China bookings for longhaul outpace APAC in 1Q2019
Quang Ninh tourism to grow beyond Halong Bay
The Vietnamese province of Quang Ninh – home to UNESCO-listed Halong Bay – is set to shine brighter as a tourist destination as it has been on the receiving end of huge investments recently.
In 4Q2018, air, sea and road connectivity to the north-eastern city was vastly improved, thanks to the opening of the Hanoi-Hai Phong expressway, as well as the launch of the Hon Gai international port and Van Don International Airport.
Jeff Redl, managing director of Diethelm Vietnam, said: “This opens up more opportunities for connections between Ho Chi Minh City and Halong and Van Don, where big projects are being proposed for development.”
Armand Cheveux, director of marketing at Bhaya Group, expects the new products to stimulate further investment into the area and encourage visitors to spend more time exploring Ha Long’s surroundings.
Cheveux said: “Yen Tu Mountain is an example of successful development as some hotels have been opened there to cater to (cruise travellers in Halong Bay). We believe more (of such developments) are bound to come in the future.”
Oleg Shafranov, Khiri Vietnam’s general manager, said while these developments create new tourism opportunities, care needs to be taken to ensure that environmental impact is minimised.
“This rapid development also means a heavier load on the bay. However, with sound regulating measures, this can be averted,” he said.
Digital booking platform being developed for FATA members
Members of the Federation of ASEAN Travel Associations (FATA) will soon gain access to a digital platform that comes complete with a booking function, overall helping them sell tours, products and attractions from South-east Asia to the rest of the world.
FATA’s executive director Hamzah Rahmat said the idea for a B2B2C platform, agreed upon by the FATA board, will be presented to delegates at the upcoming FATA Convention 2019 this April in Putrajaya, Malaysia. About 200 delegates are expected to attend the conference, which will be in its second year.
Mingkwan Netmowlee, president of FATA, said that the platform – called FATA Connect – will have its soft launch at the World Travel Market later this year, before officially launching at ATF 2020 in Brunei.
She shared: “TripAdvisor contacted us at ITB Asia last year and they have indicated their interest in selling products on the portal. We have yet to agree.”
FATA will manage FATA Connect, with details on which member association will take charge of the platform, as well as budget allocated for its development, to be revealed later.
Expedia’s De Schepper joins Amadeus as online travel EVP and APAC MD
Mieke De Schepper has been appointed executive vice president for online travel and managing director for Asia-Pacific at Amadeus.
De Schepper joins Amadeus from Egencia, Expedia Group’s TMC arm, where she held the role of senior vice president and chief commercial officer, bringing more than 17 years of experience in managing B2C and B2B businesses.
Previously, De Schepper was vice president of Expedia Group’s lodging partner solutions in Asia-Pacific, responsible for building and managing hotel relationships in the region.
In her new role, De Schepper will be responsible for helping OTAs, travel media companies and travel startups grow their businesses and position Amadeus as the partner of choice in online travel.
As part of Amadeus’ travel channels business, De Schepper will report to Decius Valmorbida. De Schepper will also assume the regional leadership role and will continue to be based in Singapore.
EU Holidays relocates to enhanced office in Suntec
Singapore travel agency EU Holidays is relocating its service centre from Chinatown Point to Suntec City Convention & Exhibition Centre this month, with enhancements such as a private lounge area for customers accompanying the move.
With the new service centre, named EU Travel Expo, the agency says customers can expect “a more personal service and relaxed ambience”. They will be able to both enquire about tour packages through the agency’s service crew or browse tour package catalogues on their own in the “roadshow” area.
There is a private lounge within the new agency space where customers are able to enjoy coffee and peruse destination guides and reading materials in the travel library corner.
There is also a conference room that can seat up to 100 people and a 35-seater room for pre-tour briefings.
In conjunction with the opening, EU Holidays will be running promotions on January 19 and 20, and a grand lucky draw will be held on January 20, with prizes worth up to S$12,000 (US$8,860) to be won.
Luxury hotel expert named GM of Six Senses Bhutan
Six Senses Hotels Resorts Spas has appointed Sally Baughen as general manager of Six Senses Bhutan, a property comprising five individual lodges.
Based in Thimphu, the hospitality veteran has over 25 years of experience. In her most recent role, Baughen led development and pre-opening operations for 700,000 Heures in Cambodia. Prior to that, she was a consultant with the Split Apple Retreat in Tasman, New Zealand.
The Kiwi first began her professional career as the F&B of Bali’s Amankila, then moving to roles at Nihiwatu and Como Shambhala Begawan Giri, also in Bali. Returning to Aman Resorts, she relocated to Myanmar as general manager of The Strand in Yangon, a position that she held for five years before leading Amanbagh’s opening in India.
Over the course of her tenure with Aman, she has also served as general manager at Amankila and Amandari, and played a leadership role on the pre-opening team at Amanfayun in Hangzhou. She then moved to Cambodia to helm Amansara in Cambodia from 2011 to 2016.
