A former chief information officer and EVP distribution of Wyndham Worldwide, Mr Edwards will lead the company’s hotel division selling distribution and IT services to hospitality companies.

Jeff Edwards

Prior to Wyndham Worldwide, Edwards worked with Micros Systems Inc where he held a variety of senior roles including president and chief executive officer – Micros Fidelio, as well as executive vice president-Micros Distribution for North America.

Mr Edwards officially joined Amadeus 1 February and will be based in Madrid, Spain.  In the newly created  division in Amadeus, the company has hired three industry veterans – Thomas Drexler for Rail, John Jarrell for Airport IT and Jeff Edwards for Hotels.

The association tallied 261,441 international trips requiring meet-and-greet services at Suvarnnabhumi Airport in January up from 243,971 in the same month last year.

ATTA released its latest data, Monday, based on fees member agencies pay to the airport to provide a meet-and-greet service for international clients.

China continued as the strongest market with 66,927 trips in the first month of the year. It represented an increase of 69.18% over 39,560 trips in the same month in 2011.

The second top market was Russia supplying 61,655 trips, up 17.78% from 52,346 trips.

But India, in third place with 15,371 trips, saw a decline of 12.06% compared to 17,478 trips in the same month last year.

Korea followed in fourth place with 15,046 trips, down 28.22% from 20,962 trips. Japan was fifth with 9,415 trips down 44.59% compared to 16,993 in the first month last year.

The next top five suppliers in January 2012 were: Germany (8,302; -15.03%); Vietnam (7,834; +165.74%); UK (6,245; +7.88%); France (6,076; +16.33%); and Hong Kong (5,817; +101.77%).

The key factor contributing to declines in certain Asian markets was the United States warning of a possible terrorist threat in Bangkok 13 to 15 January.

Top 10 source markets for ATTA agents in January at Suvarnabhumi Airport

According to a report in http://www.tnooz.com, an online news service on travel technology, Mr Babai is a key person behind a new wholesale tour firm focusing on group travel, known as G2 Travel.

Mr Babai, who sold GTA for an estimated US$1.1 billion, is apparently reassembling his former senior management team at G2 Travel from various GTA alumni, according to Toonz.

The only named employee so far is David Littlefair who will run G2′s offices in Bangkok after leaving GTA  September 2011 as managing director of operations in Thailand.

Other regional offices include Hong Kong, Jakarta, London, Rome and Bucharest.

G2 says it plans to offer “group land services” such as hotels and other local products from around the world, with a particular focus on the Far East, but only as part of a third party, wholesale-type relationship with travel agents.

G2 is not using third party suppliers for Europe, however non-European destinations will be through third party suppliers, an official says.

Very little information is coming out of G2 so far. Mr Babai’s disappearing act (and previous well-known lack of enthusiasm for personal publicity) was intentional, with Cendant locking him down with a non-compete for six years after the sale of GTA in 2005.

GTA is now a Kuoni-owned company. For full story and other travel technology reports see http://www.tnooz.com

He was visiting the popular world heritage destination on behalf of employer, Burasari Hotel Group.

He previously worked for Diethelm Travel as a vice president sales and marketing based in Bangkok from 2002 to 2010 and with Siam Express as director of sales also based in Bangkok from 2001 to 2002.

His departure is part of a restructuring of Thailand’s oldest privately-owned travel company that began in 2010 and has resulted in what the CEO, John Watson, describes as “right sizing,” company-wide.

In the events division it began with some redundancies leading up to Mr Barrett’s negotiated departure. Some of the group’s satellite offices in Thailand were closed or outsourced.

Barrett David

Mr Barrett in a breezy single-page statement refers to a departure package that “enabled me to leave on good terms and on a high note.”

“I swanned out of the Diethelm offices 25 January,” he writes, noting the events business was severely impacted in recent years by political turmoil and a global financial crisis.

“Programmes were shelved, or budgets trimmed and with competition hot our heels we were unable to sustain the business model in the former format given the economic realities,” he explains.

