In the news: Prices drop in Asian hotels, Ryanair partners with Travelport, Singgasana Hotels and Resorts inks deal with eRevMax, SilverNeedle Hospitality’s new sleep system
Falling hotel prices in Asia boost for travel to the region
Hotel prices in Asia fell by 2% in 2013, compared with the previous year, according to the latest Hotel Price Index (HPI) from Hotels.com.
Pictured left: First World Hotel, Genting Highlands
The biggest price drops were in Genting Highlands, Malaysia to S$86 (23%), Busan, Korea to S$137 (19%) and Legian, Indonesia to S$115 (18%) in 2013 (see chart below).
South Korea, in particular, saw some of the biggest price drops in the region as the depreciation of the Yen resulted in a large drop in the number of Japanese visitors. Seoul hotel prices tumbled 17% to S$169.
Guangzhou in China also offered good deals to travellers in five star accommodation in 2013 at S$220 a night, followed by Bangkok at S$227. Other cities offering five star stay for less than S$250 a night included Berlin, Budapest, Delhi and Mumbai.
Tracking the real prices that hotel guests paid for their accommodation around the world, the HPI for Asia stood at S$106 in 2013, 25 points lower than in 2007 when prices hit their peak.
In contrast, the average price of a hotel room around the world rose 3% during 2013 in line with the past four years of steady rises since the financial collapse of 2008/2009.
Abhiram Chowdhry, Hotel.com’s vice president and managing director Asia Pacific, said Asia was the only region to record a slight fall in hotel prices in 2013.
“Looking ahead, the growing traveller base and the rise of low cost carriers across the region could push up occupancy rates and prices, but deals and discounts will still abound, especially in popular destinations.”
.png)
• Hotels.com HPI is based on bookings made on its sites around the world and tracks the real prices paid per hotel room for almost 155,000 properties across more than 20,000 locations.
Ryanair selects Travelport as partner after 10 year’s absence on GDS channel
Ryanair and Travelport signed a global distribution agreement earlier this week, which will see the low cost carrier participate in the GDS channel for the first time in over a decade.
Through the agreement, Ryanair’s content will be made available solely to Travelport-connected travel agencies in advance of any other GDS. Its ancillary products and services will also be introduced to the same agencies in a phased approach from March 19.
Ryanair’s decision to work with Travelport follows the launch last year of the Travelport Merchandising Platform, This technology enables low cost carriers to provide their content via an API connection, rather than the more traditional fare filing methods often favoured by network carriers, and still have their fares and ancillaries displayed, compared and booked in exactly the same way.
The tie-up will see the two companies working together to deploy Travelport’s rich content and branding product offering. This solution allows airlines to more effectively control how their flights and ancillaries are visually presented and described on travel agency screens, bringing them more in line with the airline’s own website experience.
Kurt Ekert, executive vice president and chief commercial officer for Travelport, said, “We’re excited to work exclusively together over the coming months to seek out new opportunities and introduce their extensive choice of flights and ancillaries to our travel agency customers worldwide.”
Indonesian hotel chain Singgasana looks to online space for growth
Indonesia’s Singgasana Hotels and Resorts has partnered with online distribution specialist, eRevMax, to ride the online wave by subscribing to the latter’s Rate Tiger Suite – a channel management product to shop for competitor rates on multiple online channels.
The solution also enables the subscriber to use the price intelligence to pro-actively respond to varying market conditions and adjust their rates accordingly.
The hotel chain is going in this direction as it is buoyed by recent studies, which showed Indonesia as the fastest growing online travel market in Asia Pacific by 2015 with expected growth of 268% over 2012.
Additionally, the increase in mobile penetration and the proliferation of new travel intermediaries in the region will also see travellers carrying out more online research and reservations.
Singgasana is using RateTiger Channel Manager and Shopper for its deluxe and first class hotels and residences in key destinations in Indonesia, including its flagship properties The Sultan Hotel & Residence Jakarta, Ayodya Resort Bali (pictured above left), and properties in Bandung, Surabaya, Makassar and Lombok.
Ivana Novida, corporate digital marketing manager for Singgasana Hotels and Resorts said, “The offline segment has always been the biggest chunk in our production pie. To manage the recent spurt in online bookings, we needed a tool to manage our existing extranets efficiently while also adding new channels to increase visibility. RateTiger is a perfect match to our requirements. The real-time rate and inventory updates from a simple easy to use dashboard help us save a lot of time. Further, relevant notifications and rate shopping reports assist us in taking informed decisions.”
SilverNeedle Hospitality promises guests good night rest with new sleep system
Singapore-based SilverNeedle Hospitality is installing the DreamWeave Sleep System to all new hotels joining its network in the midscale to luxury segments, as well as to its existing properties.
The hotel group said in a press release the system “guarantees guests nights of blissful sleep” with 300mm mattress that has a five-zone spring unique continuous coil design conformng to the body shape. It also comprises the newly developed DreamFoam that makes it more breathable than regular bedding foams, reducing heat build-up.
The design, added the company, provides firm comfortable support while minimising partner disturbance, the company said in a press release.
SilverNeedle Hospitality manages, leases, licenses and franchises hotels under SilverNeedle Collection, NEXT Hotels, Chifley, Country Comfort, Australis and Sundowner.
