Domingo De Cola
AIR France KLM has appointed Domingo De Cola as its general manager for Singapore, Indonesia, Australia and New Zealand.
He replaces Paul Rombeek, who has joined Mandala Airlines as president director.
De Cola is a veteran management member of Air France KLM. Since Air France’s merger with Air France in 2004, he has worked as the company’s general manager for Italy and most recently, as general manager for the Andean Countries and Central America.
THE Jetstar Group yesterday launched its first Indonesian retail outlet in Kelapa Gading, the southernmost subdistrict of North Jakarta, to reach out to an extended customer base in the country.
Operated in collaboration with Holiday Tours & Travel, Qantas Group’s GSA for Indonesia, the outlet is expected to make it more convenient for Indonesian consumers to book and pay for fares across the entire Jetstar network.
Barathan Pasupathi, CEO, Jetstar Asia and Valuair, explained: “While credit card payments make up between 80 and 90 per cent (of overall transactions) in places such as Singapore, in Indonesia it is around 25 to 30 per cent. Many customers here still like to talk to people when planning a trip and prefer cash payments.”
He added: “Our Indonesian services are now running at around 80 per cent load factor and there is still room to grow. (The new retail outlet) will also make it more convenient for group bookings.”
Pasupathi told TTG Asia e-Daily that the group was planning to open additional retail outlets in Jakarta and other Jetstar destinations in Indonesia, while travel products including hotels and travel insurance would soon be available.
The Jetstar Group currently operates 80 flights a week from Australia and Singapore to Jakarta, Bali, Surabaya and Medan.
UBM Asia and RajaMICE have joined hands to launch SATTE Indonesia, with the first edition scheduled to take place in Bali from June 12-14, 2013.
An offshoot of the B2B travel tradeshow held annually in New Delhi, the introduction of SATTE Indonesia recognises the growing importance of Indonesia as a travel destination.
Christopher Eve, senior vice president, UBM Asia, said: “The growth of Indonesia’s economic importance in the South-east Asia region and around the world means that there are huge opportunities for both inbound and outbound travel operators and suppliers.”
“On the inbound side, Indonesia’s rich diversity of tourism offerings, as well as its rapidly increasing business travel (segment), offer huge potential. Meanwhile, the vast population and burgeoning middle class mean that there are enormous opportunities for outbound and domestic travel.”
SATTE Indonesia 2013 is expected to bring together over 300 domestic and international sellers and more than 250 domestic and international buyers. There will be three days of pre-allocated appointments for buyers and sellers as well as a four-day travel mart.
I B Lolec, country manager, Pacific World Indonesia, said: “This could be a great international tourism marketplace for Indonesia, especially Bali, which will be ready with more rooms and better infrastructure in 2013, in particular the new airport. This event would be absolutely great if SATTE Indonesia can bring quality overseas buyers.”
Asnawi Bahar, president, Indonesian Association of Tour & Travel Agencies, said: “Our members with a total of 7,000 travel agencies all over Indonesia should be able to become actively involved at SATTE Indonesia 2013.”
THAILAND, Indonesia and the Maldives are currently the hottest hotel investment markets in the Asia-Pacific region, according to Jones Lang LaSalle Hotels.
“We are seeing fantastic potential coming out of Thailand, Indonesia and the Maldives, backed by rising RevPAR, healthy investor interest and solid travel demand,” said Tom Oakden, executive vice president, investment sales, Jones Lang LaSalle Hotels.
“While hotel transactions in Asia and globally have slowed in the last year, investor sentiment remains strong for the right prospects, and these markets are showing the greatest opportunity for capital value growth.”
In Thailand, RevPAR is climbing in Bangkok despite new hotel supply, while resort markets such as Phuket are exhibiting stronger income growth potential. Whereas domestic players once dominated the market, overseas investors are increasingly coming into the picture – with greater liquidity as a result. Thailand has seen five major hotel deals in the last 18 months – including the Mövenpick Phuket, which was the country’s largest open market hotel transaction to date.
