China, Island, India: the hotspots 2017

The first day of the 2016 World Travel Market, the leading global event for the travel industry, began with a presentation of the World Travel Market (WTM) Industry Report. Presenting key trends, this year it covers industry optimism, Brexit, emerging destinations, aviation, responsible tourism, the US election, UK trends, terrorism and the sharing economy. The report is based on a poll of 2044 WTM exhibitors, tourist boards and private sector travel industry organisations, senior buyers and travel trade visitors. It is also based upon a survey of 1145 holidaymakers.

Industry optimism

The report found that: * 67% of WTM participants believe the tourism industry will grow in 2017. This is down from last year, at 79%. China is poised to be the main beneficiary of this optimism, with 54% of travel firms expecting increased bookings to this country. The tourism industries in Egypt, Greece and Turkey are seeing improvements, with half of respondents saying that they plan to discuss future plans with suppliers from these countries. However, Tunisia is taking longer to recover, with just 8% of the sample looking to talk to representatives.

Brexit

47% of industry respondents believe Brexit will have a negative impact on their organisation, and 30% plan to increase prices as a result of Brexit. 42% of UK travel firms believe Brexit with make it more difficult to recruit staff.

Emerging destinations

The report indentified that China, India, Iceland and Cuba are set to be travel hotspots for 2017. 54% of firms expect to do more business in China, 49% in India, 40% in Cuba and 37% in Iceland. 39% of UK holidaymakers are interested in visiting Iceland, 24% Cuba, 21% China and 20% India. India has spent more than $300m developing its tourism infrastructure and aims to achieve in excess of 13 million visitors annually by 2020. With the US easing restrictions on US tourists visiting, and eight airlines starting scheduled scheduled flights, a significant upsurge in visitors is predicted for Cuba.

Aviation

Some quirky statistics emerged in the field of aviation: more than a quarter - 27% - of UK holidaymakers have experienced a disruptive passenger on a flight. Such debauchery probably triggered 73% of respondents to agree with jet2.com to ban alcohol sales before 8am at Heathrow. Supersonic is an increasing buzzword in aviation: more than six in 10 executives see supersonic flying as mainstream in the future. Several aeronautics firms are working on supersonic technology that could halve flight times.

Responsible tourism

There is clear disagreement over who is responsible to implement responsible tourism. 59% of holidaymakers say it is the industry’s responsibility while 25% say it’s a governmental responsibility - and only 4% offset flights.

The US election

Trump came out badly in the research, with 60% of respondents thinking Clinton better for the industry, and just 7% for Trump. 17% of holidaymakers would like to sit next to Clinton on a plane, and just 3% next to Trump. Probably because of the fear of being groped.

UK trends

Are punters tiring of online, and are brochures coming back? 34% of Brits said they used a brochure in the last year. This compares to just 14% last year and 6% the year before.

The sharing economy

47% of the trade says that business has been unaffected by Airbnb. 32% say it has had a negative impact, and 21% positive.

Terrorism

75% of travel industry executives believe terrorism has had a negative impact on business, and it is the top concern of both holidaymakers and industry alike, with 47% of holidaymakers citing it a concern.