The Indian Hotels Company Limited (IHCL), which runs the Taj chain of hotels, has appointed Puneet Chhatwal as the new CEO and managing director.
Chhatwal will replace Rakesh Sarna, who is stepping down from September 30, 2017.
He is currently CEO and member of the executive board of Deutsche Hospitality, the Germany-based hotel chain that operates the Steigenburger chain of hotels in Europe, the Middle East and Africa.
The Indian-born Chhatwal first started his career in India, and has amassed over three decades of leadership experience in the hospitality sector in Europe and North America.
Mekong Kingdoms has unveiled a new fleet of five cruise ships, spanning a flagship sailing between Luang Prabang and Chiang Khong/Chiang Rai to a “floating lounge” for charter.
The fleet’s flagship, the 13-all-suite Bohème, accommodates up to 26 pax on two- and three-night cruises between Luang Prabang in Laos and Chiang Khong /Chiang Rai in Thailand, starting from US$1,300. The ship features a royal suite and 12 deluxe suites (with air-con, en-suite bathroom & private balcony), an expansive sundeck, lounge, wine cellar and spa.
Guests onboard Monsoon
Gypsy is an ultra-exclusive two-cabin cruiser, which takes up to four pax on a highly-customisable journey from Luang Prabang. The all-inclusive cruise costs US$3,500 a night for three/four pax or US$2,500 for one/two pax.
A third member of the fleet is the 40m-long Monsoon shuttle, which takes guests on a full-day tour of Luang Prabang’s temples, through the Mekong River to Pak Ou Caves, or a sunset cruise. Prices start from US$48 per person inclusive of cocktail canapés and non-alcoholic beverages.
Catering to partygoers, families, or couples, Play is a 42m-long lounge ship and water limo-for-hire featuring an open sundeck, lounge bar, TV and sound system and air-conditioned private room with a bar. The ship can host half or full-day private excursions on the Mekong River, with prices staring from US$750 for 15 pax on a four-hour trip.
And for private explorations for two, Mekong Kingdoms has the Nomad, offering a champagne sunset cruise priced from US$165.
Despite being most likely to admit that they don’t enjoy travelling with children in tow, Asian parents are also the least willing to leave their children behind when they go on holidays, according to new findings by Expedia and research firm Northstar.
Almost all surveyed go on vacation at least once a year with their family, while non-parents tend to only go once a year. Regional differences are striking, the research shows, with those in Asia and southern Europe and Mexico, the most likely to prioritse getting away with family as often as they can.
Family travel is still popular in Asian markets
South Korean travellers led the charts in terms of commitment to family holidays, with 74 per cent of teens vacationing with family more than twice a year, along with 68 per cent of parents and 57 per cent of non-parents. On the other end is Hong Kong, with just 29 per cent of teens, 25 percent of parents, and 21 percent of non-parents taking a family vacation more than once a year.
Notably, the report revealed that Hong Kong (47 per cent) and Taiwan (40 per cent) have the highest proportion of parents who indicated they do not enjoy holidays when travelling with their children. Comparing between regions, the sentiment is strongest in Asia, with an average of 27 per cent per nation agreeing, compared to 17 per cent in Europe.
The markets least likely to choose their children as their favourite travel companions are also in Asia – Malaysia (32 per cent), Taiwan (32 per cent) and Hong Kong (33 per cent).
Yet, parents from these countries are relatively less willing to travel without their children. Only 19 per cent, 23 per cent and 27 per cent from Malaysia, Taiwan and Hong Kong respectively are willing to leave their children behind on their travels.
The markets most reluctant to travel kid-free are Thailand (six per cent) and South Korea (eight per cent), while those most willing are Finland (82 per cent), Mexico (64 per cent) and Spain (56 per cent).
Reconnecting with a partner is the main reason to leave the children behind in Malaysia (67 per cent), Canada (65 per cent), Singapore (61 per cent), Denmark (61 per cent) and the US (61 per cent).
Meanwhile, few parents show interest in traveling with their own parents, although some interest does show up in Asia, led by Thailand (24 per cent), Malaysia (16 per cent) and South Korea (15 per cent).
Still, family travel continues to play a key role especially for Asian travellers. Parents in Asia were much more likely to agree that most of their favourite memories occurred on family vacations, led by parents in Thailand (82 per cent), Malaysia (81 per cent), South Korea (74 per cent) and Taiwan (69 per cent).
