Mario Hardy, CEO, PATA

FOREIGN arrivals into the Asia-Pacific is forecasted to grow at an average rate of 4.6 per cent annually from now till 2020 to reach more than 657 million visitors yearly, according to PATA’s Asia Pacific Visitor Forecasts 2016-2020 report released yesterday.

“Actual foreign arrival numbers into Asia-Pacific at the aggregate level have been within two per cent of predictions made in the last few PATA forecasts, so we know that the numbers are realistic, reliable and valid,” assured Mario Hardy, CEO, PATA.

Asia is expected to maintain its dominance as a destination, and will likely increase its relative share of Asia-Pacific arrivals from 72 per cent last year to more than 73 per cent by 2020.

South-east Asia too, will continue to welcome more visitors, improving its relative share from just under 20 per cent in 2015 to around 22.5 per cent by the end of the decade.

As a source market, PATA expects Asia to also generate increasing international arrivals into the Asia-Pacific, upping its count from 355 million visitors in 2015 to around 448 million by 2020, an increase from 66 per cent to 68 per cent of total arrivals.

Meanwhile, northeast Asia is expected to generate 333 million in international arrivals into Asia-Pacific by 2020, adding to the zeitgeist that intra-regional tourism is set to remain strong going forward.

Further afield, the Americas is expected to generate around 113 million arrivals into Asia-Pacific by 2020, driven largely by north America which will contribute close to two-thirds of that volume.

Lastly, the 47 million arrivals from Europe expected in 2020 will come foremost from west Europe (19.5 million) and north Europe (14.7 million). Combined, these two sub-regions will account for close to two-thirds of the total arrivals from Europe by the end of the forecast period.

“This last series of predictions again highlights the rapidly approaching need for aggressive and appropriate visitor management processes to be installed and operational before we literally destroy our destinations with our love and desire to interact with them,” cautioned Hardy.

Kurt Ekert, CEO, CWT

KURT Ekert is replacing Douglas Anderson as president and CEO at Carlson Wagonlit Travel (CWT), effective immediately.

Ekert most recently spent more than five years at Travelport as executive vice president and chief commercial officer, with another nine years in other roles at the company including being COO at GTA, a subsidiary which Travelport had since sold to Kuoni Travel.

According to a statement from CWT, Anderson has left the company to “pursue other opportunities” without elaborating further.

Under Anderson’s leadership, CWT has grown as a business travel agency and made significant strides in technology, including the acquisition of WorldMate.

STAR Cruises’ SuperStar Virgo will commence a new three-month Vietnam and Sanya itinerary with Shenzhen Tai Zi Bay as the homeport from November 12.

The ship will depart every Saturday for a 8D7N voyage to Halong Bay, Danang, Nha Trang and Ho Chi Minh City. There will also be departures every Thursday and Saturday for the 6D5N itinerary calling at Nha Trang, Danang and Sanya, Hainan.

In addition, the 5D4N Halong Bay itinerary will depart every Tuesday with ports of call in Halong Bay and Sanya.

Ang Moo Lim, president of Star Cruises, said: “Tai Zi Bay is located in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macau Big Bay, which enjoys excellent geographical advantages and allows travellers from the Pearl River Delta and the southwest area to cruise from a convenient location.”

SAFETY concerns during business travel are not being adequately addressed by corporate travel policies, according to a recent study by ACTE and Business Traveller Magazine in association with American Express Global Business Travel.

The research finds that only 25 per cent of companies have changed destination policy as a result of a terrorist act or threat, even though 56 per cent of travellers have changed their attitude about visiting the destinations.

It is also apparent concerns are not being addressed with 67 per cent of respondents stating that there is a psychological effect on them or their families when travelling to a region where they may not feel safe.

Only 10 per cent of business travellers say they are “utterly fearless” regarding terrorism while 25 per cent say they have “very little fear”.

Meanwhile, 65 per cent of business travellers indicate that they have varied fears, including being stranded in a security lockdown, in-flight terror incidents, and the threat of medical health risks.

However, a majority of business travellers fear mugging and traffic accidents while on the road more than the possibility of a terrorist attack.

Also significant is the finding that travel managers have a higher estimation of their policy’s effectiveness in addressing risk as compared to more skeptical business travellers.

Specifically, travellers wanted more access to up-to-date risk management tools and specific safety briefings for various destinations.

Compounding on the issue is the response of 31 per cent of travellers in the sample saying they worry that a reluctance to travel could hurt their careers.

The study, whose results were revealed during ACTE’s global conference held in Dallas earlier this week, is gathered from a poll of 605 business travellers and 270 corporate travel executives over a two-month period, prior to the attacks in Belgium.

Image from the Japan Meteorological Agency showing the epicentre of the quakes

TRAVEL agencies in Asia are seeing no drop in overall demand for Japan in the aftermath of a series of quakes that tore up parts of the southern region of the peninsula last week.

