THE SINGAPORE Tourism Board (STB) foresees a restructuring of the industry – not least the travel agency sector – as the destination continues to evolve and attract higher-spending visitors with greater expectations.

Tourism receipts shot up nearly 50 per cent last year to an estimated S$18.8 billion (US$14.7 billion), while arrivals rose about 20 per cent to 11.6 million.

Giving an example of how a changing product is altering the existing industry landscape, STB’s chief executive Aw Kah Peng pointed to the two gaming cruiseships that stopped operation last year as a result of new gaming options in the city (TTG Asia e-Daily, January 13, 2010).

“There was a drop in the number of ship calls as some of the cruises that focused on gaming found it was not worth their while to do these cruises. Hotels too are looking at what is being offered and reshaping and investing to change the nature of their product offering,” she said, during a media conference Q&A this morning on 2010 tourism sector performance.

Asked what sort of restructure she sees happening in the travel agency sector, Aw said: “Demand for travel agents remains. As we can see, last year saw a nett increase in the number of agencies. The question remains how are they going to service the customer whose demands have changed. It’s no longer about a package tour, so many agents are rethinking itineraries, training issues, and so on.”

Last year saw 120 new licensed agencies and 85 agency closures, resulting in a nett increase to 975 agencies in total. STB’s assistant chief executive, Industry Development 1 Group and Sector Planning & Development Group, Tony Lai, said he noticed a change in new agencies in that they were led by “young entrepreneurs” and many were web-driven, with more than half having a retail front at the same time.

– Read more in TTG Asia, February 25 issue

JAPAN’s All Nippon Airways (ANA) has designs on the Chinese budget travel market, with plans to launch a new low-cost carrier (LCC) by mid-February.

A joint venture with Hong Kong-based First Eastern Investment Group, A&F-Aviation will initially be based in Osaka’s Kansai International Airport, servicing limited destinations in China and Japan from October, while also offering Japanese domestic flights. It will increase the number of routes to 20 within five years.

First Eastern chairman Victor Chu said the LCC would challenge Air China and Japan Airlines on Chinese routes, while its major hubs would include Beijing, Shanghai, Hangzhou, Shenzhen and Guangzhou, as well as Hong Kong and Macau.

AMADEUS has agreed to sell its pan-European online travel agency Opodo to private equity firms AXA and Permira for approximately 500 million euros (US$684 million), subject to approval by competition authorities.

Following the sale, AXA and Permira plan to merge Opodo with their two online travel firms, Go Voyages and eDream.

London-based Opodo was founded in 2001 by a consortium of European airlines including British Airways, Air France, Alitalia, Iberia, KLM, Lufthansa, Aer Lingus, Austrian Airlines and Finnair.

KOH Samui’s four-year hotel building boom is threatening to undermine the destination’s long-term success, as supply outstrips a demand hamstrung by severely limited airlift, according to a report released today by hospitality consulting firm C9 Hotelworks.

Samui Hotel Market Update 2010 reveals that oversupply and limited access heavily impacted last year’s operating performance for hotels on the island, with marked declines in occupancy (seven per cent), average room rates (15 per cent) and RevPAR (26 per cent) compared to 2009.

C9 Hotelworks managing director Bill Barnett explained: “Private sector development in the hospitality sector has surged well ahead of transportation infrastructure improvements, which has caused the market to go into a tailspin.”

Located in an international flight corridor requiring low landing levels, coupled with environmental restrictions allowing only 36 flights a day and a runway length unable to handle larger aircraft, the long-term potential of the destination is effectively capped, especially with no airport expansion or relocation plans in the pipeline.

Comparing the destination to the more developed markets of Phuket and Bali, Barnett added that what was clearly missing in Koh Samui were high-demand generators such as regional low-cost carriers and charter flights.

THE INDONESIA Ministry of Culture and Tourism will sue the organiser of the New7Wonders (N7W) of Nature campaign for dropping the office as its official supporting committee over the Komodo National Park furore (TTG Asia e-Daily, February 8).

The ministry’s lawyer Todung Mulya Lubis told the media yesterday: “Their decision to drop the ministry as the official supporting committee is an attempt to discredit Indonesia’s government and has no legal basis.”

In the meantime, Indonesia tourism stakeholders are calling on the government and private sector to forge ahead with plans for developing and promoting Komodo National Park.

“We must use the momentum to continue improving infrastructure in Komodo,” said Indonesia Care Tourism member Wuryastuti Sunario. “Indonesia should also start selling Komodo together with Flores as an ecotourism destination.”

