Accessible Tourism
TRAVEL IMPACT NEWSWIRE โ Edition 38 (2009) โ Monday, 29 June 2009
1.BID TO CHANGE ASEAN TOURISM BRANDING HITS SNAG
By Imtiaz Muqbil, Executive Editor, Travel Impact Newswire, and Don Ross, Editor, TTR Weekly.BANGKOK -- Moves by US-funded consultants to drop the brand-name โASEANโ from travel promotions in favour of the geographical description, Southeast Asia, are facing growing opposition from travel leaders within the ASEAN Tourism Association (ASEANTA). At a recent meeting of ASEANTA, the umbrella grouping of ASEAN airlines and private tourism organisations, held in the Thai beach resort of Pattaya, consultants led by Pacific Asia Travel Associationโs former vice president operations, Michael Yates, were told Thailand was not in favour of a campaign that does not recognise ASEAN as the brand for the 10-nation group.
The U.S.Agency for International Development (USAID) is pumping US$8 million into Advance Competitiveness Enhancement project (ACE) targeting a number of key ASEAN industries, tourism being one of them. The project will run until 2013.
However, a proposal to drop the brand-name โASEANโ from tourism based promotions and public relations efforts as part of a package of efforts to boost ASEAN's tourism competitiveness is meeting resistance from key members of the ASEANTA board. Thailand private sector representatives were clear in their opposition to what they called a โforeign perspective on ASEAN.โ
They told the recent Pattaya meeting they did not agree with the idea that the brand โASEANโ was not a recognisable brand for regional tourism marketing, but that the real issue was a lack of cooperation among the members to promote each other, as stressed by Dato Abdulla Jonid, a former executive director of the now defunct ASEAN Tourism Centre.
The issue dates back to an announcement at the ASEAN Tourism Forum, last January in Hanoi, when tourism ministers from the ASEAN officially endorsed the signing of a MoU between USAID and ASEANTA. Its objective was to support ASEAN to develop a โnew, more effective marketing strategy which promotes Southeast Asia as a single destination.โ The memorandum concerning tourism was signed by ASEANTA president, Felix Cruz and ACE project director, RJ Gurley.
One of the key elements of the project is to replace ASEAN in favour of Southeast Asia branding, which consultants claim is a more recognisable identity. Their claim, which suggests that the name "ASEAN" should become a co-brand, is based on research undertaken as part of an AusAID funded 2007 report entitled Impact Assessment of the Visit ASEAN Campaign which claimed that โa vast majority of travellers think of ASEAN as a political grouping or economic region rather than as a holiday destination.โ At the same time, the consultants cited the โastronomical success of the Lonely Planet book Southeast Asia on a Shoestring,โ in โpopularizing in the minds of consumers the world over the idea of โSoutheast Asiaโ as a travel destination.โ
Aside from that cursory research, there are broader issues at stake.
Thailandโs Ministry of Tourism and Sports Permanent Secretary, Ms Sasithara Pichaichannarong, was the only government representative to express reservations over the proposal to drop ASEAN and replace it with a campaign promoting โSoutheast Asia.โ She noted there could be ramifications if that direction was followed as it could undermine or dilute efforts to build ASEAN identity.
This view has been buttressed by the outcome of the 14th ASEAN summit in Hua Hin on 28 Feb โ 1 March at which the regional heads of state signed a new ASEAN charter and a number of economic, cultural and political documents designed to enhance the ASEAN identity and better integrate the peoples of the region by building on the name โASEANโ.
This has resonated with key representatives of ASEANTA, who fear the conclusions recommended by the consultants could conflict with a broader strategy to strengthen ASEAN identity across all industries.
ASEANTA vice president and Thai Hotels Association president, Prakit Chinamourphong, went on record to express his disagreement with the idea of rebranding โASEANโ to โSoutheast Asiaโ as โsuggested by some westerners,โ because the ASEAN identity was already in common use at government level.
โAs for the suggestions that claim the word ASEAN is unknown and not popular, I am not convinced,โ he reported. โThe term has been accepted widely in government circles and is clearly the brand that the world sees when TV channels cover the ASEAN Summit Meeting,โ he noted. โIt is difficult for us to brand ourselves differently from other sectors and industries in the ASEAN community.โ
He noted that one of the most successful trade shows, ATF or the ASEAN Tourism Forum, is known internationally in travel industry circles and associated with travel branding in the region.
His views have gained support from other ASEANTA board members subsequent to the Pattaya meeting. ASEANTA Secretary-General Datuk Mohd Ilyas Zainul Abdin has said he agreed with Mr Prakitโs comments. In Bangkok, another ASEANTA board member who represents the younger generation of emerging leaders, confirmed Mr Prakitโs statement and said it reflected the view that more research would be needed on the core strategy to ensure the ASEAN brand remained intact.
