It’s game on for tourism players

August 31, 2016

Agile travel and hospitality players are capitalising on the Pokémon Go craze in their marketing. Have they reaped tangible benefits from the game and will this mobile hit transform future travel?

The arrival of Pokémon Go has taken the world by storm and since its global release in over 70 countries in the last two months, the augmented reality (AR) game has captured the attention of savvy marketeers and tour operators as it creates a new tourist class and opportunities to sell travel.

A GPS-based exploration game, Pokémon Go mixes AR with real-world locations, allowing players to view and hunt for the brightly coloured creatures through their smartphones, collect bonus items at designated points called Pokéstops and send their Pokémons into battle at gyms (also real locations where players train the characters).

Pokémon Go’s focus on the users physically visiting and interacting with actual places also gels well with travel, as some commentators think the game will encourage players to leave their comfort zone and discover new locales.

Aussie tour operator Gecko Adventures was one of the first to jump onto the craze by launching a 45-day global Pokémon Go tour to Peru, Galapagos Islands, Egypt and South-east Asia, including stops in Cambodia, Vietnam and Thailand.

James Thornton, managing director, Gecko Adventures, said: “All this exploring creates an appetite for adventure and getting behind the scenes of a destination – so a whole new generation has been bitten by the travel bug and wants to get out there and explore the world.”

Since launching the tour at the end of July, the tour company has seen a 10 per cent increase in bookings.

An enterprising Thai tour operator has also created Pokémon hunting tours.

Said Phuket Tour Holiday managing director Yongyuth Chankul, a Pokémon Go player himself: “We already have existing Phuket city tours that cover the island’s landmarks, many of which are also Pokéstops, so I created tours highlighting sites where monsters are in abundance.”

Interestingly, for a tour operator whose main clientele is the domestic sector, the Pokémon tours have helped to nab foreign tourists too. “All my Pokémon tours marketing is done in Thai, so I was pleasantly surprised to receive enquiries and interest from German and French travellers too,” he added.

In the wake of the recent bomb attacks at resort towns, Thailand’s Ministry of Tourism and Sports has indicated interest to work with local telecom provider True Corporation to add Pokéstops and gyms to various tourist destinations in the kingdom to promote tourism.

Other Asian attractions and destinations, too, have been quick to explore the marketing benefits of Pokémon Go, seeding their sites with virtual creatures and “lure modules” as a means to draw potential new customers.

Vivian Lee, executive director of sales and marketing at Ocean Park Hong Kong, said: “We noticed over 50 Pokéstops scattered across the park. We (would) release lure modules at these Pokéstops every Friday in August from 16.00 to 20.00 to provide non-stop luring of Pokémons.”

Resorts World Sentosa (RWS) has similarly unleashed lures at its two popular attractions – S.E.A. Aquarium and Universal Studios Singapore – for visitors to play the game and get admission discounts.

According to a RWS spokesman, these lures had brought “increased visitorship” to both attractions, with players prolonging their stay and patronising the resort’s retail outlets and restaurants.

For Wildlife Reserves Singapore, which manages Singapore Zoo and Night Safari, Pokémon Go presented an opportunity to reach an untapped youth market, chief marketing officer Isabel Cheng shared.

She said: “Of course, real-life animals remain our main draw, but with these initiatives we hope that these youths will come to our parks for Pokémon but stay for the animals.”

While Cheng admitted that it is difficult to assess if the game has succeeded in attracting more footfall to the wildlife parks over the weekend when over 500 lures were released, many visitors were observed to be playing Pokémon Go in between checking out the animals, with a number of them doing that as a family.

By offering a 40 per cent discount off its admission fees for the first 100 visitors sporting the colour of the day – red, blue or yellow – each day, Sunway Lagoon in Selangor hopes to attract more than 100 players a day and some 2,700 additional visitors over the six-week campaign period, informed the park’s director of marketing Michelle Sonia Gregory.

Likewise, hotels have been quick to ride the fad. Hong Kong’s Ovolo Southside has its sights firmly on the millennials when it rolled out a a six-week luring campaign, charging zones, and a range of themed cocktails, incentives and prizes, all of which are designed to align with the tech-savvy Gen Y users.

