No Problem and Nepal Have Also Risen in Pop- Demand Is Holding Strong
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year-on-year increase in book- “The demand is up especially ings to popular destinations such from honeymooners who are Yuan down? as Thailand, India and Sri Lanka. drawn to beach resorts (which TODAY’S These destinations are inexpen- Sri Lanka has aplenty),” Luo said. sive for the Chinese.” Travel trade from the Mekong HIGHLIGHTS He added: “Sri Lanka, India region also revealed that Chinese No problem and Nepal have also risen in pop- demand is holding strong. ularity among smaller Ronald Poe, man- Chinese are still game for vacations, groups (of eight to aging director of Yan- 10 people) that are gon-based Asia Global buying up nearby destinations in Asia without a tour leader. Travels & Tour, said Such groups comprise the Chinese are drawn By S Puvaneswary, Mimi Hudoyo booking travel packages in ear- friends and family to Myanmar as it is a and Paige Lee Pei Qi nest and the weak Chinese yuan, members who are keen “newly opened desti- CHINESE consumers are not which has fallen four per cent on exploring different nation”. depriving themselves of overseas against the greenback since Au- cultures together.” Poe: business as Hui Seila, deputy holidays despite reduced buying gust, is having minimal impact Also observing a usual from China director of marketing power as a result of a depreciat- on outbound business. pick up in Chinese & promotion depart- PTM2015 Lamp Lighting ing Chinese yuan and emerging Shanghai-based outbound demand for Sri Lanka is Romeo ment, Ministry of Tourism of 10.00-10.15 cracks in their national economy. specialist, Alex Zhang, regional Luo, FIT specialist with Spring Cambodia, told the Daily that Hall 1, BIEC Buyers from China who are manager for Thailand and South Airlines Chongqing business of- “Chinese arrivals to Cambodia here at PATA Travel Mart 2015 Asia department, Spring Tour, fice & Chongqing International are still strong due to the close PTM Talks said their customers are still said: “My company has seen a Travel Service. proximity (of the countries).” Embracing Disruption: Navigating Changing Travel Consumer Perceptions and Behaviours. By Oliver Reduced KL-Delhi links will dent Indian business: trade Martin: Principal, Twenty31 MALAYSIA Airlines’ decision cause clients would not be able will simply go elsewhere. Singa- are eager to create new itinerar- 11.05-11.25 to halve frequencies of air ser- to get seats for the entire group. pore and Thailand will benefit.” ies that leverage the new airlink. Hall 1, BIEC vices between Kuala Lumpur “Clients can still travel to With capacity down, Rajesh Kumar said: “We will com- and Delhi since September 1 Malaysia on premium airlines, Sethi, managing director of bine Penang with Bukit Merah PTM Talks has travel consultants via Singapore and Carnation Holidays in Delhi, Laketown Resort in Perak, and Top 5 Trends in Technol- in Malaysia and India Bangkok, but they warned of likely fare hikes by Penang with Langkawi.” ogy for Tour Operators, fretting over the pos- may cut short their Malaysia Airlines for this route. Arokia Das, senior manager Wholesalers & DMCs. By sible loss of business. time in Malaysia. For There is, however, a spark of at Luxury Tours Malaysia, said: Phil Napleton: Senior VP PPG_TTG_ad_other_visual-R1-op.pdfThe beleaguered 1 18/8/15 5:39 pm instance, they may optimism in this situation, aris- “There are now options to do of Products & Professional flag carrier, which had choose to stay two to ing from Malindo Air’s plans tours in the north or to sell Pen- Services, Open Destina- on August 28 under- three nights, instead to launch twice-weekly flights ang as a mono destination as it tions gone a rebranding and of four,” he said. between Malaysia’s Penang and offers many attractions in the 15.15-15.35 is being restructured Das: Indian inter- Ganneesh Ramaa, India’s Tiruchirappalli come city, on the hills and along the Hall 1, BIEC into a new company, est in Penang manager at Luxury September 26. As the only ser- beach that appeal to Indians.” vice that connects Penang with Meanwhile, Chennai-based now flies daily on this will go up Tours Malaysia, is Dinner Reception route, down from bracing for a drop of an Indian city, it is expected to Holiday 18 Leisure Services’ Hosted by the Department twice-daily services previously. at least 10 per cent in Indian ar- boost Indian interest in Malay- director & CEO, K Gia, is look- of Tourism, Government of Nanda Kumar, managing di- rivals from Delhi this coming sia’s northern region and miti- ing for Malaysian partners Karnataka rector of Hidden Asia Travel & travel season, which runs from gate a major loss of Indian traf- from Penang to work with him Tours Malaysia, said this would mid-September to the year-end. fic to Malaysia. to build new programmes, as 19.30-21.30 slow corporate incentive and He said: “If clients