Travel Technology, Hospitality Trends
PR Newswire | July 05, 2023
Today, Collinson, a global leader in the provision of airport experiences, loyalty and customer engagement solutions, and owner and operator of Priority Pass, announces a new partnership with Blue Sky Group, a hospitality provider in Indonesia that manages premium executive lounges in airports across Indonesia, alongside hotels and restaurants.
This partnership will allow Priority Pass Members to access 13 airport lounges, eight of which are exclusive to Priority Pass Members, in Indonesian airports. This includes Soekarno-Hatta International Airport (CGK), Sultan Aji Muhammad Sulaiman Sepinggan International Airport (BPN), and Sultan Mahmud Badaruddin II International Airport (PLM).
Blue Sky Group's airport lounges offer comfortable spaces for travellers to relax pre-flight, as well as VIP rooms for informal meetings. Lounges at Balikpapan (BPN) and terminal 2 of Soekarno-Hatta (CGK) airports provide complimentary buggy services that transport guests from the lounge to immigration. In addition to curated lounge spaces, members will be able to enjoy Ippolito coffee – Blue Sky's in-house brand, roasted locally – as well as sample Indonesian cuisine, such as Pisang Goreng and varieties of Jajanan Pasar.
"This is an exciting time for the travel industry in Indonesia, as the country has set a goal of attracting nearly 7.4 million international arrivals in 2023; almost double the number of arrivals when compared to last year," said Todd Handcock, Global Chief Commercial Officer and Asia Pacific President at Collinson. "We are delighted to partner with Blue Sky Group, one of the top hospitality providers in Southeast Asia, to vastly enhance our Priority Pass Members' experience when visiting Indonesia, through inventory that both provides a taste of the local culture, and a memorable airport experience."
Linan Kurniahu, CEO of Blue Sky Group said, "We are thrilled to partner with Priority Pass to provide their members with access to our premium airport lounges in Indonesia. Our airport lounges combine the best of local culture and cuisine with the highest levels of international travel service. This partnership represents a significant milestone for us as we continue to expand our footprint across Asia Pacific's travel industry."
Indonesia has a rapidly growing economy and is fast becoming a major international business and leisure travel destination. Recognising the importance of this market to Priority Pass Members, together, both partners will make travel to and within the Indonesian archipelago more comfortable and relaxing than ever before.
About Collinson
Collinson is the global, privately-owned company dedicated to helping the world to travel with ease and confidence.
We work with the world's leading payment networks, over 1,400 banks, 90 airlines and 20 hotel groups worldwide. We deliver market-leading airport experiences, loyalty and customer engagement, and insurance solutions for over 400 million end consumers.
About Priority Pass
Priority Pass is the world's original and market-leading airport experiences programme. We provide travellers with access to 1,300 airport lounges and travel experiences in over 650 airports in 148 countries. Members can access an ever-growing range of premium experiences – from spas to sleeping pods to dining – that help elevate every journey into something special. By building partnerships with other leading brands, we help to bring a better travel experience to the world.
About Blue Sky Group
A nationwide company focusing on hospitality, property services and restaurant management, Blue Sky Group started in 1973 as one of the few hotels in Balikpapan, Indonesia. Since 2003, Blue Sky Lounges serve in major cities in Indonesia, such as Balikpapan, Jakarta, Pekanbaru, Pontianak, etc.
We are the sole privately owned brand with multiple outlets that have partnership with major banks and corporate & government entities in Indonesia. Our aim is to continue to be the destination for travellers before their journey, with the goal of going to international market in the future.
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Travel Technology
prnewswire | July 06, 2023
Trip.com Group, a leading travel service provider and Tourism New Zealand, signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to promote New Zealand as a key tourism destination in Asia Pacific.
Trip.com Group's Vice President of Destination Marketing & Strategy Alliances, Edison Chen, and Tourism New Zealand's Board Chairman, Jamie Tuuta, in the presence of New Zealand Prime Minister Chris Hipkins, signed the MOU. The Prime Minister is currently on a working visit to China.
As part of the collaboration, both parties will launch a series of joint marketing campaigns to attract tourists from Asia Pacific to New Zealand. The markets include the Chinese mainland, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Japan, South Korea, Singapore, India, Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand, and Australia. This will involve the creation of appealing and attractive travel itineraries and experiences to meet specific visitor needs, positioning New Zealand as a destination of choice for travellers.
