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Newsletter -August 20, 2002
European tourism
feels the pinch
Fear of flying and economic woes keep Americans at home
They gather in sneakered gaggles at Buckingham Palace. They
swelter in art-hungry lines at the Uffizi in Florence. With their cameras and
guidebooks, the foreign tourists rubberneck the Eiffel Tower in Paris. And
throughout the Continent, from the ritziest of hotel foyers to the seediest of
souvenir stalls, Europeans lie in wait each summer to pounce on these
visitors' dollars and yen and euros to chase away the winter doldrums. But
this year, in Rome or London, Paris or Berlin, hoteliers and tour organizers
say that one group of travelers is markedly underrepresented - Americans.
Since Sept. 11, when travel across the Atlantic was briefly suspended, air
traffic between North America and Western Europe has recovered only slowly.
Scheduled flights are still down 13 percent from the levels of last year,
according to airline industry figures. In Britain, the number of American
tourists is 10 percent less than in 2000 - the last year before a combination
of foot-and-mouth disease and fears of terrorism sent American and most other
visitor numbers into a free fall in 2001.
In France, tour operators were stunned in April to record a drop-off in
American visitors of almost a third. With stock markets sliding in the United
States and economies slumbering in Continental Europe, the stemmed flow of
Americans and their dollars has shown that almost a year after the attacks on
the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, the economic impact still ripples
across the globe. The slowdown in visitors from across the Atlantic was being
felt even before the disastrous floods this month in Central Europe devastated
popular tourism centers such as Salzburg, Prague and Dresden.
But some of Europe's tour organizers are relieved that Americans are
beginning to return at all. "There are some green shoots beginning to
show," said Nick Walsh, a senior manager at the Shakespeare Birthplace
Trust in Stratford-Upon-Avon, England. "Last year we were only just
beginning to recover from the foot-and-mouth outbreak when Sept. 11 happened,
and one thing segued into another. But certainly there are American accents
audible again outside Shakespeare's birthplace, though still not the full
number we would expect in summer." At the Tower of London, Jacqueline
Gazzard, a spokeswoman, said that while there were fewer American visitors
this year, there were more Europeans and Asians. "Today it was
Italians," she said. "There were Italians everywhere.
The Americans are being more careful because they haven't got as much
money. I don't think it's a completely bleak picture. But it's going to be a
long haul." At least Americans themselves have come to contemplate the
possibility of traveling again. "I've had real angst about flying since
Sept. 11," said John Peixinho, 36, a decorator from Newport, Rhode
Island, who had been planning a trip to Germany last year but canceled after
the terror attacks. "But time heals the fear," he said in a
telephone interview from the United States. "I wouldn't even consider a
trip to Europe last fall, but maybe in a couple of months." One thing
that has endured is the United States' reputation from the Scottish Highlands
to downtown Berlin as a nation of high rollers ready to splurge on fancy
accommodations.
For the country-house type of hotel at the top end, the Americans used to
be our best customers," said Scott Armstrong, a Scottish tourism
executive. Indeed, hotels including the five-star Adlon in Berlin, next to the
Brandenburg Gate, and the Plaza Athenee in Paris reported a sustained - if
slightly edgy - revival of American business. "All I can say is that
we've noticed Americans are making more and more last-minute
reservations," said Veronique Surrel, a spokeswoman for the Plaza Athenee.
"We don't know why. We don't know if this is linked to the economy or a
fear of flying." In other words, whatever the political differences or
trade wars between Europe and the United States, and however skeptically the
Europeans may perceive the Bush administration's policies on issues like war
with Iraq, dollars and cents tell a more nuanced story. At the Tower of
London, for instance, up to 40 percent of the more than 2 million visitors in
recent years have been Americans. That figure fell to about 30 percent this
year.
In Britain, even though this is a bad year, foreign visitors spent about
$7.5 billion in the first six months, the British Tourist Authority said. In
Italy, where the number of American visitors was down 11 percent this year in
Rome, Florence, Venice and Naples, tourism employs about 2 million Italians
and accounts for one-twelfth of the economy, according to official figures.
