Asia’s new holiday playground for Malaysians

Asia is the current flavour among Malaysians plannng for the year end holidays. South Korea, especially, features high on their list, thanks to the current Gangnam Style YouTube craze and the Korean dramas featured nightly on Malaysian TV channels.

This was evident at the MATTA Fair in Kuala Lumpur, organised by theMalaysian Association of Tour and Travel Agents, over the 7-9 September weekend. Many bargain hunters were on the lookout for South Korean packages with requests for visits to the affluent Seoul suburb of Gangnam –  a commercial hub for clubbing and the latest in fashion.

Another emerging trend among Malaysians is travel to winter destinations specifically in Japan, Korea and China, with winter getaways selling like “hot cakes” at the fair. As a travel agent put it, “Malaysians want to escape the heat, as well as experience snow during the year-long holidays.”

Destinations that feature eco tourism products were also in demand with rising consciousness for the environment..

Australia, which used to rule among Malaysian travellers, dropped in favour mainly due to the strong Australian dollar against the Ringgit. The Asian currency is more favourable to the Ringgit, and coupled with low cost carriers like AirAsia and AirAsia X flying to Asian destinations, it is not really surprising that Malaysians are flocking to Japan, South Korea, Hong Kong, Taiwan and China.

There was also strong interest in South American countries like Eucador, Argentina and Brazil, mainly among seasoned travellers who want to explore new destinations– Corinne Wan

US$50mil facelift for SuperStar Gemini

Star Cruises, a member of Malaysia’s Genting Group, will spend US$50 million to refurbish the SuperStar Gemini with upgraded navigational systems, new hull design and onboard facilities including cabins, restaurants, entertainment and recreational venues, retail and body care outlets.

The revamped SuperStar Gemini will also boast a duty-free shopping area of over 4,000 sq ft.

When completed early next year, Star Cruises will reintroduce SuperStar Gemini with a series of inaugural cruises across Asia’s hottest cruise ports.

With a passenger capacity of 1,532 the vessel has766 guest cabins, which include ocean view staterooms, junior suites and deluxe executive suites.

SuperStar Gemini’s refurbishment follows that of SuperStar Virgo, SuperStar Aquarius and Star Pisces last year. SuperStar Libra will also undergo refurbishment early 2013.

“With the strengthened fleet, we are well-positioned to further develop the Asia-Pacific cruise market by introducing world-class cruising experience as a holiday option to the growing North Asia holidaymakers,” said Star Cruises COO William Ng.

ZUJI partners India’s IndiGo

ZUJI has signed an agreement with IndiGo, India’s largest low fare carrier, which enables its customers to access the airline’s flight deals to Mumbai and Delhi.

Customers can also access hotel offers across ZUJI’s wide array of hotel options in India, ranging from budget, mid-range to luxury. They can also choose to bundle both the IndiGo flight and hotel option together – for a travel package to India, guaranteed at the Best Price.

Sandor Bakalis, ZUJI Singapore’s managing director said the tie-up with IndiGo would give its customers a great new option to fly into India.”

Aditya Ghosh, IndiGo president, added that with ZUJI as its partner its passengers would have a one-stop shop solution for their travel needs.

Travelport initiates hotel rate audit

Travelport has launched a programme to streamline the uploading of hotel negotiated rates to remedy rates, which are incorrectly uploaded or not uploaded at initial audit.

Research from CWT Solutions Group showed that up to 25% of hotel negotiated rates are not correctly uploaded. Among the reasons were the hotel’s failure to load data into the Property Management System or Central Reservation System; missing or inaccurate code information, with many outdated or duplicated; and multitude processes for uploading data.

Travelport is conducting rate audits with hotel suppliers, designing and implementing new process, removing outdated and duplicated codes within its system, and streamlining the uploading process for hotels.

The new initiative has seen supplier compliance rise from less than 80% to more than 97%.

The programme, which kicked off in the US and Canada, will be deployed globally later in the year.

Keith Harrison, Travelport’s global head of hospitality suppliers, said the initiative was an industry-first. “Some of the positive changes we’ve introduced include building a feedback process, asking hotel chains to put service level agreements in place with local properties and increasing the frequency of updates in the Travelport GDS channel.”

Dragon Trail’s finalist for Red Herring’s Asia Award

Dragon Trail is a finalist for the 2012 Red Herring’s Top 100 Asia award, which honours the year’s most promising private technology ventures from the Asian business region.

The company’s Interactive’s focus is to help travel companies market to affluent Chinese consumers via social media, digital marketing, and travel technology,

George Cao, Dragon Trail’s co-founder and CEO said, “This recognition comes very timely as we have just launched our own online travel website in China, www.Tripshow.com, to better help travel brands to connect with Chinese consumers, and help Chinese consumers to get inspired by fellow travellers to plan their trips.”