In Indonesia, Bali and Jakarta have traditionally dominated foreign investor interest, but this is diversifying to other regions. Lack of new stock is a challenge, although latest Jones Lang LaSalle research indicates that investors are preparing to sharpen yield expectations. Coupled with exceptional year-to-date RevPAR growth, this may help close the gap between the pricing expectations of buyers.
The Maldives has broadened its appeal beyond honeymooners with a healthy influx of Chinese visitors in the last three years. From an investment perspective, the Maldives commands one of the highest ADRs globally and guest capture for food, beverage and ancillary income sources is high. Government policies on foreign investment have also relaxed, allowing leases to be extended for 50-year terms. While RevPAR growth was affected by negative publicity in 1H2012, the destination has rebounded strongly with August showing double-digit RevPAR growth.
TRAVELLERS are clearly engaging in social media platforms, but the influence of these digital networks on the buying decision is less clear, according to PhoCusWright’s Social Media in Travel 2012: Social Networks and Traveler Reviews.
Created in partnership with Circos Brand Karma and Travelport, PhoCusWright’s report examines the role and impact of social media and user-generated content on the online travel landscape.
According to PhoCusWright, social media platforms such as Facebook have attracted massive user bases, and a strategically managed social media presence has become de rigueur in the travel industry. More than three fourths of travellers turn to social media networks to find some type of shopping-related deal, while 30 per cent specifically seek out travel-related deals.
However, travel companies are struggling to determine how best to harness the medium: as a distribution channel, a customer service tool, a marketing and branding platform, or a referral and lead-generation service. Suppliers that have implemented booking tools, widgets or full-fledged booking engines within Facebook have so far reported mixed results, citing a range of challenges.
More significantly, travellers do not appear to engage in social media networks with the primary intent of shopping or purchasing travel, as they would when using search or travel sites. While Internet users are accustomed to using Facebook to share their travel photos and stories, making purchases is another matter.
TTG Travel Trade Publishing, the Asia-Pacific region’s leading travel trade business resource publisher, rolled out its newest publication, TTG Asia Luxury, during last week’s IT&CMA and CTW Asia-Pacific in Bangkok.
Targeted at buyers of premium travel and luxury meetings from Asia-Pacific, TTG Asia Luxury is circulated bi-annually to an audited database populated with top management.
“With the greater number of high net worth individuals and companies willing to spend on luxury travel, there has been a corresponding growth in Asia-Pacific’s luxury travel products and services,” said Darren Ng, managing director, TTG Asia Media.
“We firmly believe that this market can only grow with the growing number of Asian (travel consultants) beginning to commit to selling luxury travel.”
Besides containing the latest updates in the Asia-Pacific luxury travel scene, TTG Asia Luxury also features guides and reports that are intended to remain useful throughout the year.
The inaugural edition features a list of the top 40 luxury hotel brands in Asia-Pacific, guides on responsible luxury travel and luxury MICE, handpicked destinations with premium offerings, and a report on luxury travel in the emerging markets of China and India.
RESORT development is showing no signs of slowing down in Boracay, which received 854,468 tourist arrivals for the year as of August 28, a 36.2 per cent year-on-year increase, according to provincial government statistics.
Over the last few months, the most prominent high-end resort openings include Nandana Boracay (92 rooms) and The District Boracay (48 rooms).
Fairways & Bluewater, which recently added 113 keys to its 143 existing rooms, intends to pack on another 400 keys over the next few years. The property is also renovating its lobby area, restaurant and Graham Marsh-designed golf course, while a new conference venue is being built to complement an open-air pavilion and amphitheatre near its private beach, Paradise Cove.
Elsewhere, Paradise Garden Resort Hotel & Convention Center will launch 41 new rooms by Chinese New Year; Crown Regency Resort & Convention Center will add 254 rooms to its 267-room inventory by March 2013; while The Astoria Group previously added 30 rooms to the Astoria Boracay and will open a 100-room property in 2014 (TTG Asia e-Daily, September 13, 2012).
According to Wenie Maligaya, director of sales at Crown Regency Resort & Convention Center, which targets groups and incentives, corporate rates are pegged at PHP 5,000 (US$120) for two pax until further notice. The property is counting on new business with the recent opening of a 1,800m2 wave pool, ideal for surfing lessons.