Trafalgar to reward star agents with trip to South Africa
In the first year of opening up its annual agent incentive trip, Acclaim, to Asian partners, Trafalgar has unveiled South Africa as the destination that top-performing agents will be visiting in 2019.
This year, agents from all of Trafalgar’s sales regions will stand the chance to be part of the trip to South Africa, the brand’s most recently added destination. For Asia, one agent each from Singapore, Malaysia and the Philippines will qualify.
Trafalgar is offering a 10 per cent early payment discount expiring on February 28.
Starting in Cape Town, winners will experience highlights from the top-selling Essence of South Africa trip, including ascending Table Mountain and exploring Cape Peninsula, from trendy Camps Bay to Cape Point to the penguins of Boulder’s Beach and having a Be My Guest lunch with a family in their 18th Century Cape Dutch home in Cape Winelands.
Trafalgar is also touting a night to remember in its inaugural Gala en Rouge, held in a top secret venue.
“We are ‘Agents First’ and we recognise the importance of providing our partners with an opportunity to experience first-hand the experiences and moments that Trafalgar offers their customers. With our seven brand-new African itineraries now launched and off to an extraordinary start, it was the perfect choice to take Acclaim to South Africa in 2019,” said Gavin Tollman, CEO of Trafalgar.
With each Trafalgar booking, agents will be one step closer to securing their spot Acclaim 2019. Agents in the running will receive a monthly maildrop to advise whether they’re in the running or can visit the Trafalgar Tribe Facebook page to keep up to date on how to get in on the action.
Interest in Philippines high despite travel advisories
The succession of travel advisories recently slapped against the Philippines has neither had a significant impact on inbound business nor triggered many trip cancellations, unlike in the past, according to some industry players.
Travel advisories were issued by the US with regard to Manila airport security not up to par with international standards, and by the UK, Canada and Australia against Mindanao over the terrorist bombing in Cotabato, and other parts of the country due to threats.
Despite these, Boris Travel and Tours general manager Irene Maliwanag said inbound business is increasing, including in Europe, traditionally considered a market sensitive to travel warnings.
She received a group of 17 Italian tourists recently, in addition to a booking made from Germany just a day after announcing her new dive packages to Coron and El Nido, Maliwanag noted.
“There are no sensitive markets anymore. Europe is prone to these kind of incidents,” opined Rajah Tours president Jojo Clemente. “Anywhere in the world, terrorist attacks can happen anytime”.
“The UK issued the travel advisory (against Mindanao) then the next day there were three stabbings in Manchester attributed to terrorist attacks. Can we issue a travel advisory against Manchester now?” Clemente asked.
He further challenged with the example of the US, whose partial government shutdown is causing Transportation Security Agency officers to resign, thereby posing a threat to passenger safety.
The Philippines is not known to issue travel advisories except in case of wars in countries where it has overseas Filipino workers.
Maliwanag said the reasons travel warnings are becoming less of a concern among travellers could be that the Philippine travel trade has become “very security minded” in protecting clients.
“As of today we have not received any negative comments, cancellations, not even questions,” Clemente said, adding that travellers are “very savvy, (and) already know where to go and where not to go” while travel consultants “(err) on the side of caution”, briefing clients to stick to what are considered safe areas.
A travel consultant requesting anonymity said they “don’t take security for granted – customers are advised against visiting places not considered safe, and in some cases they may even be disallowed from participating.
Clemente said: “Security is a subjective thing. How much security is enough security? In areas that are secure, incidents can happen and in areas without security, no untoward incidents happen. Travel entails courage and it is a choice.”
Young Skal initiatives ramp up in Singapore
With manpower shortage continuing to be a pertinent challenge in Singapore’s hospitality sector, Skal International Singapore is ramping up its outreach via Young Skal initiatives.
“Young Skal is a category of Skal International specially for students and young professionals directly related to the travel and tourism industry. The idea behind Young Skal is to ensure that clubs (around the world) attract new and young professionals training for or working in the industry who, when qualified, will automatically graduate to Active membership, thus ensuring a continuous supply of new and younger members,” said Tony Cousens, president, Skal International Singapore.
Cousens – who is also general manager of Wyndham Hotel Group’s Ramada and Days Hotels Singapore – shared that as the hospitality industry is “scraping the bottom of the barrel” when it comes to manpower in Singapore, such initiatives are particularly important.
Last month, the association kicked off the first in a series of events targeting young career professionals, and announced that it was setting up a Young Skal executive committee in the city state.
The inaugural Young Skal mixer in Singapore was a casual affair that enticed participation from young career professionals with opportunities “to learn the art of making cocktails”, as well as for “networking and mentoring”.
More of such events will take place over 2019. “The Young Skal committee will organise their own events for the year and generate more members. These shall be after-office fun events at trendy and hip venues, (and act as) a platform for networking opportunities in a more relaxed manner,” Cousens shared.
Young Skal members will also be invited to the association’s traditional monthly luncheons and dinners, and be paired with senior members as mentors, he added.
