atm-blog

April 6, 2020August 13, 2020

Eight things the hotel industry can do to aid revenue recovery

Blog, Hospitality, Resilience and Recovery

Hotels have been attempting to mitigate lowering the rates and putting new measures in place with an aim to revive the hotel industry and contribute to revenue ... Read more

February 24, 2020February 24, 2020

What if our trains had a bit more jazz? Disco? Or foot baths?

Responsible Tourism

Early this July, the Jazz Night Express will take a trainload of passengers from Rotterdam to Berlin. Along the way passengers will be able to enjoy live ... Read more

February 21, 2020February 21, 2020

The most important Arabian Travel Market yet?

Arabian Travel Market

Why hoteliers and travel providers must think beyond Expo 2020 We’re now less than three months away from Arabian Travel Market 2020 and the show couldn’t come ... Read more

February 4, 2020

Carbon Offsetting: Too good to be true?

Responsible Tourism

56 businesses and individuals working in tourism have joined Tourism Declares a Climate Emergency accepting that this “requires immediate and radical action by our governments, our industry ... Read more

January 30, 2020

How the hospitality sector could get vegetarian food right (by a meat eater)

Responsible Tourism

My vegetarian wife says that when I met her 15 years ago I pretended to be a vegetarian to impress her. She says I was pretending, because ... Read more

January 21, 2020

Walking & Talking in India

Responsible Tourism

I am writing this in Binsar, in the foothills of the Himalaya in Uttarakhand. I was Delhi for the presentation of the India Responsible Tourism Awards, I ... Read more

January 7, 2020

The Cost of Greenhouse Gases

Responsible Tourism

There is little doubt that, assuming war does not break out, that climate change will be the dominant story of 2020. COP 25 was, to say the ... Read more

December 23, 2019December 23, 2019

How the Quest for Epic Adventures is Changing Luxury Travel

Luxury

Last November 4-6th marked the 40th World Travel Market annual tradeshow at the ExCel London. Attended by over 50,000 representatives from the tourism and travel industry all ... Read more

December 17, 2019December 17, 2019

What were the key headlines for tourism’s sustainability in 2019? Here’s 55 of them…

Responsible Tourism

I reckon the sustainability of tourism has been in the headlines more in 2019 than ever before. So for my final blog of the year, I have ... Read more

December 16, 2019July 10, 2020

2019: A Turbulent Year in Travel

Podcast

Listen now on iTunes Listen now on Spotify Travel has seen its fair share of ups and downs this year, from the collapse of big travel ... Read more

December 16, 2019July 10, 2020

WTM Insights LIVE: Courting Hollywood

Podcast

Listen now on iTunes Listen now on Spotify This episode was recorded LIVE at the World Travel Market, London- the biggest travel trade show in the ... Read more

December 11, 2019December 11, 2019

Kerala has been hit by flooding, a resilience challenge well beyond the capacity of tourism to address

Responsible Tourism

At best, the tourism sector can address its own resilience. We often hear talk about the resilience of a destination, its ability to bounce back from adverse ... Read more

December 4, 2019December 4, 2019

Tourism, Climate Change (and why I feel like a fraud)

Responsible Tourism

Most people I know suffer from imposter syndrome. Most of us believe that any second now, we’ll be found out as frauds, hypocrites, or simply as completely ... Read more

November 27, 2019November 27, 2019

US$4.5 billion Mid-East destination wedding tourism, a key trend defining region’s hospitality industry, says new ATM report

Arabian Travel Market, Press Releases

5% of destination weddings take place in the Middle East with the UAE the most favoured location EWAA tourism as well as solo and female-led travel also ... Read more

November 26, 2019November 26, 2019

Resilience requires that travel and tourism prepare for the worst

Responsible Tourism

We are failing to reduce and mitigate – resilience requires that we adapt. We have not even begun to slow the rate of growth in greenhouse gas ... Read more

November 25, 2019

What should Extinction Tourism look like?

