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MATTA spotlight shines on Taiwan

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TTR WEEKLY
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KUALA LUMPUR, 7 March 2023: The Malaysian Association of Tour and Travel Agents reports Taiwan is on board as Asia’s Featured Destination at the upcoming MATTA Fair, 17 to 19 March.

The 52 edition of the national show will convene at Malaysia International Trade and Exhibition Centre (MITEC), Kuala Lumpur and Taiwan Tourism Bureau will occupy 32 booths in MITEC’s international halls (Level 2).

Cynthia Tan Bee Sim (left), VP Outbound MATTA. Abe Chou Shih-Pi, Director, Taiwan Tourism Bureau KL Office.

Taiwan’s tourism delegation will deliver various travel package discounts and bargains to draw bargain hunters and travel aficionados. Taiwan was nominated for the ‘Asia’s Featured Destination award’ over the past four MATTA Fairs, including the MATTA Fair in March 2019, MATTA Fair in March 2017, MATTA Fair in September 2017, and MATTA Fair in September 2018.

Around 530,000 Malaysian visitors visited Taiwan in 2019, more than any other Southeast Asian country. Because 60% of Malaysia’s population is Muslim, Taiwan has the potential to attract a large Muslim demographic. In 2019, there were 382,916 Taiwanese visitors to Malaysia.

MATTA expects that two-way tourist flow between the two nations will increase over time. The significance of this partnership is to facilitate the sharing of travel information and showcase the extraordinary experiences that travellers may have.

The relationship between MATTA Fair and Taiwan Tourism contributes greatly to the latter’s promotional efforts. The expo is an excellent venue for showcasing Taiwan’s culture and breathtaking places to Malaysian tourists.

Entrance to the fair is free. It is open from 1000 to 2100 for three days, Friday to Sunday, 17 to 19 March.

Turkish turns a 2022 profit

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TTR WEEKLY
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SINGAPORE, 7 March 2023: Turkish Airlines closed 2022 with USD2.7 billion net profit standing out from its competition thanks to its operational agility, wide flight network and highly skilled workforce it maintained during the pandemic.

It marks its sixth quarter, declaring a net profit despite the difficult operating environment that has persisted since 2020.

Total revenue in 2022 stood at USD18.4 billion, surpassing 2019 by 39%, a record high. Constituting 20% of total income, cargo earnings at USD3.7 billion increased by 120% compared to the same period in 2019.

Turkish Airlines chairman of the board and executive committee, Ahmet Bolat, stated: ” With the responsibility and awareness of being the flag carrier, we stand with our nation just as we did during previous crises. In the aftermath of the earthquakes centred in Kahramanmaraş on 6 February, we utilised our resources to operate over 2,400 flights to transport 433,000 (personnel working in) search and rescue teams and 16 thousand tons of aid materials to the region while evacuating 430,000 people to date.

Turkish Airlines carried around 72 million passengers recording load factors of 85.8% for domestic and 80.1% for international routes. Despite global inflationary pressures, the flag carrier lowered its unit expenses, excluding fuel, by 2% compared to 2019. As a result, EBITAR (earnings before interest, taxes, amortisation and rent) demonstrates the company’s cash generation potential realised USD5.4 billion.

AAPA: Passenger demand strong in January

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TTR WEEKLY
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KUALA LUMPUR, 7 March 2023: Preliminary January 2023 traffic figures released last week by the Association of Asia Pacific Airlines (AAPA) showed steady growth in international passenger traffic on the back of strong travel demand with the easing of border restrictions, notably in North Asia.

Overall, the region’s airlines carried 17.2 million international passengers in January, more than seven times the volumes recorded in the same month last year, when travel restrictions across the region still dampened demand. Traffic as measured in revenue passenger kilometres (RPK) jumped 466.9%, underpinned by robust regional travel demand. Available seat capacity also expanded markedly, but by a comparatively slower 195.0% year-on-year. As a result, the average international passenger load factor increased significantly, by 39.1 percentage points to 81.5% for the month, returning to levels seen only before the onset of the pandemic.

