The increased desire for an ethical holiday, to give something back as well as to experience the real culture of the countries we visit has led to a burgeoning market for volunteer tourism. A 2008 study by Tourism and Research Marketing, which surveyed 300 organisations, estimated the market size to be 1.6 million volunteer tourists per year and put the value of the market at around £1.3 billion.

Often called “voluntourism”, this amalgamation of volunteering and travel has created a significant amount of debate but continues to grow unabated. The main issues arising from this sector include whether there is a need for the volunteer and the legitimacy of the projects they do; whether the volunteer brings the necessary skills to the project; whether they are displacing paid workers; are they a drain on local resources; the cost of the project and where the money goes; whether volunteers working with children and vulnerable adults should have background checks; how well prepared and briefed are volunteers for this kind of experience and the cultural sensitivities of volunteering in developing countries.

There are many stories of volunteers arriving at projects only to find there is little for them to do, no logistical support on the ground or they are unprepared or unskilled for the experience. The growth of the market and positioning within the mainstream travel sector will continue to raise and address these kind of issues. This could ultimately lead to a better experience for volunteers and increased benefit to the local communities they visit, with movement towards regulation of the industry.

The sheer choice of volunteering projects now available can also make it difficult to identify the right volunteer experience. A search on the responsibletravel.com website for “volunteer travel” brings up 377 results, including conservation projects, teaching and working with children and community based projects in developing countries.

There is some good advice available, for example the ethical volunteering guide by Dr Kate Simpson, which advises volunteers on choosing the right organisation, considering their own motivations for volunteering and what questions to ask. The Irish development organisation Comhlmh has developed a Volunteer Charter setting out seven principles for responsible volunteering and a website, Volunteering Options, to advise prospective volunteers on choosing a placement.

The best way to identify worthwhile projects is to do some research into the organisation. The first question to ask is for a breakdown of the cost of the project and how much goes to the host community. An organisation should be able to easily provide this information. The next thing to check is how the project was developed and understand why there is a need for a volunteer, the skills required and what volunteers will be doing. Another key thing to check is what level of preparation and support are offered by the organisation, both before and during the project. Speaking to a previous volunteer or searching for reviews online can help to separate the good from the bad.

There are at least 100 UK-based organisations operating volunteering projects overseas, some of which are not-for-profits or NGOs and others commercial profit-making companies. These include companies like i-to-i, Inspired Breaks (formerly Gap Year for Grown Ups) and Real Gap Experience, all part of the TUI group. They offer a mixture of volunteering projects, work abroad and adventure tours, primarily aimed at the gap year and career break market, however they also have two week holiday options. Their volunteer projects include conservation work, teaching, caring for children and volunteering in orphanages, sports coaching, building projects and medical volunteering. Inspired Breaks also offer family volunteering holidays, for example a trip to Swaziland to help care for vulnerable and orphaned children. The Adventure Company are also offering family “Hands On Adventures” which include wildlife conservation and community projects.

The acquisition of these companies by TUI demonstrates the multi-million pound value of the volunteering and gap year market. One of the main criticisms of volunteering projects offered by commercial organisations is that the company’s main interest is in profit rather than development. Projects are developed based on what the customer wants to do, what is marketable, rather than the needs of local communities. Some companies will send volunteers to do the same project repeatedly, with little benefit to the host community. The other concerns about the commercial organisations are that they don’t match volunteers to suitable placements or interview prospective volunteers to assess their suitability for projects and they offer minimal preparation or training.

Two organisations which stand out for their responsible credentials are Global Vision International (GVI) and people and places. GVI won the 2011 Responsible Tourism Award for best volunteering organisation and were praised for the scale of their impact on the ground. They operate long term, sustainable projects in 25 countries focusing on environmental research, conservation, education and community development. Projects are developed for the benefit of both the volunteer and local communities.

people and places, who also won the best volunteering organisation award in 2009, emphasise their commitment to both volunteers and communities and matching the right volunteer to the right placement. Their organisation was conceived out of concern over the “chasm between marketing and reality in a significant number of volunteer offers”. They work with local partners and develop volunteer placements based on their needs. This is very much the model used by international development volunteering organisations like VSO and 2Way Development. They provide detail about the project and local partner and are transparent about how the volunteer’s payment is spent. They are now working with companies like Tribes and ITC Classics to provide their volunteering trips.

