A new airline has come to town, in the form of Thailand-based Really Cool Airlines.
The new airline will announce aircraft types, destinations and its route network in the coming months, with operations expected to commence by the end of 2023. Details on the approaches and services will also be revealed soon.
Really Cool Airlines plans to commence operations by the end of 2023
Patee Sarasin, CEO of Really Cool Airlines, said: “We are thrilled to introduce Really Cool Airlines and look forward to providing travellers with an exceptional flying experience. Our team of experts has worked tirelessly to create a new standard for the aviation industry, and we’re excited to unveil in the coming months what we have in store.”
The Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) is targeting 30 million tourist arrivals to Thailand this year, approximately 80 per cent of the 39 million tourist arrivals recorded in 2019. To achieve this ambitious target, the TAT has gone on record to say that the country needs more airlines and flights serving its popular tourist destinations.
“(Really Cool Airlines’) commitment to providing a unique flying experience will not only enhance the travel experience for passengers, but also contribute to the growth of Thailand’s resurgent travel and hospitality industries,” said Chadchart Sittipunt, governor of Bangkok.
“We are excited to see what the future holds for Really Cool Airlines and look forward to their inaugural flight.”
Sustainable Hospitality Alliance (SHA) and Green Hospitality are considering a merger to combine the latter’s reach and experience in Asia-Pacific with SHA’s expertise and global network.
The directors of both organisations have had positive meetings and next steps will see the appropriate due diligence reviews. A merger would enable SHA to establish a formal presence in Asia-Pacific with Green Hospitality’s headquarters in Hong Kong.
Mandziuk: supporting hotels and organisations on the path to net positive hospitality
SHA currently represents over 50,000 properties and seven million rooms globally, while Green Hospitality’s vision is to advance research, incubate innovations, and foster activities that enable the industry to achieve Sustainable Development Goals in the interest of the planet, people, and prosperity.
Glenn Mandziuk, CEO of SHA, said: “Being in Hong Kong, a merger with Green Hospitality would enable (SHA) to better serve the hotels and organisations in the region, supporting them on the path to net positive hospitality.”
“The synergy of the Sustainable Hospitality Alliance’s expertise in creating global partnerships and building movements, and Green Hospitality’s on-the-ground knowledge and connection to hospitality practitioners, sustainability experts, civil society organisations, and government agencies in Hong Kong and Asia has great potential to turn the industry into a catalyst for sustainability,” added Lucia Loposova, executive director, Green Hospitality.
An update on the merger will be provided later in the year.
Hmlet continues its growth trajectory in Asia with three additional properties in Hong Kong and Japan within the first half of 2023. This follows the brand’s recent unveiling of its first boutique property in Singapore, Hmlet Cantonment.
Hmlet Asakusa Tawaramachi and Hmlet Koenji II have started operations in Tokyo in January this year, while Hmlet Portland, situated in Kowloon, Hong Kong, is set to open in 2Q2023.
Hmlet Portland located in Hong Kong’s Mong Kok area will open 2Q2023
Hmlet Asakusa Tawaramachi is a pet-friendly 20-room property within walking distance to famous Tokyo attractions such as the Kappabashi Kitchen Town, Sensoji Temple and Nakamise Street. It is within walking distance to Asakusa Station and Tawaramachi Station.
Hmlet Koenji II follows the launch of Hmlet Koenji in April 2022, and is located in West Tokyo, nearby Koenji Station and Shin-Koenji Station.
Opening soon is Hmlet Portland, a newly-developed 15-storey building located in Hong Kong’s Mong Kok area. The property will provide 37 rooms, flexible lease periods and easy access to public transportation. Communal spaces will include a pantry, two separate cooking areas, locker, laundry room and outdoor lounge area.
“We are thrilled to deepen our presence in the vibrant gateway cities of Singapore, Hong Kong and Japan, where our members are part of a collaborative community and empowered to explore everything these destinations have to offer, with the flexibility and comfort that Hmlet provides,” said Hmlet’s CEO, Giselle Makarachvili.
