ΔΙΕΘΝΗΣ ΕΛΛΗΝΙΚΗ ΗΛΕΚΤΡΟΝΙΚΗ ΕΦΗΜΕΡΙΔΑ ΠΟΙΚΙΛΗΣ ΥΛΗΣ - ΕΔΡΑ: ΑΘΗΝΑ

Ει βούλει καλώς ακούειν, μάθε καλώς λέγειν, μαθών δε καλώς λέγειν, πειρώ καλώς πράττειν, και ούτω καρπώση το καλώς ακούειν. (Επίκτητος)

(Αν θέλεις να σε επαινούν, μάθε πρώτα να λες καλά λόγια, και αφού μάθεις να λες καλά λόγια, να κάνεις καλές πράξεις, και τότε θα ακούς καλά λόγια για εσένα).

Πέμπτη 31 Μαΐου 2012

U.S. International Travel, March 2012 Year-to-Date, Up Seven Percent


U.S. citizen outbound market totaled 13.1 million travelers for the first three months of 2012

March Year-to-Date (2012/2011) Comparisons
U.S. travel to overseas markets(1) reached 6.3 million, up 11 percent in the first three months. Regional results were:
·  Europe, 1.9 million travelers, up eight percent
·  Caribbean, 1.6 million travelers, up 12 percent
·  Asia, 1.1 travelers, up 12 percent
·  Central America, 647,000 travelers, up 21 percent
·  South America, 424,000 travelers, up eight percent
·  Middle East, 346,000 travelers, up 17 percent
·  Oceania, 151,000 travelers, up 11 percent
·  Africa, 81,000 travelers, up one percent
U.S. travel to North American markets totaled 6.8 million, up almost three percent.
·  Mexico, 5.2 million travelers, up two percent; air travel (1.6 million) was up 11 percent
·  Canada, 1.6 million travelers, up five percent; air travel (608,000) was up by four percent
March Year-to Date Market Share
U.S. travel to overseas claimed 48 percent of all U.S. outbound international travel.
·  Europe almost a 15 percent share;
·  Caribbean a 13 percent share;
·  Asia an eight percent share;
·  Central America a five percent share;
·  South America a three percent share;
·  Middle East a three percent share;
·  Oceania a one percent share; and
·  Africa a one percent share.
North American markets received 52 percent of all U.S. international outbound travel.
·  U.S. travel to Mexico a 40 percent share; and
·  Canada a 12 percent share.
Total U.S. outbound travel for the months of January, February and March were up two percent, 12 percent and seven percent, respectively.
For detail information and data tables please visit: http://www.tinet.ita.doc.gov/view/m-2012-O-001/index.html
In 2011 OTTI began to report total U.S. outbound travel by month, not just air-only traffic. Total travel (all modes) to Canada and Mexico is provided along with their traditional air-only subtotals. The timing of this report is dependent on receipt of aggregate data from Stats Canada and Banco de Mexico.
In addition, since the DHS I-92 (APIS) data contains all air arrivals data, in addition to air departures data, OTTI will also reporttotal air traffic as soon as it is available each month.

Strong Passenger Demand Some Cargo Improvement


Geneva - The International Air Transport Association (IATA) announced global traffic results for April showing that total passenger demand rose 6.1% while freight demand was 4.2% down on April 2011.
Despite continuing economic weakness in some parts of the world, demand for air travel continues to grow. The 6.1% overall growth recorded for April is above the 20-year trend. Strong demand for air travel with limited capacity expansion pushed load factors to 79.3% which is a record high for an April load factor.
The 4.2% contraction in air freight markets compared to April 2011 is somewhat misleading. Air freight markets slumped sharply in the first half of 2011 and bottomed out towards the end of the year. Various distortions and month-to-month volatility have marked the industry performance since the beginning of 2012. However, April cargo levels stood at about 2% higher than in November 2011. About 80% of this improvement has been captured by Middle Eastern airlines. Air freight for the Asia-Pacific, European and North American carriers has continued to show weakness.
“It’s a volatile and risky world. Airlines are being cautious managing through the uncertainty. Overall passenger demand was up 6.1% in April and capacity increases were held back to 3.8%. There are signs that cargo has bottomed out. Amid the many distortions that have marked the first four months of the year, it is possible to identify the start of a growth trend in cargo for some parts of the world. But economic uncertainty in Europe makes it very difficult to be optimistic in the near to medium-term,” said Tony Tyler, IATA’s Director General and CEO.
Apr 2012 vs. Apr 2011
RPK Growth 
ASK Growth
PLF
FTK Growth
AFTK Growth
International                    
7.4%
4.3%
79.1
-4.5%
0.2%
Domestic
3.9%
2.8%
79.7
-2.7%
-2.0%
Total Market
6.1%
3.8%
79.3
-4.2%
-0.3%


