6.3.2019 TTG Show Daily ITB Berlin 6
Feature Market outlook
Travel trends for 2019
As travellers seek authentic experiences more than ever, what key
trends are Asia’s leading inbound agents keeping an eye on
for 2019, what are the opportunity areas,
and what challenges lie ahead?
The Daily reporters find out
AUSTRALIA by Adelaine Ng
Asian travellers to Australia are rapidly
moving away from group travel to FIT
and arrive already confident about what
they want to see and do, presenting new
challenges as well as new opportunities for
travel agents who can adapt.
“There’s been a big change in the mar-
ket segmentations coming out of Singa-
pore, Indonesia and Malaysia,” said AOT
Inbound’s general manager of global sales,
Gary Paterson. “The rising middle class is
driving (the FIT trend and) the awareness
of what’s on offer in Australia is (high).”
Paterson says travel agents who have re-
lied on group tours are feeling the pinch.
The Chinese market alone has seen a 30
per cent drop in bookings over the past
year. But opportunities exist for agents
willing to explore new areas of demand
and change the way they do business.
“In Asia, they don’t know how to sell
FITs yet,” said Paterson. “It’s (also) one
of the biggest challenges in China now
because the market has turned its nose
against travelling in tour groups (but)
have no one to turn to with experience on
putting an FIT programme together.”
As a result, many FITs are turning to
technology to help their decisions. But
this is where agents ahead of the game
can benefit, said Flors Fluitsma, owner of
boutique travel agency Orange Journeys.
“Australian agents can learn from their
overseas counterparts and create online
platforms that link travellers looking to
develop their itinerary directly with an
operator in the destination,” he said.
Paterson confirms technology will be
key for the FIT market, especially from
China. “We work with people like Ctrip
in China and 20 per cent of their busi-
ness is made within 48 hours of arrival,”
he noted.
With the market evolving quickly,
CEO of Australian Federation of Travel
Agents, Jayson Westbury, advises local
travel agents to diversify their options by
looking at markets outside Asia. “The US
market is one to watch,” he said. “Australia
is spending more (tourism) money in the
US and there is so much capacity between
the two countries... it could be a surprise
pocket for 2019.”
2019 Buzzwords FITs, technology, mar-
ket diversification – especially the train to Shenzhen – and
the opening of hotels like Ocean Park
Marriott Hotel, passenger flow from India
to Hong Kong, Macau and Shenzhen”.
2019 Buzzwords Cruises, multi-city trav-
el, rail-cruise
HONG KONG by Prudence Lui JAPAN by Julian Ryall
Two new major infrastructure develop-
ments – the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau
Bridge and the Hong Kong link to China’s
High Speed Rail (HSR) – are spurring
rail, cruise and multi-destination travel in
Hong Kong.
According to Gray Line Tours, director
of sales, Ronald Wu, there has been a surge
in visitors arrivals and enquiries from all
markets and ages since these develop-
ments last year.
“The opportunities will be in devel-
oping multi-city tours covering Hong
Kong, Macau and western China such as
Zhuhai and Zhongshan using the bridge,
or shorthaul destinations using the train.
So far, over 50 per cent of our overseas
enquires request or prefer to visit Macau
by the bridge, or travel to China by train
rather than ferry or flight. They come
from as far as Africa.”
Cruise travel is also expected to be a key
drawcard in 2019 with the HSR link creat-
ing new opportunities in rail-cruise travel.
With the World Dream ship currently
homeported in Kai Tak Cruise Terminal,
rolling out rail-cruise products and incen-
tives, more visitors from China’s inner cit-
ies like Chengdu started arriving in Hong
Kong on rail and spending two nights in
the city on a weekend cruise.
Simple Travel Services, director, Van-
dana Sachdeva added that the Indian
market too is warming up to cruises in
Hong Kong.
In summary, she predicted tourism to
benefit from “the new modes of transport The message that Japan has much to of-
fer beyond the well-worn Golden Route
appears to have reached visitors planning
their trips in 2019.
“We are getting a large number of en-
quiries from trade partners about trips
that combine activities such as cycling,
hiking and sea kayaking,” said Kathie Cal-
lum, agent sales manager for Oku Japan
KK.
“Cycling vacations, in particular, are
taking off. We have just launched our first
self-guided cycling tour for next year and
there has been a lot of interest,” she told
TTG Asia.
She added: “Even first-timers to Japan
wanting to visit Kyoto and Tokyo are tell-
ing us that they also want to get off the
beaten track and see the ‘real’ Japan.”
Oku Japan has noticed a “significant
uptick” in bookings from travellers from
Singapore, Malaysia and Hong Kong and
a more gradual increase in longhaul book-
ings from the US and Europe.
Malaysian operators are rolling
out experiences spotlighting
local crafts like kite making
“Even visitors coming from regional
source markets are looking more for ex-
periences than they did in the past,” Cal-
lum said. “They come from urban areas so
they want to find space and (experience
culture, cuisine and more) in the coun-
tryside.”
Yoko Ogata, manager of the inbound
travel division of Nippon Travel Agency,
foresees that more Chinese would arrive
in Japan this year in the absence of politi-
cal disputes between Tokyo and Beijing.
“About 80 per cent of our clients are
from other parts of Asia. China is strong,
but so are Taiwan and South Korea,” she
added.
Moreover, inbound agents expect to
see greater demand from non-traditional
source markets. “We are also anticipat-
ing a positive impact from visitors from
rugby-playing nations in 2019 because a
number of Japanese cities will be hosting
matches in the Rugby World Cup,” Ogata
said.
South Africa, New Zealand, Argentina
and several other rugby nations are not
regular visitors to Japan, Ogata said, but
the sporting events will be a good oppor-
tunity to showcase the nation’s attractions
to them.
2019 Buzzwords Cycling tours, sporting
events, tours beyond Golden Route
INDIA by Rohit Kaul
The inbound sector is seeing the ascent
of new segments including LGBT and ad-
venture travellers.
Notably, India’s Supreme Court rul-
ing decriminalising homosexuality is ex-
pected to spur interest in the destination
among LGBT travellers.
According to Indian tour operators, the
new ruling has given India a more wel-
coming image among LGBT tourists, and
will go a long way to encourage them to
travel more freely across the country.
“I expect 2019 will be an important
year in the growth of inbound LGBT tour-
ist in India. We expect good demand from
markets like the US and Europe,” said Ravi
Gosain, managing director, Erco Travels.
He stressed that many LGBT tourists
choose destinations that are not only rich
in culture and history, but also welcoming.
“India is now well positioned to cater
to this segment. If the private and public
sectors work together and market India as
a preferred destination for LGBT travel,
we will see a substantial number of such
travellers visiting India in 2019,” he added.
As well, efforts to market the destina-