Things are looking up for Maldives' tourism sector
A flurry of new resorts opening in the Maldives, with more still coming in the coming months to add to the room stock, has triggered a price war with heavy discounts in the destination.
The revenue manager of an established five-star resort, who said discounting has become rampant in recent months, expressed hopes that the Maldivian hospitality sector “as a community don’t drop prices sharply”.
A bird’s-eye view of a resort in the Maldives
There was however divided opinion as to which segment is most affected, with five-star plus properties saying the three- and four-star resorts are the ones affected while the four-star properties say that it’s the lower end of the market that is feeling the pinch, according to several resort managers that TTG Asia spoke to during the TTM travel trade show in Male last week.
The reality? Most of the increasing new room inventory is in the five- and five-star-plus categories.
At least 162 new resorts – largely in the five-star category – have opened in the past three years, with an additional 7,152 beds to 43,770 by end 2018 from 36,618 beds by end 2016. Moreover, another 20 resorts are opening or have opened this year with an extra 2,000 beds; these include Hotel Riu Atoll which opened in May with 250 rooms, and whose Maldives sales manager Jose Manual Rodriguez said they have confidence in the market.
Among the new openings are Singapore’s Park Hotel Group resort, Raffles Maldives Meradhoo and Movenpick Resort Kurudhivaru while the Emerald Maldives Resort & Spa, member of the The Leading Hotels of the World, is opening in August with 120 villas. Also opening shortly is the iconic Hard Rock property with 178 keys as part of Crossroads Maldives, one of the Indian Ocean’s largest integrated resorts with a few islands strung together and having resorts, malls, shopping and entertainment.
“Big brands will survive while it is the local investors with five-star properties who are in the midst of this price war,” said the sales manager of a recently opened top international brand, who spoke on condition of anonymity. “At the rate new resorts are cropping up, 2020 would be a key year to assess how properties are doing,” he said.
Judy Ong, director of sales and marketing, Maldives at Banyan Tree Hotels and Resorts, agreed that while the big brands will survive market trends, it will be challenging for the category between three and four stars.
“The problem with price wars is that if you push down the price it’s difficult to regain it and would then depict Maldives as a cheap destination like Bangkok,” said another manager from a five-star resort, who also declined to be named.
However, Mohamed Nihaj, general manager at the 100-villa Rahaa opening next month, said the property made a push into the four-star category as there is lesser competition compared to the luxury segment.
Afrah Abdulla, reservations manager at Waldorf Astoria Maldives Ithaafushi – opening in July with 122 rooms – said the airport expansion will help enhance traffic and increase the number of first class and business class seats, which is their clientele and for which there is a shortage of seats.
“Our decision to invest here was based on the airport development and also to have a property in this exotic destination,” he said.
Airport infrastructure is being expanded to meet an increasing number of arrivals with a new 3,400m-long, 60m-wide runway and a new passenger terminal targeted to serve 7.5 million passengers with both facilities due to open in 2019-2020.
The Maldives is targeting 1.5 million arrivals this year from 1.4 million in 2018.
The Singapore Tourism Board (STB) and Singapore beer brand Tiger Beer have inked a two-year partnership, worth S$3.2 million (US$2.3 million), to promote Singapore through joint marketing activities.
The partnership covers three key areas: products such as augmented reality (AR) effects for Tiger Beer’s Tiger District Bottles; consumer experiences in Singapore at Tiger Street Lab, Tiger Beer’s first global experiential concept store, and globally, such as an upcoming consumer pop-up in Tokyo, Japan; and global marketing through joint campaigns in international markets.
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Tiger District bottles
Artwork by Singaporean urban artist ANTZ, with a tiger (symbolising the beer brand) and a lion (symbolising the Lion City) encircling each other; the artwork will be displayed at Tiger Street Lab
The collaboration comes as both brands – STB’s Passion Made Possibleand Tiger Beer’s Uncage Your Tiger – are similarly focused on supporting homegrown talents and telling their stories on a global stage.
STB’s Passion Made Possible brand seeks to spotlight Singapore’s spirit of determination in making passions possible, and focuses on celebrating local talents through films, consumer events, marketing campaigns and industry partnerships. Tiger Beer has been championing local emerging talent and providing them with a global stage to Uncage their Tiger through Tiger Raw Roar platform, Tiger Street Food and Tiger Street Lab at Jewel Changi Airport.
Over the next two years, STB and Tiger Beer will tap on each other’s upcoming overseas consumer activities and events to grow audience reach and deepen engagement. Both brands will profile homegrown talents such as artists, musicians and chefs, and encourage them to collaborate at overseas platforms, and excite visitors with their creativity and talent.
