TTG Asia
Asia/Singapore Tuesday, 27th January 2026
Page 1165

TripAdvisor unveils sponsored content offerings for destinations

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TripAdvisor has introduced a new sponsorship opportunity exclusively for tourism organisations seeking increased engagement of their content within the platform’s newly revamped destination search pages.

The new destination sponsorship offering provides a platform for media buyers to showcase and shape their story and connect to travellers who are seeking new ideas on where to stay, dine or visit.

TripAdvisor unveils new sponsored content experience

Christine Maguire, vice- president, advertising revenue for TripAdvisor, said: “Our platform allows our tourism partners to do two key things: reach more travellers and share differentiated experiences. By using rich media, inclusive of vibrant imagery, video and curated travel experiences, our partners can influence and reach more travellers during the exact moment when they are most open to discovering new places to visit.”

A recent analysis of more than 300 destination marketing partners utilising the new sponsored content offering within the travel feed saw an aggregate 25 per cent lift in increased content engagement.

The new destination sponsorship includes a cover photo with destination branding, photo albums, ad placement and a discovery carousel.

TripAdvisor says the destination sponsorship is the first of many sponsored products aimed at helping to elevate partner content to more relevant, high-intent travellers throughout their journey on the platform.

Aviation roundup: IndiGo, LOT Polish Airlines, and more

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IndiGo adds Myanmar to network
Indian LCC IndiGo will operate a daily non-stop flight between Kolkata and Yangon effective September 20, 2019.

Outbound flights will depart Kolkata at 11.30, and arrive in Yangon at 14.30. Return flights will leave Yangon at 15.30, and arrive in Kolkata at 16.30.

Yangon is the LCC’s 18th international and 77th overall destination.

LOT to add Seoul route from Budapest
LOT Polish Airlines will soon add its first longhaul route to Seoul’s Incheon International Airport from Budapest Airport in Hungary.

The carrier will operate the route three times per week using Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner aircraft, starting September 22, 2019.

LO2001 will depart Budapest at 12.25 and arrive in Incheon at 06.05 the following day. Return flight LO2002 will depart Incheon at 07.30, and land in Budapest at 13.15.

The route is the airline’s second overall to the South Korean city. It already operates a five-weekly service between Warsaw Frederic Chopin and Seoul, which opened in 2016.

Air New Zealand boosts Bali capacity by 80% for 2020
Come 2020, Air New Zealand is increasing capacity on its Auckland-Bali seasonal service by 80 per cent, equivalent to 30,000 additional seats.

Currently, the airline operates thrice-weekly services on its Auckland-Bali route from late June to mid-October using Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner aircraft, increasing up to four weekly services during peak periods.

Next year, the airline will operate its seasonal services from April 11 through October 24, with up to six weekly services, subject to regulatory approvals.

Qantas dangles perks for international customers
Qantas has unveiled new perks for customers travelling to Australia, where eligible customers can use their Qantas international flight booking to unlock a range of more than 40 special offers to experience nature, wildlife and culture around Australia.

Launched in partnership with Australia’s state tourism organisations, Qantas Passenger Perks include 20 per cent off BridgeClimb Sydney to 30 per cent off a surf lesson at Bondi Beach for adventure seekers. Food lovers can enjoy offers at select Neil Perry restaurants, the Jacob’s Creek Food and Wine Masterclass and the D’Arenberg Winery in South Australia.

Meanwhile, nature lovers can go snorkelling with turtles in the Gold Coast, whale watching in Port Macquarie, or even fly Western Australia’s Aviair Bungle Bungle Adventurer. New offers to be added over coming months.

In addition to Qantas Passenger Perks, international customers also have access to Qantas Explorer fares, which are special fares for domestic flights across Australia when they fly with Qantas internationally.

Vietjet links Phu Quoc with more destinations
Vietjet has revealed plans to launch new routes and increase flight frequencies to and from the Vietnamese island of Phu Quoc.

The two domestic routes will be between Phu Quoc and Danang, and Phu Quoc and Van Don. The new routes will operate at a frequency of seven flights per week from the end of this year and the middle of next year respectively.