What is particularly interesting is that people and places emphasise on their website that these kind of volunteering projects are not holidays – “Volunteering responsibly cannot and should not replace the traditional holiday. It will be emotionally exhausting and mentally challenging”.

So is the volunteer travel market growing? The number of organisations and projects available would indicate that it is. Despite the recession, there seems to be a demand for this sort of travel. The current job market and wave of redundancies could be seen as an opportunity to take time out and travel or volunteer, gain new skills and experience to add to CVs. The high cost of many of the projects could be the main barrier for growth in this market, only affordable to the more affluent. But with the rise of the career breaker and the growing conscience of mainstream tourism, perhaps 2012 really is the year of the volunteer tourist?

Sustainable Tourism Report Suite more info : HERE

This article is written by Natasha Stein, natashakstein@gmail.com has worked for VSO, Earthwatch and Thomson Holidays and specialises in best practice in overseas volunteering programmes and identifying the right placements for volunteers. Natasha developed an interest in responsible tourism whilst working at Thomson Holidays as a Product Manager for long-haul destinations. After 6 years with VSO’s volunteering team, she decided to combine her experience in tour operations and international development and pursue a career in responsible travel. She is currently studying for a Masters in Responsible Tourism Management at the International Centre for Responsible Tourism.
The article is quoted from TravelMole and published January 2012.

This article is uploaded by Majbritt Thomsen, administrator on ‘Views On Tourism’.

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• 

International tourist arrivals grew by 4.4% in 2011 to a total 980 million, up from 939 million in 2010, in a year characterised by a stalled global economic recovery, major political changes in the Middle East and North Africa and natural disasters in Japan. By region, Europe (+6%) was the best performer, while by subregion South-America (+10%) topped the ranking. Contrary to previous years, growth was higher in advanced economies (+5.0%) than in emerging ones (+3.8%), due largely to the strong results in Europe, and the setbacks in the Middle East and North Africa.

“International tourism hit new records in 2011 despite the challenging conditions,” said UNWTO Secretary-General, Taleb Rifai. “For a sector directly responsible for 5% of the world’s GDP, 6% of total exports and employing one out of every 12 people in advanced and emerging economies alike these results are encouraging, coming as they do at a time in which we urgently need levers to stimulate growth and job creation,” he added.

Despite persistent economic uncertainty, tourist arrivals to Europe reached 503 million in 2011, accounting for 28 million of the 41 million additional international arrivals recorded worldwide. Central and Eastern Europe and Southern Mediterranean destinations (+8% each) experienced the best results. Although part of the growth in Southern Mediterranean Europe resulted from a shift in traffic away from the Middle East and North Africa, destinations in the Mediterranean also profited from improved outbound flows from markets such as Scandinavia, Germany and the Russian Federation.

Asia and the Pacific (+6%) was up 11 million arrivals in 2011, reaching a total 216 million international tourists. South Asia and South-East Asia (both +9%) benefited from strong intraregional demand, while growth was comparatively weaker in North-East Asia (+4%) and Oceania (+0.3%), partly due to the temporary decline in the Japanese outbound market.

The Americas (+4%) saw an increase of 6 million arrivals, reaching 156 million in total. South America, up by 10% for the second consecutive year, continued to lead growth. Central America and the Caribbean (both +4%) maintained the growth rates of 2010. North America, with a 3% increase, hit the 100 million tourists mark in 2011.

Africa maintained international arrivals at 50 million, as the gain of two million by Sub-Saharan destinations (+7%) was offset by the losses in North Africa (-12%). The Middle East (-8%) lost an estimated 5 million international tourist arrivals, totalling 55 million. Nevertheless, some destinations such as Saudi Arabia, Oman and the United Arab Emirates sustained steady growth.

Available data on international tourism receipts and expenditure for 2011 closely follows the positive trend in arrivals.
Among the top ten tourist destinations, receipts were up significantly in the USA (+12%), Spain (+9%), Hong Kong (China) (+25%) and the UK (+7%). The top spenders were led by emerging source markets – China (+38%), Russia (+21%), Brazil (+32%) and India (+32%) – followed by traditional markets, with the growth in expenditure of travelers from Germany (+4%) and the USA (+5%) above the levels of previous years.

UNWTO forecasts international tourism to continue growing in 2012 although at a slower rate. Arrivals are expected to increase by 3% to 4%, reaching the historic one billion mark by the end of the year. Emerging economies will regain the lead with stronger growth in Asia and the Pacific and Africa (4% to 6%), followed by the Americas and Europe (2% to 4%). The Middle East (0% to +5%) is forecast to start to recover part of its losses from 2011.

