SMALL South American country Ecuador, which has not taken serious steps to court the Asian market until now, is muscling its way into the region, assisted by a marketing budget that has multiplied three-fold.


Speaking to the Daily at its first Asian travel tradeshow, Tourism Promotion Secretary Carlos Guzmán said the country’s goal was to make tourism revenue the top contributor to its economy, overtaking income from oil. Tourism is currently in fourth place.


Armed with a new country brand – Ecuador Love Life – that represents the locals’ affection for their way of life and their warm hospitality, the ministry will begin hosting fam trips from Asia next year, as well as attend several tradeshows in China, South Korea and Japan, aside from coming to ITB Asia again. It is also negotiating with airlines for joint advertising campaigns.


Observing a gradual increase from Asia-Pacific markets, which accounted for slightly over one per cent of total arrivals in 2000 compared to between three and five per cent last year, Guzmán explained that Ecuador shared close links with the region such as its collaboration with Singapore in the areas of commerce and biotechnology.

Ecuador received one million visitor arrivals in 2010, and Australia and China are its largest Australasian markets. Guzmán said the plan was to grow Australasian arrivals to between five and 10 per cent of total arrivals within five years. It is also looking to increase numbers from Singapore, Malaysia, South Korea and Japan.

Ecuador is being positioned as a destination for ecotourism and adventure travellers, but also for the average tourist. Said Guzmán: “Ecuador is an excellent starting point as we are the sum of South American experiences.”

Infrastructure-wise, Guzmán said the government had a five-year plan to develop the international airport in the coastal city of Manta as a South American hub. There are currently more than 19 airports in Ecuador, five of them international.

– Read more in ITB Asia 2011 Official Daily – Day 2 issue

THREE competing tour operators in Indonesia are putting aside their rivalry to grab a share of the country’s emerging online market.


The Panorama Group, Dwidaya Tour and Travel, and Smailing Tours have formed Raja Kamar International and has hired former ZUJI CEO, Scott Blume, as group CEO, effective November 1.


Their first roll-out is Raja Kamar Indonesia. Rajakamar.com, which literally translates to “king of rooms” in Bahasa, aims to be the number one B2C online hotel booking channel with the largest inventory of Indonesia hotels, selling primarily to Indonesian consumers.


Panorama’s Satrijanto Tirtawisata, who is Raja Kamar International’s president, said more hotel rooms were opening in secondary and tertiary cities throughout Indonesia.

This, along with Internet access and “phenomenal” growth in the number of mobile phone users, made online hotel booking an “obvious” form of distribution for hotels, he said.

The initial target for is to be among the top three sellers of hotel roomnights in Indonesia in the next four months. The next goal, said Blume, was to take the learnings in Indonesia to the neighbouring Asian markets.


Within a year, Raja Kamar International is expected to spread its wings to the region, be it in the form of joint ventures or strategic alliance partners.


Quizzed on why Panorama decided to go to bed with rivals, Satrijanto said in this instance, it was more effective for the three tour operators to combine resources than compete. They would also remain neutral and not elbow their inventory through to Rajakamar.com.

– Read more in ITB Asia 2011 Official Daily – Day 2 issue

AS PART of President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono’s Cabinet reshuffle announced Tuesday, Dr Marie Eka Pangestu has been named Minister of Tourism and Creative Economy.


She was formerly Minister of Trade.


Her predecessor, Jero Wacik, who held the position of Minister of Culture and Tourism, is now Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources.


Dr Sapta Nurwandar, who was director-general of tourism marketing, is now vice minis

ter of the new tourism ministry.

The trade is hailing the combination of tourism with ‘creative economy’.


Hotel Santika Jogjakarta general manager Ari Respati said: “I think Ibu Marie and Pak Sapta make a good combination. Both are professionals with good track record in their capacities. If they can work together, it will be positive for tourism.”


Sintesa Peninsula Manado executive assistant manager Jonathan Mokalu said: “Marie Pangestu recently held a conference in Manado to promote investment in Indonesia to international buyers. The feedback was positive.”


Ministry of Tourism and Creative Economy director of international promotions Nia Niscaya said: “Ibu Marie has very good relations with China. We hope she will repeat her success in bringing business from China with tourism, and also bring tourists from other parts of the world, of course.”

– Read more in ITB Asia 2011 Official Daily – Day 2 issue

TRAVEL business leaders have warned that the economic woes of the US and Europe could exert a downward pressure on Asia’s industry performance, with some saying the next few months are crucial in determining whether there will be growth.


Speaking to the Daily, World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC) president & CEO David Scowsill said: “We’re in a very delicate phase at the moment. Asia is still steaming away in general terms, but there are real wobbles in Europe and America. Everybody is concerned about the potential of going into a double-dip recession.”


He added that with the volatility of oil prices and new taxation on the horizon in the form of the European Union (EU) Emissions Trading System, affecting flights to and from the EU, network airlines would have no choice but to pass on the increase in costs to consumers, due to razor-thin profit margins. This could further depress demand from longhaul markets, he said.


Scowsill said: “At this point, nobody knows what 2012 is going to bring.”

“When I talk to business leaders running hotels, airlines and car rental businesses…Most of them have two different budgets for 2012 – one is kind of low growth to no growth and one is a lot more optimistic.”


Bright spots in Asia are also giving hope to leaders in the region.

Azran Osman-Rani, CEO, AirAsiaX said while Europeans had become concerned about longhaul travel, other Asia-Pacific markets were still holding up.

Similarly, William Heinecke, chairman and CEO of Minor International, said: “The slowdown in US and Europe has been compensated by emerging markets like China and India. We’re in a very strange recessionary period because a lot of markets still have cash.”