Two new international routes (air charters) were also announced for China: Phu Quoc – Chengdu and Phu Quoc – Chongqing, with three round-trip flights per week starting from the end of 2019.

The flight frequencies of two international routes Phu Quoc – Hong Kong and Phu Quoc – Incheon (South Korea) will also be increased to six flights per week and 14 flights per week respectively from the coming winter months.

Book a room in Bali’s awe-inspiring clifftop accommodation!

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Photo: Pool Corner

Sitting on one of Bali’s awe-inspiring cliffs above a beautiful surfing beach, our first Indonesian resort is the essence of upscale luxury, sophistication and style. Although truly modern, the resort’s unique architecture reflects the wonder of native Balinese craftsmanship. In the context of our mesmerizingly beautiful natural location, it is both harmoniously integrated and boldly fresh.

Photo: Deluxe Ocean View Room

You will enjoy private panoramic views of our incredible location and grounds from any of our gorgeous accommodation options. Choose one of our 111 Deluxe Rooms featuring balconies on upper floors and sundecks on lower floors, or indulge in one of our 14 spectacular Suites with luxurious rooftop terraces. Culturally-inspired, contemporary detailing makes our designer resort both refreshing and authentic.

Photo: Dinner Set-Up at Choka Garden

With our two charming restaurants and three upbeat bars, we are a highlight of Bali’s gastronomic scene. Artichoke serves up Radisson Blu’s signature Super Breakfast, Indonesian specialties and international favorites. Filini pairs sumptuous food and wine with art, music and an informal, unmistakably Italian, buzz. Lookout is the place to go for casual cocktail and tapas pairings overlooking the ocean. Choka is for poolside surf-inspired bites and thirst quenchers. And Lucid Liquids is your go-to spot for juices, herbal teas and traditional remedies.

Photo: Filini

When it comes to choosing a collaborator for your business meetings and events, look no further. Our boldly innovative Radisson Meetings concept is designed to impress and inspire your delegates in two versatile meeting rooms that can accommodate up to 240 guests.

The elegant beauty of our wedding pavilion is the perfect setting for an intimate ceremony wand up to 20 guests. Nestled within our beautifully landscaped gardens near the pool with a stunning water feature surrounding the pavilion, the atmosphere is one of tranquil simplicity. Moving onto the evening reception, within the same part of the grounds, a carved Balinese dining pavilion hosts your selected gourmet menu in the warm, romantic glow of hanging lanterns.

Be soothed or invigorated at Spa Esc – our exclusive retreat in which organic ingredients and luxurious treatments revitalize mind, body and soul. Situated at the very heart of the resort, its seven private treatment rooms provide serene havens in which to enjoy everything from aromatherapy to traditional Balinese massage. If you seek a more energetic experience, put our fully-equipped gym through its paces or join our daily Yoga classes.

Pristine beaches are a fact of Uluwatu life. Known for their soft sands, crystalline waters, world-class surf, sunset cocktails and relaxed dining – they offer the perfect ocean side experience. Golfers novice or pro will find the perfect challenge in the links at New Kuta Golf. Guests could join complimentary shuttle service to Padang Padang Beach and Uluwatu Temple, one of Bali’s sacred temple for the culture seekers.

Rekindle your romance amid the captivating ambiance of Uluwatu with Blu Romance Package through our website www.radissonblu.com/resort-bali /hotel-deals/romance or reach out to us via e-mail at rhi_rdbu@radisson.com to host your next corporate event at the new meeting destination.

NDC – Where are we now?

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Photo: Gianni Pisanello

Brought to you by Gianni Pisanello, VP of Amadeus NDC [X]

Amadeus' NDC Journey

The introduction of NDC eight years ago was part of a wider mission to digitalise the entire travel industry. However, while plenty has already been achieved, we are still at the very beginning of this journey. To fully realise the potential of NDC, full scale global adoption is required from travel sellers and airlines.

