ATEDCo part of Destination Marketing Association International Leadership Forum

As part of the City of Athens' strategy for tourism development in Athens and given the city's strong presence in the international tourism market, the Athens Tourism and Development Company (ATEDCo) took part in the European Leadership Forum of Destination Marketing Association International (DMAI), which took place in Glasgow 14-16 October.

During the forum, the European Union's decision-making process was outlined in detail, as well as the way in which the EU's central services and structures operate. Emphasis was placed on the mechanisms through which major policy directions in critical sectors and issues, such as the environment, transportation and agricultural economy, are formulated.

Of great interest to tourism professionals was the announcement that just days before, the European Union had proposed a 20% reduction in business travel and its replacement by teleconferencing. This recommendation is included in the measures being promoted by the European Union to reduce pollution and to increase renewable energy resources by 20% by 2020. DMAI members expressed their concern about the recommendation, stressing that if adopted, even in part, it will have a significantly negative impact on local tourism economies, which have already been hard hit by the economic crisis.

On the other hand, according to the findings of a study carried out in North America for DMAI, every dollar a company invests in business travel corresponds to $12.50 in additional revenues. The study also showed that according to upper-level and management executives, 28% of this year's annual company turnover will be lost if business trips and personal meetings do not take place.

In addition, the most recent data on the course of hotel performance in the world market were presented by the STR company. According to the data (sampling 38,000 hotels) during the nine-month period January to August 2009, the Revenue per Available Room for hotels in Europe showed a reduction of about 19.4%, with 18.8% in the USA and 28.4% in Asia.

Also examined during the forum was the rapidly growing preference for new media and electronic distribution networks, as well as the increasingly important role of social networking media (facebook, twitter, etc.) in information, promotion and destination marketing. With regard to social media, a typical indicator is that 61% of meeting and conference planners have a profile on facebook.

As it was generally noted, turnover in online travel booking in 2010 is expected to exceed 43% of the total market in Europe, while advertising expenses on electronic media over recent years have increased dramatically (+26% in 2009, estimated at +23% for 2010).

It should be noted that among those taking part in the DMAI Europe Leadership Forum were officials of European destination management organisations and Convention and Visitors Bureaus.