At 90, Montreal's Ritz-Carlton hotel is adapting to the 21st century

Macleans.ca  -  Call it a contemporary anachronism, a young relic, or an old babe. Montreal's Ritz-Carlton hotel is a throwback to an era that is still recent, but also totally bygone -- a time when houses in its neighbourhood at the foot of Mount Royal had names such as Ravenscrag and Mount Stephen, a time when elm trees, not high-rises, lined Sherbrooke Street, and when visitors arrived at the hotel with 30 pieces of luggage, intent on staying for a few months.

Some retail bastions of English Montreal have vanished, others have adapted. Eaton's as well as Simpson's have been replaced by local retailers; Ogilvy and Holt have lost their apostrophes but, like Birks, are still selling expensive stuff. Yet the Ritz-Carlton remains the showcase, the living heritage of anglo Montreal's belle epoque, when a cluster of powerful clans controlled roughly 70 per cent of Canada's total wealth. The Ritz, which turns 90 on New Year's Eve, was their playground, their private club.

The Ritz has been renovated on several occasions -- a $25-million facelift is now underway -- but its essence has not changed a bit. It is still all marble and chandeliers, deep carpets and furniture out of Masterpiece Theater. Go there twice in a few weeks and staff members will recognize you.

Still, the Ritz has modernized, somewhat. Just after the Second World War, the board of directors decreed that formal dinner wear need no longer be a requisite in the dining room. The general manager at the time, a Swiss, resigned in protest. In 1972, Mick Jagger and the Rolling Stones were barred from the same dining room for wearing jeans and bomber jackets. Today, you might be politely asked to remove your fedora inside the bar, perhaps. "There are gazillionaire businessmen roaming the world who don't even own a jacket," notes the current general manager, Allan Federer.

Nowadays, visitors to the Ritz are greeted in French as well as in English, but most of the time with a European accent. The Ritz has had a major European connection since its creation. The Montreal hotel was among the very first to hire Cesar Ritz, the famous Swiss hotelier, as a consultant. When ownership was local, the hotel's management came from Europe more often than not; now the hotel is owned by a consortium based in Geneva and managed by a native Montrealer.

But francophones were not always greeted in their language, nor even made to feel welcome, at least not until the mid-'70s. Mordecai Richler, who lived just across the street, was, in his latter years, a regular at the Cafe de Paris Ritz Bar -- and probably one of the reasons the dress code was further relaxed. With typical, vengeful glee, Richler provides a hilarious description of the Ritz in his last novel, Barney's Version. The wedding of the "second Mrs. Panofsky" is a vicious caricature of Jewish parvenus trying to look ritzier than the Ritz -- a hint that Jews were, at some time, no more welcome there than francophone Quebecers. "The Ritz had for years been tottering as a bastion of the anglophone establishment, living off its past and its former glory," Federer acknowledges as diplomatically as possible.

Fernand Roberge, then a young upshot manager with rich connections inside the francophone business milieu -- and Brian Mulroney's Conservative Party -- changed all that. During the Tory years, the Ritz Bar was where you met the contented old men in dark suits -- and younger-looking women in flashier dress -- who made Montreal tick.

Mulroney has been a director of the Ritz, and as prime minister he frequently used the royal suite -- a 4,000-sq.-foot extravaganza fit for a queen -- and currently retailing for $2,500 a night. But when Queen Elizabeth checked in unexpectedly, with a full entourage during the 1976 Olympics -- after demonstrators had threatened the security of her yacht, the Britannia -- the royal suite was unavailable. Another queen had booked it already: Liberace was playing somewhere in town.

Howard Hughes, the eccentric billionaire, stayed at the Ritz for several weeks in 1957. Convinced that someone wanted to poison him, Hughes would order four or five different five-course meals to his room, sometimes in the middle of the night and, in an attempt to foil any plot, make his selections privately in his room. The Ritz assigned a chef specially to his room, on permanent duty -- he could afford it.

When the Conservatives lost power, the Ritz did not exactly go to seed, but it fell on harder times, and the local clientele migrated towards other power bars. Now, new owners, new management are busy turning things around. An occupancy rate of nearly 75 per cent means the hotel is profitable, thanks mostly to out-of-town customers. Federer's goal is to lure Montrealers back to hang out and eat at the hotel, just like in the old days. But managing change in a living heritage site with a bottom line is a dicey proposition. "Change can be a double-edged sword, indeed," Federer says, "because everyone owns specific, personal memories of what defines this hotel."

