- HEADLINES [click on headline to view story]:
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Emirates recognized as ‘Best In-Flight Entertainment’ carrier of the year
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THAI splurges on new airport lounges
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Visa lifeline for medical tourists
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Korean Air doubles Phuket connections
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European chain continues Thai growth
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Emirates recognized as ‘Best In-Flight Entertainment’ carrier of the year
Emirates in-flight
entertainment - voted No. 1 for the second year in a row.
Emirates Airline’s in-flight entertainment has received a
resounding customer ‘thumbs-up’ by securing the “Best In-Flight
Entertainment” award for the second year in a row at the recent Skytrax 2006
World Airline Awards.
Soonthorn Suree, Emirates’ Area Manager for Thailand and Indochina said: “It
is a great honour to be voted number one at the World Airline Awards once
again, particularly because it comes directly from our discerning customers.
We continue to implement enhancements to our in-flight entertainment
services, ensuring that we exceed our passengers’ expectations.”
The Skytrax survey highlighted the fact that in-flight entertainment quality
is now a highly influential factor in customer evaluation of the overall
travel experience: especially for long-haul passengers, who can use this one
factor alone to determine airline choice.
The survey also identified that audio and video on demand (AVOD) is among
the top entertainment features highly favoured by passengers. Many Emirates
aircraft are equipped with AVOD through it 600 channel entertainment system.
Peter Miller, Director Marketing, Skytrax, said: “Our congratulations go to
Emirates for winning the 2006 Best In-Flight Entertainment Award. This is a
product area where there continues to be an increasing level of competition,
combined with passenger expectations.”
News of this prestigious award comes after Emirates Sky Cargo was recently
voted “Air Cargo Carrier of the Year” by members of the logistics industry
at an awards ceremony in London.
THAI splurges on new airport lounges
Thai Airways International is building what it claims
are industry-leading lounges at Bangkok’s new international airport as
part of its campaign to improve its brand image.
The national carrier is spending 300 million baht (US$7.8 million) on
eight first and business-class lounges in a bid to regain first place in
Skytrax’s global ranking for the world’s best first-class lounge - which
it lost to Cathay Pacific last year.
The lounges, built to meet Star Alliance standards, will cover 13,000sqm
in the airport’s departure hall. They are the largest of their kind at
Suvarnabhumi Airport.
Passenger services will include a luxury spa and massage rooms with
full-size flat beds, a business centre, private meeting rooms,
state-of-the-art video and visual entertainment rooms, shower rooms,
deluxe seating areas, and check-in facilities. (TTG)
Visa lifeline for medical tourists
Three of Bangkok’s top hospitals have set up in-house visa-extension
facilities to assist patients who have overstayed their visa while receiving
medical treatment.
The three hospitals are Bangkok International, Bumrungrad International and
Samitivej.
Diethelm Travel Asia chief operating officer, Mr Richard Brouwer, said: “I
think they (Bangkok International Hospital and Samitivej Hospital) copied
this (visa facilities) from Bumrungrad. People are looking for additional
facilities.’’
Bangkok International Hospital, which last week launched its service in
cooperation with the Immigration Department, provides visa facilities for
foreign patients as well as tourists who use its services or stay in a hotel
near the hospital.
Bumrungrad and Samitivej have been providing space for immigration officials
to come once a week and process paperwork.
Earlier this year, Diethelm Travel Thailand and Bumrungrad signed a
partnership agreement to develop and market new products and services to
meet the needs of Thailand’s booming medical tourism industry. (TTG)
Korean Air doubles Phuket connections
Korean Air’s decision to increase its frequency to Phuket from two to four
flights a week will give the destination a big lift, according to the travel
trade.
The extra flights are scheduled to last until August 27, with services on
Mondays, Wednesdays, Thursdays and Sundays.
Marriott Hotels & Resorts marketing director Thailand, Ms Meg Evans, said:
“This will have an impact. The honeymoon season for Koreans is May to
October. One of the challenges we’ve been having is flight availability.” Ms
Evans said Korean Air’s move would show the world that people are coming
back to Phuket.
Le Méridien Thailand Resorts area director of sales and marketing, Mr Werner
Senft, said the Korean market to Phuket had been quiet strong during the
first half the year and the increased frequency would fuel business. He
said: “The Korean market, especially on the honeymoon side, is very
important to us. That’s especially the case now that the Western Europe
market is not doing so well.” (TTG)
European chain continues
Thai growth
Sirima Eamtako
TTG Always Thailand
ACCOR’s aggressive expansion in Thailand is gaining momentum with 12 new
properties representing 3,156 new rooms slated to open by the end of next
year.
Accor Asia-Pacific senior vice-president sales and marketing, Ray Stone,
said Accor managed a portfolio of 25 hotels offering a total of 6,367 rooms,
making it “the largest international hotel management company” in Thailand.
New openings - all are managed, newly-constructed properties - will bring
the number on Accor’s portfolio to 37 hotels by the end of next year.
They include the 156-room Sofitel Residence Asoke in Bangkok (unveiled in
June) and the 600-room Novotel Suvarnabhumi at Suvarnabhumi Airport, slated
to open in August.
In November, the 250-room Sofitel Phokeethra in Krabi and 260-room All
Seasons Pattaya are slated to open. The Novotel Chumphon Beach and Golf
Resort is due to open with 80 rooms in December and double in size to 160
rooms next year.
Also scheduled to open next year are four hotels in Bangkok, two hotels in
Phuket and one resort on Nang Yuan Island near Koh Samui.
Mr. Stone said the aggressive expansion was in response to the very strong
outlook for the Thai tourism industry, particularly in the hotel sector.
“We are projecting a possible occupancy increase of two to three percentage
points for comparable hotels this year, and that is huge considering the low
season and the size of our multi-brand network,” he said.
“This should continue in the absence of terrorist scares, an avian flu
pandemic or natural disasters such as a tsunami, but I think travel has
changed dramatically since 9/11 and the public is not as sensitive as
before.”
Asked how Accor differentiated itself from other international chains
operating in Thailand, Mr. Stone said being the only remaining European
hotel management company in the country gave Accor an advantage over its
competitors.
“This is because our French DNA is different, and we use that to our
competitive advantage when possible. It also means we have greater brand
recognition with Europeans, so our customers bases are different as well.”
Accor’s portfolio is expected to grow further following an agreement with
Thai-based Erawan group to open 10 Ibis hotels in Bangkok, Pattaya, Phuket,
Koh Samui, Chiang Mai and Krabi.
The deal calls for six Ibis hotels to open by 2008 and a further four hotels
by 2010. Each property will have 200 to 250 rooms and will cost between
Bt.300 million (US$7.8 million) to Bt.400 million (US$10.4 million) to
build.
Accor Asia-Pacific managing director, Michael Issenberg, said the time was
right to expand the Ibis brand in Thailand.
“Most new hotels under construction in Thailand will cater to the top end of
the market, but very few cater for the fastest growing market - the economy
sector.
“The Ibis brand will fill a clear market need as Thailand’s domestic and
regional market grows, especially with the rapid increase in low-cost air
carriers in the region.”
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