Katerina Giannouka has been appointed as the new CEO of Jumeirah Group, effective December 2022.
A recognised professional in the international hospitality industry, Giannouka joins Jumeirah Group from Radisson Hotel Group, where she had served as president Asia Pacific since 2017.
She brings with her 20 years of experience in business leadership, operations, hotel development, asset management and strategic advisory.
Meliá Hotels International has appointed Ada Jian as general manager for the new INNSiDE by Meliá Kuala Lumpur Cheras, which opens in 4Q2022.
She possesses over two decades of hospitality experience throughout China, beginning with a front office role in 2001 at Hyatt Regency Xi’an China. She then spent eight years with Sofitel, before joining Meliá Hotels International in 2014.
At Meliá, Jian held roles at Gran Meliá Xian and INNSiDE by Meliá Zhengzhou, as well as worked for the corporate team where she was senior area director of operations Asia-Pacific covering 47 hotels in the region.
Western Kyushu’s tourism infrastructure is receiving a boost thanks to JR Kyushu’s recent and ongoing investment in high-speed rail links, specialty trains and hotel facilities.
The first stage of development saw JR Kyushu launch a new bullet train line linking Saga and Nagasaki prefectures and unveil a tourism train, Two Stars 4047, which will follow a coastal route in the same area.
The 66km-long Nishi-Kyushu Shinkansen line will improve travel times and connectivity in a large area of rural western Kyushu by linking Takeo-Onsen and Nagasaki stations. It will call at Ureshino-Onsen, home to one of Japan’s top three hot springs for beautiful skin; Shin-Omura, which is renowned for cherry blossom viewing, and Isahaya, the site of Important Cultural Property, Megane Bridge.
Two Stars 4047, which operates on the coast between Takeo-Onsen (Saga Prefecture) and Nagasaki City, is tailor-made to offer optimum views of the seaside and serves fresh local cuisine. It is therefore expected to attract tourists seeking slow tourism, which focuses on sustainability, purposeful experiences and personal wellness.
According to a JR Kyushu official, travellers on the train can enjoy views of Omura Bay, green tea fields and other beautiful landscapes.
JR Kyushu’s developments are intended to “revitalise local economies and increase visitors” by making the region more accessible, Yoji Furumiya, president of JR Kyushu, said at a press conference as he outlined company plans to build two new hotels around the Nishi Kyushu Shinkansen line.
Plans are also underway for JR Kyushu to link the Saga Prefecture stations of Takeo-Onsen and Shin-Tosu, which are situated on the Kyushu Shinkansen line linking Hakata Station in Fukuoka Prefecture and Kagoshima-Chuo Station in Kagoshima Prefecture. This would further facilitate easier and quicker travel within Kyushu.
The Kyushu Shinkansen line, which was commenced in 2003 and completed in 2011, served 14.5 million passengers in 2019.
Mount Pilatus has East and South-east Asian travellers in its sights for the winter season, having seen an uptick in enquiries and demand for the mountain attraction based near Lucerne, Switzerland.
Manuela Blapp, market manager East for Pilatus, shared: “Prior to the Covid-19 pandemic, we had noticed an increased interest from South-east Asia and therefore started our co-operation with Pear Anderson, as a local sales representation in 2020. While the pandemic has interrupted the momentum in the last two years, we have seen a great increase in passengers in South-east Asia which we are now continuing to build.”
Last month, Mount Pilatus had joined Switzerland Tourism’s trade events in Seoul and its market development roadshow in Manila, Ho Chi Minh City, Penang and Surabaya, finishing the tour with a stop in Kuala Lumpur to celebrate the launch of Pilatus’ new cogwheel railway carriages with key Malaysian travel trade partners.
Describing a growing trend in the market, Blapp explained: “Traditionally, South-east Asians opt for visiting the traditional ‘snow’ mountains, while Pilatus as a ‘green’ mountain in spring, summer and autumn tends to draw less attention for first-time travellers to Switzerland.
“However, we are seeing a shift in the travel trade from South-east Asia, who are creating more mono Switzerland products, which is also giving agents an opportunity to include both a snow mountain and a green mountain in spring, summer and autumn. In winter, Mount Pilatus offers snow enthusiasts a wide variety of snow and fun activities, including the natural snow-covered sledging slopes and three marked snowshoe trails. These can be enjoyed without the crowds that a ‘skiing mountain’ is attracting.”
Blapp shared that forward bookings for group tours in 2023 are also looking good from South-east Asia and that the travel trade is looking for unique experiences to offer their customers – Mount Pilatus fits the bill, and its Golden Round Trip can be done from mid-May to mid-November where visitors get to experience Pilatus via a lake cruise, the steepest cogwheel railway in the world, and cable cars.
