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THE appeal of South-east Asia continues to hold strong in the hearts of longhaul travellers, said buyers at this year’s PATA Travel Mart, who added that the region is now more enticing due to new products and cheaper rates resulting from weaker Asian currencies.
For longhaul travellers from countries whose economies have yet to recover from the global financial crisis, Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand are top favourites.
Jorge Barbosa Elias, director of United Tours Brazil, told TTG Asia e-Daily that the Brazilian real has devalued drastically against the US dollar in the past year, forcing Brazilians to look for cheaper alternatives to the US for their holidays.
The real had fallen an astounding 62.7 per cent against the greenback from a year ago and 14 per cent over the past six months.
Elias said: “Hotel rates in Bangkok and Bali are very good. They are at least 40 per cent cheaper than rates of similar class hotels in the US. In addition, Qatar Airways and Emirates are also offering attractive rates.
“Next year we have three incentive groups combining Bangkok and Bali. Each group will have around 20 people.”
He added that Thailand, Indonesia and Malaysia hold particular appeal to his clients as they are “very new destinations”.
He urged the NTOs of these destinations to do more marketing in Brazil, especially in promoting their value-for-money packages.
Ben Gosman, managing director of Amsterdam-based FreeStyle Incentives, has observed a 10 per cent year-on-year increase in leisure traffic to Indonesia and Thailand, while the growth in corporate incentives to the two destinations is just under 10 per cent.
Gosman said both Thailand and Indonesia are seen as value-for-money destinations and the devaluation of the local currencies have helped drive demand.
“The euro had devalued earlier so Thailand and Indonesia were very expensive to us, but not anymore. Demand is good and the destinations are selling by themselves because the Dutch are well informed about what Thailand and Indonesia have to offer,” he added.
Ekaterina Milosh, deputy director of Tour Prestige Club, Russia also finds Asia becoming more attractive for rich Russians.
She said: “The weak rouble has affected the middle-income market. The upmarket travellers, however, are still travelling. For them, Asia is becoming more interesting because airfares to that region are sometimes cheaper than Europe.”
Milosh identified Thailand, Vietnam and Bali as being most popular among her travellers. These destinations have luxury hotels and coaches, private jet services, many attractions and excellent airlinks from Russia, she explained.
“Russians like to fly to destinations that require only two transits at most,” she added. As such, Bali is the best selling destination in Indonesia, while little attention is paid to other less accessible destinations in the country.
However, not all longhaul travellers are drawn to the South-east Asia because of the favourable currency exchange.
Although the Mexican peso had fallen in the past year, Reuven Sagi, president of RAS International Tours in Mexico, said demand for Bali is still good as “honeymooners are less price-sensitive because it is a special occasion (for them).”
Jeff Roberts, founder of Global Pursuits Services in the US, said young Americans who are travelling to Asia for the first time are keeping demand strong for Thailand.
Read more in TTG-PATA Travel Mart 2015 Show Daily.
Additional reporting by Mimi Hudoyo
