THE World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC) has just appointed DAVID SCOWSILL as its new president and CEO and LIZ O’REILLY was one of the first to join him for a chat about the future.
Have you previously been involved with WTTC, what is your travel background?
Yes I have an extensive background in travel and have been a friend of WTTC for a long time.
I joined American Airlines in 1991 as managing director, Europe Middle East and Africa, when it acquired the transatlantic route network from TWA.
I worked at British Airways from 1993 to 1997 as director Europe/Middle Eastand as regional general manager Asia/Pacific. I also established the first global airline alliance with Qantas and negotiated a ‘joint services agreement’ between the two airlines, which has become the model for BA/IB/AA recent agreements.
I then became a member of WTTC when I joined the board of Hilton International in 1997 leading the brand re-unification programme between Hilton Group Plc and Hilton Hotels Corporation.
I also re-joined as a WTTC member when I was CEO of Opodo until 2004.
Shortly before I joined WTTC, in November 2010, I served as chairman of PrivateFly, vice-chairman at World Hotels AG and non-executive director Venere.com.
What is your vision for the future of WTTC? Do you plan any changes?
We will particularly focus on travel and tourism’s human resource requirements in 2011. With an extra two billion people expected to join the middle-class over the next 20 years – mainly from Asia – is our industry ready for this rising tide of new customers? Do we have a workforce that is sufficiently skilled to guarantee standards of service and experience?
We also hope to explore the value of corporate travel, particularly as we emerge from the economic downturn, and there are increasing signs that this important part of the industry is showing early signs of recovery. China will of course remain a focus for the industry as it leads growth in Asia. Although it is not the only country that will be important in this region, it is one that has shown significant government commitment to developing travel and tourism as an economic powerhouse.
As usual, our Global Travel & Tourism Summit will be one of our key events, as well as being a major date in the travel and tourism calendar. This year, we head to Las Vegas, recognising the importance of the US as a leading destination and the work the nation is doing to win back a ‘lost decade’ of international travellers.
What do you see as the greatest challenges facing the travel and tourism industry in the future?
One of the biggest issues we need to address is the fundamental lack of understanding that governments have about travel and tourism. Uninformed politicians will put in place poorly thought-out policies and legislation that will harm our industry and prevent us reaching our full potential. That’s bad for us but also bad for national economies, as a properly supported tourism industry can help countries recover from the downturn.
Historically there have already been a number of poorly-planned policies that are now almost impossible to have repealed. Visa process is one issue that remains a threat. While we understand the need to secure borders in this security-conscious age, governments must make it as easy as possible for potential visitors to obtain a visa. We believe solutions can be found in existing technological applications.
The volcanic ash cloud crisis earlier in 2010 also highlighted a couple of issues that threaten the prosperity of the industry. The lack of a single European sky means aviation routes are inefficient, negatively impacting the environment and causing lengthening journey times. Governments were unable to react quickly enough, resulting in lost business for many in our industry. We were also then hit by European compensation legislation, which requires certain standards of care for affected customers. Addressing such legislation will be one of our continuing challenges.
We all know that some tourism taxes are detrimental to destinations and travellers. The best example, and one which many destinations are increasingly incensed by is, of course, the UK’s Air Passenger Duty. Not only is the money raised unhypothecated, it has an uneven application that penalises longer-haul destinations, many of which depend on tourism for economic and social development. Air Passenger Duty also sets a dangerous precedent with Germany already introducing similar taxation.
What are the priorities for action by the industry to help itself continue on the road to recovery?
Our greatest opportunity remains the fact that today we consider travel a right not a privilege. Mature travellers will continue to seek out and visit new destinations, while the citizens of emerging markets will want to enjoy the experiences that mature travellers take for granted. Specific opportunities remain the growth in BRIC nations, technological advances that will help us to better help travellers and an ageing population that potentially will be affluent travellers. The main priority is to focus and invest in the above.
We must also keep reminding governments about the economic importance of travel and tourism – our industry creates more than 235 million jobs and contributes more than nine per cent to the global GDP.