Vietnam-based luxury operator Exotic Voyages is adding a trio of new destinations – Oman, Japan and India – to its programmes.

The 17-year-old company is also launching 18 new completely customisable itineraries, six in each of these three destinations.

Wahiba Sands desert, Oman

Among the itinerary highlights are a visit to Wahiba Sands desert in Oman followed by glamping in camel-hair tents; for India, a jungle safari to Ranthambore National Park in Rajasthan; and a nighttime walking tour of Kyoto’s Gion district.

These new offerings add to 10 other destinations Exotic Voyages specialises in – Vietnam, Thailand, Bhutan, Laos, Cambodia, China, Sri Lanka, the Maldives, Myanmar, and the UAE.

Hong Kong Cruise & Yacht Industry Association (HKCYIA) recently launched a new office in the Kai Tak Cruise Terminal to better promote the development of the local cruise and yacht industry.

Kara Yeung, executive director of HKCYIA, said: “In view of the rapid expansion of the cruise industry in Asia, the association is taking the initiative in supporting operators from mainland China and the global market. HKCYIA will serve as a platform in promoting the good standing and bringing about growth and improvements.”

Kara Yeung, executive director (fourth from left), with her team at the soft opening of the HKCYIA office

“We are currently planning to establish a representative office in Genoa – an international cruise hub – in efforts to set up a global service network with a base in Europe that will serve as a platform for industry experts to build up business connections,” continued Yeung.

Located at the Rooftop Garden of the Kai Tak Cruise Terminal, the 372m² office features a conference room, interview rooms and an international cruise crew lounge. Latest information about the global cruise industry and maritime services are also available.

Hong Kong-based Cachet Hospitality Group (CHG) will make its first foray into Phuket when it takes over the management of Dewa Phuket Resort this month, following its April announcement that it will bring its Savant brand to Bangkok.

To be relaunched as Cachet Resort Dewa Phuket, the resort will offer 128 standard rooms, villas and residential suites as well as facilities including 1,000m² of meeting and event spaces, a spa, a fitness centre, a yoga-focused wellness centre, a Kids Club and two swimming pools.

Guestroom

In addition to two F&B venues, Aleta Restaurant Bar and Grill for Mexican-Thai food and Stonehaus for wine enthusiasts, the property will also boast Cachet Pool Club and Cachet Beach Club.

Interior renovations, which will be undertaken by Cachet Interior Design, will continue after the May opening and complete in November 2017.

Owned by R&B Partners, the resort is located beside Nai Yang Beach a seven-minute drive from the airport and 30 minutes from Phuket Town.

Despite the waves of consolidation currently seizing the marketplace, Daryl Lee, director of WebBeds FZ – which owns B2B travel distributor Fit Ruums – thinks the landscape is still characterised by fragmentation and complexity while vast markets like China have hardly seen any penetration.

“We see Fit Ruums as an alternative to global players. There’s no true alternative to the big players, so we see ourselves as filling in the gap, not so much to disrupt but to connect the dots,” said Lee.

Lee: filling the gap rather than disrupting

“We still see a lot of demand for travel products and hotels, and for the travel trade to operate more efficiently… with our robust platform, rather than a one-size-fits-all approach of the big players,” he added.

Since launching in October 2016, Lee said Fit Ruums has been seeing a “quick buildup” from its initial core markets of Singapore, Hong Kong, South Korea and Taiwan to now India, Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand.

Also, it would be impossible for the Singapore-based Fit Ruums to ignore the “dynamic” growth potential that China presents as both an inbound and outbound market, as Fit Rumms now has its sights set on establishing a China office by 3Q2017 to tap the synergy of its partnership with Dida Travel Technology inked late last year.

Despite being the largest travel aggregator in China, Dida does not even have one per cent of the domestic market cornered, Lee pointed out, highlighting the immense room for development in the Chinese travel distribution space.

Fit Ruums’ data-driven approach to travel distribution will hence enable agents to better understand the workings and nuances of this fast-changing Chinese market, said Lee, especially as the Chinese are now showing an increasing preference for last-minute travel and taking more holidays frequently throughout the year than during the major holidays.

To highlight his point, Lee revealed that 30 per cent of Fit Ruums’ latest bookings from the Chinese market are for travel within the next 72 hours – and not just confined to domestic destinations but across Asia-Pacific.

Likewise, plenty of opportunities lie untapped for the inbound market into China, Lee opined, seeing room for growth for the bleisure sector as well as lesser-known provinces like Guizhou, Tibet and Inner Mongolia if information and accessibility improve.