These prospects are confirmed by the UNWTO Confidence Index. The 400 UNWTO Panel of Experts from around the globe, expects the tourism sector to perform positively in 2012, though somewhat weaker than last year.

As destinations worldwide look to stimulate travel demand under pressing economic conditions, UNWTO is urging governments to consider advancing travel facilitation, an area in which in spite of the great strides made so far there is still much room for progress. UNWTO advises countries to make the most of information and communication technologies in improving visa application and processing formalities, as well as the timings of visa issuance, and to analyze the possible impact of travel facilitation in increasing their tourism economies.

“Travel facilitation is closely interlinked with tourism development and can be key in boosting demand. This area is of particular relevance in a moment in which governments are looking to stimulate economic growth but cannot make major use of fiscal incentives or public investment,” said Mr. Rifai.

More information follow the link to UNWTO World Tourism Barometer

This article is written by Valere Tjolle, editor of the Sustainable Tourism Report Suite. The article is quoted from TravelMole and published January 2012.

This article is uploaded by Majbritt Thomsen, administrator on ‘Views On Tourism’.

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The Views On Tourism Project celebrate 3 year anniversary, 300.000 blog visitors and 750 group members. Uniting the right people generates the resources, knowledge and visions to encourage a positive local tourism development in Bangladesh and South Asia.

This project started in 2008 as a Danish expat volunteer initiative in Bangladesh to support the emerging sustainable awareness. The blog provides knowledge and inspiration to the Bangladeshi tourism sector, nearby South Asian countries, developing countries or destinations facing similar challenges. The network group makes an online communication platform for the sustainable tourism stakeholders related to Bangladesh and South Asia.

I welcome you to use the Views On Tourism Project to increase knowledge, share best practice, spread information, make comments, announce events, start discussions, network and cooperate.

Furthermore I encourage you to please support a fantastic project, which is fighting poverty through positive tourism development.
Crowdsourced Travel Bangladesh is a community-powered collective that provides information, marketing and travel media services to ‘unusual’ destinations often overlooked by the world travel community.
Your donation will make a difference.

I wish you a happy and sustainable new year in 2012.

Yours faithfully Majbritt Thomsen, initiator the Views On Tourism Project

For further information please follow these links:
Views On Tourism – Knowledge and Inspiration Blog.
Views On Tourism – Network and Discussion Group.
Crowdsourced Travel Bangladesh – Campaign in Progress.

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“Tourism has an enormous potential to create jobs and economic benefit for Bangladesh,” says Leung. “At Crowdsourced Travel, we believe that this potential could be used to attack Bangladesh’s most vexing issue – poverty.”

The campaign is using a new form of fundraising called “Crowdfunding” by which a series of donors/supporters pledge small amounts. The cumulative effect of their donations allows a creative project to meet a funding goal. If the funding target is not met, the pledges are not collected and the project does not proceed.

“Crowdfunding is a severe test of audience coherence and the strength of the project creators to bind their audience into a cause,” says Leung. “If we’re not successful making our lower funding target, then we know that there are not enough resources to pursue a tourism marketing project at this point in time.”

The campaign has six weeks left and $10,000 left to raise for its lower funding goal, but has managed $5,000 in pledges so far. For more information please view the above videos and visit the campaign website. Also, a beautiful resource of photographs is being created at the Positive Light website.

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• 

Hi everyone,

I hope you are all well where ever you may be and your work/personal projects are going well.

I wanted to let you know that I’m finally back in Bangladesh for the next six weeks. I’ve been in touch with all of you at various points regarding the update of the Bradt guide, but to be honest I haven’t managed to find enough personal time to keep everything and everyone coordinated. My sincere apologies for talking big and not following through.

The good news: I’m now back again giving Bangladesh my full and almost undivided attention. We’ve got a deadline to make (Jan 15), and a lot of work to do. And I cannot do it alone.

After many years of pondering the poverty problem, I’ve concluded that tourism is one of the best vehicles for developing new economic opportunities for Bangladesh. Tourism could provide massive economic opportunities for this country and I will no longer wait for the government or the tourism industry to reach the foreign audience. I’m taking matters into my own hands – and I am asking others to help me achieve this by volunteering (that’s you) or by seeding this business via the social business crowdfunding platform Start Some Good . Here is how to donate to Crowdsourced Travel .

