia.
. 495 Productions – TV reality series Producers scouted our area as a potential location for a 6-week reality series for CMT. Producer has said they are awaiting a “green light” from the network if the show will go forward in the near future.
. “Dream Beyond the Sun”- on-line game show Production requested permit applications for both City of Naples and Collier County
. The Weather Channel – tv show- “Fat Guys in the Woods” is interested in several Collier locations for a future episode July 29, 2015 Tourism Staff Reports 10 a-g 11 of 54
. Alaska TV- TV series for U.K. “Fishing Impossible” series is planning to shoot in summer 2015
. Twentieth Century Fox - feature Due to principle actor’s recent injury this feature has been put on an indefinite hold by the studio.
. Once Upon a Dream Productions – indie film Project is still in development and financing phase
. SON – indie film No new developments aside from seeking recommendations from studios that would be interested in bringing projects to the facility
. 25 – working title indie film No new start date set TV ALERT
A re-broadcast of a feature that was filmed in Collier in 2012 about the Steven Benson murder case in Naples is airing on the Investigation Discovery (ID) network. It’s featured on its TV series “Behind Mansion Walls.”
OPERATIONS . Issued film permits . Location library upload . Lead/inquiry response o Monthly Revenue Tracking-Followed-up with activity worksheets to clients . Made changes to Collier filming permit to include drone restrictive areas . -Opened a production file for each inquiry . Provided content to social media . Made final changes to Miles Media to improve and update the film commission’s website . Began vetting assistant candidates to work part-time in the film office
July 29, 2015 Tourism Staff Reports 10 a-g 12 of 54
MEETINGS
. Met with WGCU producer and VP from Pure Image to discuss possible collaborations.
EVENTS
. Attended the Reception for Her Majesty’s Counsel General hosted by the Naples Spirit of 45
July 29, 2015 Tourism Staff Reports 10 a-g 13 of 54
SPORTS MARKETING – Rob Wells, Parker Medley
Development
• Attended Lee County Sports Development Monthly Meeting • Met with Bob Musitano Regarding Alligator Alley Lax Classic • Conducted pre-event site visit with AJ & Jennifer Handler for the Pro Watercross Tour World Championship • Met with Golden Lion Productions regarding the Naples Sports Festival • Conducted site visit with Scott Schurr of the Florida Fireman Games • Conducted site visit with Julie Lanzillo of Infosport regarding hosting their Professional Soccer Combine • Met with Steve Vargas regarding future fast pitch softball events • Conducted site visit with Major League Triathlon • Conducted conference call with Lou Mengsol regarding future sponsorships and potentially hosting the US Sports Congress • Conducted conference call with Elite Tournaments regarding future soccer tournaments • Conducted site visit with Greg Kigar of National Pastime Athletics. They are looking to host a December 2015 lacrosse tournament • Met with Adrenaline Soccer Group regarding soccer facility • Hosted USSSA All-Star Baseball Tournament • Met with Parks and Recreation to discuss multiple issues regarding tournaments and events • Hosted MadLax Gulf Coast Classic Lacrosse Tournament • Hosted AAU Athletics Regional National Qualifier • Attended CVB Marketing Summit • Met with Marco’s Pizza regarding future sponsorships • Hosted Ignition NFL Training including NFL All-Pro Luke Kuechly • Submitted Bid to host US Lacrosse Fall Classic • Submitted Bid to host US Lacrosse Regional Championship • Submitted Bid to host US Lacrosse WCLA National Championship • Submitted Bid to host National Pastime Athletics Lacrosse Tournament • Submitted Bid to host GameDay USA Baseball and Fastpitch Tournament • Submitted Bid to host WSL Youth Baseball and Fastpitch Tournament • Submitted Bid to host ISSA Senior Softball Tournament • Submitted Bid to host Laxapalooza Lacrosse Tournament • Submitted Bid to host InfoSport Professional Soccer Combine
July 29, 2015 Tourism Staff Reports 10 a-g 14 of 54
Hosted Events - June
Event Date Attendees Room Nights Est Direct Spending
USSSA All-Star 6/11/2015 1,350 350 $506,250.00 Baseball Tournament
MadLax Florida 6/20/2015 1,764 500 $453,600.00 Gulf Coast Lacrosse Classic
AAU Athletics Regional Qualifier 6/25/2015 750 450 $300,000.00
Ignition NFL 5/9/2015 8 40 $6,000.00 Training
3,872 1,340 $1,265,850.00
July 29, 2015 Tourism Staff Reports 10 a-g 15 of 54
Month by Month Comparison
May 2014 2,105 329 $ 518,250.00
April 2015 3,872 1,340 $1,265,850.00
Month Over Month +1,767 +1,011 +$ 747,600.00
Year Over Year -6,751 -1,188 - $1,119,575.00
July 29, 2015 Tourism Staff Reports 10 a-g 16 of 54
OMMAC- UK REPRESENTATIVES- Oonagh McCullagh
HIGHLIGHTS OF THE MONTH:
IPW, Orlando – 31 May – 3 June 2015 We attended IPW in Orlando to promote our destination and highlight key product items, as well as presenting the latest information on what’s new. The UK International Advisory Committee (IAC) delivered 160 registered buyers for IPW exceeding 2014’s record, achieving the highest ever attendance levels from this market and the single largest attendance from any country this year. This reflected volume and quality of the pre-booked meeting schedule with UK & Ireland operators during the three business days of IPW driving a wide range of new partnership opportunities for the UK & Ireland market. Highlights included a successful workshop with Brand USA introducing the role out of phase three of the Thomas Cook partnership to key destination partners. Our region is in discussion with Thomas Cook to encourage new air service to RSW.
Throughout the week at IPW we attended all main events & networking opportunities including the Visit USA UK & Ireland reception.
IPW was attended by more than 1,149 exhibitor booths held by U.S. Suppliers of USA travel products and destinations and more than 5,000 attendees who are international travel buyers, domestic travel buyers and international journalists representing more than 70 countries. We had over 80 appointments/meetings together with our industry partners co-sharing our booth: Naples Grande, Holiday Inn & Marco island Marriott Resort.
IAGTO North America Golf Tourism Convention, Palm Springs – 14 -18 June 2015 Oonagh McCullagh represented the CVB at the 7th annual convention in Palm Springs, California to promote our destination and highlight key product items, as well as presenting the latest information on what’s new. The event exceeded the previous year’s attendance record hosting over 400 delegates. We had a full appointment schedule with over 30 appointments from 12 US Domestic & International countries. Speaking to delegates attending North America’s annual golf tourism convention Peter Walton, IAGTO’s CEO explained that the event was created in 2009 as a direct response to the beginning of the economic crisis in the US to help counter its impact on golf travel. We were NACs host in 2013 & previous NAC’s have been held in: Charleston; the Mississippi Gulf Coast; Monterey County, California; Miami and Palm Beach, and he confirmed that event had resulted in strong international growth in golf leisure sales. IAGTO used the convention platform to launch its collaborative ‘National Golf Tourism Survey’ in partnership with Brand USA, teaming up to support the country’s golf tourism industry in its efforts to drive golf tourism to the USA. Working with local CVBs and State Tourist Boards the NGTS’ first step is to better understand the current value of golf tourism, region by region, calculate the capacity for growth, and assist in the implementation of a nationwide golf tourism strategy to increase visitation, spend and market share. July 29, 2015 Tourism Staff Reports 10 a-g 17 of 54
The two organizations will evaluate the current state of golf tourism in the U.S. through an online survey that will be issued to golf courses and golf resorts across the country. Brand USA will promote the survey among local CVBs as a prelude to forging marketing strategies that elevate golf tourism. The important first step in any integrated golf tourism strategy is to calculate the current value of golf tourism and to assess its capacity for growth and this ground- breaking initiative identifies 30 U.S. states as being most relevant and attractive to international visitors traveling for the primary purpose of playing golf.
