Lufthansa launches Premium Economy ahead of time

November 13, 2014

LUFTHANSA will launch its Premium Economy Class this month, nine days ahead of its original scheduled date due to early completion of the new cabin.

The new travel class will be available on November 22, on all routes flown by a Boeing 747-8.

Passenger benefits include free baggage allowance double that of Economy, access to the Lufthansa Business lounges prior to take-off for 25 euros (US$31) and a welcome drink on board.

Each seat in the cabin comes with travel accessories, a water bottle, a power socket and 50 per cent more seating space than Economy. Meals will be served on china tableware.

The airline is offering 15 per cent discount for booking of the Premium Economy seats, up to December 9. Economy passengers can also upgrade to the new class for a fee prior to their flight.

ATPI acquires Griffin Travel

By TTG Asia

November 13, 2014

GLOBAL travel management and events company ATPI Group has announced its second acquisition in less than 12 months – the purchase of Griffin Travel, for an undisclosed sum.

In January, the Group had bought Australia’s largest independent travel management company, Voyager Travel.

The purchase of Griffin, which has an international operation of wholly owned offices in 13 countries and joint ventures in a further nine, increases the Group’s global office footprint to over 100 locations around the world.

CEO Graham Ramsey said: “In 2013, the ATPI Group business delivered gross sales of over £720 million (US$1.1 billion), and achieved its third successful MBO deal in six years. With the acquisition of Griffin, coupled with our significant business growth, in 2014 this will reach in excess of £1.2 billion.

ATPI’s business is funded in partnership with specialist asset manager ICG, and seven major banks comprising Lloyds, ING, HSBC, RBS, Investec, Aimco and Bank of Ireland.

Manathai debuts with four resorts in Thailand

By Greg Lowe

November 13, 2014

INDEPENDENT Thai hospitality management brand, Manathai, has entered the market with the launch of four properties across the kingdom.

Manathai is currently focusing on rebranding and repositioning its refurbished properties, according to COO Christopher Berger.

Berger said that while the brand will ensure a consistent level of service across its portfolio and its F&B brand Pad Thai, care will be taken to ensure each hotel remains unique.

“Customers appreciate that no two properties are alike. All the properties are located in prime Thailand resort locations – Surin beach Phuket, Lamai beach Koh Samui, Bangsak beach Khao Lak, and Hua Hin,” he said.

He added that the company is aiming to provide “a genuine Thai experience” in resort locations, and that target source markets are Thailand, Australia, Scandinavia, the UK, Germany, Russia, China, Singapore and Hong Kong.

“We will also be targeting honeymooners, families and young couples, depending on the hotel, through traditional travel agency channels, as well as social media,” said Berger.

The company is currently offering reduced pre-opening rates for its Samui and Khao Lak properties that are due to open later this month.

Hua Hin is already operational while Phuket will be closed for refurbishment until next July.

Manathai has also acquired Royal Phuket Yacht Club, which is set to come online towards the end of next year.

Value for money

By Paige Lee Pei Qi

November 13, 2014

While considered to be a more economical option for budget-conscious travellers, P2P accommodation booking sites, in actual fact, are also capturing the higher-end of the market. But are they catching the interest of travel agencies?

PandaBed
Lester Kang, co-founder & marketing head

Background
On one of our trips in Europe, co-founder James and I discovered B&B accommodation and were able to stretch ourbudget compared to friends staying in hotels. We also met a friendly local who was able to show us a different side of Europe. Having returned to Asia, James and I saw immense potential to promote such accommodation experiences here. We quit our cushy corporate careers in 2012 to launch PandaBed.

Content
Single rooms, entire homes, villas, serviced apartments and guest houses in popular Asian destinations including Bali, Bangkok, Hong Kong, Koh Samui, Kuala Lumpur, Manila, Phuket, Seoul and Singapore. Over 5,000 homes in the inventory, with this number set to double by end-2014 through the addition of more homes in China, Japan, India and Taiwan.

Pricing
Varies vastly in different cities. However, guests can expect savings of up to 50 per cent compared to a standard hotel and a space that is twice as big.

