ReleaseWire

Despite the economic slowdown in Taiwan, outbound departures witnessed positive growth of 1% in the number of trips in 2012. Due to a wider presence of low cost carriers in Taiwan and increasing competition among local travel agents, lower costs of outbound travel were one of the main drivers of growth in the number of departures.

Having been the star performer in global travel retail in recent years, Priceline faces a rapidly evolving competitive environment. This profile analyses the company's strategy for further geographic and category expansion, and considers competitive responses to issues such as Google's entry into travel retail and Expedia's expansion.

Morocco is establishing itself as a leader within medical tourism in North Africa and in 2012 sales of medical tourism grew by 10% to reach Dh134 million. Morocco has more than 80 plastic surgeons operating in more than 15 clinics located all over the kingdom. Most of these clinics are in Casablanca and Marrakech and the prices of a plastic surgery range between Dh15,000 and Dh40,000. The number of plastic surgeries taken each month is said to be around 1,200 operations.

Tourist attractions in Poland are dynamic as a whole, with value growth of 6% in 2012. Tourist attractions benefited from the increasing number of both domestic and incoming tourists who willingly visit places attractive to them. Volume increases are seen in all destinations as national parks, historic building/sites (eg, old cities in Gdansk, Warsaw and Cracow) and museums, although slight regression compared to the previous year was seen in such categories as traditional zoos/aquariums and...

Compared to previous years, the average budget for a domestic holiday was not very different in 2012, but appears to have been spent in a smarter way. The constant awareness-raising campaigns and the support offered by travel agents brought a change in consumer behaviour, with a shift towards early bookings. Special prices starting from RON1,100-1,300 for a coastal holiday, as well as other discounts, generated an increase in transactions for domestic packages for the summer season.

The activities of regional tourism boards, which appeared earlier in the review period and were supported by the new law affecting tourism development, active since 2012, are bringing initial results and supporting the growth of domestic trips in some regions. The two oldest regional tourism boards are present in the Zilina region, which saw three years of growth in trip numbers. In 2012 strong growth of 13% was posted by the Trnava region, also thanks to activities of regional tourism...

Doug Dearen, the lifelong Kentucky Derby enthusiast and owner of Derbybox.com, is pleased to announce that he has released a free report that contains all the Kentucky Derby secrets visitors should know before they plan their stay.

Alluring Aromas. Heavenly Dishes. Tempting Essences. Atlanta Food Festival is showcasing Atlanta’s restaurants, caterers and food trucks. The festival focus is on delicious food and dessert tasting from Atlanta’s culinary professionals. Guests of all ages will delight in a wide decision of culinary dishes, captivating gourmet expert demos, and family-accommodating activities.

CK Tours & Cruises, a travel agency specializing in European tours and destination vacations, has begun a local area web marketing campaign in conjunction with BizIQ, a small business marketing firm specializing in local search marketing.

When families and friends embark on a trip to Hawaii, they will be looking for different activities to engage in. One of the most exciting activities on the island of Kauai that families can partake in is a deep sea fishing expedition on the clear blue waters of the Pacific Ocean. This February, Ohana Fishing Charters is announcing their 4-hour deluxe fishing charter, plus the chance to go whale watching.

Inbound tourism witnessed dynamic growth in 2012 with the number of visitor arrivals charting record-high levels. The high growth of visitors from China, Japan, Hong Kong, Singapore and Malaysia significantly boosted the volume of visitors to tourist attractions in Taiwan during the review period.

Poland, which organised the European Football Championship (EURO 2012) jointly with Ukraine, experienced great development in 2012 as a result. The major public investments were concentrated on road networks, sports stadiums and airports in the four cities which were hosting the football matches: Warsaw, Poznan, Gdansk and Wroclaw. The scale of investment significantly improved road networks and airport infrastructure in the regions hosting the football matches. However, the biggest success was...

EURO 2012 was definitely the biggest event in Poland in 2012, explaining impressive growth of domestic trips, the number of which exceeded 40 million trips. There were four Polish cities selected as host venues - mainly Warsaw, Wroclaw, Gdansk and Poznan. This explains the significant growth of number of trips in respective voivodeships.

