Trump-Kim summit raises Vietnam’s profile for tourism, large-scale events

February 26, 2019

Just as how Singapore has benefited from the immense global exposure as the host of the historic meeting between US president Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un in June 2018, Vietnam’s travel and tourism players are predicting a boom in business as all eyes turn to the Vietnamese capital for the second Trump-Kim summit on Wednesday and Thursday (February 27 and 28).

The Trump-Kim summit in Hanoi is a reflection of Vietnam’s ability to host large-scale events, say industry stakeholders

Jeff Redl, managing director of Diethelm Travel Vietnam, said: “Like APEC 2017 in Danang, it will prove to worldwide MICE and event specialists that Vietnam is able to organise important and large-scale events.”

Linh Le, group managing director of ASIA DMC, also welcomed the meeting, saying it will push Vietnam’s image on the international stage. Said Le: “(The meeting) shall position Hanoi as having the potential for important meetings and events in the future. Vietnam’s capital is becoming a wider-known destination for world events.”

Pham Ha, founder and CEO of Luxury Travel Vietnam, predicts a spike in US visitors following the historic event. And with Vietnamese carriers recently given the green light by the Federal Aviation Administration to fly to the US, non-stop connections are imminent.

Ha added: “If airlines fly direct to and from the US, we will receive more bookings from there. We expect more MICE and leisure visits to Vietnam after the meetings between the two presidents in our capital.”

Redl said the signing of an agreement would cement Hanoi at the centre of the ground-breaking moment. “I cannot imagine how positive it will be if both parties finalise and sign an agreement. It will be awesome for the entire world and historic for Hanoi.”

At the same time, Khiri Travel is using the summit as a tool to promote attractions in Hanoi. It has issued eight recommended Hanoi activities to help Trump and Kim unwind after their meeting, including a visit to the Bun Cha restaurant in Le Van Huu street where president Obama and Anthony Bourdain had noodles and beer.

Meanwhile, as the country gears up for the high-profile meeting, delays are being reported for receiving visa-on-arrivals at Hanoi Airport and are expected to continue until March 2.

Airbnb of air transport may be waiting in the wings: aviation honchos

By Yixin Ng

February 26, 2019

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With Airbnb making moves into yet another vertical, some aviation players foresee it is not open skies, but interlining disruption, that will take the industry into its next phase of growth.

Growth in Asia’s LCC sector was below the global average last year, according to figures presented by Skyscanner’s senior director of strategic partnerships, Hugh Aitken, at the CAPA Global LCC Summit 2019 yesterday.

Speakers at the summit are predicting the rise of an interlining disruptor

Discussing impediments to growth, Germal Singh Khera, director aviation development, Malaysian Aviation Commission, said: “(Although ASEAN finally signed the open skies agreement), most member states are currently still reluctant to opening up. The agenda has been pushed back to 2024, 2025. (We are looking at) 10 countries at different stages of economic development, each with their own agenda, needs and national interests. That has delayed liberalisation.”

In the case of AirAsia’s decade-long attempt to penetrate Vietnam, it was not until 2017 when the LCC made headway and announced a joint venture with the country’s Thien Minh Group. Even so, the joint venture failed to materialise on schedule. In Vietnam, Vietjet and Vietnam Airlines dominate marketshare, while a new LCC entrant, Bamboo Air, was launched recently.

While LCCs navigate regulations to pursue point-to-point expansion, some speakers at the CAPA summit are predicting the rise of an interlining disruptor.

Ching Kiat Lim, managing director of Singapore’s Changi Airport Group (CAG), said that there’s already a camp of people who believe that “the initially low-hanging fruit of point-to-point stimulation” is approaching saturation.

“In South-east Asia, the penetration rate for LCCs is already 50 per cent… The next wave will come in a different manner. We see LCCs picking up characteristics of FSCs, particularly when it comes to interlining. Traditionally, it has been about point-to-point connections. Going forward, it’s about how we interline,” he stressed.

“Before even talking about governments, within aviation systems we are still (burdened by a) set of legacy rules on interlining. (Today’s travellers) don’t care about these rules. They want to get from airline A to airline B (easily) and with baggage checked through. But the response they get is, “Is this interline fare, codeshare fare, etc?'”

There may well be an Airbnb of aviation that delivers bigger on interlining conveniences than existing commercial agreements do, he argued. There will come a point where “passengers take matters into their own hands and say ‘Let the airlines sort this out, I’m going to find a hack.'”

CAG is already in talks with different interlining solution providers, according to Lim.

Johnny Thorsen, vice president – travel strategy & partnerships, American Express, added: “In the industry, innovation is happening without asking for permission.

