THE recently set up Kuala Lumpur Tourism Bureau has identified several initiatives targeted at improving ground services and product development, slated to be introduced in the city in the first quarter of 2016.
These include positioning Kuala Lumpur as Malaysia’s cuisine haven; introducing weekly cooking classes for international tourists and spouses of MICE delegates; launching two new heritage walking trails; creating culture hubs in the city including Central Market and Kuala Lumpur Performing Arts Centre; publishing a luxury tourism product directory; forming a business events desk within the bureau to coordinate business events in the city; and offering short courses for front-liners in the hospitality industry, including taxi drivers, aimed at improving service quality.
Noraza Yusof, general manager at Kuala Lumpur Tourism Bureau explained that in 2016, “the bureau will also promote medical and educational tourism in a strategic manner, and attractions in the city will be graded to ensure quality are on par with global standards.”
The bureau was set up on November 11, 2015 with an initial funding of RM16 million (US$3.63 million) and is essentially a rebrand and replacement of the Tourism Unit of City Hall. “The organisation structure provides greater focus on sustainable development of tourism segments and key support functions,” said Mohd Amin Nordin Abdul Aziz, mayor of Kuala Lumpur.
An advisory board provides guidance to the bureau and comprises representation from the city police, the Tourism and Culture Ministry, the Land Public Transport Commission and representatives of tourism linked associations.
Adam Kamal, Malaysian Inbound Tourism Association deputy president 2, said: “Noraza is a capable and experienced person to helm the bureau and under her leadership, I am sure the bureau will meet all that it has set out to do. It is good to have a dedicated government body to systematically develop and promote tourism in the city as Kuala Lumpur is the main gateway.”
Travel-related companies in Singapore, including airlines, hotels and agencies, will be retailing on the website, with Ascott, Resorts World Sentosa and Six Stars Tours already present.
Alitrip president Li Shaohua, said: “Singapore has been a preferred travel destination for Chinese visitors, backed by its rich tourism resources, streamlined visa procedures for Chinese visitors, wide use of Chinese and ease of access by air travel.
“We hope to bring consumers and service providers closer together so travellers can easily obtain first-hand travel products and services, while Singaporean merchants also grow their commercial opportunities,” Li added.
Quek Choon Yang, chief technology officer of STB, said: “Our deepened collaboration with Alitrip aims to further boost direct sales and bookings of Singapore’s travel products online, creating a holistic and enjoyable experience for Chinese outbound tourists.”
According to Quek, China is Singapore’s second largest contributor to international arrivals, with some 1.8 million tourists visiting from January to October 2015, a year-on-year growth of more than 20 per cent.
MYANMAR’s Ministry of Immigration and Population announced yesterday new visa regulations effective immediately.
Under the new system, there are 12 types of entry visas: Diplomatic; official; tourist; social; journalist; crew; workshop; business; employment; religious; educational; and transit.
The diplomatic visa is free and the duration offered is based on the length of duty required. The 28-day official and tourist visas cost US$20, while the 70-day business, employment, religious and education visas cost US$36. Meanwhile, the 28-day social, journalist, crew and workshop visas cost US$36. The 24-hours transit visa costs US$18.
Applications for business, workshop, crew and transit visas can be obtained on arrival at Yangon International Airport, Mandalay International Airport and Nay Pyi Taw International Airport while other visas can be applied at Myanmar embassies worldwide.
There are also three types of multiple-entry visas. Multiple-journey special re-entry visas cost US$180, while special re-entry visas cost US$54 for permitted period. Six-month re-entry visas cost US$4.
Re-entry visas can be applied in Yangon, at the Foreign Affairs Branch located at 122 Pansodan Street, Kyauktada Township.
Phyoe Wai Yar Zar, chairman of Myanmar Tourism Marketing said the new visa system was introduced to better align with ASEAN standards.
“I find this new visa system will have no significant effect on the leisure market, but it is diversifying visa categories for work and business. It will likely draw more business travelers to the country,” he added.
LEADING travel service provider Ctrip.com will be investing US$180 million in MakeMyTrip, India’s largest online travel company, via convertible bonds.
Permission has also been granted for Ctrip to acquire MakeMyTrip shares in the open market. This, in addition with the shares convertible, may result in Ctrip obtaining up to 26.6 per cent of MakeMyTrip’s outstanding shares.
Once the investment is completed, Ctrip will be able to legally appoint a director for MakeMyTrip’s board of directors.
SINGAPORE and Kuala Lumpur will be welcoming a new Sofitel property in 4Q2016 and 2H2016 respectively.
The 222-key Sofitel Singapore City Centre will be located between Chinatown and the CBD, and will be part of the upcoming multi-billion dollar Tanjong Pagar Centre, which will be the tallest tower in the city, standing at 290 metres, when completed. The tower also features a residential and office tower, as well as retail and event spaces.
