In the face of hotel room shortage and an anticipated inbound boom with the upcoming Rugby World Cup and Olympics, the Japanese trade has largely welcomed the legalisation of Airbnb in the country, which enables homeowners to now legally let out their properties for up to 180 days a year if they register with local authorities.

“Many of my fellow innkeepers have been interested in registering with Airbnb but have been hesitant for fear of tacitly supporting illegal activity,” said Tyler Lynch, proprietor of Kamesei Ryokan and member of the Ryokan Hotel Association in Nagano Prefecture.

Yamanaka, Japan 

The deregulation has paved the way for these ryokans to capitalise on opportunities brought in with the sharing economy wave. “Several travellers use only Airbnb for accommodation,” he explained.

Shuhei Akahoshi, managing director of Kyoto Convention and Visitors Bureau, welcomes the added clarity on a previously grey area.

Aside from relieving Kyoto’s shortage of family-sized accommodations and enabling visitors to have more cultural experiences, Akahoshi said legalisation “has the potential to stimulate greater competition and drive new innovation from our industry”.

A spokesperson from inbound tour operator I Love Japan Tours has not made a decision on whether to now use Airbnb, but added that the company had received cancellations from customers upon finding out that Airbnb accommodation was not offered.

With shopping now a bigger driver of tourist spend than ever before in Malaysia, a luxury-dedicated component of the Malaysia Mega Sale Carnival was last week inaugurated by luxury retailer The Melium Group, in partnership with Tourism Malaysia and Pavilion Kuala Lumpur.

Abdul Ghaffar Thambi, secretary-general, Tourism and Culture Ministry, said: “In 2015, for the first time, shopping became the main tourist expenditure at 31.3 per cent, overtaking the share for spending on accommodation. This trend continued into 2016 with tourist expenditure on shopping taking up a share of 31.7 per cent.

Pavilion Kuala Lumpur

“We are also seeing an increase in the amount spent by tourists for shopping. In 2016, tourists spent RM26 billion (US$6.1 billion) on shopping, up 20.3 per cent from RM21.6 billion the previous year.”

Based on a report on the Tourist Refund Scheme, 43 per cent of tourist expenditure in Malaysia is on watches and jewellery, both considered luxury items. Chinese tourists are the largest spenders on these items, followed by Singaporeans, Indonesians, Indians and Bangladeshis.

Beyond the Malaysia Mega Sale – Luxury Shopping Experience, Tourism Malaysia intends to attract big spenders in Singapore, Indonesia, India, the Middle East and Bangladesh through in-market tactical campaigns.

President of The Melium Group, Farah Khan, said: “Our aim in supporting the government’s effort in the Malaysia Mega Sale launch is to engage with the luxury tourism market segment and ensure that Kuala Lumpur is well-positioned as the next global market opportunity for luxury brands.

“With our duty-free status, we can capitalise on the luxury tourist shoppers market as luxury brand prices in Malaysia are within an average of 25 per cent lower than in other countries, and with the GST refund our luxury brands prices are more attractive.”

Airbus has unveiled an enhanced version of the superjumbo, the A380plus, featuring aerodynamic and capacity improvements that could result in an overall 13 per cent cost per seat reduction versus today’s A380.

“The A380plus is an efficient way to offer even better economics and improved operational performance at the same time,” John Leahy, Airbus COO customers, explained.

“It is a new step for our iconic aircraft to best serve worldwide fast-growing traffic and the evolving needs of the A380 customers. The A380 is well-proven as the solution to increasing congestion at large airports.”

New winglets – designed to improve aerodynamics and reduce drag – measure approximately 4.7m in height with an uplet of 3.5m and a downlet of 1.2m.

The optimised cabin layout based on the cabin enablers, presented at the Aircraft Interiors Expo in April this year, allows up to 80 additional seats through redesigned stairs, a combined crew-rest compartment, sidewall stowage removal, and a new 9-abreast seat configuration in premium economy and 11-abreast in economy.

With the cabin enablers, the A380 average seat count would move from 497 to 575 in four classes and generate significantly more revenue for airlines, the European planemaker said.

In addition, the A380plus will have an increased maximum take-off weight of 578 tonnes, providing the flexibility of carrying up to 80 more passengers over today’s range (8,200nm), or flying 300nm further.

Other enhancements include longer maintenance check intervals, a reduced six-year check downtime, and systems improvements, which will reduce maintenance costs and increase aircraft availability.