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Meta | Editorial
Etienne Pauchant| Founder and CEO
To talk about tourism in the Mediterranean, we have to go back to the origins of this industry which was born on its shores over 2000 years ago. As opposed to many pioneers, the Mediterranean has managed to keep its place as world leader with over 300 million tourist arrivals expected for next year and is still the biggest homogeneous zone recording around 250 billion Euros in yearly volume of activity. It has a magnificent offer, combining a wide culture with a range of very varied sea, mountain, urban or desert landscapes. However, its growth is not very well distributed over its 28 destinations and it is slightly losing speed in its progression in comparison with other world regions, such as Asia Pacific.
The Mediterranean Travel Association (META) is analyzing all the components of Mediterranean tourism to optimize its results and find out what is causing it to slow down, and to understand the reasons and find a solution. So what are the reasons?
Mediterranean travel and tourism specialists do not get together enough. Direct human contact is indispensable to create the products which are adapted to the ceaseless change in demand. They must then be taken to the tour-operators, distributors and carriers, and prepared to manage them in the best possible manner in accommodation and for inbound operators. Each link in the tourism chain relies on the success of the others for the trip to work.
META is reinventing a new Agora for professionals from the public and private sector of the tourism industry. It will be physical, through its many opportunities for dialogue and direct exchange between specialists on all its shores, but also virtual. With a third of world arrivals to Mediterranean destinations, this destination is sold from all Continents. META already groups together, and will indeed group together more and more, the very big world tourism companies, but it is also very widely open to small and medium businesses as well as the public sector. It is only through mutual exchange and knowledge, and beyond the different languages and cultures of the Mediterranean, that we can protect the advantages we share and continue to develop them in the concert of world tourism. This is an appeal to all the professionals of Mediterranean tourism to join us and take part in our future events, symposiums, congresses, conferences and workshops, all focused on the destination and on access to increasingly technical information. Among the important subjects being prepared: - The impact of the opening of the European sky to Mediterranean skies, anticipating the arrival of low-cost flights,
- The incredible development of the cruise market,
- The lack of structures encouraging business tourism in the south, the east of the zone and the Balkans,
- The necessary renovation of part of the offers considering the sustainable requirements for fighting global warming, protecting sites and the flora and fauna which are becoming the « raw material» of authentic tourism,
- The future of travel agents, inbound operators and their relationship with production,
The presentation and promotion of the Mediterranean kaleidoscope on the new destinations, which are very promising in terms of tourism departures in the emerging tourism destinations: Brazil, Russia, India, China and some others.
These are only a few of the issues. There will be many others, which in months to come will doubtless be developing from the continuing discussions that we will have together and that META will encourage between all those concerned.
This is an invitation to join us in our new professional forum for discussion and dialogue, and I wish you a warm welcome.
Etienne Pauchant| Founder and CEO |
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May 18, 2008
