Asia humbles Starwood CEO, but no need for Asian-centric brand, he says

April 20, 2012

STARWOOD Hotels & Resorts Worldwide president & CEO, Frits van Paasschen, says the company is building better hotels thanks to growth in Asia, but shies away from the need to create an Asian-centric brand for Asian guests which can even be exported to the West.

US-based hotel chains have been successful in exporting their brands to Asia, but the rapid rise of Asian consumers has seen hotel companies prototyping brands native to Asia or tweaking existing ones to suit the needs of Asian guests.

InterContinental Hotels Group has just unveiled Hualuxe catering to the upscale Chinese traveller, while Accor is re-engineering ts Grand Mercure in China to cater to the domestic travel market.

But van Paasschen told TTG Asia e-Daily: “I don’t think of our brands as being Western brands, but global brands.

“The key to having a global brand is to appeal to basic human needs that cut across cultures, ages, generations and incomes. So a desire to have a sense of wellness and refuge in a hotel, a desire to be extravagant, to feel like you are in a creative atmosphere – those things cut across cultures.”

“The more important thing is not having a Chinese brand, or Japanese, or French. It is having global brands that work anywhere in the world,” he said.

During a panel discussion at the WTTC Global Summit, van Paasschen said “globalisation is not Westernisation” and that a huge fear he had was disappointing Asian customers staying in Starwood hotels in the West that might not meet their expectations.

“Sure, labour costs are lower in Asia, but Asians have this natural hospitality and Asia has raised the bar for us,” he said.

Parag Khanna, director, Hybrid Reality Institute, who keynoted the session on a rapidly-changing world, said that for the first time in history, “globalisation is truly global”, with all regions of the world being equal and important.

Van Paasschen, when queried by TTG Asia e-Daily if Starwood’s last real brand innovation was the W, said: “Oh no, I wouldn’t say that at all. We launched two brands three years ago, Aloft and Element, which I think are every bit as revolutionary in their segments as W. Even for a brand like Sheraton, which is 75 years old, to re-conceive the lobby as a cyber cafe very much current to the 21st century traveller is every bit a reinvention of an older brand as creating a new one.”

Asked if there are too many hotel brands in the market, creating consumer confusion, he said: “I don’t think ours are too many. We have nine brands today. I’m a half full kind of person and I think may be Sheraton is the only one I would say truly has a global scale, so we have plenty to do with the nine we have.”

Asked to comment on the retirement of Miguel Ko, the chain’s chairman and president in Asia-Pacific, van Paasschen said: “The important thing is to look at this is a planned retirement. We’re filling all of the open positions in sequence with internal executives and doing this at a time when our business is doing well. All of those things point to a healthy corporate culture.

“I couldn’t be more sorry to see a friend and an admired colleague leave than Miguel, but I also have no doubt we would not miss a beat in terms of what work we have to do. Miguel has also agreed to stay on as non-executive chairman, which reflects his deep relationship with Starwood.”

Effective July 1, Stephen Ho, currently senior vice president of acquisitions and development for Starwood China, will become president of Asia-Pacific. Qian Jin, currently head of Starwood’s operations for China, will be promoted to president of Greater China, reflecting the country’s importance for Asia-Pacific and the company.

Eight groups jump on new coalition to press case for tourism

By Raini Hamdi

April 20, 2012

EIGHT travel and related associations have jumped on a new coalition to press a case for tourism to governments.

As of now, the coalition comprises the WTTC, UNWTO, IATA, PATA, World Economic Forum, American Society of Travel Agents, Cruise Lines International Association, Airports Council International and the US Travel Association.

Their alliance was a result of a call in May last year by the WTTC for the industry to come together with one voice to effectively engage governments to give real support to tourism.

Governments continue to confound the industry with their bureaucratic visa processing and taxation policies, the UK APD and EU-ETS being the most odious taxes right now. These two current hot button issues – visas and taxes – reflect governments’ lack of real understanding of how tourism could support the economy, industry CEOs said.

IATA’s director-government and industry affairs, Jeff Poole, said IATA alone could not convince governments of the foolishness of taxation, which was why it joined the coalition. He scathingly said that “politicians don’t know, don’t want to know and when they do know, they don’t care”.

A tourism minister, South Africa’s Marthinus van Schalkwyk, said the sooner the industry organised itself property, the faster the government sector would engage it, rather than the other way round. He said while the coalition was fine, it was still too ‘loose’. It needed a permanent institutional mechanism that could effectively convey the industry’s unified view on a specific issue.

David Scowsill, WTTC’s president and CEO, said the coalition was about “coalescing around the same issue” and demonstrating a case through research findings and where it actually counted for politicians, for example, connecting jobs to visas.

The coalition’s immediate opportunity is to make a go of the G-20 leaders meeting in Los Cabos, Mexico, this June and present each G-20 country a “profile” of how its visa processing policies impact jobs. Preliminary findings of research for this campaign commissioned by WTTC and UNTO show, for example, that for every 37 extra visas the US issues, it is creating one job.

Scowsill also pointed out that it was thanks to intense lobbying by WTTC member CEOs such as Bill Marriott and Hubert Joly (Choice Hotels International) that “finally resulted in President Obama’s Executive Order to Hilary Clinton in the state department, to speed up visa processing from Brazil, China and other countries”.

