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Category: News

  • News: New UNWTO/Tourism Australia report highlights tourism potential of SE Asia

    Asia’s affluent middle class is ready to extend almost fivefold over a better two decades, presenting significant opportunities for Australian tourism, in keeping with a brand new report released by Tourism Australia and the sector Tourism Organization (UNWTO) at this year’s Australian Tourism Exchange (ATE).

    ‘Key Outbound Tourism Markets in South-East Asia’ provides up-to-date and comprehensive analysis of the foremost tourism trends and developments in five key South-East Asian outbound markets: Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam. 

    Tourism Australia Managing Director Andrew McEvoy said the study would help the Australian tourism industry to raised understand, communicate with, and serve these five, key emerging outbound markets.

    “The crucial factor behind the expansion of travel out of the Asian markets – from South-East Asia up to from China – is the increasing middle class population of these source countries due to the their growing economic prosperity.

    “Each market is different, but all of them possess significant potential, which we have to understand to truly profit from this Asian Century,” Mr McEvoy said.

    UNWTO Secretary-General, Taleb Rifai said around 30 per cent of the world’s middle class population is now in Asia and this figure is predicted to extend almost fivefold over a better two decades, to three.4 billion or 60% of the world’s total.

    “UNWTO is extremely pleased to have partnered with Tourism Australia in producing this report that sheds new light at the travel trends of those countries,” said Mr Rifai.

    The new report provides detailed profiles of every market in response to extensive research, including analysis in their future potential.

    In 2012, these five countries accounted for US$ 47 billion in international tourism expenditure, up from US$ 25 billion in 2006.

    Mr McEvoy said that every of the five countries had its own unique characteristics but that all of them had the possible to be significant future source markets for Australian tourism within the coming years.

    “Indonesia stands proud end result of the size of the rustic and its population. Whilst it has far to visit realise its potential, Indonesia is making rapid progress and is amazingly much on our radar,” he said.

    “Singapore is notable for its wealth and is by far the most important of the five markets in relation to spending. It’s also a more mature market, the single country on this study where outbound travel – long-haul and short-haul – is already a reality for almost all of residents.

    “Malaysia is analogous to Singapore when it comes to the present levels of outbound travel, but these days those trips are predominantly short-haul, often an analogous day. The spending power of Malaysians shouldn’t be as high as Singaporeans, but higher than in Thailand, Indonesia and Vietnam, so there’s good potential here too.

    “Thailand has arguably been hampered nowadays by political upheavals and environmental catastrophes, equivalent to recent flooding, but nevertheless still presents sizeable opportunities for economic and outbound tourism growth.

    “Vietnam has a wide population, but average incomes are still very low. On the subject of current spend and visitation, is by far the smallest of the five markets right this moment, but in addition the fastest growing,” Mr McEvoy said.

  • News: Eurostar partners with Waitrose to provide on-board refreshments

    Eurostar and Waitrose are today announcing a brand new partnership that will see Britain’s favourite supermarket* supply on-board refreshments to Eurostar’s bar buffets, for passengers travelling in standard class between London and mainland Europe.

    A delicious collection of fresh sandwiches, snacks, drinks and hot dishes will arrive on-board all Eurostar services from 30th April. With a number over 20 products there’ll be something to fulfill pan-European appetites including mushroom risotto, chicken tikka masala, and a tapas selection, in addition to traditional British sandwiches and the French classic Croque Monsieur.

    This new culinary collaboration marks Waitrose’s first major move into on-board food and its first significant continental venture. Waitrose Business to Business Director, David Morton, said: “This is an exceptionally exciting opportunity for us to work with any such prestigious brand, which shares our commitment to quality and repair.  To be the primary food brand that Eurostar’s customers experience after they are visiting Britain is tremendously powerful as we seek to expand our presence within Northern Europe.”

    Having recently upgraded both its Standard Premier and Business Premier catering, Eurostar’s partnership with Waitrose completes a trio of changes with a purpose to see Eurostar passengers offered the perfect range of refreshments within the rail operator’s near 20 year history. For lots of French and Belgian travellers, it will likely be their first taste of Britain’s new national dishes akin to chicken tikka masala.

