complete magazine
Transcription
complete magazine
Dear readers, the time of summer holiday is slowly coming to its end. However, there is always enough time to go for a short trip. Industrial landmarks of UNESCO seem always a good choice – both for an individual traveler as well as for the whole adventure seeking family. Our September issue presents few of these treasures of the human modern history. Interested in the oldest iron bridge, preserved board mill, ironworks or even Japanese silver mine? Go for the Heritage part of our magazine. Luxury car clubs seem spreading all over the US and Europe as well. Read about the way the clubs are organized, about the advantages, as well as about the members. The topic of means of transport continues in the section Transport dedicated to small airports and the challenges they need to overcome. Last but not least, our magazine introduces two quite distinct destinations – Antarctica and the environmental impact of tourism, and Montenegro – the not well known beauty in the southeastern Europe. Yours sincerely, Milada Sovadinova Editor Tourism-Review.com CONTENTS Industrial Landmarks (UNESCO) H e r i tag e H e r i t a g e : Industrial Landmarks (UNESCO).......................................... 4 IRONBRIDGE GORGE – BIRTHPLACE OF THE INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION.................................................5 ENGELSBERG IRONWORKS – HISTORY PRESERVED.........................................................................................6 VERLA’S JOURNEY FROM BOARD MILL TO TOURIST ATTRACTION.............................................................7 THE IWAMI-GINZAN SILVER MINE RUINS..........................................................................................................9 VÖLKLINGEN IRONWORKS – TESTIMONY TO THE PAST..............................................................................10 The World Heritage List comprises of 851 properties considered the highlights of the cultural and natural treasures of the world. Among these 660 cultural, 166 natural and 25 mixed properties we can also find various sites that might be simply called industrial. Some of them stand as true milestones in the history of the human technical skills and possibilities. Some serve to the community even today. Let us pick few of them and get familiar with their history and the meaning they have nowadays. Watch and Roll: auto clubs P rof e s s i o na l P rof e s s i o n a l : Watch and Roll: auto clubs........................................ 12 DRIVE LIKE A MILLION BUCKS............................................................................................................................13 SUPERCAR TIMESHARES: HOW TO RATIONALIZE DRIVING A FERRARI..................................................15 FINE LIVING TOP 5: LUXURY CAR CLUBS..........................................................................................................18 EXPERIENCE VERSUS OWNERSHIP.....................................................................................................................21 Ferrari, Lotus, Porsche, or Rolls-Royce – who would not wish to drive these babies at least now and then. Exotic or luxury cars bring not only the highest pleasure; they can be very costly with respect to their maintenance and insurance. A popular alternative nowadays are car clubs offering a wide range of beautiful cars for your choice. How do these clubs work? Can anyone join? And ... not that it is of much interest but ... what is the price? Antarctica – growing destination Act i v e / Adventure Act i v e / A d v e n t u r e : Antarctica – growing destination...... 22 Amazing Antarctica........................................................................................................................................23 Tourism in the Antarctic Booming.........................................................................................................25 TRENDS AND THE YACHTING EXPERIENCE....................................................................................................27 Is Rise in Tourism Helping Antarctica or Hurting It?...................................................................29 The Necessity of Regulations.....................................................................................................................31 Antarctica – a beautiful, ice-covered land at the southernmost tip of the Earth. Over the years it has been of great importance to the scientists and polar researchers. For more than two decades now Antarctica has become a growing destination. What do the tourists seek? What do they have to face there? The rise in visitor numbers has recently called the attention of global authorities concerned about the future of the continent because of the environmental impacts of the tourism industry. Let us get familiar with the important issues connected with the icy tourism. Small airports - big business T r a n s port : T R ANS P O R T : Small airports – big business........................................... 33 BIG AND SMALL AIRPORTS FACE THE SAME CHALLENGES.........................................................................34 SMALL AIRPORTS AND LOW COST CARRIERS: A LOVE AND HATE RELATIONSHIP................................35 AIRPORTS DRIVING TOURISM DEVELOPMENT OF EUROPE........................................................................37 THE CASE OF POLAND – REGIONAL AIRPORTS TO SHAPE THE FUTURE..................................................38 CANADIAN SMALL AIRPORT CHALLENGES......................................................................................................40 Airports, small or large, the tourism industry definitely needs them all. Although they need to face similar problems, small airports have some specific challenges to overcome. What is the relationship of the low cost carriers to these smaller and regional airports? What are the roles and the importance of the governmental subsidies? What kind of connection if any appears between the small and the national airports in Europe and elsewhere? Get familiar with all of these issues solved by the airports on everyday basis. Montenegro – small country and grand opportunity D e s t i nat i o n : Montenegro – the beautiful country of the southeastern Europe – still does not belong to the list of European must-sees of the main stream travelers. Gaining its independence more than a year ago the country however starts to call the attention of the more demanding tourists – those who seek amazing and unspoilt nature, mountains, beaches ... Montenegro offers all of it. Let us get familiar not only with the beauties of the land but with the nations strategies used for destination branding as well. Travel/Tourism Fairs & Exhibitions in SEPTEMBER 2007 by regions DES T INA T I O N : Montenegro – small country and grand opportunity.... 43 MONTENEGRO – A PEARL OF THE ADRIATIC..................................................................................................44 TOURISM AND DESTINATIONS............................................................................................................................45 NATIONAL PARKS....................................................................................................................................................46 BUILDING A EUROPEAN BRAND.........................................................................................................................48 MOVING UP MARKET.............................................................................................................................................49 SUCCESSES AND CHALLENGES............................................................................................................................50 MOUNTAIN TOURISM IN MONTENEGRO..........................................................................................................52 T r a v e l / T o u r i s m F a i r s & Exh i b i t i o n s i n SE P T EM B E R 2 0 0 7 by r e g i o n s . ................................................... 54 Western Europe..................................................................................................................................................55 Central & Eastern Europe............................................................................................................................57 North America & Caribbean........................................................................................................................59 Asia & Pacific........................................................................................................................................................61 Industrial Landmarks (UNESCO) H e r i tag e The World Heritage List comprises of 851 properties considered the highlights of the cultural and natural treasures of the world. Among these 660 cultural, 166 natural and 25 mixed properties we can also find various sites that might be simply called industrial. Some of them stand as true milestones in the history of the human technical skills and possibilities. Some serve to the community even today. Let us pick few of them and get familiar with their history and the meaning they have nowadays. S eptember, 2007 H e r i tag e : Indu str i al L andmarks ( UN ESC O) IRONBRIDGE GORGE – BIRTHPLACE OF THE INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION quality iron was available in quantities undreamt of using the traditional charcoal smelting. It was this process that formed the basis of the industrial revolution that would transform Britain in the 18th and 19th centuries. The greatest memorial to Darby’s achievements is the iron bridge itself, perhaps the best known industrial monument in Britain. The initial idea for the iron bridge came about in 1775, when a group of local businessmen met to discuss how communication between both sides of the river could be improved. The number of trading vessels using the river as a means of transportation at the time meant that a bridge with a single arch was paramount. It was Thomas Farnolls Pritchard, an architect from the nearby town, who proposed a revolutionary iron structure that would span 120ft and cost 33200, a huge amount in those days. During Abraham Darby’s III’s lifetime, Coalbrookdale was the most famous and successful industrial area in Great Britian. Engineers and investors of renown came to visit and stand and wonder. Since 1986 the whole area is now a prize-winning The Ironbridge Gorge is a deep gorge formed by the river Severn in Shropshire, England. Originally called the Severn Gorge, the gorge now takes its name from its famous Ironbridge, the first iron bridge of its kind in the world, and a monument to the industry that began there. Ironbridge is known throughout the world as the symbol of the Industrial Revolution. It contains all the elements of progress that contributed to the rapid development of this industrial region in the 18th century, from the mines themselves to the railway lines. Nearby, the blast furnace of Coalbrookdale, built in 1708, is a reminder of the discovery of coke. Ironbridge, the world’s first iron bridge was constructed here between 1777 and 1781 and spans the river Severn – testament to his industry. Although the nature has now softened the landscape and reclaimed her riverbanks, it still seems faintly shocking that so beautiful – so quiet – a county should have given birth to all things industrial in the world. But it was here, within the dramatic gorge of the River Severn, that the great Ironmaster Abraham Darby perfected the secret of smelting iron with cheap and plentiful coke, instead of expensive and less efficient charcoal. Britain, and the world, would never be the same again. During the 18th century, Shropshire was rich with raw materials including coal, iron ore, water (which was used for both the generation of power and transportation), sand (for moulding cast iron), limestone to flux the slag in the blast-furnaces, and clay to make tiles and bricks. Darby’s idea proved to be one of the most important technological breakthroughs ever discovered. At the time, there was a significant fuel crisis in Britain. The process meant that high- World Heritage Site and attracts visitors from the New World to the Far East. As you can see, the Ironbridge Gorge today is beautiful, and breathes an air of quiet, life-giving spirit. Here, nature has fought back and won. http://www.ironbridge.info http://whc.unesco.org/ S eptember, 2007 H e r i tag e : Indu str i al L andmarks ( UN ESC O) ENGELSBERG IRONWORKS – HISTORY PRESERVED E ngelsberg Ironworks is a well-preserved ironworks with intact buildings and industrial equipment dating from the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. It is an ironworks in Engelsberg, a village in Fagersta Municipality in Västmanland, Sweden. It was constructed in 1681 and developed into one of the world’s most modern ironworks in the period 1700-1800. The site comprises the mansion and park, works offices, workers’ homes, and industrial buildings. Engelsberg is the only ironworks in Sweden that still preserves the buildings and most of the technical equipment. Iron production at Engelsberg goes back to the Middle Ages, when mine-owning farmers achieved efficiency in the use of the natural riches of the Bergslagen area. It was in the eighteenth century, however, that Engelsberg could definitely be ranked among the most important ironworks in Sweden and Europe. The works, which was ultramodern for its time, extracted and worked iron. The ore came from the Bergslagen mines, while the charcoal, which was crucial for heating the material, came from nearby forests. Engelsberg Ironworks eventually consisted of about fifty different buildings. Besides the log-insulated smelting house and the hammer forge there is also a weighing house where the charcoal and ore were weighed. In the day workers’ building, or the «inn» as it was also called, those who worked by the day could buy spirits and find accommodation. In 1917 a Lancashire forge with a rolling mill was built. The site also comprises two works offices, the gardener’s house, slagstone towers, the grain store, workers’ housing, and the byre. Engelsberg Ironworks is largely preserved as it looked after the last rebuilding in 1870. Particularly unique features are the blast furnace and the forge where the waterwheel, crusher, blower, and hammer still work. For most of the eighteenth century Engelsberg Ironworks was owned by the Söderhielm family and in the nineteenth century by the Timm family. The works was sold in 1916 to Consul General Axel Axson Johnson, who put it under the administration of Avesta Ironworks. Three years later operations ceased. Engelsberg Ironworks is now owned by Nordstjernan AB, who restored the site in the 1970s with the aid of the National Heritage Board. In summer Engelsberg Ironworks is open to the public. In 1993 the ironworks were inscribed on the World Heritage List and the justification of the World Heritage Committee was: «Engelsberg is an outstanding example of an important European industry from the seventeenth to the nineteenth centuries, with important technical remains and with both offices and homes preserved.» The National Heritage Board – (www.raa.se) S eptember, 2007 H e r i tag e : Indu str i al L andmarks ( UN ESC O) VERLA’S JOURNEY FROM BOARD MILL TO TOURIST ATTRACTION to the greater rapids of the Kymijoki river, he chose a site by the lesser rapids. Neuman bought a flour mill next to the Verla rapids from a farm owner, extended it to accommodate a grinder and in 1872 began the manufacture of groundwood pulp from spruce raw material. Wood-based pulp was at that time replacing rags as the raw material for paper and board. Neuman’s career in Verla was nevertheless brought to an abrupt end when the groundwood plant burnt down in 1876, after which the young entrepreneur moved on. Groundwood and board After a few years of inactivity, Verla’s groundwood plant was rebuilt in 1882 and was enlarged to include a board mill. The business was run by the Austrian-born master papermaker Gottlieb Kreidl, who had moved from Kuusankoski to the remote village of Verla. He became the famous patriarch of Verla for almost three decades. He took a particular interest in developing the health care and social well-being of the mill workers, and was also keen on technological advances; the first electric lamp was lit in Verla as early as in 1899, and in the same year the mill was connected to a telephone line. The new groundwood plant and board mill were initially built entirely of wood, but the board drying loft burnt down in 1892 and the following year a modern red-brick drying loft was put up in its place. Due to the risk of fire, the groundwood mill and board mill were also reconstructed in brick in 1895. The buildings were designed by the architect Eduard Dippell. Aside from the actual Verla mill, the protected buildings also include the Owner’s Residence, built in 1885. A wing with a small tower was later added to the building. National heritage status also covers the circular bowling pavilion, the firefighting equipment shed, the warehouse and the mill magazine. The latter, built in 1902, houses among other things a flour mill. V erla is a well preserved 19th century mill village and a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1996. The first groundwood mill at Verla was founded in 1872 and continued to operate until 1964. The small mill village of Verla, located near Kuusankoski, south-eastern Finland, has in the last ten years gained public recognition as a splendid visitor site. The site which has gone from board mill to tourist attraction is drawing interest from visitors near and far. Visitors to the museum, formerly a groundwood plant and board mill, get a clear impression of the work practices and working conditions of a bygone era. The whole mill is preserved in its original condition and can be viewed in the summer months under the guidance of expert tour guides. The old board mill, Finland’s first mill museum, was opened to the public in 1972, on the centenary of its establishment. Due to its uniqueness and excellent condition, Verla was added to the prestigious World Heritage List.. The museum is owned and maintained by Finnish paper company UPM. In 2004 the museum received a record number of visitors: 22,000 people from 49 countries. Humble beginnings At the time the greater Kymenlaakso rapids were first harnessed for industrial use at the beginning of the 1870s, a young engineer by the name of Hugo Neuman, who was born in the northern city of Oulu, came to Verla. He had studied engineering in Zurich, where he became familiar with an invention which revolutionised the papermaking process, the grinder for making wood pulp. Since he was unable to start up an enterprise next Annual production of 2,000 tonnes In 1922 the ownership of the Verla mill moved to the Kymi company, one of the companies which later formed UPM. The small and already outdated mill did not have prerequisites for growth. There was, however, demand for good quality millboard, which the mill continued to make by the old-fashioned methods until the summer of 1964. The mill’s average annual S eptember, 2007 H e r i tag e : Indu str i al L andmarks ( UN ESC O) production was 2,000 tonnes of board, about the same amount as can be