Said Scowsill: “Only last week President Obama signed another significant agreement on the same visa issue with the Brazilian President, Dilma Rousseff. Obama finally ‘gets it’. Let’s hope he is still around after November, otherwise we will have to start over again with someone else.”

Philippine travel firms look to China, Taiwan to fill HK gap

By Rosa Ocampo

April 20, 2012

THE PHILIPPINES is courting China and Taiwan more aggressively as it seeks to recover from the nearly two-year-old travel ban issued by the Hong Kong government.

A resorts operator in the Visayas, who did not want to be named, said it was targeting group and FIT buyers in China and Taiwan to fill the gap left by a diminishing Hong Kong market, which used to comprise 30 per cent of its total business.

The company is emphasising to the Chinese and Taiwanese markets that the Philippines is a safe destination, especially with additional security measures in place, such as the creation of the Philippine National Police Crisis Action Force.

A Manila travel company, which also requested anonymity, said a positive development is the relaxation of visa policies later this year, which will allow senior citizens to stay in the Philippines for six months while giving them certain discount privileges.

Another welcome move is the extension of visa-free stays for tourists from 166 countries, including China and Taiwan, from 21 days to 30 days.

Still, the Philippines’ blacklist status continues to be a challenge for travel experts hoping to sell the destination.

Ken Chang, vice president, Associated Tours Hong Kong, and honorary secretary/treasurer, Hong Kong Association of Travel Agents, said leisure traffic had dropped by 30 to 40 per cent following the incident.

“Insurance companies also refuse to cover any form of travel to the Philippines because of the travel advisory,” he added.

Indonesia outlines plans to grow special tourism sectors

By Mimi Hudoyo

April 20, 2012

THE INDONESIAN Ministry of Tourism and Creative Economy is developing its special interest tourism portfolio, focusing on six sectors: cruise; culinary; golf and sports; spa and wellness; shopping; and diving and marine tourism.

Rizki Handayani, newly appointed marketing director of MICE and Special Interest Tourism, said: “Indonesia has all these products, with each sector having its own association and community, so we need to package and promote (the products) the right way to the right targets.”

Citing golf as an example, Rizki said Indonesia had not been successful in attracting golfers to play in the country despite having many world-class golf courses and a golf association. She plans to work with international golfing associations to promote the destination.

Rizki added that the NTO would also participate in special interest tradeshows and invite Indonesian industry players catering to these markets.

On the domestic front, her marketing division will collaborate with the product development department to create and package products to meet market demand.

SriLankan Airlines to begin direct flights to both Dubai and Kuwait

By Feizal Samath

April 20, 2012

SRILANKAN Airlines will start direct daily flights from Colombo to Kuwait and Dubai from May 1, replacing the current Kuwait-Dubai-Colombo route.

GT Jeyaseelan, chief marketing officer of SriLankan Airlines, told TTG Asia e-Daily that the direct flights were launched to meet increasing demand. Passengers from these two locations are mainly workers from Sri Lanka and India.

The airline also said it was increasing seat capacity to Saudi Arabia by adding a 314-seater Airbus A340 on the Colombo-Jeddah route to cater to a growing number of Muslims visiting Mecca during Ramadan.

The state-owned carrier has been reorganising its operations in recent times, adding more flights to Asian destinations, such as China and India, while reducing flights to Europe.

In early April, the airline announced the suspension of flights to Zurich, Rome and Milan during off-peak periods, citing rising fuel costs, operational costs and lower passenger loads. However, the decision was reversed a few days later, and the airline said it would keep the services going.

No reason was given by the airline, but some reports have said that the Catholic authorities had appealed to the government to continue the flights as many Sri Lankans visit the Vatican.

HRG Nepal launched to tap burgeoning business travel segment

By Karen Yue

April 20, 2012

NEPAL’S stabilising politics and better tourism infrastructure have fuelled a rising demand for corporate travel to the country, said the chief of the newly minted Hogg Robinson Group (HRG) Nepal.

HRG Nepal, established in April when Nepal-based Zenith Experiences Travel Services was appointed as HRG’s associate partner, is responsible for inbound and outbound corporate travel.

Mihika Dhakhwa, managing director of HRG Nepal, acknowledged that corporate travel was still in its infancy in Nepal, but believed there was a “growing demand for MICE and incentive travel to Nepal due to an improved tourism infrastructure”.

The country had witnessed a growing number of hotels, increased hotel and international airline bookings, and rising international visitor numbers since 2010, he added.

Dhakhwa said Nepal’s extensive adventure and cultural activities made it “an ideal place for incentives and conferences”.

He added: “Nepal’s rich nature has made tourism a backbone of its economy. In fact, Nepal’s leisure tourism industry is so strong that plenty of tourists still flocked to the country during times of turmoil.”

“However, while leisure travellers were willing to brave this risk, many companies hold a duty of care for their travellers and thus had been hesitant to send employees to Nepal for corporate trips due to the political instability.”

Room to grow

By Linda Haden

April 20, 2012

Demand for serviced apartments in Asia-Pacific is expected to grow this year but more needs to be done to realise the full potential of the market

From left: Ascott Raffles Place Singapore; Modena Putuo Shanghai; Oakwood Premier Pune

Serviced apartments in the Asia-Pacific region have been experiencing a reversal of fortunes since the global financial crisis (GFC) in late 2008 pummelled the sector.