Demand
Most of our enquiries and bookings are for major capital cities like Hong Kong, Singapore and Bangkok. Increasingly, we are also seeing more enquiries for beach holiday homes in Koh Samui, Phuket and Boracay. Fifty per cent of our guests are from Asia, and the rest come from Australia, the US and Europe. Our average length of stay is 10 nights.

How it works
Guests send a booking request to the host who has 24 hours to confirm the booking. To protect our guests, we will only transfer the funds 24 hours after check-in to ensure there is no issue with the property. Hosts, on the other hand, can request for a security deposit in cash in the unlikely event of damages.

What sets us apart is our PeerMatch option, allowing homeowners to indicate their guest preferences using four major religions in Asia, nationality and age group. Likewise, guests can book a home that is hosted by an owner of similar cultural background. For example, Muslim travellers can stay in a Muslim-friendly home that has a halal kitchen. In addition, while most of our peers levy a 10 per cent booking fee on guests, we do not. Only homeowners are charged 10 per cent for bookings received.

Trade partnerships
We have established partnerships with agencies who do not have access to holiday homes, and we have seen success in this as they are typically managed by direct owners and are not listed on any major OTAs.

Growth plans
As Asia is a highly fragmented region, we plan on localising our website, marketing and payment. This means that apart from cross-border travel (like Hong Kong to Tokyo), we are looking at local domestic travel (like Hanoi to Ho Chi Minh City), and how PandaBed can enable local homeowners and travellers to participate.

Travelmob
Turochas Fuad, CEO and co-founder

Background
The company was officially launched in 2012 by me, formerly the managing director of Skype Asia Pacific, and my co-founder, Prashant Kirtane, ex-senior director of engineering at Yahoo!. The idea is for property owners to rent out their available spaces to travellers looking for a richer local experience. We were acquired by NASDAQ-listed HomeAway in 2013.

Content
Focused on Asia-Pacific destinations, our inventory includes rooms, apartments/houses, villas, houseboats and even private islands. The majority of our properties are considered as secondary or investment homes. Our hosts (suppliers) are mostly property investors, managers or micro-entrepreuneurs. Our properties differ from hotel rooms as most come with a fully equipped kitchen, washer/dryer and Wi-Fi.

Pricing
Listings range from US$15 per night for a budget room, to a private villa (with a full staff and private helipad) that cost more than US$15,000 per night. In other words, we cater to travellers of all budgets. We recently initiated a concierge service to help travellers find their ideal villas in Bali (at any price range). This service will soon be offered to other destinations.
Many travellers find our prices value for money – a group of travellers or family can stay together under one roof and pay less than booking multiple hotel rooms.

Demand
Close to 70 per cent of our travellers are from Asia-Pacific. However, as our properties are also available to HomeAway’s core markets, a growing number of travellers from the Americas and Europe are discovering Travelmob. Popular destinations include urban cities like Hong Kong, Tokyo, Sydney, Kuala Lumpur, Seoul and Singapore. Traditional vacation rental destinations like Bali, Phuket, Goa and Pattaya are also very popular.

How it works
Travellers can quickly locate ideal accommodations and communicate directly with hosts through a private messaging system. For hosts, we provide them with a calendar system, cancellation policies, seasonal pricing tools and an integrated messaging system to offer private discounts (and even last-minute deals). We also facilitate a secure payment/booking platform that caters to their currency of choice. We support 14 local languages.

Trade partnerships
We have integrated our inventory on Tigerair.com and a few global meta-search companies that specialise in P2P rentals. We are also partnering with Dwidaya Tour, allowing travellers to book our properties at the agency’s branches across Indonesia. Our parent company also recently started distributing its vacation rental properties on Expedia’s network.

Growth plans
We are targeted to wrap 2014 with year-on-year bookings growth of more than 300 per cent. With HomeAway as our parent company, we are also looking at offering Europe and Americas properties to our travellers in the very near future.

