SABRE has made public that president and CEO Tom Klein intends to resign from the company and the board of directors by December 31. Until then, Klein will continue to serve as CEO of the company while the board formally searches for a successor.
“By making this announcement now, the board of directors will have ample time to identify a successor as we work through a smooth transition to keep the company’s growth plans and our customer deliverables on course,” said Klein.
“Then I will be able to turn my personal attention to new opportunities knowing that I am leaving Sabre on firm ground, with a great management team and a bright future as a global technology leader.”
Klein first joined Sabre when it was still a unit of AMR Corp., where he held sales and marketing roles under American Airlines. He went on to serve in a number of executive roles under Sabre, including group president of both Sabre Travel Network and Sabre Airline Solutions. He was then named president of Sabre in 2010 and CEO in 2013.
“Under his leadership and vision, Sabre is clearly positioned as an innovative technology company and our business has been reinvented to ensure our solutions meet the changing needs of the very dynamic travel industry,” said Larry Kellner, chairman of Sabre’s board of directors.
“During this transition period it will be business as usual for Sabre’s customers, employees, and suppliers as the board works to identify a successor.”
ONE of Indonesia’s biggest tour operators, Smailing Tour, will be embarking on a new expansion strategy as it celebrates its 40th anniversary this year.
“Besides making Smailing more competitive, our ongoing transformation programme ensures the company will continue to be relevant and (is capable of) meeting the demands and expectations of domestic and international tourists,” said Anthony Akili, president and CEO of Smailing Tour.
The launch of the company’s Bali Ticketing and Outbound Centre yesterday kicked off this transformation, which expands Smailing’s Bali operation, from mainly catering to inbound businesses to the island to now encompass domestic and outbound leisure and corporate segments.
Anthony said Smailing will still continue to support the Indonesian government’s goal to bring in 20 million international visitors by 2020.
To do this, Smailing Tour Bali has been rebranded as Smailing Tour DMC as the company expands its inbound travel business to include other parts of Indonesia.
The company opened Smailing Tour DMC Yogyakarta last year and will expand its footprint further by opening offices in Bandung, Surabaya, Lombok, Balikpapan, Medan, Batam, Makassar, Manado, and Labuan Bajo next year.
The newly renovated property manages to further leverage on its cultural charm and unbeatable location, discovers Yixin Ng
Location
Poised in Singapore’s bustling Bugis area, right above the subway, the newly-revamped InterContinental Singapore serves simultaneously as a tranquil hideout in a busy shopping district and a launchpad for discovering the eclectic local colour.
Having only one night at the hotel, I was satisfied by how options for retail, dining, nightlife and arts and culture, were all within walking distance from the property.
Club InterContinental Deluxe King
Time-strapped guests can experience the city’s many facets on foot – from the watering holes dotting Arab Street to the Singapore Art Museum on Bras Basah Road to the heartland haunts found in the housing estates surrounding Rochor Centre.
The hotel recently began taking advantage of its location in the heritage-steeped district with the launch of complimentary guided walks every Saturday. The walks cover 20 art institutions and historical sites including the former Saint Anthony’s Convent, now home to the National Design Centre.
Rooms
All 338 guestrooms in the hotel’s main wing now flaunt a fresh look after a round of facelifts was completed in February.
It is always impressive when hotel rooms manage to sport a sophisticated aesthetic without giving off a bleak and severe vibe. I thought InterContinental hit the mark in this aspect. There is a charm embodied in the details that serve as subtle throwbacks to Singapore’s cultural roots. I especially took to the motifs on the mirror reminiscent of Peranakan tiles and the air-conditioning vents styled after Chinese carved beams.
My stay was in a Club-InterContinental room, which included complimentary pressing of two clothing items upon arrival. Even with the usual club benefits, the ultimate luxury for me was the bed. The sheets and duvet were feathery smooth to the touch and the mattress firm and springy.
For those who appreciate more spaciousness, I found out that rooms on the top floor have higher ceilings.
Facilities
Although the hotel ballrooms and meeting spaces were not included in the revamp, I was told there have been interest from corporate groups wanting to use the hotel’s overhauled suites for break-out sessions.
Aside from the ornate set-up, the spaciousness of the suites with floor area of up to 259m2 is a clear selling point.
The hotel gymnasium also underwent upgrades and looks more sanitary now. An open studio space complete with yoga mats is also attached.
Concierge Lounge
Other renovated facilities include the lobby, lobby lounge and concierge lounge. Although the revamp brought few functional changes to these areas, I found that the new artwork and display pieces hinting at Singapore’s heritage served to prime visitors for their dive into the cultural potpourri beyond the hotel’s walls.
