With New Year just around the corner, travel agency bosses reflect on the changes they want to make in their businesses and personal lives
SINGAPORE
Anthony Chan
Group managing director & CEO
Chan Brothers Travel
Business resolution I want to channel all energy and resources to grow and reinvent the core business in the areas of product quality, product innovation, value pricing, marketing creativity and technology.
One aspect is elevating our service leadership and enhancing the experiential aspects of our business through our Customer-Centric Initiatives, which includes tapping on the robust CRM system launched in 2014, to better manage our relationships with each individual and providing more value to our customers through targeted marketing.
We also want to grow the luxury travel market through our private tour division that offers tailor-made itineraries, high-touch and exemplary service, and a never-say-never belief to ensure customers’ dream holidays come true.
Personal resolution Plan for more personal holidays and vacations with my loved ones. For someone that helms a travel business, that should be at the top of the things I love to do, and should do more often. I would also want to take time out, recharge, refresh and invest myself with new and positive thoughts. As a wise saying goes, “If you won’t invest in yourself, who else would?” It is important for me to achieve a balanced yin and yang with both my business and personal pursuits.
By Paige Lee Pei Qi
VIETNAM
Luong Thang
Founder and CEO
Handspan Travel Indochina
Business resolution The Internet has changed business so dramatically that the ways clients come to us are also different, so next year I’d give a bigger marketing focus on the Internet and technology. As clients tend to contact the service providers directly, we’re investing in an 18-cabin boat in Halong Bay, plus an eco-resort in northern Vietnam, both of which will debut in 2016. We want to be a service provider to increase our chances of getting guests to come to us directly, as well as differentiating ourselves from competitors.
Personal resolution I’d like to travel more to get a better idea of the market. We are trying to expand our outbound market and send Vietnamese tourists on cruise ships, hence I want to jump onto a cruise ship to see how the experience is like. I also want to go to South American countries like Brazil and experience the destination first before introducing them to Vietnamese. For my own pleasure, I like to travel backpacker style, with a map on a motorcycle; this is also the travelling style I would adopt in South America.
By Xinyi Liang-Pholsena
MALAYSIA
Samuel Chung
Managing director
Straits Central Travel & Tour Agencies
Business resolution To increase the international profile of Borneo as a great tourism destination, I want to create a photography contest for Borneo Island, involving the two Malaysian states of Sabah and Sarawak and Indonesia’s Kalimantan. Pictures tell a thousand words and this contest will be a great way to create better awareness of Borneo. I haven’t worked out the mechanisms yet, but I hope to run this contest from July to October as this is the European season for Sarawak.
Personal resolution I want to start a training club for dogs in order to educate dog owners on how to handle their dogs better and not to neglect their pets. I was the former president of the Sarawak Kennel Association and I simply love dogs.
By S Puvaneswary
INDONESIA
Ratna Ning
President director
Pacto
Business resolution Having registered a very significant growth both in revenue and net profit in 2014, in 2015 our approach will remain consistent with our vision of developing unique products delivered with exceptional quality of service at affordable rates, both for our inbound and outbound department.
Personal resolution I will continue my contribution to causes related to the development of education in Indonesia since I believe that education is key to cope with challenges that our nation is facing now and in the future. In line with my passion for running marathons, I have been an active member of Berlari untuk Berbagi or Running for Sharing, a community of runners who share the love of long-distance running and the passion for charity. While running in various marathons in Indonesia and overseas, we have raised significant amount of money as well as awareness to benefit schools and children in less fortunate communities.
By Mimi Hudoyo
THAILAND
Stephen McEvoy
Managing director
Asia World Enterprise
Business resolution I plan to focus on expanding our in-house technology to offer more online services via our XML links with our clients. I want to explore more partnership opportunities around Asia; the Philippines and Japan have already joined our network and there are other interesting possibilities. We will continue to expand our product range to include more niche market activities and be more selective on the tradeshows we attend and focus more on sales visits. We will also develop our land in Chiang Mai to create our own restaurant and cooking school.
