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Black Friday fares close Wednesday

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TTR WEEKLY
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BANGKOK, 28 November 2022: There are still two days left to grab Thai Vietjet’s Black Friday deals on domestic and international routes.

 Thai Vietjet’s Black Friday promotion offers special fares starting from THB 899 (including taxes and fees) for travel on the airline’s domestic network and fares starting from THB 1,899 (including taxes and fees) for travel on its international network.

Bookings close for the promotional fares at midnight on 30 November, 2022, with the travel period from 1 January 2023, to 31 October 2023 (excludes public holidays).

The special promotional tickets are valid on  Thai Vietjet’s entire domestic flight network from Bangkok (Suvarnabhumi) to Chiang Mai, Chiang Rai, Phuket, Krabi, Hat Yai, Nakhon Si Thammarat, Surat Thani, Udon Thani, Khon Kaen, and Ubon Ratchathani and cross-country routes connecting Phuket to Chiang Mai and Chiang Rai, as well as Thai Vietjet’s entire international flight network from Bangkok (Suvarnabhumi) to Vietnam, Phnom Penh, Singapore, Fukuoka, and Taipei.

Fares can be purchased through all distribution channels, including www.vietjetair.com, mobile app “Vietjet Air”, via Facebook at www.facebook.com/VietJetThailand by clicking the “Booking” tab, as well as travel agencies and booking offices.

THAI appoints new CEO to rebuild trust

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TTR WEEKLY
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BANGKOK, 28 November 2022, Thai Airways International has named Chai Eamsiri its chief executive officer effective 1 February 2023.

The CEO Selection Committee, including appointed restructuring plan administrators, selected Eamsiri from 53 internal and external candidates who applied for the top job at THAI. Government regulations allowed only Thai nationals to apply.

The recruitment specifications and evaluation were based on the company’s urgent need to find a leader to continue the challenging task of rehabilitation and also the process of privatisation.

With 37 years of experience and knowledge of Thailand’s aviation industry, Chai Eamsiri demonstrated what the committee called “suitable attributes and qualifications for the position in every dimension.”

His financial and accounting literacy was quoted as a crucial factor and a top priority if the new CEO is to achieve the objectives set out in the Rehabilitation Plan. It calls for new loans and financial discipline to boost profits and develop a commercially viable route network. He will also have to ensure aircraft and engine purchases or leases comply with restructuring plan criteria and are transparent.

Eamsiri has worked for international organisations and was a member of the special working group overseeing business restructuring initiatives in 2020. He has also played a vital role in the company’s rehabilitation plan’s implementation over the past two years.

At present, he holds the post of THAI chief financial officer.

The airline described his appointment as crucial to building trust and confidence among the airline’s creditors and business partners.

Viking cranks up river sailings

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TTR WEEKLY
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SINGAPORE, 28 November 2022: Viking Cruises is adding new river sailings for its 2023 sailing season.

The sailing season for Viking’s 10-day Portugal River of Gold voyage has been extended with 20 new departures in November and December 2023. Fares start at USD4,495.

The new 15-day Lyon, Provence and the Rhineland river voyage is now operating from April 2023, with 27 departures. Fares start at USD5,895.

There are  34 additional departures on its eight-day Lyon & Provence itinerary between March and November 2023. Fares start at USD2,995.

Malaysia Airlines cancels Brisbane flights

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TTR WEEKLY
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KUALA LUMPUR, 28 November 2022: Malaysia Airlines will suspend flights to Brisbane at the end first quarter of 2023, calling it a rationalisation exercise under its ongoing business review.

The last MH134 flight will depart from Brisbane to Kuala Lumpur on 26 March 2023. However, flights from  Kuala Lumpur to four other Australian destinations – Adelaide, Sydney, Perth, and Melbourne –  will continue, providing 43 direct services per week between Australia and Malaysia.

In November, the airline scheduled just three direct services using an A330 and will increase flights to 13 per month from December 2022 to March 2023 to cater to peak holiday traffic during the Australian summer season.

Customers who booked on the direct Kuala Lumpur-Brisbane service after 27 March 2023 will fly with Malaysia Airlines to Sydney or Melbourne to connect with Qantas codeshare flights to Brisbane.