F&B
The new all-day dining restaurant, Ash & Elm, is a flashier version of its predecessor, boasting rustic-chic décor and an open kitchen concept. In comparison, it’s breakfast buffet selection was relatively pedestrian, with à la minute stations, sections of cold cuts, cheeses, juices and an international spread of breakfast items.
Service
Service was for the most part efficient and satisfactory. My requests for technical assistance and evening room-cleaning were quickly heard. Hospitality at the lobby lounge exceeded expectations – over tea, the staff picked up on my partner’s dietary restrictions during our conversation and offered us a portion of chicken meatballs.
Verdict
With great success, the refurbished hotel delivered a sense of place, both through its aesthetics and the newly rolled-out heritage walk. InterContinental also gets a solid tick for managing the balance of changing with the times while keeping its old-world charm and character well intact.
Name: InterContinental Singapore No. of rooms: 338 rooms and suites in the main wing; 65 in heritage wing Rates: From S$295 (US$219) Tel: (65) 6338 7600
Singapore prime minister Lee Hsien Loong and his wife Ho Ching with representatives from Sedona Hotel Yangon and Keppel Land Myanmar
The iconic Sedona Hotel Yangon welcomed Singapore’s prime minister Lee Hsien Loong recently during his three-day trip to Myanmar to commemorate 50 years of diplomatic ties between the two countries. During his trip, Lee met with Singaporeans working in Yangon and launched the Singapore-Myanmar Vocational Training Institute in downtown Yangon.
SHERATON Mirage Port Douglas Resorts is seeing strong forward bookings ahead of completing its $40 million (US$29.9 million) renovations this month.
Key upgrades include newly transformed guestrooms and refurbished function facilities such as the ballroom, breakout rooms and pre-function area.
The enhanced poolside features more functional spaces for receptions and dinners, and boasts a new deck area designed to seat 120 people under a louvered roof. In addition, a bridge now links the fully refurbished Mirage Island to other poolside areas.
The property also received a new Lobby Café which is suitable for business meetings.
“Feedback has been incredibly positive from our MICE customers and interest is strong from the domestic market, in particular Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane, as well as our neighbours in New Zealand,” said Nathan Gadd, director of sales and marketing.
“They are excited about the new and upgraded facilities and the creative ways (in which) we can host large-scale events down to small teambuilding incentives,” Gadd added.
The hotel’s pipeline of upcoming conferences hails from a range of industry sectors including telecommunications, finance and medical.
James Chappell, global business director, Horwath HTL
HOSPITALITY consulting firms Horwath HTL and Quo have formed an alliance in an effort to combine their expertise and provide clients with a better, integrated offering.
The alliance will see Horwath provide management services, including asset management, planning and development, valuation, and strategic advice, while Quo, known for developing iconic hospitality brands, will deliver on brand strategy, corporate identity, content and design creation, video and web services.
According to a joint press statement, this is the first time such a broad but unified range of consultancy services is being made available to the travel and hospitality industry.
“We have spent a tremendous amount of time analysing where we can truly add value for hotel owners in a global market with such a strong proliferation of brands. Partnering with Quo allows us to provide an incredible and complementary solution to hotel owners,” said James Chappell, global business director of Horwath.
“Using our market knowledge and experience, combined with Quo’s ability to create and bring to life amazing brands, we can offer a full strategic analysis and brand repositioning service, unique in the industry.”
Representatives from MNC Land and MCC Group after the signing of an agreement for the construction of an integrated theme park resort, at the Grand Hyatt Hotel in Jakarta
INDONESIAN developer MNC Land has entered into an agreement with China Metallurgical Corporation (MCC) Group for the development of a new integrated theme park resort in Bogor city.
According to a press statement, this will be the first world-class development of its kind in Indonesia.
The theme park alone is expected to encompass a 55ha space, excluding two hotels and an entertainment precinct also in the works. The entire resort is part of a broader plan by MNC Land to develop a 3,000ha lifestyle and entertainment hub.
MCC, who were involved in the structural design, construction and project management of Shanghai Disneyland, Universal Studios Singapore and Chimelong Ocean Kingdom, will be in charge of the design and build of the integrated resort.
Seperately, road works are also underway to extend the Bogor-Sukabumi expressway to provide easier access from Jakarta to the region.
FOREIGN visitor spending to the Philippines contributed an 8.2 per cent share of the country’s total exports in 2015 to reach 306.6 billion pesos (US$6.6 billion), nearly doubling from the 4.3 per cent share reported five years ago.
According to the 2015 Philippine Tourism Satellite Accounts released by the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA), this ranks tourist arrivals as the third biggest export item last year.