Meanwhile, subdued global economic conditions continued to hold back export markets in January, leading to a significant 20.5% year-on-year decline in international air cargo demand, as measured in freight tonne kilometres (FTK). The international freight load factor fell by 9.7 percentage points to an average of 59.2% for the month.

Commenting on the results, AAPA director general Subhas Menon said: “International passenger markets enjoyed a strong start to the year in 2023. Strong demand buoyed by an increase in leisure travellers during the Lunar New Year holidays in the region, saw passengers carried by Asia Pacific carriers in January rise to 52.1% of pre-pandemic traffic levels in 2019.”

“But cargo volumes came under pressure due to multiple headwinds. Higher inflation levels across various economies and the persistently strong US Dollar have added to the price pressures for imported commodities and merchandise in local currency terms.”

Looking ahead, Menon noted: “Notwithstanding the challenges brought on by the global economic uncertainty, growth prospects for passenger markets look positive for the year ahead. The desire to travel remains strong, with the latest forward booking trends pointing to sustained high demand. Nevertheless, cost pressures represent a key challenge to airline financial performance, driven by the elevated fuel prices and inflationary pressures on operating expenditure, including labour and maintenance. Overall, Asia Pacific airlines remain vigilant in striving for cost efficiencies whilst restoring flights in the COVID-19 recovery period.”

(Source: AAPA)

AirAsia X restarts Shanghai flights

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TTR WEEKLY
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SEPANG, 7 March 2023: AirAsia X (AAX) has resumed services to Shanghai, China, with four weekly flights from Kuala Lumpur, which commenced on 2 March 2023.

The inaugural post-pandemic flight from Kuala Lumpur departed with an encouraging passenger load. The return flight from Shanghai was almost 373 guests, signalling significant outbound travel demand from the Chinese market.

Amid encouraging demand and easing inbound travel restrictions to China, AAX plans to ramp up capacity and increase the frequency of services to Shanghai with 11 weekly flights by the second quarter this year, akin to its pre-pandemic frequency.

AirAsia X Malaysia CEO Benyamin Ismail said: “Our first inaugural flight to Shanghai was a decade ago. Today, we are thrilled to be back in China and celebrate the resumption of this historically very popular destination. In addition, we have also restarted our weekly flight to/from Hangzhou recently with a 97% passenger load to Kuala Lumpur.

“China is one of the world’s major economies, and the reopening of flights to China is a positive sign for AAX and the tourism industry in general. As China has only just started to reopen, this is only the beginning of the recovery process. We remain optimistic that travel demand to China will quickly return to pre-pandemic levels shortly.”

Essential travellers to Shanghai can book the flight on AirAsia Super App or airasia.com from MYR799 all-in* one way for economy seats or from MYR2,299 on Premium Flatbed for travel from now until 29 October 2023.

Flight Schedule between Kuala Lumpur (KUL) and Shanghai (PVG):

WebBeds promises hotels rate parity

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TTR WEEKLY
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SINGAPORE, 7 March 2023: WebBeds, a global marketplace for the travel trade to book hotels and travel products, launched on the eve of ITB Berlin, 7 March, the first phase of a programme that will reduce rate parity discrepancies to zero.

WebBeds has launched a new online tool for their hotel partners, called “Parity Monitor”, as the first phase of a major initiative within the company to streamline internal processes and improve the speed of resolving parity issues.

This new tool will establish the foundations for future automated solutions, aiming to achieve zero BRG (best rate guarantee) discrepancies through the WebBeds marketplace.

The Parity Monitor tool will initially serve as a global hub where hotels submit parity discrepancies to WebBeds. This new tool will be the front end for the newly streamlined internal processes that will track, monitor, report back and quickly resolve rate discrepancies for hotel partners.

A simple dashboard will consolidate and display the status of any submissions, providing clarity and better management reporting for hotels. WebBeds has created a new centralised team dedicated to resolving parity issues raised via the Parity Monitor.