Incito Tours managing director Sebastian Ng said the N7W campaign was a good means of garnering media coverage for the destination. “We must continue promoting Komodo by highlighting it as a UNESCO World Heritage Site,” he said.

MYANMAR operators report a busier January compared to the same period last year, although the prospects for March onwards are less certain, with differing forecasts from industry players.

Hla Aye, managing director of Shan Yoma Travel and Tours, said January had been a hectic month. “We’ve already received bookings for February and March,” he said.

All Asia Exclusive Travel managing director Phyoe Wai Yar Zar said the company had registered a slight growth in business in January and February, but bookings started to wane in March.

Hotel Yangon sales and marketing director Thet Ko Ko Htaik said the property ran at about 85 per cent occupancy in January, a 20 per cent year-on-year increase, while forward bookings for February and March indicated a full-house situation on most days.

Chatrium Hotel sales and marketing director May Myat Mon said although the hotel’s occupancy in February was better than in January, forward bookings were pointing to a quieter March.

BAAN Taling Ngam Resort and Spa in Koh Samui, Thailand will be closed for renovations from March 1 and reopen as a five-star InterContinental resort on October 1.

Resort sales and market director Tasa Soonthornsima told TTG Asia e-Daily that parent company Elite Villa would spend 800 million baht (US$26 million) on overhauling the 73-key property.

Elite Villa managing director Vikorn Srivikorn, also the owner of InterContinental Bangkok and Holiday Inn Bangkok, took over the resort from the defunct Lehman Brothers (Thailand) last May.

The 17-year-old resort used to run under the Mandarin Oriental and Le Meridien brands, and was previously a member of Small Luxury Hotels of the World.

By Sirima Eamtako

IN a testament to the strong rebound of the travel industry in 2010, Abacus International saw booking transactions hit a record high last year, growing by 11 per cent compared to 2009, when it saw a one per cent slide in bookings.

Transaction increases were led by North Asia (14 per cent), followed by South-west Asia (10 per cent) and South-east Asia (eight per cent).

“I foresee that 2011 will continue to be a high growth year for Asia, albeit at a slightly slower pace,” said president and CEO, Robert Bailey, adding that Abacus expects to see a four to six per cent jump in bookings this year.

Besides obvious leaders of growth, China and India, Bailey singled out Indonesia, Vietnam and Cambodia as markets to watch.

Indonesian agents, he said, were benefiting from a stable economy and political scene as well as a recent removal of exit tax, while Vietnam and Cambodia’s emerging economies were driving travel demand.

Abacus also reported an eye-popping 126 per cent increase in hotel bookings in 2010, while noting that hotel average daily rates were up by four per cent, with properties in Taiwan, Hong Kong and China at the top of the table.

The GDS predicted that the major drivers of travel distribution for 2011 would be online travel agents, airline ancillaries, mobile travel bookings, social media and personalised trip planning.

– Read more in TTG Asia, February 25

THE ASSOCIATION of the Indonesian Tours and Travel Agencies (ASITA) Jakarta Chapter has offered to assist suspended Mandala Airlines by giving testimony and recommendations to potential investors.

“Airline traffic continues to grow, especially domestically, and Mandala is an old player with many years of experience,” said ASITA board member Asrul Aziz Taba. “It is in our best interest that they are back in the air so we can do business again.”

In return, ASITA has requested priority for its members to claim deposits and ticket refunds if the carrier, which halted operations on January 13, is eventually declared bankrupt.

Mandala’s fate will be determined on February 18, when the company will find out if the majority of its creditors agree to a proposed restructuring programme, said the carrier’s retail sales manager Made Lesmana. “If so, we will be able to take further steps to resume operations, otherwise the company will be declared bankrupt.”

Swatrav Tours and Travel director Muhammad Arsyad said the fact that Mandala neglected to inform agents it was stopping operations, and still accepted payments on the day it suspended business had damaged its reputation.

“Don’t dream Mandala will regain the confidence of customers without its agents,” he warned.

THAILAND’s Ministry of Tourism and Sports (MoTS) plans to extend or reintroduce some tourism stimulus policies launched over the last two years.

Permanent secretary Sombat Kuruphan said the ministry was currently debating which of the seven policies originally launched to counter the multiple tourism crises in the country were worth renewing.

Policies still active include the exemption of tourist visa fees for some nationalities, including Indians and Chinese, which will cease on March 31.

Policies that have already concluded include the soft loan scheme for tourism-related operators, travel insurance coverage for foreign visitors in case of riots and the waiver of hotel operating fees at 80 baht per room per year.

Meanwhile, Sombat said the ministry would press ahead with construction of the new government-funded convention and exhibition centre in Chiang Mai, scheduled for completion by end of this year.