Of his turnaround strategy, Federer says, "Comes a time, regularly, when an institution has to become contemporary again." After all, the Ritz won't reach the venerable century mark -- the entry level for serious institutions -- for another decade.  

Oberoi Hotel Group may ink branding pact with Hilton of UK

The Oberoi group is close to signing a marketing and branding agreement with Hilton of UK for its Trident properties.

East India Hotels Ltd managing director S S Mukherjee said: “It is among the top two serious contenders with whom we are negotiating in each category and it is only a matter of time before these pacts are finalised.”

Industry sources, however, said the contracts have been signed and the final announcements will take place in the near future. Mukherjee said a final decision will be taken in the current fiscal.

He said the group has decided against management contracts or equity participation with any of the hotel chains and will go in for only branding and marketing ties.

Under the proposed agreement, while the Oberoi properties will be marketed internationally and will get exposure to 2.4 million people coming to India every year, the international hotel chains will be marketed among 5.5 million people going abroad.

Hilton recently re-entered India for the third time by forming a joint venture with Blue Coast Hotels (former Morepen Hotels). The joint venture plans to construct five star hotels at Mumbai, Goa and Bangalore.

Earlier, Hilton had tied up with Lalit Suri-promoted Bharat Hotels for its property in Delhi and then with Sanjay Khan-owned Golden Palms resort near Bangalore.

It is already known that the group has been negotiating with Four Seasons for its vilas and the other metro properties.

He said both the Trident and the vilas properties will attach the name of the international hotel’s name.

“It is only such issues left which are being sorted out at present.” Interestingly, Four Seasons is already undertaking a market research to determine the feasibility in both the cases.

While the group, at present, has seven Trident properties, four others are in the planning and construction stage.

The group also owns four vilas properties including Vanyavilas, Amarvilas, Rajvilas and Udaivilas along with Wildflower Hall at Mashobra and the Cecil at Simla.

The group also owns five star properties at various metros including Delhi and Mumbai and another 12 properties internationally.

The group has recently made considerable investments in its vilas properties. While the gross fixed assets of the company have increased from Rs 863.8 crore in 1997-98 to touch Rs 1466.3 crore in 2001-02, the borrowings have also increased significantly from Rs 83.1 crore to Rs 464.8 crore during the same period

Thailand joins China in tourist promotion  

The Nation  -  Thailand and China will hold a joint press conference at the world's largest travel exposition, the International Tourism Exchange ITB Berlin, to promote themselves as a package destination, Juthamas Siriwan, governor of the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT), said on Monday.

"Next year, we have to reposition ourselves by linking our destination with big countries like China," she said.

The joint press conference with China is part of the TAT's "Tourism Capital of Asia" campaign, which is aimed at lifting the country's image and the tourism industry over the next three years.

Juthamas said the country had to reposition itself to stay ahead of its competitors.

She said the TAT and China's National Tourist Administration (CNTA) would jointly promote the historical "Silk Route" to attract tourists to both countries.

The tourism trade fair will be held from March 7 to 11 in Germany.

In the first 10 months of this year, tourist arrivals totalled 8.75 million, an increase of 7.2 per cent over the same period in 2001.

The level is higher than the targeted growth of 4 per cent, or 10.5 million arrivals for the whole year. The kingdom is now forecasting total arrivals of 10.7 million, or a growth rate of 6 per cent over 2001.

The authority expects tourist arrivals in 2003 will continue to grow by 6 per cent to 11.3 million.

"If there is a war between the US and Iraq, the number of tourist arrivals in 2003 will be the same as 2002," Juthamas said.

The Thai tourism industry has done better than competitors in the region because of better public relations activities, promotional efforts and strong marketing activities in all overseas markets.

For the last two months of 2002, visitor arrivals are expected to rise further in spite of disturbances in Bali and the Philippines, which have had hurt travel to the region and could affect visitor arrivals in the short term.

The markets most affected by the downturn are the Middle East, Oceania and Africa. However, overall growth is expected to remain positive, with New Year activities and the Bangkok International Film Festival boosting arrivals.

New Hotels for Global Nomads – ‘hotels of the future’ on show
 
UPI  -  Contemporary boutique hotel design and conceptual hotel projects for the future are the subject of an extraordinary exhibition at the Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum, a New York branch of the Smithsonian Institution.