Meanwhile, the 312-room Sofitel Kuala Lumpur Damansara is part of a new 3.4 hectares integrated development in Damansara City. The development also consists of two office towers, two luxury high-rise residences and a F&B-centred lifestyle mall.
The two new properties will be managed by AccorHotels as signed in a deal with developer GuocoLand.
CENTARA Hotels & Resorts has rebranded and is now known as Central Hospitality International (CHi).
While its hotel brands, products and services remain unchanged, the new corporate identity serves to differentiate CHi from its member hotel brands.
“Our objective is to strategically grow the business and build international brand awareness and recognition through acquiring and managing hotels in global cities and resorts,” said Thirayuth Chirathivat, CEO of CHi.
“These locations will be carefully identified according not only to the global travel profile of our existing and prospective guests but also in recognition of those destinations which embrace and value the elements of Thai service style that will continue to form part of the DNA of our brands,” added Chirathivat on the inclusion of the word ‘International’ in the new name.
Currently, CHi operates Centara Grand Hotels & Resorts, Centara Hotels & Resorts, Centara Residences & Suites, Centara Boutique Collection, Centara Hotels & Resorts and COSI Hotels.
RAYANI Air, Malaysia’s newest airline, began operations last month with services linking Kuala Lumpur to Langkawi and Kota Bharu.
The full-service carrier is positioned as a Shariah-compliant airline, with onboard food and beverages prepared by halal sources, a strict no alcohol policy, prayers recited on every route and female Muslim cabin crew donning hijabs.
Sumar Lee Hashim Lee, COO of Rayani Air said average load factor at the start will be low as operations began towards the end of the Malaysian school holidays, but from Chinese New Year onwards, the average load is expected to reach 50 to 60 per cent of capacity.
Jaafar Zamhari, managing director of Rayani Air, said the airline is operating with a fleet of two B737-400s, both 22-year-old aircraft.
Jaafar was formerly the alternate representative of Malaysia on the Council of ICAO, from 2008 to 2011. In September 2015, he retired from the Department of Civil Aviation Malaysia and joined Rayani Air.
Going forward, the airline plans to add two B737-800 aircrafts to its fleet this year and increase its domestic network to include Kuching and Kota Kinabalu. There are also plans to extend its network overseas to Jakarta and Manila as well as cities in China and the Middle East.
Langkawi International Airport is Rayani Air’s current home base with klia2 standing as its secondary hub.
When asked why Langkawi, Jaafar replied: “There are a lot of charters coming to Langkawi and we hope to tap on the tourists using these charters. Somebody must start something over there.”
The airline also hopes to offer charter services in the future.
MALAYSIA has introduced e-visa facilities for travellers from China since January 2, 2016, but the process has proven troublesome as applicants risk losing their passports, opined some Malaysian agents.
Applications must be made online, then after five working days and upon confirmation, the applicant will have to send their passport to a visa centre in China and pay RMB$50 for it to be couriered back to them. The visa fee remains at RMB$80 and processing costs RMB$120.
Mint Leong, secretary-general of the Malaysian Inbound Tourism Association, said that the old system was safer as travellers could get travel agents to handle their visas for them.
“Now there is the danger of the passport getting lost in the post. We are not seen as being tourist-friendly at all. If the system is not improved soon, we will lose market share to neighbouring countries,” she said.
John Chan, business consultant, Kris International Traveltours, opined: “The introduction of e-visa is a step in the right direction. However, the application process needs to be improved. A shorter approval process is needed, and safety and security procedures must be factored in.
“The Australian visa application procedure is a good benchmark. It is an efficient system where application procedures are hassle free, response is fast and applicants can print out the approved online visa themselves.”
Madhavan Menon, chairman and managing director, Thomas Cook India, said: “If I look at other names that we have acquired like SOTC and SITA, they are better known brands here. We will drop the Kuoni name as we go forward.”
As for Kuoni Hong Kong, Menon said that it is an established brand and “apart from the fact that it is an extremely well run business, we also clearly see that it will give us a footprint in Asia.”
Menon is also keen to leverage on its newly acquired entities to help replace the Thomas Cook brand – a name it will be losing in 2025 as part of the agreement with Thomas Cook Group UK in 2012. Menon further dispelled rumours of any change in management in both India and Hong Kong.
Additionally, Kuoni India’s inbound business, known as Kuoni Destination Management and which operates under the SITA brand, will be merged with Fairfax’s Travel Corporation of India. Meanwhile, its outbound businesses, Thomas Cook India and SOTC India, will continue to operate as two different companies, but share backend services.
WITH no prior experience in the travel industry, Casper Urhammer took on the top job at Contiki Holidays over a year ago and now plots a course for the millennials-focused tour operator to be better at what it already does best – entice 18 to 35 year-olds to go on group holidays with them.
