Oyo has issued a statement confirming a deal with Airbnb, following speculations for months that the homesharing giant is investing in the Indian accommodation startup.
The Oyo investment is Airbnb’s latest effort to expand its growing hotel business after its acquisition of HotelTonight last month.
Airbnb confirms stake in India’s OYO
Maninder Gulati, global chief strategy officer at Oyo Hotels & Homes, said: “As the sixth largest hotel chain operator in the world, we are committed to offering our guests and travellers around the world, great quality living spaces. We are happy to have Airbnb as our partner in this vision.”
Neither parties confirmed the size of the deal, but the strategic partnership is expected to drive both companies to explore collaborative opportunities in a range of projects, including making Oyo accommodations available on the Airbnb platform. Further details were not available at press time.
Apart from Airbnb, Oyo is also working closely with Bookings.com and Expedia.
Adara, provider of data-driven solutions for the travel industry, has partnered two new Tokyo-based companies.
The two companies are metasearch site Travel Book, and Fast Train, which runs a network of lifestyle and travel sites for travellers and residents, including Tokyo Cheapo, Japan Cheapo and London Cheapo.
A screenshot from the Tokyo Cheapo website
According to Adara, which offers a data co-op to help brands target their marketing, the partnerships will add to the 750 million monthly unique traveller profiles it currently captures, including data on approximately 48 million monthly travellers in Japan.
Last September, Adara signed a deal with the Japan National Tourism Organization (JNTO), giving access to its proprietary destination measurement and analytics tool, Adara Impact. In preparation for the Tokyo 2020 Summer Olympics, Adara says it aims to support travel promotions and drive visitation to Japan, all while gaining additional data partners.
One Faber Group has debuted a multimedia show as part of a calendar of events celebrating the 45th anniversary of the Singapore Cable Car.
From March 30, 2019 to March 2020, the Miraculous show is performed thrice nightly – 19.30, 20.30 and 21.00 – at the Arbora restaurant on level two of Faber Peak Singapore.
The Miraculous show at Faber Peak
In the show, a heart-shaped Angsana tree comes alive in kaleidoscope lights. The brilliant tree houses two squirrel characters Mira and Mirak with a special ability to camouflage.
Seats are provided on a first come, first served basis for cable car patrons, diners and Faber License members.
In addition, Faber Peak will light up in brilliant colours, giving cable car passengers a visual treat.
Also part of the 45th celebrations is the Explorer Passport, a self-guided exploration available from April 1 to June 30 this year. After redeeming their passports with purchase of the Cable Car Sky Pass, participants are led through stations to collect stamps, discover a Merlion statue and more in the process.
There will also be food events including Satay Night Live and Mao Shan Wang Durian Feast @ Mount Faber, taking place on June 8 and August 10 respectively.
Until February 15, 2020, an exhibit showing the evolution of Singapore Cable Cars through the years, including with information on history and retro cabins for photo opportunities, will run on the Cable Car Deck on Faber Peak.
Oakwood has appointed Jean Keijdener as general manager at Oakwood Residence Saigon.
Bringing 30 years of experience in the hospitality industry to his new role, Keijdener has held senior management positions at major hotel brands including Hilton, Hyatt, Renaissance and Sedona, spanning the geographies of Bahrain, Germany, Indonesia, Ireland, Tahiti, the Netherlands, the US and Vietnam.
Prior to this, Keijdener was country general manager for The Ascott in Thailand and South Korea.
Garuda brought down airfares, but only for bookings made via its own website and OTAs, some say
By Mimi Hudoyo and Kurniawan Ulung
Indonesian travel agents do not expect domestic airfares to go down to former levels as the government has raised the price floor on tickets, although local carriers announced over the weekend that they would be dropping their fares this month.
The Indonesia Ministry of Transportation announced last Saturday that the price floor for domestic economy class was increased from 30 per cent to 35 per cent, while the ceiling price remained the same.
Garuda brought down airfares, but only for bookings made via its own website and OTAs, some say
Nur Isnin Istiartono, secretary of the directorate general of civil aviation, was quoted by detik.com as saying: “The Ministry of Transportation (understands) consumers’ needs for lower prices. However, in this case, the government also wants to protect the sustainability of airline companies.”