The show, titled "New Hotels for Global Nomads" and scheduled to run through March 2, is one of the most imaginative ever mounted by the Cooper-Hewitt. It occupies the entire museum, the former Andrew Carnegie mansion on upper Fifth Avenue.

One comes away from the museum eager to make some of these hotels destinations for future travel.

Included in the show are models, photographs, full-size room mock-ups, a historical survey of modern hotels beginning with the New York Waldorf-Astoria, advertised as a city within a city when it was completed in 1931, and a wonderful collection of postcards picturing luxury hotels around the world suitable for "wish you were here" messages.

None of the completed hotels figuring in the show is more alluring than the W.S. Atkins-designed Burj Al-Arab Hotel on an island off the coast of Dubai, one of the United Arab Emirates.

Reached by a causeway by means of the hotel's fleet of Rolls-Royces or by private helicopter, the hotel is probably the world's ultimate luxury experience.

Rising from the water like a sleek, shiny dolphin, the Burj Al-Arab boasts a soaring atrium in the Marriott style above a spectacular fountain. Its rooms are decorated in over-the-top Napoleonic Empire fashion that not even Las Vegas has replicated, and its dining room offers a simulated underwater experience. It is a grand urban palace in an unexpected location.

The most unusual of the hotels planned but still to be built, is the Lunatic Hotel on the moon, designed by Dutch architect Hans-Jurgen Rombout. It is totally enclosed by walls built of moon rock and is fenestrated by water-insulated windows that ensure 200 climate controlled, capsule-like rooms protection from the hostile environment. Scientists say the hotel is technically feasible.

The show emphasizes that hotels are no longer just a place to sleep but also serve as flexible environments for conducting business, as depots on a vast web of digitally connected sites, as opportunities for living out fantasies (Burj Al-Arab), and even as locations for communing with nature. Hotels that bring nature inside seem to be the wave of the future.

The Rockwell Group's Art'otel, designed to be built in London, will have both public rooms and guest rooms that resemble gardens with grass-like floor coverings.

The Architectural Research Office is planning a New York hotel with open scaffolding walls draped in mesh fabric that will feature hammocks instead of beds and a top floor deck for city-viewing.

Already open for business is the Rockwood Group's "W" hotel in New York that has a lobby in earth tones and walls covered with ivy. The bar has tree-like cocktail tables, and the staircase constructed of glass leads to vestibules with waterfalls.

The New York architect Lindy Roy has designed the Okavango Delta Spa made up of tethered and free-floating guest pavilions with sleeping pods that will rise like fairy-tale sailboats above the Kalahari Desert in Botswana, an area that is flooded each spring.

The swimming pool is protected by steel mesh to keep out the crocodiles but not to discourage crocodile-watching.

Other hotels designed for enjoyment of the great outdoors by Dutch architect Dre Wapenaar feature sculptural tents and clusters of multi-colored, balloon-like sleeping pods for overnight lodging. He calls these groupings Artcamps, and they already have been tried out by enthusiastic vacationers. Hotels for "eco tourism" designed by FTL Design Engineering Studio feature solar power panels and composting toilets.

Also for travelers is the Japanese Car Hotel designed by Acconci Studios that features cars that are capable of being driven but are actually stacked with bed-seat units that expand upward hydraulically, so the hood of the car serves as a roof.

Other displays that illustrate the concept of hotels on the move are in the form of tour buses and space capsules.

A totally new concept, "Lobbi Ports," introduced at the show, are pods shaped like curving bay windows that can be attached to the exterior of existing hotel structures to provide high-rise lounges and observation decks, thus updating these hotels as social spaces. Designed by Servo, a bi-coastal U.S. firm, in collaboration with architect Perry Hall, the pods can be constructed from kits of physical and digital products.

If you don't suffer from claustrophobia, the capsule hotel made up of compact sleeping compartments rentable for modest prices is just the thing. Under development in Japan since the 1970s, the sleeping capsule on display, designed by Kotobuki Corp., is a climb-in space with a mattress-covered floor and a miniature television set to provide entertainment.

A really practical design for an international hotel chain is the Interclone Hotel concept developed by Elizabeth Diller and Ricardo Scofidios for six developing cities -- Bangalore in India, Kampala in Uganda, Baku in Azerbaijan, Ljubljana in Slovenia, Ho Chi Minh City in Vietnam, and Tijuana, Mexico.