As propellers of GDP growth, tourism also climbed to third place, after the trade industry and real estate segment. Tourism industries employed 4.98 million people in 2015.
“Looking back, the positive outlook of the industry, harmonious public and private partnership, a good marketing campaign and the strong government support that the Department of Tourism (DoT) received allowed tourism to reach the economic heights where it is today,” commented DoT secretary Ramon Jimenez, Jr.
“To maintain the industry’s growth, the 2016-2022 National Tourism Development Plan is being finalised for presentation to this administration, and to the new administration for approval. This should help sustain the strong first quarter growth in tourist arrivals and help the country meet its target of 6.5 million tourists by year-end.”
Jimenez has served as tourism secretary for the last five years and is slated to step down next month when Wanda Tulfo Teo takes over the post.
INTERNATIONAL travel spend is predicted to rise massively over the next decade due to a surge in households attaining the means to embark on cross-border holidays.
According to Visa’s first-ever Global Travel & Tourism Report, an estimated 282 million households will travel at least once per year by 2025, up nearly 35 percent from 2015. Consequently, travel expenditure is expected to reach US$5,305 per household annually, excluding air fares.
Leading the growth for the next 10 years are emerging markets, especially China, with travel spend anticipated to rise 86 per cent to US$255 billion, almost double that of the next largest spender, the US, standing at US$134 billion with 33 per cent growth.
Developed markets such as Germany and the UK will still account for a significant volume of global travel spend (up 31 per cent to US$97 billion and up 58 per cent to US$96 billion respectively), but will experience much less increase compared to emerging markets.
Russia, for instance, only accounted for US$22 billion in travel spend in 2015, but will rise 118 per cent to US$49 billion in 10 years’ time.
Visa added in its report several trends that are fueling this surge, notably that nearly half of all global households (945 million) will have the monetary means to travel by 2025.
As well, travellers over 65 years of age will more than double their international travel to an estimated 180 million trips per year, accounting for one-in-eight cross-border trips globally.
This bodes well for the medical tourism segment as Visa predicts aging travellers, who tend to spend more and travel for longer, to combine their leisure trips with medical pursuits.
At the same time, the development of 340 new airports globally over the next decade and the increasingly rapid spread of travel information from now till 2025 will also be a boon for connectivity and foster greater interest and conveniences in travel.
“Travelling internationally will become more common and attainable in the future thanks to changing demographics, combined with technology advances that make travelling abroad easier and less expensive,” said Wayne Best, chief economist at Visa.
“What will emerge is an expanding ‘traveling class’ that will spend a growing portion of their household income on cross-border travel. Tomorrow’s travelling class will likely be older and hail from emerging markets — looking very different from today’s typical international traveller.”
NOK Air is expanding services to China and investing in pilot training as CEO Patee Sarasin looks to overcome his “toughest year emotionally” at the helm.
Nok Air will launch thrice-weekly flights from Bangkok to Kunming in November, but Patee said the airline will also tap other regional markets as it aims to get back in the black.
“Everyone seems to think China’s a goldmine, for now, and it is – we’re talking about over 10 million people coming in from China, and our charter flights are packed every day,” he said.
“But I do not believe it’s going to be long-lasting. As the domestic market in China grows and as more airlines want to get in, you’re going to see a slowdown in that growth. Our expansion has to cover more areas, such as India.”
The price war among LCCs and a pilot shortage meant while passenger loads were in the 80-90 per cent range daily, Nok Air’s yields were down significantly.
Patee said Nok Air had more than replaced the 14 pilots who left in February, but more is needed to prevent the same fiasco from happening again.
“We will be producing more pilots as we go. We are thinking much more long-term than just a short-term fix,” he said.
Meanwhile, eight Boeing 737-MAX aircraft are on order for the next three years, and Patee said these would replace older stock as Nok Air aims to increase capacity while keeping maintenance costs down.
“The order of the aircraft has been designed for conservative growth rather than explosive growth as Thai AirAsia and Lion Air have been doing. I believe our competitors are feeling the pinch with all these aircraft with nowhere to fly to. We don’t want to be putting ourselves in that situation.”
As for ramblings that the airline is in need of a leadership shake-up, Patee said he would see Nok Air through its current difficulty before planning any departure.
“There will be a time when I will have to hand over to somebody else. We’re looking into how we can plan this correctly. It’s not going to be my face forever – it’s bloody tiring, running an airline is not an easy task.”
Singapore prime minister Lee Hsien Loong and his wife Ho Ching with representatives from Sedona Hotel Yangon and Keppel Land Myanmar
