Passengers on Thai Airways International (THAI) will now have the option of selecting preferred seats on all international flights. From July 27, Economy Class and Royal Silk Class passengers may take advantage of this service.
The preferred seat fee will vary based on actual flight distance flown.
Thai Airways to charge extra for preferred seats
After tickets have been issued, Economy Class passengers will be able to purchase front row or exit row seats in each zone of Economy Class. Royal Silk Class passengers will be able to purchase First Class seats on flights where preferred seats service is available.
Preferred seats will be available for purchase on THAI’s website beginning mid-August.
Angie Stephens, managing director, Asia Pacific, mingling with agents
The Royal Caribbean International Asia Pacific team recently celebrated its 50 Years Bold global anniversary with its travel partners at a cocktail event held at Mandarin Orchard Hotel.
Angie Stephens, managing director, Asia Pacific, mingling with agents
Angie Stephen, managing director, Asia Pacific, thanked attendees for the strong partnerships that have contributed to Royal Caribbean’s long-time success in the region. The entire team look to the year’s next big highlights – the upcoming refurbishments and new seasons of Voyager of the Seas and Quantum of the Seas in Singapore.
Rover Tours Group’s Lord of The Rings themed tours
If Hollywood is the film capital of the US, then Wellington is New Zealand’s. In Wellington, affectionately termed Wellywood, the film industry is the second largest employer.
Rover Tours Group’s Lord of The Rings themed tours
Most notably, the Lord of the Rings (LOTR) movies catapulted the city into greater prominence not only in the film industry but also in tourism.
Scott Courtney, director of Rover Tours Group, said: “Before LOTR there were about five films made here. Since the first LOTR film, there has been nearly 200 (and counting).”
Tours themed around LOTR are Rover Tours Group’s best selling products.
“We have not seen any year where the demand for the tour was down since (the first film) was launched in 2001,” he said.
Having said that, famous film locations are not all that the city has to offer, as evidenced by the growing number of tourists visiting the city for overnight stays rather than just day tours.
Wellington has seen the average length of stay of tourists increase from point-zero night 10 years ago to around two nights today.
Philip Louie, trade and sales manager of Rover Tours Group, said: “(Traditionally), travellers followed the Golden route of Auckland down to Rotorua. They might get to Wellington, not to stay, but to catch the ferry to go to the South Island.
“We have started to see that change a little bit. A lot of this has to do with high season capacity in New Zealand where places like Rotorua and Napier are so overly done.”
Travellers are having to seek out less crowded spots to visit during high season – and Wellington fits the bill to a tee. “Our peak seasons particularly for accommodation are almost reversed. Being the country’s political capital, we receive the most visitors during the weekdays and in the middle of the year.
“If we look at the accommodation capacity on weekends and particularly around Christmas and New Years, Wellington hotels tend to be at their lowest occupancy. Hotel rates also tend to be lower on weekends than weekends,” Louie observed.
Furthermore, over the past 10 years, the tourism supply has been growing considerably since the Te Papa Museum opened in 1999. Local products like craft beer and coffee in particular have increasingly figured into tourists’ itineraries.
Helen Tickner, marketing manager of Tranzit Group, added: “Wellington may not attract first-time travellers to New Zealand, but repeat visitors enjoy the city because it offers something different. Brewery tours, for example, are popular.”
Meanwhile, Kapiti Island, which started off with day tours and domestic demand, has stepped up its offer to international tourists.
Len Yu, tourism trade specialist of Wellington Tourism, said that it is not realistic to expect travellers to come a long way only to visit Wellington – but visitors should stay a minimum of two nights in order to truly experience what the city has to offer.
“Wellington is very compact. Many activities take only half a day or a few hours, and one attraction is close to another. This allows travellers to have multiple activities within one day,” Yu said.
While this has worked well for daytrippers, tourism players will have no trouble piecing together overnight itineraries for visitors.
Yu remarked: “Wellington attracts those who are looking deeper into getting local experiences.”
Experiences such as behind-the-scene tours of beer breweries or chocolate factories, or having a meal hosted by a local family, tell the Wellington story to tourists.
In addition, Rover Tours Group, recently introduced the Seal Coast Safari, a half-day 4×4 tour to see the seal colony in the South Coast of Wellington.
As well, Museum of New Zealand: Te Papa Tongarewa, a major attraction in the city, has just added Te Taiao Nature, an interactive experience with specimens showcasing New Zealand’s unique environment.
Working in Wellington’s favour is Singapore Airlines’ recently launched services between Singapore and Wellington via Melbourne.
