Christopher E. Stafford

THAILAND’s Wongphanlert family is spinning off a new luxury boutique hotel management company, 137 Pillars Hotels & Resorts, from their first hotel, 137 Pillars House Chiang Mai which since opening in December 2011 has been showcasing the brand’s potential.

The 30-suite Chiang Mai property is a restoration of the northern headquarters of the East Borneo Trading Company built 125 years ago.

With land banks in Bangkok and Phuket, the group is now building two more hotels, 137 Pillars Suites & Residences Bangkok, scheduled to open late this year/early 2017 with 34 suites and 179 private residences, and 137 Pillars Estate Phuket, scheduled to open in early 2019 on the north peninsula of Kata beach with 62 suites and villas. Land has also been acquired for another development on Phang Nga island.

It’s all systems go for the family to move into the hotel management business. Christopher E. Stafford, who has been appointed COO to direct and oversee the mission, has put in place executive team members including five group directors, for projects and technical services, sales and marketing, culinary, F&B and finance.

Said Stafford: “I see a window to create a branded luxury boutique hotel company. I’m aiming for 20 hotels in the next five years, their size not more than 60 keys ideally and only all suites or all villas.

“Our advantage is our owners have land banks. I also believe that to expand, I need to look outside the shell of Thailand. The real opportunity today is in places like Sri Lanka, Myanmar, Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam.”

Stafford said by the time the 137 Pillars hotels in Bangkok and Phuket open, the group should have secured management contracts to manage luxury boutique hotels for other owners.

“We’re accelerating these deals. Because we’re in a business that is labour and capital intensive, speed really matters; our costs are not going to go away. If you look at Bangkok alone, labour costs have risen 30-40 per cent in the last five years, plus there’s a real shortage of great people. We have to bring in lots of resources and that is costing a lot. If our carrying costs are high to run a management company, we’ve got to leverage them pretty quickly.”

Stafford moved into the COO role from working with the family as vice president hotel operations of SilverNeedle Hospitality, which will continue to manage the 137 Pillars House Chiang Mai until this December. He also headed Anantara from 2000-2007 in Thailand and the Maldives, opening six properties for the group.

THAILAND’s newest and biggest water park will open its doors to the public tomorrow.

The over 16 hectare RamaYana Water Park is located 25 minutes away by car from central Pattaya, near the Khao Chi Chan Buddha mountain.

Features include 21 water slides, two dedicated kids’ zones, a wave pool, lazy river, floating market, elephant rides as well as several other activities and relaxation areas, totalling 50 independent attractions.

F&B options and spa treatments are also available at the park.

“It is our intention that RamaYana will be recognised as both the largest and leading water park in Thailand, and additionally as a new world-class visitor attraction,” said Johannes Pattermann, marketing & sales director, RamaYana Waterpark, adding that unique touch points will set the park apart from others.

“The natural water available throughout the park, for example, is crystal clear drinking water from the park’s own wells,” he added.

As an opening special until October 31, all visitors can enter for a full day for 990 baht (US$28) for adults or 790 baht for children. Kids below 90cm enter free. Various family packages are also on offer.

The park operates daily from 10.00 to 18.00.

Screenshot of Garuda Orient Holidays’ website

INDUSTRY players in Bali have expressed their regrets over the closure of Garuda Orient Holidays (GOH) in Australia, albeit acknowledging that it will have little impact on business.

The news came in a statement earlier this week, with Beanca Daluz, general manager of GOH Australia saying the closure was due to “the changing nature of the industry, which has made it difficult for travel companies to survive”.

“OTAs have permanently altered the business model and more people are making their own arrangements online, forcing traditional arrangers redundant,” she added.

Hoteliers who have been partnering with GOH however, said the announcement did not really take them by surprise as the business has been in decline in recent years.

I Nyoman Astama, general manager of Bali Niksoma Boutique Beach Resort, said: “We regret that an Indonesian company overseas, an arm of the national carrier, has to stop operations.”

Astama added: “In the 1990s, about 90 per cent of travellers booked through tour operators, today, OTAs are leading with 70 per cent market share. Travellers used to depend on their travel consultants to decide on travel. Now they look at online ratings.”

‎Concurring, Alice Matulessy, director of sales & marketing at Discovery Kartika Plaza Hotel, Bali, said: “The business model has changed and wholesalers who fail to adjust themselves will not survive.”

Still, most in the trade believe that GOH’s closure will not dampen Bali’s tourism numbers.

“We do not foresee any impact on arrivals as travellers just change their booking channels,” said Gufron, director, Alpha Hotel Management and general manager of The Sense Hotel Seminyak.

