The Boom of City Tourism Understanding Intricacies Associated with Digital Ad Market in China

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The Boom of City Tourism Understanding Intricacies Associated with Digital Ad Market in China

Leaders in trade Big or small, young or old – cities have always been popular destinations among tourists. Today, some cities not only have to cope with masses of visitors but also decide whether they go for preservation or development.

The Importance of City Tourism: to increase by at least 3.3% every year (a figure Forecasts and Problems that is equivalent to 43 million tourist arrivals The past six decades saw the burgeoning annually) from 2010 to 2030. Interview with David Goldstein: expansion and diversification of the tourism Based on pertinent information from The Key to Canadian Tourism industry, unarguably, one of the world's primary countries with available data, inbound tourism economic drivers in recent times. New exotic accounts for 30% of the world's commercial City destinations are constantly popping up, even services exports, generating at least $1.2 dwarfing the usual tourist magnets in both North trillion in income per year or $3.4 billion a America and Europe. The industry seems to have day on average (as per official data in 2011). been blessed with the gift of longevity, and the It is also estimated that the tourism industry numbers themselves showcase the fact. is responsible for 5% of the world's GDP and From a mere 277 million international as such, provides a major contribution to tourists in 1980, to 528 million in 1995, and to employment worldwide (the figure is pegged at 983 million, the tourists keep on coming in droves 6% to 7% of the total of all jobs in all countries). and increasing exponentially by the year despite This also makes tourism rank fourth economic setbacks. According to an assessment below chemicals, food, and fuels as a major The Young and The Old, The City of by the UNWTO titled "Tourism Towards 2030," income-generating export among countries Thessaloniki the number of international tourists is expected with an active tourism scene (10% of countries

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Feature

World Tourism Cities Federation

list tourism as a major economic pillar) – and which is also especially Cities are losing their ability to control the congestion in parking true among smaller countries and islands, whose income from tourism areas and on local roads due to private travel and coaches. In particular, can reach almost up to a high of 25% of their total annual GDP. old inner cities in Europe need a way to guide the traffic from one- More than half of the world's population lives in cities or in similar day visitors and coaches out of the cities' historical areas to public areas within an urban environment. The importance of these urban spaces transport transfer hubs. In Western Europe, multiple-day tourists are cannot be stressed enough; these cities are where most people choose to looking towards railroad, water and air travel in order to avoid using live in, and as such, is the lifeblood of most countries in the world. private transportation in unfamiliar places. Some cities in this region A study conducted by the UN forecasts the growth of the world's are creating route guides for coaches to reduce the heavy traffic to urban population at 61% by 2030 (or 5 billion more persons living in city attractions. London, Paris and Barcelona have light rail or metro cities in the next fifteen years). Interest in urban tourism is expected to systems, so travellers do not have to drive their car within the city. rise in the coming years, which would make it an important stimulus in Although public transportation allows a city to become more able to building economies and hastening urban development. handle mass tourism, it has not adequately adapted to the tourism It is said that economic impact is superior to social or political market. There is a need for merging professional city marketing into the impact. With the financial benefits that urban tourism would bring, city's regular transport system. Comprehensive and affordable visitor this could bid well for a lot of nations that are trying to maximize the transportation must be a priority for the local transportation system. benefits that they can receive from a well-oiled tourism industry. Popular tourist cities understand that sustainable travel facilities As cities continue to grow and adapt to an ever changing social and should be put in a niche product to make transport options attractive to economic landscape, more and more people are demanding new environmentally conscientious visitors. Some cities only permit electric- tourism experiences and products. powered and well-to-wheel buses. In Amsterdam, vulnerable areas of Globalization also plays a huge part in this phenomenon; people the old city are becoming less clogged by coaches due to mandatory want things that are familiar to them, wherever they are in the world. routing, restrictive time slots and access limitation zones. Transport Whether it is in Japan or England, they want the same kind of hotel via water is an under-tapped hidden potential for tourist cities. The rooms, and the same kind of connections, just within the context of a boats and ferries that travel along canal, harbors and riverbanks are new environment. This high demand can cause cities to invest more not utilized in public transportation systems. Commercial benefits and in infrastructure, training, conservation, and promotion, which in turn, sustainable transport can both be enhanced by water transport if ships would result into a greater good for whole communities at large. It's a use renewable fuels, electric batteries or hybrid-power. win-win situation for all. Tourism brings more than just financial benefits to the cities it blesses. It revitalizes and invigorates communities. It connects people; from strangers to friends to family. It is a platform for learning. It is a vehicle for adventure. It teaches people how to live with diversity, how to form connections with people whose culture is vastly different from your own. Tourism is more than just an economic driver; it is a way of life. One that can provide inherent benefits for all that is involved. But the discussion continues. It is clear that the tourism industry is still a youngling, and still has lots of areas that need improvement. Cities are also confronted with a number of challenges: they need to provide a consistent image to new tourists, develop new attractions, promote their unique destinations etc.

Local Transportation Trends Greatly Influence the Tourism Market Although public transportation is not foremost on a tourist's list when deciding on a travel destination, easily accessible public is valuable to any traveller. A new, yet already popular form of business is shared information, such as real-time 3D travel map apps, and combination packages, like those that combine accommodations with bike swaps and rentals, improve the traveller's experience and influence his or her choice of city destination. The inconvenience caused by a growing amount of tourists in a city creates issues for the city's residents, especially during holiday seasons. Large groups of visitors put a strain on the city's living conditions and negatively affect the quality of its public areas and cultural hotspots. In response, the residents and business owners in some cities have left the city's center. However, the viability of the tourism sector brings income for many cities, and the demand for transportation can create jobs if the market offerings are structured appropriately. When tourists arrive at the destination, they tend to rely on public transportation to make their way around the city. With city marketing, tourists are distributed over a larger geographic area that spans beyond the city proper.

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World Tourism Cities Federation

More than half of the world's population lives in cities or in similar areas within an urban environment. The importance of these urban spaces cannot be stressed enough; these cities are where most people choose to live in, and as such, is the lifeblood of most countries in the world.

