Asia Pacific travel continues to boom.

Date: 18 October 2012

 Asia Pacific travel continues to boom.

Asia Pacific is set to continue to lead as the world's fastest-growing travel region next year, reaching USD357 billion, a 64% increase over 2009, according to a study released at ITB Asia by industry research authority, PhoCusWright.

According to the PhoCusWright-ITB Asia study, Asia Pacific's travel market will maintain high single-digit growth at 9% and 8% in 2012 and 2013 respectively with offline distribution still accounting for a majority of regional travel sales.

"Wholesalers and traditional travel retailers continue to serve a large segment of leisure travel demand as travellers in many markets prefer buying tour packages and completing transactions offline, especially for more complex international travel," said Chetan Kapoor, research analyst, Asia Pacific, PhoCusWright.

"But travellers are steadily shifting to the Internet in search of price transparency, variety, information and convenience, and demand for independent travel is also on the rise," said Kapoor.

The study also reveals that China's slowing but growing economy, surging consumer travel demand and double digit gains across all travel segments will push the country ahead of Japan to make it the region's largest travel market by 2013.

China's travel gross bookings are expected to nearly double in the next few years, from USD54.8 billion in 2009 to USD105.5 billion in 2013.

ITB Asia 2012, being held in Singapore this week has 865 exhibiting companies from 72 countries, which is a 15% increase from 2011.

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B2B hots up in Asia

Date: 17 October 2012

B2B hots up in Asia.

B2B PLAYERS are expanding in Asia, eager to feed rising demand from both brick-and-mortar agencies and OTAs.

Singapore-based Asiatravel.com, a pioneer in B2C in Asia, has unveiled its TAcentre.com, Asia’s first online wholesale system that offers not just hotels but FHTs (flight/hotel/tours), which can be booked with instant confirmation. TUI Travel’s Hotelbeds will unveil expansion plans in Asia-Pacific on Wednesday, while another wholesaler, UK-based Jac Travel, aims to open an office in Asia by year-end. It recently appointed a head of sales for South-east Asia, Ali Jones.

A continued travel boom in Asia despite slowing economic growth is ensuring the longevity of brick-and-mortar agencies, according to Asiatravel.com executive chairman Boh Tuang Poh. Jac Travel too said its growth was coming from a mix of wholesalers, travel agencies and new Asian OTAs.  

B2B players are jostling for a position as the competition heats up. TACentre banks on having the best rates and widest inventory. Its 17 years of local presence throughout Asia has helped it seal “real” relationships with suppliers, said Fred Seow, vice president-marketing. “Agencies face two issues, rising costs and manpower difficulties. Customers meanwhile want varying places – their demand exceeds agencies’ operational readiness. We hope to fill this gap by offering the widest inventory and best rates, which can be booked 24/7 online with instant confirmation. This frees the agency to do what it does best, i.e. service the customer,” he said.  

Seow said the inventory comprised 100,000 products (including packages, hotels, flights and tours) and the aim was to boost this to one million products by 2013. Currently, there are 44 FHT packages for Singapore to Hong Kong alone.  

Jac Travel’s CEO, Mario Bodini, said the company intends to compete by offering excellent customer service and a wide range of handpicked, independent boutique hotels rather than contracting all hotels. “The market is tough, with lots of barriers for new players such as having the right technology, working capital and the correct product range,” he said.  

Agencies interviewed said they use both traditional and online wholesalers, often comparing products, prices and availability.

Lisa Alip, managing director of East Coast Adventure Travel & Tours in Johor Bahru, said: “We look for the best deals and convenience. Right now, I think only TACentre offers instant confirmation, so that’s an edge.”

Morteza Khodaparast, executive director of Gloree Tours & Travels Singapore, said he preferred Asiatravel as its customer service was excellent. “If we need to make a change in booking, for example, they are flexible.”

Raini Hamdi, reporting from ITB Asia, Singapore

Copyright @ TTG Asia Media Pte Ltd © 2012

Pangkor ferry operators want bigger jetty to accommodate more ferries.

Date: 17 October  2012

Pangkor ferry operators want bigger jetty to accommodate more ferries.  

PANGKOR island is the most popular destination for tourists during the current Visit Perak Year 2012 campaign recording close to one million visitors as of September, said State Tourism Committee chairman Datuk Hamidah Osman. Although she had yet to receive the official statistics from an initial survey by Tourism Perak, she said the influx of foreign and local tourists into Pangkor and the state had definitely increased.  