The United States has been officially documented as the fastest-growing golf destination for IAGTO golf tour operators and is projected to increase its share considerably over the next few years. In support of that statement the association revealed that 50% of the meetings requested by tour operators at the Palm Springs convention were scheduled with destinations and suppliers they were not currently selling. This was again a very successful trade show & ensured our region is top of mind for future growth.
Pictured below left: Oonagh McCullagh during meeting at the business appointments.
Pictured above right - at our table with industry partners L-R: Paulo, Marco Island Marriott Resort & Wendy, Naples Beach Hotel. And pictured Right - with Carolyn Jones, Visit Florida.
With our Industry Partners together with current & future IAGTO NAC hosts:
L-R: Carlton Carugati, IAGTO ;Jack Bickart, Pinehurst, N.C. (host for 2016 NAC); Devon Dow, Brand USA; Gary Orfield, Palm Springs (current host NAC); Wendy Cole, Naples Beach Hotel; Oonagh UK office, CVB & Paulo Machado, Marco island Marriott Resort July 29, 2015 Tourism Staff Reports 10 a-g 18 of 54
Visit Florida UK Summer Event, London – 25 June 2015 We participated & attended this summer trade event at Jamie Oliver’s Recipease in Notting Hill, London. It was an interactive informal networking event with the opportunity to meet with almost 30 key UK tour operator and airline contacts. A very successful event & providing an opportunity to keep our destination top of mind for leading decision makers.
MARKET UPDATE: A new BDRC holiday trends report for 2015 indicates that holiday aspiration and spend are on the rise – increasing financial confidence, aspirational holiday options, plus long haul travel and Transatlantic are now more widely considered in consumer holiday planning and buying.
Core marketing remains central to achieving this but the role of social media is increasing particularly amongst the younger generations. Holiday ambitions and spend is on the rise with four in every five Britons expecting to spend the same or more on holiday in 2015. Demand for overseas holidays is on the up but not necessarily to traditional destinations. Intention to holiday overseas has risen for 3rd consecutive year but trips to traditional Western Europe/Med countries are set to decline. The overseas rise is led by long haul destinations with the United States featuring highly on the list - Eastern & Central Europe are also set to rise in popularity.
This fits well with our region & a key message from Florida & USA on the experience focus around the great outdoors and National Parks (100 yr anniv) – positive indication that the UK and Ireland is poised to grow share in a burgeoning market underpinned by significant air service investment by the national airlines, legacy carriers and start-up no frills operators offering a massive 7% rise in capacity to the U.S. through core gateways in 2015 to top the 5% rise we saw in 2014
Generation Y, 20-34 year olds, are leading the breakaway in consideration of child free travel featuring more adventurous, further flung destinations. Driven by their use of Social Media and a fear of missing out, they are the more experience hungry age group. SM check-ins and photo sharing present a constant stream of possibilities as the quest to stand out becomes more competitive Longer planning and stays are impacting the rise in long haul holidays, meaning that the lead time between booking and travelling has increased, as has the expected length of holiday – expect a raft of early booking offers to drive the launch of the leading U.S. operator programmes for 2016 from September onwards. The research confirms that review sites continue to be influential in holiday booking behaviour with 7 out of every 10 using online reviews to help decide holiday destination. This is proven to be generation/age neutral with similar influence across generations. Interestingly, ‘website influence’ and talking to friends’ has dropped form 2014 at 55% to 48% in 2015 and social media influence increased from 2014 at 25% to 30% in 2015. July 29, 2015 Tourism Staff Reports 10 a-g 19 of 54
Foreign Office updates Greece advice as debt deadline looms The Foreign Office (FCO) has raised the possibility of increased demonstrations in Greece as the country looks set to miss the deadline for paying off a €1.6 billion loan. The country will head to the polls to vote on whether Greece should accept the latest terms from its creditors, which the FCO said “may lead to an increase in demonstrations across the country.” The FCO is also suggesting travellers take sufficient cash to cover their stay. June 30 is the deadline for Greece to pay off a loan to the International Monetary Fund but according to The Guardian the country will not make the payment. The euro is currently at a seven-year low against the pound and stock markets across Europe are slumping. The falling euro does offer holidaymakers greater spending power. Yesterday the UK arm of the Greek National Tourism Organisation moved to allay concerns about withdrawal limits on cash machines in the country. Kuoni UK looks to new investment Kuoni UK hopes to use new investment to improve expertise, customer relations and its links to good agents. UK MD Derek Jones said that additional investment would mean these areas could be further improved. He added that Kuoni's new owner, REWE Group, had pledged to invest in the tour operator as part of its 'ambitious growth plans'.
The sale was confirmed of the entire Kuoni UK Group including the main Kuoni tour operating brand, its 34 Kuoni-branded travel shops and John Lewis concessions as well as specialist travel businesses Carrier, CV Villas, Kirker and Voyage Jules Verne to the owner of German operator DER Touristic.
Virgin commits to second summer of Belfast-Orlando flights
Virgin Atlantic has confirmed that its summer Belfast to Orlando flights, will return in 2016. The airline said the weekly service, which will run for four weeks this summer, will return at the end of June next year. The service is part of Virgin's joint venture partnership with Delta Air Lines. Virgin said 50% of the bookings were made as part of a holiday package with its tour operator Virgin Holidays
Virgin Atlantic is to restore its second daily Los Angeles-Heathrow service this winter, the additional route will replace partner Delta's LAX-Heathrow service, which will cease in October.
At the same time, Delta will also cease its Newark-Heathrow daily service - the two carriers also operate eight flights a day between Heathrow and New York JFK – where our destination can gain access via connection to RSW.
July 29, 2015 Tourism Staff Reports 10 a-g 20 of 54
Ryanair confirmed as world's largest international airline
Delta is the world's largest airline in terms of passenger numbers, but Ryanair (Ireland’s low cost airline) carries more passengers on international routes than any other. Latest data released by IATA revealed that Ryanair carried 86.3 million international passengers last year, making it the world's largest international airline, well ahead of EasyJet in second place with 56.3 million. British Airways lagged well behind in fifth place with 35.3 million, after Lufthansa with 48.2m and Emirates with 47.2m.
Qatar Airways' plans to boost flights may rile U.S. airlines
Qatar Airways recently said it plans to expand its services to the United States, in a move that likely will trigger a backlash from U.S. airlines that accuse it of competing unfairly through state subsidies. The Gulf carrier announced its first direct flights to Los Angeles, Boston and Atlanta from its Doha hub and its second daily flight to New York. The expansion comes as Delta Air Lines Inc, United Continental Holdings Inc and American Airlines Group Inc press for a temporary freeze on new Gulf airline service to the United States.
Travel and tourism spend decelerated in the first quarter of 2015
The Bureau of Economic Analysis reports first-quarter travel spend increased at an annual rate of 2%, substantially down on the 2014 fourth-quarter figure of 4.9%.
By comparison, real GDP turned down, decreasing 0.7% in the first quarter after increasing 2.2%.
Overall growth in prices for travel and tourism goods and services continued to decline in the first quarter of 2015, decreasing 9.1% following a decrease of 4.7% in the fourth quarter.
The continued decline was mainly attributable to a large decrease in 'all other transportation- related commodities', which includes gasoline; this commodity group decreased 33.4% in the first quarter after decreasing 23.5% in the fourth quarter.
