Tourism New Zealand doubles down on SE Asia with 100% Pure efforts

May 22, 2019

Hooker-Valley-in-New-Zealand — Hooker Valley in New Zealand

Tourism New Zealand has recently launched 100% Pure New Zealand Stories in Singapore and India, a purely online and digital promotion specifically targeting both markets.

Steven Dixon, regional manager – South and South East Asia of Tourism New Zealand said: “The campaigns focus on localised contents to pull on the emotional strength and connect to the local travellers. In Singapore, for example, Singlish (Singaporean English) is used.”

The localised campaigns are designed based on the travel characteristics and profiles of each market, with the Singapore drive complementing an earlier promotion targeted at the market.

Dixon said: “(Being a mature market to New Zealand), Singaporeans are looking for new and off-the-beaten track destinations. They want to travel like the locals here and they want Instagrammable places.”

On the other hand, the Indian market is characterised by a strong preference for exploring diverse attractions within a holiday. Said Dixon: “The Indian travellers like to do many activities and try new things; they can do (as many as) 20 activities during their 12 to 13 days’ stay. So our focus is to introduce as many activities as possible (to this market).”

A fast-growing market for New Zealand, India has expanded 70 per cent in the last three years and is projected to grow nine per cent annually until 2025.

Another rapidly growing market for New Zealand is Indonesia, which has grown 60 per cent in the last three years and is projected to continue growing eight per cent annually until 2025.

Dixon said: “Indonesia is consistent with double-digit growth year around, not only during the Hari Raya peak season holidays.”

As awareness increases, New Zealand is seeing a growing number of FIT travellers from Indonesia.

“Indonesians stay 10 days, so our focus in Indonesia is to encourage them to come and visit different regions that we have throughout the year. The ways to (encourage) that is working with travel agents and campaign with airlines and a number of other programmes like the 100% Pure NZ Specialist programme,” he said.

Meanwhile, New Zealand’s newest darling market in South-east Asia is the Philippines, thanks to the opening of Philippine Airlines’ (PAL) Manila-Auckland services in 2017.

Dixon said: “(The Philippines) is currently the fastest growing market. Although from a very low base, the holiday market alone in the year ending March grew 20 per cent. A lot of that is due to the new capacity that PAL put in place with thrice-weekly flights in 2017 and in 2018 they upgraded to a bigger aircraft to increase its capacity by 22 per cent.”

Furthermore, the Philippine market travels during New Zealand’s shoulder season of March to October according to Dixon.

As for Malaysia, Tourism New Zealand is focusing on promoting its Muslim-friendly travel offerings as Muslim travellers account for 60 per cent of the market.

“Our focus is to increase the awareness of Malaysian travellers on products we have for them. Equally, we will also educate the New Zealand industry on the requirement of the Muslim travellers. We work closely with the Muslim Federation of New Zealand, creating a guide on website about halal travel guide that we just relaunched with content not only around food but also places of worships. “

High investor interest in SE Asia stumble on land ownership obstacles

By Suchat Sritama

May 22, 2019

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andrew-langdon — Langdon: many want to invest, but are unable to secure land

While tourism business is expected to grow throughout South-east Asia, industry observers say hotel investors face challenges including the higher cost of land, difficulty in finding a suitable partner, and lack of software capabilities.

Speaking at South East Asia Hotel Investor Summit in Bangkok last week, Jesper Palmqvist, STR’s area director Asia Pacific, said that the wider gap in bargaining power between land owners and buyers has become the biggest obstacle facing hotel investors, especially in major tourist destinations.

Langdon: many want to invest, but are unable to secure land

Many investors see huge opportunity in leveraging Thailand’s tourism growth, from the expected 41 million international tourists and over 170 million domestic trips for this year, but have been unable to secure land.

Bangkok exemplifies such challenging landscape, pointed out Andrew Langdon, senior vice president development Asia, Accor.

“Land prices in Bangkok have gotten much higher in the last decade,” he said. This has made it hard to obtain land, and even more difficult to get a return on investment, remarked Langdon.

In this tough environment for land ownership, hotel investors have two options in Bangkok – they can acquire existing land, which may be costly; or build new hotels on land they already own.

“I think landlords (might) take advantage of the soaring land cost. They are able to gain up to 90 per cent (over the transacted price), but (opportunities are) very limited,” Langdon added.

The challenging environment has made it necessary for new players entering the market to have an effective strategy during the first five to 10 years. “To grab business in a tough environment, operators must have some fresh ideas, using strong marketing and technology as well as (a robust) database,” Palmqvist said.

He also advised that most cities in the region must improve tourism infrastructure such as airport facility, immigration processes and logistics.

