Destinations Asia sees challenges, opportunity in seamless travel market

Despite its strong, 16-year experience in the industry, Destination Asia (Thailand) Co, a leading inbound travel agency, acknowledges that running its business will no longer easy when the Asean Economic Community kicks off in 2015.
The company believes that the 10-nation AEC will bring both opportunities and hurdles. It will certainly mark a new golden period for Thai tourism, especially when six other states (China, South Korea, Japan, India, Australia and New Zealand) are added to the bloc as Asean+6, pouring billions of baht into the industry.

On the dark side, however, is the new complexity of this expanded market. Most likely, some travel operators will go out of business if they can not adjust to the changing environment, especially in building regional networks with counterparts in other nations, said Pornthip Samerton, the company's managing director.

She said travel operators should start preparing for the new era by acting as one-stop service agencies. After the AEC opens, other countries in the region will emerge as alternative destinations to Thailand for foreign tourists. Operators will have to look for ways to keep the Kingdom central to foreign travellers' interest.

"About 60 per cent of foreign tourists visiting Thailand are repeaters. They love Thailand, but the country is not as attractive those looking for new experiences. As nations nearby emerge, they look for chances to explore culturally and socially.

"We have adjusted ourselves from time to time in 16 years of doing business. What we have done is update tourism packages and add new sites, and also adjust our business strategy in line with changing lifestyles and business trends," Pornthip said.

Destination Asia started expanding its network soon after it was founded. Vietnam was the first nation the company went into, followed by Cambodia. Today, its network is getting even wider, including Singapore, Indonesia, Malaysia, Laos and Myanmar, and also other destinations in Asia such as mainland China, Hong Kong and Japan.

The company has been in Myanmar for eight years, and believes the country's unspoiled nature will attract large numbers of foreign tourists.

Establishing business alliances in each country in Asean will enhance travel agencies' competitiveness. Local partners understand the local tourism landscape, and can help design attractive tour packages.

The company took care of 40,000 foreign tourists, mainly high-spending Western people, in the first year of its operation, and by 2011 that number had risen to 120,000, thanks to its strong sales teams in the United States, Australia, Britain, Spain and Scandinavia.

Even as economic crisis has hit the US and Europe, Pornthip believes its business is still on the rise, with an expectation of a 10-per-cent increase in foreign tourists from last year.

Given big opportunities in Southeast Asia, the company has made the intra-Asean tourism market its focus. Pornthip believes that a growing number of residents of the region will travel around from country to country. As for non-Asean tourists, their numbers will also increase significantly after the single-visa scheme takes effect, allowing them to go anywhere in the region |easily. Therefore, the firm has started to capture a share of Asean tourists, especially from Vietnam and Indonesia.

Those two nations offer big potential for the inbound travel business thanks to growing purchasing power driven by economic prosperity. In Vietnam, the firm will work with its local alliance there. Travellers for both leisure and meeting purposes are in focus. Luckily, Thailand is still a popular destination among Vietnamese.

Pornthip said the travelling styles of Western and Eastern tourists were different. Asians like fun-oriented trips such as shopping and photo-taking, requiring many places to visit before returning to their accommodations late at night. Also, they dislike listening to tour guides.

Meanwhile their Western counterparts enjoy exploring culture deeply from place to place.

Although online tourism is playing an increasing role in the business, she believes the travel agency is still important. In fact, some tourists prefer to talk to professionals to make sure their trips are taken care of smoothly.

Also, some destinations are more complicated and need travel agents to help organise them.

Pornthip stressed that operators should run their businesses ethically if they want to survive. Clearly, they will not last long if they provide poor service to tourists or cheat them. Such businesses will be hit by complaints lodged via social networks, and they will not be able control the impact of such negative reports.

"Surely, the market from now on will start to get highly competitive. Anyway, I like this business environment. If there were no competition, there would be no fun in this business at all," she said.

Sourced: nationmultimedia