Making the news this week are Tune Hotels with its first hotel in Africa, Etihad Airways’ partnership with Google Flight Search, Travelzoo China’s new lifestyle channel, TripAdvisor’s offline feature for its mobile app
Jambo Kenya! Tune Hotels sets foot in East Africa
Mark Lankester (right) and Naushad Jivraj unveiling Jambo Kenya in Nairobi
With a “Jambo (Hi) Kenya!” Malaysia-based international value hotel group, Tune Hotels, landed in East Africa with the June 2015 opening of its first hotel in the African continent in Nairobi, Kenya.
The 280-room Tune Hotel Westlands Nairobi is developed in partnership with Imba Investments Limited. The consortium has plans for another 15 Tune Hotels in the East African region in the next five years.
The new hotel is located on Rhapta Road in the vibrant suburb of Westlands, about three kilometres northwest of the central business district. It is also Nairobi’s social, leisure and entertainment centre.
To suit the local landscape and travellers’ requirement, the 12-storey hotel will have a serviced restaurant, a rooftop bar, 24-hour security, secure parking spaces and shuttle services to-and-from the airport and popular tourist destinations.
Mark Lankester, group CEO of Tune Hotels, said it was a “significant milestone” for the hotel group to have its first hotel in Nairobi to provide local travellers, tourists and visitors to Kenya and Nairobi, an affordably priced accommodation option of international standard.
“As in any new market entry, it’s important to understand the market, and we feel the aspirations of a new generation of smart and savvy Kenyans and East Africans today are absolutely in tune with our pioneering business model, where a whole new wave of consumers can now have choice in customising their stays via our online add-on pay-per-use business model, helping to conserve energy and our natural resources.”
Naushad Jivraj, managing director of UK-based Queensway Group, who represented Imba Investments, added that Kenya has much potential for further economic growth and was happy to be able to help develop the tourism industry through the partnership.
Tune Hotels will join other international hotel brands including Radisson Blu and Best Western, which have properties Kenya.
More convenience for Etihad Airways’ guests with Google Flight Search
The lounge in The Residence by Etihad / Image credit: Etihad Airways
Etihad Airways has partnered Google to make it more convenient for its guests to view the airline’s flight schedules and fares on the search engine’s flight search tool.
Travellers in the US, Canada, the UK, the Netherlands, Spain, France, Italy, Germany, Poland and Ireland are now able to explore and compare flights to and from any of Etihad Airways’ 103 destinations, and view live ticket prices for more than 1,400 of the airline’s weekly flights.
They can access Flight Search by clicking on “Flights” on the navigation bar on Google’s search results page. Once on the Google Flight Search tool, they are able to conduct searches for different flight routings, use an interactive map to explore possible destinations and view live ticket prices. They then click the “Book” button and proceed to the airline’s website to purchase the tickets without having to fill in their flight choices again.
Nicola Simionato, general manager for Google Travel in Europe, said, “Etihad Airways has grown quickly into a formidable and popular airline, and we are delighted they are joining the Google Flight Search family. Travellers across the world will now be able to quickly and easily find and compare the best Etihad Airways flights within the fun and easy-to-use Google Flight Search tool.”
Travelzoo launches lifestyle channel for its China’s subscribers
Screenshot of Travelzoo Lv You Zu website
Travelzoo Asia Pacific has launched Pin Shang, a lifestyle channel in China, available at Travelzoo Lv You Zu website, which extends its offerings to encompass a wider range of premium lifestyle and entertainment experiences for urban elites in Shanghai and Beijing.
Vivian Hong, president of Travelzoo Lv You Zu, said Pin Shang gives subscribers in China exclusive access to over 30 categories of the finest selection of branded, premium lifestyle offerings.
“These are the results of our Deal Experts working closely with local businesses to create unique, value for money experiences to suit our subscribers’ exclusive set of expectations,” she added.
In May, Travelzoo Lv You Zu conducted a survey that highlighted its Mainland Chinese subscribers’ strong demand for diverse high quality lifestyle experiences for enhancing their psychological well-being and quality of life. It gathered over 2,000 responses, and about 70% claimed to be happy with their lives.
The top factors that contributed to happiness are in the quality of living (33%), harmonious family relationship (27%) and good health (18%). Of less importance is financial wealth (9%) and career (5%).
The study also revealed subscribers placed a lot of emphasis on leisure enjoyment with 85% going for weekend getaways (85%). This is followed by fine dining or high tea (70%), movies, concerts or performances (59%), and sports and fitness (40%). Over 72% said they participated in such leisure activities about two to three times a month.
Another key finding showed that 91% of the respondents went online to get lifestyle information, while 71% used social media. These make the new avenues more influential than newspapers and magazines (33%) and TV (22%).
According to the study, 70% of Travelzoo’s Mainland Chinese subscribers are female, average age 35 years with an annual household income of US$55,000, 80% hold a Bachelor’s degree or above, 40% are professionals or hold senior management positions or above, 70% own at least one private vehicle, and 78% have up to two private residences.
TripAdvisor adds offline functionality to its mobile app
Screenshot of TripAdvisor smartphone app
Travellers using TripAdvisor smartphone app can now have content on-the-go without fear of incurring hefty roaming charges, as the company has added an offline feature to it.
The new feature allows travellers to download TripAdvisor reviews, photos and city maps before they go, and then access this information on their trip when no data connection is available. At launch, the feature includes more than 300 city maps worldwide, with more to follow.
Users may search for a city within the app when a data connection is available. and tap a button to download city content. Once downloaded, the app will automatically transition between the offline mode featuring 10 reviews per point of interest when no data connection is available, and the full live version of the app when it is cellular or WiFi-connected.
They may also download the latest version of the city map to sync the content with the reviews and opinions available on TripAdvisor’s live site. They can add and remove city maps as needed based on where they are visiting.
Adam Medros, TripAdvisor senior vice president of global product, said, “More and more travellers are making spur-of-the-moment decisions about where to go and what to do and need a useful travel resource. Travellers can now access user reviews, photos and maps throughout their trip to help them pick last-minute hotels, restaurants and attractions to visit–all while avoiding costly roaming charges.”
The new offline feature has rolled out to all countries and languages where the TripAdvisor app is available on iOS and Android smartphones.
