EXPEDIA Group’s corporate travel subsidiary Egencia has opened an office in Singapore to support its expansion into the Asia-Pacific.
“Our offering supports a number of clients building their footprint within the APAC region and Asian businesses looking to expand internationally, so it’s only natural that we expand as they do,” said Kyle Davis, managing director, Egencia Asia-Pacific.
“We aim to provide the Asia-Pacific business traveller a similar experience across all devices, platforms and geographies, improving business traveller productivity and corporate cost-saving initiatives in the process.”
According to a press statement, Egencia Singapore debuts with over 30 corporate clients, including Takeda, a Japanese pharmaceutical company.
The Singapore outpost is Egencia’s fourth full-service point-of-sale office in the Asia-Pacific.
THE ringgit’s continually shifting exchange rate has made it difficult for Malaysian tour operators to put a fixed price on their packages.
The ringgit had earlier strengthened against the US dollar on April 14, but then took a dip as brent crude prices plunged after major oil producers failed to come up with an agreement in Doha to freeze output and address a supply glut.
Explaining the problem agencies are facing, Ally Bhoonee, executive director of World Avenues, said: “If we put a bigger buffer, we safeguard ourselves but we take a big risk of losing the customer to the competition, which includes OTAs. If we keep the margins very thin, we then take a big risk if the ringgit depreciates.
“Some of our partners overseas understand when we tell them that the price quoted may change due to currency fluctuations in Malaysia but some argue that this is not the situation in other countries such as Singapore where the dollar is more stable.”
Concurring, Arokia Das, senior manager at Luxury Tours Malaysia, said: “If we mark up too much, we lose out. If it is too little, we lose profit on exchange. On top of this, there are agents who are undercutting for business as they need to survive. They don’t mind making nett to nett or making a slight loss as they are drowning.”
But the operators interviewed are not too worried and are instead countering the unpredictability of the ringgit with different strategies.
“I find the best way to compete in today’s market is by providing personalised services for high yield tourists and to go for smaller volumes,” advised Bhoonee.
As for Luxury Tours Malaysia, Das said: “We remain confident for this year because we have confirmed business from a reasonable number of wholesalers in India who have guaranteed us good volumes.”
A SERIES of six unique showcases in March and April held to present the renovated facilities within InterContinental Singapore has resulted in an uptick in enquiries from meeting planners, with two high-level ones already materialised.
The hotel’s area director of sales & marketing, Rex Loh, told TTGmice e-Weekly in an interview: “The renovated Presidential Suite was used to showcase the new features of the hotel and how we can support business events. When planners at the showcase saw how meetings can be done differently with us, especially in such a unique space as our Presidential Suite, they got excited.”
Loh said the two materialised events were held in the Presidential Suite, one for a private corporate party and the other for a meeting.
At 259m2, InterContinental Singapore’s Presidential Suite is said to be the largest of its kind in the country. It is suitable for gatherings for 10 to 50 guests.
“Other refreshed aspects of the hotel, such as the renovated guestrooms, also gave us good exposure to new and potential corporate clients, and we found that many are keen to come and have a look. That helps to get the conversation going, and we have several new leads,” said Loh.
Loh added that the hotel is also playing up the rich heritage of the neighbourhood to attract corporate meetings and events.
“This area has so much to offer. Meeting groups can experience the neighbourhood through our Guided Heritage Trail. Clients used to think that the hotel is too far from the city centre, too inconvenient, but the arts and cultural draws around us are changing perceptions,” he said, adding that event bookings this year are “good” and “maintaining 2014 levels”.
The Guided Heritage Trail is a two-hour walking tour around the arts and cultural districts of Waterloo Street and Albert Street, calling at the National Design Centre and The Church of Saints Peter and Paul. While the tour is offered only on Saturdays for hotel guests, the hotel can arrange private group tours for meeting delegates.
THE annual Top Agent Awards by the Hong Kong Tourism Board (HKTB) has been given a new spin with a new name and an expanded recipient category.
South Korean players are now eligible for recognition in the Top MICE Agent Awards, joining existing markets India, China and Indonesia. Three top performing South Korean MICE agents will be awarded in each of two categories: Top Number of Passengers and Top Number of Groups.
A HKTB spokesman said South Korea has been included this year because of its strong growth potential.
“South Korea recorded over 20 per cent growth in overnight MICE arrivals last year. Meetings and Exhibitions Hong Kong will foster a closer relationship with top MICE agencies (in the market) to bring more meetings and incentives into Hong Kong,” the spokesperson said.
HKTB, through its office in Seoul, will also be deploying more marketing initiatives and organise more trade seminars, workshops and fam trips in 2016.
HKTB will be focused on growing meetings and incentives traffic from shorthaul markets, including South Korea, China, India and Indonesia, with particular attention being paid to select industry sectors such as direct selling, finance and insurance, information technology, manufacturing and pharmaceutical sectors, according to the spokesperson.
REFRESHED function rooms at New World Millennium Hotel in Hong Kong will greet meeting planners come August, as the hotel continues with its refurbishment project following its rebranding from Hotel Nikko Hong Kong.
To date, the hotel in Tsim Sha Tsui East has unveiled an updated hotel lobby in January and 88 renovated guestrooms in March. The guestrooms, which span five room types, now offer enhanced comfort and modern amenities including a complimentary handy smartphone which affords guests unlimited local and international calls to seven select countries, and unlimited 3G mobile Internet access.
