Travellers spending more on premium-class travel
The latest ForwardKeys data reveals that many travellers are willing to spend more on travel services such as premium cabins after being unable to travel longhaul for an extended period due to Covid-19.
This is good news not only for the airlines but also for destinations and tourism-related businesses – as travellers arriving in premium-class cabins are likely to spend more on the ground too.
With many destinations and markets remaining closed during the pandemic, travel preferences have changed, and the luxury travel segment reconfigured. For example, Japan, China and South Korea – all in the top 10 premium travel markets in 2019 – dropped down the rankings in 2022 due to their cautious approach to managing Covid-19. However, the Japanese and South Korean luxury markets are expected to see a comeback in 2023 now that both countries have reopened to international travel.
While the Far-Eastern countries have slipped down the rankings, two other Asia-Pacific markets that reopened earlier, Australia and India, have shown resilience. The former has maintained its premium market share in 2022 as compared with 2019, while the latter has marginally improved its share.
By volume, the US and Germany are the largest premium travel markets. But what matters for destinations when gauging the economic impact of various markets is the proportion of visitors travelling in high-end cabins, such as business and first class as opposed to premium economy. In that respect, the US, the UK, France and Canada appear to be the most affluent source markets, therefore offering better value per traveller.
Peach Aviation broadens network in Asia
Peach Aviation is expanding its international flight network with the launch and resumption of services between hubs in Japan and other parts of Asia.
The low-cost carrier will start its first international route from Nagoya’s Chubu Airport (to Taipei) on March 27, which will be operated seven times a week.
Announcing the Nagoya-Taipei route, Peach’s representative director and CEO Takeaki Mori said: “We are very happy to finally make this happen as we have received requests from many people to operate international flights since we started service at Nagoya (Chubu) Airport in 2020.”
Another route to Taiwan (Osaka to Kaohsiung), which has been suspended since the outset of Covid-19, will resume on August 1 in response to the recovery of Japan’s inbound tourism market.
Peach has accelerated the resumption of international flights since August 2022, beginning with services from Osaka and Tokyo to Seoul, followed by flights from Osaka, Tokyo and Okinawa to Taipei. Its Osaka-Hong Kong service was restarted in January.
Mori noted that Peach now serves the most routes from Japan to Taiwan of any Japanese carrier, adding: “Peach is committed to contributing to the revitalisation of the Japanese economy while promoting interaction between people to liven up the Asian region.”
Still to come is the expansion of the airline’s first medium-haul route between Osaka and Bangkok, which was launched in December 2022 and will be operated daily from summer 2023.
A spokesperson for Peach said the airline “will continue to place the highest priority on safe operations and through infection control measures” and hopes to support Japan via flight provision as it prepares to host Expo 2025 in Osaka.
Peach currently operates 31 domestic routes and 17 international routes with a fleet of 32 aircraft.
Vietjet restores Ho Chi Minh City-Hong Kong services
Vietjet has relaunched its direct service connecting Ho Chi Minh City to Hong Kong.
The service will fly twice weekly on every Monday and Friday, with a flight duration of three hours.
Vietjet also operates flights to destinations such as Australia, India, Thailand, Singapore, South Korea, Indonesia, and Malaysia.
THAI to fly to China in March
From March 1, Thai Airways International Public Company Limited (THAI) will operate 14 weekly flights to five destinations in China.
With all return flight operations departing from Bangkok, the airline will fly to Kunming every Friday and Sunday, and to Guangzhou on Monday, Wednesday and Saturday.
The services to Chengdu will be on Tuesday and Thursday, while flights to Shanghai will take off every Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday and Sunday.
The Bangkok-Beijing route will operate thrice weekly on Monday, Thursday and Saturday.
Explore Japan on foot
Walking tours are one of the best ways to explore a country in a new light. Walk Japan features fully-guided trails for travellers who enjoy strolling through streets, forest trails and foot paths to discover lesser-known parts of Japan.
The seven-day, six-night Tokaido Trail starts in Tokyo and finishes in Yuya Onsen. The tour follows the most interesting and enjoyable parts of the ancient highway at an easy walking pace at distances of between 10km and 14km each day. Trek through towns and along paths seemingly forgotten since the days when it was the major transport artery through Japan, chance upon relics and gain insights into travel and daily life in old Japan.
With a maximum group size of eight, accommodation will be provided at Japanese inns and hotels, along with luggage transfers, entrance fees, and transport for some days of the tour. Daily breakfast and dinner are included, as well as three lunches.
The next available tour is from November 22 to 28, and is priced at 384,000 yen (US$2,910) per pax.
For more information, visit Walk Japan.
John Parker helms as GM of Avani Chaweng Samui Hotel & Beach Club
John Parker has been appointed general manager of Avani Chaweng Samui Hotel & Beach Club.
