Tourism

Success Stories and

Rising Stars
World Tourism Conference Proceedings
Kota Kinabalu, Sabah, Malaysia
4-6 October 2010

Copyright 2012, World Tourism Organization (UNWTO)

Calle Capitn Haya, 42
28020 Madrid
Spain
Tourism Success Stories and Rising Stars World Tourism Conference Proceedings
Kota Kinabalu, Sabah, Malaysia, 4 6 October 2010
ISBN-13: 978-92-844-1394-2 (printed version)
ISBN-13: 978-92-844-1428-4 (electronic version)
Published by the World Tourism Organization (UNWTO), Madrid, Spain
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First printing in 2011
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World Tourism Organization (2012), Tourism Success Stories and Rising Stars World
Tourism Conference Proceedings Kota Kinabalu, Sabah, Malaysia, 4 6 October 2010,
UNWTO, Madrid.

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Table of Contents

Foreword ............................................................................................................... v
1.

Overwiew .............................................................................................................. 1
Datuk Dr. Victor Wee and Dr. Wong Kong Yew

2.

Papers and Presentations .............................................................................. 19

2.1

Opening Ceremony ......................................................................................... 19

2.1.1

Welcome Remarks ............................................................................... 21

The Hon. Dato Sri Dr. Ng Yen Yen
Minister of Tourism, Malaysia

2.1.2

Welcome Remarks ............................................................................... 25

The Right Hon. Datuk Seri Panglima Musa Haji Aman
Chief Minister of Sabah

2.1.3

Welcome Remarks ............................................................................... 27

His Excellency Mr. Taleb Rifai
Secretary-General, World Tourism Organization (UNWTO)

2.2

Keynote Speeches ............................................................................................ 33

2.2.1

Country Branding for Sustainable Success .................................... 35

Susan Warren

2.2.2

Shaping the Government Agenda

to Improve Tourism Competitiveness ............................................ 55
Dr. Jurgen Ringbeck

2.2.3

Running a Successful National Tourism Campaign:

Visit Malaysia Year 2007 .................................................................... 71
Datuk Dr. Victor Wee and Dato Dr. Ong Hong Peng

2.3

First Session: Mega Trends and Innovation .............................................. 97

2.3.1

Preparing Tourism Business for Mega Trends .............................. 99

Prof. Kaye Chon

2.3.2

Expanding into New Frontiers with Air Asia .............................. 119

Azran Osman Rani

2.3.3

Global Destinations Rating for Competitiveness ....................... 129

Albert Stafford

2.4

Second Session: Tourism Business and Service Excellence ............... 147

2.4.1

Know Your Customer ...................................................................... 149

Paul Nursey

2.4.2

Creativity and Innovation: Tourism and Leisure Business ...... 157

James McBride

2.4.3

Maintaining Higher Tourist Arrivals: The Case of France ........ 175

Frdric Pierret

2.5

Third Session: Tourism Product Development and Marketing ......... 183

2.5.1

Global Economic Shift and Changing Consumer Behaviour:

Maximising Tourism Potential ....................................................... 185
Daniel Levine

2.5.2

Getting More Value Out of an Eco-tourism Destination:

Sabahs Experience ........................................................................... 209
Dato Seri Tengku Zainal Adlin Tengku Mahmod

2.5.3

Amsterdam:
Developing New Experiences for a Tourism City ...................... 243
Hans Dominicus

Annexes ............................................................................................................ 271

Annex A Statistics for Participants .......................................................... 273
Annex B Conference Programme .............................................................. 275