Using social media and my video camera, I’m going to start shouting from the rice paddies that Bangladesh is now open to adventurous, socially-aware travellers. Bangladeshi people deserve to participate in tourism, a significant vehicle of economic empowerment, and I’ve now devoted several years of my life to sharing this important story with the world.

The purpose of my trip back is to achieve the following:
1. Consolidate a team of volunteers and tour operators who can help update the Bradt guide for a 15 Jan deadline and source new photographs for the guide.
2. Launch a crowdfunding campaign that will help start Crowdsourced Travel, a new social tourism venture. Begin creating its first products.
3. Tell the story of the country’s best social tourism operators and their products.

How can you help me?
1. Join Us: Stay informed by ‘liking’ our Facebook page or signing up on the newsletter .
2. Write: Publish your travel intelligence to the Wikitravel guide to Bangladesh or on Tripadvisor , sites that we plan to use as the info repositories for the travel community instead. If you have an iPhone or an Android phone you can publish directly to Wikitravel using the iTravelFree app. Those who take up larger roles in the project might get a free tour with an operator for research purposes!
3. Photograph: We need your best travel photography for the Bradt guide and for “Positive Light,” a new coffee table photography book I will publish if venture funding is successful. More news coming on this soon. Launch and exhibition event happening 27 October at the BAGHA club in Dhaka.
4. Spread the word: Forward this message!! Let your friends and contacts know that you are thinking of contributing to Bangladesh: The Bradt Travel Guide and Crowdsourced Travel, and that we are raising money to start a social tourism business. They can join us at Facebook or sign up for the newsletter at the Crowdsourced Travel website. We will be launching the crowdfunding campaign next week.
5. Come to the launch event: On 27 October, I am holding a photo exhibition at the BAGHA Club in Dhaka to launch this event, and if you can join us in celebrating the best of Bangladesh I would love to meet you or see you again.

Thank you for expressing your interest in this project. I’d be honoured if you continue to support this work in any way you can. You can reach me in Bangladesh at 01721 720 530.

Best regards,
-Mikey Leung, Author
Bangladesh: The Bradt Travel Guide
mikey@crowdsourced.travel
Bangladesh Traveller
Crowdsourced Travel

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• 

GDP: Direct Contribution
The direct contribution of Travel &Tourism to GDP is expected to be USD492.3bn (2.7% of total GDP) in 2011, rising by 3.7% pa to USD709.1bn (2.9%) in 2021 (in constant 2011 prices).

GDP: Total Contribution
The total contribution of Travel &Tourism to GDP, including its wider economic impacts, is forecast to rise by 3.3% pa from USD1,569.7bn (8.7% of GDP) in 2011 to USD2,179.2bn (9.0%) by 2021.

Employment: Direct Contribution
Travel & Tourism is expected to support directly 9,295,000 jobs (4.6% of total employment) in 2011, rising by 1.5% pa to 10,745,000 jobs (4.7%) by 2021.

Employment: Total Contribution
The total contribution of Travel & Tourism to employment, including jobs indirectly supported by the industry, is forecast to rise by 1.5% pa from 22,619,000 jobs (11.1% of total employment) in 2011 to 26,281,000 jobs (11.5%) by 2021.

Visitor Exports
Travel & Tourism visitor exports are expected to generate USD207.8bn (7.4% of total exports) in 2011, growing by 5.9%pa (in nominal terms) to USD304.1bn (5.1%) in 2021.

Investment
Travel & Tourism investment is estimated at USD155.7bn or 5.1% of total investment in 2011. It should rise by 4.8% pa to reach USD248.5bn (or 5.6%) of total investment in 2021.

World ranking (out of 12 regions):
Relative importance of Travel & Tourism’s total contribution to GDP
• 1 ABSOLUTE size
• 6 RELATIVE contribution to national economy
• 10 GROWTH forecast

North America Region includes Canada, Mexico, USA

Download the Travel & Tourism report on North America here

About WTTC
The World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC) is the forum for business leaders in the Travel & Tourism industry. With Chief Executives of some one hundred of the world’s leading Travel & Tourism companies as its Members, WTTC has a unique mandate and overview on all matters related to Travel & Tourism.
WTTC works to raise awareness of Travel & Tourism as one of the world’s largest industries, supporting more than 258 million jobs and generating 9.1 per cent of world GDP.

