As explained by Anilkumar Dave from Infinite Area, in the first quarter of 2021, investments in the space sector of 4.5 billion have already been achieved. Business models expand in space so that there will be a commoditisation of space assets. There are also companies that are bringing new expertise, such as in the case of production of food for future space tourists. 

Regarding prices and services, Blue Origin didn’t communicate a price, but a seat on the first flight was auctioned for $ 28 million. The cost includes the flight up to a height of 100 km, the overnight stay at the launch site and a specific training. Virgin Galactic’s first-selling tickets cost between $ 200,000 and $ 250,000 each, and the company has communicated that prices will rise. It includes the flight up to a height of 80 km, the space suit and a light training in which participants are instructed on what will happen.
SpaceX is considering space tourism too, but much more ambitious, for several days and to a much higher height. The program developed by Axiom for SpaceX will cost $ 55 million and will include training, medical support, 8 days aboard the host station including clothing and other supplies.

Many experts think that the economic value of this sector will grow rapidly. It has already reached a turnover of 651 million dollars in 2020 and it is estimated to reach 1.7 billion by 2027 with a growth rate of 152%. Much of the market value will be suborbital tourism and China is expected to absorb much of the market. 

A controversial topic is sustainability. On the one hand, those who invest in the space tourism sector, primarily Bezos and Branson themselves, tend to minimise the environmental impact. On the other hand, scientists and experts have long claimed that the marketing of spatial launches will raise the poles temperature of at least one degree Celsius.   

At Twissen, we observed that space tourism is a growing sector, whose strong economic potential has to be monitored over time. However, it is necessary to assess whether the level of emissions can be justified by the number of passengers, considering that sustainability is always more a fundamental pillar for emerging business models. 

Twissen

L'articolo Space tourism, a business in search of sustainability proviene da Twissen.

During the last season, many operators of the European Travel & Tourism industry had the chance to submit their proposals on the call named “Supporting the Promotion and Development of Transnational Thematic Tourism Products Linked to Cultural and Creative Industries” under COSME, the EU programme for the Competitiveness of Small and Medium Enterprises, and on the call named “Nautical Routes for Europe” under the EMFF – European Maritime and Fisheries Fund.

Both of them were managed by EASME, the Executive Agency for Small and Medium Enterprises and had similar characteristics. First of all, the allocated budget was 1.5 million euros for each call, planning to co-finance from 5 to 7 proposals for 300.00 euros each. Even though the two calls were welcomed by the Travel & Tourism community, their expectation for an higher budget is perceivable.

Even if in different fields, both of the calls support the development of transnational tourism products. This also includes itineraries routes and paths which necessarily involve territories of more than one eligible Country which are the European Union Member States along with the others adhering to the programme.
Both called for innovative tourism products, even if COSME stressed the adoption of new technologies such as the augmented and virtual reality.

The 2018 European Year for Cultural Heritage is considered a very important appointment and the approved proposals will definitely contribute and, at the same time, benefit from the several planned initiatives. For sure, culture is a component emphasised by each call as a strong travel motivation.

Partnerships are a very delicate topic, namely the consortium of applicants proposing the project. Their composition has to be balanced and has to represent both various categories of players of the Travel & Tourism industry and the needed skills to implement the proposed activities. This topic is linked to the sustainability of the project after the co-financing period which has to be proved and which is very important for the evaluation criteria.

After all, the future of Travel & Tourism also depends on these initiatives.

In the Report you can also find about:

• Off the beaten paths with technology on hand
• Brexit, the year after
• European funds focus on transnational tourism products
• Overtourism phobia
• Alitalia crisis in the European air sector segment
• A new legislative context for short-term rental in Europe
• Z Generation, a new target of travellers
• Reviews and web reputation mark new trends in the accommodation sector
• Action, travel!

Twissen

L'articolo European funds focus on transnational tourism products – Twissen Season Report Spring 2017 proviene da Twissen.

