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Arabian Travel Market awards scheme recognises trio of Asian nations as their tourism sectors prevail in the face of overwhelming adversity after being struck by devastating natural disasters
Arabian Travel Market (ATM) has revealed the 2016 shortlist for its annual New Frontiers Recovery Awards, with three Asian nations nominated for this year's award, which will be announced on Thursday 28th April during ATM.
The shortlisted destinations Nepal, the Philippines and Taiwan have all been recognised for dealing with the dual impact of significant human and economic losses in the last 12 months due to devastating natural catastrophes, their effect on local tourism and their remarkable efforts to recover.
"The last year has not only been the hottest on record, weather and climate-related disasters dominating headlines, but has also seen a doubling in the number of recorded fatalities on 2014 figures," said Nadege Noblet-Segers, Exhibition Manager, Arabian Travel Market.
"And, although the economic impact of these incidences has declined from US$42 billion in 2014 to US$35 billion in 2015, it is still a devastating blow to those nations where reliance on the tourism dollar is linked not only to economic growth but also to the fulfillment of the most basic daily needs of local people for whom a job in the tourism industry means food on the table and a future for their family," she added.
The New Frontiers Recovery Award was created in 2005 to recognise outstanding contributions to tourism development in the face of overwhelming adversity, supporting the chosen destination by donating exhibition space at the event to the value of US$10,000.
As well as physical rebuilding, the award also focuses on the strategic redevelopment of a destination as nations seek to repair market confidence and attract tourism back to the region.
"Efforts to rebuild and recover need to be front and centre at an international level if countries are to regain traveller confidence and re-energise their tourism product post-disaster, and the New Frontiers Recovery Award, which is now in its 12th year, is absolutely the right vehicle through which to recognise country efforts and reposition destinations to an influential global audience," said Noblet-Segers.
Previous award recipients include Phuket, Thailand; Cancun, Mexico; Sichuan, China; Baluchistan, Pakistan; Central Visayas, Philippines and last year, Nepal.
This year's nominees have all had to repair, rebuild and recover, with efforts ongoing in some destinations. The 2016 short list includes:
Taiwan - earthquake, February 2016: The island nation, which has long been a popular tourism destination, was hit by a 6.4-magnitude earthquake causing the worst death toll in the country's history since 1999. Building safety and agricultural land soil concerns remain a challenge just several weeks after the event, with US$1 billion in aid already allocated by the government. In the aftermath of the earthquake, Taiwan's government was swift to react and construction regulation has been put on the agenda for discussion with local authorities/municipalities already being urged to conduct structural safety checks of all buildings. Around 2,000 schools have already been retrofitted for quake safety.
Nepal - earthquake, April 2015: The 7.8-magnitude earthquake flattened large parts of the capital Kathmandu and caused devastation across the entire nation, destroying numerous historical sites and popular tourism attractions. A total of 6,204 fatalities were recorded with more than 14,000 people injured and 2.8 million Nepalese displaced. According to UN reports, 130,033 houses and 16,000 were damaged or destroyed, 90% of health services were affected and the annual harvest/crops were either lost or severely impacted. The tourism sector immediately saw 80% of all forward bookings cancelled and while, almost one year on, hotels in Kathmandu have seen an upsurge in bookings, a large majority is due to international agency personnel as opposed to regular tourists. Over US$52 million was pledged by the UN and dozens of countries in support of post-disaster relief with the country's tourism body surveying and approving hotels to re-open, and adventure travel companies reprising hiking/trekking itineraries in unaffected areas such as Chitwan and Bardia
The Philippines - typhoon, October 2015: Typhoon Koppu brought with it winds of up to 115 mph, displacing half a million people and directly affecting over 1.24 million Filipinos. A total of 17,254 homes were damaged as a result of the typhoon with significant structural damage to houses, schools, hospitals and other community facilities including hotels/guesthouses. The typhoon hit land in Luzon, the country's largest and most densely populated island, bringing with it torrential rain and landslides. The economic impact included flight cancellations, people stranded in other ports and entire districts without power, and therefore unable to function, with a reported economic sot of around US$160 million. As part of ongoing efforts to recover, the Philippines National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council donated US$480,000-worth of assistance.
For more information on The New Frontiers Recovery Award, please go to www.arabiantravelmarket.com
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Media registrations are now open. All media wishing to attend ATM 2016 should visit: www.arabiantravelmarket.com/media/
About Arabian Travel Market
In its 22nd edition, Arabian Travel Market 2015, boasted more than 2,800 exhibitors and stand-sharers from 86 countries and attracted over 26,000 visitors from around the world.
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Arabian Travel Market is part of Reed Travel Exhibition's World Travel Market group of events. http://www.wtmworld.com/
About World Travel Market
World Travel Market is comprised of the leading leisure travel events in the world; WTM London, WTM Latin America in Sao Paulo, WTM Africa in Cape Town and Arabian Travel Market in Dubai.
New events for 2016 are WTM connect Asia and WTM connect China, which join WTM connect Ski and International Golf Travel Market. These unique one-to-one events are targeted at leisure and niche travel markets, allowing exhibitors to exclusively meet with elite hosted buyers.
The World Travel Market events are attended by the global travel and tourism industry's senior executives to conduct business deals and discover the latest research, insight and opinion.
In 2014, World Travel Market events facilitated around $7 billion in industry deals from negotiations between the more than 15,000 buyers, 9,500 exhibitors (1,500 main stand holders and 8,000 stand sharers) in attendance of its four events. WTM is owned by the world's leading events organiser Reed Exhibitions.
About Reed Travel Exhibitions
Reed Travel Exhibitions (RTE) is the world's leading travel and tourism events organiser, with a wide-ranging portfolio of 22 international events in 13 countries throughout the Americas, Europe, the Middle East, Asia Pacific and Africa. Its market-leading, business-to-business events cover all elements of travel and tourism, including leisure travel, luxury travel, meetings, events, incentives and business travel, as well as golf and ski travel.
RTE is part of Reed Exhibitions.
http://www.reedtravelexhibitions.com/
About Reed Exhibitions
Reed Exhibitions is the world's leading events organiser, with over 500 events in 43 countries. In 2014 Reed brought together over seven million event participants from around the world generating billions of dollars in business. Today Reed events are held throughout the Americas, Europe, the Middle East, Asia Pacific and Africa and organised by 41 fully staffed offices. Reed Exhibitions serves 43 industry sectors with trade and consumer events. It is part of the RELX Group plc, a world-leading provider of information solutions for professional customers across industries.
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