However he notes in his farewell statement that while there was radical surgery to Diethelm Events, the company’s events business in Malaysia was unaffected and continues to do very good business.

On life with Diethelm Travel, Mr Barrett says: “I consider myself blessed; it was an awesome ride and thanks to Diethelm for giving me the opportunity to launch its events division.”

Mr Barrett leaves with a handsome severance package, too, that will give him time to check out job offers at his leisure.

On life beyond Diethelm Travel he hints of a career shift possibly to an international hotel chain to head up its events related marketing.

He intends to capitalise on a trend that sees hotel groups strengthening events marketing in-house to enable them to go direct to the market rather than working through traditional DMCs.

Mr Barrett believes he has something to offer a hotel group ready to embark on a direct business plan after two decades working for DMCs.

“I have a desire to jump fence and move from DMC to hotel,” he explains. “But I am taking my time to explore options.”

He will handle some event-related projects by the end of March on a private basis.

Addressing the joint annual meeting of the Thai Hotels Association and Association of Thai Travel Agents on 30 January, Assoc.Prof. Somchai Pakapaswiwat PhD., who also advises the Thai government via the National Economic and Social Development Board (NESDB), analysed how an Iran attack would pan out, including the possibility of expanding into a wider war involving the United States, China and Saudi Arabia.

It is the first time that the Thai tourism industry has been directly told to be prepared for the business impact of a potentially catastrophic geopolitical crisis. It also answered in advance the question posed by the Pacific Asia Travel Association (PATA) in the marketing pitch for an upcoming series of seminars: “Are you ready for the next crisis?”

A lengthy article, “Will Israel Attack Iran,” was published in last week’s New York Times. The author — Ronen Bergman, a political analyst with the Israeli newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth — concluded: “After speaking to many senior Israeli leaders and chiefs of the military and the intelligence, I have come to believe that Israel will indeed strike Iran in 2012.”

The NYT article came under fire in a critical commentary by writer Peter Symonds on the website countercurrents.org. He wrote: “By recklessly escalating the economic embargo and military threats against Iran, the US, Israel and the European powers are heightening the danger of a slide into war that has the potential to engulf the region and to spread internationally.”

Speaking at the Thai tourism forum, Prof Somchai made his comment within the broader context of three other problems affecting the industry — the after-effects of the recent flooding crisis, travel advisories issued by a number of countries following the arrest of a terrorist suspect and the Eurozone economic downturn.

According to THA statistics, business in Bangkok was badly hit by the floods, although Phuket benefited by dint of diverted business. The discounting that became inevitable as part of the tourism recovery effort has pulled down the average room rates of Bangkok hotels to the lowest in the region’s capital cities.

The professor’s remarks dashed hopes that this would be a crisis-free year. They moved this looming geopolitical catastrophe out of the TV screens to the front-door of the Thai travel industry.

The topic of Prof Somchai’s talk was “An Analysis of Global and Thai Economics in 2012”. Without making any judgment calls, Prof Somchai discussed the implications of a closure of the Straits of Hormuz and the impact high oil prices would have on the global economy, leaving it for the tour operators and hoteliers to consider the damage it would have on their businesses.

Asked later to comment, THA and ATTA executives both voiced appreciation for the professor’s frank remarks. Asked if the industry should mount a preventive protest against what would be a clearly man-made and still avoidable crisis, a THA official said, “What can we do? It’s out of our hands. Of course, we hope that they will not do anything that will create more trouble for all of us.”
That response underscored the inability of the industry to deploy its strength and resources even to save its own skin. Industry executives have maintained their traditional living-in-denial attitude, viz., to worry about a crisis after it has occurred.

Coincidentally, on 30 January afternoon, right after the THA-ATTA event, PATA organised an industry forum under theme: “Navigating the Headwinds.” However, there was no discussion of serious “headwinds” such as another Gulf conflict or the Eurozone economic crisis.

Most of the discussion focussed on doing-business issues such as the European air passenger duty. Several of the speakers were more acquainted with Mekong region tourism issues and focussed on their areas of expertise.

