Following inaugural flights to the South Pacific islands of Tahiti and Fiji in August 2017 and departures to Sydney-Hawaii and Kenya early this year, private jet operator Crystal AirCruises (CAC), owned by Genting Hong Kong, now plans to launch three to four departures yearly.
With the concept off to a “very quick” start, Thatcher Brown, president of CAC and Dream Cruises, said: “Our next (private jet) itinerary for the 2019 New Year period will feature Tokyo, then on to Las Vegas and New York before heading back to Hong Kong. This would complete an around-the-world adventure in nine days.”
The interest generated by these curated itineraries has also spurred charter enquiries. Brown pointed out: “There’s been greater interest in chartering our converted Boeing 777 – the product has been tested in the marketplace and people know its quality and service plus its capability to provide very long-distance flights.
“The business model is hence a combination of curated trips followed by the charters that come out of our earlier air cruises. For example clients returning from Kenya expressed interest in repeating the trip with friends in summer,” he continued.
Brown remarked that the market mix has been very balanced, in part due to the company’s ability to cater to different segments.
Taking CAC’s last trip to a Kenya safari for example, Brown said guests hailed from Malaysia, Hong Kong, Taiwan and China (Shenzhen and Beijing). Two chefs were flown into the camp in Nairobi to cook a lavish Chinese New Year dinner, he shared.
Genting’s talent pool and hospitality footprint – spanning gaming, cruising and resorts – in different parts of Asia have also proved beneficial. “We have a lot of skilled people to do land tours for the river boats and ocean boats with decades of experience in Asia. From a branding and marketing perspective as well, we have the ability to diversify Crystal’s products, cross-sell and promote our products easily,” Brown said.
As to how CAC’s private jet offerings differ from those by Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts, Brown opined that CAC has larger capacity. “And while Four Seasons connects every trip with their hotels, ours can go anywhere,” he added.
Looking ahead, new destinations and itineraries CAC is looking into include Iceland and Finland due to the appeal of the Northern Lights. Brown is also interested in arranging a golf tour to gauge interest for Scotland or golf courses in South Africa and the Middle East.
Global luxury travel network Virtuoso has made two key promotions to support its Australian base while expanding further into Asian markets.
Evan Pierce will relocate to Singapore to become the regional director, Asia, and lead the Asia team in Virtuoso’s expansion into China, Singapore, Taiwan, South Korea and Japan.
Meanwhile, Cristina Magni Cristina will remain in Sydney as regional director, Australia and New Zealand, where she will continue to drive the growth of the member network.
Virtuoso Asia-Pacific managing director, Michael Londregan said: “Virtuoso has witnessed strong performance in the Asia-Pacific region over the past five years and Virtuoso has made the commitment to reward this success by further investment in our in-market resources.
“In 2017 we saw more than 20 per cent growth in our regional network, much of which was the result of existing members growing their business through expansion, acquisition and efficiencies.”
Photo caption: (From left) Evan Pierce, Cristina Magni and Michael Londregan