The layout of Western-style modern furnishings remains constant in all the hotels but the selection of wallpaper, bedspreads, and carpet reflect local design and culture.

The show was organized by Donald Albrecht, the museum's exhibitions curator, and marks the beginning of a new and adventurous era for the Cooper-Hewitt, one of the nation's oldest design collections

Vietnam’s Phu Quoc island likely to become major tourist center

Asia Pulse  -  The Phu Quoc island off the Mekong River Delta province of Kien Giang is expected to become a major tourist centre or an open economic zone like the one in Chu Lai in Central Vietnam, according to a proposed two-option plan unveiled at a recent conference.

The first important task is how to mobilize investment capital from various sources to boost infrastructure development, seen as a key factor for the sustainable growth of tourism, other economic sectors and services on the island.

According to estimates of the Ministry of Planning and Investment (MPI), Phu Quoc will need at least VND100 billion (US $ 6.6 million) next year, US$ 100 million in the 2003-2005 period and US $ 200 million between 2006-2010 to upgrade existing infrastructure and construct utility works such as airports, roads along its beautiful beaches, power plants and conference halls.

"Phu Quoc will need up to US$ 1 billion, or US$ 100-150 million/year from now until 2010 to build seven high-quality tourist resorts, in order to turn the island into one of seven crucial tourist attractions in Vietnam," the Vietnam Administration of Tourism said.

Top priority should be given to tourism projects, with taxes and land rental to be reduced apart from the government's preferential loans, proposed MPI.

To develop Phu Quoc into an open economic zone, the government should offer the most favourable business conditions, by giving optimal investment policies and allowing local authorities to apply investment laws in a flexible way.

This will help the locality lure more investment needed to build Phu Quoc into an economically strong island.

Phu Quoc, home to 26 islets and known for its famous special fish sauce, hosted 30,715 travellers in 2000 and 144,000 tourists last year, including 43,500 foreigners

Chinese New Year In Hong Kong, City Of Life

Hong Kong is preparing to welcome the arrival of the Chinese New Year with a spectacular array of events. According to the Chinese lunar calendar, February 1, 2003 marks the beginning of the Year of the Goat, and between January 31 and February 3 visitors and residents alike will be awe-struck by the colourful lights and all the festivities during the year's biggest and brightest Chinese festival.

Five thousand years of Chinese culture and 150 years of colonial history have resulted in Hong Kong's unique, tantalizing character, which is reflected in the region's ever-changing kaleidoscope of events and activities. And at no time are these events and activities more exciting than at Chinese New Year.

One of the New Year highlights will be the Cathay Pacific International Chinese New Year Parade, due to be held on New Year's Day - Saturday February 1 - along the Wan Chai waterfront. This is the fifth consecutive year that Cathay Pacific Airways has sponsored this spellbinding event - comprised of an array of extravagant and colourful floats, dragon and lion dancers, stilt walkers, marching bands and a dazzling mix of costumed groups from around the world, all of which create a fusion of Chinese and international elements that defines Hong Kong as the city where East meets West. Spectators can watch from along the route or purchase a ticket to the spectator stands for HK$200.

The excitement doesn't stop when the parade is over. On the following evening - Sunday February 2 - a magical fireworks display, complete with musical accompaniment, will light up Victoria Harbour, symbolizing the desire for a bright future. Launched from barges in the harbour, this multi-million-dollar display attracts a live audience of over half a million people every year. They watch from The Peak, from the Star Ferry, from along the waterfronts on Hong Kong Island and Kowloon, from the harbour cruise ships and from any hotel room with a harbour view. It is a spectacular event that provides never-to-be-forgotten memories.

There's nothing like a win at the track to get the year off to a good - and prosperous - start, so it's a popular custom in Hong Kong to go to the horse races during the New Year festivities. On February 3, 2003 visitors will join the multitudes that pack the Sha Tin racetrack, either on the turf or in an exclusive private box, for one of the biggest racing days of the year. For visitors there are special "Come Horseracing" Tours to make the excursion simple. These include such elements as round-trip transfers from downtown, admission badge to the visitors' box where drinks and an international buffet are served, welcome pack with racing programme and betting voucher, orientation and guided tour to the parade ring and winning post and a 10% discount at the gift shop for unique memorabilia and gifts.