“The Lenggong Valley, being bestowed the World Heritage Site status by Unesco, had also helped increase the influx of visitors to the state. The Gallery Lenggong has seen a 100% increase in visitor count. We used to have about 2,000 every month and we are recording between 4,000 and 5,000 visitors currently,” said Hamidah.  

Ferry operators from Lumut to Pangkor, however, complained that their services had to be disrupted at times during peak season as they were unable to cope with the rising number of tourists.  

Mesra Feri Sdn Bhd manager Yu Kar Cheong suggested that the jetty at the Lumut Waterfront to be expanded to accommodate more ferries as currently only three ferries could dock at the jetty at a time. “During peak season, we can have about 6,000 tourists going in and out of Pangkor. Due to the large crowd, visitors have to wait for long hours to board,” he said.  

Yu also said as the hotel check-out time was between noon and 2pm, most tourists opting to leave later could come to a bottleneck situation at the Pangkor jetty, causing long queues and delays. Each ferry could carry up to 150 passengers in 22 trips daily on normal days.  

“We will have 40 trips during peak seasons, which include weekends and public holidays to accommodate the large number of tourists,” he said. Yu added that three ferry operators at Lumut had banded together and currently have a total of 15 ferries in their stable.  

On the Visit Perak Year programme, Hamidah said it would not stop at the end of December but would continue in conjunction with Visit Malaysia Year next year. She added that this year’s programme was akin to an awareness programme to promote Perak to the world and noted that the state had taken several aggressive promotional methods.  

“We have a series of television programmes aired on TV9 to showcase tourism spots in Perak every Saturday at 11am. A contingent from the state will also travel to Singapore for promotional works from Nov 2 to 4.They will also travel to London for the World Travel Mart in the same month,” she said.

By IVAN LOH ivanloh@thestar.com.my

Copyright © Star Publications (M) Bhd

Malaysian Airlines To Resume Perth To Kota Kinabalu Service.

Date: 18 October 2012

Malaysian Airlines To Resume Perth To Kota Kinabalu Service.

MELBOURNE, Oct 18 (Bernama) -- Malaysia Airlines will reintroduce direct services between Perth and Kota Kinabalu, from Dec 10, complementing the current 10 non-stop weekly flights between the Australian city and Kuala Lumpur.

The new non-stop service will operate once a week with the flight from Perth departing every Monday at 12.40am and arriving in Kota Kinabalu at 6.25am. The flight from Kota Kinabalu departs at 6pm every Sunday and arrives in Perth at 11.25pm the same day, the airline said in a statement.

The service will be operated using a two-class configured B737-800 with 160 plush leather seats with 16 seats in business class and 144 in economy.

Malaysia Airlines is offering an introductory all-in return economy class fare starting from A$538 for travel from Perth to Kota Kinabalu. The offer is on until the end of this month and normal retail fares are also available through Malaysia Airlines' Reservations on www.malaysiaairlines.com and through travel agents.

Copyright @ BERNAMA

Singapore hottest for Malaysian business travellers: Accor

Date: 16 October 2012

Singapore hottest for Malaysian business travellers: Accor.

BUSINESS travellers in Malaysia have ranked Singapore as their top destination in the third annual Accor Asia-Pacific Business Traveller Research. According to research findings, the top three destinations visited by Malaysian business travellers in the first six months of 2012 were Singapore (61 per cent), Thailand (49 per cent) and Indonesia (42 per cent).

These hot favourites are expected to reign in the second half of the year too, as 57 per cent of respondents are planning trips to Singapore, 48 per cent to Thailand and 39 per cent to Indonesia.

The average Malaysian executive took 11 trips in the first half of 2012. The total volume of trips is similar to the regional average, but Malaysian business travellers took slightly more international (six) than domestic (five) trips, compared to the average Asia-Pacific traveller who made more domestic (seven) than international trips (four).

Malaysian business travellers were also found to spend an average of US$105 per night, more than travellers from China (US$98) and Indonesia (US$81). Singaporeans spent the most on accommodation, averaging US$156 per night or US$468 per trip.

Quality of sleep is highly regarded among Malaysian business travellers, with 70 per cent of respondents saying they care most about having a comfortable bed when choosing a hotel, a factor more important than free Internet (56 per cent) and a good quality bathroom (40 per cent).

The Accor Asia-Pacific Business Traveller Research, which surveyed over 2,500 respondents from nine countries in Asia-Pacific, also reported that executives from mainland China led the region in business travel, with the average respondent taking 18 trips, 14 of which were domestic. Singaporeans travelled the least, at seven trips in 1H2012.