Responsible Tourism

“The Bramble Cay melomys was a little brown rat,” said the director for the Wilderness Society, Tim Beshara. “But it was our little brown rat and it ... Read more

November 20, 2019November 20, 2019

Indian visitors to GCC to increase 81% by 2024, says new ATM report

Arabian Travel Market, Press Releases

GCC to welcome 9.8 million Indian visitors by 2024 with CAGR growth of 10% UAE to experience highest proportionate increase in arrivals from India The number of ... Read more

November 20, 2019November 20, 2019

Russian tourism to GCC worth $1.22 billion by 2023, says ATM report

Arabian Travel Market, Press Releases

UAE will witness highest growth with total Russian tourism spend estimated to reach US$1.153 billion by 2023, followed by Saudi Arabia and Oman New buyer forums and ... Read more

November 12, 2019

Future Proofing Travel and Tourism

Responsible Tourism

At World Travel Market, London this year the focus on World Responsible Tourism Day was on the challenge of decarbonising our industry. Carbon emissions from our fossil-fuelled ... Read more

October 25, 2019October 30, 2019

The Hard – Hitting, How Many Elephants Exhibition will be Showcased in the Responsible Tourism Cafe at WTM London

Responsible Tourism

Do you love adventure? Does African wildlife inspire and amaze you? Do you want your children’s children to be able to see wild elephants? Yes? You sound ... Read more

October 23, 2019October 23, 2019

Should Tourism Declare a Climate Emergency?

Responsible Tourism

On 5 December 2016, the Australian city of Darebin, a municipality in the suburbs of northern Melbourne, was the first place in the world to declare a ... Read more

October 15, 2019

WTM London Responsible Tourism Programme 2019

Responsible Tourism

This year at WTM London, we are addressing some of the major sustainability challenges and asking who can do what about them. We need businesses and destination ... Read more

October 7, 2019October 8, 2019

Turn Flightshame to your advantage – Promote train travel

Responsible Tourism, Responsible Tourism, Social Media

A friend of mine called last week for holiday advice. It’s not the first time someone has done this, but it is the first time that a friend has done ... Read more

October 1, 2019

Emerging Leaders in Responsible Tourism

Responsible Tourism

We announced the finalists in the 2019 World Responsible Tourism Awards two weeks ago, they will be presented with Gold or Silver Awards at WTM London on November 6th, ... Read more

September 24, 2019September 25, 2019

Airlines: survival of the fittest

Arabian Travel Market, Aviation, Blog

There is the usual share of volatility making it rough going for airlines as this year’s WTM approaches. When exactly a particular challenge will rear its head ... Read more

August 28, 2019October 8, 2019

Shambala Festival: What tourism should do next

Responsible Tourism, Responsible Tourism, Social Media

To imagine what tourism should do next in my ongoing quest for ‘tourism’s new stories’, I found that the Shambala Festival is one of the best examples around

August 5, 2019October 8, 2019

Tourism needs new stories

Carbon & Water, Social Economy

Across Europe, the beginning of August signifies the beginning of the long summer holiday. Children are all off school for several weeks. Parliaments shut for a while. ... Read more

July 2, 2019July 2, 2019

Tourism is not working. And that’s a good thing.

Responsible Tourism, Social Economy

Most of our time is defined by work. It is how we afford the things we need and want. But more than that – it’s assumed as ... Read more

June 25, 2019June 25, 2019

The industry needs to focus on implementing solutions: WTM London & the Awards

Responsible Tourism

As the sector bumps up against the limits to growth in a finite world, we need to focus on solutions. From global warming to overtourism, from flooding ... Read more

June 21, 2019

A Spotlight on the High-Spending Chinese Tourists

Luxury

There is a Chinese proverb that goes, “When the wind of change blows, some build walls, while others build windmills.” When you’re in the tourism and travel ... Read more

June 19, 2019June 19, 2019

Why every tourism company should join the new Climate Perks holiday scheme

Responsible Tourism

Climate Perks is a new pilot scheme that has just been launched by 10:10, the UK-based climate solutions NGO. As its new website explains, “Climate Perks employers ... Read more

June 4, 2019June 4, 2019

What can tourism learn from other industries?