Mr Prakit said ASEANTA accepted there was a lack of cooperation in the regionโs private sector especially between travel segments such as hotels and airlines. โThere are flaws in how we work under the ASEAN umbrella and that impedes us and makes it more difficult to present an identity or reflect an effective brand, worldwide. To find our identity, we need to cooperate and work on activities that can bring us together with representation from all segments of the tourism business in ASEAN. This is particularly true for airlines. They rarely participate in our meetings,โ said Mr Prakit who added that improving co-operation through the ASEAN Tourism Forum was one project the committee believed could bring positive results.
Privately, ASEAN government tourism officials have admitted that a primary reason why they signed off on the proposal was because of the US$8 million funding support that would come with the ACE project. However, even that kind of money is seen as being insignificant for a major campaign, especially as it is not clear how much will actually be spent on marketing and how much on staff and administrative costs for the consultants.
Questions were fielded to the consultancyโs team leader, RJ Gurley, who rejected outright suggestions that his team received a lukewarm response. โACE continues to receive widespread support from ASEANTA members. I am in frequent contact with them and have heard nothing but positive feedback on the ACE Project,โ he reported in an email response.
โThe MOU signed last January between ACE and ASEANTA and witnessed by USAID and the ASEAN NTOs is a clear indication of ASEANTAโs commitment to working with the ACE Project. ACE and ASEANTA are moving forward in close cooperation to implement activities outlined in the MOU. Our presentation to the ASEANTA board in Pattaya were met with enthusiasm,โ he argued claiming the board has since assigned one its youngest and brightest board members to work closely with the ACE Project to refine and implement a marketing strategy.
He declined to answer questions on the draft marketing plan itself, claiming he was โnot at not at liberty to share content that was still in its draft form.โ It is understood that ASEANTA and the ASEAN NTOs, had until June to comment on the draft documents.
However, based on comments made by three ASEANTA committee members, it appears Mr Gurleyโs team will have to take into consideration serious reservations on the research that concluded ASEAN was not recognizable or viable brand in the travel marketing equation.
There is concern that tourism could become the odd-man-out in ASEANโs broader economic, social and cultural integration plans if it is decided to de-link its promotions from an ASEAN identity. The committee is planning to hold another meeting to discuss the branding issue in July, either in Manila of the Philippines, or Phnom Penh, Cambodia.
Meanwhile, the consultants may have to go back to the drawing board or come up with documented research that shows the benefits of dropping the โAโ and โNโ from ASEAN.
2.WITH A FEW EXCEPTIONS, HOTEL PERFORMANCE IN FREE FALL WORLDWIDE
With a few exceptions, hotels worldwide are reporting significant decreases in occupancies, average daily rates (ADR) and revenue per available room (RevPAR) with major tourism destinations like Bangkok, Phuket, Dubai and New York among the worst hit, according to STR Global, a lodging industry benchmarking and research company.
The companyโs statistical comparative analysis figures for May, released last week, show that hotels in the Asia/Pacific region experienced double-digit decreases when reported in U.S. dollars. In year-over-year measurements, Asia/Pacific regionโs hotel occupancy in May dropped 14.9% to 55.4%; average ADR declined 15.2% to US$117.86; and RevPAR fell 27.9% to US$65.26.
Bangkok fell in occupancy 37.3% to 41.8%, reporting the largest decrease in that metric. Phuket followed with a 32.1% decrease in occupancy to 34.5%.
โOccupancy levels dropped the most within the Asia/Pacific region for May and in the year-to-date numbers of any regionโ, James Chappell, managing director of STR Global, was quoted as saying. โWhile Europe, Americas and Middle East/Africa regions are experiencing a slowdown in the rate of decline, the same cannot be said in Asia.
โSome of the lowest levels of occupancyโunder 50%โwere reported in Bangkok, Beijing, Phuket and Shanghai, as the markets suffered from post Olympic boom and oversupply. Other areas, like Thailand, are suffering because of the uncertain economic climate.โ
On the positive side, Mr Chappell added, โBrisbane, Melbourne, Seoul and Sydney reported the highest levels of occupancyโover 70%โfor May from the 17 markets tracked by our Asia/Pacific Hotel Review.โ Brisbane reported the smallest occupancy decrease, falling 2.1% to 77.3%.
Three markets reported ADR increases: Bali (+18.5% to US$127.83); Tokyo (+12.9% to US$228.55); and Osaka (+8.7% to US$129.72). Mumbai reported the largest ADR decrease, dropping 35.6% to US$164.66. New Delhi followed with a 31.0% decrease in ADR to US$162.02.
Bali was the only market to increase in RevPAR for May, rising 10.8% to US$88.79. Five markets reported RevPAR decreases of more than 40%: Bangkok (-48.4% to US$36.36); Phuket (-47.6% to US$25.80); New Delhi (-44.8% to US$81.48); Beijing, China (-43.8% to US$45.54); and Mumbai (-40.3% to US$92.37).