Demand continued to rise last year and the uptrend is widely anticipated to spill into this year. Cheaper rates charged by serviced apartments – 15 to 20 per cent lower than before the GFC – are helping to fuel both business and leisure arrivals. Simultaneously, business travel, the core market for branded serviced operators, is growing at a robust pace within Asia as foreign direct investment continues to stream in and companies continue to extend their footprint in the region.

Frasers Hospitality’s group director of sales and marketing, Joanne Ang, forecasts that bookings for the group’s serviced apartments in Asia-Pacific will grow by 15 to 20 per cent by end-2012.

Jia En Teo, co-founder and COO of Roomorama, an online booking engine that specialises in non-hotel accommodation, expects to also “more than triple the number of travellers from Asia using our service in 2012”. Roomorama has 100 primarily unbranded serviced apartments in Asia-Pacific in its system.

“Awareness among Asians about the concept of serviced apartments and their brands is growing,” said Teo, attributing it to the presence of prominent players such as Ascott, Frasers Hospitality, Far East Hospitality and Oakwood Asia-Pacific, which have shaped the industry in the region.

“In Europe and the US, fewer brands occupy the serviced residences sector and, as such, the concept is not as well-known outside the major urban centres,” she said.

Market sources
China, Japan, South Korea, Australia, Singapore and Malaysia are the main source markets for serviced apartments in the Asia-Pacific region, according to industry members interviewed.

Housing staff who have been relocated or have been assigned short-term projects still constitutes the bulk of corporate business for branded serviced residences. However, according to a Global Serviced Apartment Report 2011-12 published by The Apartment Service Worldwide, serviced apartments in the region are being increasingly used by corporate clients for extended stays of over a week but under a month.

Ang said guests at Frasers’ properties in Asia-Pacific stay for three to six months on average and 80 per cent of bookings come from corporate firms, with the exception of properties which can accommodate shorter stays. However, Frasers also sees an increase in stays from guests working on projects, as well as leisure bookings.

The increase in leisure guests at serviced residences can be attributed chiefly to the premise that serviced apartment rates can be as much as 30 per cent lower than rates charged by hotels in a similar category. “More leisure travellers perceive them as good value-for-money alternatives, especially if they are staying for more than three or four days in a destination with a large group of friends or family,” said Roomorama’s Teo.

But while awareness of serviced apartments is rising as a whole, marketing intermediaries and corporate travel managers believe many multinational companies as well as small- and medium-sized enterprises based in North and South-east Asia are still deeply unaware of the advantages in using this accommodation. Many still use hotels to house employees for a month or more.

In fact, few firms in Asia issue clear guidelines on when serviced apartments should be used.

“When it comes to travel policy, I have not come across a clear definition of when (business) travellers should use serviced apartments versus hotels. Most clients who use both hotels and serviced properties tend to make their decisions based on which property offers the lowest logical rate at the time of booking, rather than other criteria,” said Mike Orchard, senior director, CWT Solutions Group, Asia-Pacific, Carlson Wagonlit Travel.

For serviced apartments to become a top-of-the-mind alternative for corporates seeking extended and long-term stay accommodation, Orchard advises operators to focus on certain industry sectors.

“Consulting, project-driven organisations, and firms in the mining and financing industries are prime targets as they tend to have a higher proportion of long stays,” he said.

Serviced apartments should also consider integrating their reservation systems with that of the GDSs to gain more traction with corporate clients, suggested Orchard, while highlighting areas of interest close to the serviced apartments such as facilities, activities and services in nearby areas.

He said: “It’s about getting the message across that serviced apartments offer more than a box standard (hotel) room.”

To nurture demand from the leisure market, serviced apartments have to focus on educating consumers, said Teo. “Highlight the innate advantages that serviced apartments bring within the marketing collateral – for instance their ability to offer travellers a ‘home away from home’, and the opportunity to experience living like a local,” she said.

Building blocks

More units are opening and operators are stepping up their game to win over more guests to serviced apartments

Serviced apartment operators are intent on widening their presence across Asia-Pacific as the region continues to prosper amid a global economic slowdown.

Optimism among operators remains high, as demand from the corporate sector, the core market for serviced residences, continues to climb (see above), and as more leisure travellers use this accommodation in place of hotels.

Robert Hecker, managing director, Horwath HTL Asia-Pacific, said: “There is still room for growth and lots of opportunities in the Asia-Pacific serviced apartment sector, especially out of Australia.”

“There are lots of intra-regional business activity, and more individuals and businesses now view serviced units as an alternative to hotels. Demand should remain strong, and this will continue to power the growth in supply.”

Singapore-based Ascott, the largest branded serviced apartment operator globally, plans to open more than 40 serviced residences with over 8,300 apartment units in first- and second-tier cities in China, alongside major urban centres such as Jakarta and Kuala Lumpur.

Ultimately, the chain hopes to achieve 40,000 apartment units worldwide by 2015, effectively doubling the size of its current portfolio. Over 70 per cent of these are expected to be based in the Asia-Pacific region.

Tony Soh, Ascott’s chief corporate officer, said: “In China, which we have earmarked for aggressive expansion, besides expatriates and foreign tourists, a rising number of domestic business travellers are staying at our serviced residences.”

