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• Activity : Destinations of the World Travel & Tourism LLC is a private company operating within the consumer services sector focusing on leisure facilities. Destinations of the World is based in Dubai, United Arab...
• Industry Group : Other Consumer Services
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• Established On : 01-Jan-1993
• No of Employees : 501 Employees as of 2016

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The Dubai, United Arab Emirates-based Destinations of the World Travel & Tourism LLC. is categorized under Travel Agents. You can find out all the details here, including the location, address, PO Box, services, and several other details. Destinations of the World Travel & Tourism LLC well-known company based in Dubai that offers Travel Agents Following are the contact information at phone number Tel: +971 4 2958510 and P.O.Box: 19950, Dubai which is located at Dubai, respectively. Check out the positions offered by Destinations of the World Travel & Tourism LLC in Dubai 2024.

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Webjet acquires Destinations of the World

All Posts , Press Release

November 5, 2018

• Significantly expands WebBeds, its global B2B business – with 24% increase in direct contracts and 54% increase in TTV
• DOTW significantly enhances WebBeds Asia-Pacific and Americas businesses and further expands its presence in Europe and MEA
• DOTW will be integrated into the WebBeds’ regional structure
• Solidifies WebBeds’ position as the #2 B2B player globally

Webjet Limited (Webjet) is delighted to announce that it has entered into an agreement to acquire Destinations of the World (DOTW).  The US$173 million acquisition will solidify WebBeds position as the #2 B2B player globally and DOTW will join the JacTravel, TotalStay, Sunhotels, Lots of Hotels and FIT Ruums brands in the WebBeds business.  Webjet is acquiring DOTW from Gulf Capital, the largest private equity firm in the Middle East, its founder and its management team, who will retain a shareholding in the enlarged Webjet Group.

Dubai-based DOTW is a leading independent B2B platform with regional expertise across geographically diverse source and destination markets.

DOTW’s strengths, in terms of geographic focus, product range and customer mix, are highly complementary to the WebBeds business. While WebBeds’ main focus is on the long-term benefits of the acquisition, the acquisition is also expected to deliver considerable cost and revenue synergies over the short to medium term.

DOTW currently has a portfolio of c.12,300 directly contracted hotels. Of these, c.5,600 are unique to WebBeds, thereby increasing WebBeds directly contracted inventory pool to over c.28,500 hotels. Additionally, the c.6,700 overlapping hotel contracts will further deepen WebBeds’ room allocation and availability at key hotels around the world.

DOTW has a particular strength in the Asia Pacific market, which is a key strategic focus for WebBeds.  Furthermore, it will deliver a material number of contracts into the strategically important Americas region, while further expanding WebBeds’ presence in the key European and MEA regions.

Webjet’s Managing Director, John Guscic said:

“ I am truly delighted to announce the acquisition of Destinations of the World which solidifies WebBeds’ position as the #2 B2B player globally.

WebBeds is focused on helping our clients succeed and enabling our hotel partners to respond to fast-changing market trends.  The acquisition of DOTW will ensure we can accomplish this on an even greater scale than we have achieved to date.

DOTW is a company we have worked with for many years, and we have the greatest amount of respect for their business. We look forward to working with the DOTW team in the weeks and months ahead as we integrate our businesses and develop the best possible outcomes for all of our partners and clients. ”

Adding DOTW to the WebBeds’ family will boost annual total transacted volume (TTV) to over A$2.0 billion (proforma for FY18) representing an increase of 54% and will increase the global footprint with offices in 36 locations. Following the acquisition, WebBeds will have more than 2,100 employees, allowing it to provide truly local support to its worldwide partner network. It will feature a portfolio of more than 250,000 hotels in all regions of the globe, of which c.28,500 are directly contracted.

Commenting on the sale, Dr. Karim El Solh, CEO of Gulf Capital, said: “We are very pleased to be announcing today the strategic sale of Destination of the World to Webjet, a leading B2B travel business. Gulf Capital has worked very closely with the DOTW management team to build a high-quality global business with a strong market position over the last four years.   This is as a result of the management team’s execution of their business plan, supported by a significant investment program into technology, rapid organic expansion and two strategic acquisitions that accelerated DOTW’s expansion in Asia, Europe and the Americas.”

WebBeds remains confident about the future growth of the travel industry. The growth rate of international tourism arrivals is consistently outpacing the expansion of the global economy, and the global commercial air fleet is projected to double in size over the next decade to accommodate rising passenger demand. Consolidation is a key trend in the B2B industry and WebBeds is confident that by expanding its operations, it will be able to drive further growth for the benefit of the wider industry.

For more information about this story, please contact [email protected]

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Travel Will Inject a Record $11 Trillion Into the Global Economy This Year: Report

Tourism is expected to become a $16 trillion industry by 2034, the world travel & tourism council says., rachel cormack.

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All your jet-setting and hotel-hopping is having a significant effect on the global economy.

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The 14-figure sums can be broken down into three types of travel transactions, Bloomberg notes. Direct travel spending includes things like hotels, tours, and transportation, as well as public investment in these types of services. Indirect travel spending covers the expenses of those businesses, such as sheets and towels or the ingredients for the breakfast buffet. Finally, induced spending accounts for the trickle-down effects of hospitality employees.

In total, 142 out of the 185 surveyed countries are expected to exceed their 2019 tourism performance levels in 2024. Almost all nations are expected to see year-over-year growth, too. As a result, records are likely to be broken on a local level as well as a global.

Rachel Cormack is a digital editor at Robb Report. She cut her teeth writing for HuffPost, Concrete Playground, and several other online publications in Australia, before moving to New York at the…

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A new itinerary for the tourism industry

McKinsey spoke with more than 5,000 travelers across geographies and generations as part of a recently published survey  that reveals clear differences in behaviors, motivations, and expectations among a diverse set of tourists. On this episode of The McKinsey Podcast , McKinsey’s Margaux Constantin  and Jasperina de Vries speak with editorial director Roberta Fusaro about data that can help travel and tourism companies tailor their offerings and realize more bookings, higher satisfaction, and, ultimately, repeat visitors.

In our second segment, from our CEO Insights series , McKinsey senior partner Kurt Strovink  shares an approach to help CEOs connect with stakeholders—a relationship that’s prized but too often elusive.