This article is quoted from WTTC . Follow the links and get an overview of 2011 WTTC region reports or country reports.

This article is uploaded by Majbritt Thomsen, administrator on ‘Views On Tourism’. Photos from USA by Runo Magnussen.

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GDP: Direct Contribution
The direct contribution of Travel &Tourism to GDP is expected to be USD121.1bn (3.3% of total GDP) in 2011, rising by 4.7% pa to USD192.0bn (3.6%) in 2021 (in constant 2011 prices).

GDP: Total Contribution
The total contribution of Travel &Tourism to GDP, including its wider economic impacts, is forecast to rise by 4.5% pa from USD329.6bn (9.0% of GDP) in 2011 to USD512.4bn (9.6%) by 2021.

Employment: Direct Contribution
Travel & Tourism is expected to support directly 5,829,000 jobs (3.0% of total employment) in 2011, rising by 2.7% pa to 7,618,000 jobs (3.3%) by 2021.

Employment: Total Contribution
The total contribution of Travel & Tourism to employment, including jobs indirectly supported by the industry, is forecast to rise by 2.3% pa from 15,952,000 jobs (8.1% of total employment) in 2011 to 20,103,000 jobs (8.7%) by 2021.

Visitor Exports
Travel & Tourism visitor exports are expected to generate USD33.5bn (4.9% of total exports) in 2011, growing by 9.1% pa (in nominal terms) to USD70.8bn (5.6%) in 2021.

Investment
Travel & Tourism investment is estimated at USD46.3bn or 6.0% of total investment in 2011. It should rise by 6.0% pa to reach USD83.4bn (or 6.6%) of total investment in 2021.

World ranking (out of 12 regions):
Relative importance of Travel & Tourism’s total contribution to GDP
• 4 ABSOLUTE size
• 5 RELATIVE contribution to national economy
• 7 GROWTH forecast

Latin America includes Argentina, Belize, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Guyana, Honduras, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Suriname, Uruguay, Venezuela

Download the Travel & Tourism report on Latin America here

About WTTC
The World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC) is the forum for business leaders in the Travel & Tourism industry. With Chief Executives of some one hundred of the world’s leading Travel & Tourism companies as its Members, WTTC has a unique mandate and overview on all matters related to Travel & Tourism.
WTTC works to raise awareness of Travel & Tourism as one of the world’s largest industries, supporting more than 258 million jobs and generating 9.1 per cent of world GDP.

This article is quoted from WTTC .
Follow the links and get an overview of 2011 WTTC region reports or country reports.

This article is uploaded by Majbritt Thomsen, administrator on ‘Views On Tourism’.

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• 

GDP: Direct ContributionThe direct contribution of Travel &Tourism to GDP is expected to be USD483.2bn (2.8% of total GDP) in 2011, rising by 6.6% pa to USD920.6bn (2.7%) in 2021 (in constant 2011 prices).

GDP: Total Contribution
The total contribution of Travel &Tourism to GDP, including its wider economic impacts, is forecast to rise by 6.8% pa from USD1,397.4bn (8.0% of GDP) in 2011 to USD2,727.3bn (8.4%) by 2021.

Employment: Direct Contribution
Travel & Tourism is expected to support directly 66,750,000 jobs (3.4% of total employment) in 2011, rising by 1.9% pa to 80,264,000 jobs (3.6%) by 2021.

Employment: Total Contribution
The total contribution of Travel & Tourism to employment, including jobs indirectly supported by the industry, is forecast to rise by 2.3% pa from 153,719,000 jobs (7.7% of total employment) in 2011 to 192,905,000 jobs (8.6%) by 2021.

Visitor Exports
Travel & Tourism visitor exports are expected to generate USD184.4bn (3.8% of total exports) in 2011, growing by 9.5%pa (in nominal terms) to USD315.8bn (3.2%) in 2021.

Investment
Travel & Tourism investment is estimated at USD216.2bn or 3.9% of total investment in 2011. It should rise by 7.5% pa to reach USD447.0bn (or 3.9%) of total investment in 2021.

BRICs and N11s Region includes the BRIC countries (Brazil, Russia, India, China) and the N11s (Bangladesh, Egypt, Indonesia, Iran, Mexico, Nigeria, Pakistan, Phillippines South Korea, Turkey, Vietnam)
Download the Travel & Tourism report on BRICs and N11 Economic Impact Report here

About WTTC
The World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC) is the forum for business leaders in the Travel & Tourism industry. With Chief Executives of some one hundred of the world’s leading Travel & Tourism companies as its Members, WTTC has a unique mandate and overview on all matters related to Travel & Tourism.
WTTC works to raise awareness of Travel & Tourism as one of the world’s largest industries, supporting more than 258 million jobs and generating 9.1 per cent of world GDP.

