The Wrap: Tune Hotels" rapid expansion in Philippines buoyed by country"s ...

In the news: This week it’s all about the Asia Factor featuring companies – Tune Hotels, ReviewPro, Abacus and Philippiine Airlines, TripAdvisor – that are helping to grow the region’s thriving tourism and travel industry 

Tune Hotels’ rapid expansion in Philippines buoyed by country’s booming economy

The Philippines, with its current economic wave driving direct investments, has attracted many companies to set up businesses in the country, including Malaysia based international hotel brand, Tune Hotels, which opened its third property in Metro Manila on October 8.

The 140-room Tune Hotel Quezon City, located at Timog Avenue, brings to six the number of Tune properties in the Philippines. The first Tune Hotel opened in Angeles City in Pampanga in February 2012, followed by Ermita and Makati in Metro Manila, Cebu City and Cagayan De Oro.

Tune Hotels’ group CEO Mark Lankester (pictured left) is optimistic of continued growth in the country.

“This is a great market for us to do business. In less than two years we already have six hotels in operation in the Philippines, including the newly opened Tune Hotel Quezon City in Manila. Not to mention four more to come in Ortigas, Davao, Aseana City and Ayala Avenue in Metro Manila within the next nine months.” he said.

International economic and financial agencies, including the World Bank and Asian Development Bank, have revised the Philippines’ 2013 Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth upward to 7% from around 6% previously. This makes the country the second fastest growing economy in Asia after China, and ahead of all its Southeast Asian neighbours. The strong growth is forecast to be sustained into coming years.

The Philippines has set a target of 10 million international tourist arrivals by 2016, more than double the 4.3 million tourists it received in 2012. Arrivals for 2013 have been projected at 5.5 million, contributing some 1.5 trillion pesos or 6.7% to the GDP.

“This is a really great year for the Philippines and its people. The economy is booming, there is a great mood amongst the people and there are plenty of new jobs being created. Tourism within and into the Philippines is expanding massively, with really successful government marketing campaigns and the recent lifting of the European flights will only help contribute further to the tourism economy,” added Lankester.

• Mark Lankester will be speaking at WIT Conference 2013.

ReviewPro expands Asia presence with new office in Singapore

ReviewPro, a leading provider of online reputation and social media analytics for the hotel industry, has opened a new office in Singapore, and has appointed Michael Chin as regional vice president for Asia (pictured left).

Chin is an industry veteran with many years of experience in the hotel technology space and extensive knowledge in Asia’s hospitality industry. Beyond leading the company’s sales expansion in the region he will oversee client services and support.

RJ Friedlander, CEO of ReviewPro, said Chin’s strong background and his deep understanding of Asian markets would play a key role in the company’s expansion in a region where the demand for guest satisfaction measurement and improvement tools is experiencing a significant growth.

Clients of ReviewPro in Asia include hotel groups such as Millennium Copthorne, Swiss-Belhotel International, Kempinski, Karma Royal, Compass Hospitality, Park Hotel Group, Regent Hotels Resorts, and Alila Hotels and Resorts.

• RJ Friedlander will be speaking at the Product session on Customer Experience at WIT Conference 2013.

Philippine Airlines gets Abacus Branded Fares

Abacus International has launched the Abacus Branded Fares with Philippine Airlines, an industry first, accessible at over 20,000 travel agency outlets across the region.

The new fare families for budget, regular, premium economy and business class travel provide agents with fresh merchandising and upselling opportunities on the airline’s domestic network. Agents simply hover over the codes on-screen to see and discuss each brand’s attributes with their clients.

Ho Hoong Mau, division head of airline distribution at Abacus, said the branded fares gave Philippine Airlines a merchandising advantage in all its core markets.

“Travellers can now trade off different price points and attributes across the Fare Families choosing greater baggage allowances, options to switch to earlier flights, Mabuhay Miles and other offerings on top of the basic seat. The new signature fares will have widespread appeal, generating incremental revenue for our valued partner and our agents.”

The Abacus Branded Fares are introduced as Philippine Airlines pursues a massive re-fleeting plan, taking delivery of its first Airbus A330 and with over 65 Airbus aircraft on order. The carrier has also announced the resumption of services to European cities, with London Heathrow being the first this November.

The investment in capacity reflects the expanding outbound market and future growth in arrivals. The Department of Tourism is aiming for 10 million visitors per year by the end of 2016, up from 4.3 million in 2012, boosted by the “It’s More Fun in the Philippines” campaign.

The Branded Fares are live on the Abacus System. 

Koh Phangan is Southeast Asia’s most affordable island, Sentosa most expensive

The most affordable island for a day out and an overnight stay for travellers is Koh Phangan in Thailand (pictured left), while Singapore’s Sentosa Island is the most expensive, according to the TripIndex Island Sun 2013 recently unveiled by TripAdvisor.

The TripIndex is based on the combined costs for two people for a one-night stay in a four-star hotel, a two-course meal with coconut juice, beers, massage as well as rental of bicycles and snorkel equipment. Prices are accurate for the period September 16 to October 3, 2013.

Koh Phangan has a total TripIndex cost of 7,322.5 baht (US$236) while Koh Tao, another island in Thailand, takes second place with Baht 7,766.89. 

At more than three times the cost, Singapore’s Sentosa Island tops the list as most expensive with a TripIndex cost of 26,815.17 baht, followed by Langkawi, Malaysia, which totals 17,447.09 baht.

While the cost of a hotel stay is the most expensive of the TripIndex’s basket items, the biggest disparity in the costs between the least and most expensive destinations lies with the rental of bicycles and snorkel equipment.

At a cost of 3,657.69 baht for the rental of bicycles, Singapore is18 times more expensive than Thailand’s Koh Phangan and Koh Phi Phi Don (200 baht). Snorkel equipment rental is not available in Singapore, but the rental of two kayaks costs 4,108.64 baht, 34 times the cost of the most affordable snorkel equipment rental on Thailand’s Koh Phi Phi Don (120 baht).

The Wrap: Tune Hotels" rapid expansion in Philippines buoyed by country"s ...