STB and Tiger Beer will soon team up for a consumer pop-up in Tokyo sometime in October, as more of such joint events are currently being planned.
“Passion Made Possible celebrates the spirit of Singapore by putting the spotlight on our homegrown talents and sharing their Singapore stories with the world. We believe this is an authentic way of highlighting what’s unique about destination Singapore. Tiger Beer shares the same brand belief. We look forward to partnering Tiger Beer in developing bold and creative projects for audiences all over the world,” said Lynette Pang, STB’s assistant chief executive (marketing).
Earlier this month, Tiger Beer launched 20 limited-edition designs bottle of beer that sport both modern and heritage landmarks in the Lion City. As part of the collaboration, STB will bring four out of 20 Tiger District Bottle designs to life, telling the stories of popular tourism precincts rich in local heritage and culture through AR technology.
The four selected bottle designs with AR effects – created by local artist Eugene Soh – are Chinatown, Bugis, Katong and Tiong Bahru.
Using the Facebook application on mobile devices, consumers will be able to see iconic landmarks such as People’s Park Complex, The Red House, Bugis Street, and an old flat in the Tiong Bahru estate by scanning the district symbol on bottles. The AR effects for Chinatown and Bugis went live on June 13, 2019, and Katong and Tiong Bahru will go live on June 21, 2019.
From left: Xavier Desaulles; Jean-Charles Fortoul; and Vijay Sharma
Club Med is rejigging its organisation in Asia-Pacific (APAC), creating two specialised business units – APAC Markets and APAC Resorts – under a regional scope covering Greater China, Japan, South Korea, India, South-east Asia and the Pacific come July 1.
By giving weight to both markets and resort operations in APAC, the move appears to be an acknowledgement of the rising importance of the region’s outbound markets, on top of its ongoing recognition of destination potentials.
From left: Xavier Desaulles; Jean-Charles Fortoul; and Vijay Sharma
“Club Med is in a growth acceleration phase with the openings of three to five resorts per year,” commented Henri Giscard d’Estaing, president of Club Med. “This significant moment in our development requires us to focus on our growth drivers – sales and marketing (for consumer awareness), and to accelerate the opening of new resorts and strengthen the in-resort guest experience across APAC.”
In a statement, the French operator of all-inclusive resorts said the reorganisation will “bring the best teams closer to guests (in the region) and deliver better customer experience”.
Based in Shanghai, Xavier Desaulles, CEO of APAC Markets business unit, will lead the commercial teams across Greater China, Japan, South Korea, South-east Asia and Pacific markets.
He was previously CEO of the East and South Asia Pacific markets since 2016. Desaulles was the regional managing director for South-east Asia, India and the Middle-East at the Rémy Cointreau Group prior to his position at Club Med.
Leading the operations and development of the resorts across APAC and also based in Shanghai, is Jean-Charles Fortoul, CEO of APAC Resorts.
With over 18 years of experience in the hospitality industry, Fortoul has held senior leadership positions at Club Med since 2002, managing various markets across Europe, the Middle East and South-east Asia.
Previously he was the vice president of operations for East and South Asia & Pacific, and vice president of sales emerging countries of South-east Asia, managing nine holiday resorts and six commercial countries across Thailand, Indonesia, the Philippines, Vietnam & Myanmar.
Gino Andreetta, who developed Club Med’s sales and operations in China including the opening of four new resorts as CEO of Greater China, will move to Lyon, France as of September 2019 to lead the Europe, Africa and France Resorts as CEO.
To continue being based in Singapore, Vijay Sharma, the country director for Singapore and Malaysia, will now have an expanded job scope overseeing the region as general manager of South-east Asia, which Club Med interprets to include emerging markets and India.
Mike Tansey: by 2020, 70 per cent of all B2C customer support will be via mobile, with smart agents facilitating 40 per cent of those interactions
Frictionless customer conversations are all about finding ways to handle (and take advantage of) the rapid rise in messaging and chatbots as the preferred way for consumers to communicate with travel companies.
Messaging is huge across Africa and the Asia-Pacific (AAPAC). In China, for example, the rise and rise of WeChat has been a phenomenal success story. With over one billion monthly users, it’s fundamentally changing how people work and live, especially in big cities. We know that 70 per cent of consumers now prefer messaging over voice when they contact customer care centres.
Mike Tansey: by 2020, 70 per cent of all B2C customer support will be via mobile, with smart agents facilitating 40 per cent of those interactions
By 2020, 70 per cent of all B2C customer support will be via mobile, with smart agents facilitating 40 per cent of those interactions. And, rather disconcertingly, by 2022 the average person will have more conversations with chatbots than with their spouse.
