Zuji officially shut down on January 11 with HK$250,000 (US$32,000) owed to customers awaiting refunds, confirming rumours of trouble brewing at the online travel pioneer after news of suspension of airline ticket sales surfaced last month.
Ong Ling Lee, director, travel agents and tourist guides, Singapore Tourism Board, confirmed to TTG Asia that Zuji Travel did not renew its travel agent licence, which lapsed on December 31, 2018.
Photo credit: Marketing Interactiveji
IATA said in a statement: “Zuji’s participation in the IATA Billing and Settlement Plan in Singapore and Hong Kong was terminated earlier this month as Zuji was not able to meet conditions for reinstatement.”
In Hong Kong, a spokesperson from the Commerce and Economic Development Bureau confirmed to the South China Morning Post that Zuji’s licence has expired last Wednesday and that the company could not continue to operate a travel agent business although it is obligated to handle all booked services.
Zuji Hong Kong had earlier suggested that its website closure in Singapore and Hong Kong was temporary, and claimed on its social media that passengers who have made ticket purchases with them should not be affected.
As recently as last Friday, Zuji Hong Kong maintained on Facebook that it was “experiencing technical difficulties on processing refund”.
The OTA reportedly gave its assurance to the Travel Agents Registry, the government-run licensing body in Hong Kong, that it will honour the air ticket and hotel reservations made through its website.
Car driving down recently operational pan Borneo highway that goes through Sukau Sabah, Malaysia
A growing interest in immersive travel experiences has strengthened demand for eco and cultural activities in Malaysia’s rural and countryside areas, opening up opportunities for inbound sellers to pursue a greater diversity of tours and activities in the country while spreading tourist visitor footfalls to secondary and tertiary destinations.
Manfred Kurz, managing director of Diethelm Travel Malaysia, noted: “For the European market, we see beach stays getting shorter. Travellers want to go out to experience things and interact with the locals.”
Car driving down recently operational pan Borneo highway that goes through Sukau Sabah, Malaysia
Nigel Wong, director, Urban Rhythms Tour Adventures and Travel, made similar observations: “People of all ages, not just millennials, are into experiential tourism. They want to mix with locals and experience a destination, rather than sit in a coach tour.”
Wong added that the eco and cultural attractions segment is still largely an “untapped market”. For tour operators who have made the effort to seek out new activities and experiences to promote, they have been rewarded with “a lot of branding opportunities” for these lesser-known destinations.
In 4Q2018, Urban Rhythms introduced adventure videos featuring actual travellers on its consumer website, Big Blue Holidays. These videos spotlighted off-the-beaten track experiences such as trekking in the Sukau rainforest in Sabah, traversing the face of Mt Kinabalu on Via Ferrata, and going on a food trail in Penang’s George Town.
As a result, these videos have helped contribute to the 15 per cent year-to-date spike in bookings to Sabah and Penang for the company, Wong shared.
Adam Kamal, general manager, Tour East Malaysia reports similar booking patterns. He shared: “We see more Indian tourists asking for soft adventure packages such as birdwatching and trekking. Asians in general are (becoming) more health conscious, and we have received more enquiries about marathon packages, walking tours and whitewater rafting activities.”
This growing trend has prompted Tour East Malaysia’s product team to continually look out for and consider new destinations that lie within a two hours’ drive from major cities as a day trip option.
Meanwhile, Diethelm Travel Malaysia has also developed a series of new products under its Go Local brand, offering travellers the opportunities to watch a mak yong performance (a traditional form of dance-drama from northern Malaysia), see the production of shadow play puppets, or visit homestays to spend a day with the locals and experience their way of life, shared Kurz.
But offering tours and activities in rustic locations are not without their own set of challenges.
For instance, Kamal revealed that when developing eco tours, they had to deal with basic infrastructure such as public toilets that may not be up to international standards.
“(That is why) we work with local communities and improve conditions if need be. In smaller towns, it is also difficult to obtain gluten free or Indian food, so we pack the food and bring it along.”
