Booking.com shows greater love for tourism start-ups

October 25, 2017

Marianne-Gybels_-portrait — Gybels: pushing forward 'great startups' that lack resources

Booking.com is turning its attention to mentoring start-ups at that are at seed level with Booster Lab, an offshoot from its Booster programme launched in June which saw three Asian start-ups, Authenticook, LocalAlike and Backstreet Academy as among finalists receiving no-strings-attached grants from Booking.com to scale up their businesses.

Booster Lab not only focuses on start-ups that bring local and/or marginalised communities into tourism, but makes a deliberate attempt to support those that have the potential to alleviate overcrowding, an issue that has created resentment and anti-tourism in some destinations.

Gybels: pushing forward ‘great startups’ that lack resources

Fittingly, the first Booster Lab will be held in Barcelona, Spain this December, covering start-ups in Europe, and is slated to run globally, including in Asia-Pacific, throughout 2018. It features a regionally-focused weekend programme of workshops, mentoring plus a chance to pitch for growth-hacking grants of up to 25,000 euros (US$29,396).

In an interview with TTG Asia, Marianne Gybels, manager Booking Cares who leads the development of Booster, said one of the major learnings from Booster was that many of the 700 applicants were “great start-ups with amazing ideas but are still at seed level – no staff, do not make revenue – and so didn’t fit our Booster which are for start-ups that are ready to scale”.

“We want to push them forward,” she said.

When asked what sort of solutions Booking.com was looking for in alleviating overtourism, Gybels said: “We have a team called Destinations Unlock to look at these start-ups. For example, there are many beautiful destinations in the world, yet we tend to concentrate on the same areas. A new destination can be a city within a city. For example, in Amsterdam city, there are so many beautiful surroundings that are waiting to be unlocked. Showing different sides to a destination (can) help spread tourism to more areas.”

Booster Lab has 265 applications from Europe and will be selecting 15 start-ups soon.
The grants of up to 25,000 euros each are much smaller than Booster grants. Singapore’s Backstreet Academy, for instance, received this year’s top Booster grant of 400,000 euros that it asked for, while Thailand’s LocalAlike got 300,000 euros.

One reason is, as Booster Labsstart-ups are at seed level and have not made any business investment, the risk of them just walking away after receiving a grant is real.
Gybels said the grants “truly have no strings attached” and are meant to ease the “struggle these start-ups go through”.

“We want to show our commitment to them and are happy to share our knowledge and expertise in helping them scale.”

Find out how Asian start-ups are using the grants in tomorrow’s TTG Asia e-Daily.

reporting live from ITB Asia

WTTC’s first city-level study shows fastest growing cities are in Asia

By S Puvaneswary

October 25, 2017

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chongqing — Six of 10 fastest growing cities are in China; Chongqing in (pictured) in top spot

WTTC has produced its first study that looks at the economic and employment impact of travel and tourism on cities, and found that the top 10 fastest growing cities are all in Asia.

The research looks at 65 global cities, chosen for being tops for arrivals and visitor spend, of which 21 are in Asia-Pacific.

Six of 10 fastest growing cities are in China; Chongqing in (pictured) in top spot

Rising prosperity across the region is fuelling increased travel demand, and investment in transport and hotel infrastructure, the report indicated. As well, government policies that facilitate the ease of borders crossings have helped to boost travel and tourism connectivity across the region.

Notably, the study revealed that the world’s top 10 fastest growing cities are in Asia, and projected that the region’s cities will continue to be at the forefront of tourism growth over the next decade.

Chinese cities took the top five spots, with Chongqing in pole position with a 14 per cent growth per year. It is followed by Guangzhou (13.1 per cent), Shanghai (12.8 per cent), Beijing (12 per cent) and Chengdu (11.2 per cent).

The remaining cities are Manila (10.9 per cent), Delhi (10.8 per cent), Shenzhen (10.7 per cent), Kuala Lumpur (10.1 per cent) and Jakarta (10 per cent).

In general, Asia-Pacific records almost six per cent of annual growth – 50 per cent more than the world average of four per cent.

Gloria Guevara, president & CEO, WTTC, said: “The power of Asian cities when it comes to driving the travel and tourism sector is clear to see in this new data.