This transcript has been edited for clarity and length.

The McKinsey Podcast is cohosted by Lucia Rahilly and Roberta Fusaro.

What motivates travelers to hit the road?

Roberta Fusaro: We’re here to talk about the way we travel today, specifically about a piece of research that McKinsey did with more than 5,000 travelers from China, Germany, the United Arab Emirates, the United Kingdom, and the United States.

We asked them about the motivations, behaviors, and expectations behind their travel experiences. One of the more interesting findings from the report is that travel isn’t just of “interest,” and I’m putting that word in air quotes. It’s becoming a priority for a range of consumers, including me. Margaux, why is this so?

Margaux Constantin: We clearly see that for people all over the world, travel has never been so top of mind . And that might be because of more than just the pandemic. About two-thirds of the people we interviewed said they’re more interested to travel than ever before.

If you take the younger generations, that number is even higher: 76 percent have never been so keen to travel. But that’s something that we’ve seen happening over the past decade, where there’s been a shift from spending on possessions to spending on experiences, particularly for the younger generations. Maybe the pandemic was a bit of a catalyst. But that really comes from a much longer cyclical trend in the industry.

Roberta Fusaro: What differences did you see among travelers of different ages? What matters most to Gen Z, for instance?

Jasperina de Vries: Gen Zers are interesting because travel has become a top priority for them. In fact, last year, millennials and Gen Zers took an average of nearly five trips versus less than four for Gen Xers and baby boomers.

The number-one consideration we clearly see for Gen Zers when selecting a destination is experiencing something new. For the younger generations, there’s a real draw toward using travel as a means to interact with different cultures and explore the unknown.

That makes international travel increasingly appealing for these younger generations. International travel feels more within reach for them. The cost has come down, especially with the abundance of low-cost airline seats. Travel has also become more convenient. It’s easy for them to get oriented in a destination before they travel. Mobile connectivity overseas has become cheaper. It’s easy to translate things when you get there.

Social media is also helping younger generations shape their ideas about faraway destinations when they’re thinking about their next trip. And 92 percent of younger travelers reported that they were influenced by social media, in that sense. Social media makes the world feel smaller and bigger at the same time.

Roberta Fusaro: What about Gen X and boomer travelers?

Jasperina de Vries: For the older generations, the number-one travel motivator is friends and family—to either visit them or travel with them. That motivator is put far ahead of visiting a new place or going to a place that everybody’s talking about.

Older generations are also very strategic about how they spend. Only 7 percent of the baby boomers we surveyed will go all out when they travel. But that doesn’t mean that they’re unwilling to spend, because baby boomers do spend three times more on travel than Gen Z.

They are willing to make their trip easy and convenient. They are willing to spend to make things less burdensome. They’re willing to travel in the offseason. They’re less likely to try and save by taking longer or connecting flights. And they are almost twice as likely as younger generations to cut expenses when needed, but they place emphasis on the quality of their accommodations.

Margaux Constantin: What’s interesting is that baby boomers spend three times more on travel than Gen Z. But Gen Z spends a much higher share of its disposable income on travel. That’s the big paradox here.

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The role of technology in travel.

Roberta Fusaro: How do different generations incorporate technology into their travel plans?

Margaux Constantin: What we see with older generations is quite a bit of fatigue with technology in the travel process and a feeling that if you’re not a digital native, the steps of traveling have become quite challenging. That may or may not be correlated with the fact that they tend to visit destinations they’re more familiar with, that they have been to already, rather than explore new destinations. So they can rely a bit less on those tools.

What that means is that travelers still like to have a digital and analytics-informed travel journey and travel process, but that doesn’t have to get in the way of human interaction. What we see with older generations is frustration that every site or attraction you try to go to now [involves] a machine that they’re struggling to interact with or to get the right information from. And that’s where some of the disconnect can happen.

Traveler priorities across different global markets

Roberta Fusaro: The survey also gets into some of the differences among travelers in different markets. We’re looking at travelers in China, the US, the Emirates, and some Europeans. What did you see there? What are travelers in different markets more or less likely to prioritize?

Margaux Constantin: What’s quite interesting here is despite the world becoming more globalized or feeling like it’s become more globalized, the differences in travel preferences across those markets remain really strong.

If you start with the Chinese travelers, they are changing a lot. There is still a very large chunk of that market that wants to prioritize these iconic travel experiences, these famous bucket list [trips]. About 69 percent of our Chinese respondents want that bucket-list-type holiday. For North American and European travelers, it’s only 20 percent.

At the same time, we also see in the Chinese market a real enthusiasm and passion, fueled by the pandemic, of rediscovering their domestic heritage and traveling much closer to home. We see the Chinese domestic-travel market growing at about 12 percent in the coming years and overtaking, very quickly, the United States as the world’s largest domestic-travel market.

If you compare this with travelers from the United Arab Emirates, there is also a strong preference, closer to the number of Chinese travelers, to visit iconic destinations. But what they’re really after are active, sport-heavy holidays—being outdoors, hiking, and doing some sort of exercise. On the other end, Europeans and North Americans are a lot more homogeneous in their preferences; 40 percent see their vacations as a way to just get away from it all, which is two times higher than the share of Chinese or UAE-based respondents. And, of course, the best way to get away from it all is the traditional beach holiday, which remains the top destination for those markets.

Seven traveler archetypes

Roberta Fusaro: As part of the research, you identified seven clusters of travelers, all of whom share a lot of the same attitudes and motivations toward travel. These include sun-and-beach travelers, culture-and-authenticity seekers, strategic spenders, trend-conscious travelers, cost-conscious travelers, premium travelers, and adventure seekers. Let’s tick through each and the preferences embedded within them.

Jasperina de Vries: This is my favorite topic for two reasons. One is that these personas are intriguing. And two, there’s an especially key insight for travel players on going to the next level of customer understanding or guest understanding, in a similar way as we’ve done here in the research.

We used machine learning to identify clusters of our respondents with similar behaviors and attitudes and then looked at the key differentiators between these groups. There are seven in total. One cluster is the culture-and-authenticity travelers. They love to sightsee, they prioritize new destinations, and they’re willing to spend on experiences.