Malaysia Airlines Group Chief Executive Officer Captain Izham Ismail explained: “After a thorough business review, we have made a difficult decision to suspend our operations in Brisbane to ensure we operate and use our fleet at an optimum level, as well as maximising revenue on every route we fly to while facing strong headwinds from the continued increase in fuel cost, forex and interest rate.”

Forward bookings to other Australian cities remain encouraging and head of 2019’s performance, according to the airline’s CEO, who added the focus was on ramping up the network to achieve full recovery by 2024.

This year the airline has launched routes from Kuala Lumpur to Doha, Haneda and Yogyakarta. From Kota Kinabalu, flights resumed to Singapore.

WTTC survey shows international travel is back

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TTR WEEKLY
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SINGAPORE, 28 November 2022: As the World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC) opens its 22nd Global Summit in Riyadh, a new global consumer survey reveals that the appetite for international travel is now at its highest since the start of the pandemic.

The WTTC  Global Summit in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, opens today, 28 November and closes on 1 December.

According to the survey of more than 26,000 consumers from 25 countries conducted by YouGov for WTTC, 63% are planning a leisure trip in the next 12 months.

The survey reveals that the appetite to travel shows no signs of slowing, with more than a quarter (27%) of consumers planning three or more trips over the same period.

Additionally, the survey shows that travellers from Australia will be the world’s biggest spenders on international travel over the next 12 months, with jet setters from Canada, Saudi Arabia, and the Philippines also expected to spend more than travellers from around the globe.

According to the YouGov ‘global tracker’, the attractiveness and positive impression of Saudi Arabia continue to grow, with the highest scores across countries in the Gulf region, along with Indonesia, India, Malaysia, and Thailand.

WTTC president and CEO Julia Simpson said: “This global survey shows that international travel is back. As we kick off our Global Summit in Riyadh, bringing together global travel leaders and governments from around the world, travellers are getting ready to explore the world again.

“The results of this global survey also show the growing importance of sustainable travel amongst consumers.”

Almost two-thirds of those surveyed (61%) stated they prefer travel brands and more sustainable destinations. In comparison, nearly half (45%) said they would only spend their hard-earned money with socially and environmentally responsible brands.

This is revealed on the eve of the global tourism body’s highly anticipated 22nd Global Summit, which is set to welcome delegates from around the world in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

STB reaches out to Indonesian agents

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TTR WEEKLY
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KUCHING, 25 November 2022: Sarawak Tourism Board is confident it will draw more Indonesian tourists to Sarawak following its ‘Sarawak A Journey Awaits’ Business Networking Sessions (B2B) held in East Kalimantan earlier this week.

STB engaged with about 120 local travel agencies and tour operators in Samarinda and Balikpapan through the B2B roadshow in collaboration with Malaysia Healthcare Travel Council (MHTC) and Tourism Malaysia Jakarta. The B2B networking promoted Sarawak as a tourism destination offering medical and health tourism opportunities and leisure travel. The roadshow also fostered business collaboration between Sarawak tourism enterprises and East Kalimantan tourism stakeholders while engaging with the media to create a stronger Sarawak brand presence.

STB Director of Marketing (ASEAN & Domestic) Barbara Benjamin Atan said the networking sessions provided an opportunity to keep Sarawak in mind for East Kalimantan stakeholders while promoting the rich land of Sarawak against the fascinating backdrop of adventure, nature festivals, food and its variety of unique tourism products.

“With a surge in international travels, it was a perfect opportunity for Sarawak and the East Kalimantan tourism stakeholders to come together to refresh and relook at their efforts in boosting Sarawak as a preferred tourism destination choice,” she said.

“One of the attractions for the market in East Kalimantan is Sarawak health tourism which offers affordable and high-quality services. Before the pandemic, Indonesia was the largest supplier in the medical tourism sector, with 53,000 health and wellness tourists visiting Sarawak. The transfer of the capital of Indonesia from Jakarta to Kalimantan will also be an important factor to facilitate potential health tourists to seek treatment in Sarawak given the nearby geographical position,” the STB director added.

Apart from MHTC and Tourism Malaysia Jakarta, other participating agencies in the sessions included Normah Medical Specialist Centre, Khaimal Borneo Travel & Tours Sdn Bhd, Hemisphere Corporation Sdn Bhd and Damai Beach Resort.

The ’Sarawak A Journey Awaits’ roadshow in East Kalimantan took place in Samarinda on 22 November at Mercure Hotel City Centre and in Balikpapan on 23 November at Grand Senyiur Hotel.