Future developments of the Parity Monitor will include incorporating technology solutions to prevent parity integrity issues from occurring in the first place, proactive scanning of the market for rate discrepancies, automated identification and rectification of parity issues, enforcing minimum selling price and tracing opaque rates with buyers across all sales channels.

WebBeds CEO Daryl Lee said: “WebBeds is very aware of the frustrations that our hotel partners experience when there are rate parity discrepancies in the market. Hotels want rate parity to be strong and consistent, particularly given the strategic priorities within their business ecosystem. This new tool is just the start of a work programme to develop automated technology solutions to proactively prevent, detect and resolve rate parity issues in real time. Achieving zero rate parity discrepancies is an incredibly challenging goal. Still, we want this aspiration to serve as our “north star” internally, to provide focus and drive excellence from our teams. Anything less than this would fall short of expectations our hotel partners have of us.”

About WebBeds

Launched in 2013, WebBeds aggregates and merchandises accommodation and destination services from travel suppliers, distributing them to a global network of travel trade buyers who sell to the travelling public.

WebBeds operates globally through four geographic regions – Europe, Asia Pacific, MEA (Middle East and Africa) and Americas – with over 1,500 travel professionals working in 120 cities across 50 countries worldwide.

It also operates specialist brands JacTravel DMC and Umrah Holidays International. JacTravel DMC provides tailor-made travel arrangements for offline FIT and groups travelling to the UK, Ireland and key mainland European destinations to the international travel trade. Umrah Holidays International is a pioneer in providing online pilgrimage travel services to travel agencies worldwide. 

Vietnam visitor arrivals start to climb

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TTR WEEKLY
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HANOI, 3 March 2023: Vietnam recorded 933,000 international visitors in February, an increase of 7.1% compared with the previous month, the country’s Tourism Information Technology Centre reported on Wednesday.

Quoting GSO data for January to February 2023, TITC noted the country attracted 1.8 million visitor arrivals during the first two months of the year.

The General Statistics Office of Vietnam (GSO) serves under the Ministry of Planning and Investment, independent of the tourism ministry and promotional agencies.

Figure 1. International visitors by month in 2022 and 2023 (thousand arrivals)

Source: Compiled from GSO’s data

South Korea remained the largest source market in the first two months, with 560,000 visitor arrivals, followed by the US (148,000). Thailand ranked third with 97,000 arrivals.

In the top 10 markets, Northeast Asia led with South Korea (560,000), Taiwan (90,000), Japan (71,000) and China (71,000). Southeast Asia led with Thailand (97,000); Malaysia (72,000), and Cambodia (70,000).

Figure 2. Top source markets in the first two months of 2023 (thousand arrivals)

Source: Compiled from GSO’s data

2023: February arrivals

In February, there was significant growth in arrivals from markets in Northeast Asia. The notable standouts were South Korea (+16.4% compared to January 2023) and Taiwan (+87.7%).

The Chinese market reached 55,000 arrivals, 40,000 more than the previous month (+246.6%). Arrivals from Laos at 14.400 doubled when compared to the previous month. However, some other markets in Asia recorded much slower growth rates: Japan (+6.4%), and Cambodia (+5.1%).

European markets continued to maintain positive increases, such as France (+15.3%), England (+5.2%) and Germany (+2.9%).

Figure 3. Increase/decrease of some markets in the first two months of 2023 compared to the same period in 2019 (%)

Source: Compiled from GSO’s data

2023: Arrivals January and February

For the first two months of 2023, visitor arrivals from Cambodia increased by 201% compared to the same period in  2019 (pre-Covid-19). Visits from India increased 129%, Thailand +22%, Singapore +16% and Laos +16%.

The markets delivering visits on par or close to 2019 levels included the US (-7%), Australia (-11%), and Indonesia (-12%). Markets demonstrating a slower recovery included Germany (-23%), Malaysia (-21%), England (-27%), Korea (-27%), and France (-35%).

