From left: Chimmy Tsui, Pierre Quek and Cheryl Tan
TTG Asia Media has embarked on its next phase of organisational re-structuring to consolidate business development efforts of its publishing and events arms.
Sales of both TTG Travel Trade Publishing and TTG Events solutions will be headed by a centralised business development unit led by Pierre Quek, publisher and head, integrated solutions, and Chimmy Tsui, publisher and head, integrated solutions (China).
From left: Chimmy Tsui, Pierre Quek and Cheryl Tan
With the consolidation, the expanded team of business managers now offers clients a singular touch-point to TTG’s full suite of integrated solutions for the travel industry.
In a statement, TTG Asia Media said that this would enhance the company’s servicing strategy by industry and geography verticals implemented at the beginning of this year.
In line with these changes, business group re-structures along with new appointments also came into effect yesterday.
Ooi Peng Ee has been named head of TTG Global Commerce and Development, while Cheryl Tan has stepped into the role of head, TTG Events. In addition, Jonathan Wan now assumes the post of head, operational support services.
TTG Travel Trade Publishing, TTG Events and TTG Global Commerce are three of four business groups under TTG Asia Media. The company’s other business group is TTG Maps & Guides Publishing.
Vietnam Wine Tours’ Raymond Ringhoff (right) with owner of local business M’Charm textiles
Helping open up Vietnam’s less-explored areas to international tourism, Vietnam Wine Tours takes visitors on winery escapades through Dalat, Ninh Thuan and the Mekong Delta.
“Not many people know that Vietnam has wineries that grow good wines. We want people to come and enjoy such areas that aren’t well known yet,” said Vietnam Wine Tours’ CEO and founder Raymond Ringhoff.
Vietnam Wine Tours’ Raymond Ringhoff (right) with owner of local business M’Charm textiles
To raise awareness for other local businesses, the tour company combines its wine tours with stops at places such as family-run textile shops, herbal gardens and medicine farms.
Ringhoff told TTG Asia at the recent PATA Travel Mart (PTM) in Langkawi: “There’s so much Vietnam has to offer, from wines to the beaches of Hoi An. When I saw the local businesses, I wanted to bring more people to discover these places.”
Colleen Renner, owner of Colorado-based Playful Spirits Travel, a buyer at PTM, expressed surprise that Vietnam is home to wineries and has a network of wine tours on offer.
“Our clients would definitely be interested in that. Vietnam is getting more popular and they’re always up to visit new places that few others have gone to before,” said Renner.
Asian solo travellers tend to be younger and take shorter trips, the survey reveals
Asian solo travellers are more likely to be younger – millennials (41%) and Generation Zers (38%) – while in the West, solo travel is more prevalent among baby boomers (39%) and Generation Xers (24%), one of the highlights of a recent study released by Agoda.
Agoda’s Solo Travel Trends 2018 survey, conducted by YouGov, found that solo travellers from the West are more likely than those in Asia to indulge in solo travel for longer periods, more often taking trips for four to seven nights (34%). In addition, Western solo travellers are twice as likely to go on trips of 14 nights or more (20% versus 10%).
Asian solo travellers tend to be younger and take shorter trips, the survey reveals
Millennial and Generation Z Asian solo travellers tend to take shorter, one- to three-night solo trips (46%).
Relaxation and time to unwind is the number one motivator for solo leisure travel globally (61%), followed by getting away from routine (52%) and exploring new cultures (45%), the survey shows.
The study also found that solo leisure travellers spend more time in front of their laptops and phones than any other traveller type – two hours a day (119 minutes), which compares to 15% more time than when travellers are with friends (100 minutes) and 26% more time than if they are with family (86 minutes).
Asian solo travellers are the most digitally connected and are more than two times as likely to spend four or more hours a day in front of their screens than their Western peers (31% versus 12%).
Whether for business, leisure or bleisure, independent solo travellers are all heading to cosmopolitan cities.
According to Agoda’s booking data, Bangkok is the top destination for Asian solo travellers this year, while London is number one for Western solo travellers.