For more information visit: www.sarawaktourism.com.

(Your Stories: Sarawak Tourism Board)

Emirates flydubai celebrate five-year partnership

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TTR WEEKLY
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DUBAI, UAE, 25 November 2022: This month marks five years since Emirates and flydubai activated their extensive partnership and joined forces to offer customers unrivalled travel options to every corner of the globe.

The carriers’ joint route network has significantly expanded, enabling more than 11 million customers to connect on over 250,000 flights and benefit from seamless travel since the partnership launched in 2017.

The partnership goes beyond the standard codesharing model and today includes integrated network collaboration, schedule optimisation, seamless connectivity at Dubai International airport (DXB) between Terminals II and III, and baggage transfers on a single itinerary as reciprocal loyalty benefits under the joint loyalty programme, Emirates Skywards.

Here are five key highlights of Emirates and flydubai’s partnership and the benefits to customers:

Joint network offers an unrivalled choice:  Today, customers can access 215 destinations across 98 countries, with over 250 codeshare flights to choose from on an average day. Emirates customers can book flights to over 80 unique flydubai destinations, and flydubai customers can choose from over 99 Emirates destinations. Popular customer favourites, whether travelling for business or leisure, including Kathmandu, Kuwait, the Maldives, Tel Aviv, and Zanzibar.

Joint loyalty programme maximising customer rewards: More than 8.5 million members have been able to enjoy joint Emirates and flydubai frequent flyer programme benefits, earning 150 billion Skywards Miles in the last five years through the partnership.

Seamless connectivity at DXB: Customers enjoy seamless check-in, efficient baggage transfers, passenger access to Emirates’ lounges at Terminal 3 and the flydubai lounge at Terminal 2, reduced connection times as both airlines expand their flight schedules, and convenient connections to 33 flydubai destinations operated from Emirates Terminal 3 in DXB.

Continued network growth: New travel opportunities are being created for the 270,000 passengers who connect between both airlines each month as Emirates and flydubai continue to add more flights to their schedules. This offers customers more flexibility with multiple daily flight departures to destinations like Bahrain, Kuwait, Karachi, the Maldives, key cities in Saudi Arabia and Tel Aviv. Both airlines continue expanding their networks, with Emirates recently reinstating flights to Rio de Janeiro and Buenos Aires. In 2022, flydubai’s network has grown bigger than ever, launching flights to Al Ula, Namangan, Osh, Pisa and Samarkand, to name a few. flydubai has also announced services to Gan in the Maldives, Cagliari and Milan-Bergamo in Italy, Corfu in Greece and Krabi and Pattaya in Thailand from 2023 following the resumption of flights to Abha, Ha’il, Hofuf and Tabuk in Saudi Arabia.

Continued investment in enhancing the customer experience: Emirates will retrofit 120 aircraft with Premium Economy seats starting this month as part of a $2 billion investment that includes elevated dining options and more sustainable choices. flydubai has debuted a new Business Class recliner seat offering customers more comfort on short and medium-haul flights. flydubai has grown its fleet to 70 Boeing 737 aircraft and will retrofit some of its existing aircraft and equip its future aircraft with its new Business Class seats.

For more information, visit: www.emirates.com.

(Your Stories: Emirates)

2023: Long weekends will spur domestic travel

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TTR WEEKLY
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MANILA, 25 November 2022: The Department of Tourism supports adjusting the 2023 official holidays list 2023 to create more long weekends to support domestic tourism recovery.

According to the Philippines News Agency, Tourism Secretary Christina Frasco agreed that “holiday economics” would provide more long weekends to allow Filipinos a chance to explore the  Philippines.

She praised the “effort of the Marcos administration to enhance the overall tourism experience of coming into and going around the Philippines.”

The industry continues to rely on domestic tourism as the primary revenue earner until China reopens outbound tourism. At present only business trips are allowed. Optimistically, the travel pundits suggest China’s outbound travel market could resume in time for the Chinese New Year celebrations in the week beginning 22 January 2023, but that is now looking unlikely as lockdowns continue in China. There are no indicators that China will relax its zero-Covid policy in the short term. Before the pandemic, the Philippines’ domestic tourism earnings reached PHP3.1 trillion.