(Source: Tourism Information Technology Centre; GSO data)

Fireworks brighten Danang’s tourism path

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TTR WEEKLY
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DANANG, 3 March 2023: Danang’s tourism recovery campaign will light up the sky as the city revives the Danang International Fireworks Festival 2023 (DIFF 2023) following a three-year hiatus.

Scheduled for 3 June to 8 July, Danang City People’s Committee joins Sun Group to invite seven international teams to compete with the host team representing Vietnam and Danang. The seven international teams hail from England, Italy, Poland, France, Australia, Canada, and Finland.

Now in its 11th year, the festival adopts the theme “World without distance”. In local promotions, DIFF 2023 presents the campaign tagline “WOW Danang”, derived from the tourism promotion “WOW Vietnam” initiated by Sun Group nationwide.

The fireworks displays will get underway on a floating stage on the Han River as the eight teams take turns presenting a 20-minute fireworks spectacular.

Sun Group commented on the return of DIFF after a three-year pause saying the festival would be an immediate success acting as a “magnet” to attract visitors worldwide to Danang. It’s just one of many festivals planned this year that should crown Danang as Asia’s leading festival destination.

(Source TITC and Sun Group)

Travel buyers set for Himalayan reunion

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TTR WEEKLY
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KATHMANDU, 3 March 2023: The 4th Himalayan Travel Mart will be hosted in Kathmandu, Nepal, from 6 to 9 June 2023, following a three-year pause, the Pacific Asia Travel Association (PATA) Nepal Chapter reports this week

The event is organised in cooperation with the Ministry of Culture Tourism Civil Aviation (MoCTCA), Nepal Tourism Board (NTB), Nepal Airlines, PATA International, and other leading tourism-related.

The first three editions of HTM, held in 2017, 2018, and 2019, attracted global tourism stakeholders and tour operators. It positions Nepal as the gateway to the Himalayas. However, due to the global Covid-19 pandemic, the organisers paused the show for three years.

PATA Nepal Chapter chairman Bibhuti Chand Thakur in a press statement issued earlier in the week, emphasised the event’s role in revitalising tourism businesses, boosting travel confidence and supporting Nepal’s post-pandemic recovery initiatives.

He added: “The Covid-19 pandemic devastated the travel and tourism industry, and Nepal suffered massive losses. However, with the much-awaited re-opening of world tourism, we are confident that HTM will represent a significant opportunity to support Nepal’s post-pandemic tourism recovery initiatives and the entire Himalayan region at large.”

Nepal’s Minister for Culture, Tourism, and Civil Aviation Sudan Kirati has extended a welcome message to delegates from around the world, inviting them to join the HTM 2023 to support Nepal’s post-pandemic tourism recovery initiatives.

He expressed, “We are striding forwards rebuilding the tourism sector, which has been greatly disrupted and has compelled us to embrace changes brought forth by the pandemic and other crises. By sharing our inspiring stories of resilience and ensuring our best efforts on safety concerns as well as strengthening the tourism offerings to win our guests’ confidence, trust and loyalty, we are now gearing up to rebuild the future of tourism.”

Himalayan Travel Mart (HTM) is a business-to-business (B2B) mart that attracts global travel buyers, travel content providers resident in the Himalayan region and neighbours, travel bloggers, influencers and thought leaders.

Global travel buyers from Europe, North America, South America, Australia, New Zealand, Russia and CIS, Asia, and Gulf countries attend the show.

Himalayan travel content providers from Nepal, India, China (Tibet Autonomous Region), Bhutan, Afghanistan, Pakistan and Myanmar rent booth space where they engage in pre-matched appointments with buyers.

Bali hosts Asia Skål’s annual congress

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TTR WEEKLY
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BALI, Indonesia, 3 March 2023: Skål Asia confirms its annual Asia Congress will convene in Bali from 1 to 4 June 2023 at the five-star Merusaka Nusa Dua.

