Malaysia's second minister of finance Johari Abdul Ghani (left) with MAS' Izham Ismail
Malaysia Airlines (MAS) last week took delivery of its first A350-900, a member of the Airbus A350 XWB family of wide-body aircraft, intended to replace the airline’s Airbus A380-800 starting January 15, 2018.
The aircraft is said to be more fuel efficient compared with the A380 and offers a 25 per cent reduction in fuel burn and emissions, as well as lower maintenance costs.
Malaysia’s second minister of finance Johari Abdul Ghani (left) with MAS’ Izham Ismail
The Edge Markets quoted MAS group CEO, Izham Ismail, as having said: “With its technological advancements, the A350 XWB will help boost our competitiveness on our longhaul flights, and underlines our commitment to operate a young and modern fleet.”
The aircraft is the first of its kind in Asia to feature a First Class cabin, with four seats in First Class, 35 seats in Business Class and 247 seats in Economy class. It will also have inflight Wi-Fi and ambient LED lighting designed to reduce jetlag.
Syed Razif Al-Yahya, group managing director of Sutra Group of Companies, believes the new aircraft will help MAS to stay competitive and reduce their operating costs on this route.
He added: “In terms of passenger numbers, the A380 aircraft it replaces could carry more – up to 486 passengers. In terms of how it will affect passenger demand, however, he opined that the difference will be insignificant.
MAS will receive five more A350-900s in stages by 2Q2018.
Hello Kitty has been appointed Special Ambassador of the International Year of UNWTO’s Sustainable Tourism Development 2017 (IY2017), promoting the year’s campaign of “Travel. Enjoy. Respect”.
“Travelling opens our minds and our hearts, and lets us see how we are equal,” the popular Sanrio character said in a campaign video.
The Sanrio icon spreading word on sustainable tourism in a campaign video
Hello Kitty will be supporting UNWTO with its advocacy efforts in communicating the messages of IY2017 “to the broadest extent possible”, as well as highlighting the role of tourism in achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) with a global audience, according to a UNWTO statement.
The video, already shown at the Nartia airport, will also be published on the IY2017 website and social media channels.
Srettha to discuss value of large-scale developments
The Thailand Tourism Forum (TTF) will return for its seventh annual edition on January 22, 2018 with the theme of Megacity Bangkok – A Tourism and Hotel Futurescape.
The forum will gather approximately 650 hotel industry professionals at the InterContinental Hotel Bangkok to discuss the mega-projects that are reshaping the Thai capital.
Among the speakers at the one-day event is Srettha Thavisin, president of Thai hotel and real estate developer, Sansiri. With Sansiri having recently entered the hospitality space in partnership with Standard Hotels to create the upstart hotel brand, Monocle, Thavisin will discuss how large-cale projects contribute to better tourism experiences.
The opening address will be made by Bill Barnett, TTF’s event co-organiser and managing director of C9 Hotelworks.
“Thailand’s tourism industry continues to ride the crest of a wave, with record-breaking numbers of global visitors clamouring to experience the country’s many attractions,” Barnett said. “As the country’s capital and major international gateway, Bangkok is fast becoming one of the world’s great mega-cities.
Srettha to discuss value of large-scale developments
“To sustain such numbers however, Bangkok needs large-scale redevelopment. Massive infrastructure projects are pushing into more districts and creating new tourism hotspots such as the Chao Praya River area. At TTF 2018, we will learn first-hand about the ambitious plans for Bangkok’s emerging cityscape and examine their impact on the tourism and hospitality sectors,” Barnett added.
Thailand’s tourism industry is on track for yet another record-breaking year. According to data from the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT), the Kingdom welcomed 17.3 million international visitors in 1H2017, generating 876 billion baht (US$25 billion). Tourism revenues are expected to reach an all-time high of 1.81 trillion baht (US$50 billion) for the full year.
According to STR, approximately 100 new hotels are currently in the country’s pipeline, potentially adding 21,600 new rooms to the national inventory – many of which will be in Bangkok. But challenges remain – Thailand’s transport infrastructure struggles to cope with the tourism influx and hotel ADR remains under pressure.
TTF 2018 will hence steer discussions to address the opportunities and threats that are arising out of multi-billion-baht developments reshaping the cityscape – including transport links, mega-malls, attractions, hotels and residential projects.
In addition to Sansiri’s Srettha, speakers and panellists at TTF 2018 include Dillip Rajakarier, CEO of Minor Hotel Group; Nikhom Jensiriratanakorn, director of Horwath HTL; Thomas Schmelter, IHG’s director of operations for Thailand & Indochina; KC Moy, executive vice president of Capella Hotel Group; Mike Batchelor, JLL’s managing director, investment sales for Asia; Jesper Palmqvist, STR’s area director for Asia Pacific; Caroline Cheah, general manager of the Shangri-La Hotel, Bangkok; and more.
Shanghai Disneyland will be welcoming its seventh themed land, the Disney Toy Story Land, come summer 2018.
