An aerial view of Colombo

AUTHORITIES in Sri Lanka decided yesterday to terminate the controversial minimum hotel room rates policy enforced many years ago to curb price cutting in Colombo city.

The decision came from tourism development, lands and Christian religious affairs minister John Amaratunga, who wants to abolish the policy by March 31, 2017.

The scheme was first brought into force after the May 2009 end of the civil war, after smaller hotels complained of excessive price cuts by larger properties.

The policy dictates that five-star hotels have to charge at minimum US$125 per night plus taxes, which works out to be US$185, while three-star rates have to be at minimum US$80-85 per night inclusive of taxes.

Hoteliers responded to the decision with mixed feelings. Those at five-star properties were elated while those at two- and three-star hotels were in anguish.

“Small and medium scale hotels will suffer enormously since five-star properties will start charging the same rates,” said a senior manager at a four-star property, who wished to remain anonymous.

Amaratunga said almost all the hotels have been calling for the abolition of the policy and to allow market forces to decide prices. “By sticking to the minimum rates we have been pricing ourselves out of the lucrative MICE market and losing out to our regional competitors,” he stated.

In defence, an executive at a luxury hotel in Colombo, said: “We are not opposed to minimum rates. Our concern was that there is no monitoring mechanism and the price war still continued (while we followed the rules).”

ACCORHOTELS has begun exclusive negotiations for the acquisition of private concierge services provider John Paul.

Accor revealed in a statement earlier this week that they would acquire about 80 per cent of John Paul, the remaining stake being kept by David Amsellem, the founder of the company, who will remain as CEO. John Paul is being valuated close to US$150 million.

“The acquisition of John Paul enables us to accelerate our global strategy to position the customer experience at the very heart of our initiatives,” said Sebastien Bazin, chairman & CEO of AccorHotels.

“Their expertise in customisation, combined with a wide range of services and cutting-edge technology, gives us the opportunity to boost the value of the relationships with our guests and partners and multiply the number of touchpoints.”

He further explained: “It means a further solidification of our customer relation through an attractive offer and a higher usage, an increased personalisation of our services thanks to a deeper customer profiling with non-hotel driven information, and the strengthening of our CRM with affinity data.”

Founded in Paris in 2007, John Paul merged with LesConcierges in 2015, creating a combined workforce of 1,000 people spread across all five continents. The company offers clients a bespoke concierge service available 24/7, anywhere in the world.

John Paul also uses a proprietary CRM and data platform based on behavioral profiling and full-spectrum personalisation. Its clients include those in the financial, automotive, travel, consumer, healthcare, pharma and luxury industries.

Added Bazin: “Now that we are the worldwide leader in premium loyalty solutions, we feel that we are at a tipping point in our venture and we need the empowerment of a strong leader to support the current traction.

“Entering the travel industry supported by AccorHotels means much more to the 1,000 people of the John Paul Group: we feel that combining our strengths will create a game changer in the industry.”

NON-PROFIT organisation World Animal Protection is calling on governments to investigate and close down venues that use tigers for entertainment and for travel companies to halt their sales and promotion of such establishments.

The recent scandal and closure of Thailand’s Tiger Temple has spotlighted the abuse of captive tigers that goes on inside such places and in light of that, the animal welfare group has launched an investigation into the tiger tourism industry in Thailand.

The study, Tiger selfies exposed: A portrait of Thailand’s tiger entertainment industry, showed that the number of captive tigers increased from 623 to 830 in the last five years, or by 33 per cent.

According to the report, such venues are getting increasingly popular as tourists are promised a close-up encounter with wild tigers. But many travellers do not realise the cruelty that goes on in order to domesticate these creatures to the extent of being made submissive enough to entertain tourists.

Issues cited include tigers being punished using pain and fear in order to stop aggressive, unwanted behavior. One staff member told the researchers that starvation is also used as a punitive measure.

Of the 17 major tiger entertainment venues investigated in Thailand, Sriracha Tiger Zoo in Pattaya had the highest number of tigers in captivity. As well, World Animal Protection observed that it has the poorest conditions with at least one tiger so thin its hips and ribs were visible.