“So far, (the Pokémon Go campaign) has provided direct sales to room bookings as well as visits to the hotel’s restaurants. We have also seen a number of new enquiries to the hotel and a strong uptick in search and visitors to our website,” said a hotel spokesperson.

Other hotels like Four Points by Sheraton Puchong in Kuala Lumpur and Kokotel Surawong in Bangkok, given their fortuitous proximity to Pokéstops, are dropping lures and blasting on social media for reasons to visit or book a stay.

However, in Cambodia, the game has been marred by negative publicity after tourists descended on the capital’s S-21 – Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum – where more than 12,000 people were brutally killed during the Khmer Rouge regime. It was host to two Pokémon gyms, four Pokéstops and a series of wild Pokémons.

Museum director, Chhay Visoth, said: “We do not welcome this crazy game because this place is not the place to play a game.” Players were immediately banned from the site.

The game has earned the irk of Malaysia’s Islamic authorities, who declared Pokémon Go a no-go for Muslims in the country, citing concerns of addiction, intrusion into personal privacy and craving for power, among others.

Safety remains a top concern for Patrick Fiat, general manager of Royal Plaza on Scotts, one of the Pokéstops in Singapore’s Orchard area.

“We hope that Poké trainers keep themselves aware of their surroundings and exercise vigilance when playing the game,” he remarked. “We would hate to see any mishap taking place at our Pokéstop.”

Tim Russell, co-founder & chief marketing officer, Representasia, thinks there is “a huge market” for Pokémon Go abstinence too, especially for destinations and attractions frustrated with their unauthorised appearance within the viral game.

“In this case, hotels should advertise themselves as Pokémon-free zones and request that guests refrain from playing in public areas,” he suggested. “Properties can request that their property be removed from the game (as Pokéstops or gyms).”

While it may well be a major passing fad, Pokémon Go’s engagement potential has proven to be immense and it’s likely to spawn more useful apps that allow travellers to explore and interact with the world.

Sentosa Development Corporation’s branding & communications director Tay Cheng Cheng sums it up: “The popularity of this app comes amid the convergence of technologies with location-based entertainment, and illustrates the direction in which visitor experience is headed.

“This provides valuable learning points to the industry as we look for further ways to innovate and enhance guest experience, and to leverage digital technologies for self-guided learning and discovery,” she said.

Reporting by Xinyi Liang-Pholsena, Paige Lee Pei Qi, Marissa Carruthers, Prudence Lui and S Puvaneswary

This article was first published in TTG Asia September 2016 issue. To read more, please view our digital edition or click here to subscribe.

Dream come true

By Raini Hamdi

August 31, 2016

His role is as large as a ship: making Asia’s first luxury cruise line a dream come true. Thatcher Brown, president of Genting Hong Kong’s Dream Cruises, tells Raini Hamdi about it as the first ship, Genting Dream, gets set to sail this November

Is Guangzhou the right place to base the first ship of the first Asian luxury cruise line?
You could argue the same thing if you were launching a ship a long time ago. There’s always a conversation about who’s going to be the first. ‘You’re launching in Fort Lauderdale, that’s crazy!’, etc.

Guangzhou and the Pearl River Delta are extremely well-developed in terms of infrastructure, and the demographics indicate to us there is a lot of interest in cruising. We feel confident that the area is ready for us. Part of that confidence stems from us having the benefit of a pathfinder ship there in the SuperStar Virgo. Southern China is as much a home turf for us as South-east Asia. This is where people recognise us and understand Genting, where our partners have worked with us over the years with Star Cruises.

And if you look at the cruise distribution in China, so much of it has been focused on the east, in Shanghai and Tianjin. I’d say 70 per cent of the homeporting is out of those two cities. So in fact, there is a natural evolution in the market where people are asking, ‘Where do we go next?’.

But the Guangzhou base may cause people to misconstrue Dream Cruises as being China-centric rather than Asian-centric. What is the ideal market mix for the first ship, Genting Dream?
It will vary based on seasonality. Often, the vacation patterns of our source markets don’t overlap.

The perfect mix is having affluent Asian travellers onboard the ship, who want to have a quick two-night getaway or a five-night extended vacation. In summer and peak holiday periods, that mix is going to look 65-75 per cent Chinese and the rest pan-Asian. So part of our offering is to be able to manage that mix carefully.