That contrasts with, for example, the strategic spenders, who are very careful about splurging on experiences and who also try to save on accommodations and flights. Another one that I would highlight is the trend-conscious jet-setters, who are ready to spend and who are very attentive to recommendations from friends and social media. These travelers would prioritize the more iconic or popular destinations.

But a key learning for players in the sector is to use the data to better understand the exact traveler archetype that you are trying to attract and learn how to meet their needs.

And in this sector, companies don’t always interact with their guests every day, as they do in, say, retail. But, still, our clients are surprised by how much they do know about their customers and how much privileged insight they have. Our research was based on 5,000 respondents. But imagine it’s hundreds of thousands or even millions of customers you have touched and what you can learn from them.

Using data to tailor travel experiences

Roberta Fusaro: Let’s pretend I own a company that organizes travelers around large safari expeditions and sightseeing experiences. How could I use the information in this report to boost sales or engagement?

Jasperina de Vries: I hope that the research opens up the aperture for many players in the industry , like the safari provider, to think more deeply about the different pockets of demand out there and to build up their understanding of the pockets that they have not yet been specifically targeting.

And this is the other point: it’s important to build out the understanding of your customer base and, from that, think through how that allows you to adjust your marketing approach.

One of my clients, for example, is looking to increase direct bookings. That’s something that many of our listeners will try to pursue. What my client does is look at a cluster of guests that already has a high degree of direct bookings. That cluster is made up of relatively similar people, but there are also people in that cluster who do not yet book direct.

The good thing is they look like those who do. And it’s relatively easy to nudge them into the type of behavior that you would ideally see, which is booking direct versus booking through an OTA [online travel agency]. And you can do the same with upselling and cross-selling, for example. This is more straightforward than you think, and it’s driven by the customer data you have today.

It’s important to build out the understanding of your customer base and, from that, think through how that allows you to adjust your marketing approach. Jasperina de Vries

Margaux Constantin: Adding further to this notion of the travel safari company, and being a bit more focused on older generations, because they do spend more than younger generations. They spend three times more. But if you start thinking, “Maybe, there is a new market in the younger generations and Gen Z because they are willing to spend disproportionately on experiences.” Then you could engineer experiences for them. They might come on a low-cost flight, and they might stay in cheaper accommodations, but they will spend the $500 entrance fee to go gorilla tracking and have that experience.

There are these pockets of high willingness to spend. And that means you may also want to rethink your accommodation offering to be cheap without feeling cheap. It’s a lot about smaller rooms, shared rooms, but also high-quality shared spaces, high-quality open spaces, coworking spaces where people can mingle. We’re starting to see some players propose interesting things there.

Roberta Fusaro: How much of that is happening within the ecosystem?

Margaux Constantin: A lot of our clients are not sufficiently mining all the insights they have on what their travelers need. And there are so many more insights they could get. But a lot of our clients are also not sufficiently reactive or agile enough to act on those insights.

And so what you’re describing is an example of such an action. But it could also be to launch certain promotional packages, which is easier, or redo parts of your website, which is also easier. The translation to action remains slow.

It usually takes three years to build a hotel. In those three years, how do you keep evolving your builds to meet the evolving needs of your travelers or, at least, build things in a way that gives you enough agility once the property opens?

Jasperina de Vries: But, to your point, Roberta, in the ecosystem orchestration , we don’t see a lot of syncing up among players yet. But there is an increasing eagerness to grow tourism destinations, because folks are seeing that it’s important to build out full itineraries to make the most out of that first stay so that the traveler takes away a positive experience and goes back home and talks about it. It’s important for growing markets to build everything out in sync. And we see a lot of eagerness among stakeholders to get there. It’s easier said than done, of course.

New opportunities

Roberta Fusaro: Are new businesses  springing up out of this renewed zest for travel?

Jasperina de Vries: For this year, we expect that tourism will be a full 9 percent of global GDP. So it’s creating a lot of new economic activity. And there is a lot of opportunity for stakeholders who can cater to the preferences of new travelers.

Roberta Fusaro: Some travel companies  struggle with their data strategies. If you’re somewhere in the middle of the journey with your data strategy, are there things that you can do right now to start to understand customers better?

Jasperina de Vries: Hospitality clients are surprised by how much they can do with the data and privileged insights they already have as first parties versus intermediaries. For example, we helped one company build out something basic to start with: sending out three types of messages to customers based on a best guess of their propensity to travel to a particular destination.

We sent one set of customers an email about news from that destination and included a convenient travel offer for them. The second group we wanted to convince, so we sent them an email before their next estimated travel date and included a more price-sensitive offer. And for the third group of customers, who we think might not be highly likely to travel but who could be tempted, we tried to attract them with a special offer.

So this is not about building out a full set of email journeys and cross-channel journeys. This can start really small and still be effective.

Memorializing trips through social media

Roberta Fusaro: Jasperina, you’d mentioned the use of social media among Gen Z travelers. I’m curious about this idea of memorializing the travel experience and how providers and players in the tourism ecosystem could think about that differently.

Margaux Constantin: In our research, we see that more than 70 percent of travelers say they’ve posted photos of their vacation on social media in a very systematic way. And, of course, for younger generations, that share is north of 95 percent. It’s absolutely become the norm.

Then, if we go back to the times of even Ancient Greece, you will find various ways of capturing travel memories in some shape or form. As we mentioned earlier, more than 90 percent of Gen Z travelers will be influenced by social media posts when deciding to visit a certain place, especially posts they see from friends and families or from celebrities they trust.

That creates several opportunities for the industry. Definitely, everything related to social media  strategy, influencer strategy, encouraging folks who come to visit to repost about the hotel, repost about the attraction, repost about the destination, is key, given how big this is in the consideration funnel of travelers.

But this is also creating opportunities for new businesses to emerge in this space of journaling, if you like. And we see microblogging platforms trying to give travelers a different way of sharing with friends and family outside of the traditional social media platforms, which is also interesting.

Roberta Fusaro: I’m feeling bad for the seaside sketch artist who you would walk up to, and they would sit there with their pen . . .

Margaux Constantin: Actually, that one, probably, has never been a bigger celebrity. There is so much they can do on social media, even if they have limited drawing skills. There’s a big career as an actor in that space.

The impact of gen AI

Roberta Fusaro: Jasperina, you mentioned the use of generative AI [gen AI] on the back end of travel experiences. Are there other applications of gen AI that you could see going forward?