“It is very worrying that at the time of our research, 207 more tigers were abused for tourist entertainment than there were five years ago,” said Julie Middelkoop, head of the Wildlife – Not Entertainers campaign at World Animal Protection.

“We’re asking tourists to think about the welfare of the tigers, and we’re calling on the travel industry to stop promoting and profiting from tiger cruelty. If you can get up close to, hug, or have a selfie with a tiger, the attraction is cruel. Don’t go.”

She further urged travellers to stay away from any wildlife tourist entertainment venues that allow direct human-animal interaction, such as hugging and selfies with tigers.

“TripAdvisor, the largest travel site in the world, continues to promote and sell tickets to cruel tiger tourist venues. They could be a real part of the solution and help to end the suffering of tigers,” she added.

Responding to the allegations, a TripAdvisor spokesperson said: “The role of animals in tourism is a highly complex issue involving a variety of stakeholders with diverse points of view. TripAdvisor takes this issue seriously.

“Currently, there is no universally agreed upon criteria by which to assess animal welfare practices, and no feasible means by which an online resource like ours could centrally audit such practices around the globe. While it is the responsibility of national governments and local regulatory bodies to monitor businesses in their respective jurisdictions, TripAdvisor recognises that the travel and tourism community can be a positive catalyst for change.

“We are committed to exploring this in a thoughtful and responsible manner to protect animal welfare, while serving the needs of our TripAdvisor community, promoting sustainable tourism, and respecting the economic interests of the reputable partners who make their living in this area.”

(From left) Ding Yong Zheng, board director of U-FLY Alliance; Andrew Cowen, CEO of U-Fly Alliance; Jimmy Ma, board chairman & director of U-Fly Alliance; Jung Shik Kim, CEO of Eastar Jet; and Steven Greenway, deputy CEO of U-Fly Alliance at the announcement

SOUTH Korean budget carrier Eastar Jet has joined the U-Fly Alliance as a strategic airline partner.

The addition of Eastar enables the LCC alliance to add stops such as Seoul, Busan, Jeju and more to its network of mostly North Asian destinations.

“With Eastar Jet on board, we will be able to expand U-Fly Alliance’s reach to 197 destinations and link guests up with hard-to-reach places all over South Korea and Northern Asia,” said Andrew Cowen, CEO of U-Fly Alliance.

Launched in 2009, Eastar Jet now covers a route map of 24 international and domestic destinations, all of which will be added to the U-Fly Alliance network. The company currently operates 17 aircraft with two more expected by end-2017.

“We are delighted to join the U-Fly Alliance and connect South Korean travellers with this network of exceptional LCCs. We look forward to furthering U-Fly’s mission to create a better-connected Asia and provide affordable travel for all,” said Jung Shik Kim, CEO of Eastar Jet.

The Hong Kong-headquartered U-Fly Alliance was formed earlier this year in January, marking the world’s first LCC alliance, and is made up of founding airlines Lucky Air, Urumqi Air, West Air and HK Express.

El Nido, Palawan

THE Philippines’ newly-appointed tourism secretary Wanda Teo has vowed to efficiently utilise the resources given to her for the promotion and development of the country’s tourism industry.

According to a statement by the Philippines’ Department of Tourism, it has gotten a substantial budget increase this year, up 44 per cent from the 2015 budget of 2.5 billion pesos (US$53 million) to a 3.61 billion pesos (US$76.5 million) sum for 2016.

No details have been revealed as to how the budget is to be allocated, but Teo added that information on activities and transactions of the tourism ministry can be accessed from its soon-to-relaunch website.

In the statement, Teo also lauded the country’s president Rodrigo Duterte on his plans to construct new highways and bridges to network major islands and tourist destinations.

Referring to Duterte’s state of the nation address on Monday, Teo said: “We are elated and inspired by the president’s announcement that topping his list of priorities is the building of highways and roads that can provide easy access to our tourist sites.”

The president had further stated in his speech that labour-intensive industries such as tourism will need reforms in order to ensure competitiveness and to promote the ease of conducting such businesses in the Philippines.