Shanghai releases list of conference organisers evaluated for compliance

January 15, 2015

SHANGHAI’S meetings industry can only get better following the release of a list of the city’s first Conference Organizers in Compliance with Management & Service Standards of the Meetings Industry on January 5.

The list comprises 13 meetings management and service organisations which have passed the evaluation in compliance with applicable standards.

Additionally, with the approval of Shanghai Municipal Tourism Administration, these 13 organisations have obtained the Shanghai Conference Service Standard Organization certificate issued by the MICE Service Standards Technical Committee of Shanghai Tourism Standards Technical Committee.

The committee had initiated the evaluation project last June, and made visits to applicants last september for evaluation.

The 13 conference organisers are MCI Group, Healife PCO, Shanghai Fumed Convention & Exhibition Management, Shanghai China Travel International, East Star Event Management, China CYTS MICE Service, Grand China MICE, Shanghai United Event, The Oppland Corporation, Duxes Business Consulting, Shanghai Topstar International Exhibition & Event Services, Skyway International Business Travel Service, and Shanghai Business International Travel.

Enterprises which intend to apply for evaluation can do so through www.smcss.org.

Skies no longer the limit for Singapore, Costa Rica

By TTG Asia

January 14, 2015

SINGAPORE yesterday concluded an open skies agreement with Costa Rica, allowing designated airlines to fly between both countries, via and beyond to any third country without restrictions in capacity, frequency or aircraft type.

In a statement, Singapore’s minister for transport, Lui Tuck Yew, said: “The signing of this agreement reflects the warm bilateral ties between Singapore and Costa Rica, and underscores both countries’ commitment to establish a fully liberal air services framework that allows our carriers to react quickly to market demand when opportunities arise.”

With this latest agreement, Singapore has concluded air services agreements with more than 130 states and territories, including more than 60 open skies agreements.

Ctrip inks agreement with Amadeus for flight inventory

By TTG Asia

January 14, 2015

AMADEUS today announces the signing of a multi-year agreement with China’s Ctrip.com International to provide all air content for points of sale outside of China.

The agreement will initially include Hong Kong, Taiwan, South Korea and the US, with future plans to move into Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Japan and Thailand, among others.

Ctrip will implement Amadeus Master Pricer TravelBoard, Amadeus Mini Rules and Amadeus Ticket Changer, with the aim to adopt more of Amadeus’ online search solutions in the near future.

Ctrip CEO of air ticketing business unit, Xiong Xing, said via Amadeus’ blog: “This is a major milestone in our relationship and we truly feel that it will provide Ctrip with cutting-edge solutions coupled with unique benefits, enabling us to become a one-stop international travel service platform.”

Amadeus head of leisure online and travel media, Sebastien Gibergues, said: “Amadeus has built a solid and successful relationship with Ctrip over the last few years, so it is a natural next step to grow our partnership through Amadeus Flight Search and our merchandising portfolio in the global online travel market.”

Singapore suffers drastic drop in 2014 Chinese arrivals

By Paige Lee Pei Qi

January 14, 2015

CHINESE arrivals to Singapore from January to November last year recorded a dramatic year-on-year dip of 25.7 per cent, according to Singapore Tourism Board’s (STB) latest statistics released on Monday.

The decline follows China’s imposition of anti-zero-fare tour laws, along with Thailand’s political unrest and the disappearance of Malaysia Airlines’ flight MH370.

Thailand, Malaysia and Singapore had hitherto been Chinese tourists’ favourite choices for multi-destination tours in the region.

However, there are some signs of recovery with Chinese arrivals climbing 9.9 per cent last November, continuing the upward trend observed since October.

Overall, STB data shows a year-on-year 3.6 per cent fall in international visitor arrivals last November.

While Indonesia recorded an 8.1 per cent drop, it nevertheless accounted for the largest number, with 219,037 visitors.

Saudi Arabia was the fastest-growing market for Singapore from January to November last year, with 24,337 visitors – a 30 per cent year-on-year climb and the largest jump for any country.

Myanmar’s heritage Chin Tsong Palace revives as culture centre

By Sid Dhartha

January 14, 2015

THE hundred-year-old Chin Tsong Palace in Yangon, currently used as a fine arts school under the Ministry of Culture, is being converted into a culture centre and promoted as a new attraction for tourists.

Htay Lwin, deputy director, fine arts school department, Ministry of Culture, told TTG Asia e-Daily: “We are converting this building into a culture centre where visitors can see and buy all kind of arts and crafts stuff in one place.”

The five-storey Chin Tsong palace was built between 1915 and 1919 by a Chinese immigrant called Lim Chin Tsong as his residence. During the Japanese Occupation, it was used for All Burma Broadcasting Station, before being transformed into Kanbawza Yeiktha hotel in 1951 after World War II.