Most teens in nearly all countries say that a majority of their favorite memories occurred on family vacations, with the exception of Hong Kong (48 per cent) and Japan (44 per cent).
This month, China’s SkySea Cruise Line will begin accepting direct bookings on its upgraded website and roll out Alipay mobile payment on its SkySea Golden Era ship.
Launching on September 12, the upgraded website will feature a direct booking function, alongside new features such as Quick Booking and Online Room Selection.
Alipay will be introduced on the SkySea Golden Era ship in September
Using the Quick Booking tool, guests will be able to participate in online sales events without having to fill in all the passenger information initially. In addition, the online room selection feature will allow guests to choose their preferred room in advance, akin to pre-selecting seats on a flight, which SkySea says would facilitate the process for guests looking to select rooms near friends and family.
From September 17, the Alipay payment option will be introduced on SkySea Golden Era, allowing guests to make payment instantly instead of having to link their credit card to their room or pay a fixed deposit.
Guests will be able to use their mobile phone-bound Alipay accounts for most ship purchases, including at the service center, restaurants, bars and duty-free shops.
The Indonesian Ministry of Tourism is upbeat about achieving its target of 15 million arrivals this year after seeing strong inbound growth in 1H2017, particularly in key source markets.
Indonesia welcomed nearly 6.5 million visitors, or 43 per cent of the year’s target, in 1H2017, representing a 15-18 per cent growth from the same 2016 period.
Indonesia has seen a strong growth in inbound numbers and is on track for its 15 million target for the year; Raja Ampat pictured
Key markets China and India are showing immense potential, said deputy minister for international tourism I Gde Pitana, with each growing 40 per cent in June 2017. For the overall 1H period, China grew 45 per cent and Australia 18 per cent.
Pitana said after two years of building the Wonderful Indonesia branding this year, Indonesia will focus on aggressive selling as well as collaboration with airlines and wholesalers to court the Asia-Pacific market.
“We have prepared 54 hardselling activities with 30 exhibitions and 24 sales missions. For promotion we have joined 61 exhibitions such as IT&CM, PATA Travel Mart and 44 festivals in Asia-Pacific (so far), and there are 40 more to go until the end of the year,” Pitana elaborated.
The tourism ministry has also ramped up marketing campaigns across different mediums to the tune of nearly 1.4 billion rupiah (US$103,756). Pitana explained that the ministry has 10 online media partnerships and is targeting 21 million clicks this year, and 666 out of 1,020 units of outdoor advertising in 15 different countries have been rolled out.
The ministry is also looking to attract foreign travellers through border gateways, which is currently estimated to make up 10 per cent of total arrivals annually. A special programme, Hot Deal for Cross Border Tourism, was launched recently to attract travellers from Singapore and Malaysia to fill idle weekday capacity on ferries to Bintan and Batam.
However, Panorama Destination CEO Renato Domini opined that the ambitious future target put forth by the Ministry of Tourism remains a tall call. “We are still lacking adequate air capacity to destinations beyond Bali. Especially for India to really take off, we need more non-stop direct links between the two countries,” he said.
Singapore Cruise Centre (SCC) and Nongsa Terminal Bahari (NTB) have sealed a marketing collaboration agreement to promote tourism in Batam and Riau Islands.
Under the agreement, SCC and NTB will jointly work on marketing and promoting activities, recent developments and ongoing projects in the area, to ensure a sustainable and continual growth in passenger traffic to Nongsa, Batam and the Riau Islands.
Both terminal operators are working together to bring more visitors to the Indonesian islands
In addition, SCC will work with NTB to help the ferry terminal operator enhance safety, security and customer service at its terminal which could serve as a model for further cooperation with other ferry terminals in Riau Islands.
The Air Race 1 World Cup Thailand 2017 will take place in November
The Tourism Authority of Thailand’s (TAT) will launch the Amazing Thailand Tourism Year 2018 on November 1, which will highlight a calendar of international events and cultural elements that enhance the appeal of the country’s tourism.
The Amazing Thailand Tourism Year 2018 promotion will focus on seven distinct categories, including sports tourism, gastronomy tourism, maritime tourism, wedding and honeymoon tourism, medical and wellness tourism, community-based tourism and leisure destinations.
