Langham Hospitality Group signs three hotels in Xiamen
Langham Hospitality Group (LHG) has signed management agreements for three hotels in Xiamen Seaworld, a mixed-use development by China Merchants Group (CMG) perched on the western shore of Xiamen’s main island.
The hotels, which open in 2025, will each showcase a different brand from LHG’s portfolio. The selected brands include The Langham Hotels & Resorts, Cordis Hotels & Resorts, and Ying’nFlo, which serve the luxury, upscale and midscale segments respectively.
The properties will join the group’s existing hotel in Xiamen, the Langham Place, and take the total number of LHG hotels in China to 20.
Xiamen Seaworld is CMG’s first Seaworld complex to be built outside of Shenzhen. The plot itself sits in a well-situated part of Dongdu Free Trade Zone that affords the two towers to house the hotels with unobstructed ocean views and expansive vistas of nearby Huweishan Park.
The Langham, Xiamen, Seaworld will occupy the larger of the towers, featuring a sky lobby that occupies the hotel’s top floor, a 880m2 ballroom, meeting rooms, F&B, and spa.
Located in the second of the two towers are Cordis, Xiamen, Seaworld and LHG’s first mainland China branch of Ying’nFlo. Facilities at Cordis comprise a 543m2 ballroom along with 755m2 of meeting venues – guests of The Langham and Cordis will benefit from a reciprocal arrangement that permits use of both hotels’ ballroom and event venues.
The Ying’nFlo hotel will include adaptable furniture and digital technology features, and guests can mingle, work or relax at the property’s signature House of Ying’nFlo open space, which will be the largest of its kind anywhere.
LHG CEO Bob van den Oord said: “The Langham, Cordis and Ying’nFlo will serve as iconic additions to Xiamen Seaworld, a visionary complex that we are proud to be part of. They will also bolster our presence in a wonderfully vibrant city that continues to show great promise.”
AirAsia enhances connectivity between Singapore and 12 cities in India
AirAsia is expanding its network to 12 cities in India, facilitated by its seamless Fly-Thru connecting service.
To commemorate 20 years of operations in Singapore, AirAsia is offering competitive low fares for travel between Singapore and India.
AirAsia operates an extensive network flying to 12 cities in India. Customers can now fly from Singapore to Chennai, Tiruchirappalli, Kochi, Hyderabad, Bengaluru, Kolkata, New Delhi, Amritsar, Trivandrum, Jaipur (commencing April 21), Visakhapatnam (commencing April 26) and Ahmedabad (commencing May 1) via its seamless Fly-Thru service in Kuala Lumpur. Through its Bangkok (Don Mueang) hub, passengers can also fly to Bengaluru, Kolkata, Kochi, Jaipur, Chennai, Lucknow, Ahmedabad, Gaya, Guwahati and Visakhapatnam.
In addition, the airline has introduced its free seats promotion, highlighting four cities in India –Visakhapatnam, Jaipur, Trivandrum and Ahmedabad – with promotional fares from as low as SG$173 (US$128) from now till February 25, for travel between September 1, 2024 and June 18, 2025.
Logan Velaitham, CEO of AirAsia Singapore, said: “Through our Fly-Thru service, we seamlessly connect travellers from Singapore to India and vice versa, bolstering arrivals into Changi Airport. This enables access to AirAsia’s extensive network of over 130 destinations with a convenient short-stop in Kuala Lumpur or Bangkok (Don Mueang), without the need to collect or re-check in baggage during transit.”
Holiday Tours & Travel Group to represent Globus’ brands as Asian distributor
Globus family of brands (GFOB), comprising of luxury river cruising operator Avalon Waterways and escorted coach touring companies Globus and Cosmos, has appointed Holiday Tours & Travel Group (HTT) as their distributor for the Asia region (excluding Hong Kong) effective March 1.
Headquartered in Singapore, HTT will represent the GFOB product portfolio in the key markets of Singapore, Malaysia (via H Travel), Thailand, South Korea and the Philippines.