 YTD 2012 vs. YTD 2011
RPK Growth 
ASK Growth
PLF
FTK Growth
AFTK Growth
International                    
8.1%
5.2%
77.1
-2.5%
1.8%
Domestic
5.5%
4.4%
78.1
-0.9%
-1.4%
Total Market
7.1%
4.9%
77.5
-2.3%
1.1%
International Passenger Markets
International air travel rose 7.4% in April compared to the year-ago period, outstripping a capacity expansion of 4.3%. April load factors stood at 79.1%, up 2.3 percentage points from April 2011.
European airlines recorded passenger demand growth of 5.9%. This is below the 7.4% global average and is significantly lower than the 8.7% growth recorded in March. Demand was, however, stronger than the 3.4% capacity expansion which pushed load factors to 80.7%. While this is a relatively strong performance compared to previous-year levels, since the beginning of the year, there has been a declining trend. April, for example, saw traffic contract by 0.3% compared to March—despite the Easter holiday period being in mid-April.
Asia-Pacific carriers also experienced strong growth of 9.3% against a capacity expansion of 4.6%. Load factors stood at 78.1%. The strong performance is exaggerated by the comparison to April 2011 when Asia-Pacific markets were particularly weak in the aftermath of the Japanese earthquake and tsunami. Removing the impact of the event, the region’s growth is estimated to be about 6%.
North American airlines saw passenger demand expand by 1.6% in April compared to the previous year. This is the weakest demand growth among all regions and represents a weakening from the 5.3% year-on-year growth recorded in March. However, the trend in North American travel is still positive since the end of 2011, as US economic conditions and particularly consumer confidence has improved. North American carriers were also the only region to cut capacity (by an almost equal 1.5%). This allowed the region’s carriers to post the strongest load factors at 80.8%.
Middle East airlines’ traffic growth has started to pick up pace again, recording a 16.0% gain in passenger demand for April, after having softened in the second half of 2011. Although this is a fall from the 20.9% growth recorded in March, the March result was distorted by the impacts of the Arab Spring in 2011. Furthermore, demand did grow faster than the 12.7% capacity expansion in April and load factors remained high at 78.3%.
Latin American carriers experienced a 9.0% expansion in international demand in April compared to the same month in 2011. Despite some potential for economic slowdown, growth has been solid enough in the region’s economies to sustain strong demand for passenger travel. This outpaced the capacity expansion of 5.3% and bucked expectations of a slowdown in the region due to weakening economic conditions. Load factors stood at 78.6%.
African airlines reported a 7.0% increase in demand. It was the only region where capacity expansion (8.5%) outpaced demand growth. Load factors were the weakest at 65.9%.

Domestic Passenger Markets
Domestic markets grew at about half the rate of international markets, just 3.9%. Load factors of 79.7% were slightly higher than on international routes (79.1%).
·  Japan experienced the strongest traffic growth, up 27.8% year-on-year. This, however, reflects the devastating impact on year-ago traffic of the natural disasters of March 2011. While the market has significantly recovered, domestic traffic levels remain 8% below pre-earthquake and tsunami levels. Load factors of 57% are the lowest among major domestic markets.
·  China’s domestic demand reflected the slowdown seen more broadly across the Chinese economy. The 6.3% growth recorded in April was the lowest recorded since early 2011 and well behind the 10.1% growth reported in March. The result reflects the slowdown seen in the economy more widely. Load factors of 82.2%, nonetheless, were high.
·  US domestic markets grew by 1.0% in April while capacity contracted by 0.7%. Load factors were the highest at 83.6%.
·  Passenger demand in Brazil grew by just 2.0%, below the 4.5% capacity expansion. Load factors stood at 70.2%.
·  India traffic rose by 8.6% year-over-year, ahead of the 1.7% capacity expansion. Load factors stood at 75.3%.
Air Freight (Domestic and International)
·  Air freight markets, while weak, are now showing some signs of expansion after bottoming out toward the end of 2011. 
·   Asia-Pacific carriers saw a 7.3% decline in demand in April, well ahead of capacity cuts of 4.1%. This reflects weakening exports from China. European airlines saw a 4.9% fall in cargo traffic compared to the year before, despite having cut capacity by 0.2%. North American carriers showed a 6.4% drop in demand with a 2.9% cut in capacity. Latin American carriers recorded a 3.6% fall in demand even though capacity expanded by 8.8% compared to April 2011.
·  Middle Eastern carriers were the bright spot in cargo with a 14.5% increase in demand. But this was behind a 15.1% increase in capacity. African carriers showed a 6.1% increase in demand, behind a 9.0% increase in capacity.
The Bottom Line
“The growth in passenger markets is encouraging. But it comes against an environment of continuing high oil prices and growing economic uncertainty. So translating the stronger demand into profits will be difficult,” said Tyler.
With the exception of Africa, all markets saw capacity expansion at levels below the expansion in demand. “In the face of economic uncertainty, many airline managements will be going back to first principles—careful capacity management, cost control and conserving cash. This will be the order of the day until some clarity comes to the global economic outlook. Of course the uncertainty impacts the whole value chain. We are all in this together. Airlines will be particularly looking to their industry partners to share the imperative on cost control,” said Tyler.
IATA will update its industry financial outlook on 11 June 2012 at the Association’s Annual General Meeting to be held in Beijing, China from 10-12 June 2012.