Rental bikes are another sustainable transportation option for European Cities Enjoy More Chinese Visitors tourists. Amsterdam, Rotterdam and The Hague offer student-guided European Cities Marketing (ECM) which is a network dedicated bike tours that cover ground along the cities' highlights such as historical to help bolster competitiveness and increase performance of the and architectural buildings, infrastructures and sites. Some hotels offer major cities in Europe, at the beginning of June released its yearly ECM rental bikes in their booking packages, and the Dutch national train Benchmarking Report. Initial figures for 2014 show tremendous upsurge company, Nederlandse Spoorwegen (NS), rents out OV-bikes in 24-hour in bednights hosted by the European cities with increased growth of the blocks at 250 stations in the Netherlands for 3.15 euros. Chinese market as well as the revival of the already established source Tourists who visit culturally deep cities spend most of their time markets for example Spain and Italy.Comparative data collected since exploring the major attractions located within the cities. First-time 2013 indicate 4.3% increase in foreign bednights. The data continues visitors to Amsterdam tend to flock to Rijksmuseum, the Anne Frank to point out that international bednights sustained a rapid growth rate house and the canal district, mostly ignoring the region as whole. In compared to domestically sourced nights 4.3% vs. 2.9% respectively. 2014, Amsterdam Marketing introduced the Amsterdam Region Day This represents just over 65% of the total bednights which was 235.1 Ticket. This multiple-day electronic ticket offers tourists transportation million in 2014. The report collected data for more than 110 cities. options with several transport operators to promote tourism in the In the past year, London and Paris registered the highest number of city's surrounding region and reduce bus traffic. The governing bodies international bednights with very little positive increase. The other 10 cities in the Amsterdam Metropolitan Region have worked together on the made remarkable growth in foreign sourced bednights. Among the ten cities, 2015 UNWTO Ulysses Award winning Visit Amsterdam, See Holland four of them hosted between 4% and 6% more international bednights since project in an effort to package city and regional tours and capture 2013. Berlin and Amsterdam showed tremendous growth in international tourism interest in historical and cultural sites that surround the city, bednights by 6.4% and 10.4% respectively. creating new marketing potential to this historic city. In turn, visitors are In 2014, the United States of America, Germany and the United distributed throughout the region and streets are more accessible. Kingdom provided close to a quarter of the entire international There is a lot of room for growth in the tourism transport industry. bednights spent in the European cities. Since 2013, each one of these However, substantial development in information sharing, local-tourism source markets experienced an increase by between 4-6%. Spain and transportation merging and transport-activity package combos is Italy on the other hand registered increased growth rates as a source necessary for the tourism industry to see more commercial success in market after a reduction in the number of bednights spent in the the transportation sector. European cities over the last few years.

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World Tourism Cities Federation

The 2013 most promising growth market as far as international bednights is concerned, China, showed a remarkable growth by 13.2% in 2014 making about 1% of the entire bednights spent in the major European cities. The Chinese market had been already growing by 11.4% in 2013. Japan, on the other hand, continued to register a decrease in bednights dropping by -4.1%. Russia also registered a further decrease with 7.9% after reporting a good growth rate of 9.4% in 2013. Ignasi de Delas, the head of European Cities Marketing declared that those results provided decisive insights into European city competitor sets. He continued to say that internationalization is the key- most important word in the development of tourism in most countries. In 2014, international bednights grew up to 1.9 times more than the rate of domestic tourism growth in the cities. With an average of 65% of the international guests and the revival of the Italian and Spanish markets, European cities can now cope with the retrogressive growth of some markets like Japan and Russia. The ECM report shows that the continued success of city tourism in most European cities is based on a rich mix of source markets. Despite of all the political and economic factors, the cities’ strategic focus on foreign visitors is among the main reasons for the success of the cities. Bednights numbers that represent tourists from China are continuously growing over the past year. This gives the City Tourism Managers confidence in the power of the European tourism industry.

World Heritage Sites – Cities without Life “UNESCO labels old cities that have survived wars, vicissitudes This is not specific to Italy alone. Luang Prabang in Laos had of history, earthquakes and pestilence as World Heritage Sites for almost the same experience. The historic center, capital of Luang humanity’s benefit in good faith humanity, but they often wither away, Prabang Province, is currently a tourist trap as all the houses have been become less populated and get reduced to just theatrical backdrops,” converted into restaurants and hotels with the streets donning identical says author Marco D’Eramo. In these heritage sites that once throbbed markets, as seen around the world, selling old necklaces, leather belts with life, according to him all you get to see today are similar types of and canvas handbags. If you want to find out where and how the stalls that sell muslins, cottons, batiks, bracelets, beach wraps and other Laotians live, you will have to pedal at least a few kilometers out of the quaint specialties, and snack bars. city center. Old cities are labeled as World Heritage Sites following a long It would not take much time for you to realize that you are in a heritage drawn bureaucratic procedure in Place Fontenoy, Paris. The goal is site, if you take a walk across Porto, Portugal. You will be confronted with the to preserve the historic samples for the generations to come. The innkeepers’ monotonous monoculture and waiters and bar-tenders scouting dictionary meaning of preserve is embalm, freeze, or prevent wear and for customers. You can recognize them immediately as most of them wear tear as well as scars caused over time. This means halting time, fixing hiking boots and hideously short shorts. the cities in snapshots and preventing them from undergoing changes As many as 190 countries have accepted the idea of preserving and evolving. some of their historic cities as World Heritage Sites till 2014 after World Of course, some monuments are to be protected, but if the 450 Heritage Convention was adopted by UNESCO General Conference in BC Acropolis in Athens was preserved as it used to be, the Propylaeum, 1972. World Heritage Committee, established in 1976, identified the the Parthenon, or the Erectheum would not have been there. If Rome first heritage site in 1978. Since then, till 2014, as many as 981 sites was preserved as the city was in the 16th/17th centuries, the world spread across 160 countries have been declared World Heritage Sites would have been deprived of the admirable pot-pourri of baroque, through 38 ordinary as well as 10 extraordinary sessions. They include antiquity, and mannerism which the city produced. Had the Marais, 759 cultural sites, 193 natural sites, and 29 mixed sites. Paris, been declared as a heritage site, we would have long forgotten Among cultural heritage sites (entire city, a part of it, a district only the Beaubourg. or just a historic center), there are 254 cities and 138 of them are in Therefore, it is imperative that a balance is maintained between Europe. Moreover, 50 percent of the cities in Europe are spread across construction and preservation. People are definitely excited about only four countries: Italy – 29 (includes Vatican City and San Marino); living in cities that have museums and architectural marvels and not Spain – 17; and France and Germany – 11 each. Italy boasts the highest mausoleums. Marco D’Eramo who visited San Gimignano after about 30 density of world heritage sites in the world. years pointed out that he could not find a single butcher, greengrocer, While more and more sites are being declared as World Heritage baker within the walls of the city. This, according to him, is because Sites, more and more regions, cities and towns are queuing up for people don’t live in the center of the city any longer as the modern getting themselves preserved. Councilors, mayors and tourist offices condos are built outside the city limits in the suburbs and settings within are striving to obtain this coveted status for the regions, cities and the walls of the city almost resemble a set created for medieval movies. town they represent unaware of the dire consequences. Don’t let your He also noted that if the city is smaller, it withers away faster if declared precious city center die. Let it live its own life. a heritage site. (Source:tourism-review)

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World Tourism Cities Federation

Governor of US Virgin Islands Visits Beijing and Meets with Deputy Secretary-General Li Baochun

The governor of US Virgin Islands, There are complete tourism Kenneth Mapp, paid a visit to China recently facilities on the islands and conducted talks with Mr. Li Baochun, and tourists can enjoy Deputy Secretary-General of WTCF. themselves. He hopes Governor Kenneth Mapp and Mr. Li more Chinese tourists will Baochun introduce themselves to each other. visit the US Virgin Islands Governor Kenneth Mapp said this is not only and he hopes WTCF will his first visit to China, but also Beijing, and provide some suggestions that Beijing strikes him as an international on destination promotion metropolis. US Virgin Islands is a world- in China and how to receive Chinese tourist. tourism market of China. He also talked famous tourism destination, with beautiful Mr. Li Baochun welcomed the governor about the services that WTCF can provide to ocean scenes and Caribbean style landscape. for his visit and introduced the outbound members and some recent work.

