Harry Potter, Hello Kitty and Mickey Mouse have found homes in Asia as the region’s growing middle class fuels a boom in theme park attractions. Will the burgeoning range of options boast theme park attendance or lead to consumer fatigue?

SINGAPORE By Paige Lee Pei Qi

Often a highlight in travel itineraries for Singaporeans, theme parks appeal to all age groups and families in particular, as they bring out the inner child in everyone and offer the experience of escaping into another world.

Moreover, the fun atmosphere in theme parks is itself a source of entertainment. The plethora of ride options also cater accordingly to an individual’s appetite for adventure, offering something for everyone.

Travel consultants will often design theme parks within the programmes, especially in destinations with Disneyland or Universal Studios like Japan and Hong Kong. The upcoming theme parks in Asia are expected to help consultants provide more variety in their itineraries and further boost interest into the destination.

Singaporean travellers typically do not mind paying the admission fees for theme parks, which is just a small additional charge compared with the cost of the entire holiday.

Theme parks across the world are constantly reinventing themselves by rolling out new attractions and capitalising on current trends to draw new and repeat travellers.

An example is the Frozen Ever After ride, which will debut at Walt Disney World in Orlando in 2016. Leveraging the popular animation film Frozen, this new attraction will feature a snow-filled boat ride that will take visitors straight into a winter wonderland.

The following people were interviewed for this article: Marshall Ooi, director, Nam Ho Travel; Clifford Neo, managing director, Dynasty Travel; Anthony Chan, group managing director, Chan Brothers Travel Singapore; Shannon Hee, marketing and communications manager, ASA Holidays; and Sylvia Tan, vice-president of marketing and public relations, CTC Travel

MALAYSIA By S Puvaneswary

As competition intensify in Asia, the use of iconic figures and movies such as Harry Potter, Transformers and Shrek in theme parks appeal to Malaysian travellers as they are able to identify with these characters.

While popular tourist magnets, theme parks are not the sole attraction for holidaymakers when picking a destination. Trade players believe that a destination’s overall offerings is more important than the theme park and that a new park built in an out-of-the way location without supporting tourism infrastructure will not attract Malaysians.

Outbound travel consultants in Malaysia also urge theme park operators overseas to provide training and marketing support for them to better promote and divert traffic to theme parks. To capture the interest of the Muslim market, consultants also need to know if there are halal-certified food outlets within the theme park.

As well, the consultants also agreed that the weak ringgit is currently putting a damper on outbound travel demand. Some industry members expect travel demand and visits to theme parks to continue falling until the ringgit strengthens.

On the other hand, as theme parks are still a draw for families with children below 15, such packages continue to sell well during school holidays.

The following people were interviewed for the article: Hamzah Rahmat, director, Bestar Travel Centre; Cooper Huang, CEO, Malaysian Harmony Tours & Travel Adam Kamal, CEO, Rakyat Travel; Abdul Rahman Mohamed, deputy general manager – channel management, Mayflower Acme Tours; and John Chan, business consultant, Kris International Traveltours

INDONESIA By Mimi Hudoyo

Theme parks are a big draw for Indonesian holidaymakers, especially among families with young children and teenagers. During school holidays, up to 90 per cent of travellers are families and the majority of them take up holiday packages inclusive of theme parks.

Many parents prioritise the interests of their children to visit theme parks during holidays; however, a theme park session is just one of the many activities in the travel package, which also include culinary experiences, shopping and sightseeing.

While entry fees to theme parks may be high, Indonesians are willing to pay for the experience, attracted by the rides, well-known characters and technology which offer them different experiences.

Furthermore, new theme parks in a destination or new attractions in an existing park offer the opportunity to attract travellers, both first-timers and repeats.

An example would be Universal Studio Japan’s The Wizarding World of Harry Potter – many Indonesian families are flocking to the park even though they may have visited the destination before, therefore highlighting the need for existing theme parks to constantly come up with new attractions.

Theme parks also have the potential to attract new travellers to a destination. Legoland in Johor Bahru, for example, has become a popular destination not only for travellers from Jakarta, but also other Indonesian cities like Surabaya, Bandung and Medan.

Likewise, Indonesian travel companies have started including Pattaya in family packages since the opening of Cartoon Network Amazone Waterpark in the city.

The following people were interviewed for the article: Yongky Yanwintarko, managing director, Sun Tour Surabaya; Rery Sankyo, vice president leisure operations, Panorama Tours Indonesia; Dharmawan Rahardja, owner, Genta Tour Jakarta; Yento Chen, CEO, Destination Tour; and Yekti Suradji, president director, Kencana Tour

THE PHILIPPINES By Rosa Ocampo

As the Philippines still does not boast attractions the likes of Disneyland and Universal Studios, Filipino travellers still have to head overseas to get a dose of theme park fun.

Shopping and sightseeing are must-dos for Filipinos during their holidays overseas, with food, culture and theme parks also high up on the agenda, especially for families travelling with kids.

Filipino travellers are also willing to pay for entry to theme parks which they regard as “special”, even if the costs are high.

To remedy the issue of costly entrance fees for walk-in tourists, theme parks have partnered with travel agencies in the Philippines to offer special rates incorporated in the tour package price.

