Strong Christmas Bookings for Australian Holiday Parks

The Melbourne Cup is done, and won, and summer’s almost here. As temperatures rise, holiday park operators around Australia are working frantically to prepare for the holiday hordes who will descend over the Christmas break, six weeks when normal life ends and it’s time to work, work and work some more.  RMS Cloud has spoken with some of Australia’s leading holiday park operators to find out how the peak summer season is shaping up. Here’s what they had to say. More …

Hotel Demand Solid, International Visits Increase

Most of Australia’s hotel markets are in good shape due to consistent underlying demand across the nation – except for Western Australia – resulting in an average occupancy rate of 76% and an increase in Revenue Per Available Room (RevPAR) of 2.9% for the year to June 30, according to the latest Accommodation Industry Monitor from STR. More …

Record First Quarter Revenue for Qantas

Qantas revenue for  the first quarter for the FY18 has hit a record high of $4.41 billion, an increase of 6.3% over the same period last year, despite rising fuel costs. The airline’s CEO Alan Joyce attributed the result to increased passenger revenue (higher fares) and capacity discipline. This also reflected in the value of forward bookings, which is up 8%. Domestic was the revenue growth engine at +6.8% while international was up 4%. See Qantas results release.

Cruise Pumps Almost $5 billion into Australian Economy, Report

Cruise tourism contributed almost $5 billion to the Australian economy in the 17/18 financial year, according to a new combined report from  industry groups CLIA Australasia and the Australian Cruise Association. The report claimed 1236 “ship visits” led to 3.5 million passenger and crew visit days, raising $2.3 billion in direct economic output and $2.5 billion in indirect and induced output. More …

Peak Travel Month Sends Global Airline Loads to Record High

Overall global airline load factor hit what the International Air Transport Association (IATA) believes may be a record high of 85.3% during the peak travel month of August.  “The industry experienced continued strong traffic growth in August, putting the cap on a very good peak travel season. The all-time record load factor reflects that airlines are maximizing the efficiency of their assets at a time of rising fuel prices and other costs that are limiting the opportunities for low fare stimulation,” said Alexandre de Juniac, IATA’s Director General and CEO.     

Growth Accelerates as AccorHotels Hits 1000 APAC Properties

AccorHotels has opened its 1000th in Asia Pacific, the Pullman Tokyo Tamachi, and is aiming to open one new property in the region every two days by 2020. 

“We currently open, on average, a new hotel in Asia Pacific every three days, but our goal is to move this to a new hotel every second day by 2020 and one hotel per day globally,” said Michael Issenberg, CEO Asia-Pacific AccorHotels. More …

Susan Bonner, Quirin Schwaighofer Talk Next Big Thing at Travel IQ

Susan Bonner, VP & MD of Royal Caribbean Cruises, pictured, and Quirin Schwaighofer, co-founder of MadeComfy, are the latest speakers to confirm for the Travel IQ conference in Sydney on October 24. 

They feature in The Next Big Thing, a provocative session moderated by Tammy Marshall of The B Hive and join a star-studded line-up including Bob East, Jamie Pherous, Anthony Hayes, Darrin Grafton, Rob Smith, Sue Badyari, Brett Mitchell, Robert Halfpenny, Les Szekely, Simon Lenoir, Anthea and David Hammon, Rod Cuthbert and many more. More …

Flights Centre Finds Digital Direction, Buys Unmapped

Flight Centre has bought Unmapped, a technology company that builds travel documentation, communication and itinerary management software for the travel industry. Unmapped products include the Trip Publisher itinerary builder and TripLinQ API services, which consolidates bookings, content and real-time location data into a single interface. The company’s products are already being used by Flight Centre in the US and will roll out globally.  No acquisition price was revealed.

Increase Your Travel Business Intelligence at Travel IQ

1 Comment

   

Shoulda Been There – Back in 2019

You should have been there. The first sold-out edition of Travel IQ was a fantastic day.

Make sure you don’t miss out in 2019 – register your interest here to get the latest updates.

Travel IQ is a one-day conference that celebrates the business of travel.

It’s designed for entrepreneurs, key executives, business owners, directors, analysts, investors and managers across all verticals.

The aim is to get people thinking – and also inspired – with case studies from some of Australia’s most renowned travel entrepreneurs and innovators.

This unique format resonated with the attendees at the first event, which was staged at the Langham, Sydney, on October 24, 2018.

As one high-profile speaker commented: “I met with many great people and the overwhelming comment was how much they got out of Travel IQ.

“Personally, I also enjoyed the event very much.

“It is always great getting the heads of companies in the same room, inspiring. So well done!”

./././.

Travel IQ 2018 Program –  Celebrating The Business of Travel
THIS CONFERENCE HAS ALREADY BEEN HELD

9.00am – 9.45am Travel – A Growth Story. Travel remains a growth story despite global uncertainty and is forecast to grow at more than 5% a year for the next decade. Our opening speakers crunch the data on key industry sectors. We also look at where the smart money has been heading with analysis of key industry investments over the past two years, both in Australia and overseas.

9.45am – 10.05am Founder’s Story. Jamie Pherous founded Corporate Travel Management (CTD) 24 years ago with a couple of staff in Brisbane and big dreams. Now the business he created is a publicly-listed global enterprise with offices in 70 countries, thousands of staff and a market capitalisation of more than $3 billion. Learn about Jamie’s journey in this presentation.

