KOREAN Air, which in late March added four weekly flights to its popular Seoul-Singapore route using a B777-200ER, has boosted this service to a daily frequency.
Together with the airline’s other daily service using the larger B777-300, travellers from Singapore to Seoul now have the option of either a night (arriving in Seoul early in the day) or afternoon flight (arriving in Seoul late at night).
INTERCONTINENTAL Hotel Group’s (IHG) new Global Sales Office (GSO) in New Delhi and Mumbai will offer its B2B clients a single point of contact to access its global hotel inventory.
With India’s outbound travel spending set to hit US$35-40 billion over the next five years, IHG COO South West Asia, Chris Moloney, said there was a need to align resources and collectively meet the demands of this high-growth economy.
“(Establishing the) GSO is about supporting the business and generating greater efficiencies,” he explained. “It will build a capable sales force trained to deliver the needs of our evolving client base, and offer customised products and services to match the diverse hotel, conference or meetings needs of this dynamic market.
“India is a great growth engine for our business in Asia and Australasia. The establishment of the GSO demonstrates our commitment and confidence in this region,” he added.
By Anand & Madhura Katti
THE THAILAND Convention and Exhibition Bureau (TCEB) has launched a Luxury MICE initiative to boost Thailand’s image and presence in the high-end sector.
TCEB president Akapol Sorasuchart said the initiative was “designed both to extend market penetration in the existing luxury MICE market, and also to increase the size of this niche market”.
“In order to spearhead this campaign, TCEB has selected five chic & charming destinations – one each in Bangkok, Hua Hin, Chiang Mai, Phuket and Samui, to offer a captivating experience and unrivalled standards to the most discerning MICE groups,” he said.
“We are confident that the initiative will add 15 to 20 per cent to Thailand’s overall MICE industry revenues, with the luxury MICE segment projected to contribute around US$130 million this year,” he added.
To promote the luxury MICE segment, TCEB intends to organise activities such as a luxury fam trip, offering a unique, exclusive and first-hand experience, as well as the chance to inspect the country’s luxury MICE products.
Regarding the industry’s long-term prospects, Akapol said: “We plan to boost Thailand’s share of key longhaul MICE markets, and will also be organising corporate familiarisation trips and seminars to highlight the potential of Thailand’s fast-growing luxury MICE niche.”
Last year, Thailand welcomed around 679,000 MICE visitors, generating 55 billion baht (US$1.8 billion) in revenue. This year, MICE visitor numbers are set to increase to 720,000, generating 57.6 billion baht.
ONLINE discount voucher seller Groupon and travel booking website Expedia have joined forces to form Groupon Getaways with Expedia.
The partnership will first offer discounted deals from the 135,000 hotels on Expedia’s hotel database using the Groupon model, where consumers have a limited time frame to make their purchase.
Groupon Getaways with Expedia will then move on to offer package deals for airline tickets, car rentals, cruises and destination activities.
The two companies are intending to launch the new offering in the US and Canada later this month, with plans to expand globally in the future.
GLOBAL hotel booking site Agoda.com has partnered with low-cost carrier (LCC) Jetstar to share resources and offer co-developed holiday packages in Asia.
Through the alliance that went live with a soft launch in March, Jetstar’s Asia-based customers are able to access Agoda.com’s proprietary hotel inventory through the LCC’s website Jetstar.com.
The two companies are planning to offer holiday packages and specials via the Jetstar Holidays network, including weekly deals targeting Asia-Pacific destinations.
President and CEO of Agoda, Robert Rosenstein, said: “As two entities that have been focused on Asia-Pacific destinations for much of the last decade, both Agoda and Jetstar have always been dedicated to getting travellers the best deals online. Working together, we hope to create even more compelling offers.”
Jetstar group chief commercial officer David Koczkar said that in partnering with Agoda, Jetstar was effectively expanding its brand and customer reach.
“Through such strategic partnerships, Jetstar continues to offer our customers an expanded travel product that further drives revenue growth, but importantly, also complements our Pan Asian growth strategy,” he explained.
“In partnering with Agoda.com, Jetstar customers can now access a wider variety of holiday packages and hotel options, and get better value for their money,” he added.
PATTAYA hoteliers are expecting healthy business this year, in light of good year-to-date occupancy, RevPAR and average rates so far.
Amari Orchid Pattaya general manager, David Cumming, said the hotel has been running at more than 90 per cent occupancy, and recorded an average growth of 16 per cent on room rates since January.
“We have just finished May with 91 per cent occupancy, while RevPAR grew by 49 per cent year-on-year,” he said.
According to Cumming, hotels in Pattaya normally run at 30 to 40 per cent occupancy during low season from April to September. “For Amari, the contrast between low and high seasons is fading,” he said.
Furama Jomtien Beach, Pattaya, recorded a year-to-date occupancy of 82 per cent – double last year’s performance – while average room rates also doubled, according to general manager, Tatcha Riddhimat.
Tatcha said the hotel was rebranded Furama in April last year. A new marketing strategy was also introduced to attract a mix of leisure and meeting business. The hotel is planning to beef up its sales and marketing team to grow its meetings business from 25 per cent now, to 30 per cent by year-end.
