The airline has reversed two unpopular policy decisions in just a month
After facing consumer backlash, Singapore Airlines (SIA) has reversed the decision to automatically charge passengers for travel insurance through an opt-out rather than opt-in feature, according to local media reports.
The airline has reversed two unpopular policy decisions in just a month
Accounts of the online booking inclusion surfaced weeks ago, after unhappy customers took to online forums and local media with complaints that they noticed the travel insurance payment only after booking, Singapore’s Straits Times reports.
This is the second time in a month the airline has backtracked on a policy change. In January, it decided to impose a credit card fee on some travel bookings from Singapore, only to retract the decision the next day.
The charge – 1.3 per cent of the total fare amount, capped at S$50 (US$38.16) – was to apply to those who bought its cheapest Economy Lite tickets, the airline had said.
Penalty for violation is jail time of up to a year or over US$3,000 in fine, or both
Thailand yesterday began its smoking and littering ban on 24 popular tourist beaches across 15 provinces to promote a clean and safe environment.
The smoking ban includes beachside locations at high-volume destinations such as Phuket, Koh Samui, Koh Phi Phi and Hua Hin, under the regulations of the Department of Marine and Coastal Resources.
Penalty for violation is jail time of up to a year or over US$3,000 in fine, or both
More beaches are expected to be added to the list in the future.
Officials say there will be designated smoking areas provided inland with refuse containers for the disposal of cigarette butts.
Violators will be taken to a criminal court and could face up to one year in jail, or a fine of up to 100,000 baht (US$3,193), or both, reported Reuters.
John Blanco has been appointed general manager of the 101-room Capella Bangkok, which is expected to open in 4Q2018 along the rejuvenated Chao Phraya River waterfront promenade.
Blanco will provide provide strategic guidance to the pre-opening team ensuring operational success and premium positioning of Capella Hotels and Resorts’ first property in Thailand.
An American with roots in Venezuela, the hospitality veteran has 25 years of experience, and possesses a stellar track record with luxury hospitality companies such as Ritz Carlton and Four Seasons.
Etihad Airways’ baggage fees are now calculated based on weight for all markets except the US and Canada, where passengers are still charged based on number of checked bags.
With the switch to a weight-based baggage policy, the majority of markets will be entitled to 23kg of checked baggage on Economy Deal fares, 30kg on Economy Saver and Classic fares, and 35kg on Economy Flex fares.
Customers in all Business Class fare categories are entitled to 40kg, and First Class customers enjoy a 50kg allowance. Guests in The Residence onboard Etihad Airways’ flagship Airbus A380 fleet are provided with an allowance of four bags at 32kg each.
Etihad Guest Silver, Gold and Platinum members will continue to receive a complimentary excess baggage allowance of 32kg on US and Canada routes, and 20kg for Platinum members, 15kg for Gold members and 10kg for Silver members on all other routes.
Muji Hotel Shenzhen
Designed to reflect an “anti-gorgeous, anti-cheap concept” is the first Muji Hotel in the world. The Shenzhen property has 79 rooms, decked out with regular mod-cons such as an electric kettle and fridge, across five configurations. Facilities on-site include 118-seater eatery Muji Diner Shanghai Huaihai 755, a gym, three conference rooms, and a library holding approximately 650 tomes. The hotel is located in the heart of the city in the new UpperHills multi-use complex and sits above – what else? – a Muji store.
Six Senses Fiji
Located in a secluded bay on Malolo Island, Six Senses Fiji will feature 24 one- and two-bedroom pool villas boasting private pools, decks and outdoor showers. In addition, there will be 10 more private residences of two-, three-, four- and five-bedroom configuration (with another 50 scheduled to be built during phase two of the development), and furnished with private pools, barbecues, and fully-equipped kitchens. Amenities on the island include five F&B options, kid’s club, tennis courts, gym, hot and cold whirlpools, spa, and an elevated treetop yoga pavilion. The property officially opens on April 14, but reservations can now be made.
