Hooked On Asia » Asia

Asia Bargains Here Today And Gone Tomorrow?

Tony Champion — Tue, 24 Mar 2009 21:00:44 +0000

Marble Temple, Bangkok

There is no doubt about it, with air fares and hotel prices falling, now is a good time to travel to Asia (or anywhere actually). According to Hotel dot com’s latest Hotel Price Index (HPI) hotel rates in Asia fell by 2% in the last quarter of 2008 compared with the same period in 2007. Although this was a lot less than the global average of 12%, it is the first quarterly drop recorded for Asia since the HPI began in 2004.

According to the report, by the end of last year Bangkok was one of the best-value cities in the world: you could find a 4/5 star hotel in the city from between £75 and £100 per room per night.

I feel certain that rates will have fallen even further since then but I wonder just how low they will go. Traditionally, for most of the region, May and June are low-season months and this is the period when rates bottom out: it will be interesting to see what that means this year.

Given the Global Financial Crisis, it could be that the trough lasts for a much longer period but personally I have my doubts that it will.

Firstly, although traveller numbers are down, they have not dried up completely, and there are markets that will still travel. The Middle East is probably among the strongest and that is certainly where a number of airlines are putting their money, and resources. Emirates, for example, recently announced that it is moving its double-decker A380 from the New York route to Dubai/Bangkok (effective 01 June). Incidentally that means travellers from the UK can now fly the A380 all the way to Bangkok, via Dubai of course.

Looking further east, although China’s economy is suffering as much if not more than most, on 31 March Shenzhen Airlines will be launching a thrice weekly service between the Chinese city of Shenzhen and Bangkok. One assumes the airline has done its homework and there will be people on these Boeing 737s.

My second reason for suspecting that rates will not drop too far is simple economics. No company can operate at below cost for very long before going bust. So, just as airlines are mothballing their aircraft in Mojave Airport in southern California, it would not surprise me if hotels are mothballing rooms.

In summary then, I expect there will be some superb deals around for May and June with promotional offers continuing periodically throughout the rest of the year right up until around 15 December. Then, if anyone is going to make some money this year, it will be during the Christmas/New Year peak.

Next year is of course impossible to call but my guess is supply and demand will balance out and rates will stabilize. What do you think?

Hotel Revenues Down In Asia

Tony Champion — Mon, 09 Mar 2009 08:00:40 +0000

According to an industry report the Asia/Pacific region’s hotel occupancy dropped 18.3 percent to 54.3 percent in January 2009 and the key financial metric (RevPAR, revenue per available room) fell 28.3 percent to US$68.09. I am sure Asia is not unique in this: it is a reality that the industry, along with most others, is adjusting to.

I was interested to see though that in Bali, a destination that has been suffering from low tourist numbers mainly as a result of negative Travel Advisories like this one from the Australian Government, RevPAR actually rose 17.5%; and this during a low-season month. At the other extreme Singapore dropped 30%.

No doubt there will be many intense discussions taking place in Berlin this week when representatives from the world’s travel and tourism industry meet at ITB.

By their nature those that work in the industry are an optimistic lot and, whereas there will be some wringing of hands, they will apply their collective brain power to find a way of moving forward. ‘Down but not out’ will be the mood.

For example, Accor Hotels announced last week the development of 4 more hotels in Thailand: 3 in Bangkok and one on the island of Samui. I appreciate these deals might have been set before the crunch started to bite but I still see it as a positive move.

Incidentally I do realise that this blog is beginning to read like a spin-off from Accor Hotels press department but it is entirely coincidental: they happen to be pushing out a lot of positive news at the moment. And that I think is a good thing. In my opinion there is too much talking down of our economies. We know it’s bad but let’s keep looking for the good bits and eventually we will spot a few green shoots.

Many of us might be down but we are most definitely not out!

Vacations: it’s all in the mind

Tony Champion — Sun, 22 Feb 2009 09:24:59 +0000

In the current, gloomy economic climate I thought the first blog on this site should set the tone for what will follow: it’s about happiness!

In his coronation address on 07 November 2008, The 5^th King of Bhutan, His Majesty Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck, popularly known as King Khesar, reconfirmed his commitment to the concept of Gross National Happiness (GNH). According to King Khesar, a GNH society means “the creation of an enlightened society in which happiness and well-being of all people and sentient beings is the ultimate purpose of governance”.

I would say that given the Global Financial Crisis that concept has a lot of appeal. I suspect that had we all been pursuing happiness (as measured by psychological well being) we would not be in the mess we currently find ourselves.

Most of us, I believe, can agree that happiness is a state of mind. In theory we just have to think happy to be happy.

If I extend that idea to the notion of vacations then I could easily argue that the stay-at-home vacation, so-called staycation (yuk), is the new black. Indeed for many, through force of circumstance, it is. In my opinion there is absolutely nothing wrong with that because there is much to be discovered almost literally on our own doorsteps. However, in a blog about vacations in Asia obviously I cannot stop there.

For those in the fortunate position of realistically contemplating a vacation in Asia, I would guess that among the things drawing you back are the feeling of well-being and a sense of spirituality, which seems to pervade the region. Yes, in theory, you can capture that same feeling in your own home, but it’s those familiar sights, sounds, tastes and smells which for me cannot be replicated.

As I write I am transported to Georgetown in Penang, Malaysia. I am seated at a table, on the pavement at a corner of a busy intersection. Droplets of water roll down my bottle of coke and form small puddles on the metal table top. The smell of cooking wafts from inside the restaurant carried in puffs of smoke from the fire that roars beneath a wok seasoned by years of use. Motorcyclists toot and jostle for space on the thin ribbons of concrete that cut between ancient Chinese shophouses. A trishaw driver briskly accelerates, calf muscles bulging, in a hopeless struggle to recapture the streets that were once his.

I know I am lucky to have such memories and although, to a degree, this goes against the concept of GNH: I want more. Vacations for me are in the mind but my body needs to be in situ to truly enjoy them.

If during these difficult times that means economising along the way then so be it. Dropping a hotel grade is probably the easiest way of reducing costs and while those extra in-house restaurants, 24-hour room service and branded toiletries in the bathroom are nice to have they are, generally, not a vacation breaker. For me the hotel just needs to be clean and close enough to the sites and local facilities: I can take care of the rest.

A vacation in Asia is a luxury but it can still be affordable. We just have to decide what are the true essentials of our vacation, budget wisely and imagine how grumpy we would be if we didn’t go.