After more than three decades in the hospitality industry, including 20 years managing hotels in Thailand, Samir Wildemann has now joined the Fusion hospitality group in Vietnam as vice president of operations.
Wildemann was most recently general manager and senior vice president for South-east Asia at Siam Kempinski Hotel from 2015 to 2018. Prior to that, he held the position of corporate executive officer at Okura Hotels & Resorts and with with Carlson Rezidor Bangkok earlier.
The German native spent the first 17 years of his career with Le Méridien, entering the industry in Le Méridien Paris’s front office. He assumed his first senior hotel management role with Le Méridien in Singapore more than 24 years ago.
Edsa Shangri-La, Manila has named Chi Angeles-Ofiana its resident manager.
Ofiana brings 26 years of solid experience in hotel operations, having began her career at the Makati Shangri-La, Manila in 1993, followed by stints at Traders Hotel Dubai and Shangri-La Hotel, Dubai.
Seokchon lake park and Lotte World Tower in spring
Indonesian outbound agents are seeing a budding interest in sakura tours outside Japan, a trend driven by cost as well as the growing number of destinations offering such products.
Putu Ayu Aristyadewi, group vice president marketing & communications at Smailing Tour, noted: “We have seen demand for sakura tours in South Korea rising over the last two years, but the upsurge in bookings has been happening since last year. We had three sakura packages to South Korea last season, and all were fully booked.”
Ssoul’s Seokchon Lake Park and Lotte World Tower in spring
She added most of her clients had earlier experienced sakura tours in Japan and now want to enjoy cherry blossoms in bloom in other countries.
“South Korea is always a good alternative for for them after Japan, thanks to K-pop and Korea Tourism Organization’s (savvy) branding of the country in Indonesia,” Putu said.
In 2018, TX Travel recorded a 30 per cent spike in demand for sakura tours beyond Japan, compared with the seven per cent increase seen in 2017.
Anton Thedy, CEO at TX Travel said: “(We have seen) this high growth rate since we started selling China’s cherry blossom last year. To maximise this new market (interest) we created a new sakura package to Kunming.”
He added: “China is similar to Japan (in sakura offerings). Kunming is rising in popularity, as sakura in the City of Flowers is the most attractive and spectacular (in the country). But still, the demand to South Korea is higher than to China.”
Anton added: “The needs and style of travel of Indonesians today are changing. In the past people wanted to enjoy the atmosphere and (experience) the rituals or traditions in Japan during the cherry blossom season. Nowadays, people just want to take photos or selfies with cherry blossoms. The sakura moment is not that important anymore, as long as they can post (pictures) on Instagram and Facebook; they do not mind to see sakura in other areas, at a cheaper price.”
Meanwhile, Tommy Kurniawan, managing director at Happy Tour, attributes the new trend to the higher price of tour packages to Japan as well as the difficulty in getting tickets and hotel bookings during the popular sakura season. If sakura packages in Japan are worth 20 million rupiah (US$1,400), Happy Tour sells South Korea tour packages at half the price.
Tommy said: “This makes travellers think twice about vacationing to Japan during sakura season. In the end, many travellers are diverting their vacations to South Korea.”
Travel executives agreed that while travellers look for new destinations, sakura is still their main reason to travel. “Even though we combine with other attractions, they still want to spend time enjoying sakura. (Some) have even asked us to create tours to places where they can see cherry blossoms,” Anton said.
Seeing the demand, even Vietnam and Thailand have started to promote cherry blossom tours, according to the Indonesian outbound players.
Hassan: more Filipinos visiting Israel on special interest tours beyond religious travel
Targeting a 33 per cent growth in inbound from the Philippines to 40,000 pax this year, Israel entices with novel attractions including LGBTQ, history and special interest tours.
Hassan Madah, Israel tourism ministry’s director for India and the Philippines, said that while pilgrimage and religious travel is the largest tourism segment from the only Christian country in Asia, “we have seen a rise in other segments including adventure, LGBTQ and leisure travel and we will see this trend continue to grow in 2019”.