“If you look at how Airbnb slowly but surely created an end-to-end (booking experience) for accommodation, and now they’ve just made their first hire in transportation… eventually they will invest in or find partners in aviation. Someone out there has a massive opportunity.”

Germans take off for Asia this Easter

By TTG Asia

February 26, 2019

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Hong Kong and China are winning intercontinental destinations for Germans for Easter this year.

According to ForwardKeys, intercontinental bookings from Germany are currently up 2.7% for the Easter holiday period compared to last year.

Figures show a 31.4% jump for Hong Kong bookings, and China 30.9%. Other favoured destinations are the US, ahead 20.6%, and Morocco, ahead 20.0%.

Thailand is the top performer for German bookings to Asia

While Thailand is not quite showing the strongest growth, it seems to be the top performer; as over 40% of all German Internet flight searches for travel to Asia include Thailand.

This summer, the Asia-Pacific region will benefit most from increased intercontinental scheduled seat capacity from Germany. Between May and October, it’s up 4.1% for the region, which has a 5% market share. The total international capacity increase from Germany is 0.7% on last year.

Capacity of flights to other European destinations, with an 82% market share, is up 0.4%.

Intercontinental destinations with the largest growth in scheduled flight capacity from Germany between May and October are Qatar (up 18.2%), Thailand (up 12.9%) and Hong Kong (up 10.0%).

The collapse of the German holiday airline, Germania, earlier this month, has had an impact on some destinations, but others are proving to be resilient.

Among those once served by Germania, but still showing capacity growth for this summer, are Serbia (up 5.9%), Egypt (0.2%) and Turkey (7.3%).

Olivier Ponti, vice president, insights, ForwardKeys, commented:“Despite very serious turbulence in the German airline industry, it’s encouraging to see air capacity still growing overall, particularly as capacity increases are a sign of economic confidence. Over the Easter holidays, Hong Kong and China look set to do particularly well from German visitors.”

Thomas Cook India to buy imaging solutions provider for attractions

By TTG Asia

February 26, 2019

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Thomas Cook India Group is acquiring a 51 per cent stake in Digiphoto Entertainment Imaging (DEI), an imaging solutions and services provider, at an enterprise value of US$40.6 million.

The acquisition marks Thomas Cook India Group’s entry into an adjacent sector, complementary to its travel & travel related services portfolio.

Madhavan Menon, chairman and managing director, Thomas Cook (India), said: “Our acquisition of DEI, a global imaging solutions and services giant, presents the Thomas Cook India Group an opportunity to participate in an exciting new business space, adjacent to our core travel services portfolio that is both PAT and free cash accretive from day one.”

Elaborating on common markets and synergies, he said: “We see an immediate opportunity for our outbound customers from India and Hong Kong, as well as our inbound and DMS customers across our global network. With the growing demand for experiential travel and social sharing, DEI’s partnerships with attractions, theme parks, water parks and resorts will further enhance our travel services portfolio in line with our philosophy of creating long-term shareholder value.”

Established in 2004, Dubai-based DEI is a technology driven company with offices in Hong Kong, Singapore, Dubai, Mumbai, Orlando and Kuala Lumpur. DEI focuses on imaging solutions for the attractions industry with an end-to-end turnkey model providing equipment, software, talent and operational expertise consultation to partners.

With a network of over 120 partners, DEI is present at more than 250 venues across over 14 countries (Hong Kong, Singapore, the UAE, Macau, China, the US, Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia, Mauritius, the Maldives, Egypt, India and Kuwait), and completed 3.6 million transactions in 2018.

The strategic location of its regional headquarters in Singapore since 2012 has enabled DEI to successfully securing the majority share of imaging partnerships in Singapore, including the Wildlife Reserves Singapore, One Faber Group and Marina Bay Sands.

DEI is aggressively expanding its presence into Greater China, including Hong Kong, and its proprietary imaging solution has enabled payment gateway localisation for the local Chinese market expanding into AliPay and WeChat Pay.

Their local hosting and content distribution allows guests to share memories on Chinese social media channels like WeChat, Sina Weibo, QQ and Qzone. DEI intend to focus on rapid growth over the preceding years in this Far East belt.

KS Ramakrishnan, founder CEO and president of DEI, said: “DEI is leading the digital transformation of the guest photo journey through NFC, facial recognition and other state of the art proprietary technology enabling the guest to receive and share their memories in real time.”

Vietnam’s Lux Group to launch new adventure travel division

By TTG Asia

February 26, 2019

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Vietnam-based tour operator Luxury Travel, a member of the Lux Group, has launched a new brand focussing on community-based adventure tourism.