Soccer is another popular spectator activity over the holidays. For over 10 years the Hong Kong Football Association has organized an international soccer tournament, welcoming star-studded international teams to pit their skills against Hong Kong's local heroes. Visitors can choose February 1 or 4 (Saturday and Tuesday) to make their way to the Hong Kong Stadium for a great day of soccer and fun.

New Year is a good time to enjoy the present, but of course it's also the time for looking back and into the future. So it's a Chinese custom to gather to thank the gods for the previous year and to pray for good fortune in the coming one. Sik Sik Yuen Wong Tai Sin Taoist Temple in Kowloon is the busiest temple at this festive time of the year. Its eye-catching Chinese architecture has earned it an international reputation as a "must-see" tourist spot and there's no better time to visit than over the New Year, when soothsayers gather in the adjacent arcade to predict futures. The ritual at the Che Kung Temple in Sha Tin involves spinning the Wheel of Fortune to dispel bad luck and attract good fortune. Another tradition at this time of year is to visit the Wishing Trees in Lam Tsuen. It is believed that if a colourful plate of paper is thrown and catches in the branches of the Wishing Trees the wish will come true.

Of course the New Year celebrations always include festive food and flowers. The latter are of great importance to the residents of Hong Kong, especially at New Year, and the overflowing flower markets add a fragrant and beautiful dimension to all the festivities. Many of the flowers and plants have special meanings: kumquat trees, narcissi and peonies symbolize prosperity; peach blossoms bring romance; tangerines represent long-lasting relationships and "fruitful" marriages; while other beautiful blooms, potted plants and flowering trees represent good fortune. Flower-sellers will be busy all over the region, but the major venues are Victoria Park, Causeway Bay, Fa Hui Park and Mong Kok. Most venues are open from noon to midnight, but on the nights of January 30 to February 1 they will remain open until early morning.

There's a special Chinese New Year tradition sure to appeal to avid shoppers from around the world. The tradition declares "out with the old, in with the new" and this custom includes shopping for brand new clothes to start a promising year. To make the experience even more appealing, shops and malls usually offer huge discounts at this time of year, so visitors can enjoy a holiday shopping experience in paradise!

For visitors to Hong Kong at this time there is a wide variety of New Year Packages to facilitate enjoyment of the festivities. These include cruises, banquets, seats for the New Year parade, tours of the Kowloon and New Territories attractions, shopping excursions and much more. And when the days of the New Year celebrations draw to a close the fun and excitement is far from over. February will see the continuation of the World Carnival, the commencement of the renowned Hong Kong Arts Festival and Hong Kong's biggest outdoor sporting events - the Standard Chartered Hong Kong Marathon.

China Tourism update

eTurbo.com   -  Shanghai Municipal Tourism Committee will launch asset recombination among half of the state-owned hotels and travel agencies in 2003. Shanghai hope to see several large tourism company groups with international competitiveness. The statement was made by vice chairperson of Shanghai Tourism Association on December 20 in Hotels of Home and Abroad Forum held in Shanghai.

Currently, there are 310 star-level hotels in Shanghai. Among them, 267 are China-funded ones and 33 are foreign-funded ones. In spite that the foreign-funded hotels accounts for only 11% among the total, their annual profit volume reaches RMB 350 million, 2.18 times of that of China-funded ones. If the compare is made on term of per-capita profit, the one of foreign- funded hotels is 9.8 times of that of China-funded hotels. The profitability of foreign-funded hotels is far higher than that of their China rivals.Zhang Jianzhong, director of Policy and Rule Department of China National Tourism Administration, said on the forum, "According to China's WTO entry commitment, China will permit the establishment of exclusively foreign-owned hotels by the end of 2005. In the future, China hospitality sector should absorb private capital and widen the financing channel for tourism growth. Tourism industry funds of multi-capital- source will be established. Also some eligible tourism companies will be encouraged to raise capital by going public and public offering.

CHINA TARGETS ECO FRIENDLY REGIONS:China's environmental protection authority will designate 120 "model ecological regions" in the next three years to set precedents for balancing economic growth and ecological conservation amid the country's rapid industrialization. The model regions will be chosen from four or five Chinese provinces, as well as 300 to 400 middle-sized cities and counties, which are carrying out their specific plans to develop an environmentally-friendly economy by 2005. An eco-friendly region must abandon traditional ways of economic development that come at a cost of environmental pollution and the destruction of the ecosystem, explained He Jun, an official with the State Environmental Protection Administration (SEPA). Such a district should rationally tap its natural resources and constantly improve its environment to ensure its social and economic development was sustainable, he said.