There were also growing enquiries from South-east Asian agents over the past few months for the two hotels at the summit: Hotel Pilatus-Kulm, which had recently been upgraded to a four-star property, and the three-star Hotel Bellevue.
Staying at the Pilatus Kulm hotel, close to Lucerne, puts travellers on a mountain top at over 2,000m above sea level, while the 20-room Hotel Bellevue provides comfort with views of the Alps and Lake Lucerne, described Blapp.
Travelport has joined global sustainable travel coalition, Travalyst, as part of the company’s commitment to driving sustainability forward in travel retailing.
The travel tech company will also implement the Travalyst data methodology and will build capabilities in the Travelport+ platform to help its travel management company and agency customers accelerate sustainable travel by providing them the tools to effectively sell the most eco-friendly offers and report on sustainability.
Joining some of the world’s largest travel and tourism platforms and service providers – Booking.com, Skyscanner, Trip.com Group, Tripadvisor and Visa – and recently joined partners, to actively collaborate in resolving the industry’s greatest challenges in sustainable travel, Travelport will focus on delivering universal transparent reporting on emissions and sustainability efforts to enable travel retailers, corporates and travellers to choose the most sustainable trip options.
Travelport’s decision for joining the Travalyst coalition is to take an active role in the collaboration to drive the industry reporting standards needed in empowering travel agents and managers.
“As the newest member of the Travalyst coalition, Travelport will bring invaluable knowledge and expertise in helping us drive mass adoption of sustainability standards with its integral role connecting agencies and suppliers,” said Travelyst CEO, Sally Davey.
Travelport also recently joined the GBTA Sustainability programme alongside global travel industry leaders such as American Express Global Business Travel, Delta Airlines, Hilton and SAP Concur. Its participation in the sustainability leadership council will help guide GBTA’s efforts, define priority areas for collaborative and global action, and help the business travel industry contribute to climate action and corporate responsibility.
As a founding member, Travelport’s product and technology leaders will play an active role in driving initiatives to inform and empower the corporate travel sector with better sustainable travel options for businesses.
Tom Kershaw, chief product and technology officer at Travelport said: “Travelport is making great strides in modernising travel retailing with its Travelport+ platform, which can help retailers determine the best eco-friendly travel itineraries.”
In addition, Travelport recently established a new sustainability office within its product strategy team, prioritising sustainability across product roadmaps and future development. Its product and technology team will incorporate sustainability data to enhance search and shopping capabilities in the Travelport+ platform.
The new sustainable shopping and reporting features will roll out in 2023 and will help travel retailers become more informed so they can easily book the eco-friendliest options for their travellers.
Travelport will also explore opportunities to combat challenges with data integration and neutralising the negative impacts of emissions.
Airbnb and Tourism and Events Queensland (TEQ) have teamed up to launch a remote working hub as a one-stop-shop for remote workers and digital nomads.
This follows Airbnb’s announcement in July to partner with Queensland as one of 20 destinations around the world, making it easier to live and work anywhere.
The hub will provide local long-term listings and important information on entry requirements, tax details and visa policies, alongside information about the various localities that make up the state and places and events of cultural significance.
Not only will it change the way that travellers see the world, and in Queensland, the hub also empowers digital nomads to help drive change for good while they are there by learning from Queensland’s traditional owners, doing volunteer work, travelling more sustainably, being educated in the great outdoors, and seeking out tips for rewarding solo travel.
Earlier this year, Airbnb launched its Live and Work Anywhere initiative to identify some of the most remote worker-friendly destinations in the world, and support governments and DMOs in helping to revive tourism and provide economic support to communities.
The Live and Work Anywhere partnership with Queensland will see TEQ collaborate with Airbnb on a range of initiatives to promote the state to remote workers seeking accommodation for their long-term stays as well as provide recommendations for improving visa processes, streamlining tax compliance, encouraging remote workers to support local businesses, and immersing into the host neighbourhood.
Susan Wheeldon, country manager for Australia and New Zealand, Airbnb said: “As tourism recovers and the travel revolution continues to unfold, we’re seeing more guests choosing to live and travel in new and different ways… those who have the flexibility to work remotely are choosing to combine work with travel to explore Queensland on a longer-term basis.
“Remote work has untethered many people from the need to be in an office every day. As a result, people are spreading out to thousands of towns and cities, staying for weeks, months, or even entire seasons at a time. That’s also great news for Queensland communities that lay off the beaten track and are looking to diversify their local economies.”