Jasperina de Vries: We saw in the survey that about a quarter of travelers have tried using AI or gen AI to plan a trip, and 80 percent said that they would be interested in trying to use AI or gen AI to plan a trip. So, there’s an expectation that the use will grow.

We also see that the first versions of gen-AI-based travel planners  can only do so much. So this is definitely an evolving space that still needs time. But it is quickly evolving.

And we talked about some of the use cases there. The gen AI piece that can come in is, for example, about making it easier to create marketing content. Going forward, we should also be mindful of the role that AI and technology plays and the implication it has on the workforce.

What we continue to see for hospitality and tourism is if there’s one sector where the human touch and the tech enablement of that remains so important, it’s hospitality because this is a moment in time for all travelers, where they are keen to experience something new and they also want to be taken care of. And so we expect that frontline staff, travel advisers, et cetera, will continue to have an important role in that travel or booking experience , empowered by technology.

If there’s one sector where the human touch and the tech enablement of that remains so important, it’s hospitality because this is a moment in time for all travelers, where they are keen to experience something new and they also want to be taken care of. Jasperina de Vries

Destination overload

Roberta Fusaro: We’ve been talking a lot about growth in the market. Is there something that the service providers or players in the tourism ecosystem have to be aware of, given all this fast growth?

Margaux Constantin: The growth is not very evenly spread. What we tend to see is if you take the 15 destinations today that have the highest concentration of visitors per square kilometer, these are also the destinations that I expect to see the fastest growth of visitors in the coming years, so anything leading to 2030 from 20 percent further growth, all the way to 86 percent for places like Marrakesh and Morocco.

At the same time, travelers say that when there’s just a bit too much of a crowd, it has a highly negative impact on their travel. Seventy percent of our respondents mentioned negative experiences related to overcrowding in their travel in the last 12 months.

So as we grow, we really need to put in place the right measures and be very thoughtful  about how we ensure that visitors have the best travel experiences they can—whether it’s in more rural, quiet areas, but also in some of the most visited places—and really keeping that strong visitor experience.

Why CEOs must connect with stakeholders

Lucia Rahilly: Next up, senior partner Kurt Strovink says CEOs understand the importance of connecting with stakeholders, but too few know how to do it.

Laurel Moglen: Stakeholders, like investors, customers, the media, and employees, all want to hear from CEOs on a wide range of issues. Kurt, through your conversations with CEOs, how important is it for CEOs to engage with the public?

Kurt Strovink: It’s very important, and it’s becoming more important as time goes on. Communications and stakeholder engagement is one aspect that many CEOs are less prepared for, relative to what it takes. It’s not something they’ve necessarily encountered in previous roles before becoming CEO. And the enormity of the number of stakeholders, the balance between them, and how to manage and negotiate this is something that I think dawns on new CEOs quite quickly.

Our own research suggests that 58 percent of CEOs think that external affairs is a top priority for them. But only 12 percent feel that they’re handling it really well. I would also say some of the leading CEOs, those who have become skilled at being a CEO over time and some of who we’ve profiled in our book CEO Excellence , have also drawn attention to this priority. 1 Carolyn Dewar, Scott Keller, and Vikram Malhotra, CEO Excellence: The Six Mindsets That Distinguish the Best Leaders from the Rest , New York: NY, Scribner 2022.

Satya Nadella, the CEO of Microsoft, has talked about how important it is to be able to manage multiple constituents in the world—team members, employees, customers, governments. As a CEO, you need to create that sort of continuous balance between multiple constituents.

Laurel Moglen: What’s the best way for leadership to adapt to this priority?

Kurt Strovink: In terms of how to adjust to this priority, we’ve tried to synthesize our perspectives into an approach called EDGE. It’s an acronym that encompasses four ideas for CEOs to understand what’s important.

The first idea is expanded . CEOs must think about themselves as a bridge to the outside world. They must recognize that they’re kind of public in all their comments at all moments. That’s a different mentality than thinking about yourself as a personal leader inside of a company, where your words won’t travel as far.

The second idea is distinctive , by which we mean do only what the CEO can do or try to think about those things that can’t be delegated. There are many things that you can have other people do on your behalf, but some of the communication needs to be from the CEO seat itself.

The third idea is growth oriented . Some of the best communicators and stakeholder balancers think a lot about growth in their communications. It’s something that’s ever present in the way that they interact with the outside world. It’s part of how they emphasize the upside of their companies, their contribution to the world.

The fourth and final idea is engagement . This means going beyond influencing stakeholders to try to truly inhabit the mindsets that they have, meet them on their own terms, and work from there.

This is one way to think about four important best practices that we think of in the context of communications with different constituent groups and to adapt to them.

Laurel Moglen: As leaders incorporate all that EDGE means into their communications platforms, what strategies have you seen work for them?

Kurt Strovink: I have seen a few strategies that work for CEOs and a few markers for progress as CEOs, who become more excellent on this dimension. I often will observe a CEO’s narrative itself—the way they talk about what they’re doing, what they’re here to do, what their company’s purpose is, how they engage their own employees—and I will listen for how proprietary that vocabulary is and how authentic it is to them. And we often find that CEOs who become skilled at this will have certain terms that they put more weight into, certain things that become meaningful. So this idea of the singular narrative with proprietary language is hard to encourage anybody to do, but we notice it as a distinctive strength.

I also find that CEOs need creative ways to enrich this narrative over time, to have it take in additional elements of what happens around them. They must repeat this narrative, sometimes more than they’d like to in different settings. They should find energy and enthusiasm and vitality in doing that authentically. It’s very important to see yourself as a real communicator of this message in broadcast and in narrowcast forms. The former CEO of US Bancorp, Richard Davis, said the holy grail for him was to have 12 people on a management team who were equal voices and equal storytellers.

What that means is that there are people who can speak for the team, for the company, not just for themselves. Sometimes, you see CEOs who develop enough of a narrative that they get another dozen people on their management team to really make it theirs and sound similar themes.

These CEOs create propagation that’s much greater inside the company and outside the company because they have other people and their management team who are fully resonant with those messages.

One last thing that I’ll share from our work with CEOs is what we call the four Ws: “who” “why,” “what,” and “when.”

