Paul Stevens

THE recovery of the Russian market, coupled with the Chinese tourist wave and a steadily growing domestic base, are giving strong impetus for AccorHotel’s expansion plans in Thailand, particularly in the economy hotel segment.

Boasting a current supply of 68 hotels and 15,946 rooms in Thailand, the French hospitality giant has 17 hotels and 4,099 rooms in its Thai development pipeline through 2019, revealed Paul Stevens, vice president operations Novotel, Mercure, ibis for AccorHotels Upper South-east Asia at a press conference yesterday to commemorate the eighth anniversary of ibis’ launch in the country.

Notably, ibis Styles (one of the three ibis brands) will take up a significant chunk of the new-builds in the next few years with nine properties, while three Novotels, one Mgallery by Sofitel, one Sofitel, two Mercures and one ibis make up the remainder.

The prominence of ibis Styles in the Thai pipeline reflects “good traction” for Accor’s relatively newer economy hotel brand, Stevens remarked, and underlines the increasing role that design-oriented stays are playing for some hotel owners and markets. There is no plan yet for ibis budget in Thailand, he added.

Bangkok will account for half of the upcoming properties, which include the 177-room ibis Styles Bangkok Sukhumvit 50 (4Q2016), 236-room Mercure Bangkok Sukhumvit 11 (2017) and 600-room ibis Bangkok Impact (2018/2019).

Beyond the capital city, the beach resort destinations will see the rise of the 137-room ibis Styles Phuket Phokeethra (3Q2016), 303-room Novotel Sriracha Marina Bay (2018) and 83-room So Sofitel Samui (2018/2019), among others.

The “generally healthy” economy hotel sector has translated into “pretty good performance” for the 11 ibis hotels in Thailand so far this year, commented Youssef El Khomri, executive general manager of ibis Hotels Thailand.

ibis hotels in Thailand recorded an average occupancy of 85 per cent from January-July 2016, a seven point growth from 77 per cent for the same period last year. Meanwhile, RevPar hiked 14.9 per cent while the number of rooms sold grew 10 per cent, he elaborated.

“The Russian market was a bit soft over the last two years, but we are seeing good recovery in Q3 and expect a recovery by this year-end,” Youssef added. “We saw a few cancellations for Hua Hin in August and September, but expect no long-term impacts.”

Elsewhere in South-east Asia, Indonesia also presents “amazing pipeline for ibis and ibis Styles” with around 40 properties in the pipeline, Stevens shared. South Korea, Myanmar and Vietnam are also destinations where Accor has an active pipeline for the ibis brand, he added.

According to Stevens, there are already 153 hotels and 26,781 rooms under the ibis brand in Asia-Pacific, with another 11,100 rooms projected in the next few years.

As well, Accor’s recent acquisitions – namely Raffles, Fairmont and Onefinestay – have expanded its portfolio in the upper and upper-upscale segments, and there is a strong likelihood of introducing new brands such as Mama Shelter into Asia, hinted Stevens.

LCC VietJet will be operating two more routes between Vietnam and Taiwan by the end of this year.

The first will connect Hanoi with Taipei on a daily basis from October 30, departing from Noi Bai International Airport at 14.45 and arriving at Taoyuan International Airport at 18.00. The return flight leaves Taipei at 19.00 and arrives in Hanoi at 20.45.

The second service to launch on December 12 will link Ho Chi Minh City to Kaohsiung with five-weekly departures on Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays, Fridays and Sundays.

Flights depart from Ho Chi Minh City at 02.10 and arrive in Kaohsiung at 06.30. The return leg will depart Kaohsiung International Airport at 08.15 and arrive in Tân Sơn Nhất International Airport at 10.45.

These add to VietJet’s existing Ho Chi Minh City-Tainan and Ho Chi Minh City-Taipei routes.

From October 30, flight frequency between Ho Chi Minh City and Tainan will also increase to five return flights per week on Mondays, Wednesdays, Thursdays, Saturdays and Sundays.