“In India, the shortage of international-class accommodation presents opportunities for Ascott to tap unmet demand from both foreign and domestic tourists.”

“Singapore, Vietnam, Indonesia, Malaysia and the Philippines also have significant potential for serviced residences due to increasing foreign direct investment and tourist arrivals.”

Frasers Hospitality, another game changer in the Asia-Pacific serviced residences sector, currently operates 35 properties in Asia-Pacific. This year, the firm intends to open properties in Guangzhou, Shanghai, Wuhan, Beijing, Gurgaon (New Delhi), Melbourne and Perth.

From left: Hecker: lots of opportunities; Soh: redesigning experience;
Leong: deliver on the promise

Plans are also underway to determine the feasibility of opening further properties in Vietnam and Indonesia, as well as in emerging destinations including Cambodia and Myanmar.

“Frasers is taking calculated and strategic steps to ensure that we expand our footprint across Asia and the Pacific in a sustainable manner as we capitalise on current trends, such as the growth in demand for serviced suites, while developing a better understanding of our current and potential customers, and developing new ways to engage them,” said Jastina Balen, director of group branding and communications, Frasers Hospitality.

Oakwood Asia-Pacific, a smaller branded player in the region, has several projects in the pipeline, chiefly in China and India. By the end of the first quarter, the chain is scheduled to open Oakwood Premier Guangzhou, its sixth property in China and also its first luxury brand in the country.

In China, with the opening of Oakwood Premier Guangzhou, Oakwood will offer almost 1,500 serviced apartments in six key cities, namely Beijing, Chengdu, Guangzhou, Hangzhou, Shanghai and Hong Kong.

“China’s economic development has led to an increase in business activities and corporate expansion of many multinational and large-scale domestic companies, generating an increasing demand for serviced apartments especially to accommodate senior executives,” said Caroline Leong, marketing director, Oakwood Asia-Pacific.

In addition, the company hopes to manage nine more properties in India by 2014 in major urban centres including New Delhi and Hyderabad. Currently, the company manages 25 properties in China, India, Thailand, Indonesia, the Philippines and Japan.

One of the main priorities for serviced residence operators expanding in the region is ensuring that service standards remain consistent. A way to achieve this is to step up employee training, something operators said they were focusing on.

“Operations-wise, we endeavour to live up to our promise of offering the Oakwood Gold Standard of service by placing a priority on training our people – motivating and empowering them to fulfil our residents’ and clients’ needs,” said Leong.

Rising affluence and a broader range of travel experiences mean Asians are now more discerning than ever. Serviced operators have acknowledged this attitudinal shift, and are adapting to meet the evolving needs and desires of Asian travellers.

Ascott, for example, will be rolling out a series of consumer-centric initiatives designed to make guests feel more at home. “We want to redesign the experience guests have while staying in Ascott properties through the insights gained from our improved reservation and property management systems,” said Soh.

Frasers is adopting a similar strategy. Balen said: “Based on data gleaned from our customer relationship management system, Frasers is hoping to roll out customer-centric programmes and products that will better meet the needs and desires of our existing and potential clients in the near future.”

This article was first published in TTG Asia, April 20 issue, on page 9. To read more, please view our digital edition or click here to subscribe.

New ways of connecting

By Gracia Chiang

April 20, 2012

AMADEUS

David Brett
President
Amadeus Asia Pacific

A web-based GDS on the way

Next-gen products We have a number of exciting announcements planned this year, including developments in mobile technology. With 2.6 billion out of 5.3 billion global mobile users based in Asia-Pacific, we recognise mobile’s increasing significance to the travel industry.

We will also evolve our existing product portfolio, including the Amadeus Selling Platform. We plan to revolutionise the travel booking space by introducing a new solution based on feedback from travel agencies. It will be the only GDS booking platform that is completely web-based, providing access anytime and anywhere to global, regional and local content.

USP Technology is our competitive edge, as we have ongoing investment in innovation. We also have a unique product portfolio, and will continue to update it to ensure maximum productivity for travel professionals. Recently, we added Amadeus Offers, a time-saving solution that helps travel consultants in the management of pre-booking activities, quote handling, proposing alternatives, and making and cancelling provisional bookings.

Content Amadeus will continue to grow existing content across both air and non-air platforms. Today, we have 420 airlines and over 110,000 hotel properties bookable through our system. The LCC segment, in particular, is an area of growth for the company. We have 70 bookable LCCs.

Pricing Our Asia-Pacific customer base is highly diverse, hence our pricing model varies depending on the solution and market. We often offer solutions free of charge for a limited period of time and offer deals with other solutions. An example is Amadeus Printmytrip, which was rolled out across Asia-Pacific in July 2011 and offered free to interested travel agencies for the first three months.

Challenges facing travel consultants Ease of booking, reliability, cost efficiency and content aggregation are top concerns. We are becoming more of a consultant to help and advise our customers on how to get the best out of technology. Travel consultants are also facing an evolving customer psyche with rising expectations and demands for improved service.

Relevance GDSs continue to be the best and most proven means of distribution between airlines and travel consultants to travellers. They provide content to the benefit of travel consultants in terms of cost, efficiency and reliability; they also represent the best value and most efficient means for airlines to distribute their tickets to the largest possible market.

“We plan to revolutionise the travel booking space by introducing a new solution that is flexible, easy-to-use and time-saving.”