You have to think about “Who you are?” or “Who do you want to be?” You’re really thinking about the identity of the organization separate from the initiatives and activities that are under way.

You also have to think about the why. “Why is it there?”

This gets us to the what. “What is the purpose?” or “What’s a larger mission that motivates?” This leads you to think about the series of things you’re doing. And that ladders down into many aspects of strategy, initiatives, and the like.

Lastly, you think about the timing, the execution of the plans, which is summarized by the when.

But I do see a failure mode in CEOs. They’re very good about the what and the when, though maybe not as thoughtful as they could be about the who and the why.

And in self-propelled organizations, especially organizations of high talent, there’s tremendous latent potential in deeper dialogues about the “who” and the “why.”

I would encourage all CEOs to think about all four Ws evenly as they think about building some of these messages, these narratives of meaning, and as they chart the course to figure out what they’re solving for with so many different constituencies.

Kurt Strovink is a senior partner in McKinsey’s New York office, Margaux Constantin is a partner in the Dubai office, and Jasperina de Vries is an associate partner in the Amsterdam office. Lucia Rahilly is the global editorial director of McKinsey Global Publishing and is based in the New York office, and Roberta Fusaro is an editorial director in the Boston office.

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UN Tourism Welcomes 39 New Affiliate Members

• All Regions
• 14 Jun 2024

UN Tourism announces the addition of 39 new entities from the private sector to its growing network of Affiliate Members.

The new members combine a wide range of profiles with diverse backgrounds and types of business: 3 Destination Management Organization (DMOs), 14 for-profit companies, 10 associations and NGOs, and 7 education and research institutes, and 5 others. In terms of geographical distribution, the newly admitted members come from all the regions: 6 from Africa, 10 from the Americas, 3 from Asia and the Pacific, 13 from Europe, and 7 from the Middle.   “The integration of these new leading entities reflects our ongoing efforts to strengthen the Affiliate Membership and create a diverse and inclusive network capable of significantly contributing to the UN Tourism mission. We remain committed to enhancing Affiliate Members' satisfaction and fostering a sense of belonging through effective, mutually beneficial, win-win engagement in the Organization's key activities and projects,” said UN Tourism Director of the Affiliate Members and Public-Private Collaboration Department, Ion Vilcu.

Governments and National Tourism Administrations are increasingly partnering with UN Tourism to promote Affiliate Membership in their own countries to further invigorate their local tourism sectors and to have their leading entities connected within the largest network of its kind in tourism, which currently includes a total of 500 entities.

The 39 new Affiliate Members are :

• Altezza Travelling Limited    (United Republic of Tanzania)
• Amsa Hospitality Company (Saudi Arabia)
• Asociación de Hoteles y Turismo de la República Dominicana, Inc. - ASONAHORES – (Dominican Republic)
• Asociación del Deporte Español (Spain)
• Banco de Reservas de la República Dominicana (Dominican Republic)
• Banco Popular Dominicano, S.A. Banco Múltiple (Dominican Republic)
• Batterjee Medical College (Saudi Arabia)
• Booking.com B.V. (Netherlands)
• Cámara de Comercio de Medellín para Antioquia (Colombia)
• Conseil québécois des ressources humaines en tourisme-CQRHT (Canada)
• Decanter Enterprises (Zimbabwe)
• Ethiopian Tour Operators Association – ETOA (Ethiopia)
• Federation of Trade in Goods, Services and Tourism Rio de Janeiro – FECOMÉRCIO-RJ    (Brazil)
• Focus Brand, S.L. (Spain)
• Forward Data, S.L. (Spain)
• Hoteliers Association of Uzbekistan (Uzbekistan)
• IFP Qatar (Qatar)
• Institute of Gastronomy, Culture, Arts and Tourism – IGCAT (Spain)
• Instituto Nacional de Formación Técnico Profesional – INFOTEP (Dominican Republic)
• Instituto Superior de Derecho y Economía, S.A. (Spain)
• International Tour Management Institute, Inc. (United States of America)
• Ishraq Hospitality (United Arab Emirates)
• JLL Americas Inc. (United States of America)
• Jordan Hotels Association    (Jordan)
• Jordan Restaurant Association (Jordan)
• Klook Travel Technology Pte. Ltd. (Singapore)
• MADCUP, S.L. (Spain)
• Namibia University of Science and Technology    (Namibia)
• New Perspective Media FZ LLC (United Arab Emirates)
• Pakistan Association of Tour Operators - PATO (Pakistan)
• Palacio de Ferias, Congresos y Exposiciones de Marbella S.L. (Spain)
• PT Indonesia WISE    (Indonesia)
• Radisson Hospitality Belgium, B.V. (Belgium)
• Rijeka Tourist Board (Croatia)
• Scientific Research Institute for Tourism Development -TDI (Uzbekistan)
• Viristar LLC (United States of America)
• Zagreb School of Economics and Management    (Croatia)
• Zambia Institute for Tourism & Hospitality Studies (Zambia)
• Zambia Tourism Agency (Zambia)

Under the current admission procedure, the candidatures were submitted for consideration and approval of the Executive Council after being previously reviewed and endorsed by the Committee on Matters related to Affiliate Membership (CMAM), during its 5th meeting that took place on 6 June. These candidatures are the results of the implementation of the expansion strategy of the Affiliate Membership, aiming at improving the quality and geographical balance of the Affiliates network.

The admission of these new members was endorsed during the 121st Session of the Executive Council , which took place in Barcelona, Spain, on June 10-11.

Related links

• Download News Release on PDF
• Affiliate Members
• Executive Council - 121st session

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Eid travel: UAE residents booking in advance better off as airfares surge 100% and more

Travel & tourism.

Starting with Eid holiday trips, ticket rates shoot up 100-300% on high demand routes

Dubai: Starting this week, the full weight of high summer airfares will be felt by travellers from the UAE, whether it’s a short trip to a sought-after holiday destination or for a longer stay back to their home country.

The airfare spikes will prove particularly painful for those making last-minute travel plans, with ticket rates to from the UAE to the US having shot up by 100 per cent - and even by up to 300 per cent to the UK, India, Thailand, the Philippines, and major European cities.

“We are seeing a trend among UAE travellers combining their Eid break with the two-month summer holiday for extended vacations,” said Rikant Pittie, co-founder of EaseMyTrip.