Hassan: more Filipinos visiting Israel on special interest tours beyond religious travel
Indeed, becoming better known are Tel Aviv’s Gay Pride that takes place every second week of June and special interest tours commemorating Israel’s 70th anniversary last year; greater focus on the holocaust including the Yad Vashem museum; and references to the country’s technology, water, agriculture and related sectors, noted Emma Joy Ricamonte, Rajah Travel tours consultant.
The standard pilgrimage and religious tours, which attract high repeat volume, have evolved to include rituals such as wedding, renewal of wedding vows and confirmation, added Ricamonte.
Since Israel’s tourism ministry opened an office in Manila in 2016, arrivals have grown 38 per cent on average from 2016 through 2018 to reach 30,000 last year, compared with a five per cent drop from 2013 through 2015, Madah told TTG Asia.
The Manila office conducts trade events such as roadshows, workshops and seminars in key cities of Manila, Cebu and Davao, and has began participating in the Philippine Travel Agencies Association’s consumer travel show.
Madah added the office will continue to host fam trips for travel agents, media, influencers and celebrities.
He also confirmed that Israel has given Philippine Airlines (PAL) the go-ahead to fly direct from Manila to Tel Aviv. “They are now working on procedures and other formalities before announcing the new route,” he revealed.
Pirkko & Troy Tours general manager Butch Alcantara said that although Israel “is not yet the millennials’ cup of tea”, the market is growing and becoming more competitive as more travel agencies sell the destination and more airlines connect to Israel.
Alcantara added that Israel has become more accessible with several airlines flying from Manila including Emirates, Cathay Pacific, Turkish Airlines, Korean Air, and soon, PAL.
He noted that airlines including El Al fly from Bangkok to Tel Aviv, while others like Kuwait Air, Etihad, and recently Oman Air, fly from Manila to Egypt or Jordan, which could be combined with Israel.
C9 Hotelworks is forecasting a slowdown in the double-digit growth rates Phuket has witnessed in recent years, and India’s rising importance against China as a “mass travel machine”.
While airport arrivals grew 8% year-on-year, the gains posted were at their lowest level since 2015, according to consulting group C9 Hotelworks’ newly released Phuket Hotel Market Update.
India predicted to rise against China as Phuket’s mass feeder
The first half of 2018 saw arrivals soar by 17% versus the same period in 2017, but the second half of the year was marred by the Chinese boat accident, which decelerated momentum. By the end of the year, annualised hotel demand had declined by 4%.
Commenting on the rise and fall, C9’s managing director Bill Barnett commented: “The period of August through October eradicated the early gains in the year. At that juncture, despite negative industry sentiment of a continued drop, a soft landing ensued in the final two months of the year driven mostly on rates, and by year-end the new normal kicked in.”
Moving into 2019, Jesper Palmqvist of hospitality intelligence group STR noted: “When looking at the long-term historic trend, the pipeline of new supply but conversely also the increased competition in the region for Chinese demand, it is plausible that this recent pressure on Phuket performance will continue into the second half of the year, with an increased spread in performance among the hotels – basically a tightening of the market compared to the past couple of years.”
Further reflecting on the prevailing trade winds at the end of 2018, he said: “This trend continued throughout peak season into 2019 where January was similar to that of 2015, with overall demand shifting by -6% compared to the same month last year. Indications in daily data for the important month of February echoes the sentiment hitting numbers close to 2017, leading to peak season ending with a noticeable step back. In addition, it is likely that March may also see a year-over-year decline from last year, but as we approach low season again we do not expect negative growth to continue to the same extent.”
Among key trends expected to shape the island’s tourism road ahead, Barnett expects intensified competition for Chinese travellers from other destinations in the region.
And as hotels fight for market share, there will be increased rate volatility.
“Phuket over the past few years has successfully managed to cash in when the going was good, and drive higher rates during periods of high demand. With a China slowdown, appreciation of the Thai baht and growing competition, rates are likely to be under attack in the foreseeable future,” Barnett explained.
With surging land prices in Bangkok and other key Asian CBD areas, developers are adjusting their return outlook and continue to either transact properties in Phuket or undertake greenfield developments. A second factor is property development groups looking to mitigate risk in a challenged real estate sector and look at recurring cash flow investment models.
