SAMUI Thailand, 8 December 2023: Centara Reserve Samui has been honoured with the prestigious “Dream Wedding Destination” award by Lifestyle + Travel magazine. This recognition comes as Lifestyle + Travel marks its 20th anniversary.
Paul Linder, General Manager and Corporate Director of Operations – Centara Reserve (Middle), and Treethipnipha Hongsombud – Marketing Communication Manager of Centara Reserve Samui (left) received the award from Amarin Kocharat, Director of Lifestyle + Travel (right).
Linder commented: “We invite you to celebrate life’s milestones with us — from weddings and vow renewals to surprise proposals and honeymoons. Our venues including beaches, gardens, poolside, and villas.
“As we commemorate this achievement, we renew our promise to deliver remarkable services, ensuring an exemplary luxury resort experience for our guests”. Learn more about Centara Reserve Samui at centarareserve.com/samui
SINGAPORE, 8 December 2023: Klook, a leading Asia-focused platform for travel services and experiences, has completed a USD210 million financing, supporting business growth and fortifying financial stability.
The equity round is led by Bessemer Venture Partners, with participation from BPEA EQT, Asia investment funds Atinum Investment and Golden Vision Capital, and corporate investment arms from Southeast Asia, including Krungsri Finnovate (under Bank of Ayudhya), Kasikornbank Financial Conglomerate and SMIC SG Holdings. The round also includes bank facilities from Citi, JP Morgan, and HSBC.
For many Asian markets, 2023 marks the first year of travel recovery, with a notable rebound in tourism figures and a gradual recovery in flight capacities. Despite this early stage in market recovery, Klook has demonstrated remarkable business success, surpassing previous milestones with a threefold increase compared to 2019 and boasting an annualised gross booking value of USD3 billion.
Notably, the company achieved overall profitability for the first time earlier this year. “During the pandemic, we doubled down on our resources in merchant digitisation and the expansion of our supply network, including car rentals and outdoor experiences. This positions us strongly to capture new travel trends from the pandemic,” said Klook CEO and co-founder Ethan Lin.
The company’s success is further underscored by its increasing brand strength, strategically building on and leveraging its app-first approach to acquire and retain customers, with over 80% of bookings made through mobile today. Impressively, the influx of new customers acquired in 2023 more than doubled that of 2019, while repeat customers contributed to over half of the total bookings, demonstrating the sustained customer loyalty fostered by the platform.
“With Asia in the early stages of post-Covid recovery, upcoming global events like the Paris Olympics 2024 and Osaka World Expo 2025, along with rising expenditures and digital adoption, the industry outlook in Asia is exceptionally positive,” added Lin.
New funds for three critical areas
Product innovation, expanding its city pass offerings to enhance traveller convenience and savings.
Scaling social and digital marketing through the Klook Kreator program, driving conversions with authentic, social, user-generated content.
Advancing innovation through continuous AI integration. The recent collaboration with Google Cloud will integrate Generative AI across the platform, covering automated translations, content generation, and customer service chatbot.
HONG KONG, 8 December 2023: Oceania Cruises and Regent Seven Seas Cruises have appointed directors of sales for the individual cruise lines in Asia as part of a major growth strategy for the region.
Hospitality veteran Constance Seck is based in Singapore and will become Oceania Cruises’ director of sales for Asia, excluding Japan.
With a strong tourism background and over seven years working for the company, Holly Kong, based in Hong Kong, will represent Regent Seven Seas Cruises as director of sales for Asia, excluding Japan.
(Left) Constance Seck, Director of Sales Asia, Oceania Cruises and Holly Kong, Director of Sales Asia, Regent Seven Seas Cruises.
Each brand will also have its dedicated sales coordinator to assist trade partners in the region, with appointments to be released shortly. The new appointments will take effect from 1 January 2024.
Among the latest developments for the two lines is Oceania Cruises’ new ship, Vista, which was christened in May 2023 and has sailed its inaugural Mediterranean and Caribbean seasons. Meanwhile, the 1,250-guest Marina is set to be refurbished with the addition of three new dining options in May 2024, in readiness to host its first annual ‘Culinary Masters Cruise’ late next year.