You aren’t worried it will become mainly Chinese at any one time, that too much of any nationality has its disadvantages?
I don’t have a worry about that. We are targeting affluent Asian travellers who tend to be more sophisticated, more educated, more knowledgeable about standards – I am more sensitive about being successful in catering to their different luxury needs. Some affluent people want to be discreet, others want to be seen. There is always going to be differences in interests as well. Imagine if you are in Latin America and catering to Brazilians and Argentinians; one parties all night, the other likes going to the spa. So how can we cater to the diverse needs of wealthy multi-Asians?

For us to be able to manage that is critically important. So we need to be able to offer different products to manage a different Asian mix. Our Dream Mansion product (a ship-within-a-ship concept with two floors of exclusive suites, villas and private facilities) on Genting Dream, for instance, allows us to cater to different levels of luxury. And as we get more capacity (a second ship, Genting World, will debut in November 2017), we can probably offer different products that have different appeal (to different Asians).

What’s important is, it’s not us who define the brand but the guests, that as the brand builds its personality, the management listens to its target audience, then modifies and organically evolves the brand to suit the needs of the target audience. We have to be adaptable and respond quickly to guests’ needs. If you look at the excess of information today, your brand will be left behind if you are not in a constant dialogue with the guest and respond quickly to trends.

What are the challenges of being the first Asian luxury cruise line?
The challenge of recruitment is one. I see supply coming into the market grabbing for resources and, for us, the software is the most important aspect. We want to be the best in the industry and in order to do that, we have to create a process and a culture that embrace development, recognition, reward, etc. And that takes time.

Another challenge is infrastructure related. Port development needs to catch up with capacity development, although many destinations are investing a lot and accelerating their build-up plans, which is terrific. We encourage that, and we’re happy to work with the destinations to do that.

Dream Cruises is debuting at at time when there are at least nine new-builds coming into the market.
Yes, a lot of capacity is coming in and another of our challenges is how quickly can we educate consumers – for us in the affluent market – on this wonderful cruise alternative.

So we’ve spoken about the challenges of getting the right people, about port infrastructure development, about the need for us to manage and evolve our brand. One other challenge is how we control our sales distribution, because one of the things I see happening is brands losing control of their identity and integrity through distribution mechanisms like charters, which result in price dumping – and that’s not going to help the market to evolve. Of course getting a charter from a large corporate company to fill a ship is important and we do appreciate large group business, but in general there is this tension between taking the risk and controlling your destiny. We want to keep a healthy, balanced approach.

So we are careful about our partnerships in terms of sales distribution. We want partners who are committed to us for the long term and who respect the price integrity and the positioning of our brand.

What is the difference in price positioning between Dream Cruises and Crystal Cruises which Genting had bought?
I consider Crystal to be uber luxury, a lifestyle brand with international clientele and a higher price point. The revenue model is different – the fare is much higher, the cruise length is longer, the onboard spending is different, there are probably more shore excursion opportunities and pre-/post-cruising is important for these guests.

For us, we’re kind of entering the luxury market from an Asian perspective if you like. The seasonality of the Asian market makes it a rollercoaster in some ways on pricing – there’s a lot of price volatility. So we hope to come into the market, establish ourselves above the contemporary pack and create stability in our pricing.

Which brings me back to your first question on homeporting in Guangzhou. A lot of the capacity you’ve just mentioned are homeporting in Shanghai and Tianjin, whereas we see an opportunity and a pioneering advantage in the Pearl River Delta. We also see a luxury positioning as strategic, because it gives us some key advantages.

How sort of ROI is Genting expecting from this investment and how soon?
Well, going by industry standards, the expected ROI is 10 per cent at least, and within six to eight years. Our goal is to accelerate that for our company.

This article was first published in TTG Asia September 2016 issue. To read more, please view our digital edition or click here to subscribe.

Travel employers offer fresh look at younger generation workers

By Yixin Ng

August 31, 2016

WHILE the new generation of workers have routinely come under criticism for being coddled, idealistic and lacking in resolve, travel industry leaders in Asia-Pacific are suggesting a different perspective.