According to the Hungarian Central Statistical Office, international tourists that visited the Country in 2015 were about 15.6 million, and grew by 18% during 2016, along with the number of overnights, which grew by 21%. In the previous year, the most important origin markets were the United Kingdom (+20%) and Italy (+17%).

In fact, according to the “Travel & Tourism Economic Impact 2017” published by the World Travel and Tourism Council, in 2016 the foreign tourists expense represented 62,7% of the Travel & Tourism direct contribution.

Generally, in the same year, the direct contribution of tourism to the Hungarian GDP was about 4.5bn euros (HUF 1,440.2bn), namely 4,1%, and it is foreseen to grow up to 5,3% in 2027. The total contribution, including the indirect and induced ones, was about 11,7bn euros (HUF 3,667.4bn), namely 10,5% of total GDP.

In 2014, the Hungarian Government approved the Tourism Marketing National Plan, which aims to promote new market segments through branding strategies and international promotion campaigns. A National Plan for Tourism Development is also being prepared; it projects the intervention of some local stakeholders which are going to invest in developing attractive tourism products, in hospitality and in DMOs’ activities.

The Government is promoting several initiatives to deseasonalise tourism flows. The most successful one is the “Budapest Winter Invitation” campaign, which aims to enhance tourism flows in the capital during the winter period through several promotions and advantageous tourist cards.

Hungary, with Slovakia, Czech Republic and Poland, joined the project “Discover Central Europe”, which has the objective of promoting this region of Europe to potential tourists. Moreover, in 2014, the China–CEE Countries‘ Tourism Co-ordination Centre opened in Budapest, which aims to increase the visibility of the Central Europe Countries, promoting them to the Chinese market as one destination.

Tourism in Hungary has a strong leisure connotation. Notwithstanding, as reported by the Hungarian Tourism Agency, the business segment grew during 2016, along with the events that can be referred to the MICE segment which rose by 27%. Another important segment is the wellness one, thanks to the several thermal springs in the Country. Recently, the Ministry of Economy announced a renovation plan of thermal baths to consolidate the success of the destination in this segment.

Many events are planned for 2017, from music to food and wine festivals, aiming to foster the number of tourists in the Country, both national and international. A particular attention is paid to the 17th FINA World Championship, holding in Hungary in July.

According to the UK Foreign Travel Advice, in Hungary there is a low risk deriving from international terrorism, but there is a significant petty crime rate in cities.

At Twissen we observed that tourism in Hungary is a sector which is mainly linked to its historical wellness connotation and, consequently, to the leisure segment. Notwithstanding, the Government is adopting deseasonalisation and differentiation policies of the tourism supply, to attract different targets from new origin markets.

Francesco Redi

President and founder at Twissen. Manager in Local Development, Tourism Policies,  EU Funds. He cooperates with several European universities, public bodies, development agencies, DMOs and enterprises.

L'articolo Hungary is still a successful wellness tourism destination proviene da Twissen.

As reported by the “Travel & Tourism Competitiveness Report” by the World Economic Forum, Cyprus is 36th out of 141 analysed Countries. This positive performance is probably due to an organised “Tourist Service Infrastructure” (2nd place) and to the “Prioritization of Travel & Tourism” policies (3rd place). The Country can also count on its “Ground and Port Infrastructure” (23rd) and “Air Transport Infrastructure” (46th), which ease the tourism arrivals. On the other hand, the weakest points of the destination are “Price Competitiveness” (111st) and “Environmental Sustainability” (83rd).

One of the most interesting trends in 2016 was the so-called “wedding tourism”. According to the Cyprus Tourism Organization, about 8.000 civil weddings are celebrated in the Country every year, of which 5.000 are organised by British tourists. This is one of the reasons why TUI UK signed a deal with BookYourWeddingDay.com, in order to simplify the administrative procedures required to get married in Cyprus and in Greece.