This will be the first time Shanghai Disneyland will be expanded since its opening last year, and the new zone will feature three new rides, a character greeting area, merchandise shop, and cafe.
A rendering of Toy Story Land
Based on the Disney·Pixar motion picture series, the concept of the new Toy Story land in Shanghai is centred around giving guests a sense of being shrunk down to the size of toys in the backyard of Andy.
One new attraction is Slinky Dog Spin, where guests take a seat inside Slinky Dog’s springy spirals and race around a wavy roundabout. On Rex’s Racer, guests will be invited to climb into RC Racer with help from Triceratops friend Trixie for a thrill ride on a U-shaped track.
Lastly, Woody’s Round-Up ride conjures a narrative of Sheriff Woody rounding up a herd of ponies, each one pulling a cart. Guests can climb aboard the carts as the ponies swing their carts to and fro in time to the music.
Next to Woody’s Round-Up is the character meet-and-greet area, named Old West, a town made up of a hitching post and façades for various enterprises, such as the sheriff’s office, the saloon and the bank.
Shanghai Disney Resort has the only Toy Story-themed hotel in the world, while Shanghai Disneyland is home to the Buzz Lightyear Planet Rescue attraction – which the resort stated it has been a guest favourite – that features the most advanced Buzz Lightyear targeting system at any Disney park in the world.
The expansion, Shanghai Disney Resort says, is a sign of the early success of the resort, and demonstrates the confidence the joint venture shareholders have in the growing consumer demand for themed entertainment in China.
Meanwhile, Hong Kong Disneyland recently announced it will be ceasing its nightly fireworks display from January 2 next year as it carries out a HK$10.9 billion (US$1.4 billion) expansion project, with no indication if the signature show will resume after the multi-year park upgrade.
Booking.com will dedicate €4 million (US$4.75 million) to tourism start-ups and changemakers through the Booking Booster Programme introduced this year, as well as two new initiatives.
Through the Booking Booster Programme, a three-week accelerator in Amsterdam for social enterprise scale-ups in sustainable tourism,the company will award €2 million in grants to sustainability tourism players, including organisations and individuals.
Booking.com continues support for startups and changemakers in sustainable tourism
In addition, it will add Booster Labs, a series of short, regionally-focused weekend programmes that are slated to run globally throughout 2018, dedicated to giving early-stage startups in sustainable tourism the insights, tools and skills they need to grow and increase their impact.
The second new initiative is the Booking Cares Fund, a separate €2 million grant programme to champion individual non-profit changemakers in sustainable tourism and support their search for new and unexpected solutions to strengthen local communities, preserve and promote culture, protect natural resources, and spread tourism activities more evenly.
Booking Booster, the new Booster Labs and the Booking Cares Fund sit alongside Booking.com‘s internal volunteer programme, Booking Cares, where employees have long partnered with local organisations on projects that help improve destinations worldwide.
Overnight cruise operator Bhaya Group has appointed Andrej Stein as general manager.
In this role, Stein will be responsible for managing the group’s day-to-day operations and overseeing all operational aspects of its 19 vessel fleet. He will also foster the destination-focused experience, ensure customer service excellence and bring cultural enrichment to guests.
He started his career with Bhaya Group as cruise manager for The Au Co Luxury Cruise in 2012, and worked his way up to become operations manager, then director of operations.
The German brings with him over 14 years of industry expertise gained from key operations and leadership roles he held across UK and Vietnam with InterContinental Hotels Group, Radisson Hotels and De Vere Hotels.
Former secretary-general of ASEAN and former Thai foreign minister Surin Pitsuwan died of an acute heart attack on November 30. He was 68.
Surin reportedly collapsed while preparing to speak at the Thailand Halal Assembly 2017 at BITEC in Bangkok. He was rushed to Ramkhamhaeng Hospital, and pronounced dead at 15.07.
Surin Pitsuwan, the former ASEAN secretary-general, was involved in the peace process as facilitator and negotiator in the region
Surin was secretary-general of ASEAN from 2008 to 2012. A statement issued by Thailand’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said he “contributed greatly to the advancement and interest of ASEAN, as well as the promotion of ASEAN on the international stage. His outstanding personality, knowledge and wisdom were truly recognised by global leaders”.
As a champion of ASEAN tourism, Surin had always exhorted the region’s tourism public and private sectors to be mindful of sustainable development. In one of his last speeches directly related to tourism, in June last year when he delivered a keynote at the Thailand Travel Mart Plus 2016, he called on the ASEAN tourism industry to pay equal attention to the socio-cultural pillar of ASEAN integration, not “over-focus” on its economic impact.
The “tapestry of contrasts” of ASEAN’s 10-member countries made it such an attractive destination and, because of this diversity, the regional travel and tourism industry should pay equal attention to the socio-cultural and political-security blueprints of ASEAN, “not just economic, economic, economic all the time”, Surin said.