“Even if you arrive in Auckland, there is a flight to Wellington every 15 minutes, so accessibility is not really an issue,” Yu said.
As functional aviation hubs evolve into destinations for today’s high-tempo and experience-driven travellers, lines are blurring between airport and destination, physical and digital customer experience, and the different stages of air travel.
The Rain Vortex is a centrepiece at Singapore’s newly opened Jewel Changi Airport
To adapt to new needs of today’s travellers, airports are increasingly incorporating entertainment features, immersive retail experiences, as well as design or product elements that evoke a sense of place.
The concept of airports as experience hubs was brought to fruition, arguably in its most complete form to-date, when Jewel Changi Airport was launched this year as a massive lifestyle destination with multi-dimensional offerings (see sidebar).
In Hong Kong, the SkyCity megaproject is underway, scheduled to be completed in phases between 2023 and 2027. Connected to Hong Kong International Airport, the landmark will boast 35ha of floor area, comprising 19.5ha for dining and retail outlets and 5.3ha each for experience-based entertainment facilities and office space.
New World Development was awarded the tender for the project, which it hopes would serve as a commercial-retail-entertainment hub for locals and visitors from the Greater Bay Area and abroad. The project is expected to introduce an array of international “technovation” brands to the city and region, including Hong Kong’s first indoor and outdoor go-kart track, AR and VR interactive game facilities and an “experiential zone” for kids.
With Airport Authority Hong Kong’s acquisition of AsiaWorld-Expo (AWE), located within a multi-modal transport hub and fully integrated with the city’s airport, opportunities for larger-scale events such as sporting events, concerts and exhibitions could also open up within the airport’s vicinity and make the airport “a destination in itself”, said Fred Lam, CEO, Airport Authority Hong Kong (AAHK).
He added: “The concept (of SkyCity) goes far beyond the traditional notion of a shopping mall and will provides a full range of retail, dining and entertainment facilities plus offices and hotels. Right next to it is AWE which offers a wide range of facilities for conventions, exhibitions, entertainment and sporting events.
At Sydney Airport, manager for service strategy and customer experience, Claire Donnellan, also shared that a lifestyle precinct opened in Terminal 2 recently, encompassing new F&B concepts as well as fresh experience for passengers.
Airports are also aspiring to reflect a sense of place. Donnellan said: “Years ago a standard bathroom was considered fine, then travellers started expecting more (motion-activated) functions – and now, people actually want a sense of place and experience even when they go to the bathroom.”
The need to serve as more than just embarkation and disembarkation points is perhaps most pronounced in transit hubs.
Abu Dhabi International Airport’s head of airport service quality, Muna Al-Ghanim, said: “Customer experience has changed dramatically. Passengers used to travel day-to-day and thought of it as transport from point A to B. Over time, it has evolved into a total experience. Nowadays, they don’t just pass through airports, but go and look at airport websites, roam social media platforms and even download the airport apps to know what the offerings are in terms of service and facilities.”
For Plaza Premium Group, brand director, Mei Mei Song, the growing transit volume has placed increasing importance on rest-stop amenities, beyond simply F&B and retail experiences.
Meanwhile, the digital era has ushered in new demands for information at travellers’ fingertips across different stages of the air travel journey.
Song said: “Now with technology advancement through Amazon, Uber, or WeChat, people are accustomed to a level of convenience that was unheard of even two years ago.”
Indeed, the airport experience today spans pre- to post-arrival. Carlos Criado, business development director at Corporacion Quiport, which manages a brand-new airport outside Ecuador’s capital city, believes that customer experience starts from as early as beginning of trip planning.
Now, the task ahead of those in the game of improving customer experience for travellers is to be able to provide real-time, up-to-date information to travellers. Social media has bred an expectation for fast and easy access to information, making it “vital” that travellers get timely flight updates even before arriving at the airport, Criado stressed.
Similarly, AAHK, general manager, Terminal 1, Chapman Fong, remarked that the social media and greater computation power of smart have drastically changed the customer expectations. “Big giants in e-commerce or digital platforms like Google and Apple offer very good user experience, so we are not competing with airports but with these giants in user experience. This presents a big challenge to airport operators.”
Through surveying customers, AAHK has found that customers expect personalised information delivered to them before they even arrive at the airport. “We want to turn these challenges into opportunities for us to improve further,” Fong said.
For Texas’ San Antonio International Airport, chief customer experience officer, Karen Ellis, greater convenience also includes having the option of self service. “We need to include the ability to have self-service function while having somebody provide assistance if needed. We know some millennials want simply to be able to go through airport processes as quickly as possible.”
