HOTEL transaction volumes within Asia reached US$1.3 billion in 1H2013, representing an 85 per cent year-on-year increase over 2012, or the strongest first half since 1H2008.

According to Jones Lang LaSalle’s (JLL) Hotels & Hospitality Group’s Asia Hotel Investment (H12013) report, the surge in sales activity is indicative of positive market sentiment.

Strong investment in the Singapore, Hong Kong and Tokyo markets and emerging Thailand and Maldives markets were the main engines for growth in the first half of the year.

Japan received 37 per cent of regional investment as the market continues to bounce back from the 2011 earthquake, while Singapore grabbed 34 per cent of investment, mostly due to the sale of Park Hotel Clarke Quay (TTG Asia e-Daily, April 9, 2013), and Thailand remained a regional investment hotspot, with the sale of Laguna Beach Resort in Q1.

Mike Batchelor, managing director investment sales, hotels and hospitality, JLL Hotels & Hospitality Group, said: “During the first half of 2013, we have seen a growing number of transactions, including those at the portfolio level, and improved investor sentiment translate to increased sales.

“The divergence between vendor and purchaser expectations that served to restrict investment activity in 2012, has improved this year leading to a number of landmark transactions in the first half.”

He added: “Looking forward, the availability of investment-grade assets in key cities and the growing insistence of sellers to close deals through transparent processes will dictate the overall investment landscape in the region as investors increasingly look to emerging markets.

“As superannuation and other forms of capital continue to flow into REITS, we are likely to see their continued dominance in the market. This, coupled, with the growing appetite of Asian private investors, owner operators and private equity players, could result in transaction volumes nearing US$3.5 billion by the end of 2013.”

CINEMAS have emerged as the top dream airport facility, according to a recent Skyscanner survey, beating out sleep pods and play areas for children.

The survey, which polled more than 10,000 travellers, revealed that 49 per cent of respondents picked a cinema as their dream airport facility.

Sleep pods trailed at a distant second (36 per cent), followed by a library (32 per cent), park (31 per cent), vanity area (30 per cent), kids’ play area (21 per cent), pool (20 per cent), gym (15 per cent), man-made beach (12 per cent) and bicycles (11 per cent).

Differences were also apparent between the sexes, although both men and women unanimously chose an airport cinema as the most desired airport facility.

Some 45 per cent of women wanted a vanity area, compared to 14 per cent of men. On the other hand, more than 10 per cent of men wanted to be able to borrow free bicycles, while only nine per cent of women did.

AIRLINES around the world reported US$27.1 billion in ancillary revenue in 2012, signalling that the industry is now taking this revenue channel, once the domain of LCCs, more seriously.

In 2011, 50 airlines reported US$22.6 billion in ancillary sales, while 53 airlines revealed their ancillary revenue the following year. However, in 2009 and 2010, 47 airlines reported US$13.5 billion and US$21.5 billion respectively.

This was according to an analysis by IdeaWorksCompany and CarTrawler, and comes on the heels of CAPA India’s recent report urging India to recognise that ancillaries were part of the airline business model and that airlines should be allowed to innovate and charge fees where appropriate (TTG Asia e-Daily, May 28, 2013).

Notably, full-service carriers now dominate the top 10 airlines with the most ancillary revenue, with new additions to the lineup including Air France-KLM and Korean Air.

United Airlines came in first, generating US$5.4 billion last year, followed by Delta Air Lines (US$2.6 billion), American Airlines (US$2.0 billion), Southwest Airlines (US$1.7 billion) and Qantas (US$1.6 billion).

The top 10 ancillary revenue-generating airlines saw more than US$18.2 billion made last year, accounting for 68.5 per cent of the total amount disclosed by 53 airlines in 2012.

Mike McGearty, CEO, CarTrawler, said: “The blueprint for an airline business has changed dramatically over the past 10 years. Consumer demand for choice and convenience of complimentary products has forced the travel industry to reinvent itself with airlines leading the way.

“Consumers are more loyal to carriers that address their needs. Unbundling boosts profit margins through the sale of optional services, as do the commissions earned through the booking of ancillary products such as car rental.”

The report also shed light on how different airlines seek to maximise ancillary revenue from each passenger. Qantas and Virgin Atlantic sell frequent flier points to programme partners, Jetstar attracts attention through low fares and then promoting a la carte options, while Air France goes so far as to exclude checked bags from its lowest fares on certain routes within Europe.

Jay Sorensen, president, IdeaWorksCompany, said: “The most aggressive airlines easily have more than 20 per cent of their revenue produced by a la carte fees. The best performers realise more than US$30 per passenger from ancillary revenue.”

DESPITE having been placed in receivership last month (TTG Asia e-Daily, May 30, 2013), the Singapore Flyer has captured the throne as Singapore’s top landmark, while the Botanic Gardens was crowned Asia’s number one park.

This was revealed in TripAdvisor’s inaugural Travellers’ Choice Attractions ranking, based on the quality and quantity of reviews on the TripAdvisor site.