“With this level of forecast growth, the importance of investment in long-term planning, infrastructure and sustainable public policies cannot be underestimated. It is vital that city authorities understand the economic impact of travel and tourism, GDP and employment contribution, and not just visitor arrivals, as they seek to develop new products and opportunities to increase traveller spend and sustainable growth.”

Other highlights from the report include the doubling of Singapore’s travel and tourism contribution in the past 10 years to US$12.4 billion in 2016 and supporting 164,000 jobs; and Macau coming up as the most tourism intensive city in Asia-Pacific with 27 per cent of the economy a direct result of tourism spend.

reporting live from ITB Asia

Singapore agents warm up to LCCs

By Pamela Chow

October 25, 2017

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WONG_Yew_Hoong_EU_Holidays — Wong: offering packages that exclude flights to reel in young travellers, FITs

With an increasing number of LCCs jetting to longhaul destinations, travel agents in Singapore are now open to working with these budget flight options.

In June this year, Scoot launched direct flights to Athens. The airline will also be introducing seasonal direct flights to Sapporo in November, and a service to Honolulu via Osaka in December. Meanwhile, Norwegian Air recently began plying between Singapore and London on what is currently the world’s longest low-cost flight.

As a result, travel agents in Singapore have started working on longhaul packages with LCC options in mind, and TTG Asia understands that Scoot is currently in talks with a number of travel agents.

Wong: excluding flights in longhaul packages to cater to FIT preferences for LCCs

Trevor Spinks, Scoot’s head of sales and distribution, revealed that his team is working with travel agents that are offering leisure and tour packages to Australia, China, Greece and North Asia, as well as labour agents and pilgrimage agents.

He explained: “We work with key agents and consortium partners on short- and long-term sales initiatives, including offering private fares for packages, joint promotions and incentives to include Scoot prominently in their advertising.”

One of these agents is Chan Brothers Travel, which recently started including LCC flights in packages for destinations where there are such options.

For other destinations, the agency offers land-only packages – comprising airport transfers, hotel and attraction passes.

Meanwhile, EU Holidays recognises the significance of providing LCC options for the “young traveller and FIT” markets.

To cater to the LCC-loving crowd, EU Holidays has been rolling out FIT packages, as well as land-only versions of their regular packages for budget-conscious travellers, said its director, Wong Yew Hoong.

However, Wong noted that his customers still prefer full-cost carriers for longer flights.
He shared: “When it comes to longhaul trips to Europe and US – our speciality – customers always prefer travelling on a full-service airline as it is all-rounded in terms of providing comfort, meals, and luggage allowance.”

To increase collaboration with the trade, Scoot has been engaging new agents, actively collaborating with existing partners, improving ease of partnership, as well as raising awareness among agents on Scoot’s offerings, said Spinks.

reporting live from ITB Asia

Wyndham signs five upscale hotels in SE Asia

By TTG Asia

October 25, 2017

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Wyndham-Opi-Hotel-Palembang---Exterior — Wyndham Opi Hotel Palembang to open next year

Wyndham Hotel Group is set for a major expansion of two of its upscale brands in South-east Asia, with five new signings in Indonesia and Vietnam expected to add 3,585 rooms to its portfolio.

“There is enormous potential in growing the upscale segment in South-east Asia which is a booming tourism hotspot thanks to the region’s rising affluence, improved infrastructure and increased flight connectivity,” commented Barry Robinson, president and managing director of Wyndham Hotel Group South East Asia and the Pacific Rim.

Wyndham Opi Hotel Palembang to open next year

The 259-room Wyndham Opi Hotel Palembang – Sumatra is scheduled to open in March 2018 in Palembang’s new OPI entertainment precinct. The city’s first five-star hotel from an international chain will offer accommodation from superior rooms to presidential suites, two restaurants, a lounge, an outdoor pool, a fitness centre and a spa. Conferencing facilities will be available across seven venues including a ballroom accommodating up to 2,200 people.

Another Indonesia property, the Wyndham Dreamland Resort Bali will open in December 2017. Offering 190 one-bedroom suites and private pool villas, the resort will also feature three F&B outlets, two swimming pools, one children’s pool as well as a spa and wellness centre complete with a yoga studio.

