TRAVELLERS from Saudi Arabia now form the largest user base of metasearch engine Wego out of all the Gulf states, with trending overseas destinations including Jakarta and Kuala Lumpur.

According to Mohamad Ibrahim Masri, managing director, Wego Middle East and North Africa: “Travellers from Saudi Arabia are now considering (flight and accommodation) options at over 2,000 destinations for trips this summer, representing a huge opportunity for the industry.

“Almost seven in 10 transactions online are for air ticket purchases averaging over US$1,600, the highest in the region. Accommodation is also averaging almost US$900 per booking.”

On what Saudi Arabian travellers were searching for, Jakarta made up eight per cent of search volumes to August, more than doubling in three years. Istanbul and Kuala Lumpur are also gaining traction.

For inbound, Wego singled out the United Arab Emirates as seeing strong demand especially for flights from Asia. South Asia dominates a quarter of the total, with growth from Malaysia, Singapore and Indonesia also registered.

“Travel suppliers and intermediaries from the Gulf states should now be building their brands to cater to new online audiences in these markets, especially the burgeoning middle classes demonstrating greater purchasing power and intent,” said Masri.

The press release credited the spike in demand for flights to UAE to the recent Emirates and Qantas alliance (TTG Asia e-Daily, March 27, 2013), Etihad Airways and Virgin Australia’s codeshare pact and Etihad’s newly minted agreement with Air France, resulting in a boost for major hubs in the UAE.

SINGAPORE Airlines (SIA) is adding a new Surabaya service to its network and will increase the frequencies of outbound flights to Bali and Jakarta.

From July 26, SIA will take over one of subsidiary SilkAir’s two daily Surabaya flights, deploying 285-seat Airbus A330-300 aircraft to increase SIA-SilkAir capacity on the route by almost 50 per cent.

Surabaya-bound flights depart Singapore at 07.50 and arrive at 09.10, while return flights leave at 10.30 to reach Singapore at 13.35.

On the same day, the carrier will add its ninth daily service to Jakarta. Flights leave Singapore at 16.25 and touch down at 17.10, taking off at 18.10 and arriving at 20.45 on the return leg.

SIA will also kick off a fourth daily service to Denpasar, with the aircraft scheduled to depart Singapore at 07.00 and land at 09.35 every day. Singapore-bound flights leave Denpasar at 21.45 and arrive the next day at 00.15.

The airline is the latest to beef up Singapore-Indonesia links, with SilkAir (TTG Asia e-Daily, May 3, 2013) and Tiger Airways (TTG Asia e-Daily, May 7, 2013) having made recent announcements.

ASIAROOMS.COM’S survey on online accommodation bookings has found that travellers prefer to pay for their rooms upon checkout rather than at the point of booking.

The AsiaRooms.com Traveller Confidence Index 2013 revealed that 29 per cent of all respondents would prefer paying upon checkout. In comparison, 24 per cent would pay a basic room rate in advance and 23 per cent would fork out an advance deposit.

When it came to preferred payment methods, credit and charge cards took tops with 70 per cent, followed by debit cards with 37 per cent.

Clarence Lin, brand development lead, AsiaRooms.com, commented: “Customers appreciate the convenience of a simple accommodation booking experience that comes with a guaranteed stay and future payment options.”

The same survey stated that Asian travellers were mostly likely to book their business and leisure trips online. Some 75.2 per cent of respondents from Asia said they had purchased travel online within the last year, up 4.9 per cent from last year’s index and above the global average of 65.4 per cent.

Singaporeans took the crown when it came to booking trips online, with 84.3 per cent of respondents from the Lion City having made an online booking in the last 12 months.

Travellers are also less price-sensitive compared to the year before. The number of Asian travellers who cited affordability as a reason for lower accommodation usage in the coming year fell 17.5 per cent from last year.

Singaporeans once again led in accommodation spend per night at US$132, besting the global (US$115) and regional average (US$122). The survey noted that Singapore travellers spent more nights overseas and more per night on accommodation.

Commissioned by AsiaRooms.com in partnership with VisionOne UK, responses were collated from more than 12,000 online participants in over 25 major international markets across Asia-Pacific, America and Europe.

WITH over 70 per cent of Indian arrivals still first-time tourists to Malaysia, the country’s NTO will continue to push traditional destinations.

Tourism Malaysia’s director for India, P Manoharan, said holidays in Kuala Lumpur, Penang, Resorts World Genting and Malacca would be emphasised in its promotions to Tier Two and Tier Three cities.

Luxury Tours Malaysia’s senior manager, Arokia Das, commented: “Many first-time travellers to Malaysia from Tier Two and Tier Three cities are middle-aged and spend quite a bit on shopping.

“They tend to do dual destinations, combining Malaysia with Singapore,” he added.

According to Manoharan, the East Malaysian states of Sabah and Sarawak appeal to mature travellers looking for an experiential holiday in offbeat destinations.

He also shared that Tourism Malaysia was increasing its focus on online marketing. “Online marketing has a wider reach and is more cost-effective compared to print and electronic media.”

The NTO has set a target of 780,000 arrivals from India this year, up from last year’s 691,271.

TRAVEL agencies across India are banding together to close for business today in protest against a cut in commissions.

According to Jay Bhatia, chairman – Western region, Travel Agents Association of India (TAAI), at least 1,000 travel consultants have pledged not to open today. Large international travel companies who declined to be named have said they will remain closed, and other associations such as the Travel Agents Federation of India have also thrown their weight behind the move.

