Northstar

FEATURE www.travelweeklyweb.com Recapping 2013 Besides hotels, airlines and destinations are also taking the spotlight this year, with focus on dedicated services for different travelling needs. Here's a recap of the key highlights that front the travel trade in 2013. January February APAC carriers see healthy numbers Forming alliance In January, AAPA reported that airlines based in the Asia-Pacific region carried a combined total of 17 million international passengers (in November 2012), an increase of 8.4 per cent compared to the same month last year. This was also supported by healthy demand on regional routes. The Malaysia Airports Holdings Berhad (MAHB) launched its Sama-Sama brand of hotels, in line with the "Runway to Success", its fiveyear business direction, spanning 2010 to 2014. Malaysia Airlines repositions itself and joins oneworld, strengthening its competitiveness, enabling it to offer customers an alliance global network served by partners including some of the best and biggest airlines. The addition ition makes the carrier one of the world's 30 biggest national economies with a population of almost 30 million a home market for the alliance. March April May Mastering Myanmar Vis-à-vis Visa Middle Earth gets real As Myanmar continues to expand its tourism offerings, in March, we received news of MasterCard's foray into the country. This entrance helps to set the payment mechanisms in place, allowing a wider range of options for hotels and airlines to offer to their guests. Genting Group also made headlines with the announcement of its plans for new developments in Las Vegas, adding yet another to its gaming portfolio in Malaysia, Singapore, the Philippines, United Kingdom, Bahamas and New York. Visa has always been a concern when it comes to the travel trade but here's one that signals progress. In April, the Joint Visa Application Centre was launched at Equity Plaza, in Singapore. Travellers and travel agents who are in need of visa to travel Australia, New Zealand and United Kingdom are now able to apply for their visas at the centre, instead of heading to the individual embassies. This cuts time, encourages productivity in processing the applications with the shared resources through support services. In April, Samoa Air introduced a Fat Tax – a pay by pound move that charges passengers by how much they weigh. Funtasy Island, the soon to open largest eco theme park and the first gated island community in the world, unveiled its plans to launch in 2014. This will be the first development of its kind in Riau Islands, which includes a 200room condotel, a 230-suite hotel and 413unit villas that complement retail, convention, dining and recreational facilities. The scenic New Zealand which forms the background for movies like The Hobbit Trilogy and Lord of the Rings, pumps up some NZ$158 million to boost its tourism industry. It aims to focus on directives to draw high net worth travellers into the country. In this issue, we also spoke to Prime Minister John Key on attracting the Chinese travellers through the use of Mandarin in New Zealand, the controversies surrounding the SKYCITY convention centre and the preservation of the Kiwi culture in the midst of a booming tourism market. June Tailoring services In June, ILTM Asia in Shanghai heats up with a key discussion on fine-tuning the services required for the high-end travellers. Among the topics brought up is the use of social media and loyalty programmes to address the elite guests. According to Michael Hobson, chief marketing officer at Mandarin Oriental, "loyalty point programmes cheapen luxury brands. Social media should be a part of the marketing mix, but be used with discretion and control." In Singapore, more attractions were unveiled in the month of June, to cater to the mass market. This includes the Frozen Tundra exhibit at the Singapore Zoo, and the relaunch of Sentosa 4D AdventureLand. 4 | ■ TRAVELWEEKLY ASIA | DECEMBER 2013 www.travelweeklyweb.com

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