CHANGES are afoot at Archipelago Hotels and Resorts, a Malaysian hotel management company launched last year, with its structure and directions in flux.

Speculation is rife that Archipelago will be disbanded, and that it may be integrated into Destination Resorts & Hotels (DRH), the company set up by Khazanah Nasional, the Malaysian government’s investment arm, with the specific aim of developing premier lifestyle destinations to enhance Malaysia’s tourism portfolio.

Khazanah completed a 51 per cent acquisition of Archipelago early this year, according to Eliena Ahmad Gaman, DRH director-corporate strategy. When asked if Archipelago and its team would continue to exist, she said: “It is still early days. We’re still trying to work with the management team and think through how to move forward with them. At the moment it is intact but there could be further changes.”

Contacted by the Daily, Archipelago’s managing director Franz Zeller would only say: “Archipelago Hotels and Resorts is undergoing an internal reorganisation exercise to better align its business focus. It is expected to announce an enhanced business direction in weeks to come.”

Eliena said the acquisition of Archipelago was a means to obtain the skill set in hotel management and operation.

“Malaysia as a destination has a lot of untapped potential and it requires an investor and player like us to help spur the growth. We felt that if we were going to be a key player in this sector, there was also a need to build up a management brand in terms of hotel services.”

WITH growing affluence and a steadily recovering rupee, more Indian travellers are seeking new destinations in Asia and beyond, a trend reported by several Indian tour companies at ITB Asia 2012.

Said C N Shanmugham, vice president-South India, Travel Tours: “In the early days, Indian travellers used to be crazy about shopping in Thailand and Singapore, but now India has everything they want (for shopping).

“They are now keen to visit countries such as Myanmar and Russia. The Maldives, Mauritius and the Philippines are also coming up.”

In the first half of 2012, Travel Tours recorded a 20 per cent year-on-year increase in demand among Indians for Russia and Myanmar, and is seeing robust forward bookings for 2013.

Similar trends were observed by Cox & Kings India global head-sales, Rajat Gera, who remarked that Indian travellers, particularly the wealthy ones, are more inclined to forego shopping experiences in Thailand and Singapore for “unexplored destinations and tailor-made experiences”.

Indian travellers now want bragging rights, noted Gera.

Even far-flung destinations such as Peru are coming onto the travel radar of Indian outbound tourists, observed Guru Sharma, managing director of Travel Group Peru.

The Lima-based firm has recorded a 35 per cent gain in bookings from India between January and September this year, and expects the demand from India to grow further in the coming year.

He remarked: “Indians love to travel to two or three countries when they visit South America, often combining Brazil, Argentina and Peru.

“Brazil’s Christ the Redeemer and Peru’s Machu Picchu are big draws for Indians, as are the natural waterfalls.”

However, the rising interest in exotic destinations has not replaced the appeal of traditional ones, Cox & Kings’ Gera pointed out.

US-BASED adventure travel aggregator AdventureLink is looking to enter the Asian market with a new agent interface that will be launched in the region next year, offering access to around 12,000 trips across 130 countries.

Calling it the “largest system in the world for booking adventure travel”, founder and CEO, Kelly Tompkins, said his “well-rounded” inventory consists of land packages ranging from African safaris to cycling wine tours in France, contracted with major tour operators such as G Adventures and Intrepid Travel, as well as family-run boutique outfits. Air content will also be available soon, with at least one airline already onboard.

Dangling commissions of 10-15 per cent, Tompkins said: “It’s the largest commission opportunity available today. Our average booking is US$5,000…We’re proponents of (travel consultants), and we’re giving them the tool set to become specialists in adventure travel.”

AdventureLink is seeking distribution partners who will allow it to gain access to the agency community in Asia, with markets of interest being Thailand, Singapore and Japan.

Tompkins said he would be introducing the interface in North America first by January 2013, before rolling it out in Asia. There is an earlier version of the platform, but the new one has been redeveloped to include direct connections into major tour operator systems to provide real-time availability and pricing information.

For those who don’t want to use an agency login, it is possible to embed the company’s widgets on their websites and receive commissions from bookings that originate there or integrate the trips into their websites using an API.

Established in 2006, 90 per cent of AdventureLink’s business is from B2B partners, which includes OTAs, leisure travel agencies and even consumer publications that want to feature adventure travel products. The company recently established a partnership with Orbitz, and is also in talks with Travelport to distribute its content.