VIP lounge at Wyndham Tropicana Resort Nha Trang

In Vietnam, a Wyndham Grand and a Wyndham Hotel will add a combined 1,427 keys within a 800ha Cam Ranh Bay development comprising an entertainment zone, an upscale marina, a polo club, a theme park, luxury villas and other attractions.

The 423-room Wyndham Grand Cam Ranh, due to open in 2018, is situated on an 18-hole golf course designed by Greg Norman. The links-inspired golf course features an elevated site of rolling sand dunes as well as a 6,000m² club house, driving range, and golf beach club. Other facilities include restaurants and bars, swimming pools, spa and wellness facilities and a convention centre.

Scheduled for opening in 2019 is the Wyndham Cam Ranh, located on the oceanfront of Cam Ranh’s Long Beach and offering facilities such as a pool and pool bar, two restaurants and a bar, a spa and gymnasium as well as meeting rooms.

In the same year, Wyndham is expected to launch the US$200 million Wyndham Resort Tropicana Nha Trang mixed-use development, the largest hospitality development in the coastal city offering 1,709 keys. Located on a beachfront, the development will comprise two 50-storey towers with hotel rooms and condominium units ranging up to 250m2, along with a retail complex spanning six floors, a convention hall, a spa, a pool and a wellness centre.

Sabre looks to AI to turn page on hotel revenue management

By TTG Asia

October 25, 2017

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innovation-generic — Goocle, IBM to touch on AI at the conference

Sabre Corporation says it has developed the hospitality industry’s first analytics platform that uses artificial intelligence (AI) to help maximise total hotel revenue.

Combining AI, big data and modern visualisations, the SynXis Analytics Cloud offers predictive analytics and pattern recognition to recommend revenue strategies across channels. By analysing data from operations, finances, room-stay production, ancillaries and rate-room channel configurations, the tool delivers targeted actionable insights to help hotel users avoid lost revenue.

A hotel user is also able to design and test different predictive models by choosing a variety of pre-built machine learning algorithms.

The solution combines pre-built insights allowing hotel users to see performance at a region/brand/chain level down to rate code level, and on-demand analytics. It can host and integrate multiple sources of hospitality data in the cloud and empower customised, on-demand analytics consumed through self-service business intelligence capabilities.

According to Sabre, the lack of an industry-grade automated solution has left many hoteliers hamstrung with separate – often manual – reports, creating an expensive lag in their revenue-focused decisions and making them reactive to market dynamics.

“Our vision for SynXis Analytics Cloud is focused on solving the hospitality data integration challenge and meeting hoteliers’ need for self-service business intelligence and AI capabilities,” said Balaji Krishnamurthy, vice president of global strategy, corporate development and business intelligence for Sabre Hospitality Solutions.

“The move to predictive forward-looking analytics represents a tectonic shift for the hospitality industry that has traditionally been limited to static backward-looking reporting. We are bringing AI to operations, distribution, personalization and retailing.”

SynXis Analytics Cloud has already seen take-up from Sabre customers including Denihan Hospitality Group, Preferred Hotels & Resorts and Two Roads Hospitality.

Performance Insights, Self-Service BI (Business Intelligence) and Rate Insights are the flagship products available today in the SynXis Cloud Analytics suite of solutions. Sabre expects to expand its business intelligence offering later this year with additional AI-powered solutions.

Expedia adds blind-friendly upgrades

By TTG Asia

October 25, 2017

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Expedia has unveiled enhancements to make its site more accessible to users with visual disabilities as part of an ongoing relationship with the National Federation of the Blind.

For greater compatibility with screen readers commonly used to relay information to blind web users, Expedia engineers have attached text to pictures and structured the website code in a way that allows users of assistive technology to navigate product pages.

Code now structured to make site easier to navigate for assistive technology users

The OTA giant has an Expedia Accessibility Technology Team of front-end developers and testers who design and test site improvements that make the Expedia.com and Travelocity.com websites as inclusive as possible.

Expedia said in a statement that inclusive enhancements – such as for blind users, those who require captioning for audio or video and those who don’t use a computer mouse – improve the user experience for all travellers. Moreover, while recent activity has been focused on the current site, it is also working to educate and train all of its engineers to design and develop their products, mobile and desktop, with accessibility in mind.