– Read more in ITB Asia 2011 Official Daily – Day 2 issue

SPECULATION is mounting that the first Sofitel property will be unwrapped this Monday and it will be its newly-created sub-brand, So Sofitel.

And its address? According to sources: 35 Robinson Road.

The tender for the iconic building has been awarded to Royal Group Holdings, which is holding a signing ceremony on October 24. The project is being billed as a “transformation” and “THE address for a trendy cosmopolitan lifestyle”.

Sofitel Luxury Hotels Asia-Pacific senior vice president Markland Blaiklock, who is now based in Singapore, declined to comment.

So Sofitel is a trendy and design-led take on the core Sofitel brand. The first So has opened in Mauritius, while the final touches are being made to the second So, opening in Bangkok early next year.

The Bangkok property is a 30-storey urban design hotel created by a reputable Thai architect and no fewer than five Thai interior designers, with fashion designer Christian Lacroix adding a dash of French elegance.

Sofitel Luxury Hotels is now a separate business unit of the Accor group. In an interview late last year, Blaiklock told TTG Asia he was eager to plug the gaps in key cities such as Singapore and Hong Kong.

Aside from Sofitel and So Sofitel, there is now a Sofitel Legend sub-brand representing properties which have heritage and historical backgrounds.

TTG Asia understands that the iconic railway hotel, Sofitel Centara Grand Resort & Villas, will no longer be managed by Sofitel and is reverting to owner Centara’s management.

– Read more in ITB Asia 2011 Official Daily – Day 2 issue

INDIAN and Chinese luxury travellers are heading for Africa. Nairobi-based Holiday Bazaar, which specialises in wildlife tours and safaris in Kenya, Tanzania, South Africa, Botswana and Namibia, has seen a surge in FIT traffic from Asia-Pacific over the last few years, especially from India and China.

Thus, the sole purpose of Holiday Bazaar’s marketing director, Nishma Shah, here is to target India and China outbound players. She said the two countries had transformed into the company’s top two Asia-Pacific source markets, compared to eight years ago, when there was practically “zero traffic” from these areas.

“Indians are travelling like god knows what. Their middle class, in particular, has a lot of spare cash,” she said. “They also used to be last minute, but now they plan in advance.”

According to Shah, Holiday Bazaar’s FIT traffic from India has “increased by maybe 60 per cent or more” over the last four years. Its customer base from China, on the other hand, has seen a 20 per cent boost over the past two years.

“We cater to a lot of mid- to high-end FITs from India and China,” she said. “They tend to stay in four- to five-star accommodation and their budget is about US$4,000-US$5,000 per pax. Indians stay an average of two weeks, while Chinese stay about 12 days.”

Shah said the burgeoning outbound numbers from Asia-Pacific were in stark contrast to the shrinking travel demand from Europe.

– Read more in ITB Asia 2011 Official Daily – Day 1 issue

MALAYSIA Airlines (MAS) will be taking over the jet services of its subsidiary Firefly –which has been in the news for shutting its Johor Bahru hub with no advance notice (TTG Asia e-Daily, September 30) – by December 4 following heavy losses.

As a result, Firefly’s services from Kuala Lumpur to Kuching and Sibu in Sarawak, to Kota Kinabalu and Sandakan in Sabah, and to Labuan will cease by December 4.

In an internal circular released to employees on Tuesday, the Malaysia Airlines Group said the programme would be undertaken over a two-month period on a sector-by-sector basis.

“It will result in all Firefly jet aircraft being redeployed into Malaysia Airlines’ operations by December 4,” it stated.

Firefly will now concentrate on serving shorthaul turboprop operations to more than 13 destinations in Peninsular Malaysia, Singapore, Sumatra and Koh Samui, while MAS will focus on enhancing its premium full-service offering.

“The takeover of jet services is an important part of Malaysia Airlines Group’s business realignment exercise and is prompted by the need to address network and fleet restructuring plans for shorthaul jet services. With the consolidation of Firefly’s jet operations under the Group, Malaysia Airlines will focus on the business of growing our premium full-service segment,” said MAS Group CEO, Ahmad Jauhari Yahya.

He added: “Malaysia Airlines Group remains committed to Sabah and Sarawak and will continue to operate all services to Kota Kinabalu and Kuching. In addition, MASwings will also continue to operate all flights to the other points within Sabah and Sarawak that are currently being served.”

Firefly’s turboprop operations out of Subang and Penang airports will be strengthened with the recent delivery of two additional turboprop aircraft. These aircraft will enable Firefly to reinstate services between Subang and Kuantan, scheduled for November, and also provide capacity to increase frequency of services on existing routes.

The Malaysia Airlines Group assured passengers it would honour all jet flight seats sold on Firefly. “The Group is committed to minimising the impact of any disruptions to the travel plans of Firefly jet passengers and will reassign all those affected to equivalent flights or better, at no additional cost, to ensure they reach their intended destinations,” according to a statement.

By N. Nithiyananthan

CIRCOS Brand Karma announced yesterday a free social media analytics tool for hotels, allowing managers to both receive and immediately respond to issues about them aired on three online channels: Facebook, Twitter and TripAdvisor.

The tool, Brand Karma Express, picks up mentions on brands or properties and presents them as emails in an inbox. Daily or weekly email notifications are also available.

An in-built feature allows posts to be assigned and sent to relevant employees for follow-up, allowing hotels to integrate social media feedback into their daily operations, explained CEO and co-founder Morris Sim.

Those who want to better diagnose their brand reputation and compare it against their competitors have the option to upgrade to the Brand Karma Standard Edition.

Sim said the company was also working with the Media Development Authority in Singapore to develop a similar analysis tool for local SMEs, which travel agents and other service providers could benefit from.

– Read more in ITB Asia 2011 Official Daily – Day 1 issue