WITH trade between China and India growing exponentially and load factors as high as 82 per cent on routes linking the two countries, Air China is looking into establishing more flights to India, said a spokesperson from the airline.

The carrier is currently conducting a market study as it intends to launch two new flights – Ahmedabad-Shanghai and Hyderabad-Beijing – according to Tang Zhongling, general manager Mumbai, Air China, who was unable to give a start date for the flights.

She observed: “The satisfactory growth of passenger load is encouraging us to add flights to other cities in China as part of our growth plans for India. We intend to make the Mumbai service a daily one in the near future.”

Air China currently operates a total of 11 weekly services: Mumbai-Chengdu via Shanghai boasting an 82 per cent load factor; Delhi-Beijing with 78 per cent; and Bengaluru-Shanghai with 76 per cent.

Tang said 65 per cent of Indian travellers visited China for business, while the rest travelled for leisure or to visit friends and relatives.

Rajendra Dhumma, director, Classis Travel & Tour, said: “We are getting healthy growth in demand for China and if more cities are added to the airline’s network, we (will likely) see more business travel and MICE clients.”

Subhash Goyal, chairman, STIC Travel Group, commented: “As the Air China representatives in south and west India, we are eager to grow flights to multiple cities in India. I see signs of robust tourism growth of 20 per cent year-on-year, from India to China and vice versa, in the coming years.”

He said some 85,000 Indians visited China in 2012 and 46,000 did the same in 1H2013.

HONG Kong witnessed the launch of its first Pentahotel this week with the debut of Pentahotel Hong Kong, Kowloon.

Located a few minutes’ walk from the Diamond Hill MTR station, the property features 695 New York loft-style inspired guestrooms and the Pentalounge which combines a lobby, reception area, bar and café into a single venue.

Two games rooms, Internet corners and music stations within the Pentalounge also provide recreation options to guests and neighbourhood residents alike.

The hotel comes with two F&B outlets: eatstreet@pentalounge for local dishes, Western comfort foods and desserts by local celebrity pastry chef Tony Wong, and the pizzabar for Italian-style pizza.

Other facilities and amenities include free hotel-wide Wi-Fi, in-room smartphone docking, smartphone charging service and digital check-in and check-out.

To celebrate the launch of Pentahotel Hong Kong, Kowloon, guests who stay at the hotel anytime until September 30 can enjoy rates starting from HK$888 (US$114) per night, subject to availability. Guests who take up Pentahotel Hong Kong’s promotion will enjoy hotel-wide Wi-Fi and two daily buffet breakfasts at eatstreet@pentalounge, excluding service charge.

The hotel’s two eateries will also be dangling 20 per cent discounts for all guests and drop-in customers until September 30.

TRAVEL consultants with brick-and-mortar agencies in Singapore are reiterating the importance of service quality, in the face of the rising number of complaints against agencies and a particular OTA as reported in The Straits Times last week.

According to the local broadsheet, the Consumer Association of Singapore (Case) had received 732 complaints against travel consultants in 1H2013.

It heard 1,436 complaints last year, 1,396 in 2011 and 994 in 2010, with gripes ranging from unsatisfactory service to the inability to obtain refunds.

ASA Holidays’ head of marketing communications, Eileen Oh, said: “With cut-throat competition and customers being spoilt for choice, many travel consultants choose to compete on prices to lure customers, which inevitably leads to compromises in qualities and standards.

“We emphasise a lot on customer service and strive for differentiation so as to draw benefits from value creation instead of price difference.”

Case has also received 48 complaints against ZUJI since 2011 – making it the only OTA with official complaints lodged.

National Association of Travel Agents Singapore (NATAS) COO, Anita Tan, said: “The challenge with some OTAs is that in order to provide customers with greater convenience, bookings are often done through portals and payment gateways and this eliminates the knowledgeable and trained travel consultant from the picture.

“The travel consultant professional is someone that customers will be able count on for help in the event of an emergency.”

Alicia Seah, senior vice president of marketing and PR, CTC Travel, said: “In this industry which is getting saturated with travel consultants, it is important for us to make a difference with our service delivery to make our customers come back.”

According to Seah, CTC has approximately 60,000 customers every year of which 70 per cent are repeat, and receives fewer than five complaints annually.

At the same time, NATAS’ Tan observed: “Singaporeans made an estimated eight million trips (in 2012). With such high volumes of outbound travel, there is the probability of receiving more complaint cases.”

To ensure quality in the industry, NATAS rolled out an accreditation scheme recognising professional travel consultants in March this year (TTG Asia e-Daily, June 10, 2013).

COMPETITION in the Delhi NCR hospitality sector is anticipated to intensify as the hotels in the Delhi Aerocity region were last week granted security clearances that had previously stalled openings and development (TTG Asia e-Daily, February 15, 2013).

The opening of 11 properties in Aerocity will add some 5,000 rooms to the region’s inventory, putting pressure on average room rates (ARR) at a time when hotels are already experiencing a fall in rates.

According to HVS India, occupancy at upscale and luxury hotels in Delhi for 2012/2013 hovered at 60 per cent, with ARRs between Rs8,000-8,500 (US$130-138), a six to seven per cent year-on-year fall.

Mandav Thadani, chairman, HVS India, said: “Over the last two years, growth in supply in the Delhi NCR market have caused city centre hotels to see a decline in demand. This trend is expected to continue in the short term as well. Going forward, with the entry of the Aerocity hotels, occupancy and rate pressures over the next two to three years remain imminent.”

Vishvapreet Singh Cheema, general manager, Radisson Blu Plaza Delhi, expects a 15 to 20 per cent rationalisation of ARRs once all Aerocity properties open. Cheema said the hotel had already upgraded its property, including its meeting space, to rise to the anticipated challenge.

However, Cheema predicted that the new hotels would increase the amount of transit arrivals in the city.

“Yes, there will be initial pressure on ARRs across the city, but after a couple of years it should bounce back to where it is today,” he opined.

Maahesh S Aiyer, vice president-operations, Lemon Tree Premier, pointed out: “All new supply creates new demand. Moreover, (there will not be a deluge in supply as) only three hotels will open first.”

TTG Asia e-Daily understands that only three hotels in the region – Lemon Tree Premier, Ibis Delhi Airport and JW Marriott Hotel New Delhi Aerocity – are ready to start operations, while the rest remain under development.

HVS’ Thadani also said that Aerocity, with a collective and significant amount of meeting spaces, would likely attract a strong MICE sector in the medium to long-term.

THE overcrowded Phuket International Airport will soon be granted a breather, thanks to Airports of Thailand’s endorsement last week of a 145 million baht (US$4.6 million) budget to construct a temporary airport terminal.

According to the Bangkok Post, the terminal is a stopgap measure to deal with the severe space crunch at the airport before its main expansion wraps up in 2015, and will add room for an extra three million passengers a year.

Located away from the existing terminal, the temporary facility is expected to be completed in December, equipped with 10 check-in counters and receive passengers on international charter flights.

Phuket International Airport, whose traffic volume is expected to hit 10.5 million in 2013, was built to handle 6.5 million passengers annually, said the Bangkok Post.

The ongoing main expansion will increase Phuket’s annual passenger handling to 12.5 million, and the Airports of Thailand board is presently mulling the construction of a second runway to meet future demand growth.