A shift to cloud technologies has also lessened the reliance on hardware within airport premises, according to Amadeus’ head of airport IT, Sarah Samuel.
Samuel said: “Digital transformation, as well a shift to cloud technology, removes the need for costly hardware within the premises, helping free up valuable space and eliminate the costs associated with hardware maintenance. This in turn also reduces an airport’s environment impact by lowering emissions. Cloud technologies are also being implemented for cyber security purposes, as protecting on-site servers is a complex, expensive task. Airports are choosing to outsource via the cloud to highly-secure data centers, such as Amadeus’.
“While optimising processes inside the airport can have a significant effect on passenger management and customer experience, the more innovative airports are those who are investing beyond the four walls and collaborating with external stakeholders or third-party providers,” Samuel expressed in a statement.
Examples of innovations that take air travel processes beyond the airport are curbside check-in, Samuel said. Off Airport Check-In Solutions provide pop-up check-in and baggage drop service. The system uses Amadeus’ Airport Common Use Service cloud technology to communicate with Virgin Australia’s system, providing travellers with off-site check-in at areas such as cruise terminals, hotel and sporting events. She also foresees door-to-door bag drop service being a viable solution down the line.
Hong Kong is preparing for a demonstration at the arrival hall of Hong Kong International Airport (HKIA) in Lantau, as protesters plan to converge at one of Asia’s busiest air hub to spread their message to foreigners visiting the city, The Straits Times reported this morning.
In an advisory issued early this morning, Singapore’s foreign affairs ministry encouraged travellers to avoid HKIA as well as the rural town of Yuen Long in the New Territories following reports of upcoming protests at these locations.
Passengers walking through the Hong Kong International airport’s arrival hall
Singapore joins several other countries including Ireland, Canada, Japan and South Korea to issue travel advisories for Hong Kong.
The police have so far not given approval for the gathering at HKIA. Recent mass rallies have started out peaceful but escalated into violence later after groups of protesters clashed with police.
The planned rally at HKIA is the latest in a recent wave of protests that have gripped Hong Kong, which has caused shorthaul visitor arrivals from Asia to tumble in recent weeks.
Since June, millions of demonstrators have taken to the streets to protest against a controversial bill, which would have allowed extraditions to mainland China, but have since evolved into a call for wider democratic reforms in Hong Kong.
Malaysia Airlines and TUI have joined hands to launch MHholidays, a travel marketplace that allows travellers to tailor their holidays with the combination of flights and hotels.
The platform features over 5,000 hotels spanning budget hostels to luxury properties across more than 50 destinations worldwide, and touts exclusive and affordable deals from Malaysia Airlines with savings of up to 80 per cent off on hotels.
A screenshot from the recently-launched website
Not only will MHholidays make it easy for travellers to search, filter, and compare flights and hotels to find a holiday package that best suit their needs, those who book packages on platform will also earn Enrich miles on every flight portion, allowing them to contribute to future holidays, said Malaysia Airlines group COO, Ahmad Luqman bin Mohd Azmi, at the launch event held at Hotel Maya, Kuala Lumpur.
“In the future, MHholidays will also be expanding beyond flights and hotels to include ground transfers, tours and more,” he added.
As Boeing reported its worst-ever loss arising from the global grounding of its flagship 737 Max after two fatal crashes, the aviation giant warned that it could be forced to temporarily halt production of the plane if the grounding continues longer than expected.
Boeing reported a loss of US$2.9 billion for the second quarter, a massive drop from the US$2.2 billion profit posted in the same period of last year.
Meanwhile, revenues in the latest quarter tumbled 35.1 percent to US$15.8 billion, reflecting the fallout from halted deliveries of the 737 MAX.
The company had set aside US$4.9 billion to compensate airlines for cancelled flights and the delay in plane deliveries.
But Boeing acknowledges that uncertainty continues to surround the timing and conditions regarding the 737 Max fleet’s return to service, causing airlines to repeatedly push back the target date for returning the jets to service as the regulatory timeframe has dragged on.
“Boeing is working very closely with the FAA on the process they have laid out to certify the 737 MAX software update and safely return the MAX to service. Disciplined development and testing is underway and we will submit the final software package to the FAA once we have satisfied all of their certification requirements. Regulatory authorities will determine the process for certifying the MAX software and training updates as well as the timing for lifting the grounding order”, the American airplane manufacturer said in a statement.