With the Singapore Flyer in the top spot, the remaining nine Singapore landmarks are:

2. Orchard Road
3. Buddha Tooth Relic Temple and Museum
4. Singapore Cable Car
5. Bukit Brown Cemetery
6. Kranji War Memorial
7. Arab Street
8. The Helix Bridge
9. St Andrew’s Cathedral
10. Sultan Mosque

Other homegrown attractions also made a splash in regional lists: Universal Studios Singapore was ranked second among Asia’s top 10 amusement and water parks while the Asian Civilisations Museum took 12th spot in the list of top museums.

Regionally, Cambodia’s Angkor Wat was named the most iconic Asian landmark. The top five was rounded up by India’s Taj Mahal, Cambodia’s Bayon Temple, China’s Great Wall at Mutianyu in Beijing, and Myanmar’s Shwedagon Pagoda.

The complete list of 2013 Travellers’ Choice Attractions winners is available on TripAdvisor’s website.

ASIA-Pacific destinations weighed in strongly in this year’s list of top travel destinations, but Bangkok stole the show by beating out defending champion London to become the world’s number one city for travel.

The third annual Global Destination Cities Index by MasterCard Worldwide measured and ranked 132 cities in terms of total international arrivals and cross-border spending in destination cities, giving visitor and passenger growth forecasts for 2013.

According to this year’s study, the top five cities are: Bangkok, London, Paris, Singapore and New York.

Significantly, Asia-Pacific registered strong performance this year. The region is responsible for the largest number of destination cities in the index, with 42 of the 132 cities measured coming from Asia.

Rank-wise, Bangkok is followed by Singapore, Kuala Lumpur, Hong Kong, Seoul, Shanghai and Tokyo. Five cities in the top 10 are also located in the Greater China region.

Tokyo showed strong recovery in 2012, following contractions in tourism performance in the aftermath of the 2011 Tohoku earthquake and tsunami and Fukushima nuclear disasters. It posted seventh in arrivals and third in spending regionally.

Ann Cairns, president of international markets, MasterCard Worldwide, said the index reflected “the rebalance the globe is undergoing” due largely to the rise of emerging markets and electronic payments “which are enabling more people from more places to participate in the global economy than ever before”.

“Bangkok brought with it great momentum from last year. Its ascent to number one is not only a first for Asia, it’s emblematic of the rise of the Global South, which encompasses much of Africa and Asia as well as South America,” said Yuwa Hedrick-Wong, global economic advisor for MasterCard Worldwide and author of the report.

GLOBAL corporate bookings for April posted the strongest growth since August 2011, spiking 8.8 per cent as compared to the same period last year.

According to Pegasus Solutions, which measured the number of reservations made through the GDS, April also registered year-to-date growth of four per cent while rates were up 0.1 per cent over last year.

“When we last reported this kind of year-over-year increase in 2011, we were quoted as saying ‘the hotel industry is strongly influenced by the economy, but does not take marching orders from it’,” said David Millili, CEO, Pegasus Solutions.

“At that time, we were dealing with the US and European economic debt and credit crises. Today, we’re hearing one positive economic indicator after another, which is definitely inciting business and leisure travellers to book. And, we expect them to book for the foreseeable future.”

On the leisure front, bookings for April rose 6.2 per cent year-on-year and 5.4 per cent for year-to-date growth. Rates grew 1.2 per cent over 2012.

Pegasus Solutions predicted that global corporate bookings would mirror 2012’s figures through summer and make gains in June. Rates would grow modestly through the season compared to 2012.

With leisure bookings pointing to higher levels of travel during the summer, the company expects potential double-digit growth in July and August. Rates will likely stay close to or above last year’s through August.

HOTELIERS worldwide welcomed a promising first quarter as leisure and corporate travel bookings grew over the previous year in general, according to data from Pegasus Solutions.

Rates also delivered, with Q1 figures in the business and leisure sectors climbing past 2012 levels to rise 1.7 per cent and 1.4 per cent respectively.

Leisure travel bookings grew 5.1 per cent through the end of March, helped by an early Easter holiday and despite a shorter February (TTG Asia e-Daily, April 3, 2013). Global volumes in March increased 5.9 per cent year-on-year while rates grew 0.5 per cent. Length of stay and booking lead times were either on par with or gaining on prior year worldwide, indicating a promising consumer trend towards more international and longhaul travel.

“The stabilising or improved performance evident in leisure market indicators suggests hotels should emerge from daily survival mode to actually focus on the future,” said David Millili, CEO of Pegasus Solutions.

“When volume grows with rates, it means hotels aren’t pandering to win bookings by discounting. Instead, they are implementing and maintaining solid rate strategies with an eye to the future, making sure they are both available and bookable to seize a portion of growing demand.”

Corporate travellers also booked 2.4 per cent more reservations globally in 1Q2013 year-on-year, while staying within negative 0.3 per cent of March 2012. Rates for the segment also sustained, increasing by 1.7 per cent for the quarter and still growing slightly by 0.6 per cent in March. Average length of stay and reservation lead times exhibited marginal increases overall, which have held steady year-to-date.

