News Roundup: Of partnership and expanding footprint to capture more markets as Sabre links up with INFINI to develop Japan’s tourism industry, Adara expanding presence in India, Amex GBT’s joining the Qantas Channel, Singapore-based Naumi Hotels acquiring another property in New Zealand,
Travel: Sabre and INFINI team up to boost tourism in run-up to Tokyo 2020
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Tokyo-based GDS provider INFINI is the new official distributor of the Sabre global distribution system (GDS) in Japan, as the country gears up to meet an influx of visitors when it hosts the Summer Olympics (Toyko 2020) and Paralympics next year in Tokyo (July 24-August 9).
The agreement will see INFINI market and sell the Sabre GDS in Japan alongside the INFINI distribution product. This will give travel agents across the market access to Sabre’s technology solutions, as well as to over 420 airlines and 285,000 hotel properties worldwide.
Sabre said that with overseas travellers to Japan reaching almost 32 million in 2018 – an all-time record and an 8.7% increase over 2017 ( Japan National Tourism Organisatin data), INFINI is a “key partner in supporting local travel agencies and online travel agencies (OTAs) that are increasing their global footprint.”
The new agreement with Sabre extends INFINI’s portfolio to include global functionalities that will provide solutions to agents with international customers, allowing them to offer seamless support and service.
“Under this significant agreement we will ensure that our customers are best-equipped to address the fast-changing industry in which we operate,” said Kimio Uemura, CEO of INFINI.
Japan has set a target of 40 million visitors to the county by 2020 and the government is boosting efforts to achieve the numbers as it seeks economic growth through tourism, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe was quoted as saying in a report in The Japan Times.
PEOPLE: Adara eyes India as next growth market
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Travel data co-op and provider of traveller intelligence for travel brands Adara is expanding its presence in India with the appointment of Suchit Huria as sales director based in New Delhi.
Suchit has over 13 years of sales experience in the digital marketing industry, and was previously sales director at Httpool where he led sales for performance and brand solutions. In his new role he will be responsible for expanding the pool of data partners to deliver consumer insights to travel marketers.
Adara currently has offices in Singapore, Australia, Japan and Hong Kong, and is now strengthening its presence in India, a country it views as one of the region’s fastest growing travel markets.
Brandon Meyers, chief revenue Officer at Adara, said the company has seen “some great traction” in its early days in India. “In a large and dynamic market like India there is a huge opportunity to leverage data-driven insights for creating personalised travel experiences that can address the varied and evolving needs of consumers.”
The company launched Adara Destination Marketing Cloud in March, which it describes as a “comprehensive insights, execution and analysis suite of products to transform tourism marketing.”
Distribution: Amex GBT joins the Qantas Channel
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American Express Global Business Travel (Amex GBT) will join the Qantas Channel, the Australian carrier’s new distribution model, which will launch on August 1, 2019.
When announcing the new distribution platform in February, Qantas said it would offer travel agents “access to the widest range of Qantas fares, products and information …” Content for the channel will be sourced from the Qantas Distribution Platform launched last year, and is Level 3 certified under the International Air Transport Association’s New Distribution Capability standard.
Amex GBT said the partnership with Qantas would provide its clients and travellers access to this content.
The company added that through its partner programme clients would not have to pay the A$17.50 (US$12.20) surcharge per segment on GDS booking made outside of the channel. Qantas will implement the surcharge from August 1, 2019.
Jo Sully, Amex GBT vice president and regional general manager, Australia and South-east Asia, said the partnership is “aligned with GBT’s core distribution principles to deliver value to clients with access to relevant content backed up by seamless servicing capabilities and enhanced user displays.”
Hotels: Naumi Hotels adds another New Zealand property to portfolio
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Singapore-based private hotel owner and operator, Naumi Hotels, is expanding its presence in Australasia with the acquisition of the business of The Dairy Private Hotel in Queenstown, New Zealand.
The move marks the group’s first hotel in New Zealand’s South Island following its acquisition of two hotels in Wellington last year.
Gaurang Jhunjhnuwala, CEO of Naumi Hotels, Australia & New Zealand, said the company was “extremely excited” to grow its footprint in the country especially Queenstown as it “outperformed other regions and registered highest growth in hotel occupancy, ADR and RevPar last year.”
He added that tourism outlook in Queenstown remains positive with the government’s investment in tourism infrastructure and destination marketing, and increasing demand from Australia and Asia.
The property will undergo refurbishment in the coming months that will be reflective of the Naumi brand. The makeover is slated to be completed in Q4 of 2019, and it is business as usual for the hotel during this period.
The addition of Dairy Private Hotel increases the group’s owned and/or managed hotels to six in Singapore, New Zealand and Australia.
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