    Julian Welham, Head of On-Board Services, at Eurostar said: “The on-board dining experience is an essential component of our passengers’ travel experience, and our new partnership with Waitrose will bring our customers the best quality refreshments during their journey. Whilst our British passengers should be well accustomed to Waitrose, we glance forward to introducing the emblem and plenty of of its British classics to our continental customers.”

    Eurostar recently launched a brand new summer menu for Business Premier passengers in partnership with Culinary Director, Michelin-starred chef, Raymond Blanc. The summer options do something about seasonal flavours, fruit and veggies and have several Blanc family recipes. Separately, Eurostar’s Standard Premier passengers can look out for an update to their menu options from April.

  • Hilton London Islington gets £5.2m refurb

    Hilton London Islington has announced the £5.2 million refurbishment of its guest rooms, to be completed June 2013, with the addition of 7 new bedrooms, bringing the full number to 191.

    The hotel, situated within the heart of trendy Islington, was inspired and influenced by its close proximity to the Square Mile. Each room displays subtle hints of London, with a graceful city style. In-room features are influenced by the materials and fabrics related to a tailored pin-stripe suit making a classic British feel.

    Oded Lifschitz, UK area vice chairman, Hilton Worldwide said, “London remains essentially the mostsome of the most popular visitor destinations on this planet and, alongside Hilton’s superb service, we’re involved in keeping our product fresh and unique.

    “We currently have plenty of refurbishment programmes in progress across our London properties, including Hilton London Islington, Hilton London Metropole, The Waldorf Hilton, London and Hilton London Heathrow Airport.

    “This investment highlights our ongoing dedication to satisfy and surpass guests’ expectations.” Added Oded.

    For guests visiting on business, the refurbished bedrooms offer spacious black glass desktops, accessible ports and stylish consoles positioned to maximize space, for a tailored working environment.

    All of the furniture is bespoke, designed by Robert Angell Design Studio, with polished chrome, limed grey oak wardrobe doors and black oak nightstands offering a classic timeless quality. In step with town theme the specially commissioned artwork, by Angell, sees prominent London landmarks photographed in profile and displayed on contemporary canvases. Sharp neutrals, greys and blacks, highlighted with hints of aubergine piping and sew details, dogtooth wool carpets, patterned upholstery and handstitched leather headboards, complete the recent look guest rooms.

    With a spotlight on both comfort and practicality, the hot look rooms offer form and serve as, while the en-suite bathrooms are both sleek and chic. Using beautiful carrara stone flooring, grey feature mosaic tiles, bespoke illuminated vanity mirrors and lavish Peter Thomas Roth amenities, the guest experience is on the heart of each design feature.

    Located within easy reach of Kings Cross, at the doorstep of Angel’s vibrant social scene and situated next to the Business Design Centre, Hilton London Islington is ideally positioned for business and leisure travellers. Incorporating this into the design, the refurbishment project features a new executive lounge, 45 executive rooms and five deluxe plus standard rooms so that you can offer balcony access.

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  • News: Aviation to return under spotlight at Arabian Travel Market

    Aviation sector experts and commentators will gather in Dubai for the twentieth annual Arabian Travel Market exhibition next month because the industry comes under close scrutiny at dedicated sessions as portion of the total ATM 2013 seminar series.

    Kicking off the talk, two of the giants of aviation will participate in The massive Conversation at the first day of the show, with Emirates Airlines president, Tim Clark, and Qantas chief executive, Alan Joyce, discussing their groundbreaking partnership.

    A Euromonitor-led presentation on the WTM Vision seminar on May 7th, will share the result of research into the opportunities for growth by most economical airlines inside the Middle East.

    Another aviation outlook session, specializing in the challenges and opportunities, will feature Ghaith Al Ghaith, chief executive, flydubai; Aage Dünhaupt, director, group communications south-east Europe, Middle East & Africa, Lufthansa; and Randy Tinseth, vp, marketing, Boeing Air carriers.

    Building at the momentum, Sunil Malhotra, director aviation sector, Middle East & North Africa for Ernst & Young, will present the newest industry findings and a 10-year outlook with a session entitled ‘Looking to the skies: global aviation trends 2013 – 2033’ at the afternoon of May 8th.