The situation was slightly better in the Middle East/Africa region where occupancy dropped 11.5% to 63.1%; ADR decreased 6.1% to US$145.67; and RevPAR decreased 17.0% to US$91.99.
Two markets reported ADR decreases of more than 25%: Dubai, (-30.3% to US$211.41) and Istanbul, (-26.4% to US$211.06). Three markets reported RevPAR decreases of more than 25%: Dubai (-40.4% to US$140.65); Istanbul (-36.3% to US$148.87); and Muscat (-28.6% to US$116.22). Muscat was down in occupancy 23.7% to 52.1%, reporting the largest decrease in that metric.
According to Mr Chappell, โAlthough they have seen some spectacular year-over-year decreases, the Middle East/Africa region is still very strong compared with the other global regions. The region has the lowest RevPAR decline and the highest actual RevPAR for May and the year-to-date May, compared with Asia/Pacific, Americas and Europe. The market has fallen 17%, posting US$92 RevPAR for the month and US$100 RevPAR year-to-date, as hotels kept their average room rates higher in the face of a strong drop in demand.
He said that political stability in Kenya and Lebanon has seen the hotel market come back strongly with 82% and 144% RevPAR increases year-to-date. Jeddah, Abu Dhabi and Amman also bucked the trend and reported RevPAR increases for the month and year-to-date
Beirut reported the largest increase in both occupancy (+148.4% to 71.4%) and RevPAR (+194.6% to US$118.89). Beirut also saw a double-digit increase in ADR, up 18.6% to US$166.40. Occupancy in Jeddah rose 5.5% to 71.4%. Ammanexperienced the largest increase in ADR, rising 21.6% to US$162.22.
The Americas region (including North and South America) also recorded declines in all three key performance metrics. In year-over-year comparisons, occupancy in May dropped 12.2% to 55.7%; ADR dropped 10.3% to US$98.47; and RevPAR dropped 21.2% to US$54.83.
Four markets reported ADR decreases of more than 20%: New York, (-29.4% to US$201.13); Mexico City (-25.2% to US$96.52); Toronto (-24.9% to US$118.68); and Buenos Aires (-24.2% to US$133.55).
Four markets reported RevPAR decreases of more than 30%: Mexico City (-70.2% to US$22.95); Buenos Aires (-45.7% to US$67.28); Toronto (-36.4% to US$75.31); and New York (-35.7% to US$159.82).
In Europe, the hotel industry posted mixed results with results ranging from double-digit losses to single-digit gains, depending on the market and the currency used for comparison.
โEuropeโs troubles can be found in the fall of average room ratesโ, said Mr Chappell. โIn U.S. dollar and euro terms, the region reports the highest drops in ADR for the month and year-to-date May compared to Asia/Pacific, the Americas and Middle East/Africa.
Frankfurt reported the largest occupancy increase, rising 7.6% to 59.9%. Trade fairs helped Frankfurt to achieve the highest ADR increase of 22% for the 40 markets tracked. Frankfurt also reported the only RevPAR increase, up 31.7% to EUR68.55.
Seven markets experienced RevPAR decreases of 30% or more: Moscow (-49.7% to EUR101.15); Dรผsseldorf (-41.5% to EUR41.52); Madrid (-36.4% to EUR61.15); Budapest (-34.4% to EUR45.48); Prague (-33.2% to EUR59.00); Stockholm (-32.8% to EUR77.41); and Dublin (-30.0 to EUR59.17). Budapest experienced the largest occupancy decrease, falling 21.5% to 60.4%, followed by Geneva, (-21.2% to 58.8%) and Tel Aviv (-21.0% to 71.0%).
3.WHAT'S WRONG WITH ETHNIC PROFILING? JUST ABOUT EVERYTHING
Commentary by James A. Goldston
James A. Goldston is the executive director of the Open Society Justice Initiative. This commentary was published in the Beirut daily newspaper The Daily Star in collaboration with Project Syndicate (c) (http://www.project-syndicate.org/).
Friday, June 26, 2009 - Several years ago, as terrorism, immigration, and unrest in suburban Paris were at the top of the news in France, a French police officer confided to a researcher: "If you consider different levels of trafficking, it is obviously done by blacks and Arabs. If you are on the road and see a black man or a man with Arabic features, you say to yourself, 'He doesn't look French,' and then you might stop him to see if he has papers."
This police officer was describing a textbook example of "ethnic profiling": the use by law-enforcement officials of stereotypes, rather than specific information about behavior, in deciding to stop, search or detain people. Ethnic profiling is illegal in Europe. It is ineffective in apprehending criminals. It is counterproductive in the campaign against terrorism. But police officers from across Europe continue to use it.