cannot get Travel consultants from both “suppliers from Kuala Lumpur Hall 3, BIEC group travel segments down be- seats on Malaysia Airlines, they lands told the Daily that they charge more”. – S Puvaneswary C M Y CM MY CY CMY K 07.09.2015 TTG Show Daily PATA Travel Mart 2 News/Snapshots TTG Travel Trade Publishing is a business group Oh, what a night! of TTG Asia Media Sri Lanka Convention Bureau, SriLankan Airlines get EDITORIAL Karen Yue Group Editor Xinyi Liang-Pholsena the party going for PATA delegates. By Eugene Tang Assistant Editor, TTG Asia Dannon Har Assistant Editor, TTG Asia Online Paige Lee Pei Qi Assistant Editor Rachel AJ Lee Sub Editor S Puvaneswary Editor, Malaysia/Brunei Mimi Hudoyo Editor, Indonesia Eugene Tang Photographer Redmond Sia, Goh Meng Yong Creative Designers Samuel Ng Editorial Intern Lina Tan Editorial Assistant CONTRIBUTORS Prudence Lui, Rohit Kaul, Greg Lowe, Rosa Ocampo, Feizal Samath, Caroline Boey SALES & MARKETING Sri Lanka Convention Bureau’s Vipula Sri Lankan Airlines India’s Rajesh Kumble, Michael Chow Group Publisher Wanigasekera S K Mittal, Smitha D and Sharon Prabhakar Karen Cheung Senior Business Manager Shirley Tan Senior Business Manager Jonathan Yap Senior Business Manager Cheryl Lim Advertisement Administration Manager Cheryl Tan Corporate Marketing Manager Stephanie Toh Senior Marketing Executive PUBLISHING SERVICES Tony Yeo Division Manager Kristy Lim Publishing Services Executive Lynn Lim Web Executive Katherine Leong Circulation Executive TTG ASIA MEDIA Darren Ng Managing Director Asia Global Myanmar’s Wynn Tin @ Ronald Poe, Raini Hamdi Senior Editor Bico Trip Co South Korea’s Unu Yi, All Nippon Airways Japan’s Satoshi Akiho, Ayarwaddy Legend Myanmar’s Bhone Paing Oo E C Travel Australia’s Tonichi Travel Service’s Shigeo Adachi and TTG Asia Media’s Darren Ng and Asia Global Myanmar’s Nyan Htun Tim Lim Indonesians review travel plans as rupiah weakens Preference for shorter vacations closer to home By Mimi Hudoyo in travelling patterns. “(The poor eco- THE weakening rupiah against the green- nomic situation today) isn’t stopping back has put a damper on Indonesian con- travel altogether, as Indonesians regard sumers’ travel desires, causing outbound travelling as a need. There is however, a tour operators in the country to report a shift in travel patterns. Those who have 20 to 25 per cent dip in travel bookings so budgeted for their trips will still travel, but far this year. they are choosing either to shorten the va- Rudiana, WITA Tour’s director of sales cation or head to a destination closer to and marketing, told the Daily that re- home,” Akili explained. cent travel offers by airlines and tourism As such, Akili expects domestic and boards had failed to elicit much interest regional travel to do well while longhaul from customers. demand will languish. Citing an example, Rudiana said a But Rama Tirtawisata, group managing package to Japan, a hot favourite among director of Panorama Leisure Group, has Indonesian holidaymakers, did not hit found a silver lining in the cloud. booking targets set by his company. Tirtawisata said: “The strengthening of “Singapore Airlines and Garuda Indo- the US dollar has affected many countries, nesia will hold their travel fairs this month and data from Bank Indonesia shows and they are the industry benchmark, so that there are many currencies that have results from these shows will paint (for) us dipped deeper than the rupiah.” a clearer picture of how Indonesia’s out- Bank Indonesia’s 52-week data com- bound leisure market will perform the rest pilation on currency performance since of the year and during 2016’s low season,” June 30, 2014 reflected a 49 per cent de- commented Rudiana. cline in the Russian rouble against the However, with the rupiah now valued at greenback, a 27 per cent dip in the Turkish 14,000 to US$1, the lowest ever since 1998, lira, and a 22 per cent fall in the Australian Rudiana is bracing for poor outbound dollar. Some European currencies like the business, especially as consumers wait for Swedish krona and the Danish krone were the currency depreciation to stabilise. down between 19 and 22 per cent. Exacerbating the cautious buying sen- “The rupiah was down 14 per cent so it timents among Indonesians is the new is stronger (than these currencies), which government regulation for all transactions makes travelling to these countries cheap- and prices to be in rupiah. er,” said an optimistic Tirtawisata, who “Travellers who are used to buying their revealed that Panorama Tours Indonesia trips in US dollars are taken aback by the will focus on promoting these destina- number of digits represented in rupiah. It tions with special packages soon. affects them psychologically,” he said. “We will also allocate more budget Smailing Tour’s president and CEO, for promotions and educate the market Anthony Akili, has also observed a change which is currently in shock,” he added.