Ani Villas is offering agencies a deal allowing them to earn a free three-night stay for up to 10 people at any of their three resorts worldwide.

Agencies that manage to make five bookings per annum are entitled to redeem the complimentary stay at either the Ani Villas Thailand located in Koh Yao Noi, Ani Villas Sri Lanka on the nation’s south coast, or at Ani Villas Anguilla, the company’s first property opened in 2011.

Each of the resorts are for exclusive use and caters to groups of between 15 and 30 with the ability to accommodate larger parties utilising neighboring properties for spill over.

Ani Villas will open its fourth private resort in the Dominican Republic in the summer of 2017.

Korean Air has reshuffled its routes, including the launch of the world’s first direct service to Barcelona from Northeast Asia, increased frequencies to the US and the cessation of two existing AMEA routes.

Starting April 2017, the national carrier will fly nonstop from Incheon to Barcelona thrice-weekly, marking the first direct flight there from the region.

As well, it will increase the frequency of flights between Incheon and San Francisco from seven to fourteen weekly, a change it plans to implement in stages between April and September next year.

Meanwhile on the Incheon-Seattle route, frequency will be increased from five to seven times weekly from May 2017.

Citing demand and profitability reasons, Korean Air will also suspend the Incheon-Siem Reap and Incheon-Riyadh-Jeddah services.

The airline hopes to minimise the impact on passengers through increased connections with Middle Eastern carriers operating from Dubai International Airport.

Industry leaders have raised questions over Airbnb’s announcement that it will now be offering “whole trips”, as the sharing platform also revealed plans to add flights into the booking process in future.

Airbnb, which has traditionally provided only accommodation, announced last week the launch of Airbnb Trips, offering around 500 experiences in 12 cities.

It will initially focus on three key sections – Experiences, Places and Homes, with Flights and Services to be added in the future.

The move follows a recent tie-up with Lufthansa, which saw the company selling flights for a one-off period July and August, as reported by TTG.

A spokesperson for Airbnb told TTG there was “no additional information” it could share on Flights, “as that development is way in the future”.

However the firm said: “Airbnb’s vision is to ultimately cater for every aspect of a trip”.

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Malaysia Airlines (MAB) plans to become profitable again by 2018 and to relist itself on the stock exchange by 2019, according to the carrier’s group CEO Peter Bellew.

It hopes to do so by leveraging the airline’s core strengths, including its business class product, affordable pricing strategies and constant improvements in technology.

Bellew revealed on the sidelines of the Association of Asia Pacific Airline’s 60th Assembly of Presidents in Manila last week that MAB will be further enhancing its popular business class offering with new seats, upgraded lounge facilities, and more.

The airline will also have a “more competitive price structure” thanks to cost reduction efforts, such as from operating new aircraft that are more fuel efficient.

Other upcoming enhancements include MAB’s deal with Amadeus for a new passenger service system and a revamped website that will be ready by June 2017.

On top of these upgrades, Bellew expects continued strong growth from China with the launch of nine new routes there starting next year.

Travel operators in Thailand are positive that the visa fee waiver being implemented by the government will be a boon for arrivals, but is unlikely to make up for the loss in Chinese visitors due to the cracking down of zero-dollar tours.

It became a hot button topic yesterday when Thai authorities waived the 1,000 baht (US$28) visa application fee and decreased visa-on-arrival charges from 2,000 baht to 1,000 baht, applicable to travellers from 19 select nations between December and February 2017.

The 19 countries are Andorra, Bulgaria, Bhutan, China, Cyprus, Ethiopia, India, Kazakhstan, Latvia, Lithuania, Maldives, Malta, Mauritius, Romania, San Marino, Saudi Arabia, Taiwan, Ukraine and Uzbekistan.

Hopes are for the measure to boost arrivals by 350,000 and increase tourist spending by 28 billion baht, on top of existing projections for the period.

Suparerk Soorangura, managing director of NS Travel & Tours believes that while the waiver of visa fees is a common good, the short three-month period in which it is being offered isn’t enough to compensate for the plunge in visitors from China.