In order to maximise revenue from hotel investment, Dillip Jajakarier, CEO of Minor Hotels, said that investing in human resource and technology are key factors for success. Under Minor’s vision, having qualified staff will help build brand and reputation as well as help drive business in long term.

Langdon added that operating hotel is involves not just real estate cost, but also hotel management, manpower and technology, all of which come at a high price too.

“The challenge for hotel investment need to be (managed) equally between hardware and software,” said Langdon.

Royal Caribbean deploys two largest ships to Asia in 2019

By Pamela Chow

May 22, 2019

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Royal Caribbean yesterday launched Asia’s largest ship, Spectrum of the Seas, marking the start of its Double Quantum Year in Asia.

The cruise line’s first Quantum Ultra Class ship, Spectrum of the Seas weighs 170,000 gross registered tonnes and has a capacity of more than 5,600 guests and 2,137 staterooms.

From left: RCL Cruises’ Angie Stephen; Spectrum of the Seas’ captain Charles Teige; Singapore Tourism Board’s Chaly Mah; RCL Cruises’ Gavin Smith; and SATS-Creuers Cruise Services Lionel Wong

Onboard offerings include features such as a VR bungee trampoline, a skydiving simulator, high-tech multimedia shows and robotic bartenders.

Before homeporting in Shanghai in June 2019, Spectrum of the Seas will offer three sailings from Singapore.

The arrival of Spectrum of the Seas marks the start of Royal Caribbean’s “Double Quantum Year” in Asia. Following hot on the heels of this new vessel, sister ship Quantum of the Seas will return to Singapore in November 2019 for 34 sailings until April 2020.

Following which, it will add a new homeporting season in Singapore, sailing in the region from October 2020 to April 2021. This additional deployment will add some 180,000 guests to the Singapore cruising scene, said Royal Caribbean’s senior vice president international, Gavin Smith.

“We are seeing a great response to these larger ships in Asia – the three Singapore sailings on Spectrum of the Seas this and next week are sold out. We are confident of growing the Asian market, especially for the multigenerational family and millennial segments,” he said.

Smith credited trade partnerships with entities such as Changi Airport Group and the Singapore Tourism Board for the growth of cruise tourism in Asia.

Royal Caribbean’s managing director, Asia-Pacific, Angie Stephen, added: “We’re seeing growth not only in Singapore, but also from the region outside of Singapore. Singapore is an incredible hub, so people want to come to Singapore, spend a couple of days here, and then jump on a ship to see a little bit more of the region.”

However, she revealed to TTG Asia that the largest obstacle the cruise line faces in Asia is the lack of product awareness.

She said: “The penetration (into this market) and amount of people (in Asia) who cruise is still a very low number. The biggest challenge we continue to have in this region is awareness and education. We need to get the word out that cruising is affordable, that there’s plenty of things to do and it’s hassle-free.”

Asia’s cruise passengers younger than global average

By TTG Asia

May 22, 2019

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Star-Pisces-3 — Star Cruise's Pisces in the Hong Kong harbour

As Asia sailed to a record 4.2 million ocean-going cruise passengers in 2018, the region’s cruise passengers are found across the age spectrum, revealed Cruise Lines International Association (CLIA) 2018 Asia Cruise Industry Ocean Source Market Report.

Asian cruise passengers are found across the age spectrum with an estimated average age of 45.4 years, lower than the global average of 47 years. Only three markets show divergence: India, a young 37-year average; Indonesia a 39-year average; and Japan an older 57 years.

“Asian cruise passengers are found across the age spectrum, suggesting different consumer segments interested in a cruise holiday and providing numerous possibilities for industry partners to develop the cruise penetration rate in this region,” noted Katz.

Multiple source cruise markets in Asia registered double-digit growths last year, making Asia is the third largest cruise region after North America and Europe.

While China continues to dominate the passenger share of Asia, cruise passengers from Taiwan and Singapore have been steadily growing in numbers.

“With nine out of 10 Asian cruise travellers choosing to cruise in Asia, it is clear that cruising will keep growing in popularity as more capacity will be deployed to Asia in the next few years,” said Joel Katz, managing director for CLIA Australasia & Asia.

In addition, Asian cruise passengers predominantly sail in Asia with more than 50% (2.2 million) cruising in mainland China, Hong Kong and Taiwan. Almost 40% (1.7 million) cruise in the rest of Asia. Asian cruise passengers also opted for shorter sailings, 89% of whom sail and average of four to six nights, with an average duration of 4.9 days.

Outside of Asia, the Mediterranean, Caribbean/South America, Baltics/Northern Europe, and Alaska were popular choices, in that order.