Foreword

Tourism has proven over the years to be a great contributor to the global economy.
It is a powerful driver of socio-economic growth and progress as evidenced by the
creation of jobs and enterprises, infrastructure development and the generation of
foreign exchange income.
Even though it is not immune to the influence of crisis situations of national, regional
or international nature, it has also repeatedly demonstrated its ability to rebound
strongly after crisis.
The World Tourism Conference (WTC) 2010 was organised at a time when the tourism
industry was gradually recovering from the exceptionally challenging time it had
experienced under the influence of the global economic crisis. This was no coincidence.
UNWTOs response to the global economic challenge and its negative impact on
international tourism was to design a Roadmap for recovery. It is a testament to
tourism and travel as one of the worlds biggest sources of employment and export
earnings as well as a crucial catalyst for economic recovery. In line with the Roadmap,
WTC 2010 aimed at examining the strategies of leading destinations and organisations
which can be adopted to accelerate growth in the tourism industry. It also focused
on innovative product development and marketing strategies for tourism to enable
public and private sectors to harness and maximise the potential of tourism.
Tourism Success Stories and Rising Stars the end-product of the Conference is a
compilation of examples of success stories and best practices of leading destinations
and organisations in the tourism industry. It covers topics ranging from the creation
of tourism businesses, service excellence, country branding to tourism product
development and marketing.
I congratulate all the international speakers and experts as well as their local
counterparts from Malaysia whose valuable contribution of information has enriched

Foreword

the contents of the publication. It is a must-have reference material which we are

adding to the pool of knowledge on tourism business operations, tourism policies,
strategies and methodologies for tourism development at the national, regional and
municipal levels.
I also commend Dr. Victor Wee, Chairman of UNWTOs Programme Committee and
Dr. Wong Kong-Yew, Associate Professor of the Tourism Research Institute for Policy
Studies of Malaysia for their contribution to the conclusions of the publication as well
as their editorial input.
Last but not least, I compliment the Regional Programme for Asia and the Pacific of
UNWTO on initiating and coordinating the production of this publication.

Taleb Rifai
Secretary-General
World Tourism Organization (UNWTO)

vi

Tourism Success Stories and Rising Stars

1
Overview

Datuk Dr. Victor Wee

Chairman, Malaysia Tourism Promotion Board

Dr. Wong Kong Yew

Vice President, Strategic Projects, UCSI University

The World Tourism Conference 2010 (WTC2010) held from 4 to 6 October 2010 in
Kota Kinabalu, state capital of Sabah, Malaysia was very timely because it provided
useful inputs to governments and the tourism industry that were looking for ways to
boost the economy and businesses following the 2009 economic slump. The tourism
and travel industry is now gaining more attention as a generator for income and
employment. To mainstream tourism in the economic agenda, the World Tourism
Organisation (UNWTO) and the World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC) are both
collaborating on a campaign to raise the profile of tourism by meeting with heads of
states and impressing on them the importance of this industry.
As mentioned by Dr. Taleb Rifai in his Welcome Remark in the World Tourism
Conference 2010 (WTC2010), sustaining growth in the difficult world-trading climate
is a challenge. Adding to the issues faced by the tourism industry, Rifai said that
the economy, employment, enablement, environment and energy are currently the
industrys biggest challenges. The austerity measures, as well as the rise in taxation
on travel implemented by several advanced economies, are expected to negatively
impact the leading outbound markets. Of concern are governments in particular
the United Kingdom and Germany taxing outbound tourism as a source of revenue
which has been disguised as taxes to reduce airline emissions. For tourism to prosper
and deliver its full range of benefits, including generating employment, governments
need to adopt enabling environments in terms of tourism facilitation policies and
enabling legislative environments.
Yet, as the world grows smaller, the competition for tourism businesses is heating
up. Unforeseen occasional shocks could adversely affect a countrys tourism industry
and even set back its entire economy (Ringbeck and Gross, 2007). Hence, there is a
question on what countries can do to sustain and improve their tourism industry.
WTC2010 brought together an impressive panel of speakers who represents a
selection of the Stars from the tourism industry, addressing the issue of how to

Overview

enhance ones competitiveness and grow the tourism industry at different levels,
specifically the national, city, destination and corporate levels. To bring about growth
in this industry that cuts across sectors, government bodies, private sectors and
NGOs should collaborate and cooperate to promote and sustain development of the
tourism industry. Public-Private Partnership (PPP) is one of the most popular practices
adopted by various destinations to enhance their competitive advantage.