The Slate Phuket has introduced a new concept in experiential dining, launching the new BOLD brand, a series of events that encourage guests to Be Original, Light-hearted, and Daring.
Specially curated to deliver a truly authentic experience of Thailand’s largest island, guests will be ensured of a sensory adventure amid the playful backdrop of Bill Bensley-imagined spaces.
The Slate Phuket’s BOLD events invite guests to enjoy immersive, interactive, and memorable moments; Coqoon Spa pictured
Unlike ordinary dinners, BOLD events provides guests the opportunity to try something different. The first BOLD event in March is a Bong Appetit dinner where each course is infused with cannabis leaves, flowers or seeds, with Coqoon Spa offering CBD-infused treatments.
The next BOLD event in June is an immersion into Issan Food, broadening guests’ understanding of Thai cuisine by introducing them to rustic dishes reimagined with flair and fun.
The Slate Phuket will plan signature BOLD events throughout the year, to complement its Vibrations music festivals, making it a year-round destination for the hottest events in Phuket.
Forty-five minutes north of Phuket International Airport sits Khao Lak, an up-and-coming destination in southern Thailand that can be described as the more peaceful cousin usually overlooked in favour of bustling Phuket.
Both Phuket and Khao Lak can offer holidays filled with sun, sand, and sea. However, there are two key differences – Khao Lak boasts a quieter, more laid-back vibe, as well as a long list of nature-focused outdoor pursuits.
The charming Takua Pa old town and its colourful architecture
Chattan Kunjara Na Ayudhya, deputy governor for marketing communications Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT), told TTG Asia: “Most of the hotels along the beachfront are upscale properties that provide privacy for visitors, as well as a wide selection of well-being programmes for their guests.”
This is also why TAT is promoting Phang-nga – the province Khao Lak is part of – as a health and wellness destination according to its Andaman Wellness Corridor Strategy. Phang-nga has successfully staged the L’Étape by Tour de France event for several years now, which Chattan hopes would attract more sporting events to the destination.
“Khuk Khak Beach in Khao Lak (is growing in reputation) as a surfing destination, and there are surfing schools for those interested,” Chattan added.
Another surfing spot is Pakarang Beach, as the waves are beginner friendly, shared Leandro Cavaco Silva, general manager of Avani+ Khao Lak Resort.
This is in addition to the scuba diving, snorkelling, hiking, bamboo rafting, and whitewater rafting available in Khao Lak and its surrounds. Cultural visits to Takua Pa, a charming old town, should also be included in itineraries.
Previously a tin-dredging area in the first half of the 20th century, the area is now a small tourist town replete with colourful Sino-Portuguese architecture. Tours to Takua Pa are usually combined with a paddle through the area’s mangrove forest (see What’s Hot).
Avani+ Khao Lak Resort has diversified its offerings to appeal to a different segment of travellers by partnering with Naimuang Restaurant Khao Lak & Kwan’s Cooking Class in Takua Pa.
Silva stated: “There is no better way to learn about a culture than through its cuisine. The Bib Gourmand restaurant offers cooking classes that begin with a wander through its organic vegetable and herb garden.”
JW Mariott Khao Lak’s new Aqua Play Zone
Other upscale properties in Khao Lak have also spruced up to broaden their offerings to appeal to more traveller segments.
For example, the JW Marriott Khao Lak Resort Spa recently completed its 18-month-long refurbishment and expansion, and now offers an expanded inventory of 420 rooms, suites and villas, alongside 11 restaurants and bars. It boasts leisure facilities, including a kids’ club and South-east Asia’s longest swimming pool which comprises a water trampoline, large water slide, and wave pool.
Abhimanyu Singh, the hotel’s general manager, shared: “Our resort has created an array of enriching activities and experiences. For example, we will launch our bamboo shark nursery in 2Q2023, where guests will join conservationists and learn how they nurture bamboo shark eggs from incubation until the sharks are released in the wild.”
Two more Marriott properties will open in Khao Lak in the near future, Singh added.
