The Travel Bug 8

Issue 8 - 12. December 2005

Worawia’s proud to be one of sponsors in Typo Station raffle

A few months ago Worawia was invited to be one of the sponsors of the raffle at Typo Station’s annual open day and fundraiser, Bush Fair. The invitation came via Marie Mahony, of Southern Pearl Travel in Melbourne – one of Worawia’s wholesaler agents. We were invited to sponsor one of the prizes in Typo Station’s raffle.

     Typo Station (www.typostation.org.au) is an independent, not-for-profit organisation operating an early intervention, alternate education, life skills and mentoring program for young men aged between 14 and 17 years who are experiencing problems at home, school or in their community.
     Bush Fair, the annual open day and fund raiser at Typo Station, was held on October 29th. Approximately 900 people attended the Fair in Typo Station’s spectacular property in the King Valley, Victoria, having a great day despite the rain and raising funds for Typo Station’s Sponsorship Fund.
     While the local community provided the support, a number of sponsors donated free prizes to the raffle. Worawia Holiday Haven was one of the raffle sponsors, providing the 1st Prize – free accommodation for the Trip for 2 to Vanuatu. Free airfares were provided by Air Vanuatu.
     We are proud to have helped Typo Station’s great work and look forward to welcoming the ‘Trip for 2’ raffle winners here at Worawia, in Vanuatu!

Tourism Worth $2.6b to South Pacific

Tourism was worth an estimated $2.6billion to the South Pacific region, a research commissioned by the South Pacific Tourism Organisation revealed. The report, 'The Economic Impact of Tourism in SPTO Member Countries' prepared by the New Zealand Tourism Research Institute said the economic value of tourism had grown by over 60 per cent since 2000. Tourism accounted for over 50 per cent of GDP in some Pacific countries and often accounted for between 10 and 20 per cent of formal employment. SPTO said tourism was a sector which had strong backward and forward linkages so that when tourism developed, nearly every other sector of the economy benefitted. As part of the study, a survey was undertaken of tourism operators in the South Pacific to better ascertain the inter-industry linkages that tourism provides.

The report estimated that a total of $638million was spent by the tourism industry on local wages and salaries in 2004, whilst a further $655 million was directed to the purchase of materials/supplies from within the local economies of (either local or imported goods sold through local wholesalers) and $478million was spent on other costs (including areas such as financial services and insurance). In simple terms, for every $1.7million of visitor expenditure in the region, $1.1million of local wages/salary payments and other purchases were made from local economies in the region. The report indicated that it was clear the industry had great potential to generate further downstream benefits for island economies. For the SPTO country members as a group, departure tax generated well over $34.9million in 2004. The report estimated that government revenue from direct tourist expenditure alone in 2004 in SPTO member countries was $791million. This figure included departure tax and conservative estimates of corporate tax taken from industry revenue. The figures do not include duties, tariffs and other tourism related taxes.

"The Report provides some very valuable data; clearly tourism is a major driver in most Pacific economies and a major source of direct revenue for most governments," Ross Hopkins, the policy and programs adviser at SPTO indicated. The research indicated the figures (in terms of the value of tourism) were currently understated due to lack of data and they do not include cruise ship tourist expenditure or tourist expenditure on airline services. TRNZI indicated the underestimate may be at least 20 percent, which would make tourism worth at least $3.1billion to the region. "It is interesting to note however that despite most governments giving priority to tourism development, most donors do not have the sector very high on their agenda," the SPTO said. "Clearly there is a need for donors to further consider how tourism can be developed at a regional and country level and to support initiatives through their own programs." (Source: SPTO Update in November 2005)

7,200 new airplanes for the Asia-Pacific region

The Asia-Pacific region is expected to request 7,200 new airplanes worth USD770 billion to be delivered over the next 20 years, the US aviation giant Boeing forecast.
    The Asia-Pacific region is vast, stretching from Japan and South Korea down to Australia and across to India. Boeing, which is competing with Airbus for the Asia-Pacific market, claimed that Asia-Pacific will remain the largest market outside North America for new commercial airplanes over the forecast period.
    Of the nearly 7,200 new airplanes needed for future growth and replacement in the region, single-aisle aircraft will be the largest category with new deliveries at 3,690 airplanes, Boeing announced in a statement. It revealed that intermediate twin-aisles will require about 2,430 airplane deliveries while regional jets will total 540 units and 747-and-larger size airplanes at 510 units, it said.
   According to Boeing, the region's fleet will nearly triple in 20 years, if the high rate of growth for Asia-Pacific air travel and air cargo markets continues. Boeing also said that Asia-Pacific air travel growth would outpace the world average of 4.8 percent during the forecast period. (Source: IAPA Update in November 2005)

Air New Zealand Voted Best Business Class Airline Australasia

Air New Zealand received an award for the best Business Class Airline in Australasia at the 12th World Travel Awards ceremony in London yesterday. Air New Zealand Group General Manager Network Marketing and Sales, Norm Thompson said the airline was delighted to receive the award. “Receiving a World Travel Award is viewed by the travel industry community as one of the best endorsements of any travel product – and winning the Business Class Airline award is particularly pleasing given that the travel industry voting for this preceded the upgrade of our business class product,” said Mr Thompson. “Our people and the quality of in-flight service they provide has clearly contributed significantly to Air New Zealand winning this award,” he said.

