In the news:  Tiger Airways Australia rebrands, China and Russia booking travel online, TripAdvisor Travellers’ Choice Attractions awards, travellers and airport features

Tiger Airways Australia becomes Tigerair

Low cost airline, Tiger Airways Australia, on July 3 announced a major rebranding as Tigerair, shedding its familiar leaping tiger logo for a distinctive and contemporary new logo that embodied its personality key elements – warm, passionate and genuine.

However, beyond the fresh coast of paint and a new logo the rebranding signalled the start of the revival of the airline in Australia and as reinforcement of its commitment towards continuous innovation and improvement, said Tigerair CEO Rob Sharp. .

“Today’s announcement is a strong statement reinforcing that we mean business and we are ready for change. We are driving customer choice by bringing real competition to the budget segment of the market.”

As part of the brand roll out the airline reintroduced a new-look website, which went live on July 3. In the pipeline are more changes, which will include customer facing products. As part of the rebranding celebrations there will also be a number of fun consumer promotions to engage its customers.

The name change is part of a global rebranding by the airline’s Singaporean parent company, Tiger Holdings, and comes just days before it finalises a joint venture with Virgin Australia.

Sharp said the pending joint venture, on the back of the airline solid operational performance, re-emphasised Tigerair’s commitment to providing Australians with greater low fare choice as the airline heads towards a sustainable and profitable future.

“However we have a long way to go. Our two key priorities now are to create a stronger operating platform that can deliver growth and to build a sustainable business that brings greater competition to the Australian budget carrier market,” he added.

China, Russia catching up with online travel bookings, but travel agencies still relevant

More and more people in China and Russia are turning to the Internet to book their trips instead of going to travel agencies, according to a special evaluation of IPK International’s World Travel Monitor.

Commissioned by ITB Berlin, from 2008 to 2012, the study also found market share of internet bookings in China more than doubled, rising from 19% to 39%.

In Russia the internet has rapidly become an important medium for booking trips abroad. Over the last five years its market share has nearly quadrupled, rising from 9% to 42%. In 2012, for the first time, more trips were booked on the internet than through travel agencies.

Despite the rise in internet bookings in China and Russia travel agencies have retained a high market share as a medium for booking trips.

In China more than half (52%) of all trips abroad are booked through travel agencies, which means that despite their decline they remain the most important place for booking travel. In Russia 36% of trips are booked through travel agencies. Compared with 2008, travel agencies have retained their market share and still account for one in three travel bookings, well above that of western Europe where it averages 21%.

Travel agencies are becoming less and less important in western Europe. In 2008, an average of one in three trips was booked through travel agencies whereas in 2012 it was only one in five.

Britons are the most avid internet users, with 78% using it as the booking instrument of choice for  their trips, a 47% increase in internet bookings over 2008. Only 15% of foreign trips were booked through travel agencies, almost two-thirds less than in 2008.

Italy, Canada, Japan, France, the Netherlands are markets with above-average internet bookings, between 61% and 67%, while in Germany it is below average, at 53%.

Dr. Martin Buck, director of travel & logistics at Messe Berlin “For many years, a trend towards the internet becoming the most important medium for booking trips has displayed in nearly all markets. Above all flights, followed by accommodation but also travel insurance or car hire are booked online. In countries where obtaining a visa is difficult and for long-distance trips travel agencies continue to play an important role.“

Angkor Wat, Cambodia is top Asian landmark

Angkor Wat, Siem Reap, Cambodia

Cambodia’s magnificent temple complex, Angkor Wat, beats India’s Taj Mahal, the symbol of eternal love, as the most iconic Asian landmark. This was revealed inTripAdvisor’s inaugural Travellers’ Choice Attractions awards, based on the quality and quantity of reviews on the TripAdvisor site.

The other Asian icons in the top five included Cambodia’s Bayon Temple, China’s Great Wall at Mutianyu in Beijing and Myanmar’s Shwedagon Pagoda.

Singapore Botanic Gardens ranked Top Park in Asia, while Universal Studios in Sentosa came in second in the list of Top 10 Amusement and Water Parks in the region.

The awards honoured 1,263 of the world’s top landmarks, parks, museums and amusement and water parks.

Top 10 Asia landmarks

1. Angkor Wat, Siem Reap, Cambodia
2. Taj Mahal, Agra, India
3. Bayon Temple, Siem Reap, Cambodia
4. Great Wall at Mutianyu, Beijing
5. Shwedagon Pagoda, Yangon, Myanmar
6. Golden Temple – Harmandir Sahib, Amritsar, India
7. Amber (Amer) Fort and Palace, Jaipur, India
8. Temple of the Reclining Buddha (Wat Pho), Bangkok, Thailand
9. Meherangarh Fort, Jodhpur, India
10. The Grand Palace, Bangkok, Thailand

Top 10 Singapore landmarks

1. Singapore Flyer
2. Orchard Road
3. Buddha Tooth Relic Temple and Museum
4. Singapore Cable Car
5. Bukit Brown Cemetery
6. Kranji War Memorial
7. Arab Street
8. The Helix Bridge
9. St Andrew’s Cathedral
10. Sultan Mosque

Click here for the complete list of 2013 Travelers’ Choice Attractions winners.

Cinema, sleep pods, library top 3 features for air travellers

Subang Skypark, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

Cinema heads the list of features that travellers want to see at an airport, with 49% of the 10,000 global travellers surveyed by travel search site, Skyscanner. 

The two airports that are proving popular with these travellers are Singapore Changi Airport that has movie theatres in Terminals 2 & 3, and Hong Kong International Airport with the largest IMAX Theatre in the city.

Sleep pod came in second, with over a third of respondents voting for it. Abu Dhabi Airport unveiled this device for some shut eye last month, and is an affordable alternative to a hotel room for passenger with long layover.

Despite the rise of ebooks a library is what many travellers want to while time away, coming in third place. (see list below).

Some more unlikely choices for airport facilities include karaoke (5%), while a gym was a popular choice with 15% of respondents.

While both males and females were in agreement over their top choice of an airport cinema there was greater gender discrepancy with the other most wanted features.

About 45% of women wanted a vanity area offering free cosmetics and hair styling products (compared to just 14% of men), while 12% wanted a personal shopper (compared to 8% of men).

Men looked for more active entertainment at the airport with swimming pool. voted the fifth most wanted feature; 14% voted for complimentary bikes to get around the airport (compared to 9% of females); and 8% wanted a golf swing practice area (compared to 3% of women).

Top 10 most wanted features

1. Cinema – 49%
2. Sleep pod – 36%
3. Library – 32%
4. Park – 31%
5. Vanity area – 30%
6. Kids play area – 21%
7. Pool – 20%
8. Gym – 15%
9. Man-made beach – 12%
10. Bikes – 11%