Ismullah Lahsin, corporate general manager of Sun Island Bali Group agrees, saying that he is actually sanguine given that Australia had just recently gotten visa-free entry into Indonesia.

GOH has assured customers that those who have purchased holidays with them that arrangements will still be honoured or refunded if they wish.

For those who have paid a deposit, they can elect to pay in full before May 31 or receive a full refund.

Soekarno Hatta International Airport

TO achieve Indonesia’s arrival target of 12 million this year, the country’s tourism ministry is calling on regional governments and industry players to support the central government’s promotion efforts.

At a coordination meeting with regional tourism stakeholders last weekend, I Gde Pitana, Indonesia’s deputy minister for international promotion development, ministry of tourism, said it is critical to work together to achieve those numbers.

“To achieve the target, we need on average one million arrivals a month. January and February results (814,300 arrivals and 888,300 arrivals respectively) were below this number,” he stated.

Efforts to court arrivals include the advertising of Indonesia’s recently-implemented visa exemptions in destinations that have received the facility.

As well, the tourism authority is looking to attract travellers from Malaysia and Singapore with sporting events and music festivals organised twice a month in Batam, Bintan and West Kalimantan. An estimated 2.7 million travellers are expected from these two markets alone, said Pitana.

As for the China market, efforts are already underway, including having a Chinese film producer shoot in Indonesia, launching of a Chinese guide book on 10 Indonesian destinations, and promotion of the Wonderful Indonesia campaign in campuses in China.

Pitana added that Indonesia has seen Chinese arrivals reach new heights in the traditional peak season of February, and he urges the trade to work together to achieve greater arrival numbers during the next peak season between September and October.

The ministry is also working with TripAdvisor, Baidu and Ctrip to create marketplaces for Indonesian agents to upload their programmes. Similar partnerships with OTAs are on the drawing board with Expedia and Alibaba.

On the airline front, the ministry is lobbying for more direct flight routes from China and India to be opened. It is also in discussions with airlines such as AirAsia Singapore to launch packages to Jakarta, Bandung, Semarang, Yogyakarta and Bali.

“The achievement of the target will depend on how we can synergise the regional and central government programmes. The ministry does not have the products, they are all yours,” said Pitana to Indonesia’s tourism stakeholders at the meeting.

“We coordinate the promotion, but you need to come up with the products.”

Yuthasak Supasorn (sixth from left), TAT governor; Juthaporn Rerngronasa (fourth from right), TAT deputy governor for international marketing – Europe, Africa, Middle East and Americas; Srisuda Wanapinyosak (fifth from left), TAT deputy governor for international marketing Asia and South Pacific; other tourism officials; and Bangkok female celebrities at the Women’s Journey Thailand launch event

THE Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) has declared August 2016 as a month dedicated to female tourists in Thailand.

Throughout the entire month, the campaign known as Women’s Journey Thailand, will offer both domestic and foreign travellers promotional rates and special activities via a slate of initiatives such as Lady Golf Challenge, Lady Celebrities to Thailand, Lady Immigration Lanes and Lady Airfare.

“Increasingly women are coming to Thailand in groups or as solo travellers and expect to find activities and attractions geared to their needs. So, this campaign will broaden their recognition on how Thailand can cater for a great experience to female travellers like nowhere else,” said Yuthasak Supasorn, governor of TAT, adding that this is in line with plans to position Thailand as a quality leisure destination.

Juthaporn Rerngronasa, TAT’s deputy governor for international marketing – Europe, Africa, Middle East and the Americas, added: “Female travellers are an increasingly strong market for local and inbound tourism to Thailand. The global income of women worldwide has risen hugely and the compound growth of female arrivals to Thailand has also risen, averaging 11.4 per cent from the period 2007-2014.”

According to TAT, female travellers enjoy visiting Thailand’s beaches and spas as well as trying Thai cuisine, but are more concerned with safety and privacy than male travellers, and the promotional activities will be arranged taking into account those facts.

The campaign is also being held in conjunction with Thailand’s Queen Sirikit’s 84th birthday.

Byron Bay, a coastal town in New South Wales

GOVERNMENT state agency Destination NSW has signed a contract with Sichuan Airlines in a bid to lure more visitors from western China to Sydney and the New South Wales region.

While the value and duration of the partnership remains undisclosed, it will see direct flights and travel packages from Chongqing to Sydney promoted via Alitrip and Ctrip.

Although the state is already in partnership with Ctrip as part of a two-year MoU signed in August 2015, the new move will see Destination NSW becoming Australia’s first state tourism body to partner with Alitrip, according to CEO of Destination NSW, Sandra Chipchase.