WTCF Visits Copenhagen, Helsinki and Dublin

On June 1st-10th, 2016, the delegation Fourth, Tourism Department of Finland of WTCF visited Copenhagen, Helsinki, and Tourism Department of Helsinki will plan and Dublin. WTCF visited these cities to tourism investment projects and connect with discuss promotions, consulting and training, the Investment Commission, which is to be cooperation on investing and financing, and founded at the 2016 at Chongqing Fragrant accepting members and so on. This delegation Hills Tourism Summit. consisted of Yan Han, Deputy Secretary- On the morning of June 7th, Criona General of WTCF; Chen Bo, head of Liaison Ni Dhalaigh, Mayor of Dublin, received the Department of WTCF; and Wu Meiqing, delegation of WTCF warmly at the Office Admin Specialist. of Mayor. Peter J Finnegan, head of Liaison On the afternoon of June 2nd, the Fourth, Tourism Department of Cop- Department of Dublin; Donal Durkan, head delegation met with six members from Tourism enhagen will be more active regarding of Development Department of Belfast; and Department of Copenhagen including Jonas cooperative communication. Brian Johnston, manager of Tourism, Culture Wilstrup, Chief Inspector of Conference and On the morning of June 6th, the delega- Prize, and Sina, Chief Inspector of Marketing. tion visited the Tourism Department of Finland The delegation introduced the development and Tourism Department of Helsinki. Paavo of WTCF, development of MICE industry, and Virkkunen, Executive Vice President of Tourism the cruise industry of China. Afterwards, they Department of Finland, and Kaari Artermjeff, then listened to the Tourism Department of Marketing Manager of Tourism Department Copenhagen about tourism in Copenhagen. of Helsinki attended the meeting. They Both sided discussed the promotion of We- introduced the tourism of Finland and Helsinki media, attending conferences, academic in detail, especially on the growth of Asian research, training investigation, market, and tourists. They also hoped to get consultation cooperation on investing and financing. They from WTCF. After their introduction, the and Art Department attended the meeting. agreed on the following items: delegation advised them to cooperate on Mayor Criona Ni Dhalaigh welcomed the WTCF First, Tourism Department of Copen- promotion, investigation and research, project delegation and already had prior knowledge of hagen hopes WTCF will help it open its official investment, personnel training and so on. the development of WTCF from the mayors’ past WeChat account and conduct operation during They agreed on the following items: appearance at the Fragrant Hills Summit. She the initial stage. First, with the support of WTCF, Helsinki said Dublin would continue to support WTCF Second, Tourism Department of Copen- will strengthen cooperation with Chinese and send an advanced delegation to attend the hagen will investigate the Chinese market tourism cities and conduct promotions. 2016 Chongqing Fragrant Hills Tourism Summit. and cooperate with Secretariat of WTCF、 Second, Helsinki will provide tourism Peter J Finnegan said Dublin cared about the Ctrip、 ipsos and so on, to acquire more event information to the We-media platform development of WTCF and they were willing comprehensive data. of WTCF actively. to promote global tourism with WTCF. He said Third, Tourism Department of Copen- Third, the two parties will cooperate in WTCF should continue to promote cooperation hagen pays special attention to training and holding a special training program on how to among global tourism cities and build more hopes that themed training can be held in the target and promote in the Chinese tourism communication platforms. He hoped to advance city in the first half of 2017. market in late 2016 or early 2017. commercial tourism, study tourism, conference

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World Tourism Cities Federation

and prize tourism, and other new types of interaction was set up. The following tourism via the platform of WTCF. He also achievements were acquired: showed a high degree of interest in cooperating First, further service. Copenhagen, on training and investment projects. He also Helsinki, and Dublin will conduct tourism hoped to hold themed training with WTCF in promotion and tourism investment late 2016 and prepare investment projects cooperation and hold high-end training via the to acquire something with the Investment We-media platform. Commission at the 2016 Chongqing Fragrant Second, implement cooperation. Hills Tourism Summit. Through this visit, WTCF strengthened The cities will sign a MOU with WTCF and Dublin recommended Belfast to join communication and cooperation with implement cooperation intentions and form WTCF and Representative of Belfast showed Copenhagen, Helsinki, and Dublin. The two an interests-coordination mechanism with the intentions to join WTCF and attend the sides also got to learn about resources and other members of WTCF. Fragrant Hills Tourism Summit this year. The needs of each other better. The working Third, invitation to the summit. The three two cities expressed their wish to hold the mechanism of information exchange, cities will all send an advanced delegation to attend Fragrant Hills Tourism Summit together. personnel exchange, cooperation and 2016 Chongqing Fragrant Hills Tourism Summit.

WTCF Attends International Conference of Integrated Quality Management in Tourism Destinations

and enterprises of China. Representatives of UNWTO made sure they would take sharing economy as the main research topic and look for target cites in Europe and Asia. After the speech, the delegation was invited by UNWTO and Tourism Department of Romania to attend the private session attended by travel agents, the hot spring tourism association, the mountain tourism association, hotel association of Romania and so on. Lady Anca Pavel-Nedea, President of Romania National Tourism Association, lead the meeting. Secretary-General of UNWTO, On June 21st 2016, at the invitation of Mr. Yan’s speech focused on the role Taleb Rafai, and Deputy Secretary-General of UNWTO, Deputy Secretary-General Yan Han of WTCF-the first international organization WTCF, Yan Han gave suggestions on how to and Liaison Officer Sophie Zhang of WTCF formed by cities, evaluation system of world develop the tourism industry in Romania. attended the International Conference of tourism cities and what sharing economy Romania paid attention to its tourism Integrated Quality Management in Tourism brings to tourism cites. His speech showed industry but it has been developing slowly. Destinations: A Key to Competitiveness in the comprehensive strength of WTCF. He Secretary-General Taleb Rafai advised Romania Bucharest, Romania. Deputy Secretary General made the guests realize that WTCF is a to learn about tourism industry of China Yan delivered a keynote speech themed “Shared win-win cooperation platform for world and provide preferential policies for Chinese Platform of World Tourism Cities.” More than tourism cites, as well as a wonderful bridge tourists. Mr. Yan introduced the 72-hour 300 guests attended this conference. Attendees to understand the tourism development TWOV in Beijing and Guangzhou, and training included Taleb Rafai, Secretary-General of and industry of China. The idea of sharing programs of WTCF. He advised the tourism UNWTO; Vice Premier of Romania Ministers economy and development of world tourism department of Romania to promote more of Economy, Trade, and Tourism of Romania cities put forward by WTCF attracted the convenient visa procedures and improve on its and the President of Romania National Tourism guest’s attention. tourism attractions. Association. In addition to attending, these After the speech, the guests actively During the First World Tourism Develop- participants also gave speeches. communicated with the delegation of ment Conference in May, 2016, Taleb Rafai, This conference’s theme was promoting WTCF. ReviewPro was very interested in Secretary-General of UNWTO and Song Yu, sustainable development and improving Development Report of World Tourism Cities Secretary-General of WTCF, had many deep competitiveness of tourism destinations. and Development Trend Research of World discussions and consolidated their partnership. On the main forum of Quality Management Tourism Economy, especially index setting of This time, WTCF was invited by UNWTO and Enhancement in Tourism Destinations, evaluation system of world tourism cities. It to attend the International Conference of UNWTO invited WTCF to speak about and also wished to be the data provider of WTCF. Integrated Quality Management in Tourism introduce their communication & cooperation The Tourism Department of Romania, hotel Destinations. WTCF was able to capture the platforms and what it has done to promote groups, travel agents asked about how to audience’s attention, which helped to expand the service of tourism cities. strengthened cooperation with tourism cities the popularity of WTCF in world tourism field.