Said Htay Lwin: “Occasionally the centre will arrange for exhibitions in the main hall, as well as traditional culture and puppet shows in the mini-theatre next to the building.” The mini-theatre can accommodate up to 100 people and is ready for rent to interested show organisers, he said.

“Interested business persons or culture-related organisations can rent the spaces on the ground floor for a short- or long-term contracts with us. They can directly contact the Ministry or our office in this building,” he added.

Aung Myat Kyaw, chairman of Union of Myanmar Travel Association, welcomes the move. He said: “The idea to convert this heritage building into a culture centre is great, along with the planning of cultural dance performances and puppet shows at the theatre. Yangon will have a new tourism product that will likely draw a big number of tourists.”

PTAA decries integration of compulsory airport terminal fee

By Rosa Ocampo

January 14, 2015

THE Philippine Travel Agencies Association (PTAA) has opposed the 550 peso (US$12.20) airport terminal fee to be added to all air tickets at the point of sale beginning February 1.

Meant to ease airport congestion by phasing out the passenger terminal fee counters at airports, the implementation of the international passenger service charge (IPSC) was delayed several times due to the opposition from various quarters, including airlines and overseas Filipino workers.

In a position paper presented to the Manila International Airport Authority (MIAA) last December, PTAA said “many small- and medium-sized travel agencies would have no choice but to close” due to increased costs of operation.

Explained PTAA: “On average, a medium-sized travel agency sells 500 airline tickets monthly. With the imposition of the (IPSC), this roughly translates to 275,000 pesos.

“The monthly obligation to remit the amount would require that a travel agency maintain a continuing state of liquidity, preventing some travel agencies from offering their usual packages to would-be travellers.”

While airlines will be reimbursed 3.5 per cent of all amounts collected from IPSC, PTAA complained that “travel agencies are simply left out and totally ignored”. It added: “This problem could have been openly addressed had MIAA made prior consultations with travel consultants.”

Some airlines do not agree to the extra work involved and believe that passengers seeking refunds for terminal fees will not ease airport congestion.

TTG Asia e-Daily understands that in direct response via a letter dated January 9 to PTTA, MIAA general manager Jose Angel Honrado said: “Proceeds collected will be remitted to MIAA by the airlines, not their ticketing or travel consultants. As such, the integration programme will not disturb the existing arrangements between you and the airlines.”

On the refunding process for cancelled airline tickets sold by travel consultants, he said: “Remittance of terminal fee collections by the airlines to MIAA is not based on sales or airline tickets sold but on flown passengers. Thus, this should not be a concern of travel consultants/agencies”.

He added MIAA conducted three consultations with various associations of travel consultants/agencies, including PTAA.

However, Josefina Baena, then PTAA’s vice president outbound, told TTG Asia e-Daily that MIAA’s meetings “weren’t consultative but only informing us what to do. They’re not asking for our opinion”.

Garuda launches more services to China

By Mimi Hudoyo

January 14, 2015

GARUDA Indonesia yesterday launched thrice-weekly Denpasar-Beijing flights and will be introducing chartered services to various Chinese cities in February.

The new Denpasar-Beijing services run every Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday via Airbus 330-200 aircraft with 222 seats in two classes.

They are intended to improve accessibility between Bali and China, apart from strengthening the airline’s Asia-Pacific network, according to Garuda Indonesia president and CEO, Arif Wibowo.

“With its potential 100 million travellers, China is one of the very important markets for Garuda, a focus of development for the airline,” he said.

Garuda will also increase capacity between the two countries with chartered services from some Chinese cities to Bali and Manado, starting from this coming Chinese New Year in February to July.

The Chinese cities are Chengdu, Chongqing, Ningbo, Kunming, Junan, Harbin, Xi’an, Shenyang, Chengzhou. Arif explained that opening chartered services to China is part of Garuda’s short-term, quick-win programmes to generate revenue.

Indonesia minister of tourism, Arief Yahya, said: “The opening of the services will boost traffic between China and Indonesia, particularly Bali.

“At the same time it will also help to introduce destinations beyond Bali, such as Lombok and Manado.”

2015 travel forecast

By Paige Lee Pei Qi

January 14, 2015

How will the tourism market hold up in the year ahead? The region’s travel business leaders gaze into their crystal balls and predict where the sunny, cloudy and stormy spots will be in 2015

SINGAPORE By Paige Lee Pei Qi

Judy Lum
Group vice president of sales and marketing, Tour East

UK tour operators have reported double-digit growth in forward bookings compared with last year, and we are also seeing improvement in some parts of Europe. As our core markets are primarily longhaul, this is good news for Tour East.

The Russian rouble has devalued to an all-time low since 1998 and this will affect the growth forecast for this market. Sanctions from Europe and the US are affecting the Russian economy and although the government is looking to Asia, the adverse economic impact will remain for a long while.

