Air India to be privatised (photo credit: Joe Ravi/Shutterstock.com)
Uncertainty about the fate of India’s debt-laden flag carrier Air India continues to loom with the government reportedly divesting its stake in the airline by breaking it up into four units and offering at least 51 per cent of each for sale.
Bloomberg reports that as part of the divestment plan, Air India and its LCC arm Air India Express will be offered as one company; and its regional arm, ground handling and engineering operations will be sold separately. The whole process is expected to be completed by year-end.
Air India to be privatised (photo credit: Joe Ravi/Shutterstock.com)
Along with this came the decision that foreign entities will be allowed to own 49 per cent in the airline without need for government approval. Since this was announced, some reports have suggested that Singapore Airlines and the Tata Group are open to bidding. SIA and Tata Son, holding company of Tata Group, are joint owners of Indian domestic airline Vistara.
Meanwhile, the Economic Times of India reported that AirAsia India has ruled out plans to participate in the stake sale.
SIA to deploy A380s on London, Hong Kong routes
Singapore Airlines (SIA) will soon deploy its new Airbus A380 on its London and Hong Kong routes, after debuting the aircraft on flights to Sydney last December.
Starting February 16, the aircraft will operate as SQ322 (Singapore-London) on Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays. And on the London-Singapore sector, it will operate as SQ305 from February 17 to April 5; and as SQ317 on Mondays, Thursdays and Saturdays with effect from April 7.
From February 18 to April 6, the new A380s will also be deployed on services to Hong Kong, operating on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays as SQ860 (Singapore-Hong Kong) and SQ863 (Hong Kong-Singapore). With effect from April 8, the aircraft are scheduled to operate on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays as SQ856 (Singapore-Hong Kong) and SQ861 (Hong Kong-Singapore).
Hainan Airlines to begin Shenzhen-Brussels flights
Hainan Airlines will launch twice-weekly services between Shenzhen and Brussels on March 20, 2018. Served by a Boeing 787 aircraft, flight HU759 departs Shenzhen at 12.00 on Tuesdays and Thursdays for arrival in Brussels at 17.30. The return flight (HU760) leaves Brussels at 19.30 and arrives in Shenzhen at 13.50 the next day. From March 25 onwards, flights will arrive at and depart Brussels an hour later (i.e. 18.30 arrival and 20.30 departure).
American Airlines, China Southern enter codeshare deal
American Airlines (AA) and China Southern will today begin their reciprocal codeshare partnership. With the agreement, American Airlines now offers China Southern-operated flights from Beijing to Chinese destinations counting Changchun, Changsha, Chongqing, Dalian, Guangzhou, Harbin, Nanning, Shenyang and Shenzhen. In turn, China Southern passengers will be able to enjoy AA connections from Los Angeles to Charlotte, Chicago O’Hare, Houston, Philadelphia and Phoenix, as well as from San Francisco to Dallas/Fort Worth and Phoenix.
Forward bookings for travel during the Chinese New Year festive period are down significantly this year, revealed outbound agents in Malaysia, citing anticipation of the upcoming general election as the main reason for the slowdown.
While no date has been fixed for the nation’s 14th General Election, there are rumours it will be held soon after the Chinese New Year holidays. The current parliamentary term began on June 24, 2013, with re-election due by June 24.
Travellers at Kuala Lumpur International Airport
Syed Razif Al Yahya, group managing director at Sutra Travel & Tourism Management Group, said: “We see a double-digit shortfall compared with last year. The general election is a business opportunity for people providing services for the general election as well as those who will be directly involved with campaigning and general election duties. For such people, the mood to travel will not be there until after the general election is over.”
However, travel for meetings and incentives are unaffected, he revealed. The company has two incentive groups from the banking industry, each with 200 delegates, travelling to Eastern Europe in late February.
Another outbound agent, Adam Kamal, manager at Aidil Travel & Tours, said forward bookings are down by some 30 per cent.
He said: “There is no point doing promotions to spur demand because people are choosing not to travel during this period in anticipation of the general election and the campaign period prior to the election.
Sharing booking patterns of those who are still travelling, he said: “Beach destinations Phuket, Bali and Boracay are favoured. If it is a city holiday, it is to Bangkok and Siem Reap.”
Raaj Navaratnaa, general manager at New Asia Holiday Tours & Travel, anticipates domestic travel demand will be as strong as last year due to its appeal to price-conscious travellers.
