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.”