Tourism as an economic contributor

The growth of tourism industry globally in the past few decades has made significant
contributions to economic growth and employment generation. According to the
UNWTO Tourism Highlights 2011, the overall income derived from inbound tourism in
2010 exceeded US$ 1 trillion, or close to US$ 3 billion a day. Tourism earnings which
are regarded as export of services also account for as much as 30% of the worlds
export of commercial services and 6% of the overall export of goods and services in
2010. It is ranked fourth after fuels, chemicals, and automobile products in the global
export category. Tourisms contribution to worldwide GDP is estimated at 5%, with
figures ranging from 2% for countries where tourism is a comparatively small sector
to over 10% for countries where tourism is an important pillar of the economy. The
contribution of tourism to employment tends to be slightly higher and is estimated in
the order of 6-7% of the overall number of direct and indirect jobs worldwide.
Despite the occurrence of occasional shocks, international tourist arrivals have shown
a strong growth trend, from 675 million in 2000 to 940 million in 2010. Tourist flows
tend to be more rapid in the emerging and developing countries where their share
of arrivals have steadily risen, from 31% in 1990 to 47% in 2010 (UNWTO Tourism
Highlights 2011). This massive number of tourists trotting the globe annually for
pleasure has important implications and effects on the economies, infrastructures
and governmental policies of the countries to which they travel.
Tourism is also recognised for its contribution to reducing poverty and preserving
natural and cultural resources in nations across the world. It has not only encouraged
growth in the hospitality and related industries of many countries, but also led to the
development of infrastructure to access the natural as well as man-made attractions
which benefit both the tourists and the local residents.

Tourism Success Stories and Rising Stars

Attitudes and recognition of countries on tourism

as an economic mechanism
Many governments all over the world have acknowledged tourism as one of the
mechanisms to stimulate economic development, accelerate local investment and
boosting employment. The Travel and Tourism Growth-Policy Risk Matrix (Ringbeck
and Gross, 2007) is helpful for governments to review and examine the operation
and performance of individual and aggregate rankings in their countries. The Travel
and Tourism Growth-Policy Risk Matrix was created by combining the Travel and
Tourism competitiveness index and the tourism satellite account outlook for growth.
The matrix can be used to assess business units or product lines, and how best to
allocate resources on an international basis. Figure 1 shows a growth-policy risk
matrix of whose results are classified in Cash Cow, Dogs, Question Marks, and Stars.
The explanation of each of these categories is shown in Table 1. The success stories
presented in WTC2010 fall within the northeast quadrant.
However, the intention of using the matrix is not to suggest that enterprises should
strive to achieve a balance of businesses across all four quadrants. Rather, the matrix
allows the industry to begin addressing how it wishes to proceed in terms of current
operations and the direction for possible future investments. Countries can also
figure out what they want their future tourism industry to look like.
Figure 1

Travel and Tourism Growth-Policy Risk Matrix

Source: Miller, 2007 in Travel and Tourism Competiveness Index Report

Overview

Table 1

Travel and Tourism (T&T) Growth-Policy Risk Matrix Public-Private Partnership (PPP)
Characteristics

Ways to move forward

Aspiration

Cash Cows

Countries with low policy

risk and slow T&T economy.
Companies in this group
generate a return in excess
of the amount of risk
incurred by operating this
country.

Satisfied with policy

situation but unsatisfied
with outlook for growth.
Should focus attention
on incentives that will
encourage investment.

Stars

Dogs

Countries with high policy

risk and slow T&T economy.
Companies in this group
typically break even,
although they generate
barely enough return to
maintain the risk/return
ratio.

Worried about policy

situation and outlook for
growth.
Should prioritise by
focusing on policy issues
with the greatest return on
investment.

Question Marks
or Cash Cows

Question Marks

Countries with high policy

risk and fast growing T&T
economy.
Require large amount of
investment and policy
attention to decrease the
policy risks.