He noticed a growing trend of family travel to experience village lifestyle in lesser-known tourist destinations such as Betong, Kuala Pilah and Endau, a town in Mersing district.
Established hospitality chains moving into hostel markets
Established hospitality chains moving into hostel markets
South-east Asia’s hostel market experienced “skyrocketing growth” in 2017, surging 32 per cent in bed inventory, according to the latest Hostel Market Update by C9 Hotelworks.
The surge brings the bed count in the region to 63,632 across 1,766 properties, led by Thailand with a 41 per cent share.
Thailand now has 722 hostels and 25,207 beds, up 28 per cent year-on-year. Other hostel market leaders in the region are Vietnam, with 221 hostels and 7,763 beds, a bed supply increase of 41 per cent year-on-year.
Top five hostel markets in the region
Bill Barnett, managing director of C9, observed “no sign of deceleration as investment is being embraced by an increasing number of hospitality groups and institutional investors”.
Indeed, the report shows conventional hotel companies investing in hostels, highlighted by Lub d, the region’s largest and fastest-growing hostel group.
Despite the influx of capital into branded hostels, independent hostels continue to dominate the regional market, with 1,532 properties representing 87 per cent of total supply.
C9 further reported that year-on-year market-wide ADR per bed (ADRB) declined with bed supply rising sharply. Singapore has the highest ADRB, followed by Myanmar and the Philippines.
Meanwhile, Barnett observed: “In past years, hostel developers maximised profits by developing properties with high bed inventory and no private rooms. However, micro-private rooms in hostels are becoming essential and impactful to rate yields. This can best be seen in the growth of hostels with private rooms in Indonesia, Thailand and Vietnam which now exceed 50 per cent of overall room inventory.
Going forward, C9 expects privacy will become more indispensible for hostels, prompting an exponential growth in private rooms.
C9 also foresees hostels will increasingly come under government scrutiny due to the growth of shared economy products such as Airbnb.
“Despite an elevated growth of supply, one considerable complication to the hostel market is the ambiguous rules and regulations; these have become a major concern in leading destinations such as Thailand, Malaysia and even Japan. While government regulation is starting to evolve, this remain a key sector issue,” Barnett said.
Sri Lanka’s tourism sector was thrown into disarray this week as lawmakers flip-flop on plans to relax laws concerning the sale of alcohol in the country.
The country’s finance minister last week issued an order to extend the opening hours at bars, pubs and small restaurants. At the same time, he moved to scrap an archaic law, in force since 1955, which prohibits women from selling or buying alcohol.
Lawmakers flip-flop on plans to relax laws concerning the sale of alcohol
But just three days later on Sunday, president Maithripala Sirisena told an election rally that he was not happy about the changes, which he said the powerful Buddhist clergy was opposed to, before ordering for the old laws to be retained. The notification cancelling the finance minister’s extended opening hours rule is expected to be issued once the latter returns from abroad.
“There is some confusion,” Harith Perera, president of the Sri Lanka Association of Inbound Tour Operators commented. “We were happy and welcomed the (initial) decision,” he said, adding that many tour operators would have already informed their clients of the new opening hours.
Sanath Ukwatte, president of the Hotels’ Association of Sri Lanka, told TTG Asia that they were awaiting the new gazette notification as ordered by the president to ascertain its contents.
“We welcomed last week’s rule allowing extended opening hours for bars and pubs and permitting women to sell liquor. But with the president’s decision to revoke that move, we need to wait and see what the new gazette would say,” he said.
Tourist hotels were unaffected by the old rule as they were permitted to sell alcohol till midnight, and in some cases up to 02.00, but would have benefitted from being able to hire female bartenders.
A state-appointed tourism committee seeking to increase arrivals to Sri Lanka from the current two million to four million pointed to the early closing hours of pubs and restaurants, alongside a lack of entertainment options and night events, as one of the barriers in making Colombo a more lively destination.
Andreas Mattmüller, Mövenpick Hotels and Resorts’ COO for Middle East & Africa, will retire on January 31, 2018.
One of Mövenpick’s longest standing executive team members, Mattmüller spent over 16 of his 43 years in hospitality in senior positions within the Switzerland-headquartered company.
When he joined Mövenpick in 2001, he was charged with the task of building the brand’s presence in the Middle East where its modest portfolio included four hotels in Jordan.
Under his guidance, the company rapidly expanded its footprint and today manages 30 properties across the region, with 15 more under development.
Beyond the Middle East, he has also contributed to developing and establishing the Mövenpick Hotels & Resorts portfolio in both Asia and Africa.