manufactured by a large modern paper mill in just over 24 hours. Verla’s millboard was called käsipahvi (handboard) in Finnish, in spite of the fact that it was made by machine. There were many stages in the production of the board, where manual labour was required. Before packaging, the sheets were weighed manually one at a time. The mill had at most 160 people working there. educational charts used in schools before the advent of whiteboards. Initially the board was exported chiefly to Russia, and later to Central Europe. Small orders were even delivered to markets as far away as Argentina. All in all Verla’s board was exported to 30 different countries. The fact that it still received an order from the Far East as late as 1991 says something of the board’s good reputation. by Eero Niinikoski Millboard a desired product Verla’s naturally light coloured wood board was used mainly by box manufacturers and bookbinders. It was used to manufacture various boxes, containers and packets, as well as book covers, insoles for shoes, poster mounts, archery butts, and the Verla Mill Museum (www.verla.fi) S eptember, 2007 H e r i tag e : Indu str i al L andmarks ( UN ESC O) THE IWAMI-GINZAN SILVER MINE RUINS On 27th July 2007 the UNESCO’s World Heritage Committee decided to register the remains of a silver mine in western Japan on the World Heritage List. It is the nation’s first industrial site to receive the honor although Japan already has 13 other sites on the List. The site involves the ruins of a silver mine dug between the 16th and 20th centuries, and covers 442.5 hectares. About one third of silver circulating in the world in the early 17th century was reportedly from Japan. At that time, most of Japan-dug silver was from the Iwami mine. The Iwami-Ginzan Silver Mine Ruins are located around the center of Shimane prefecture, which stretches far into the east and west, covering a wide area including Ohda City, Yunotsu Town and Nima Town in Suma County, Japan. Large volume of silver was mined from the sixteenth to the seventeenth centuries here, and was used to fund the military reserves of the warring daimyo leaders and the economy of the Shogunate government. Because the Iwami-Ginzan Silver Mine was located in the village of Sama, the silver became known as «Soma silver.» Large volumes of silver were exported abroad, helping to join through trade the Asian countries of China and Korea with European countries of Portugal and Spain. The annual production rate at the first half of the seventeenth century was estimated to be approximately 38 tons. This comprised a major portion of Japan’s silver production, which amounted to nearly one-third of the world’s silver production at the time. An old record says that the Iwami-Ginzan Silver Mine was discovered by Ouchi Hiroyuki in 1309, in the late Kamakura Period. However, the full-scale development of the Mine started by Kamiya Jutei in 1526, and it was in the prime between the middle of the 16th century and the 17th century. After the production of Iwami-Ginzan Silver Mine dropped, the mine was operated as copper mine in modern times, only to close again in 1923. Because large scale mining and development have not taken place since then, numerous ruins from the 16th century to the beginning of the 20th century have been preserved in extremely sound condition. In 1969, a portion of the ruin was designated as a National Historic Site for its significance as one of Japan’s representing mine sites. Even today, throughout the mine area called «Sakunouchi» are temples, shrines and houses, showing traces of the area’s prosperous past. The buildings remain much unchanged, offering a glimpse of what the area must have looked like at the end of the Edo Period. In the Iwami-Ginzan Silver Mine there are over 500 mine shafts and galleries called «Mabu», among which Ryugenji Mabu is the only Mabu open to the public at present. However, the part where you can go in is only a small portion of the whole, behind which galleries are dug deep into the dark like inside anthills and are inaccessible. www2.pref. shimane. jp http://mdn. mainichi-msn. co. jp/ S eptember, 2007 H e r i tag e : Indu str i al L andmarks ( UN ESC O) VÖLKLINGEN IRONWORKS – TESTIMONY TO THE PAST The Völklinger Hütte («Völklingen Ironworks») is located in the German town of Völklingen, Saarland. In 1994, it was declared by UNESCO as a World Heritage site and it is also an anchor point of the European Route of Industrial Heritage. The ironworks, which cover some 6 ha, dominate the whole city of Völklingen. Although they have recently gone out of production, they are the only intact example, in the whole of western Europe and North America, of an integrated ironworks that was built and equipped in the 19th and 20th centuries and has remained intact. It is the only surviving ironworks in the world from the heyday of iron and steel production and a unique testimony to an industrial epoch of the past. A visit to the World Cultural Heritage Site at the Völklingen Ironworks is an adventure even today: the visitor can go down deep into the dark corridors of the burden shed and climb up to the lofty heights of the blast furnace viewing-platform. The multi-media introduction to the sintering-plant takes the visitor on a journey through time, from the beginnings of the Völklingen Ironworks in 1873 right up to the present day. From the roof of the ore shed, a view opens up over the town of Völklingen and the active works of Saarstahl AG. An impressive panorama at any time of the year, both by night and by day! The History of Völklingen Ironworks: 1873 The iron and steel industry engineer Julius Bruch, builds an ironworks near Völklingen. Six years later, he has ceased operation and the works is closed. 1881 The Saarbrücken businessman Carl Röchling buys the closed works in Völklingen. He prefers the production of pig iron and in 1883 the first blast furnace goes into operation. 1897 The first coke oven battery was erected directly adjacent to the blast furnace in Völklingen. The Coal silo, made of sheet steel, which rises up above the coking-plant, dates from the same year and is one of the oldest constructions still preserved at the Völklingen Ironworks. 1917 The Water tower was erected and it was one of the first manifestations of a new industrial architectural form. 1944 During the Second World War thousands of men and women are employed at the Völklinger Works - especially from Russia, Italy, Netherlands, Belgium and Luxemburg. Many are victims of the excessively hard labor and the bad conditions at the ironworks. At the end of the war the ironworks goes back into operation under the French management. 1975 The Völklingen Ironworks was affected by the worldwide steel crisis. In 1982 the iron and steelworks in Völklingen and Burbach were amalgamated to become ARBED-Saarstahl. 1986 The Völklinger Hütte blast furnaces are shut down. The Saarland Council of Ministers agrees to preserve parts of the closed works that are significant as historic monuments. 1994 With the listing of the Völklinger Hütte as the first industrial monument on the UNESCO World Cultural Heritage sites list a new phase begins in the history of the ironworks. 2000 For the first time, more than 104,000 people visit the Voelklinger Huette World Cultural Heritage. 2007 The World Cultural Heritage Site at the Völklingen Ironworks is one of the principal projects of Luxembourg and its Greater Region - Cultural Capital of Europe 2007. The Science Center Ferrodrome® has been extended to include over 100 hands-on exhibits both indoors and out. 10 S eptember, 2007 H e r i tag e : Indu str i al L andmarks (UNESC O) At the granulating-plant, the newly laid out picnic area invites the visitor to sit down and have a rest: relaxing between colorful aquatic plants and defiant steel. Then there is the ascent to the top platform 27 meters above the ground: that is where the raw materials were tipped into the blast furnaces. If anyone feels like going up a little further, he or she can climb up to the viewing-platform of the blast furnace group. From there, there is an incomparable panorama. In 2007, for the first time, the top platform is open to visitors over the whole of its length, 200 meters. Via the coal track, with the new 20-metre-long spiral chute, and the blower shed footbridge, the visitor reaches the blower shed. The blowers, giants of iron and steel, generated the blast which was channeled into the blast furnaces. A tour of the World Cultural Heritage Site consists of more than 5000 meters of interesting and well signposted walkways and generally takes between two and three hours. An impressive experience. www.voelklinger-huette.org http://whc.unesco.org/ 11 Watch and Roll: auto clubs P rof e s s i o na l Ferrari, Lotus, Porsche, or Rolls-Royce – who would not wish to drive these babies at least now and then. Exotic or luxury cars bring not only the highest pleasure; they can be very costly with respect to their maintenance and insurance. A popular alternative nowadays are car clubs offering a wide range of beautiful cars for your choice. How do these clubs work? Can anyone join? And ... not that it is of much interest but ... what is the price? S eptember, 2007 P rof e s siona l : Watch and R oll: auto club s DRIVE LIKE A MILLION BUCKS A number of factors were diminishing Gianluca Baldo’s desire to drive the latest luxury car. As the owner of two vintage Alfa Romeo Spiders, Baldo knew he wouldn’t have to shoulder just the cost of the new ride, but also endless repair bills, time spent ferrying the car to the dealership for tune-ups and oil changes, and concerns about where to keep it. In no time, the model would be out of style and he’d be back at the starting line. More than a year later, Baldo is driving covetable vehicles such as the Lamborghini Gallardo, Ferrari F430, and Maserati Spyder. And he doesn’t worry about dents or annual inspections. «It’s great to walk into someone else’s garage and they throw you the keys,» says the 49-year-old owner of New Marble Co., a high-end stone supplier in San Francisco. «There’s no way I can provide that to myself. It’s way too much money.» As a member of Club Sportiva, a «fractional car club» that serves the Bay Area, Baldo has his pick of a collection of rare and expensive cars, without the hassles of ownership. He started out with a basic annual membership costing around $3,200– the price of a couple of repairs on his Alfa Romeos–and recently upgraded to the elite level. For the additional $25,000, he drives whatever he wants, whenever he wants. Such operations aren’t like traditional clubs that bring together devotees of Mustangs or Minis; neither do they usually offer part ownership in the cars, as fractional jet programs do with planes. Instead, they are businesses that assemble collections of automobiles and lend the vehicles to members for short periods of time. Fractional car clubs began to appear in the U. S. around 2000 (the first, Classic Car Club, started in London in 1995), and since then have been thriving on Americans’ growing desire for affordable luxury. At last count, there were 17 such clubs, with more cropping up every month, says Jamie Cheng, cofounder of Helium Report, a San Francisco-based online consumer guide for the wealthy. Torbin Fuller treated himself to a 1982 Ferrari 308 when he was working in finance for Ford Motor, but quickly realized he was spending more time servicing the car at the dealership than actually driving it. Maintenance was costing $1,000 a month. «When I netted it out, it just didn’t make sense,» said Fuller, who started Club Sportiva after selling the Ferrari two years later. «Why not just share it? Part of the psyche right now is, I want everything and I don’t want to be limited.» There are, of course, some limitations. Car club members pay an initial fee, plus annual dues that range anywhere from around $3,500 to $30,000, all for the right to choose from a selection of automobiles that they can drive for a certain number of days. Some operate on a point system–the nicer the car, the more points required. However, shares often work out to be less expensive than luxury rentals, which start around $600 per day for a Range Rover to upwards of $2,000 for the latest Lamborghini. Plus, clubs throw in extras like home delivery and detailing. While members don’t experience the thrill of owning the cars, they do get perks in addition to the driving. The initial focus in the U. S. was on the vehicles themselves, but car clubs have now morphed into country clubs with wheels. Most have large clubhouses with bars, cigar rooms, and lounges. (Donna Karan staged a fashion show and Sen. Barack Obama had a fundraiser at Classic Car Club Manhattan.) There are organized road trips in the Bavarian Alps and overnight road rallies. For the most part, members aren’t newly minted investment bankers; most drivers are middle-aged executives who already own several automobiles. There are also celebrities: driver Mario Andretti and Apollo 12 astronaut Dick Gordon are Club Sportiva members. They tend to be cash-rich but time poor, Fuller says. Why join an exotic car club? Most members of an exotic car club are someone who: ...would rather have access to a fleet of exotic cars than owning one. ...doesn’t want to pay for an exotic car. ...doesn’t want to lose money on depreciation. ...doesn’t want to be bothered with maintenance and repairs. ...doesn’t want to pay extremely high rental prices. ...travels a lot and doesn’t want to see their car sit in a garage. ...doesn’t have time to use an exotic car for most of the year. ...wants to be a part of an exotic car club culture with added concierge services, programs, events, and other offerings. 13 S eptember, 2007 P rof e s siona l : Watch and R oll: auto club s ing sold or sent to other branches, so there’s always something new to drive, and members have a reason to renew. «Variety is important. Cars go out of style; new models come in,» says Milton Pedraza, chief executive officer of the Luxury Institute, a New York-based research group. «It’s all about the experience.» It’s also about money. The vehicles can cost upwards of $250,000 (a 2006 Lamborghini Murcielago sells for $350,000), and repairs, maintenance, and a garage can eat up more than $12,000 annually per car. Then there’s depreciation: Some models can lose as much as $75,000 per year. Between buying cars and creating a nice clubhouse, starting a car club requires at least a $3 million investment, according to Michael Prichinello, director of Classic Car Club Manhattan. «It’s a sexy business,» Prichinello says. «But it’s not an easy business.» «You get to play with fun toys and hang out with nice people in a great space,» said Sean Kavanagh-Dowsett, 40, the owner of three English restaurants and stores in Manhattan. His favorite lender: the 1965 AC Shelby Cobra. «We can’t all be Ralph Lauren and own a stable of cars, but you can get a taste of that world.» Most collections include at least one Bentley, Lamborghini, and Ferrari; the cars are rotated every few months by either be- http://www.portfolio.com/ 14 S eptember, 2007 P rof e s siona l : Watch and R oll: auto club s SUPERCAR TIMESHARES: HOW TO RATIONALIZE DRIVING A FERRARI if they wanted to allocate resources that way. All understand the downside of keeping a Ferrari F355 happy and screaming. Troubles with Exotic Cars «Fixing them is not fun. Have it break and shuttling it to the shop isn’t fun,» says car buff Keith Wolters, who founded the Premier Car Club in Salem, N. H.«The fun part is when you hop in and turn the key and it goes like it’s supposed to.» «I have seen a lot of the headaches that exotic car owners go through,» says Collin Smith, a Bay Area resident who works in finance. And that’s the rational explanation of why Smith joined San Francisco’s Club Sportiva, which also operates in Silicon Valley, Calif. The other reason was the first sight of the club’s 1969 Jaguar convertible XKE, a classic racing green two-seater with a long louvered hood. Soon after joining Club Sportiva, whose annual fees range between $3,500 and more than $18,000, he booked the club’s 1982 Morgan Plus 8 for the week of his Napa wedding. He takes one of the two Bentleys to the opera and up to wine country when he wants room for another couple. «We try and find what’s appropriate,» Smith says. Some outings, that’s the orange 2005 Lotus Elise. Other times it’s the red 2003 Maserati Spyder. An unexpected result is that Smith realized he didn’t need anything fancy or extravagant in his own garage. In fact, he commutes in a Honda Civic that he can mile-up and not worry about. «I have the club, and it satisfies that desire,» Smith says. That’s what keeps these clubs multiplying. Most operate on a point system and have varying deductions for each type of car, day of the week and length of time used. Some have a pay-perride scale. As of early 2007, there are nearly a dozen sports-car clubs in the country that use a fractional or timeshare ownership model popularized with yachts, jets and vacation homes. All offer members the chance to drive some of the world’s most lusted-after automobiles without squelching that passion with the worries of ownership. Many of the people who join the clubs have owned an exotic car in the past. Or, they could afford one 15 S eptember, 2007 P rof e s siona l : Watch and R oll: auto club s Scott Hoover, president of the Atlanta Driving Club, did some research nationwide and found that people who owned what he called «weekend cars» drove them an average of 40 days a year. That makes the Atlanta club, which has three levels of membership from $6,000 to $16,000 annually, a solid value for drivers looking to take weekend jaunts in exotic cars. Exotic yet Economical Curvy Road, an offshoot of Exotic Car Share near Chicago, offers fractional ownership, which means owners get a share of the selling price. Among the clubs are the Classic Car Club of Manhattan, the Otto Club in the Boston area, Privatus, in Charlotte, N. C., the Van Horssen Group in Scottsdale, Ariz., and Velocity, which opened on April 4 in Greenwich, Conn., a town synonymous with wealth long before hedge-fund managers settled there. Such was the demand that Chris Maybury, one of Velocity’s founding partners, signed up potential members at the opening party. Among the 15 cars on display was a rare Aston Martin DB9. To drive that car or the club’s Porsche Carrera GT and Mercedes SLR McLaren, applicants must provide character references and pay a $3,500 initiation fee, then a $28,500 annual fee. The club figures that two years of membership would cost $69,260 and save $150,700, compared to buying that Porsche for $455,000, only to pay taxes, maintenance and interest while watching it depreciate in value $320,000. Numbers like that are a huge selling point and a key reason for the burgeoning numbers of clubs nationwide. «The economics work out well,» says John Caron, founder of the Otto Club. This includes insurance that varies from state to state, but most often uses the member’s policy as the primary protection. Welcome to the Club Jamie Cheng, founder of the Helium Report luxury market research firm, suggests that anyone considering a club membership go beyond getting info on the number and models of cars. He says prospective members should ask about availability, so they’ll know how likely it is they’ll get the car they prefer at the