MORE and more repeat Asian travellers to Switzerland are venturing beyond Interlaken/Jungfrau and Zermatt, which have long wooed them, into fresh fields such as Graubünden, St Moritz, Chur and Davos, which need them, according to Adrian Mueller, president of Romantik Hotels & Restaurants Switzerland.

Mueller, who owns and operates the 65-room Romantik Hotel Stern in Chur, is himself excited by the prospects of the Asian FIT market and is participating for the first time in the Switzerland Travel Mart in Zermatt this week to meet Asian buyers. The hotelier is no stranger to Asia, having spent 14 years of his career in the region, including as general manager of The Shangri-La Bangkok.

Places such as Graubünden, St Moritz, Chur and Davos have long been the playgrounds of European markets including Germany, Benelux and the UK.

“Unfortunately these are markets which reacted to the currency drop of the euro very sensitively and strongly. In Graubünden, we are talking about a drop over the past four years of between 12 per cent and 18 per cent depending on the hotel and location within the area,” said Mueller.

This is just the push factor needed for hotels, including some members of the Romantik alliance, to start tapping new markets. Many are noticing and watching the emergence of Asian FITs with interest.

Said Mueller: “Recently we had a family of 12 pax visiting us from Hong Kong. I asked them why they chose Chur and not Zermatt or Lucerne. The answer was quite simple, they had seen those already and, for the second time, wanted to see the real Switzerland. We had a fantastic evening. We explained to them all our local food specialities and they thoroughly enjoyed our local wines.”

He also had a young couple, corporate lawyers from Shanghai, who flew into Geneva and bought two bikes to explore Switzerland. “After a good meal in our 333-year-old (fully renovated) hotel, they moved on and sent me a postcard from the valley of Wallis Zermatt. That is the kind of business we would like to generate in Chur, Graubünden.

“Another newly-wed couple from India were happy when I cooked them our local specialities Indian-style, i.e. spicy. The next day I drove them in our vintage car – a Buick from 1933 – to the train station where they hopped onto the Glacier Express from Chur to Zermatt,” said Mueller.

Chur is Switzerland’s oldest city and is the starting point for the Berinan Express (train ride to Italy) and the Glacier Express from Chur to Zermatt.

“But we cannot compete with the economically run tour groups. Our goal is to excite the repeaters out of those markets to visit other parts of Switzerland as FITs. We are seeing a steady increase in the number of such clients, albeit not in big numbers yet, and want to capitalise on this segment. I am excited to be part of the Switzerland Travel Mart (September 22-23) for the first time this year. We have a good number of very interesting appointments with Asian buyers,” he said.

Asked how prepared his hotel was in catering to Asian FITs, Mueller said: “We can cater to individual Asian guests predominantly in the areas of food and, for the younger generation, services like free Wi-Fi. The hardware is ready (the hotel is fully renovated); in the long term, we need to work on the software, for example, translating guest information into Chinese, Japanese and Thai. With my 14 years of experience in Asia I will be able to train my staff and make them aware of the likes and dislikes of our guests from the Far East.”

– Read the full report in the next issue of TTG Asia Luxury, December 1

THE Philippine Travel Agencies Association (PTAA) has reactivated its membership with world body United Federation of Travel Agents’ Association (UFTAA).

Now that UFTAA is under the leadership of Joe Borg Olivier, PTAA president Michelle Victoria said that the PTAA Board has decided to reactivate its membership so that they “can be part of the activities and advocacies as they apply to our country (the Philippines)”.

These include dialogues and consultations with International Air Transport Association. Recently, PTAA supported UFTAA’s stance against Lufthansa Group charging 16 euro (US$18) for every ticket issued using the global distribution system.

Victoria told TTG Asia e-daily: “There is also a need for national associations (like PTAA) to have representations in regional as well as international federations of travel industry stakeholders.”

She added that she would be attending a UFTAA meeting – that will tackle how the federation is being revitalised – in November.

It’s understood that PTAA put its status as inactive about three years ago when UFTAA was assessing its direction due to funding problems.

QANTAS will operate a new direct seasonal service between Bali and Sydney to address increased demand for the route.

Starting from December 4, 2015 until January 29, 2016 inclusive, the airline will operate four services per week on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays, using a B737 aircraft.

Qantas International CEO Gareth Evans said the airline was pleased to expand its offering to customers wanting a full service, premium travel option direct from Bali to Sydney.

He said: “This gives customers more options to travel to Australia during the busy school break and New Year holiday season.”

This service follows on the heels of last week’s announcement where Qantas said they would add more flights from Australia to Hong Kong and Manila, and operate 140 additional services from Australia to Singapore, Jakarta and New Zealand to cater to the peak season.

Fares start from Rp11,411,000 (US$788) return and are available for sale at qantas.com.