The inefficiency of ethnic profiling was highlighted in early May, when the British government released figures showing that, of the more than 117,000 police stops made between 2007 and 2008, only 72 led to an arrest for terrorism-related offenses. Other major European countries do not collect data on police stops broken down according to the targets' ethnic or religious background. But private research and anecdotal reports provide a frighteningly similar picture as the United Kingdom.
A massive data-mining exercise in Germany from 2001 to 2003 trawled through personal information on 8.3 million people and failed to find a single terrorist. Stops and searches conducted under counterterrorism powers in Europe have produced few terrorism charges and no convictions. Separate studies in Britain, the Netherlands, Sweden, and the United States have concluded that ethnic profiling wastes time and resources.
As a new report published by the Open Society Justice Initiative shows, by targeting ethnic minorities the police alienate some of the very people on whom they depend for cooperation and intelligence. And by pre-selecting fixed categories of people for heightened scrutiny, the authorities overlook those who do not fit the profile.
A young Spanish man who is a member of an ethnic minority group put it this way: "I worry when I go on the street that the police will stop me and ask me for my papers because of the color of my skin, by my tone of skin, by my way of walking."
Given its failings, why is ethnic profiling so widespread? The answer is simple. When the police use ethnic profiling, they project an image of being tough on crime and terrorism. This helps to appease public opinion, which demands robust anti-terrorism action.
Following the September 2001 attacks in New York and Washington, and again after the bombings in Madrid in 2004 and London in 2005, law-enforcement authorities across Europe launched mass-arrest operations, undertook widespread surveillance of mosques, carried out stops and searches of people who appeared to be Muslim, and used other intrusive measures that disrupted the lives of - and in many cases humiliated - law-abiding European citizens.
As public anxiety has abated, and senior officials have begun to feel less pressure to show that they are doing something against terrorism, the most flagrant abuses have declined. But such practices are still being applied to a lesser degree, and they can be pulled out of the arsenal whenever political or social conditions dictate that they should.
Fortunately, some of Europe's leaders recognize the problem. In late April, the European Parliament issued a report highlighting the danger that unrestricted data mining relying on racial, ethnic, or national origin would subject innocent people to arbitrary stops, travel restrictions, and bans on employment or banking. The report called for legislation to protect against ethnic profiling.
The solution is not to ignore the threat of terrorism, but to address the threat more intelligently. Over the past two years, a project that our organization undertook with police forces and civil-society groups in Hungary and Spain found that, when stops were systematically monitored and data publicly reported, the proportion of stops that produced an arrest or other law-enforcement outcome actually increased. Police work became more efficient.
This makes sense. When officers are required to articulate grounds for suspicion, they are more likely to rely on behavioral factors to arrive at their decisions rather than prejudice.
In the future, the European Union and its member states should fund more collaboration between police and minority communities. The EU should combat radicalization by addressing exclusion, not by conflating conservative religious faith with terrorism. And it should make clear that police may not use ethnic, racial, or religious stereotypes.
By treating people as suspicious purely because of who they are, how they look, or where they pray, rather than what they do or have done, ethnic profiling threatens the very ethos of the EU, a union firmly rooted in values of liberty, democracy, and respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms.
4.NEW EVIDENCE REVEALS POLICE IN EUROPE TARGET MINORITIES EXCESSIVELY
Pervasive use of ethnic and religious stereotypes by law enforcement across Europe is harming efforts to combat crime and terrorism, according to a new report (http://www.justiceinitiative.org/db/resource2/fs/?file_id=20721) by the Open Society Justice Initiative.
Ethnic Profiling in the European Union examines the scope of ethnic profiling, showing how police officers in the U.K., France, Italy, Germany, and the Netherlands routinely use generalizations about race, ethnicity, religion, or national origin when deciding whom to target for stops, searches, raids, and surveillance.
The report analyzes ethnic profiling both in ordinary policing and in counterterrorism, and finds that it is not just a violation of European laws and international human rights normsโit is also an ineffective use of police resources that leaves the public less safe. The damage from ethnic profilingโto the rule of law, to effective law enforcement, to police-community relations, and especially to those who are targetedโis considerable.
Ethnic profilingโa longstanding practice that has increased since 9/11โis pervasive in the European Union. In France and Italy, raids on homes, businesses, and mosquesโoften lacking a basis in specific evidenceโhave targeted Muslims. In Germany, police have used preventive powers to conduct mass identity checks outside major mosques. And in the United Kingdom, stops and searches of British Asians shot up five-fold after the July 2005 London Underground bomb attacks.
In addition to providing a comprehensive examination of ethnic profiling and considering the legality of the practice, Ethnic Profiling in the European Union offers effective alternatives that increase security, advance counterterrorism efforts, and respect human rights.
By:
When: 7/2/2014
