Northstar

www.travelweekly-asia.com 21 ATF OFFICIAL SUPPORTING DAILIES | NEW BUSINESS EVENT FOR SINGAPORE Singapore Association of Convention and Exhibitions Organisers and Suppliers (SACEOS) will partner with the Northstar Travel Group to produce a new event, 1-2-1 Asia Business Meet, to be held from July 25-26 prior to SACEOS' seventh annual Singapore MICE forum. 1-2-1 Business Meet will bring together meeting and incentive programme buyers from North America, the EMEA region and Asia for private one-to-one business meetings with Singapore and Asian group travel service providers. Both buyers and suppliers will also participate in curated educational sessions and networking activities. For more information, visit Travel Weekly Asia at ATF booth #M2 or email: whey.ng@ntmllc.com It's all about the lighting and the props. Creating the right ambience to attract increased tourist arrivals is similar to shooting a movie: to tell a compelling story with an intriguing plot and well-shot scenes. Acclaimed film actor and director Cesar Montano takes on his role as chief operating officer of Tourism Promotions Board Philippines with the full backing of President Rodrigo Roa Duterte. Under his leadership, Montano will work on campaigns to refresh the country's appeal as a destination with yet unexplored frontiers. He shares more with Travel Weekly Asia. With technology development, there are pitfalls that come with the benefits, so industry players said at a panel discussion at Tuesday's ASEAN Tourism Conference. The panellists, with representatives from the airline and hotel industries, agreed that growing consumer affinity for online and mobile transactions have contributed to growth, even if gaining relevant insights from data analytics is an ongoing dilemma. However, Shailesh Pallipuram, head of revenue management and analytics, for Asia, Middle East and Africa, InterContinental Hotels opinion news highlight FROM MOVIE SET TO MOUNTAINS TECH BRINGS GROWTH,PITFALLS Newly-elected COO of Tourism Promotions Board Philippines Cesar Montano talks about his marketing plans to rejuvenate tourism. New technologies will continue to play an integral part in the development of the travel industry in ASEAN and the world. Q. What is Philippines' tourism vision? A. Our vision is to make the Philippines THE preferred tourist destination in Southeast Asia. Q. What are the common misconceptions about Philippines that you would like to change? A. The common misconceptions about the Philippines that I would like to change are the perceived safety and security issues, and the notion that the Philippines is a far- flung destination from the point of view of our long-haul markets from Europe, U.S. and Canada. Q. With the current spotlight on Philippines' political climate, how can you redirect it to promote tourism? And address the issue of safety in the city? A. I shall create an aggressive communications campaign and promotions programme, tapping influencers from tourism and entertainment industries locally and internationally. The objective is to educate and inform the international community of the positive results of Philippine President Rodrigo Roa Duterte's leadership and commitment in line with his objective to have a drug and corruption-free Philippines. Q. What are the tourism attractions and leisure activities that the tourism ministry will be focusing on promoting? A. I would like to highlight upcoming destinations such as Siargao, Siquijor, Dumaguete. Aside from these emerging destinations, there are other unexplored frontiers in the country such as Gigantes Islands that I believe could surpass the world's most beautiful tourist destinations. We intend to promote scuba diving, surfing, island-hopping, spelunking, mountain climbing, among others. Q. Which are your top three source markets? Did you meet your target of six million international arrivals for 2016? A. Our top three source markets are China, Korea and Japan. As of October 2016, we already had a total of 4.9 million arrivals. With the recent visits of President Duterte to China and Japan, and the influx of overseas Filipinos, we expect to hit our targets for 2016. By Yong Shu Chiang Group, said the digital revolution has meant transparency in pricing, and changed consumer perceptions on rates. "Pricing used to be hidden and packaged. Today, if you don't have rationality in pricing and parity, it's obvious to the consumer who can search across channels." Also speaking on the panel, Tejveer Bedi, group revenue director, Park Hotel Group, said consumer behaviour, in light of greater ease of online booking, has led to shorter purchase lead times. And this, in turn, has been a contributing factor in rate disparity between direct sellers and OTAs. Studies have shown that rate disparity can cost millions for direct sellers. Pallipuram also pointed out that technology does not always ameliorate the challenges of selling in disparate markets with varying degrees of maturity across ASEAN. Paul Rombeek, Jetstar's global head of sales, told the panel that 98 percent of sales in Singapore are transacted directly on Jetstar's corporate website, while in Vietnam, it is less than 20 percent. Still, suppliers are counting on technology to fuel further growth. Away from ATC, AccorHotels said the company has increased functionality in its guest app. "44 percent of travellers already expect to be able to plan their holiday in a few simple steps from their smart phone, and over half (of respondents of a survey) expect the use of travel apps to increase in 2017," said Karen Chang, communications manager, Asia Pacific, AccorHotels.

• Cover