BIG DEAL FOR TAXI DRIVERS

Taxi and hired car associations have been urged to offer attractive packages to tourists to strengthen the tourism industry. In making the call, Tourism Minister Datuk Seri Dr Ng Yen Yen said the tour packages should be made available to local and foreign tourists. Dr Ng, who officially handed over a RM500,000 taxi terminal sponsored by her ministry to the Raub district council, also launched the taxi tourism service programme here yesterday. Under the programme, tourists can choose a day trip package to various hotspots via taxi for a single charge. “The drivers will double up as tour guides too, but they have to attend a day-long course with the ministry to participate,” said Dr Ng, who is also Raub MP. At the launch, 36 taxi drivers were awarded certificates to participate in the ministry's pilot project. “The drivers will be given a RM100 monthly allowance each and they can earn more through the taxi tourism package,” said Dr Ng. Dr Ng said she hoped to start similar programmes in other districts. The taxi stand that was built over four months has a unique roof which comes with a self-cleaning technology which is the first of its kind in Malaysia.

LEARN FROM JAPAN

Major airports, highways and railway stations across the nation were crowded with vacationers Saturday as the annual Golden Week spring holiday season began, with departures for overseas destinations peaking at Narita airport. Areas in the northeast devastated by the March 2011 quake and tsunami also saw many tourists taking advantage of the holiday season, which runs until May 6, to visit and spend money there to help local people reconstruct their communities. Narita International Airport Corp. said it expected the number of departures to reach about 42,000 on Saturday alone and for total departures and arrivals of international flights during Golden Week to rise 16 percent from a year earlier to 598,000. The Japan Road Traffic Information Center said Saturday morning a line of vehicles stretched for 30 km on the outbound lane of the Chugoku Expressway from the Takarazuka interchange, near Osaka, and for 23 km from the Takasaka service area, near Tokyo, on the outbound lane of the Kanetsu Expressway. The operators of major train services said they expect departures of passengers from Tokyo and other metropolises to peak in the second half of Golden Week, likely May 3. In tsunami-hit Iwate Prefecture, the prefectural government said about 400 people nationwide had already made bookings for package tours to locations such as the coastal cities of Rikuzentakata and Ofunato by bus during Golden Week. Tsutomu Nihei, 43, from Chiba Prefecture, was among those taking a bus tour to the two cities. “I had no chance before but took part in this tour using Golden Week. . . . I really want to see what the disaster-hit area is like now.” In Minamisanriku, in adjacent Miyagi Prefecture, Hotel Kanyo said it has taken many reservations from vacationers who plan to stay there during Golden Week and that all of its rooms are fully booked for Thursday and Friday.

GREEN TAXES

Green taxes not the way to push for sustainable tourism YET another prominent industry leader has hit out against the imposing of taxes on travel to protect the environment, citing viable alternatives such as the use of positive incentives. Malaysia’s tourism minister Ng Yen Yen called the tax approach “simplistic” when she was speaking at last weekend’s PATA Annual Conference themed Building the Business Beyond Profits. “If they should do that in the West, the East can do that…(but) I think it would be very unhealthy competition,” she said, referring to taxes such as the European Union Emissions Trading System. She added that Malaysia’s stand was to incentivise instead of disincentivise, which could mean, for example, an operator pays less tax for promoting cycling tours. The country’s ecotourism policy that stipulates no more than 50 per cent of land can be developed has also helped to preserve the destination’s “pristine floating jungle”, Ng said. This has resulted in the NTO turning to other man-made products such as art and shoes (and in turn launching festivals around that) to draw tourists instead. She listed more examples of Malaysia’s sustainable tourism initiatives such as its Plant a Tree project, which has seen over 10,000 trees planted by tourists. Organised for guests who participate in homestays, the partnership with villages for accommodation is also one way the country supports rural communities. “Profit cannot be the answer for the future,” Ng said, urging industry stakeholders to focus instead on “sustainable tourism and social responsibility”, topics that were also given an airing during PATA’s two-day conference. Closing session speaker Bruce Poon Tip, founder of Canada-based tour operator G Adventures, pointed out that travel business owners had the opportunity to extend a helping hand to communities in need, while this was also one way they could engage customers beyond products. “All of you have brochures that talk about the hotels and services you supply…Customers have long gone past that. (They) want to identify with your brand and what you stand for,” he said. His company, which has a non-profit arm called Planeterra, has hired street children in India as tour guides and restored vision to the blind in Cambodia, among other initiatives. Said Poon Tip: “We create stories about our brand that transcend our product and (talk about) how we change people’s lives by creating happiness in the community