Currently, very few travel companies are set up to handle this important and incredibly fast-growing channel. Some are using messaging for specific tasks. But there’s a wider challenge around ensuring consistent customer experiences. That’s a big issue.
Chatting for value
Today, you have to be able to deliver the same customer experience across every channel. Almost one-third of consumers expect traditional businesses (like airlines) to offer a similarly seamless experience to what they get from, say Airbnb. If a company sends a message to a customer via WhatsApp, it should be able to provide exactly the same experience on any other platform, as well as by phone, and with the number of messaging channels growing all the time, this is getting increasingly demanding.
The second point is that these channels have got to be able to deliver some value. It is much more than a simple exchange of information, as people expect to be able to transact via messaging and to not just make an inquiry. They want to be able to choose a seat, book a meal or change a flight. This means integration with back-end systems is an urgent priority.
We’re still in the first generation of messaging management. This means contact centre agents are having to handle five or six chats at a time. Admittedly, this is how most of Gen X and Gen Y stay in touch, but in the world of a contact centre agent, the need to juggle all that and find the pertinent information they need for each chat at the same time is an arduous task. If there’s a better way of managing these chats, it’s a huge opportunity for driving up productivity.
This brings up the related matter of customer intimacy. If you communicate with an airline by chat today, it should be saying “Hi Mike, how are you? Are you contacting us about your upcoming flight to Hong Kong?” Instead, the first thing you’re asked for is a booking reference number. Even though you’re using your mobile, the system is unable to connect that information to your passenger details.
Ultimately, the chat channel should also be able to make personalised recommendations, based on an airline’s knowledge of each passenger and what they’re doing, however, most travel companies are still nowhere near that point.
Doing things differently
Disruption doesn’t just create challenges, it also opens out new opportunities for doing things differently – not just more efficiently, but also in a much more joined-up way. Most travel companies run separate contact centres for inbound and outbound calls.
With the right technologies, these boundaries do not need to exist anymore. Agents will not need to sit together in physical contact centres. New technologies, could potentially virtualise and the gig economy would kick in. Working from home, agents would log in to handle a few hours of enquiries, then log out and do something else.
The possibilities are endless. What if there was an agent (working from home or in a contact centre) just responsible for managing a particular flight? A customer service agent would then log in and be allocated the Kuala Lumpur to Sydney morning flight. They’re given the passengers’ contact details and message each one to introduce themselves, provide flight details and ask them to get in touch with any requests.
The whole journey would be personalised to each passenger. It would be a huge boost to customer intimacy. And it’s just one of many new business models that become possible once the right technologies are onboard.
Taking it to the next level
Quite a few airlines are already testing out these technologies. And that’s a crucial first step in the journey. We’ve been doing some exciting things in this space with clients in AAPAC, in and outside the travel sector. With a large financial institution in Singapore, for example, we’re helping them integrate interactive voice response as a biometric tool for recognising customers by voice (we’re using the same technology with a major North American airline).
Say a weather event, like a typhoon, hits and all flights are delayed. Suddenly a very high volume of passengers needs help. It’s hugely difficult, if not impossible, for a contact centre workforce to manage that extra demand. And that means thousands of frustrated passengers stuck in the airport.
We have built a disruption chatbot for a leading Asian airline that gives its passengers options for alternative flights and lets them select and rebook at the same time. It makes a huge difference to customer service and dramatically reduces peak-time pressure on a contact centre.
These are steps forward. And now there’s a fantastic opportunity for airlines to take a lead by moving to the next level – frictionless customer conversations – developing a completely integrated, multichannel customer service platform.
A rendering of the upcoming mixed development in Myanmar
Thailand-based Minor Hotels will debut its Avani and Oaks brands in Yangon, with the development of two hotels as part of a management agreement with Kajima Yankin, a wholly-capitalised subsidiary of Kajima Overseas Asia.
Construction work has begun onsite and vertical construction is scheduled to commence in 2021. The 250-room Avani Yangon Hotel and 221-key Oaks Yangon are both set to open in 2024 and will be part of a mixed-use development, complete with office and retail space located in central Yangon.
A rendering of the upcoming mixed development in Myanmar
Avani Yangon Hotel and Oaks Yangon will be located less than nine kilometres from Yangon International Airport and occupies two buildings joined by an underground retail centre landscaped above with an urban park. Known for its shopping and pagodas, Yankin Township sits just east of Inya Lake with the popular historic old Yangon town a few kilometres away.
