AIRLINES around the world are investing in technology to offer travellers services that are personalised, stress-free and updated on a timely basis for a better travel experience, according to a SITA report.

The 2015 Air Transport Industry Insights: The Airline IT Trends Survey collected responses from chief information officers at airlines across the world.

On average, an airline uses two-thirds of annual IT spend in 2014 for service continuity, while the remaining 32 per cent goes towards innovation and enhancing existing investments.

Key goals in investing in new IT for passenger experience include: more personalisation, less stressful travel, and to keep travellers informed of what they need to know.

Firstly, airlines want to leverage mobile adoption trends throughout the world, with 75 per cent of airlines planning major smartphone programmes to deliver passenger services in the next three years that will likely include highly personalised smartphone bookings and baggage-tracking functions.

Twenty-two per cent of airlines intend to allow passengers to download content for flight such as books and films, from media tablets to mobile devices, by 2018.

On smoothing air travel for passengers, the SITA survey predicted that while desk check-ins are likely to remain the de facto check-in channel through to 2018, mobile check-ins are likely to become the second-place option at 24 per cent over laptop/desktop check-ins at 20 per cent.

Automatic check-ins could double over the next three years, and some 68 per cent of airlines are expected to offer this on certain routes. The number of airlines offering bag drop facilities should rise from 17 per cent presently to 74 per cent by 2018.

Airlines are also working to keep passengers up-to-date on travel information, as the SITA survey found that 70 per cent of airlines plan to share with passengers the location of their baggage compared to 10 per cent today.

Carriers will also be able to use passenger location to ensure on-time boarding with notifications based on locations.

The report also stated that airlines are looking into increasing mobile device usage among cabin crew, invest in data analysis, and preparing for technologies such as the Internet of Things, wearables, and beacon technology, which SITA is trialling with Hong Kong International Airport.

KOREAN Air is reassuring passengers that they are safe from contracting MERS while on a flight by debunking misconceptions about cabin air circulation.

“Unlike tuberculosis, the possibility of airborne transmission with MERS is very small. So far, there have been no virus transmission cases that happened within the air cabin,” the South Korean flag carrier said in a press release.

“However, some passengers have misunderstandings about the cabin’s enclosed space, and believe it will increase the likelihood of being infected with MERS.”

According to industry experts as quoted by Korean Air, it is impossible for the virus to spread through the air in the aircraft; any particle that enters the plane’s air circulation system is completely filtered and sterilised.

Air outside the aircraft is compressed by the engines and heated to 200°C to be completely sterilised. The compressed air then passes through an ozone purifier and is cooled down. It is then mixed and discharged into the cabin together with air filtered by a high efficiency particulate air filter.

During the flight, air in the plane is completely refreshed every two to three minutes. As cabin air moves vertically instead of horizontally, it flows from the passenger’s head to toe, preventing the spread of the virus.

To safeguard passengers from MERS, every flight that flies from the Middle East to South Korea is sterilised daily. Planes are now disinfected weekly instead of monthly, while the number of sterilised planes has risen from five to 20 per day.

Korean Air uses disinfectant MD-125, which can effectively kill the coronavirus that causes MERS for a week.

As of press time, there are 179 confirmed cases of MERS in South Korea, where the virus has claimed 27 lives. About 3,100 people are still under quarantine at state facilities or at home.

The outbreak – the largest outside Saudi Arabia – has sparked alarm across Asia and a flurry of flight cancellations to the country.

JUPITERS Hotel and Casino on Queensland’s Gold Coast will be home to a brand new six-star tower as part of its A$345 million (US$266 million) transformation currently underway.

With construction set to commence in August, the 17-storey tower will be built at the front of the existing hotel and casino, and feature luxury suite-style accommodation with private balconies, infinity pools and restaurants and bars targeted at high-end gamers.

The new tower will be constructed alongside what is being touted as one of Australia’s most extensive hotel room refurbishments in the original hotel. All 592 guestrooms will undergo renovation, with the first of them set to open by end-October.

Owner of Jupiters, Echo Entertainment Group’s managing director Queensland, Geoff Hogg, said: “The extensive renovation will see all rooms completely revitalised to offer both business and leisure travellers a world-class experience.”