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World Tourism Cities Federation

Data Mining Emerges as A Key Differentiator in B2B Domain

Tourico’s burgeoning data mining initiative is helping Chinese intermediaries in improving upon their product offering by evaluating travel booking behavior. A detailed look at how business intelligence is paving way for competitive edge in the B2B domain.

Tourico’s burgeoning data mining initiative hitting its platform through a dedicated data working on its business intelligence software is helping Chinese intermediaries in improving mining initiative. This way Tourico is adding a to evaluate future demand for different travel upon their product offering by evaluating travel new dimension to its high-volume, wholesale destinations over the past few years. Such booking behavior. A detailed look at how business model. The company, which now has a team predictive analytics revolves around volumes intelligence is paving way for competitive edge in of computer scientists dedicated to identifying of travel search and booking data. the B2B domain. the origin and cause of shifts in travel booking Tourico Holidays, a specialist in wholesale behavior, asserts that this is a novel way of Efficiency travel brokerage, is increasingly counting on assessing the performance in the wholesale Today the efficiency that Tourico’s data the prowess of data mining to add value to sector of travel. mining team (comprising 10 data scientists) is their overall offering in China. Clearly, the team is looking beyond the targeting has two facets – enhancing pricing The B2B specialist’s Travel Global Systems routine proposition - technology connection, and contracting capabilities of the team is minutely scrutinizing the requests that are content, and rates. The team has been (negotiations, relevant content depending

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World Tourism Cities Federation

upon the search for a particular destination the data science team is trying to understand Aviv says firstly it needs to be understood etc.), and for the ones who source inventory, “exact preferences” and accordingly creates a that shoppers don’t like prices that constantly providing a constructive feedback and “target list” to fit their needs. “Our data mining change. “Not when they shop for a camera, recommendations to let them improve initiative also tells us that the demand is much bread, milk or even travel. Stable, seasonal the overall user experience and conversion higher and growing in Phuket, Bangkok and rates are much more popular for those who rate of their respective platforms. From an Singapore - causing us to increase our portfolio like to plan,” she says. “Frequent changes organization’s perspective, the objective is to in those markets.” to rates affect anyone who caches rates. pre-emptively react to future spikes in demand. All across the distribution chain - from the This also complements the business model of Analysis inbound bed bank to the overseas wholesaler, Tourico, as being a global distributor it buys its Aviv shared that Tourico is analyzing travel agent and eventually the consumer,” she inventory in bulk, typically years in advance. “tens of millions of unique client searches per said. One needs to wary of changes in pricing, As for helping OTAs with negotiated rates day” from Chinese distributors. The blend and there is a need to avoid the practice that is of Tourico, consider an example. Say there are of computer scientists and the available BI similar to a “bait and switch” trick that leaves two OTAs, one from China and one foreign technology means there is a provision at customers frustrated and disloyal. OTA, both targeting same destination for the Tourico to not only build upon historical outbound business. Let’s say the foreign OTA context, but also anticipate future fluctuations Maturity of BI and at any given point of time is making better use if any in store. Technology in B2B of the inventory from Tourico, and the Chinese The B2B travel distribution is witnessing OTA isn’t displaying the best of the properties business intelligence-oriented offerings from that are available. So Tourico will proactively various stakeholders. For instance, traditional inform the Chinese OTA about the potential to travel agencies, too, today can avail web-based target incremental business worth $200,000 access to information about booking trends, per month by listing certain properties. Of additional revenue opportunities etc. As for course, the OTA controls the user interface making the most of it, no change to workflow is or the search results/ recommendations, but required by the travel agency. Tourico believes such prompt feedback in “Travel e-commerce platforms in China the form of market intelligence can help the are benefiting from what the likes of GTA intermediary, which tends to miss out on such and Tourico have to offer. Intermediaries are content owing to any “technical or marketing” relying on XML APIs for pricing intelligence, reason. “By breaking down the data and iden- precisely defining the fares, airlines and The illustration shows one of Business tifying tendencies of our Chinese partners, we markets. This helps in fine-tuning of offers, Intelligence modules Tourico Holidays are able to better understand and assist them marketing campaigns etc,” shared a source. currently uses. The module gives Tourico by offering tailored products that will increase As for what is being done to improving an almost live status how the company is their profits. We’re even sending travel speed, response time etc., Tourico shared that doing in multiple KPI’s - as compared to 4 intermediaries a comparison in performance there are several factors that set its technology week averages and the past year. It focuses vs. comp set (competing or alternate hotels),” apart from its competitors: on specific points like: top line, bottom line, shared Aviv. 1. By having parallel services, there is no bookings, etc. The data can also be narrowed Tourico says the team is combining one point of failure and there is load balancing. to a single hotel or client. A Tourico employee intelligence with the data that’s currently 2. Tourico can do major software changes is in charge of revenue generating sections available in the travel ecosystem. without stopping the service to clients. (Sales and product manager). “(In addition to Tourico’s own data), We 3. On the data side, the team has in place Tourico told us that their business are currently data mining from key Internet many monitors that alert a 24X7 team for intelligence modules cover sales, contracting, sources, including travel aggregate sites that suspected issues. automated revenue management and technical are available to the public, to categorize 4. Tourico says it employs a machine aspects of their system (like response time). “We hotels throughout the world. Utilizing these learning technology to detect issues and root also have simulators that create scenarios on external big data sets help determine which out causes at a very early stage. impact of changes in margins and other factors products share similarities and which will be 5. Expanding the Internet Service on top line, bottom line, cancelation ratio and best for our clients. We can also take our best Provider portfolio – to have better route to even Tourico’s EBITDA,” explained Einat Aviv, Data selling hotels, determine what makes them various clients and more bandwidth. Mining Team Leader for Travel Global Systems. successful, and find comparable hotels to 6. Adding more hardware to serve In terms of performance in China, contract in the future,” explained Aviv. better the growing number of requests. Tourico says room nights sold worldwide Is feedback real-time? 7. Code optimization to reduce the tripled in Q1 this year, compared to the same “It is not real-time. We are still working server side response time. time last year, from the China source market on streamlining a feedback process,” said Aviv. 8. Piloting MPLS (Multiprotocol Label – registering over 200% increment. “Our top And what about changes in pricing? Switching is a type of data-carrying technique clients in China increased searches to Phuket, Talking about complexities associated real- for high-performance telecommunications Bangkok and Singapore X 1,000 year-over- time interactions between booking engines, networks) as service to enhance the speed. year since 2015,” said Aviv, who added that travel providers, CRS and direct connects, (Source: Tourico)

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World Tourism Cities Federation Understanding Intricacies Associated with Digital Ad Market in China

Be it for dealing with data‘walled garden’ within the so-called BAT (Baidu, Tencent and Alipay) ecosystem, having a single view of the customer or video viewability assessment, coming to grips with such issues is vital to optimize digital ad expenditure.