Responsible Tourism

Not a lot apparently. Next week is the annual Responsible Business Summit Europe. Organised by Ethical Corporation, it brings together senior executives from some of the biggest ... Read more

May 28, 2019

Why the Doughnut is a Problem for Tourism

Responsible Tourism

It is official. Yesterday the 34-member Anthropocene Working Group (AWG) determined that we have now entered, in geological terms, the Anthropocene: the Age of Man. The group ... Read more

May 23, 2019

Realising Augmented Reality’s potential

Social Media

On September 1, the Cranborne Chase will launch an app using augmented reality to promote its wares. It’s an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AoNB), largely in ... Read more

May 21, 2019May 23, 2019

My four least favourite phrases that tourism should stop using

Responsible Tourism, RT Marketing

Last Friday, the Guardian newspaper announced that it was updating its style guide “to introduce terms that more accurately describe the environmental crises facing the world.” The ... Read more

May 17, 2019May 17, 2019

How Can Travel Brands Make Things More Personal For Luxury Travellers?

Luxury

When talking about travel trends, ‘experience’ has been the keyword in trends across the travel industry. As a whole, consumers are choosing to spend on things that ... Read more

May 16, 2019July 10, 2020

Episode 10 – How Podcasting Can Strengthen Your Brand

Podcast

Listen now on iTunes Listen now on Spotify The rise of podcasting into the mainstream has been significant and more and more businesses are seeing audio ... Read more

May 14, 2019May 16, 2019

Tourism can be a force for good on biodiversity

Responsible Tourism

Just yesterday we heard that Victor Vescovo had descended some 11km to the deepest place in the ocean, the deepest dive ever. He discovered new species of ... Read more

May 9, 2019May 9, 2019

ITTA Awards prove they are the Industry Stamp of Approval

Blog

Shortly after the International Travel & Tourism Awards (ITTAs) evening last year, we reached out to all the winners as we wanted to find out if winning ... Read more

May 7, 2019May 16, 2019

The week when everything changed

Carbon & Water

I wanted to write about May Day. I wanted to write about working less and remaking our connection to the earth. I really didn’t want to write ... Read more

April 30, 2019May 16, 2019

The aviation industry is our sector’s Achilles’ heel.

Responsible Tourism

Last week the UK’s Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Secretary, Michael Gove, admitted that “we have not done nearly enough” on man-made climate change. Gove went on, ... Read more

April 29, 2019May 3, 2019

Saudi Arabia’s Tourism; Mega Projects and a New Vision of Openness to the World

Blog

Dubai’s Arabian Travel Market (ATM) is an opportunity to promote Saudi Arabia’s tourism products, services and destinations, as well as its tourism investment opportunities. The annual world-renowned ... Read more

April 25, 2019April 25, 2019

Uber + Zoom: great employee experiences, good for business too

Blog

How to build a future-proof travel policy Is your company travel policy prepared for changes in traveler trends and tech? For travel managers, the day-to-day responsibility of ... Read more

April 25, 2019

Facing down challenges and seizing opportunities in the airline business

Aviation

The airline industry has always faced its share of challenges. The key to survival is a rigorous management of costs whilst being versatile in adapting to shifts ... Read more

April 22, 2019May 16, 2019

How should tourism mark Earth Day 2019?