With travel bringing significant economic opportunity to local communities and connecting people around the world, Airbnb aims to work together with destinations to make it easier for workers to enjoy this flexibility, and support the return of safe and responsible travel.
IHG Hotels & Resorts and Spinal Cord Injuries Australia’s employment service, EmployAbility, have partnered to provide career opportunities for people with a disability across their hotel network in Australia.
The aim of the partnership is to increase employment options beyond a desk role for people with a physical disability, create an inclusive environment where guests with a physical disability can feel at ease, and providing IHG colleagues with a strong insight into providing a seamless inclusive service.
“At IHG, we’ve been focused on helping to connect more candidates with physical disability with our extraordinary world, and part of this has been forging new relationships to be able to connect with new candidate pools and join untapped talent to a future at IHG,” said Lynda Ugarte, head of human resource operations, IHG – Australasia & Japan.
“We want to showcase what’s possible for people with a physical disability; and not focus only on office-based roles but also roles within our hotel operations too.”
InterContinental Sydney Double Bay’s general manager, Ralf Bruegger, commented that there are plenty of job opportunities for people with a disability, and hopes other organisations will be encouraged to do the same.
Explaining how those who have had to reassess their employment choices after an accident or injury often choose not to apply to roles due to concerns that the employer would deem them unable to perform due to their physical disability, EmployAbility’s manager Phat Ngo said: “At EmployAbility, we work with a number of employers, like IHG Hotels & Resorts, who are developing career opportunities, not just a job, and willing to support the needs of people with physical disability.”
A pilot programme with EmployAbility has already kicked off in a number of IHG Hotels, which will see EmployAbility working closely with InterContinental Sydney Double Bay, Crowne Plaza Darling Harbour, Crowne Plaza Hunter Valley and IHG Sydney Support centre, to increase their recruitment and employment of people living with physical disability.
Singapore Airlines (SIA) and Virgin Australia (VA) have resumed the sale of VA codeshare flights to a host of destinations on SIA’s global network.
Customers can now book directly on Virgin Australia’s website for seamless travel to and from Australia, Asia, Africa, Europe, and beyond, as well as enjoy the full rewards and benefits of the expanded partnership.
Collaborating since 2011, both carriers have continued to strengthen their offering for travellers prior to the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic, providing one of the world’s most beneficial frequent flyer programme tie-ups.
Alistair Hartley, group chief strategy and transformation officer, VA said: “Expanding our partnership with Singapore Airlines means we are able to offer our loyal customers more choice and value when travelling internationally, creating more ways to see the world, through wonderful travel experiences on Singapore Airlines.”
VA will codeshare on 42 destinations covering 23 countries on the SIA network, including Ho Chi Minh City in Vietnam; Seoul in South Korea; Amsterdam, Copenhagen, and Paris in Europe; London in the UK; Jakarta in Indonesia; and SIA’s homebase, Singapore.
SIA will continue to offer codeshare flights on 64 routes covering 31 destinations on VA’s domestic and international network, including the addition of Queenstown in New Zealand.
JoAnn Tan, senior vice president marketing planning, SIA said: “The return of the VA code on SIA flights provides even more opportunities for Australians to seamlessly explore the world, no matter where they are based. As more countries across Asia remove travel restrictions, it also opens up Australia to travellers from these regions.”
The two carriers will continue to expand codeshare flights to more destinations across SIA’s network in the coming weeks, subject to regulatory approval.
Trip.com has teamed up with Atome to offer buy-now-pay-later (BNPL) options to its customers in Singapore now, and other markets in the Asia-Pacific region next year.
Travellers in Singapore can pay for their flights and accommodation through flexible deferred payments by selecting Atome as a checkout option on Trip.com’s mobile app or website.
The announcement comes as Trip.com continues to expand worldwide with its all-in-one app-first offering.
Edmund Weng, regional director, Trip.com said: “This new regional partnership with Atome is also timely with the year-end holidays coming up and we look forward to making travel more affordable and accessible to even more of our customers in Asia.”
Atome’s regional head of commercial William Yang said the partnership allows the company to “support the post Covid-19 travel recovery boom”.
To celebrate the launch of the partnership, Atome is hosting an online travel fair _Own your Adventure_ from now until November 16.
Atome also recently partnered Klook to expand its BNPL payment options.
British Airways has added a second daily flight from Singapore to London, returning to its pre-pandemic schedule to Singapore.
The London-Singapore service will fly daily from November 6, departing London Heathrow Airport at 18.50 and arriving Singapore at 15.55.
The return flight from November 7 will also be a daily service, leaving Singapore at 23.15 and arriving in London at 05.25.