Where are UAE residents flying to?

If it’s for short holiday breaks to beat the summer hear, then destinations like Thailand, Kenya, Turkey, Singapore, Hong Kong, Bali, and Mauritius are proving quite popular, with demand up by 20 per cent or so. Airfares to most of these destinations have risen considerably compared to April-May 2024 levels.

Never wait for a last minute booking

More UAE residents are getting ahead of the game by booking their tickets up to two- to four months earlier, shifting away from last-minute booking habits they picked up in the period just after Covid.

Those making last-minute travel plans choose connecting flights to short-, medium- and long-haul destinations to make their ticket spend come down further.

How ticket rates are faring on some high-demand sectors during June 15-30:

• Dubai to London – Dh8,970 for direct/Dh3,243 for connecting;
• Dubai to New Delhi – Dh2,200;
• Dubai to New York – Dh5,620 for direct and Dh4,395 connecting;
• Abu Dhabi to New York - Dh7,760 direct and Dh4,520 for connecting;
• Dubai to Los Angeles – Dh7,560 for direct and Dh4,590 on connecting flights:
• Dubai to Paris – Dh6,690 for direct/Dh2,920 for connecting; and
• Dubai to Bangkok – Dh5,060 direct/Dh2,430 on connecting

Connecting flights - a respite for 300% hikes

Connecting flights to medium and long-haul destinations is the best solution for a 300 per cent airfare hike. For example, Economy class airfare from Dubai to London (from June 15 to 30) is priced at Dh8,970 on British Airways.

Flights to the United States East Coast have gone up by 90 per cent, and US West Coast flights are seeing a 100 per cent increase in fares compared to Q1-2024 rates.

“Those waiting to book their flights for the very last minute are opting to fly Wizz Air Abu Dhabi or flydubai for affordable fares,” said Afi Ahmed, Chairman of Smart Travels.

“Some are even waiting until the end of Eid Al Fitr and combining their trip with the summer school holidays. Since they have time, long-haul flyers don’t mind the 11-hour UK travel to 30-hour journeys to the US using connecting flights.”

Dubai to London flights average Dh3,240, with a layover in Prague (flydubai, Wizz Air) or in Riyadh (Saudia). Some even opt to fly out of Abu Dhabi, as fares from the capital city are 15-20 per cent cheaper (Etihad Airways).

Ahmed added, “Indian expats, for example, have booked their tickets to holiday destinations like Thailand and planned their return to their hometown in India. After which, they return to Dubai in mid-July or early August.”

Families, especially those with school-going children, have booked their tickets well in advance.

According to Mamoun Hmedan, Chief Business Officer, Wego, “We have observed a jump in summer airfares to almost all these destinations compared to the same period early this year. “Average flight prices are now 42.72 per cent more expensive for flights to Egypt, up 64.08 per cent to Jordan, and up 32.10 per cent to India compared to the last quarter.”

Wego’s data from last year’s summer holiday season highlights the broader booking trends. Up to 18 per cent of MENA travellers booked as early as one- to two months before their travel date. This contrasts with the 22 percent who chose to book closer to their departure dates.

“In most instances, airfares surpass inflation rates,” said Pluto Travels’ Sapna Aidasani. “Travellers are more price-conscious than ever, avoiding last-minute bookings, particularly for long-haul trips. They prefer allocating their budgets towards destination indulgences like luxury accommodations and bespoke travel experiences.”

Aircraft constraints

In 2022, Middle East airlines faced peak travel disruptions while rehiring staff and adjusting infrastructure for an unexpected post-pandemic demand surge. By 2023, pilot and plane shortages persisted, fares remained high, and airlines struggled with delays and cancellations due to air traffic control issues and bad weather.

The International Air Transport Association (IATA) raised its 2024 passenger traffic growth forecast to 12 per cent globally and 7 per cent in the Middle East, signalling growing demand. UAE and regional carriers - including Emirates, Etihad Airlines, Qatar Airways, and Turkish Airlines - have expanded networks to manage resurgent demand and reduce airport congestion.

Yet, the shortage of aircraft continues to cause supply constraints, according to airline chiefs. Weighed down by aircraft shortages and strikes, Germany’s Lufthansa Group saw losses in its Q1-24 performance. However, the airline expects to pick up pace in summer and post-summer thanks to connecting travel trends.

Serkan Guerguen, Senior Director of Sales Middle-East, North Africa, and Turkey at Lufthansa Group, said, “The first quarter was tough for us, and we aim for stable operations amid the summer. We will increase our summer capacity in Berlin, Frankfurt and Zurich.

“We also plan on increasing our capacities to Berlin (daily operations). We have high connecting traffic to Europe and the US and have bolstered our operations to serve connecting passengers because of our strategically placed hubs.”

Most popular destinations

On the group travel front, travel agents have introduced special holiday packages across regions like Azerbaijan, Georgia, Armenia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, and Singapore.

Emerging destinations like Latvia, Slovenia, and Eastern Europe add a dash of novelty to the mix.

“Where most are travelling to the popular Schengen countries, 20-25 per cent are excited about exploring the newer territories gaining popularity,” said Musafir.com’s COO Raheesh Babu.

This is more so because appointment slots to popular Schengen nations are still notoriously hard to get, he explained.

The UK, Germany, and Italy top Wego’s list of European summer destinations for MENA travellers. The UK’s enduring popularity, especially, may be attributed to the new ETA system that allows GCC citizens to travel to the UK hassle-free, said Wego’s Hmedan.

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World Cup final coming in 2026. Here’s the latest on N.J.’s big plans to be ready for it.

T he announcement last month that MetLife Stadium and the New Jersey-New York region will host the World Cup final in 2026 brought jubilation. Now, the effort to secure eight World Cup matches in June 2026 and the prestigious final game on July 19, 2026 has moved to preparing for the huge event.

Representatives of the host committee, NJ Transit, state tourism and business community are working to create a seamless experience for 1 million fans expected to visit the New York-New Jersey region.

That work includes construction of seven buildings around the 82,500-seat MetLife Stadium, widening the soccer pitch to meet FIFA standards, creation of a new state tourism campaign and ensuring NJ Transit and the rest of the state transportation system is up to moving fans as well as daily users.

