THE Wrap is a round-up of news in the travel and technology industries, and an update on how businesses in these sectors are adapting and resetting as they prepare for post-pandemic travel.
Air cargo is “saving grace” for APAC airlines as travel demand remains suppressed
Ongoing tighter border restrictions are suppressing international travel demand, but cargo remains the “saving grace” for Asia Pacific (APAC) carriers, according to the Association of Asia Pacific Airlines (AAPA).
“Air cargo traffic growth, supported by strong demand for both intermediate and consumer goods from the major advanced economies, remains the saving grace,” said AAPA director general Subhas Menon when announcing the June 2021 APAC airlines traffic results.
The region’s airlines carried only 1.4 million international passengers in June, just 4.4% of the 32 million carried in the corresponding month in 2019. With available seat capacity at 12.9% of pre-pandemic levels, the average international passenger load factor of 31% recorded in the month under review was a 51 percentage point drop from that of the corresponding month in 2019.
This underscored the challenges faced by airlines in the passenger segment, which normally accounts for a significant portion of total airline revenue, AAPA noted.
Meanwhile, air cargo markets remained resilient, supported by improved business confidence in the advanced economies, in particular, the US and Europe.
International air cargo demand, as measured in freight tonne kilometres (FTK), grew by 25.7% year-on-year, with volumes matching the same month in 2019. Offered freight capacity saw an 11.7% year-on-year increase, leading to an 8.2 percentage point jump in the average international freight load factor to 73.3% for the month.
Commenting on the results, Menon said: “The already dire situation has recently been compounded by new Covid-19 infections across the region due to the Delta variant, with ongoing border restrictions holding back any meaningful restart in international travel markets.”
He added that many Asian economies are facing renewed challenges in controlling the pandemic under control, as well as in progressing vaccination rollouts.
“Prospects for an early recovery for Asian airlines are dim unless cohesive action is taken by governments to accelerate vaccination roll-outs and reopen borders safely based on ICAO and WHO guidelines.”
Visit Maldives collaborates with Qatar Airways to promote destination as safe haven
Visit Maldives has launched a year-long marketing campaign with Qatar Airways to promote the destination as a safe haven to travellers from Europe, the Middle East and the Americas.
The campaign, from July 2021 until June 2022, consists of a combination of both digital and offline activities.
Qatar Airways was the first airline to land when the Maldives reopened borders to international travellers on July 15 last year. The carrier has increased its flights to the Maldives since July this year, indicating its faith in the destination.
The airline will promote the Maldives through tactical campaign, newsletter, as well as on its homepage. Additionally, it will target industry members and promote the Maldives through numerous strategies including destination newsletter, destination push-through sales, joint advertising with trade partners, trade webinars and trade workshops. Familiarisation trips are also part of the promotions.
Visit Maldives said the activities carried under the joint campaign include four tourism products – resorts, guesthouse, liveaboards and hotels – with emphasis on the safety provided by the geographically scattered islands and the one-island-one-resort concept.
Since reopening to international tourism last July, Visit Maldives has launched major global campaigns with SkyScanner, TripAdvisor, Expedia and TripZilla – the latter a five-month branding campaign (July to December 2021) targeting the South-east Asian market.
The destination has welcomed 528,157 visitors since reopening. “Welcoming over half a million travellers ensures that Maldives is on the path to achieving pre-pandemic arrival figures,” said Visit Maldives. (Read related article).
Maldives targets 1.5 million arrivals for this year. It recorded 555,494 arrivals in 2020, and 1.7 million in 2019.
Cloudbeds expands global footprint through Rakuten Travel Xchange partnership
Hospitality management platform Cloudbeds has teamed up with Rakuten Travel Xchange, the hotel wholesale and travel technology division within the Rakuten Group, to drive global hotel distribution.
The partnership connects Cloudbeds with Rakuten Travel, Japan’s largest online travel site, and 400+ B2B partners linked worldwide through API connections, travel agent portals and websites.
Through these distribution channels Cloudbeds is able to extend its reach to Rakuten Travel Xchange customer base through a single connection.
In addition, Rakuten Travel Xchange adds the Cloudbeds inventory of properties that use its technology platform to manage all aspects of their business, from booking engines to payments.
Anna Tsujihata, head of hotel contracting and connectivity of Rakuten Travel Xchange, said: “With Cloudbeds now part of our global distribution platform we expand our offerings to travellers seeking unique properties with superior guest experiences.”
Added Sebastian Leitner, vice president of partnerships for Cloudbeds: “As global travel reopens we want our properties to be available to the largest customer base possible. By partnering with Rakuten Travel Xchange, a major global player and distribution channel in Japan, we significantly increase our global footprint.”
• Featured image credit: Mariakray/Getty Images