Centara Mirage Beach Resort Pattaya is also looking at tapping more meetings and events. When the hotel opened in November 2009, it had been concentrating on the leisure market and had to place meetings in the backseat, said its general manager Andre Brulhart.
Brulhart said the hotel ended its first year of operations in 2010 with “high 70” per cent occupancy. “This year, we hope to break that 80-per cent-occupancy barrier and raise average room rates by 10 per cent,” he said.
MALAYSIA will woo its largest source market, Singapore, with more ecotourism products, even as it continues to bank on its annual sale campaigns.
Speaking at a thank-you luncheon for the Singapore travel trade, Azizan Noordin, acting director general, Tourism Malaysia, said the NTO would be focusing more on nature-based offerings such as parks and gardens and homestays.
“We have designated about 22 parks and gardens throughout the country, and we are going to promote 12 first,” he said.
Azizan also pointed out that Singaporeans made up more than half of the 49,000 homestay tourists last year.
Fascinating Holidays assistant director, business development, Hamid Samad similarly observed that homestay programmes were fast gaining popularity among Singaporeans, who were eschewing five-star hotels “to go back to basics and get an authentic experience”.
He has four groups of about 30 pax each planned for June alone, with enquiries pouring in daily.
Azizan also said that shopping sales continue to be a major draw, “contributing about 28 per cent of tourism expenditure”.
The 1Malaysia Mega Sale Carnival, previously known as the Malaysia Mega Sale Carnival, will run from June to August at shopping malls and retail outlets. This year, however, other industry sectors such as F&B, hotels and tourism attractions will also be participating as part of the Malaysia Unified Sale.
Other tourism events in 2011 include a three-month 1Malaysia Contemporary Art Tourism Festival from July, a Fabulous Food 1Malaysia event from October to November, and a year-end Cuti-Cuti 1Malaysia Dance Tourism Carnival.
In 2010, Malaysia received 13 million tourists from Singapore, which generated 28.4 billion ringgit (US$9.4 billion) in tourism receipts, or roughly half of the 24.6 million arrivals and 56.6 billion ringgit achieved in total by the country.
AS A precursor to the upcoming IATA Annual General Meeting in Singapore from June 5 to 7, IATA director general and CEO, Giovanni Bisignani, revealed strong April 2011 air traffic data at his pre-AGM briefing this morning.
According to Bisignani, international passenger traffic grew 16.5 per cent during this period. He cautioned, however, that this spike was exaggerated by comparison of this year’s data against that of the year before, when much of Europe’s airspace closed as a result of volcanic ash from Iceland.
Bisignani added that air passenger traffic in the Asia-Pacific region declined 0.6 per cent as an immediate consequence of Japan’s earthquake, tsunami and nuclear crisis.
During his briefing, Bisignani underscored the importance of watching growth in GDP as a key driver of air traffic growth. He noted that Asia’s GDP was expected to grow at a healthy six per cent this year, but cautioned that high oil prices – already breaching the US$110 per barrel level – “could spoil the situation”.
Meanwhile, Bisignani sees India’s air traffic growing quickly, even as its national carrier, Air India, continues to experience difficulties. Although aviation infrastructure in the country is considered a hurdle for growth, Bisignani said he was “pleasantly surprised” with how the new airport in New Delhi was built and opened in record time.
The new airport has so far allowed Air India to establish its main hub there, and terminate several loss-making flights from different parts of India to Frankfurt and onwards across the Atlantic to North America.
He did, however, voice concerns over taxation issues in India, which he believes “the government needs to revise, including that which is levied on aviation fuel”.
TOUR operators in the Maldives remain confident that the industry is booming, despite recent concerns over rising taxes and whether the destination is over-priced.
Sim Mohamed Ibrahim, secretary general of the Maldives Association of Tourism Industry, said that the industry, through using strategies such as discounts during the off-season, was well-placed to continue to profit from growing tourist interest. This, despite perceived challenges relating to increasing taxation (TTG Asia e-Daily, May 26).
Ibrahim said there were 327,563 arrivals in the country during the first four months of the year, 16.9 per cent more than the same period last year. Arrivals from Europe formed the bulk of arrivals.
HAVING received anti-trust immunity approval from the Japanese Ministry of Land Infrastructure and Transport, All Nippon Airways (ANA) looks set to go ahead with plans to launch a strategic joint venture with Deutsche Lufthansa AG on Japan-Europe routes.
The joint venture will allow ANA and Lufthansa to work together on schedule coordination and joint product sales. Customers will benefit from seamless transfers and better connections. The two carriers aim to introduce the joint venture during the 2011 winter timetable.
Christoph Franz, chairman of the executive board & CEO, Deutsche Lufthansa AG, said: “This approval marks a great step forward for our customers. Optimised flight schedules will better enable them in future to plan their trips between Japan and Europe.”
Shinichiro Ito, ANA president & CEO, said: “This agreement will further improve the level of service we offer to passengers and boost our company’s international competitiveness.”
This latest agreement between the two Star Alliance members follows the launch of a similar joint venture between ANA and United Airlines on trans-Pacific routes in April.