Officials doing that work discussed how the region is preparing for the international Mega event, during a Friday afternoon discussion held by the Meadowlands Chamber of Commerce.

The numbers are staggering. The eight World Cup matches and finals to be played here during June and July are forecast to generate $2 billion in economic impact, more than 14,000 jobs and attract more than 1 million visitors, including fans and their guests, said Bruce Revman, host committee city manager for New York. South Jersey also could see a similar benefit from World Cup matches that will be played in Philadelphia.

The World Cup isn’t just about the eight games, but all the events and fan festivals leading up to it. Think Super Bowl XLVIII, but bigger. It also happens during the celebration of the U.S. Semiquincentennial or 250th anniversary on July 4, 2026.

Gov. Phil Murphy laid the challenge down in a post-announcement interview.

“The huge story, if we do it right and I think we will, will be the build-up to the game (of soccer) and the legacy that will be measured in decades that this event will leave behind,” Murphy said.

That isn’t lost on business leaders and business owners in the towns around the stadium, as well as the host committee state tourism people and NJ Transit CEO Kevin Corbett.

Construction to meet FIFA requirements at MetLife

Work is underway to widen the soccer pitch to meet FIFA standards that call for a 68-meter wide by 110 meter long playing field, said Stephen Sansonese, MetLife Stadium senior director of facility operations and events.

That work also required designing rows of removable seating that can restored for other sports and events, Sanonese said.

Other alterations include working with FIFA to move the existing stadium perimeter and security screening to create room for fan experiences, sponsors facilities and other needed structures, he said. That work will be done by local companies and union workers, Sansonese said.

New N.J. ‘wow’ tourism campaign

Accompanying the World Cup announcement is a new state tourism slogan and campaign, “Little state, lotta wow.” It’s based on people’s reactions when learning more about the state beyond the Jersey shore and World Cup selection, said Jeff Vasser, New Jersey Office of Travel and Tourism executive director.

“Everyone knows about the Jersey shore, but we’re the second fastest growing state for craft brewery,” Vasser said, rattling off other non-shore statistics. “We always heard, ‘Wow, I didn’t know that about New Jersey.’”

• RELATED: The inside story of how N.J. landed the World Cup final, the globe’s biggest sporting event

State tourism efforts want to make it easier for visitors and tour companies to plan an itinerary of places to see in the state when matches aren’t being played, he said. That includes working with Destination Marketing Organizations, such as the Meadowland Chamber and NYC & Co., he said.

“What a huge opportunity this state has for tourism. This is a great opportunity for all of us to show the world what New Jersey is and what a great place it is to visit , Vasser said. “It goes beyond just the time the World Cup is here.”

NJ Transit’s challenge

A lot depends on moving fans to and from what’s the equivalent of eight Super Bowl games at MetLife falls to NJ Transit. CEO Kevin Corbett highlighted the bounce back from 2014′s Super Bowl XLVIII embarrassment by the agency’s performance in moving thousands of fans to and from MetLife by rail; and bus for BTS K-Pop shows, the 2021 Army-Navy football game and most recently Taylor Swift’s three Eras Tour shows.

That helped sell FIFA on NJ Transit’s ability to handle mega events, Corbett said. NJ Transit is preparing for various contingencies, including bad weather that could send fans leaving early en masse, equipment breakdowns and timing the use of rain crews to make sure they don’t hit federal hours of service limits before the event ends.

“The reputation of NJ Transit will be made or thrown back in the mud if we don’t deliver,” he said to reporters after the event. “The next six months will be critical, after that it’s fleshing it out.”

The game days burden will be split between the existing Meadowlands rail line and the Transitway bus-rapid transit project under design. Transitway uses some existing infrastructure and a former rail right of way, taking buses out of traffic and away from other delay-causing incidents. It was selected for a faster delivery than a rail line that requires more environmental permits, he said.

Transitway construction is expected to start next year, and completed in spring 2026, Corbett said.

As soon as FIFA announced the site selection, NJ Transit officials conferred with the International Public Transport Association, he said. The US Department of Transportation has designated Felicia James Deputy Assistant Secretary for Transportation Policy as World Cup point person, Corbett said.

Meanwhile, plans call for using trains of multilevel cars that hold more people on the Meadowlands rail line with back up trains in position, in addition to buses, Corbett said.

Besides the eight matches at MetLife, the agency also has to plan to move people to and from various World Cup fan festivals, including those scheduled at Liberty State Park in Jersey City and other locations.

“We need to get more definition of the fan festivals, they are more of a concern,” Corbett said. “There is no way we’ll drop the ball on the stadium (service). The corridors to the fan festivals are more susceptible to local traffic.”

Our journalism needs your support. Please subscribe today to NJ.com .

Larry Higgs may be reached at [email protected] . Follow him on X @CommutingLarry

©2024 Advance Local Media LLC. Visit nj.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

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Why You’ll Pay More and Behave Better When You Travel This Summer

From Barcelona to Bali, higher fees and new rules are targeting overtourism and unruly behavior. Some locals are worried the changes will keep tourists away.

By Paige McClanahan

A new tourist fee in Bali. Higher hotel taxes in Amsterdam and Paris. Stricter rules on public drinking in Milan and Majorca. Ahead of the summer travel season, leaders in many tourist spots have adopted measures to tame the tourist crowds — or at least earn more revenue from them.

All of this may pose headaches for travelers, although in most cases, the new fees or tax increases represent only a tiny fraction of the total cost of a trip. The goal is to ensure that tourism functions smoothly for visitors and locals alike, said Megan Epler Wood, managing director of the Sustainable Tourism Asset Management Program at Cornell University.

“All tourism is dependent on beautiful natural and cultural resources. You have to protect those resources in order to be a viable tourism destination — and if you don’t, they degrade,” Ms. Epler Wood said.

In some places, proposals for new fees or visitor rules have drawn opposition from residents, who fear they might scare away the tourists who bolster the local economy. But destinations need to find ways to counteract what Ms. Epler Wood calls “ the invisible burden ” of tourism, which includes strains on a community’s infrastructure, utilities and housing stock, as well as tourists’ carbon footprint and any challenges they might impose on residents’ daily lives.

“You put so much pressure on the place that the people who live there become unhappy, and then they don’t present a very good face to tourists,” Ms. Epler Wood said. “The longer you wait, the higher the cost to fix it.”

