William Marshall

WILLIAM “Willie” Marshall, general manager, planning & support of the Outrigger Asia-Pacific Corporate Office, died in his sleep at his home in Phuket on November 3.

He passed in his sleep at his home in Phuket on November 3, and the specific cause of death is yet unknown.

Marshall joined Outrigger in 2012 and brought over 37 years’ experience and extensive industry knowledge to his role, having spent his career holding many different positions all around the world including the UK, France, China, the Bahamas and Japan.

Darren Edmonstone, managing director, Asia-Pacific for Outrigger Hotels and Resorts, said in a press release: “Many will remember Willie for his unwavering passion, professionalism and commitment. Willie was liked by all who ever had the good fortune to meet with him.

“We will miss Willie very much. He was an important member of the Outrigger APAC management team and a good friend to us all. He will be long-remembered in the hospitality industry and it was an honour to be colleagues at Outrigger with Willie.

“We will remember him always with respect, fondness and warmest aloha.”

Marshall is survived by his wife and two children.

CVBs and meetings suppliers must step up to help PCOs and clients comply with the laws regarding international healthcare meetings and education seminars, which are changing the way such events are executed, said sector specialists leading an education session at the 52^nd ICCA Congress.

Lisa Sullivan, managing director of In Vivo Communications which is involved in pharmaceutical and medical events held in various destinations, noted that some laws require doctors to pay their own attendance fee, prohibit the use of luxury hotels and cap the price of hosted meals for delegates.

“Many countries have their own laws and regulations, so PCOs handling events with delegates from multiple nations must be aware of all the various laws,” Sullivan said, who added that the minimum requirement of the law could be applied to all delegates for the sake of easier logistics control.

“So if the strictest of laws says the cost of a delegate meal cannot exceed RMB300 (US$50), we will apply that to delegates of all nationalities,” she explained.

Event content must also improve significantly to convince doctors to pay for attendance, opined Annalisa Ponchia Baccara, executive officer, European Society for Organ Transplantation, Italy.

Martin N Jensen, co-president, International Pharmaceutical Congress Advisory Association, Switzerland, said some laws also dictate when a delegate should arrive or depart a meeting destination for expense claims to be valid.

“If there are no flights out of the destination within the specified time after the event concludes, the delegate may just choose to cut short his participation and fly home (on the earliest available flight),” Jensen said.

Sullivan added that “the additional systems that must be in place” would cost more money and manpower to implement, and PCOs must now find a way to cover these expenses.

CVBs and meetings suppliers can help PCOs and clients comply with laws by identifying venues that offer prices that comply with regulations, suggested Sheriff Karamat, COO, Professional Convention Management Association.

“Most importantly, CVBs and PCOs in Asia must understand the implications of these laws and regulations on future bids and events and adapt to them. Currently, not enough of them do,” warned Sullivan.

*Our article previously named Lisa Sullivan as managing director of INVIVO Communications. This was inaccurate and has been rectified. 

CARLSON Rezidor Hotel Group has partnered mega developer SM Hotels and Conventions to affix its mid-market brand Park Inn by Radisson to at least 10 more hotels in the Philippines.

Lyle Lewis, vice president – Philippines and Japan of Carlson Rezidor Hotel Group and general manager of Radisson Blu Hotel Cebu, said: “SM is identifying five new sites and pursuing five additional locations for Park Inn by Radisson, highlighting the strong mutual intent to grow the presence of the brand over the next five to eight years.”

Locations under consideration include Iloilo, Bacolod and North EDSA in Manila. Lewis added that the brand’s colourful and innovative design is a good fit for all primary, secondary and tertiary cities in the Philippines.

The two companies will also launch the 150-room Park Inn by Radisson Clark in Pampanga, which opens in 2016 beside SM Mall of Asia and SMX Convention Center.

Elizabeth T Sy, president of SM Hotels and Conventions, commented: “Park Inn by Radisson is a hotel brand that appeals to the domestic market of 35 million travellers, which is also our target clientele for SM Mall.”