Hyatt Centric Ginza Tokyo
The first Hyatt Centric-branded property has opened on Namiki-dori street in Ginza, Tokyo. The 12-storey property offers 164 guestrooms furnished with environmentally conscious bath products by Beekind, Bluetooth-enabled electronics and salon-grade blowdryers. Amenities include the Namiki667 restaurant and bar, and a gym. For meeting planners, in addition to the hotel’s 86m2 of function space, the 127m2 Namiki Suite on the top floor is also bookable as a meeting room.
Alba Wellness Resort
Billing itself as the “first ever complete wellness resort in Vietnam” is the 56-key Alba Wellness Resort. The five-star property features 2,000m2 indoor and outdoor onsen pools filled with natural mineral hot spring water, a spa centre with an extensive list of treatments, three restaurants and bars, swimming pool, and a garden for yoga workouts. The hotel is located 30km north of Hue city, at the foot of Truong Son mountain.
The Chen, Box Hill
The seventh hotel in the Art Series Hotel’s collection is located in Melbourne’s Box Hill suburb, and is inspired by and dedicated to Chinese Australian artist Zhong Chen. The hotel is filled with Zhong’s portraits and prints, and all of its 100 rooms feature views of the city skyline or Dandenong Ranges and its surrounds. Facilities include a rooftop pool and entertainment deck, a modern Australian cafe, yum cha eatery, and gym. Renowned art tours, art libraries and dedicated art channels are also available for guests, alongside the rental of Art Series-branded Smart Cars and Lekker bicycles.
The recently launched (December 13, 2017) four-times-weekly flights by Qatar Airways to Chiang Mai now makes it more convenient for longhaul visitors to also visit its South-east Asian neighbours.
Malinee Nitikasetsunthorn, director, The Americas market division covering North America and Latin America, Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT), believes the direct flights will make it much easier to promote Northern Thailand to Sao Paulo and Buenos Aires, where Qatar has direct daily connections.
Malinee added that the opening of TAT’s first office in Sao Paulo in 2018 will help to develop markets and drive traffic from South America. Moreover, as a longhaul destination, Malinee opined that Chiang Mai will attract tourists from niche segments such as luxury and honeymooners.
Yves Van Kerrebroeck, managing director of Bangkok-based Asian Trails, indicated that the new flights will offer more opportunities to tap into the source markets Qatar has connections to.
“These could be Qataris or expats working in Qatar and its surrounds, as well as European and Latin/North Americans,” he said.
“I don’t see Chiang Mai as a standalone destination for the longhaul market, but it could in some cases work as a starting point for some tailored and unique longhaul products. For example, we have an overland itinerary combining the northern regions of Thailand, Laos and Vietnam. Such a programme is a perfect match for Qatar’s direct Chiang Mai flight, so we will promote this new option to our partners in Europe, Latin and North America,” Van Kerrebroeck shared.
TAT’s governor Yuthasak Supasorn pointed out: “The entire Northern Thailand region is worth a stay of at least 10 days. If you add the neighbouring countries of Laos and Myanmar, which are just across the border and easily accessible by road, the importance of Chiang Mai as a gateway becomes more apparent. It is highly unlikely that people who travel such long distances will return home after spending only a few days in Chiang Mai.”
Wanchai Thavorthaveekul, deputy managing director of Destination Asia Thailand, shared that holidaymakers from European and Latin America markets usually combine Chiang Mai with a beach stay before leaving Thailand, and Phuket made perfect sense as travellers can depart for Doha from Phuket via Qatar Airways’ twice-daily flights.
Meanwhile, Klaus Ludwig, general manager at Kulturen Leben in Rüsselsheim am Main, Germany, added: “People travelling all the way from Europe won’t want to just see Chiang Mai. They will want to explore other parts of Thailand or Asia. Thus, the flights open up the possibility of making Chiang Mai a main gateway. Chiang Mai also has direct air connections to Asian cities such as Singapore, Kuala Lumpur, Yangon and Hong Kong, so itineraries could also be combined with other cities in Asia.”