Τρίτη 29 Μαΐου 2012

Etihad Airways and Virgin Australia join forces on Kuala Lumpur route


Etihad Airways has leased a Virgin Australia Boeing 777-300ER for use on its route between Abu Dhabi and Kuala Lumpur. 
 
The once a week wet lease service again reflects the importance of the relationship between the two carriers.
 
Etihad Airways and Virgin Australia forged a ten-year strategic partnership 21 months ago.
 
Kevin Knight, Chief Strategy and Planning Officer at Etihad Airways, said:  "This new agreement expands our successful partnership with Virgin Australia which already provides our guests access to Australia and elsewhere on our combined network of over 150 destinations.
 
"Working together with our partner Virgin Australia we continue to find new ways to serve our guests and create value for each of our airlines."
 
The aircraft is configured with 33 flat bed seats in Business class and 328 seats in Economy class.  The return flights will be operated as normal using Etihad Airways' existing daily EY411 and EY418 flight codes, respectively. Flight time is seven hours and 20 minutes.
 
Etihad Airways flies daily from Abu Dhabi to Kuala Lumpur using a Boeing 777-300ER aircraft.
 

Three More Asia-Pacific Airports Became Airport Carbon Accredited


In 2009, ACI Europe launched Airport Carbon Accreditation which provided an independent tool to access and recognize airports’ efforts in managing and reducing their CO2 emissions. In November 2011, the program received support from ICAO and was extended to the Asia-Pacific region with Abu Dhabi Airport becoming the first airport in the region to be accredited. Since then, ACI Asia-Pacific has received overwhelming responses from airports in the region and has made encouraging progress.

At the 7th ACI Asia-Pacific Annual Conference, Regional Assembly & Exhibition which just concluded last week in Singapore, three airports were presented with certificates in recognition of their achievements under the various levels of Airport Carbon Accreditation.

Level 1 MAPPING: Changi Airport
Mumbai International Airport

Level 2 REDUCTION: Bangalore International Airport

In summary, there are now three airports in the Asia-Pacific region that are Airport Carbon Accredited for MAPPING and one for REDUCTION.

Mrs. Patti Chau, Regional Director, ACI Asia-Pacific said, “I would like to congratulate the three airports on their achievements in managing and reducing their carbon emissions. I am proud that our airport members have taken bold steps in environmental protection and that we are one of the first industries determined to reduce our environmental footprint. More airports in the Asia-Pacific region are applying to the programme which demonstrates the industry’s commitment to drive and work together with our business partners to improve the aviation industry’s environmental performance.”

Airport Carbon Accreditation is an independent programme administered by WSP Environment & Energy, an international consultancy appointed to enforce the accreditation criteria for airports on an annual basis. The administration of the program is overseen by an independent Advisory Board. Airports must have carbon footprints independently verified in accordance with ISO14064 (Greenhouse Gas Accounting). Evidence of this must be provided to the administrator together with all claims regarding carbon management processes which must also be independently verified. 
Source: ACI Asia-Pacific

Webinar: International Travel & Tourism Markets South Korea to the United States


The U.S. Department of Commerce, Office of Travel and Tourism Industries (OTTI) and the U.S. Commercial Service Travel & Tourism Team are pleased to present a webinar about one of the top ten tourism markets to America: South Korea.
What are Korean visitors looking for in a holiday? What can you expect when working with Korean tour operators?
The Webinar will offer these answers and more in a practical format with time for individual questions following the presentations.
Scheduled for June 4, 2012 at 7:00pm Eastern Time (US), this webinar will present data and analysis on Korean inbound tourism to the United States, as well as opportunities and strategies to attract Korean travelers.
This market intelligence webinar offers a profile of the Korean traveler, insight on travel distribution in South Korea, as well as ideas for specific opportunities for you to promote your travel and tourism products.
Join Ron Erdmann, Deputy Director for Research of the Office of Travel and Tourism Industries, Erik Hunt, Commercial Officer and Hae Lyong Kim, Commercial Specialist at the U.S. Commercial Service in Tokyo and David Ruch, Chair, American Chamber of Commerce and Visit USA Committee/Korea and Country Manager Korea for United Airlines.