everybody is competing, products are getting better and better. “If you see the car hailing market, there is a huge price war going on at this juncture (Baidu Inc has a stake in Uber and Alibaba holds a stake in rival Chinese ride- hailing service Didi Kuaidi). And consumers stand to gain from such level of competition,” says Jaiswal. For instance, mapping had been an issue for Uber, with the performance of Google Maps not up to the mark. So few months back Baidu was chosen to give riders across China access to Uber through an integration of Baidu Maps and Uber’s API. “In terms of advertisers and marketing community, there are plenty of challenges. We are sort of locked in a data ecosystem, which is not transferable. So what we call is a “walled garden” – you can’t get data out of it, ” shared Jaiswal. So the issue is that data can only be used if it’s used to buy inventory within the publisher’s own ecosystem. Hence targeting options are severely restricted. You have to trust whomsoever you are dealing within the BAT ecosystem. “The advertising fraternity has to dig deep with no data going out. There is no cross-platform mobility of data also. We need data and technology experts to build a different ecosystem or a 3rd party data management platforms or DMP that can tap into all three,” said Jaiswal. Essentially, what the industry in China is missing out on is availability of 3rd party data management platforms that offer a gamut of targeting options. In fact, in other markets, there can be several data providers and they can denote entirely dissimilar characteristics about a single consumer! “As from efficiency perspective, if we want to do frequency capping on certain ads, but since we don’t have the data it can be pretty annoying if the consumer is shown the ad a number of times. At the end each player in the ecosystem is benefiting in terms of advertising revenue generation,” shared Jaiswal. 2. What data and what currency to trust: In other countries, dominant ad exchange platforms are not many, and are mainly Google and Facebook. The trading platform in China is more decentralized. Jaiswal mentioned that Digital advertising market in China continues to operate in a way that is the biggest challenge is - what data and what currency to trust (standardized different from say Europe or the US on many counts. methods of counting advertising impressions say on the web or in-app). Be it for video viewability tracking or the data being sort of locked “Unlike other markets, where there are standard Google id or in each of ecosystem that is owned by Baidu, Tencent or Alipay (BAT), Facebook id and link it across platforms, there are different hurdles here. respectively, one needs to come to grips with certain issues. Sometimes there is lot of programmatic inventory and ad exchanges Also, one shouldn’t forget the pace with which new developments in which are actually being bought over by other players and there is also content, media mix, technology, data and analytics continue to forge ahead. an alternate ecosystem where you can buy ad inventory – so which So has virtual reality or VR, which was one of the major highlights of the currency to trust, how to get the data back, and who will do the analysis recently held CES Asia, reached a stage where travel brands need to take and who will optimize the data? There have been attempts to overcome notice and allocate budget and resources to improvise? certain challenges, but then in China it’s a long term game, and the Here we explore 6 areas from media spend perspective: industry would make progress eventually,” Jaiswal said. 1. Dealing with data “walled garden”: Fundamentally there are two 3. Understanding multiple layers within an ecosystem: The angles as far as the BAT ecosystem is concerned, explained Shanghai-based digital revolution has arrived in the financial services sector, and Bhasker Jaiswal, Managing Partner, OMD China. generally the “fintech” players tend to be quite different from the The consumer angle – there are basically three players competing media players, but in China all three – Baidu, Tencent and Alibaba – against each other in this market. So consumers are spoilt for choice. Since have very sophisticated wallet systems.

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World Tourism Cities Federation

“There are huge benefits of how these players are shaping up the changing, there is heavy execution cost” and it is difficult for customers to industry – for a consumer there is no need to carry cash, and offline and download apps. “By using mobile technology, we may specify a certain online transactions are facilitated by mobile wallets. Also, QR Code as a customer and his/ her preference and may also get his/her location, marketing technology didn’t take off anywhere but here in China it is not behavior, interests so that is much smarter,” Bai said, referring to being more linked to marketing, rather its working for transactions. WeChat default app relevant and contextual along the purchase path. for most consumers has an in-built QR Code scanner (and even Alipay had), On how precise is mobile marketing today and how the industry is so the whole concept of paying via a mobile phone is in-built in the Chinese avoiding wastage of ad spend, Bai said, “We are using MVT (multi-variate ecosystem, and more consumers are getting onto it,” shared Jaiswal. testing) to test the effectiveness of a mobile marketing method. It is hard to So be it for messaging, m-commerce, chatting, social networking etc., say how precise but it should better than traditional offline marketing but since they have everything in-house with one ecosystem you can seamlessly may be poor than SEM (search engine marketing) in term of precision.” Bai move around online shopping, to buying movie tickets, or do voice call added that the team “regularly pushes promotions to different customers or video call via the same platform. An offering like WeChat is not only based their historical behavior”. messaging platform or facilitate payments – there is a communication layer, 6. Video viewability assessment: There are issues with viewability social layer, media layer and connectivity layer, consisting of a rich set of API’s. tracking considering the way publishers handled it. There is a need for a So one has to understand how to make the most of these features and avail mechanism that can pave way for buying of viewable impressions only by them for apt messaging during the travel booking funnel. strengthening metrics related to viewability. It also needs to be noted that 4. Connecting the dots across various channels and devices: Customer as per the local regulatory laws, publishers are held accountable for the ads experience is gradually being data-driven and the objective is to aptly work served, and this restricts the participation of 3rd party ad serving specialists. on the blend of data and analytics to deliver a personalized brand experience. So advertisers are looking for answers pertaining to several questions – is Jaiswal says there are mainly two challenges, customer segmentation there is a way to move away from ads that don’t deliver the viewability rates and personalized content creation. Media specialists have been doing as desired? Is every impression being counted? Is the viewability rate higher segmentation over the years with consumers’ purchase behaviour, search than 50%? behaviour, and social behaviour etc. But with so many devices coming into the market, and data being more dynamic than the past, the granularity Prioritizing Ad Expenditure of the data exchange we can actually pinpoint has grown extremely fine. As for the recently held CES Asia, especially with what Mercedes, There are lots of taxonomies in the ecosystem, you can segment customers Intel, Alibaba, JD.com etc. showcased, Jaiswal shared that essentially the to whatever details you want. But where do you stop is the question. How technology that emerged as the frontrunner revolved around VR. much of personalization is necessary and at the same time wouldn’t seem or “It paves way for new form of content – 3D TV or something that has sound creepy is often difficult to evaluate. come up and hasn’t been experimented…brands would get an opportunity Personalized content creation remains another big challenge. Lot to be a way part of this via user-generated content or professional generated of airline websites feature dynamic ads – so, for instance, if I search for content,” mentioned Jaiswal. He said brands would be in a positive to craft Shanghai-London I would get a creative along with a price, and then for a much more engaging experience – think of a hotel, an airline or a travel another routing, there would be another creative and pricing. When it destination. “One would be able to create a VR for your target audience to comes to branding and delivering product level messaging other than holiday experience a travel product or a service before one actually uses or avails it. and ticket services, it’s not so easy to create personalized content that matter Even though it promises to be an engaging medium, the issue here (what to consumers. In case of low involvement products, customers are very was observed at during the CES) is that the quality of VR wasn’t up to the similar, and meaningful personalization is even more difficult to achieve. mark – say the synchronization between audio and visual wasn’t great.” 5. Excelling in mobile advertising: It needs to be highlighted that since There are certain VR channels that have been launched, for instance, the mobile ecosystem has taken over the decision-making is much faster. video games industry. How to work around such content for marketing “Being on the top of the page (in search rankings) becomes very objectives? So here big brands need to take lead and come up with a novel important that on PC, because on PC you can open five tabs and explore lot adoption method. Artificial intelligence was another highlight, but overall more, lot easily. But on mobile, transaction is much shorter, the closing rates such concepts haven’t become mass yet, and are probably waiting for a are much higher, the click through rates are much higher…so it becomes a breakthrough in terms of “big iPhone type” of product. One can expect a bit war of being number 1 or number 2 on the mobile screen. So whether it’s a of experimentation with VR in the short term. travel destination or ticket price, being second cheapest is not going to work,” Alitrip has chosen to integrate VR technology into online hotel says Jaiswal. reservation, enabling users to have an immersive view of a hotel on its app, OMD’s Dive Mobile study revealed that consumers have a complex from hotel lobby all the way to the guest rooms. relationship with mobile advertising. Whilst a large majority of them are As for prioritising the expenditure, Jaiswal said generally there is annoyed by it, these same people also believe mobile advertising is necessary “70/20/10 Rule” or even “90/9/1” (with majority going to what’s been and even interesting. This is why 53% of who accidentally click on an ad will done over the past few years – say search marketing; next focus on read at least 1/4 of the landing page. The potential for mobile advertising something that has just gone mainstream and last part for testing new is significant, not only because of the shift in time spent but because of its’ concepts/ technology and don’t expect a major RoI). “So in case of VR, ability to drive sales. 39% of consumers have said that smartphones are the brands will experiment and gauge the feedback from consumers. There most influential digital channel to drive purchase, ahead of those who said are certain areas that are picking up, for instance, more structured PC (30%) and tablet (23%). approach towards programmatic buying for advertising and this includes From an advertiser’s perspective, Zhiwei Bai, Vice President at plans for outdoor and TV. So advertising budget is generally marked for eLong, says mobile ad campaigns’ strengths are “massive coverage, they what one already knows and where “eyeballs” are, and in China the are targeted, differentiated, timely and customer lifecycle based”. As focus is very much on online video and digital,” concluded Jaiswal. for limitations, such campaigns are being heavily competed for, “always (Source: chinatravelnews)