“We are constantly coming up with innovative ideas and looking out for opportunities. We create a new brand for them and let them behave like a small independent businesses as part of our ‘string of pearls’ strategy under the Lux Group umbrella,” said Pham Ha, president of the Lux Group.

Adventura Travel will focus on sustainable and community-based tourism projects across Vietnam

“Active travel or adventure tourism has evolved over the years from a tiny niche market to become one of the nerve centers of growth and development within the travel industry. This form of traveling is increasingly popular among people who’re in search of leisure or holiday destinations combined with vibrant environmental, cultural and natural experiences.”

Though popularly known among tourists for its war history, Vietnam has the makings of an adventure tourism, with hills, mountains, valleys, rice paddies and deserted beaches among its assets, the Lux Group said in a statement.

Examples of activities include trekking the mountains of Sapa, cycling on the Ho Chi Minh trail or rock climbing and kayaking in Cat Ba Archipelago, discovering Bai Tu Long Bay, hiking in Dalat. Wildlife can be experienced at the Cuc Phuong or Nam Cat Tien national parks.

Around 70 per cent of Vietnamese live in the countryside and remote mountainous areas. Travellers can support communities by participating in charity or voluntourism projects, while discovering the country in a responsible way.

Adventura Travel will pioneer tourism projects in Vietnam’s north, centre and south that give back to communities in through sustainable development and poverty reduction.

“I am excited about our new tourism projects for communities, and proud of being the first company in Vietnam to pioneer active travel, CBT and voluntourism. Five per cent of our net profits will be contributed to LuxCare for our mission to create better places for people to live in and visit, ” said Tien Hung, adventure travel specialist and the new head of department of Adventura Travel.

The Lux Group is headquartered in Hanoi and has offices in Indochina and sales offices in the main markets in the US, Australia, the UK, Germany and Argentina. The Lux Group has a fleet of five star Emperor Cruises in Nha Trang, Bai Tu Long Bay and will launch Heritage Cruises in the Gulf of Tonkin in May 2019.

Signing of new Bangkok hotel clicks into place for Best Western

By TTG Asia

February 26, 2019

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Best Western Hotels & Resorts has signed a new hotel in Bangkok’s Sathorn Soi 11, scheduled to open its doors in 2021.

The new-build Best Western Click Sathorn 11 Bangkok is located close to the Silom shopping and entertainment district, Chao Phraya River, and two BTS skytrain stations – Surasak and Chong Nonsi.

Best Western Click Sathorn 11 Bangkok will open in 2021

The hotel will feature 119 rooms and suites, swimming pool, fitness centre and a cafe for all-day dining.

Best Western already has six hotels operating across the city. Its latest Sathorn signing is with Wealth Plus Property Company.

ATPCO completes Routehappy integration

By TTG Asia

February 26, 2019

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A year into its acquisition of Routehappy, the first in its 54-year history, ATPCO announced that integration is complete, marked by a bolstered leadership team and a new retailing solutions product line.

By integrating and aligning ATPCO’s flagship pricing data with Routehappy’s rich content, ATPCO says it is “vastly expanding its value to the industry”. This combination enables ATPCO to better provide modern retailing solutions including dynamic pricing, branded fares, rich content, IATA’s New Distribution Capability (NDC) and other distribution capabilities along with the new Next Generation Storefront solution.

ATPCO has bolstered its retail solution with the complete integration of Routehappy

“ATPCO continues to evolve with marketplace needs, with a current emphasis on transforming from a company known for airline fare filing to one that provides innovative solutions that help the entire industry modernise,” said Rolf Purzer, CEO of ATPCO.

According to Purzer, the company’s top priority is leading airlines, systems, and channels into the next generation of retailing. “We will provide solutions that help airlines modernise offer management and product display in all channels.”

With the expanded focus on retailing, ATPCO has announced key leadership changes to its executive team.

Transitioning from their roles at Routehappy are Robert Albert, Routehappy founder and CEO, who has assumed a new role as executive vice president, retailing; Jonathan Savitch, Routehappy sales head, has been named chief commercial officer; and Jaivin Anzalota, Routehappy product head, now appointed chief product officer

In addition, Tom Gregorson has been named chief strategy officer; John Murphy, chief information officer; and Priscilla O’Donnell, chief human relations officer.

The newly constituted team reports directly to Purzer. More than 155 people have joined the company since October 2016, fuelling new collaborative energy working together on the company’s products that power flight shopping globally.

All former Routehappy staff have accepted roles within ATPCO, focusing on retailing.