Here is a look at new measures that travelers can expect this summer, and where others might be coming in the future.

New visitor fees

Since February, visitors to the Indonesian island of Bali have been asked to pay a levy of 150,000 Indonesian rupiahs, or about $9.40 per visit. Revenue will be used to support the preservation of cultural and natural assets on the island, where tourism has brought major challenges related to litter, water supply and overcrowding. Visitors are encouraged to pay the new fee online before departure, although it’s also possible to pay on arrival at the airport.

Beginning Aug. 1, most foreign travelers to the Galápagos Islands — which had a record-breaking 330,000 visitors last year — must pay a $200 entry fee, double the current rate. The money raised will be used to support conservation, improve infrastructure and fund community programs.

The change is the first increase to the entry fee since it was introduced in 1998, said Tom O’Hara, communications manager for the Galápagos Conservation Trust . Mr. O’Hara noted that the increase comes a year after the UNESCO World Heritage Committee urged the government of Ecuador to work toward a “zero-growth model” for tourism in the Galápagos.

“It’s quite a complicated topic,” Mr. O’Hara said, noting that the fee increase has been viewed “as part of the solution to overtourism.” On the other hand, he added, “everyone is trying to reassure the local tourist industry that this isn’t going to kill tourism on the islands.

In April, Venice began imposing a fee — 5 euros, about $5.40 — on day-trippers visiting on peak days, with the goal of striking “a new balance between the tourists and residents.”

But the new Venice Access Fee has drawn criticism from residents. “This project is a disaster for us. We are a city, not a park,” said Matteo Secchi, the president of Venessia.com, an association of Venice residents. Mr. Secchi said that a communications campaign would have been more effective.

The possibility of a new tourist fee has also drawn local opposition in Hawaii, where Gov. Josh Green has proposed a “climate impact fee” for visitors to the state. The measure failed during a recent meeting of the State Legislature, but Governor Green has persisted in calling for visitors to help fund the state’s preparation for future climate shocks.

“We have to get this tiger by the tail,” he told journalists in May, adding that $25 per visitor could raise $250 million a year, which the state could use to guard against climate disasters, manage erosion, strengthen infrastructure and protect parks.

Hotel fees and other taxes get a bump

Hotel taxes, also known as occupancy or accommodation taxes, are widespread in the United States and Europe, where they were on the rise for a decade leading up to the pandemic. With tourism’s rebound to prepandemic levels, several destinations have increased or adjusted the tax to capture more revenue.

Like Hawaii, Greece — which also suffered severe wildfires last summer — is looking to steel itself against climate disasters, and the government wants tourists to help foot the bill. Greece is calling the charge a climate crisis resilience fee , and it will be collected by accommodation providers. The tax will be higher from March to October, when it will top out at €10 per night at five-star hotels. The rate drops from November to February, and for hotels with fewer stars. The fee replaces the previous hotel tax, which ranged from €0.50 to €4 per night.

In Amsterdam, the hotel tax, which was already one of the highest in Europe, rose to 12.5 percent from 7 percent on Jan. 1. City lawmakers have also raised the tax on cruise passengers to €14 from €11 per person per night.

The hotel tax in Barcelona also rose this year, increasing to €3.25 per night. The measure was the final step-up in a gradual increase that began before the pandemic. A spokesman for Barcelona City Hall said that further tax increases would be aimed at tourist rental apartments and cruises that make short stopovers, which contribute less to the city’s income. The spokesman also noted that revenue generated by the tourist tax is being used, among other things, to fund the installation of solar panels and air-conditioning in Barcelona’s public schools.

Ahead of this summer’s Olympic and Paralympic Games in Paris, lawmakers in the Île-de-France region have imposed a new tax, on top of the normal hotel levy. With the new tax, which will fund public transportation in the region, a guest in a five-star hotel now owes a total of €10.73 in tax per night stayed, while a stay in a two-star hotel incurs a tax of €3.25 per night.

Though the measure was adopted by the regional government, it was not supported by the leadership in Paris itself. A spokeswoman for Paris City Hall called the move “a democratic power grab” that “in no way benefits the city of Paris.” She noted that even with the funds generated by the new tax, the region still raised the price of tickets for public transportation in the city during the Olympics — a measure that has disgruntled many Paris residents.

Introducing new rules

In other tourist spots, the focus is on curbing behavior that pollutes the local environment or harms residents’ quality of life.

In Japan, authorities at Mount Fuji will cap visitors at 4,000 per day. They have also imposed a new fee of 2,000 yen (about $13) for access to the iconic summit. Elsewhere in the country, a community council in the Gion neighborhood of Kyoto has closed some small roads to tourists, after complaints that the area, home to the city’s geisha district, was suffering from crowds.

“We will ask tourists to refrain from entering narrow private streets in or after April,” Isokazu Ota, a leading member of the community council, told Agence-France Presse in March. “We don’t want to do this, but we’re desperate.”

A spokeswoman for the city’s tourism board described the road closures as “a local initiative,” adding that “neither Kyoto City nor the Kyoto City Tourism Association are aware of any details beyond what is reported in the media.”

Rowdy visitor behavior has been the target of new rules in Milan. In some areas, city leaders have banned outdoor seating after 12:30 a.m. during the week and 1:30 a.m. on the weekend in response to resident complaints. They have also limited the late-night sale of takeaway food and drinks.

And in certain areas on the Spanish Balearic Islands of Majorca and Ibiza that are overrun with drunk tourists, the government has imposed a ban on late-night sales of alcohol and the consumption of alcohol in the street. New restrictions have also been imposed on party boats in the same areas.

“Tourism has negative externalities that must be managed and minimized,” Marga Prohens, the president of the Balearic Islands, told a local gathering this month , according to The Majorca Daily Bulletin. Local tourism, she said, “cannot continue to grow in volume.”

Paige McClanahan, a regular contributor to the Travel section, is author of “The New Tourist: Waking Up to the Power and Perils of Travel,” forthcoming from Scribner on June 18.

Open Up Your World

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Port Antonio, Jamaica:  The Grammy-nominated D.J. and music producer Diplo recommends spots in a city he loves  on Jamaica’s northeast coast. A dance party makes the cut.

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