Despite the inexperience, the 40-year-old CEO, who was most recently managing director of Groupon Australia and New Zealand, and co-founder of Groupon Denmark before that, has the advantage of international exposure and years of technological chops behind him.
Casper Urhammer
Those talents are coming in handy now with Contiki launching a new website in early-2016, which he describes as being “content driven”, using “groundbreaking technology” and “100 times better” than Contiki’s present web portal. The new website will also be focused on generating leads for Contiki’s travel agents, added Urhammer.
While the mindsets of millennials remain a puzzle for many, the fledgling CEO seems to have a good handle on it. Afterall, he has just spent the last one year embarking on more than 10 Contiki trips around the world, interacting with a generation of travellers accustomed to digital formats, mobile technology and novel experiences.
Urhammer speaks to Paige Lee Pei Qi on how best to win the hearts and minds of millennials in this Newsmaker interview:
It’s been just over a year since you took over the role as CEO. How has it been settling into the industry? It’s been really good. It doesn’t feel like a year. It feels like a lot shorter. There are so many things to learn coming to a business this size, and for me to come from somewhere out of the industry. I have been travelling 250 days over the past year to meet the various regions and sales offices to fully understand every corner of the business.
Apart from the travelling, what else has been keeping you busy at Contiki?
Two things that have taken a lot of my time is setting the vision for marketing and technology. These are critical given that our customers are the true digital natives – 18 to 35 year-olds – and it is incredibly important that we stay relevant to them and we have a bit of catching up to do.
What needs catching up? Our current website is nearly nine years old now, so we are building a new website which will be fully mobile-optimised because we see more than half our local traffic coming from mobile. The new website will also be more engaging, innovative and more personalised. We want to create an emotional connection between young travellers and our brands. The way millennials consume media today is changing. The way you connect with them is through content. Apart from connecting with them you must ensure they are able to relate to it as well. The website will also be strongly focused on generating leads so that we can then hand over to our travel agents.
Looks like your background in technology is coming in handy? I am a bit of a geek. I like and understand that space very well. I want to develop our digital assets here and that’s indeed my key strength that I can bring to Contiki.
So when can we see this new website launch? Wait for it in early 2016. The website is our biggest priority. We are going to launch groundbreaking technology there in terms of how you will explore and navigate. It will be very content driven and I have no qualms about saying it will be 100 times better than our current website.
You are 40 now. How do you go about getting into the mindset of a millennial?(Laughs) I join Contiki tours quite often. This year I joined more than 10 trips. I connect with travellers even though I cannot pretend that I am a millennial. I will chat with them and I am honest about who I am and what I am here for. I will listen to the clients and get their feedback to make sure our strategies are sound.
So for example, how we are building our website now is based on three months of comprehensive research from our clients and what are their habits and challenges they face in exploring our product in a digital format.
Any memorable incidents from meeting your customers? When I started in Contiki London, I joined a tour there on my first day and I met a lovely young girl called Mary from Arizona, USA. I asked her what her motivation for taking the trip was. She said to me: “Casper, I’m the first one in my family ever to leave America, and the first one in the family to have a passport. I have been working at a Subway for the last four years. I even ate too much Subway and gained a couple of kilos. But I did that to save as much as possible for this trip.”
Imagine the pride radiating from her to be there. To me that was so humbling. It reminded me that my most important role is to make sure that each and every traveller that goes on tour gets the time of his or her life.
How does Contiki stay appealing to millennials? Friendships. Everyone wants to be independent but what we can provide them is the joy of being part of a group. While they want to be independent, what we do differently is that we also offer them free time. We don’t dictate what they do every minute of the day.
Contiki has a good justification in many ways. It is safe, you can trust us, we know what we are doing and you are in a good environment that guarantees fun and friendships.
Tell us more about the Travel Styles concept launched in 2014.
We don’t believe that there’s a right way to travel. Travelling is intended for everyone. There should be a product for everyone. We acknowledge that no two travellers are the same. The way we differentiate our product is based on the ways they travel. We have eight ways – Discovery Plus, High Energy, In-Depth Explorer, Easy Pace, Freestyle Camping, Sailing & Cruise, Winter & Ski, Festivals & Short Stays.
So for example if you like to wake up early in the morning, and go to bed late at night and see and do everything – you are a high energy traveller which is very popular. On the other extreme, there is an easy pace category where you get up later and spend more time in the destination.
Where are the millennials traveling to these days?
We see a lot of young travellers wanting to get to Iceland to see the Northern Lights, the Mediterranean, and also Eastern Europe with the rise in popularity of Game of Thrones.
What about the business, how has it grown?
For 2015, we are up by eight per cent which is an incredible number given how big our base is. This is in line with our targets and forecasts. For 2016, our sales figures wise, I can’t even give you a good indication. We are up so much we have to pinch our arms to make sure we are not dreaming. We are doing very well now.