The Mastercard-CrescentRating Global Muslim Travel Index 2017 published in May showed around 121 million Muslim international travellers in 2016, a figure projected to grow to 156 million by 2020.
Under-30s make up the bulk of the Muslim travel market
No less important were Muslim millennial travellers, the report was eager to show. In fact, the Muslim Millennial Travel Report 2017 launched in October identified Muslim millennials as a key driver of growth in the Muslim travel market.
The research projected total expenditure from Muslim millennial travellers alone to surpass US$100 billion by 2025, while spending by the overall Muslim travel segment was estimated to reach US$300 billion by 2026.
Those under the age of 30 formed a bulk of the market, making up 60 per cent of the population in Muslim-majority countries.
Fazal Bahardeen, CEO of CrescentRating & HalalTrip, said Muslim millennials constituted a “fast-growing and increasingly influential market”, adding that this group would be entering their peak earning, spending and travelling life stage in the next five to 10 years.
A panelist at the report’s launch, Nisha Barkathunnisha, founder & principal consultant at Elevated Consultancy & Training based in Singapore, further pointed out that the report helped debunk the notion that Muslim millennials mainly resided in the Middle East.
Of the 372 respondents surveyed in the 2017 report, 88 per cent were from Asia-Pacific. This was congruent with geographical representation in other studies where only 20 per cent of the world’s Muslims lived in the Middle East and North Africa, and 60 per cent resided in Asia.
Nisha also reminded that Muslim travellers were heterogeneous, segmented by gender, income and education level.
“Service providers looking to tap into this segment need to understand their relationship with travel and what they value – such as authenticity, affordability and accessibility, as revealed in our research – while ensuring that they also cater to their faith-based needs and requirements,” Aisha Islam, vice president, core & digital products, Indonesia, Malaysia & Brunei division, Mastercard, said.
Potentially helping travel suppliers cater better to the segment, the study found that Muslim millennials travelled mostly for leisure and holidays, to experience local culture and heritage, as well as to visit friends and relatives. On average, Muslim millennials travelled two to five times a year, and tended to be cost conscious.
When it comes to the booking of accommodation, Muslim millennial travellers typically opted for OTAs and direct booking channels. They prioritised affordability, location and free Wi-Fi when selecting accommodation. In terms of Muslim-friendly services and amenities, they valued availability and proximity to halal food options, mosques and prayer facilities.
For flight bookings, Muslim millennial travellers mostly opted for online direct booking, followed by travel websites. They shared that ticket pricing, safety records, baggage allowances and halal meal choices were important considerations when selecting flights.
Notably, while Muslim millennial travellers said they preferred halal-assured and certified places, they were open to patronising seafood- or vegetarian-only restaurants if such establishments were not available.
The study also showed that they used photo sharing apps like Instagram and other platforms such as Facebook and Snapshot during their travels, and were motivated to remain active and visible online during their travels.
Tourists at the old Sarajevo bazaar
Travel providers up their game
Even beyond AMEA, travel players are catching on to the potential of this sub-segment, interviews by TTG Asia showed.
Barbara Sette, managing director, Sette Reps, the appointed representative in Malaysia, Indonesia, Singapore and the Philippines for specialised local operators from West Central and Eastern Europe, Balkans and Russia, said: “We have been running escorted tours for Muslim travellers to the Balkans and Spain since 2014. Initially, these tours were popular with the senior market but we (have since) observed growing interest from young couples and small groups of millennials.”
The company is also seeing a trend of millennial Muslims extending their stay in Europe after their Umrah pilgrimage.
Apart from allowing time for prayer in hotel rooms or mosques, the company also designs its itineraries such that stops can be made for halal dining. “It took us a few years to develop such tours as there are restaurants in Europe claiming to be halal but in fact are not ‘fully certified’,” Sette explained.
The company works closely with hotels in Europe to ensure breakfast lines are clearly labelled, indicating dishes containing pork, for example.