The slowdown in tourism could cost Italy about $2 billion in lost revenues,
partly because of Japan's economic woes but also because there are fewer
Americans visiting, La Stampa newspaper reported. "The U.S. represented a
market that had started to pick up pretty fast in the last five years with a
constant increase that has now been interrupted," said Antonio Allegra,
director of the tourist authority in the Sicilian resort of Taormina. "I
have no doubt that the main reason for this drop is international
terrorism." Across the Continent, though, there seem to be
anomalies.
In London's West End theater district, for instance, where audiences were
sharply reduced after Sept. 11, the revival has been uneven, said Paul James,
commercial manager of the Society of London Theater. While some musicals are
fully booked, he said, "plays are finding it a little harder, which would
suggest that the Americans have not all come back."The reduction in the
number of Americans in France seems primarily to affect areas outside Paris,
like the chateaus of the Loire Valley.
Michael Petit Jean, the manager at Chateau de Chenonceau, said:
"We have enormously fewer Americans traveling this year compared to last
year." According to the tourism office in Paris, the drop in American
visitors to the French capital itself was 17 percent compared with one year
ago, while the national figure for the fall in American tourism was about 30
percent. Karine Lefebvre, a spokeswoman for the Paris tourism office, said
that even with reduced overall numbers, American was still the dominant
nationality among foreigners in Paris in June, accounting for 15 percent of
visitors, while Britons made up only 9 percent. According to some travelers,
the picture is so uneven that more Americans are visiting the French Riviera
resort of Saint-Tropez than ever before, even though the overall numbers
visiting France are down. Significantly, though, the image of the American
abroad may have shifted.
Traditionally, French perceptions of Americans were framed in degrees of
brashness or loudness, reflecting the broader French suspicion of American
hegemony. But a study by tourism authorities in the Ile-de-France region
surrounding Paris said that Americans visiting France were different this
year: "less blindly confident about their country, more worried than they
will admit, but more American and more patriotic than ever before." In
Italy, residents of Rome say the cobbled streets of the Centro Storico - the
historic center that embraces such tourist draws as the Pantheon, the Piazza
Navona and the Trevi fountain - are less thronged with visitors than in other
years. But on the Amalfi coast, south of Naples, hotel and restaurant
operators report only a marginal downturn.
Some of the most striking economic damage may be still to come. British
Airways and several other European airlines say they have canceled some of
their trans- Atlantic flights for Sept. 11 this year because so few people -
American or otherwise - were prepared to fly on that day. SOURCE:
International Herald Tribune
E-Turbo.com
Mövenpick
hurt by German sales slump
Poor
trading in Germany accounted for a huge drop in profits for Swiss hotel and
restaurant group Mövenpick in the first half of this year.
Total
sales fell by 10.7% to Sfr577.7m (£251.4m), with profits before tax at
Sfr13.8m (£6m), compared with Sfr25.6m (£11.1m) the previous year.
Hotel
sales dropped by Sfr34.4m (£15m) to Sfr188.3m (£81.9m), while sales in its
restaurants earned Sfr280.3m (£122m). This represented a drop of Sfr29.6m (£12.9m),
compared with the same period last year.
The
group has 119 restaurants, 35 in Germany.
A
spokeswoman said that lack of consumer confidence in the country, and the
introduction of the euro, was to blame for the drop. She said: "People
believe that prices have increased since the introduction of the euro. The
economic climate in Germany has been a main factor, and people are reluctant
to go out."
Mövenpick
owns 44 hotels and resorts in 12 countries.
Source: Caterer & Hotelkeeper
magazine, 15-21 August 2002
1997 rates for
PATA Travel Mart 2003
The Pacific Asia Travel Association (PATA) will
offer 1997 exhibition prices for next year's 26th PATA Travel Mart, October
1-3, 2003, at Suntec, Singapore.