She explained that the management agreement for Park Inn by Radisson Clark reflected the company’s vision of providing a mid-scale hotel brand alongside its SM mall and convention centre.

THE Travel Corporation, which owns brands such as Trafalgar, Insight Vacations, Contiki and Uniworld, reports that its commission payments to travel agencies are up 30 per cent over last year, leading its president and CEO, Brett Tollman, to dismiss any notion that the days of the wholesale-retail model are numbered.

“I was at WTTC (World Travel & Tourism Council) summit in Abu Dhabi and some (consultant) from Boston Consulting Group stood up and declared that travel agencies are dead; the wholesaler is dead.

“Well, we’re having our best year ever and business with our travel agencies is up. Our travel agency commission payments this year are up 30 per cent over last year – highest than any year in our history,” he said.

CEO of Trafalgar, Gavin Tollman, said business from travel agencies in Singapore rose 71 per cent this year over 2012, a record-breaking growth rate in the history of the company and far surpassing the overall worldwide increase of 28 per cent for the brand.

“I believe in the agency distribution model, with a caveat. I believe agencies that do their job – qualify their customers, add value to the cycle, follow up, who are consultants and not order-takers – not only have a future, but can prosper unbelievably in the travel industry,” he said.

Asked why so many agencies in Asia are struggling to survive, Tollman said: “As in any industry, you have good and bad businesses. Some agencies focus only on selling, for example, cheap cruises. The average Uniworld commission is US$1,800 per booking, because 95 per cent are couples travelling together and we don’t do massive discounting. If more consultants sold our products, they would not have cash-flow problems.

“If you sell a package where you earn US$10 on air, US$30 on room, etc, you cannot make money. And to prosper, it’s not just about selling our type of product, you need to be knowledgeable, responsive…my father always said, there is no bad business, only bad managers.”

– Read the full report in News Analysis in TTG Asia November 15 issue

ANTI-GOVERNMENT protests in Bangkok are unlikely to have a significant effect on Thailand’s tourism industry, according to travel specialists, however the risk of disruption will increase if the demonstrators dig in for the long haul.

Police said some 10,000 demonstrators gathered at Democracy Monument yesterday to protest against a bill passed by the lower House last week. The bill is up for approval by the senate next week, though many commentators think this unlikely.

Outbound operators and wholesalers are fielding an increasing number of calls from customers who are worried that the domestic political situation will affect their travel plans, but cancellations remain relatively low, Suthipong Pheunphiphop, president of Thai Travel Agents Association, told TTG Asia e-Daily.

“About half of the outbound operators and consultants we have spoken to are being asked to reconfirm whether they can still operate their tours,” he said. “Most of them insist they can. Cancellations are currently less than five per cent.”

Inbound tourism should also remain unaffected as most international visitors will have booked their trips months ago and the political problems should dissipate within the next couple of weeks to a month, he said.

“Most inbound travel consultants don’t expect a big effect from the rallies. Thailand often has protests (which don’t have much effect on other people). Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) and Association of Thai Travel Agents are working closely together to keep everybody informed of what’s going on. Hopefully this will be over in a week or so if the senate rejects the bill. Otherwise the demonstrations could last for a month.”

TAT in a statement yesterday advised tourists to avoid rally sites but said businesses, attractions and airports remained open, and said demonstrations have not spread to other parts of the country.

SPANISH hotel chain Riu Hotels & Resorts is diving into Asian waters with its first management agreement for a five-star hotel in Sri Lanka.

The tie-up with Aitken Spence Hotels will see Aitken Spence invest US$100 million in the 500-room, Riu-branded hotel, according to sources.

Construction on the first Riu hotel project in the Asia-Pacific region will begin in June 2014 and wrap up by winter 2015.

Aitken Spence’s managing director, Malin Hapugoda, told TTG Asia e-Daily that the project is coming up on an 11-hectare site at Ahungalla in southern Sri Lanka, where Aitken Spence had earlier planned to build a Six Senses hotel (TTG Asia e-Daily, January 15, 2013).

