Chinese wholesaler Qiyouji partners VLeisure to gain access to Vietnam inventory

November 5, 2019

China’s flight and hotel wholesaler, Guangdong Qiyouji International Travel Service (Qiyouji), has inked a deal with Vietnamese booking platform VLeisure in a partnership that will give Qiyouji access to a wide variety of Vietnamese inventory at local rates.

Anson Neo, marketing and partnership director of Qiyouji, said that this partnership means the company can “offer premium inventory, including hotels and flights, at extremely competitive rates”.

China’s wholesaler Qiyouji partners VLeisure to gain access to a wide variety of Vietnamese inventory

VLeisure’s online platform will enable Qiyouji to make online travel and accommodation bookings, plan tours, as well as purchase travel insurance and other relevant products in Vietnam.

VLeisure’s CEO Phan Le said: “As a tech company and marketplace for hotels, suppliers, airlines and travel agencies, we empower OTAs by managing and distributing their travel products. Agents have access to our extensive range of inventory and the tools to manage and book products in real time and more efficiently. It means that there are fewer manual inputs and interruptions.”

VLeisure, which operates in Asia, Australia and Europe, provides a marketplace and infrastructure for hotels, suppliers, airlines and travel agencies, said the company in a statement. Travel businesses in over 147 countries use its online tools to prepare contracts, compare tariffs and distribute their products, as well as manage customer enquiries, it added.

Finnair finds rosy growth prospects in Asia

By S Puvaneswary

November 5, 2019

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Asia remains a key growth market for Finnair, as the carrier plans to step up frequency and capacity on key routes to match demand from the region.

Finnair will grow its network in Asia by 12 per cent this year, having increased frequencies to Hong Kong and Narita to twice daily from this summer. In December, it will add twice-weekly services to Sapporo in Hokkaido to become the first European carrier to serve the Hokkaido route since KLM suspended its services in 2002.

Finnair continues to grow its Asian network

The carrier will further expand its services in North Asia next year, commencing daily flights from Helsinki to Haneda and thrice-weekly flights from Helsinki to Busan in March.

Finnair’s general manager for Asia-Pacific, Tamas Hanyi, said that overall passenger growth on its Singapore-Helsinki route had increased by seven per cent last year, while group travel had surged 30 per cent in the same period.

He added that “bookings on the Singapore-Helsinki route in 1Q2020 are also looking really good,” despite headwinds from the ongoing US-China trade war and the uncertainty surrounding Brexit.

Positive sentiments are also observed for Asia as a tourist source market for Finland.

Said Mervi Toivonen, director of Visit Finland global sales promotion: “Travel from Asia to Finland is growing steadily with a 10 per cent increase from January to August 2019.”

He added that the total number of overnight stays by Asian visitors in Finland has risen by 10 per cent in the first eight months of this year, as compared to the same period in 2018.

Thailand’s ‘Wild Boars’ rescue cave now open to visitors

By TTG Asia

November 5, 2019

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The first chamber of the famous Tham Luang cave has reopened to the public on Friday, according to a report by The Bangkok Post.

The cave complex, located in Thailand’s Chiang Rai province, was the site of a dramatic rescue effort of 12 boys and their soccer coach who were trapped underground for 17 days.

Part of the famous Tham Luang cave reopens to the public after restoration works

Officials of Tham Luang Khun Nam Nang Non National Park were quoted by the report as saying that at least 2,000 visitors thronged the park to be among the first to see part of the cave, which was previously closed to tourists for safety reasons and restoration efforts.

Only 20 people at a time are allowed to enter the cave and they need a permit from the park, according to the report.

Tham Luang was upgraded from a forest park to a national park last month after it received global attention from the three-day international rescue effort to excavate the young players and their trainer, said the report.

About 1.5 million people visited Tham Luang in the last fiscal year, although they were not allowed to enter the cave as the area was still undergoing restoration works, it added.

Vietjet steps up integrated ASEAN sky efforts with two new Thai routes

By TTG Asia

November 5, 2019

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Photo_6 — Vietnam’s prime minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc (third from right) and Thailand’s deputy prime minister Anutin Charnvirakul (fourth from right), alongside leaders of Vietjet, grace the launch of the airline’s new routes

Vietjet will soon commence two direct flights from Bangkok and Chiang Rai to Udon Thani, a north-eastern Thai province with a significant Vietnamese overseas community.

The opening ceremony for the new routes, attended by Vietnam’s prime minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc and Thailand’s deputy prime minister Anutin Charnvirakul, as well as senior delegates from both countries, was held during the 35th ASEAN Summit in Bangkok from November 2-4, 2019.

Vietjet launches two new routes in Thailand during ASEAN Summit

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“The two cities of Chiang Rai and Udon Thani that Vietjet has chosen are tourist destinations not only for Thais but also foreign travellers… The new routes will surely contribute to the transportation and cooperation between Thailand and Vietnam,” said Anutin.