As well, it holds roadshows to Indonesia and Malaysia to facilitate information exchange between its European partners and local outbound agents.
Outbound agents opined that lack of access to halal food in longhaul markets has not been a major deterrent to selling longhaul destinations – especially when targeting Muslim millennials – having found creative solutions to circumvent the challenge.
Adam Kamal, manager, Aidil Travel & Tours based in Kuala Lumpur, said: “We need to be creative when creating itineraries outside Moscow and St Petersburg, or to Eastern European destinations such as Croatia, for example. When halal food is unavailable, we inform clients to bring food from home. In some locations, (arrangements can be made for) Malaysian Muslims living abroad…to prepare food for our guests.”
Azizi Borhan, managing director of Asutra Convex, another outbound agency, said seafood or vegetarian meals are viable alternatives.
The company also caters to women millennial Muslim travellers. Being less adventurous than their male counterparts, they place greater emphasis on safety and prefer to be accompanied by a local guide.
Meanwhile, Aidil Travel’s Adam said Muslim millennials are venturing further afield, thanks to LCCs offering affordable airfares, and the availability of budget accommodations such as ecolodges and homestays.
One further afield destination is Fiji. Tourism Fiji targets Muslim travellers through its office in Singapore. Eelian Lee, country manager, Singapore, said: “Many agents from Malaysia and Indonesia have approached us to help them service Muslim travellers. Singapore, Malaysia and Indonesia have big Muslim populations which we want to tap.”
And in Spain, Eva Maria Riesgo Ramos, tourism counsellor South-east Asia, Australia and New Zealand for the Embassy of Spain, tourism division, said that in 2016, a fam trip to Madrid, Cordoba, Seville and Granada was held to showcase Muslim-friendly facilities to outbound travel agents from Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore and Brunei.
This year, a 13-episode travel documentary on Spain will be produced, targeting Muslim millennials and young working professionals. The television series will touch on topics ranging from the country’s historical ties with Morocco and North Africa and the resident Muslim population in the modern day.
Andalusian Tourism and Sport’s marketing officer, Jose Maria Perez, further shared that there are plans to publish a halal tourism guide, with listings of halal restaurants, among others.
Owner JBB ordered to remove its facilities from the area
The Minor Group says it is still business as usual at its Anantara Si Kao Resort which has reportedly been ordered by the Thai Supreme Court to exit, as it infringes on forest reserve and protected mangrove forest in the Tambon Mai Fad, Sikao district in the southern Thai province of Trang.
When contacted on whether the ruling was final and no further appeal would be made, Minor’s chairman & CEO Bill Heinecke told TTG Asia: “I believe the owner is in discussion with the national park to find a solution. For the moment it is business as usual. We shall keep you posted.”
Owner JBB ordered to remove its facilities from protected area
According to local media reports, the Department of National Parks, Wildlife and Plants Conservation brought an encroachment case against the resort owner, JBB, in 2013 after its aerial and ground survey showed that the resort was built on protected forest area. The case was dropped in 2014, upon which the department appealed. In 2015, the Appeals Court ruled in favour of the state. JBB appealed to the Supreme Court in the same year, with final ruling upholding the Appeals Court’s verdict. The verdict by the Supreme Court was read at the Trang Provincial Court on January 25 in the presence of both disputed parties.
The court ordered JBB to remove its facilities out of the area and ordered the Land Department to nullify the land ownership documents because they were illegitimately issued.
Tour operators are waiting for the official advice on the closure date. Said David Kevan, director, Chic Locations UK: “Once that is received, any clients booked will have to be offered an acceptable alternative or a full refund of holiday cost which will include any airfare.
“The resort is uniquely positioned in its location, so it will not be easy to find something similar. It’s very unfortunate on several levels, especially to the local staff who might find alternative employment difficult. But I think this is a general policy to show that any illegal building that infringes on national park land, or indeed beaches, be it large or small, will be demolished.”