Public sector should reduce

the risk in a return-oninvestment approach.

Stars

Stars

Countries with low policy

risk and fast growing T&T
economy.
Sustaining the countrys
policy leadership requires
extra attention.

In order to maintain high

level of growth, significant
attention to details and
working with private
sector to understand their
needs are required before
translating this information
into policy initiatives that
will keep a country ahead of
a curve.

A growing number of studies and articles offer evaluations of public-private

partnerships in a broad range of theory and policy areas. In tourism, the issue of
participation and stakeholders involvement in development has been addressed todate in the context of National Tourism Administrations (WTO, 1996). A successful
model for PPP is acknowledged by tourism destinations as a key driver for tourism
resilience. The most common types of PPP that have been identified by the majority
of the destinations are those related with marketing and promotion activities and the
development of new products and services (UNWTO, 2009).
PPP is activated when specific challenges need to be addressed, or opportunities need
to be unlocked, which clearly require the support of both parties. These will be shown

Tourism Success Stories and Rising Stars

in Table 2 below. Therefore, it is suggested that PPP will enhance the competitive
advantage of tourism industry in a particular destination or destinations. It will
provide viable and alternative efficient and effective delivery of tourism products,
infrastructure facilities and added value, through collaboration and partnerships
between various key stakeholders from the demand and supply side.
Table 2

Requirement of the Government and Private sectors for Competitive Advantage

Governments needs

Private sectors needs

Specific skills or expertise

for implementation

Planning permission

Capital investment

Funding

Risk management

Incentives

Accelerated delivery

Policy modification

Budget leverage

Lobbying support

Industry advantage

Elimination of red tape

Source: Compass, 2010

The concept of competitiveness and competitive advantage has been attracting

enormous attention from scholars in business and international trade. Hence, the
competitiveness of tourism destinations is also of interest to all stakeholders in the
industry. Literature on competitiveness has been reviewed extensively. The principal
hallmarks of this literature centre on theories of international trade and on the
contemporary work by Michael Porter on competition among firms and among nations
(Crouch and Ritchie, 1995). Porters diamond model (1991) shows four determinants
of national advantage which will affect its ability to compete: (1) factor conditions
the necessary resources are readily available or easy to source through global
networks, (2) demand conditions home demand which plays a disproportionate role
in influencing the perception of buyer needs and the capacity of firms to improve
products and services over time, (3) firm strategy, structure, and rivalry the context
for competition in a region or nation, and (4) related and supporting industries the
availability, accessibility and presence of local suppliers in related fields and the role
of government policy.
The contribution of partnerships to the competitive advantage of tourism destinations
can be summed up by the tentative destination competitiveness model of Crouch and
Ritchie (1995). The model includes four groups of factors (Figure 2). The core group
Overview

represents factors which act to attract tourism. It includes tourism resources such
as biological, ecological, cultural and social resources, as well as attractions, festivals
and events, and man-made superstructures. A destination can identify its competitive
advantage in terms of pull factors, and which factor will capture tourists attention
and make it stand out compared to other destinations. This is a fundamental for
tourism planning and developing.
Figure 2

Tentative Destination Competitiveness Model

Source: Crouch and Ritchie, 1995

Supporting factors provide the foundations for a strong tourism operation. Since
tourism is considered a cross-sectional industry, availability and support from
related industries suppliers will provide advantages in terms of information, access
to new technology, and market penetration. Therefore, competitive advantage is also
affected by the presence of local suppliers and related industries in those products,
machines or services that are essential to the process of innovation. This also refers
to forward and backward linkages in the tourism industry where an enterprise system
is an engine for free enterprise economics, accounting for employment and output,
especially small and medium enterprises (SMEs). SMEs are the greatest source for new
ideas and inventions. Therefore, tourism SMEs are of fundamental importance to the
development of tourism as an industry.