Δευτέρα 28 Μαΐου 2012

Η Louis Hellenic παρουσίασε στην Ελληνική αγορά Cruises τo Louis Olympia


Τo Louis Olympia παρουσίασε στην Ελληνική αγορά η Louis Hellenic Cruises, Το Louis Olympia, με ένα όνομα που πρεσβεύει και τιμά το αρχαίο ιερό και τον αρχαιολογικό χώρο της Ολυμπίας, γενέτειρας των Ολυμπιακών Αγώνων, ανακαινισμένο πλήρως φέτος, θα δρομολογηθεί στα προγράμματα κρουαζιέρας της Louis Hellenic Cruises, για 3ήμερες και 4ήμερες κρουαζιέρες στα Ελληνικά νησιά και την Τουρκία.
Διαθέτει 9 καταστρώματα και 7 ανελκυστήρες, ενώ μπορεί να φιλοξενήσει 1.664 επιβάτες στις 725 άνετες και φιλόξενες του καμπίνες, 419 από τις οποίες είναι εξωτερικές ενώ διαθέτει και 21 σουίτες όπου οι 9 διαθέτουν μπαλκόνια, μια αναβαθμισμένη επιλογή στη διάθεση των επιβατών της Louis Hellenic Cruises που θα σαλπάρουν για 3ήμερες και 4ήμερες κρουαζιέρες. Με επιλογή ανάμεσα σε τρεις χώρους εστίασης, οι επιβάτες μπορούν να απολαύσουν πλούσια Ελληνική και Μεσογειακή κουζίνα καθώς και υπηρεσία δωματίου σε 24ωρη βάση. Ένα μεγάλο showlounge, πολλά άλλα σαλόνια, το καζίνο Royale, ευρύχωρα καταστρώματα – ιδανικά και για διοργάνωση πάρτυ δίπλα στις 2 μεγάλες του πισίνες, καθώς και τα 5 μπαρ που διαθέτει συνθέτουν ένα ολοκληρωμένο πρόγραμμα ψυχαγωγίας εν πλω. Το πλήρως εξοπλισμένο γυμναστήριο, μπάντμινγκτον, μπάσκετ, πινγκ – πόνγκ καθώς και το κέντρο υγείας και ομορφιάς ‘OceansSpa’ που παρέχει διάφορες θεραπείες και σάουνα βρίσκονται επίσης στην υπηρεσία των επιβατών. Ο παιδότοπος, τα καταστήματα αφορολόγητων ειδών, η βιβλιοθήκη και το Internetcorner συμπληρώνουν την εξαιρετική εμπειρία και τις υπηρεσίες που παρέχονται στο κρουαζιερόπλοιο.
Η δρομολόγηση αυτού του επιβλητικού κρουαζιεροπλοίου στα προγράμματα κρουαζιέρων της Louis Hellenic Cruises, σηματοδοτεί την απαρχή μιας νέας, εντονότερης ταυτότητας της εταιρείας ως η εξειδικευμένη εταιρεία για κρουαζιέρες στα Ελληνικά νησιά και την Τουρκία με μια αυθεντικά Ελληνική και Μεσογειακή εμπειρία εν πλω.
Ο Διευθύνων Σύμβουλος της Louis Hellenic Cruises κ. Κυριάκος Αναστασιάδης, σχολιάζοντας την προσθήκη του “Louis Olympia” στα προγράμματα κρουαζιέρας της εταιρείας, δήλωσε: “Η δρομολόγηση του ‘Louis Olympia’ στα προγράμματά μας από τον Πειραιά και το Κουσάντασι σηματοδοτεί μία νέα εποχή για εμάς στη Louis Hellenic Cruises, καθώς ενδυναμώνει το προφίλ μας ως η κατεξοχήν εξειδικευμένη εταιρεία για κρουαζιέρες στο Αιγαίο και την Ανατολική Μεσόγειο. Με όνομα που αντιπροσωπεύει απόλυτα τις διαχρονικές αξίες της Ολυμπίας και που συνάδει με την ελληνική μας ταυτότητα και την εξειδίκευσή μας στην περιοχή, το ‘Louis Olympia’ καθώς και το ‘Louis Cristal’, που πραγματοποιεί 7ήμερες κρουαζιέρες από τον Πειραιά και την Κωνσταντινούπολη, θα προσφέρουν στους επιβάτες μας μία ολοκληρωμένη εμπειρία της ιστορίας, του πολιτισμού, των γεύσεων, της μουσικής και της γνήσιας ελληνικής φιλοξενίας καθώς θα επισκέπτονται μοναδικούς προορισμούς. Από την επιβίβαση μέχρι και την αποβίβαση, η Louis Hellenic Cruises προσφέρει στους επιβάτες της μία αυθεντική εμπειρία των Ελληνικών νησιών και της Τουρκίας. Άλλωστε εμείς στη Louis Hellenic Cruises δεν πραγματοποιούμε απλά κρουαζιέρες στην Ανατολική Μεσόγειο αλλά στην ουσία προσκαλούμε τους επιβάτες μας να βιώσουν ένα όνειρο ζωής στις δικές μας θάλασσες».
                

