Airlines collected record baggage fees in 2012. / Associated Press

Grouse all you want about airline baggage fees, but the numbers don’t lie: You are slowly learning to accept them as a painful but necessary part of the flying experience.

In fact, the overall satisfaction with air travel has increased to the highest level since 2006, according to the J.D. Power & Associates airline satisfaction study for 2013.

On a 1,000-point scale, satisfaction with airlines reached 695 points, up 14 points from 2012, according to the survey of more than 11,800 airline passengers.

And it seems the fury over bag fees has cooled because the gap in satisfaction between passengers who pay for baggage and those who do not has narrowed over the last three years, according to the survey.

“Charging for bags still has a pronounced negative impact on passenger satisfaction, but with each year, passengers are increasingly more accepting of carriers unbundling baggage and other fees,” said Ramez Faza, a senior manager at J.D. Power & Associates.

Barbara Snowberger, a retired claims adjuster from Hollywood, is not one of those passengers who accepts baggage fees. She still vents about the charges, calling them frustrating and unfair.

“I will drive 1,000 miles one-way, if necessary, to avoid the hassle of the TSA and luggage charges,” she said, referring to the Transportation Security Administration. “Flying used to be a joy, and now it’s just a tremendous hassle and costs far more than it should.”

Most of the nation’s major airlines began to charge baggage fees in 2008 in response to a surge in the cost of fuel, which has become the industry’s biggest expense, accounting for 25% to 30% of all operating costs.

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The Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty (CTBT) Science and Technology Conference held in the Hofburg Palace in Vienna, Austria. Marianne Weiss / Flickr

The number and frequency of meetings held by international associations, and the business travel they generate, is on the rise. The International Congress and Convention Association estimates that the number of conventions increased by more than a thousand to 11,150 meetings in 2012.

Europe is the most popular destination for international meetings with 12 out of the 20 top countries and 14 out of the top 20 cities located in the region; however, ICCA spokesman Mathijs Vleeming tells Skift that European destinations are slowing giving way to a rise in popularity of Asian destinations.

“We do see that there is a trend of the market share of European countries as meeting destinations are declining at the cost of meetings taking place in Asia Pacific, though” says Vleeming.

The greatest growth in an international meetings market took place in Copenhagen. The Danish capital hosted 137 meetings in 2012 earning it the eighth spot on the list, 39 spots higher than it ranked in 2011.

Vienna played host to the most international conferences (195) in 2012.

ICCA CEO Martin Sirk attributes the growth of the international meetings market to three factors:

1. the necessity for international associations to meet on a regular basis
2. the growth of science, healthcare, and technology sectors that such associations are commonly affiliated with
3. the increased economic strength of certain regions, especially Asia and Latin America, stimulating the growth of regionally rotating association meetings

These international groups likely live online via newsletters and chat boards making annual or semiannual conventions the only time that a large number of members come together; thus the conventions begin to serve as the lifeblood of the organization and pinnacle in the annual activity of each.

U.S. cities’ missed opportunity

The U.S. has been the top ranked country in terms of meeting numbers for more than a decade, but not a single U.S. city made it into the top 20 in this year’s list.

ICCA pegs the country’s success on the sheer size of the U.S economy as well as the proliferation of U.S. associations organizing conferences, but blames individual city marketing organizations for not identifying the lucrative sector.

“U.S. cities have an opportunity to make huge progress in the growing market of international association business, if they decide to proactively focus on this sector,” opined Vleeming in a 2011 post.

ICCA is made of 950+ suppliers responsible for the handling, transporting, and accommodating international meetings from 88 countries, making it no surprise that it advises destinations and companies involved in the international meeting sector to tap into this growing niche market.

The ICCA database does not include all association meetings taking place worldwide. All association meetings in the ICCA Association Database must rotate between at least “three countries, attract at least 50 participants, and be held with a certain frequency.”

ICCA country and city ranking measured by number of meetings organised in 2012 are below:

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Visit Florida announced Wednesday that preliminary numbers show that 26 million visitors came to Florida in January, February and March.

It’s an increase of 4.7 percent over the same period in 2012.

Direct travel-related employment in the first quarter of 2013 was also a record high, with 1,087,700 Floridians employed in the tourism industry. That’s a 3.4 percent increase, adding 35,700 jobs since this time one year ago.

Visit Florida officials say that in 2012 visitation numbers to the state were about 91.4 million — that figure includes 77.6 million domestic visitors, 10.2 million overseas travelers and 3.6 million Canadians.