While the government has ordered airlines to reduce their fares, the new price regulations means that airlines can still put the same highest price tags permitted by the government the way they have done in recent months. On the other hand, the lowest price will be higher than they used to be.
The ceiling price of Jakarta-Denpasar airfare, for example, is Rp1.6 million (US$114). The floor price used to be Rp495,000 and is now Rp578,000.
The new regulation came despite the impacts on travel demand within Indonesia as a result of high domestic airfares in recent months.
Indonesian airlines responded to the industry outcry with announcements that they would drop their prices as of April 1.
Lion Air Group, comprising Lion Air, Wings Air and Batik Air, announced it would reduce its airfares on all routes.
“The reduction of air ticket prices is Lion Air Group’s answer to challenges and opportunities in the travel business, and to accommodate the demand for air travel while improving flight operations,” Lion Air spokesman Danang Mandala Prihantoro said in a press release.
Garuda Indonesia announced a 50 per cent discounts on airfares from March 31 to April 13 to mark the 21st anniversary of the state-owned Enterprise Ministry.
“Reducing airfares is Garuda’s commitment to making its five-star-service affordable for all Indonesian people,” Garuda Indonesia commerce director Pikri Ilham Kurniansyah said in a statement.
However, a number of travel executives TTG Asia contacted yesterday suggested that domestic airfares still remained high.
Pauline Suharno, the managing director of Elok Tour was disappointed because the discounted prices of Garuda Indonesia’s airfares were not available through brick-and-mortar travel companies but via only OTAs and the airline’s official website.
On Traveloka, for example, Garuda’s airfare from Jakarta to Lombok was Rp1.3 million, down 30 per cent from Rp1.9 million last week.
She said: “For us, this is unfair. This is discrimination against travel agents.”
Pauline, who is also secretary general of ASTINDO, said that according to the reports from the association members, Citilink and Lion Air Group’s members had not dropped their airfares as per April 1.
Jenny Margaretha, owner of Vanessa Tour, confirmed that the airfares offered by the two LCCs remained high.
From a check on April 1, Lion Air’s fares from Jakarta to Medan, for example, was still priced at over Rp1.5 million, she said, adding that the price the industry was used to was around Rp800,000.
Jenny, who is also the ticketing coordinator in the Jakarta branch of ASITA expressed hopes that the government would check whether the airlines were complying with new regulations.
According to her observation, Garuda’s discounted airfares are only for certain routes such as Jakarta-Lombok route. She said that the airfares from Jakarta to Medan, for example, was still expensive as it was priced at around Rp2.4 million.
“ASITA had contacted Garuda to meet one of its directors (next week) to ask for the reason,” Jenny said.
Siti Aisyah, the director of Cahaya Mega Angkasa Tour and Travel in Banjarmasin, likewise reported that the ticket prices from Banjarmasin in South Kalimantan to Jakarta and other cities remained high.
She said before the airfare hikes, Citilink price for Jakarta-Banjarmasin round trip was Rp1.6 million. Today, that is the price for a one-way ticket.
High domestic airfares are not the only problem faced by travel companies. Ng Sebastian, the owner of Incito Vacations, in Makassar, South Sulawesi said that if the basic domestic fares offered by Lion Air and Wings Air excluded check-in baggages, he was not sure if the government’s new regulations would drive domestic travel.
“The negative impact of baggage allowance (as an add-on charge) is also faced by small and medium enterprises in tourist destinations because it has made travellers reluctant to shop gifts for their friends or family members when they are holidaying,” he elaborated.
Chinese tourists outside the Grand Palace in Bangkok
Arrivals from some markets travelling to Thailand with registered tour companies significantly dropped in the first three months of the year, with businesses attributing this mainly to pollution and the stronger Thai currency.
Statistics from the Association of Thai Travel Agents (ATTA) show that tourists from the Middle East fell 45.2 per cent during the January 1 – March 20, 2019 period compared to the same months last year.
Thailand sees year-on-year decline in Chinese arrivals, but China remains its top international feeder
At the same time, the Africa market dropped 14.9 per cent, China 12.4 per cent, Europe 9.4 per cent, and Australia and New Zealand 8.7 per cent.
However, the markets of Russia and South-east Asia grew 10.1 per cent and 8.3 per cent respectively.