While details of the upgraded function rooms are still under wraps, the hotel’s director of sales and marketing, Francesco Wong, said the décor would be modern and the venues would offer flexible configurations.
Wong added that meeting packages would be reviewed after renovations are complete, and prices would be competitive.
Meanwhile, work on the Lobby Lounge is slated to be completed next month.
“With our new products, we remain positive (about) our business. Despite the uncertain market situation, we have been versatile and highly responsive in our sales and marketing strategies so as to achieve our business goals,” he said.
DMC Pacific World has moved all meetings and events business units of its Le Passage To India (LPTI) sister company under the global Pacific World brand.
Since April 1, LPTI’s incoming incentive business brand Mintcentive and outgoing business brand TUI- Meetings & Incentives has become part of Pacific World India, which is headed by executive director Naveen Rizvi.
Commenting on the move, Mario Habig, managing director of LPTI, said: “By focusing our meetings and incentives branding on Pacific World India and further integrating our 100 specialised colleagues into Pacific World, we will be better positioned to leverage the global strength of Pacific World to deliver to all our clients’ requirements.”
Selina Chavry, global managing director, Pacific World, added: “Pacific World and LPTI clients will benefit from a one-stop shop offering for their meetings, events, incentives and congresses whether domestic, outbound or inbound.”
Pacific World India currently has eight branch offices in the country including Delhi and Mumbai.
LPTI and Pacific World are both part of Destination Services, a business unit of Hotelbeds Group.
2016 OUTBOUND travel in Singapore grew 6.7 per cent in the first quarter of this year compared with the same period in 2015, according to GfK’s Travelscan data.
EXPEDIA Group’s corporate travel subsidiary Egencia has opened an office in Singapore to support its expansion into the Asia-Pacific.
“Our offering supports a number of clients building their footprint within the APAC region and Asian businesses looking to expand internationally, so it’s only natural that we expand as they do,” said Kyle Davis, managing director, Egencia Asia-Pacific.
TRAVEL industry recruitment specialists ACI HR Solutions has unveiled a new app geared towards helping professionals in the trade prepare for the interview process.
The app, aptly named Get Da Job, adopts gamification techniques to spur engagement and motivate end-users while at the same time provide information about the questions typically asked by employers in an actual interview process.
“You would never sit for an important exam without studying nor would you run a marathon without training and that is exactly what Get Da Job sets out to do in order to seriously improve your chances,” said Andrew Chan, CEO and founder, ACI HR Solutions.
He explained that gamification was adopted to better cater to the way millennials respond and use recruitment tools.
The app is also meant to compliment the hiring agency’s existing suite of solutions. “Get Da Job is just another example of how we are utilising as many different channels as possible and harnessing the latest in technology to stay ahead of the competition,” added Chan.
Get Da Job can be downloaded from the company’s website, Google Play or the Apple App Store.
KOREAN Air will resume services from Incheon, South Korea to Russia’s Saint Petersburg and Irkutsk starting April 21 and May 13 respectively.
The airline will operate three-weekly flights between Incheon and Saint Petersburg on the 218-seater Airbus A330.
Flights take approximately nine and a half hours, departing Incheon International Airport at 17.55 and returning from St Petersburg’s Pulkovo Airport at 23.00.
Seasonal flights between Incheon and Irkutsk will operate on a Boeing 737-900 seating 159 passengers in two classes.
Operating twice-weekly, the flights will take slightly over four hours and depart at 18.20 and 20.50 from Incheon International Airport and return at 23.55 and 2.30 from International Airport Irkutsk.
AZAMARA Club Cruises, Royal Caribbean Cruises’ upmarket boutique brand, has unveiled significant upgrades for Azamara Quest after the ship’s two-week dry-dock in Singapore.
All 345 staterooms and suites on the 30,277-gross registered tons Azamara Quest underwent a complete overhaul, and two brand-new Spa Suites were also added to the inventory.
Azamara Quest’s Club Spa Suite
As well, the main areas in the ship have been refurbished, refitted with new technology and new venues created.
Ellen Bettridge, Azamara Club Cruises’ vice president of sales and marketing for the Americas, who was in Singapore for Azamara Quest’s dry-dock, said that she hopes the refurbishment will take the ship and brand to the next level.
Bettridge elaborated: “We’ve invested an incredible amount of money in these two ships (Azamara Quest and Azamara Journey) in order to prepare us for growth in the future. We are a five-year-old brand, and we only started making money two years ago. Since then, our net cruise yield in the Asian market has increased by 52 per cent.”
“The Asian market continues to grow, specifically markets like Singapore, India and Hong Kong – luxury markets in these three countries are emerging. This demographic wants the experience and luxury (that Azamara provides), and they also want to explore the destination. We’re a very good fit for certain parts of Asia.”
When asked where Asians usually liked to cruise to, she said: “When we looked at the trends over the last few years, a lot of the Asians loved going to the Mediterranean. But now we’re seeing them like the idea of being close to home. Bangkok is our number one port within Asia, followed by Singapore, Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi.”
But Bettridge feels that Azamara is not as well known as its sister brand Royal Caribbean International. Moreover, it only has two ships, hence they need to “leverage on their big sister” in order to grow the business.
At the moment, Azamara doesn’t have the capacity to cover the Chinese market with just two ships, but Bettridge said that the company would like to tap into that segment in the future.
From Singapore, Azamara Quest is going on a 17D/16N voyage to Dubai.