Air New Zealand’s new long haul Business Premier product was revealed in July with the first of eight retrofitted B747 aircraft commencing service. The interior of the new B777 aircraft mirrors that of the B747 and includes mood lighting throughout the premium cabins. The innovative seating design in Business Premier includes a comfortable, 22” wide leather armchair that converts into a 6ft 7.5” (2.02m) bed, the longest available in business class today. The seats also make Air New Zealand the only airline to currently offer a truly lie-flat bed at a business class price into and out of New Zealand. Other features include an ottoman footrest that doubles as a visitor’s seat, in-seat power, a high resolution 10.4” screen to view the on-demand digital entertainment system and active noise-cancellation headsets. The Business Premier meal service features New Zealand’s finest natural produce with new look crockery and cutlery. (Source: Air New Zealand Media Release 14/11/2005)

Maxi Priest ‘2 The Max Tour’ 2005

Showtime Entertainment and Fresh Off The Boat present Maxi Priest (www.maxipriest.com). Christened 'The King of Lover's Rock' by his fans, and one of the music industry's most gifted and respected performers will be coming to Tonga for his "2 The Max" tour at 'Atele Indoor Stadium, Nuku'alofa on Wednesday 14th of December. As the UK's biggest reggae star and most successful reggae solo artist in the world, second only to legend Bob Marley, Maxi Priest has enjoyed numerous worldwide hits as well as a Number one pop chart smash and is widely credited with helping spread the gospel of reggae and Caribbean music.

Maxi's career spans two decades and kicked of in 1985 with his debut album "You're Safe". He had his first UK chart hit in 1986 with "Strollin' On", followed by "Some Guys Have All The Luck" in 1987. In 1998 Maxi had his first hit in the USA with "How Can We Ease The Pain" and his first UK top 5 with the single "Wild World". In 1990 he scored his first US #1 with "Close to You". Over the years Maxi has teamed up with a diverse range of other artist, including Soul II Soul (Peace throughout The world in 1990), Beres Hammond (How Can We Ease The Pain in 1998), Roberta Flack (Set The Night To Music in 1991) and jazz star Lee Ritenour (Wait In Vain in 1993). Maxi is back doing what he does best, making smooth reggae classics that leave an indelible 'Maxi' mark on all those who hear his timeless, unequivocal voice. Playing all the hits Strollin On, Close to You, Some Guys Have All The Luck and How Can We Ease The Pain plus tracks for his 11th studio album entitled "2 The Max" this concert promises to be one of the best this year at the 'Atele Indoor Stadium, Nuku'alofa. (Source: Tonga Visitors Bureau 18/11/2005)

Significantly More Travellers Plan and Book Trips Online

While the number of Americans using the Internet appears to have reached a plateau, those who plan and book trips or vacations online continues to climb rapidly, according to the Travelers’ Use of the Internet, 2005 Edition, released today by the Travel Industry Association of America (TIA). The annual report, this year issued jointly with TIA co-sponsor and contributor USDM.net, shows that the Internet continues to grow as a dominant channel for both reaching and transacting with today’s travel consumers. In fact, while growth in the number of U.S. adult travelers using the Internet for any purpose has slowed, the number of online travelers who used the Internet to actually plan and book trips grew significantly this past year. Survey results indicate a majority of online travelers (78 percent or 79 million Americans) turned to the Internet for travel or destination information in 2005 – much higher than the 65 percent of online travelers in 2004.

Survey findings also indicate that 82 percent of travelers who plan their trips online now also book reservations online. That indicates more than 64 million Americans bought or reserved an airline ticket, hotel room, rental car or package tour online this past year – up from 70 percent in 2004. “Americans are turning to the Internet to plan and book their trips in greater numbers than ever before and it’s become increasingly obvious that the way we sell and distribute travel has changed forever,” said Dr. Suzanne Cook, TIA’s Senior Vice President of Research. “With the increases in online travel planning, other planning sources have declined, such as traditional travel agents.” “Our research shows that women now outnumber men online and that women are more likely to plan and book leisure trips,” noted Dr. Cook. “It’s important that travel companies pay attention to that demographic and market themselves accordingly.” For more information on the news article, visit the following link: http://www.tia.org/pressmedia/pressrec.asp?Item=689 (Source: Travel Industry Association of America 16/11/2005)

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