Flights depart Ho Chi Minh City at 10.30 and arrive in Tainan at 14.45. The return flight will depart Tainan Airport at 17.45 and arrive in Ho Chi Minh City at 18.00.

Daniel Fraser

BANGKOK-BASED luxury adventure specialist Smiling Albino has acquired an unknown stake in Cambodia’s Indochine Exploration to form Smiling Albino Cambodia.

Based in Siem Reap, the new entity will leverage Indochine Exploration’s over 10 years of experience offering adventure tours to the Greater Angkor Historical Park and beyond.

“We’ve been associates with the Indochine Exploration team for years, and their active, out-of-the-box approach suits our style, and we share a vision to show travellers a different side of Cambodia,” said Daniel Fraser, founder of Smiling Albino.

Added Nick Butler, founder of Indochine Exploration: “Cambodia is a stunningly beautiful country best appreciated by taking that small cycle path off the main road that leads to a secret lake or a lost temple. We welcome this collaboration with Smiling Albino to enhance these experiences and expose more visitors to the Cambodia less seen.”

DMC Smiling Albino has operations throughout South-east Asia including in Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam, Laos, Myanmar and Nepal.

Screenshot of Triip.me

PATA in partnership with Triip.me and the support of Gobi Partners, FWD Hong Kong and the Seychelles Tourism Board are launching a global competition for millennials and young professionals who wish to operate their own travel startup.

Called the Global Travel Entrepreneur Challenge 2016 (GTEC 2016), it is open to those between the ages of 18 to 35 with a maximum of five members per team.

Teams then create travel tours using Triip.me’s sharing economy platform and run that business at all stages from marketing and promotion to optimisation and operation. At the end of the competition, winners will submit a business report to compete for the final prizes.

“As part of our focus on human capital development and the young tourism professional, GTEC is the perfect platform for PATA to help empower today’s youth and support young entrepreneurs in the travel industry,” said Mario Hardy, CEO of PATA.

“The competition will not only provide funds to five winners to help grow their sustainable travel companies, but most importantly, allow all participants practical hands-on experience in creating a travel business.”

The Grand Prize is US$5,000 in cash plus a trip to Seychelles, inclusive of round trip flight and two-night accommodation to attend the Seychelles Ocean Festival taking place from December 3-10, where the winner will be presented with the award.

GTEC 2016 runs from August 15 to November 15. Details on joining the competition can be found on the official website http://www.globaltravelchallenge.com.

FOREIGN visitor arrivals to Singapore rose by 12.5 per cent in the first half of this year compared to the same period in 2015, latest figures from the Singapore Tourism Board (STB) revealed.

Of the resulting more than 8.16 million visitors, the majority came from Indonesia and China with 1.41 million (up 7.3 per cent) and 1.47 million (up 55.2 per cent) total arrivals, respectively.

This signals a change in source market potential for Singapore with China quickly overtaking Indonesia as the leading visitor-generating market.

The third-largest source market for Singapore in 1H2016 is India with 573,010 visitors, up 10 per cent from the same period last year.

No data was provided for spending in the first half of this year, but was provided for 1Q2016, with tourism receipts up 2 per cent year-on-year to S$5.4 billion (US$3.9 billion).

Shopping spend grew 25 per cent, accommodation up by 7 per cent and F&B by 14 per cent, compensating for a major 21 per cent decline in sightseeing, entertainment and gaming expenditure.

Both the Marina Bay Sands and Resorts World Sentosa integrated resorts, where the bulk of profits are derived from casino gaming, have posted year-on-year revenue declines for many consecutive quarters.

Singapore’s international arrivals for 1Q2016 was up 14 per cent compared to 2015 to reach 4.1 million visitors.

Meanwhile, average occupancy rates for gazetted hotels, which mainly serve tourists and charge only nightly rates, in 1H2016 stood at 83.7 per cent, up 0.5 per cent from the same period last year.

While occupancy remains healthy, RevPAR has declined by 2.5 per cent to S$196.9 and standard average room rate was down 3 per cent to S$235.3.