Avani Yangon will feature 250 guest rooms with standard rooms measuring 39m2. Facilities include an all-day dining option plus a rooftop restaurant and bar, executive lounge, ballroom and meeting facilities. As with other Avani properties, the Yangon one would feature an Avani Pantry, AvaniSpa and a fitness centre.
Oaks Yangon will feature 221 rooms with a minimum size of 56m2, along with amenities and facilities for longer stays, including all-day dining, a kids’ club, swimming pool and fitness facilities.
Canopy Park opens its doors on the top floor of Jewel Changi
Jewel Changi Airport has unveiled the Changi Experience Studio and Canopy Park, further cementing its ambitions to create destinations out of traditional airport gateways.
The Changi Experience Studio opened its doors on Level 4 of Jewel, featuring a garden that sings, an adrenaline-pumping runway race, a quest to collect airport trolleys, a battle of smiles and more.
With a collection of over 20 different touchpoints and 10 zones spread over 3,000m2 (about half the size of a football field), the Changi Experience Studio utilises technology to present a diverse mix of unique experiences under one roof, including interactive games, projection storytelling, immersive shows and gallery exhibits.
Canopy Park opens its doors on the top floor of Jewel Changi
Visitors can play games simulating different functions at the airport and learning how things work behind-the scenes through interactive projection exhibits. They can also look forward to an immersive show that will trigger their senses and imagination about the past and future of aviation.
It takes over 90 minutes to complete all the experiences within the Changi Experience Studio.
Exploration of the studio is done primarily with the Travel Guide – a personal interactive device that accompanies every visitor on their journey through the studio.
One of the studio’s highlights is the Garden of Harmony where visitors use their individual Travel Guide to make music through vertical hand movements. In this enchanted garden, each visitor plays a different musical instrument, before coming together with other players to perform a symphony – which plays out in the form of an audio and visual spectacle.
Jayson Goh, Changi Airport Group’s managing director for airport operations management said: “Importantly, through the various touchpoints that showcase different airport functions, Changi Experience Studio is a living tribute to the 50,000-strong airport community that makes Changi Airport what it is today. We aspire for the studio to be a showcase of Changi experience and service innovation. As an innovation space, the interactive exhibits will not remain static, but will continue to evolve as new stories on Changi are written.”
The Changi Experience Studio operates daily from 10.00 to 22.00 (last entry is at 21.00). The entry fee for Singapore residents is S$19 (US$14) for adults and S$13 for children over six years of age / seniors. Families enjoy a bundle rate of S$54 (for two adults and two children / seniors). Children under the age of six enter for free.
In addition, the Canopy Park is a 14,000m2 space taking in seven play attractions and creative gardens.
Guests can look forward to navigating their way through the Mirror Maze and Hedge Maze, walking or bouncing on the Manulife Sky Nets, exploring the sculptural playscape of Discovery Slides, and enjoying a view of the HSBC Rain Vortex and Shiseido Forest Valley from the Canopy Bridge, a bridge with glass panel flooring suspended 23m above ground.
Integrated with the attractions are interactive garden spaces that encourage play and imagination. Foggy Bowls feature four gentle concave bowls with an element of mist and fog to create the experience of playing among clouds. Topiary Walk is a whimsical wonderland, featuring animal topiaries such as an orangutan, crocodile, elephant, peacock and chameleon. Petal Garden will boast seasonal displays of flowers. Along the main loop that connects these attractions are four trees, including a pair of olive trees and the Lover’s Tree which earned its name because of its conjoined trunks.
There are eight F&B outlets at Canopy Park, and a space that can be used for events called Cloud9 Piazza.
Hung Jean, CEO, Jewel Changi Airport Development, said: “When Canopy Park was conceptualised, we envisaged a green natural environment with play and leisure activities for people of all ages. Importantly, we wanted to create a space where activities that are traditionally conducted outdoors, are brought to an indoor environment so that they can be enjoyed under all weather conditions.”
Entrance fees for Singapore residents to Canopy Park is S$4.50, while access to the various attractions will range from S$7.20 to S$19.80. There are also bundle packages to enjoy all or most of the attractions.
Gojek wants to bring headcount in India up to 500 by year-end
Gojek has acquired AirCTO, a Bengaluru-based company that uses AI tools to accelerate recruitment and opened an engineering and product development centre in Guargon, to be staffed with over 100 people.
As part of the deal, the AirCTO team will join GoJek with immediate effect and look into building products that accelerate the recruitment of talent for the Indonesian ride-hailing company.
Gojek wants to bring headcount in India up to 500 by year-end
The company has also announced the opening of a new office in Gurgaon, the first in the city and second in India, to be staffed with 100 employees, expected to bring the total India headcount to 500 by year-end.