TRAVELPORT

Simon Nowroz
President and managing director, Asia-Pacific
Travelport

New desktop goes beyond GDS

Next-gen products Our investment in technology over the last few years has come to fruition with three new flagship products. Travelport Smartpoint App, an add-on application for the Galileo Desktop, introduces a graphical look and feel, as well as point-and-click functionality. It also has in-built translation capabilities.

Travelport Universal Desktop (TUD), which has been rolled out to beta customers globally, is a next-generation desktop that offers an intuitive interface that pulls content and pricing from multiple sources beyond the GDS and allows for sale of airline ancillary products.

The Travelport Rooms and More hotel booking engine utilises meta-search technology to aggregate content from global leading accommodation suppliers. More than 675,000 accommodation options are on offer, allowing travel consultants to take advantage of the rapidly growing hotel sector.

USP TUD represents a quantum leap forward in the travel distribution space. It is not a re-skinned version of our existing desktop application, but an entirely new, integrated platform. The next phase of development will see the launch of the Software Developer Kit that allows independent software developers to plug in their own content and apps into TUD, further enriching available content.

Content Non-air continues to represent a strong opportunity for growth and we remain focused on this space, particularly in hospitality. We have seen a strong take-up of Travelport Rooms and More, now available to all travel consultants in 68 countries. Less than a year old, the portal has undergone significant development and growth, and will continue to do so throughout 2012.

Pricing The fee for Travelport Agility (a package that includes products such as Smartpoint App and Rooms and More) is nominal, and varies from country to country. The introduction of a single fee for Travelport Agility also enables a consistent pricing approach globally.

Challenges facing travel consultants Rise of the Internet, growth in social media and surge in smartphone usage amid unsteady economic conditions. As travellers become savvier, travel consultants need to step up their game in attracting and retaining customers.

Relevance The role of the GDS has evolved and it is no longer just a content pipe between A and B, but an integrated marketing, retailing and distribution platform, providing new ways to sell a wider range of content.

“It is not a re-skinned version of our existing desktop application, but a new, integrated platform that will improve selling and streamline work processes.”

ABACUS

Robert Bailey
President and CEO
Abacus International

GDS in a mobile phone

Next-gen products We have introduced Abacus Mobile, a web-based point-of-sale solution allowing travel consultants to offer professional service on the go. It runs on multiple smartphone operating systems including iPhone, RIM, Symbian and Android.

Late last year, we also unveiled WorkSpace, our next-generation point-of-sale tool which features a graphical interface. Travel consultants can track booking and customer data seamlessly, optimising operational efficiency.

In the second half of this year, we will release TripPlan, an online travel management tool to help companies improve compliance to travel policies, define travel privileges, map out approval workflows and identify preferred suppliers.

Abacus WebStart (an online booking engine specifically built for agencies to get their brands online) has also been enabled for mobile.

USP We have just launched Abacus PowerSuite, a full-service financial solution that offers complete front-, mid- and back-office functions. This suite encompasses a range of new features, including a tour management module that allows consultants to design bespoke FIT and group tour itineraries and packages. It has complete integration with Abacus WorkSpace.

Content We will focus on both air and non-air components. The former generates 95 per cent of our business, but non-air opportunities have yet to be fully capitalised. Looking forward, we hope to implement additional services and add value to our non-air business and help travel professionals to up their productivity, utilising our suite of up-to-date tools when it comes to packaging products or at the point of sale.

Pricing GDSs do charge for some new solutions, depending on the value an offering delivers to a travel firm. However, Abacus is sticking to a generic pricing model for now.

Challenges facing travel consultants The top three are continued pressure on margins, reduced settlement windows and fragmentation of content. They point to an urgent need for companies to invest in technology and evolve current business and service models to remain relevant in an online world.

Relevance We offer start-to-end solutions and we have an inherent understanding of the Asia-Pacific travel distribution market. We cover all areas of the travel distribution arena – be it online or offline – and now we’re utilising mobile technology to service travel consultants and consumers better.

“We have rolled out solutions leveraging on the Internet and mobile technology to help reduce costs while increasing revenue opportunities.”

SABRE

Hans Belle
Vice president and general manager
Sabre Travel Network, Asia-Pacific

The power of apps

Next-gen products The newly launched Sabre Red App Centre is the world’s first B2B application store for the travel industry, connecting travel buyers with third-party developers. Sabre-connected travel consultants can incorporate Red Apps into their workspace, leveraging the plug-in capabilities of the Eclipse Rich Client platform, upon which the Sabre Red Workspace point-of-sale system is built. (Abacus, partly owned by Sabre, has taken Sabre’s underlying infrastructure and released the Abacus WorkSpace, which also has access to the app store.)

Sabre is also developing the first global reservation system for booking public and corporate-owned HD video conferencing and telepresence rooms, namely Sabre Virtual Meetings. When integrated into travel applications such as online booking tools or agency systems, travel buyers will be able to reserve and schedule video conferences at the same time they book flights and hotels. This will be integrated into Sabre Red for travel consultants and GetThere for corporations later this year.