An initial magnitude 6.2 tremor first hit last Thursday evening followed by a magnitude 7.3 quake a day later, devastating infrastructure, attractions and homes in southern Japan.

However, agents are still seeing good business despite the disaster, albeit having to make several cancellations and delays to scheduled trips.

“A tour group of 25 people who were supposed to depart for Kyushu and Honshu on April 21 has decided to delay their trip to another date,” said Cooper Huang, CEO, Malaysian Harmony Tours & Travel.

“We are still selling Kyushu, but we have customised the itinerary so that it does not cover the areas affected by the earthquake.”

Others are similarly taking the tactical approach to continue selling tours to Japan to meet client needs yet avoiding the disaster area in order to ensure safety.

“We have 25 per cent of our customers postponing their trips to Japan. Singapore travellers are more concerned about Kyushu specifically. Demand to other parts of the country remain intact,” said Shannon Hee, marketing and communications manager, ASA Holidays.

“Most of our customers are still willing to travel with alternative itinerary arrangements. As such, we have changed the destination port to Miyazaki.”

Golden Tourworld Travel managing director, Jason Lim, said: “Tours to Kyushu have been put on hold for the time being. However, forward demand for Honshu, Tokyo and Osaka is still strong for the June school holidays in Malaysia.”

As well, Chan Brothers Travel have groups departing daily to Japan throughout April as this is the peak period, with bookings and enquiries remaining consistent. Only demand for Kyushu, which comprise less than 15 per cent of their Japan business, is affected.

Jane Chang, head of marketing communications, Chan Brothers Travel, said: “Our tour group travelling to the Kyushu region yesterday was cancelled for reasons of customer safety and as a precaution.”

She adds that they are continually monitoring the situation with local operators on the ground in order to decide further action.

As the quakes coincided with the sakura season, agents say that business has largely been unaffected.

“This is the peak cherry blossom season and Indonesians continue to travel despite the earthquake. We do not see any cancellations. We have three groups going on Tuesday, one yesterday and four today,” said Rudiana, director of sales and marketing at WITA Tour.

Equally sanguine about business is Putu Ayu Aristyadewi, corporate vice president, marketing and communication at Smailing Tours.

“We have not seen any cancellations. The earthquake this time did not affect tourist attractions travellers go to, and not as disastrous as it was a few years ago,” he said, referring to the March 11, 2011 quake and tsunami in Japan.

Alicia Seah, director of marketing communications at Dynasty Travel paints a similarly positive sentiment: “We currently have 260 travellers in central Japan for the sakura season and Hokkaido for the spring season. We have another 120 travellers leaving for Japan this week and the next as well as another group leaving for Kyushu in early May.”

Additional reporting from Paige Lee Pei Qi and S Puvaneswary

AFTER nearly three decades, Nepal has revived direct flights to Sri Lanka with Himalaya Airlines’ new link between Kathmandu and Colombo.

The airline made the maiden flight, a charter service, last week aboard a 158-seater Airbus A320.

Newly-launched Himalaya Airlines is under joint Nepalese and Chinese ownership, with Himalayan Infrastructure Fund Aviation Investment and Yeti World Investment holding a 51 per cent stake, and Tibet Airlines owning 49 per cent.

Former national carrier Royal Nepal Airlines used to operate direct flights to Colombo during the 1980s, but flights were suspended due to poor loads that arose from armed revolt in Sri Lanka.

Suresh Mendis, CEO of Colombo-based Classic Travel, said that there is a market for direct services between Kathmandu and Colombo, as it cuts short travel time to about four hours from the current 10 hours.

Meanwhile, Sri Lankan budget carrier Mihin Lanka has plans to launch scheduled direct flights to Kathmandu, but no dates have been finalised yet.

Sri Lanka is Nepal’s fourth largest source market after India, China and the US.

CEO and managing director of Malaysia Airlines Berhad (MAB), Christoph Mueller, has resigned from his post at the beleaguered national carrier and will continue working at the company until September to serve out his six-month notice.

Mueller will then remain on MAB’s board as non-executive director to see through the leadership transition. The airline is currently on the lookout for a new CEO.

The resignation comes as a surprise as it has been less than a year since Mueller took on the top job and was contracted by Khazanah Nasional Berhad, the sole shareholder of MAB, to implement a turnaround of the carrier over a period of three years.

“While we would have wanted Mueller to continue as planned, we also respect and ultimately agree to his decision to leave ahead of the end of his three-year contract, due to a change in his personal circumstances,” stated Khazanah in a release.

Mueller, known as a turnaround veteran in aviation, first joined MAB in May 2015 to save the ailing airline which went through two concurrent setbacks in 2014 – the disappearance of flight MH370 and the downing of flight MH17 over Ukraine. The airline also posted severe net losses at the end of 2014.

According to Khazanah, MAB’s restructuring, which was spearheaded by Mueller, will carry on as planned despite his departure.