eTurboNews Publisher Juergen Steinmetz is giving his feedback on the year 2022 – one he will never forget. It started with his first vacation since the outbreak of COVID after celebrating Christmas with his family in Germany.
“Stuck” for 2 weeks in quarantine in my vacation apartment on the beautiful Greek island of Mykonos, followed by 3 more days in a hotel in historic Athens, COVID set the tone for the beginning of the year with restrictions and more lockdowns.
Gradually witnessing a resilient industry fighting for survival, and turning this fight against COVID with more vaccination rules in place to make it COVID-free did not work. Allowing the world to accept the pandemic and live with it seems to be working better, especially after widespread vaccination.
The Philippines Department of Tourism which hosted the World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC) Summit in April 2022, when COVID was still an enormous threat to this ASEAN country, took a brave step for the world to come together. For the land of Mabuhay, it was a steep investment to welcome the world of tourism leaders to its shores. It set the foundation for communication and resilience, allowing the travel and tourism sector to stand together.
The second WTTC annual summit last month (November 2022) in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, was able to build on the achievements in the Philippines and took tourism not only to the next level but catapulted it into a bright future.
For me, Saudi Arabia was another very different experience. I asked myself, why would anyone want to visit KSA? Click here for my take. It could not just be for the camel chocolate.
As a founder of Tourism Resilience Day, outspoken Jamaica Tourism Minister, the Hon. Edmund Bartlett was able to push his new Jamaica-founded Global Tourism Resilience & Crisis Management Centre (GTRCMC) with new satellite locations around the globe.
The Saudi Tourism Minister, Ahmed Al-Khateeb, became a guardian of this global industry and spent the billions of dollars necessary not only to prevent many tourism economies from going under, but also for the World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) and WTTC by providing a second home.
Saudi Arabia invested by hiring the most known people this industry has to offer; implementing the best global tourism brands in its growth plans; and including programs about tourism and climate change, investments, and mega projects. The new top advisor to the Saudi Minister was known as the most influential woman in global tourism, former CEO of WTTC, and Minister of Tourism for Mexico, Gloria Guevara.
For me personally, the Philippines was a life-changing experience, as I caught a flesh-eating bacteria in Hawaii, that attacked my leg after I landed in Manila. I was admitted to the Makati Medical Center in Manila. Here, I witnessed who the true heroes in this world really are, and I understand why the Philippines would be the ultimate global medical tourism destination.
They are the healthcare workers, specifically, the Philippine doctors and nurses that did a world-class job with a smile and a soul behind their every move.
I also realized our community of travel industry leaders coming together, and so many showed how much they care. I want to thank the Manila Marriott Hotel for not charging for the nights I occupied their room and stayed in a hospital, and I want to thank the nurse that the World Tourism Network made a hero. Here is her story.
It’s an experience I will never forget. It confirms tourism is a business of peace, friendship, and working together. SKAL got it correct in saying their organization is built on its members “doing business amongst friends.” The SKAL Summit in Rijeka, Croatia, in October was an event of fun, relief, and hope.
I was proud to have received a SKAL Ambassador of the Year award in recognition of outstanding contributions.
Traveling to 27 countries on 6 continents this year, the hunger for travel and tourism surpassed the fear of COVID-19. It appeared no one felt really threatened anymore.
Having a pastry in busy and sunny Innsbruck, Austria; driving in my AVIS rental car from Croatia via Italy, Slovenia, Bosnia Herzegovina, Montenegro, Albania to Serbia; staying in Dusseldorf, Germany; attending the International Film Festival in Marrakesh, Morocco after a very busy World Travel Market (WTM) trade show in London; experiencing a new Saudi Arabia; meeting good friends including Mr. Tourism himself, Dr. Tabel Rifai, at his home in Jordan; having a fantastic time and a birthday party in Bangkok, Thailand, made 2022 a year of travel, resilience, and new experiences.
I made my first trip to Malta – a world on its own and lots of history on a swall Mediterranean island nation.
Specifically, meeting new good friends through our WTN Rebuilding Travel discussions during COVID on Zoom – the Director of Tourism for Montenegro, Aleksandra Gardasevic-Slavuljica, and Professor Snežana Štetić, in Serbia – was a privilege. There will be more in my New Year article remembering the most important people in tourism.
2022 turned out to be a game changer.
I learned about the lack of preventive health care in the United States and opportunities for medical tourism in the Philippines, Serbia, and Germany.
IMEX America in Las Vegas and the World Travel Market in London this year made it clear that the meeting and incentive market is no longer just handled on Zoom and was back in full force.
The Caribbean Tourism Organization meeting in the Cayman Islands brought excitement and a call for unity back to a tourism-dependent region of the world.
Tourism is alive and kicking again, and so is eTurboNews. Thanks to our dedicated staff working on reduced pay 24/7 for more than 2 years, we all made it through the worst, staying strong, motivated, and becoming even more influential.
If it wasn’t for our friends, the tourism boards of Jamaica, Seychelles, Malta, Bahamas, Barbados, Guam, Jordan, Montenegro, Hamburg, Uganda, Northern Cape, Eswatini, and from the private sector: Sandals Resorts, SunX, Reed Expo, IMEX, Saudi Arabian Airlines, The Bradford Group, WTTC, UNIGLOBE, FRAPORT, EUROEXPO, among others, eTurboNews would have also become a victim of these difficult times.
The people in the travel and tourism industry are the true doers, and those that survived the economic challenges of this pandemic are the true leaders.
We will list our personal tourism heroes for 2022 in a special feature article before the New Year.
The pandemic decreased our trade readers from 230,000 to 170,000 but increased our non-trade travel readers from 150,000 to more than 2 million.
Rebuilding travel was our discussion born because of COVID and was the foundation of the World Tourism Network.
With more than 1,000 members in 128 countries, WTN has been becoming relevant in the industry, and our goal to speak for the medium- and small-sized businesses of the world is becoming a reality on so many fronts.
Ringing in the New Year from my beautiful home, the Aloha State of Hawaii will open the doors to an even better future. Our first World Tourism Network Summit in September in Bali, Indonesia, will be our focus.
May I also add a word of caution not to take today’s sold-out hotels, full airplanes, and overwhelming positive outlook research studies for granted?
A UNWTO Secretary General, who tried everything possible to ban eTurboNews from attending press events, did not succeed. We made more “secret” friends who asked to remain anonymous within the organization than ever before.
I would especially like to thank Anita Mendiratta, who contributed to eTurboNews, when our publication co-founded the CNN Task group and she was the top advisor for former UNWTO Secretary General Dr. Taleb Rifai. She became the special advisor for the current Secretary-General Zurab Pololikashvili and never lost her kind and smart words handling the social media accounts for her boss.
Inflation, an energy crisis, and a war in Ukraine, together with just released indications of a weaker Christmas and New Year season in destinations such as Hawaii should indicate how fragile many predictions of further growth are.
We are doing okay for now, and 2023 will shed light on how our sector will actually continue to develop with so many factors playing into the mix.
Guam has a good approach, ringing in 2023 with a drone show. After all, Guam is the place where America starts in 2023.
Happy New Year, and for those celebrating Christmas, Merry Christmas to all loyal eTurboNews readers. Aloha!
Juergen Steinmetz
Publisher eTurboNews
