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www.travelweekly-asia.com 2 | ITB ASIA OFFICIAL DAILIES talking point Published by NORTHSTAR TRAVEL MEDIA SINGAPORE PTE LTD SINGAPORE 91 Bencoolen Street, #05-08 Sunshine Plaza, Singapore 189652 • TEL: +65-6801-0450 FAX: +65-6801-0469 BEIJING Room 024, Building 8, Qijiayuan Diplomatic Compound, No.9 Jianguomenwai Street, Chaoyang District 100600, China • TEL: +8610-8532 3611 | FAX: +8610-8532 5293 SHANGHAI Room 2553, The Headquarters Building, No.168 Central XiZhang Road, Shanghai 200001, China • TEL: +8621-5179 8360 | FAX: +8621-5179 8360 Travel Weekly Asia is published on a monthly basis by Northstar Travel Media Singapore Pte Ltd. For reprints or copyright permission contact Travel Weekly Asia at +65 6801 0450 or email to twasia-salesmtg@travelweekly.com Printed by TIMES PRINTERS PRIVATE LIMITED (LOO7/08/2015) NORTHSTAR TRAVEL GROUP (ASIA) GROUP PUBLISHER Irene Chua Tel: (65) 6801 0451 | ichua@travelweekly.com EDITORIAL EDITORIAL DIRECTOR Yeoh Siew Hoon Tel: (65) 6801 0450 | syeoh@ntmllc.com EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Esther Faith Lew Tel: (65) 6801 0457 | esther.lew@ntmllc.com EDITOR-AT-LARGE Ian Jarrett Tel: (618) 9433 6455 | ian.jarrett@travelweekly.com SUB EDITOR Vera Lye | veralye@gmail.com ASSISTANT EDITOR Lee Xin Hui Tel: (65) 6801 0453 | xinhui.lee@ntmllc.com WRITER Corinne Wan Tel: (603) 2201 1979 | corinne.wan@travelweekly.com HONG KONG CORRESPONDENT Catharine Nicol | cn@monsterpix.hk CONTRIBUTORS Mark Lean, Brittany Panter, Brooke Thio and Marissa Trew ART DIRECTOR Lim Bee Bee Tel: (65) 9750 8405 | bb.bbcreative@gmail.com SALES & MARKETING REGIONAL SALES DIRECTOR Ng Whey Whey Tel: (65) 6801 0460 | whey.ng@ntmllc.com REGIONAL SALES MANAGER Kevin Ng Tel: (65) 6801 0459 | kevin.ng@ntmllc.com MARKETING EXECUTIVE Rachelle Lee Tel: (65) 6801 0458 | rachelle.lee@ntmllc.com AD TRAFFIC AND PRODUCTION COORDINATOR Rena Koh Tel: (65) 6801 0455 | rena.koh@ntmllc.com IT & DIGITAL IT & DIGITAL OPERATIONS Ron Wee Tel: (65) 6801 0456 | ron.wee@ntmllc.com CHINA OFFICE GROUP PUBLISHER (China) Rebecca Zhang Tel: (8621) 5179 8363 | rebecca.zhang@ntmllc.com BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT DIRECTOR Shawn Li Tel: (8610) 8532 4021 | shawn.li@travelweekly.com BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT DIRECTOR Roger Wang Tel: (8621) 5179 8360 | roger.wang@travelweekly.com EDITORIAL DIRECTOR Susan Li Tel: (8610) 8532 3611 | susan.li@travelweekly.com MEDIA REPRESENTATIVES HONG KONG/MACAU ZAM International - Manna Ma Tel: (852) 9650 0518 | manna.ma@zamintl.com.hk KOREA Young Media Inc - Keon Chang Tel: (822) 2273 4833 | ymedia@chol.com INDIA MHI Communications - Smriti Khanna Tel: (9198) 1040 7483 | skhanna@mhi.com.hk AUDIENCE DEVELOPMENT AUDIENCE DEVELOPMENT DIRECTOR - ASIA Patti Mo | patti.mo@travelweekly.com DATABASE & FULFILLMENT MANAGER Zoe Chu | zoe.chu@travelweekly.com FINANCE ASIA FINANCE MANAGER Julia Tham | julia.tham@ntmllc.com NORTHSTAR TRAVEL GROUP CHAIRMAN AND CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER Thomas L. Kemp CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER Lisa Cohen PRESIDENT, TRAVEL GROUP Robert G. Sullivan EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENT, DIGITAL MEDIA Thomas Cintorino EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENT, GROUP PUBLISHER David Blansfield SENIOR VICE PRESIDENT, PRESIDENT, EDITORIAL DIRECTOR Lori Cioffi SENIOR VICE PRESIDENT, EDITORIAL DIRECTOR Arnie Weissmann SENIOR VICE PRESIDENT, HUMAN RESOURCES Janine L. Bavoso VICE PRESIDENT, MARKETING SOLUTIONS Michelle Rosenberg VICE PRESIDENT, PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT AND PRODUCTION Roberta Muller VICE PRESIDENT, CONTENT LICENSING Sheila Rice VICE PRESIDENT, IT INFRASTRUCTURE AND OPERATIONS Rich