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THAI says bye-bye
to low season
Thai Airways International (THAI) claims it will not
experience a low season this year with the launch of a series of promotional
campaigns between April and June.
The airline operated with a 68 percent load factor during last year’s
low-season months and expects that figure to rise to 72 percent this year.
Acting president, Somchainuk Engtrakul, said THAI expects to end the year
with a cabin factor of not less than 75 percent.
To attract more travelers between April and June, THAI is concluding details
of a Value Card Package, a special pre-paid card for its domestic routes. It
will also introduce the Thai Homecoming Campaign, designed to lure more
Thais home from overseas during the traditional low season months.
The airline is also revamping one of its Royal Orchid tours to encourage
transit passengers to stop over in Bangkok for at least one night. It is
considering lowering the current package price of US$50 to US$40 or US$30
for a night’s accommodation, meals and a sightseeing tour.
It is also working closely with the Thailand Convention and Exhibition
Bureau to entice multinational companies in Thailand to organize their
corporate activities between April and September. Perks include bonus
tickets as well as incentives for theme dinner and cultural tours.
Meanwhile, the airline plans to operate three flights per week from Bangkok
to Johannesburg starting October 29. It will also increase the number of
flights to New York and Los Angeles as well as add new destinations and
increase frequencies to cities in China, India, Korea and Japan. (TTG Asia)
Influx of illegal Korean guides to Phuket causes concern
Phuket Association of Professional Tour Guides has
declared a war against an influx of illegal South Korean tour guides. The
association’s President, Phanomphol Thammachartniyom, claimed there were as
many as 2,000 Korean tour guides working illegally in Phuket and thus are
stealing jobs from local staff who are trained in the Korean language.
Many had been arrested and deported, but returned to Thailand with new names
to work at tour companies that were branched out from South Korea, he said.
Phanomphol said the association would lobby the government not to pass the
policy, proposed by the Ministry of Tourism and Sports, that would allow
more foreign guides to work in Thailand. He said the government should
instead support the 200 Thai guides who are trained and speak Korean, but
were turned down by the Korean tour agencies in favor of their own Korean
guides.
There are approximately 2,000 Thai guides speaking foreign languages
registered in Phuket and another 1,000 guides from other provinces seeking
temporary jobs in the southern beach resort. Phanomphol said these local
guides are having a very hard time getting jobs.
Latest MasterCard survey forecasts greater intra-Asia travel
MasterCard International’s latest MasterIndex of Travel
survey reports outbound travel will continue to rise with more than 67.5
million travelers over the next six months, with the majority traveling
within Asia.
Outbound travel from Malaysia, Australia and China showed the strongest
year-on-year growth with increases of 11.2 percent to 19.93 million
travelers, 9.5 percent to 2.44 million travelers and nine percent to 15.45
million travelers, respectively.
Of the 5,404 consumers polled, 84 percent chose Asia-Pacific destinations,
followed by 34 percent for Europe and 17 percent for the US.
Japan and Australia were the most popular destinations for personal travel,
while China and Singapore remained key destinations for business travel.
MasterCard economic advisor, Asia-Pacific, Dr Yuwa Hedrick-Wong, said:
“Observed trends in personal travel suggest Asian travelers are coalescing
into distinct market segments, each underpinned with different lifestyles
and unique preferences, and businesses will be successful only if they can
meet the challenge of market segmentation.” (TTG Asia)
Airline Compensation - who pays in the end?
Andrew J Wood
The recent European Courts ruling for guaranteeing passenger
compensation for flight delays or cancellations brings to the table once
again the discussion concerning consumer’s rights in the field of travel
related legislation.
The low cost airlines were quick off the mark to react angrily to the new
ruling, which went into force in February, claiming the new rules on
compensation are out of line with ticket purchase prices.
Many observers in the tourism industry, however, are asking is it ‘fair’ and
does the ruling have any implications on passenger safety and costs?