ΟΛΠ:Τα οικονομικά αποτελέσματα α΄ τριμήνου 2012


Το Διοικητικό Συμβούλιο του Ο.Λ.Π. Α.Ε. ενέκρινε τα οικονομικά αποτελέσματα α΄ τριμήνου 2012 (1η Ιανουαρίου - 31 Μαρτίου) καθώς και τις καταστάσεις οικονομικής θέσης, συνολικού εισοδήματος, ταμειακών ροών και μεταβολών ιδίων κεφαλαίων, οι οποίες καταρτίσθηκαν με βάση τα Διεθνή Πρότυπα Χρηματοοικονομικής Πληροφόρησης.
        Σύμφωνα με τα στοιχεία τα οποία παρουσίασε στο Δ.Σ. ο Πρόεδρος και Διευθύνων Σύμβουλος του Οργανισμού κ. Γιώργος Ανωμερίτης :
1.      Ο κύκλος εργασιών της Εταιρίας ανήλθε σε 23.918.434 Ευρώ και είναι αυξημένος έναντι του 2011 κατά 5,29%
2.      Τα λοιπά λειτουργικά έσοδα ανήλθαν σε 2.938.023 Ευρώ και είναι αυξημένα κατά 26,53%
3.      Τα συνολικά λειτουργικά έξοδα μειώθηκαν κατά 4,14%
4.      Οι αποσβέσεις παγίων στοιχείων μειώθηκαν κατά 2,13%
5.      Οι αμοιβές και τα έξοδα τρίτων μειώθηκαν κατά 34,42%
6.      Το καθαρό αποτέλεσμα προ φόρων ανήλθε σε κέρδος 185.379 Ευρώ έναντι ζημιών 3.299.615 Ευρώ της αντίστοιχης περιόδου του 2011 και
7.      Το αποτέλεσμα μετά από φόρους (τρέχοντες και αναβαλλόμενους) ανήλθε σε κέρδη 521.964 Ευρώ, έναντι ζημιών 2.919.298 της αντίστοιχης περιόδου του 2011.
Ο κ. Γιώργος Ανωμερίτης μετά τη λήξη του Δ.Σ. δήλωσε ότι: «παρά τη συνεχιζόμενη κρίση, η οποία έχει επιπτώσεις στη διακίνηση φορτίων του χώρου των θαλασσίων μεταφορών και στη χειμερινή περίοδο η οποία πάντα επιφέρει μειώσεις στον χώρο των λιμενικών υπηρεσιών, ο Ο.Λ.Π. Α.Ε.  κυρίως χάρις στις επιλογές του για ενίσχυση των πολιτικών transhipment, παρουσίασε το α` τρίμηνο του 2012 και αύξηση του κύκλου εργασιών και κέρδη. Βάσει των αναμενόμενων αυξήσεων του κύκλου εργασιών κατά την καλοκαιρινή περίοδο, οι οικονομικές υπηρεσίες του Ο.Λ.Π. Α.Ε. αναμένουν ότι το 2012 για τον οργανισμό θα είναι μια ακόμα κερδοφόρα χρονιά».     
       Τέλος, το Διοικητικό Συμβούλιο του Ο.Λ.Π. Α.Ε. ενέκρινε τη σύγκληση της Ετήσιας Τακτικής Γενικής Συνέλευσης του Οργανισμού για τα αποτελέσματα του 2011, η οποία θα γίνει την 22η Ιουνίου 2012 στην αίθουσα εκδηλώσεων του Ο.Λ.Π. Α.Ε.