time they want it. He also recommends getting a clear understanding of exactly what comes with membership. What are the extra charges? Is the club more about the cars or the club program? «Some are places to hang out, like cigar clubs were 10 years ago,» he says. Joining one of these clubs isn’t necessarily easy. Most rely on word of mouth to find new members. All the clubs put prospective members through an extensive application process. At Club Sportiva, not only does the club check driving records, but staff members interview applicants to determine their expectations and predict whether they’ll fit in with the group, says Torbin Fuller, the club’s founder. Picking the right people keeps everyone happy. «You want like-mindedness,» says Otto’s Caron. Give them what they want, and more enthusiasts join. He didn’t plan on having a cigar room in the clubhouse, but members thought it would be great, so now there is one. When the group clicks, «it’s great,» says Stephen Doherty, a Premier Car Club member who lives in Andover, Mass. He says he enjoys the camaraderie of the club almost as much as driving the Hummer or the Lamborghini. Club Sportiva coordinates wine tasting, scotch and cigar nights, go-carting expeditions, quarterly road rallies, poker nights and events like a private tour of the Tesla headquarters. At all the clubs, concierge services are the norm: Tickets to sporting events, travel arrangements, car services and even dry cleaning pick-ups are offered. Sportiva also operates an auto brokerage, buying cars for members for about 1 percent above cost, then handling all the paperwork and delivery arrangements. Almost all the clubs solicit member opinions before buying new cars. In Atlanta, the debate is between a late 1960s Pontiac GTO or Chevrolet Camaro convertible. «I think the GTO is in the lead right now,» Atlanta’s Hoover says. In Greenwich, there are discussions about a chauffer-driven Bentley. Training, Training… Another universal feature is driver training. A trip to driving school, if not required as part of joining, is strongly encouraged. «A Lexus is not a Lamborghini,» Sportiva’s Fuller says. Before each drive, Club Sportiva members receive a 45-minute tutorial on the nuances of their ride. «The goal is comfort and safety,» 16 S eptember, 2007 P rof e s siona l : Watch and R oll: auto club s are instructed to roll down their windows so they can hear the Ferrari’s V8 or V12 engine echo through the canyons. The route twists by the mountaintop fortress that was the villain’s stronghold in the 1969 James Bond movie «On Her Majesty’s Secret Service.» Keep driving down the same Alpine road to track the chase scene involving the Aston Martin and Ford Mustang from the 1964 Bond classic «Goldfinger.» Some Sportiva members spend as long as a month driving through Europe, says founder Torbin Fuller, but the average is a week to 10 days. The club makes route recommendations and handles all arrangements. Take the winding roads of Italy’s Amalfi Coast or detour off the Strada Chiantigiana as it dips and twists through Tuscany between Florence and Siena. If top speed in a straight line is on your to-do list, then Germany’s Autobahn beacons between Audi, BMW and Porsche factory tours. In September, Boston’s Otto Club is planning a six-day tour for up to 20 members and guests. The program starts in Stuttgart, with a private tour of the Porsche factory. While the exact itinerary has yet to be finalized, a Porsche factory driver is selecting the route and leading the way. In addition to driving, club members said they wanted to learn more about fine watches while in Switzerland. Private tours and presentations will be held at three houses. European group tours are in the planning stages for members of Exotic Car Share, located in Palatine, Ill. Until then, founder George Kiebala helps members plan a trip. He also encourages local tours, such as a jaunt to the historic town of Galina, Ill. While Austria, France, Germany and Italy are top destinations when club members vote, individual drivers also roam through France and occasionally north to Scandinavia. Insurance and red tape keeps the clubs out of scenic spots elsewhere in Europe, like Croatia, Greece and Turkey. Of course the car share clubs offer stateside trips, too. This May, Classic Car Club will lead 20 of its members on a rally from their Manhattan home base to New Orleans in the club’s elite vehicles, taking southern back roads along the way. Classic Car Club bills the second annual trip as the «Rally to Hell» and «the ride of a lifetime.» Renting Exotic Cars vs. Joining a Fractional Car Club: Renting an exotic car is usually impractical, since exotic car rental companies charge extremely high rental rates. For example, a 2006 Ferrari F430 Spider is rented for $3,000 per day or $18,000 per week, on average. Compare those prices to the average prices of $300-$450 per day to use a Ferrari as a member of a fractional car club. Also, exotic car rental companies usually have limited options, that are often booked during busy periods, and so exotics aren’t always available with rental companies as they are with clubs. Fuller says. If they’re comfortable with the car, they’re safer.» In four years of operation, the club has yet to have one of its vehicles in even a minor fender-bender. Driver training is perhaps even more important for the clubs that operate in areas where winter brings snow and ice. None of the clubs close down, but they do bundle up. The Hummer gets a workout at the Premiere Car Club. The Otto Club gives members credit for days when it snows and they must keep the car in the garage. Suzanne Garner, a Silicon Valley software engineer, tends to wait until Northern California’s rainy winters end before exercising her Club Sportiva membership. An «Elite» member, she has access to every car in the club, and uses them. «I love cars and I love driving… I put a lot of miles on the Sportiva cars.» An enthusiastic participant in club events, Garner became the first female amateur to drive a Formula One car on a U. S. track, an opportunity that the club organized. On more ordinary weekends she takes driving trips by herself – it’s «a chance to get completely away,» she says. Garner admits that without the club taking on the burdens of maintenance, storage and repair, driving such exotic vehicles would be less appealing. «I couldn’t manage all the work,» she says «The cars are always beautifully detailed. You just get in them, drive and have fun.» Tours in Europe Another way exotic car share clubs seek to optimize the enjoyment and minimize the hassles of driving supercars is by arranging tours of Western Europe in sports cars comparable to those in the home stable. While any Ferrari owner can arrange a tour of the Maranello factory through his or her local dealer, the clubs’ forte is handling all the coordination before and during travel, thus buying time for members while assuring them of peak experiences. Befitting the level of exclusivity of the cars these clubs offer, all hotels are world-class, all meals gourmet and all problems solved, if humanly possible. Clubs will even handle all of the paperwork (purchasing, licensing and shipping) involved with carmakers’ own European delivery programs. But true enthusiasts will most appreciate the car club staffers’ inside knowledge: On an Alpine route, Sportiva members by Elizabeth Blish Hughes http://finance.yahoo.com/ 17 S eptember, 2007 P rof e s siona l : Watch and R oll: auto club s FINE LIVING TOP 5: LUXURY CAR CLUBS The price for such a fabulous life? It will take a joining fee of $1,500 and an annual membership fee of $7,000 or $10,500, depending on your intended level of participation. The best option may simply be the lifetime membership for $55,000. With a goal of 80 cars, there are already over two dozen on hand. Next to Jerry Seinfeld’s collection, the fleet is one of the nicest in New York, reading like an enthusiast’s wish list: Ferrari, Lotus, Porsche, Rolls-Royce, and so on. One of the cool things about Classic Car Club is the lineup that can’t be found with other clubs. Love mechanical Italian opera? A pair of fine Alfa Romeos await. Forget the replicas; you can drive an authentic AC Shelby Cobra or Porsche Speedster. Feeling patriotic? Jump in the ’65 Mustang convertible or the ’67 Chevelle. And for the gangster in all of us, a pimped-out ’68 Lincoln Continental is ready to roll through your neighborhood. Classic Car Share, Illinois The oldest and largest luxury car club in the U. S. and an international race resort… While some of these clubs are new to the game, greater Chicago’s Classic Car Share identifies itself as the oldest and largest of its kind in the U. S., as it was established in 2000. To think of a pioneer in a field less than 10 years old is a little unusual, but remember that the luxury car club market is still emerging. Classic Car Share fees are some of the most reasonable you will encounter; it just takes $250 for a five-year membership. Then, the price you pay depends on whether you have a car out for a three-day weekend ($330 per day) or a week ($214 per D riving classic and exotic cars is sybaritic. When they are in proper tune, a synergy is created between man and machine. All feels right in the world. Nothing could possibly ruin that feeling of… clunk. Well… except for the dissolution of that synergy vis-à-vis the sudden resignation of essential bits and pieces, punctuated by a cloud of smoke or a trail of fluid. We may hold skilled auto technicians in high regard, but we still don’t enjoy the presentation of the repair bills – especially when they involve multiple pages and the inclusion of a comma in the total figure. «Never fight an inanimate object,» P. J. O’Rourke wisely advised. Fair enough. But how does one enjoy the otherworldly experience of a great automobile without the weeping and gnashing of teeth, whether your own or the car’s? For a growing number of enthusiasts, the answer is membership in a luxury car club. Whether structured as time-sharing, fractional ownership or glorified rental, these clubs afford members the privilege of experiencing fine cars without the requisite downfalls of ownership. Although most members could easily afford such vehicles, they would rather have someone else shoulder the depreciation, insurance, maintenance, and storage. Let us took a look at some of the best luxury car clubs: Terminology: Car Share Club generic term for any club where membership enables members to use cars. Sign-Out Period the amount of time a member can use a car per usage, usually measured in days. Minimum sign-out periods range from 1-7 days, while maximum sign-out periods range from 1-2 weeks (depending on the club and plan). Member-to-Car Ratio the number of members per car. Understand how a club uses this ratio, as this ratio does not tell you much about how available cars will be. Some clubs have large percentage of inactive or less active members, whereas other clubs have a higher percentage of active or very active members. A better ratio to use is the availability ratio. Reservation Rate the percentage of time that a member can reserve his or her first-choice car. Some clubs do not track this rate. Pay-per-Use members pay each time they use cars, as opposed to using pre-paid points or days to use cars. Clubs usually have a minimum sign-out period (e. g. 3-day minimum). Points-per-Use members use pre-paid points for each use. Fractional Ownership members own rights to usage and, in some cases, equity in cars as well. Note: Most «fractional ownership» clubs do not offer equity in cars. Classic Car Club Manhattan, New York «All the fun, none of the hassle» is the assertion of Classic Car Club Manhattan. Born in London in 1995, the Classic Car Club idea was a smash. Having parlayed its UK success into the New York venture in 2005, the club is definitely in the passing lane; it even landed on VH1’s Fabulous 40 for 2006. 18 S eptember, 2007 P rof e s siona l : Watch and R oll: auto club s Exotic Car Country Club, Florida If you want to experience all the splendor of an automotive buffet, your best bet is to head for Florida. However, if you simply want to sample the menu of cars from Florida’s Exotic Car Country Club, you only need to be within the continental U. S.; they deliver and pick up the cars themselves. One of my favorites on this list, Exotic Car Country Club is ideal for the enthusiast who has plenty of cash flow, and loves to sample from new and classic luxury and exotic cars. Hardly the lowest-priced in our group, its refundable membership fees range from $100,000 to $250,000 depending on the level. Monthly – yes, monthly – membership dues run between $1,600 and $1,800. There is no minimum length of time to keep a car, though the club’s patience wears thin if you keep a car for three months (the limit for most models). While you pay for delivery, Exotic Car Country Club pays the return shipping. Platinum, the most inclusive membership level, allows access to the cars you would expect in this price range, and like Classic Car Club Manhattan, Exotic Car Country Club also has several cool twists on the «typical» high-end car selection. Lamborghini lovers can dust off their gold chains and fire up a Countach, turn heads in an obscure Jalpa or head for the hills in a LM002 SUV. There are actually two Vectors on hand, which quite possibly represent a sizable fraction of the models still in existence. Special edition 288 GTO, F40, F50, and 550 Barchetta Ferraris are also on the menu. It is a tad more expensive than food from a trough, but this all-you-can-drive buffet satisfies any automotive appetite. day). Eyeing the Ferraris? To drive off in the red Mondial, 348 Spider or 355 Spider, it will take $480 per day for the three-day scenario and $314 per day for the weeklong plan. The rest of the stable is desirable, too. In contrast to some clubs, Classic Car Share’s youngest cars may not be brand new (save for the 2006 Corvette convertible), but they are all in great shape and will not disappoint. Just keep in mind the company name. The aforementioned Vette is in good company; it shares space with a ’64 convertible and a ‘69 coupe. Other classic muscle car options are a ’68 Pontiac GTO and ’69 Ford Mustang Mach I. Contemporary road rockets include a Dodge Viper Coupe and a Porsche Boxster S. LuxShare Auto Club, Indiana Sometimes, you need to go off the beaten path. Evansville, Indiana is home to one of the newest clubs, LuxShare Auto Club. Yes, Evansville, Indiana. Before you dismiss the idea, keep in mind that the city already has an established Panoz dealership in Buxton Motorsports. In fact, owner Brian Buxton is also the man behind LuxShare. To get on board, it takes $250 to enroll and annual fees of $7,250 for a standard membership or $9,000 for premium status. A point system is also attached to each membership level. Race Resort Ascari, Spain If Race Resort Ascari’s location stands out among these other hotspots, you will have to excuse me. Quite simply, it is an outstanding club. So while I made an exception and ventured outside the States for this one, you’ll see it is well worth the journey. Inspired by and named after racing legend Alberto Ascari, this members-only track and onsite resort began development in 2000. Today, its valley location in southern Spain is as great to behold as it is to drive. The circuit consists of three configurable subsections totaling a little over three miles. I hope you like G’s, because the track has 26 corners in all, making up roughly 42 % of the ride. But to experience these lateral G’s, it will take a few G’s from your wallet. Individual memberships require a one-time joining fee of about $160,000 U. S. and about $6,400 U. S. annually. You are then welcome to bring your own car to the track for 50 days per year. If you would rather not put your own car through its paces on Ascari’s track, the club has several track cars to choose from at extra cost. Finally, if you’re worn from too much driving or celebrating at the clubhouse after your laps, you will take comfort in knowing a hotel and spa are being planned. Questions to Ask Is insurance included in the usage fees? What is the club’s rental guarantee policy? What is the average price per day? What is the reservation rate? What is the member to car ratio? How many members are in the club? What is the club’s total member goal? Are there any additional fees? Can I let my friends, family, and/or colleagues use my membership? Is car delivery provided? Can I store my car at the club? What kind of concierge or additional services, if any, does the club provide? What is the nature of the club culture? Does the club have plans to raise prices and policies in the future? How safe is my membership fee and annual due? 19 S eptember, 2007 P rof e s siona l : Watch and R oll: auto club s Nothing too complicated – just a bit of anticipation as LuxShare builds its membership and fleet to target levels. On the horizon, Buxton envisions members choosing from Ferrari, Mercedes-Benz, Porsche, and Rolls-Royce keys. At the moment, the roster is filled by Porsche Cayman S’s. And by that we mean one. Obviously, this is the dicey part of establishing a luxury car club: To gain members, you need cars. To gain cars, you need members. Buxton has demonstrated solid per- formance as a dealer, so we suspect he’ll gain momentum with LuxShare as well. http://www. askmen.com/ 20 S eptember, 2007 P rof e s siona l : Watch and R oll: auto club s EXPERIENCE VERSUS OWNERSHIP For the rich, ownership used to be everything. Ten years ago, no self-respecting multi-millionaire or billionaire would have been caught dead in a rented car, rented house or rented boat. What was the point of being rich if you couldn’t own your own status symbols? Now, a sea change is sweeping through the luxury world in the form of fractional ownership. It started with jets, then moved to plush vacation homes (rented by destination clubs) and automobiles available from exotic-car clubs. The next wave in fractional ownership? Yachts. YachtPlus, the U. K. based company, is building a fleet of ten yachts to be sold off in fractional pieces. Each of the 132-foot long boats will be divided into eight shares sold for $2 million each. (For those about to get out their calculators, that works out to $121,212.12 a foot.) In an article, Han Verstraete, chief executive of YachtPlus, says that the rich no longer prize ownership. They prize experiences. «My typical customer will have three real-estate assets and perhaps also do some sharing of jets,» he says. «The yacht experience is the experience these people are seeking next.» The article also quotes James Lawson, senior research director at Ledbury Research, saying that «many wealthy people are looking for driving lessons organized by Ferrari, cooking lessons by celebrity chefs, and exclusive travel and holiday experiences. Experience is becoming more important than ownership.» This is the common sales pitch from all fractional companies. Why own when you can co-own? Why deal with the hassles of finding a plumber for your house in Cabo, repairing the transmission on the Ferrari, and hiring your own pilots when you can let someone else do it and still enjoy the ride? It’s a reasonable argument – up to a point. Today’s wealthy do indeed value experiences as much as things. But that doesn’t necessarily mean they want to share