Tourism Success Stories and Rising Stars

One of the most important influencing factors for competitive advantage is government.
The key role of government in tourism policy is undeniable, even though tourism is a
private sector-driven industry. Government bodies at all levels can improve national
advantage by their investment schemes, which influence the goals of individuals and
firms (Porter, 1991). Government policies that succeed are those which create an
environment in which companies can gain competitive advantage (Porter, 1991).
A further factor which influences a destinations competitive potential, is destination
equity (Wong, 2004) which is considered as tourist perception of a destination, based
on social, economical, environmental, and infrastructure development, and political
stability. This global force is not only important to attract tourists and travellers but
also draws interest and business opportunity from investors.
Destination management factors represent the destinations ability to shape and
influence its competitive strength (Crouch and Ritchie, 1995). It can include business
permits and zoning controls, research and development work, marketing strategy
and promotion, business association initiatives and a host of other techniques to
shape the service integrity and productivity.

The approach
The main thrust of this conference was to uncover the secrets of leading destinations
and organisations in the tourism industry and provide invaluable lessons on how
to achieve growth and competitiveness in the tourism industry in an increasingly
challenging and competitive global environment. The conference was targeted at
government officers and policy makers involved in managing and promoting tourism
growth, as well as industry leaders and practitioners who were seeking a greater
understanding of current market trends. It provided an understanding of tourism
destination management and marketing, and generated ideas on how to synergize
corporate strategies with government initiatives to obtain optimum benefits for all
the parties involved.
The conference featured three keynote speeches and three thematic sessions in order
to provide an opportunity to industry stakeholders to learn on a first-hand basis from
the success stories, perspectives and experiences. The keynote speeches touch on

Overview

the issue of branding and managing reputations for countries and destinations, the
macroeconomic reality and growth in regional travel that shape government travel
and tourism agenda, and Malaysias big success in running a year-long campaign on
Visit Malaysia Year 2007.
The first session focussed on Mega Trends and Innovation and how they impact on
stakeholders in carrying out their business in the competitive world. The innovative
approach adopted by Air Asia X was excellent example of how a low-cost carrier
achieved success by riding the trend for passenger traffic. Cities being major tourist
destinations could be rated for global competitiveness in order to evaluate their
capacity to sustain strong visitor flows.
The theme for the second session was Tourism Business and Service Excellence. The
Canadian Tourism Commission conducted an in-depth study of its best and worst
tourism customers and turned that customer knowledge into more targeted campaigns
and improved marketing performance for overall tourism competitiveness. Two
cases were presented in this session. The first was on running a chain of Malaysianowned international luxury hotels, while the second was the experience of France in
increasing its already high tourist arrivals.
In the third session, the presentations narrowed down to Tourism Product
Development and Marketing. Levine argued the case of developing new tourism
products and maximising the tourism potential by recognising global economic shifts
and changing consumer behaviour. Sabah had distinguished itself as a mega biodiversity destination and showed how more value could be obtained from naturebased tourism. For an established tourism destination such as Amsterdam, the
challenge was reinventing itself and creating new experiences for tourists so that they
would continue to return to the city as visitors.

Keynote speeches
Image building is a complex process, and no single organisation can control and
communicate reputation. In her paper, Susan Warren argues that managing reputation
for countries and destinations is a powerful way to support success across the four
pillars of sustainability: economic, social and cultural, environmental, and climate