This article is quoted from WTTC . Follow this link to read the original article and download the tourism report on 2011 BRICs and N11 Economic Impact Report here.
Get an overview of all the region reports from WTTC here

This article is uploaded by Majbritt Thomsen, administrator on ‘Views On Tourism’.

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• 

The positive momentum of the previous months held strong for Southeast Asia, which led the region with 15.5% growth during the month of June. The rebound in arrivals to Thailand (+54%) positively impacted this overall result, strongly supported by the other reporting destinations in this sub-region all of which enjoyed double-digit growth. This in turn was supported by strong travel demand within ASEAN and an increase in arrivals from China.

International arrivals growth to South Asia was a robust 12% in June, boosted by double-digit increases in inbound numbers to Nepal (+38%), the Maldives (+27%) and Sri Lanka (+20%). India maintained the same pace of growth seen in the previous month at 7%. European arrivals are amongst the main contributors to this growth.

Northeast Asia saw an improvement after posting slow growth of 0.6% in May, with a 3.7% increase in arrivals for June 2011. This growth, however, was very unevenly distributed among destinations in the sub-region. Tourism demand to Japan continued to recover, reducing losses in inbound arrivals from -63% in April to -50% in May and -36% in June. Chinese Taipei (-2%) and China (+1%) registered weak results while Hong Kong SAR (+16%), Macau SAR (+15%) and Korea (ROK) (+11%) enjoyed buoyant growth for the month, supported by the key origin market of China.

It should be remembered that even though the percentage growth rate may be relatively weaker than for other sub-regions, the sheer volume of arrivals to Northeast Asia means that 3.7% growth directly translates into more than 600,000 additional arrivals for the month.

International Arrivals to the Pacific recorded an aggregate decline of 4% in June. The main destinations of Australia (-4%) and New Zealand (-10%) showed significant decreases compared to the corresponding period last year. This downturn was caused – in part at least – by the ash cloud disruption to air travel from the Chilean volcano together with the continued effects of the earthquake in Christchurch. Nevertheless, some Pacific Island nations still managed to show positive growth, especially Palau (+63%), Vanuatu (+27%), Tahiti (+19%), Papua New Guinea (+16%), New Caledonia (+11%) and Cook Island (+8%).

January to June 2011
Of the 31 destinations reporting half-year arrivals (January to June 2011), 26 indicted positive growth, with 14 showing double-digit gains. Clear growth leaders over this period were Sri Lanka, Myanmar and Thailand with gains of 37%, 29% and 28% respectively (January to June, year-on-year).

Collectively, these 31 destinations generated growth of 5.3% for the Asia/Pacific region during the first half of 2011. Even with the loss of almost 1.4 million arrivals to Japan, this cluster of destinations collectively not only countered that contraction but managed to add enough additional arrivals to the collective count to post a year-on-year gain of more than eight million international arrivals.

Kris Lim, Director of PATA’s Strategic Intelligence Centre, said: “The first-half year growth of around 5%, given the challenges the industry has faced so far this year underlines the resilience of travel and tourism in the Asia/Pacific region. The comparatively weaker economies of the USA and Europe mean that much of this growth has had to come from intra-regional travel and this in turn has only been possible because of the stronger regional economies and the continued expansion of airline seat capacity within the region.”

Lim added that at the current rate of growth, overall arrivals to the region will push to the 433 million mark by the end of the year, up from 408 million last year. The majority of the Asia/Pacific destinations will once again look at record numbers of arrivals, led by South Asia and Southeast Asia destinations in terms of percentage growth.

“While European arrivals remain key to South Asia’s growth, Southeast Asia will be driven by the rapidly growing China and India outbound markets while Northeast Asia is expected to see strong gains in arrivals from Southeast Asia driven by the steadily growing LCC network,” said Lim.

