Blacklane offers chauffeur service on premium vehicles
Travel agents worldwide can now earn commissions when booking Blacklane’s chauffeur rides for their clients.
Blacklane for Travel Agents allows agents to choose from and reserve one-way and hourly professional rides for travellers in more than 250 cities and 50 countries.
Blacklane offers chauffeur service on premium vehicles
To qualify for commissions, agents need to register at www.blacklane.com/agency-direct-registration. Once confirmed, they either book on Blacklane’s website and apps or through partners, including Amadeus, Travelport, Sabre GDSs and the Amadeus Selling Platform.
In addition to introducing commissions, Blacklane is also offering agents who email agency@blacklane.com a 20 per cent discount to familiarise themselves with Blacklane’s service.
Based on a survey of tens of thousands of travel agents last year, Blacklane says top agent demand was value for the service. While providing services on premium vehicles from automakers such as Mercedes-Benz, BMW, Audi and Cadillac, its rates are on average 54 per cent less than legacy limousine services across 20 major cities, the company said.
Booking Holdings will buy HotelsCombined and merge it under Kayak
The Priceline Group is changing its name to Booking Holdings to better reflect its growing brand portfolio and to acknowledge the significance of its Booking.com service, said CEO Glenn Fogel.
“Over the last two decades, our business has expanded from just priceline.com, operating solely in the US, into six primary brands with headquarters around the globe, operating in more than 220 countries and territories in over 40 languages,” said Fogel, in a press release.
Booking.com is the group’s largest brand
“Today, our largest brand is Booking.com, which has more than 1.5 million properties, averages over one million bookings per day and produces a significant majority of Booking Holdings’ gross bookings and operating profit,” he added. “We are at a defining moment in our company’s history.”
Booking Holdings consists of six primary brands: Booking.com, priceline.com, Kayak, agoda.com, Rentalcars.com and OpenTable. Booking Holdings, the parent organisation, will continue to operate out of its current headquarters in Norwalk, Connecticut.
As the world tunes in to The PyeongChang 2018 Winter Olympic Games, South Korea has found another stage to shine on, taking top spot on The Passport Index for the first time, a position it shares with Singapore at a score of 162.
Historically, European countries have dominated the charts, but this changed when Singapore rose to the top in late 2017. By December 2017, Germany caught up but it wasn’t for long.
South Korea scored 162, tied with Singapore
Recent changes were mainly driven by Uzbekistan granting visa-free access to South Korea and Singapore, as well as recent adjustments to visa policies in Somalia. South Korean passport holders have access to many European, North American and Asian countries, including the US, Canada, Russia and others.
Trailing close behind in second place is Japan, which moved up the ranks with its score of 161. Although tied with Germany, Japan has fewer visa-free waivers than Germany, which puts it fourth in the Individual Passport Power Ranking. The Passport Index gives equal scores to both visa-free and visa on arrival conditions.
The World Openness Score as measured by The Passport Index has passed the 19,000 mark for the first time. This represents an increase of over 1,000 points since the measure was introduced in 2014 to monitor how frictionless global travel is.
(From left) Bangkok Airways' Chulin Kocharoen and
Varong Israsena Na Ayudhya, with Expedia group's Sandeep Sharma and Natakan Siri-Upathum
Bangkok Airways has partnered the Expedia group to add the OTA as a new distribution channel and incorporate a global marketing campaign.
In a statement, the airline said it has seen a boost in ticket sales through Expedia’s various sales channels and its subsidiaries, especially in North America, Europe and Australasia.
(From left) Bangkok Airways’ Chulin Kocharoen and Varong Israsena Na Ayudhya, with Expedia group’s Sandeep Sharma and Natakan Siri-Upathum
Passengers can now make reservations for all Bangkok Airways’ flights via different Expedia channels such as www.expedia.com, Expedia’s mobile application on both iOS and Android, or at any Expedia customer service centres worldwide.
Location
Shangri-La Hotel, Singapore sits in a lush and serene part of the city state’s premium shopping and lifestyle district, a perfect blend for travellers who desire to be within easy reach of entertainment but without the noise and traffic.
Ambience
Beneath the Tower Wing’s sophisticated veneer lies a paradise for little travellers. A hint of this begins at check-in, with a cheerful family concierge assigned to each arriving family. The family concierge ensures check-in is done swiftly and remains on hand throughout the stay period to assist with stay and activity requests.