Responsible Tourism

This Monday – April 22, is Earth Day. It’s the 49th anniversary of the event, first celebrated in 1970. And this year, the theme is “Protect our ... Read more

April 17, 2019April 25, 2019

5 new and luxurious resorts that encourage the indulgent

Luxury

Unlike hotels where guests can sometimes book nights out of necessity, resorts are an entirely different business wherein guests book simply because they want to indulge. From ... Read more

April 16, 2019May 16, 2019

Carbon moves up the political agenda – action is overdue

Responsible Tourism

The strikes by school children demanding government action in climate change are growing, reflecting the next generation’s concern about the impact on their future, as they become ... Read more

April 10, 2019April 10, 2019

Marketing to the modern Muslim traveller

Halal Tourism, Trends

While some Halal tourism networks showcase outstanding promotional services to their audiences, many travel professionals still struggle to address their Muslim travellers’ needs. A panel of thought ... Read more

April 10, 2019May 16, 2019

Netflix’s new David Attenborough series Our Planet shows us what tourism’s future might be

Responsible Tourism

“Hamstrung by the idea that any mention of eco-problems would make audiences switch off, and the broadcasters’ preferred strategy of hoping that sharing incredible sights around the ... Read more

April 4, 2019April 4, 2019

Halal Tourism Becomes Mainstream

Halal Tourism, Trends

Halal tourism is amongst the fastest developing sectors in the travel industry, gradually becoming more conventional. Global travel companies are thus implementing business models to be included ... Read more

April 3, 2019May 13, 2019

The Painting of Money Grabbing Influencers

Blogging

If influencer bashing had begun a while ago, we’re certainly in full swing now. Only if you’d been sleeping under a rock (or in one of those ... Read more

April 2, 2019May 16, 2019

2019 World Responsible Tourism Awards are now open

Responsible Tourism

Beware of Greenwash – Why Awards Matter. The World Responsible Tourism Awards open today for nominations. The judges can only choose from amongst those that apply. So, ... Read more

March 27, 2019May 16, 2019

Success of Rent a Finn and Palau Pledge campaigns show how sustainable tourism stories can work

Responsible Tourism

Some good news for a change. Two high profile marketing campaigns, for two very different destinations, show the time is increasingly right for stories about sustainability to ... Read more

March 26, 2019March 26, 2019

Shaping the Luxury Travel Experience for a New Generation

Halal Tourism, Trends

As current children under the age of 18 are capable of booking holidays on their own, the access to digital technology has made children sharper and more ... Read more

March 21, 2019May 13, 2019

Will Instagram let us shop for travel?

Social Media

Instagram has taken another step forward in becoming a key marketplace for people to buy things. This week the company announcemenced the rollout of something called Instagram ... Read more

March 20, 2019March 20, 2019

How luxury hotel brands cater to female travellers

Luxury

March is a month that celebrates women. It is Women’s History Month, an annual commemoration to highlight the contributions of women to events in history and contemporary ... Read more

March 19, 2019May 16, 2019

Why the WTM World Responsible Tourism Awards Matter

Responsible Tourism

In a crowded market place it’s important to stand out from the crowd. WTM’s World Responsible Tourism Awards enable you to do just that. In a market ... Read more

March 19, 2019March 19, 2019

Marketing to Female Travellers in the Middle East

Halal Tourism, Trends

Upon the recent news that women make 80% of all travel decisions, the future of travel certainly appears to be female. But how do travel professionals speak ... Read more

March 12, 2019May 16, 2019

Why tourism should support the Children’s Climate Strike this Friday

Responsible Tourism

A wave of climate protest is sweeping the planet, and those of us working in tourism would do well to reflect quickly on how it will impact ... Read more

March 12, 2019March 12, 2019

Muslim travellers of the future

Halal Tourism, Trends

Gemma Greenwood, Director of Content Inc. panelled a discussion to gain insight into pivotal market trends and how the industry is going to evolve and move on ... Read more

March 7, 2019May 13, 2019

The rise of the influencer in residence

Social Media

“What is work, Mummy?” “Oh it was just something we used to do before AI and robots started doing everything for us, darling.” “And what did you ... Read more

March 7, 2019March 18, 2019

Popular metrics to increase sales in the travel industry

Trends

Day by day the travel industry is improving and people are learning about more features and innovations that they didn’t know before. Technology makes the daily technical ... Read more

March 6, 2019March 6, 2019

Emirates – a new direction?