Regent Seven Seas Cruises recently took delivery of its new vessel, Seven Seas Grandeur – the sixth ship to join the fleet and home to a multi-million-dollar collection of 1,600 artworks.
SINGAPORE 8 December 2023: FCM, the corporate division of the Flight Centre Travel Group (FCTG), has appointed Sunny Sodhi as the Managing Director of FCM Travel India.
Sodhi has spent more than 26 years in the travel and hospitality industry. He is a seasoned professional with experience establishing businesses and delivering accelerated growth.
Previously at OYO, he was the COO for Luxury and Upscale Business and the head of sales for India and Southeast Asia. Before OYO, he was the COO for Yatra for Business (corporate travel), a vertical he established from the ground up. He was also the Head of Industry Relations for Yatra.com.
“India is a vital market for FCM in Asia, and we have been making strategic investments over the last two years in both our people and technology, which have led to strong performances in both corporate travel as well as FCM Meetings and Events,” said FCM Travel Asia managing director Bertrand Saillet.
“We believe that Sunny, with his extensive experience in corporate travel and technology and his added focus on people, will take FCM Travel India to greater heights.”
SINGAPORE, 8 December 2023: Air India has successfully migrated to cloud-only IT infrastructure, having closed its historic data centres in Mumbai and New Delhi.
It makes Air India one of the first global airlines to have moved all computational workloads exclusively to the Cloud, enabling it to accelerate and roll out new digital innovations and applications.
Photo credit: Air India. The airline’s brand new Airbus A320neo lands in Delhi.
Closing the data centres delivers a net saving of nearly USD1 million in annual expenses.
Phuket flights go daily on 9 January 2024
Meanwhile, the airline will start a four-weekly service from Delhi to Phuket on 15 December and upgrade the frequency to daily flights on 9 January 2024.
That move will intensify competition with Indigo, which introduced daily flights to Phuket in 2022. Indigo sells a roundtrip ticket on the route for around USD390. Once Air India starts its four weekly flights on 15 December, the average roundtrip fare on the Delhi-Phuket route could drop to USD300, according to booking sites that monitor fare averages.
Air India’s flights to Phuket do not show on Skyscanner, but Trip.com quotes a roundtrip fare starting at USD579.
The airline will deploy an A320 Neo aircraft to fly the route on Monday, Wednesday, Friday, and Sunday. Flight time is four hours and 10 minutes.
Flight AI 378 will depart from Delhi at 0110 and arrive in Phuket at 0710. Flight AI 379 will take off from Phuket at 0810 and land in Delhi at 1050.
Departure times will remain unchanged when the airline increases flights to daily on the Delhi-Phuket route on 9 January 2024. Air India also operates 20 weekly flights to Bangkok, with daily nonstop flights from Delhi and Mumbai and six weekly from Kolkata.
SINGAPORE, 8 December 2023: Drukair Royal Bhutan Airlines is confident it can persuade Thai Buddhist pilgrims to take a detour to Paro on the way to Bodh Gaya in India.
It’s a long shot, but the Bhutan Department of Tourism is spicing up the offer with a free two-hour guide to the capital city’s ancient Kyichu Lhakhang an ancient Bhutanese temple dating back to the 7th century, located in the picturesque Paro valley.
Drukair passengers booked on the Bangkok-Paro-Gaya package can engage in meditation and light butter lamps during their temple visit while waiting for the connecting flight to Gaya. DOT also throws in a transit visa and promises to resolve red tape to make it a seamless travel experience to Gaya.
Drukair flies daily to Bangkok, but the travel package to Gaya is an option only on Wednesday and Sunday when a one-hour and 10-minute flight leaves Paro at 1130 and arrives in Gaya at 1210, twice weekly.
From Bangkok, Thai pilgrims board the flight to Paro at 0500 on a Wednesday or Sunday and arrive in Bhutan at 0715 (flight time three hours and 15 minutes). That leaves ample time to explore Paro’s heritage and catch the flight to Gaya. The stop in Paro adds a new dimension for Buddhist pilgrims heading for Bodh Gaya in India, and the Department of Tourism hopes it will encourage more Thai travellers to return to Bhutan for a more extended stay in the future.