Despite the benefits offered by NDC, the travel sector faces challenges in evolving the standard of tech to a level that will allow it to be used widely. Firstly, the lack of true standardisation within NDC remains a major challenge for the industry. Airlines today use different versions of NDC, which support different functionalities and use cases. For NDC to work for the industry, it is crucial that we create a shared understanding across the industry.

Furthermore, there is a need for performance and scalability to be ramped up through APIs which support large amount of transactions per second. The third and final challenge is the development of the commercial model – stakeholders need to benefit economically from NDC to ensure its global adoption. Last year, we launched NDC [X] to help address these challenges and drive widespread uptake across the industry.

Driving NDC adoption

However, despite these challenges, we have achieved remarkable progress since NDC was launched in 2011. At Amadeus, our partners have embraced the NDC [X] program, with big names including Flight Centre, Travix, Qantas, Singapore Airlines and Cathay Pacific joining the list of partners. These partnerships now mean that we are helping partners take live NDC bookings.

Whilst defining our NDC approach at Amadeus, we consulted all stakeholders extensively across the industry. The consensus was that a simplified, future proof environment that offered the full benefits of NDC and could manage future initiatives like One Order was the best approach. This is the vision that we are committed to and working towards.

The powerful benefits of NDC

Ultimately, NDC will deliver new benefits to the entire travel industry. By working closely together, the industry will be able to unlock new value for travellers, and in doing so, generate more business for all. For example, NDC has the potential to bring travellers richer and more tailored content at the time of booking. This could come in the form of packaged deals personalised to each traveller or corporation.

Whilst the myriad of travel possibilities and combinations provides a huge opportunity for travel sellers, it is also creating one of the most important issues in the travel industry: content fragmentation. The challenge is aggregating and normalising travel content from multiple sources so it can be searched and compared by both travel sellers and travellers quickly and efficiently. By integrating NDC capabilities into the Amadeus Travel Platform we help travel sellers reduce fragmentation by giving access to a full range of travel offers through the click of a button (and without the need for more expensive and less scalable alternatives).

Why we must continue to collaborate

So, it’s been over a year since the initial launch of NDC [X], but what does the next 12 months look like? We know that NDC will be more of an evolution than a revolution, with pace largely dependent on true standardisation, performance and the right economic model. Ultimately, if airlines can create new value and new exciting offers with NDC, then this will drive additional revenues for the industry and lead to further investment in technology. And, if NDC works for travel sellers as well as airlines, then we will get adoption at much greater scale across the industry. For NDC to reveal its full set of benefits, it is crucial that the industry collaborates and works together. Through NDC [X], we are continuing to innovate – and look forward to global enablement of NDC through our Web Services, Selling Platform Connect and cytric Travel & Expense solutions.

Working together with industry-leading airlines and travel sellers, we are well on our way to realizing the full potential of NDC – a reflection of our continued commitment to ensuring our partners have new way to access rich, relevant and diverse content at the tips of their fingers.

Photo: Gianni Pisanello
Photo: Gianni Pisanello

Gianni Pisanello
Vice-President, NDC [X] Program, Amadeus IT Group

Since December 2017, Gianni is responsible for defining and executing Amadeus’ vision around IATA’s New Distribution Capability (NDC). In collaboration with airlines, travel sellers and IATA, Gianni is tasked with identifying and delivering the right NDC-based solutions that integrate the needs of all industry stakeholders, under the right economics.

Since joining Amadeus in 2005, Gianni has held a number of positions within the company, including:

  • Airline Business Strategy Director (currently acting), overseeing the full scope of Amadeus’ airline related businesses
  • Strategic Marketing Director, Airline Distribution, where he oversaw Commercial Strategy, Product Portfolio, and Marketing Communications
  • Director of Commercial Finance, reporting directly to the Chief Financial Officer, where he led the department that provides deal, pricing and negotiation support to commercial teams worldwide, across all business units.

Prior to Amadeus, he worked in private equity at Permira, covering technology and telecoms, as well as in strategy consulting.

Gianni holds an MBA from INSEAD, an MSc from the London School of Economics and a MEng in Aeronautics from Imperial College London.