Copyright (2013) Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

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The sun sets behind a monument in Alcalá de Henares, a small city near the Spanish capital of Madrid, whose historical centre is one of UNESCO's World Heritage Sites. Sitio do Neto / Flickr

Despite rising competition from tourism destinations in Asia and emerging economies, Europe welcomed more than half of all international tourist arrivals in 2012, or 535 million foreign visitors, according to the United Nations World Tourism Organization.

Europe also earned the largest regional share of international tourism receipts, which reached an estimated total of $1075 billion in 2012.

Tourism spending in Europe accounted for 43 percent, or $457 billion, of the 2012 tourism earnings. Last year’s earnings by region are outlined below:

Although Europe maintains the number one spot, Asia and the Pacific are a close number two.

Year-over-year change in tourism receipts signals this global shift away from Europe and towards Asia. Europe’s tourism receipts increased just 2 percent between 2011 and 2012, the smallest incline after the Middle East’s 2 percent drop, while Asia’s earnings grew 6 percent.

The tourism receipts of individual countries tell a similar story. Five of the ten top tourism earners are European countries with Spain, China, and Italy all in the top five. Only two Asian nations make the list and both are technically part of China.

Although European countries are still reporting strong tourism receipts, their earnings are growing at a much slower rate than those countries in the Asia and the Pacific region.

Six of the ten fastest growing tourism earners in 2012 are located in Asia and the Pacific and two others are located in Africa. Only Sweden and Finland make the list from Europe.

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Alaska Airlines tops the traditional carrier segment in the J.D. Power report. InSapphoWeTrust / Flickr

North American airlines earned their highest rating for passenger satisfaction since 2006, before the advent of baggage fees, in a survey showing the value of smiling employees, onboard Wi-Fi and mobile applications.

Customers reported better experiences with both segments of the industry, the traditional full-service carriers such as Delta Air Lines Inc. and low-cost competitors including JetBlue Airways Corp., market researcher J.D. Power & Associates said today in its 2013 North America Airline Satisfaction Study.

Travelers who checked in with a mobile app, surfed the Web in flight and consistently received warm service helped buoy airlines’ rankings, according to Westlake Village, California- based J.D. Power. The study found fewer objections than in the past to luggage charges and booking-change payments, which totaled a record $6.1 billion in 2012.

Traditional carrier segment

Based on a 1,000 point scale

Low-Cost carrier segment

Based on a 1,000 point scale

Source: J.D. Power & Associates 2013 North American Airline Satisfaction Study

“With each year, passengers are increasingly more accepting of carriers unbundling baggage and other fees,” Ramez Faza, senior manager of J.D. Power’s travel practice, said in a statement.

On a 1,000-point scale, customer satisfaction across the industry was 695, 14 points higher than in the 2012 survey, J.D. Power said. The score for full-service airlines rose 16 points to 663, and low-cost carriers gained one point to 755.

‘Negative impact’

While “charging for bags still has a pronounced negative impact on passenger satisfaction,” according to Faza, the study found that 37 percent of travelers who checked luggage said the fees are reasonable, up from 28 percent a year earlier. Airlines in the U.S. began adopting baggage fees in 2008.

The annual study was based on responses from 11,800 business and leisure fliers on “major” North American airlines and measures passenger satisfaction in seven categories: cost and fees; in-flight services; boarding, deplaning and baggage; flight crew; aircraft; check-in and reservations.

The largest year-over-year improvements involved boarding, deplaning and baggage, followed by check-in and aircraft.

Alaska Air Group Inc.’s Alaska Airlines ranked highest among carriers with at least two cabin classes, followed by Delta and Air Canada. The low-cost segment was led by JetBlue, Southwest Airlines Co. and Canada’s WestJet Airlines Ltd.

“Traditional carriers have improved significantly across all seven factors, and it is a positive sign to see them turn a corner and starting to rise again,” said Jessica McGregor, senior manager of J.D. Power’s global travel and hospitality practice.

Flight crew

Satisfaction with flight crews climbed to the highest since 2005. Travelers smiled at by employees at least occasionally had an average satisfaction score 105 points higher than those who never received one. The rating was 211 points higher for those who consistently got a smile, the study found.

In other ways, technology improved travelers’ experience by letting them bypass personal interaction with airline staff.