Moroccan domestic tourism has known very important growth over the last years. The economic crisis that affected the Eurozone lately, the Arab Spring, and also Marrakech's booming development were all actors that discouraged the international tourists from coming to Morocco since 2010. However, domestic tourism is flourishing, especially during the periods of low tourist arrivals from Europe. Some cities know seasonal tourism activities whilst others see visitors all through the year, including...

The majority of incoming tourists to Morocco are from Europe and especially France, Spain and Belgium. As it is known, the number of trips to Morocco showed slow growth in 2012 compared to the previous year because of the economic crisis in Europe and also because of the Arab Spring and Marrakech bombing factors. Arrivals growth is expected to start recovering in 2013. In 2012, Morocco saw less spending on entertainment and shopping. This trend is expected to continue for the coming three...

In 2012, the recession in the eurozone was reflected in the tourism industry. Despite the economic uncertainty, Romania's tourism industry managed to maintain its indicators, while consumer behaviour was more orientated towards safe decisions. Tourism's contribution to Romania's GDP for 2012 reached 2.4%. Considering the direct and indirect contribution of tourism to the national economy, it can be estimated to 4.5% of GDP. For Romanian tourism to grow and thus generate income and significant...

As the South Korean K-Pop and Korean Wave trends spread around the world, the number of inbound tourists from overseas, and China in particular, increased remarkably. Moreover, their higher spending in South Korea in outlets from luxury goods stores to mass beauty specialist retailers increased tourist receipts in South Korea. In order to attract visitors, the South Korean government eased visa issuance regulations, and encouraged popular retailers to offer convenient payment and communication...

Romania is home to over a third of Europe's mineral water sources. However, health and wellness tourism has received little attention in the past 20 years. As a result, accommodation facilities and treatment centres have become obsolete or have deteriorated. The lack of interest from investors and the authorities has also ensured that these resorts have experienced a prolonged decay with regard to attention to architecture, road infrastructure, parking, green areas, etc. However, the situation...

Intensive advertising activities, which included adverts via international broadcasters, subsidies in the hotel industry and the image of Macedonia as a new unexplored destination, had a positive impact on foreign tourism flows in 2012. On the other hand, airport takeovers, in Skopje and Ohrid by Turkish company TAV Airports Holding, significantly lowered fare prices and made these two airports more competitive. So, the most expansive arrivals in 2012 came from China. Due to the many emigrants,...

Political revolution in 2011, which led to the end of the rule of the country's fourth president, Hosni Mubarak, resulted in significant challenges for the Egyptian travel and tourism sector. Social and political conditions improved in 2012 and the tourism sector showed signs of recovery, but the situation deteriorated again in 2013 due to further unrest. Conditions in the country have improved since July-August 2013, and Timetric expects a slow return to growth over the forecast period (2014-2018).

BMI's Croatia tourism report looks at a range of indicators in this burgeoning market, with inclusion in the EU and wider economic growth in key source markets providing a valuable boost to inbound travel throughout our forecast period to 2018. Outbound travel is also set to increase overall, albeit at a slower pace.

We see a very healthy future for the tourism industry in India. The country offers investors an enormous potential domestic market, with GDP growth in recent years providing a substantial boost to outbound travel figures. India maintains its position as one of the most popular destinations for inbound travel in the Asia Pacific region, and we expect to see solid increases across our range of key market indicators.

There are few countries in the world where it is possible to obtain a passport by investing or contributing towards charity certain amounts of money. Ukvisaandimmigration.co.uk/ Consultancy has expanded its services to cater for this route and now helps its customers gain second citizenship.

BMI expects to see slow but steady growth in the New Zealand tourism market through to 2018 as the country gradually expands its regional and global travel links and further raises its international profile as an ecotourism destination.

Travel and tourism continued to grow in 2012, although the level of increase was significantly lower than during the two previous years when increases in arrivals were rather extensive. However there was a fall in domestic tourism, which took a toll during the recession as people cut back on leisure holidays. Towards the end of the review period, the country started to promote holidays in Estonia for Estonians and most travel agencies offered a large selection of packages targeted at the local...