Employment in the travel and tourism industries increased 2.3% in the first quarter of 2015 after increasing 2.9 percent (revised) in the fourth quarter and marks the 20th consecutive quarter of employment growth in the travel and tourism industries.
July 29, 2015 Tourism Staff Reports 10 a-g 21 of 54
UPCOMING EVENTS
DATE SPECIAL EVENT LOCATION
2 July Visit USA Independence Ball London, UK
9 July USA VIP Networking Event Dublin Ireland
July / August Tour Operator trainings UK & Ireland
MARKETING/SALES/PROJECTS & ACTIVITIES:
Travel Media Event – Dublin - We will attend this event leading media & trade networking event in July – it is now confirm the U.S. Ambassador to Ireland will attend. Sponsors are Brand USA/Visit USA, Delta Air Lines, Philadelphia CVB, Visit California, Hertz, & Universal Park & Resorts. Stats – 367,110 Irish residents travelled to the U.S in 2014, representing a 7.6% increase compared with 2013. Overall a very positive growth to date.
Travel Agents Online Training: We are providing content to Brand USA regarding the development of our dedicated destination badge (module) for the Agents Discovery Programme - USAdiscoveryprogram.co.uk – online travel agents training. Although this is a global program it is being managed & operated from the Brand USA UK office.
Visit USA Ireland Fam with United Airlines & Hertz: On-going activity – we will be reaching out to our industry partners to secure an exciting itinerary for fam in September ’15 – total of 10 guests in the group. Accommodations confirmed at Bellasera during IPW.
US Airtours: Following meeting awaiting on proposal for co-op activity – this operator are currently pro- actively promoting our destination following co-op support from previous years.
Virgin Holidays: On-going - following up on the recent co-op campaign ensuring billing & back up are in place.
BA/BA Holidays: On-going - following up with the upcoming co-op campaign & incentive with the new dedicated call res team.
Ocean Holidays: Co-op campaign start July - with focus on driving room nights for the late summer booking period & next year. Training with res staff confirmed for July 13th. July 29, 2015 Tourism Staff Reports 10 a-g 22 of 54
Golfbreaks.com: On-going - following up with current co-op campaign & focus on driving additional room nights & golf rounds in the low season. Conformed support with Brand USA / Visit Florida campaign for next year start date Oct’15.
Elegant Resorts: On-going working with high-end tour operator for upcoming training event & additional exposure for our region.
Norwegian Airlines: On-going - seeking opportunities for RSW
NATS – North America Travel Services: On-going - assisting with issue they experienced with a home rental in our area.
Hertz Car rental: On-going - working on support with Visit USA Ireland fam & with IAGTO NAC – car rental is an essential part of the international visitor experience – we see to gain Hertz as a co-op partner with our activity.
TRADE EVENTS • IPW, 31 May – 4 June 2015, Orlando, Florida – details as above
• IAGTO North America Convention, 14 – 18 June 2015, Palm Springs, California– details as above
• Visit Florida UK Summer Event, London – 25 June 2015 – details as above
Distribution of marketing material Provision of ongoing assistance with literature requests for both trade & consumers. Update TBC.
Estimated Value Summary of Leads/Activity
Lead /Activity Media – Value Potential Room Economic Nights Impact $
The Scottish Sun PR value: £76,462.50 GBP 12 AVG PER GUEST TBD
July 29, 2015 Tourism Staff Reports 10 a-g 23 of 54
PUBLIC RELATIONS AND SOCIAL MEDIA ACTIVITIES:
CONTACT ACTIVITY RESULT
Social Media: Weekly channel updates. OMMAC continues to share posts across Facebook and Twitter Facebook and Twitter in order to increase traffic to Paradise Coast UK Facebook and Twitter pages. The Daily / Sunday Mail Visit in Oct’15 - Workin on Securing airline with Aer Lingus & Ireland fam trip for Philip Quinn, American Holidays. Planning itinerary to Sports desk, writing for follow. the travel section The Scottish Sun is the Followvisit to Naples 20 – Heather’s Naples piece ran on Saturday Scottish version of The Sun 22 April’15. 30 May including a factbox with the - national tabloid Paradise Coast URL and partner newspaper. Details highlighted in mentions. – See below Audience and Readership: December’s monthly Aimed at Scottish residents report. Circulation: 218,708 Readership: 674,738 The Sun Media meeting with Lisa To follow up with more details 1,857,700 Minot, travel editor
The Telegraph Follow up from media Followed up with further information and 479,290 meeting with Ben Ross waiting for feedback before providing specific package details
July 29, 2015 Tourism Staff Reports 10 a-g 24 of 54
Coverage
Author: Heather Lowrie
Publication: The Scottish Sun
Circulation: 218,708 / Readership: 674,738/ AVE value: £25,487.50 /PR value: £76,462.50
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Facebook and Twitter updates July 29, 2015 Tourism Staff Reports 10 a-g 26 of 54
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DIAMONDE- EUROPEAN REPRESENTATIVES – Stefanie Paul, Ramona Oehler
TOUR OPERATOR ACCOUNTS
Key Accounts Tour Operator Achievement Cost
America Unlimited, Sent 60 visitor guides and maps to their Sarah Harwardt office in order to be distributed along with their travel documents.
America Unlimited, Received first reporting of April online Timo Kohlenberg promotion: A total of 350 room nights were generated so far.
Dertour, Katja Finalized itinerary for the Dertour Wagner Academy pre and post fam trips (2 groups, 12 agents each) which will take place in November 2015.
Benelux Accounts Tour Operator Achievement Cost
Travel Trend, Peter TO Product Call. General feedback: van Veenendaal He is very happy with performance, booking numbers are still picking up in general but for FL especially. Exchange rate no influence yet, as they could secure the currency for the summer season
He does expect however a noticeable drop starting winter
Marketing idea: Create a new Florida flydrive with 1-2 more partners and promote it with mailings and highlights on their website. Interest of other FL partners tbd. July 29, 2015 Tourism Staff Reports 10 a-g 28 of 54
Tenzing Travel Secured participation in their B2B €475 (share for workshop in Amsterdam, October 29, NAP, total event 2015. cost of 950 split with the Fontainebleau Miami Beach)
Exclusive Contacted Exclusive Destinations Destinations, Patricia Product & Contracting Manager Schaumanns Patricia Schaumanns to determine their potential and learn more about their business. They are an upscale TO based in Belgium, selling through Belgian and Dutch travel agencies. MIA is their best selling destination. She has been to Florida countless times and knows Naples very well. Currently, the Ritz Carlton in Naples is their only hotel featured in the brochure. However, this only serves the customer to get an idea. They book though Bonotel and are able to offer any hotel that is contracted with them. Training possibility tbd.
Secondary Accounts Tour Operator Achievement Cost
Fairflight, Beatrice Sent 60 visitor guides and brochures to their Erbert office in order to be distributed with their travel documentation.
Karawane Reisen, Introductory Product Call: FL is doing very Constanze Rickert well but their most requested destinations are US Westcoast and New England. Provided images for their website July 29, 2015 Tourism Staff Reports 10 a-g 29 of 54
Explorer Fernreisen As part of our Florida Marketing Campaign, the mini brochure was printed and published. It is available in all Explorer stores, was published with the latest issue of the American Journal and will continue to be spread with various travel magazines in the upcoming months. Additionally, we could secure the inclusion of a NAP dedicated travel offer in the Explorer newsletter sent to 32,000 recipients on June 23, 2015. The newsletter has a value of €700 and we could secure it free of charge. Please find the layout attached.