Tompkins said: “The adventure travel market is estimated to be growing at 17 per cent a year by the Adventure Travel Trade Association. That’s higher growth than most other travel products. This is a US$89 billion market, and it’s being fuelled by ageing baby boomers who are looking for these types of experiential travel opportunities. However, (the market is) very fragmented…so we’re trying to put all the information into one place.”

B2B PLAYERS are expanding in Asia, eager to feed rising demand from both brick-and-mortar agencies and OTAs.

Singapore-based Asiatravel.com, a pioneer in B2C in Asia, has unveiled its TAcentre.com, Asia’s first online wholesale system that offers not just hotels but FHTs (flight/hotel/tours), which can be booked with instant confirmation. TUI Travel’s Hotelbeds will unveil expansion plans in Asia-Pacific on Wednesday, while another wholesaler, UK-based Jac Travel, aims to open an office in Asia by year-end. It recently appointed a head of sales for South-east Asia, Ali Jones.

A continued travel boom in Asia despite slowing economic growth is ensuring the longevity of brick-and-mortar agencies, according to Asiatravel.com executive chairman Boh Tuang Poh. Jac Travel too said its growth was coming from a mix of wholesalers, travel agencies and new Asian OTAs.

B2B players are jostling for a position as the competition heats up. TACentre banks on having the best rates and widest inventory. Its 17 years of local presence throughout Asia has helped it seal “real” relationships with suppliers, said Fred Seow, vice president-marketing.

“Agencies face two issues, rising costs and manpower difficulties. Customers meanwhile want varying places – their demand exceeds agencies’ operational readiness. We hope to fill this gap by offering the widest inventory and best rates, which can be booked 24/7 online with instant confirmation. This frees the agency to do what it does best, i.e. service the customer,” he said.

Seow said the inventory comprised 100,000 products (including packages, hotels, flights and tours) and the aim was to boost this to one million products by 2013. Currently, there are 44 FHT packages for Singapore to Hong Kong alone.

Jac Travel’s CEO, Mario Bodini, said the company intends to compete by offering excellent customer service and a wide range of handpicked, independent boutique hotels rather than contracting all hotels.

“The market is tough, with lots of barriers for new players such as having the right technology, working capital and the correct product range,” he said.

Agencies interviewed said they use both traditional and online wholesalers, often comparing products, prices and availability.

Lisa Alip, managing director of East Coast Adventure Travel & Tours in Johor Bahru, said: “We look for the best deals and convenience. Right now, I think only TACentre offers instant confirmation, so that’s an edge.”

Morteza Khodaparast, executive director of Gloree Tours & Travels Singapore, said he preferred Asiatravel as its customer service was excellent. “If we need to make a change in booking, for example, they are flexible.”

FORMER director Asia-Pacific of Relais & Chateaux, Stéphane Junca, has gone on to establish his own hotel representation company, Secret Retreats, which will be launched in Singapore this Friday.

His partners in the new firm are Bruno Ferret, a former tour operator who sold his company, Les Ateliers du Voyages, to Kuoni in 2009, and restaurateur/hotelier Frederico Asaro.

Junca told the Daily the long-term ambition of Secret Retreats was to be “the reference in Asia for clients who seek small and independent properties which are close to the community, respect culture and traditions, and are socially responsible”.

“Yes, we know there are many organisations which represent owners, but they are either chains and the hotels are not independent, or they are global hotel repesentation companies with no speciality, i.e. too large and too genaralist,” he said.

Junca said although Secret Retreats sells members’ rooms on its website (in English, French, Japanese and Mandarin), travel agencies, tour operators and DMCs are essential business. There is a dedicated section for the trade on its website (www.secret-retreats.com/en/travel_agents/sign_in). “The trade can register here. We collect their profile and match their preferences with our properties.

“We then encourage our members to build negotiated rates in our CRS for them, and they have protected access to availability and rates through the login and password. They can get an instant confirmation, subject to availability, from any of our members, even the very small and remote ones,” Junca said.

Currently, there are 33 members in 11 Asian countries in the portfolio. These include boutique hotels, villas, camps and boats.

“We will be enlarging the spread of our destinations to Sri Lanka, Nepal, Taiwan, Hong Kong and Singapore, but our aim is not to be another huge collection; we want to keep the essence of Asian culture and hospitality,” he said.