the cost of their things. Fractional ownership is likely to keep growing as the ranks of wealthy and affluent explode. But the industry will have to overcome three major hurdles: The Christmas-Vacation Effect Tanner & Haley, the first destination club, went bankrupt in part because all of its members wanted to be in the same vacation spots at the same times. So the company had to rent homes to accommodate the unexpected demand. Fractional ownership is based on the premise that all owners will want to use the asset at different times. But, inevitably, they all want to use their toys during peak holiday times – Christmas and New Year, Easter break, and August. When all eight owners of the YachtPlus yacht want to use the boat for the first two weeks in August, what happens? (Even rigorous scheduling and point systems leave people disappointed.) The Wealthy Don’t Like to Share These are people who have worked hard for their fortunes and are used to getting top treatment. They like things their way. Fractional yacht-ownership has run into trouble in the past because owners typically want their own kind of boat, crew service and trip itineraries. Can you imagine eight multi-millionaires trying to agree on flatware? Economics In the end, fractional ownership is only as strong as the partners. What if you buy a boat with eight people and two end up bankrupt? What if the company selling the shares suddenly finds itself in dire straits? While fractional ownership may spread the costs of ownership, it also expands the pool of risks. And as renting and chartering becomes increasingly popular for top cars, yachts, planes and mansions, co-owning starts to look less attractive. Fractional ownership looks like it has the potential to combine the worst of both worlds – the price of ownership combined with the personal costs of sharing. http://www.exoticcarclubs.com/ 21 Antarctica – growing destination Act i v e / Adventure Antarctica – a beautiful, ice-covered land at the southernmost tip of the Earth. Over the years it has been of great importance to the scientists and polar researchers. For more than two decades now Antarctica has become a growing destination. What do the tourists seek? What do they have to face there? The rise in visitor numbers has recently called the attention of global authorities concerned about the future of the continent because of the environmental impacts of the tourism industry. Let us get familiar with the important issues connected with the icy tourism. S eptember, 2007 Act i v e / A dv e n t u r e : Antarc ti ca – g row ing d e stinati on Amazing Antarctica be around + 30 degrees F. This year a record was set for warm weather, + 51 degrees. This may have something to do with Global Warming. The Darkest The sun sets on April 20th every year and it stays dark until «sunrise», August 20th. From then until October 1st there is a period where there are normal sunrises and sunsets. Then, the sun begins to stay up all 24 hours. This continues till about the 20th of February. At this time another period begins where there are normal sunrises and sunsets. This continues till «sunset» on the 20th of April. So it is dark as the inside of a closet with the door shut till the next «sunrise», August 20th. The Driest All the moisture in the air freezes, so the humidity in Antarctica is almost zero. The amount of moisture received by the polar plateau is actually comparable to that falling on the world’s hot deserts. The Highest The ice on Antarctica varies from 1600 meters thick on the edges to 3000 meters thick at the South Pole. As for size, Antarctica is larger than the lower United States and Mexico combined. So, that is a lot of ice. It is enough ice to be 70 percent of the world’s fresh water, and 90 percent of the world’s ice. There are huge mountains in the Transantarctic Mountain range that go as high as 4115 meters. There is an active volcano just 32 km from McMurdo and it is 3962 meters tall (Mount Erebus). The average elevation of Antarctica is 2500 meters. The height of the South Pole is 2835 meters. The highest point on the icecap is in Australian Antarctic Territory, at 4100 meters, at 82 20’S, 56 30’E. Vinson Massif is the highest mountain in Antarctica, at 4897 meters. The Antarctic is a remarkable continent – remote, hostile and uninhabited. Yet it is of key importance to our understanding of how the world works. For the early explorers Antarctica was the ultimate survival contest. For scientists it remains a place of intellectual challenge whilst for the modern tourist it is simply a wilderness of great beauty. It is a place of extremes. Antarctica is the coldest, darkest, driest, highest, and windiest continent on earth. With a very low snowfall most of the continent is technically a desert, with the icecap containing almost 70 % of the world’s freshwater and 90 % of the world’s ice. Huge icebergs break off each year from the floating ice shelves and half of the surrounding ocean freezes over in winter, more than doubling the size of the continent. The Windiest Winds are formed at the earth’s equator and go straight up coming back to earth at the South Pole. Here they head for the sea in all northbound directions. The winds (called Katabatic winds) are cooled and begin to pick up velocity, sometimes reaching 327 kilometers per hour by the time they reach the sea headed back north where they came from. Another wind is generated that blows on-shore around Antarctica headed south. These winds collide and go upwards to form an upper atmosphere wind. The wind seldom stops because there are no trees or plants to slow it down. The Coldest The lowest temperature ever recorded on earth was a little more than – 128 degrees Fahrenheit (-89.2°C) recorded at a Russian site, Vostok, Antarctica (about 200 miles from the South Pole towards Australia) in 1983. People are stationed there all year round as well as at the South Pole and McMurdo Station, which is about 1287 km north of the South Pole on longitude, 166 east. The temperature at McMurdo Station varies by the season. In the winter the temperature may be as low as – 65 degrees F. In the summer, the temperature around Christmas (don’t forget, our summer is the same time as your winter) will Science The national Antarctic programs of many nations have been active in Antarctic and sub-Antarctic regions for many years. 23 S eptember, 2007 Act i v e / A dv e n t u r e : Antarc ti ca – g row ing d e stinati on These programs conduct research and other activities which are the key to protecting this region, and understanding its influence on the way our planet operates. Antarctica is not a scientific curiosity but a key part of the fabric of the Earth system. The processes taking place now in the Antarctic affect the world’s climate and its oceans, linking the continent inextricably to what we experience thousands of kilometers away. In understanding global change the Antarctic has a crucial role to play. Locked up in its 4 km thick ice sheet is a record of past climate for the last 500,000 years. Trapped bubbles in the ice hold an archive of atmospheric gases, and evidence for levels of global pollution by industry, agriculture and atomic bombs is frozen into the ice. Equally important is the evidence for ozone depletion in the upper atmosphere. Studies on the ice sheet and its contribution to world sea level rise are vital to our understanding of global change. ous animals here are the Orcas, seals, Skuas, and of course everybody’s favorite, a million penguins. But… no polar bears as many think. That’s it, all the other animals are krill (a shrimp like delicacy the penguins love), Antarctic Cod (a big real slow fish that all the animals love), and numerous other marine animals that live under the sea. One of the most outstanding things about Antarctica is the Orcas, or Killer Whale. These guys come in every year after the Coast Guard plows a channel from the open sea to McMurdo to look for seals. These guys weigh about 4500 kilograms and a seal weighs only 450kilograms. On the ice a seal cannot move very fast, more like a big snail. http://www.pcs.k12.va.us http://www.antarctica.ac.uk Polar Bears and Other Animals Less than 1 % of the continent is free of ice and snow and the plants and other organisms living there need to be adapted to survive prolonged freezing and desiccation. The four most obvi- 24 S eptember, 2007 Act i v e / A dv e n t u r e : Antarc ti ca – g row ing d e stinati on Tourism in the Antarctic Booming A ntarctica is not usually thought of as a tourist destination but over 15,000 people per year now visit the continent during the Antarctic summer (December-February). Tourism began in 1958 but only became a serious activity in 1969. In that year Lars-Eric Linblad took his purpose built Antarctic tour ship – Linblad Explorer – to the Antarctic for the first time. Since then the industry has grown considerably both in numbers and diversity. It was not until the 1980s that tour ships began to visit the south in bigger numbers (47 % coming from the USA, 33 % from Germany, Australia, Japan and the UK). The dominant age group of visitors is retired people. In 1991, the International Association of Antarctic Tour Operators (IAATO) was formed to co-ordinate tours in the south. Most tours are to the Antarctic Peninsula and usually last from seven to 14 days. Passengers are flown to Ushuaia on the south coast of Tierra del Fuego, then board specially strengthened ships for the Antarctic. Icebergs, glaciers, penguins, seals, whales, the clear atmosphere all make the Antarctic a place people enjoy, and many wish to return to the south although the weather can be very wild. IAATO rules limit the number of passengers per ship to 400 due to very limited rescue facilities. Prices for a cruise vary between £3,000 and £5,000. Whilst most tourists still visit on ship-borne cruises, some now take overflights from Australia or South America, others fly in to a blue ice airfield and climb mountains or ski to the South Pole. Flights to the Antarctic began in 1977 from Christchurch with Air New Zealand. In 1979, there was a disastrous crash when an Air New Zealand DC10 crashed into Mount Erebus killing 257 people. Air flights have subsequently begun again, and Qantas operate flights over the Antarctic in a Boeing 747. In summer of 1997-98, a total of 3,146 people were carried. 25 S eptember, 2007 Act i v e / A dv e n t u r e : Antarc ti ca – g row ing d e stinati on Around 200 sites including 20 research stations have been visited in the Antarctic Peninsula region since 1989 About 50 of these sites have received more than 100 visitors in any one season and about the same number have been visited just once. Visits are concentrated at less than 35 sites. Less than 10 sites receive around 10,000 visitors each season. Most tourists visit the Antarctic Peninsula and offshore islands to see the scenery, the wildlife and some of the historical sites of the early explorers. A small but increasing minority are now looking for other activities in Antarctica – sky diving, climbing, surfing, diving, ski walking, scuba diving holidays will be available next year. – which may pose difficult safety issues in the future. The debate over the merits of Antarctic tourism echoes debates over other wilderness regions. Tourism has allowed many people who might not otherwise have the opportunity, to experience the wonders, and understand the importance, of Antarctica. Their experiences have led to a greater recognition in the wider community of the region’s importance to the world. On the other hand, as more and more people visit the southern regions, the risks of environmental damage increase: wildlife disturbance, vegetation trampling, diseases and pollution are amongst the concerns. According to current information, Antarctica is likely to remain a specialized and relatively expensive niche destination offered by a limited number of experienced operators focusing on educational voyages to areas of natural and wilderness value. The benefits derived from responsible tourism, such as better knowledge and appreciation of the region are substantial. The wildlife-rich coastline, snow-covered mountains, glaciated landscapes, and extreme weather of this physically remote and magical part of the world lend this region remarkable wilderness and aesthetic value for the adventurous traveler. http://www.antarctica.ac.uk http://www.aad.gov.au/ 26 S eptember, 2007 Act i v e / A dv e n t u r e : Antarc ti ca – g row ing d e stinati on TRENDS AND THE YACHTING EXPERIENCE all stand to benefit from such a situation. For example, they maintain contact in order to limit the number of ships in a certain area at a given time. Tourism is currently limited to a relatively easily accessible area of Antarctica. The emptiness and inaccessibility of the continent is therefore not going to be lost with the arrival of 30,000 tourists. However, if this number increases further, and more different types of tourists and visitors come to Antarctica with varying and sometimes conflicting interests, that attraction could eventually be lost. More importantly still, the pressure will increase on the limited number of areas suitable for tourist activities. But what about a million tourists? What’s the limit? It is difficult to say whether a million tourists a year are likely to come to Antarctica in the future. It depends on several different factors. One important factor is that there are currently no clear limits to growth. Since the development of international legislation concerning Antarctica takes place at a slower rate than the rapidly developing tourism industry, it is important to adopt a pro-active stance. Thinking about various possible scenarios — including one with a million visitors a year — is a practicable method for starting up this process now. An absolute limit to the number of tourists allowed visiting Antarctica each year will not in itself ensure a reduction in the risks posed to Antarctica’s fragile ecosystem. The question also arises of how such an agreement could be managed in practice. You noted that some countries support developments such as an airport in Antarctica, while other countries are against this. This relates to the development of permanent facilities and infrastructures for tourism in Antarctica. Antarctica is governed by the Antarctic Treaty System. Signatories to this treaty are countries with an interest in Antarctica based on historic claims and scientific activities. Of the 45 countries that are current signatories, 29 have a consultative status. These countries have the right to take part in the making of decisions on the basis of consensus on policy issues concerning Antarctica. This slows down the process of policy-making. A number of parties, including New Zealand, Australia and Germany, have spoken out against the development of permanent tourist facilities and infrastructures, for example because these would increase pressure on the scarce areas of ice-free land. Tourists are accommodated in some South American research stations in order to reduce the high costs of the national research programmes. These parties therefore seem to have an economic reason to oppose a ban on permanent tourist facilities. It is currently unclear how this policy discussion is likely to develop further within the Antarctic Treaty System. R esearch into the future trends and the impact of tourism in Antarctica is done by developing scenarios. The past and present situations of the development of tourism there are mapped out and combined with possible future developments, such as new air routes and the potential construction of infrastructure and facilities for tourists. And where better to map out the future of tourism in Antarctica than in Antarctica itself? Machiel Lamers, an expert on Antarctica tourism, made a two-week trip to a research station in Antarctica and talks about several important issues: Would you recommend a trip to Antarctica to others, or would you rather fewer people went there? A visit to Antarctica is always an extraordinary and unforgettable experience. I wouldn’t want to deny anyone such an experience, as long as we do not lose sight of the consequences, both in the short term and the long term. Tourism in Antarctica is currently still limited compared with other regions of the world. The unique natural and political conditions and the rapid growth of the last fifteen years are reasons to think about possible limits to tourism and to prepare suitable and effective international policy before it is too late. Doesn’t the attraction of Antarctica for tourists lie largely in the inaccessibility and emptiness of the continent? Won’t that be lost if the tourism industry gets going there? Most tourists do indeed come to Antarctica to experience that emptiness. Tour operators in Antarctica actually work together to continue to make that experience possible. Together, they have formed the International Association of Antarctic Tour Operators (IAATO). Through this organisation, they can impose effective self-regulatory guidelines to allow tourist activities to take place in a safe, environmentally-friendly and appealing manner. They 27 S eptember, 2007 Act i v e / A dv e n t u r e : Antarc ti ca – g row ing d e stinati on of course always room for improvement. In recent years, for example, people have become more aware of the risks involved in Bio-safety, or in other words the incursions of foreign plants and animal species. Partly due to climate change, this could have disastrous consequences for the fragile ecosystems in Antarctica. Many management interventions are possible to minimise the risks of such biological introductions in Antarctica. A lot of thought is currently being devoted to this. Amongst other people, you have talked to environmental managers from New Zealand and Great Britain about what they are doing to keep environmental damage to a minimum. Were you impressed, or do you think they could be doing better? A lot has changed since the late 1980s with regard to the way in which the various national scientific research programmes operate in Antarctica. You could even argue that part of the improvement in the environmental situation around research stations is due to increased tourism and the campaigns carried out by organisations like Greenpeace. The Antarctic Treaty System has been extended by an Environmental Protocol that oversees the protection of the continent. Environmental Impact Assessments must be formulated for all activities, and justification must be given for all major interventions. People have also begun work on rectifying the damage done in the past. There is http://www.unimaas.nl/ 28 S eptember, 2007 Act i v e / A dv e n t u r e : Antarc ti ca – g row ing d e stinati on Is Rise in Tourism Helping Antarctica or Hurting It? later capsized, spreading an oil slick that fouled nearby penguin, cormorant, and seal colonies. Incidents like that worry environmentalists, as do soaring visitation rates. «The sheer number of people can disrupt wildlife breeding and reduce populations,» warns Beth Clark, director of the conservationist Antarctica Project. One problem is that most tours land at the same points along the 800-mile-long (1,300-kilometer-long) Antarctic Peninsula, the continent’s partly ice-free «banana belt.» Cruise-ship passengers take in vistas of glaciated mountains and lichen-covered islands, stopping to