Details of Mattmüller’s replacement will be announced later this month.
Hotelbeds Group has unveiled the new departmental structure of its bedbank business following the integration of Tourico Holidays and GTA into the group.
Following a strategic review, Hotelbeds has created a new departmental structure, with different functions headed by existing senior management from all three companies as well as external hire.
Asi Ginio, most recently CEO of Tourico Holidays, is now director of commercial strategy & strategic partnerships.
Alex Brändle, formerly the SVP of business transformation at GTA, becomes director global business services.
Peter Mansour, appointed as director of product management, has worked in senior roles at companies such as Microsoft and eBay.
Alistair Roger, now director retail travel agencies, very recently joined GTA from Laterooms, where he was chief commercial officer.
Sam Turner, previously the director of sales at Hotelbeds, is now director wholesale & sourcing.
Gareth Matthews will continue as the director marketing & communications, but with his scope now increased to include the Tourico Holidays and GTA brands as well as taking on responsibility for sponsorship partnerships.
All of them will report directly to Carlos Muñoz, managing director of Hotelbeds Group’s Bedbank. They are also be members of the Executive Committee.
Muñoz commented: “In just over three months the integration has progressed significantly. Cross-selling is already underway across the various businesses and already we’re recruiting an additional 200 roles in the Contracting and Yield teams – who will fulfill our objective of directly contracting 10,000 new hotels over the coming three years.”
Yotel is making its first foray into the extended stay segment with the signing of five properties under its new Yotelpad brand.
Joining existing brands of Yotel and Yotelair, Yotelpad is meant to marry the essence of luxury serviced apartments with “Yotel’s signature design DNA of making the most out of compact spaces” to meet the requirements of the global citizen at an affordable price.
Yotel unveils a new extended stay brand
Standard Padss will start from 20m2, but larger Pads will also be available and feature Yotel’s adjustable SmartBed, work and relaxing areas, en-suite bathrooms, fully equipped kitchenettes and storage space. Yotel’s signature Technowall will also enable guests to connect and personalise the space to create a homely atmosphere.
Moreover, areas and amenities will be programmed to the local environment and can include 24/7 gyms, bike and gear storage, Amazon lockers, laundry, home cinema and library as well as a club lounge, ideal for co-working, meetings and entertaining friends or colleagues.
Yotelpad will launch globally with five projects already confirmed in North America, Europe and the Middle East. The first is Yotelpad Park City, located at Park City Mountain, the largest ski resort in the US, while the second is in Downtown Miami and will form part of a mixed-use development including 250 Yotel cabins and 208 Pads.
“The added benefit of introducing Yotelpad to our portfolio, is that it not only allows us to enter a new market segment, but also enables us to operate in new locations, not naturally suited to our Yotel and Yotelair brands. Our recent partnership with Replay has been extraordinary – realising just how much potential there is for our new brand in the destination resort market,” said Hubert Viriot, Yotel CEO.
Hoven: new office allows Khiri to run own itineraries to Kalimantan, Sulawesi, Moluccas, Papua and more
Khiri Travel has launched an office in Makassar, Sulawesi, opening up itinerary options that include destinations from Kalimantan through Sulawesi, to the Moluccas and Papua.
Sulawesi is Khiri Travel’s fifth office location in Indonesia, after Lombok, Bali, Labuan Bajo (Flores) and Yogyakarta (Java).
Hoven: new office allows Khiri to run own itineraries to Kalimantan, Sulawesi, Moluccas, Papua and more
Khiri Travel Indonesia’s general manager, Herman Hoven, said the new office would allow the DMC to create and operate its own itineraries and signature experiences to its own standards.
Apart from its existing FIT clients, Khiri Travel Indonesia will be running its first-ever group tours in Kalimantan in 2018 for a major UK operator.
Trips to remote Papua will also eventually be created from the Khiri Sulawesi office.
Grand Hyatt Taipei has appointed Jan-Hendrik Meidinger as its new general manager. He was hotel manager of the property in 2006.
Most recently, he was general manager of The Excelsior in Hong Kong. The German hotelier has more than 25 years of experience in the hospitality industry.
He began his career with the Hyatt Group in 1999 as assistant front office manager at Grand Hyatt Hong Kong, rose to hotel manager of Grand Hyatt Taipei in 2006, then to general manager of Hyatt Regency Guam in 2010, from where he moved to helm Park Hyatt Saigon in 2014.