China targets eco-friendly regions:The SEPA has been promoting the eco-friendly region concept in China since 1995. The process of setting up these regions is underway in more than 300 cities and counties. Four provinces -- Hainan and Fujian in the south, and Jilin and Heilongjiang in the northeast -- have also drawn up plans to turn themselves into "ecological provinces." Fujian, for example, announced last August it would invest 71.6 billion yuan (8.63 billion US dollars) in 10- year projects to build an "ecological province." 

It will consider the ecological impact when making economic decisions, and will encourage the development of environment- friendly farming and industry, and eco-tourism. The benefits and huge potential from such efforts were already obvious in some pilot areas, He Jun said, citing how farmers in some poor counties had successfully risen above poverty by growing organic crops which were increasingly popular in well-off urban areas. He said this concept would eventually spread to all 31 Chinese provinces, municipalities and autonomous regions because the government ranked environmental conservation among its top priorities for sustainable development in the country. China's environment had paid a high price in the past due to backward methods of development, which consumed too much energy while producing excessive pollution, he said. 

INCCA helps Jakarta polytechnic create MICE programme 

TTG Asia  -  The Indonesia Congress and Convention Association (INCCA) is supporting the Jakarta State Polytechnic to open a four-year study programme on MICE.

In a memorandum of understanding signed in Jakarta last weekend, INCCA pledged support by helping to plan the curriculum, providing industry experts as guest lecturers and absorbing the graduates. INCCA’s secretary general, Mr Fernando Titaley, said: “This will not be the first study programme on MICE in the post-high school level, but we expect that this will be the one, whose graduates are really ready to work.”

Jakarta State Polytechnics director, Mr Jusafwar, said: “The polytechnics’ aim is to provide ready-for-work professionals according to market demands. We work together with the industry and associations in so many ways to make sure that the graduates are ready to work—not ready to train—in the industry. In this case, we need to work with INCCA.” Mr Jusafwar added a feasibility study to determine the number of graduates the industry could absorb annually, class sizes and the design of the curriculum is underway. He expected the Jakarta State Polytechnics to start the programme in September 2003.

Thai Tourism Will Grow 6% Over Last Year - Exceeds Projections

eTurbo.com   -  Despite the slowdown in the world travel industry, international tourist arrivals in Thailand this year are poised to surpass expectations and reach 10.7 million, 6 percent more than last year. The strong performance came as a result of stepped- up marketing and public relations activities, said Juthamas Siriwan, governor of the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT).

During the first 10 months of this year, foreign visitor arrivals totalled 8.75 million, a 7.2 percent increase over the same period last year. The growth rate exceeded the previous target of 4 percent, under which 10.5 million arrivals were forecast for the whole year. Revenue from international tourism was expected to reach 323 billion baht, up 6 percent from 299 billion last year, said Mrs Juthamas. "Out of all the countries in this region, only Thailand and China have managed to show growth in tourist arrivals."

Tourism from almost all regions has shown growth, led by North Asia, Europe, North America, South Asia and the Middle East. From North Asia, the country attracted 5.31 million tourists in the first 10 months of this year, up 8.3 percent year-on-year. The main markets registering growth were Malaysia, China and South Korea, while Japan and Taiwan reported a decline, mainly because of internal economic problems in their countries. European tourists registered 5.4 percent growth to 1.9 million from January to October. Countries with growth higher than 4 percent were the UK, France, Switzerland, Denmark, Russia, Spain, Austria and some in Eastern Europe. However, the TAT is concerned about the German and Norwegian markets, which showed very small growth due to their economic conditions. The Swedish market also dropped 2.1 percent due to economic conditions and travel advisories issued about possible unrest in Thailand after the attacks in Bali in October.

Another region showing a drop in tourist arrivals was Oceania, down 2.1 percent in the first 10 months to 350,000. Growth from the region has been falling since the second quarter of 2000, when Qantas-British Airways relocated its aviation hub from Thailand to Singapore, affecting arrivals from Australia. Next year, the TAT will push the country to become Tourism Capital of Asia by opening up new markets and focusing more on quality and niche markets. In terms of corporate strategy, the agency planned to upgrade its image to meet the standards of international organisations and develop a larger public- relations network around the globe.

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