While intra-ASEAN commerce was only about 27-28 per cent of the total trade volume, intra-ASEAN travel constituted about 47-48 per cent of the total and it was “within striking distance” that intra-ASEAN could hit the 50 per cent mark this year, the 50th anniversary of ASEAN, he said. Thanks to low-cost airlines, transportation was no longer an issue in ASEAN connectivity. The challenge now, said Surin, was managing growth – how to improve services and enhance sustainability.
“If we are not careful, we will have problems of congestion and environmental impact, which will also impact the cultural resources that we value. It’s the software not the hardware. It’s the management, not the transportation systems anymore.
“Tourism is supposed to be one activity that creates opportunity for everyone. Let us make the ASEAN destination attractive, sustainable, accessible and playing the role of equalising that income.
“Tourism is a goose laying golden eggs. We can’t starve it, nor can we over-feed, nor ignore it, nor take too much advantage of it.”
At the same time, he called on the tourism industry to put pressure on the immigration and safety authorities to expedite a single visa to allow people to move more seamlessly through the region, but also for the industry to not just focus on doing business but be involved in the broader goals of creating a better world for future generations.
While tourists had the luxury of being on the move for leisure and pleasure, he urged the audience to think of the humanitarian suffering of the millions of people who were on the move to escape suffering and violence.
Amadeus Next startups, GoHero, BorderPass and CarePod exhibited at the Amadeus Airline Regional Community meeting in Singapore in November 2017
Amadeus Next will expand into three new Asian markets, namely China, Indonesia and Vietnam, as well as new industries, as it turns two years old with a list of 33 startups it has powered.
China is where the “tech companies are leading the charge for entrepreneurship”, it said, while Indonesia and Vietnam are “two of the most promising markets for the startup ecosystem”.
Amadeus Next startups, GoHero, BorderPass and CarePod exhibited at the Amadeus Airline Regional Community meeting in Singapore in November 2017
The move will see Amadeus Next work actively with relevant stakeholders to support startups on the ground. In addition to helping entrepreneurs identify suitable customers and partners, the Amadeus Next startup community also provides a platform for ideas sharing between fellow entrepreneurs.
It also intends to enter into new industries such as Xank, CarePod and Global Himalayan Expedition. Xank explores the effect of blockchain on the South-east Asian travel sector, a key area of focus for Amadeus in 2018. CarePod creates new enterprise solutions to boost airline ancillary, including improving the experiences of “pet owner” passengers and their pets throughout the entire air travel process. Global Himalayan Expedition (GHE) is a social enterprise focused on providing energy, education, connectivity and livelihood access to remote Himalayan villages.
“Working with GHE proves sustainable development and cultural tourism can go hand in hand. We are always on the hunt for interesting startups with a CSR or sustainability angle, this will be another priority in the coming year,” said Simon Akeroyd, vice president, corporate strategy and business development, Amadeus Asia-Pacific.
“We will also continue to explore other verticals such as fintech, insurtech and IoT to discover emerging technologies and trends before they reach the travel sector.”
Akeroyd said the tech startup scene in Asia is booming, with nearly a third of the world’s private unicorns valued at US$1 billion headquartered here. With more travel startups in Asia-Pacific achieving unicorn status, such as China (Tujia) and Indonesia (GO-JEK), Amadeus is committed to propelling the travel tech startups in these markets, on their journey to becoming the next big thing, he said.
Berlin-based online booking platform for travel activities, GetYourGuide, has closed a US$75 million Series D funding round and is stepping up its Asian presence.
The latest round was led by Battery Ventures and all of GetYourGuide’s existing venture partners, including KKR, Spark Capital, Highland Europe, Sunstone Capital and Nokia Growth Partners (NGP).
GetYourGuide has more than 31,000 tours, activities and attractions in more than 7,300 destinations around the world in its database
The new capital will be applied toward international expansion and technological development.
“We are experiencing explosive growth this year and have stepped up to become the largest online booking platform for travel activities,” said Johannes Reck, CEO of GetYourGuide. “It’s our goal to significantly disrupt the in-destination travel experience in the years ahead.”
The booking platform has launched four new domains – Traditional Chinese, Japanese, Russian and Mexican Spanish – for its platform, bringing the total number of languages supported on GetYourGuide to 18.
Earlier this year, the company opened regional offices in Hong Kong and Bangkok.
Scoot will commence flights to Berlin in 2H2018, its second European and third longhaul destination.
The airline intends to launch ticket sales for Berlin in 1Q2018. Subject to regulatory approval, the four-times-weekly Singapore-Berlin flights will be operated with Boeing 787 Dreamliners.
Scoot’s Boeing 787 Dreamliner
Lee Lik Hsin, Scoot’s CEO, said: “Scoot’s merger with Tigerair Singapore earlier this year has greatly strengthened our position, standing us in good stead to launch and sustain our longhaul operations. Athens has lived up to our expectations while bookings for Honolulu have been very promising.”
Scoot’s current route network comprises 62 destinations across 16 countries, with services to Honolulu launching this month, and Kuantan flights commencing in February 2018.