This next phase in Jupiters’ revamp follows the completion of a new pool, two new restaurants and painting of the building.

The entire project will be completed in time for the Commonwealth Games to be held on the Gold Coast from April 4 to 15, 2018.

THE national association for travel consultants in Malaysia has ordered all members to provide full refunds to climbers who have had to scrap plans to ascend Mount Kinabalu after the June 5 earthquake.

MATTA members who do not provide refunds may be “queried” by the Ministry of Tourism and Culture’s licensing division, said a statement by the association, whose vice president inbound, Tan Kok Liang, said: “This is not the time to impose cancellation policies.”

Service provider Sutera Sanctuary Lodges is in the midst of reimbursing customers who have cancelled their climbing packages between June 5 and August 31 this year.

General manager Ravi Karthiravelu said in the same statement: “Rest assured full refund will be made and give us some time to process.”

Authorities had declared a three-week suspension in all climbing activities as it sought to repair damage to key trails on the mountain.

Sabah Park director Jamili Nais meanwhile said: “Rehabilitation and repair works will commenced soon but with a reduced carrying capacity for a start.”

“However, business is as normal for other tour packages to Kinabalu National Park and Poring Hot Springs.”

The earthquake struck Ranau in Sabah on June 5, loosening rocks and boulders on the slopes of Mount Kinabalu in a tragedy that claimed 18 lives, including schoolchildren on a field trip.

PARK Hotel Group has launched the Park Hotel Alexandra, located on the fringe of Singapore’s CBD and close to business and leisure areas alike.

Singapore’s famous shopping district Orchard Road and island retreat Sentosa are 10 minutes away, while Singapore Changi Airport is only a half-hour’s drive.

The 443-key hotel offers six different room types – Superior Room, Deluxe Room, Premier Room, Crystal Club Room, Executive Suite and Park Suite.

Guests will also find within hotel premises the Crystal Club Lounge, a 25m infinity pool on the seventh floor, signature restaurant The Carvery which specialises in Western recipes and techniques, and The Coffee Belt in the lobby.

Crystal Club Lounge, located at the top level of the hotel, commands stunning views of the city skyline and gives suite and club guests access to exclusive privileges such as personalised check-in and check-out services, buffet breakfast, all-day refreshments and complimentary business facilities.

The hotel is also fitted with four well-lit function rooms that can be combined to accommodate up to 150 pax, while cocktail receptions and private events can be held at the elevated pool deck.

To mark its soft launch, the hotel is offering a 30 per cent discount off Deluxe rooms and 10 per cent off F&B purchases for guests that book a minimum stay of two nights. The promotion is valid until August 31, 2015 via the hotel’s official website.

THAILAND’S travel trade is stepping up safety measures after the country confirmed its first case of MERS last week.

Pornthip Hirunkate, vice president marketing at Tourism Council of Thailand, said it is important for people not to panic.

“The Ministry of Tourism and Sports as well as the Ministry of Public Health have been involved from the outset and have been in contact with our members, especially hotels where the chance of spread is greatest, and passed on valuable information about how to best deal with the situation.”

Hotels, airports and airlines have enhanced their health and safety procedures, but remain confident that the situation will not worsen as Thailand has only had a solitary case of MERS.

“Our team members have been briefed on MERS and countries where cases have been detected so they may be vigilant of any symptoms in guests or staff,” said Patrick Basset, COO for AccorHotels Thailand, Vietnam, South Korea, Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar and the Philippines.

He said AccorHotels staff have been told to report any potential cases to superiors for following up on and to stay at home if they themselves feel unwell.

Thailand’s international airports remain on high alert regarding the disease, while airlines such as Thai Airways and Nok Air are continuing special measures which have been in play since 2003’s SARS outbreak, including passenger screening, in-flight monitoring, sterilisation of aircraft and preventive measures regarding staff sanitation.

Meanwhile, travel into Thailand remains relatively unaffected as compared to the badly hit South Korea.

Diethelm Travel Group’s regional marketing and communications manager, Siprang Srinarintranon, said the company has not received any queries from clients regarding MERS in Thailand and is hopeful there would be no wider outbreak in the country.

HOMEGROWN hotel chain, Cinnamon Hotels & Resorts, is rebranding and setting its sights in markets beyond Sri Lanka.

