In the news: Malaysia Airlines’ second phase of Malaysian Hospitality canpaign, Tourism New Zealand and Tencent partner in tourism push, B2B virtual payment from Sabre and Visa,
Airlines: Malaysia Airlines taking ‘Malaysian Hospitality’ beyond flights
Last week Malaysia Airlines unveiled the second phase of its brand promise of ‘Malaysian Hospitality’ with new product offerings designed to enhance its customers’ overall experience.
For the second phase the Malaysian national carrier introduces more direct perks to travellers beyond just flights. It wants to be a “24/7 travel buddy” to the passengers via a relaunched app, MHassistant (formerly known as MHfeedback), which allows them download vouchers for shopping, dining or visit tourist attractions in the country.
“Last year we launched Malaysian Hospitality, which was anchored around our services and product offerings,” explained Lau Yin May, group chief marketing and customer experience officer of Malaysia Airlines. “This year we are taking it to the next level where we bring more benefits to the entire travelling eco-system.”
The additional benefits are beyond what the airline offers, she added.
“It now includes the entire country via our new app, MHassistant. This includes great offers, via our partners, which include restaurants, shopping, cultural experiences and a whole host of other unique Malaysian experiences.”
The MHassistant app (Assistant by Malaysia Airlines) is available for download for both iOS and Android devices .
Lau disclosed that in the pipeline is a holiday package product that will allow travellers to tailor make their own vacations with the combination of flights, accommodation and destination partners. A new app, MHHolidays, will be launch in conjunction with this.
A few partners have confirmed participatione in the holiday package, with details to revealed when the app is launched in a few months.
Destination: TNZ joins hands with Tencent to grow Chinese FITs to New Zealand
(Image credit: Mantas Volungevicius/Getty Images)
Chinese tourists to New Zealand is undergoing a shift towards FIT (free independent traveller) travel, as they become more confident about organising their own trips and seek new experiences.
With the aim to boost this market segment to the country, Tourism New Zealand (TNZ) has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Tencent Holdings Limited (Tencent), China’s largest social media company.
Through Tencent’s integrated digital marketing in mainland China, Chinese FITs will have access to unique New Zealand travel experiences with the aim to build the country as “a desirable, international destination brand in China”, said the NTO in a statement.
It added that as the MoU is taking place in the 2019 China -New Zealand Year of Tourism, it will deepen its understanding of Chinese visitors through Tencent Social Solution that includes WeChat advertisements and WeChat Mini Programs.
In a separate statement, Tencent said the collaboration also aims to further develop New Zealand’s tourism industry through extending the country’s marketing outreach efforts to the inbound Chinese market. This includes information about Chinese visitors’ consumption habits and preferences in New Zealand to guide future in-market activity.
The Chinese technology company hopes to promote its offerings, such as WeChat and Tencent Social Solution, among Chinese tourists visiting the country. It will also offer support for New Zealand tourism business to open or improve their WeChat official accounts to be able to more effectively build brand awareness.
Chinese tourists can access the newly launched Mini Program by Tourism New Zealand, by scanning a QR code with WeChat, to get the latest travel information about the country such as tourism activities, travel tips, visa policy, flight and hotel information, local transportation and weather updates.
Gregg Wafelbakker, general manager of Tourism New Zealand, revealed China is the country’s second-largest international tourism market and the number one market in terms of holiday spending,
“Tourism New Zealand has been seeking innovative partnerships to keep New Zealand top of mind in the China market and ensure an excellent visitor experience. As a leader in China’s Internet industry, Tencent has a robust technology platform and strong digital marketing service capabilities.”
Tencent vice president, International Business Group, Poshu Yeung, added: “Fully utilising Tencent Social Solution and our innovative technologies, as well as our valuable insights into mainland Chinese consumers, we aim to help Tourism New Zealand in better connecting with its Chinese tourists, and further enrich the travel experiences of Chinese FIT visitors across New Zealand.”
Statistics from Tourism New Zealand show that China international arrivals from March 2018 to February 2019 totalled 436,700, a small increase of +0.1% over the previous year, of which 330,340 (a drop of 0.3%) were in the country solely for holidays.
Payments: New partnership brings B2B virtual payment to travel companies
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Sabre Corporation and Visa have teamed up to make it possible for travel buyers and suppliers to pay and get paid with virtual Visa commercial cards through the Sabre Virtual Payments solution.
According to Sabre, through the partnership mutual customers of the two companies’ will have access Visa’s virtual B2B payment solutions. This makes payment options faster and more secure, while giving more control and visibility into individual B2B travel-industry payments.
Wade Jones, president of Sabre Travel Network, said the partnership represented “a tremendous opportunity” for the travel industry to increase the adoption of B2B virtual payments.
“Sabre’s investment in virtual payments and its integration into existing agency processes makes it quick and easy for our customers to adopt and use.”
Added Kevin Phalen, global head, Visa Business Solutions, Visa: “By bringing together Visa and Sabre’s travel-industry capabilities and solutions we will help further streamline cash flow and overall finance management practices for suppliers and buyers, helping remove barriers to transparency in business payments created by paper-based processes.”
Sabre Virtual Payments offers multi-bank, multi-card, credit and prepaid accounts that allow customers to select the best payment option.
• Featured image credit: Malaysia Airlines