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World Tourism Cities Federation

Interview with David Goldstein: The Key to Canadian Tourism

Tourism is among the world’s fastest growing industries, and Canadian tourism industry is a dynamic sector with a large economic impact.

Canadians across the country and in travel market seemed to decline- destinations in the developing every region are employed in tourism. Still, compared to other countries. Why? world. These events changed Canada seems to have lost its share of the David Goldstein: There is no the modern face of tourism international travel market during the last magic bullet to blame for the and Canada has had a difficult decade. Since the 1930s, the Tourism Industry decline in levels of international time remaining globally Association of Canada (TIAC) has remained arrivals to Canada, but rather a competitive. the only national organization to represent series of unfortunate events and David Goldstein: the full cross-section of Canada’s tourism circumstances. President and Chief Executive Q: You just mentioned Officer of the Canadian Tourism industry. For this news section, we spoke with Commission 9/11. What exactly was TIAC’s President and CEO David Goldstein Q: Which are the changes? its impact on Canada’s about major issues in the industry. David Goldstein: The travel-ing world is travel industry? radically different today than it was in 2001. The David Goldstein: While ex-citing exotic Q: Mr. Goldstein, thank you for taking the most obvious change occurred tragically on Sept locales were opening for business to millions time to answer our questions. For many 11, 2001, which brought about the new reality of of new middle-class travelers, Canada, as a G8 decades, TIAC has been responsible for uber-security. Other contributing factors include nation, found itself facing a barrage of new representing Canadian tourism interests the global recession, the evolution of web-based national security measures. The US, our largest at the national level. Between 2002 and social media marketing and the emergence of market, was under siege and determined to 2011, Canada’s share of the international new travelers from, and new routes to exotic prevent another terrorist attack on its soil

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whatever the cost. The new security reality in Q: Where especially do you see Canada's investments in key markets to maximize Canada added delays and additional costs to strengths? scale of voice and effectiveness. That air travel. Further compounding the problem, David Goldstein: Canada’s strength lies being said, social media platforms are in Canada all costs associated with aviation in having superior product and experiences; creating marketing opportunities that are security and services are transferred to the our natural geography, iconic attractions and very effective at reaching consumers with ticket-buying public, thereby pricing Canada our reputation as a hospitable nation have relevant and compelling messaging using out of a competitive position. helped create a national brand that is among their medium of choice. TIAC continues the very best in the world. to advocate for additional marketing Q: Did you register any changes within funding for the CTC and is working with the last few years? Q: And what about Canada's weaknesses, industry partners to better align marketing David Goldstein: Canada is adapting. if any? investments to key markets like the US Although heavily reliant on strong domestic David Goldstein: While we are in leisure markets. travel volumes, we are seeing slow yet need of in-vestment in attractions and steady numbers out of Western Europe and accommodations, Canada faces its greatest Q: One of MySpotlight Kanada’s general steady growth out of emerging markets such challenges in marketing and access. I have ideas is to offer smaller businesses access as China, Brazil, Mexico and India. The world already addressed the access challenges to marketing strategies and international is traveling more and spending more than regarding the cost of air travel to and within networking. TIAC also promotes ever before and Canada needs to attract its Canada and the burdensome visitor visa partnerships among all sectors of the fair share of that new business. system whose impact cannot be overstated. national industry. How important are partnerships for tourist businesses to Q:How does TIAC plan to support this Q: How can TIAC support Canadian cover overseas markets? development? travel businesses with regard to David Goldstein: Partnerships and alignment David Goldstein: TIAC’s advocacy agenda marketing? at the local, regional and national level are is focused on increasing Canada’s global David Goldstein: Concerning marketing, important to achieve strength of voice in market share and at the very least matching while all of our competitor nations are the market. It is important for the Canadian the global rate of growth at 4% to 5%. increasing their international marketing travel industry to increase the number This growth will drive investment and job budgets–many to the tune of 100%-500%– of international travelers to Canada first, creation in our sector through a balanced the Canadian Tourism Commission’s [CTC’s] and then to worry about how the growth approach that includes increasing visitation budget has been reduced by nearly 50% is divided up among destinations and from traditional markets in the short term. over the past five years. TIAC continues to attractions in Canada. The long-term objective is achieving growth advocate for competitive funding levels for from emerging markets currently impeded Canadian international tourism marketing. Q: What steps should Canadian tourist by public policy, such as high taxes and fees The current scarcity of funding has driven businesses take to attract more travelers? on air travel and inefficiencies in Canada’s innovation within the CTC and the Canadian David Goldstein: There is no blanket visitor visa system. industry, taking advantage of low-cost, high- answer. Canadian tourism businesses, like all yield platforms available through social businesses, should identify the target market Q: Which developments did you notice media and viral marketing. for their service and work to generate in 2012 and 2013 and what can you see excitement for their business. For some this projected for 2014 and 2015 Q: The US is a most important market will be the European market, for others it’s a David Goldstein: The most important for Canada's travel industry. How specific segment of the Canadian domestic development that we have seen over 2012-2013 important are European markets, like market or American foodies. is the economic recovery in important markets, Germany? in particular Europe and the United States. David Goldstein: Germany is a vitally Q: Which strategies would you advise Passport ownership in the US has doubled to important mature market for Canada. We them to explore to profit from tourism approximately 120,000,000 holders. Outbound have experienced a decline in visitation growth in the near future? travel from the US is up and new border programs from Western Europe and the UK, which we David Goldstein: The simple answer and infrastructure are coming online. All of these believe is attributable to Canada’s lack of is to explore social media and consult developments bode well for improved business in competitiveness in these markets in terms of the Canadian Tourism Commission and 2014 and 2015. marketing buy and high aviation prices. We provincial and local marketing organizations continue to advocate for policy changes that for intel and research. Working with other Q: What is TIAC’s strategy to overcome will result in more competitive pricing. regional businesses turns a single hotel, limiting factors that are holding the restaurant or attraction into a compelling industry back? Q:Canadian Business Magazine listed destination. — And as I mentioned earlier, David Goldstein: Consisting of presenta- “insufficient tourism marketing” some immediate challenges with the tions, research papers, policy proposals and as what the experts call “one of the emerging markets involve visitor visas, so public opinion studies, TIAC’s advocacy initiatives industry’s major insufficiencies.” How growth expectations for these markets will are branded as “Gateway to Growth.” To match would you advise tourist businesses to evolve as we work with government to global growth rates, Canada needs to follow get the best out of their marketing? remedy the current capacity and efficiency aMAP to success, which includes marketing, David Goldstein: TIAC works with challenges. access and product/people. CTC and our industry partners to align (Source: TKK Business)