The project was eventually called off this year due to funding problems on the part of The Soneva Group (TTG Asia e-Daily, January 17, 2011).

Hapugoda, speaking to TTG Asia e-Daily in a telephone interview from London where he is attending the World Travel Mart, said Riu is also collaborating with Germany-based TUI Travel group to operate charter flights.

Flights will be serviced with a Boeing 787 Dreamliner, carrying between 200 and 300 passengers at a time, and expected to land at Mahinda Rajapaksa International Airport at Mattala in Hambantota district, which opened earlier this year.

Founded in 1953 in Mallorca, Spain, the family-owned Riu Hotels & Resorts has over 100 hotels in 16 countries across North America, Central America, the Caribbean, Europe and Africa. The company has since begun rolling out a new brand of city hotels called Riu Plaza in 2010.

FAR East Hospitality’s (FEH) Peranakan-themed Village Hotel Katong is ready to open its doors tomorrow, with a mission to deliver a taste of Singapore culture as the flagship property of the Village brand.

CEO Arthur Kiong said: “The Peranakan culture is unique to the South-east Asia region and synonymous with the Katong precinct (where the property is located), and is one that fascinates both locals and travellers. There is so much more to Singapore than the usual same old Orchard Road. We know that the Singapore Tourism Board’s strategy now is to  promote the neighbourhood precincts and we are the answer to this strategy.”

To reflect the colourful Peranakan heritage of the surrounding Katong and Joo Chiat district in Singapore, all rooms in the 229-key hotel don vibrant Peranakan-inspired motifs, paintings and carpets.

To literally provide guests a local flavour, Kiong added that the hotel’s Katong Kitchen whips up an array of dishes reflective of the district – including Nonya and local fare like chap chye (mixed vegetables) and Katong laksa (spicy noodle soup).

Village Hotel Katong is a 10-minute drive to Singapore Expo and a 15-minute drive from Singapore Changi Airport. Kiong said he expects the the bulk of guests to come from corporates, due to the hotel’s location.

“We are targeting about 40 per cent business travellers, 35 per cent FITs and perhaps 10 per cent local Singaporeans for staycations,” he commented, adding that FEH aims to attract travellers on the Kangaroo Route who will “probably stay in Singapore for one or two days, and (the hotel’s) close proximity to the airport will be useful”.

Kiong predicts that FEH’s Village concept will appeal especially to the Australians and Japanese who enjoy such “unique cultural concepts”.

The hotel has five meeting rooms, the largest of which can seat 150 in theatre style. Other hotel amenities include complimentary Wi-Fi access, airport shuttle service, cable TV, swimming pool and gym.

ROADS and attractions in the province of Bohol have reopened and a recovery plan for Cebu and Bohol is in the works, as the region’s tourism industry gets back on track following the recent earthquake disaster.

According to a statement issued by the Philippines’ Department of Tourism (DoT), attractions such as the Loboc River Cruise, Tarsier Habitat and Chocolate Hills Adventure Park have begun welcoming visitors once again.

Roads leading to tourist places of interest are also now passable, with roads from Tagbilaran City to Carmen via Corella already open to cars and vans.

The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) has pledged to support the recovery of Bohol and Cebu through the development of a recovery plan.

The plan includes a communication strategy to bring back the confidence of domestic and international travellers and of the communities, the assessment of tourism infrastructure and assets to be prioritised for rehabilitation by agencies concerned, international donors, development partners, national and local government agencies, and the private sector.

It also extends to product development for new tourism circuits, governance programmes, and long-term initiatives to sustain growth, mitigate risk of crises and increase preparedness of tourism destinations in the event of disasters such as the recent earthquake (TTG Asia e-Daily, October 16, 2013).

DoT has postponed the United Nations World Tourism Organization’s 5^th World Ecotourism Conference, originally scheduled to take place in Cebu and Bohol between November 13 and 15, to 1Q2014 (TTG Asia e-Daily, October 30, 2013).