Cathay Pacific promotes Lavinia Lau to director commercial

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Lavinia Lau

Cathay Pacific Airways has appointed Lavinia Lau as director commercial, taking over from director commercial & cargo Ronald Lam who is now CEO of HK Express, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Cathay Pacific.

In her new role, Lau is responsible for the passenger functions of revenue management and sales and distribution, together with planning for both the passenger and freighter fleet and network.

Lavinia Lau

Previously, Lau was general manager planning, where she was tasked with formulating and executing the fleet, network and scheduling strategy for both Cathay Pacific and Cathay Dragon for the last four years.

Lau first started her career as a Swire Group management trainee and joined Cathay Pacific in 1999. Over the years she has held various managerial positions on the commercial side of the airline, including e-business, alliance, loyalty and revenue management.

In 2010, she was appointed vice president Canada and managed the airline’s business and operations out of both Vancouver and Toronto. From August 2012, she was general manager sales, Pearl River Delta & Hong Kong, overseeing the airline’s passenger sales in the airline’s home market.

Indonesia plans Rp3.5 trillion to turn Lake Toba into ‘classy destination’

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The Indonesian government has allotted Rp3.5 trillion (US$250 million) of the national budget for tourism development in the Lake Toba Area, North Sumatra.

Speaking at the Sipinsur Park Geosite, North Sumatra, on Monday, Indonesian president Joko Widodo said he was setting aside the budget to turn Lake Toba into a “classy destination”.

Lake Toba

“However, the products need to be improved (and) the brand needs to be uplifted so that it becomes a must-visit destination,” he said.

The development will require huge investments and an integrated public-private partnership approach, of which private-sector investment is likely to be several times more than the government funding.

Joko said the area has 28 potential tourism sites, which will be further clustered into different concepts spanning cultural, historic and natural.

The government will also need to integrate the product offerings, human resources, packaging, brand image and the environment, in order to position Lake Toba as a unique destination in Indonesia.

‘As such, when travelling to the country, visitors will find that (Toba) is different from Bali, Mandalika (Lombok) and other destinations,” Jokowi said.

He added that development of the tourism facility at Toba would start this year and is expected to be completed within a year.

Infrastructure development in Lake Toba has been underway since 2018, and currently only 21km of the 123km-long Samosir Ring Road awaits completion.

Sri Lanka cancels tradeshows as free VoAs for 45 countries rolled out

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Galle Fort pictured

Sri Lanka has cancelled roadshows for the remaining year and instead relies on offering free on-arrival visas for 45 countries, including India and China, from August 1, to entice visitors back to Sri Lanka as the country’s tourism industry recovers from the aftermath of the Easter Sunday bombings.

According to tourism minister John Amaratunga, the free on-arrival visas offered to 45 countries was initially set to take effect from May 1, but was delayed due to the April 21 bombings of three luxury hotels and three Christian churches that killed more than 300 people, including 50 tourists.

Sri Lanka wants visitors back; Galle Fort pictured

Sri Lankan Tourism Promotion Bureau chairman Kishu Gomes noted that roadshows were being cancelled as some industry stakeholders felt that they are less effective and, hence, not a priority at this stage.

Large tourism businesses, essentially DMCs, are the ones opposed to roadshows, saying the government needs to first speed up its promotion and marketing campaign.

A new tourism promotion and marketing campaign worth 916 million Sri Lankan rupees (US$5 million) was originally slated to roll out in mid-July but has been delayed due to bureaucratic procedures, according to Gomes.

The decision to turn away from roadshow promotion has, however, also prompted outcry among members of the Sri Lanka trade.

Rasika Rajapakse, general secretary of Association of Small and Medium Enterprises in Tourism Sri Lanka (ASMET), said roadshows, which are subsidised to the trade, were vital to small businesses that are unable to expend large sums of money to participate in trade fairs.

ASMET is planning to appeal to prime minister Ranil Wickremesinghe and the tourism minister John Amaratunga to restore roadshows, Rajapakse said.