DRIVEN by a dramatic 93 per cent growth in arrivals from China, Thailand’s visitor arrivals surged to a record 6.8 million in 1Q2013, up 18.9 per cent year-on-year, according to figures from the Ministry of Tourism and Sports.

China’s total of 1.1 million visitor arrivals marks the first time that any country had crossed the one million mark in a three-month span, mainly due to the Chinese New Year in February 2013.

Asian countries comprise the biggest market share at 53.1 per cent with 3.6 million arrivals (+28.5 per cent). Apart from China, the other top source countries were Malaysia (627,759), Japan (408,048) and South Korea (350,529). Within Asia, ASEAN countries generated over 1.5 million arrivals in total.

European visitors showed a good growth rate of 10.3 per cent to 2.1 million. Russia retained its status as the largest source market from Europe with 584,516 arrivals (+26 per cent), followed by Germany with 252,108 arrivals (+12.2 per cent) and the UK with 246,943 arrivals (+2.8 per cent) respectively.

Arrivals from the Americas recorded a growth of 8.7 per cent to 331,070. The main market, the US, increased 8.3 per cent to 227,319, while arrivals from Canada were up 4.6 per cent. Showing considerable promise were Latin American markets such as Brazil (+21.1 per cent) and Argentina (+18.3 per cent).

South Asian arrivals climbed a significant 16 per cent to 313,634, topped by India with 249,350 arrivals (+18.2 per cent),while arrivals from Oceania grew by 6.1 per cent to 250,124 visitors.

All regions posted growth except the Middle East, which saw arrivals decline 1.2 per cent to 139,499, mainly due to a 5.9 per cent dip in arrivals from the UAE to 20,209.

However, some source-markets including Egypt (+28 per cent), Israel (+11.7 per cent) and Kuwait (+11.2 per cent) reported good results.

In 2013, the Tourism Authority of Thailand is targeting 24.1 million arrivals, which will generate a projected tourism income of 1.1 trillion baht (US$37.5 billion).

BUDGETS have become less important to travellers, who now care more for the types of attractions, quality of scenery and rich cultural experiences that a destination offers, according to Visa’s latest Global Travel Intentions Study 2013 of 12,631 travellers from 25 countries.

Whereas last year’s findings showed concerns such as “weather”, “fits my budget” and “culture” as influencing travellers’ intention to travel, the latest survey indicated that budget concerns had “fallen off the radar”, said Ross Jackson, head of cross-border business for Visa in Asia-Pacific, Central Europe, Middle East and Africa. He said this suggested either economic recovery or a growing appetite for larger travel budgets.

“In past surveys, we were seeing budget or security issues. We’re not seeing that as much,” he told travel industry CEOs at a PATA luncheon on Saturday.

Asian travellers are planning to spend 46 per cent more on travel, with those from Singapore, Thailand and Hong Kong intending to almost double the budget of their last trip in the future.

“Thailand is growing immensely. Hong Kong is slightly different; it’s partly fuelled by Japan, one of their favourite destinations, which has suddenly become more affordable due to the exchange rate,” Jackson said.

Nearly 40 per cent of travellers surveyed said they intended to stay in four-star hotels and above. Accommodation, however, would account for only nine per cent of this year’s travel spend, with retail lopping off the most spend (30 per cent), followed by dining (24 per cent) and activities (21 per cent).

Just over a third of global travel is expected to be to Asia, with Australia and South Korea as among the most preferred destinations for intended travel this year.

But the most popular destination choice for global travellers for this year is the US.

HELPED by better air access, tourism in the Maldives is picking up this year, after a dismal first quarter in 2012 owing to political tensions.

Arrivals from China, the worst hit after president Mohamed Nasheed resigned last February, swelled in January-March 2013 to some 70,570 arrivals, up 51.2 per cent over the same period last year. China accounted for 24.1 per cent of total tourist arrivals to the Maldives in the quarter, remaining the largest source market for the Maldives.

Michelle Flake, contracting and marketing manager for Scaevola Travel Maldives, said the entry of Turkish Airlines last November had contributed to a rise in travellers from Eastern Europe – particularly Russia, Poland and the Czech Republic – as the airline provides a good connection in European hubs.

Currently flying to Malé five times a week, the carrier is planning to increase frequency to daily, she added.

With Korean Air’s new thrice-weekly flights from last month, the South Korean market is also starting to flourish, noted Viluxur Holidays Maldives managing director, Shafraz Fazley.

Adam Mohamed, CEO of state-owned Maldives Marketing & PR Corporation, said March arrivals saw 30 per cent year-on-year growth, while first-quarter growth was 14 per cent.

“All markets are doing well. Even the UK has seen a rise, even though marginal, while others from Europe are also doing well,” he said, adding that the Maldives should easily hit the one million mark this year.

Among other top growth markets were Turkey (up 138.4 per cent in the first quarter), Poland (up 68.1 per cent) and the US (up 36.5 per cent).