TRAVEL AGENTS
Sales calls: Total of 46 personal visits to travel agents in Northern Rhineland, Berlin, as well as the Swiss cities of Winterthur, Zug, Lucerne and St. Gallen. Booking Assistance: Assisted 1 agency with requests on tours and accommodations
EVENTS
Visit Florida Roadshow o Dates: June 15-18, 2015 o Cities: Basel (CH), Mainz, Nuremberg, Linz (AT) o Visit Florida members: Ft. Myers, Florida Keys, Seaworld, St. Pete, FTI, Bradenton, Panama City Beach o Profile /Number of attendees: 175 travel agents o Add-On: In addition to the roadshow we could secure participation in the radio travel magazine from the station “Antenne Mainz”, which has 30,000 listeners per issue (every Sunday). They did record for a Florida special and could we gain 2.5 minutes air time to showcase the highlights of our destination.
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o Feedback: The events were set up in a workshop format in a round table style, where the partners were to hold a 10 minutes presentation on a table of 10 agents and then change to the next table. In between meal courses, there was always the opportunity for networking, answering questions and interact with the agents. The feedback we have received has been very positive. All the agents were looking for more detailed information about Florida, on what to do and also the main differences between the counties. Every city was completely booked which shows the great interest of the agents. In Linz, the event has not taken place in a typical event location but in the FTI Austrian HQ which gave us the chance to not only train travel agents but also the FTI in-house staff. IPW Orlando o Dates: June 1-3, 2015 o City: Orlando o Feedback: Attended IPW in Orlando and held meetings with a total of 23 accounts from the DACH and BeNeLux market. Please find attached an additional trip report for more detailed information on each meeting held. A detailed follow up was done for all meetings held. To summarize the trade show: It had a very good outcome resulting from productive meetings. The feedback on the booking situation to NAP was very positive, however, the exchange rate issue is present – on the German market rather with the smaller and midsize tour operators than the big ones. The Swiss tour operators are all struggling at the moment due to the falling Euro which makes their clients to rather book with the German TA/TOs. Therefore, especially with TUI, the TOs report a shift in booking from Swiss TOs to German TOs. The Dutch market seems to be back, however, all of them reported a much stronger increase for the West Coast of the US than for Florida. At the same time, they cannot explain why. Visit USA DACH IPW Brakfast o Dates: May 31, 2015 o City: Orlando, at the Hilton Orlando o Feedback: Attended the traditional VUSA DACH IPW breakfast which is always an event with excellent networking opportunities with the German, Austrian and Swiss trade. July 29, 2015 Tourism Staff Reports 10 a-g 31 of 54
Registrations / Preparations o Preparation for Visit USA Austria fam (Sep 2015) MARKETING
Type of Activity Details Cost
Visit Florida Shared images and details about our beaches with the Visit Florida PR department to be used for an online mailing sent out on June 29, 2015.
Naples Newsletter Sent out dedicated Naples newsletter B2B featuring summer activities on the water to 3301 agencies in DACH on June 30, 2015
Naples Newsletter Sent out dedicated Naples newsletter B2C featuring summer activities on the water to 592 consumers in DACH on June 30, 2015
Bell Marketing Dutch Sent out a dedicated mailing introducing € 2,520 B2C Mailing the Paradise Coast and highlighting its key features to 360,000 consumers in the Netherlands on June 20, 2015. Please find the layout attached.
DiaMonde Dazzling Included Naples as Top Story in out Stories Top Story agency newsletter sent out to 8657 agents in DACH and LUX on June 25, 2015. The newsletter featured an interview with Natasa reviewing the 10 years partnership between DiaMonde and the CVB.
Facebook # posts: 8 #fans: 7,124
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MEDIA / PR
Das schmeckt: Secured inclusion of Paradise Coast in an article of the culinary magazine “Das Schmeckt”. The journalist has covered a story about the culinary highlights of Florida and we could secure the inclusion of the Paradise Coast as well (text and image), with its famous Stone Crabs. The magazine is published 13 / year and has a circulation of 100,000. It belongs to one of the biggest German grocery store chains (Edeka: 11,500 stores in Germany) and can be purchased in their stores. Please find the clipping attached.
TIP Austria: Resulting from our meeting at ITB, we could secure the inclusion of Naples into the online USA tip section of the Austrian magazine “TIP”. It introduces Naples as a culinary destination highlighting the “Naples Originals”. Please find the clipping attached.
PROJECTS
Receptives: Researched and contacted 3 more receptives for the opportunity of local tours and attractions to be included into their program and thereby becoming available to European tour operators. o Bonotel: For them, the estimated volume is too small in order to offer any contracts. They have not been getting many requests for attractions in our area. Tour operators can, however, request any tour on an individual basis and Bonotel will be trying to offer it to them. Should the volume of requests increase they will again look at options to contract local attractions. o GTA: They were very hesitant, but have agreed to receive information from our end about possible attractions and will look into it. o ATI: They were very open towards to idea of including more local tours and have asked for suggestions and background information, which we have provided. Outcome tbd. o Paradise Coast Website: Reviewed the GetSmart Germany panel on the English website and suggested corrections to miles.
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CONSUMER
Brochure fulfillment: 8 in total
HIGHLIGHTS IN JULY
DiaMonde Dinner Event, July 22, 2015 TA Sales Calls in Southwest Germany, July 27-31, 2015 Meier’s Weltreisen Winter Openings in Freiburg & Konstanz, July 28-29, 2015 Training Boomerang Sales Office in Stuttgart, July 1, 2015-06-25 Training Explorer Fernreisen Sales Office in Stuttgart, July 1, 2015 Explorer Fernreisen online promotion, ongoing MARKET NEWS
Economic Overview Germany
The Economic Situation in Germany:
The upswing in the German economy continued in the first quarter. According to the latest figures from the Federal Statistical Office, gross domestic product (GDP) increased appreciably in the first quarter of 2015, at +0.3%.
The current picture of the economy suggests that the upturn will continue at a moderate pace. The depreciation of the euro is improving price competitiveness. This means that foreign trade can be expected to have a positive impact on growth in the spring. The rise in consumer spending is likely to continue, and investment activity is likely to accelerate further. Nevertheless, there continue to be numerous risks for the German economy due to the crisis in Greece, the conflict between Russia and Ukraine, and the tensions in the Middle East.
The industrial sector has lost steam in recent months. Key capital goods sectors like mechanical engineering and the automotive industry showed little dynamism, according to recent figures. The mood in manufacturing companies remains good. Low oil prices resulted in a moderate development of the price level, despite the depreciation of the euro. In view of the cyclical upturn and favorable weather, the labor market is continuing its development. In seasonally adjusted terms, employment increased, albeit at a slower rate. (Source: bmwi) July 29, 2015 Tourism Staff Reports 10 a-g 34 of 54
Tourism Market Overview Germany
Schauinsland-Reisen: 15% growth and winter expansion //USA new in program
Fast-growing German tour operator Schauinsland-Reisen expects to close the 2014/15 year with a 15% increase in customer numbers and is expanding its program further for winter 2015/16.
The family-owned company confirmed its forecast made at ITB Berlin in March that it expects a 15% rise in customer numbers this year from the 1.25 million holidaymakers last year. Owner Gerald Kassner said he expected a similar positive bookings trend next year.
For winter 2015/16, Schauinsland-Reisen has added 400 new hotels in short- and long-haul destinations. There are five brochures, including a winter sun holidays brochure for the first time, and more than 1,000 hotels with first-class beach locations.
Prices will remain largely stable.