RedDoorz raises US$45m Series B funding to fuel SE Asia growth

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Singapore-based budget hotel booking platform RedDoorz raises US$45m in Series B funds

Singapore-based hospitality management booking platform RedDoorz has raised US$45 million in a Series B round led by Chinese venture capital firm, Qiming Venture Partners.

Other co-investors include Indonesia-based media company MNC Group, as well as existing investors Jungle Ventures, Hendale Capital, International Finance Corporation and Susquehanna International Group.

Singapore-based budget hotel booking platform RedDoorz raises US$45m in Series B funds

RedDoorz said it will use the funds to aggressively pursue growth strategies and increase its lead in South-east Asia’s hospitality segment.

Amit Saberwal, founder and CEO of RedDoorz, said: “Our growth in 2018-2019 has been exponential. It has been such an important period for us as we were able to set the pace and establish new industry benchmarks in the affordable hospitality segment in South-east Asia.”

Helen Wong, a partner at Qiming Venture Partners, said: “We have seen the trend of budget hotel chains in China about 15 years ago, and believe that standardised accommodation at affordable prices will appeal to consumers and business travellers in South-east Asia too. As online penetration of the travel industry grows, RedDoorz will be a key beneficiary with the most extensive network of hotels in the region.”

RedDoorz recently announced that it is on track to achieve one million occupied room nights per month by year-end. As of July 2019, RedDoorz is growing five times year on year and it has reached 500,000 occupied room nights, said the start-up.

The start-up currently has operations across more than 80 cities in four countries in the region, namely, Singapore, Indonesia, the Philippines and Vietnam. It operates more than 1,200 budget hotels and properties.

Star Alliance finds biometric tech partner in Japan’s NEC

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Masakazu Yamashina, Executive Vice President NEC Corporation and Jeffrey Goh, Chief Executive Officer, Star Alliance

Star Alliance airline network and Japanese technology company NEC Corporation have signed an agreement to “develop a biometric data-based identification platform” that will significantly improve the travel experience for frequent flyer programme customers of Star Alliance member airlines.

Poised for introduction at a Star Alliance airport hub by 1Q2020, the service will be available to customers who are enrolled in one of Star Alliance’s frequent flyer programmes, and who have authorised the use of their biometric data.

NEC Corporation’s Masakazu Yamashina and Star Alliance’s Jeffrey Goh

Personal data, such as photo and other identification details, are encrypted and safely stored within the platform. Customers only need to enrol once with their mobile device, and will then be able to use their biometrics data multiple times at biometrics touchpoints at any participating airport whenever they travel with a Star Alliance member airline.

NEC also added in a statement that “the system has been designed in compliance with applicable data protection laws making use of the latest facial recognition technology”.

Regardless, passengers may still be required to show their passport during security and immigration procedures.

Once implemented, Star Alliance customers who opt-in to biometrics will have a seamless and handsfree passenger experience, allowing them to pass through curb-to-gate touchpoints within airports, such as check-in kiosks, bag-drop, lounges and boarding gates.

Takashi Niino, president and CEO of NEC Corporation, said in a statement: “Facial recognition is truly revolutionising the airline industry and making flying more enjoyable, just as it was always intended. In support of this partnership, similar to our implementations in the US, Singapore, Hong Kong and Japan, NEC will mobilise its global resources and provide local assistance to each of the member airlines to leverage this secure, interoperable platform and rapidly bring our common vision to reality.”

Best Western names regional director of commercial Asia

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Best Western Hotels & Resorts has appointed Venushe Wickramarathne as regional director of commercial – Asia.

Based in Best Western’s regional head office in Bangkok, Wickramarathne will oversee the sales and marketing activities for the group’s entire collection of hotels and resorts in South-east Asia and Japan, encompassing all 16 of the company’s brands.

The hospitality professional has obtained his work experience through a series of roles in Europe and Asia, rising from night manager at an AccorHotels property in Zurich to deputy head of sales – events & banqueting for the Cinnamon Grand hotel in Colombo, Sri Lanka.

In 2017, he joined Centara Hotels & Resorts, initially as area director of sales & marketing for Colombo, before moving to Thailand in January 2018 to become the company’s area director of sales & marketing for Krabi.