Brunei readies tourism frontline staff for ATF

By S Puvaneswary

May 22, 2019

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The Tourism Development Department and Brunei Association of Hotels (BAH) are collaborating with training provider V-Plaza to prepare frontliners and restaurants for the upcoming ASEAN Tourism Forum (ATF), which will be held in the sultanate in January 2020.

President of Brunei Association of Hotels, Mohd Iswandi Maaruf, said: “This is the first time this programme is held in Brunei. It is part of efforts to lift service standards of frontliners in the hospitality sector. We want to impress all foreign delegates and media who attend ATF in Brunei next year by making sure hotels and restaurants are ready.”

Brunei’s hospitality sector gets a training boost as ATF draws near

The three-month training course focuses on F&B, front office and housekeeping staff.

Front office staff at Wafa Hotel and Apartment, which opened two years ago, was the first to undergo the training programme which commenced earlier this year.

According to Mohd Iswandi, other hotels will follow suit. They are The Rizqun International Hotel, The Centrepoint Hotel, Mulia Hotel Brunei, Park View Hotel Brunei and Star Lodge Brunei Darussalam.

The training programme is open to all hotels and restaurants frequented by tourists visiting the Sultanate.

Mohd Iswandi said hotels are also encouraged to conduct their own in-house staff training.

Construction of Singapore-Malaysia train link suspended

By TTG Asia

May 22, 2019

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Singapore-Malaysia-train-link — View of Johor Bahru from Singapore

Singapore and Malaysia have agreed to defer construction of a cross-border Rapid Transit System (RTS) Link connecting Woodlands North station on Singapore’s Thomson-East Coast MRT line to Bukit Chagar in Johor Baru until September 30 this year.

Malaysia will reimburse Singapore around S$600,000 (US$435,255) in costs incurred as a result of the six-month suspension.

During the six months, Malaysia will decide whether it will proceed with the RTS Link project as it is or propose changes to the project scope, for which Singapore will give due consideration, reported Channel News Asia, quoting Singapore’s transport minister Khaw Boon Wan.

In a joint statement following the signing of an agreement to defer construction of the MRT link on May 21, both countries said that their respective transport ministers “recognised the urgent need to alleviate traffic congestion at the Johor Baru-Singapore Causeway which facilitates about 300,000 crossings daily”.

The governments will explore further initiatives, including the use of new technology, for enhanced security and checkpoint efficiency.

The Straits Times reported Anthony Loke, Malaysia’s transport minister, to have said that the Malaysian government was also looking at getting the private sector involved in the project.

Amazon rolls out flight booking service in India

By TTG Asia

May 22, 2019

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amazon-prime — Indian domestic flights can now be booked on Amazon

Amazon has partnered with online travel and activities platform Cleartrip to launch a domestic flight booking option, a new service that highlights the e-commerce giant’s interest to take on rivals Google Pay and Paytm.

Indian domestic flights can now be booked on Amazon

Customers in India will be able to access the flight booking service via the Amazon Pay page in the Amazon app or Amazon.in website.

The e-commerce giant has also indicated customers will not receive any additional charges should tickets be cancelled, and would only have to foot the individual airline’s cancellation penalty.

This is in addition to what the Amazon website already offers, such as shopping, money transfers, utility bill payments and mobile recharges.

New sales director for The St Regis Bangkok

By TTG Asia

May 21, 2019

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The St Regis Bangkok has welcomed a new director of sales, Prachaya Basset.

In her new role, she will work closely with both revenue and marketing teams to develop strategic customer segments and maintain overall positioning of the hotel.

Basset brings with her more than 15 years of experience in the hospitality sector, joining from her most recent stint at Mandarin Oriental, Bangkok.

No stranger to the hotel, she was previously with The St. Regis Bangkok as account director from 2012-2013. She has also worked with a number of other luxury brands such as Conrad and InterContinental in Bangkok.

International community shows support for New Zealand tourism after Christchurch shootings

By Mimi Hudoyo

May 21, 2019

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Barely two months after the Christchurch shootings, Tourism New Zealand has seen no impact on visitor arrivals and is resuming destination marketing activities.

The destination last week successfully hosted its biggest tourism event Trenz, with bigger buyers turnout than last year.

Steven Dixon, regional manager – South and South East Asia of Tourism New Zealand, commented: “The way the community showed their solidarity was quite humbling and the incident has not impacted arrivals. In some markets like the US, we have seen a massive increase in people wanting to come and live in New Zealand (as a result of how the community here was portrayed) and the overwhelming support of the New Zealand Muslim community.

“Out of respect for the victims and their families, we initially pulled all our advertising globally. (After) listening to the market and stakeholders, we then we made the decision in some markets to turn advertising back on at various levels, although some channels are not yet turned on, such as Facebook. We will make decision on that in the near future.”

