News Roundup: Of hotels and airlines – Accor increasing its hotel count in Singapore through a franchise deal; an “all new” mobile app from Singapore Airlines; Qantas distribution channel goes live; more fare options in Malaysia’s Malindo Air’s business class
Hotels: Accor expands Singapore network in franchise deal with Global Premium Hotels
(Image credit: Fragrance Hotel)
Accor is increasing both its presence and portfolio in Singapore by another 15 hotels in a franchise deal with Global Premium Hotels Limited (GPHL).
GPHL is the owner of one of the largest Singapore-owned hotel chains and has been in operations since 1998. It owns and manages two brands – Fragrance Hotel and Parc Sovereign Hotel – with properties within the Lion city and in city-fringe locations.
The partnership sees the franchise of 15 GPHL hotels to Accor – 13 under the Fragrance Hotel and two under Parc Sovereign Hotel brands. This brings Accor’s network in the city state to 30 hotels and 7, 625 rooms (3,357 luxury/premium rooms, 1,840 midscale, 2,428 economy).
Accor said in a statement the 15 hotels would undergo “asset enhancement initiatives” to be in line with its global standards. The renovated properties will then be rebranded as Mercure (1), ibis Styles (1) and ibis Budget (13).
Michael Issenberg, chairman & CEO of Accor Asia Pacific, described the deal as “a great moment” for the group as it significantly expands its footprint in Singapore.
“Accor’s strong presence in and understanding of the Singapore market will be complemented by these additional hotels and with our proven expertise in mid-tier and economy hotel operations, we hope to bring added value to the owners.”
GPHL owner Dr James Koh said the partnership was “timely” especially at a time when the mid-tier hotel segment in Singapore is gaining popularity and enjoying strong growth. He is confident the hotels under the group would attract more international guests vis Accor’s global distribution.
“This deal certainly marks another milestone achieved for our group, as well as signalling a global brand’s strong confidence in the hotel scene for Singapore,” he added.
Mobile Technology: SIA unveils its new mobile app – SingaporeAir
(Image credit: Singapore Airlines)
Singapore Airlines (SIA) has launched an all-new mobile app with ‘innovative features” for Android and iOS smartphones.
The airline said the app, with a ground-up rebuild and all-new underlying technical architecture, improves transaction time by up to 60% in addition to these new features:
• Capture & Discover: New search function that uses image recognition as well as speech and natural language processing (currently support English only) to identify the user intent, match it to a SIA destination and present relevant destination content and fare deals.
• Translation Assistant: Uses real-time language translation by voice to help travellers communicate better when they are overseas
• Measure Your Baggage: Helps travellers determine if the size of their bag is within cabin baggage limitations (presently supports only iOS).
Real-time information such as boarding gate details, the destination’s weather and currency, and baggage belt information (currently for Singapore-bound flights) are now added to the “My Trips” function.
Travellers using the new app will also see improvement in the in-flight entertainment with extended access to e-Library magazine and newspaper content based on KrisFlyer membership tier. There is also a new search and filter function for easier content browsing in the e-Library and KrisWorld catalogue.
Movie lovers are in for a treat as they can now bookmark films so they can pick up where they left off on subsequent flights – made possible with the new in-flight entertainment systems. This feature is available on the 787-10, selected 777-300ER, A350-900 and A380-800 aircraft.
Included in the revamp are a newly designed KrisFlyer account dashboard and the introduction of an ‘Inbox’ feature, which stores push notifications as well as KrisFlyer messages for easy reference.
“Singapore Airlines has been investing heavily to enhance our digital capabilities,” said Campbell Wilson, SIA senior vice president sales and marketing. “With new user interface designs and insourcing of developer and customer experience talent, we are working to provide faster and more customer-centric products and services to improve the customer experience,”
He added the app’s follows other digital innovation initiatives such as KrisPay, the world’s first blockchain-based airline loyalty digital wallet, and the progressive redesign of the airline’s website.
