CHINA will continue to contribute the largest share of tourists to the Asia-Pacific region this year, according to a report by MasterCard.

The MasterCard Asia Pacific Destinations Index revealed that 50.4 million tourists from China are projected to travel to destinations across Asia-Pacific this year to make up 15.7 per cent of total international overnight arrivals in the region.

They are expected to spend US$45.3 billion, contributing 18.2 per cent of total tourist expenditure in the region.

South Korea (32.5 million; 10.1 per cent) ranked second after China, followed by Taiwan (22.5 million; 7 per cent), the US (20.6 million, 6.4 per cent) and Japan (18 million; 5.6 per cent).

China propelled to its lead from 2009, when it was the sixth biggest contributor of tourists to the region, driven by 25.9 per cent compounded average annual growth rate to reach the top spot in 2012. It has held the lead ever since.

Japan in contrast has seen its share of tourists to Asia-Pacific destinations fall from top spot in 2009 (9.7 per cent share) to fifth in 2016 (5.6 per cent share).

Further afield, the US at number four has consistently been the highest ranked non-APAC origin country since 2009. The UK is the only other non-APAC source market within the top ten at ninth place.

“In the past few years, the mix of tourists in key Asia-Pacific destinations has changed significantly, reflecting the economic rise of China and other emerging Asian economies. Where you might have found tourists from Japan, Hong Kong, South Korea and the US, you are now much more likely to come across travelers from mainland China,” commented Matthew Driver, executive vice president, global products & solutions, Asia-Pacific at MasterCard.

“The impact of the economic transformation of China and specifically the rise in disposable incomes is the biggest driver of tourism growth globally. While we are expecting similar growth from India and Indonesia in the longer term, as well as other segments such as Halal tourism, Chinese tourists are more concentrated in Asia and impact markets at a larger scale.”

Tom Klein

SABRE has made public that president and CEO Tom Klein intends to resign from the company and the board of directors by December 31. Until then, Klein will continue to serve as CEO of the company while the board formally searches for a successor.

“By making this announcement now, the board of directors will have ample time to identify a successor as we work through a smooth transition to keep the company’s growth plans and our customer deliverables on course,” said Klein.

“Then I will be able to turn my personal attention to new opportunities knowing that I am leaving Sabre on firm ground, with a great management team and a bright future as a global technology leader.”

Klein first joined Sabre when it was still a unit of AMR Corp., where he held sales and marketing roles under American Airlines. He went on to serve in a number of executive roles under Sabre, including group president of both Sabre Travel Network and Sabre Airline Solutions. He was then named president of Sabre in 2010 and CEO in 2013.

“Under his leadership and vision, Sabre is clearly positioned as an innovative technology company and our business has been reinvented to ensure our solutions meet the changing needs of the very dynamic travel industry,” said Larry Kellner, chairman of Sabre’s board of directors.

“During this transition period it will be business as usual for Sabre’s customers, employees, and suppliers as the board works to identify a successor.”

Screenshot of Smailing Tour’s website homepage

ONE of Indonesia’s biggest tour operators, Smailing Tour, will be embarking on a new expansion strategy as it celebrates its 40^th anniversary this year.

“Besides making Smailing more competitive, our ongoing transformation programme ensures the company will continue to be relevant and (is capable of) meeting the demands and expectations of domestic and international tourists,” said Anthony Akili, president and CEO of Smailing Tour.

The launch of the company’s Bali Ticketing and Outbound Centre yesterday kicked off this transformation, which expands Smailing’s Bali operation, from mainly catering to inbound businesses to the island to now encompass domestic and outbound leisure and corporate segments.

Anthony said Smailing will still continue to support the Indonesian government’s goal to bring in 20 million international visitors by 2020.

To do this, Smailing Tour Bali has been rebranded as Smailing Tour DMC as the company expands its inbound travel business to include other parts of Indonesia.

The company opened Smailing Tour DMC Yogyakarta last year and will expand its footprint further by opening offices in Bandung, Surabaya, Lombok, Balikpapan, Medan, Batam, Makassar, Manado, and Labuan Bajo next year.

James Chappell, global business director, Horwath HTL

HOSPITALITY consulting firms Horwath HTL and Quo have formed an alliance in an effort to combine their expertise and provide clients with a better, integrated offering.

The alliance will see Horwath provide management services, including asset management, planning and development, valuation, and strategic advice, while Quo, known for developing iconic hospitality brands, will deliver on brand strategy, corporate identity, content and design creation, video and web services.

