Christophe Peymirat

Expedia’s corporate travel outfit Egencia has reorganised internally to break down divisions by geographic region, forming two global organisations in its wake.

Instead of clustering its 65 offices worldwide under the Asia-Pacific, Americas and EMEA umbrellas, Egencia now has two reporting lines, one comprising Egencia’s current sales and account management teams, and the other focused on scaling Egencia’s business operations and on supplier partnerships

Christophe Peymirat, who was most recently senior vice president, Europe & APAC at Egencia, will assume the newly created role of chief commercial officer and lead the former team.

Meanwhile, former Egencia senior vice president – Americas, Mark Hollyhead, will take charge of the latter team as chief operating officer.

Peymirat and Hollyhead are both long-standing members of the Egencia leadership team and will continue to report to Egencia’s president, Rob Greyber, in these new roles.

Greyber hopes the restructuring will help further drive innovation for the company in the corporate travel space and sees the move as fitting for the needs of the industry in the coming years.

SOUTH Korea’s airlines have been ordered to abolish fees for international flights that are cancelled three months ahead of the departure date, effective from next year.

The nation’s Fair Trade Commission has ruled that forcing passengers to pay a cancellation fee more than three months before their flight is unfair. However, airlines will be permitted to increase cancellation fees for flights with less than 90 days left till departure.

Korean Air, the nation’s flag carrier, says the ruling will not affect their operations.

“We believe this will not have much impact because three months is a long time and (the duration) permits us to fill any cancelled seats,” Nathan Cho, a spokesman for Korean Air, told TTG Asia.

The airline will monitor any effects once the new system is introduced, Cho said, adding that the biggest impact will likely be among travel firms operating on leisure routes that are unable to fill their quota of pre-booked seats or who have last-minute cancellations.

Still, South Korea’s largest agency have welcomed the move, saying it helps spur demand for longhaul travel.

“We believe this is a good development because the present system unfairly punishes people who want to cancel tickets long in advance,” said Min Woo, head of public relations at Hana Tour.

“People who book longhaul flights, to places like Europe or North America, tend to do so a long time in advance, but they are being put off by the cancellation fees if they fear they may have to change their plans,” he explained.

At present, a passenger who cancels a flight is required to pay a fee based on the price of the ticket and the distance travelled.

That translates to a cancellation fee of about 70,000 won (US$63) for an economy class seat with Korean Air to destinations in South-east Asia.

Under the new system, a levy scale ranging from 30,000 won to 110,000 won will be applied, depending on how close to the departure date the cancellation is made.

TripAdvisor and its subsidiary Viator will cease ticket sales to hundreds of wildlife entertainment products, months after supporters of nonprofit World Animal Protection signed a petition against the travel search engine’s selling and promotion of controversial wildlife tourist attractions.

Activities that bring travellers into contact with captive or endangered wildlife will be removed from TripAdvisor’s booking content, including elephant rides, tiger petting venues and “swim with” programmes where tourists touch or ride dolphins.

Along with the revision in booking policy, TripAdvisor said it will also launch an education portal with information on animal welfare practices and linked to every one of its wildlife attraction listings.

World Animal Protection will work with TripAdvisor on this new portal, along with other wildlife conservation and sustainable tourism partners such as Global Wildlife Conservation, Oxford University’s Wildlife Conservation Research Unit and PATA.

This represents a victory for World Animal Protection, said its CEO Steve McIvor, which earlier this year had launched a campaign against cruel tiger tourist venues and had called TripAdvisor out for promoting and selling tickets to such attractions.

Tracy Reiman, executive vice president of PETA, said: “By refusing to sell tickets to businesses that treat animals as entertainment or playthings, TripAdvisor is making a precedent-setting statement about the use and abuse of animals for entertainment.”

McIvor added: “We hope it will only be a matter of time before TripAdvisor will also come to realise that it has to end sales to all cruel wildlife attractions such as SeaWorld, where animals endure a lifetime of abuse and highly stressful training to perform.”

“Until then, we will provide the best education we can on TripAdvisor’s website to steer people away from cruel venues like these.”

TripAdvisor will discontinue sales of some attractions immediately and plans to have both the educational portal and booking policy changes fully implemented by early 2017.