The guessing game begins when you search for a package price or even a Bangkok-Paro-Gaya fare. They are not jumping off the web page. The airline doesn’t identify an option for website browsers to fly through to Gaya with a transit stop in Paro (change of planes). You are left guessing that the diversion to Paro could raise the USD300 fare quoted for a direct BKK-GAY flight to USD400 or more. The Paro-Gaya Transit sidetrip is available from December 2023 to 31 January, 2024.
We give top marks to the Drukair team for creativity but not for clarity on price or how to book. If you are ready to make a diversion to enjoy a temple tour in Paro, Bhutan, and get a free transit visa to boot, the Drukair website is short of bottom-line details — how much will it cost?TTR Weekly asked the airline’s anonymous sales team about the package price without success.
Drukair, Royal Bhutan Airlines, describes the experience as a “spiritual journey, a unique pilgrimage package, guiding Thai pilgrims from Thailand to India (Bodh Gaya) via the enchanting destination of Paro, Bhutan.”
Its Facebook page clearly announces the “offer covers the Immigration Transit Visa and associated fees, facilitated by Drukair as an all-in package, for passengers opting for the complimentary tour. Grab your chance to glimpse Bhutan on your Journey to Bodh Gaya, the cradle of Buddhism.” OK, share with us the price?
Photo credit: Drukair.
Gaya Gaya attracts thousands of international visitors annually, especially during the peak season for pilgrimage tours from December to February. Surrounded by hills, Gaya is the second largest city of Bihar and is home to religious heritage monuments revered by Hindus, Buddhists and Jains.
Transit visa A transit visa is mandatory to participate in the tour at Paro, valued at NU5,000 per person (transit visa fee). Drukair pays the transit visa fee and will facilitate the application for the transit visa, requiring a minimum of six working days before travel to Paro.
SINGAPORE, 7 December 2023: Banyan Tree opened its first property in Dubai on 2 December to coincide with the UAE’s 52nd Union Day.
Banyan Tree Dubai fronts the shoreline of Bluewaters Dubai – a lifestyle destination by Dubai Holding that offers a mix of residential, retail, hospitality and entertainment venues.
Photo credit: Banyan Tree Dubai.
Situated amongst the buildings of the Dubai Marina, the 178-room Banyan Tree Dubai occupies a 500-metre stretch of private beach boasting uninterrupted views of the Arabian Gulf and the iconic Ain Dubai observation wheel.
In addition to the resort with its three heated swimming pools and seven restaurants, Banyan Tree Residences Dubai boasts 96 fully furnished private apartments in one, two, three- and four-bedroom configurations.
“Due to its central location, Banyan Tree Dubai will appeal to both leisure and business travellers, as well as wedding couples looking for iconic backdrops for their nuptials and honeymoons,” said Banyan Tree Group senior vice president and head of regional operations (Asia Pacific, Middle East and Africa) Peter Hechler.
Rates for a January 2024 stay start at AED3,362 (USD918 per night).
SINGAPORE, 7 December 2023: Siem Reap’s travel experience shifts up a gear following the recent opening of the brand new Siem Reap Angkor International Airport (SAI).
Last October, travellers welcomed the opening of the new, larger airport for Siem Reap in Cambodia, home of the famous Temples of Angkor. It enables airlines to increase flights and operate larger aircraft, meaning more choices for travellers seeking to experience this ancient kingdom and beyond.
To celebrate the opening, Pandaw, a specialised river cruise operator in Southeast Asia and India, releases special offers for its Cambodia cruises between Phnom Penh and Siem Reap with a 10% discount and no single supplement available for sailings on select dates in early 2024.
While the temples of Angkor themselves top the must-visit list, there is much more to be discovered beyond the ruins. The Tonle Sap Lake is a marvel of nature with its alternating water flow, and the local villagers who still inhabit the floodplains are genuine and welcoming.
There are a host of craftspeople producing fine silks and traditional ‘Krama’ scarves, and authentic river villages are still practically untouched by the effects of tourism. This is in addition to the nature reserves located in the rich mountains and idyllic island escapes that rival Thailand’s best.