The survey showed 36 percent of passengers check in for flights online, while 15 percent use a mobile device, more than double the 6 percent share two years ago. Satisfaction was highest for users of mobile apps, at 866, followed by use of a mobile device, 853. Check-ins at a kiosk had an average score of 805, trailed by an 801 for queuing up at the main ticket counter.

J.D. Power & Associates is a unit of McGraw Hill Financial Inc.

Editors: Ed Dufner, John Lear. To contact the reporter on this story: Mary Schlangenstein in Dallas at maryc.s@bloomberg.net. To contact the editor responsible for this story: Ed Dufner at edufner@bloomberg.net. 

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A worker loads supplies onto a Delta plane a day before the annual Thanksgiving Day holiday at the Salt Lake City international airport in Salt Lake City. George Frey / Reuters

According to preliminary data from the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Bureau of Transportation Statistics, for the third consecutive year Delta Air Lines beat out all other U.S. airlines in checked baggage and reservation change fees. Out of a total of more that $6 billion in fees collected by all reporting U.S. airlines, Delta took home more than $1.6 billion.

Delta’s share of fees is in line with its share of U.S. traffic; it carried more passengers than any other U.S. airline in 2012. But the second most-used airline, Southwest, is much further down the list in slots seven (baggage fees) and six (change fees). United, American, and US Airways round out the top four.

The real go-getter on the list is Spirit which, despite not being among the top 10 in passenger numbers among  U.S. airlines, Spirit manages to rank as number five in baggage fees and number eight in change fees.

Unless another airline comes up with a clever new fee in 2013 — we’re looking at you Spirit — Delta will likely retain the top spot in 2013, before likely being unseated in 2014 by the new American Airlines once its merger with US Airways is completed.

Overall, baggage fees rose just 3.5% in 2012 over 2011 numbers and change fees rose 7.5%.

Total revenue for all passenger airlines for the full year 2012 was $159.5 billion. All U.S. passenger airlines collected a total in 2012 of $3.5 billion in baggage fees and $2.6 billion from reservation change fees. The additional fees kept airlines from reporting a loss for last year, according to the BTS, “For the full year 2012, the 10 largest airlines reported net income of $201 million, up from $0.5 million loss in 2011.”

Baggage fees in 2012

Dollars in thousands (000)

Change fees in 2012

Dollars in thousands (000)

Source: Bureau of Transportation Statistics, Schedule.
Note: The merged Southwest and AirTran began reporting jointly in 2Q 2012. Previous numbers, including 1Q 2012, were reported separately.

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In the report titled “Boosting Our Economy and Sustaining Economic Growth Through Tourism,” NSCB Secretary-General Jose Ramon Albert said that based on the latest statistics of the Department of Tourism (DOT), visitor arrivals reached the 4-million mark for the first time, reaching 4.272 million in 2012, almost hitting the target of 4.5 million visitors for the year.

Visitor arrivals pertain to both foreign visitors and overseas Filipinos.

“In fact in the last three years, the number of visitor arrivals has been on an increasing trend, 16.7-percent growth in 2010, 11.3 percent in 2011 and 9.1 percent in 2012,” Albert added.

Furthermore, the data stated that the highest contributor to visitor arrivals in 2012 was East Asia, which accounted for 2.038 million visitors, which is nearly half (47.7 percent) of the total visitor arrivals for the year.

Next was North America, with 778,162 visitors, or 18.2 percent while neighboring countries of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) accounted for 375,190 visitors, or 8.8 percent.

Meanwhile, the DOT data noted that the top three countries where the visitors came from were: Korea, accounting for 1.031 million visitors, or 24.1 percent of the visitor arrivals, United States with 652,626 visitors or 15.3 percent, and Japan with 412,474 visitors, or 9.6 percent.

“These three countries also occupied the first three places in terms of volume of visitors to the country in 2011,” the NSCB chief said.

Also, the data reported that among the top 12 countries by volume of tourists in 2012, Malaysia had the highest growth of visitor arrivals to the country at 24.8 percent, followed by Taiwan at 19.1 percent and Australia at 12 percent.

Still lagging behind

However, Albert mentioned that while the visitor arrivals in the Philippines have improved over the recent years, these figures are lower in comparison with some of its neighboring countries.

“Data show that the Philippines has still a lot of catching up to do if we want to be competitive in the global tourism scene,” he stated.

Data showed that among the eight countries in the Asean region, the Philippines came in only at seventh place.