I guess at the heart of the issue is what is reasonable and fair in relation
to a delayed or cancelled flight. Certainly, the industry well understands
that acts of God, war, strikes, congestion and weather are all beyond the
scope of responsibility of any individual airline and that compensation is
not normally paid.
However, each airline will deal with individual cases on their merits and
according to their own pre-set rules and regulations. Some will exceed the
minimum required by law and others will follow strictly to the letter. First
class, business class and frequent flyers may well be dealt with under a
separate set of rules and regulations.
If delays are down to the airline, such as overbooking or poor maintenance
then I guess there is no argument where the blame lies. The new legislation
sets the price for a passenger bumped off a flight at US$725 per passenger.
For flight delays of two to four hours airlines are required to serve snacks
or full meals and delays over five hours entitles passengers to a refund and
a hotel room if necessary. Ultimately, who will be paying these higher
compensation charges? The airlines or the passengers?
In the hotel industry, we have, I believe, behaved reasonably and fairly in
dealing with “out bookings”. A hotel which has confirmed a guaranteed
reservation and is not able, for whatever reason, including acts of God, to
provide that accommodation, has in my experience, accepted full financial
responsibility to find alternative accommodation. Including paying any
transfer costs to and from the hotel, with an option for the guest to return
to the hotel the following day, usually with an upgrade to a suite or
similar and profound apologies from the hotel.
Too much? Not really, particularly if the individual happens to be a
frequent guest and you want them to remain loyal and return repeatedly.
In the European ruling, there is recognition of the fact that a business
traveller may need to be compensated for the entire round trip journey in
the event of a missed business meeting, negating the main reason for
travelling.
Fair or not? Most of us would say fair. After all, as passengers we follow
strictly the booking procedures and arrive at the airport at the designated
time and place and generally do what we are told. We also face a financial
penalty in the event of a change of date of travel, if travelling on a
restricted ticket.
Will this lead to higher prices, or heaven forbid, yet more surcharges to
the end users? My belief is most definitely. The biggest question, however,
is whether it will be widely accepted by the airlines. There will be intense
lobbying by the European Airlines to oppose it and for the non European
Airlines it will most likely be ignored.
As to safety … increased pressure to get mechanical objects flying on
schedule, on time and in all weather conditions either means better
attention to repair and maintenance or simply cutting corners. It is not for
me to suggest what will happen, but I guess the more responsible airlines,
if forced to accept the new ruling, will take an equally responsible
attitude to safety. The increased cost of aircraft being serviced more
frequently to avoid disruption and cancellations will, however, be passed on
to the end user.
Moreover, passenger cancellation insurance will likely be affected. If the
airlines are made more accountable financially, will this lead to higher
premiums or reduce pressure on individuals to purchase cover for potential
mishaps?
Whatever happens, if the new legislation does take effect it will have a
number of repercussions, and in my mind, one of those is more expensive air
travel.
Andrew J Wood is the general manager of Chaophya Park Hotel & Resorts,
Thailand.
Warning towers in Thailand operational
Thailand has announced that the disaster warning towers
with links to the national danger-warning centre has been completed. The
towers are now operational in all tsunami-prone areas of Phuket and five
other Andaman provinces.
The Thai Government is planning to spend another 77 million baht (US$1.8
million) on installation of warning towers in another 10 southern provinces
and four eastern provinces that are prone to floods and natural disasters.
Construction is slated to start within the next three months.
The country’s National Disaster Warning Centre head, Smith Dhamasarojana,
said the government plans to install more warning systems costing another 40
to 50 million baht (US$950,000 to US$1.2 million) in the north later this
year to detect water surges from the Mekong River. He said all warning
systems would be ready nationwide by the end of this year. (TTG Asia)
Testers to grade
new Bangkok airport
The Thai government has hired a company to recruit some
2,000 people to test operations at Bangkok’s new international airport. NCC
Management & Development, which operates Queen Sirikit National Convention
Center in Bangkok, said the first ever test run of services at Suvarnabhumi
Airport would be held over a four-month period beginning early this month.