Closing out the outlook on Phuket, another of key takeaway from C9 Hotelworks report is that India is seeing a rapid escalation of market prominence. In 2018 Indian inbound travellers recorded a 56% year-on-year increase as direct flights to the island were opened from Mumbai, New Delhi and Bengaluru. With more airlift coming in 2019, eyes are now turned to the subcontinent as a supplement for the mainland China mass travel machine.
Hyatt has announced the opening of two new hotels in Vietnam in 2022 – the Park Hyatt Phu Quoc and the country’s first Hyatt Place hotel in Ho Chi Minh City.
Hyatt Place Saigon Phu Nhuan, which marks the debut of Hyatt’s select service brand in the country, will feature 200 guestrooms, a cafe, grab-and-go food market, bar, lobby lounge, outdoor pool, fitness centre as well as two meeting rooms totalling more than 255m2.
Rendering of public area at Park Hyatt Phu Quoc
The hotel will be located within two kilometres from the Tan Son Nhat International Airport and less than five kilometres from the city’s CBD.
In the same year, the country will welcome the Park Hyatt Phu Quoc, comprising 110 hotel keys and 65 residence units. All guestrooms, suites and villas will have sea views.
Resort facilities will include two dining outlets, a bar, a pool side barbecue, two swimming pools, a lakeside spa, a gym house with a lap pool, a Camp Hyatt kids’ village, more 400m2 of event space and an organic farm.
Located on the south-western tip of Phu Quoc island, Park Hyatt Phu Quoc will stretch across about 65ha of land bordered by a 1.5km-long white sand beach on one side and hills on the other.
The development will be a 30-minute drive from Phu Quoc International Airport, with direct access via the main north-south highway, and 40 minutes from Duong Dong, the island’s main town.
Pimpawee: missed opportunities for hotels in Thailand's secondary cities
Expedia Group has launched two new features on its partner-facing portal to ease the digital transition for new hotel partners in Thailand who may be unfamiliar with online distribution.
As part of Expedia Group’s commitment following the recent signing of an MoU with Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) and the Thai government’s push for the country’s digital transformation through its “Thailand 4.0” initiative, the company will also be conducting a series of educational workshops to accelerate digital skills transfer to the hospitality industry in secondary cities.
Pimpawee: missed opportunities for hotels in Thailand’s secondary cities
According to a recent study, more than half of travellers use OTAs in their trip planning and OTAs convert the most travellers when compared with other booking sources.
Pimpawee Nopakitgumjorn, director of market management at Expedia Group, added that business opportunities are missed because the majority of accommodation in Thailand’s secondary cities are still offline.
“Hoteliers who are still operating offline will ultimately lose the opportunity to capitalise on Thailand’s growing inbound tourism”, said Pim.
To bridge the digital skill set gap and ease hotel owners’ concerns over the complexity of using digital tools, Expedia Group is introducing two new features on Partner Central, the company’s partner-facing portal.
Co-Browse is a trouble-shooting tool designed to solve hotel partners’ pain points when they have navigation problems on Expedia Group’s Partner Central platform. It provides hotel partner the capability to share their Partner Central webpage via a connection with Expedia Group consultant in real-time. Once a connection is established, the consultant can view, point to, and highlight areas of the screen to better assist hotel partners in navigating and performing operational tasks on Partner Central.
The other feature is the Adaptive Landing Page, designed to provide customised content and recommendations on the Partner Central homepage based on hotels’ current needs and familiarity with the different tools within Partner Central.
Expedia says the Adaptive Landing Page provides a simplified and more personalised experience for newly onboarded hotel partners to help them understand “the most essential tools and time-sensitive tasks” on Partner Central quickly, enabling them to optimise content, maximise visibility and accelerate booking potential on Expedia Group’s marketplace.
In addition to these online enhancements, Expedia Group will also be collaborating with TAT to organise a series of educational workshops to provide consultancy and digital expertise to hoteliers in secondary cities. These workshops will be conducted by experts from Expedia Group Lodging Partner Services.