Malaysia had the highest level of visitor arrivals in 2011 at 24.714 million, with a share of 25.4 percent, second was Hong Kong with 22.316 million visitors, or 23 percent, and third was Thailand with 19.230 million visitors, or 19.8 percent, the data added.

“Malaysia and Hong Kong have been consistently in the first two places throughout the years,” the NSCB chief further said.

Albert urged the national government, local governments and the private sector to work hand-in-hand to attain the targets in the tourism sector, and be able to contribute immensely to inclusive growth and employment generation.

“And in promoting the Philippines as a major tourist destination and in increasing our tourism competitiveness, we should not also forget about the ecological aspects/issues that have to be addressed if we want to sustain all our efforts in making tourism a driver of economic growth,” he added. ___

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In this Dec. 1, 2009 photo provided by Aurora Expeditions, an inflatable boat carries tourists past an iceberg along the Antarctic Peninsula. In a remote, frozen, almost pristine land where the only human residents are involved in research, tourism comes with risks, for both the continent and the tourists. Aurora Expeditions, Andrew Halsall / Associated Press

Alarm bells have been going off in conservation circles for a few years now as tourism to Antarctica is on the rise, and 2012 numbers will surely give them more food for thought: according to latest numbers from International Association of Antarctica Tour Operators (IAATO), the total number of tourists traveling to Antarctica was 34,316, an increase from 26,519 during the 2011-2012 season, though that is a recovery from 2009-10
and 2010-11 when totals were 36,881 and 33,824 respectively.

The 2007-08 season was the best season, with 45,213 visitors to the continent, but these expensive tours went down dramatically after the economic recession hit.

Tourism estimates for next season, 2013-14 is expected to grow 3%, from 34,316 this past season to 35,354 across the various categories.

Among the reasons for the 2012 rise: a mild resurgence of voyages by cruise-only operators — where no landings ashore are offered — from five to seven, accounting for 9,070 passengers and approximately 5,000 more than the previous year.

Growth was also seen in tourism segment that includes traditional small and medium-size expedition ships and yachts — all carrying 500 or fewer passengers and conducting landings — from 20,271 to 23,305 passengers. Numbers increased in the air-cruise category, up from 860 during 2011-12 to 1,587 for the season just ended. Air-land tourism declined more than 30% from 516 to 354 visitors during the 2012-13 season.

IAATO of course has a horse in the race: to continue growing these numbers to build on the lucrative business, and it advocates for self-regulation instead of governments banning increased tourism in the very environmentally-fragile region. “Through self-regulation, Antarctic tourism is a sustainable, safe activity that causes no more than a minor or transitory impact on the environment and creates a corps of ambassadors for the continued protection of Antarctica.”

For more background on these numbers and the implications on tourism, read our earlier story: As tourism numbers rise in Antartica, conservation alarm bells go off

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More and more flyers are taking their portable digital devices on flights, that much is obvious. If they own them, they will take them on the plane, of course.

Now a new survey by Airline Passenger Experience Association and the Consumer Electronics Association puts some numbers behind the trend, and have discovered some interesting findings, which we have in bold below:

• 90% of adult airline passengers who travel with digital device carried at least one onboard with them while traveling in the past 12 months.
• Seven in ten (69 percent) reporting they used their devices during flight.
• Almost one-third (30 percent) of passengers report they have accidently left their device turned on during a flight, which by our own anecdotal habits, seems low and our informed guesstimate would be more closer to 50%.
• When asked to turn off their electronic devices, 59 percent of passengers say they always turn their devices completely off, 21 percent of passengers say they switch their devices to “airplane mode,” and five percent say they sometimes turn their devices completely off.
• Of those passengers who accidently left their devices turned on in-flight, 61 percent said the device was a smartphone.
• Four in ten passengers would like to use their devices during all phases of flight, including take-off and landing, according to the study.
• Most commonly used devices during flights are smartphones (28 percent); laptop computers (25 percent); tablets (23 percent); digital audio or MP3 players (23 percent); and e-Readers (13 percent).

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This data highlight the UAE as the most prominent point of origin for intercontinental journeys, while Saudi Arabia’s volume is driven by domestic traffic.

In terms of connecting air traffic, the Middle East showed strong performance with the three key airports of Dubai, Doha and Abu Dhabi experiencing high connecting traffic volumes around 50% and growing at 10% per year, while other major airports in the region (Jeddah, Riyadh or Cairo) showed connection rates of around 10%.

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