The long-delayed airport is due to open at the end of June.
NCC marketing director, Raksak Kananurak, said NCC had been told the airport
would be 94 to 99 percent complete for the start of the tests.
Raksak said there would be a total of 26 testing days, with each person
spending two days acting like a passenger at the airport.
“Airport officials want to make sure that when they receive a comment, they
have time to make adjustments so that the same person can experience it
again and give another review,” he said. (TTG Asia)
Pattaya City delegation in tourism drive meets key officials in Hanoi and Ho Chi Min City
‘Pattaya Day’ is proposed for Ho Chi Min City in 2007
Story & Photos by: Rungratree Thongsai, Public
Relations,
Pattaya City
A delegation of Pattaya City administrators and councilors visited Vietnam
during February to have talks with officials there designed to develop the
market for Vietnamese tourists to Pattaya.
The group liaised with the Thai ambassador to Hanoi, Krit Kraijitti, when
they arrived in the Vietnamese capital, and the group, led by Tawat
Khoopirom, went on to meet local communist party chief Prof Dr Phung Huu
Phu.
Hanoi is soon to celebrate its 1,000-year anniversary, and the city area is
to be officially expanded by 50km and further developed as a cultural city.
Pisai Panomwan Na Ayuthya, Pattaya City councilor and head of the tourism
and sports committee, suggested the opening of a shop or bureau in Vietnam
for the promotion of Thailand and Pattaya and to help generate interest
amongst potential tourists, and Prof Dr Phung Huu Phu agreed to submit the
proposal to the relevant authorities for consideration.
Ambassador Krit then took the delegation to meet with Dr Phan Tu, vice
president of the Vietnam Tourism Department in Hanoi. Dr Phan said the
Vietnamese authorities are aware that to encourage tourism to their own
country the entry visa system has to be changed. As for the number of
Vietnamese visitors to Pattaya, there is an increase every year. Vietnam
wishes to use Pattaya as a model for developing tourism facilities of its
own, and the aim is to further cement relationships between the two
countries.
After the Hanoi visit the delegation traveled south to Ho Chi Min City,
where they were greeted by Thai consul general Sompong Sanuanban, who took
them to meet Le Nhut Tan, deputy director of tourism in Ho Chi Min City. He
said that this organization receives tourism promotion support to the amount
of $600,000 per year, which is enough to run the promotions, which in turn
generate tourism revenues. Most tourists were from America, the second
largest group was Japanese, followed by Taiwanese and then Australian. They
have 776 hotels, but only 142 hotels meet standards. The country has a clear
hotel classification standard, which is convenient and fair for tourists.
The number of Vietnamese tourists is increasing each year, said Le Nhut Tan.
In 2005 there were 61,452 outbound tourists, traveling on government
business, and via private agencies and cooperative companies.
There is now a proposal to hold a “Pattaya Day in Ho Chi Min” in 2007 to
promote Pattaya to the expanding Vietnamese market. The first step is for
Pattaya to devise a questionnaire for Vietnamese tourists and send it to Ho
Chi Min City Tourism Department, to better understand the needs and
perceptions in the market. The delegation also discussed exchanges of goods,
sports teams, tourism specialists and media personnel.
Delegates had a meeting with Duong Duy Phong, managing director of Lephong
Trading and Tourism Co Ltd, the biggest tourism company in Ho Chi Min City.
This company has visited Pattaya City every month with 10 groups, 30
tourists per group. All visitors said that they had lots of fun and
appreciated and enjoyed their trip.
The Pattaya delegation poses
for a photo with local communist party chief Prof Dr Phung Huu Phu
The delegation takes a walk
across the bridge to Halong Bay.
Dancers perform local art.
Barbers provide haircuts along
the footpath.
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