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World Tourism Cities Federation The Young and The Old, The City of Thessaloniki

Friendly, beautiful and with a wealth of cultural attractions, Greece's The city center is bounded by the sea in the second city is better connected to the tourists than ever before. south, Olympiados street in the northeast (from which then the upper town begins), Bardariou (aka Dimokratias) square in the Thessaloniki lies on the northern fringe The central part, corresponding to the northwest and in the southeast by the of the Thermaic Gulf on its eastern coast and region that is inside the the Byzantine walls, University campus of the Aristotle University is bound by Mount Chortiatis on its southeast. forms the oldest part of the city and is divided and the facilities of Thessaloniki International The metropolitan area of the city extends in two parts, the central commercial and Exhibition Center. around an area of 1,455.62 km² (562.02 sq historic city center, where most tourist sites Most roads in the city center are either mi), which includes many beachside and and interests, entertainment and educational parallel or perpendicular to the sea. A simple hilly suburbs, while its densest part, which facilities are located; and Ano Poli (also called rule that helps the visitor is that if the a street makes up the urban area of the city and what Old Town and literally the Upper Town), the goes downhill, by following it, it will lead Thessalonians usually refer to as the "City of heritage listed district north of Thessaloniki's you to the sea. The biggest parallel streets Thessaloniki", can be divided roughly into 3 city center that was not engulfed by the city's to the sea starting from the sea are Nikis、 parts, the northwestern, the central and the great fire of 1917 and was declared a UNESCO Tsimiski、Ermou、 Egnatia、Agiou Dimitriou southeastern. heritage site. and Kassandrou avenues. The important

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World Tourism Cities Federation

streets leading to the sea, starting from Square looks permanently abandoned. Only northwest, are Ionos Dragoumi, Venizelou, the airport tourist office opens on Saturdays the pedestrian streets Aristotelous and Hagia (9am-2pm). Sophia and Ethinikis Amynis avenues. Take a tour in the centre of Thessaloniki Check in and plan to visit its nearby destinations. Also, The best address in town is the five- while being in Thessaloniki it is worth going star Electra Palace Hotel, with a commanding up to Halkidiki. presence over Aristotle Square. Summer rates online are outstanding value, with opulent Travel Essentials doubles for €110 including an ample buffet Why go now? breakfast. Greece's relaxed and profoundly historic A seafront alternative with boutique second city is both the gateway to some style and superb views across the gulf can be fascinating parts of northern Greece and found at the Daios at 59 Nikis Avenue. Chic a worthwhile destination in its own right. doubles are available for €115 to €135, with Thessaloniki is more accessible from Britain breakfast and complimentary mini-bar.For this summer – with easyJet's new route from three-star, old-school hospitality in a good Manchester offering excellent weekend location, opt for the Hotel Luxembourg at 6 connections to add to the existing services Komninon Street; €80 doubles with breakfast. from London.

The city center is bounded by the sea in the south, Olympiados street Touch down The main airline is easyJet with five in the northeast (from which then the upper town begins), Bardariou (aka weekly flights from Gatwick and two from Dimokratias) square in the northwest and in the southeast by the University Manchester. BA competes from Gatwick four times a week, while Ryanair flies thrice campus of the Aristotle University and the facilities of Thessaloniki weekly from Stansted. The airport is 15km International Exhibition Center. south-east of the city. Bus 78, an express service, departs from the airport every half-hour or so, covering the Day One 30-minute journey to town for a reasonable Cultural morning €0.80. If you don't want to wait for a direct Start early at the 34m-high White Tower , bus, then take the next one to Ikea (Greek where no more than 75 visitors are allowed for Ikea, the homeware store) and change to at any one time (8.30am-3pm daily except any northbound bus; €0.90 including transfer. Monday, free). Its present name arose in the Buses run to the main railway station , calling 19th century when a convict whitewashed at several stops in the city centre. Returning the tubby 15th-century fortification in to the airport, the city's complicated one-way return for freedom. It has now reverted to system and building works for the new Metro its original honey-coloured stone. Nearby, mean it is difficult to find the right stops – the splendid archaeological museumat 6 locate the most convenient one before you Manoli Andronikou Street is also best seen need to head home. early before the crowds. The grounds are strewn with classical fragments and elegant Get your bearings sarcophagi, while inside are finds from the Thessaloniki sprawls around an arc of Royal Tombs at Vergina, 80km south-west of coastline at the top of the Thermaic Gulf. The Thessaloniki. The pottery and jewellery are main area of interest to visitors is along the particularly fine. shore between the ferry port and the city's For a couple of euros more, you can emblem, the White Tower, and in the area buy a combination ticket that includes the that rises inland from here to the ancient city adjacent Museum of Byzantine Culture, which walls. has some notable icons. The city is walkable, with cheap buses and efficient taxis offering respite from the Window shopping heat. The main shopping street is Tsimiski, Official tourist information is a problem, with the Plateia Mall at the centre. For especially at weekends; the main tourist specialist and independent stores, browse office on Tsimiski opens only 9am to 3pm, Smyrnis Street, where original crafts and Monday to Friday, while the kiosk in Aristotle charms are on sale in 7wishes at No 7,

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World Tourism Cities Federation

and cutting-edge design in the 2nd FLooR architectural showroom, confusingly displayed in its ground-floor shop. The main city market is Modiano, which sprawls across a couple of city blocks and is full of life until around noon from Monday to Saturday.

Lunch on the run You can put together a picnic at the market, or opt to join the queue at a Thessaloniki institution: Papadosiako, on the corner of Tsimiski and Aristotle. It serves wraps, sandwiches and sweet cakes – plus excellent ice-cream.

Take a view Even if you are not staying at the Electra Palace Hotel, you can go to the top floor for a coffee in the open-air roof terrace – with views across the gulf as far as Mount Olympus on a clear day.