The 1997 Mart saw the biggest turnout ever. It
was also the year PATA last fully managed the event.
By managing the event in-house, PATA has been
able to significantly reduce the space cost for the 2003 Mart. The cost saving
is being passed on to a wider cross-section of the industry, said PATA.
Seller fees start from US$1,650 (for a nine
square-metre shell scheme booth space) for PATA members and US$1,950 for
non-members. Buyer fees to attend the Travel Mart start from US$150 for PATA
members and US$175 for non-members. Packages at US$395 with complimentary or
discounted air fares plus a hotel assignment will be made available to buyers
who register before June 20, 2003.
In addition, PATA has narrowed the price gap
between PATA member and non-member participation costs. However, a range of
exclusive tangible benefits will be offered to buyers and sellers who are
members of the Association.
PATA managing director-Events, Sheila Leong,
said: "In today’s climate, price does matter – and we’re reflecting
that in our price structure for the Mart."
An 11-member PATA Travel Mart Advisory Committee,
chaired by Mr. Kevin Murphy, vice president, international operations and
development, Great Eagle Hotels International, will work with PATA management
to reposition the mart and produce strategic and tactical marketing
initiatives to inject short-term and long-term growth into the event.
Contact Sheila Leong, Tik – Phenthip Chomprang,
or Angkana Lakanapornrak. Tel: (66-2) 658-2000. Fax: (66-2) 658-2013. E-mail: ptm@pata.th.com.
Web site: www.pata.org.
6C
shareholders push for hotel/pub split
e-Tid.com
- 6C, formerly Bass, has been looking to expand its hotel portfolio
following the sale of its brewing arm in 2000. It has said that £1bn will be
returned to shareholders by the end of the year if nothing suitable comes to
market.
The report hints at a difference of opinion in the 6C boardroom. ‘The
chairman [Ian Prosser] seems to be digging in his heels. Tim Clarke [chief
executive] is itching to take the pub business out of the group, but other
directors are resisting the move…’
The ‘Lex’ column in the FT points out that European hotel shares,
including 6C, have ‘given up ground’ since April when it became clear that
the US public were still reluctant to travel and that the economy was failing
to pick up. It warns that 6C has ‘overpaid for acquisitions before’ and
said that its short-term performance will depend on how its warchest is spent.
Events:
Convocation of the 2nd Congress of the FLACTUR
The Federación
Latinoamericana y del Caribe de Trabajadores de Hoteles, Restaurantes y
Turismo (FLACTUR), affiliated to the CLAT at the Latin American and to the
WFAFW at the world level, convenes its 2nd Congress of tourism and hotel
workers.
Venue and date of the Congress: The Congress will assemble in Santo Domingo,
Dominican Republic, on 22-29 September 2002.
More information and Registration: José Gómez Cerda, Secretary-general of
the WFAFW. . Brussels- Belgium. femtaa
Traffic
To Sports And Travel Sites Surges In June 2002 And E-Commerce Continues
Double-Digit Growth,
Major sporting events and
summer vacations were among primary drivers of Internet use in June 2002,
Reports comScore Media Metrix Online consumer spending grows 41 percent in
second quarter 2002 to $17.5 billion Reston, Va., July 17, 2002 - comScore
Networks, Inc. released the comScore Media Metrix U.S. Top 50 Internet
properties for June 2002 and highlights of online spending for the second
quarter of 2002. In a season with historically lighter Internet usage, sports
and travel comprised the fastest growing sites between May and June 2002.