“This is a defining moment for Boeing,” CEO Dennis Muilenburg said in a statement, adding that the company remains focused on safely returning the 737 Max to service.
The aviation giant in April cut Max production to 42 a month from 52, storing planes until the jet is cleared to fly, but it has not cut jobs at its Washington state factory, according to an AFP report.
The crisis already has rippled through the US economy, hitting industrial output, which feeds into economic growth, and reducing exports which widens the politically-sensitive trade deficit.
India’s B2B travel company, MyValueTravel.com (MVT), has launched a rewards programme for the travel agent’s network, said to be the industry’s first online B2B loyalty programme.
Through the MVT Rewards Program, registered B2B agents get reward points for every booking that they make on the portal as well as bonus points for the next booking. Also, bonus points from the first booking will be added to the agent’s ‘points total’ for the second booking, with 100 points equivalent to Rs100.
Myvaluetravel.com launches rewards programme
Both reward points and bonus points under the MVT Rewards Program will be calculated based on per passenger booked basis. Reward points are based on per pax booked and would be 50 or more points, while bonus points would be 100 or more points for per pax booked.
To make the rewards programme more attractive, the company has also introduced a two-level ‘super bonus’ benefit as well. An agent who books 10 and above pax for one destination in a month will get 50 points per pax as super bonus, and 25 and above pax will yield 75 points per pax as super bonus.
Redemption of the points would be done every quarter. MVT will transfer the amount equivalent to the accrued points to the agent’s bank account.
Deepak Agarwal, MVT manager director, said: “This reward program would be a mutually rewarding initiative whereby our valued agents would be motivated to do larger business with us on while creating a strong brand loyalty towards MVT.”
He added that MVT did not want to have an ad-hoc ‘incentive scheme’ for its agent network that brings in more business only during the scheme’s duration. On the contrary, MVT’s programme would be an open-ended incentive scheme for its agent network.
Hotels in the Asia-Pacific region reported negative results across the three key performance metrics during 2Q2019, new market data has shown.
According to STR analysts who sample more than 65,000 hotels and 8.8 million hotel rooms around the globe, total occupancy in the region is down 1.0% to 69.1%. Meanwhile, the average daily rate (ADR) has dipped 0.7% to US$97.32, while the revenue per available room (RevPAR) has declined 1.6% to US$67.25.
Limited impact of recent events on Jakarta’s quarterly performance
Jakarta, Indonesia
STR analysts note that the Indonesian general election period in April and May protests and riots had only a limited impact on quarterly performance. Due to the Ramadan calendar shift, May was the worst-performing RevPAR month of the quarter (-17.3%), whereas June produced significant RevPAR growth (+25.3%).
Manila, Philippines
Although occupancy fell slightly due to supply growth (+4.6%), strong demand (+3.5%) helped hoteliers push room rates. According to the Philippines Department of Tourism, the country saw a 9.8% increase in international arrivals during the first five months of 2019.
Additionally, STR analysts note that the Tourism Promotions Board Philippines picked Metro Manila as a MICE location, which will help boost performance levels.
This year’s ITB Asia at Marina Bay Sands, Singapore will adopt Bold Thoughts, Bold Moves as its conference theme, and bring together thought leaders from across the MICE, leisure, corporate, and travel tech sectors.
Across the three-day conference, attendees will have the opportunity to experience over 100 sessions featuring insights from more than 260 speakers including representatives from American Express Global Business Travel, Traveloka, Hotelbeds, and Thomas Cook China.
Bold Thoughts, Bold Moves will feature a range of themed sessions, including Corporate Travel, Travel & Tech, Destination Marketing and Muslim Travel, with keynote discussions conducted in the Knowledge Theatre.
In response to its popularity last year, Knowledge Theatre will also see the return of C-Suite talks. Senior representatives from AKARYN Hotel Group, GCP Hospitality, Intrepid Group, Lonely Planet, THE RIDE and Travelzoo, will share their perceptions on vital issues facing the travel industry today.
A Corporate Travel showcase will also be carved out of the ITB show floor to cater to the growing number of corporate participants. As well, ITB Asia’s corporate partner, ACTE, will again be organising its exclusive Corporate Travel Day on Day Two of the show.
On the Travel & Tech front, leading travel players will identify trends and cutting-edge technologies that are driving the travel industry.
Finally, Destination Marketing and Muslim Travel sessions will feature top practitioners in these sectors dishing out insider tips on getting the most from social media to promote travel destinations; utilising destination brands to attract interest; best practices in developing Muslim-friendly destinations; and reaching out to the modern Muslim millennial.