Tokyo is a popular choice for both Asian and Western travellers, hitting the top three for both groups.
Milky storks at Sungei Buloh Wetland Reserves in Singapore
The Singapore Tourism Board (STB) and Tourism Malaysia have launched Passport 2 Nature, a campaign to jointly promote Singapore’s Sungei Buloh Wetland Reserve and Malaysia’s Pulau Kukup Johor National Park.
This is the first such initiative by STB and Tourism Malaysia under the Joint Ministerial Committee for Iskandar Malaysia’s Tourism Working Group. It is supported by Iskandar Regional Development Authority (IRDA), Singapore’s National Parks Board (NParks) and Johor National Parks Corporation (JNPC).
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Milky storks at Sungei Buloh Wetland Reserves in Singapore
Burung Hantu (owl); photo credit: Pulau Kukup Johor National Park
From October 1 to December 31, 2018, visitors can receive a Passport 2 Nature at the parks’ entrance counters, and collect stamps through completing a series of questions. After filling the passport with stamps, they can present it to staff at either park and redeem a souvenir created for the campaign (while stocks last).
“Singapore is located along the East Asian-Australasian Flyway. This means we serve as a stop-over in the journey taken by migratory birds that come from as far away as Siberia. We welcome the opportunity to work with our wetland counterparts in other countries that are also part of the flyway, such as Pulau Kukup Johor National Park, to build up our knowledge of the
migratory patterns and requirements of these amazing birds. This will enable us to better formulate conservation strategies for our wetlands to ensure the long-term survival of these birds,” said Adrian Loo, group director, conservation of NParks.
Pulau Kukup Johor National Park, a Ramsar Site, is one of five national parks in Johor under JNPC, a state agency. The park underwent upgrading works by IRDA between 2015 and 2017. Also in line with plans for the park to become a leading ecotourism site in Johor, nearby Kampung Permas Besar has been named a “Kawan Iskandar Malaysia” (Friend of Iskandar Malaysia) village focusing on developing community-based ecotourism.
Passport 2 Nature follows an MoU signed between NParks and the JNPC on February 21, 2018 to establish Sungei Buloh Wetland Reserve and Pulau Kukup Johor National Park as Sister Sites under the East Asian-Australasian Flyway. The MoU enhances collaboration in joint research on migratory shorebirds found in both sites.
Hotelbeds Group has made further senior management appointments across its group in Asia-Pacific (APAC) following its integration of Tourico and GTA.
Hui-Wan Chua has been confirmed as the regional director for wholesale sales for the APAC market. In this role, Chua will be responsible for growing the group’s business in the APAC region across the three different bedbank brands – Hotelbeds, Tourico Holidays and GTA – reporting directly to Sam Turner, the wholesale sales & sourcing director with global responsibility.
Chua was CEO at Zuji before she joined GTA in 2017
Chua joined GTA in 2017, before it became part of Hotelbeds Group in 2017, and was most recently the vice president of Asia sales & marketing.
Prior to that, she was CEO at Zuji. Chua has also held a number of senior roles in Asia at leading travel companies such as Travelport and Abacus International.
Additionally, the regional management positions that will report to Chua have been confirmed. Hotelbeds said in a statement that the new appointments combine “the best of existing internal talent from across the three bedbanks”.
In the regional manager roles, Chan Tze Yuan has been appointed to cover South-east Asia, Hong Kong and Taiwan; Isabelle Kim will cover East Asia; Richard Styles will be in charge of Pacific and Indochina; and Laura Wang and Joy Huang will lead China.
Since January, the group has been identifying top employee profiles from the three companies, at both senior management and management levels. So far 350 appointments have been made.
Hotelbeds says growing business in the APAC region is a top priority. China remains the number one source market in the wholesale channel for Hotelbeds Group in APAC and is now the fourth biggest for the group globally, up from fifth place only last year.
Tour East Singapore, a DMC and daily sightseeing tour operator, has launched a lounge at Grand Copthorne Waterfront Hotel.