Unique visitors to retail-sports sites increased 30 percent to 11.5 million,
largely the result of the addition of eBay Sports and its 2.8 million visitors
to the category; sports sites overall increased 17 percent to 41.9 million
visitors; travel-information sites increased 15 percent to 56.8 million
visitors; travel-hotel sites increased 15 percent to 16.7 million visitors;
and travel sites overall increased 13 percent to 62.8 million visitors.
|
comScore
Media Metrix
June 2002 Top Growth Categories
At Home/Work Combined in the U.S.
|
|
|
May-02
|
Jun-02
|
%Growth
|
|
|
Unique
Visitors(000)
|
|
|
Total Users of the Internet
|
119,071
|
119,479
|
0.3%
|
|
Retail-Sports/Outdoor
|
8,858
|
11,532
|
30%
|
|
Sports
|
35,685
|
41,911
|
17%
|
|
Automotive Resources
|
27,301
|
31,442
|
15%
|
|
Travel-Information
|
49,448
|
56,814
|
15%
|
|
Travel-Hotels/Resorts
|
14,588
|
16,736
|
15%
|
|
Travel
|
55,849
|
62,843
|
13%
|
|
Retail-Toys
|
12,008
|
13,413
|
12%
|
|
Health-Pharmacy
|
11,976
|
13,016
|
9%
|
|
Retail-Jewelry/Luxury Goods/Accessories
|
7,478
|
8,066
|
8%
|
|
Directories-Classifieds
|
12,288
|
13,023
|
6
|
Top
Sports and Travel Sites
The fastest growing sports
sites between May and June 2002 were: Yahoo! Sports, up 83 percent to 9.2
million visitors; CNNSI, up 39 percent to 5.9 million; and Beckett.com, up 34
percent to 337,000. Several sports sites entered the ratings in June 2002:
Fifa.com and Fifaworldcup.com, with 474,000 and 358,000 unique visitors,
respectively; Lewistysonison.com with 415,000 visitors; Soccer.com with
275,000 visitors; and Pga.com with 271,000 visitors.
Notable travel-information sites include: Floridavacationstore.com, up 117
percent to 801,000 unique visitors; Travelfleamarket.com, up 76 percent to
402,000 visitors; and Reserveamerica.com, up 67 percent to 447,000 visitors.
Fast growing hotel sites include: Hotels.com, up 109 percent to 1.7 million
unique visitors; Holidayinn.com, up 77 percent to 738,000 visitors; and
Hotellocators.com, up 44 percent to 469,000 visitors. Notable
travel-information sites include: Floridavacationstore.com, up 117 percent to
801,000 unique visitors; Travelfleamarket.com, up 76 percent to 402,000
visitors; and Reserveamerica.com, up 67 percent to 447,000 visitors. Fast
growing hotel sites include: Hotels.com, up 109 percent to 1.7 million unique
visitors; Holidayinn.com, up 77 percent to 738,000 visitors; and
Hotellocators.com, up 44 percent to 469,000 visitors
Top
Gaining Internet Properties
With swimsuit season in high
gear, Ediets.com topped the gainers list in June 2002. The site increased 49
percent versus the prior month to 6.2 million unique visitors.
Smartbargains.com was second with 5.7 million visitors, up 29 percent, while
Sportsline.com Sites was third with 6.4 million visitors, up 26 percent.
Interestingly, KaZaa Media Desktop, a music-swapping service that introduced
software upgrades in June, ranked number five among top gainers with 9.2
million visitors, up 19 percent.
Online Consumer
Spending at U.S. Retail Sites
Total online sales for the
second quarter of 2002 posted an impressive gain of 41 percent versus 2001,
setting a new record of $17.5 billion. Online travel grew 46 percent to $7.8
billion, another record level, and non-travel sales rose 28 percent to $9.7
billion.
"With few other sectors of the economy turning in double-digit growth,
the Web continues to offer compelling opportunities as a sales and marketing
channel," said Kim.
Second Quarter 2002 Category Spending Highlights
- Top Categories - The top product categories (excluding
travel) according to second quarter 2002 consumer sales were: computer
hardware, up 46 percent versus year-ago to $2.3 billion; office supplies,
up 72 percent to $1.5 billion; apparel and accessories, up seven percent
to $1.3 billion.