Nearby, the Outrigger Khao Lak Beach Resort opened in February 2022, a result of Outrigger Hospitality Group’s purchase of Manathai Hotels and Resorts. The refurbished resort boasts new design elements that reflect the Outrigger canoe motifs and southern Thai textured prints, while newly-constructed facilities include a beachfront restaurant and bar, coral kids club and games room.
Sujittra Rongmuang, resort manager at Outrigger Khao Lak Beach Resort, said: “We are a very family-friendly resort, and emphasise that our leading rooms are able to comfortably sleep two adults and two children.”
To raise Khao Lak’s profile, hoteliers are actively creating market awareness, both on their own and with TAT.
“We have launched extensive marketing and PR campaigns in UK, Europe, Australia, India, and GCC countries, and leveraged social media to drive exposure to our website. We also participate in international travel tradeshows such as ITB and ILTM,” Silva elaborated.
Meanwhile, Michael Hofstetter, franchise operations manager, South-east Asia and Pacific Rim, Wyndham Hotels and Resorts, works closely with TAT to “sponsor accommodation for fam trips”, and participates in TAT’s overseas roadshows, such as the TAT-Fly Dubai Roadshow in January 2023, and the Amazing Thailand Roadshow to Germany-Switzerland-Austria 2022 last September.
Despite China’s reopening, hoteliers will not place their focus there, as they opined that the laid-back coastal paradise is usually not what Chinese tourists are looking for.
Singh pointed out: “Bangkok and Phuket are already top destinations for outbound travellers from China. As for Khao Lak, it is considered a secondary destination, but there is an opportunity to cater to those who are looking for a more serene destination, or new places to visit.”
As such, Singh’s key target markets for 2023 will be Europe, Scandinavia, Australia and South Korea. Wyndham’s Hofstetter will also be targeting a similar profile of European travellers, in particular those from Germany, Switzerland, and Austria.
“We observe that Chinese travellers tend to enjoy destinations that offer more entertainment and nightlife options, like Phuket. But we do foresee a gradual rise in Chinese tourists that look to Khao Lak to escape the hustle and bustle of the city,” Hofstetter opined.
With helpful resources at their fingertips on the free-to-use Tourism Information & Services Hub, tourism businesses can build their competitive edge, while saving on cost, time and effort
With helpful resources at their fingertips on the free-to-use Tourism Information & Services Hub, tourism businesses can build their competitive edge, while saving on cost, time and effort
To ride the current tidal wave of travel resumption, increase visibility and cut through the noise, tourism businesses can leverage STB’s Tourism Information & Services Hub (TIH) to save costs and time on their digitalisation journey, while accelerating their efforts to enhance their product offerings.
For example, by capitalising on TIH services such as tourism listings that are updated in real-time, extensive media repositories and 3D models, they can create engaging, impactful marketing materials with less time, money and effort, as well as proliferate to a wider audience.
With these helpful resources at their fingertips on the free-to-use digital resource platform, tourism players can now bridge gaps in their businesses such as stretching their budget and overcoming manpower constraints.
Testimony to the integrated B2B2C platform’s extensive reach as a useful enabler, STB’s chief technology officer, Wong Ming Fai, told TTG Asia that to date, over 6,700 registered business users and over 12,000 registered users, representing over 6,900 businesses have come onboard TIH.
“The majority of our users on TIH access two of its key features – the extensive media repository and listings of Singapore’s tourism offerings.”
Increase revenue, brand visibility, and business opportunities Monster Day Tours, under Woopa Group, is run by founder and CEO, TY Suen, who saw a huge increase in traffic and brand visibility which translated into more revenue after tapping on TIH.
Elaine Quek, head of sales & marketing, Madame Tussauds Singapore, also found it beneficial to have its offerings listed on VisitSingapore.com and its app via TIH as it was a cost- and resource-efficient way of reaching out to new customers after borders reopened.
For travel-tech companies like Vouch, the readily available Application Programming Interfaces (APIs) on TIH allowed it to capitalise on the wide range of high quality and up-to-date tourism content, as well as travel software services.
Founder and CEO, Joseph Ling, offered: “This has allowed us to bring our digital solutions to market faster and expand our business into the tourism segment quickly and easily.”