The new appointment and subsequent consolidation of distribution aims to see GFOB enhance their opportunities in Asia, drive increased brand awareness and amplify sales growth, with HTT enacting product sales in the respective markets utilising their expert local market knowledge and proven experience as travel industry leaders across the region.
Hong Kong will remain represented by the current GSA, as an independent market.
GFOB managing director Asia Pacific, Gai Tyrrell, said the brand has strong ambitions for growth and the partnership with HTT is vital for the company’s expansion in Asia.
“We are excited to partner with Holiday Tours & Travel Group to enhance our distribution in five of our key Asian markets and this appointment sees us achieve efficiencies with one distributor across the region, which puts us in a strong position to drive significant sales growth,” said Tyrrell.
“It’s an exciting time of growth at Globus family of brands, with our marketing activity driving record results and new product launching in 2024/5, so we are focused on expanding our footprint and customer base in the Asia -Pacific region.”
Duncan Choo, managing director, HTT, commented: “We will be raising brand awareness of the Avalon Waterways, Globus and Cosmos brands and supporting our trade partners to discover the benefits of selling Globus family of brands product.”
Hospitality conference sets out for Ho Chi Minh City
The 7th Hospitality Vietnam Conference, part of the Hospitality Asia Event Series managed by Hospitality Asia Media, will take place at Caravelle Saigon, Vietnam from April 3 to 5 this year, drawing an expected 350-plus attendees from diverse sectors in the hospitality industry.
The event comprises three summits – Hotel Investment Summit Vietnam; Hotel Design Summit Vietnam; and Hotel Revenue Summit Vietnam.
Other upcoming events in the Hospitality Asia Event Series include the 3rd Hospitality Thailand Conference in Bangkok, Thailand this May, and the 4th Hospitality Malaysia Conference in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia this June.
Korean Air partners Accelya to power its retail modernisation
Korean Air has signed a long-term agreement with Accelya, a global leader in flexible, airline-centric software solutions, to enable the airline to take control of its retailing and further innovate its leading customer experience with the deployment of Accelya’s FLX Platform.
Korean Air will integrate Accelya’s NDC and the innovative FLX-Merchandizing module, to deliver personalisation and the most relevant offers to customers. Accelya’s NDC offering links airlines with over 50,000 travel agents including the world’s largest OTAs and TMCs.
The FLX-Merchandizing module, running on both Accelya and AWS technologies, fine-tunes customer offerings and experiences. Leveraging the latest technologies, it will enable Korean Air to create, personalise and adjust its offers to better serve travellers across both direct and indirect channels.
The Accelya FLX Platform enabled more than half of all global New Distribution Capability (NDC) transactions in 2022, according to data from T2RL, an independent consultancy leader in travel technology and distribution strategy. The platform combines the power of the Amazon Web Services cloud and the latest advanced technologies to deliver unparalleled scalability and reliability, while enabling airlines to efficiently present millions of retail offers across all channels.
Yoo Tae Jung, managing vice president and NDC platform director at Korean Air, commented: “The exhaustive RFP process has highlighted Accelya’s technological expertise and flexibility. Our partnership with Accelya is a key step in reshaping our retailing strategy.”
Accelya CEO Sam Gilliland echoed this sentiment: “Our alliance with Korean Air is built around a shared belief in putting the customer first, making modern and forward-looking technology choices and ensuring airlines are truly in control of their retailing journey and not being held back by legacy ‘old world’ technology vendors. The deployment of the Accelya FLX platform will provide Korean Air with a clear pathway towards offer and order transformation, empowering them to control their future, with Accelya supporting them every step of the way.”
Raffles Hotel Singapore reignites magic hour performance series
Raffles Hotel Singapore, in partnership with Singapore Symphony Orchestra, is bringing back its Magic Hour for 2024, with the first performance to take place on February 24 at 18.00.
Presented as a series of six performances throughout the year, Magic Hour @ Raffles Hotel Singapore will be held at The Lawn, Raffles Arcade.
Designed to enliven the boundless connections of live music performances that is deeply ingrained in the Raffles ethos, Magic Hour @ Raffles Hotel Singapore presents a wonderful opportunity for the community to be awed by the arts. The community can delight in inspiring and uplifting live music as the sun sets, all set against the backdrop of lush greenery and the iconic colonial architecture.