The Air Race 1 World Cup Thailand 2017 will take place in November
As well, key events will be given highlight for The Amazing Thailand Tourism Year 2018. These include:
– International Fleet Review, which will be hosted by the Royal Thai Navy to mark ASEAN’s 50th anniversary since its founding. Over 40 modern warships and 10,000 crew members from 30 countries are expected to join the historic fleet display on Pattaya Bay from November 13 to 22, 2017;
– Air Race 1 World Cup Thailand 2017, which is scheduled from November 17 to 19, 2017 at the U-Tapao Rayong-Pattaya International Airport. It will be the only international air race where multiple heats are flown at the same time;
– 4th UNWTO World Forum on Gastronomy Tourism, which is scheduled for May 2018 and will help support the TAT’s gastronomy tourism efforts by promoting Thai food and the country’s culinary potential on a global stage; and
– MotoGP World Championship superbike races, which will be hosted at Buri Ram’s Chang International Circuit starting from October 2018, following the recent signing of a three-year contract with MotoGP owner Dorna Sports.
Redtable leveraging Klook's presence in markets such as Singapore, Indonesia and Malaysia
Redtable, a Seoul-based restaurant marketing developer, has partnered tours and activities platform Klook to expand its sales channels and bring food tours into South-east Asia.
Within a day of being posted on Klook, several food tours were already reserved and paid for, Redtable CEO Hae-yong Do said.
Redtable leveraging Klook’s presence in markets such as Singapore, Indonesia and Malaysia
“Given the high level of interest in South Korean food across South-east Asia, thanks to the Hallyu boom (Korean wave), we are hoping that our contract with Klook serves as a valuable opportunity for us to promote Korean food to people living in areas where the app is available,” Do added.
Klook has presence in Asian markets such as Hong Kong, Taiwan, Singapore, Indonesia and Malaysia.
Redtable already supplies food tours to major Chinese travel agencies, including Ctrip, Tuniu, Alitrip, TongCheng and Qiongyou, as well as restaurant review website Dianping and social commerce company Meituan.
It is also working with the Seoul Metropolitan Government to develop a multi-language mobile menu service to revitalise the city’s food tourism industry. It has also partnered the Korea Tourism Organization to target Chinese tourists with food tours.
Amadeus has integrated Livn’s database of 19,000 tours and activities to afford travel agents more seamless booking of in-destination tour products and greater cross-selling and upselling opportunities.
Following a trial among key agents, the Livn integration will initially cover the Australia and New Zealand markets. Agents will have access to products supplied by the likes of Intrepid Group, G Adventures, Disney, Gray Line, Pro-Dive and Tourism Holdings.
Through the Amadeus Selling Platform Connect, agents can incorporate tours and activities into any booking with real-time availability, confirmation and pricing through Livn.
“This partnership with Amadeus is a breakthrough that dramatically expands our travel agency distribution footprint and is great news for our partners,” said Livn co-founder Steve Martinez. “We have managed to automate the entire tours and activities booking process within the existing Amadeus workflow with instant confirmations and ticketing being returned in seconds.”
Tony Carter, managing director at Amadeus IT Pacific, said the Livn integration represents a major opportunity for agents to satisfy client demand for in-destination experiences while earning additional commissions.
“Until now the fragmented nature of the tour and activity business has always made it difficult for travel agents to book these products,” said Carter.
Pan Pacific Hotels Group (PPHG) has appointed Craig Syphers as general manager for Parkroyal on Beach Road, Singapore and Andrew Donadel as general manager for Pan Pacific Orchard, Singapore.
Syphers first joined PPHG as general manager of Parkroyal Melbourne Airport in 2013 and was transferred to Pan Pacific Orchard, Singapore two years later.
Syphers
Prior to joining the group, Craig had worked at several international hotels in his native Australia and New Zealand.
Meanwhile, Donadel began his career with PPHG as the general manager of Pan Pacific Serviced Suites Beach Road, Singapore and Parkroyal Serviced Suites, Singapore. In 2014, Andrew moved to Ho Chi Minh City to head Parkroyal Saigon.
Donadel
The Australian started his hospitality career with The Westin Sydney and Montreal Marriott Chateau Champlain before moving to Ascott International, where he spent six years managing Somerset, Citadines and Ascott serviced residences in Singapore and Australia.