MALAYSIA By S Puvaneswary

Mona Abdul Manap
Sales & marketing manager, Planet Borneo Tours & Travel Services

Arrivals from Singapore and Europe are expected to increase in 2015 due to our targeted marketing efforts towards these markets in 2014. In Europe, we expect an increase from France, Poland and the UK; we noticed an increase in interest for Borneo among smaller tour operators from these countries at trade fairs.

Apart from Singapore, the ASEAN market is likely to be so-so, due to our focus on adventure tours, which are not of particular interest to ASEAN travellers.

The China market is expected to continue to fare badly in 2015. This market has declined drastically in 2014, after the disappearance of MH370 and we expect a slow recovery.

INDONESIA By Mimi Hudoyo

Umberto Cadamuro
COO, inbound, Pacto

India and the US are going to shine as they did in 2014, given their rebounding economies. Indonesia might not be the cheapest but it is definitely the best value-for-money destination in the region, and these guys know how to travel in style!

After a strong performance in 2014, a quickly weakening euro against the US dollar might push Europeans towards Thailand – which, unlike us, uses local currency for quotations – plus the rupiah is weakening against the US dollar as well. Does this sound like (a reason to) waive the visa on arrival for the Europeans?

16jan-stormy I do not foresee any (rainy season) in 2015. I would just keep an eye on how low the Aussie dollar will go against the US dollar – 0.80 might spell trouble!

VIETNAM By Xinyi Liang-Pholsena

Tan Robert
Business development director, Lac Hong Voyages

South-east Asia and India, as airlines are adding more flights from these areas. With LCCs and full-service carriers starting routes to Vietnam – eg. Royal Brunei Airlines has resumed services to Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC) in November 2014, AirAsia is flying direct from Johor Bahru to HCMC, and Singapore Airlines has started a third flight from Singapore to HCMC since December 18 – ASEAN will do well, barring any economical, natural or political crisis.

Europe, due to its unstable economic situation. Our strongest market in Europe was Spain, which has slowed down dramatically since early-2014 with only one or two bookings per quarter.

China, as Chinese outbound travellers are moving to other countries like South Korea and India, in addition to the political fallout between (China and Vietnam). The mainland Chinese are very patriotic, so no countermeasures can be done unless political ties improve. However, we are still maintaining contact with Chinese customers and keeping our fingers crossed that ties will improve soon.

MYANMAR By Oliver Slow

Aung Naing
Managing director, EPG Travel Company

Traditionally, the strongest countries for Myanmar’s travel business are central and northern Europe, the US and the UK. All these countries remain very strong both for group tourists and FITs.

Due to their ongoing economic issues, potential clients from countries like Spain and Italy are still ‘licking their wounds’ so to speak, and we do not expect much business from this area in the near future.

Myanmar, as an emerging market, does not really fall into this category at the moment.

THAILAND By Greg Lowe

Hans van den Born
Managing director, Diethelm Travel Thailand

The Scandinavian market is where we expect continued strong performance. We even have repeat (Scandinavian) customers who want to stay in the same resort each year, and if possible, the same room.

Russia is still there for us as our clients are at the wealthy end of the spectrum and tend to be less reliant on the rouble and exposed to the current problems in their economy. That said, they will be affected to some extent.

s with 2014, it will be the Middle East, not so much Dubai and the Gulf states but countries like Lebanon and Syria. We have a number of clients in those markets, but given the current instability there and the likelihood of these problems continuing for some time, those markets will remain weak.

HONG KONG By Prudence Lui

Michael Wu
Managing director, Gray Line Tours

China, thanks to the strong same-day FIT traffic from Guangdong province. However, the Individual Visit Scheme covers only 49 cities in China so growth for overnight arrivals will slow to about five, six per cent this year.

The Philippines is a very stable market already and Filipinos love visiting Hong Kong Disney-land. However, the Philippines is not a hot destination for Hongkongers so air seat demand is not huge. This has means a sufficient supply and affordable airfares for the Philippine leisure travel market.

The Japanese market won’t do well due to the depreciating yen. The impact of Occupy Central on the Japanese market is obvious because of the emphasis the nation puts on security. Travel operators still remain cautious and it may take another six months to see whether they send their groups again.

MACAU By Prudence Lui

Andy Wu
Managing director, Gray Line Tours of Macau

South Korea will continue to rise this year as Macau is a popular destination for Koreans. The stable Korean won will help to push more traffic.

Malaysia is a big market and has been a stable source for years, so we don’t expect any dramatic change. Malaysians love coming to Macau, especially for gourmet experiences.

The serious yen depreciation weakens Japanese consumption power overseas as well as their desire to go abroad.