“Improvements to our mobile app will not stop here and we will continue to invest our efforts to add value to our customers’ experience.”
SingaporeAir is available for download progressively. It is released by countries between July and September for Android users in Google Play, while iOS users can download it from the App Store in September.
The app’s beta launch was in October last year, and it is still available for download.
Distribution: Qantas new distribution channel is now online
(Image credit: Qantas)
Australian airline Qantas’ new distribution model, the Qantas Channel, went live on August 1.
The channel is a new agreement between the airline and its agency partners that provides access to a wide range of Qantas fares, products and information for agents.
It is part of the broader digital strategy starting with the launch in February of the Qantas Distribution Platform (QDP), to enable its trade partners to interact with its customers on a more personal level through enhancing the airline’s retailing, booking and servicing capabilities.
The carrier said then it had partnered with three of the largest Global Distribution Systems (GDSs) – Sabre, Amadeus and Travelport – to make the channel available to agents globally. It is continuing to work with other technology partners to deliver the hannel and QDP content.
Agencies that have signed up to the channel will, over time, be able to offer customers new content sourced from the NDC-enabled QDP that is not currently available via traditional indirect booking systems.
However, agencies that have not registered for the channel may incur a fee in addition to no longer being able to access a wide range of traditional fares being made available via indirect channels or new content via the QDP from August 1.
According to Qantas, “thousands of agencies around the world have already signed up to the Qantas Channel, representing around 90% of Qantas’ revenue from trade partners.”
Its executive manager sales and distribution Igor Kwiatkowski said the launch of the Qantas Channel was an important milestone in the transformation of the airline’s distribution strategy.
With its new distribution platform the channel would eventually empower its agency partners to deliver “more enriched and personalised experiences” to their mutual customers, he added.
“We’ve observed other international airlines adopt new distribution models and recognise that the adoption of the new technology takes time. That’s why we’ve deliberately taken a phased, collaborative approach so that the Qantas Channel and the new content that it will offer can be delivered in the most seamless way possible.”
Kwiatkowski stated that “greater reward and recognition of our Frequent Flyers and the ability to deliver targeted offers for our agency partners are just some of the benefits that are in the pipeline. Ultimately, our vision is to offer our agency partners a bigger toolkit than what they can offer our customers today.”
Airlines: Malindo Air makes travelling in business class more affordable with fare options
(Image credit: Malindo Air)
Malindo Air has made business class accessible to cost-conscious travellers with the introduction of Business Class Flexi and Business Class Promo.
In a statement, the airline said “Business Class Flexi maintains the full-fledged fare features while Business Class Promo is ideal for travellers who want to fly Business Class on budget.”
The two business class fare groups offer checked baggage allowance, up to two pieces of hand carry luggage (10kg maximum), in-flight meals or snacks, complimentary seat selection, Malindo Miles points and spacious leather seats with a personal in-flight entertainment screen.
The Business Class Flexi comes with 40kg baggage allowance, three times Malindo Miles points on every ringgit spent and lounge access at airports.
Business Class Promo offers 30kg baggage allowance and 1.5 times Malindo Miles points.
“In order to keep our products relevant we have been looking into various product enhancements to cater to the demands of our passengers and travel trade partners,” said Chandran Rama Muthy, CEO of Malindo Air. “We want to remain customer-centric and make it a better flying experience every time our passengers fly with us,” he added.
The airline has also adjusted the checked baggage allowance of Economy Flexi/Shuttle (for flights operated by ATR aircraft) and Economy Value (for flights operated by jet aircraft). Economy Flexi/Shuttle has been increased to 30kg from 10kg, while Economy Value has increased by 5kg to 20kg.
Malindo Air is a joint venture between Indonesian Lion Air Group and Malaysian companies, operating from the Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA) and the Sultan Abdul Aziz Shah Airport (Subang SkyPark ) in Selangor.
• Featured image credit (Parc Sovereign Hotel Albert St’s swimming pool): Parc Sovereign Hotel Albert St