There are also special passes combining two or more theme parks, like Sanrio Hello Kitty Town and The Little Big Club in Johor Bahru or Universal Studios Japan and Tokyo’s Disneyland and DisneySea.

Visa rules also play a role in determining an attraction’s appeal. For instance, theme parks in Hong Kong and Singapore, which offer visa-free entry to Filipino visitors, are often deemed more accessible than those in Japan and South Korea.

For many Filipinos, however, the novelty of visiting a theme park is increasingly replaced by a been-there, done-that sentiment as the existing theme parks in Asia are perceived as offering similar rides and attractions.

A growing number of travellers are also opting for activities like adventure travel and destinations off the beaten track during their holidays.

The following people were interviewed for this article: Jaison Yang, general manager, Travel Warehouse; Simon Ang, managing director-operations, Celebrate Life Travel & Leisure; Kat Cruz, team leader, meetings and events, American Express Transnational; Arwin De Castro, outbound supervisor, Mango Tours; Arvill Masalta, assistant supervisor, Rajah Travel; and Kristine Mariano, sales and marketing supervisor, Amkor Travel and Tours

This article was first published in TTG Asia, August 7, 2015 issue, on page 16. To read more, please view our digital edition or click here to subscribe

Additional reporting from  S Puvaneswary, Mimi Hudoyo, and Rosa Ocampo

In today’s competitive market, S Puvaneswary explains why staying relevant and embracing change are the keys to profitability in the travel business world

Blockbuster, Kodak and Atari have a common theme. From greatness they fell into oblivion simply because they had failed to keep up with market trends.

On the other hand, a brand like Lego, which started during the Great Depression in the mid-1930s, has constantly reinvented itself in the face of change and stayed powerfully relevant, pointed out Michael McQueen, bestselling author of Winning the Battle for Relevance.

In the 1980s, faced with competition from digital video games, Lego built its own branded video games. A few years later, it developed the hugely popular multiplayer online game called Lego Universe which allowed children from around the world to play with each other in a virtual Lego world. Even more recently, the company created smartphone apps that allowed users to build Lego shapes on their mobile device.

Lego’s success story shows the importance of embracing change and staying relevant, an example that travel agencies can learn from to maintain profitability in the age of competition.

“There is no one big strategy, initiative or technology that gives successful retailers a competitive edge,” said Amanda Stevens, keynote speaker at the Travelport Live Asia-Pacific conference held in Seoul in June.

Stevens, a retail marketing expert and author of Retail Revival, added: “It was the little things done over time, harnessed by cumulative effect. In other words, they focused on the little things that mattered to customers.”

Concurred David Hassan, chief information officer of Sydney-based Helloword: “Positive interaction with customers and building rapport is more important than hard sell.”

He cited the example of how a travel consultant in his company sold a A$50,000 (US$38,553) honeymoon holiday and threw in travel insurance for free, a gesture that made the customer happy because it showed the consultant had gone the extra mile.

“Thus, the customer started marketing our company to her friends and you know how powerful word-of-mouth marketing can be,” said Hassan.

He added: “We have rolled out a Hello You programme that stresses not on hard selling, but building relationships with consumers and having conversations with them to build commonality.”

Swift solutions for business travellers
Busy and time-poor corporate travellers look for quick solutions and an agency that has recognised the importance of agility in doing business is Future.Travel, an OTA based in Vietnam.

David Watson, general manager of Future.Travel, said: “Corporate travellers demand speed and the SMEs want to make their own bookings.”

From August 1, Future.Travel will enable online login for its business clients where they can access agreed fares, hotel choices and car hires for their business trips. Clients’ travel policies and customer profiles will be loaded into the system and the travel planner or the corporate travellers can make a booking themselves on the portal.

“If something goes wrong, we are there to assist because we monitor the bookings. Every time a booking is made, we are on top of it. The client does not have to talk to us, but we are monitoring and ready to assist 24/7,” said Watson.

Future.Travel targets SMEs with 100 employees or less. Having gone live in February, it helps users save time as they can make comparisons of three different airline options by simply checking what they want, before this is presented on one page for easy review. Options can also be sent out via email.

Adding warmth to a cold front
Meanwhile, Zuji Singapore has built its brand loyalty and customer base by focusing on customer engagement and personalisation.

Its CEO, Chua Hui Wan, said: “OTAs are traditionally seen to be very cold as there is no face-to-face contact with the client. However, we strive to engage our customers who cannot physically see us, and personalise our offerings through our four weekly EDMs.”

The last three searches the customer made will appear in the EDM. If the customer has made flight bookings with Zuji Singapore, the OTA will then suggest hotels in that destination to the customer via the EDM.

The OTA has also built its brand image through CSR programmes. A programme currently running is the School Pocket Money Fund, where a donation of S$0.50 is made for every Zuji Singapore Facebook page Like during the ongoing campaign period until November 1, 2015. Meanwhile, S$2.50 is donated for every online booking made through MasterCard.

This article was first published in TTG Asia, August 7, 2015 issue, on page 4. To read more, please view our digital edition or click here to subscribe