ONGOING developments in Greece and fluctuations in the Chinese stock market may derail the airline industry’s performance for 2015, with IATA director-general and CEO, Tony Tyler, saying China may be the bigger issue for this region.

IATA, which updates the airline industry’s outlook twice a year, in June and December, had last month revised upwards its projection for the industry to a net profit of US$29.3 billion on revenues of US$727 billion, the first time in history that the industry would earn its cost of capital. But now it has identified the problems in Greece and China as “major risks” which could impact the industry’s performance regionally and beyond.

Asked by TTG Asia e-Daily what the sentiments on passenger demand are among its members in light of these issues – as well as MERS – Tyler, in Singapore for a media roundtable, said: “Generally speaking, (airline) people feel sanguine about passenger demand; cargo demand less so, as that’s shown sluggish growth in more recent months.

“Greece is a big worry for everybody, not just airlines. If the outcome of the Greek problem is a significant slowing down of economic activity in the Eurozone, that’s going to have a knock-on effect to all industries.

“MERS is a serious issue for Korean carriers and those operating to Korea. It does seem to have turned the corner, but we obviously have to keep vigilant.

“Perhaps the bigger thing in this region on demand is China with the problem with the Chinese economy and stock market issues and who knows where that will take us. That’s more of a concern. Having said that, serious problems in China have also been forecast over the years, yet the Chinese government has a skilful approach to managing the economy.”

The better forecast of US$29.3 billion net profit, meanwhile, was derived from better efficiencies, not so much lower fuel prices, Tyler said. These included airlines using more efficient aircraft, improved aircraft utilisation and, particularly in North America, revenues from ancillaries.

SINGAPORE Cruise Centre (SCC) is looking to attract more boutique cruise ships to call at the HarbourFront Terminal in the face of competition from Marina Bay Cruise Centre Singapore (MBCCS).

Up to 10 new cruise ships are set to visit Singapore this year, but most of them are berthing at MBCCS due to restrictions in ship height and length at HarbourFront Terminal.

Likening the cruise ship industry to the hotel industry, Christina Siaw, CEO of SCC, said: “People don’t always built big hotels. They build medium and boutique hotels. We definitely can’t take in the very tall and big ships. So we do a lot of marketing to to court boutique ships.”

“Boutique (cruise) passengers are normally very well-off and they have lots of disposable income. We also have a service variation where we do more of a white glove service and we treat them with a higher level of care so that pleases them,” Siaw added

Acknowledging that SCC’s HarbourFront Terminal is not able to accommodate mega cruise ships like the Quantum of the Seas, Siaw said the company is looking at internal and external capacity improvements.

The MBCCS and SCC are also closely working zwith the government to increase the number of cruise lines visiting Singapore.

Lee Yi Shyan, senior minister of state for the Ministry of Trade and Industry said: “We are keeping in touch with (cruise line) operators to understand their needs and how we can help them. Giving incentives is one thing but we are focusing on market development and how we can improve the entire experience – experience being logistics support and what (cruise passengers) can do on shore.”

By Samuel Ng

HYATT has announced the advancement of a number of its colleagues to general manager positions.

Adrian Slater is now general manager of Grand Hyatt Seoul. Slater began his career with Hyatt in 1987 at Hyatt Regency Auckland, before working at Hyatt Regency hotels in Dubai, Perth, Saipan, Guam and Incheon. Prior to this appointment, he was general manager at Grand Hyatt Dubai.

Starting from August 17, Paul Wright will take the helm as general manager of Park Hyatt Beijing. Wright became hotel manager of Park Hyatt Dubai and subsequently Grand Hyatt Beijing, before assuming his latest role as general manager at Grand Hyatt Incheon in 2012.

Johnny Kiu has been selected as general manager of Hyatt Regency Wuhan Optics Valley, effective from August 17. Kiu has vast hospitality experience working for a number of international hotel chains, including Four Seasons, Marriot and Shangri-La. He was last general manager at Hyatt Regency Guiyang.

Mark Lyons will be general manager of the Hyatt-managed Roppongi Hills Club, starting from July 15. Lyons began his Hyatt tenure in 1995, before progressing through various rooms-management positions. In his last role, he was hotel manager at Park Hyatt Abu Dhabi.

Sarah Wang will be general manager of Hyatt Place Luoyang, effective from August 1. Since 2014, she has been the pre-opening and opening executive assistant manager for rooms at Grand Hyatt Dalian.

Currently area vice president and general manager of Park Hyatt Beijing, Ronald Kang will be temporarily assigned to the Beijing Support Centre for Hyatt Special Projects, effective from September 1.

WYNDHAM Hotel Group today announced its entrance into Australia’s Northern Territory with the inking of a franchise agreement for Ramada Suites Zen Quarter, Darwin.

Owned and managed by Zen Quarter Management, the hotel is located just five minutes away from the city’s CBD and offers 218 apartments with a mix of one-bedroom executive and deluxe rooms as well as two-bedroom suites.