The event will kick off with an evening welcome cocktail party on Friday, 1 June, followed by a full-day congress season on Saturday, 2 June, which includes a networking lunch and dinner.

On Sunday, 3 June, delegates will attend a half-day congress session followed by a tour and a grand gala dinner to wind up the Bali congress.

For delegates who fancy extending their stay, pre and post-congress accommodation options are available at the Merusaka Hotel, starting at USD135 net per night.

“We are thrilled to be hosting the Skål Asia International Congress at Merusaka Hotel in Bali,” said the hotel’s general manager Ian McDonald Cameron. “Our beautiful property offers the perfect setting for members to come together, network, and learn about the latest trends in the tourism industry.”

Skål Asia is an international organisation of travel and tourism professionals with a mission statement to promote tourism while fostering goodwill and friendship among members.

The Asia Congress is an annual event that brings together industry leaders, travel professionals, and tourism organisations to share insights, discuss trends, and collaborate on ideas that can help promote tourism. It returns to the busy Asian travel trade calendar after a two-year hiatus.

“We are excited to bring the Skål Asia Congress to Bali,” said Skål Asia acting president Keethi Jayaweera. “Bali is a popular destination for travellers, and we look forward to showcasing the island’s beauty to our members while allowing them to connect with fellow professionals in the industry.”

(Source: Andrew Wood, A&P Media)

Centara inks deal with KrisFlyer Rewards

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TTR WEEKLY
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BANGKOK, 3 March 2023: Centara Hotels & Resorts has partnered with Singapore Airlines to offer its loyalty programme members the opportunity to convert their CentaraThe1 points to KrisFlyer miles.

Enhancing the CentaraThe1 loyalty programme benefits, this partnership will allow members to transfer 5,000 CentaraThe1 points in exchange for 300 KrisFlyer miles.

Caption: Biren Poh, General Manager of Singapore Airlines in Thailand (centre left); Tom Thrussell, VP – Brand, Marketing & Digital of Centara Hotels & Resorts (centre right).

As a new or existing member of the KrisFlyer rewards programme, members can accumulate miles faster and use them to purchase flight tickets or upgrades, shop on KrisShop or book travel experiences on Pelago, among many other exciting rewards.

“It is a privilege to announce our partnership with Singapore Airlines’ KrisFlyer rewards program and to be able to offer KrisFlyer members this exclusive opportunity through our CentaraThe1 programme. This also supports our mission to continually enrich our loyalty program by providing a broader range of sought-after benefits to our own members. As the tourism and hotel industry regains its pre-pandemic foothold, we encourage travellers to explore the world again and experience the signature warmth and hospitality at the heart of every Centara stay,” said  Centara Hotels & Resorts VP – Brand, Marketing & Digital Tom Thrussell.

As an added perk to this offer, members will receive double KrisFlyer miles for transactions completed from 1 to 30 April 2023. This means that for every 5,000 CentaraThe1 points transferred, members will receive 600 KrisFlyer miles.

We are delighted to partner with Centara Hotels & Resorts to bring Thai-inspired experiences to our members. With Centara, we have a shared commitment to offer members more ways to earn rewards and to fulfil their travel aspirations faster,” said Singapore Airlines general manager – Thailand, Biren Poh.

Travellers not members of Centara’s loyalty programme can sign up for free in less than a minute and immediately start earning points and enjoy benefits, such as 15% off the best available public hotel and resort rates when booking directly. To take advantage of all CentaraThe1 membership privileges, sign-up or login to www.CentaraThe1.com.

Under the Centara x Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer promotion, members must exchange CentaraThe1 points for KrisFlyer miles via the CentaraThe1 rewards platform at centara1card.com/krisflyer. In addition, members are required to provide their valid KrisFlyer membership number to Centara when completing the transfer.

To learn more about the Centara x Singapore Airlines offer, visit https://centara1card.com/krisflyer/

www.centarahotelsresorts.com

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