A number of sellers and buyers TTG Asia spoke to at Trenz last week also said businesses was not affected, attributing this to the prompt response by the New Zealand government and people.

Rudy Techrisna, managing director of Multi Holiday Travel Indonesia, said: “I did not see any negative impact, especially after how the local community reacted to the incident. (Travellers) think it was (an isolated incident).”

Peter Davies, general manager of Anzcrow New Zealand, said: “I heard of no cancellations whatsoever following the incident.” On the contrary, travellers were showing their sympathies and solidarity, and continuing to travel to the country, according to Davies.

For Sophie Walker, director of Connect NZ Tourism, a marketing company for a group of New Zealand inbound travel companies, there were “probably some cancellations or change of travel plans” but these were short-term.

What stood out to her was how the nation’s prime minister acted in the aftermath, including through her efforts to reach out to the media and disseminate key information and updates.

“The response from the media and industry was amazing and really focused on the positive things that came out of (the incident) and showing that New Zealand is truly a (harmonious) multi-cultural destination.”

Praising the way the tourism stakeholders responded to the situation, Walker added: “Right after the incident, Tourism New Zealand and the Tourism Industry of Aotaerea sent out information to businesses on what they can do to mitigate a negative event like that. They flooded the media with positive stories that are happening in the industry to squash the bad news.”

Asked what the rest of the world can learn from New Zealand under such circumstances, Dixon said: “I don’t think it is a situation that anyone can prepare for. We never imagined that this was something that could happen anywhere in the world let alone in New Zealand. But the reality is now that can happen anywhere.

“I believe the way that the government moved swiftly and the way that we are transparent (helped), (and also retained support from) the international Muslim community.”

Maldives hits highest arrivals growth in 15 years

By Feizal Samath

May 21, 2019

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Maldives tourism recorded its highest growth in 15 years in April 2019, setting up expectations for a good year among trade members.

While January to April arrivals were up by 19.7 per cent to 646,092, arrivals in April alone rose by 36.3 per cent to 163,114 against the same 2018 month.

Strong growth in a single month buoying hopes for a good year for Maldives tourismes

“This is the highest growth achieved for any month since the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami,” tourism minister Ali Waheed told journalists in the capital Male last week.

Howard Brohier, general manager at Diethelm Travel, Maldives, believes 2019 could be a good year ending with healthy growth in occupancy and arrivals.

For Jan Tibaldi, general manager at One&Only Reethi Rah, Maldives, factors such as group and festive bookings also contributed to growth in 4Q2018 and 1Q2019.

Despite the destination’s solid arrivals performance, Andrew Ashmore, chief commercial officer at Coco Collection Hotels & Resorts/Sunland Hotels said most hotels are struggling with occupancy for May, due to the “massive increase in supply”.

The Maldives is increasingly becoming more mainstream as opposed to its traditional image of a luxurious destination, he added, with the proliferation of new resorts proliferating in the past two years.

Strong performances during January-April 2019 came from India with 48,875 arrivals (up 95.3 per cent from the same 2018 period), Italy (up 36 per cent to 67,891) and Germany (up 31 per cent to 54,862).

Phenomenal growth was also recorded in the month of April from China (up 24 per cent to 18,704), Germany (up 94 per cent to 17,583), Italy (up 79.3 per cent to 15,043) and India (up 129.5 per cent to 12,823).

China is the Maldives’ largest source market.

It is not just arrivals that have spiked. The Maldives is also seeing a surge in international hospitality investments, prompting some industry players to seek a more authentic positioning to better compete.

“Over the past years, international brands have entered the market, increasing the number of resorts in operation to more than 130. With such constant development, I think authenticity is becoming a rare commodity, so offering authentic experiences (has become essential),” Tibaldi said.

Meanwhile, some are cautiously optimistic about demand in the months ahead.

Diethelm’s Brohier said that although May to July bookings are below the expected volume, this could be due to the off-peak seasonality. “The trend (tends) to normalise towards August which is great. (Having said that) it is important to understand if performance in the last three months of the year would be good.”

Tourism New Zealand doubles down on SE Asia with 100% Pure efforts

High investor interest in SE Asia stumble on land ownership obstacles

Royal Caribbean deploys two largest ships to Asia in 2019

Asia’s cruise passengers younger than global average

Brunei readies tourism frontline staff for ATF

Construction of Singapore-Malaysia train link suspended

Amazon rolls out flight booking service in India

New sales director for The St Regis Bangkok

International community shows support for New Zealand tourism after Christchurch shootings

Maldives hits highest arrivals growth in 15 years

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