Schauinsland-Reisen offers travel trips to the USA from Germany, Switzerland and Austria (airports Chicago and New York, Las Vegas as well as airports in Florida are already in the booking system). Airline partners are Air Berlin, Condor, Lufthansa, American Airlines, United, KLM etc. The USA program can be booked for the summer season 2015. Some products are already in the booking system for the winter program.
(Source: FVW June 11 + Travel Inside May 29)
Online bookings: Newcomers target destination activities
Start-ups in Germany are successfully targeting the lucrative market for destination activities such as excursions and tours by offering cheaper advance bookings.
The market for destination leisure activities is massive, according to US market researchers Phocuswright. In Europe alone, travelers spend about €37 billion a year on activities such as excursions, tours and tickets for attractions. The destination activities market is thus “three times larger than that for car rentals and nearly half the size of that for hotels and accommodation”, according to the firm. “About one third of the travel budget is spent in the destination,” says July 29, 2015 Tourism Staff Reports 10 a-g 35 of 54
Johannes Reck, founder and CEO of Berlin-based firm Get Your Guide. Traditionally, many such activities are booked directly in the destination, for example through a hotel, tour operator representative or local agency. But with margins of up to 80% these are often highly over-priced. A new generation of specialist start-up firms is now targeting this sector by offering lower prices for advance online bookings.
Get Your Guide has some 25,000 offers in 2,400 different destinations that holidaymakers can book through its portal. The company sells mostly directly to consumers but also to tour operators and travel agencies. Last year Get Your Guide raised US$25 million in a financing round.
TripAdvisor has also discovered this business and last year bought the US portal Viator for €175 million.
Another player is Kuoni subsidiary GTA which markets similar products through its Travelcube product directly to some 4,500 travel agencies in Germany.
(Source: FVW May 28)
Thomas Cook: Comeback for Geske + joint venture with Chinese firms
Long-serving manager Günter Geske is making an unexpected comeback at Thomas Cook Germany following the surprise departure of managing director Michael Tenzer and ahead of the arrival of Stefanie Berk in August. The 60-year- old retired from the company at the end of January after a long career running Bucher Reisen, the company’s budget brand, and as head of sales and marketing for the whole company in Germany. But Christoph Debus, who has taken interim charge of Thomas Cook Germany alongside his role running Thomas Cook Airlines, has decided to call on the services of the experienced tourism manager in the run-up to the peak season to cover the current ‘management gap’.
Geske will act on an advisory basis, and support Thomas Cook’s short-haul air- based holidays business along with flight capacity and yield management for the current summer 2015 season. These are his core competences. In addition, Cook is currently preparing its winter 2015/16 program and also working on the summer 2016 season. However, it is clear that Geske is expected to help improve the results in Germany where the company continues to see tough trading July 29, 2015 Tourism Staff Reports 10 a-g 36 of 54
conditions and later booking trends. In the first half-year, revenues dropped 1.3% to £673 million due to weaker demand and competitive conditions and there was a slight £1 million loss compared to a £6 million profit one year earlier.
DER Touristik turns European with Kuoni deal
Germany’s DER Touristik will become Europe’s clear third-largest tourism group behind TUI and Thomas Cook with the historic takeover of Kuoni’s European tour operators by parent company Rewe for a relatively low price.
Rewe will pay an undisclosed sum for the acquisition of all of Kuoni’s tour operators, travel agencies and associated businesses in Europe, with some 2,350 staff, under the agreement announced yesterday (June 22). Analysts from the Züricher Kantonalbank and Bank Vontobel estimated the likely sale price at about only CHF 120 – 130 million due to the weak financial results of the tour operator businesses, which was below Kuoni’s targeted sale price. The Swiss group is exiting the traditional tour operator business after more than 100 years under a strategic U-turn.
The takeover, covering 40 companies in total, needs to be approved by EU and Swiss competition authorities but problems are not expected, and the transaction is scheduled to be completed in the third quarter of 2015. However, the Swiss group’s tour operators in Hong Kong/China and India are not part of the mega-deal and will be sold separately.
DER Touristik will grow into a pan-European group with revenues of about €7 billion (and some 7.7 million customers) with the takeover of the tour operator businesses in Switzerland, Scandinavia/Finland, the UK and Benelux, which have combined revenues of about €2 billion and 1.5 million customers. In comparison, TUI had group revenues of some €18.7 billion and Thomas Cook of about €10.7 billion last year while DER Touristik (€4.9 billion) was just ahead of Kuoni (€4.7 billion).
Kuoni’s large tour operators generate about €1.2 billion in revenues, the specialist brands about €400 million and the rest is generated by travel agencies, including 82 outlets in Switzerland and 34 travel shops in the UK. The Nordics are the biggest tour operator business with turnover of CHF 844 million in 2014 and number three in the region. In Switzerland, Kuoni is the market leader with turnover of CHF 679 million (2014). Kuoni UK, with revenues of CHF 410 million July 29, 2015 Tourism Staff Reports 10 a-g 37 of 54
(2014), is a leading specialist long-haul tour operator while the Benelux business is relatively small with revenues of about CHF 37m.
DER Tourisitik
The deal means that the German group has beaten off Swiss group Hotelplan and financial investors to take over Kuoni’s European tour operators in one single move, thus gaining potential scale benefits and synergy effects. At the same time, the threat of large-scale job losses at Kuoni Switzerland following a possible merger with rival Hotelplan has been avoided.
DER Touristik will retain all existing businesses under their current brands, including Kuoni in Switzerland and the UK, and Apollo in Scandinavia. Kuoni’s diverse European tour operators offer premium holidays on the Swiss and UK markets, mass market holidays in Switzerland and Scandinavia, modular long-haul holidays (Benelux), and various other specialist holidays. The deal also covers the small integrated Scandinavian airline Novair and the Playitas holiday resort on Fuerteventura.
In future, DER Touristik will thus have tour operator activities in the three major European outgoing markets (Germany, UK, Nordics) along with attractive mid- sized markets such as Switzerland, Austria and Benelux, and emerging markets in Central and Eastern Europe (Poland, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary).
Kuoni Group announced in January 2015 that it would be concentrating on its core business as a service provider to the global travel industry and governments. The Swiss company now consists of three divisions: Global Travel Distribution (GTD), Global Travel Services (GTS) and VFS Global.
(Source: Travel Inside + FVW June 23)
Tour operators expect strong late sales
High levels of excess capacity and supplier rate cuts are likely to drive strong late sales for summer 2015 holidays, according to German tour operators.
Summer bookings on the German market have steadily improved recently, and cumulated travel agency sales for the tourism year to date were 7.5% ahead of last year at the end of May, according to market researchers GfK. July 29, 2015 Tourism Staff Reports 10 a-g 38 of 54
But although German tour operators are generally satisfied with business, they believe there could still be further growth ahead driven by above-average late sales resulting from excess capacity and rate cuts by hoteliers.
(Source: FVW June 25)
Destination trends
The UAE, Egypt, Cuba and Ireland are the fastest-growing destinations for German holidaymakers this year, according to leading German holiday reservations provider Traveltainment. In price terms, revenues generated by travel agents from bookings for the top ten destinations were stable in overall terms. Trips to the UAE were 7% more expensive per booking and Cuba was 4% more expensive, the figures showed. Among the other top ten destinations, average prices for the Maldives (+2%), Spain and the Dominican Republic (both +1%) were slightly higher while Egypt was stable.
But German holidaymakers paid lower average prices per booking for Tunisia (- 5%), Turkey and Portugal (both -4%) and Greece (-1%). In booking volumes, Tunisia showed a 32% slump as of end-April, followed by Bulgaria (-15%) and Morocco (-11%).