The Bangkok-Udon Thani route will operate daily from November 25, 2019. Flights will depart Bangkok at 19.20 and arrive in Udon Thani at 20.30, while the return flight will take off from Udon Thani at 21.10 and arrive in Bangkok at 22.20. An additional thrice-weekly service will be available every Tuesday, Thursday and Sunday. Flights will depart Bangkok at 16.25 and arrive in Udon Thani at 17.35.

The Chiang Rai-Udon Thani route will be available thrice-weekly every Tuesday, Thursday and Sunday, from November 26, 2019. Flights will depart from Udon Thani at 18.05 and arrive in Chiang Rai at 19.10, while the return flight will take off from Chiang Rai at 19.40 and arrive in Udon Thani at 20.45.

Grasshopper Adventures heads off the beaten tracks in Myanmar

By TTG Asia

November 5, 2019

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Grasshopper Adventures, a bicycle tour operator in Asia, has launched two new guided tours that seek to take adventurers off the beaten track and uncover a hidden side of each destination.

Inle to Samkar, a 2-day Adventure

The two-day tour offers an opportunity to explore the lesser-known lower part of the Inle and Samkar lakes. Participants get to cycle the upper and lower lake on little-travelled roads and discover parts of the area that remain hidden from the eyes of most tourists. Here, guests see village and farm life the way it has been for centuries in Myanmar. A combination of bikes, boats, and kayaks gives access to all of the lake’s beauty and Instagrammable surroundings.

Located in Phaya Taung village, guests spend the night in a family-run resort made up of individual bungalows. Priced at US$285 per pax, the tour also includes meals and accommodation.

Bagan Countryside Sunset by Bike and Boat

With a focus on nature, culture, and life in the countryside, the tour around the Unesco World Heritage Site is targeted at those who have already visited Bagan’s famous pagodas. After an afternoon cycling through rural trails and villages and into the dry-zone’s most fertile area, the day concludes with a sunset cruise down the Irrawaddy River, with drinks and local snacks provided. Priced at US$60 per pax.

Both tours are available year-round at Grasshopper Adventures’ Nyaug Shwe and Bagan locations respectively. Available for purchase through the company’s website, these tours are also available for DMCs and local travel agents interested in offering unique products to their customers.

New GM for Kata Rocks

By TTG Asia

November 5, 2019

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Gordon Aeria has been appointed general manager of Kata Rocks.

The Singaporean boasts over 30 years of diverse international hotelier experience and 15 years of general manager experience in seven different countries across Asia-Pacific.

He has held roles in Accor, Shangri-La Hotels, Dusit Thani as well as many independent hotels.

Fosun snaps up Thomas Cook’s brand name for US$14.3 million

By TTG Asia

November 4, 2019

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China’s Fosun Tourism Group has acquired the Thomas Cook brand name, along with subsidiary hotel chains Casa Cook and Cook’s Club, for £11 million (US$14.3 million), according to a Reuters report.

Under the agreement, the assets include the trademarks, domain names, software applications, social media accounts and licenses of the British travel firm and related hotel brands, the report quoted Fosun as saying. The Chinese firm has no plans to buy overseas assets or businesses related to Thomas Cook for now, it added.

China’s Fosun buys Thomas Cook brand for US$14.2 million

“The acquisition of the Thomas Cook brand will enable the group to expand its tourism business building on the extensive brand awareness of Thomas Cook and the robust growth momentum of Chinese outbound tourism,” the report quoted Fosun Tourism’s chairman Qian Jiannong as saying.

This latest development comes in the wake of Fosun’s earlier failed rescue deal to save Thomas Cook from collapse, forcing the travel group to file for liquidation in September. Its collapse triggered the largest ever peacetime repatriation in UK to bring home 150,000 holidaymakers stranded abroad.

Fosun Tourism, which was Thomas Cook’s largest shareholder, played a key role in a proposed £900 million bailout in August. The Chinese conglomerate had offered to pitch in £450 million in return for a majority stake in the firm’s tour operator business and 25 per cent of its airline.

But the deal fell through when Thomas Cook failed to secure further funds from other lenders.

WebBeds rolls out destination performance tool

By TTG Asia

November 4, 2019

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B2B accommodation provider WebBeds has launched the WebBeds Destination Index (WBDI), a tool that tracks hotel booking trends weekly to provide an overview of the market and offer basis for future projections.

The launch of the WBDI, said WebBeds, is a show of solidarity for Hong Kong’s struggling travel and hospitality industry, coming at a critical time when travel and accommodation providers need reliable data to work with.

WebBeds launches destination performance tool

WebBeds’ CCO Sun Kok Sheng said: “This insightful and intuitive new tool will allow the city’s hoteliers and tourism operators to cut through the confusion and gain a clear picture of the situation.”

