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ATA ENHANCES NATIONAL MARKET PROFILE

INDIANAPOLIS - ATA Airlines has announced initiatives in four markets, including San Francisco, expanding passenger services and options.
 
To support today's announcement of new schedules and service in four cities - San Francisco, Chicago, Newark, and Indianapolis - the carrier is rolling out a new advertising campaign with the theme: "ATA: Honest Growth, Coast to Coast. More Cities. More Times. More Often." The campaign will be presented in television, radio and print media across the country shortly.
One of the key components of today's announcement is the introduction of nonstop service between San Francisco and Newark.
 
To reinforce its vision, ATA is assigning additional aircraft for service in key business-travel markets to provide more choice and convenience for business travelers.
 
Underlying ATA's "Honest Growth," which is typified by the new coast-to-coast service, ATA's fare structure never includes hidden gimmicks or extras. ATA's fares never require a minimum stay or an inconvenient Saturday-night overnight. And, no passenger ever pays more than $299 for a one-way domestic fare -- anywhere in the country, said a company spokesman.
 
ATA said it will bolster San Francisco service with additional daily flights to Chicago-Midway and Honolulu, October 16 and November 20, respectively, along with two new daily nonstops to Newark.
 
ATA is the nation's 10th largest airline based on revenue passenger miles and operates a fleet of Boeing 737-800 and 757-300 aircraft on routes linking Chicago-Midway, Indianapolis, Los Angeles, St. Petersburg, Florida, and San Francisco to over 40 destinations.
 
TOURISM MAY BE ON THE UPSWING, PROFESSIONALS SAY

PARIS - World tourism, battered by terrorist-inspired fears of flying, the war in Iraq and the outbreak of the SARS, may be on the verge of a recovery, according to industry professionals. 
In Singapore there are now "encouraging signs" that tourist arrivals will reach their pre-SARS level early next year, said the head of the state tourism office, Lim Neo Chian.

Already, he said, arrivals are about 75% of what they were before appearance of SARS, or severe acute respiratory syndrome. Hotels were 60 percent full in June after 35% in  May.
 
Anthony Chan, director of one of Singapore's largest tourist agencies, recently told Reuters that flights to Hong Kong and Bangkok were now full as the lure of foreign travel revives after an interval of several months.
 
For Franceso Frangialli, secretary general of the World Tourism Organization, the recovery is under way and prospects for a turn-around in Asia are sound.
 
"We have the impression of finally being able to see light at the end of the tunnel," adding that the summer season this year should be roughly comparable to that of 2002.
 
In Australia, where tourist arrivals in June were down 20.9% compared with the same month last year, there was nonetheless an increase in the number of visitors from New Zealand, Germany and the US.
 
Short-term stays were up 7% over May, Fragnialli said.

Thailand, southeast Asia's leading tourist destination, has seen a decline of 11% in visitors this year but expects an increase of 6% next year, according to Tourism and Sports Minister, Sonthaya Khumpleum in Bangkok.
 
There are also encouraging signs in Europe, when an estimated 22.9 million foreign tourists travelled to Spain in the first half of the year, up 2.8% from the January-June period of 2002, according to the economy ministry.
 
The tourism industry in central Europe has taken advantage of good weather and an increasing trend toward "close-to-home" travel among people living elsewhere in Europe.
 
But in France - plagued by oil-slicked beaches, the forced cancellation of key music and drama festivals because of labor disputes, and a boycott of the country by US tourists - industry officials foresee a decline in tourist visitors this summer of up 30% compared to last year.
In the Middle East, the picture is mixed.
 
While tourism in Turkey is still in the doldrums, Egypt received some 350,000 tourists in June, up slightly from 362,000 a year earlier.

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