visit penguin colonies, seal beaches, and abandoned whaling stations. Most tour operators try to ensure their passengers leave no garbage and don’t walk on fragile areas, like moss beds that take a century to grow just a few inches. «There can be ten ships down here at a time,» says Mike Messick, an expedition leader on the Clipper Adventurer, a 330foot (100-meter) converted Russian vessel. He recalls when only two cruise ships visited. «We have nightly radio contact with other ships to work around each other’s schedules. There’s a lot of room down here, so we don’t need to be crowded.» Ice-hardened Russian vessels like Messick’s now make up about half the tourist fleet. One, a former troopship called Marco Polo, carries more than 400 passengers and has to spend up to 12 hours shuttling visitors to and from breeding sites, exposing the animals to humans far longer than do smaller ships. Even larger luxury liners sail along the peninsula. The 936passenger Rotterdam started the trend in 2000 with a threeday «drive-by». Three other 1000-plus passenger ships made similar voyages from 2002 to 2003. More cruise ships regularly consider adding the route to their offered itineraries, and some of these big vessels send their passengers ashore. The danger: A large-ship accident in rough southern seas could be too isolated for rescue or environmental cleanup. So far, though, much of the Antarctic tourism has remained environmentally benign, say scientists at Palmer Station. While some damage has occurred, an eight-year study by the National Science Foundation found no effect on the Adélie penguin population. The International Association of Antarctic Tour Operators (IAATO) has adopted voluntary standards to keep visitors from disturbing wildlife–by staying at least 15 feet (5 meters) from penguins and by not allowing their members with over 500 passengers to land, for instance. But enforcement depends on guides, and not all ships belong to IAATO. A dozen tours a year visit Palmer Station to learn about marine biology, ozone depletion, and the effect of global warming A délie penguins have been breeding on Antarctica’s Torgersen Island for thousands of years, but today the clacking and squawking of 20,000 birds hides a relatively new sound: camera shutters. A dozen tourists wander through the colony, having arrived by Zodiac rubber raft from their cruise ship. «For me the noise of the penguin colonies is the real surprise,» says Peter Vutz, stepping away from the wildlife paparazzi. «And the smell,» adds his wife, Doris, swaddled in a bright parka. These two 71-year-old Californians add to a surge in shipbased adventurers here that’s doubled and redoubled in less than a decade: over 14,000 in the 1999-2000 season, up from 2,500 only ten years earlier. Is this jump in tourism hurting Antarctica, or helping it? In 1989 the Argentine navy resupply ship Bahia Paraiso stopped at the U. S. research base Palmer Station, near Torgersen, to allow tourists to visit. On departure the vessel struck an underwater rock. No one was seriously injured, but the ship 29 S eptember, 2007 Act i v e / A dv e n t u r e : Antarc ti ca – g row ing d e stinati on on Antarctic ice and fauna. The hope, says environmental officer Joyce Jatko, is that «tourists will become ambassadors for Antarctica.» Though the international community is not yet considering a limit on tourist numbers, she adds, «both the Antarctic Treaty nations and the tour operators agree that adopting some site specific guidelines is a good and necessary thing to do.» John Splettstoesser has been coming to Antarctica as a scientist and guide since 1960. «For now,» he says, «this is still one of the few places where people can visit a pristine area of the globe without mucking things up.» He looks out over the inlet toward a blue and white iceberg. Out past a cruising leopard seal, the distant Marr Glacier calves another berg, the boom echoing across the water. «Even for me, the glamour has never worn off.» By David Helvarg http://news.nationalgeographic.com/ 30 S eptember, 2007 Act i v e / A dv e n t u r e : Antarc ti ca – g row ing d e stinati on The Necessity of Regulations Impact of Tourism Although remoteness and lack of development make Antarctica a difficult and expensive place to visit, there is no shortage of people wanting to make the trip – tourist numbers now exceed the number of scientists and support staff who work there, and are increasing steadily The majority of tourists come from the USA, then Germany and Britain. Some consider tourists an environmental pressure Antarctica could do without. Others note that the tourists are generally well informed and concerned about the Antarctic environment and usually become very good advocates for the protection of Antarctica when they return home. In the past tourist visits have caused damage to slow growing moss beds, disturbed penguins and taken historic items or geological souvenirs. Rubbish and wastes from ships have also been a problem, as has uninvited visits to scientific bases. Nowadays groups are much better regulated and impact has reduced in some areas. Nevertheless, accidents can occur with major consequences for the environment, such as the oil spill after the grounding of the tourist and supply ship Bahai Paraiso on the Antarctic Peninsula. Other large cruise ships have also run aground requiring expensive rescue and repair operations. Some tourist ventures and private expeditions have got into trouble and been assisted by staff from scientific bases. This can be a disruption to research activity as well as placing demands on staff whose responsibilities do not include managing tourists. T here is no doubt Antarctica is an incredible tourist destination. It is a magnificent and largely uninhabited wilderness with majestic mountains, glaciers, icebergs and abundant wildlife. Its remoteness, inaccessibility and severe climate add an element of adventure to a visit to Antarctica. Visitor numbers have increased rapidly over the last few decades. During the 1998-99 summer season, over 10000 tourists visited Antarctica compared with less than 2000 19 years ago. The number of ship borne visitors has increased by four-fold between 1995 and 2005. The 2006/07 season saw the largest tourist vessel ever to operate in Antarctic waters. Tours are organised by private companies and people from all over the world make the journey to see the icy continent. The trend of increasing visitor numbers has led the Antarctic Treaty countries to establish guidelines and regulations to minimise the impact of these visitors on this remarkable environment. Regulations The Environmental Protocol to the Antarctic Treaty does not specifically address tourism, but its provisions go some way to minimising the adverse impacts of tourists because, once ratified, the protocol is legally binding over all visitors to the Antarctic, whether on government or private trips. The document concerns the protection of Antarctic wildlife and protected areas, the respecting of scientific research, personal safety and impact on the environment. Guidelines have also been written for the organisers of tourist and private ventures – these require prior notification of the trip to the organiser’s national authority, assessment of potential environmental Apart from protecting the environment, Antarctica has not officially been declared a tourist destination and as such it is not really set up for tourism and no guarantees for safety and legitimate rights of tourists can be given. http://www.70south.com Up to now, Antarctic tourism is not regulated. There are some reporting obligations, voluntary guidelines relating to particular sites, and generic environmental impact assessment obligations for all who go to Antarctica. But there’s nothing to say what you can and cannot do by way of tourism, and nothing to stop numbers increasing. http://www.ipy.org/ 31 S eptember, 2007 Act i v e / A dv e n t u r e : Antarc ti ca – g row ing d e stinati on Tourist operators in Antarctica have organised an association (the International Association of Antarctic Tour Operators) to promote safety and environmental responsibility amongst cruise operators. The members of this association carry the majority of tourists to Antarctica. Individual countries have also introduced measures to minimise effects of tourists. Chile requires all captains of ships that go to Antarctica to attend a month-long school in Antarctic navigation. New Zealand sends a government representative on all ships visiting the Ross Dependency to supervise visits to the historic huts and Scott Base and to observe how well the provisions of the treaty and protocol are adhered to. Even with reduced impact per visitor, the increasing number of visitors could still have a considerable effect on the environment. Monitoring of impacts at specific sites can be used to determine whether tourists should be allowed to continue to visit a particular area. Although visits are usually short, they are concentrated into a small number of landing sites and have the potential to destroy parts of a unique environment and to jeopardise scientific research. http://www.anta.canterbury.ac.nz impacts, the ability to cope with environmental emergencies such as oil spills, self-sufficiency, the proper disposal of wastes and respect for the Antarctic environment and research activities. The guidelines outline detailed procedures to be followed during the planning of the trip, when in the Antarctic Treaty area and on completion of the trip. 32 Small airports - big business T r a n s port : Airports, small or large, the tourism industry definitely needs them all. Although they need to face similar problems, small airports have some specific challenges to overcome. What is the relationship of the low cost carriers to these smaller and regional airports? What are the roles and the importance of the governmental subsidies? What kind of connection if any appears between the small and the national airports in Europe and elsewhere? Get familiar with all of these issues solved by the airports on everyday basis. S eptember, 2007 T r a n sport: Small air por ts – big bu sine ss BIG AND SMALL AIRPORTS FACE THE SAME CHALLENGES Regional airports face very similar tasks to those of their larger counterparts, but have different needs. Space is of even more critical importance and systems have to be as compact as possible. But they are still expected to run trouble-free, and be easy to use and install. Nevertheless a decision-support system for a small airport has to feature comparable functions and adhere to the same guidelines as systems for larger applications in terms of safety, reliability and scalability. The question remains: Who is ready to take on the challenges of regional airports and airfields? This market is not very appealing to the industry as the sales returns are rather small and profit margins are slim. Thus most of the big players in the field are not interested in outfitting small and medium-sized airports. New concepts have to be devised to satisfy the special needs of this market segment and resources have to be optimized. Also the tasks that complex systems carry out at big hubs have to be transposed to fit the needs of small and medium-sized airports. This remains one of the biggest challenges for most companies even today. Small airports are often under pressure to explain their contribution to the community or justify their very existence. Yet these same airports are under pressure to keep expenses down. These conflicting demands require efficient and effective marketing practices and do not allow for the «trial-and-error» method when resources are scarce. Airports currently use a variety of marketing practices to retain and build business, strengthen relationships with their target audiences, and develop air service. There is a need to educate airport decision-makers as to the factors that influence the airport marketing effort and to identify, assess, and share the most successful practices with the rest of the airport industry. B ig hubs and small airports alike face a series of various challenges. However, small and medium-sized airports are struggling more due to lack of support. Airports are the nodes in air transport logistics. Regardless of whether we talk about freight or passengers, the airport is the point in the transport flow where ground meets air. This brings about a number of interesting time management and logistics challenges. The main goal is to optimize all the resources of an airport, and that means making decisions that optimize the whole system. There are a lot of buzzwords in the world of airports and air transport. CDM (collaborative decision making), A-SMGCS (advanced surface movement guidance and control system) and AAA (airline, airport, air traffic control) are just a few of the terms that hover about air traffic management today. The big hubs are already aware of some of the major programs that aim at harmonizing resources, and many large airports already apply decision-support systems. However hubs depend on regional airports for a large portion of passenger as well as freight traffic. Attributes of Airports: • The definition of small airports varies considerably. In the US they are usually airports with less than 10 million passengers a year; in Europe less than 1 million a year. • Airports vary in size, with smaller or less-developed airports often having only a single runway shorter than 1,000 m (3,300 ft). Larger airports for international flights generally have paved runways 2,000 m (6,600 ft) or longer. Many small airports have dirt, grass, or gravel runways, rather than asphalt or concrete. • The longest public-use runway in the world is at Ulyanovsk Vostochny Airport, in Ulyanovsk, Russia. It has a length of 5,000 m (16,404ft). At 105 m (344ft), it should also be the world’s widest paved runway. • As of 2006, there were approximately 49,000 airports around the world, including 14,858 in the United States alone http://www.frequentis.com/ http://www.trb.org/ 34 S eptember, 2007 T r a n sport: Small air por ts – big bu sine ss SMALL AIRPORTS AND LOW COST CARRIERS: A LOVE AND HATE RELATIONSHIP lounges, high level of service at check in, or preferences for air bridges, and baggage transfer services. Low cost carriers are efficient users of apron and gate space with short turnaround times and typically do not demand high levels of service within the terminal. Low cost carriers have forced airport revenue down by negotiating with airport management for reductions in charges. The airlines have a strong bargaining position because they can threaten to fly elsewhere unless reductions in charges or commercial incentives are granted by the airport. Underutilized airports approach LCCs in order to operate services to or from their airports. There are many examples of this practice, especially in ex-Eastern European countries, like Poland and East German lands. On the other hand, many regions which happen to have an underutilized airport approach LCCs in order to start operating in their regions and renovate or update their airport facilities according to the demands of the LCC to operate. There is a combination of the utilization of the airport and the economic development of the region which is primarily tourism related. There are many regions in Europe which are prepared even to subsidize or share the risk of the operation of a new service to their region with the carrier. On January 1st 2007 European Union enlarged even further, with the accession of Romania and Bulgaria. Bulgaria is currently looking into selling some of its military airports in order to expand its airport operations. Similar measures took place in Poland after its accession and similar suggestions were made at the World Low Cost Carriers Conference in London last year. It was stated that the vast number of underutilized airports in Europe, especially in the new member states, can T here are approximately 200 airports in Europe that can be classed as underutilized with less than 1 million passengers per annum and the majority is loss-making, publicly owned and subsidized by central or regional government. Identifying ways to increase passenger numbers, such as attracting low cost carriers is an appealing way for airport managers to improve their financial performance. Airports have large fixed infrastructure costs and studies have demonstrated that unit costs decline significantly as traffic increases up to 1.5 million Work Load Units (WLU defined as a passenger or 100kg of freight) per annum. For airport facilities of small scale, the fixed costs of providing airport capacity and providing staff are high. Low cost carriers have begun to offer life to smaller airports and tourist destinations since they have searched for locations away from major congested hub airports in the main and the low fares offered have stimulated traffic from regional points. Low cost carriers place different demands on airport facilities than do the main scheduled network carriers. For example, low cost carriers do not have the same requirement for business Low cost carrier: • A low-cost carrier or low-cost airline (also known as a no-frills or discount carrier / airline) is an airline that offers generally low fares in exchange for eliminating many traditional passenger services. The concept originated in the United States before spreading to Europe in the early 1990s and subsequently to much of the rest of the world. The term originated within the airline industry referring to airlines with a low – or lower – operating cost structure than their competitors. 