Tour operators who sell travel to Europe
are bullish about 2006 based on the way business is going,
according to a survey conducted by the European Tour Operators
Association.
The ETOA polled 100
of its 150 tour operator members who were in attendance at its
Hoteliers Marketplace in London.
These were 100 of
the top professional buyers, very informed people, said David
Tarsh, managing director of Tarsh Consulting, and the public
relations manager for the ETOA.
Sixty-four percent
project 2006 business will be up more than 10% from 2005, while 31%
expect business to be the same. Only 5% expect it to drop 5% to
10%.
Culture (42%) and
history (28%) are the main reasons people travel in Europe, the
operators said. Nine percent of tour operators said the attraction
is the scenery, 5% said their customers travel in Europe because
they feel secure and 16% said its because its easy to get
to.
Client spending is
a wash, they said; 63% said it hasnt changed, 15% said clients are
spending less and 22% said clients are spending more.
Forty-nine percent
said terrorism is the biggest threat to European tourism, and 30%
said terrorism was their greatest business concern. Twenty-six
percent said containing costs was their biggest business concern,
and 22% said epidemics.
When it comes to
online business, the biggest concern of nearly 60% of the operators
is search-engine optimization. Twenty-two percent named bonding for
dynamic packages and 11% said Web site return on
investment.
On the subject of
European Union laws, a third of respondents said that the biggest
headache is the Tour Operators Margin Scheme, which regulates the
way in which the value-added tax (VAT) is applied to travel in the
Europe. The scheme makes it more difficult to make a profit on
European tours if an operator is based and taxed in Europe,
operators said.