PHILIPPINES By Rosa Ocampo

Marjorie Aquino
Inbound sales and marketing manager, Blue Horizons Travel and Tours

The UK has grown significantly in volume in 2014 because of Philippine Airlines’ direct Manila-London flights. We have been getting a lot of enquiries from the high-end markets in Germany, Switzerland and Italy, plus enquiries from Spain as its financial crisis seems to be over.

Asian markets including Singapore, Malaysia and Thailand are steady; we have not really seen an increase in volume. We have clients from Hong Kong but they are mostly expats.

China, unless the travel advisory against the Philippines is lifted, and Russia, due to its economic uncertainties.

CHINA By Caroline Boey

Olivia Au
Deputy general manager, Century Holiday Travel Group Shenzhen Office

India is likely to do well as many (Indian visitors) are crossing to the Pearl River Delta (from Hong Kong), due to convenient transportation, ease of entry, the number of Indian restaurants and stable hotel rates. Vietnam is also expected to do well for the same reasons.

Mature South-east Asian markets such as Singapore and Thailand have direct air access to many countries, and travellers consider China as a destination they can visit any time.
Although there is strong demand for travel to Hong Kong and China from the Philippines, traffic is being affected for political reasons.

INDIA By Rohit Kaul

Subhash Goyal
Chairman, STIC Travel Group

Germany, as it has been a traditional key market for India. The extension of e-visa services to tourists from Germany in 2014 will further boost arrival numbers.

The US economy is still recovering, plus the US is one of the 43 countries that the Indian government last year extended e-visa facility to.

France was not included in the list of 43 countries allowed e-visas in 2014. If France is not added to the list soon, I expect inbound from France will be stormy.

This article was first published in TTG Asia, January 16, 2015 issue, on page 3. To read more, please view our digital edition or click here to subscribe.

Additional reporting from S Puvaneswary, Mimi Hudoyo, Xinyi Liang Pholsena, Oliver Slow, Greg Lowe, Prudence Lui, Rosa Ocampo, Caroline Boey, Rohit Kaul

Rouble rouble toil and trouble

By Raini Hamdi

January 14, 2015

The impact will be far-reaching. Industry members who adopt a “it is not my problem because I don’t do Russia” may want to think twice.

Russian travellers have fuelled (oops, no pun intended) demand for many destinations, but thanks to Vladimir Putin’s dependency on the energy industry – devastasting when oil prices whittled by half over six months – and sanctions on his economy following the Ukraine crisis, the rouble has all but collapsed and, along with it, a darling outbound travel market.

The impact will be far-reaching. Industry members who adopt a “it is not my problem because I don’t do Russia or have little exposure to it” may want to think twice.

The fact is, in its wake, there is a huge capacity that needs to be filled, considering that not only is Russia a volume market, its travellers have a healthy length of stay (in Thailand, an average of 11 nights – see page 7).

Already, a UK tour operator I spoke to said getting space in Thailand and southern Vietnam, two destinations that have focused on the Russian market, “is certainly much easier” now, and while hotels at present aren’t panicking with rate reductions due to a still-strong regional business in the first couple of months, he believes that from March onwards, “the hotels will have to be really aggressive and I fully expect the lower spring rates to kick in early in many places”.

As DMCs, hotels and destinations that have relied heavily on the Russian market scramble to find alternative volumes, protecting market share is the name of the game. Besides, it is not as if the pie is expected to grow by leaps and bounds. Japan is in a recession, the eurozone is trying hard to avert a deflation, China’s economic growth is slowing and Australia is struggling to rebalance its economy away from mining investment-led growth. It is also not as if there are new emerging markets to count on, the way Russia and China had saved the day for many players and destinations in recent past crises. Where are the new darlings? India and Indonesia are indeed promising but they will take some time still to bloom.

So, do expect the competition to be in full swing as soon as the first tradeshow of the year, the ASEAN Tourism Forum, opens next week in Myanmar. Do come prepared with a sound strategy.

South-east Asia itself needs to do more to gain market share. The region chalked up the smallest growth in international arrivals compared with other regions in the world in the first 10 months of 2014 over the same period in 2013, according to the latest UNWTO data. Its two per cent growth is below the five per cent growth in international arrivals overall.

But that’s another opinion.

Travelport appoints new GM for Malaysia

By TTG Asia

January 14, 2015

TRAVELPORT has appointed Nicholas Kong as its new GM for Malaysia with immediate effect.

He brings with him 20 years of account management and sales development experience, and has been with Travelport since 2011.

In his new role, Kong will lead in the execution of Travelport technology, as well as oversee Travelport’s commercial operations to drive growth across the region, while reporting to Carole Oh, Travelport’s commercial director for Singapore, Malaysia & Philippines.

Prior to joining Travelport, he worked for a number of other technology companies in sales and account management including Abacus, Amadeus, Creative Advances Technology and E-globalfocus.