The new Retailing Solutions product line brings together ATPCO’s Optional Services and Branded Fares with Routehappy’s Amenities Hub, UTA Hub, and UPA Hub.

ATPCO Retailing Solutions helps airlines create, manage and distribute differentiated products through all channels, enabling them to integrate and display differentiated airline products to consumers.

ATPCO’s innovative Next Generation Storefront solution, which provides channels a better way to display flights, will be incorporated into Retailing Solutions after incubation.

Retailing Solutions has had important recent customer wins, including American Airlines, Delta Air Lines, Emirates and Japanese GDS Infini. The new Retailing Solutions team is working on launching codeshare UPAs (Universal Product Attributes) for more partner airlines and expanding UTA (Universal Ticket Attribute) content coverage. All ATPCO Retailing Solutions rich content subscriptions will continue to be sold under the Routehappy brand name.

Industry players such as IATA have reacted positively to the integration. Aleks Popovich, the association’s senior vice president, financial and distribution services, said: “IATA has been encouraged to see ATPCO drive initiatives like Next Generation Storefront (NGS) that are moving the industry forward, where retailing is a priority and can work for all – airlines, channels and consumers alike.”

New appointments at Galle Face Sri Lanka

By TTG Asia

February 26, 2019

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The Galle Face Hotel in Colombo now has a new resident manager and head of sales & marketing.

Gaffoor (leftmost) and McDougall (second from left), together with other new appointments at Galle Face Hotel

Mubarak Gaffoor is the hotel’s resident manager, overseeing operational departments including the rooms division and F&B.

Gaffoor has been a part of the Galle Face Hotel family since 2014 when he joined as a director of sales, before being promoted to director of group sales & marketing.

Narelle McDougall is the new head of sales & marketing for the Galle Face Hotel and Ceylon Hotel Corporation (CHC), overseeing sales and marketing, revenue and reservations, catering sales and public relations.

McDougall has had years of experience in the region including Singapore, Indonesia, Thailand and the Maldives with leading brands such as InterContinental, Le Méridien and Anantara.

The Chronicles regarding Blogging

By TTG

February 26, 2019

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Indonesia lays out sporting ambitions, with MotoGP 2021 headed to Lombok

By TTG Asia

February 25, 2019

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Indonesia’s tourism minister Arief Yahya says Mandalika, Lombok could take advantage of the MotoGP race event in 2021 to position itself as a sports destination.

The minister’s statement followed by news that the Indonesia Tourism Development Corporation (ITDC), the management of the Mandalika integrated resort development, will host the MotoGP race for three years from 2021. The promotor’s agreement was signed with Dorna Sports SL.

Indonesia will host the 2021 MotoGP race in Lombok

Last week, Indonesia also submitted a bid to host the 2032 Olympics, demonstrating an intention to attract more major sporting events after playing host to the Asian Games last summer.

Speaking during his visit to Lombok yesterday, Arief said: “With plans to host MotoGP and the development of golf courses in Mandalika, I suggest for Mandalika to position itself as a sports destination.

“Indonesia will host MotoGP race for the first time in 2021 in Mandalika and this will strengthen the position of West Nusa Tenggara as a destination. The race is expected to attract some 100,000 international travellers.”

The race in Mandalika will be a street race concept like the ones in Singapore and Monaco. The planned circuit will be 4.3km long with 18 turns, complete with a paddock with 40 garages and a grand stand of 93,200 seats, plus an area for 7,700 standing spectators.

As part of its support to the organising of MotoGP and its commitment to make Mandalika a sports destination, the Ministry of Tourism will allot a fund of one million euros (US$1.1 million) to help ITDC obtain the hosting licence.

Arief was in Lombok for the ground breaking of the 24-villa Ama-Lurra Resort on Gili Air. The net zero carbon emission concept resort will take an investment of US$2.2 million in two stages.

The tourism minister expressed his appreciation for the West Nusa Tenggara government and tourism stakeholders recovering from the natural disaster that struck the destination of Lombok.

Trump-Kim summit raises Vietnam’s profile for tourism, large-scale events

Airbnb of air transport may be waiting in the wings: aviation honchos

Germans take off for Asia this Easter

Thomas Cook India to buy imaging solutions provider for attractions

Vietnam’s Lux Group to launch new adventure travel division

Signing of new Bangkok hotel clicks into place for Best Western

ATPCO completes Routehappy integration

New appointments at Galle Face Sri Lanka

The Chronicles regarding Blogging

Indonesia lays out sporting ambitions, with MotoGP 2021 headed to Lombok

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