A foremost concern, declining job longevity, they say, may be a result of the dilemma of choice in today’s dynamic labour market rather than the fault of young job seekers themselves.

Louise Daley, executive vice president & CFO, AccorHotels Asia Pacific, who entered the workforce at a time when “there were no jobs and you basically got a job that was offered”, opined that the plethora of choices available to today’s workforce “is not always a good thing”.

“(Back then), working (came with) a certain doggedness of getting things done, solving problems and achieving things. Part of this was born out of having to battle it out to get a job,” she said last Saturday at Tern, a travel industry career event held in Singapore.

While this form of motivation has become less typical today, many in the younger generation can still identify with roughing it out but at the same time aligning it to their self-interests.

Lionel Yeo, manager hotel partnerships, APAC at TripAdvisor, for example, shared his personal mantra of “doing hard things that sound interesting”.

Having ran an e-commerce business selling t-shirts, started a successful blog on personal finance (after experimenting with various topics) and worked for five years at Singapore Airlines in different roles, he stressed that having an innate passion cannot be taken as a given.

For those who do not know their desired career path, “testing different areas” of their interest and strengths is a good way of figuring where they should head towards.

Some of those present at Tern expressed it is not only unpragmatic, but also potentially costly to take a “tunnel vision” approach to careers.

“(For) young professionals, when they have passion, they have only one goal. Young people come in and say, ‘this is where I want to go’, ‘this I where I need to be at in X number of years’. When it doesn’t happen, they’re shattered and lose direction,” opined Bina Tulsidas, area manager partner services at Booking.com.

One piece of advice I give to my team is to have not one but several (goals) and test them out. If it’s not happening now try something different. With career progression it doesn’t have to be vertical. It can be lateral too.”

Concurring that it was “important to not get stuck on choosing”, Daley added that being agile can be valuable at a time like this.

“It is a wonderful thing to chase your passion, but it is also wonderful to bring your passion to the job,” she said.

Still, reminds Loh Lik Peng, founder of the Unlisted Collection, job hopping unnecessarily can be a detriment to job seekers. He said: “Maybe you want advancement and for your skills to be valued, but I want to see three or four years (in the same company) on your CV.”

Zsanett Maizl, team lead recruitment at Booking.com, added: “Changing jobs every year may come across as negative because when we hire, we’re looking for people who would like to stay at the company and who are committed.

“However, you can have your reasons such as relocating. We also try to look beyond the CV and get to know the person.”

Thailand’s oldest travel agency sheds 80 per cent of staff

By Michael Sanderson

August 31, 2016

THAILAND’s oldest travel agency is shedding about 80 per cent of its staff in an overhaul its general manager says is essential for survival.

World Travel Service (WTS) general manager Thongchai Phithakstrakul said the company would have about 100 employees, down from more than 500, when the restructure is complete. Most had already departed and branches have been closed in favour of local representatives.

The 69-year-old travel agency had been under pressure from the digital revolution. “It is very difficult for us to adjust ourselves. And since we have high headcount, we now have to trim them down,” said Thongchai.

The downsizing is the result of both manual jobs that have become obsolete and weaker demand as younger generations move away from using traditional travel agencies.

Thongchai said WTS will continue by relying on corporate clients and a small sales team to respond to online requests, but said the cuts were essential to ensuring the agency had a future.

“We’ll be more flexible and we can survive. I think we have come to the minimum already at 100. So we will survive at this level,” he said.

“We are changing from a conventional agency. Now we have to adapt to the new market, the new generation.”

Thongchai, a 50-year veteran of the company established in 1947, described the challenges as the biggest WTS had faced.

The payouts have also been expensive, with WTS compensating many employees who had worked for the company for decades.

“Most of them worked with the company for more than 20 years, so they got 100 per cent of their last salary multiplied by the years they worked. That’s a lot of money.”

Accor finds momentum in Thailand’s economy hotel sector

By Xinyi Liang-Pholsena

August 31, 2016

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.

VietJet increases frequency, adds more connections to Taiwan

By TTG Asia

August 31, 2016

vietjet_to_open_taipei_-_hanoi_and_kaohsiung_-_hcmc_routes_by_the_end_of_2016_ — ???

