Northstar

www.travelweekly-asia.com 1 ATF OFFICIAL SUPPORTING DAILIES | By Esther Faith Lew Destination: MYANMAR Authentic and unspoilt p16 INSIDE Product Focus: CRUISES A tour operator's advice to cruise sellers p8 T he global incentive travel industry is holding strong, with 60 percent of buyers reporting they plan to increase the number of people eligible for incentive travel awards in the next year, and nearly half of all buyers say budgets have increased, according to SITE Index 2017. "While budgets have increased slightly, the majority of buyers are managing costs through various approaches, the most common of which are planning shorter programmes; having less expensive destinations; and having less expensive amenities," said Kevin Hinton, CIS, chief excellence officer, Society for Incentive Travel Excellence (SITE). Hinton highlighted two trends for incentive travel that bode well for ASEAN countries: sustainability programmes with a strong CSR initiative and wellness activities. Helen Marano, senior vice president, government affairs, World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC) emphasised that ASEAN countries are characterised by beautiful nature and culture that provide valuable opportunities. "Two of this year's WTTC Tourism for Tomorrow Awards finalists are from the region. Misool, Indonesia, is in the Environment category and STREETS International, Vietnam, is in the People category. They are part of inspiring stories that work to IT'S PLAYTIME IN ASEAN Showbuzz : Views that matter p24 News Highlight: Indonesia keen to upgrade ports p23 preserve nature and empower local communities," said Marano. Thailand, Vietnam and Myanmar were among the top 10 fastest- growing tourism economies in 2015, according to Marano. In terms of the market share size, Thailand and Indonesia are in the global top 20. Typical top performers such as Indonesia and Singapore are also shown to be on track for tourism infrastructure development by staying ahead of the curve. This places them in strong stead for meeting continued tourism demand. Raising the bar The need to continually raise the bar places pressure on the blue-eyed boys, especially for land-scarce Singapore. "It is important for popular tourism destinations to continue reinventing themselves and their tourism offerings so travellers will not just visit once but will return. This could involve building more as well as renovating visitor accommodations, increasing airport capacity and expanding tourist facilities," said Marano. Singapore is well on track to receive an additional 16 million passengers per year after Terminal 4 opens in the second half of the year. Following that will be Terminal 5, which is expected to move 140 million passengers per year when it Continued page 4. PHOT0 CREDIT: ISTOCK Strong global demand for unique experiences drive the region's appeal for incentive travel Making a Difference w w w.travelweekly-asia.com 19 Januar y 2017 PUBLISHED BY NORTHSTAR TRAVEL MEDIA SINGAPORE PTE LTD ISSN 2382-6061 MCI (P) 012/07/2016 PPS 1849/09/2014 (025581) Day 2 O F F I C I A L D A I L I E S S U P P O R T I N G

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