The travel site stated that the policy amendment will not apply to domestic animal attractions such as horseback riding stables; children’s petting zoos with domestic animals like rabbits; aquarium touch pools used for educational purposes; feeding programmes where tourists are under supervision of professionals; voluntourism programmes for endangered species preservation at zoos; and aquariums or sanctuaries that make possible some level of physical interaction with an animal.

For attractions that can provide evidence that they are in-policy, but were impacted by TripAdvisor’s decision, there will be an appeals process to re-establish ticket sales.

Venues visited by tourists in Cambodia will receive a rating based on their quality of service, a move welcomed by agents there.

The country’s Ministry of Tourism unveiled the system earlier this month – a first for the country – that will rank restaurants, bars, clubs and event venues, including conference halls, that are geared towards tourists.

Clubs, karaoke parlours and beer gardens can receive up to three ‘orchids’; restaurants can gain up to five, while event venues will be awarded a certificate of recognition.

Tourism minister Thong Khon said: “We created the ranking standards to improve quality as well as strengthen human resources and skills.”

He believes the move will benefit the industry, encouraging higher service quality and standards.

Provincial tourism officials will personally evaluate these venues based on factors such as toilet facilities, restaurant service and hygiene.

Heng Kim, CEO of Mekong Dream Travel, said: “There is an inconsistency in standards offered across Cambodia. This will provide reliable ratings and should lead to improved offerings.”

Ho Vandy, chairman of the Cambodia Association of Travel Agencies, also welcomed the move. He told The Cambodia Daily: “This will generate more income and everyone can gain from that. If your business has quality, it will have a long life.”

While Cambodia is seeing a surge in visitors, the quality of services across the country has been lacking. In the World Economic Forum’s Travel and Tourism Competitiveness Report, Cambodia ranked 105 out of 144 countries with hygiene and infrastructure cited as key detriments.

Travel agents specialising in North Korea are condemning plans by the US and South Korea governments to halt tourism into the reclusive state.

They intend to stem the flow of tourism dollars into North Korea on grounds that the money is funding weapons development.

“We are considering applying UN Security Council sanctions or sanctions by individual countries since [the travel companies] are funding North Korea’s nuclear and missile programmes,” a South Korean government official told Chosun Ilbo newspaper.

Chinese travel agencies have already begun feeling the pressure with Seoul banning 52 companies who operate North Korean tours from handling visas to South Korea.

Agents have condemned the move, saying that tourism is a force for good and shouldn’t be dragged down by politicking.

Spokesperson for Explore North Korea, Sabrina Wong, said she was not aware of plans to target the travel industry but would “wait and see” what transpires.

Simon Cockerell, general manager of Beijing-based Koryo Tours, was similarly unaware of the proposal, but defended tour operators, saying they are the ones building bridges with the world’s most isolated nation.

“We have always held the position that tourism is one of the few ways in which we can push engagement with North Korea,” he told TTG Asia.

“This is a government that is very inward-looking and tourism is an outward-looking business, so it is a chance for North Koreans to see and even meet outsiders. I just feel that it’s amazingly inept for them to be considering targeting tourism when that is the only thing that has worked in opening up the country.”

Tokyo Monorail

A new station in the Shinagawa district of central Tokyo is set to ease connections and reduce travel times between the capital and Haneda International Airport.

According to East Japan Railway (JR East), the move is part of plans to make Shinagawa a gateway destination.

The station will open in the spring of 2020, located between Tamachi and Shinagawa stations on the Yamanote Line, the city’s main loop service, with full operation planned to commence in 2024.

Commuters will also benefit from direct access to the monorail that serves Haneda Airport, and connections to the JR Keihin-Tohoku line, which runs between Tokyo and its neighboring Saitama and Kanagawa prefectures.

“Having a new station will make life easier and more comfortable for locals and people who visit the region,” said a JR East spokesperson. “There will also be new hotels, shopping areas, entertainment facilities and meeting venues.”

The station will also be the terminal for an upcoming maglev service that will cut travel time between Tokyo and Nagoya, the country’s third-largest city, from 100 minutes to 40 minutes. It is due to be operational by 2027, with a service to Osaka following in 2045.

“The maglev is of massive interest to the MICE segment,” commented James Kent, sales and marketing manager at The J Team DMC, adding that the technology is a draw for business events because of its novelty and speed.