As part of its expansion plans, the company is also considering further acquisitions in India. The Indonesian-headquartered company is seeking companies with complementary expertise in engineering, design and product management.
“Our investment in Gurgaon underlines our commitment to growing the GoJek India story. We have looked at multiple ways to expand our operations and concluded that Gurgaon is a logical destination to set up shop, not least because of the amazing talent we have found in the area.
“GoJek recorded an annualised gross transaction value of US$9 billion as of 2018, and the hyper-growth journey we’ve been on demands talent who are willing to take risks, fail, learn and continue to scale a company that aims to solve everyday problems for South-east Asia,” said Sidu Ponnappa, managing director India at Gojek.
This adds to operations in Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.
Sidu said the AirCTO team bring the relevant technology to help GoJek scale up its hiring processes. “Finding quality talent is always a challenge, and (AircTO founder Atif Haider) and team are here to find technology-based solutions that will help us to overcome this challenge.”
As part of the expansion, GoJek’s largest India-based product team, Go-Food, will set up product divisions in the Gurgaon offic
GoJek currently runs one of the largest JRuby, Clojure, Java and Go clusters in Asia. Its robust tech-infrastructure is built and managed by just some 350 engineers in Indonesia, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.
At the beginning of the year, GoJek announced the first closing of its ongoing Series F funding round led by Google, JD.com and Tencent, along with Mitsubishi Corporation and Provident Capital.
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Rising passenger expectations and competition are driving airlines to innovate and experiment with passenger comfort experience, making the experience of flying a bit less stressful and more relaxed.
The airline industry as a whole is now placing a stronger focus on the passenger experience and the individualisation of services for passengers, noted Joe Leader, CEO, Airline Passenger Experience Association at the Passenger Experience Conference in Hamburg earlier this year.
Below, a look at how major airlines in Asia-Pacific are pushing the envelop in air passenger experience.
Qantas First Lounge at Sydney International Airport
Wellness on the ground
Australia’s flagship carrier aims to set itself apart by offering comfort to travellers prior to boarding through its Qantas First lounges in Sydney and Melbourne.
“Construction is underway on our new First Lounge in Singapore and new premium lounges are also operating in London and Perth to complement our non-stop services between Australia and the UK,” said Qantas head of customer product and service delivery, Phil Capps.
Unique design elements of the lounge include retro-inspired aviation touches like a huge engine cowling-inspired light above the entrance escalator, old-style flapper flight screen boards custom-made and imported from Italy, and large air vents modelled from a 1950s’ Lockheed constellation lining the roof of the lounge. As well, Qantas’ Perth International Lounge now offers a dedicated yoga class.
In Hong Kong, Cathay Pacific has recently launched The Sanctuary by Pure Yoga in The Pier Business Class Lounge in Hong Kong. The 65m2 dedicated yoga and meditation space is open to oneworld first and business class passengers, as well as oneworld Emerald and Sapphire members.
“Wellness is becoming increasingly important to our customers,” said Cathay Pacific’s general manager for customer experience and design, Vivian Lo.
Reimaging economy
To ease passenger discomfort during longhaul travel, Air New Zealand in 2011 introduced the Economy Skycouch – a row of three Economy seats that convert into a flat, flexible surface that allows customers to stretch out in Economy cabin Skycouch – to appeal to couples or parents travelling with kids, said Jenni Martin, Air New Zealand’s head of South and South-east Asia.
More recently in 2018, the airline further enhanced the Skycouch product with an infant harness, belt and pod, making it even more family-friendly to provide additional comfort and protection for infants and peace of mind for parents, Martin told TTG Asia.
As air travel becomes commonplace and first class travel dwindles in popularity, premium economy becomes another way that airlines are rolling out differentiated products and services to stand out in a competitive market.
Said Martin: “Air New Zealand recently began operating the new configuration B787-9 Dreamliner on the Singapore-Auckland route (see review on page 12), which has more Business Premier and Premium Economy seats to serve this growing demand. This December, we will commence a new service between Singapore and Christchurch using the same aircraft.”
Cathay Pacific’s The Sanctuary at The Pier Business Class lounge
Elevated meal options
Culinary partnerships with chefs have become a popular way for airlines to step up the quality of their dining offerings mid air.
In April, Air France launched a year-long partnership with Julien Royer, two-Michelin-star chef and co-owner of Odette, the newly crowned champion of Asia’s 50 Best Restaurants 2019 awards.
Under this partnership, which runs until March 31, 2020, La Première and business class passengers on the Singapore-Paris route can enjoy signature dishes specially created by chef Royer. Each cabin will enjoy six dishes rotating every six months.