He has 15 years of hospitality experience and was recently at Mari Beach Club in Bali where he served as pre-opening general manager.
Parker will focus on positioning Avani Chaweng Samui Hotel & Beach Club as Koh Samui’s leading lifestyle resort, as well as elevating SEEN Beach Club Samui’s visibility, both regionally and internationally.
The Ritz-Carlton Jakarta, Pacific Place welcomes new GM
Alexis Rodriguez has been appointed general manager of The Ritz-Carlton Jakarta, Pacific Place.
Rodriguez brings with him 18 years of experience in luxury hotels, and in his new role, he will lead his team to ensure the embodiment of The Ritz-Carlton Gold Standards.
Previously the general manager of JW Marriott Zhengzhou, he is also able to communicate in multiple languages, including English, Spanish, Galician, among others.
Hong Kong steps up trade engagements in Indian market
Hong Kong Tourism Board (HKTB) has reinstated its physical travel trade engagements in India after a gap of three years from the onset of the pandemic.
The tourism board organised its two-city roadshow covering New Delhi and Mumbai last week, offering destination updates to Indian travel agents. HKTB also participated at South Asia’s Travel & Tourism Exchange (SATTE) between February 9 and 11 in Greater Noida in which 18 suppliers from Hong Kong were present.
“We have shared insights into various tourism-centric developments that took place in Hong Kong in the last three years through our physical trade engagements in India. Travel agents and MICE planners were also educated about the new experiences and other tourism opportunities for them to sell in Hong Kong,” Puneet Kumar, director, South Asia & Middle East, HKTB told TTG Asia during the New Delhi leg of the roadshow.
While the two-city roadshow was focused on the MICE market, the NTO’s participation at SATTE was aimed at a larger trade outreach. HKTB has also planned a mega fam trip for Indian travel agents that will be organised in the first half of the year.
Hong Kong has an exciting line-up of new tourism products like 11 Skies pegged as its largest hub for retail, dining and entertainment and SkyTrack – positioned as the worlds’ largest indoor and outdoor go-karting track.
Kumar shared: “Our focus will be on promoting art and culture, culinary tourism, wellness and the great outdoors of Hong Kong in the Indian market besides new experiences. (For) outdoors, we will be promoting hiking, water sports activities, island hopping and nature-based sightseeing. Not many people know that 70 per cent of Hong Kong’s land mass is green. We are blessed with natural landscapes and scenery that would attract Indians to explore the green side of Hong Kong.”
The Hong Kong SAR Government had previously announced the lifting of all mandatory PCR test requirements for inbound travellers upon arrival in Hong Kong, as well as the lifting of Vaccine Pass, which had allowed access to specified premises, and other measures.
At present, Cathay Pacific is operating 30 per cent of its pre-pandemic capacity in the Indian market with its seven flights from New Delhi, six flights from Mumbai and three flights from Bengaluru. The carrier is expected to operate 75 per cent of its air capacity in the Indian market by the end of this year.
“We don’t see demand softening from the Indian market, hence, air connectivity is important. Indian carriers, Vistara and IndiGo, are expected to soon resume flights to Hong Kong. This will provide a major boost to our growth plans in the Indian market,” said Kumar.
Japanese stakeholders confident of tourism prospects in the Philippines
Tourism stakeholders in Japan are bullish on doing business in the Philippines as Philippine president Ferdinand Marcos Jr, during his official visit to Japan, assured them of the Philippine government’s continued support for the sector.
He reiterated that tourism is vital for economic resurgence, saying the Department of Tourism (DoT) “will exhaust all our efforts to revive this extremely important industry”, and also urged airline partners present to restore their pre-pandemic routes and explore new routes to link both countries.
The meeting also aimed to promote the viability and openness of the Philippines for tourism investments.
Sharing plans and programmes on the country’s developments during the meeting, tourism secretary Christina Garcia Frasco noted that Japan has “an interest in certain tourism product offerings including diving, health and wellness, and learning English as a second language”.
Hiroyuki Takahashi, chairperson of Japan Association of Travel Agents, said that with the potential resumption of tourism international exchange, the Philippines’ many tourism offerings had the potential to attract a large number of Japanese visitors.
“The Philippines (has) a mild climate all year, making it a popular destination for younger people to relax at beach resorts like Cebu and Boracay Island, and for retirees, an extended period of (vacation) time,” said Takahashi, adding that with the many Japanese companies establishing operations in the region would mean further growth as a business travel destination.
Hasebe Kento from Japan Philippine Tourism Council noted that despite the hiatus brought about by the pandemic, the organisation is eager to jumpstart its activities starting this year.
“We hope that we can share the many attractions of the Philippines to a lot of people,” he enthused.