10

Tourism Success Stories and Rising Stars

change. There are multiple stakeholders, conflicting political agendas, and the private
sector which is mainly industry-driven, which do not engage enough to provide
strategic inputs for successful national branding. Hence, country or destination
branding must encompass a wider range of capabilities spanning across political,
investment, business, tourism, culture and community. The collaboration and
agreement with multiple stakeholders on a vision and national strategy is a must
for country branding. For this reason, government, business and civil society should
take responsibility to lead and manage national reputation. Warren pointed out some
examples of successful brands that have been undertaken by India, South Africa,
Australia and New Zealand. More and more countries are pursuing nation brand
initiatives for a more comprehensive approach to reputation management as well as
providing higher visibility to influence reputation.
In his presentation, Jurgen Ringbeck, who was a Senior Partner in Booz & Company,
highlighted four major drivers that will shape the global Travel and Tourism agenda:
(1) new macroeconomic reality with high uncertainty, (2) increasing competition
throughout the Travel and Tourism value chain, (3) the typical tourist is changing,
and (4) sustainability will become a prerequisite for Travel and Tourism. He also
recommended five considerations for policymakers to map out potential means to
ensure successful development under these new conditions: (1) fostering resilience
of the national Travel and Tourism sector against short-term disruptive events and
external shocks, (2) ensuring easy access to national tourism offering, (3) refining
national tourism strategies to cater to new or more attractive tourist segments,
(4) implementing a more holistic view of Travel and Tourism economy as a whole, and
(5) considering environmental sustainability as a major driver of future Travel and
Tourism competitiveness
A good case highlighting the collaborative effort in running a successful tourism
campaign was provided by the paper presented by Datuk Dr. Victor Wee (Chairman,
Malaysia Tourism Promotion Board) and Dato Dr. Ong Hong Peng (Secretary General,
Ministry of Tourism Malaysia) on how Malaysia had successfully put together a
powerful campaign that encompassed branding, getting the resources and support
from multiple stakeholders collaboration, and obtaining strong government support
in developing and promoting tourism. The Visit Malaysia Year 2007 (VMY2007)
campaign, which was mounted to mark Malaysias 50th year of Independence, were
aimed at showcasing to the world Malaysias achievements during the last 50 years

Overview

11

as well as revitalising and propelling tourism development in order to transform

Malaysia into a tourism country.
The presentation unveiled behind-the-scenes considerations and strategies that were
adopted to run a successful national campaign. In fact, it can be said that VMY2007
was probably one of the most successful visit year tourism campaigns ever conducted.
Through the campaign alone, Malaysia increased its arrivals by 3.5 million in 2007
and raised its tourism receipts by US$ 3.3 billion. This campaign boosted Malaysias
arrivals to 21 million and tourism receipts to US$ 15.4 billion and helped to propel
Malaysia into the rank of the top ten most visited destinations three years later.
We gave the arguments that were used to request for the budget to run the campaign.
One perennial problem faced by tourism agencies was convincing the Ministry of
Finance to allocate sufficient resources to run a successful campaign. The Ministry of
Tourism (MOTOUR) was able to put up a strong argument on how every ringgit that
was allocated to run the campaign could bring in a return of RM100 in international
tourism receipts for the economy. Another problem faced by MOTOUR was to get the
other bigger ministries whose policy actions affect tourists to adjust and reorient
their policies to become tourism-friendly. MOTOUR was instrumental in establishing
the Cabinet Committee on Tourism, comprising ministers from key agencies and
chaired by the Deputy Prime Minister. As the secretariat, MOTOUR prepared papers
with recommendations on how to improve government policy measures for the
growth of the tourism industry which led to the synchronisation of policy actions and
contributed to the success of VMY2007 campaign. Through coordination meetings,
the various government agencies and the relevant industry players became clear
about their respective roles and functions which contributed to the success of the
campaign.

Megatrends on travel
One prominent example of partnership in contributing to competitive advantage is a
study about top ten trends which will re-shape world tourism patterns in the next 20
years. This study was a collaboration between Hong Kong Polytechnic University and
UNWTO in order to identify major trends shaping tourism in Asia Pacific based upon
content analysis of popular media in tourism. Professor Kaye Chon, Chair Professor