Staying relevant in current climate To assist tourism businesses to stay ahead and capture the demand in the current recovery trajectory, TIH also plans to continue growing its extensive repository of content, especially in wellness and sustainability, as well as in Singapore-themed 3D models.
This way, it can cater to the rise of eco-conscious consumers and help businesses create virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) projects that enhance their digital products and create immersive experiences respectively, added Wong.
“As travellers continue to seek personalised experiences, TIH features such as the Recommendation Engine and the Smart Itinerary Planner can also help tourism players keep up with the changes in consumer preferences and curate the best personalised experience for their customers.”
How TIH helps turbocharge tourism businesses The online portal amplifies exposure of tourism businesses by providing real-time updates across STB’s marketing channels, TIH’s tourism partners’ websites and apps for their product listings.
TIH also enables them to explore mixed reality options with STB’s AR inspirations library and also extract compelling content by accessing its extensive database of information on over an extensive range of places and experiences, 14,000 quality images, analytics and insights, and over 100 3D models for their business needs.
To boost their technological capabilities, travel and hospitality players can innovate easily with TIH’s APIs too – which allow businesses to extract over 100 information and content APIs for their website or app in real-time and utilise free plug-and-play digital services to create personalised and convenient experiences for their customers.
Wong added: “TIH aims to be an accessible and effective digital platform for all tourism businesses, small or large, looking to cut through the noise in a highly competitive tourism sector. Through its extensive, innovative and up-to-date resources, tourism businesses can market destination Singapore easily and more effectively to capture the attention of travellers and broaden their consumer base.”
Want to enhance your product offerings to reach a wider audience – for free? To find out how you can create an impactful marketing campaign and retool your business in the digital age here.
Register for a free account with TIH here.
Gareth has held several global marketing leadership roles with both TUI Group and Hotelbeds
Gareth has held several global marketing leadership roles with both TUI Group and Hotelbeds
Shenzhen, China, March 22nd, 2023 – DidaTravel, a leading global hotel wholesaler and tech-driven travel distribution service provider is today announcing its latest senior appointment, Gareth Matthews, who joins as Chief Marketing Officer with responsibility for developing the company’s brand positioning, digital marketing capabilities and PR and media presence worldwide.
Effective April 3rd 2023, the position will play an important role in scaling DidaTravel’s growth and broadening its global industry reach.
A marketing executive with over 22 years of experience in the travel and technology sectors, Gareth has held senior marketing leadership roles in both TUI Group and Hotelbeds, where he led multi-disciplinary, international marketing teams to help position brands worldwide that have since gone on to become leaders in their sector.
“We are really pleased to have Gareth, an experienced marketing professional, join DidaTravel at this pivotal moment in our success story. I am confident that his experience and creativity will prove to be a great asset.”
– Rikin Wu, DidaTraveL’s Founder and CEO
“I’m really excited to be joining the team at DidaTravel – a really dynamic, ambitious and fast-growing company – as they seek to consolidate their position globally as a leading tech-driven travel distribution company.”
SITA will provide a carbon management platform for Hong Kong International Airport (HKIA) to monitor data on carbon emissions across the airport environment, helping to track key performance indicators as the airport progresses towards its net zero carbon goal.
The platform will be fully deployed by summer this year and will comprise collection and aggregation of carbon emissions data from 29 participating business partners across the airport value chain, overseeing services such as ground handling, aircraft maintenance, air cargo logistics, and catering. It will provide accurate, clear, and customisable visualisations of this data, allowing HKIA greater efficiency and precision in its carbon reporting efforts.
SITA will provide the solution for Hong Kong International Airport to reach its net zero carbon goal
In 2012, the Airport Authority Hong Kong (AAHK) pledged to make HKIA the world’s greenest airport, reinforcing this goal in 2021 with the announcement of its 2050 Net Zero Carbon Pledge, a commitment to achieve net zero carbon emissions by 2050, with a midpoint target of a 55 per cent absolute emissions reduction by 2035 (from a 2018 baseline).