In 2013, the Cyprus Tourism Organization signed a cooperation agreement with the Cyprus Medical Association to promote the Country as a medical tourism destination. During the last ITB held in Berlin, they announced new agreements to foster the growth of this segment.

During the visit of the Cyprus Undersecretary of the President to Israel, the Government showed its intention of starting several collaborations with the Israeli Government in the business, innovation and tourism sector. In March, ISSTA Lines, part of the Israel’s biggest tourism company ISSTA Assets, started a joint acquisition together with the chain Fattal Hotel Management of 800 hotel rooms of 3 different resorts located in the area of Paphos, for a value of 80 million euros.

At Twissen we observed that Cyprus is a mature leisure destination. There is room for developing business in the wedding tourism segment, in particular for the British demand. A major attention paid to sustainability could further enhance the tourism performances of the destination.

Francesco Redi

President and founder at Twissen. Manager in Local Development, Tourism Policies,  EU Funds. He cooperates with several European universities, public bodies, development agencies, DMOs and enterprises.

L'articolo Cyprus, a leisure destination that grows in wedding tourism proviene da Twissen.

Poland as a tourist destination has a strong leisure connotation. In 2016, the domestic and foreign tourism expense for this purpose was 80,4% of direct contribution to tourism, against 19,6% for the business travel segment. It is interesting to underline that 69,8% of direct contribution is given by the international tourism expense (PLN 44,5bn, namely 10,4bn euros). In fact, as highlighted in the “Travel & Tourism Competitiveness Report” by the World Economic Forum, the destination can count on an interesting “International Openness” (26th out of 141 Countries). Further strength points are “Environmental Sustainability” (28th) and “Cultural Resources and Business Travel” (35th). The same report underlines the challenges that the Country is facing in “Priorization of Travel & Tourism” (99th) and the possibility of improving “Air Transport Infrastructure” (73rd).

As reported by the destination portal GotoPoland.eu, the number of international tourists in the Country has been growing since 2014. During that year, Poland welcomed 16 million international arrivals, with an average tourism spending of 400 euros per stay (480 euros in the business segment). The most important origin markets are Germany (about 3 million arrivals), Lithuania, UK and Italy. The number of Ukrainian tourists grew by 15% from 2015. Also the number of Chinese tourists has been rising with a more than 20% pace of growth, and spending more than 1000 euros per day, as they prefer staying in luxury accommodation facilities. On the other hand, Russian tourists had a 8% loss. The favourite destinations are Krakow, along with the historical-cultural site of Auschwitz, in Oświęcim.
In the month of March, the Prime Minister, supported by the Ministry of Sport and Tourism, stated to push on sport events as the key to enhance Poland as tourism destination, also considering the success of the European Week of Sport which held in September 2016.

In 2015, the Polish Government published the “Tourism Development Plan until 2020”. The most important goals are enhancing the destination competitiveness, reducing the fragmentation which characterises this sector through an integrated collaboration among the players of the industry and designing tourism products which involve both urban and rural areas. The Plan also foresees an intense online marketing, which aims to expand the popularity of the destination and the success of the promotion campaigns. Poland, along with Slovakia, Czech Republic and Hungary, joined the project called “Discover Central Europe“, which aims to promote this region of Europe to possible tourism flows.

According to the UK Foreign Travel Advice, Poland is a safe destination, with a low threat deriving from international terrorism and a low crime rate.

At Twissen we observed that tourism in Poland has interesting growth opportunities. As a result of the Government statements, new opportunities can be developed in the sport tourism and events segment. As Poland is a mature destination for the leisure segment, tourism products can be designed for business travels, as the Country has the appropriate resources to meet the demand of this segment.

Francesco Redi

President and founder at Twissen. Manager in Local Development, Tourism Policies,  EU Funds. He cooperates with several European universities, public bodies, development agencies, DMOs and enterprises.

L'articolo Poland, enhancing tourism through sport proviene da Twissen.