Kurz added: “One of our challenges in promoting ecotourism and countryside tours is we have to ensure the safety standards are up to par. We work with local operators in the villages by informing them of our requirements and they are very cooperative.
“Sometimes we need to touch up on the accommodation to ensure guests are comfortable.”
Forward bookings for APAC growing slower than for longhaul desitnations
Forward bookings from China to Asia-Pacific destinations are down 2.6% for 1Q2019, while longhaul destinations are seeing significant growth, according to a Forwardkeys analysis.
Forwardkeys suggests that this could indicate that longhaul travel is typically booked more in advance, while Asia-Pacific might benefit later on from last-minute bookers.
Forward bookings for APAC growing slower than for longhaul desitnations
Overall, current forward bookings for international air travel in 1Q2019 are 4.4% ahead, and 8% ahead in December 2018.
Bookings are 2% ahead for the Chinese New Year period, defined by ForwardKeys to be from January 24 to February 16, compared to the comparable peak period in 2018.
Looking at the daily departure pattern, there will be two busy departures.
In 2019, the winter break for school children starts earlier in relation to the Chinese New Year when compared to 2018. The change in the school break dates has resulted in an early departure from January 26.
The second departure wave will happen on the weekend before the Golden Week, as many travellers probably take a few days of annual leave to make an extended holiday, Forwardkeys surmised.
Japan had been seeing good growth in Chinese visitors after declines in competing regional destinations South Korea and Thailand, until the recent hurricane and earthquake disasters disrupted its upward trend.
Since the Chinese government banned group travel to South Korea, the latter has seen clear recovery from the market from mid-2018 onwards.
Chinese FIT travellers started returning to South Korea as early as late 2017 following a ban on Chinese group travel to South Korea, however it was not until mass group travel to the destination resumed that overall year-on-year performance started improving.
The Vietnamese province of Quang Ninh – home to UNESCO-listed Halong Bay – is set to shine brighter as a tourist destination as it has been on the receiving end of huge investments recently.
In 4Q2018, air, sea and road connectivity to the north-eastern city was vastly improved, thanks to the opening of the Hanoi-Hai Phong expressway, as well as the launch of the Hon Gai international port and Van Don International Airport.
Pagoda on Yen Tu Mountain in Quang Ninh province
Jeff Redl, managing director of Diethelm Vietnam, said: “This opens up more opportunities for connections between Ho Chi Minh City and Halong and Van Don, where big projects are being proposed for development.”
Armand Cheveux, director of marketing at Bhaya Group, expects the new products to stimulate further investment into the area and encourage visitors to spend more time exploring Ha Long’s surroundings.
Cheveux said: “Yen Tu Mountain is an example of successful development as some hotels have been opened there to cater to (cruise travellers in Halong Bay). We believe more (of such developments) are bound to come in the future.”
Oleg Shafranov, Khiri Vietnam’s general manager, said while these developments create new tourism opportunities, care needs to be taken to ensure that environmental impact is minimised.
“This rapid development also means a heavier load on the bay. However, with sound regulating measures, this can be averted,” he said.
OTAs and booking engines looking to deliver more targeted content and intuitive user experience
Members of the Federation of ASEAN Travel Associations (FATA) will soon gain access to a digital platform that comes complete with a booking function, overall helping them sell tours, products and attractions from South-east Asia to the rest of the world.
FATA’s executive director Hamzah Rahmat said the idea for a B2B2C platform, agreed upon by the FATA board, will be presented to delegates at the upcoming FATA Convention 2019 this April in Putrajaya, Malaysia. About 200 delegates are expected to attend the conference, which will be in its second year.
OTAs and booking engines looking to deliver more targeted content and intuitive user experiencebooking
Mingkwan Netmowlee, president of FATA, said that the platform – called FATA Connect – will have its soft launch at the World Travel Market later this year, before officially launching at ATF 2020 in Brunei.