WBDI delivers this by measuring a wide range of key performance indicators, including the number of bookings, total transaction value, room nights, and average daily rate; and benchmarking them against a 52-week average. It divides Hong Kong into four distinct areas – Kowloon, Hong Kong Island, Lantau Island and Others – and categorises hotels by their star rating, so each hotel can understand exactly how their sector is faring.

Through aggregating these data, WBDI creates an overall Market Index that will benefit the entire travel trade. WebBeds’ in-house data and analytics team have also crafted a series of future projections based on these trends and curated various strategies for execution.

After Hong Kong, the WBDI will be rolled out progressively across selected destinations in Asia-Pacific.

WebBeds’ CEO Daryl Lee commented: “We have been in conversation with a lot of our hotel partners in different parts of the world and will be launching WBDI across Asia in coming months. The gist is to give them better insights into what’s out there, who’s looking at their destination, their location and their hotel. Moreover, the index offers great access to broad data and analytics on what’s working and what’s not.”

Looking ahead, WebBeds is expected to play a more active role in destination marketing, according to Lee. Already, the B2B accommodation supplier has worked with Tourism Switzerland to stage roadshows in Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand and Indonesia to drive summer traffic, as well as sealing an MoU with Sichuan Tourism Investment JinJiang Hotel (STIJH) and partnering with Macau Government Tourism Office to attract arrivals from Indonesia.

Lee added: “In fact, a lot of NTOs do B2C marketing, but the activation is incomplete unless every single player like agents and airlines (also come into) the landscape… We have a couple more projects in the pipeline, so watch this space.”

– Additional reporting from Prudence Lui

Airbnb puts forth guidelines for Thailand’s short-term lodging market

By TTG Asia

November 4, 2019

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Airbnb has released its proposed regulatory principles for short-term accommodation in Thailand, which the home-sharing giant says would support the Thai government’s goal of driving tourist growth in the country and diversifying Thai tourism.

These principles would support local priorities and reflect Thailand’s unique needs, and are consistent with best practices for regulating short-term accommodation regionally and globally, the company said in a statement.

Airbnb releases guidelines for Thailand’s short-term accommodation market

The regulatory principles also reflect latest research conducted by Expedition Strategies in late 2018, which found that 88 per cent of Thai people would support residents in their neighbourhoods sharing their homes, 89 per cent would consider using short-term accommodation in the future and 84 per cent believe short-term accommodation is good for communities because it will bring tourists to more areas where they will spend money.

Airbnb’s proposed regulatory principles, which was developed following meetings with multiple government departments and industry stakeholders, include:

A simple online registration system for short-term accommodation to ensure compliance and promote high safety standards.

A differentiated approach to regulation which distinguishes between the various types of short-term accommodation activity. For example, regulations should differentiate between someone sharing a room in their home, their own home occasionally or someone with a vacation rental for full commercial purpose.

There should be an industry-wide approach to regulation and close cooperation between all industry participants and regulators in implementing regulations.

As well, tough but fair penalties for bad behaviour should be imposed, said the travel giant.

“Airbnb wants to be a good and responsible partner to the government and do what we can to help Thailand achieve its tourism objectives. Already, our local community is helping to grow and diversify the Thai tourism industry and spread the benefits of tourism to local communities across the country, particularly those in emerging destinations like Buriram,” Airbnb’s head of public policy for South-east Asia, Mich Goh, said.

“For some time, we have listened to local authorities and sought to better understand their priorities. We appreciate the balanced and forward-looking approach the Thai government has considered to take in developing a modern regulatory framework for short-term accommodation.”

Go Vacation expands into Cambodia

By TTG Asia

November 4, 2019

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Bangkok-based DMC Go Vacation has announced its expansion into Cambodia, with full-scale inbound tour services for travellers launched since November 1.

Experienced tour operating veteran Bampenh Ho has been appointed as the country manager for Go Vacation’s new Cambodia operations.

Bangkok-based DMC Go Vacation expands into Cambodia

Go Vacation Cambodia comprises two new offices – a head office in Phnom Penh and a branch office in Siem Reap – to offer a comprehensive range of services covering the whole country.

Go Vacation now runs 20 offices across six countries, namely Thailand, Indonesia, Vietnam, Cambodia, Sri Lanka and India.

Chinese wholesaler Qiyouji partners VLeisure to gain access to Vietnam inventory

Finnair finds rosy growth prospects in Asia

Thailand’s ‘Wild Boars’ rescue cave now open to visitors

Vietjet steps up integrated ASEAN sky efforts with two new Thai routes

Grasshopper Adventures heads off the beaten tracks in Myanmar

New GM for Kata Rocks

Fosun snaps up Thomas Cook’s brand name for US$14.3 million

WebBeds rolls out destination performance tool

Airbnb puts forth guidelines for Thailand’s short-term lodging market

Go Vacation expands into Cambodia

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