10th ITB Asia kicks off

By TTG Asia

October 25, 2017

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itb-asia-10th-anniversary — The Messe Berlin team, led by senior vice president, travel & logistics Martin Buck (fourth from right) and ITB Asia executive director Katrina Leung (fourth from left), is looking mighty ecstatic, because it is kicking off a milestone edition of ITB Asia this week

The Messe Berlin team, led by senior vice president, travel & logistics Martin Buck (fourth from right) and ITB Asia executive director Katrina Leung (fourth from left), is looking mighty ecstatic, because it is kicking off a milestone edition of ITB Asia this week. Check out TTG Show Daily’s ITB Asia 10^th Anniversary Special from pages 22-25.

First flights from South Korea spark new tourism fervour in Johor

By S Puvaneswary

October 24, 2017

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danga-bay-johor — Tourism players in Johor eager to better understand and cater to the market

Johor is set to get its first direct flights from South Korea when Jin Air commences twice weekly Incheon-Johor Bahru services on January 2, 2018, prompting new tourism initiatives and partnerships in the Malaysian state to better cater to the market.

The flights are expected to boost South Korean tourist arrivals into Malaysia, which dipped 5.7 per cent to 189,002 for the first five months of the year. From January to July 2017, a total of 72,000 tourists from South Korea visited Johor.

Tourism players in Johor are eager to better understand and cater to South Korean tourists

To ensure the flights get sustained interest, an MoU was recently signed between the airline, Malaysian Inbound Tourism Association (MITA) and Malaysian Chinese Tourism Association (MCTA).

Uzaidi Udanis, MITA president, shared that the association will work with Jin Air, Tourism Johor, Tourism Malaysia, hotels in Johor and local transportation companies to organise a fam trip for South Korean outbound agents in conjunction with the inaugural flight.

Uzaidi shared: “The fam trip will include a product presentation on Johor as well as a brainstorming session with South Korean agents for Malaysian inbound agents to (gain) a better understanding of the South Korean market.

For now, there is an awareness that South Koreans enjoy golfing, which the state, with its over 20 golf courses, could provide. But beyond that, Uzaidi said there is still much to learn about the market. “We need more information, such as who are the golfers? Are they corporate clients, millennials?”

MITA currently intends to coordinate with inbound members in Johor to come up with packages, which will include golf rounds and one-week elementary English courses for adults and children.

Another challenge is the lack of Korean speaking guides in Johor. To tackle this problem, Uzaidi said Jin Air has agreed to provide complimentary airfares to tour leaders from South Korea for confirmed tour packages of at least 10 people, while MITA will work with the hoteliers in Johor to provide free accommodation.

This would be a win-win arrangment, he pointed out, with Malaysia’s inbound sector benefiting from having tour leaders act as interpreters, while outbound agents in South Korea can enjoy lower costs when selling group packages.

Johor Tourism’s domestic trade and consumerism committee chairman, Tee Siew Kiong, who witnessed the MoU signing, added that the state government will look into long-term solutions such as by providing Korean language courses for industry frontliners and offering tourism information pamphlets in the Korean language.

Meanwhile, the flights are also expected to boost visits from Johor to South Korea. MCTA Johor Chapter chairman, Kelvin Ang, told TTG Asia that its members are committed to ensure the outbound sector from Johor to Incheon has good loads. He said: “We have to fill up about 10 per cent of the aircraft which translates to around 40 seats per flight, or 80 seats per week. We don’t see this as a problem as we have 80 members in Johor selling outbound.

“For Johorians planning a holiday to Seoul, the flights offer convenience and cost savings as they need not travel to Singapore for a connection to Seoul.”

TTC brings Luxury Gold brand to the Philippines

By Rosa Ocampo

October 24, 2017

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Yap: Philippines the second most important market for the brand

The Travel Corporation’s (TTC) Luxury Gold brand, a luxury spinoff from Insight Vacations, has kicked off in the Philippines with nine new tours in destinations as varied as Japan, Croatia and Montenegro, and Scandinavia as part of its 2018 tours.