Roomorama
Jia En Teo, co-founder

Background
Roomorama was launched in 2009 by Federico Folcia and myself. Caught between professional obligations and perpetual wanderlust, we would rent out our New York apartment to friendly folks with a similar desire to live like locals whenever we travelled. At the same time, as avid travellers, we were always on the lookout for unique yet affordable places to stay, but the process was cumbersome and not always safe. We founded Roomorama to make it easy for people to find and book hotel alternatives around the world.

Content
Over 120,000 unique vacation rentals across 6,000 destinations worldwide from waterfront condominiums in Miami to houseboats in Amsterdam and beach villas in Thailand. Popular destinations are North American cities like New York, San Francisco, Toronto as well as European cities like Paris and London. These are mid-range to high-end properties, most of which are professionally managed.

Pricing
Prices differ based on property location and size, but the average price on Roomorama is US$120 per night. Typically, our properties offer a 30-40 per cent discount as compared to hotels of an equivalent standard.

Demand
Most popular destinations are large cities in North America, Europe, and Asia. Our users come from all over the world and are mostly aged between 29 and 35. Most bookings are for nine to 10 nights.

How it works
Once travellers have browsed through available properties and found the one they like, they need to submit an enquiry for the desired dates of travel and card details to pre-authorise payment. Once the host confirms availability, the enquiry becomes a booking. For the safety of users (hosts and guests), this communication happens entirely on the Roomorama platform.

However, Roomorama is one of the very few short-term rental platforms that has also been able to ‘hotelify’ the vacation rental booking process and offer an instant booking service, allowing guests to make a booking and receive their confirmation immediately. This is currently available for a large selection of European properties.

Trade partnerships
Roomorama is open for partnering with OTAs and travel agencies, if they are looking for more properties to offer to their customers. We are working with a selection of OTAs worldwide and offer an attractive CPA model.

Growth plans
By the end of the year, the company plans to roll out more instant bookings for properties in the US and Asia. Within Asia-Pacific, instant bookings are possible in Bali, Phuket and Melbourne for now.homeowners and travellers to participate.

TripAdvisor Vacation Rentals
Laurel Greatrix, spokesperson

Background
TripAdvisor Vacation Rentals began in 2008 with the acquisition of US-based FlipKey. FlipKey powered the initial experience, which has grown since its inception with the acquisitions of Holiday Lettings, Niumba and Vacation Home Rentals.

Content
More than 630,000 vacation rentals in around 190 countries, from city-centre studio apartments to 15-bedroom rural homes. Though we have a large collection of unique properties like boathouses, treehouses, windmills and even castles, the majority of the properties we list are more traditional holiday homes – houses, villas, condos, apartments, cabins, etc.

Pricing
Extremely varied. In Bali, for example, it’s possible to rent a studio for around S$200 (US$154) a week, while the large, luxury properties at the higher end – often with private pools, large gardens, dedicated staff, beach access and more – can cost thousands per night.

Demand
Properties in European capital cities, like Paris and London, see some of the highest demand globally, as do homes in beach destinations like Florida, Bali and Hawaii. Within Asia, beach destinations tend to be the most popular, with Bali and Phuket seeing the greatest interest.

How it works
Travellers enter their destination, dates and property size. They can then further filter results by more specific wants and needs, for instance, price range, and if the property has a private pool, is pet-friendly or has outside space. They can either reserve and pay through TripAdvisor, or contact the home owner or manager. Any property that has a Book Property button can be booked through TripAdvisor and automatically receives our Peace of Mind protection to safeguard the booking. Otherwise, travellers can contact the homeowner or manager via Make Enquiry for more details.

Trade partnerships
Property managers who manage five or more listings can connect their database to TripAdvisor (via FlipKey) through more than a dozen of the most popular reservation management systems. A custom solution can also be developed. Property managers also get insights into modifications that can be made to their listings to maximise exposure, increase enquiries and conversion to bookings with the assistance of a dedicated account manager.
We do not currently work with OTAs or travel agencies.

Growth plans
We’re constantly advancing our business by adding more properties, growing our user base and providing new functionality, such as the relatively recent additions of protected online bookings and payments for travellers, and an option for homeowners to list with us for free and pay only when their property receives a booking.