China remained the top international source market for ATTA’s members at 762,364, albeit down from the 870,720 recorded at the same time last year. ATTA members served nearly 3.2 million tourists from the mainland last year.
Vichit Prakobgosol, president of ATTA, said many Chinese tourists shifted to other countries as they are worried about safety after the Phuket boat incident. The stronger Thai baht and heavy smog in Thailand also led many to choose other destinations such as South Korea, Vietnam, Indonesia as well as Japan.
Overall, international visitors to Thailand remained in growth for the first quarter this year.
The Tourism Council of Thailand (TCT) last week released its tourism confidence index for the first quarter, rating at 98, lower than the standard 100 due to multiple factors including an economic slowdown, the haze problem and tough competition.
TCT’s chairman Chirat Triratanajarasporn said: “The Thai tourism industry should continue to grow in the second quarter after the general election and as the pollution problem (tapers).”
The council predicted that about 9.3 million foreigners will travel to Thailand in the second quarter, and expected nearly 40.7 million for the entire year.
A spate of large-scale mixed-use projects are taking shape in Bangkok, as developers seek to incorporate more productive use of land space in the Thai capital and capitalise the surging demand for live, work and play.
Central Bangkok is the focus of several major mixed-used projects, among which is Dusit Central Park, a 36.7 billion baht (US$1.2 billion) joint venture project from major Thai hotel development company Dusit Thani and retail and property giant Central Pattana.
Concept art of Dusit mixed-use project
Located on Bangkok’s biggest greenfield Lumpini Park at the corner of financial junction of Silom and Rama 4 roads, Dusit Central Park will comprise the 39-storey, 250-room reimagined Dusit Thani Bangkok, Dusit’s flagship hotel which just closed earlier this year; a high-end shopping complex; luxury residences and office buildings. The entire project is expected to complete in 2024.
Coming up on the same Rama 4 Road is the 120 billion baht One Bangkok, which is owned by Charoen Sirivadhanabhakdi, founder of Thai Beverage – which controls the country’s largest brewery known for its Chang brand – and chairman of Thai conglomerate TCC Group and Fraser and Neave.
Slated to launch in 2025, Bangkok One is touted to be the most expensive mix-used and real estate development in the country. The project is created for multiple uses in response the need of hotel room, office space, accommodation as well as a convention hall and theatre.
Charoen is also developing other two projects on the same road, namely Samyan Mitrtown, worth 85 billion baht, and The Praq at a cost of 20 billion baht. Both developments are expected to open in 2020.
Speaking at a press conference yesterday, Suphajee Suthumpun, group CEO of Dusit Thani, said the surge of mix-use projects in Bangkok is a response to high demand, especially business organisations and urban people living in the metropolitan.
“We consider that our project is a super core hub in Bangkok that will link with four major areas – Thonburi, Charoenkrung plus Chinatown Yaowarat, Sukhumvit and Ratchaprasong. We are getting into the right direction to become a new hub for urbanised communities,” Suphajee said.
More mix-use projects, ranging from small to large scale, can be expected to open in Bangkok, said Wutthiphon Taworntawat, managing director of Urban Hospitality Group. “Investing in mix-used can gain return of investment faster than single use and also able to draw more traffic all year round,” he said.
Nguyen Thi Huong Lien was in her third year at university and desperate to find ways to practise her English when she hit upon the idea of offering sightseeing tours to make extra money to fund her studies.
Harbouring a huge passion for her hometown of Hue, Nguyen decided a great way to achieve her aims could be done by offering sightseeing tours to the growing number of foreigners visiting the historic central Vietnamese city.
But she wanted to do things differently. Having taken part in many charity events when she was younger, Nguyen’s top priority was to run tours that benefited the local community, while offering employment and opportunities to other young women like herself.
Motorbike tours make stops at female-operated businesses
With just US$100 in her pocket, at the age of 21, Nguyen started trial runs of I Love Hue Tour. The aim was to offer insightful motorbike rides throughout the city and its outskirts, which made stops at local artisans, food stalls and businesses along the way – all operated by women.
That was in late-2014, and in less than five years Nguyen has come a long way. In 2016, I Love Hue Tour had garnered so much interest that Nguyen registered her business as a legal company.