(Source: Philippines News Agency)

AirAsia X flies direct Kuala Lumpur – Busan

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TTR WEEKLY
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SEPANG, 25 November 2022: AirAsia X will be the first airline from Malaysia to reconnect direct flights from Kuala Lumpur to Busan, South Korea, in early 2023.

The three weekly flights will be the second AAX route to South Korea after launching flights to Seoul in April this year.

AirAsia X CEO Benyamin Ismail (left) and President of BTO Jung-Sil Lee (right) at the MoU signing ceremony between AAX and BTO at Pavilion Hotel Kuala Lumpur.

In addition to relaunching the route, AAX signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Busan Tourism Organisation (BTO) to develop joint sales and marketing campaigns, leverage travel agents’ support, strengthen flight connectivity, and foster both countries’ economies through tourism.

The MoU was signed by AirAsia X CEO Benyamin Ismail and President of BTO Jung-Sil Lee.

AirAsia X CEO Benyamin Ismail commented: “We are excited to be the first airline from Malaysia to return to Busan. South Korea is an incredibly important market, and we have seen tremendous growth from our existing route to Seoul with around 80% average load factor. Starting with three weekly services and based on strong forecast demand, we expect the flight frequency to Busan to return to daily services by year-end.

“We believe the relaunch of the Busan route will provide a significant boost to strengthen business and tourism ties between Malaysia and South Korea, and we wish to thank the governments and relevant authorities for their tremendous support.

“In 2019, we flew about 200,000 guests to and from Busan. As we look to increase the connectivity to South Korea further, we trust that our direct flights to Busan will provide a welcome boost for tourism and the economy in both countries. The new route also reflects our commitment to offer our guests great value mid-range air travel continuously and we look forward to seeing a surge in tourist arrivals into/from Busan in the near future.”

President of Busan Tourism Organisation Jung-Sil Lee added: “We are pleased to collaborate with AAX to strengthen the tourism opportunities for Busan, a city with a unique heritage, natural attractions, and leading infrastructure. The last two and half years greatly impacted our tourism industry, but we managed to surpass these challenges and could not be more pleased that AAX will be part of this effort.

“The relaunch of AAX direct flights to Busan will mark a major milestone in the resumption of services to the city. We believe travellers will appreciate the direct and affordable connection, making Busan a top holiday destination  once again.”

Malaysia hosts Iranian agents

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TTR WEEKLY
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KUALA LUMPUR, 25 November 2022: Tourism Malaysia hosted travel trade partners from Iran last week on a familiarisation trip that presented Malaysia as the preferred tourist destination following its international border reopening.

A total of eight travel agents and representatives from Emirates were travelled from Tehran for an eight-day, seven-night (8D7N) stay in Penang, Genting Highlands, Sunway and Kuala Lumpur from 16 to 23 November 2022.

The fam trip was also co-hosted by Emirates, Park Royal Penang Resort, Penang Global Tourism, Sunway Lagoon Hotels, and Toranj Tours & Travel.

Participants toured the most-visited states in Malaysia, including Penang, to discover the UNESCO World Heritage Site of Georgetown, exciting rides and games in a natural environment at the Escape Theme Park, as well as explore the most authentic, diverse and educational Malaysian rainforest experience at Penang Hill and The Habitat.

The Pearl of the Orient trip continued with a visit to the Pinang Peranakan Mansion – famously known for its green Straits Eclectic style, a stroll on the wooden piers of a floating village at Clan Jetties, and an experience on rare and exotic fruits at Penang Tropical Fruit Farm.

Participants also had the opportunity to visit Resorts World Genting, a premier leisure and entertainment resort in Malaysia, and Sunway Resort in Kuala Lumpur, which has just reopened after a once-in-a-generation transformation.

Tourism Malaysia director-general Dato’ Haji Zainuddin Abdul Wahab said he was confident the curated experiences would encourage Iranian travel agents to experience our tourism products firsthand and actively sell tour packages to Malaysia, especially in promoting the latest attractions effectively.

“Iran remains one of Malaysia’s top international tourists generating markets in the Middle East before the pandemic. In 2019, Malaysia welcomed 46,559 arrivals from Iran, and we will continue to promote Malaysia as a safe holiday destination.”

There are currently 14 weekly Emirates direct flights from Dubai to Kuala Lumpur, with a seating capacity of 4,998 seats.

(Source: Tourism Malaysia)

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