Can exhibitions promote sustainable tourism?

Worldwide tourism accounts for close to 10 per cent of GDP, equivalent to around $7.5 trillion, and is responsible for one in 11 jobs. The importance of tourism is also reflected in several of the goals of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and recognized as a crucial tool in the global community's effort to eliminate extreme poverty.

Future tourism offerings will be able to take advantage of an increased demand by consumers for tourism products that are ethically, socially and environmentally sensitive.

In the early 1960s, Professor Jerome Mc Carthy suggested a marketing mix which included four main factors "product, price, place, promotion". Every factor includes many activities. The fourth factor in marketing mix - promotion- holds all communication tools which can send a message to the audience. These tools can be divided into five groups, advertising, sales promotion, public relations, sales person, and direct marketing. The proportion of sales promotion has now reached 70 per cent which is one of the pivots of promotion and exhibitions are one of the effective tools to promote green tourism. Trade shows consume, on average, 16 per cent to 20 per cent of the marketing budget for business marketing organizations.

At FITUR: The International Spanish Tourism Trade Fair (Madrid, 19-23 May 2021), UNWTO will ensure sustainability, innovation and responsibility are a central part of the conversation. FITUR was the last global in-person trade fair to take place before the Covid-19 pandemic, and is the first one to return, sending a clear message of the resolve of the tourism sector for a safe and responsible restart.

At the Arabian Travel Market conference session entitled 'Aviation – the key to rebuilding international travel, restoring confidence, global solutions and building business', was moderated by TV and radio presenter Phil Blizzard, with guest panellists including, George Michalopoulos Chief Commercial Officer, Wizz Air; Hussein Dabbas, General Manager Special Projects for MEA region, Embraer and John Brayford, President, The Jetsets.

Overall, the panel was bullish about the recovery citing pent-up demand, which could initially outstrip the availability of flights, until airlines resume their regular pre-Covid scheduled services and routes, particularly on domestic and regional routes which they agreed would be the first to recover.

"Domestic and regional leisure passenger traffic will recover first. This will be driven by massive pent-up demand, helped by relaxed 'local' restrictions and improved consumer confidence," said Dabbas.

"This trend will ultimately increase demand from airlines for smaller more cost-effective aircraft – a maximum of 120 passengers, on direct routes, with increased frequency of service," he added.

To illustrate his point, Dabbas pointed to the Air France-KLM pre-pandemic decision to order 30 A220 jets while announcing the retirement of their A380 fleet, in a bid to improve the airline's fuel efficiency and costs. "IATA estimates that domestic markets could recover to 96 per cent of pre-crisis levels in the second half of this year, a 48 per cent improvement over 2020 and a return to pre-Covid levels in the third quarter of 2024," said Dabbas.

Talking about improving consumer confidence, the panel agreed that there had to be some form of global regulation, a collaboration between industry bodies, governments, airports and airlines, that would be easy to understand and universal.

"As it stands the quarantine rules and other Covid regulations are confusing, they need simplifying. Governments should concentrate on PCR testing and vaccines. Passengers need a secure source of information covering the flight and the destination," said Dabbas, "We are a one-world industry."

Michalopoulos added, "Vaccine passports are the way forward and it is also important that we communicate just how safe onboard air conditioning is. Some people think that recirculated air in planes is not safe, that simply isn't true. Aircraft have filtering systems which are as efficient as hospital ICUs."

Looking to the future, Brayford an industry stalwart whose company The Jetsets is pioneering fractional ownership in private business jets, said that airlines would need a clear plan moving forward.

"A niche today might become a mainstream trend tomorrow, so no opportunity should be overlooked, the way in which some airlines have supplemented reduced passenger numbers with cargo is a good example. Flexibility and managing costs will also be key." Generally, holding tourism exhibitions has advantages and disadvantages which should be taken into account, but what is indisputable is that the advantages of tourism exhibition by correct programming for controlling and decreasing its disadvantages can lead to sustainable development of the tourism industry.