Nicolas Ricard, Singapore country manager for Air France, told TTG Asia: “People tend to perceive inflight dining in general as being quite standard or unimpressive, but we hope this collaboration will turn this on its head.”
As part of its Signature Chefs series, Air France previously worked with other Michelin-star French chefs including the late Joël Robuchon, and is currently working with other culinary names such as Ann-Sophie Pic, Michel Roth, Régis Marcon, and Guy Martin to create their own signature dishes.
Singapore Airlines’ (SIA) premium class passengers will soon be presented with a more extensive selection of artisanal wine labels. The airline says it will offer the widest selection of Burgundy wines in the skies, with 47 labels planned for rotation over a period of 18 months – a six-fold increase from 2018.
“By expanding the range of labels that SIA offers on board, we are able to ensure a well-planned rotation of wines to keep the palates of our frequent flyers continually excited. Customers can soon look forward to a new and exciting label delivered on board every two months,” said SIA’s divisional vice president inflight services and design, Betty Wong.
“During our wine consultants’ visits to the vineyards, we also actively sought out smaller maisons and domaines to bring them into the SIA family, thus allowing us to expand the depth and range of our offerings, and satisfy the rising demand for more exclusive Burgundy labels.”
In addition, SIA has signed an MoU with wellness brand Como Shambhala. Under the initial phase of this partnership, commencing in 2H2019, Como Shambhala’s award-winning wellness cuisine will be served on selected SIA flights. The menu will be introduced across all classes, while co-developed dishes will progressively be made available in SIA’s Book the Cook service.
This comes as travellers “are paying more attention to their health and well-being whenever they travel, (including considerations) such as their menu choices or how they spend their time on board”, said SIA’s senior vice president customer experience, Yeoh Phee Teik.
Sake offerings from ANA
Others like All Nippon Airways (ANA) is keen to immerse passengers in the Japanese drinking culture as the reputation and popularity of sake rice wine has taken off globally in recent years.
“ANA considers itself to be an unofficial ambassador for Japanese culture, which is part of the reason that we aspire to set the standard for comfort and convenience in air travel,” said Yutaka Ito, executive vice president with responsibility for cabin service and developing new products for passengers.
The airline in February updated the sakes that it serves on board aircraft and in its lounges, calling on the knowledge of renowned sake sommelier Yasuyuki Kitahara to select 36 new sakes and to bring the total it now serves up to 44.
“The selection has been carefully curated to appeal to avid sake lovers as well as those who may be trying sake for the first time,” said Ito.
ANA intends to continue to encourage passengers to enjoy Japan’s washoku culture and will revise its inflight menu and drinks list in the future, Ito added.
Branded experience
It’s natural that legacy carriers leverage their ‘flag carrier’ status to showcase their national heritage and for passengers to experience a touch of local culture on board.
“Sophisticated travellers also expect a touch of Nordic hospitality in the service delivery and onboard experiences, and this is a key factor when deciding on implementing new onboard innovations in Finnair,” shared Maarit Keränen, category head, longhaul flights at Finnair.
Finnair’s Airbus A350 aircraft from Asia to Helsinki features “dynamic ambient mood LED lighting” with 24 light settings aligned with different stages of the longhaul flight, according to Keränen. “As the plane approaches Helsinki, the cabin is filled with blue hues resembling the Northern Lights.”
Furthermore, Finnair also recently created soundscapes – deemed an essential part of the overall unique Nordic experience – to create better brand awareness of the airline and about Finland for Asian passengers.
Keränen said: “Hear the Taste is our solution to the challenge of serving delicious food, marred by the background noise of the aircraft engines which in turn, affects how we perceive taste. The low background noise decreases sweet and salty flavours, whereas bitter and umami flavours are enhanced with it.”
The soundscapes are available on the inflight entertainment system and passengers can listen to it while eating. Keränen said: “It has a bit of meditative impact, and the pleasant, somewhat ambient soundscapes encourages one to focus on the meal and really enjoy the flavours while paying attention to the food, as opposed to just eating while watching an inflight movie.”
Finnair A350 business class cabin with mood lighting
Immersive inflight entertainment
To enhance passenger flight experience, Garuda Indonesia is rolling out inflight entertainment technology with the launch of an inflight virtual reality (VR) experience system in first and business class.
According to commerce director Pikri Ilham Kurniansyah, Garuda Indonesia is the first and currently the only airline in Asia-Pacific to have received safety regulations approval to offer such VR experience as inflight entertainment.
Through this VR facility, passengers can watch a variety of box office films on a wide-angle screen, spanning 180-360 degrees. The service has been introduced on Garuda’s Jakarta-Haneda (Tokyo) route since March 28.