Not all of Thessaloniki's many fine views are from high altitude: for a sea-level prospect, walk east to the port and look inland to the urban embroidery draped across the hills. Keep heading downhill towards through the straggle of lanes. The Take a hike From the ferry port head inland – father of modern Turkey, Kemal Ataturk, was born in Thessaloniki before pausing to see if the waterside Olympic the wholesale population transfers that saw many Turks and Greeks change Museum is open (hours are erratic). Head places. His birthplace is the wellguarded Turkish Consulate at Agiou Dimitriou away from the sea along the café-strewn street of Katouni and through the narrow 151. It is closed for renovations, but you can visit the gardens. lanes of the old Turkish quarter around Vilara. Head south-east along Ermou, with some ouzo in the company of locals playing dominoes, can take in the last of the sun while enjoying handsome mid-20th-century structures, to try Café Diogenis just off Agiou Dimitriou. good taverna fare. Agia Sofia – an always-busy church with 8th- century roots and a fabulous dome. Dining with the locals Day Two Thessaloniki has lots of great-value Sunday morning: go to church An aperitif restaurants. One of the best locations is Start the day at the viewing platform Proto Patoma occupies the first floor of an Mangio, on the corner of Nikis and Smyrnis. at the Kastra, the ancient citadel, which you Art Nouveau building at Tsimiski 19. For a swift The upstairs terrace faces south-west, so you can reach on bus 22 to Tsitsania or bus 23

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World Tourism Cities Federation

Thessaloniki before the wholesale population transfers that saw many Turks and Greeks change places. His birthplace is the wellguarded Turkish Consulate at Agiou Dimitriou 151. It is closed for renovations, but you can visit the gardens. Walking straight towards the sea, you encounter a couple more open spaces: the vast Rotunda, shaded by trees, and the tiny Church of St Panteleimon that stands in a pretty garden in the city.

Out to brunch Over at the port, the exuberant Kitchen Bar serves salads, grilled meat and elaborate desserts all day, every day, at outdoor tables that line the quayside.

Take a ride One of Greece's more unusual tran- sportational phenomena is Thessaloniki's free harbour cruise. Frequently through the day and evening, motor boats dolled up in the manner of ancient triremes, depart from the waterside adjacent to the White Tower for one-hour tours of the harbour. The understanding is that you will buy a drink or two during the voyage; coffee is €3, a glass of to Platanos. From here, the city unravels wine €6. beneath you towards the sea. Walk west beside the wall to the first Icing on the cake theological location of the day: the Vlatadon Where other cities have ordinary squares, Monastery, with a tiny chapel (7.30 -11am Thessaloniki has two astonishing sets of ancient and 5.30-8pm) amid modern structures. ruins planted in the middle of the city. To the Then head downhill, following the north, the foundations of the Roman Agora sporadic signs to the Temple of Osios David, fill Dikastirion Square; 1km to the south in open 9am-noon and 6pm-8pm daily (but not Navarinou Square, the Arch of Galerius, Sunday evenings). Peek inside to see the vivid celebrates victory over the Persians in 279AD 12th-century frescos. –and is planted amid the ruins of a palace. Opening hours are short (8am to 3pm, A walk in the park Monday and Thursday only), but you need Keep heading downhill towards th- not get close up for the sense of antiquity rough the straggle of lanes. The father of enduring so spectacularly amid modernity. modern Turkey, Kemal Ataturk, was born in (Source: wikitravel)

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World Tourism Cities Federation

L.A. Rail Extension Enables Trips The bridge is being built with 1.9-inches thick suppliers worldwide, assisting them in Between Downtown and Santa Monica glass panels. identifying potential destinations for future This particular part of the Grand Can- events. Vancouver was previously awarded

yon is already famous as it featured in James the ICCA ranking in 2006, 2008, 2010, 2011 Cameron’s Avatar. The new bridge would and 2015. definitely add another feather to its majestic Watkins Research Group’s Meeting and beauty. Convention Planners Survey is considered The bridge would also let the most the most comprehensive and authoritative courageous tourists to try bungee jumping survey of the convention and meetings from top of it. The bridge officials informed industry, and its annual rankings are based on that only 800 tourists will be allowed to walk a global evaluation of meeting and convention at a time. organizers. Out of the 40 North American Grand Canyon also has a sky-walker in cities surveyed this year, Vancouver placed first Arizona; Canada’s Alberta Glacier Skywalk in Canada and second in the continent. also increases vertigo and acrophobia in the tourists. But there is absolutely no comparison Tourists to Experience Vondelpark Open Los Angeles’s first rail line connecting between these two and the new Zhangjiajie Air Theatre in Amsterdam downtown Los Angeles to Santa Monica in Bridge. This bridge is going to be the Ultimate Vondelpark Open Air Theatre, which more than six decades went into service on challenge for the tourists. organizes cultural programs from June to May 20. September, is presenting 3-days-long show on LA Metro’s Expo Line began ferrying Vancouver Named Top North American 16th, 22nd, and 28th May. riders to downtown Santa Monica following City for International Meetings the completion of a 6.6-mile leg between Vancouver is one of North America’s Santa Monica and Culver City that cost $1.5 most sought-after destinations for billion. On the first commuter day after service international meetings, according to two began, about 12,000 new riders used the line. prominent reports recently released to the The 15-mile route, which takes about public. In the span of a week, the International 45 minutes, is the first rail line connecting Congress and Convention Association (ICCA) downtown Los Angeles to the beach since the ranked Vancouver the top city in North Pacific Electric streetcar system (known locally America for international meetings, and as the Red Car System) stopped running in Watkins Research Group’s prestigious Meeting 1953. The downtown Santa Monica station is and Convention Planners Survey rated the three blocks east of the Santa Monica pier. Vancouver Convention Centre the number- The Open Air Theatre is located in Amsterdam. one venue in North America for Superior Dare to Try World’s Longest, Highest Though they organize shows throughout Convention Facilities. Glass-bottom Bridge in 2017? summer without charging any entry fee, they still As if hiking to the top of Grand Canyon appreciate voluntary donations. The upcoming was not scary enough, Zhangjiajie Grand event in Vondelpark would be jam-packed Canyon Tourism Management Co. has with festivals, jazz performance, cabaret dance, managed to add another thrill to it. With the children’s theatre, stand-up comedy show, and help of Chinese builders and their world-class music show. technology, Grand Canyon has become the The Vondelpark Open Air Theatre came proudest owner of world’s highest and longest into being in 1974 by mixing the ‘Vondelpark glass-bottom bridge. The bridge is going to Parties’ and ‘Happenings’. Till then, the Open open for the brave-hearted visitors from early Air Theatre has been carrying a very rich January 2017. and fulfilling musical, cultural, and theatrical The bridge is going to be 1410 feet long, heritage itself. 20 feet wide, 984 feet above the ground, and If you are planning to visit Amsterdam most importantly, it is completely see-through. soon or you already landed there, you must go Amsterdam-based ICCA releases an and discover this cultural unison on either of annual report ranking cities according to the the two remaining dates. number of international meetings hosted in While visiting the open air theatre, you the previous year. Thanks to factors like state- can have a bite in the local cafes like Blauwe of-the-art convention facilities and strategic Theehuis,n Groot Melkhuis etc. Also, you can destination marketing, Vancouver hosted rent a bike and have picnics inside the park. 78 international meetings in 2016 – more The best part about this entire theatre than any other city in North America. The is that you’ll be able to enjoy all the festivities city placed 29th in the world, ahead of other under the wide open sky, decorated with renowned meetings destinations like Montreal sparkling stars. and Toronto. ICCA’s report is distributed So, if you are planning to be a part of this to more than 6,000 meeting planners and merriment, do not forget to donate generously. Part of the photos in the magaine came from online sources. If you have any questions regarding copyrights, please kindly contact our office at: 010-8532 3611 ext. 8015 Contact: Ms. Li Dan

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