Located on the third level of Grand Copthorne Waterfront Hotel, the Hospitality Lounge opens 08.00 to 20.00 daily, serving as a “one-stop shop for the sightseeing tour needs” of Tour East guests and providing complimentary Wi-Fi, refreshments and reading materials.
The Tour East Singapore lounge features ‘works of art’ from Wildlife Reserves Singapore, Sentosa Dev Corporation and Gardens by the Bay
Moreover, there will also be a designated foyer for Tour East guests awaiting coaches. This departure foyer will also be used as a holding area for guests to check-in for tours should they walk over from hotels within the vicinity of the Grand Copthorne Waterfront Hotel.
CEO and president of Tour East Holdings, Shigeyuki Suzuki commented: “The Tour East Lounge is a big step forward to provide additional value for our daily sightseeing tour customers… Besides upgrading its physical facilities, Tour East has also enhanced its present range of sightseeing tour itineraries and planned a range of new and exciting tours to be added progressively. Further announcements will be made nearer to the time of introduction.”
JNTO’s president Satoshi Seino addressing the crowd at VJTM’s 2018 opening ceremony
An unprecedented number of natural disasters this summer has dealt a severe blow to Japan’s tourism, but the trade is confident that it will soon bounce back.
Osaka was struck by a 6.1 magnitude earthquake on June 18. The western part of the country experienced torrential rainfall over July 6-8 and, on September 4, Osaka saw the arrival of Jebi, the strongest typhoon to hit Japan’s mainland in 25 years. A few days later, Hokkaido was hit by a 6.6 magnitude earthquake.
JNTO’s president Satoshi Seino acknowledged that the string of natural disasters resulted in a dip in inbound numbers
Speaking at the recent Visit Japan Travel & MICE Mart (VJTM) in Tokyo, Satoshi Seino, president of Japan National Tourism Organization, said the disasters have resulted in “a strong sense of crisis” as inbound numbers fall, particularly from South Korea.
In the first six months of 2018, Japan and South Korea reported 18 per cent growth in visitors from their respective countries. In July and August, Japan experienced a decline of 5.6 per cent and 4.3 per cent respectively.
At VTJM, Japan and South Korea signed a pact to work together to expedite the return of South Korean travellers to areas affected by the disasters.
For Maiko Kobayashi of tour group Made in Hokkaido, the South Korean market is of concern. Almost all of its South Korea clients have cancelled their summer and autumn trips to Japan.
Most clients in Thailand and Malaysia, however, have postponed their travel date, thanks to Made in Hokkaido’s regular updates to overseas agents on the status in affected areas, Kobayashi told TTG Asia.
She is confident that the Philippines market will bounce back with the launch of the Manilla-Chitose (Hokkaido) flight on October 8, postponed from September 10 because of the earthquake.
According to Lo King Yin of Hanatour Japan’s international business department, 200 of its customers from the Philippines and Malaysia cancelled their September and October trips to Osaka within days of Jebi’s arrival.
She is working with her foreign counterparts to rearrange their flights to Tokyo, from where they will tour the Hokuriku region instead.
Meanwhile, Valentin Chao of HIS’ inbound travel sales division reports a small decrease in sales to the Kansai region but said Kyoto and Osaka will always be popular destinations. In the long term, he anticipates no damage to these markets.
Five foreigners have been reported missing and 66 declared safe following a deadly earthquake and tsunami that devastated Indonesia’s Central Sulawesi on Friday.
Indonesia’s National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB) told reporters yesterday that three French citizens and a Malaysian tourist remain missing, while a South Korean is believed to be trapped under the rubble of the Roa Roa hotel in Palu.
Death toll expected to keep rising
Dozens of people were believed to be trapped in the rubble of several hotels and a mall in the city of Palu, which was hit by waves as high as six metres following the 7.5-magnitude earthquake, CNBC reported.
As of Sunday, the death toll from the disaster was at 832, and is expected to rise into the thousands as rescuers reach outlying communities.
Questions now surround the failure of the tsunami warning system put in place after the 2004 tsunami catastrophe, triggered by a quake off Sumatra.