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.

Smiling Albino acquires stake in Indochine Exploration

By TTG Asia

August 31, 2016

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.

PATA and Triip.me let milennials start their own tour business

By TTG Asia

August 31, 2016

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.

Asiatravel.com brings travel wholesale business into China

By Dannon Har

August 30, 2016

THE leisure travel wholesale arm of Asiatravel.com, TAcentre.com, has made its first foray into China.

It has already begun operations in the country with four local offices – one each in Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Chengdu – and will officially kick-off at a launch event in Beijing on September 6 followed by a roadshow in Shanghai on September 8.

TAcentre.com, which has been in operation in South-east Asia since October 2012, will be known in China under the localised brand 汇订网, which roughly translates into “integrated web platform”.

Explaining and describing the move into China, Fred Seow, senior vice president of marketing & B2B at Asiatravel.com, said: “Everyone knows how big a market China is. It has become one of the top source markets for many countries. But just like the Great Wall, you don’t know the magnitude of the place until you are actually there. The complexity, the culture, the mindset, the way they run business is all different.

“Being a new player, we started preparations almost a year ago to get everything prepared before we officially launch it. We spent time modifying the product to suit the market needs.

“For example, TAcentre.com outside China uses standard credit card payment modes such as Visa and Mastercard. But in China’s context, no one uses those cards. They want to pay by WeChat, Alipay and UnionPay, so we had to integrate these local payment gateways into the system to serve our Chinese travel agents.”

He further illustrated that while the brand TAcentre.com serves well in international markets, it wouldn’t mean anything in China, thus the effort to come up with a localised brand.

Agents can access the Chinese platform via TAcenter.cn, which carries the same inventory as the international site of over 500 airlines, 200,000 hotels, and a multitude of activities, packages and car rentals worldwide. The company will also be leveraging its Asia and Middle East networks to offer procurement and destination management services to larger travel companies in China.

“We have been spending the past one year fine-tuning our strategies, operating style and pricing. We are also engaging with agents to find out exactly what do they need. There is nothing better than meeting agents face-to-face to find out about their business and their challenges,” added Seow.

“Currently we are already serving some of the biggest online and mobile players in China because of our API capability. Everyone uses a mobile in China but not everyone uses a desktop. So the mobile play is our main distribution channel.

“Having said that, there are still many offline agents that serve their own local community. 汇订网 is focused on reaching out to these traditional agents at the same time.”

When asked where in China offices would open next, he said: “Our B2B concept has always been focused on the proximity to the client, the agents. The more secluded they are, the greater their need and dependency for a system like TAcentre.com. We are looking at opening offices in cities like Nanjing, Fujian, Chongqing, Shenyang and a host of others.”

Concurrently, the company is launching TAcentre Exclusives, a selection of independent hotels that will be given greater prominence on the platform via a separate product tab. Independent hotels that appoint TAcentre.com as their exclusive distributor will be put on this list and be featured regularly in their marketing communication initiatives.

“Now that we have that distribution channel in China, we are announcing to the rest of the market that we intend to be one of the top B2B players in China, and we will be happy to support (the marketing efforts of independent properties) there. We have the platform and the API, so we hope to be able to help independent hotels gain (greater awareness) in China,” explained Seow.

As to whether they will be bringing the company’s namesake B2C business to China, Seow said the focus is on the outbound B2B side for now, but that it is definitely in the business plan to do so.

Photo of the Day: Agents rub shoulders with Korean stars during fam trip

By TTG Asia

August 30, 2016

Presenters of television show M.U.S.T., Irene Kim and Kim Jae Young (back row, second and third from right), with representatives from GTA, TAT, tvN and travel agencies

A three-way partnership between GTA, Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) and South Korean entertainment network tvN has resulted in a fam trip for travel agents unlike any other. Part of the fam trip, which took place from August 24-27, included witnessing the filming of tvN’s new travel series M.U.S.T (My Unexpected Sweet Trip) Thailand. Agents also got a chance to interact with the crew and stars of the show, celebrities Irene Kim and Kim Jae Young, as they explored the luxurious side of Bangkok. The partnership is in line with TAT’s efforts to reposition Thailand as an upscale destination.