- Growing Categories - Other major product categories
posting significant sales increases in the second quarter of 2002 versus
year-ago were: furniture and appliances, up 100 percent to $179 million;
home and garden, up 78 percent to $442 million; and toys, up 50 percent to
$114 million.
Declining
Categories - Major product categories posting significant sales declines in
the second quarter of 2002 versus year-ago were: consumer electronics, down 11
percent to $716 million; and music, which declined 28 percent to $193 million.
|
Supporting Data Charts for comScore Media Metrix June 2002
Internet Ratings
|
|
comScore
Media Metrix
June 2002 Top Growth Categories
At Home/Work Combined in the U.S.
|
|
|
May-02
|
Jun-02
|
%Growth
|
|
|
Unique
Visitors(000)
|
|
|
Total Users of the Internet
|
119,071
|
119,479
|
0.3%
|
|
Retail-Sports/Outdoor
|
8,858
|
11,532
|
30%
|
|
Sports
|
35,685
|
41,911
|
17%
|
|
Automotive Resources
|
27,301
|
31,442
|
15%
|
|
Travel-Information
|
49,448
|
56,814
|
15%
|
|
Travel-Hotels/Resorts
|
14,588
|
16,736
|
15%
|
|
Travel
|
55,849
|
62,843
|
13%
|
|
Retail-Toys
|
12,008
|
13,413
|
12%
|
|
Health-Pharmacy
|
11,976
|
13,016
|
9%
|
|
Retail-Jewelry/Luxury Goods/Accessories
|
7,478
|
8,066
|
8%
|
|
Directories-Classifieds
|
12,288
|
13,023
|
6%
|
|
|
|
comScore
Media Metrix
June 2002 Top Growth Categories
At Home/Work Combined in the U.S.
|
|
|
May-02
|
Jun-02
|
%Growth
|
|
|
Unique
Visitors(000)
|
|
|
EDIETS.COM*
|
4,163
|
6,218
|
49.3%
|
|
SMARTBARGAINS.COM
|
4,425
|
5,720
|
29.3%
|
|
Sportsline.com Sites
|
5,098
|
6,402
|
25.6%
|
|
Drugstore.com, Inc.
|
4,702
|
5,583
|
18.7%
|
|
KaZaa Media Desktop (App)
|
7,722
|
9,159
|
18.6%
|
|
Travelocity
|
9,256
|
10,695
|
15.6%
|
|
GSI Network
|
4,516
|
5,144
|
13.9%
|
|
MLB.COM
|
5,355
|
6,056
|
13.1%
|
|
Discover Card Property
|
6,353
|
7,182
|
13.0%
|
|
Classmates.com Sites
|
21,185
|
23,857
|
12.6%
|
|
|
|
comScore
Media Metrix
U.S. Top 50 Internet Properties
June 2002 Measurement Period (06/01/02 - 06/30/02)
At Home/Work Combined
|
|
|
|
Unique
Visitors(000)
|
|
|
|
All
Web and other Digital Media
|
119,479
|
|
|
1
|
AOL Time Warner Network - Proprietary & WWW
|
95,180
|
|
|
2
|
MSN-Microsoft Sites
|
86,001
|
|
|
3
|
Yahoo! Sites
|
79,866
|
|
|
4
|
Terra Lycos
|
39,668
|
|
|
5
|
About/Primedia
|
33,695
|
|
|
6
|
Google Sites
|
33,570
|
|
|
7
|
Ebay
|
32,962
|
|
|
8
|
Amazon Sites
|
28,544
|
|
|
10
|
Classmates.com Sites
|
23,857
|
|
|
11
|
Walt Disney Internet Group (WDIG)
|
23,524
|
|
|
12
|
Viacom Online
|
21,281
|
|
|
13
|
InfoSpace Network
|
21,238
|
|
|
14
|
Excite Network
|
20,652
|
|
|
15
|
AT&T Properties
|
19,338
|
|
|
16
|
Gator Network
|
18,657
|
|
|
17
|
Real.com Network
|
18,267
|
|
|
18
|
Ticketmaster Sites
|
17,501
|
|
|
19
|
Verizon Communications Corporation
|
16,550
|
|
|
20
|
Weather Channel, The
|
16,380
|
|
|
21
|
Vivendi-Universal Sites
|
16,228
|
|
|
22
|
iVillage.com: The Womens Network
|
15,752
|
|
|
23
|
eUniverse Network
|
15,366
|
|
|
24
|
Ask Jeeves
|
14,630
|
|
|
25
|
AWS Technology
|
14,510
|
|
|
26
|
Monster.com Property
|
14,222
|
|
|
27
|
SBC Communications
|
13,692
|
|
|
28
|
Sony Online
|
12,510
|
|
|
29
|
Expedia Travel
|
12,441
|
|
|
30
|
BeMusic Sites
|
12,114
|
|
|