Mastropietro VICE PRESIDENT, DATABASE PRODUCTS Elizabeth Koesser TRAVEL WEEKLY EVENTS PRESIDENT, TRAVEL GROUP Robert G. Sullivan SENIOR VICE PRESIDENT, EVENTS, TRAVEL GROUP Alicia Evanko-Lewis ON WITH THE SHOW Ian Jarrett is a widely travelled and experienced writer specialising in hospitality and aviation. His work has appeared in a variety of consumer and travel trade titles, and online newswires. Recent travels have taken him to Kenya, Tanzania, South Africa, Seoul, Kazakhstan, United Kingdom and Bali, although he is just as happy walking with his dog on a local beach. Ian Jarrett is a widely travelled and experienced writer specialising in hospitality and aviation. His work has appeared in a variety of consumer and travel trade titles, and online newswires. Recent travels have taken him to Kenya, Tanzania, South Africa, Seoul, Kazakhstan, United Kingdom and Bali, although he is just as happy walking with his dog on a local beach. In what has been a wretched year for terrorist activity – the worst incidents being the truck attack in Nice that slaughtered 85 people, 10 of them children; the killing of 49 people by a lone attacker in a gay nightclub in Orlando, Florida, and the Baghdad car bombing that left 300 shoppers dead - the travel industry has been given the tough job of convincing clients that we live and travel in a safe world. Throw in the Zika virus, shaky economies, the odd volcano spewing ash around the place, and fears that Donald Trump may actually bluster his way into the White House - and the job of selling travel dreams has been harder in 2016 than for many years. Yet, for every shocking story, there are good ones to remind us that travel can be a vehicle for peace and understanding. As one very smart writer once said, "We travel not to escape life, but for life not to escape us." Travel Weekly USA Editor at Large Arnie Weissmann recently went looking for identifiable travel trends that could be resilient enough to withstand "a drumbeat of bad news". He found one possible candidate. "A search for substance in an increasingly senseless world is a travel trend that could benefit any supplier or destination, and one that every traveller will appreciate," he wrote. He added, "Travel experiences can provide a meaningful framework in a 'wobbly' world, and the wobblier things get, the more likely transformational travel could rise." Heading into 2017, what the industry needs more than ever is the know-how - and the confidence that sound knowledge brings - to combat negativity among travellers. It needs to offer experiences that go beyond the beach and the bar. On a recent trip to London, I stayed in Bethnal Green, once a gangland haunt of the infamous Kray twins. Just down the road is the Blind Beggar pub where Ronnie Kray shot a rival gangster. And even today, you are advised to check the nightly entertainment at the Bethnal Green Working Mens' Club in case the acts are a touch too risqué. Bethnal Green is going upmarket, much like its neighbour, Shoreditch, but it is still the haunt of locals, rather than tourists, and it offers a compelling close-up of the multicultural city that London has become now that the gangsters – or most of them – have moved on. Travel trade shows have a key role to play in building competence and self-confidence among industry members and this year at ITB Asia, there is a swag of seminars that will address key issues affecting international travel. ITB Asia will explore, through its seminars and keynote speeches, diverse yet topical and often contentious issues most relevant to the industry: everything from elephants in tourism, the impact of terrorism, Muslim tourism, LGBT tourism and child safety in popular tourist destinations. It promises to be quite a show.

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