On Friday, Indonesia’s meteorological and geophysics agency BMKG had issued a tsunami warning, and withdrew it after 34 minutes later.
In some areas where there was no electricity to power sirens, no alerts were sounded to warn of the tsunami.
The confusion led up to hundreds gathering on a Palu beach to celebrate a festival, before the tsunami waves hit.
AP reported that a new system of sensors that could have warned residents had for years been stuck in testing phase, leaving them to rely on limited information from existing tidal gauge stations.
Meanwhile, Sutopo Purwo Nugroho, a spokesman for the BNPB, told reporters at a press conference that none of Indonesia’s tsunami buoys, an instrument used to detect the waves, had been operating since 2012 due to funding problems, according to the CNBC report.
Singaporeans are nearly as enthusiastic about staycations as they are about overseas trips, found a new Expedia study, which identified parents with kids as being the most avid staycationers.
The study revealed that six in 10 Singaporeans had gone on at least one staycation in the past 12 months.
Singaporean parents with kids are the most avid staycationers
It also showed that Singaporeans averaged 2.4 staycations over the past year, just under the three personal overseas flights they take in a year.
“Over the years, staycations have been growing in popularity among Singaporeans. Based on our historic data, we saw year-on-year increases of 25% in 2016, and 40% in 2017 for local hotel bookings by Singaporeans on Expedia.com.sg,” shared Simon Fiquet, managing director, global series markets, Brand Expedia.
“Not only does this underscore the growing appeal of Singaporeans being tourists in their own backyard, staycations have also become quick and easy alternatives for Singaporeans to take a short break without the need for detailed planning or extensive travelling.”
Comparing the staycation habits across various demographic groups – including single adults, adults who are married without kids, and parents with kids – Expedia found that Singaporeans who are married with kids emerged as the top staycationers in Singapore, with 68% of them having gone on a staycation in the past 12 months.
This was followed by those who are married with no kids (66%) and the singles (58%).
Corresponding to this trend, the months of June and December also came up tops as the most popular staycation periods.
Forty-one percent of staycationers go on a staycation in December, 32% in June, 18% in November and 17% in March.
In addition, 70% of staycationers who are married with kids typically go on a staycation in the school holiday months of June, November and December.
Besides being the most avid group of staycationers, the discretionary spending among those married with kids is also one of the highest among groups, with spending on staycations averaging S$238 (US$174) a night, second only to those who are married without kids.
Additionally, 45% of those who are married with kids stayed three to four nights on their last booked staycation and 68% of them went with three or more people on their last staycation.
With family-friendly facilities, proximity to tourist attractions, and easy access to complimentary Wi-Fi and breakfast, it came as no surprise that hotels are the preferred staycation option among Singaporeans.
Some 74% of staycationers booked a hotel for their staycation in the past 12 months. Among this group, 54% of staycationers who booked a hotel for their last staycation chose a four-star hotel, while 33% opted for a five-star hotel.
Notably, parents with kids stood out from the crowd with their preference for hotels, especially for five-star hotels. Nine in 10 (89%) staycationers who are married with kids booked a hotel for their last staycation. Out of that, 39% of chose a five-star hotel and 55% chose a four-star hotel.
In terms of activities that staycationers engage in, making use of hotel facilities (70%), visiting nearby attractions (62%), dining in (56%), going shopping and watching movies emerged as the five most popular activities among the respondents.
With seven in 10 (66%) of Singaporeans likely to book a staycation in the next 12 months, the study also uncovered insights into the key motivational factors for booking an upcoming staycation.
When asked about the consideration factors for selecting an accommodation for a staycation, 33% of Singaporeans indicated free breakfast as their top consideration, followed by 31% who indicated great deals and 29% who indicated convenience of locations.
However, among those who are married without kids, complimentary upgrades emerged as the top consideration factor. This reflects the tendency for this group of staycationers to prefer pampering experiences over convenience and cost savings, as compared to single staycationers, who displayed clear preferences for free breakfast and great deals.
Among Singaporeans who are married with kids, 32% indicated free breakfast and convenient locations as their top two considerations.