|
|
Source: Tourism
Technology
Seoul and
Tokyo hoteliers score during World Cup
The gateway cities of Seoul and Tokyo naturally
benefited from the 2002 FIFA World Cup Korea/Japan - the first World Cup to
ever be held in the region as well as the first to be co-hosted. Some 64
matches were played in June, attracting in the region of 1.6 million stadium
spectators of which 800,000 are estimated to have come from countries outside
Korea and Japan.
Both Seoul and Tokyo, which typically command the
highest average room rates in the region, experienced exceptional rate growth
in June of 44.7 and 23.2 percent respectively, according to the HotelBenchmark
Survey by Deloitte & Touche. In real terms this equates to US72 dollars
and US40 dollars. Interestingly however, occupancy increases were marginal,
with Seoul actually reporting a decline compared to 2001.
Not all Japanese markets however could boast such
strong performance - Osaka saw occupancy levels fall by 25.3 percent during
the month. This was in part attributable to displaced domestic demand as many
visitors decided not to travel on account of the World Cup.
Of the 28 markets tracked by the HotelBenchmark
Survey across the Asia Pacific region, only seven reported double-digit
increases in revPAR in June 2002 on the prior year (when measured in US
dollars). Jakarta experienced the largest increase of some 44.4 percent -
albeit from a low base - followed by Seoul, Auckland and Tokyo which all
reported increases in excess of 25 percent.
Year-to-date figures show a decline in revPAR for
the whole of the Asia Pacific region of 3.4 percent on the prior year.
Although the majority of markets tracked on the HotelBenchmark Survey
experienced a decline in revPAR, just over 30 percent reported positive
performance with Jakarta, Shanghai and Ho Chi Minh City leading the way in
terms of revPAR growth.
|
June
2002
|
Occupancy
(%)
|
Average
room rate (US$)
|
RevPAR
(US$)
|
RevPAR
change (%)
|
|
Tokyo
|
82.0
|
213
|
175
|
25.7
|
|
Seoul
|
77.0
|
231
|
178
|
37.
|
Source: HotelBenchmark Survey by Deloitte & Touche
The HotelBenchmark
Survey by Deloitte & Touche tracks the performance of over 6,000
hotels across 300 markets globally on a monthly basis. Participants of the
survey can access the results online at www.HotelBenchmark.com.
For more information please contact Lorna Clarke at llclarke@deloitte.co.uk.
Deloitte & Touche is the UK's fastest growing
major professional services firm in 23 locations, with over 10,000 staff
nationwide and fee income of 713.6 million pounds in 2001/2002. It is the UK
practice of Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu, a global leader in professional services
with over 100,000 people in 140 countries and fee income of 12.4 billion
dollars for the year ended 31 May 2001.
Authorised by the Financial Services Authority in
respect of regulated activities. The information contained in this article is
correct at the time of going to press. For further information on Deloitte
& Touche, you can access the website on www.deloitte.co.uk.
Contacts:
Marvin Rust: 44 20 7438 2593, mrust@deloitte.co.uk
Julia Felton: 44 20 7304 1785, jfelton@deloitte.co.uk
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