Aviation

As ATM 2019 rapidly approaches, I’m delighted to say that Sir Tim Clark, President of Emirates, will be our first guest for the aviation programme. Sir Tim’s ... Read more

March 5, 2019May 16, 2019

Going Beyond Trickle Down or Creating Shared Value

Development

In the Responsible Tourism Awards each year we see many examples of businesses which have made real efforts to benefit local communities by sourcing goods and services ... Read more

March 4, 2019July 10, 2020

Episode 9 – Unforgettable Journeys: The BBC on Creating Memorable Branded Content

Podcast

Listen now on iTunes Listen now on Spotify Branded content in the travel sector means telling memorable stories, but how can you be sure you’re delivering ... Read more

February 28, 2019February 28, 2019

Top 5 destinations for food around the world in 2019

Food Tourism

Just two months into 2019 and it’s clear to see that food travel is well and truly on the menu for this year’s travel agenda – and ... Read more

February 27, 2019May 16, 2019

Four questions for tourism businesses about climate change risk

Responsible Tourism

This blog takes a different approach to normal, because when it is 20 degrees on a February morning in London, apparently the hottest February day ever in ... Read more

February 26, 2019February 26, 2019

Popular honeymoon destinations in the Middle East & Asia

Destinations, Halal Tourism, Trends

They say that love is the food of life, and travel is the dessert. If that is to be believed, then it means that honeymoon (the dessert ... Read more

February 22, 2019February 22, 2019

2019: the year of Culture Trip?

Social Media

SIT back and enjoy the films. No, not The Oscars silly, but a series of travel shorts from Culture Trip, the media company promising to shake up ... Read more

February 20, 2019February 20, 2019

Are your passenger rights an airlines’ best kept secret?

Aviation

Travel is a right for all people, but all too few travelers are actually aware of the passenger rights in case of disruptions. Are you aware of ... Read more

February 19, 2019February 20, 2019

Climate Change, people are demanding action, but will governments act in time?

Responsible Tourism

This year we are focussing on climate change and carbon emissions at all tour WTM shows. Some of you will recall the stark presentation made by Professor ... Read more

February 18, 2019February 18, 2019

The importance of native language reviews and trusted sites for Middle Eastern travel consumers

Destinations, Halal Tourism, Trends

The world of travel content is as vast as the globe itself. Newspaper and magazine articles, blogs and vlogs, influencers’ social media posts, TV documentaries, radio podcasts ... Read more

February 14, 2019

Most Romantic Luxury Hotel Amenities

Luxury

“Roses are red, violets are blue. Love is in the air, bring out the fondue.” It’s the month of love, and whether you celebrate Valentine’s Day or ... Read more

February 12, 2019

Using tourism to give people the benefits of time in nature

Responsible Tourism

At the beginning of this month, the Campaign to Protect Rural England (CPRE) published a series of detailed maps revealing that 36% of England’s population live too ... Read more

February 11, 2019August 18, 2020

SEO overload: The rise of the machine is killing your blog

Blog, Blogging, marketing

Cast your mind back… Do you remember the reason you started blogging in the first place? Maybe it was because you wanted to publish your words and ... Read more

February 8, 2019February 8, 2019

Facebook messaging integration: is dark social going to get brighter?

Social Media

Messaging apps such as WhatsApp and Facebook Messenger are a shady place. Lots of stuff gets shared around in these private places. That’s kind of annoying if ... Read more

February 7, 2019July 10, 2020

Episode 8 – June Sarpong on the Importance of Diversity in the Travel Industry

Podcast

Listen now on iTunes Listen now on Spotify TV presenter and campaigner June Sarpong came to the WTM to host a panel on the issue of ... Read more

February 5, 2019

Responsible Tourism in India

Responsible Tourism

I was privileged to spend last week in India, first in Kerala and then in Delhi, for the 4th India Responsible Tourism Awards – one of the ... Read more