Rooms
The latest gems in the Tower Wing are found on the ninth floor, an entire level dedicated to families with young ones. This level houses five Themed Family Suites and 19 Deluxe Family Rooms.
You get a sense that this is a haven for little ones as you exit the elevator – giant cubic sculptures of animals greet you at the landing.
Parents will appreciate the central pantry on this floor, which provides a steriliser, washing machines and dryers. Deeper within the pantry is a locked storage space that shows off a wide range of more essentials that guests can easily request for through their family concierge – car seats, strollers, high chairs, potties, bath toys and more, all from the premium brand Stokke.
My family took the themed family suite. An orange lion mail box at the entrance of our room hinted at what was to come. Suspense mounted as we entered, as we saw only an elegant bedroom. A tiny door stood in the far corner, and through it lay the surprise for my three-year-old son.
His Safari themed bedroom featured a mural of the African plains and was furnished to resemble the abode of an explorer. A bed, a wooden table and chair on a woven rug, and faux leather suitcases sat under a tent, while a smiley lion carpet, bean bags and a reading corner completed the room decor.
His bathroom featured more shelving space, a larger vanity counter that doubles up as a diaper change station, a small foldable baby bathtub and a child toilet seat.
The hotel scores major points for providing day, night and swim diapers, wet wipes and organic toiletries for children.
Explorer Zone in Buds
Facilities
No stay for children is complete without play. And Shangri-La Hotel, Singapore delivers on play with its new Buds by Shangri-La playground on level one.
Buds houses Recharge Café, a Toddler Zone, and the Explorer Zone for children aged four and up.
It is easy to see why Explorer Zone is a hit with kids. It is made up of five themed play areas – Waterfall, a pit filled with cassia seeds; Space, for aspiring astronauts; Underwater, a submarine themed climb-and-slide structure; Fire Mountain where children can shoot soft foam balls from air guns; and Mesh Cave, a massive two-deck netted structure that meant the second level was one giant, bouncy trampoline.
Regular activities are held in three play rooms – Stage, a music room; Muddy, an arts studio where children are encouraged to paint on walls; and Bake, where children can discover the joys of cooking.
Buds extends outdoors with a giant pirate ship play structure and a splash pad. Guests must be registered to enter Buds and are given RFID wristbands. The outdoor play zone is gated and manned.
Other facilities that families will appreciate include a swimming pool with a wading pool and lush internal gardens which the hotel is known for.
F&B
There are five restaurants and four bars at Shangri-La Hotel, Singapore. The Lobby Lounge where celebrated local hawker dishes are served, Origin Bar, Origin Grill, NAMI Japanese restaurant are new, a result of Tower Wing’s renovation and rebirth.
For families with young, fussy eaters, The Line buffet restaurant is the best option. The restaurant’s famous generous buffet spread will surely offer something that pleases picky palettes.
Verdict
The well-thought-out, family-friendly facilities and services are impressive. I like that the children facilities are set away from the hotel’s meeting facilities, effectively separating two distinct sets of guests.
No. of rooms: 503 guestrooms and suites in the Tower Wing Rates: From S$430 (US$326) a night in a Deluxe Family Room; from S$900 a night in the Themed Family Suite
Qantas A380 fleet set for a multi-million-dollar upgrade
Bangkok Airways to launch Chiang Mai-Hanoi route
Bangkok Airways will begin its daily flights between Chiang Mai and Hanoi from March 25 onwards. Operated with the 70-seater ATR72-500/600, flight PG995 will depart Chiang Mai International Airport at 09.55 and arrive in Hanoi (Noi Bai International Airport) at 12.00. The inbound flight PG996 will depart Hanoi (Noi Bai International Airport) at 12.45 and arrive Chiang Mai International Airport at 14.50.
Qantas’ Melbourne-Denpasar flights now for sale
Qantas has opened ticketing lines for its daily Melbourne–Denpasar (Bali) services, scheduled for launch on June 23. The airline’s Melbourne–Denpasar service will be operated with a two-class Boeing 737-800 aircraft, departing Melbourne at 16.50 for arrival in Denpasar at 21.10. On the return, flights depart Denpasar at 22.10 and arrive in Melbourne at 05.55.