She shared: “TripAdvisor contacted us at ITB Asia last year and they have indicated their interest in selling products on the portal. We have yet to agree.”
FATA will manage FATA Connect, with details on which member association will take charge of the platform, as well as budget allocated for its development, to be revealed later.
Mieke De Schepper has been appointed executive vice president for online travel and managing director for Asia-Pacific at Amadeus.
De Schepper joins Amadeus from Egencia, Expedia Group’s TMC arm, where she held the role of senior vice president and chief commercial officer, bringing more than 17 years of experience in managing B2C and B2B businesses.
Previously, De Schepper was vice president of Expedia Group’s lodging partner solutions in Asia-Pacific, responsible for building and managing hotel relationships in the region.
In her new role, De Schepper will be responsible for helping OTAs, travel media companies and travel startups grow their businesses and position Amadeus as the partner of choice in online travel.
As part of Amadeus’ travel channels business, De Schepper will report to Decius Valmorbida. De Schepper will also assume the regional leadership role and will continue to be based in Singapore.
Singapore travel agency EU Holidays is relocating its service centre from Chinatown Point to Suntec City Convention & Exhibition Centre this month, with enhancements such as a private lounge area for customers accompanying the move.
With the new service centre, named EU Travel Expo, the agency says customers can expect “a more personal service and relaxed ambience”. They will be able to both enquire about tour packages through the agency’s service crew or browse tour package catalogues on their own in the “roadshow” area.
New agency space at Suntec City
There is a private lounge within the new agency space where customers are able to enjoy coffee and peruse destination guides and reading materials in the travel library corner.
There is also a conference room that can seat up to 100 people and a 35-seater room for pre-tour briefings.
In conjunction with the opening, EU Holidays will be running promotions on January 19 and 20, and a grand lucky draw will be held on January 20, with prizes worth up to S$12,000 (US$8,860) to be won.
Six Senses Hotels Resorts Spas has appointed Sally Baughen as general manager of Six Senses Bhutan, a property comprising five individual lodges.
Based in Thimphu, the hospitality veteran has over 25 years of experience. In her most recent role, Baughen led development and pre-opening operations for 700,000 Heures in Cambodia. Prior to that, she was a consultant with the Split Apple Retreat in Tasman, New Zealand.
The Kiwi first began her professional career as the F&B of Bali’s Amankila, then moving to roles at Nihiwatu and Como Shambhala Begawan Giri, also in Bali. Returning to Aman Resorts, she relocated to Myanmar as general manager of The Strand in Yangon, a position that she held for five years before leading Amanbagh’s opening in India.
Over the course of her tenure with Aman, she has also served as general manager at Amankila and Amandari, and played a leadership role on the pre-opening team at Amanfayun in Hangzhou. She then moved to Cambodia to helm Amansara in Cambodia from 2011 to 2016.
In the first year of opening up its annual agent incentive trip, Acclaim, to Asian partners, Trafalgar has unveiled South Africa as the destination that top-performing agents will be visiting in 2019.
This year, agents from all of Trafalgar’s sales regions will stand the chance to be part of the trip to South Africa, the brand’s most recently added destination. For Asia, one agent each from Singapore, Malaysia and the Philippines will qualify.
Table Mountain, Cape Town; Photo Credit: South Africa Tourism
Trafalgar is offering a 10 per cent early payment discount expiring on February 28.
Starting in Cape Town, winners will experience highlights from the top-selling Essence of South Africa trip, including ascending Table Mountain and exploring Cape Peninsula, from trendy Camps Bay to Cape Point to the penguins of Boulder’s Beach and having a Be My Guest lunch with a family in their 18th Century Cape Dutch home in Cape Winelands.
Trafalgar is also touting a night to remember in its inaugural Gala en Rouge, held in a top secret venue.
“We are ‘Agents First’ and we recognise the importance of providing our partners with an opportunity to experience first-hand the experiences and moments that Trafalgar offers their customers. With our seven brand-new African itineraries now launched and off to an extraordinary start, it was the perfect choice to take Acclaim to South Africa in 2019,” said Gavin Tollman, CEO of Trafalgar.