1)Asia/Pacific is defined as including the following sub-regions for the purposes of press releases:

For more market trends and insights, please visit www.pata.org/sub-regional-trends-2011

-ENDS-

Issued by:PATA Communications,
Bangkok, Thailand.
Tel: +66 2 658 2000
E-mail: communications@PATA.org
Online newsroom: www.pata.org/Press
Follow PATA on Twitter and Facebook

About PATA
The Pacific Asia Travel Association (PATA) is a not-for profit membership association that acts as a catalyst for the responsible development of travel and tourism within the Asia Pacific region. This year, PATA is proud to celebrate 60 dynamic years of developing responsible tourism.

In partnership with private and public sector members, PATA enhances the sustainable growth, value and quality of travel and tourism to-from-and-within, the region. The Association provides leadership and counsel on an individual and collective basis to over 80 government, state and city tourism bodies; nearly 50 international airlines, airports and cruise lines and many hundreds of travel industry companies across the Asia Pacific region and beyond. Thousands of travel professionals belong to 39 active PATA chapters worldwide and participate in a wide range of PATA and industry events. PATA’s Strategic Intelligence Centre (SIC) offers unrivalled data and insights including Asia Pacific inbound and outbound statistics, analyses and forecasts as well as in-depth reports on strategic tourism markets. For more information, please visit www.PATA.org

This article is quoted from the newsletter PATAnews from PATA . Follow the green link to read the original article published on 2011.08.31.

This article is uploaded by Majbritt Thomsen, administrator on ‘Views On Tourism’.

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• 

I didn’t think of that coinage (true-tourism) until I met Tim Steel. I bet you could hardly find an English guy in his mid-seventies who after a successful career in Occident came to a small country of third-world, fell in love with it and planned to promote its beauty to the world. Ok, this is Tim for you.
I first saw him while I was attending a seminar on eco-tourism. There he was passionately talking about the tourism prospect of Bangladesh. “In 1997, I came here to visit Bangladesh, from then on I have been in and out of this nation for the past 14 years”, Tim said, “I absolutely fell in love with this country”. But his love didn’t confine only to his words; he wanted to do something which had barely been tried out in this country. Tim planned to promote the ‘riverine tourism’ of Bangladesh, especially to the outside world.
“At present I am working as the chief operational officer (COO) of a tourism company named ‘Tiger Tours’ and our company is constructing a boat which we named ‘MV Tanguar Haor’. This boat is with international four star facilities and it can ferry 26 passengers. Bangladesh has some of the most beautiful rivers in the world and we planned to float the boat along the rivers with tourists and anchored it at various points to show them the archeologically rich sites of rural Bengal including palaces, mosques, temples and tombs. We named the tour as –‘Palaces of Princesses’”, Tim told me about his plans.
“Right now we are traveling along the rural Bangladesh for selecting archeologically rich sites, locating possible points along the shore for the boat’s anchorage, and checking out the feasibility of promoting tourism based small and medium enterprises (SME) in those places”, Tim said, “This is what we called our research phase”, he added.
Tim invited me to join one of his ‘research phase’ tours to observe how they had been planning to run the tour. I gladly accepted the offer. On June 29, we started our journey. Rene, Shehab and Maruf from the ‘Tiger Tours’; Samira and Ridwan from ‘Katalyst’ and journalist Sujon from the ‘Banglavision’ channel joined the ‘entourage’.
Firstly, I didn’t understand the purpose of ‘Katalyst’ (an international business consultant which finance development programs) but Samira and Ridwan explained to me that they were collaborating with ‘Tiger Tours’ to work out the procedure of involving the local community and enterprises with the ‘Tiger Tours’ riverine tourism plan. Rene came from USA and she currently worked as a consultant for the ‘Tiger Tours’. She also took and documented the photographs of various sites. Shehab, a student of Archeology and the research assistant to Tim acted as the tour’s navigator.

