Having spent more than 15 years working in the hospitality industry, Wing Prakoso, co-founder at Hore! Indonesia, only knows the staffing issues in the sector too well.
He said: “It is difficult to get competent daily workers, especially when hotels have events or are fully booked. The problem is not because no one can be employed, but because millennial workers lack motivation and commitment to work, and also have attitude problems.”
On the other hand, he is also concerned about the growing number of vocational school and university graduates who remain unemployed as hotels cut back on manpower amid current economic situation.
Keen to address this challenge of supply and demand, Wing and two friends in January 2018 launched Hore! Indonesia (which stands for Hire On Ready & Educated) as an platform for hospitality recruiters to hire ready and educated staff to complete daily jobs.
Through the platform, hoteliers can access a ready pool of qualified workers, who have been interviewed, filtered and tested for their abilities. For young people, Hore! offers a flexible way to earn money and build up their experiences while providing flexibility in work hours.
Wing elaborated: “Hore! Indonesia is similar to Grab and Go-Jek. Hotels select the workers, who will then respond whether he or she can or cannot do the work.”
To become members, interested hotels and workers just have to sign up on the website. How then does Hore! ensure that its pool of workers are competent and ready for hire?
Wing explained: “Every worker who registers as a member of Hore! must go through several stages before being allowed to find work. First, they must fill in the profile data and be interviewed by our team, who then gives a review and rating. After that, we will provide training (to them) based on reviews and ratings.”
Hotels or parties can also rate the services of the workers. The higher the rating, the higher the renumeration rate for a worker. The rating also determines the quality and performance of the worker.
He added: “The rating also applies to hotels. Workers have the right to give an assessment, whether the hotel gives a reasonable fee, treats workers well, among others. This is to ensure the welfare of our members.”
Both hotel or workers can submit complaints, which will be followed up by an Hore! staff to mediate and seek a solution for both parties.
Workers who have received complaints will be temporarily suspended and sent to a training or workshop, Wing told TTG Asia.
To date, 1,350 workers have joined Hore! Indonesia as members. The platform has also established cooperation with 40 hotels, 10 restaurants, two event spaces, and one catering service in Surabaya, while in Jakarta it has partnered with seven hotels, one event space and one catering service.
Going forward, Wing hopes to attract more young people to join the platform and increase the workers’ hourly wages, which are currently paid at an average of 120,000 (US$8.40) to 150,000 rupiah.
Next on the start-up’s agenda is expanding into other cities, such as Yogyakarta, Bandung and Bali.
“We hope to work more with big (hotel or restaurant) brands. We also intend to collaborate with tourism institutes and vocational schools.
“We aim to be the platform that will empower young generations for a greater good and to contribute to Indonesia’s hospitality industry,” Wing concluded.
Based out of New Delhi, Huria will be responsible for growing Adara’s footprint in India and expanding the pool of data partners to deliver consumer insights to travel marketers.
Air New Zealand plans to launch five-times-weekly seasonal flights between Christchurch and Singapore this winter to appeal to the strong travel demand from South and South-east Asia.
Air New Zealand and Singapore Airlines currently offer a 10-times-weekly service between Christchurch and Singapore. The seasonal flights will bring the frequency of the service to 15 times weekly in the December 1, 2019 to February 15, 2020 period.
The airline is also deploying the larger Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner aircraft on the route, which would increase capacity including in the premium economy category.
Cam Wallace, chief revenue officer, Air New Zealand, said: “We have seen strong demand for travel to New Zealand in the South and South-east Asia market, and we expect (the additional flights to) appeal to travellers in this region.
Singapore is likely to continue serving as Air New Zealand’s South-east Asia hub. On the airline’s strategy in growing outbound markets Indonesia and Malaysia, where it does not fly to directly, Wallace said: “Both are key growth markets for Air New Zealand in South-east Asia as we continue to see strong demand from travellers in the region. At this stage, both markets are being well served through our recently renewed alliance with Singapore Airlines, providing connectivity through Changi Airport.
“Capitalising on its strategic geographical location, excellent air connectivity and world-class infrastructure, we are seeing plenty of opportunities to grow our presence in the region through our operations in Singapore. We will continue to assess opportunities across markets and leverage our well-established partner network in the region to capture demand.”
Meanwhile, Christchurch is expected to grow in appeal, benefitting from new destination offerings and intensified sales and marketing efforts.
“Christchurch is building new experiences at a phenomenal rate, with new bars, restaurants and artworks going up quicker than anywhere else in New Zealand. This new seasonal Singapore-Christchurch service complements the MoU signed between the airline and Christchurch city agencies in September 2018 committing to exploring joint marketing, enhanced freight and passenger capacity, and signature events.”
“These changes reinforce Christchurch and the South Island as a priority market for Air New Zealand, as we seek to leverage the strength of both airlines to deliver increased connections into the domestic New Zealand network,” Wallace said.
The airline is also running a tactical campaign with Christchurch Airport to promote South Island.
The campaign will span offline and online media buys to increase the awareness of New Zealand and Air New Zealand to consumers in Singapore, targeting the family market and professionals, managers, executives and businessmen.
“We are also working with key agents to develop new itineraries for the South Island,” he said.