This partnership marks the first Asia Pacific pan-regional collaboration for both sides.
Edison Chen, Vice President of Destination Marketing & Strategy Alliances, at Trip.com Group said, "With the reopening of China's border, we have seen a marked increase in outbound travel-related bookings and searches in the recent months. We look forward to collaborating with Tourism New Zealand to leverage our resources and deep data insights to boost New Zealand tourism development, fully optimising the travel experience for tourists in New Zealand."
"With the resurgence of international travel post-pandemic, this collaboration could not be better for both parties involved."
Data from Trip.com Group's Ctrip and Trip.com platforms show a keen interest in travel in Asia Pacific, including New Zealand.
Specifically, searches for flights to New Zealand have seen a significant increase of nearly 560% year-on-year, and the volume of bookings was up over 570% compared to the same period last year.
The Chinese mainland was the top source of arrivals to New Zealand in the first half of this year, followed by other key markets, Australia, Indonesia, Singapore, Japan, Thailand, and South Korea, making the top 10 list.
Tourism New Zealand's Chief Executive, René de Monchy said, "Through the partnership, Tourism New Zealand aims to provide Asia Pacific travellers with more convenient booking methods, personalised itinerary planning, and comprehensive service support. We look forward to welcoming travellers to deeply explore the beautiful landscapes and unique culture of Aotearoa New Zealand, as well as experience our manaakitanga."
About Tourism New Zealand
Tourism New Zealand is responsible for promoting New Zealand in key markets as a visitor destination.Tourism New Zealand is the organisation responsible for marketing New Zealand as a holiday destination. The major tool we use to do this is the 100% Pure New Zealand marketing campaign, a campaign that has evolved over the past decade to make New Zealand one of the world's most well-respected tourism brands.
About Trip.com Group
Trip.com Group is a leading global travel service provider comprising of Trip.com, Ctrip, Skyscanner and Qunar. Across its platforms, Trip.com Group helps travellers around the world make informed and cost-effective bookings for travel products and services and enables partners to connect their offerings with users through the aggregation of comprehensive travel-related content and resources, and an advanced transaction platform consisting of apps, websites and 24/7 customer service centres. Founded in 1999 and listed on NASDAQ in 2003 and HKEX in 2021, Trip.com Group has become one of the best-known travel groups in the world, with the mission "to pursue the perfect trip for a better world".
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Business Travel, Hospitality Trends
Globenewswire | August 01, 2023
Cloudbeds, the hospitality management platform powering more reservations and happier guests for lodging businesses around the globe, announced its integration with Vrbo. Through a full API connection, owners and operators can manage all aspects of their Vrbo listing through the Cloudbeds platform. The integration creates a superior user experience with automation in onboarding, managing rates and availability, reconciliation, and more.
As one of the world’s premier channels for vacation rentals, Vrbo will enable Cloudbeds customers to maximize bookings by connecting them to its massive base of travelers seeking family-oriented travel and prime leisure experiences.
The integration solidifies Cloudbeds’ channel and distribution management solution as an industry leader, offering its lodging customers easy access to the world’s top distribution channels in order to maximize their visibility, reach new markets and different types of travelers, and ultimately increase bookings.
Richard Castle, Co-founder and COO of Cloudbeds, shares, “Our mission at Cloudbeds is to power all segments of hospitality, delivering owners and operators technology capable of competing with the big brands. It gives us great pride to be one of the few official software partners of Vrbo, and we’re excited to provide even more opportunities for our properties to reach new travelers.”
ABOUT CLOUDBEDS
Cloudbeds is the platform that powers hospitality, enabling tens of thousands of lodging businesses in more than 150 countries worldwide to grow and thrive. The award-winning Cloudbeds Platform brings together technology solutions to increase revenue, delight guests, and streamline operations into a single unified system, enhanced by a curated marketplace of third-party integrations. Founded in 2012, Cloudbeds was named No. 1 PMS, No. 1 Hotel Management System, and No. 1 Guest Messaging Software by Hotel Tech Report in 2023 and was recognized as a major player in the 2022 IDC Marketscape Report.
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