February 5, 2019February 5, 2019

Top halal tourism trends for 2019

Halal Tourism

Halal tourism is one of the fastest-growing facets of the global travel industry. Muslim travellers around the world are hungry for travel experiences and this is driving ... Read more

January 30, 2019

Malta’s transformation

Winter 2018 Magazine

A good spread of traveller types, source markets and seasons are the aims of most destinations, and Malta offers something of a masterclass in what’s possible, with ... Read more

January 29, 2019February 1, 2019

How tourism can remove single waste plastic from its supply chain

Responsible Tourism

“Gradually, then suddenly”. It’s how a character in Ernest Hemingway’s The Sun Also Rises, describes how he went bankrupt. I was unaware of the phrase until last ... Read more

January 28, 2019

Long haul budget airline sector

Winter 2018 Magazine

It was a bold move, but Primera Air’s venture into low-cost long-haul will surely be recorded as the shortest-lived attempt to break into the market. From waving ... Read more

January 28, 2019

Blippar stops trading: the long wait for AR and VR to become a reality

Social Media

ANOTHER new year, another debate on whether virtual and augmented reality will become, well, a reality. Not delivering on what’s been promised, gimmicky ideas, a focus on ... Read more

January 25, 2019

The Luxury of Solo Travel

Luxury

Solo travel is on the rise across all markets, and you would have to be living under a rock not to notice it. Open any of your ... Read more

January 25, 2019July 10, 2020

Episode 7 – How to Capitalise on Chinese Outbound Tourism

Podcast

Listen now on iTunes Listen now on Spotify Destinations and travel businesses around the world are making great efforts to attract a larger share of China’s ... Read more

January 22, 2019January 22, 2019

The Orphanage Business

Responsible Tourism

Way back in 2011 the issue of orphanages in Cambodia was raised by Michael Horton during one of our Responsible Tourism sessions at WTM London. Michael reported ... Read more

January 21, 2019

Lesser known emirates

Winter 2018 Magazine

Of the seven sheikhdoms that together make up the United Arab Emirates, perhaps just two – Dubai and Abu Dhabi – are familiar names. But while the ... Read more

January 16, 2019

Ireland post Brexit

Winter 2018 Magazine

Whatever the final outcome of the difficult negotiations between the UK and EU over Brexit, Ireland has had to re-assess its international marketing and try to address ... Read more

January 15, 2019January 15, 2019

Will 2019 be the year tourism engages with flying and climate change?

Responsible Tourism

While it is always risky to make public predictions, I think this year we will see a lot more discussion about aviation and climate change. The reason ... Read more

January 14, 2019

An interview with Ted Stimpson

Winter 2018 Magazine

There can’t be many brands that boast a global market share in excess of 65% but whose boss argues he has not yet reached more than 1% ... Read more

January 10, 2019May 13, 2019

What’s hot in travel for 2019, according to everybody

Social Media

As a travel writer, I can tell the time of year just by looking at my email inbox. At Easter, the subject lines are usually filled with ... Read more

January 9, 2019

China beyond the gateways

Winter 2018 Magazine

Tourism to China has traditionally been based around Beijing and Shanghai, but that could be in for a shake-up thanks to a boom in flights to regional ... Read more

January 3, 2019January 7, 2019

The Caribbean islands’ numbers game

Winter 2018 Magazine

Many holidays to the Caribbean are all about palm trees and gleaming white sands – and with options ranging from mega-resorts to B&Bs, villas and luxury hotels, ... Read more

December 21, 2018

Tunisia’s Recovery

Summer 2018 Magazine

Tunisia’s recovery from the impact of two devastating terrorist attacks three years ago has gathered pace during 2018. Figures from the country’s tourism ministry show that visitor ... Read more

December 20, 2018

Earthrise, Limits to Growth and Responsibility

Responsible Tourism

Fifty years ago on December 24th 1968 the Apollo 8 astronauts took the famous Earthrise photograph as they orbited the moon, the first image of Earth captured ... Read more