Airbnb

Background
Founders Brian Chesky, Joe Gebbia and Nate Blecharczyk were the first hosts on Airbnb. When rent in San Francisco went up and they couldn’t afford it, they blew up air mattresses and hosted guests in their apartment. Not only did they make enough money to pay the rent and made three new friends, they soon realised that travel will be more about the experiences rather than the places visited. This gave birth to Airbnb in 2008.

Content
More than 800,000 listings in over 34,000 cities in 190 countries. Accommodation offerings range from rooms and whole apartments to villas, castles, treehouses and islands.

Pricing
Airbnb has something to offer at any price point and for any taste and occasion.

Demand
Having achieved strong success in the US and Europe, Airbnb is experiencing dynamic growth in Asia. Over 20 million guests have booked on Airbnb so far.

How it works
Travellers enter a destination and travel dates into the search bar. Results can be narrowed using filters such as type of accommodation, price, location, etc. Once a place is decided, travellers have to complete their profile and book the space by either using the Instant Book function to confirm their stay without having to wait for a host’s approval or click the Contact Host or Request to Book buttons.

Users have to provide payment details to make reservations, although users booking through the Request to Book button won’t be charged until the host accepts the reservation – a host has 24 hours to respond.

Trade partnerships
In July, a Business Travel on Airbnb portal was rolled out to help business travellers search and book accommodation, and manage their expenses. The site has also entered into a partnership with Concur to enable business travellers to book Airbnb listings directly and have their expense reports automatically linked to Concur’s TripLink service. Airbnb is also working closely with Salesforce and Facebook to reinvent business travel, and more than 30 companies including Evernote, Eventbrite and Lyft have already signed up.

Additional reporting by Hannah Koh, Xinyi Liang-Pholsena, Prudence Lui and S Puvaneswary

This article was first published in TTG Asia, November 14, 2014 issue, on page 16. To read more, please view our digital edition

Expansion on the cards for World Trade Center Metro Manila

By Rosa Ocampo

November 13, 2014

THE World Trade Center Metro Manila (WTCMM) has mapped out an expansion that includes building a hotel and managing another World Trade Centre in other parts of the Philippines.

WTCMM senior vice president and general manager, Pamela D Pascual, said the company envisions an international brand of “four-star but world-class hotel” on the five-hectare compound.

Pascual said WTCMM is also in talks with potential investors to build an office building on the compound, explaining that a typical World Trade Centre, apart from the exhibition space, has a hotel and office building “for complementation”.

Providing one of the biggest exhibition venues in the Philippines that can accommodate 20,000 people theatre-style, WTCMM is also eyeing a potential World Trade Centre in cities like Cebu or Iloilo.

Built in 1996 to international standards and customised for exhibitions at a time when organisers were “purists”, sticking to exhibition-only events, WTCMM has since evolved. Last year, in response to a growing trend for exhibitions to include meetings and learning components, the venue added four meeting rooms with a total capacity of 600 pax theatre-style.

“We built those function rooms so we can get more exhibitions but we’re also developing the market for meetings and conventions so the function rooms would be able to stand on their own without the exhibition market,” said Pascual.

Meanwhile, WTCMM is progressing in its second phase of renovation which includes changing the façade, ceilings and signages.

According to Pascual, the market for exhibitions and special events has grown and foreign shows are starting to come back to the Philippines. The Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) ministerial meetings and leaders’ summit will use the entire WTCMM exhibition centre as media centre for 4,000 media personnel, for six weeks from October to November next year.

Control, transparency in meetings and events spend are key: CWT study

By TTG Asia

November 13, 2014

A RECENT study by CWT Meetings & Events has suggested that compliance and end-to-end meetings management will remain top of the agenda for companies in 2015.

Released earlier this month, the 2015 Meetings & Events Forecast has found that meeting planners are taking note of strong success in end-to-end meetings management, with time and financial savings as well as an accurate overview of total event costs being benefits of such practices.

Meeting planners in Germany have realised savings of up to 23 per cent, while in Australia, average savings of 10-20 per cent have been achieved. Interest in end-to-end meetings management is increasing across the Asia-Pacific and Latin America regions. However, the study noted that meeting planners in China will be unique in going against the end-to-end trend and are expected to continue to separate business into group air, hotel room, meeting space, and land operations bookings – using a specialist vendor for each one.