“I think that the measure should last for at least a year and will work for shorthaul markets. What the government should be doing is add conveniences such as e-visa facilities, doing away with immigration cards and speeding up the visa-on-arrival process,” he added.

CCT Group president Vichit Prakobkoson concurs, sharing that while the initiative will attract more visitors, it was not the right solution to counter the sharp decline in number of Chinese tourists.

“The measure should have been introduced when the country was facing a crisis such as a natural disaster or political turmoil,” he said.

He added that there are better ways to jolt the market, such as implementing a new promotional campaign, rather than to lose income from visa applications.

Even as the stable growth of Asia-Pacific airlines over the past few years is expected to continue into 2017, uncertainties arising from macroeconomic forces, fluctuating crude oil prices and the strengthening US currency, among other things, are expected to keep predictions muted.

The Association of Asia Pacific Airlines (AAPA) director general Andrew Herdman said that even though global passenger traffic maintained its more than 27 per cent growth this year, it is extraordinary, given the fragility of the global economy.

In fact, the low interest rate is a “warning signal” of a weak economic outlook, with international trade no longer outpacing GDP growth for the first time in 15 years, Herdman pointed out.

Still, low crude oil prices are keeping travel very affordable today, he added, with Asia-Pacific airlines accounting for 32 per cent of global passenger traffic in 2015.

But “how far those oil prices will stay at those levels we don’t know”, said Endau Analytics founder Shukor Yusuf, saying that it’s hard to make a projection for 2017 as things can change very quickly given current geopolitics.

While Cebu Pacific president and CEO Lance Gokongwei is bullish about the industry going into 2017 as the LCC is enjoying strong domestic and international demand, Malaysia Airlines CEO Peter Bellew foresees a shakeup and consolidation among LCCs “when fuel price inevitably goes back up”.

Bellew pointed out that there are too many LCCs and that they don’t have critical mass, which is fine for the next few years, but could be unsustainable afterwards due to excessive cost.

Uncertainty also arises from the continuing strength of the greenback. In the Philippines, for instance, the peso is edging near 50 pesos against the dollar, the lowest in eight years.

Thai Airways president Charamporn Jotikasthira highlights another pain point – that of limited infrastructure to cope with rising passenger demand even as visa-free facilities boost traffic.

When Thailand adopted the visa-on-arrival scheme for Chinese travellers, arrivals spiked, but immigration facilities and carousel baggage systems couldn’t cope with the increase.

“For a good 15 years we have experienced double-digit growth of passengers but infrastructure is not keeping up,” said Martin Eran-Tasker, technical director at AAPA.

This is changing, however, as he observes more airlines and airports investing into the latest technologies to make things more efficient and drive costs down.

Herdman concludes that the Asia-Pacific market will continue to lead future growth in air travel, with the region representing 40 per cent of future aircraft orders and associated infrastructure requirements.

The challenge for Asia-Pacific airlines is the ability to effectively capture that growth.

Hot on the heels of the announcement of its new Iron Man Experience zone earlier this month, Hong Kong Disneyland has now also unveiled further developments with a proposed US$1.4 billion expansion plan.

Some of the attractions to be expected include Frozen and Marvel themed zones, a transformed castle and central area to showcase new daytime and nighttime performances, and a stage show in Adventureland themed after Disney’s new movie Moana.

A statement from Walt Disney Parks and Resorts expects the project to take place from 2018 to 2023. Funding is also still subject to approval through cash equity injections from Hong Kong Disneyland’s shareholders.

“This proposed expansion brings the best of The Walt Disney Company to this wonderful tourist destination, giving guests an experience only Disney can deliver and infusing some of Disney’s most beloved characters and stories into this unique destination,” said Bob Chapek, chairman of Walt Disney Parks and Resorts.

Construction on Celebrity Cruises’ next generation of ships have begun, as the line revealed the names for the first two vessels in the class will be Celebrity Edge and Celebrity Beyond.

The first piece of steel for Edge was cut at the STX France shipyard, with the ship expected for delivery in autumn 2018.

Celebrity Beyond is scheduled for launch in spring 2020.

The third and fourth ships in the Edge class will then be delivered in autumn 2021 and autumn 2022.

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