35 S eptember, 2007 T r a n sport: Small air por ts – big bu sine ss be the perfect opportunity for the enlargement of the LCCs market share in Europe and the economic-tourism development of those regions and countries in general. The marginal cost of accommodating low cost services at underutilized airports is often perceived to be very low due to the availability of spare airport capacity and the fact that additional passengers add little to terminal costs. The marginal cost of airport capacity might be higher than initially thought if airport management needs to add retail outlets or alter the mix in order to maximize revenue from low cost passengers passing through the terminal. Depending upon the aeronautical revenue generated then, the airport may still be willing to sanction a price below marginal cost if it is secure in the knowledge that the additional passengers would bring with them retail expenditure, which would offset the losses made on the sale of airport capacity. Clearly, the airport needs to establish the likely nonaeronautical revenue generated by passengers in order to be able to calculate exactly what it can charge airlines for the use of runway capacity and still make a return. During the expansion and development years of the LCCs airports were eager to attract carriers and were prepared to pay premiums or subsidies and make alterations in order to meet the demands of the LCCs. Time has shown that many if not all LCCs are prepared to abandon flying to a destination, therefore the airport serving it, as easy and quick as they established the route. There are airports today which are faced with this situation, which inevitably lead themselves into a vicious circle from which they want to escape. Guidance and consultancy is one tool which will assist them in order to make the right decisions and lead to profitability and expansion again! Typical low-cost carrier business model practices include: • a single passenger class • a single type of aeroplane (commonly the Airbus A320 or Boeing 737), reducing training and servicing costs. • a simple fare scheme, such as charging one-way tickets half that of roundtrips (typically fares increase as the plane fills up, which rewards early reservations) • unreserved seating (encouraging passengers to board early and quickly) • flying to cheaper, less congested secondary airports and flying early in the morning or late in the evening to avoid air traffic delays and take advantage of lower landing fees • fast turnaround times (allowing maximum utilization of aircraft) • simplified routes, emphasizing point-to-point transit instead of transfers at hubs (again enhancing aircraft utilization and eliminating disruption due to delayed passengers or luggage missing connecting flights) • emphasis on direct sales of tickets, especially over the Internet (avoiding fees and commissions paid to travel agents and computer reservations systems) • encouraged use and issuance of the electronic ticket or ticketless travel • employees working in multiple roles, for instance flight attendants also cleaning the aircraft or working as gate agents (limiting personnel costs) • «Free» in-flight catering and other «complimentary» services are eliminated, and replaced by optional paid-for in-flight food and drink (which represent an additional profit source for the airline). • aggressive fuel hedging programs. • «unbundling» of ancillary charges (showing airport fees, taxes as separate charges rather than as part of the advertised fare) to make the «headline fare» appear lower. By Pavlos Arvanitis http://www.airconsulting.aero/ 36 S eptember, 2007 T r a n sport: Small air por ts – big bu sine ss AIRPORTS DRIVING TOURISM DEVELOPMENT OF EUROPE tourism, and the benefits it brings, would not have been possible without the development of direct air service connections. The advent of no frills carriers is particularly stimulating the development of new tourism markets based around short breaks and flexible low-cost travel arrangements. Such developments are often strongly supported by the communities in the vicinity of these smaller airports because of the overall benefit to the local economy. The Case of Ireland More specific evidence about the impact of low-cost carriers on the tourism market can be gained by examining the pattern of tourism development in Ireland. Air transport is crucial to the Irish tourism industry as it accounts for three quarters of tourist visits to Ireland. International tourism to Ireland is also a rapidly growing sector. Although there are other economic factors which have led to a growth in tourist visits, virtually all industry commentators identify low-cost access as one of the key driving forces behind Ireland’s recent tourism growth. Growth in tourism from all markets has been particularly strong. This growth has been mainly in short, secondary breaks rather than the main annual holiday. This strong growth in inbound tourism has coincided with the rapid development of low-cost airline services, specifically Ryanair although given the stronger growth in traffic on Ireland-Europe routes where there is little low cost carrier involvement, a clear causal link has not been established. A significant proportion of this growth in tourism was in outbound traffic as the proportion of outbound travellers using Dublin Airport increased from 40 % to 50 % over the last 10 years. In other parts of Ireland, air access is equally important to the development of the tourism industry. A survey of inbound passengers at Cork Airport revealed that 40 % of passengers would not have visited the area in the absence of air service connections. It is estimated that expenditure by these visitors sustained 3,889 jobs. Tourism is a growth industry in Europe and accounts for 30 % of the EU’s external trade in services. A high proportion of tourist visits to and between member states use air travel. The advent of low cost carrier services is accelerating the development of tourism in many places. Tourism can generate substantial income and employment in Europe’s regions. Whilst it is not possible to attribute this income and employment to directly or indirectly to the existence of an airport, it represents another powerful catalytic impact. A irports play a major role in facilitating the development of inbound tourism. This is particularly the case for more remote or island destinations. For example, 70 % of foreign tourists to the United Kingdom arrive by air, 55 21 % of all foreign tourist arrivals in Greece travel through Athens Airport and 32 % of foreign tourists to the Lisbon area arrive through Lisbon Airport. Vienna Airport plays a key role in tourism to Austria. Approximately 37 % of visitors to Vienna travel by air, remaining for an average of 4.7 days and spending around €130 per day for leisure travellers and €426 per day for business travellers. Impact on Tourism Unlike broader catalytic impact, tourism impacts are relatively easier to quantify and, hence, are included in some airport economic impact studies through detailed investigations into the nature and contribution of tourism. One example where a detailed quantification of tourism impact has been carried out is Nice Airport, which treated tourism impact as an indirect impact of the airport. This showed that, at a regional level, tourism expenditure from visitors arriving by air can be significant. This research focused on identifying the specific regional impact of visitors using the airport. Tourism is a growth industry. Traditionally much inbound tourism has been driven by charter flights, particularly from the Northern European countries to the Mediterranean rim. In 2000, UK-Spain was the largest country to country air passenger flow in Europe, accounting for 11.5 % of all passengers carried. In 2002, Europe’s charter airlines flew almost a million flights in European airspace. They employ over 50,000 people and carry 118 million passengers to their destinations, using a 650-strong fleet of aircraft. Tourism arrivals by air are vital to island economies. For example, over 80 % of the tourists arriving at Greek islands such as Crete, Rhodes and Corfu arrive by air. The development of http://www.eraa.org/ 37 S eptember, 2007 T r a n sport: Small air por ts – big bu sine ss THE CASE OF POLAND – REGIONAL AIRPORTS TO SHAPE THE FUTURE A cess each year, Poland’s regional airports are catching up with the country’s main airport in Warsaw. In 2006 regional airports checked in nearly two-thirds more passengers than in 2005; at the same time, passenger traffic in the Warsaw airport rose by less than 15 %. Thus, the share of the country’s central airport in the total civil air transport market has decreased to just above 50 % and will shrink further to reach some 40 % by 2020. This confirms the theory that soon the future of the Polish airport industry will be shaped foremost by the regional ports and not, as has been the case to date, by the central airport. Nowadays, Poland’s airport network is six times less dense than in more developed European countries. On average in Poland there is one civilian airport per almost 3.2 million inhab- irports in Poland are currently experiencing very rapid growth, as a result of the fastest increase in air traffic anywhere in the world. However, Polish airports still suffer from underinvestment, inadequate infrastructure and limited capacity. The sector is expecting investments worth an estimated €1.2bn between 2007 and 2013, with credible plans to establish several new civil airports in Poland. The Polish airport industry enjoys the very good prospects. In 2006 more than 15.3 million travellers visited Polish airports, over one third more than in 2005. In the same period, average airport passenger traffic in Europe grew by some 7 %. The structure of air travel in Poland has changed visibly in the last two years. Considering the number of passengers they pro- 38 S eptember, 2007 T r a n sport: Small air por ts – big bu sine ss itants; while in the former EU15 this ratio stands at around 460,000 citizens per airport. This means that in some regions of Poland, people must travel more than 200 km to get to the nearest civil airport. Given these statistics, there is no doubt that Poland needs several new airports handling passenger traffic. «Based on what we know today, as many as nine new airports may well be established, necessitating estimated investments of at least €425m within the next five years,» asserts Bartlomiej Sosna, construction market analyst at PMR (analytical and consulting company). «Considering the investments planned on new airports, between 2007 and 2013 as much as €1.2bn will be spent on civil airports in Poland,» adds Mr. Sosna. Afterwards, between 2013 and 2020, further large investments are also expected. Though these are not exact figures, according to preliminary calculations, only seven out of twelve existing airports have estimated their investment needs for that period at nearly €500m. To this sum, one should also add large capital expenditure on part of new civil airports which will become operational within the next few years. By Bartlomiej Sosna http://www.pmrpublications.com/ 39 S eptember, 2007 T r a n sport: Small air por ts – big bu sine ss CANADIAN SMALL AIRPORT CHALLENGES area. Some even say that the federal government has walked away from its responsibilities over small airports. Governments have provided programs to assist airports to meet their financial needs. The federal government provides funding through its Airports Capital Assistance Program (ACAP) which helps eligible airports to finance capital projects related to safety, asset protection and operating cost reductions. Provincial and territorial governments also have funding programs for small airports. Many provincial and territorial governments own and operate airports within their jurisdiction as well as provide funding for non-ACAP eligible airports. «All airports have the same issues – the only difference is the number of passengers impacted,» says Bill Restall, Saskatoon Airport Authority S mall airports are vital to the economic vitality of the provinces and to communities across Canada. A healthy system of small airports increases the mobility of people and goods outside major centres, gives business opportunities to smaller air carriers and plays a key role in providing strong transportation infrastructure. With this in mind government has a critical role to play providing support of the infrastructure critical to small airports along with support for the delivery of public safety. With over 55 % of the traffic at small airports being business related and almost half of all aircraft movements being cargo flights small airports are the lifeblood of communities. Small airports are also integral to the well being of their local communities by supporting programs such as fire-fighting and many essential health services such as organ transportation. Small airports also play a vital role for the larger air network as essential feeder routes, particularly to international links. Beginning in 1994, the federal government started transferring the airports to local airport authorities and to communities. This massive undertaking has resulted in small airports which are more competitive and efficient – operating with lower costs and fewer employees and working closely with their partners – communities, air carriers, and employees. Dr. David Gillen, an expert in the Canadian airline industry, stresses the need for airports to be aware of the pressures air carriers are under. He notes the rise of low cost carriers and their dramatic increase in capacity which he argues is not sustainable. The large carriers are redesigning their networks to have fewer hubs and more direct connection points. Small airports typically face significant financial difficulties. Airport operators speak of the difficulty generating sufficient revenue to cover their operating costs and to finance capital projects. Often they have small populations in their catchment Opportunities to cut costs – Looking under every stone Despite these financial challenges, many airport managers are entrepreneurial and have found creative ways to operate – they have ‘looked under every stone’ for opportunities. A key component of a successful airport is people. Staffing levels have been ‘right-sized’, ensuring that staff are deployed in an efficient fashion without compromising safety. Because of their small size (some airports have a staff of 3), small airports need people who are flexible and able to multi-task. The same person may be responsible for snow and ice removal, carpentry, plumbing and tire changes. One speaker said that he would have had to cancel his participation at the conference if snow had been forecast as his duties as Executive Director include snow removal. Small airports today require the active support of their local community. At a minimum, everyone should know where the airport is and there should be appropriate signs directing outof-towners to the city and to the airport. In Kelowna, a volunteer ambassador program was established – the program is so successful that there is now a waiting list of volunteers. Some small airports have found creative ways to sustain air service – in Dryden, the city provided loan guarantees to a charter operator. Some airports have taken the opportunity to work more closely with air carriers. Air carriers usually support the small airports’ efforts to minimize fee increases and recognize that their main competitor is the highway. They suggest that airports ‘re-engineer’ terminal and landing fees to charge a fee per passenger rather than fees based on size of aircraft. This means that when a carrier tries to better match aircraft size with passenger demand, the airport does not lose fees. 40 S eptember, 2007 T r a n sport: Small air por ts – big bu sine ss Small airports are seeking to recover more of their operatAll airports regardless of size must comply with numerous ing costs from non-aviation sources. Land at the airport may regulations. Many participants said that one size should not fit all when it comes to regulations – small airports shouldn’t be be available for commercial development, abandoned runways may be rented out to vehicle manufacturers as test tracks, and burdened with the extensive regulations as larger airports. Airorganizations that rely on the airport (such as forest fire support operators say it is difficult to meet the level of regulatory pression companies and charter operators) can be encouraged burden and are apprehensive about the federal government to locate their offices at the airport. imposing additional regulations. The operators encourage the federal government to conduct a risk assessment to ensure Partnering with others creates opportunities to grow passenthat unnecessary regulations do not exist. Tom Fudakowski of ger traffic. Small airports are working with tourism operators to Transport Canada says that his department would be withdrawjointly promote their airport. Some airports have joint marketing ing from the process of audits and inspections and will monitor programs with local resorts or with neighboring communities the outcomes. to promote their area. Other airports have worked with nearby communities that lack an airport Airports can do more to provide bus service from the • 90 % of regional and small airports that are still experiencing operating defiDespite past successes, small cits are in better shape now than they were shortly after they were privatized. outlying community to the airport. airports can do more. They were • 52 % of airports studied have an operational surplus (subsidies excluded). The majority generated over $1 million in revenues, and costs such as insurStill have challenges to encouraged to ‘right size’ their ance, property taxes, utilities and security do not seem to have had a signifirunways and facilities – every overcome cant impact on their bottom line. airport authority should question Despite the tremendous in- • Airports currently experiencing operating deficits almost all have the same obstacle. They lack a sufficient potential passenger base to attract or support whether their operation is overnovation that has taken place at significant air carrier service. There is a lack of users to support the level of built. Rationalizing infrastructure small airports, many continue to airport facilities and services maintained. The demography of each catchment area, such as population, income and industry has a direct bearing on must be carefully considered: experience challenges. Studies the operational and financial opportunities available to airport operators. will it be more costly or less have concluded that about half • In cases where airports are continuing to experience difficulty in covering costly to shorten a runway than of Canada’s small airports are their costs, a number of options are possible. Airport operators could further rationalize airport infrastructure and services to match demand, increase maintain the existing runway unable to cover their operating user fees, or implement a combination of these measures. Additionally, other (air field lighting, ground-based costs or costs of capital. jurisdictions which benefit from these airports may choose to offer financial navigational aids and instrument support. An air carrier suggested that Transport Canada Study (2006) landing systems may need to be communities should not expect relocated). A shorter runway may their airport to be self-sufficient – save money in the short term but «an airport is as important to quality of life as skating rinks and restrict the size of aircraft and, therefore, limit future economic libraries». The implication is that small airports should have opportunities. Airports were encouraged to be realistic about outside financial help. Small airports play a vital role in commugrowth opportunities and the need for additional capacity. We nities, not only in terms of economic benefits such as promotare past the time where ‘build it and they will come’ is an approing tourism and moving employees in and out of remote areas priate strategy. Air carriers must be more efficient and competibut also in terms of health and safety. Without small airports, tive to survive today. They are working to more closely match people’s lives and livelihoods are at risk. For example, medeservice with demand. vac flights and forest fire fighting depend on the local airport. The airport community should work together more closely, Industries such as mining and forestry which depend on small when dealing with governments. Since the airport community airports also significantly benefit provincial, territorial and nahas been fractious in the past, there are now a number of astional economies. 