Dream Cruises is rolling out a one-day cruise linking Guangzhou and Hong Kong onboard the World Dream.
The One Day Greater Bay Cruise will depart every Friday from Guangzhou (Nansha) to Hong Kong and every Sunday from Hong Kong to Guangzhou (Nansha).
World Dream will sail on one-day itineraries between its two homeports
During the promotion period from March to June 2019, every passenger will also receive a voucher worth HK$100 (US$12.70) for on-board consumption.
“Our new itinerary is perfect for first-time guests who would like to experience a cruise without the usual time and financial commitment of a regular length voyage,” said Kent Zhu, president of Genting Cruise Lines.
Dream Cruises began to deploy its ships to Guangzhou (Nansha), Shenzhen (Shekou) and Hong Kong in 2016 to operate cruises originating from the Greater Bay Area. Since then, it has developed 18 itineraries reaching 14 destinations and welcomed more than 1.8 million passengers by the end of 2018.
Dream Cruises says it will continue to promote the development of the cruise industry in the Greater Bay Area, including with its new Global Class ship scheduled for delivered by early 2021.
Night vigil for the victims of the March 15 Christchurch Mosque shootings
Travel and tourism players are showing solidarity in light of the unfortunate attacks at two Christchurch mosques last Friday.
Air New Zealand has capped one-way domestic fares for flights directly to and from Christchurch at NZ$139 (US$94) to assist customers needing to travel there to support those affected by the shooting tragedy.
Night vigil for the victims of the March 15 Christchurch Mosque shootings
The airline has had compassionate fare assistance in place since Friday, offering free travel to immediate family of deceased as well as discounted compassionate fares to other affected friends and family with close to 100 bookings made so far, including a number of group bookings.
All Christchurch domestic bookings made with Air New Zealand after 15.00 on Friday, March 15, will be refunded back to the level of the reduced fares.
Beyond the measures Air New Zealand has introduced for customers affected by the shooting tragedy in Christchurch, it has also been working closely with the prime minister’s office to support the transport of key people to Christchurch including emergency services personnel.
The airline has transported more than 70 police officers from around New Zealand to Christchurch and various emergency support personnel, including eight specialist doctors from Auckland, Hamilton, New Plymouth, Wellington and Tauranga.
The airline has also been working with the wider Muslim community to facilitate travel to Christchurch to assist with arrangements.
Meanwhile, G Adventures’ founder Bruce Poon Tip wrote a letter to partners in light of the tragedy, emphasising the purpose of tourism in fostering harmony.
“How do we confront the undercurrent of hate that fuelled the unspeakable and shocking tragedy that seems to be spreading across the globe? How can we each use our lives to promote peace, friendship and greater light? I believe that tourism, and the choices we make about how we use our time and resources, create a world that is more connected, empathetic, equitable and understanding,” he wrote.
The earthquake struck near a tourist attraction in north Lombok, Tiu Kelep waterfall
A 5.8-magnitude earthquake that struck East Lombok yesterday has triggered a landslide in the island’s north, claiming the lives of at least two tourists and injuring several others.
The landslide took place around Tiu Kelep waterfall, a famous tourist attraction in Senaru Village, North Lombok.
Disaster struck near Tiu Kelep waterfall and left 40 tourists trapped at the attraction
Most of the 40 tourists trapped at the location were Malaysians and Indonesians, Mujaddid Muhas, spokesperson of North Lombok Regional Secretariat was quoted as saying by detik.com.
Reports said all of the 22 Malaysian tourists and 14 Indonesian travellers had been evacuated last night.
A series of aftershocks continued to rock Lombok several hours after the first quake that struck at around 14.00.
Rescue efforts are still ongoing.
Meanwhile, Indonesia Meteorology Climatology and Geophysics Agency reported that the earthquake was felt not only on Lombok island, but also neighbouring Sumbawa Island and Bali.
The latest disaster struck Lombok just as it is slowly getting back on its feet after the devastating earthquake and tsunami August last year.
The island, which was bereft of tourists after the disaster last year, last month started to see some 30 per cent growth in arrivals and was expecting to reach between 60 per cent and 80 per cent by summer this year.