Within the Skal Singapore executive committee, team Young Skal is made up of Michelle Sandhu, HMC Asia Pacific director; Andrew Chan, founder & CEO of ACI HR; Andrew Jeffery, co-founder and CMO of InsiderTV; and Angeline Tang, regional director for leisure travel & partnerships at Avis Budget Group, Asia.
According to Cousens, the team will strive to move Young Skal forward this year, firstly by identifying capable candidates for a Young Skal committee, which would comprise a president, secretary, treasurer and a couple of committee members.
Oyo threatens legal action against hotels over bookings boycott
Oyo, which is facing threats of boycotts from certain hotel owners, has hit back with a warning of its own, saying it will take legal action against those who breach their contract.
The budget hotel chain, one of the most watched unicorns in India that up until recent days was the country’s second most valuable startup, says the boycott threats were made by “small groups of people, most of whom have no property associated with Oyo”.
Oyo Hotels & Homes’ head of supply, Ayush Mathur, remarked: “Some individuals have been threatening to ignore the agreements and not accept online bookings, which will be a default of the contractual arrangements, and will lead to legal liabilities on these individuals as we cannot and will not let anyone hamper the customer experience. We will take strict legal action, and drag such people to the court.
“We have not received any formal communication from any of our asset owners… Most of the boycott claims are being made by small vested interest groups with no property franchised with or leased to Oyo Hotels. As franchisors, we continue to engage with our franchisee hotel owners on a one-to-one basis to resolve issues and in case, we don’t reach a mutually acceptable solution, part ways amicably.”
According to a local media report, the Budget Hotel Association of Mumbai formed a pan-India collective, the Hotel Association Confederation of India (HACI), to stop partnering the startup.
Quoting Ashraf Ali, joint convenor at HACI, The Economic Times report wrote that starting January 15, about 50-60 Oyo-listed partners in Jaipur will stop accepting bookings, and the boycott will extend to other cities including Mysore, Shirdi and Mumbai.
Among the allegations against Oyo are “deep discounting, mismanagement of operations, and arbitrary contract changes”, in addition to payments being held up and hidden additional charges.
Oyo has hit back at boycotters in a statement, saying they are using anti-competitive means to “artificially jack up prices against market dynamics and charge customers exorbitant prices”.
In the same statement, Oyo countered allegations that it charges 40 per cent franchise fees, saying that its franchise fees do not go over 25 per cent.
Ayush further refuted claims that it was charging high commission. “This is absolutely incorrect. We have on the contrary, invested over thousands of crores in capex, appointed hundreds of general managers to oversee operations and customer experience, and introduced technology driven innovations in the hospitality sector that has greatly transformed the standard of service delivered by a once unbranded hotel, now part of the Oyo chain.”
Responding to those saying it is offering deep discounts, Ayush pointed out: “Oyo Hotels and Homes is a chain of franchised and leased hotels, homes and living spaces – not an aggregator or an OTA. As per our agreement with our hotel owners, like many of our peers as well other brands operating franchising model, prices are determined by Oyo. We have 100 per cent inventory, and determine price using dynamic pricing mechanism… Since the room rates are decided by us so the question of discounts doesn’t arise.”
In December, the Federation of Hotels and Restaurant Association of India (FHRAI) reportedly complaint against certain online hotel booking portals to the Commission of India and Ministry of Tourism. After taking action against MakeMyTrip and GoIbibo in November, the FHRAI had warned Oyo that protests may ensue if the latter refused to negotiate with the hotel owners’ body.
Commenting on FHRAI developments, Ayush added: “We have been engaging with the FHRAI, the apex body that represents all hoteliers and its respected executives, and are open to creating a platform for potential discussions, and invite all other hotel chains in the country who operate leased or franchised assets to participate in the same.”
Forward bookings from China to Asia-Pacific destinations are down 2.6% for 1Q2019, while longhaul destinations are seeing significant growth, according to a Forwardkeys analysis.
Forwardkeys suggests that this could indicate that longhaul travel is typically booked more in advance, while Asia-Pacific might benefit later on from last-minute bookers.
Overall, current forward bookings for international air travel in 1Q2019 are 4.4% ahead, and 8% ahead in December 2018.
Bookings are 2% ahead for the Chinese New Year period, defined by ForwardKeys to be from January 24 to February 16, compared to the comparable peak period in 2018.
Looking at the daily departure pattern, there will be two busy departures.
In 2019, the winter break for school children starts earlier in relation to the Chinese New Year when compared to 2018. The change in the school break dates has resulted in an early departure from January 26.
The second departure wave will happen on the weekend before the Golden Week, as many travellers probably take a few days of annual leave to make an extended holiday, Forwardkeys surmised.
Japan had been seeing good growth in Chinese visitors after declines in competing regional destinations South Korea and Thailand, until the recent hurricane and earthquake disasters disrupted its upward trend.
Since the Chinese government banned group travel to South Korea, the latter has seen clear recovery from the market from mid-2018 onwards.
Chinese FIT travellers started returning to South Korea as early as late 2017 following a ban on Chinese group travel to South Korea, however it was not until mass group travel to the destination resumed that overall year-on-year performance started improving.