By S Puvaneswary, Kuala Lumpur

Copyright @ TTG Asia Media Pte Ltd

Air France to launch Kuala Lumpur route.

Date: 16 October 2012

Air France to launch Kuala Lumpur route.

Reports in The Jakarta Post reveal that Air France intends to launch a new route linking Paris CDG with Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia in April 2013. Interestingly at Kuala Lumpur the Air France flight from Paris will dovetail into the existing KLM service from Amsterdam which continues on to Jakarta.

According to Air France/KLM's country manager in Indonesia, Dirk Buitelaar, it means that passengers arriving into Kuala Lumpur from Paris will be able to continue on to Jakarta using KLM. Details of schedules are not yet available but Air France/KLM passengers travelling further afield may be offered onward connecting possibilities with Malaysia Airlines (MAS) at Kuala Lumpur.

Although MAS is expected by then to have become a member of the rival Oneworld alliance, there is nothing to stop airlines of different alliances striking their own codeshare deals. For example, Air France (Skyteam) with JAL (Oneworld) or Qantas (Oneworld) with Emirates (non-alligned).

It also means that UK passengers will have another option for reaching Kuala Lumpur. This is especially relevant for regional passengers who will be able to bypass London and fly directly from, say Aberdeen, Edinburgh, Newcastle or Manchester to Paris CDG for the Kuala Lumpur connection.

Currently the London to Kuala Lumpur route is monopolised by Malaysia Airlines, and there are no direct flights from the regions.

By Alex McWhirter.

Copyright @ Panacea Publishing. Copyright 2012

IATA Calls For Collaborative Approach To Boost Air Travel Efficiency.

Date: 16 October 2012

IATA Calls For Collaborative Approach To Boost Air Travel Efficiency.

SINGAPORE, Oct 16 (Bernama) -- The International Air Transport Association (IATA) has called upon aviation stakeholders to work together to create greater value for customers across the travel experience while enabling greater efficiency for industry participants.

Its Director General and Chief Executive Officer, Tony Tyler said: "Airlines expect to carry some three billion passengers in 2013 and that number will double by 2030. Connectivity is a critical component of modern economies. Serving that growing demand will require innovation. We need to understand what consumers expect and what they value enough to pay for.

"Aviation is a team effort and that is a challenge for all industry stakeholders. Travel agents, airports, air navigation service providers, regulators, manufacturers, ground service providers, global distribution systems (GDSs) and many others must work together to make each passenger journey as safe, secure, seamless and convenient as possible."

Tyler made his comments in an address to the World Passenger Symposium which opened in Abu Dhabi, the United Arab Emirates today. His text of speech was made available here.

Tyler highlighted three priority areas for cooperation to create a more seamless and more interactive modern travel experience. These include simplifying airport processes with Fast Travel, Implementing a Checkpoint of the Future (CoF) for passenger security and developing a New Distribution Capability in line with modern retailing practices

IATA is working with industry stakeholders to implement self-service options with its Fast Travel programme. This gives passengers more control over their airport experience in six key processes - check-in, bag check, travel document scanning, boarding, flight re-booking and baggage tracing.

IATA's role, Tyler said, is to lead the industry to adopt a new, modern infrastructure that will accommodate more choices for personalised travel offers, provide the foundation for the development of efficient tools for agents and lower the overall cost of distribution.

Copyright @ BERNAMA

Malaysia Remains Popular Destination For Muslim Tourists.

Date: 15 October 2012

Malaysia Remains Popular Destination For Muslim Tourists.

KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 15 (Bernama) -- Malaysia continues to be a popular Islamic tourism destination as more Muslim tourists visit the country each year, says Islamic Tourism Centre (ITC) director-general Abdul Rahman Shaari.

He said Muslim tourist arrivals increased from 4.73 million in 2007 to 7.86 million in 2011, especially from the Middle East, Pakistan, Brunei and Indonesia due to the availability of various facilities in the country.

"Apart from comfortable prayer rooms at restaurants and hotels, Malaysia also offers a wide variety of halal local and international food," he told Bernama Monday.

Besides that, he said, various activities appealing to Muslims such as the Islamic Fashion Festival, which had become a platform for both local and international Islamic fashion designers, were also held.

Abdul Rahman said as a promotional effort, ITC was preparing a blueprint for the period up to 2020 to widen the range of attractions for Muslim tourists.

The holiday season aside, Muslims from other countries are also in Malaysia to attend conferences or for further studies.

Copyright @ BERNAMA