Admission is free for all.
For more information, visit Raffles Hotel Singapore.
Custom Travel Solutions paves the way to stronger travel revenue
Brought to you by Custom Travel Solutions
Many companies are looking at developing or implementing new consumer loyalty strategies to create sustainable revenue growth that is immune to crises and seasonality. Recurring revenue models are key, even as travel revenue is heavily impacted by macro factors.
According to a report by PYMNTS, 37 per cent of consumers will spend more with brands with a retail subscription. However, to increase revenue, new entrants or existing subscription organisations such as media sites or neobanks, need to find the right balance between giving users access to content and value worth paying for.
By offering different subscription packages and pricing tiers, companies can create more value for members and increase their revenue.
They can add new verticals such as travel or lifestyle benefits, and bundle them into an all-in offering, which lets subscription organisations design upselling journeys and experiment with different price points to maximise the customer lifetime value across different subscriber types.
Booking a trip is still a major pain point for travellers. With an overwhelming number of choices, the entire process can seem daunting. Streamlining this booking journey by offering user-friendly platforms and consolidated content can help.
Furthermore, building this one-stop shop comes with the promise of delivering competitive prices and broad inventories. It also enables companies to offer travel solutions tailored to specific groups of users that will ensure that travellers feel seen and valued throughout their journey.
While finding white-label solutions is relatively simple, sourcing real value and differentiating one’s brand experience from the mainstream online travel agency model can be rather complex.
True customer support, fully branded experience, global inventory, flexible pricing, custom margins/savings, and benefit negotiations should be combined to meet a brand’s specific requirements.
Custom Travel Solutions (CTS) is one of the few providers that specialises in this niche.
“A travel club is certainly the most profitable niche you can find in travel,” said Mike Putman, CEO and founder, Custom Travel Solutions.
“Besides operating our own 24/7 customer service globally, we put together all the tools, technology and vendors to deliver tailored travel member solutions to organisations all over the world.”
CTS has also recently seen and addressed a surge in demand for this type of product in the Asian market. With a dedicated product and business development team located in Pune, India, the company has recently enriched its platform with new inventory to cater to these specific audiences.
Custom Travel Solutions – your way to a turn-key travel club
CTS’s goal is to use its industry expertise, technology capabilities, and extensive relationship network to give companies a turn-key travel club that offers a comprehensive set of elite member-only travel and lifestyle benefits through one easy-to-use platform.
The company provides private-labelled travel clubs to its global portfolio of clients. With a first-in-class travel platform, CTS also offers consultative services in the travel and loyalty sector and supports its clients with travel content, sales, merchant services, and travel fulfillment.
Book your demo now to explore the ways that travel can work for you.
VFS Global reports high visa applications in India
In a strong indication of the rebound in outbound tourism from India, VFS Global, a visa outsourcing and technology services company for governments and diplomatic missions worldwide, said its visa application volumes in India for the year 2023 have reached 93 per cent of pre-pandemic figures. The company witnessed a 16 per cent growth in applications over the previous year.
“Some of the destinations that recorded strong demand included Canada, the US, France, Italy, Germany, Netherlands, Switzerland, Saudi Arabia and China. For our ‘visa at your doorstep’ service, we recorded a five times growth in 2023 compared to the pre-pandemic demand in 2019. Some of the reasons that can be attributed to the strong recovery are buoyant Indian economy and absence of any travel restrictions,” said Vishal Jairath, head – South Asia, VFS Global, while addressing a press event in New Delhi last week.
VFS Global is expecting visa application volumes to surpass pre-pandemic demand in 2024. In the past, getting visa appointments for longhaul destinations was a challenge with longer waiting periods – however, Jairath expects a much improved situation this year.
“Even though the situation improved in comparison to 2022, there was a demand and supply gap in 2023. There were visa delays because of disruptions. Many of our client governments were moving to remote visa processing systems and there was a lack of human resources. However, many client governments have confirmed that they have hired additional local staff and expatriates to manage demand. Thus, higher visa appointments will be available in 2024,” he shared.