According to a joint press statement, this is the first time such a broad but unified range of consultancy services is being made available to the travel and hospitality industry.

“We have spent a tremendous amount of time analysing where we can truly add value for hotel owners in a global market with such a strong proliferation of brands. Partnering with Quo allows us to provide an incredible and complementary solution to hotel owners,” said James Chappell, global business director of Horwath.

“Using our market knowledge and experience, combined with Quo’s ability to create and bring to life amazing brands, we can offer a full strategic analysis and brand repositioning service, unique in the industry.”

Representatives from MNC Land and MCC Group after the signing of an agreement for the construction of an integrated theme park resort, at the Grand Hyatt Hotel in Jakarta

INDONESIAN developer MNC Land has entered into an agreement with China Metallurgical Corporation (MCC) Group for the development of a new integrated theme park resort in Bogor city.

According to a press statement, this will be the first world-class development of its kind in Indonesia.

The theme park alone is expected to encompass a 55ha space, excluding two hotels and an entertainment precinct also in the works. The entire resort is part of a broader plan by MNC Land to develop a 3,000ha lifestyle and entertainment hub.

MCC, who were involved in the structural design, construction and project management of Shanghai Disneyland, Universal Studios Singapore and Chimelong Ocean Kingdom, will be in charge of the design and build of the integrated resort.

Seperately, road works are also underway to extend the Bogor-Sukabumi expressway to provide easier access from Jakarta to the region.

Philippine DoT secretary Ramon Jimenez, Jr.

FOREIGN visitor spending to the Philippines contributed an 8.2 per cent share of the country’s total exports in 2015 to reach 306.6 billion pesos (US$6.6 billion), nearly doubling from the 4.3 per cent share reported five years ago.

According to the 2015 Philippine Tourism Satellite Accounts released by the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA), this ranks tourist arrivals as the third biggest export item last year.

As propellers of GDP growth, tourism also climbed to third place, after the trade industry and real estate segment. Tourism industries employed 4.98 million people in 2015.

“Looking back, the positive outlook of the industry, harmonious public and private partnership, a good marketing campaign and the strong government support that the Department of Tourism (DoT) received allowed tourism to reach the economic heights where it is today,” commented DoT secretary Ramon Jimenez, Jr.

“To maintain the industry’s growth, the 2016-2022 National Tourism Development Plan is being finalised for presentation to this administration, and to the new administration for approval. This should help sustain the strong first quarter growth in tourist arrivals and help the country meet its target of 6.5 million tourists by year-end.”

Jimenez has served as tourism secretary for the last five years and is slated to step down next month when Wanda Tulfo Teo takes over the post.

INTERNATIONAL travel spend is predicted to rise massively over the next decade due to a surge in households attaining the means to embark on cross-border holidays.

According to Visa’s first-ever Global Travel & Tourism Report, an estimated 282 million households will travel at least once per year by 2025, up nearly 35 percent from 2015. Consequently, travel expenditure is expected to reach US$5,305 per household annually, excluding air fares.

Leading the growth for the next 10 years are emerging markets, especially China, with travel spend anticipated to rise 86 per cent to US$255 billion, almost double that of the next largest spender, the US, standing at US$134 billion with 33 per cent growth.

Developed markets such as Germany and the UK will still account for a significant volume of global travel spend (up 31 per cent to US$97 billion and up 58 per cent to US$96 billion respectively), but will experience much less increase compared to emerging markets.

Russia, for instance, only accounted for US$22 billion in travel spend in 2015, but will rise 118 per cent to US$49 billion in 10 years’ time.

Visa added in its report several trends that are fueling this surge, notably that nearly half of all global households (945 million) will have the monetary means to travel by 2025.

As well, travellers over 65 years of age will more than double their international travel to an estimated 180 million trips per year, accounting for one-in-eight cross-border trips globally.

This bodes well for the medical tourism segment as Visa predicts aging travellers, who tend to spend more and travel for longer, to combine their leisure trips with medical pursuits.

At the same time, the development of 340 new airports globally over the next decade and the increasingly rapid spread of travel information from now till 2025 will also be a boon for connectivity and foster greater interest and conveniences in travel.

“Travelling internationally will become more common and attainable in the future thanks to changing demographics, combined with technology advances that make travelling abroad easier and less expensive,” said Wayne Best, chief economist at Visa.

“What will emerge is an expanding ‘traveling class’ that will spend a growing portion of their household income on cross-border travel. Tomorrow’s travelling class will likely be older and hail from emerging markets — looking very different from today’s typical international traveller.”