SHARED SOLUTIONS FOR SHARED GROWTH

September 9, 2014September 9, 2014 / Gavin Tollman / Leave a comment

The global travel & tourism industry is one of the few, enduring sources of optimism and growth in our world today. The way in which the world is opening up to new places for discovery and engaging with different cultures, is occurring not just because of advances in technology, aviation and economic empowerment but equally so in mindsets. It is a significant change.

Travel and tourism is an industry in which vision is a fuel that turns possibility into powerful, purposeful reality.

For those of us who have committed ourselves to the promotion, protection, and preservation of the future of travel & tourism, we have an innate obligation to work together to unlock barriers and strengthen enablers for industry advancement. Additionally, we must ensure we work with governments to promote the uniqueness of each country. I do become concerned when disconnects appear between the public and private sector, and it becomes business versus government.

This phenomenon is not unique to any one country. At this very moment several countries across the tourism world are locked in struggles.

A case in point: the tourism industry in South Africa (country of my birth, and a place I remain personally passionate about as an advocate promoting my country as an exceptional travel destination) including the Department of Tourism, currently colliding with the Department of Home Affairs. The issue: new visa rules requiring biometric testing of potential tourists. Why? To put a stop to child trafficking. Only one issue – tourism and traffickers have nothing to do with one another. The regulations have become a direct deterrent to tourism yet will have minimal impact on child traffickers, if any at all. The damage is being done. At time of writing, the 2014/2015 year-end high season has lost significant traveller numbers. The ripple effect of negative impact on tourist sector earnings, jobs and competitiveness will further negatively impact an economy already in recession following strikes in the mining sector. As the damage to tourism image and arrival figures grows, the voice of the tourism sector in opposition to Home Affairs is getting louder and louder.

Still, no movement, and no signs of hope. Positions are being held firm. Business continues to increase its appeals towards government for action, feeling unheard and losing faith in leaders in highest national office.

Sadly, it happens all over the world. Issues may differ, but responses are the same. It may be visa regulations, taxation, poaching, investment attraction, development, any of a number of critical tourism sector issues central to industry growth, or decline.

So what is the solution?

The answer to this fundamental question is not somewhere out there, it is with us. We, the leaders of the travel and tourism industry, must be the solution.

The reality is this: no one in public office can ever understand the realities of the front line of travel & tourism like the people who provide the ultimate experience – tourism businesses. And so:

We as the private sector need to work collaboratively as a singular voice. For an industry that contributes over 9.5% to worldwide GDP and generates over 265 million jobs, still, sadly, we have a limited voice. Which is why we must join together and work through organisations like the WTTC (http://www.wttc.org/ which The Travel Corporation (TTC), parent company of Trafalgar, is proud to be a part of as a Board Member, represented by Brett Tollman, TTC’s CEO) to ensure that we amplify our voice. Our daily work, our impact, our research, the feedback we receive from travellers is what needs to be heard.
With governments, a commitment to pushing not just the problems, but also the solutions is needed. That is what PPP – Public Private Partnership, is really all about. Working proactively as partners, rebuilding trust and respect for respective roles and interests, working together to achieve shared success, can be the only way that growth potential of the sector can be leveraged for travellers, destinations and industry, across the world.

To me there is no alternative if we hope to see the future of our sector as one of truly sustainable, meaningful growth. Let’s reach out and make it possible.

Travel Should Be Thanked, Not Taxed

May 8, 2012 / Gavin Tollman / Leave a comment

With the world still moving from one economic crisis to the next and what appear to be no short or even medium term hope of the fundamentals changing, almost without exception, governments worldwide are becoming desperate to find ways of cutting spending and increasing revenues. Some of the their initiatives are long over due as well as some changes are for the better. Some however are ill conceived and are only going to have long term negative impacts of economies. This is especially true when it comes to the travel sector.

Those of us in the industry know well the incredible value and enjoyment that travel brings – the opportunity to discover all of the beauty, learning, meaning and fun that the world has to offer. However what our governments often forget is that the travel industry is also responsible for millions of jobs, billions in investment, and trillions in revenues.

“Those of us in the industry know well the incredible value and enjoyment that travel brings…”

Sadly, the hard, quantitative, comprehensive value of our industry is not only being overlooked by government leaders – it is in fact being worked against. The travel industry has become an easy target for new government taxes. This because despite our size, we do not act with a collective voice and those who frequently are taxed are not local residents but the international traveller. This is shortsighted, as the impact is decreased demand.

Travellers in the UK and Euro-zone already know this painful reality all too well. The creation of new charges being applied onto travel such as APD (Air Passenger Duty), ETS (Emissions Trading Scheme), local room taxes and entry visas to name just a few of the most recent, are already acting as an increasing deterrent to travelers. Many travelers are either deciding to go elsewhere or finding they simply cannot afford to take the holiday they have always dreamt of.

Governments need to recognize that they cannot afford for travelers not to travel to their Country. It’s not about governments supporting a sector of the economy that promotes rest and play. It is about governments supporting an industry that keeps people working, keeps investors investing, and keeps visitors spending. Focus of government needs to shift. Industries that work to create jobs, investment, earnings and goodwill, need to be thanked, not taxed. Credit where it is due.

The Current & Anticipated Absurdity of UK Arrivals

April 29, 2012 / Gavin Tollman / Leave a comment

In a matter of weeks, Great Britain is going to see an unprecedented wave of tourists lining up at immigration desks across the kingdom. Hundreds of thousands of tourists, each one excited to have their passport stamped so they can spend their time and money in London and the surroundings areas.

The first wave will come for the Diamond Jubilee, the second wave for the Olympic Games and Paralympics, and after that, the hoped for waves of tourism legacy.

Last month Heathrow already saw a 6% rise in capacity, pushing it beyond 70m passengers in a 12-month period for the first time in its history. Local Parliamentarians are warning that Heathrow may not be able to cope with the extra passengers. The consequence is that travellers will face endless lines, something I personally recently encountered, at border control.

Why? Because the UK has decided that the most important major events of 2012, if not the decade, do not warrant special treatment at Great Britain’s front door. A skeleton staff of immigration officials is adequate. The tourists can wait. Having personally been one of masses forced to wait almost two hours to get through immigration (a length of time longer than my actual flight’s flying time), the feeling of annoyance, is acute. I, like the hundreds waiting in line around me, could not help but think: “how are they going to do the Olympics?”

The immigration and tourism officials of one of the world’s foremost tourism destinations –a destination on top of wish lists of millions of travellers, and set to experience an economic impact of the Games alone is estimated at GBP 2 billion – needs to see just how unwelcoming they are looking, and acting.

How have they forgotten the fundamental of hospitality? This is not complicated – we learnt these lessons as children when taught about how to treat visitors to our homes: welcome your guests, make them feel at home, help them as much as you can, and do all you can to ensure they enjoy their visit. I hope they wake up before the damage is done and through their actions deterring tourists from returning.