Compliance will also remain top-of-mind among meeting planners, especially for pharmaceutical organisations that have to abide by meeting and events regulations imposed by the Sunshine Act.

Floyd Widener, senior vice president, CWT Meetings & Events Worldwide, said in a press release: “This is the third edition of our forecast, and it’s interesting to see the renewed focus on compliance in our industry. With 2015 on the horizon, the forecast provides valuable insight for our clients to refer to in upcoming budgeting and negotiations, whether they’re focused on meetings, events or strategic meetings management.”

The report, which is available at this link, offers several recommendations to help meeting planners achieve success in the next 12 months. They include trying hybrid events to save costs and involve remote employees unable to participate in person, basing events in-country or in-region to minimise costs, carbon footprint and delegate travel times, and working with an agency with strong industry relationships to get the best deals and supplier terms.

Trafalgar Asia names new regional marketing manager

By TTG Asia

November 12, 2014

ALANNA Chie has been announced to be the new regional marketing manager (Asia) for Trafalgar.

In her new role, Chie will oversee branding and marketing intiatives for Asia, including South East Asia, Korea and India markets.

She brings with her over 10 years of experience in branding and consumer marketing with expertise in the areas of retail, segment and loyalty marketing

Best Western lands at Bangladesh’s Dhaka airport

By TTG Asia

November 12, 2014

BEST Western International has opened its second hotel in Bangladesh at Dhaka’s Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport.

Best Western Plus Maple Leaf features 50 rooms and suites ranging from 25m² to 80m², all equipped with amenities such as 40-inch flat-screen HD TVs, tea- and coffee-making facilities, minibars, LED lighting and complimentary Wi-Fi.

F&B outlets include the all-day dining restaurant Tarragon, Maple Café, rooftop bar Cloud 11 and a rooftop barbecue.

Other facilities include a business centre, a meeting room, a spa, laundry services and a complimentary airport shuttle.

The property joins the Italian-inspired Best Western La Vinci Hotel in downtown Dhaka. The hotel group has plans to open a further two hotels in the country, including its first in Cox’s Bazar.

Air Mandalay expands fleet with Boeing orders

By Sid Dhartha

November 12, 2014

AIR Mandalay and Boeing signed an MoU last Saturday, which will see the airline procure Next-Generation 737 airplanes for its fleet renewal and expansion efforts.

Air Mandalay currently operates scheduled services to 15 domestic destinations, Chiang Mai in northern Thailand as well as charters.

Air Mandalay principal, Adam Htoon, said: “This memorandum is an important step in our growth strategy. The country is positioning itself as major tourism destination capable of handling an increasing number of foreign visitors.

“The 737 aircraft will provide us with capabilities to support this critical national growth strategy.”

Air Mandalay had earlier announced in July a purchase agreement with Mitsubishi Aircraft for six MRJ90s, with an option to purchase four additional MRJ90s at the air show in the UK. Deliveries of the aircraft are scheduled to commence in 2018.

The airline will also be adding six ERJs to its fleet as it prepares to celebrate its 20th anniversary end-2014.

SATTE 2015 to be the largest-ever in buyer turnout

By TTG Asia

November 12, 2014

TRAVEL and tourism tradeshow SATTE 2015, to be held from January 29 to 31 at Pragati Maidan in New Delhi, is poised to feature over 650 exhibitors with a target to increase participation to over 50 countries.

The upcoming event also expects to welcome a record number of buyers – to date, it has recorded registration from 115 foreign buyers from over 40 countries, and 452 Indian buyers from 48 cities of India.

Abu Dhabi, Argentina, Bhutan, Dubai, Egypt, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Jordan, Macau, Malaysia, Israel, the Maldives and the US are some of the repeat participants, with some increasing booth space.

New exhibitors will include Italy, Cambodia, Russia, Greece, Fujairah, Bahrain and Sharjah, among others.

The 2014 edition saw the participation of over 640 exhibitors from 35 countries and recorded its highest-ever number of attendees (11,529).