Qatar takes off for Penang
Qatar Airways has inaugurated its first non-stop flight to Penang, with plans to increase the frequency on this route from three to four times weekly from July 1, 2018. On Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays, flight QR 850, operated by a Boeing 787 Dreamliner, departs Doha’s Hamad International Airport at 02:30 and arrives at Penang International Airport at 14:30. QR851 then leaves Penang at 20.30 for arrival in Doha at 23.20.
Emirates introduces Dubai-Bali-Auckland service
Starting June 14, Emirates will fly daily from Dubai to Auckland via Bali. Operated on a Boeing 777-300ER, the southbound flight, EK 450, will depart Dubai at 06.55, arriving at Denpasar (Bali) at 20.20, before flying on to Auckland at 22.00, and arriving in New Zealand’s biggest city at 10.00 the following day. Northbound, the service will depart Auckland as flight EK 451 at 12.40, arriving in Denpasar at 17.55. It will leave Denpasar at 19.50, arriving in Dubai at 00.45.
The daily flights add to Emirates’ two existing daily flights between Bali and Dubai, so passengers get to choose from three flights on the Bali-Dubai sector.
AirAsia X connects Kuala Lumpur to Jaipur
AirAsia has become the first LCC to fly directly between Kuala Lumpur and Jaipur, the capital city of Rajasthan. Until March 24, flight D7184 departs Kuala Lumpur on Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays and Saturdays at 19.00, for arrival in Jaipur at 22.00. It then returns from Jaipur at 23.15 and arrives in Kuala Lumpur at 07.05.
And from March 25 onwards, the outgoing flight will depart Kuala Lumpur at 08.00, to arrive in Jaipur at 11.00. It then leaves Jaipur at 12.00 and arrives in Kuala Lumpur at 19.50.
The group is looking into new locations; Jambuluwuk Oceano Resort Gili Trawangan pictured
As Jambuluwuk Hotels and Resorts expands to new locations in Indonesia, the homegrown, family-owned company will continue to target international and longhaul travellers while intensifying outreach to offline wholesalers.
Currently owning and operating five properties in Yogyakarta, Bali, Puncak (West Java, off Jakarta), Batu (Malang, East Java) and Gili Trawangan (Lombok) with a total of 557 rooms, the group will launch a hotel in Jakarta this year and Garut (West Java) in 2019.
The group is looking into new locations for expansion; Jambuluwuk Oceano Resort Gili Trawangan pictured
Arcs House, the owning company, is also planning to expand Jambuluwuk’s footprint to Labuan Bajo (Komodo), Ubud and Bandung.
“The government is (developing) 10 New Bali’s and we have surveyed some of them, including Morotai, which we find beautiful. But it will probably take some time before we can come in,” Jambuluwuk’s vice president marketing Mella Purwanaika told TTG Asia, adding that emerging tourist destinations are preferred due to the group’s leisure focus.
The company’s existing Bali, Yogyakarta and Gili Trawangan properties are popular with European markets – especially Germany and the UK – and Australia.
Mella has also observed good growth of the Indian market to Bali. “(We get) the majority of this market through OTAs and as we add properties, we would also like to work with brick-and-mortar wholesalers,” she said.
Jambuluwuk has in the last couple of years been actively participating at travel marts such as ITB Berlin, ITB Asia and ATF to flag the hotel brand to the wholesalers.
“We have also appointed Asia Reps Munchen as our marketing representative, and we are planning to appoint one for India soon,” she added.
Mella shared that Jambuluwuk-managed properties are positioned like “gathering resorts”, targeting families, friend groups and business events.
To serve these segments, the bungalows at Jambuluwuk Puncak Resort, for example, have three and four bedrooms. Meawhile the Jambuluwuk Oceano Resort Gili Trawangan features family rooms with double, triple and quadruple beds, as well as a playgound, which will soon be upgraded to include indoor classes, day care and nursery.
All properties in Jambuluwuk’s portfolio have meeting facilities, while Jambuluwuk Convention Hall & Resort Batu also features outdoor activities such as ATVs and flying fox.
On whether the hotel group would enter the business hotel category, Mella said: “We do have that plan, but we will only manage properties, not build our own.”
It is not enough to keep up with the digital expectations of today’s tech-savvy consumers, Expedia says. Exceeding these expectations is a “travel industry imperative”.
To help travel service providers anticipate new needs, Expedia casts the spotlight on four key trends of 2018.
Chatbots could further change the way customer service is provided over the next few years
AI and machine learning: chatbots become ubiquitous
Expedia expects 2018 to be a year where AI, in the form of machine learning, becomes not just a futuristic technology, but an integrated and valuable everyday tool.