The Indonesian flag carrier is keen to integrate cabin announcement feature into the VR entertainment system to enable passengers to be seamlessly connected, Pikri told TTG Asia.
Furthermore, Garuda is also exploring online streaming features on the VR facility and plans to be the world’s first airline to provide seat massage facilities on board. All these, said Pikri, are part of the airline’s efforts to offer “more personalised services” for its passengers.
Others like Philippine Airlines is already offering free high-speed Wi-Fi for all passengers on longhaul flights to the US, Canada, the UK and Australia operated on Boeing 777, Airbus A350 and Airbus A321neo aircraft.
Garuda Indonesia’s VR experience system
Targeted customisation
Malaysia Airlines’ Amal service is aimed at growing the pilgrimage business and enriching the experience of umrah and haj passengers from Malaysia and South-east Asia, offering both chartered and scheduled services to Jeddah and Madinah from Kuala Lumpur using Airbus A380 and A330 aircraft.
“We believe we are the first in the world to offer dedicated pilgrim-centric service,” shared Amal CEO Hazman Hilmi Sallahuddin. “The establishment of Amal is aimed at alleviating the overall quality of services in the pilgrimage market which is often associated with non-premium services.
“The market has responded favourably to the service. Small agents are able to purchase blocked seats directly from Amal if they don’t have the capacity to charter an entire aircraft. We are commencing charter flights to Jeddah and Medina for the upcoming Umrah season (September 2019 to June 2020).
“Within the next three years, we hope to get about 60 per cent of the Malaysian market share, 10 per cent from Indonesia and 50 per cent of the market share from Southern Thailand,” he continued. “Besides Indonesia and Thailand, our business plan also targets Umrah traffic in other countries in the region via feeder services and/or wet-lease arrangements.”
Amal’s onboard experiences include the invocation of inflight Talbiyah prayers, announcement of prayer times, the call to prayer (Azan), a brief tazkirah (Islamic sermon), special meals, as well as amenity kits specifically curated for pilgrims. The inflight entertainment system includes an interactive Quran, Islamic movies and TV series portraying good values and religious music.
S Puvaneswary, Pamela Chow, Tiara Maharani, Rachel AJ Lee, Julian Ryall, Prudence Lui, Adelaine Ng and Rosa Ocampo contributed to this report
Having emerged as a hot domestic travel destination in recent years, Belitung – an island east of Sumatra – is now set on transforming itself to make its mark in the international travel community.
The central government has committed to growing tourism in Belitung, with Tanjung Kelayang earmarked as a priority destination. There, the Ministry of Tourism has unveiled grand ambitions to create a new Nusa-Dua-like complex in a 324ha area, which will also embody the concept of sustainable tourism.
A popular domestic destination in recent years, Belitung now wants to woo international visitors
Arief Yahya, minister of tourism, said: “We will build Tanjung Kelayang as an integrated resort destination, which will be home to high-end hotels and resorts, a retail village as well as international restaurants, conference centre and other attractions.”
As well, Arief believes that Tanjung Kelayang, situated along a pristine beachfront, is well placed to capture the growing “bleisure” market, benefiting from its unique mix of corporate and leisure facilities and strategic location.
The Tanjung Kelayang area will be built gradually, with the first phase expected to be completed in five years. By end-2019, the destination will see the launch of the 180-room Sheraton hotel, which will be followed by Sofitel and MGallery properties next year.
Arief commented: “The recent development of Tanjung Kelayang has further raised Belitung’s attraction as a fresh destination, which can be seen from the (increasing) number of visits to Belitung.”
Belitung received a total of 380,941 arrivals in 2017, comprising 371,338 domestic visitors and 9,603 foreign visitors.
This was an increase over 292,885 visitors in 2016 arrived, made up of 285,773 domestic and 7,112 foreign visitors, he shared.
Belitung’s tourism growth has had a positive ripple effect on the hotel industry. According to the Central Bureau of Statistics, there were 1,940 star hotel rooms in 2018 – up from 1,781 rooms in 2017.
The geographic proximity to Jakarta – an hour’s flight away – has also facilitated Belitung’s growth as a tourist destination, attracting hospitality brands like Golden Tulip, Fairfield by Marriott, Santika Premiere, and the latest, Swissbel Hotel.
To grow air connectivity, the regional government has approached a number of airlines to mount flights to the destination, including AirAsia as well as carriers flying to Thailand, Isyak Meirobie, deputy regent of Belitung, told TTG Asia. “China is one of them. At this point, we are still in talks,” he said.