PATA NEW INITIATIVES

DUSTING off its old days of declining relevance, PATA’s Next Gen strategy to add value to members has been described as a three-legged stool comprising aligned advocacy, innovative events and the newly launched travel data platform PATAmPOWER. Speaking at the PATA Annual Conference held in Malaysia over the weekend, PATA CEO, Martin Craigs, said PATAmPOWER aimed to be the single, authoritative source of travel data for the industry. Created in HTML5 and available on mobile devices, information such as tourist expenditure, hotel occupancy and passenger flows can be summoned up with a few clicks. Content partners include NTOs, STR Global, IATA, ComScore and Sinotech. “We want to empower (members) in their business…so we’ve combined a massive 20-course banquet and given them all the vitamins in one pill,” he explained. For advocacy, PATA will team up with global organisations such as the World Travel & Tourism Council to lobby policy makers with one voice. Hot-button issues such as the UK Air Passenger Duty and the European Union Emissions Trading System are currently priorities. “We’re here to stop hindrances to travel. We’re here to name and shame people who are the weakest links and who are often hypocrites,” said Craigs. To that end, PATA has also appointed a communications global advisor, former BBC news anchor Keshini Navaratnam. Based in London, she has already helped to secure a speaking slot for PATA in the UK House of Commons in November. Craigs added that PATA’s line-up of new Hub City Forums in a number of Asian destinations this year, as well as existing initiatives such as the PATA Travel Mart and the Adventure Travel and Responsible Tourism Conference and Mart were also part of the strategy in connecting members through events. He told TTG Asia e-Daily that the goal was to restore the association’s reserves to 2009 levels – around US$2 million – by 2016. The figure is now closer to US$1 million. “We want to rebuild PATA step by step. We’re not going to have a V-shape recovery, but a U-shape one,” he said. Said incoming PATA chairman, João Manuel Costa Antunes: “We want to develop the concept of PATA being the voice of Asia-Pacific…we want existing members to feel the value of participating in this association.”

ADDRESSING CLIMATIC CHANGE

Deputy Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin has called on Pacific Asia Travel Association (PATA) members to exchange and take-stock of information and initiatives to address climate change and its adverse effects on natural places of attraction, as well as tourism businesses and activities. Noting that climate change was one of the biggest concerns of tourism, he said that perhaps, there was a need to identify new measures and further strengthen existing ones to mitigate the repercussions of climate change on travel and tourism. He pointed out that the United Nations World Tourism Organisation had warned global tourism industries of severe threats, such as rise in sea level, loss of crop yields and extreme weather condition, which directly impacted tourism and its niche products. "Tourist attractions, hence tourism commercial activities, in the Asia Pacific region largely consist of nature exploration and its natural environment and ecology. Therefore, concerted efforts by all parties are necessary to protect these priceless resources," he said when opening the 2012 PATA Annual Conference themed, 'Building the Business Beyond Profits', here today. Also present at the conference which attracted 600 PATA members and the international media was Tourism Minister Datuk Seri Dr Ng Yen Yen. Muhyiddin said, with the process of globalisation and development occuring rapidly, private entities in Asia Pacific regions should fully comprehend the fact that nature and green environment must not be simply sacrificed for the sake of expanding commercial margins. "The business community, government authorities and even non-governmental organisations must work earnestly together, to develop new strategies and business models that take into account, environment sustainability mechanisms and protection," he said. Disclosing Malaysia's testimony commitment in protecting the environment and natural resource, Muhyiddin pointed out that Malaysia was recently recognised as the third best in Asia Pacific and 25th best among 132 countries last year in the Environmental Performance Index.