MEDAN Indonesia, 7 December 2023: Langkawi Development Authority (LADA) is initiating B2B partnerships in Medan and Jakarta, Indonesia, to boost visitor arrivals from Indonesia and offer airlines incentives to launch direct flights to Langkawi.
Networking sessions were hosted this week to strengthen ties with travel curators in the two Indonesian cities. Over 40 hotel and travel agency stakeholders from Langkawi island joined the mission supported by Tourism Malaysia (Medan), Tourism Malaysia (Jakarta), and Malaysia Convention & Exhibition Bureau (MyCEB).
First direct flights from Medan to Langkawi launch 2 March.
Over the two-day visits to Medan and Jakarta, Team Langkawi engaged with tour operators and travel influencers in business networking sessions to create new tours to Langkawi and encourage more direct flights between Medan and Malaysia’s most popular island destination.
The latest mission follows a similar event held last September organised by LADA with the cooperation of Tourism Malaysia Medan that targeted travel agencies from the Association of The Indonesian Tours and Travel Agencies of North Sumatra (ASITA SUMUT), as part of LADA’s efforts to promote Langkawi to the Indonesian outbound travel market.
ASITA SUMUT has 6,500 travel agency member companies in Indonesia, and the objective was to encourage them to create attractive Langkawi and Medan tour packages.
These initiatives are part of LADA’s ongoing efforts to position Langkawi as a go-to destination for international travellers, specifically from Medan and Jakarta. The outreach to the Indonesian travel trade is boosting Langkawi’s tourism and economy. It is part of a collaboration with AirAsia to introduce direct flights from Medan, Indonesia, to Langkawi starting 2 March 2024.
LADA tourism manager Dr Azmil Munif bin Mohd Bukhari expressed his enthusiasm: “We are excited to work closely with Tourism Malaysia and our partners in Medan and Jakarta to encourage B2B partnerships across both parties. Langkawi is not just a destination;
it’s an experience – and we look forward to welcoming our Indonesian partners and travellers to experience all this beautiful island offers.”
LADA is now offering incentives tailored for MICE activities to boost the Meetings, Incentives, Conferences, and Exhibitions (MICE) sector. LADA has also introduced an incentive scheme ‘Charter Flight and Schedule Inaugural Flight, for 2024 that provides grants of USD10,000 to support the introduction of a new direct flight.
These efforts come alongside LADA’s latest partnership with Tourism Malaysia and the Malaysia Convention & Exhibition Bureau (MyCEB) to launch the eagerly awaited ‘MyTriple E’ incentive offer under the Meet In Malaysia campaign. With this partnership, LADA, Tourism Malaysia, and MyCEB join forces to facilitate the ‘MyTriple E’ venture, which aims to impact the business events industry by enticing Indonesian corporations and associations to explore the myriad opportunities available in Malaysia. All these initiatives underscore LADA’s commitment to strengthening the ties between Indonesia and Langkawi, fostering an environment ripe for new business ventures, enriching travel experiences, and lasting partnerships.
Aerial view of Puka beach in Boracay Island, Western Visayas, Philippines.
MANILA, 7 December 2023: The Philippines adds four global accolades to its 2023 tourism awards list, having bagged four top accolades at the prestigious World Travel Awards 2023 held in Dubai on 1 December.
For the first time, the Philippines won the Global Tourism Resilience Award for demonstrating “global leadership, pioneering vision, and innovation to overcome critical challenges and adversity.
Photo credit: DOT Philippines.
As one of only five countries cited for this inaugural award, the Philippines and other “inaugural winners will serve as benchmarks for best practices in tourism resilience,” according to the World Travel Awards.
The Philippines also took home the World’s Leading Dive Destination, the World’s Leading Beach Destination and the World’s Leading City Destination for its capital, Manila.
Established in 1993, the 30th annual World Travel Awards acknowledge excellence across all the travel, tourism, and hospitality sectors.
Tourism Secretary Christina Garcia Frasco commented on the country’s victories at the World Travel Awards: “ These accolades are a source of pride as they are a testament to the enormous contribution of tourism to the Philippine economy and global standing.”