HKIA has adopted an airport-wide approach for carbon management, working collaboratively with business partners to set carbon reduction targets and implement measures to accelerate airport-wide carbon reduction. While HKIA already has an online emissions tracking system, it does not unify emissions data collected from the many sources active in the airport environment, requiring more time-consuming manual processes.
SITA’s solution allows the tracking of emissions data alongside key performance indicators towards HKIA’s Net Zero Carbon Pledge. The dashboard interface facilitates carbon performance tracking, and monitors individual emissions sources against specific targets.
Having all available data in one place supports HKIA in aligning its carbon reporting to government and industry measurement standards such as ISO and complying with Airports Council International’s Airport Carbon Accreditation programme for which mapping of greenhouse gas emissions is key.
“The development of this new carbon management system will provide comprehensive, accurate carbon emissions tracking against the long-term target for both AAHK and each of our pledged business partners, and serves as a foundation for transparent reporting,” said Peter Lee, general manager, sustainability, AAHK.
SITA’s president for Asia-Pacific, Sumesh Patel, commented: “We applaud HKIA’s proactive efforts towards a net zero goal, and we are proud to apply our expertise and familiarity with HKIA’s operating environment to support its sustainability goals with a precise, customisable, and efficient solution.”
Plaza Premium Group unveiled its brand-new combo lounge at Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA) Terminal 1 recently, combining both The Plaza Premium First and the Plaza Premium Lounge under one roof.
KLIA is the second airport to feature this new combo lounge concept, almost three months after Plaza Premium Group first introduced it at Jakarta Soekarno-Hatta Airport last December.
KLIA is the second airport to feature the new combo lounge by Plaza Premium Group
With the concept requiring an area of 1,500-2,000m2, the biggest challenge in expanding to other airports in the region and beyond was getting the space to do so at matured airports, shared Song Hoi-See, CEO and founder of Plaza Premium Group.
As the current sole partner, Singapore Airlines’ business class and first-class passengers have complimentary access to The Plaza Premium First lounge at KLIA. Song targets to increase this to at least 10 similar partnerships with foreign airlines flying into KLIA Terminal 1 by year end.
Plaza Premium First and Plaza Premium Lounge offer different dining experiences to cater to their guests’ needs. Plaza Premium First serves a curated experience with an à la carte menu while Plaza Premium Lounge’s offers a buffet menu.
Both offer dedicated spaces to suit travellers’ needs, be it to relax, dine, socialise or work. There are also private rooms for families and for corporate use.
Open to travellers on a pay-per-use basis, Plaza Premium First’s rate is 202 ringgit (US$45) per person for a two-hour lounge use while Plaza Premium Lounge charges 146 ringgit per person for the same amount of time.
Currently, Plaza Premium Group operates its lounges in more than 70 international airports globally, with another lounge opened earlier this month at Adelaide International.
In Malaysia, it operates seven lounges with plans to expand in East Malaysia.
The group is also looking to expand its products and offerings to Miami, Florida and Denver in the US, Ching Tao and Chongqing in China, Abu Dhabi, Amman and Jeddah.
Norwegian Cruise Line (NCL) has appointed David Herrera as its new president effective April 1, as Harry Sommer transitions to be the next president and CEO of Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings from July 1.
With over 25 years of business experience and financial, sales, marketing and business development background, Herrera has been with NCL since 2015 and currently serves as its chief consumer sales and marketing officer.
In this new role, Herrera will be responsible for the overall strategic vision and business plan execution for NCL, as well as expand his reporting line to now include revenue management, guest services, brand finance, international sales, and the recently formed Experiences at Sea division.
With Herrara’s new appointment, Adam Malone will assume the role of chief marketing officer, while 15-year NCL veteran Michael Tomoleoni will now serve as the chief consumer sales officer.
Jason Krimmel will take on the newly created role of chief international sales and marketing officer, working closely with Herrera to further expand NCL’s international footprint.
In this new role, Herrera will be responsible for the overall strategic vision and business plan execution for NCL, as well as expand his reporting line to now include revenue management, guest services, brand finance, international sales, and the recently formed Experiences at Sea division.
