Norwegian terror highlights racial profiling

BANGKOK, 1 August 2011 — Outraged by the finger-pointing that proved to be entirely false in the aftermath of the 22/7 terrorist attack in Norway, the Islamic world is mobilising to counter rampant discrimination and profiling that has so far gone almost unchecked in the travel chain.

Ever since 9/11, Muslims and those mistaken to be Muslims have faced extensive problems, from racial profiling at airports to special scrutiny of visa applications. So far, there has been no recourse to seek accountability, and no channels through which to do so. That is set to change.

Numerous Islamic organisations and travel industry associations are beginning to monitor discrimination more closely in preparation to take name-and-shame actions, both legally and via the media, against countries and companies that ignore Islamophobia in the travel sector, workplaces, schools, etc. Read more

PATA: Senior posts go to westerners

BANGKOK 25 July 2011 – The Pacific Asia Travel Association, last week, took a step forward in its recovery and rehabilitation campaign by appointing two senior-management executives to help revive its profile in the Asian region and rebuild its membership base.

But the appointment of two Thailand-based expatriates, Stu Lloyd as Senior Director – marketing and membership services and Reid Ridgway as regional director – Asia, has done little to enhance the organisation’s over-arching objective to position itself as the “voice of Asia-Pacific travel & tourism”.

Although the organisation, under the temporary stewardship of Interim CEO Bill Calderwood, a former deputy MD of the Australian Tourist Commission, recently has taken two steps forward by unveiling a grand strategy to address its many internal and external challenges, it has taken one step backward by not filling even one of the two positions with a born-and-bred Asian. Read more

IT industry curtails travel habit

BANGKOK 20 July 2011 – For the first time, the Information and Communications Technologies sector has been given an official mandate to start exploring ways to help save the environment by promoting cutbacks in the travel and transportation sector.

The mandate, which could present significant problems especially for the economics of the traditional meetings and business travel sector, is contained in a report issued after the 6th International Telecommunications Union Symposium on ICTs, The Environment and Climate Change held in Accra, Ghana from 7 to 8 July, 2011.

The meeting was intended as a preparatory session for the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change Conference to be held in Durban, South Africa, from 28 November to 9 December 2011 and the UN Conference on Sustainable Development (UNCSD 2012 or Rio+20) to be held in Rio de Janeiro from 4 June to 6 June 2012. Read more

US cities demand OTCs pay tax

BANGKOK, 27  June 2011 – Mayors of cities in the United States have passed a resolution that highlights alleged tax evasion by online travel companies (OTCs) and calls on the US Congress not to block legal action to get them to pay up.

The resolution claims that OTCs such as Expedia, Priceline, Travelocity, Orbiz and Hotels.com are collecting state and local hotel occupancy taxes from consumers, but only remitting a fraction of such taxes to state and local governments. It claims that the alleged evasion is costing a minimum of US$1 billion in lost taxes.

The resolution is one of 114 approved by the annual US Conference of Mayors held in Baltimore between 17 to 20 June. It comes within the broader context of frustration over the state of US cities, the need for billions of dollars to fix the problems and the funding shortages caused by the massive budgetary deficits. Read more

JNTO counts the cost of tsunami crisis

BANGKOK, 13 June 2011 — The first set of figures released after the tsunami-triggered Fukushima nuclear crisis show a 9% decline in outbound Japanese travellers in both March and April, and much higher levels of decline in inbound travellers. Both have had a huge impact on the commercial operations of both Japanese tour companies, travel agencies and hotels.

According to figures compiled by the Japan Tourism Marketing Company (JTMC), the number of Japanese overseas travellers in March 2011 was estimated at 1,732,000, down 12.2% over March 2010. Inbound arrivals in March are estimated at 353,000, (down 50%), and in April 295,800 (down 62.5%).

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ICAO warned sanctions compromise safety

BANGKOK , 6 June 2011 – The global commercial aviation sector is being pressed to abide by its claimed commitment to safety by ending the economic sanctions that are affecting the safety levels of a number of commercial airlines.

A report issued after the first meeting of Directors General of Civil Aviation-Middle East Region in the UAE last March said, “With the goal to mitigate the negative safety impact of the financial sanctions against ICAO (International Civil Aviation Organization) Contracting States, the Meeting of Directors’ General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) in the Middle East recommends that ICAO addresses the negative impact of sanctions to aviation safety as a serious concern.”

Emphasising that “the effects of embargoes should be looked at from a safety point of view and not from a political point of view,” the report says: “The meeting recommends that the ICAO Contracting States address this ban for the sake of the aviation safety as a whole.”

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Tourism experts meet in Pakse

PAKSE, LAOS 30 May 2011 – The southernmost Laotian province of Champassak raised its profile on the tourism map of the Greater Mekong Subregion by holding a successful 12th Mekong Tourism Forum here last week.

The first international tourism event to be held here, the MTF will boost traffic along the East-West and North-South corridors of the Asian Highway as well as to the Northeast Thailand, especially the neighbouring cross-border province of Ubon Ratchathani.

It will also help boost Champassak’s share of the landlocked country’s rapidly growing visitor numbers which have tended mainly to flock to the capital Vientiane or the northern heritage town of Luang Prabang. Read more

USTA backs calls for easier visas

BANGKOK, 19 May 2011 – The United States Travel Association is calling for citizens of Brazil, China and India to be given special priority for visa processing as part of a sweeping package of measures to regain its share of the global travel and tourism industry.

“These three countries have burgeoning middle-class populations that are already spending billions on overseas travel,” says a report entitled “Ready for Takeoff” issued last week by the private sector umbrella grouping. “Between 2000 and 2010, global long-haul outbound travel from Brazil, China and India skyrocketed by more than 140% — and the trends show no signs of slowing. Indeed, over the next decade, travel from these countries combined is projected to more than double, growing by another 107 %.”

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US ends controversial immigration rule

BANGKOK 3 May 2011 – Nearly a full 10 years after 9/11, the United States Department of Homeland Security last week terminated a widely-criticised security measure that required non-immigrants from predominantly Arab, South Asian, or Muslim-majority countries to register at US ports of entry and local immigration offices.

The decision has been welcomed by a host of organisations such as the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC), and South Asian Americans Leading Together (SAALT), along with the Arab American Institute (AAI), the National Immigration Forum (NIF), the Rights Working Group (RWG) and the Council of American-Islamic Relations.

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PATA unveils survival strategy

BEIJING, 11 April 2011 — Interim PATA CEO Bill Calderwood has unveiled a strategy designed to pull the Bangkok-based Pacific Asia Travel Association out of a years-long nosedive. Made public at the PATA 60th anniversary conference here on 10 April, the strategy is expected to be critical to the survival of what was once one of the world’s most respected travel groupings.

Mr Calderwood, a former deputy managing director of the Australian Tourist Commission who played a key role in developing the tourism strategy for the high-profile 2000 Olympics in Sydney, was called in for a six-month interim stint beginning March 2011.

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