Back in business - Airfares to Asia high - Brief Article

Business Asia, August, 2000

The dealmakers are out in force in Asia again -- and the rise in business class traffic suggests that they are travelling the region in style

HIGHER AIRFARES will cause business travel to drop off. Right?

Well, apparently not.

It may not yet be time to herald a boom, but travel agents and airlines report a surge in demand for business class tickets.

This comes as much-needed relief after the recent economic crisis led to business travel benefits being cut.

The trend is occurring at the same time as the cost of business class travel rises. As reported on page 20, the American Express Asia-Pacific Airfare Index shows that business class fares have climbed the most rapidly in the past three years -- 14.9 per cent -- compared with first class (13.6 per cent) and economy (9 per cent).

One of the beneficiaries of the rise in business-related travel is Singapore.

Visitor arrivals are on the rise to the island state, courtesy of a rebound in the market for exhibitions and conferences.

Visitors to Singapore in June rose 5.8 per cent to 608,383 visitors from the year-earlier period, reflecting the continuing economic recovery across the region, according to the Singapore Tourism Board (STB).

A 0.1 per cent fall in holiday arrivals from the top 12 markets was offset by growth of 15 per cent in business traffic from those markets.

Figures for the first half of this year show that visitor numbers to Singapore rose 11.8 per cent to 3.72 million, with Indonesia still the biggest market ahead of Japan and Malaysia.

According to the STB, the number of arrivals from Indonesia grew 6 per cent to 637,598, Japan up 9 per cent to 425,850 and from Malaysia, up 10.7 per cent to 272,370.

Some airlines report increased demand in business class -- among them Singapore Airlines (SIA), Cathay Pacific Airways and All Nippon Airways (ANA).

SIA's area manager Sudheer Rajhavan recently said: "After the economic crisis, there was a very strong resurgence in outbound business and leisure travel. In first and business class, there has been a double-digit increase."

Cathay Pacific reports that business class seats are generally full on long-haul flights to Europe and the US.

With deals back on the table in rebounding Asia, business people are on the move again -- and they usually go in style.

Travel analysts say at the moment the best airfare deals can be had in Australia and Thailand, while India is becoming a source of cheap flights.

Singapore: Travelling well

Following are the June statistics for travel to SingaPore, and the percentage increase on a year ago.

COUNTRY OF ORIGIN          VISITORS   % CHANGE

Indonesia                   105,324     -15.8
Japan                        67,968      +3.8
Malaysia                     48,417     +12.4
India                        38,283     +33.0
Australia                    41,460      +6.9
China                        30,705     +26.2
South Korea                  25,316     +50.0
United States                32,941      +0.7
United Kingdom               26,509     +10.4
Taiwan                       26,565      -7.1
Thailand                     21,445     +18.3
Hong Kong                    21,993     +10.7

TOTAL (including others)    608,383      +5.8

RELATED ARTICLE: ON THE ROAD

GUANGZHOU - A new English-language website has been launched to service the needs of international travellers visiting China. The Et-China.com site offers online hotel bookings and flight reservations for flights in China on China Southern Airlines, as well as real-time flight schedules, fares and individual seat and meal selections. Customers can make online payments for flights and hotel reservations through Et-China.com. The site accepts all major credit cards, including American Express, Visa and MasterCard. -- Asia Pulse

www.et-china.com

KUALA LUMPUR - Malaysia Airlines has been named the carrier with the world's best cabin staff service in first class. In the 2000 World First Class survey conducted by Inflight Research Services, the airline's cabin staff were awarded top marks for service, attitude and enthusiasm, friendliness, image portrayal, standards consistency, meal service efficiency and service efficiency. In the same survey, its first class lounge was rated second among all the airlines assessed. Thirty-six airlines were analysed in the first class survey, which included national flag carriers all over the world. -- Asia Pulse

www.malaysiaairlines.com

SINGAPORE - Singapore is the home of a new e-travel website that claims to be offering discounts of up to 70 per cent off regular International Aviation Transport Association (lata) fares. German-based Tiss GmbH recently launched its Asian subsidiary Tiss.com Asia at www.tiss.com.sg. In Singapore, it hopes to sell 200 to 300 tickets a day at about US$450 each. Tiss.com says it is targeting a techo-savvy audience in the 25 to 40 age group. The company has 10 employees currently in its Singapore office. It has operations in 32 countries worldwide.