(Source: FVW May 28)
USA: New York cheaper but most US prices to rise
German tour operators have secured cheaper rates for New York for next year but most US travel prices look set to rise sharply due to the strong dollar, pushing up holiday costs for consumers.
Tour operator buyers at the recent IPW fair in Orlando were positively surprised by the readiness of New York suppliers to offer attractive rates in response to a boom in new hotels. “New York City is fairly under pressure at present due to plenty of new capacity,” explained Steffen Boehnke, TUI’s long-haul holidays chief.
Overall, however, the USA will be a much more expensive destination for German travelers next year on account of the stronger dollar. Tour operators, who benefitted this year from contracting capacity at a much lower exchange July 29, 2015 Tourism Staff Reports 10 a-g 39 of 54
rate last year, expect their contracting prices to go up as much as 15-20%, meaning there will inevitably be higher prices for customers.
At present, though, leading German tour operators are still seeing strong sales for the USA this year, with sales up by about 10%. “We’re the outperformer in the German market,” declared TUI’s Boehnke. “We are having a record year with our USA product and are currently growing 50% faster than the market.” He claimed that TUI now offers a larger hotel program for the USA than market leader Dertour, and is also benefiting from good reservations technology. “We want to become the long-haul number one.”
But Dertour’s North America director Per Ilian countered: “We’re still a bit bigger, but we’re not resting on our laurels.” FTI also has growth ambitions. “We want to grow and return to our former strength in the USA,” underlined Negro.
(Source: FVW June 11)
German market trends: German online travel agents: Lower growth for German OTAs
The largest online travel agents in Germany are seeing slower growth after double-digit increases in recent years as competition from suppliers intensifies. The German online travel sales market remains highly untransparent and fragmented, this year’s fvw dossier on the travel agency market showed. Few companies disclose their online sales revenues, resulting in a large number of estimates. Neither the German Travel Association (DRV) nor the internet travel association VIR have exact figures for the market.
According to experts and diverse studies, the sector is estimated at about €22 billion last year, with about half of these revenues generated as direct sales to consumers by suppliers such as airlines, hotels, car rental firms and rail companies (primarily Deutsche Bahn).
A further €6.6 billion was generated by flight and hotel portals while pure online travel agents accounted for only about €3 billion, according to fvw estimates. The 18 largest portals and OTAs generated estimated revenues of about €7.7 billion in 2014, a ranking in the fvw dossier showed. The German Travel Association (DRV) and market researchers GfK estimate that the portals and July 29, 2015 Tourism Staff Reports 10 a-g 40 of 54
OTAs generated high single-digit growth last year but are seeing slower growth so far in 2015.
The largest three portals offering a full selection of package holidays, flights, hotels and cars are Unister Travel, Expedia and Holidaycheck. Unister claims to have sold holidays worth €2 billion last year compared to an estimated €1.3 billion the previous year. Expedia (including hotels.com) is estimated to have increased sales in Germany to €1.1 billion in 2014 from €990 million in 2013. Holidaycheck, owned by the Tomorrow Focus group, had estimated sales of €765 million, a moderate increase on the previous year.
Among other major travel retailers, travel agency alliance Schmetterling increased online sales to €686 million last year, TUI Germany had online sales of €540 million compared to an estimated €450 million in 2013, while Thomas Cook had estimated online sales of about €250 million. Tour operators FTI and Alltours had even lower online sales revenues, according to estimates, while DER Touristik and Schauinsland-Reisen have minimal online sales.
Meanwhile, the online accommodation sector has turned into a three-way fight between Booking.com, HRS and Expedia. These three giants accounted for an estimated 90% of online bookings for hotels in Germany last year, according to the IHA association, although their share of bookings for foreign hotels is believed to be significantly lower. None of these companies publish sales revenues for the German market but Booking is estimated to have generated sales worth €2 billion in 2013, ahead of HRS (€1.4 billion) and Expedia.
(Source: FVW June 18)
German market trends: Summer bookings surge in May
Summer holiday bookings on the German market soared by 21% in revenue terms last month, driven by last-minute sales, according to the latest monthly survey of travel agency sales by market researchers GfK.
The strong May figures, which showed an 23% rise in overall sales including winter bookings, are a clear upturn on April when summer sales increased by 5.6%. However, the high growth figures reflect a statistical effect as they compare to July 29, 2015 Tourism Staff Reports 10 a-g 41 of 54
weak sales in May 2014, when there was zero overall growth and a 6.7% slump in sales for summer 2014.
Nevertheless, there was clearly a healthy underlying growth rate last month. The cumulative sales increase for summer 2015 now lies at 7.5%, which is the highest level so far this year. Last-minute bookings were a key sales driver in May, with sales for holiday departures in the same month representing 8.4% of total sales. Bookings were also strong for June, with a 15.4% share of the overall volume, the survey of 1,200 travel agencies found.
In addition, there was again good early demand for winter 2015/16, and the forthcoming season reached 20% of overall sales in revenue terms, the GfK survey found. The strong growth was also reflected in the monthly survey of 2,400 mostly business travel-focused agencies by IT services company TATS. This showed a 10% rise in tourism revenues last month, resulting an overall 4.2% rise since the start of the year.
Advance bookings for departures up to October, however, are moderate with only a 1.1% rise last month, leaving a cumulative increase of 2.6% since the start of the year.
The latest sales figures have certainly improved the mood of German travel agents in early June. The number of travel agents with “good” sales levels rose to 37.5% compared to 31% one month earlier, according to the monthly ‘sales climate index’ survey by consultants Dr. Fried + Partner for fvw. Nearly half are “satisfied” while only 18% described sales as “poor”.
Optimism for the coming months is less rosy, however. Only 20% expect rising sales in the next few months, compared to 25% one month ago, while the clear majority (64%) expects stable demand levels.
Overall, the ‘sales climate index’ has risen to 103 points, indicating solid growth. This compares to just 95 points 12 months ago, when the football World Cup caused a slump in sales.
(Source: FVW June 17)
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German travel agency market: Low sales growth in saturated market
The German travel agency market grew by just 1.6% last year with moderate tourism sales and stagnating business travel revenues, according to the annual fvw dossier on the sector. Strong early bookings, weak sales in the spring and early summer, and then a rapid comeback in the autumn – those were the key trends for German travel agents in 2014. Overall, the sector managed to generate a 1.6% increase in sales to €23.1 billion, according to fvw research and estimates by Werner Sülberg, DER Touristik’s market research chief and chairman of the DRV market research committee.
Private travel (tourism and other leisure travel) grew by a solid 2.2% to €15.8 billion but business travel sales showed only a fractional 0.4% increase to sales of €7.3 billion, according to the dossier. In terms of products, holiday sales grew by 3.2% to €13.3 billion but sales of airline tickets dropped 0.5% to €7.9 billion.
The market leader DER Touristik with 2,034 agencies increased sales by just 0.4% to €4.35 billion. Private travel generated about 75% of its sales, with business travel accounting for the rest. Second-placed TUI Germany, with 1,318 outlets, grew by an estimated 2.2% to €3.5 billion, which reflected the overall market growth for private travel.
The largest travel agency alliance RTK, with 4,512 members, had revenues of €2.97 billion, ahead of the TSS alliance, whose 2,214 members generated total revenues of €2.68 billion. In fifth place was Lufthansa City Center, which generated revenues of €2.39 billion through 484 agencies, with a rough 50-50 split between private and business travel. The independent Schmetterling alliance followed with revenues of just over €2 billion.
(Source: FVW June 18)
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BRAZIL REPRESENTATION- AVIAREPS- Marcos Teodoro
MARKET INFORMATION
• Gol and Delta Airlines announced a 446 million dollar financial agreement, and also added a 146 million capital in format of preferred shares, in which Gol shares are with 56 million dollars. Delta Airlines also granted Gol Airlines a 300 million dollar loan.