12

Tourism Success Stories and Rising Stars

and Director of the Hong Kong Polytechnic University, discussed some megatrends
occurring within tourism and their implications on business practices. He also
projected future trends that would shape the future development of tourism business
practices and outcomes.
One of the prominent future trends pointed out by Chon was the rise of conscious (as
opposed to conspicuous) consumption and stronger consumer awareness towards
responsible tourism. Corporate social responsibility would encompass issues of
climate change and global warming. Some future trends to look out for are hospitality
industries offering environmentally friendly products and services, while long-haul
travel will not be considered environmentally threatening as airlines opt for bio or
renewable fuel. There will be companies which would not sign contracts with hotels
that do not have environmentally friendly features. There will also be rising demand
for medical tourism, sports tourism and soft adventure, as increasing longevity
creates new business opportunities. The pressure to remain competitive will make it
necessary for businesses to innovate and offer new vacation destinations, including
space tourism.
Professor Chons study pointed out that the centre of trade and travel will gravitate
towards Asia, while low-cost carriers will thrive, with the rising trend towards intraregional travel. Air Asia, one of the most successful low-cost airlines in the world,
had capitalised on this megatrend. Most low-cost carriers would only concentrate on
short- and medium-haul routes, but Air Asia ventured into a new territory with the
establishment of Air Asia X, which flies long-haul routes that are dominated by legacy
airlines. Instead of waiting for passengers to decide where they would like to go, Air
Asia motivates consumers to purchase tickets at bargain prices without necessarily
knowing where they would be travelling to. It markets aggressively to convert interest
into purchase decisions through innovative campaigns and engaging the customers
with the brand. With low ticket prices and increased affordability of intra-regional
travel, the trend for long-haul travel is towards a multi-destination experience.
Concluding the topic on megatrends and innovation, Albert Stafford offered a
systematic way in benchmarking and listing the performance criteria for cities which
would like to be global tourism destinations in their own right. The performance
measures include traditional elements such as visitor numbers, expenditure and length
of stay, international events and MICE activities. In addition, there are also various

Overview

13

measures such as product development and infrastructure, and the economic impact
of visitor expenditure on employment. Cities aspiring to be globally competitive as
tourist destinations would need a highly transparent governance structure for city
management, efficient infrastructure and marketing approaches which stimulate new
investments and create new attractions and experiences every few years. In addition,
Stafford suggests the need for applying technology to provide high-quality visitor
information and engaging with local communities for their support for tourism
development and integration. The competitive global cities should adopt honest
and accurate imagery, as well as recognise the mix of culture and the diversity of
local cuisine which adds to the gastronomic experience. Marketing and promotion
should be undertaken as a clever partnership between government and industry with
responsibility not just falling to one or the other.

Tourism business and service excellence

Putting the customer at the centre of the marketing approach and understanding
what they want is the key for successful destination marketing. William Harding
related how, when faced with keen competition, the Canadian Tourism Commission
(CTC) had to take the step of learning more from Canadas best and worst customers
so as to turn that knowledge into its competitive advantage. Better knowledge of the
customers would lead to more targeted campaigns, improved marketing performance
and lower marketing costs. The Explorer Quotient (EQ) was developed to match
consumers with tourism products based on travel values and motivations. The
marketing campaigns conducted by CTC using EQ and conversion studies helped
marketers to achieve deeper consumer awareness and excellent results.
For YTL Hotels, the development of the award-winning Pangkor Laut Resort on a
beautiful tropical island set amidst the lush rainforest, was the result of passion,
innovation and determination. James McBride mentioned that YTL adopted the peoplecentred and experience-based strategy in its chain of luxury hotels, ensuring that its
employees understood consumer needs. To build its pool of quality manpower, YTL
ran its own hotel school in Kuala Lumpur to ensure that its employees had the right
talent and skills to do the job. For a hotel to be able to command premium rates, it
must have a beautiful destination and extraordinary staff who are engaged and able
to deliver quality service that meets the highest level of expectations.

14

Tourism Success Stories and Rising Stars

In the case of France, it is one of the worlds top three most visited countries and
Frdric Pierret argued that it has the benefit of history, geography and cultural
heritage that offer a wide diversity of products to its tourists. It has four main areas:
urban tourism, coastal tourism, snow and mountain tourism, and rural tourism. In
addition, it is one of the worlds oldest tourism destinations and has strong cultural
strengths in its culture, such as art, literature, architecture, and rich history. Tourism
activities include sports and physical activities, discovery and adventure, shopping,
entertainment, religion, wellness and health and MICE. Frances tourism industry is
supported by profitable and quality transport networks, strong governance systems,
and a high density of security and hygiene norms. A point that is often overlooked is
the importance of domestic tourism in the industry. In the case of France, domestic
tourism accounts for 70% of its tourism receipts.