At the heart of the issue is the zero commission policy, which India’s travel trade has repeatedly lobbied against since it took effect in January. Discussions with airlines and the Directorate General of Civil Aviation have not yielded positive results.

The impact has also been exacerbated by the recent unbundling of services from airfare prices (TTG Asia e-Daily, May 2, 2013).

Lamented a travel consultant who requested anonymity: “We are already not making any money from booking air tickets.”

As of this morning, a letter of appeal had made rounds on social media to IATA and non-IATA agencies asking them to remain shut.

Iqbal Mulla, president, TAAI, said: “National and international airlines have adopted unethical practices which are not in favour of the passenger or the consultant.

“We need to safeguard the rights of consultants and issues affecting their business and threatening their survival such as the weekly settlement system, disparity in fares, etc.”

Bhatia added: “We need to stop this cartelisation of airlines. We need to regulate fares (especially during holidays and long weekends) and ensure that airlines maintain complete transparency in setting airfares.”

He said travel consultants demanded a regulatory body to prevent the exploitation of airfares, while also challenging the conversion of the existing fortnightly payment to a weekly one.

Bhatia estimated that the one-day shutdown would cost airlines an estimated Rs1 billion (US$18.2 million) in business from Mumbai alone, while a TAAI source said airlines would lose Rs400 million from New Delhi.

By Renuka Vijay Kumar

THE number of flights between Singapore and Indonesia is going up yet again, with Tiger Airways being the latest to announce the launch of daily services to Jogjakarta and Bandung.

Beginning July 1, flights will depart Singapore for Jogjakarta at 13.05 and arrive at 14.20. On the return leg, flights leave Jogjakarta at 14.50 and touch down in Singapore at 18.05.

The new Bandung service starts on August 1, with flights to depart Singapore at 10.15 and land at 11.00 every day. Return flights leave Bandung at 11.40 and reach at 14.35.

The LCC currently operates routes to five other Indonesian destinations from Singapore, namely Bali, Medan, Jakarta, Pekanbaru and Surabaya.

Ho Yuen Sang, managing director, Tiger Airways Singapore, said: “Indonesia is the fourth most populous country in the world, and is one of the world’s fastest-growing aviation markets.

“The Jakarta airport is currently experiencing some air traffic congestion… To better facilitate air travel between the two countries, Tiger Airways have decided to bring its services to more second-tier cities.”

SilkAir had last week announced it would launch thrice-weekly flights from Singapore to Semarang and Makassar, to commence on July 29 and August 1 respectively (TTG Asia e-Daily, May 3, 2013).

Tiger Airways has rolled out S$10 (US$8) promotional fares to mark the launch of the new routes, excluding taxes and other charges. Reservations can be made from today until May 13, for travel between July 1, 2013 and March 29, 2014.

INBOUND tourism in the Middle East is on an upward trajectory, according to the World Travel & Tourism Council’s (WTTC) Economic Impact 2013, which predicted a positive future ahead for the region’s tourism sector.

Speaking ahead of the opening of the Arabian Travel Mart 2013, Reed Travel Exhibitions’ portfolio director, Mark Walsh, said tourism contributed US$76.6 billion to GDP regionally in 2013, a number that should grow 4.2 per cent this year.

Walsh highlighted Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) as bright spots in the region.

In the UAE, industry investment will grow 12 per cent from last year’s US$22.5 billion.

According to reports by Bloomberg and Reuters, Dubai last week released the Dubai Vision for Tourism 2020 programme to develop tourism, aiming to double visitors to 20 million by 2020 and triple tourism receipts to 300 billion dirhams (US$81.7 billion).

The plan outlined three focus areas: promoting the state as a family destination and the regional MICE capital, and increased emphasis on business visitors.

In Oman, the government has injected US$39 million into the development of the Dhofar province to promote its annual Khareef or monsoon festival, while room capacity is predicted to grow at a compounded annual growth rate of 5.3 per cent from now until 2016, boosting its current 5,331 rooms by another 2,000 by end-2013.

On the other hand, Qatar is ramping up to host the 2022 FIFA World Cup. A US$65 billion investment plan will see more than 85,000 new hotel rooms come on stream and Qatar is forecast to welcome 3.7 million visitors yearly by 2022.

In Saudi Arabia, the WTTC estimated tourist arrivals would grow at a compounded annual growth rate of four per cent by 2022, driven by expansion in all sectors including religious, business and leisure travel. Authorities have earmarked US$80 billion for key infrastructure projects including airport expansion, railways and roads.

A NEW charity half marathon is set to debut in the UNESCO World Heritage site of Luang Prabang this October, with proceeds pledged to go directly to the race’s beneficiaries.

Scheduled to take place on October 5, Luang Prabang Half Marathon: La Procession comprises three race routes: the half marathon, a 14km race and a 7km race to allow all members of the family to participate.

Limited to only 500 international runners to avoid overloading the town’s infrastructure, the race will offer runners a chance to pass through many of Luang Prabang’s historical sites.

The race route also draws inspiration from the daily procession of monks that walk through the town each morning collecting offerings.

Costs of the race are fully covered by corporate sponsors. Instead of usual entry fees, runners can make donations directly through online fundraising pages.

Proceeds from the race will go towards funding Friends International, a social enterprise benefiting children and youth in South-east Asia.

“In many of the destination races, after the costs of race fees, flights and hotels, less than one per cent of an average runner’s spend goes to the charities. By restructuring the registration and funding process, we hope to change that,” said founding race organiser and HSBC equities director, Michael Gilmore.