In addition, Sabre is combining key capabilities from its suite of mobile services into TripCase to offer a complete web, mobile and email product to travellers. The enhanced TripCase will deliver documents, expense reporting, agency messaging, navigational capabilities, in-policy bookings and traveller extras. TripCase becomes a single platform where travellers can access shopping, booking and travel management services, and through which consultants can continue to provide their services to travellers. This allows agencies to value-add services prior to and during the trip when travellers most need it, such as offering upgrades and destination services just before a trip rather than at the time of booking.

USP Innovative solutions such as the Sabre Red App Centre, Sabre Virtual Meetings, TripCase and Sabre Red Workspace are clear examples of our commitment.

Content Comprehensive content is critical, so we are always looking for opportunities to increase our content from travel suppliers. Currently, the Sabre GDS connects 350,000 travel consultants to more than 400 airlines, 100,000 hotels, 25 car rental brands, 50 rail providers, 13 cruise lines and other global travel suppliers.

Pricing We won’t comment on our competitor’s pricing or speculate on future pricing strategies.

Challenges facing travel consultants The threat to the current transparent travel marketplace and the inability of travel professionals and consumers to quickly and easily compare airfares, including ancillary fees. Sabre has long been a strong advocate for a transparent travel marketplace.

Relevance Asia-Pacific operates with highly successful regional GDSs such as Abacus that provide Asia-specific applications, features, functions and content.

“(The Red App Centre) will spur a whole new level of innovation, benefiting Sabre-connected agencies around the world.”

This article was first published in TTG Asia, April 20 issue, on page 12. To read more, please view our digital edition or click here to subscribe.

Additional reporting from Mimi Hudoyo and Linda Haden

Encounters of the Middle East

By TTG Asia

April 20, 2012

Asian DMCs are eager to tap the lucrative Arab market, which is growing in quantity and quality

The Philippines
Marianne Carandang

New developments
The emergence of high-end resorts in the Philippines has been driving up demand among Arab clients, who like exclusivity.

New upscale developments, such as Misibis Bay in Legaspi and Bellarocca Island Resort and Spa in Marinduque, featuring villas, houses and private pools, are filling the gap in the accommodation sector, said Mary Ann Hildawa, sales manager, inbound division, Marsman Drysdale.

Visitors from the Middle East enjoy proximity to the “blue ocean and water” as well as vacations “in more relaxed attire”, added Angel Bognot, president, Afro-Asian World Events.

Riding on this, the Philippines Department of Tourism (DoT) will focus on raising awareness of the luxury resort and spa sector at the Arabian Travel Market (ATM). Later in the year, it will also introduce Puerto Princesa and Coron as new destinations for the market.

Growth prospects
The DoT has set growth targets for Saudi Arabia (15 per cent) and the UAE (20 per cent), its biggest source markets in 2011. Judging from an overwhelming number of enquiries from Dubai, Qatar and Kuwait for trips up to December, Bognot said Afro-Asian World Events was also expecting brisk business this year.

However, “there’s still a high incidence of business travel as compared to leisure travel”, said Kiko Lardizabal, who is heading DoT’s efforts for the Middle East.

Overall visitor numbers from the Middle East grew by 14.6 per cent last year from 48,716 in 2010. Visitors usually come with their families, staying between seven and 17 days in at least three resorts, starting from Manila, moving to Cebu or Bohol, and then Boracay or Davao.

Main source markets
Saudi Arabia and the UAE sent 22,214 and 12,734 visitors last year respectively. Saudi Arabia and Egypt are the fastest-growing markets, followed by Jordan, Qatar and the UAE.

Afro-Asian World Events, GSA for Etihad Airways, is cultivating Lebanon as an emerging market by wooing wholesalers, while its existing long-term partnerships with wholesalers in markets like the UAE are helping to bring in major contracts.

Iran is another potential market, but recent currency fluctuations have resulted in lost business for operators with bookings in the past few months.

DMC efforts
Ramadan promotions will target families and/or friends travelling together. Some companies, like Marsman Drysdale, are also homing into single markets such as Dubai and niche segments like expatriate families.

Malaysia
N. Nithiyananthan

New developments
Malaysia Airlines’ (MAS) flight pull-out from Dubai in January drew mixed reactions from the trade.

Asian Overland Services (AOS) Tours & Travel, director of sales, Andy Muniandy, cited the reduced flight connectivity to Malaysia as a major issue. “No other airlines serving the route are increasing their frequencies. Emirates adding an A380 is not going to make much of a difference. If other airlines add flights, there will be more passengers coming in from the region.”

On the other hand, Luxury Tours Malaysia senior manager, Arokia Das Anthony, did not view the loss of MAS as a major issue. Instead, he pointed out that this year’s dates for Ramadan presented a bigger concern for the company as the travel season from the Middle East had been “compressed into one month”, resulting in a smaller window to attract tourists.

However, Arokia was encouraged by several developments on the Malaysian front. He said: “Developments in Kuala Lumpur’s Bukit Bintang area, which make it look like a mini Dubai, are good for the market. With the ready availability of halal food, they love to come here. It is a family destination, and they can go anywhere.”

Growth prospects
AOS is hopeful of maintaining the same numbers as last year. Andy said: “People still want to travel here. There is talk of rescheduling school holidays to start earlier or later to facilitate greater travel. We will know the actual situation once we travel to the region for sales calls and the Arabian Travel Market (ATM).”