    “The last three years have seen the worldwide aviation industry turn a corner despite ongoing market turbulence.

    “While consolidation is the method in North America, and European carriers are busy lobbying for an end to excessive taxation and passenger duties, the center East and Asia are capitalising on both route network growth opportunities and robust passenger demand,” said Mark Walsh, portfolio director, Reed Travel Exhibitions.

    According to IATA, global airline sector profit will grow from -$US4.6 billion in 2009 to a forecast figure of US$7.5 billion for 2013 with Asia Pacific and Middle East based airlines dominating the international passenger market and leading the manner with regards to improved operating margins.

    “The aviation industry has grown by 53 per cent since 2000 despite the impact of SARS, the worldwide financial crisis and regional conflicts.

    “The world passenger growth in air traffic is recoded at five per cent every year by ICAO scheduled traffic analysis since 1980,” said Malhotra.

    “According to the report, Asia-Pacific will lead world traffic by 2031, with a 32 per cent share, while the center East will rise to 11 per cent in 2031 from the present figure of 7 per cent.

    “The future forecasts over a higher two decades for the realm GDP growth as per IMF is at 3.2 per cent once a year and in response to ICAO forecasts, the selection of airline passengers is projected to grow at four per cent with airline traffic growth outlined to grow at five per cent each year.”

    Partnership activity is a significant focus of the report as airlines are proactively seeking for more meaningful alliances and partnerships to reinforce their synergies and passenger flows.

    “Some of the Gulf carriers are joining global alliances, whilst others have entered into strategic code shares to advertise traffic flows between continents.

    “Airlines are actually planning to guage aggressively dormant partnerships and consider making a cohesive air charter for organic growth,” said Malhotra.

    However, he points out that despite consolidation and new alliances, the industry is facing a highly competitive environment, which continues to overwhelm airline profitability and return on capital, with it unlikely to meet up with cost of capital within the near future.

    “Facing future uncertainty in a risk-laden market, legacy carriers also are scrambling to locate a model that works, with a refocus on short haul routes, development of LCC’s and re-evaluation in their long-haul networks,” added Malhotra.

  • News: Record month for Dubai international

    Dubai International registered a record 5.8 million passengers in March, in step with the monthly traffic report issued by Dubai Airports.

    Passenger traffic in March surged by 20.6 per cent, the very best since August 2012, to five,846,297 in comparison with 4,848,320 in March 2012, the fourth consecutive month with greater than five million passengers and a double-digit growth.

    The strong showing has boosted the year so far traffic to 16,486,417, up 15.6 per cent compared with 14,261,606 recorded through the first three months of 2012.

    The largest increase in total passenger number were recorded at the Western European routes – driven mainly by Emirates airline and flydubai services to destinations within the region registering the most important increase in total passenger numbers (up 227,830), followed by the AGCC (up 209,737), and the Indian subcontinent (up 202,703).

    Growth remained subdued (up 2,532) on South American routes while Middle Eastern routes registered moderate growth (up 36,479).

    In terms of percentage growth, eastern Europe was the fastest-expanding market (up 67.9 per cent) driven by Emirates airline’s launch of recent services to Poland and flydubai’s service to Macedonia, followed by Asia Pacific (up 26.5 per cent).

    Dubai International recorded a complete of 31,713 aircraft movements in March, up 8.3 per cent in comparison with 29,276 in March 2012.

    The year thus far movements increased 5.9 per cent to achieve 91,130, in comparison with 86,014 recorded throughout the first three months in 2012.

    Paul Griffiths, chief executive, Dubai Airports said: “We have had a particularly successful first quarter highlighted by record growth and the outlet of the world’s first purpose built A380 facility.

    “I am particularly pleased that we’re no longer only the world’s second busiest international hub but in addition some of the efficient with 208 passengers per aircraft movement way to our growing variety of A380 operations which led the realm in 2012 with 7,259 A380 flights to twenty-eight destinations.”

    He added that traffic looked set to continue its upsurge inside the second quarter adding to the import of Dubai Airports’ ongoing expansion projects at Dubai International.