The Philippines is the most attractive source market after Singapore (Malaysia comes third), TTC’s Asia president Robin Yap said, explaining that Singaporeans travel two shorthaul and two longhaul a year because of the size of the city state, while Filipinos travel twice a year usually as a family, with five to six minimum members, making them a “very lucrative market”.

Moreover, compared to Filipinos, Singaporeans tend to be more concerned with price than how good an experience they will get, said Yap. “The Philippine market understands what luxury is about. (The) lifestyle here is about enjoyment, celebration, travelling in style”.

“We have been here for 37 years and we see how the market has grown. Typhoons and volcanic eruptions don’t stop the people from travelling. They’re very resilient,” said Yap.

Aileen Clemente, president and chair of Rajah Travel – TTC’s GSA in the Philippines – added that there is growing demand for luxury travel as Filipino travellers who started with budget trips become more mature in their travel preferences.

Luxury Gold hence focuses on curated destinations and service targeting luxury seasoned travellers seeking attractions where others lack access, Yap shared. The brand’s group tours take small groups with a maximum of 25 pax instead of over 40 pax. Its concierge-style services offer, for example, behind-the-scenes access to an opera production, a booking at a Michelin star restaurant which normally has to be booked six months in advance, or a private limo transfer at the Vatican.

To further enhance the travel experience, Luxury Gold features the Chairman’s Collection curated by TTC chairman Stanley Tollman. The collection offers experiences such as lunch with an Italian Count at his grand Tuscan villa, visiting the gardens of Alnwick Castle with the Duchess of Northmberland, all with select departure dates.

Chinese business travel budgets to get fatter

By TTG Asia

October 24, 2017

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Chinese organisations are expecting expanded travel budgets in the coming year, but many continue to be concerned with budget management with client-facing travel given high priority compared to internal meetings, based on findings from CITS American Express Global Business Travel’s 2017 China Business Travel Survey.

Reflecting increasing business confidence, 31 per cent of Chinese companies expect travel budgets to rise over the next twelve months, compared to only 17 per cent last year. Meanwhile, the survey also shows that 40 per cent of Chinese organisations plan to expand travel budgets because of opportunities presented by the Belt and Road initiative.

Client-facing travel continues to be important

Yet, 20 per cent of larger companies surveyed state they are likely to replace close to half of all internal meetings with video or teleconferencing within the next year.

Client-facing travel, on the other hand, remains a priority. Ninety per cent report that increased client-facing travel would likely increase revenue; and 53 per cent believe an increase in client-related travel would improve overall revenue by 10-20 per cent. Developing new business relationships, and maintaining existing clients were also listed as the top two reasons for business travel.

“Our research indicates an intent to increase business travel budgets over the next year, (but) when we look deeper we find that the intention to increase spending also comes with some strategic reallocation of expenditure. This is particularly noticeable when considering the number of organisations that have reported plans to reduce spend on internal meetings. It is apparent that businesses continue to acknowledge the importance of client-facing travel,” observed Kevin Tan, vice president of CITS American Express Global Business Travel.

The report further suggested that organisational goals must be balanced with traveller concerns, as the survey revealed Chinese organisations currently view traveller comfort and wellbeing as being equally important to cost, while safety considerations are most important.

Inflexible travel policies (30 per cent) and complex reimbursement processes (23 per cent) were reported as the top two complaints for business travellers. Moreover, 30 per cent of companies reported travel policy compliance below 75 per cent.

“Companies that balance traveller concerns with appropriate cost saving measures are the most likely to see a significant financial benefit. The barometer’s findings indicate that the strictest cost-savings measures, such as an inflexible travel policy, are likely to result in false-savings due to lower policy compliance,” advised Tan.

Booking.com shows greater love for tourism start-ups

WTTC’s first city-level study shows fastest growing cities are in Asia

Singapore agents warm up to LCCs

Wyndham signs five upscale hotels in SE Asia

Sabre looks to AI to turn page on hotel revenue management

Expedia adds blind-friendly upgrades

10th ITB Asia kicks off

First flights from South Korea spark new tourism fervour in Johor

TTC brings Luxury Gold brand to the Philippines

Chinese business travel budgets to get fatter

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