Parent company John Keells Holdings (JKH) is bringing two brands, Cinnamon and sister brand Chaya, under the Cinnamon umbrella in the next six months, and will place each property in one of four categories.

They are the uber luxury boutique collection Cinnamon White, five-star collection Cinnamon Luxury, four-star collection Cinnamon Signature and lean luxury collection Cinnamon Red.

Ajit Gunewardene, deputy chairman of JKH, told TTG Asia e-Daily: “We are ready to strengthen the brand and take it overseas.”

The group has spent over US$1 million to build the brand in Sri Lanka and plans to double its existing 2,200 keys in five years’ time. He said JKH has been working on a new brand strategy for the past three to five years and invested in integrated software and management systems as well as a CRM system, which makes overseas expansion easier.

“Indian tourism is growing while the Chinese are travelling in large numbers. There is a lot of shorthaul tourism in the region. We believe we can push our brand out on that surge,” Gunewardene added.

The group’s current projects include the landmark Cinnamon Life integrated development in Colombo to be ready by 2018. It will include an 800-room five-star hotel, two apartment towers and one office tower, a mall and a conference centre that can accommodate 5,000 delegates.

Another is a five-star, 120-room property in the central hill station of Nuwara Eliya for which construction will start later this year.

WHILE Go Vacation has every reason to smile at Der Touristik’s acquisition of Kuoni’s European businesses, other Asians DMCs ponder if they will end up with the scraps of Der’s much-enlarged pie – if at all.

Kuoni-owned Asian Trails, for instance, stands to lose Kuoni accounts to Go Vacation, which is owned by Der’s parent, Rewe. Tour East Singapore also handles Kuoni accounts in some parts of Asia, especially Singapore. Although Go Vacation does not have offices other than in Thailand and Indonesia, an expanded pie might see its expansion elsewhere.

These are early days yet, and DMCs TTG Asia e-Daily contacted prefer to look on the bright side.

Said Asian Trails CEO, Laurent Kuenzle: “Since Rewe only has offices in two countries in South-east Asia, I believe there will be ample opportunities for us to look at least after parts of the Kuoni business.

“We are geared to continue to look after the Kuoni specialists everywhere in South-east Asia since, with our 33 offices in eight countries, we cover the entire region as well as China without intermediaries. This change will also create new opportunities and we will be ready for them.”

Judy Lum, group vice president sales & marketing of Tour East Singapore, hopes it will be business as usual as the DMC has served Kuoni well in Singapore for over 30 years. She added it would be an opportunity for Tour East if Der decides to review the benefits of a consolidated groundhandling tender in Asia.

The entire Kuoni European business Der is purchasing is worth two billion euros in revenue from 1.5 million customers, according to 2014 figures.

When the transaction is complete, Der, the second-largest German tour operator after Tui, will be a leading pan-European travel company with source markets in Germany, Switzerland, Austria, the UK, Scandinavia, the Czech Republic, Poland, Slovakia and Hungary.

This totals a whopping 7.7 million customers and boosts revenue from 4.9 billion euros to seven billion euros, also according to 2014 data.

Chris Bailey, senior vice president – sales & marketing, Centara Hotels & Resorts, said: “I think it’s a great move – it makes a key partner and very established operator in Germany a much wider pan-European partner. There are economies in doing business for both sides.”

Following the acquisition, Der will add Kuoni, Apollo (Scandinavia) and a large number of specialists to its worldwide brands, the most important ones for Asia of which include Dertour, Meier’s Weltreisen, Jahn Reisen, ITS and ADAC Reisen.

For some, the winners and losers debate still extend to the sale itself, with several sources telling TTG Asia e-Daily the real winner is Der.

“I believe there is money to be made in retail and wholesale tourism also out of Europe,” a source who declined to be named said adamantly.

Meanwhile, Hotelplan Switzerland, which was keen to grab Kuoni Switzerland, said it regrets Kuoni being sold to a foreign company. But CEO Thomas Stirnimann added “we were only interested to take over Kuoni Switzerland and obviously the package deal was more appealing”.

Stirnimann does not expect a bigger rivalry between Hotelplan and a Kuoni under Der, saying all the German tour operators are already present in the market as it is “and, I might add, that we are all competitive and will be”.