Luxury Tours’ Anthony added: “The length of stay of this market ranges from four days to two weeks, with the average stay at seven days.” He also expects to maintain last year’s volume.

Malaysia received 693,056 arrivals from the Middle East in 2011, a 0.3 per cent increase over 2010.

Main source markets
Saudi Arabia is AOS’ biggest source of travellers from the region, and Andy foresees that numbers will remain steady or increase. With Oman Air flying to Kuala Lumpur, the company anticipates a slight increase from the country. A slight pick-up from the UAE is also on the horizon as it recovers from last year’s recession, while Qatar has been stagnant, and Lebanon and Syria are expected to decline.

Luxury Tours will keep its focus on the UAE, where demand is expected to remain constant.

DMC efforts
Both AOS and Luxury Tours will be attending ATM, in addition to conducting sales calls in the Middle East.

Indonesia
Mimi Hudoyo

New developments
Tourist spend among Middle Eastern travellers to Indonesia is on the rise.

Fokus Indonesia Tours sales and marketing manager, Anthony Johannes, said: “Arrivals from the Middle East have stabilised, but the quality of travellers is improving. More family and FIT travellers are now staying at four-star hotels although they used to book (hotels in) lower categories. Many have also booked five-star resorts or villas.” He added that the incentive market was also growing.

Unique Choice is also seeing increasing demand for luxury travel. Harti Hadisoemo, director of business development, Indonesia, said:“Travellers are more confident of Indonesia, choosing to stay at top-notch properties like the Bulgari Resort in Bali. The honeymoon market is also growing.”

Growth prospects
Based on increasing enquiries from Middle Eastern buyers, Unique Choice is expecting the market to expand this year. The growing interest from hotels to cater to this market is also reflective of positive sentiment, said Harti. Fokus Indonesia Tours, on the other hand, expects last year’s volume to hold steady, but the number of quality tourists to increase.

In addition, Umberto Cadamuro, director of operations and business development, Pacto, pointed out that online bookings were also on the uptrend. “Several new OTAs have emerged in the Middle East, and this will be our focus at the Arabian Travel Market,” he said.

Despite the rosy outlook, all inbound operators that TTG Asia spoke to agreed that Indonesia’s marketing efforts still lag behind neighbours Malaysia and the Philippines, resulting in a market performance that is below its real potential.

Main source markets
The markets of Saudi Arabia and the UAE are growing, with the former comprising a bigger share of arrivals. However, numbers from Iran have dropped dramatically for at least one DMC.

Vayatour Bali director, Hanafi Sastrawinata, said the depreciation of the Iranian rial against the US dollar had resulted in a 50 per cent reduction in business from the market.

DMC efforts
Vayatour Bali is “balancing the loss from the Iranian market by boosting promotions in other important markets such as Lebanon and Jordan”.

The company is also promoting Jakarta and Bandung to the Saudi Arabian market. Bandung, in particular, has new hotels and attractions like the Trans Studio Bandung theme park and shopping centre Bandung Supermal.

Singapore
Linda Haden

New developments
The fairly new integrated resorts are continuing to lure visitors from the Middle East, who are mainly attracted to family-friendly offerings and luxury accommodation.

Samson Tan, CEO, GTMC Holdings, said: “Middle Eastern tourists perceive the Marina Bay Sands hotel as a must-see icon that they have to stay in at least once in a lifetime. They are also enticed by Singapore’s excellent designer shop offerings.”

A sales staff from Pacific Arena who wanted to remain anonymous added that Singapore’s family-oriented attractions such as Resorts World Sentosa’s Universal Studios and the zoo were also key draws.

Growth prospects
While GTMC’s bookings from the Middle East grew by 15 per cent between 2010 and 2011, Pacific Arena saw flat growth. Comparatively, Singapore Tourism Board’s (STB) statistics show that visitor numbers from the Middle East rose by 5.3 per cent in 2011.

However, the rising costs of holidaying in Singapore could put a damper on growth. Said the sales staff from Pacific Arena: “Singapore’s exorbitant hotel room rates are keeping Middle Easterners away to some extent. Even though they are quite affluent and tend to opt for luxury properties, they are quite prudent and usually compare prices to justify spending.”

However, Tan remains optimistic. He expects this lucrative segment to record double-digit growth this year. “With brand new family-friendly attractions coming online, more Middle Eastern visitors will be tempted to visit Singapore,” he said.

Middle Eastern visitors stay an averageof four to five days in Singapore, according to groundhandlers that TTG Asia spoke to.

Main source markets
Most clients originate from the UAE, specifically Dubai and Abu Dhabi, said inbound operators dealing with Middle Eastern markets. This trend is also captured in STB’s statistics, which show that UAE visitors comprised about 41 per cent of all visitors from the Middle East in 2011.

DMC efforts
Both GTMC and Pacific Arena have developed packages targeted at families, who form the bulk of visitors from the Middle East. These incorporate child-friendly luxury accommodation and family attractions such as Universal Studios, Science Centre and Night Safari.

To market these packages, the companies are attending relevant tradeshows and taking out advertisements in Middle East-based media.

This article was first published in TTG Asia, April 20 issue, on page 18. To read more, please view our digital edition or click here to subscribe.