41 S eptember, 2007 T r a n sport: Small air por ts – big bu sine ss sociations at the national, regional and provincial level which can assist airports in developing common messages. It is important for airports to provide input to government – whether it concerns security, regulatory or financing issues. from higher levels of government for their local airport – not just for roads, transit and other public infrastructure. Local communities can also help small airports. Some communities, such as Comox, levy a fee (approved in a referendum) on property owners to help finance the airport. Other communities help airports by dedicating a portion of property taxes paid by the airport to help fund the airport. Businesses that depend on the airport for service – to get their employees, investors, and others in and out – should provide financial assistance to their local airport. Many resource based businesses depend on small airports for their operation and should be prepared to provide some funding (much like some industries build schools or hospitals for resource communities). Larger airports can help by sharing their expertise in areas such as marketing and air service development. They should recognize the important role small airports play ingenerating traffic to their airport. For example, the Winnipeg Airport Authority granted fee concessions to an air carrier to enable service from Dryden to Winnipeg. Others to help Small airports have demonstrated their ability to replace and upgrade badly neglected facilities in a responsible and often innovative way. Small airports are especially sensitive to issues of affordability and as such require adequate and predictable funding for essential, safety related capital investment. In many ways small airports are unable to raise the necessary funding through capital markets due to less stable traffic, fewer, les valuable assets and less favorable balance sheets. As a result many airports are reliant on the Airports Capital Assistance Program (ACAP) as their primary, and in many cases only, source of capital funding. Small airports have worked hard to make themselves as efficient as possible. They are now ‘running out of stones to look under’. Small airports need help from others – governments, air carriers, larger airports, communities and local businesses and industry to survive. Many stakeholders suggest that the federal government should contribute additional funds to small airports to more closely match the rent paid by the large airports. Some suggest that provincial governments should help by providing marketing support to small airports. Small airports are of tremendous benefit to northern communities. Local governments should consider requesting funds http://westac.com/ http://www.chamber.ca/ 42 Montenegro – small country and grand opportunity D e s t i nat i o n : Montenegro – the beautiful country of the southeastern Europe – still does not belong to the list of European must-sees of the main stream travelers. Gaining its independence more than a year ago the country however starts to call the attention of the more demanding tourists – those who seek amazing and unspoilt nature, mountains, beaches ... Montenegro offers all of it. Let us get familiar not only with the beauties of the land but with the nations strategies used for destination branding as well. S eptember, 2007 De st i nat ion : Monte neg ro – small countr y and g rand oppor tunit y MONTENEGRO – A PEARL OF THE ADRIATIC The sea, the lakes, the canyons or the mountains enable everyone to decide on the best way to enjoy a quality vacation. In one day, the curious traveller can have a coffee on one of the numerous beaches of the Budva Riviera, eat lunch with the song of the birds on Skardar Lake and dine next to a fireplace on the slopes of the Durmitor mountain. These are all characteristics of Montenegro as a tourist destination with a lot to offer. The turbulent history of this small country has left behind an invaluable treasure in numerous historic monuments throughout this proud country. The blue sea with endless beaches, restless waters of the clear rivers and beautiful mountain massifs, mixed with the spirit of the old times, have given Montenegro everything one needs for an unforgettable vacation. Montenegro is an ecological state. This fact grants it one of the primary posts on the tourist maps. A large number of sunny days in summer and a large quantity of snow in winter determine the two most developed forms of tourism in Montenegro: the coastal one – in summer and the recreational one – in winter. Montenegrin towns are rich in architecture, from various periods that take the breath away and bring one back to the time when the structures were created. Through the numerous manifestations, the tourists get the possibility to learn more about the tradition and customs of this country. In recent times, following the global trends, Montenegro is developing extreme sports that the tourists can enjoy, as well. http://www.visit-montenegro.com/ 44 S eptember, 2007 De st i nat ion : Monte neg ro – small countr y and g rand oppor tunit y TOURISM AND DESTINATIONS T ourism in Montenegro is in a rapid expansion. The location of this small Mediterranean country, rich architectural and cultural heritage, and the diversity of landscapes and climates makes Montenegro a desirable tourist destination. Archeological remains of Duklja (Doclea) from Roman times outside Podgorica. Skadar lake, a popular wildlife reserve. Cetinje, historical capital of Montenegro. Coastal region This region is of main interest to tourists. Montenegrin Adriatic coast is 295 km long, with 72 km of beaches, and with many well-preserved ancient old towns. The main attractions are: Old town of Kotor, listed with UNESCO world heritage sites. Boka Kotorska (Bay of Kotor), some say most beautiful bay in Europe, with ancient small town of Perast and its islets. Old town of Budva, very well preserved old town. Sveti Stefan, a small hamlet on an island turned into a luxury hotel. Most picturesque resort on the coast. Besides these, every other coastal town, sepecially south of Budva, is very popular among tourists, primarily because of sandy beaches and vibrant nightlife. Northern region Northern region is centre of Montenegrin mountain tourism. It has ski resorts, and is popular for its untouched nature. Town of Žabljak on mountain Durmitor, the most popular mountain tourism destination in Montenegro. Town of Kolašin, also popular destination, near national park Biogradska Gora, mountain Bjelasica and ski-resort Bjelasica Tara River Gorge, second-longest canyon in the world. Tara river is a popular rafting destination. Biogradska Gora, with Biogradsko Lake, a national park and untouched virgin forest. The entire area of Durmitor mountain and Tara river canyon is protected as a national park, and listed with UNESCO world heritage sites. Central region Although it is most densely populated area of Montenegro, it has fewer tourist attractions. Ostrog monastery, a famous pilgrimage site, http://en.wikipedia.org/ 45 S eptember, 2007 De st i nat ion : Monte neg ro – small countr y and g rand oppor tunit y NATIONAL PARKS In Montenegro there are, at a small space, four great National Parks: Scadar Lake, Lovcen, Biogradska Gora, and Durmitor. Each of them offers in its own way unforgettable natural beauties.. Lovcen Lake of Scadar (Skadarsko Lake) Lovcen and its surrounding, are the biggest historical monument of Montenegro. On some 6.400 ha of surface lie cragged sides of Montenegrin karst which keeps the town of Cetinje in its heart. Diversity of climate and geographic characteristics of this area is an invitation to every traveler to stop for a moment and The richness which is shared between Montenegro and Albania, which is called Skadar Lake, is invaluable. On about 400 km2 spreads the paradise in which swimmers, sports fisherman, biologists, ornithologists, and lovers of bird watching can enjoy in. It is the biggest crypto depression on the Balkans, the lake richest with fish kinds in the surrounding, it is the space on which dozen of lakes is situated, and about 10 monasteries and monuments of culture which last for centuries and testifies about a small but proud Balkan culture. Skadar Lake, on its 40.000 ha of water surface is divided by Rumija from the sea for some 7 km. Today its on half way between Podgorica which is growing along the Zeta valley, and the shore, which, by opening of the modern tunnel Sozina, is just 15 minutes away by ride from the National park. The richness of the lake is flora and fauna. On this area there are 40 fish and 270 bird kinds, of which some of them exist only on this locality in the entire world. Pelican, the trademark of the lake, today is a kind which can only be found on hidden localities on Skadar Lake. Periodically rare plant kinds create a carpet on the surface of the lake and make it seem as if it was a field, so some of the landscapes which you can come across in spring months are most picturesque in this area. On the other hand, cruising over the lake and meeting of the islands, capes, and the shore will reveal you fortifications more than 500 years old, monasteries, and legacies of important personalities of medieval Montenegro. The visit to Lesendro, Zabljak, or Grmozur is equally attractive entertainment, especially with a guide who will bring closer to you the life of the people who left their mark on the lake. perpetuate, at least with his look, the space which on all world maps, during its history, was marked as independent and free. From Jezerski vrh (Lake Peak) on which lies the mausoleum of Petar II Petrovic Njegos, the view goes to Durmitor on the north, Prokletije on the east, and the blueness of the south Adriatic brings the scents of Mediterranean. The trip down the route Kotor – Njegusi – Cetinje – Budva, will reveal you the beauty of Kotor bay, mystic cradle of Petrovici – Njegusi, the eternal Montenegrin capital – Cetinje, and when you go down to the most beautiful Riviera on this side of the Adriatic sea, and when you reach Budva – you will feel as if you have been traveling through time and space. Lovcen, because of its climate structure, will always bring you back freshness. During the mountain and walking excursions you will come across numerous smaller lakes which sometimes during the year dry out, but with the first rains they appear again. The feeling of renewal of life and continuity of one tradition and culture, on this space is unique. 46 S eptember, 2007 De st i nat ion : Monte neg ro – small countr y and g rand oppor tunit y Biogradska Gora Durmitor Those who have studied the territory of Biogradska gora claim that not a single tree in it was ever cut. To those who haven’t visited it, after this information, can only imagine the picture of the last European jungle area, and to surrender in their minds to the sight in which a man and nature rarely live in harmony, such as to the one from the Garden of Eden. This area has been under protection of the every ruler, at all times. So, today, the Republic of Montenegro preserves this 5.400 ha of natural wealth as an example and as their pride. 80 different kinds of trees and conifers which reach the height of 50 meters, stags and small game which freely drink water on Biogradsko jezero (Biogradsko Lake), and the acknowledgment for the most beautiful lake of Balkan Peninsula, are just some in the wide range of characteristics of this national park. Near Kolasin, exquisite air spas and winter center will make your staying in this area even richer. From Podgorica it is only 60 minutes away bay car, so the easy accessibility to lake makes hundreds, mostly foreign, tourists to regularly come here for a picnic. Beside the massif of the mountain Durmitor, a part of the national park are also Jezerska visoravan (Lake Valley), Piva Mountains, canyon of River Susica, and a part of the canyon of the River Tara. Since 1980 a part of the park is found under the protection of UNESCO, so with the care of all ecological strengths National Park Durmitor is an oasis which is intersected by several hundred years old forests, transparent and cold rivers, beautiful ski and mountain paths… By the number of smaller mountain lakes Durmitor is one of the leading mountains in this part of Europe; «mountain eyes», as these lakes are usually called cover the entire plateau which spreads over the north of Montenegro. The biggest settlement of this area, Zabljak, is most famous Montenegrin winter tourist center, so it can serve you as a start point towards numerous other spots which are worth visiting and which are located on Durmitor. Crno jezero (Black Lake), on just a few kilometers from the settlement, is surrounded by the conifer forest which hides it until the last moment. The feeling of intimacy and romance in this place is unique. Numerous camping places, marked mountain paths, caves with the most beautiful cave jewelry which you can imagine, are just some of the qualities which are characteristic for this natural area, and which make it worth of your visit. http://www.destination-montenegro.com/ 47 S eptember, 2007 De st i nat ion : Monte neg ro – small countr y and g rand oppor tunit y BUILDING A EUROPEAN BRAND «National tourist organization is dedicated to creation of quality tourist product and creation of tourist brand Montenegro, because only that can bring the increase of incomes from tourism and rising up of the standard of citizens,» said director of NTO Sasa Radovic. He said that the priority goals of NTO are quality and quantity development of tourist product, reappearance of guests from the most emissive markets, as well as extension of season and regional development. «We think that tourist destinations are found in tourist brochures, and that brands are found in the heads of our tourists and our potential guests. Only a recognized brand can lead us to a long-term goal – increase of incomes from tourism and increase of the standard of all citizens» said Radovic, adding that high number of employees in tourism and loyal guests are indicators of development of tourism in one area. He said that the development of tourism has to be followed by the strict dedication to ecological principles, because Montenegro has been proclaimed an ecological state. He said that the campaigns «May it do you good», and «Hot winter in the hills» have given great results and that NTO will continue promotional campaigns, first of all in the countries in the region. Radovic said that in the past five months NTO has presented the tourist offer of Montenegro on about 10 fairs, and that about half a million of people and over 400 journalists have visited Montenegrin stand. On a recently held press conference it has been said that in the period from January to March 2007, according to the records of Monstat, 52.349 tourists have visited Montenegro, that is 30 % more than last year in the same period. http://www. visit-montenegro. com/ 48 S eptember, 2007 De st i nat ion : Monte neg ro – small countr y and g rand oppor tunit y MOVING UP MARKET As the wealth of CEE countries grows, so too does that of its visitors. To cater to this new breed of traveler, many countries in the region are moving their tourism industries up market. Tourism is also booming in the Balkan countries of former Yugoslavia. In particular, the tourist industry of newly independent Montenegro looks set to take off. According to statistics from the World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC), Montenegrin tourism is the fastest growing in the world, ahead of even China in second position. Richard Miller, executive vice-president of WTTC, says much of the success of Montenegro and others comes down to the governments. «Their leaders have made travel and tourism growth a key priority and have put in place new policies that encourage growth. Investment in new infrastructure, privatization of state owned enterprises and marketing and promotion are key elements of travel and tourism policy that are important for growth of the industry.» The Montenegrin government in particular is aiming to develop tourism at the upper end of the market. Tourism Minister Predrag Nenezic recently said, «Mass tourism is not what we are aiming at, we’ve already defined our target group, the middle and upper classes.» Currently, tourism revenue accounts for almost 20 % of Montenegro’s GDP, although the government wants to increase this to 22.5 %. «We established that we should have 100,000 beds at the most. Right now we have 35,000,» said Mr. Nenezic. The government’s plan is to double the number of high quality beds by 2010, at the same time decreasing the amount of cheaper accommodation. During the 1980s Montenegro was one of the most popular regions of former Yugoslavia, bringing in up to EUR 79 million per year, but today’s figures have left the 80s in the dust. In 2005 the country generated EUR 250 million through tourism. Infrastructure improvements are also underway with the modernization of airports and the construction of a six-kilometer tunnel giving the country better access to the coast. Nevertheless, there is a lot more work to do, as the country still has a high level of old communist-style accommodation, and widespread abuse of planning legislation is threatening the beauty and history of the city. The announced construction of two hotels next to the medieval walls of the town of Kotor may result in it losing its UNESCO status. By Dominic Swire http://www.czech-transport.com/ 49 S eptember, 2007 De st i nat ion : Monte neg ro – small countr y and g rand oppor tunit y SUCCESSES AND CHALLENGES the fourth consecutive year, Montenegro has been ranked by WTTC among the world’s top three destination in terms of forecast travel & tourism growth over the coming decade. To be ranked alongside the Asian powerhouses, China and India, is no mean feat for a country whose tourism industry ground to a complete halt during the 1990s as a result o the Balkan conflict. Yet the WTTC forecasts, developed with Oxford Economics, are in no way surprising, given the spectacular Travel & Tourism growth already achieved since the beginning of this decade. This, in turn, owes much to measures taken by the Government of Montenegro to ensure the necessary conditions to stimulate Travel & Tourism demand and to instil confidence among Travel & Tourism industry professionals and the investor community as to the destination’s future growth potential. The importance of Travel & Tourism to Montenegro as a strategic economic development tool is clearly evident from the decisions taken at the highest levels of government to prioritize the industry’s development and to factor Travel & Tourism into mainstream policy – and decision-making. Indeed, the government has adopted most of the recommendations put forward by WTTC in its 2004 Country Report for Montenegro – exceeding both the forecasts and goals that were set. Following the adoption of the Tourism Master Plan in 2001, developed by the Ministry of Tourism and Environmental Pro- tection in conjunction with the German Investment and Development Company (DEG) and German tourism experts, the Montenegrin Government lost no time in implementing measures designed to stimulate and facilitate tourism development and to attract foreign direct investment (FDI) into the country. Measures taken to date have included the privatization of former state-owned hotels and other tourism assets – this exercise is now 95 per cent completed – adoption of an open skies policy, and the establishment of a competitive business environment. As an example, corporate tax has been reduced – with investors enjoying the right to repatriate all tourism earnings – a special VAT rate for tourism has been introduced, and there are attractive terms