Serious “headwinds” are to be handled by the PATA webinars which, according to the marketing pitch, will tackle topics such as crisis management, social media, sustainability, and cross-cultural training.

PATA CEO Martin J Craigs said: “Seismic shocks in the shape of earthquakes, floods, tsunamis, bombs, political uprisings, and diseases do great harm to the travel industry. With due diligence, organisations and destinations can take practical steps to be prepared, minimise impacts and speed the bounce back. PATA’s crisis management webinars will give you insights, procedures and checklists to deal with crises much more effectively.”

All participants will receive a copy of PATA’s “Bounce Back” crisis management booklet.

According to the announcement, key presenters of the first webinar, “Risk Mitigation and Crisis Management in Tourism 101” are Mr Bert van Walbeek (“the master of disaster”), Managing Director, The Winning Edge, and Chairman, PATA Thailand Chapter, and acclaimed tourism crisis management author, Mr David Beirman, Senior Lecturer, University of Technology, Sydney.

Mr Beirman was quoted as saying: “When we in the travel industry deal with crisis, it has to be appreciated that crises can result from actual loss and damage to business and reputation and perceptual loss and damage to business or reputation. The PATA webinars are designed to help tourism industry professionals manage both.”

Mr van Walbeek was quoted as saying: “Many destinations have suffered not only from the immediate personal and economic impact from crisis, but also from the ongoing and residual damage which makes it even harder to restore confidence in the destination as a safe, desirable place to visit.”

“The webinars will offer many practical tips and ideas on how you can reduce risk, be better prepared for critical scenarios, and — most importantly — bounce back quickly,” the announcement says.

In essence, the webinars will dispense treatment to help the industry recover from a sickness, not to prevent the sickness in the first place.

However, Prof Somchai’s remarks will put pressure on local, regional and international travel organisations to shift focus on pre-crisis preventive strategies rather than post-crisis convalescence and recuperation. Having been alerted in advance, ignoring the warnings will leave them open to strong accountability questions should the man-made crisis lead to major losses in terms of income and jobs.

In an age of the Arab spring, the “occupy movement” and explosion of global demand for democratic rights, doing nothing to prevent crises is rapidly fading as a strategy option.  Travel Impact Newswire and TTR Weekly

The new property is scheduled to open in the second quarter of this year with 345 rooms.

The three appointments are: Christophe Caron as general manager; Anthony Slewka director of sales and marketing and Virinya Maytheepattanachat director of marketing communications.

Christophe Caron

Mr Caron, a French national, joined Accor group in the 1980’s. He was appointed Sofitel Southeast Asia and India vice president in 2008 and prior to that held the post of GM at Sofitel Bangkok Silom.

The new director of sales and marketing, Mr Slewka, joined the group in 2003 and was promoted in 2008 to regional director of sales for Sofitel Southeast Asia and India.

In his new role, he will be responsible for all sales and marketing activities for the property, while still holding the post of regional director of sales for Sofitel Southeast Asia and India.

Ms Virinya worked with Novotel Bangkok on Siam Square, Bangkok. She was also director of marketing communications of Sofitel Bangkok Silom in 2010

Sofitel Bangkok Sukhumvit is located on the tourist golden mile,  Sukhumvit Road between Soi 13 and 15.

He made his 2011 business review at the association’s first meeting of the year, noting the performance was still off the pace when compared to  forecasts made half way through the year.

Nationwide hotel occupancy for 2011, based on data collected from 339 THA member properties, stood at 59.21%, up 12.45% from 52.65% in 2010. But it was still viewed as a disappointment, Mr Prakit told members yesterday, claiming the industry had hoped to reach 62% to 65%.

Even that target was a revision on an earlier forecast that suggested hotels would close the year with an average 70% occupancy.

Occupancy is just one small component in the tale of the tape that indicates, Thailand’s hotel industry is faring no better than it did in 2008 if revenue and bottom line profits are taken into account. Yields are down and competition from new hotels is pushing down average room revenue across the country while raising labour costs.