• Brazilian Federal Police applies chip technology to the new Brazilian Passport and extends expiration date to 10 years. TRADE
Leisure Sales Calls / Meetings
Objective and Name Market Company Follow Up Outcome
IPW Meeting – Adriano Gomes finalizing some [email protected] opportunities to BR CVC – TO Ongoing Janaína Maria start the coop [email protected] actions with Paradise Coast
IPW Meeting – introduce PC and our opportunities to Marcelo Dezem TAM Viagens. TAM [email protected]. Marcelo already BR Viagens – Ongoing br Arthur Furtado know our region and TO [email protected] he was very enthusiastic to develop packages to PC with TAM.
IPW Meeting – we Saulo Reis Jr. had a meeting with [email protected] BR Schultz – TO Saulo during the Ongoing .com.br sales blitz, he is the new Products Mgr July 29, 2015 Tourism Staff Reports 10 a-g 44 of 54
IPW Meeting – meeting to introduce PC and José Eduardo our opportunities BR TGK – TO Ongoing [email protected] for the leisure department of TGK that is also a MICE agency
IPW Meeting - TO from Rio de Janeiro. Opportunity to Lúcia Motta Nice Via introduce PC and BR Ongoing [email protected] Ápia – TO our offers to develop packegs together with Nice Via
IPW Meeting – TO focus on USA packages, Guilherme Pedrone Opportunity to [email protected] Skytours - BR introduce PC and Ongoing Celso Aredes TO ours offers and see [email protected] the creation of packages for the next low season.
TO from Curitiba that we had the opportunity to meet Francisco Zaleski de Matos during the FAM Tour Tourlines – [email protected] BR and we showed Ongoing TO om.br what PC can offer, we are in conversation to create some July 29, 2015 Tourism Staff Reports 10 a-g 45 of 54
Had a family that spent a week in PC, Ana Roberta we offer all the Study Tour [email protected] BR information about Ongoing – TA/Luxury .br the destination and also helped with hotel options
We are discussing about participate in the workshop from Daniel Gozalo VIAGENS Viagens Master, BR MASTER – Ongoing daniel.gozalo@viagensmaster. Work Master 2015. TO com.br We are waiting for sales data about destinations.
We presented the Maria Regina Simões de destination to the INTERSITE – travel agency, Souza BR Ongoing TA focused on exclusive [email protected] experiences and services.
Sales call to travel agency focused on Sayuri Yamashita Nagata CITY TOUR – leisure. Presentation BR Ongoing [email protected] TA about destination and low season offers.
We presented the destination to travel GLOBE Juliana Prado agency and BR TRAVEL – Ongoing discussed about [email protected] TA how they can work with us. July 29, 2015 Tourism Staff Reports 10 a-g 46 of 54
We presented Dora Rozenkwit ADVENTUR summer activities to [email protected] BR TURISMO – the travel agency, Ongoing r TA focused on leisure and sports.
Travel agency Carolina Peres BY THE WAY focused on leisure. BR TRAVEL – We presented Ongoing [email protected] TA Paradise Coast and low season offers.
Travel agency Cristiane Pedroza de focused on leisure, CPS Siqueira we presented BR TURISMO – Ongoing destination, Cristianepedroza1@hotmail TA .com activities and low season offers.
Travel agency focused on leisure Clorida Alves and ecotourism. We ECOSYSTEM BR presented what Ongoing [email protected] – TA .br Paradise Coast can offer for their clients.
Travel agency focused on leisure, Ricardo Ribeiro da Silva ENJOY we presented BR Ongoing [email protected] TRAVEL - TA destination, activities and low season offers.
Flaviane Velho Exclusive travel FLAVIANE agent, focused on BR Ongoing [email protected] VELHO – TA personalized m experiences. We July 29, 2015 Tourism Staff Reports 10 a-g 47 of 54
Presentation about Maria Cardoso MALOU Paradise Coast to BR Ongoing [email protected] TOUR – TA travel agency focused on leisure.
Travel agency Suelaine Souza PAMPLONA focused on exclusive suelaine@pamplonaturismo BR TURISMO – experiences, we Ongoing .com.br TA presented Paradise Coast and offers.
Travel agency SHILTON focused on leisure. Paulo Ripper VIAGENS E BR We presented Ongoing TURISMO – [email protected] Paradise Coast and TA gave material.
Travel agency focused on leisure, Flavia Liberato TRAVEL W – we presented BR Ongoing [email protected] TA destination, activities and low season offers.
MICE Sales Calls / Meetings
Name Market Company Objective and Outcome Follow Up
Vinicius Gozzi Presentation about Incentive SEIVA TRAVEL – BR travels and groups for Paradise Ongoing [email protected] TA om.br Coast.
July 29, 2015 Tourism Staff Reports 10 a-g 48 of 54
Shows / Sales Missions / Fam Trips (Media and Trade) / Other Name Market Description Launch/Start
Editor in Chief of Interiores de Minas will cover destination and July 26th to Simone Ferret Luxury/Travel top hotels for interior design, travel, lifestyle, both online and O 29th offline. Details arranged. Waiting on final itinerary.
MEDIA
Media Meetings
Name Publication/Media Market Objective & Meeting Notes Follow Up
IPW Meeting, Marcia Maia TourisNews - Web BR opportunity to introduce Ongoing PC
IPW Meeting, A Janela Laranja – Marcio Nel Cimatti BR opportunity to introduce Ongoing Blog PC
Nossa Gente – IPW Meeting, Cristina Silva/Paulo de Brazilian BR opportunity to introduce Ongoing Souza/Marcio Silva Newspaper PC
IPW Meeting, opportunity to introduce You Must Go – Renata Araújo BR PC team and also Renata Ongoing Blog about our targets for the shoot
IPW Meeting, Aprendiz de Claudia Saleh BR opportunity to introduce Ongoing Viajante – Blog PC
IPW Meeting, Zilda Brandão Mira e Destino BR Ongoing opportunity to introduce
Claudio da Mercado & BR IPW Meeting Ongoing Silva/Anderson Eventos - Trade July 29, 2015 Tourism Staff Reports 10 a-g 49 of 54
Artur Andrade Panrotas BR IPW Meeting Ongoing
IPW Meeting + Press trip - opportunity to Rodrigo Vieira Panrotas BR Ongoing introduce PC and show our destination.
IPW Meeting + Press trip AVIANCA em Carlos Koga & Camila - opportunity to Revista – BR Ongoing Balthazar introduce PC and show Magazine our destination.
IPW Meeting + Press trip O Globo – - opportunity to Cristina Massari BR Ongoing Newspaper introduce PC and show our destination.