However, at press time, Garuda Indonesia has just announced the axing of the the four-times-weekly Singapore-Belitung service, which had only began operations in October 2018.
With the closure of this Singapore connection, inbound agents fear that the positive momentum Belitung is starting to see for the international market in the past six months will be lost.
“The number is not in hundreds, but every week there are (overseas) groups that come (to Belitung),” said Yudianto Evan Setiawan, director of Billitonesia Tour. “A few groups were planning to visit Belitung in June-July, but this (service) closure inevitably made them cancel their trip and we lost the business.”
Without a direct link, Singapore and overseas clients are now “thinking twice” about selling Belitung, as domestic flights via Jakarta are more expensive and time consuming, he added.
“At this moment, the dream to make Belitung an international destination is broken,” Yudianto said. “Now we’re relying on AirAsia, said to launch flights from Kuala Lumpur in August. Hopefully the regional government will truly realise the cooperation with AirAsia.”
Airport capacity is another key challenge, Isyak pointed out, as the annual number of passengers has reached 800,000, outstripping H.A.S. Hanandjoeddin International Airport’s capacity of 250,000 passengers.
State-owned Angkasa Pura II has taken over the management of HAS Hanandjoeddin Airport to unveil a 400 billion rupiah (US$28.4 million) development plan beginning next year, which will see the addition of a new terminal that will accommodate three million passengers, an apron and a taxi way.
As well, Isyak is planning to form the Belitung Tourism Board to market the destination, as more new attractions and travel products come online.
Karmila Santy, chairman of Association of the Indonesian Tours an Travel Agencies (ASITA) Belitung Chapter, sees strong potential in the destination’s natural assets, with Tanjung Kelayang Beach, Batu Berlayar, Kelayang Beach, Lebong Island and Lengkuas Island among the key attractions.
Karmila said: “Belitung has 200 islands, and most of them have not been explored, so the tourism potential is still large.”
While Belitung is not lacking in attractions, Herry Sulistya, director of sales of Fairfield by Marriott Belitung, opined that tour operators are still offering standard island-hopping packages with some photo taking and snorkelling opportunities thrown in. “These kind of itineraries are only suitable for first timers with staying less than three days,” he said.
Agents should exercise greater creativity in designing packages to attract repeat travellers, opined Yudianto.
“Besides beaches and islands, they must think creatively to sell new attractions, such as combining nature and culture, so that packages are more varied and travellers are also not bored.”
Yudianto suggested that activities such as kayaking, diving and visiting turtle breeding spots can be combined with village tours for tourists to immerse and learn about the local culture, hence enhancing the overall Belitung experience.
Already, Fhia LF, director of Belitung Archipelago, is developing an adventure tour package that combines visits to a geopark, local coffee plantations, waterfalls and a tarsius conservation area.
“The government efforts to register the Belitung geopark (for UNESCO consideration) received good response from adventure tourists,” said Yudianto. “We also see a lot of scientists who are interested in coming to research the nature of Belitung.”
Home-sharing giant Airbnb has unveiled Adventures – an extension of Experiences – which is a new collection of multi-day experiences for small groups hosted by local experts.
At launch, there are currently over 200 Airbnb Adventures available for booking, with more to be added before the end of the year. Some of the Adventures are entirely exclusive to Airbnb, while some are provided by small local operators not found on a major booking platform.
Cowboy Life in the American Wild West
All Adventures are in small groups with a maximum capacity of 12 guests or less, and prices range from US$79 for an overnight trip to a US$5,000 10-day trek. The adventures cover numerous genres ranging from foodie to camping, and music to animals, but all will have a strong element that ties it to the local community, said Airbnb.
Several already-listed Adventures are Track Lions On Foot With Warriors; Cowboy Life in the American Wild West; Swedish Islands Culinary Kayaking Trip; and Farm stay in Indiana Amish country.
Hosts will be the providers of Adventures, where they arrange their own Adventure, control when and where they host, the itinerary, where they stay, what services they offer, and what they charge. Flights are generally not included.
Camp on the Side of a Cliff in Colorado
To mark the launch of the new offering, a limited number of individuals will have a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to join an 80-day trip around the world. Inspired by the Jules Verne classic penned almost 150 years ago, this Adventure takes guests across six continents, 18 countries, two oceans, five seas and eight modes of transportation including, of course, a hot air balloon.
The Around the World in 80 Days Adventure will be available to book from June 20, from London to London departing September 1, 2019.
Airbnb was advised on safety and best practices for its Adventures segment by the Adventure Travel Trade Association (ATTA). According to the ATTA, the international adventure travel market in 2017 could be valued at over US$683 billion, up 21 per cent from 2012.