Shifting perceptions of India being mainly for culture tours; Himalayas in Jammu and Kashmir state pictured
A long neglected segment in India, adventure tourism is finally being given new focus with the country’s Ministry of Tourism declaring 2018 the Year of Adventure Travel.
Apart from increasing arrivals, the move is expected to help change the perception of India as being a mere cultural destination, according to tourism stakeholders TTG Asia spoke to.
Shifting perceptions of India being mainly for culture tours; Himalayas in Jammu and Kashmir state pictured
“With India’s inbound arrivals growing by more than 10 per cent last year, we believe that focus on potential segments like adventure tourism can help India to double its inbound tourist arrivals in a couple of years,” said Swadesh Kumar, president, Adventure Tour Operators Association of India.
Though there are no official statistics available to show the size of the Indian inbound adventure tourism market, the industry estimates the segment is growing five to seven per cent yearly, with about half a million adventure travellers arriving in the country.
“At present the (perception of) India is a cultural destination, although 73 per cent of the Himalayas are in India. Our counterparts in key inbound markets like the US are promoting places like Nepal and Bhutan for active holidays while India is promoted majorly as a cultural destination,” observed Tejbir Singh Anand, managing director, Holiday Moods Adventures.
With the tourism ministry’s new-found focus on adventure, Tejbir expects more of India’s adventure travel offerings will be on showcase at roadshows and exhibitions.
India’s Ministry of Tourism is also taking steps to prop India up as a destination for adventure travel, such as allowing the use of satellite phones in far-flung areas – something the travel industry players have long called for – and introducing safety guidelines for adventure tourism.
“One of the big things in adventure travel is risk management, so with the government allowing adventure tour operators to use satellite phones in areas of wilderness will help us to improve our safety standards,” said Ajeet Bajaj, managing director, Snow Leopard Adventures.
Suman Billa, joint secretary at India’s Ministry of Tourism, commented: “We need to get some big events that showcase adventure travel to happen in India, which would ultimately help us to create a roadmap for future growth in the segment.”
To begin with, the tourism ministry has lent its support to India’s first-ever Adventure Sports Expo Asia & Awards 2018, which took place in New Delhi from January 27 to 29. The event saw the participation from 500 delegates, including 60 exhibitors, some of whom were adventure tour operators.
Spa offers South-east Asian therapies, spa facials and polishes, body massages, barber services, TCM consultations and more
As Singapore’s key tourism muscles cast sights on growing the transfer visitor segment, a new rest stop option for connecting passengers has emerged in the heart of Singapore’s River Valley district.
Offering spa and entertainment facilities as well as a restaurant in the annex building of Furama Riverfront Hotel, Orient Palace sees itself an ideal one-stop hub for passengers seeking a more indulgent way to kill time between flights, according to Wee Hee-Ling, business development at Mary Chia Holdings, part of a trio of companies managing the concept.
Offering therapies, spa facials and polishes, body massages, barber services, TCM consultations and more
For example, VIP massage rooms and spa pools offer pampering for weary longhaul passengers, while reclining seats complete with multi-media screens and privacy curtains simulate cozy pods.
Moreover, Orient Palace will from March onwards operate 24 hours (it now closes at 03.00), ensuring doors will stay open for passengers of late-arriving flights such as Finnair’s, Wee shared.
And while wellness is not high on Singapore’s tourism agenda, Wee pointed out that Orient Palace presents a solid value proposition, as the River Valley area lacks hotel spas. “Furama Riverfront and most hotels in the vicinity do not have spas on-property,” Wee said.
Since its soft launch last November, Orient Palace has gotten itself on the lunch slot of some tour itineraries, Wee added. The establishment is working with travel agent partners on more ways to incorporate Orient Palace into tour packages, such as by offering live-band and karaoke entertainment as night-time activities.
Other segments Orient Palace is targeting include corporate and incentive visitors as well as hotel guests looking to occupy themselves pre-check-in and post-check-out.