It was an outlandish tour mixed with certainties and possibilities. Prior to journey, the one certain thing we knew about the itinerary was that our night halt would be at the ‘Jamuna Resort’ in Bhuapur of Tangail. The rest was what I termed as an –‘unplanned plan’. We had some names of the places with rich historic and archeological values but we barely knew about their exact locations. The plan was following ‘maps’ and asking ‘locals’ to get direction.
“In almost every corner of Bangladesh you would find something, rich in historical values. Apart from the known ones, you could always come across a new such thing if you just roam around and ask the locals”, Tim said, “That’s our plan, roaming around, visiting the known sites and discovering the new ones”.
We asked the locals for directions while in our SUV, and were misguided on several occasions and ended up taking a lot of wrong turns. We stopped everytime we spotted an old structure. We talked with locals and indulged in different kinds of local delicacies. It was indeed a great fun!
We first went to Manikganj. I have to make a confession. Prior to that tour, I never knew that there were so many things to see there. At Harirampur union, we came across a Mughal –era three-domed mosque besides which the tomb of Shah Rustom (RA) was located. People used to go there from different places for centuries and make wishes. We then went to Dashchira Zamindarbari of Shibalaya union but the degradation of the site has left almost nothing available to see. In Shibalaya we also found an amazing Kali Temple. It was really a huge structure and through times a Banyan tree had grown along the temple’s outer walls, just like a python gyrating around its prey.
We made a sudden detour along a village road and walked for sometime to visit a beautifully built large ancient wooden house. Then we traveled for hours to reach the Teota Palace. “This one structure really fascinates me. The skillfully crafted works along the palace walls and the magnificent peak of the temples are just remarkable, particularly when you consider that the workers did all those works manually, without the help of any modern engineering methods”, Tim said, “The sad thing is people barely know about its existence let alone its history. The other day, I googled its name and the only thing that appeared was the blog piece that I had written on it”.
After that we went to the last place on our itinerary for that day. It was a staggering palace complex in Nagarpur union of Tangail. We were literally stunned for a moment when we entered the palace premises. Several buildings from Mughal and British reign standing there as witnesses of history. It took us almost an hour to visit the whole complex. Tim said that he had been to many parts across the globe and visited many palace complexes but he barely came across such a large one like that of Nagarpur.
We rested at the Jamuna resort at that night. Next day, we started early in the morning. The sky was gloomy and intermittent rain almost spoilt our plan. We actually enjoyed the weather. Those who have never been to rural Bengal during monsoon will never understand the beauty of it. Amid the day-long shower, we had traveled a lot to reach the Hemnagar palace complex (described earlier) in Jamalpur. I was fazed, dazed and amazed by its sheer size, beauty and locations. For half an hour, I was swaggering around the back palace; alone, just to get the feeling of what it was like to be a ‘Zaminder’. Lucky me! The experience was out of the world!
That day, before heading towards Dhaka at late afternoon, we had made several stoppages along the Padma and the Jamuna River to identify the suitable locations for the boat’s anchorage. We also went to a pottery village at Sharishabari union to check out the scope of promoting SME there. I got surprised when some of the villagers told me that their life was better during the tenure of Zamindars as they used to get allowances from them during the monsoon – a time when they are usually out of pottery work due to heavy rain and lack of constant sunlight. Strange! I always envisaged the ruthless ruling of Zamindar was tyrannical for its poor estate people.

Interestingly, wherever we went, we stumbled on some strange stories told by the locals. “These are something that we want to promote; want to sell to the outside worlds – the places, the people and the stories”. Tim explained, “Tourism is not about getting into some places, taking some snaps, living in artificially decorated hotels and leaving behind the garbage. Rather it’s the knowing of people and history, living alike in the ambience to get the taste of their lifestyle and helping the community to protect its own identity and heritage; that is the real sustainable tourism”, he said while we were having a conversation at a small road-side tea shop near the river Padma.
Tim’s word opened a new window of my mind. I had an epiphany. What is really the point of visiting a new place if we don’t want and try to know it better or to indulge in its people’s lifestyle? If we just build hotels around a tourist attraction and want people coming to stay there for doing some quick business, then we just deprive them from getting the real pleasures and real purpose of tourism.
“Especially foreigners do not and will not visit Bangladesh to stay in some hotels; rather they want an experience, the true-one, the raw-one. That’s the reason the whole tourism industry across the world has shifted towards the sustainable eco-tourism which means tourism by preserving local environments and involving local communities”, Tim said.
“The real Bangladesh is – thousands of mosques and temples, hundreds of old palaces, dozens of forts hidden abruptly in its countryside along with magnificent hospitable people”, he said, “And experiencing it would be walking along the muddy village roads; coming across its people’s superstitions, folklores, bona fide generosity and artless enthusiasm; getting the glee of spotting beautiful historical ruins in the middle of nowhere; listening to what the Boyati (village singer) sings under a banyan tree or even having a cup of tea at a road-side tea shop amid the monsoon rain”, Tim said.

This article is quoted from The Independent. Follow the link to read the original article written by FAISAL MAHMUD AND published 15. July 2011.
This article is uploaded by Majbritt Thomsen, administrator on ‘Views On Tourism’.

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