Ramada Suites Zen Quarter, Darwin features a pool with harbour views, gym, café, secure parking, outdoor entertainment area, and free Wi-Fi and on-demand TV. All apartments overlook the city or water, with many offering views over both.

The franchise agreement follows recent announcements from Wyndham Hotel Group for new Ramada resorts in Christchurch, Queenstown and Rotorua in New Zealand, as well as in Shoal Bay, New South Wales and Hope Harbour on the Gold Coast in Queensland.

“We are excited to introduce the Ramada brand to Darwin as we continue to expand Wyndham Hotel Group’s portfolio throughout South-east Asia and the Pacific Rim,” said Barry Robinson, Wyndham Hotel Group’s president and managing director, South-east Asia and Pacific Rim.

THE Greek economic drama is continuing to unfold, with news out on limits being placed on ATM withdrawals and bank tranfers, and retailers rejecting payments by credit cards, but travel specialists in Singapore and Malaysia that retail tours to Greece have declared that business is on as usual.

Robin Yap, president of The Travel Corporation Asia, which has several global travel brands under its belt including Insight Vacations, Trafalgar and Uniworld River Cruise Collection, told TTG Asia e-Daily that the company has not received any cancellations on Greece-bound programmes across all its brands.

“We have a group that just returned and they found the destination to be most enjoyable,” said Yap.

The Travel Corporation has also sought to reassure its clients through a travel advisory that went up on its website on July 7. It announced that “the destination is very much open for business” and that all its guided programmes to Greece are functioning as planned.

The statement also pointed out that issues related to currency access “are relevant only to local residents and are not impacting international visitors”.

Dynasty Travel Singapore’s director of marketing communications, Alicia Seah, also reported zero impact.

“The peak season for tours to Greece runs from April to October. We will have another 250 travellers to Greece over the next three months,” said Seah.

That said, Dynasty Travel is keeping a close watch on travel advisories issued by relevant ministries and advises its travellers to “bring sufficient cash as we anticipate that some small shops may not accept credit card payments at this juncture”.

Singapore’s Chan Brothers Travel has also not seen any cancellation or postponement, shared spokesperson Rebecca Chia.

“We have one group departing in mid-July although new enquiries for Greece will (slow down by now) as its peak holiday season is almost coming to an end,” Chia said.

Over in Malaysia, travel specialists say demand for the historical destination is still strong.

Holiday Tours is maintaining weekly departures to Greece, while Parlo Tours will have two departures this month.

Parlo Tours general manager, Kerry Tam, said there have been no cancellations, and operators in Greece are providing support and updates.

“So far, there is no problem,” Tam remarked, adding that the company has also been receiving forward bookings for the September school holidays.

Additional reporting from S Puvaneswary

TOURISM New Zealand’s new Every day a different journey campaign, which seeks to showcase the destination’s diverse attractions and activities throughout the year, is expected to help spread arrivals to other months besides the peak summer season.

Speaking to TTG Asia e-Daily in an interview, Tourism New Zealand’s CEO, Kevin Bowler said arrivals were highest during the summer months of December to February, with European and Chinese travellers dominating the numbers as the season coincides with the Christmas and New Year holidays, as well as the Chinese New Year.

In 2014, New Zealand welcomed 292,446 and 301,165 international travellers in January and February respectively, and 402,518 in December. These months registered a year-on-year growth of 12.2 per cent, 7.1 per cent and 5.4 per cent respectively.

Besides using the campaign to educate the travel trade and travellers on the destination’s year-round appeal, Tourism New Zealand has also tweaked its media activity schedule to arouse interest at different times of the year.

“While we usually begin our media investments in September, this year we are running it from July to promote the shoulder season or spring and autumn. In fact, 80 per cent of our (marketing) efforts will now focus on the shoulder season. Previously it was about 20 per cent,” Bowler said.

“I think it is the natural things that will also help us (better manage the summer arrivals and achieve more footfalls in the other months). Prices will be more reasonable during the shoulder seasons and availability will be much better as well,” he added.

Meanwhile, the tourism bureau is connecting with travel agencies and airlines to share assets under the new campaign and to support these partners in their advertising and promotion.

AMADEUS and UNWTO have agreed to work together to improve the use of innovative technology in tourism in areas such as education and multi-modality.

The two parties signed an MoU to consolidate their collaboration in several areas, including the development of a UNWTO prototype on multi-modality to integrate different means of transport between destinations around the world.

Taleb Rifai, secretary-general of UNWTO, said in a joint statement: “Innovative technological solutions are fundamental for the tourism sector’s competitiveness and ability to create jobs and inclusive development worldwide.”

Both UNWTO and Amadeus are also set to work together on other issues facing the travel industry including sustainability, corporate social responsibility and education.

This will be done through Amadeus’ participation in the UNWTO Talent Development in Tourism pilot project and various UNWTO capacity-building initiatives.