Growing “digital impatience” among consumers and expectations for instant responses to queries and purchasing requests has driven adoption of digital assistants. According to Expedia, 62 per cent of global consumers today are comfortable with an AI application responding to their query.
Chatbots are already enabling deeper and easier traveller communication, and are expanding to different mediums: chat, social channels, voice assistants and more. In addition, new tools and technologies in this space will allow hoteliers to connect with consumers in deeper and more meaningful ways.
Voice: Siri and Google go mainstream
Voice-enabled digital assistants are poised to not just change the travel industry, Expedia posits, but nearly every industry we touch in our lives. By 2021, there will be 7.5 billion digital assistants in the world.
Digital assistants today are giving us weather and traffic information, and entertainment content – but they are also enabling us to search hotels, check the status of flights, and more.
“As an industry, we need to be at the forefront of testing voice skills, and aligning with the growing traveler adoption of this technology, to ensure we’re equipped and at full performance when it becomes ubiquitous”, Arthur Chapin, senior vice president – global product and design, Expedia Group. said.
Citing Business Insider UK, Expedia shared that the number of virtual digital assistant users has increased over 40 per cent from 2016 to 2017 with an estimated of 158 per cent increase from 2017 to 2021.
Expedia also shared numbers from Seattle-based voice over IP carrier Speakeasy showing that nearly half of global smartphone users will use voice technology by 2020 and 47 per cent will use voice technology at least once a month.
Activities booking in an experience economy
With 72 per cent of consumers seeking experiences over things, Expedia said there is great opportunity to target consumers who will not just book a hotel room, but also experiences from dinner reservations, to tours and activities to entertainment.
One-stop shop for packages
Consumers expect a seamless, one-stop experience in nearly every area of their lives. A recent multi-generational study by Brand Expedia shows that 80 per cent of travellers find it useful to book all their trip components together, and for Gen Z, the number is massive 87 per cent.
The upside for hotels is that offering rooms in “package bookings”, alongside flights and cars, typically means higher average daily rate, longer booking windows and fewer cancellations. Plus, consumers can streamline their research and booking into one seamless purchase. Package demand on Expedia generated nearly 1.4 times longer booking window when compared to standalone hotel bookings.
For hoteliers, these longer stays and longer booking windows mean more opportunities for them to engage with and upsell consumers – both prior to check-in and on-property, Expedia says.
Webjet hopes larger organisations to get involved and start contributing computing power
Following two years of developing and testing the initiative between its own B2B companies, Webjet has expanded its blockchain initiative to external organisations to help them avoid invoicing disputes arising out of unreconciled data between accounts payable and accounts receivable in the hotel distribution chain.
Now deployed on its fourth generation blockchain infrastructure supporting Rezchain Smart Contracts, the solution has seen take-up from Thomas Cook (Europe), DidaTravel (China), Mitra Global (Indonesia) and Far East Hospitality.
Webjet hopes larger organisations to get involved and start contributing computing power
According to Webjet, industry estimates assume that three to five per cent of bookings are disputed when one party attempts to invoice the other party and disputes can take months to resolve. In some instances, bookings are not invoiced at all, meaning one party shoulders the full out-of-pocket cost.
The company says Rezchain is the hotel distribution industry’s first functioning blockchain-enabled technology platform where companies share data “on chain” to address mismatched data in real time, eliminating disputes at invoice time.
“Rezchain requires no technical integration on the part of the participating company; a simple daily file is all that is necessary to begin matching data and solving booking issues,” said John Guscic, Webjet’s managing director.
“In a low margin, high transaction volume business, it is essential to find ways to be more efficient and eliminate administrative burdens that add no value. It was this fundamental principal has led to the development of Rezchain”.
Webjet is initially offering “blockchain as a service” to participating companies and expects larger organisations would start contributing computing power and running their own mining nodes over time.
And on the issues of privacy and security that come with open technology such as blockchain, Lynne Oldfield, Webjet’s director corporate development, said: “Rezchain’s architecture ensures any sensitive data stored ‘on chain’ is hashed and cannot be decoded, while still allowing companies access to the granular detail necessary to resolve mismatched booking data.”
Diethelm Travel Group has unveiled the lineup of its returning webinar series, which launched last year offering free educational sessions to client agents.