Looking ahead, countries such as Switzerland, Austria, and France are set to increase their visa appointment availability in India by 20 to 25 per cent in 2024 compared to the previous year. Moreover, the Netherlands is boosting its visa appointment slots by 40 per cent in 2024, further easing the process for Indian travellers.
Resorts World One to homeport in Jakarta
Resorts World Cruises (RWC) will be the first international cruise line to homeport in Jakarta, Indonesia from June 16 to July 1 this year.
The cruise line will offer four round-trip six-day-five-night cruises from Jakarta to Singapore and Kuala Lumpur (via Port Klang) onboard Resorts World One.
With the six-day-five-night cruises, guests will also get to enjoy the ship’s onboard offerings – international and authentic Asian F&B across 18 restaurants and bars; a Roman-themed Parthenon Pool with a Caesar’s Slide and jacuzzi, virtual games, onboard duty-free shopping, spas, enrichment workshops, movie nights at sea and more.
RWC president Michael Goh said: “As an international cruise line that is homegrown in Asia, Resorts World Cruises is excited and proud to pioneer the first-ever homeport deployment in Indonesia. Indonesians are familiar with the Resorts World Cruises brand sailing out of Singapore and now they can sail with a round-trip cruise from Jakarta to Singapore and Kuala Lumpur on the Resorts World One. We look forward to developing the country’s and regional cruise tourism industry together.”
TransNusa Airline, a subsidiary of Linkasia Airlines Group and Panca Global International Indonesia, has rebranded itself as a Premium Service Carrier globally.
Established in 2005. TranNusa stopped operations in 2020 due to the global pandemic and was sold. In 2022, the airline saw the injection of new shareholders – Panca Global International Indonesia (51 per cent) and Singapore-based Linkasia Airlines Group (49 per cent) – and a new management team, which developed a unique business model that allowed TransNusa to rebrand itself as a Premium Service Carrier.
TransNusa Group CEO Bernard Francis remarked that TransNusa has become the fastest growing airline in South-east Asia due to the business plan that was developed and implemented swiftly post Covid-19.
“We knew that traveller’s behavioural pattern had changed, specifically due to the pandemic. Our next step was to develop a customised business model for the targeted passengers,” he said, adding that the airline has flown over one million passengers between October 2022 and December 2023.
In April last year, TransNusa expanded its reach from domestic to international with the launch of its Jakarta-Kuala Lumpur route. Subsequently in the same year, the airline also launched three new routes – Jakarta-Singapore, Jakarta-Guangzhou, and Jakarta-Johor.
Francis, an aviation industry expert who specialises in airline turnaround and revenue management, said that TransNusa has increased its flight frequencies to seven times a week to Singapore, Guangzhou, Guangdong, China and Johor Bahru, Malaysia. The airline has also increased its flight frequencies to 21 times weekly to Kuala Lumpur, 14 times weekly to Yogyakarta and 35 times weekly to Bali.
“Last year, we expanded our operations to include international routes and even became the second Indonesian airline to fly into China. We also managed to obtain all necessary approvals in a short timeframe from world-class Changi airport, reflecting the strong commitment we have towards safety, security, maintenance and aircraft performance measures,” he said.
On the airline’s future expansion, Francis shared that the airline has plans to further expand its international network, as well as to establish another domestic hub and provide its domestic market with premium services.
He stressed that TransNusa’s current services exceeded that of a low-cost airline.
“For our domestic and international flights, we not only provide premium services with competitive ticket prices in comparison to other low-cost airlines, but we have attractive new product bundles called Seat, Seat-Plus and Flexi-Pro,” he explained.
Depending on the product purchased, passengers can enjoy check-in baggage weighing between 15kg and 30kg. Flexi-Pro features include checking in baggage of up to 30kg, seat choices, free F&B, priority check-in and boarding, as well as the flexibility to change the flight schedule and receive refunds if needed.
In addition, all TransNusa flights will only depart and arrive at major international airports, allowing passengers to enjoy the world-class services offered at these international terminals.