available to tourism investors for borrowing. In addition, efforts are now underway to diversify Montenegro’s tourism products and markets, to assess human resource needs over the foreseeable future, and to work more closely with local/municipal authorities, educators and the private sector. Inter-ministerial dialogue and consultation have been stepped up significantly, and all stakeholders take part in regular meetings to address issues of interest and concern to Travel & Tourism, such as discussions to prepare the upcoming tourism season. The last one was even chaired by Montenegro’s Prime Minister, reflecting a hands-on approach from the highest levels of government. The Ministry of Tourism and Environmental Protection also enjoys strong support from donor agencies and non-governmental organizations (NGOs), which have contributed significantly over the past four years to the development of Montenegro’s sustainable tourism strategy, as well as advising on sectoral and regional development and undertaking practical and technical projects. The result of all these positive efforts is that, over the last three to four years, some €350 million has been invested by new Montenegrin and foreign owners in extensive hotel modernization and upgrading, including the addition of state-of-the art wellness and conference facilities. Not surprisingly, given the dominant share of sun & beach resorts in terms of the existing hotel stock, this has focused almost exclusively on the coastal zone. Government and industry recognize that this has now created an unhealthy imbalance with the north and are making plans to redress the situation as soon as possible. INFRASTRUCTURE DRAWBACKS The sharp increase in international tourist arrivals in the country means that tourism infrastructure has been overly stretched and has created problems in the coastal zone during the peak summer season. Not only the road network, but also electricity and water supply are affected, and there are inadequate solutions to deal with both liquid and solid waste disposal. Some of these issues are finally being addressed – the planned Skadar Lake pipeline now appears to be going ahead and different hydro-energy solutions are being explored. But progress is alarmingly slow. http://www. wttc. travel/ ECONOMIC IMPACT In 2007, Montenegro’s travel & tourism is expected to generate €644 million of economic activity (total demand). The industry’s direct impact includes: – € 212 mn of GDP equivalent to 10.7 % of total GDP – a real growth of 17 % in the industry GDP for the industry directly and 22 % for the travel & tourism economy overall. – a real growth of 13.5 % in travel & tourism industry employment to 14,900 jobs representing 9.6 % of total employment http://www. wttc. travel/ For 50 S eptember, 2007 De st i nat ion : Monte neg ro – small countr y and g rand oppor tunit y all stakeholders must assume their share of responsibility for the sustainable development of the country’s Travel & Tourism. Montenegro now needs to focus on a Travel & Tourism vision and strategy involving public-private sector partnership – between all levels and sectors of national and local governments, as well as between government and the Travel & Tourism industry, academia and other stakeholders. Only in this way can the remaining challenges be turned into opportunities. In order to address these challenges and achieve the vision, three fundamental conditions are required, as stated in the Blueprint for Tourism: • The Government of Montenegro must recognize Travel & Tourism as a top priority, ensuring adequate funding for the Ministry of Tourism and Environmental Protection; • Business must balance economics with people, culture and the environment; and • All stakeholders must share in the pursuit of long-term growth and prosperity. At the same time, the Montenegrin Government has invested more than €250 million in the modernization and upgrading of airports, roads, border crossings and utilities – all of which has helped boost business and consumer confidence levels. The latter is reflected in the 21 per cent average annual rise in tourism earnings over the past four years, coupled with a 31 per cent increase in international tourist arrivals every year since 2000. This growth means that demand from international markets is almost back to its pre-Balkan conflict level – a record expected to be broken in 2007. Business confidence has also been boosted by the country’s strong macro-economic indicators and the appreciation of realestate values in Montenegro since the country’s independence from Serbia less than a year ago. It is hardly surprising that the country is now rated as one of the most attractive destinations in the world, not just in Europe, in terms of return on foreign direct investment (FDI). In fact, although it is the youngest sovereign nation in the world, Montenegro is among the top three countries in Europe in FDI per capita (€1,000), and many now see it as the next Monaco. Nevertheless, while the baseline forecasts developed by WTTC/Oxford Economics for Montenegro are generally very positive, there is no room for complacency. The last few years have demonstrated some of the potential benefits of Travel & Tourism. But if it is to make its full contribution across the country in the coming years to job creation and wealth generation – particularly within the smaller communities in the more remote mountain regions – government must take the lead in unlocking the industry’s full potential. Montenegro is a small country and it cannot afford to make the mistakes that other destinations in Europe, including some of its neighbours, have made. It is important that Travel & Tourism growth is sustainable – environmentally, socially and economically. The responsibility does not lie only with government, either. In line with the recommendations drawn up in WTTC’s Blueprint for New Tourism, http://www.wttc.travel/ 51 S eptember, 2007 De st i nat ion : Monte neg ro – small countr y and g rand oppor tunit y MOUNTAIN TOURISM IN MONTENEGRO –openness and hospitality of the population –high expectations from tourism WEAKNESSES –underdeveloped and partially still bad treatment of the environment –bad and unbalanced economic development –movement of the labor force to cities, weak demographic structure –high unemployment rate –relatively uneducated staff –non-existence of spatial and urban plans, especially at the local level –bad transportation, communal (energy deficit) and general infrastructure –bad transportation accessibility of the ski centers –unfinished privatization processes –slow process of restructuring of economy in some municipalities and reorganization of industrial zones –gradual development of the tourist laws, legal regulations and organizational structures in the public sector –non-existence of TIC’s n most of the municipalities in the northern region Strengths and Weaknesses The political situation, with the disintegration of former Yugoslavia and the wars in the Balkan region, had significant negative consequences on the Montenegrin tourism, especially in the mountain and central regions. These effects from the region represent the cause of most of the shortcomings, which affect the development of tourism, whereas one should bear in mind that there is a bad transportation and other infrastructure, a low purchase power of the local population, as well as the loss of the foreign market. The Government of the Republic of Montenegro is legally, organizationally, project-wise and financially supporting the development of tourism, appreciating primarily the natural potentials. Macro Environment and Natural Resources STRENGTHS –rich and various natural resources: nature, mountains, rivers and lakes, fauna, flora, snow coverage, climate conditions, etc. –undiscovered natural attractions –high concentration of natural attractions in a small area –big labor force potential 52 S eptember, 2007 De st i nat ion : Monte neg ro – small countr y and g rand oppor tunit y Tourist Offer STRENGTHS –Some well-known tourist centers in the wider region –natural and native food and beverages –hospitality of the employees WEAKNESSES –undeveloped and badly maintained tourist accommodation facilities –old skiing equipment and its bad maintenance –lack of order and control in the ski slopes –badly developed basic tourist programs –general focus on the winter offer and winter period –lack of financial resources for investments into maintenance of facilities and improvement of services Demand STRENGTHS –the ones who remained are a smaller number of loyal tourists –connoisseurs of the natural attractions of Montenegro WEAKNESSES –loss of the real international market –small local tourist market –low purchasing power of the local population –promotionally undefined tourism-promotional materials in marketing terms –lack of financial assets for promotion and marketing Additional Tourist Activities STRENGTHS –inclusion of the local specialties of each of the tourist destinations into the tourist offer WEAKNESSES –badly developed additional offer of trading goods, agricultural products, etc. –bad connections and complementary offer of the mountain tourist centers –bad connections and complementary offer of the mountain and coastal tourist centers http://www2.undp.org.yu/ 53 Travel/Tourism Fairs & Exhibitions in SEPTEMBER 2007 by regions S eptember, 2007 Fa i r s & Exh i b i t ion s Western Europe Speciality and Fine Food Fairs Location London / UK Start / End 02 September 2007 / 04 September 2007 Provider Fresh RM Contact ian.field@freshrm.co.uk Extraordinary Experiences Location Bournemouth / UK Start / End 03 September 2007 / 04 September 2007 Provider Bournemouth University Contact MMorgan@BOURNEMOUTH.AC.UK Destinations revisited : Perspectives on developing and managing tourist areas Location Viana do Castelo / Portugal Start / End 05 September 2007 / 07 September 2007 Provider admin@atlas-euro.org Contact admin@atlas-euro.org Business Travel Show-Germany Location Dusseldorf / Germany Start / End 05 September 2007 / 06 September 2007 Provider Centaur Holdings plc Contact geoff.wilmot@centaur.co.uk Norvei Caravan & Fritid Location Lillestrom / Norway Start / End 07 September 2007 / 09 September 2007 Provider Norges Varemesse Contact nv@messe.no More events related to Travel/Tourism can be found here If you are an event provider you may consider to place your event in the above category, please click here If your event already is in the list you may consider using the enhanced listing. For replacement just click here 55 S eptember, 2007 Fa i r s & Exh i b i t ion s World Heritage Site status – Does it make a difference? Location London / UK Start / End 13 September 2007 / 13 September 2007 Provider Tourism Society Contact flo@tourismsociety.org Southampton International Boat Show Location Hampshire / UK Start / End 14 September 2007 / 23 September 2007 Provider National Boat Shows Ltd Contact info@britishmarine.co.uk Universite dete du Tourisme Rural Location / France Start / End 18 September 2007 / 20 September 2007 Provider Source Contact source@enitac.fr International Group Leisure & Travel Show Location London / UK Start / End 20 September 2007 / 21 September 2007 Provider YPL Exhibitions Contact Véhicules et Loisirs Plein Air Location Lyon / France Start / End 25 September 2007 / 29 September 2007 Provider SepelCom Reed Exhibitions Companies Contact sepelcom@sepelcom.com More events related to Travel/Tourism can be found here If you are an event provider you may consider to place your event in the above category, please click here If your event already is in the list you may consider using the enhanced listing. For replacement just click here 56 S eptember, 2007 Fa i r s & Exh i b i t ion s Central & Eastern Europe ITBA 2007 Location Kiev / Ukraine Start / End 01 September 2007 / 30 September 2007 Provider Centre of Exhibition Projects Contact info@cep.com.ua Hotels & Restaurants Location Novosibirsk / Russia Start / End 05 September 2007 / 07 September 2007 Provider The Siberian Fair Contact welcome@sibfair.ru Moscow International Travel Workshops Location Moscow / Russia Start / End 06 September 2007 / 06 September 2007 Provider Ai Group Moscow Contact moscow@aigroup.ru Sports & Tourism Location Sofia / Bulgaria Start / End 12 September 2007 / 16 September 2007 Provider Bulgarreklama Agency Contact bul-reklama@bulgarreklama.com Slovenska Zima Location Banska Bystrica / Slovakia Start / End 20 September 2007 / 22 September 2007 Provider BB EXPO s.r.o. Contact bbexpo@isternet.sk More events related to Travel/Tourism can be found here If you are an event provider you may consider to place your event in the above category, please click here If your event already is in the list you may consider using the enhanced listing. For replacement just click here 57 S eptember, 2007 Fa i r s & Exh i b i t ion s Hotel- Exhibition for Hotels, Restaurants and Catering Location Banska Bystrica / Slovakia Start / End 20 September 2007 / 22 September 2007 Provider BB EXPO s.r.o. Contact bbexpo@isternet.sk Researching Destination Management, Policy and Planning Location Riga / Latvia Start / End 24 September 2007 / 25 September 2007 Provider Centre for Tourism and Cultural Change Contact p.e.long@leedsmet.ac.uk Luxury Leisure Moscow Location Moscow / Russia Start / End 25 September 2007 / 27 September 2007 Provider MSI Fairs & Exhibitions Contact msi@msi-fairs.com MICE Russia Location Moscow / Russia Start / End 26 September 2007 / 28 September 2007 Provider Rata-Expo Contact info@rata-expo.ru Otdykh Leisure Moscow Location Moscow / Russia Start / End 26 September 2007 / 28 September 2007 Provider MSI Vertriebs GmbH Contact leisure@msi-fairs.com Moscow Golf & Luxury Travel Receptions Location Moscow / Russia Start / End 27 September 2007 / 27 September 2007 Provider Ai Group Moscow Contact moscow@aigroup.ru More events related to Travel/Tourism can be found here If you are an event provider you may consider to place your event in the above category, please click here If your event already is in the list you may consider using the enhanced listing. For replacement just click here 58 S eptember, 2007 Fa i r s & Exh i b i t ion s North America & Caribbean HSMAI’s Affordable Meetings National Location Washington, D.C. / United States of America Start / End 05 September 2007 / 06 September 2007 Provider HSMAI’s Affordable Meetings Contact affordable_meetings@glmshows.com ASR Trade Expo-San Diego Location San Diego, CA / United States of America Start / End 07 September 2007 / 09 September 2007 Provider ASR Contact andy.tomkins@nielsen.com Florida Restaurant & Lodging Show Location Orlando, FL / United States of America Start / End 07 September 2007 / 09 September 2007 Provider Reed Exhibitions USA Contact inquiry@reedexpo.com Florida Restaurant & Lodging Show Location Orlando, FL / United States of America Start / End 07 September 2007 / 09 September 2007 Provider Reed Exhibitions USA Contact inquiry@reedexpo.com The TRADE Show Location Las Vegas, NV / United States of America Start / End 09 September 2007 / 11 September 2007 Provider American Society of Travel Agents (ASTA) Contact asnider@astahq.com More events related to Travel/Tourism can be found here If you are an event provider you may consider to place your event in the above category, please click here If your event already is in the list you may consider using the enhanced listing. For replacement just click here 59 S eptember, 2007 Fa i r s & Exh i b i t ion s 2007 North American Ecotourism Conference Location Madison, WI / United States of America Start / End 26 September 2007 / 28 September 2007 Provider The International Ecotourism Society Contact events@ecotourism.org NBC Travel Expo Location San Diego, CA / United States of America Start / End 29 September 2007 / 30 September 2007 Provider Business Expo International Contact info@bxiexpo.com More events related to Travel/Tourism can be found here If you are an event provider you may consider to place your event in the above category, please click here If your event already is in the list you may consider using the enhanced listing. For replacement just click here 60 S eptember, 2007 Fa i r s & Exh i b i t ion s Asia & Pacific Hospitality New Zealand Location Auckland / New Zealand Start / End 02 September 2007 / 04 September 2007 Provider D. M. G. World Media Contact miaeng@us.dmgworldmedia.com. IFHS 2007 Location Bangkok / Thailand Start / End 05 September 2007 / 08 September 2007 Provider Bangkok Exhibition Services Ltd Contact ifhs@oesallworld.com Food & Hospitality Indonesia Location Jakarta / Indonesia Start / End 05 September 2007 / 08 September 2007 Provider Krista Media Pratama PT. Contact info@kristamedia.com India Travel Mart - Ahmedabad Location Ahmedabad / India Start / End 07 September 2007 / 09 September 2007 Provider India Travel Mart - ITM Contact indiatravelmart@airtelbroadband.in MATTA Fair-Kuala Lumpur Location Kuala Lumpur / Malaysia Start / End 07 September 2007 / 09 September 2007 Provider Malaysian Association of Tour & Travel Agents (MATTA) Contact admin@matta.org.my More events related to Travel/Tourism can be found here If you are an event provider you may consider to place your event in the above category, please click here If your event already is in the list you may consider using the enhanced listing. For replacement just click here 61 S eptember, 2007 Fa i r s & Exh i b i t ion s India International Travel Mart - Mumbai Location Mumbai, Maharashtra / India Start / End 08 September 2007 / 10 September 2007 Provider Travel Media Networks Contact info@iitmindia.com JATA World Tourism Congress and Travel Fair 2007 Location Koto-ku / Japan Start / End 13 September 2007 / 16 September 2007 Provider Japan Association of Travel Agents (JATA) Contact koda@jata-net.or.jp Travel & Tourism Fair - Ahmedabad Location Ahmedabad, Gujarat / India Start / End 14 September 2007 / 16 September 2007 Provider Fairfest Media Limited Contact fairfest@vsnl.com Responsible Tourism in Destinations Location Kerala / India Start / End 20 September 2007 / 24 September 2007 Provider Kerala Tourism Contact info@rtd2kerala.org Hotel Australia Location Sydney / Australia Start / End 24 September 2007 / 27 September 2007 Provider Diversified Business Communications Contact food@divexhibitions.com.au PATA Travel Mart 2007 Location Bali / Indonesia Start / End 25 September 2007 / 28 September 2007 Provider PATA Contact ptm@PATA.org More events related to Travel/Tourism can be found here If you are an event provider you may consider to place your event in the above category, please click here If your event already is in the list you may consider using the enhanced listing. For replacement just click here 62 S eptember, 2007 Fa i r s & Exh i b i t ion s Food & Hotel Vietnam 2007 Location Ho Chi Minh City / Vietnam Start / End 26 September 2007 / 28 September 2007 Provider Singapore Exhibition Services Pte Ltd Contact jpau@oesallworld.com Astana Leisure Location Astana / Kazakhstan Start / End 27 September 2007 / 29 September 2007 Provider Iteca ITE Group Plc Contact astana@iteca.kz More events related to Travel/Tourism can be found here If you are an event provider you may consider to place your event in the above category, please click here If your event already is in the list you may consider using the enhanced listing. 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