“Destination NSW is focused on increasing our marketing programmes into more geographic source markets in China,” she said.

“Working in partnership with Sichuan Airlines provides us with a targeted opportunity to increase visitation from western China to Sydney and regional New South Wales via direct flights from Chongqing.”

In addition to marketing programmes, the partnership with Sichuan Airlines also includes education and training for agents.

Approximately 567,000 Chinese visited the state last year, spending a record A$2.3 billion (US$1.7 billion).

Average international passenger load factor fell by 1.5 percentage points 

THERE has been continued growth in international air passenger demand for Asia-Pacific carriers, but airlines are not maximising capacity as much as they had before, according to a report by the Association of Asia Pacific Airlines (AAPA).

Preliminary traffic figures for March showed that international passenger volume increased 4.5 per cent to 24.4 million compared to the same period last year.

In revenue passenger kilometre (RPK) terms, international passenger demand registered a corresponding 4.7 per cent growth.

However, flights are operating with greater surplus capacity than before. When combined with the 6.7 per cent expansion in available seat capacity, the average international passenger load factor fell by 1.5 percentage points to 77.4 per cent in March.

This is despite an increase in international passenger numbers by 7.5 per cent to an aggregate total of 72.8 million for the first quarter of 2016.

Commenting on the numbers, Andrew Herdman, AAPA director general, said: “Overall, the growth in demand for air passenger travel remains quite robust, supported by low oil prices and the widespread availability of affordable airfares.

“Some concerns remain over the global economic outlook, but the region’s airlines are continuing to invest in new aircraft, and products and services to meet the projected growth in consumer demand,” he assured.

The Dhauli Peace Temple in Bhubaneswar, Odisha

ODISHA’s Department of Tourism (DoT) hopes to lure more South-east Asian arrivals by promoting its Buddhist sites, especially the Ratnagiri-Lalitgiri-Udayagiri-Langudi-Dhauli circuit.

“Odisha is home to about 10 important Buddhist sites. Buddhist destinations like Bodh Gaya (in Bihar state) receive a good number of foreign tourists, (hence we are trying to promote) Odisha’s Buddhist heritage to the South-east Asian market. At present, we only get a small number of tourists from these markets,” said UK Pati, deputy director, Odisha Tourism.

Pati adds that promotional efforts will include roadshows in Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam taking place after May. Fam trips for travel agents are also in the works.

However, the lack of direct flights has been a stumbling block. Currently, the DoT is negotiating with airlines like SilkAir, Tigerair and AirAsia to begin services from South-east Asia to Biju Patnaik International Airport in Odisha’s state capital Bhubaneswar.

“If we can get direct connectivity, say from Bhubaneswar to Bangkok, it will be a game changer. We are also open to connectivity via other Indian cities such as Kolkata or Hyderabad. For example, IndiGo flies direct from Kolkata to Bangkok. (Perhaps) they can have a stopover at Bhubaneswar as well,” added RK Patnayak, tourist officer, Odisha Tourism.

In 2015, Odisha recorded about 74,000 international arrivals, a growth of 6.5 per cent over the previous year. A record growth of eight per cent in expected this year.

New Halal section at Manila Marriott Hotel 

MANILA Marriott Hotel has become the first hotel in the Philippines to achieve a certification from CrescentRating, a leading authority on halal-friendly travel.

The property achieved a rating of five – the highest possible rating being seven – for its services and facilities that cater to a Muslim clientele, such as a halal food section at its F&B outlet Marriott Café.

Granting hotels in the Philippines a CrescentRating is part of a recent initiative by The Philippine Department of Tourism (PDoT) to diversify its visitor arrivals by attracting Muslim visitors from neighbouring South-east Asia and the Middle East.

The PDoT has also partnered with CrescentRating on a series of activities to increase the awareness of the availability of halal food and mosques in the Philippines.

“Our Philippine Halal Tourism project has broken real ground and set very realistic targets to begin the important work of making halal a real industry in the Philippines,” said tourism secretary Ramon R. Jimenez Jr.

“It is important because it is a given in the Filipino culture that our best and most important welcome to any visitor is with food. And if we are not halal, there is a segment of society in the world that we are not extending a proper welcome to.”

Fazal Bahardeen, CEO of CrescentRating said that more hotels in the Philippines will soon get halal certified by them.

According to the MasterCard-CrescentRating Global Muslim Travel Index (GMTI) 2016 report, the Muslim travel market is recognised as a key growth tourism sector projected to be worth more than US$200 billion by 2020.

The Philippines currently ranks 46th on the GMTI list.