At least on the surface, occupancy at Thailand for main destinations — Bangkok; Chiang Mai; Phuket and Samui –- represented an improvement that was slightly  closer to the revised target.

In Bangkok, THA monitors performance under two categories. Bangkok hotels with over 250 rooms closed the year with a 60.69% occupancy up 18.57% from 51.18% in 2010. Hotels with less than 250 rooms closed the year with 59.46% up 13.79% from 52.25% in 2010.

Phuket led the field with an average occupancy of 71.64%, up 11.38% from 64.32% in 2010. Samui reported 50.24%, an increase of just 1.8% from 49.65% in 2010.

Chiang Mai recorded a 53% occupancy, up 12.76% from 47% with the major increase over the last two months.

According to Department of Provincial Administration under the Ministry of Interior, Thailand has 6,057 hotels and 285,923 rooms registered with the department (data last updated May 2011).

THA has 709 hotel members representing 126,283 rooms.

ATTA released its 2011 performance details based on meet-and-greet services at Suvarnabhumi Airport last week.

As usual, comparisons with 2010 are tricky. It was not a good year for travel agents due to political upheavals and violent street battles between military and red shirt protesters. The negative trend had its origins in political wrangling and airport closures in 2008.

However, 2011 was delivering mild recovery, right up until floodwater poured into Bangkok’s northern suburbs in late October. It almost stopped Bangkok’s tourism in its tracks in November and December.

Despite the setback, travel agents closed the year 38.17% ahead in prearranged tour business booked through Bangkok. There was no magic wand over the data collection, just a comparison with three very poor years since 2008 that had been particularly harsh on travel agencies forcing many to cut back staff and even close.

2011’s positive result indicates recovery had set in right up until Thailand’s water management system failed in the face of an unusually heavy monsoon season.

2011’s top suppliers

Travel agency data for the year showed China leading as the strongest market with 586,152 trips all booked through travel agents and passing through Suvanabhumi Airport. It represented an 86.01% increase over 315,115 visits in 2010.

The second top market was Russia providing 454,324 trips, up 71.05% from 265,616 trips.

India was the third largest market. It supplied 231,035 trips, but represented a slight decline of 1.45% compared to 234,423 trips during 2010.

Korea followed in fourth place with 197,029 trips, up 37.29% from 143,511 trips. Japan was in fifth place with 152,801 trips increasing 6.53% against 143,437 trips.

Other top suppliers: Taiwan (138,191; +39.33%); Vietnam (115,152; +140.41%); Hong Kong (86,516; +27.91%); Indonesia (70,343; +92.62%); and UK (67,173; +0.60%).

December declines

Due to floods and travel warnings, December business declined 11.81% from 216,159 trips when compared to 190,622 trips in December 2010.

Russia led with 55,758 trips and represented an improvement of 20.34% from 46,332 trips during the same month in 2010.

China declined 17.06% although it still ranked second with 30,596 trips compared to 36,890 trips.

India was in third place with 17,854 trips, down 5.13% from 18,819 trips.

Korea was fourth with 8,398 trips a decrease of 49.26% from 16,550 trips. UK followed in fifth place with 5,948 trips increasing 12.80% from 5,273 trips during the same month in previous year.

Other top markets: Indonesia (5,904; +30.16%); Germany (5,700; -16.57%); Japan (4,522; -60.32%); Hong Kong (3,954; -10.34%); and Vietnam (3,884; -17.22%).

2011’s top 10 source markets for ATTA agents at Suvarnabhumi Airport

Hotels Meet Local Agents India Market should welcome 40 local agents,who handle inbound Indian tourism to network with Thai hoteliers.

There will be four main sessions: A seminar on directions and marketing plans for India by Tourism Authority of Thailand; a summary on tourism data for the India market by the Association of Thai Travel Agents; tabletop session; sellers meet buyers at a cocktail party.

Reservations are open for 50 companies with a maximum of two persons per company. It cost Bt3,210 for the entire event and Bt2,675 for the just the cocktail session.

For further information, contact 662 216 9496 ext. 132 to 133 or at marketing@thaihotele.org.