10.05am – 10.40am Trends, Issues, Challenges & Opportunities. Travel may be growing however progression is anything but linear. That’s because travel is a complex, occasionally volatile industry that’s ultimately all about people, who are anything but predictable. Strategies change, opportunities emerge, and growth is an ever-present challenge. Meanwhile globalisation looms large. Tightly moderated panel discussion involving travel business leaders.

10.40am 11.10am – Morning Tea

11.10am – 11.35am Investor Insight. Les Szekely has picked a few winners in his time: HotelClub, SiteMinder and Rezdy to name a few, so what he says is worth listening to. What is his philosophy on investing, what does he look for in a company and what does he think the future holds? Find out here.

11.35am – 11.55am Going Public: Serko is a story of dogged perseverance and bloody mindedness. After a rocky start on the NZSX, Serko staged a huge turnaround and became its top performing share last year while achieving a long-time goal of co-listing on the ASX in June.

11.55am – 12.40pm Attractive Proposition: Attractions are the invisible infrastructure underpinning Australian tourism. Session opens with focus on the rapid evolution of third-generation company Hammons Holdings, owner since 1945 of Scenic World Blue Mountains and now operator of commercial climbing on the Sydney Harbour Bridge. Followed by industry leader discussion covering everything from ski resorts and aquariums to water parks. Moderator Nigel Benton, Publisher, Australian Leisure Media.

12.40pm – 2.00pm Lunch. Sensational lunch in Bistro Remy, a great space and brilliant food. Delegates will get the chance to relax and catch up with fellow delegates in a beautiful environment. 

2.00pm – 2.30pm Engineering an Exit. Building a travel business is one thing, selling it or stepping back something else altogether. Here’s  how two quite different travel entrepreneurs managed their transition. One sold, the other stepped aside from day to day management. Presentation followed by discussion.

2.30pm – 2.40pm Owning the Moment: Why lease when you can build and own? Australian travel companies APT and Scenic have been at the forefront of investing in and building their own ships. Now Aurora Expeditions has joined the party, commissioning the ‘Greg Mortimer’ expedition ship. Case study on rewards and risks of building your own ship.

2.40pm – 2.50pm Focus On – Intrepid Group: It’s been a remarkable journey for the Intrepid Group, which is pushing ahead with an ambitious strategy to be the biggest player in the global adventure travel industry through a combination of acquisitions and organic growth

2.50pm – 3.10pm Adventure is Where You Find It: Discussion… Adventure, expedition and experiential travel is hot right now with consumers increasingly looking for culture, meaning and interaction when they take a break. Find out what’s driving this sector, where the opportunities lie and what the future holds

3.10pm – 3.30pm Working Locally, Growing Globally. The common wisdom is that you can’t build a global business from Australia. However, it can be done. Rod Cuthbert has used Australia as a launching pad for two global businesses, Viator, now owned by TripAdvisor, and Rome2rio, headquartered in Melbourne. What did he learn along the way? Interview format.

3.30pm – 4.00pm Afternoon Tea

4.00pm – 4.30pm The Next Big Thing… If only if it were that simple. Here is your chance to get ahead of the curve in our closing session featuring a panel of well-connected industry insiders with their take on how travel will evolve in the coming years and who will be best placed to take advantage of the ever-shifting tourism landscape.

./././.

Ascott Moves Beyond Apartments, Buys 70% of Tauzia Hotel Mgt

Yello Hotel Manggari Jakarta

Leading serviced apartment owner and operator, The Ascott Limited, has bought 70% of Tauzia Hotel Management, one of Indonesia’s top five hotel operators.

Tauzia has a portfolio of 122 hotels across Indonesia, Malaysia and Vietnam, half of which are under development. Most of Tauzia’s hotels target business travellers with about 30% leisure focused.

Its brands include Harris Hotels, Yello and Pop!

BridgeClimb Brand To Continue Under New Owners

Chris Zumwalt

The BridgeClimb brand will live on under new owners Hammons Holdings who won recently won commercial climbing and tourism rights for the Sydney Harbour Bridge.

BridgeClimb is the incumbent company and its contract expires at the end of September.

In mid-August Hammons Holding bought BridgeClimb’s assets and today confirmed the iconic brand would continue, appointing Scenic World’s Chief Operating Officer Chris Zumwalt CEO from 1 October. More …

- IDEAS, ACTIONS, CONTENT -

My name is Martin Kelly and I run Travel Trends, a content, marketing, research and strategy consultancy for travel businesses.

I help travel companies improve their positioning,  communications, stakeholder engagement and public relations through content-led strategic initiatives.

Typically I develop a multi-tier approach including stories/blog posts, newsletters, media releases, white papers, reports and  events - all designed to better connect business with their customers.

Often, my clients have neglected their marketing communications so I work with them to create credible positioning and messaging to ensure a solid, relevant platform before embarking on outreach.

I am also a respected travel  industry analyst, contributing to Phocuswright's regional research reports while representing them as a speaker at events in Australia and overseas.

In terms of background, I started the Travel Trends website to support the No Vacancy and TRAVELtech conferences, which I founded and ran for many years before selling in 2016.

I've kept the site going as an example of my work and still file the occasional story. 

I'm always open to new opportunities and would love to hear from you. For further information please email martin@traveltrends.biz

We’re proud to be a part of Travel Massive - a tourism community that started in Sydney and has grown to more than 40,000 members world-wide in 70 countries.

Connect with TravelTrends on Travel Massive, and join the community so your business can get discovered.

You can find Travel Massive in these Australian cities:

It's a fantastic community - the only one of its kind - isn't it time you joined?

./././.