Waiting for information Embarque na Eduardo Madeira BR regarding ecotourism Ongoing Viagem activities
Will be publishing news about Paradise Coast Nina Salomão Qual Viagem BR Ongoing according to WTM interview
Waiting for information Gracita Kerr Guia Time Out BR regarding ecotourism Ongoing activities
Waiting for information Mateus Rondon Mix de Viagens BR regarding ecotourism Ongoing activities
Requested news Juliana Pessoa Viagens S/A BR Ongoing regarding gastronomy
Requested news Sylvia Barreto Viajar é Simples BR Ongoing regarding gastronomy
July 29, 2015 Tourism Staff Reports 10 a-g 50 of 54
APPENDIX A
MEDIA CLIPPINGS
MERCADO & EVENTOS
http://www.mercadoeeventos.com.br/site/noticias/view/116818/paradise-coast-promovera-semana-de- treinamentos-em-cinco-cidades
PANROTAS
http://www.panrotas.com.br/noticia-turismo/eventos/2015/04/veja-fotos-do-evento-de-palm-beaches-e- paradise-coast_113512.html
PANROTAS
http://www.panrotas.com.br/album-de-fotos-turismo/eventos/veja-fotos-do-estande-da-panrotas-na-wtm- latin-america_113299,-1.html
VIAGENS S/A
http://www.mercadoeeventos.com.br/site/noticias/view/116818/paradise-coast-promovera-semana-de- treinamentos-em-cinco-cidades
MERCADO & EVENTOS
http://www.mercadoeeventos.com.br/site/noticias/view/118159/veja-fotos-do-segundo-dia-do-ipw
PANROTAS
http://www.panrotas.com.br/noticia-turismo/eventos/2015/06/ipw-termina-hoje-e-convida-para-new- orleans-em-2016_114997.html
PANROTAS
http://www.panrotas.com.br/album-de-fotos-turismo/eventos/veja-mais-fotos-da-quarta-feira-de-ipw- 2015_115033,0.html
July 29, 2015 Tourism Staff Reports 10 a-g 51 of 54
PUBL. MEDIA SUBJECT DATE MEDIA VALUE CIRCULATION WEBSITE
Mercado & http://www.mercadoeeventos.com.br/site/noticias/view/11 Eventos WTM Interview 4/22 USD 4.600,00 400.000 promovera-semana-de-treinamentos-em-cinco-cidades
http://www.panrotas.com.br/noticia-turismo/eventos/2015/
Panrotas Paradise Coast Event 4/24 USD 6.200,00 500.000 de-palm-beaches-e-paradise-coast_113512.html
http://www.panrotas.com.br/album-de-fotos-turismo/event
Panrotas WTM photos 4/25 USD 6.200,00 500.000 estande-da-panrotas-na-wtm-latin-america_113299,-1.html
USD
Viagens S/A WTM interview 5/2 10.000,00 30.000 http://www.viagenssatv.com.br/videos/wtm2015_discoverth
Mercado & http://www.mercadoeeventos.com.br/site/noticias/view/11
Eventos IPW photos 6/2 USD 4.600,00 400.000 segundo-dia-do-ipw
http://www.panrotas.com.br/noticia-turismo/eventos/2015/
Panrotas IPW photos 6/3 USD 6.200,00 500.000 convida-para-new-orleans-em-2016_114997.html
http://www.panrotas.com.br/album-de-fotos-turismo/event Panrotas IPW photos 6/4 USD 6.200,00 500.000 quarta-feira-de-ipw-2015_115033,0.html
USD Total 44.000,00 2.830.000
APPENDIX B
NEXT MONTH PLAN – July 2015
Company Action
B2W Move forward with co-op actions
CVC Move forward with co-op actions
Soft Travel Move forward with co-op actions
Teresa Perez Move forward with co-op actions
MMT Gapnet Move forward with co-op actions
Launch Brazilian page in Facebook – finalizing some pending with Social Media Flammo
AVIAREPS Activities Follow up on meetings in June – IPW + FAM Tour July 29, 2015 Tourism Staff Reports 10 a-g 52 of 54
VISITOR CENTER REPORTS- Lori Lou Waddell
July 29, 2015 Tourism Staff Reports 10 a-g 53 of 54
Big Cypress Oasis Everglades Immokalee Marco Naples YR Total Jan-11 5034 12055 2220 125 1007 2736 23177 Jan-12 6401 13,601 11,000 198 1033 5285 37,518 Jan-13 5736 13,941 9225 N/A 1163 4777 34,842 Jan-14 7,014 13,499 11,185 91 1663 4,018 37,470 Jan-15 7,049 12,996 15,840 92 1126 4,073 41,176
Feb-11 6986 15,564 2881 194 1546 4363 31534 Feb-12 7943 17,595 12,840 227 1465 5099 45,169 Feb-13 7950 13,542 8424 1105 1404 4488 36,913 Feb-14 7990 13,906 13,012 198 1950 5046 42,102 Feb-15 7,909 14,872 12,483 134 1346 4394 41,138
Mar-11 5984 15,101 3100 195 1376 2872 28,628 Mar-12 7226 16638 18,300 361 1011 3774 47,310 Mar-13 8693 13632 12,991 402 1559 3774 41,051 Mar-14 8,307 15,559 17,180 517 1,952 4377 47,892 Mar-15 7,773 15,093 18,133 142 975 4175 46,291
Apr-11 3297 8810 2575 189 520 2018 17409 Apr-12 4308 9603 10,810 367 482 3112 28,682 Apr-13 5250 8389 8675 1200 750 2473 26,737 Apr-14 5,146 9,596 11,021 81 1,033 2409 29,286 Apr-15 4,847 10,285 7,569 165 554 1774 25,194
May-11 1778 5492 1600 186 448 1656 11160 May-12 2360 5660 5435 315 529 1595 15894 May1313 3009 5730 5275 350 473 1436 16,273 May-14 2,709 5,657 5,813 88 668 1,587 16,522 May-15 2,674 7,906 4,040 390 1,132 16,142
Jun-11 1881 4796 2235 155 445 1286 10798 Jun-12 1972 4185 4250 210 303 1299 12,219 Jun-13 2254 4153 4166 189 354 1376 12,492 Jun-14 2405 4525 4,588 41 475 1123 13,157 Jun-15 2,776 6,127 3,589 385 962 13,839
Jul-11 2182 6024 5189 185 573 1629 15782 Jul-12 2417 5609 5893 250 340 2015 16,524 Jul-13 2431 4253 6835 62 413 1703 15,697 Jul-14 2,960 5,367 3,552 40 497 1,762 14,178 July 29, 2015 Tourism Staff Reports 10 a-g 54 of 54
Jul-15
Aug-11 1895 3999 4577 207 463 1867 13008 Aug-12 1658 3991 6549 345 390 1128 14,061 Aug-13 1757 3800 5169 119 385 1316 12,546 Aug-14 3,049 5,576 5,866 74 314 1,137 16,016 Aug-15
Sep-11 1268 3881 3196 220 279 1104 9948 Sep-12 1191 3029 3893 200 268 1279 9860 Sep-13 2534 1198 3441 392 1206 8771 Sep-14 1746 3074 2402 327 1322 8871 Sep-15
Oct-11 1704 5459 5035 237 481 2481 15397 Oct-12 1804 4296 5683 150 306 2095 14334 Oct-13 917 2315 5206 476 501 1610 11025 Oct-14 2942 5791 2636 118 439 1809 13735 Oct-15
Nov-11 2743 7734 6200 357 647 2517 20198 Nov-12 3024 7669 6816 170 530 2263 20472 Nov-13 10,510 7,407 7,022 598 513 2105 28,155 Nov-14 4,026 8,298 3,739 373 484 2168 19,088 Nov-15
Dec-11 5739 13,851 7962 327 682 2399 30960 Dec-12 3925 11,193 7984 180 540 2547 26369 Dec-13 5363 10,079 7391 461 543 2730 26567 Dec-14 6364 9,360 8,341 350 486 2,663 27564 Dec-15
2011 40,491 102,766 46,770 2,577 8,467 26,928 227,999 2012 44,229 103,069 99,453 2,973 7,197 31,491 288,412 2013 56,404 88,439 83,820 4,962 7,937 28,994 270,556 2014 54,658 100,208 76,336 1,971 9,256 28,421 270,850 YTD 2015 30,252 61,152 58,065 533 4,391 15,548 169,941