Personal resolution I want to reduce my personal overseas travel, although I make this same resolution every year. And hopefully, I will get the chance to play golf more often – again, I have wished for this in the past. Plus, I want to spend more time with my sons, before the eldest leaves for university in the UK next year.
By Greg Lowe
INDIA
Guldeep Singh Sahni
Managing director
Weldon Tours & Travels
Business resolution We will focus on offering experiential tours like self drive, adventure sports and deep sea diving in 2015. Also, our focus will be on selling offbeat destinations for Indians like Brazil. Gone are the days when Indian travellers were just confined to sightseeing and shopping; the new-age Indian traveller is now looking for experiential holidays.
Personal resolution I will exercise daily and adopt a balanced diet to keep my weight under control. There are many social functions I attend personally as well as in my capacity as the president of Outbound Tour Operators Association of India, which at times takes a toll on my health as one tends to over-indulge. I will ensure that I eat at home before I head to any social function.
By Rohit Kaul
HONG KONG
Jason Wong
General Manager
Hong Thai Travel Service
Business resolution Cruise travel will still be the focus in 2015. In summer, Quantum of the Seas will come to Hong Kong and Shanghai to start the first cruise sailing in Asia, and Voyager of the Seas will be based in Hong Kong from June to October. As cruise demand has burgeoned in the past two years, Hong Thai will keep investing more resources in the cruise market, such as designing thematic cruise products, recruiting more cruise specialists and offering on-the-ship staff training for cruise inspections.
As the only Hong Kong agency licensed to operate outbound group tours for China residents under the CEPA arrangement – our flagship store in Shenzhen has recorded a steady growth since its opening in September 2014 – and China’s new rich becoming increasingly aware of in-depth travel, Hong Thai will explore more interesting and luxury travel destinations such as South America, Middle America, the US, Canada and the polar areas for the China markets.
Personal resolution I wish to spend more time exploring new destinations for Hong Kong travellers. My next planned destinations might be Bolivia, Cuba, Mexico and Bhutan, as I believe the Hong Kong market needs something new and special.
Last year had been a tough year for the travel trade in Hong Kong. As a member of many trade associations, I wish to work on more collaborations to facilitate trade development.
By Prudence Lui
JAPAN
Haruhiko Sakano
Manager
Inbound business, JTB
Business resolution Keywords for 2015 will be expansion of our global network, branding, and simply, the penetration of source markets. We are trying to be a global DMC and our various acquisitions are helping us to expand in a quicker way. We need to streamline internally the standards of service and hospitality that we offer across our network.
As for branding, we presently run all the DMCs owned under the JTB group and in future we will need to consolidate them to help B2B travel consultants understand who we are. Right now, the Global Network by JTB Group sounds more like an alliance than one company. However, we’re not changing the local DMCs’ name.
Personal resolution I’m aiming to balance work and my private life better, and my aim is just to be happy. I go to Hawaii every year with my wife and kids for the sun, beach and food, and the coming year will be no different. I play soccer twice a month and will keep that up.
By Hannah Koh
THE PHILIPPINES
Bernie M Arnaiz
Assistant managing director
Rajah Travel Corp
Business resolution Next year ushers in our resolve, as a TMC, to consistently deliver quality services and seamless travel experience. This means adherence to established travel policies and processes to ensure that our clients are handled with utmost care. We start from the point of our client’s travel queries by ensuring timely responses, followed by reservation, ticketing and back-end processing, ending with the client’s feedback.
As 2015 is Visit Philippines Year, we will embark on an extensive campaign to bring in international markets to visit the country. Our goal is to introduce unexplored and unique destinations in the country through packages that highlight diverse cultures and promote ecotourism.
Personal resolution As a travel professional, I have made it my personal mission to continue with travel consultants’ education, steering them towards service excellence and work commitment. The ability to inculcate these precepts can be found through the delivery of consistent and reliable services. The management must primarily set an example to follow these principles, with actions worthy of emulation.
By Rosa Ocampo
This article was first published in TTG Asia, December 12, 2014 issue, on page 10. To read more, please view our digital edition or click here to subscribe.