Her social-orientated business model, coupled with her spark and passion for empowering women, led to Nguyen being crowned one of four winners of MIST (Mekong Initiative Startups in Tourism) in 2017, followed by her scooping a Wise Woman Leadership Award for her work.
Her winning pitch for MIST caught the attention of Facebook’s COO Sheryl Sandberg, who asked to meet Nguyen during a visit to Vietnam. Nguyen found herself a mentor in Sandberg, who advised her to think big.
She quickly expanded her operations to Hoi An, Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City and Danang, launching I Love Vietnam Tour. Said Nguyen: “I was so happy because I was able to connect Vietnam together, and employ so many talented young women to be the country’s ambassadors.”
In 2018, her dreams got even bigger when she decided to expand into South-east Asia, settling on Luang Prabang, where she won the Wise Woman Leadership Award. In August, 15 female students started running tours there, marking the start of a new chapter for the company – I Love Asia Tour.
But the expansion doesn’t stop there. In August 2019, I Love Asia Tour will begin operations in Siem Reap. This will bring the total number of women working for the company to more than 150 female bikers, with 12 female employees based in the Hue head office.
Nguyen, who was short-listed in the social entrepreneur category of last month’s Women of Futures Awards Southeast Asia in Singapore, plans to spend the next five years scaling up business in the three destinations, before setting her sights on her next spot.
She added: “This has been an incredible journey for me in every way, and I couldn’t have achieved it without the support and passion of all the I Love Asia Tour women.”
Most existing hotels in Hanoi have fewer than 50 rooms
The rapid growth in international tourist arrivals to Vietnam has contributed to a positive short- to mid-term outlook for the Hanoi hotel industry, STR Global’s data and analysis revealed.
During the first two months of 2019, Hanoi reported double-digit increases in ADR (+10.1% to VND 2.9 million (equivalent to US$123) and RevPAR (+14% to VND 2.2 million). Occupancy rose 3.5% to 77%, driven by a 4.1% jump in demand. The market experienced slight RevPAR growth in 2018 (+0.4%) once again pushed by ADR (+3.7%).
Most existing hotels in Hanoi have fewer than 50 rooms
“Vietnam has become a popular destination for tourists, as international arrivals have tripled from five million visitors in 2010 to 15.5 million in 2018,” said Jesper Palmqvist, STR’s area director for Asia-Pacific.
“Later during that time period, Hanoi saw an uptick in supply when the metric grew roughly 4% for 12 consecutive months ending with July 2018. However, the current slowdown in development has certainly helped ease the pressure off of overall performance.”
There are 224 hotels accounting for 17,615 rooms in Hanoi. The market continues to remain full of smaller hotels, with almost 75% of all hotels at 100 rooms or fewer, and 60% of all hotels with fewer than 50 rooms. There are roughly 3,000 rooms in the development pipeline, with fewer than 1,000 rooms expected to open in 2019.
Not only has the balanced supply helped Q1 performance, but events and holidays in Hanoi have set the market on track for solid performance levels in 2019. There was improved occupancy during Tết (February 5), and the North Korea-US Hanoi Summit (February 27-28 ) resulted in one of the highest monthly ADR levels ever recorded in the market.
“The strong start to 2019 produced a positive outlook for the rest of the year,” Palmqvist said. “RevPAR growth will certainly be heightened this year, ultimately driven by an increase in occupancy during the low season and continued ADR growth throughout a majority of the upcoming months.”
Guy Heywood has been appointed COO of Six Senses Hotels Resorts Spas, joining the company from his previous role as COO for Alila Hotels and Resorts, a position he held for the past eight years.
With over 30 years of experience within the international hotel and tourism industry, the dual British and Australian citizen started his journey in Australia as the restaurant and lounge manager at InterContinental Sydney. He then moved on to The Regent Sydney, followed by Four Seasons Hotel Tokyo at Marunouchi and Four Seasons Hotel Singapore in a similar capacity.
In 1997, Heywood joined Aman Resorts as general manager of Amankila in Bali, and rose through the ranks to become the area manager for Amanresorts Indonesia, based at Amanusa. He then moved to Jackson Hole, Wyoming to act as country manager of Amanresorts Americas and Caribbean, based at Amangani.
Following that, he moved back to Australia to take up the group general manager role of Voyages Hotels and Resorts in Cairns.