View from the Top: Simon Barlow

By Gracia Chiang

April 20, 2012

How did you land this job?
I was with Hilton International as vice-president of Asia and later as president of the Americas. When Hilton Hotels Corp bought Hilton International in 2006, I made a personal decision not to stay in the US and returned to Australia. I worked for an investment bank and initially ran a listed REIT, then did some advisory work on a wholesale property trust.

I then decided I wanted to come back to Asia. I knew Kwek Leng Beng (chairman of Millennium & Copthorne Hotels) and he asked me to (join him). While I was getting started with that (SVP of Asia in Singapore), I was approached by Carlson Rezidor. I was excited by the opportunity when Hubert Joly (group president and CEO) explained the vision of the company. I joined on December 6, 2010 because (I wanted) to be part of an exciting growth story.

How would you describe Carlson Rezidor?
I often use the analogy of the English Premier League when I talk about Carlson Rezidor in relative to its competitors. In Asia-Pacific, I see us as a leading team in the Championship, aspiring to promotion to the Premier League. We’re a quarter or a fifth of the size of Accor, InterContinental Hotels Group, Starwood, etc. I would call us ‘the aspirant’.

When I joined, we had 49 hotels in Asia-Pacific, which was a good base. I often say that it’s more exciting to build than maintain something. That has been borne out in my first 12 months – we had 75 hotels last year and will add another 16 this year (the company will have 165 hotels in operation by 2015, more than half in India).

Where will you focus your energy?
Our development in Asia comprises three core areas. We want to be represented in key cities in Asia where we don’t have hotels (including Singapore, Kuala Lumpur, Jakarta, Manila, Bali, Hong Kong and Taipei).

We also want to put Radisson Blu (the five-star brand) on the map and establish its identity in the region. The launch was last year; this year we’re putting more effort into helping people understand the brand; next year will be about building loyalty.

The third part is ramping up our midscale portfolio by growing Country Inns & Suites in India and rolling out Park Inn by Radisson across Asia. Country Inns & Suites is largely an international hotel product tailored to the Indian mid-market, and we have no plans to roll it out anywhere else.

Tell us about Park Inn by Radisson.
It’s a three-star brand that is fresh, fun, colourful, lively and funky. We’ve just announced on April 2 that we would launch its next iteration in India (the company has inked a deal with Bestech Hospitalities to develop 49 Park Inn by Radisson hotels in north and central India). It does really well in Europe, and we see it as a real opportunity to fit a niche in Asia-Pacific.

It presents a value-for-money, branded mid-market hotel experience for domestic travellers in India, China, the Philippines, Indonesia and Thailand. From both the investment (cost of build and fitout) and consumer (price positioning) perspectives, Park Inn by Radisson sits between Holiday Inn Express and Holiday Inn, and between Ibis and Novotel.

What about your other brands?
Just as Holiday Inn did a refresh, we’re currently doing a refresh of Radisson (the four-star sister of Radisson Blu; Radisson is a bifurcated brand). That’s due to be released first in the US before going global in the second quarter of this year. In the second half of this year, we will reintroduce Radisson into Asia-Pacific. Park Plaza is a growing brand in the four-star market in Asia-Pacific. Hotel Missoni is a boutique luxury fashion brand that we have not introduced into the region.

Which market segments do you see potential in?
We see great opportunities in the three-, four- and five-star markets. The buzz in the hotel development community over the last five years has been about emerging middle-class wealth in Asia. As India and China invest huge sums of money into infrastructure and domestic travel grows, there is a greater need for branded midscale properties.

Traditionally, in the last 10 years, growth of branded hotels in Asia has largely been in the upper upscale segment. We’re opening more upper upscale hotels today, but the future growth is in the mid-market.

How will you grow in Asia?
One of our strategic priorities is investment. Traditionally we’ve not invested in real estate. But in this recent deal in India, we’ve invested our own money for the first time. We hope to make similar announcements over the next couple of years.

Last year, I successfully agreed with our board in the US that we would use the Carlson Rezidor balance sheet to support strategic investment opportunities in the region. (This could mean) investment in joint ventures that deliver multiple hotels, investment in single strategic hotels and investment by way of leases or income underwrites.

Why the decision?
There is a link between speed of growth and our ability to invest. Today not many of our competitors are investing in Asia-Pacific because they don’t need to. They are bigger than us. We are investing in order to grow and catch up. We need to show commitment to the development and owning community in Asia-Pacific, and one way to do that is to co-invest.

What do you think is your competitive advantage?
We’re probably hungrier than some of our bigger competitors. My past experience with Accor and Hilton also puts (us) in a very good position to come in as a more nimble hotel management company with a shorter chain of command. We’re not a public-listed company, so we don’t have to go through the same internal processes that some of our bigger competitors have. We can offer something different and unique to an owner, together with the ability to invest.

Lastly, your seat has seen several changes over the last couple of years. How are you doing?
There were three others before me. Paul Kirwin was the first, then Martin Rinck and Jean-Marc Busato. All three came from within the Carlson Rezidor family. I’m the first president of Asia-Pacific who has come from outside.

I’m enjoying it. I think we made some huge strides in 2011, and I’m very excited about our growth in the next three to four years. I’m here for the long term. I’m not somebody who moves around often. I was with Accor for eight-and-a-half years and about the same time with Hilton. I want to leave my legacy here.

This article was first published in TTG Asia, April 20 issue, on page 6. To read more, please view our digital edition or click here to subscribe.