Tourism product development and marketing

In the third session on tourism product development and marketing, Daniel Levine
supported the finding of Chons megatrends study. He argued that those involved
with travel and tourism should understand social trends so that they could foresee
the direction of future demand and come up with innovative solutions to address
the demands. The economic downturn had influenced the way people now think
about travelling. Instead of travelling for sheer hedonism and to flaunt wealth, the
purpose is now shifting to meaningful travel such as spending time with friends and
family, self-improvement, social responsibility, learning about themselves, education,
health, spirituality, and pursuing passion. Hence, more creative products will be put
together to meet the new direction of consumer demand. People will travel on the
motivation of enrichment and self-improvement so that they come back renewed
with more understanding than before they left. The motivation to feel connected
will result in more demand for travel to spend meaningful time with friends and
family members. There will also be opportunities in travel that are connected with
community involvement which could touch the lives of other people and concern for
the environment and eco-awareness.
Building upon the interests of tourists for eco-tourism, Sabah on the Borneo island
is fortunate to be very well endowed with eco-products. It is equatorial and lies at
the heart of mega-diversity of the Indo Pacific Basin and Malesia Eco-region. Tengku

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Zainal Adlin pointed out that Sabah is located at the apex of the coral triangle, and is
the worlds centre for marine diversity. Its diverse rainforest is over 130 million years
old, more than twice the age of the Amazon. Nature products are fragile and have
limited carrying capacity. The approach adopted by Sabah is placing more emphasis
on yield rather than numbers and also being tourist- rather than product-centred.
The secret of its marketing success is relationship-marketing, in which it engages in
strategic networking and smart partnership with key players at all levels.
Amsterdam is a mature destination for city tourism, and Han Dominicus said that
the real challenge is developing new tourism products to attract more visitors who
come more often and spend more money. In its tourism product development, it
considers visitors opinions through its surveys. Since Amsterdam is a small city,
there are concerns about overcrowding. The plan was to spread out development
out to the city centre in a polycentric pattern, with each area having its own identity,
character and authenticity. New suburbs are developed so that visitors can experience
the authentic way of life out of the city centre. The development of new areas with
different attractions will help to keep the tourists longer and encourage them to
spend more.

Conclusion
Tourism is an important industry in Europe, although it is sometimes not perceived
as serious. This is unfortunate because tourism is an important economic pillar which
generates employment and supports a more diverse range of amenities. From the
paper presentations, it is clear that the government plays an important role in leading
and stimulating growth especially in emerging tourism industries and destinations.
In addition, a strong collaborative mechanism for public-private sector partnership
is another important element for creating competitive advantage and success. For
countries such as Malaysia, the tourism industry is the second largest source of
foreign exchange and an important element in propelling economic growth. Malaysias
competitive tourism industry benefits from the strong government commitment to
this industry, and a plan is underway to take the industry further in the next 10 years.
At the conference, many of the success stories that were shared had a common
thread, i.e. being alert to the changing trends, creative product development, and

16

Tourism Success Stories and Rising Stars

being innovative in providing service excellence and experience. While the wealth of
experiences and insights can be very useful in tourism planning, there is no magic
bullet that could be used to propel a country, province, city or business to achieve
star status. Some important lessons are: (1) learning to recognise consumer trends
and adjusting the business to take advantage of this; (2) government commitment to
develop and promote the tourism industry; (3) forging close working relationships at
all levels of government as well as strong public-private sector partnership in running
a successful national or branding campaign; (4) establishing a strong brand image
and delivering the service quality that exceeds expectations; and (5) creativity and
innovation to be ahead of the game.

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