Onelle Pacheco Verzosa, director of sales & marketing, Best Western Boracay Tropics, said promo packages and low season rates at her property were in effect till mid-October.
“We’ve relied on group business from Taiwan and South Korea (in the absence of Chinese business due to the ongoing territorial spat over Scarborough Shoal), and the local market has also provided good support,” she said.
HILTON Worldwide will debut its first property in Bangladesh in 2015, having signed a management agreement with Premier Hostels & Resorts to manage Hilton Dhaka.
Andrew Clough, senior vice president, development, Middle East & Asia Pacific, Hilton Worldwide, said: “We have been expanding aggressively across Asia-Pacific with a wide range of award-winning brands, and this is a significant milestone for us as it marks both Hilton Worldwide’s and the Hilton brand’s entry into Dhaka, a key financial hub and one of the fastest growing cities in the world.”
Located in the central business district on Gulshan Avenue, Hilton Dhaka will offer 250 rooms, one all-day dining and two specialty restaurants, a deli and lobby lounge as well as a bar.
It will also boast a full service spa, fitness centre, roof-top pool, ballroom, a lifestyle meeting floor and carpark facilities.
SINGAPORE-based Asiatravel.com Holdings will unveil its new TACentre.com tomorrow, billing it as Asia’s first online travel wholesale platform which can provide traditional brick-and-mortar agencies with full packages 24/7 and for which they can get instant confirmation.
Far from being dead, traditional agencies in Asia were “doing well”, said Asiatravel.com’s executive chairman, Boh Tuang Poh. One reason was the continued growth in Asian outbound leisure markets, he explained.
The issues facing agencies, however, are rising costs and manpower shortages.
With TAcentre.com, agencies can improve their operational productivity, customer service efficiency and increase profitability, as the job of creating packages and finding the best rates have already been done for them, said Fred Seow, vice president marketing.
“Many online platforms claim to be online. The content is viewable online; the consultants still have to wait for confirmation. With TAcentre.com, they are able to get instant confirmation,” said Boh, when asked about the platform’s key differentiator.
– Full report in TTG Asia, October 19, 2012
ARRIVALS from Malaysia and Indonesia to Japan have rebounded significantly in the past 12 months, and the Japan National Tourism Organization (JNTO) is reaching out to court Muslim tourists from these markets, alongside a marketing campaign to shore up Muslim visitor numbers from Singapore.
Said Motonari Adachi, JNTO’s executive director in Singapore: “The Muslim population within Singapore, Malaysia and Indonesia shows immense potential. Demand from this segment is picking up and is expected to increase, partly because of the introduction of multiple-entry visas in the case of Indonesia and Malaysia, and the increase in low-cost airline capacity between Japan and South-east Asia.
“However, in order to capitalise on these burgeoning markets, we need to create more awareness, especially through travel consultants, that Japan welcomes Muslims, and that we have the facilities to cater to Muslims including the ability to offer halal food options.”
To aid travel consultants in selling Japan to the Muslim market, JNTO will launch a guidebook for Muslim visitors by year-end. Plans are also in place to open an office in Jakarta in April or May 2013, to act as a point of contact and information for Indonesian travel consultants and consumers.
In addition, JNTO has set aside part of its 2013 marketing budget for travel consultant roadshows in Kuala Lumpur, Penang, Kota Kinabalu, Surabaya and Medan. An e-learning programme for travel consultants in Singapore, Malaysia and Indonesia is also on the cards.
Adachi revealed that Muslim buyers from Singapore, Malaysia and Indonesia would be participating at Japan Travel Mart (JTM) for the very first time in November.
“We have representatives from TM Fouzy Travel & Tours in Singapore, the Bumiputra Outbound Tours Association in Malaysia and Panorama Tours in Indonesia attending JTM this year,” he said.
Between July 2010 and 2012, the number of visitors from Malaysia and Indonesia to Japan grew by 29.9 per cent and 10.4 per cent, respectively. Tourist arrivals from Singapore dropped by 14.7 per cent over the same period.