With each Trafalgar booking, agents will be one step closer to securing their spot Acclaim 2019. Agents in the running will receive a monthly maildrop to advise whether they’re in the running or can visit the Trafalgar Tribe Facebook page to keep up to date on how to get in on the action.
Aviation safety at Manila's Ninoy Aquino International Airport in question
The succession of travel advisories recently slapped against the Philippines has neither had a significant impact on inbound business nor triggered many trip cancellations, unlike in the past, according to some industry players.
Travel advisories were issued by the US with regard to Manila airport security not up to par with international standards, and by the UK, Canada and Australia against Mindanao over the terrorist bombing in Cotabato, and other parts of the country due to threats.
Aviation safety at Manila’s Ninoy Aquino International Airport in question
Despite these, Boris Travel and Tours general manager Irene Maliwanag said inbound business is increasing, including in Europe, traditionally considered a market sensitive to travel warnings.
She received a group of 17 Italian tourists recently, in addition to a booking made from Germany just a day after announcing her new dive packages to Coron and El Nido, Maliwanag noted.
“There are no sensitive markets anymore. Europe is prone to these kind of incidents,” opined Rajah Tours president Jojo Clemente. “Anywhere in the world, terrorist attacks can happen anytime”.
“The UK issued the travel advisory (against Mindanao) then the next day there were three stabbings in Manchester attributed to terrorist attacks. Can we issue a travel advisory against Manchester now?” Clemente asked.
He further challenged with the example of the US, whose partial government shutdown is causing Transportation Security Agency officers to resign, thereby posing a threat to passenger safety.
The Philippines is not known to issue travel advisories except in case of wars in countries where it has overseas Filipino workers.
Maliwanag said the reasons travel warnings are becoming less of a concern among travellers could be that the Philippine travel trade has become “very security minded” in protecting clients.
“As of today we have not received any negative comments, cancellations, not even questions,” Clemente said, adding that travellers are “very savvy, (and) already know where to go and where not to go” while travel consultants “(err) on the side of caution”, briefing clients to stick to what are considered safe areas.
A travel consultant requesting anonymity said they “don’t take security for granted – customers are advised against visiting places not considered safe, and in some cases they may even be disallowed from participating.
Clemente said: “Security is a subjective thing. How much security is enough security? In areas that are secure, incidents can happen and in areas without security, no untoward incidents happen. Travel entails courage and it is a choice.”
Forward bookings from China to Asia-Pacific destinations are down 2.6% for 1Q2019, while longhaul destinations are seeing significant growth, according to a Forwardkeys analysis.
Forwardkeys suggests that this could indicate that longhaul travel is typically booked more in advance, while Asia-Pacific might benefit later on from last-minute bookers.
Overall, current forward bookings for international air travel in 1Q2019 are 4.4% ahead, and 8% ahead in December 2018.
Bookings are 2% ahead for the Chinese New Year period, defined by ForwardKeys to be from January 24 to February 16, compared to the comparable peak period in 2018.
Looking at the daily departure pattern, there will be two busy departures.
In 2019, the winter break for school children starts earlier in relation to the Chinese New Year when compared to 2018. The change in the school break dates has resulted in an early departure from January 26.
The second departure wave will happen on the weekend before the Golden Week, as many travellers probably take a few days of annual leave to make an extended holiday, Forwardkeys surmised.
Japan had been seeing good growth in Chinese visitors after declines in competing regional destinations South Korea and Thailand, until the recent hurricane and earthquake disasters disrupted its upward trend.
Since the Chinese government banned group travel to South Korea, the latter has seen clear recovery from the market from mid-2018 onwards.
Chinese FIT travellers started returning to South Korea as early as late 2017 following a ban on Chinese group travel to South Korea, however it was not until mass group travel to the destination resumed that overall year-on-year performance started improving.