THE upcoming ATF 2016 TRAVEX from January 20-22 held in Manila, Philippines, has confirmed the participation of leading hospitality brands led by its corporate office at the exhibition showcase. This includes Best Western International Asia, CHM Hotels, FRHI Hotels & Resorts, Furama Hotels International, Hyatt Hotels & Resorts, HPL Hotels & Resorts, Intercontinental Hotels Group, Movenpick Hotels & Resorts, Park Hotel Group, Premier Inn Hotel, Sol Melia, Starwood Asia Pacific Hotels & Resorts, and global room distribution portal, Hotelbeds.

Shirlena Tan, regional director of sales & marketing, Furama Hotels International shared why ATF is the platform to showcase the Furama brand to buyers. Tan said: “As the event delivers buyers that reach both discerning business and leisure travellers, we are able to present Furama, FuramaXclusive and FX Hotels as excellent choices for their consideration.”

The annual industry event that houses the largest collection of travel trade suppliers from across the 10 member ASEAN nations has also announced that exhibition floor space is quickly filling up, with close to 70 per cent of booths already secured by hotels, resorts, airlines, tour operators, themed attractions, tourism boards and other service providers.

Melia Hotels International believes ATF strengthens their position in South-east Asia. Ruben Cases, senior director of sales & marketing Asia Pacific said: “With 20 years of established presence in the region, ATF offers us the opportunity to reinforce alliances, negotiate strategic agreements and meet new players.”

Like the independent exhibitors from across the region, brands are also seeing the value of having a corporate presence at the show. The unparalleled reach to 400 validated, qualified global buyers and 100 international and local media during the three-day event is undoubtedly the biggest draw factor. In addition, corporate brands also cite valuable business generation prospects, product profiling, awareness and lead generation as must-attend reasons.

Lindawati Muhlis, head of sales & marketing Indonesia of Premier Inn South East Asia agreed: “In addition to regional inbound sales, our presence at ATF also increases market awareness for our brand across ASEAN and beyond.”

For more information on booth space, email atfsellers@ttgasia.com or visit www.atfphilippines.com.

THE tourism sector in Africa is seeing encouraging signs of recovery following the Ebola crisis which affected the western region of the continent last year.

Dave van Smeerdijk, sales and marketing director of Asilia Africa, the operator of luxury safaris in Kenya, Tanzania & Zanzibar, told TTG Asia e-Daily: “The Ebola crisis absolutely hammered us. People don’t realise that Paris and London were closer (to the Ebola-affected areas) than where we were.”

As the Ebola situation stabilises, there are positive signs of growth in the Asian traffic to Africa, according to Kim Nixon, managing director of A2A Safaris, whose clients mainly hail from Singapore and Hong Kong.

“So far, we’ve had 450 clients from Singapore and our business is currently accelerating at 20 per cent per year, compounded,” said Nixon. “It was a very good measure of the level of adventurousness in Singaporeans.”

According to Nixon, a majority of their market share consists of travellers aged 45 to 60, honeymoon couples and surprisingly, families with young children in tow. “Around 45 per cent of our clients are repeats,” he added.

With average prices of around US$10,000 per head for a seven- to eight-night safari package – excluding air tickets – many younger travellers are unable or unwilling to fork out that amount of money, he noted.

As such, A2A is shifting its focus to attract young professionals by offering high-quality experiences and accommodation at more affordable prices, explained Nixon. “The highest quality accommodation doesn’t necessarily dictate the best experience,” he remarked.

By Samual Ng

A WEAK ringgit and the haze have affected demand from Malaysia for the Singapore Grand Prix which starts today, travel experts report.

Mayflower Acme Tours’ deputy general manager – channel management, Abdul Rahman Mohamed, said: “This year, corporate demand is down 30 per cent. The weak ringgit and the haze are contributing factors. In the past, corporate oil and gas companies used to purchase packages from us as gifts to their CEOs and preferred clients, while the banking sector used to have competitions with F1 tickets and packages as prizes.”

Dream Holidays Planner Singapore’s business development director, Richard Ng, said most of his Malaysian clients put up in Johor Bahru due to cheaper hotel rates but travel to Singapore for the F1.

He added: “We’re not seeing as many Malaysian clients (compared with) last year because hotels (in Singapore) are now more expensive due to the weak ringgit.”

Raaj Navaratnaa, general manager of Johor Bahru-based New Asia Holiday Tours & Travel, agreed: “The savings is about 60 per cent when you compare a five-star international brand in Johor Bahru with its counterpart in Singapore.”

Navaratnaa is overseeing a group of 40 Thais staying in Johor Bahru for the Singapore Grand Prix, while a group of 30 Australians are extending their stay in Malaysia for an additional four nights. However, he has also received three last-minute cancellations for tours in Malaysia due to the haze.