The tour operator will produce a webinar once a month focusing on each of the 13 countries it operates in, aimed at helping clients better understand and sell the destinations, as well as highlight local experiences and offerings such as concierge services, best-selling products and new programmes.
The once-a-month complimentary webinar is available to all clients to help them better sell the destinations
Hosted by Diethelm Travel’s product managers and managing directors, each instalment runs for 30 minutes and is also available online after the scheduled session.
This year, webinars have also been tweaked based on participant feedback, to delve beyond destination overviews and touch on trending topics. Sessions are available for both Central European Time and US Pacific Time, with the below schedule and focus areas:
2018
February 27 – Thailand (off-the-beaten-track experiences)
March 29 – Vietnam (new beach stay destinations)
April 26 – Cambodia (leading luxury accommodation and why the country deserves more time to be explored)
May 20 – Laos’ (nature and arts)
June 28 – Sri Lanka
July 26 – Malaysia (Sabah)
August 29 – Singapore (new local, immersive experiences)
September 27 – Myanmar (nature and scenic attractions including river cruises, trekking and cycling)
October 25 – Maldives (which resorts best fit each market segment)
November 29 – China (cultural destinations of Chengdu, Shuzhou and Hangzhou)
2019
February – Hong Kong (hiking and island experiences outside of the city)
March – Bhutan (what’s new and the practicalities of travelling)
April – Philippines (best ways to travel through the country’s famed islands)
“We received an overwhelming response to our first webinar series last year and are thrilled that clients found the sessions to be a strategic resource for their business. Now, based on participant feedback, we have designed our new series to be even more in-depth helping further drive our clients’ destination knowledge,” said Siprang Srinarintranon, group director of marketing.
It is not enough to keep up with the digital expectations of today’s tech-savvy consumers, Expedia says. Exceeding these expectations is a “travel industry imperative”.
To help travel service providers anticipate new needs, Expedia casts the spotlight on four key trends of 2018.
AI and machine learning: chatbots become ubiquitous
Expedia expects 2018 to be a year where AI, in the form of machine learning, becomes not just a futuristic technology, but an integrated and valuable everyday tool.
Growing “digital impatience” among consumers and expectations for instant responses to queries and purchasing requests has driven adoption of digital assistants. According to Expedia, 62 per cent of global consumers today are comfortable with an AI application responding to their query.
Chatbots are already enabling deeper and easier traveller communication, and are expanding to different mediums: chat, social channels, voice assistants and more. In addition, new tools and technologies in this space will allow hoteliers to connect with consumers in deeper and more meaningful ways.
Voice: Siri and Google go mainstream
Voice-enabled digital assistants are poised to not just change the travel industry, Expedia posits, but nearly every industry we touch in our lives. By 2021, there will be 7.5 billion digital assistants in the world.
Digital assistants today are giving us weather and traffic information, and entertainment content – but they are also enabling us to search hotels, check the status of flights, and more.
“As an industry, we need to be at the forefront of testing voice skills, and aligning with the growing traveler adoption of this technology, to ensure we’re equipped and at full performance when it becomes ubiquitous”, Arthur Chapin, senior vice president – global product and design, Expedia Group. said.
Citing Business Insider UK, Expedia shared that the number of virtual digital assistant users has increased over 40 per cent from 2016 to 2017 with an estimated of 158 per cent increase from 2017 to 2021.
Expedia also shared numbers from Seattle-based voice over IP carrier Speakeasy showing that nearly half of global smartphone users will use voice technology by 2020 and 47 per cent will use voice technology at least once a month.
Activities booking in an experience economy
With 72 per cent of consumers seeking experiences over things, Expedia said there is great opportunity to target consumers who will not just book a hotel room, but also experiences from dinner reservations, to tours and activities to entertainment.
One-stop shop for packages
Consumers expect a seamless, one-stop experience in nearly every area of their lives. A recent multi-generational study by Brand Expedia shows that 80 per cent of travellers find it useful to book all their trip components together, and for Gen Z, the number is massive 87 per cent.
The upside for hotels is that offering rooms in “package bookings”, alongside flights and cars, typically means higher average daily rate, longer booking windows and fewer cancellations. Plus, consumers can streamline their research and booking into one seamless purchase. Package demand on Expedia generated nearly 1.4 times longer booking window when compared to standalone hotel bookings.
For hoteliers, these longer stays and longer booking windows mean more opportunities for them to engage with and upsell consumers – both prior to check-in and on-property, Expedia says.