By Martin Kelly, Editor, Travel Trends
COULD this be the ultimate definition of optimism? Tourism Fiji’s regional director, Paresh Pant, told Travel Today he remained “confident” of boosting sagging visitor numbers ex-Australia. The number of Aussies who travelled to the troubled Pacific nation fell by almost 9000 – more than 30% – for the first two months of 2009.
And that was before the military rulers of Fiji sacked the judiciary and expelled media. Not withstanding all of this, Mr Pant said Fiji’s Aussie visitor numbers would bounce back thanks to the ‘Stimulate Me’ marketing campaign and 20% devaluation of the Fiji dollar. Sure thing. And pigs may fly. Then again, what else is he going to say? He reports to a military dictator. Yes sir, no sir, three bags full sir. Travel Trends: April 27, 2009 UPDATE: Fiji flag carrier Air Pacific suspended flights between the Gold Coast and Nadi due to poor demand effective May 2.
Related posts:
Events
BUSINESS STRANGE? IT'S THE NEW NORMAL...
Sydney, August 31, 2010
Book now for this year's TRAVELtech, which features a fantastic program headlined by Barney Harford, the global boss of Orbitz.com, one of the world's largest online travel companies.
He joins an excellent speaking lineup also featuring Andy Owen-Jones, CEO of TravelTainment, and a great array of Australian industry leaders, including:
- Justin Baird, Innovationist, Google Australia
- Shelley Beasley, Managing Director Pacific, Travelport
- Jeremy Bellinghausen, President, HotelClub.com
- Peter Beveridge, Chief Information Officer, Stella Travel Services
- John Bolakis, Director, SEO.com
- Andrew Burnes, CEO, AOT Travel
- Chris Chambers, Director - Digital Marketing, Tourism Queensland
- Ian Cumming, Founder, Travellr.com
- Barney Harford, President and CEO, Orbitz
- Mark Higginson, Director of Analytics, Nielsen Online
- Martin Kelly, Director, Travel Trends
- Kevin Lippy, co-Founder, Brokepacker.com
- Alan Long, Research Director, Experian Hitwise Asia Pacific
- Dan Lynn, Managing Director, Expedia Asia Pacific
- Rohan Lund, CEO, Yahoo!7
- Warren Livingstone, Founder, TheFanatics.com
- Andy Owen-Jones, CEO, TravelTainment, Amadeus Leisure Group
- Darrell Wade. Co-Founder and CEO, Intrepid Travel
The theme for TRAVELtech 2010 is New Kind of Normal.
It means that thanks to the collision between economic reality and technology, things have changed, finally, forever.
There can be no going back. And existing patterns will be exaggerated.
Also returning is the TRAVELtech Website Awards. Little different this year, more categories.
Stay Tuned.
Meanwhile, see below for images from TRAVELtech 2009.
If you have any queries about TRAVELtech, please call Martin Kelly on (02) 9882-1575.
Recent Comments