AUSTRALIA and Taiwan have issued travel notices following a spate of locally transmitted Zika virus cases in Singapore.

There has been 56 confirmed cases of the virus in Singapore so far.

“There is ongoing transmission of Zika virus in Singapore. All travellers should protect themselves from mosquito bites,” stated Australia’s Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade on its website on August 29.

It continued: “Adopt additional measures advised by the Department of Health, including deferring non-essential travel if pregnant, avoiding pregnancy for two months following your return.”

As well, the Taiwan Centers for Disease Control yesterday raised the travel notice level for Singapore to Level 2, which calls for a high degree of caution and strong protective measures. The highest alert level is 3, which cautions against non-essential travel to a country.

It stated on its website: “Pregnant women and women planning pregnancy are advised to postpone their trips to areas where Zika virus is active. Travellers visiting areas with ongoing Zika transmission are advised to avoid mosquito bites.”

Malaysia too has voiced concern over the spread of the virus with its health minister S Subramaniam warning of the high risk in disease transmission to its borders.

Screening measures have been stepped up at major entry points in Malaysia, especially at the causeway points where most travel between Singapore and Malaysia take place.

The Malaysian health minister estimates more than 150,000 Malaysians travelling back from Singapore via the Woodlands-Johor Bahru causeway daily.

Singapore’s Ministry of Health reported that those infected by Zika were not known to have travelled to Zika-infected areas recently, thus confirming that local transmission has taken place.

The ministry is now conducting joint operations with the National Environment Agency to combat mosquito breeding in hotspots throughout the island.

Angkor Wat

CAMBODIA’S travel industry players are lobbying the government to delay a move that would raise entrance fees to the Angkor Wat Archaeological Park.

Earlier this month, the Angkor Institution, which manages ticketing, stated that from February 1, 2017, one-day passes will jump from US$20 to US$37, three-day passes from US$40 to US$62, and a week-long ticket will increase to US$72 from US$60.

Most are worried about the the negative effects it would have on tourist arrivals. Ho Vandy, secretary-general of Cambodia’s National Tourism Alliance, said she was shocked by the price increase.

The move has been opposed by tour operators, who are now tasked with informing pre-booked clients.

Jo Crisp, general manager at Peak Cambodia DMC, said the price increase is “significantly more than travel companies anticipated”.

She added: “Like most travel companies, we follow an annual product cycle and sign contracts with agents in June and July. The product has been printed in brochures and is being sold via websites, and clients have purchased based on those prices. For many companies, this affects not just one or two clients but thousands.”

The Cambodian Association of Travel Agents is currently working with the government on the prices. It is hoped the hike can be introduced in phases or pushed back to October 2017 or January 2018.

Luu Meng, co-chair of a government-private sector working group on tourism, said it is essential the new ticketing structure comes coupled with added interest for visitors.

He said: “When prices go up it affects visitors’ feelings. We need to show them the quality products and services they will receive from the increased price.”

A NEW state agency, Maldives Integrated Tourism Development Corporation (MITDC), has been set up to help nurture small businesses and fast-track an ambitious guesthouse island to be filled with a projected 1,700 rooms.

Hussain Lirar, deputy minister of tourism, said that the guesthouse project was brought under the MITDC from its developer, the Maldives Marketing and Public Relations Corporation (MMPRC), since the latter was too busy with marketing and has led to delays in the development.

“The new agency was announced by president Abdulla Yameen this month since the government is keen to finish this project by 2018 when presidential elections are due,” Lirar toldTTG Asia e-Daily on the sidelines of a hospitality conference held in Colombo last week.

The guesthouse island project, aimed at creating more small and medium businesses, was launched in June 2014 and slated for completion by 2017 on the Laamu Atoll. The MMPRC moved the project to Baresdhoo in the same atoll last year.

The Maldives has been gripped with political uncertainty over the past several months but it has yet adversely affected tourism, the country’s main economic activity.

However, slower growth this year has been attributed to Brexit and the lacklustre Chinese economy, according to Lirar. Arrivals in 2016 are likely to miss the 1.5 million target.