Abu Dhabi-based carrier Etihad Airways has got the former boss of Portugal’s national carrier TAP, Antonoaldo Neves, as its new CEO.
Etihad’s earlier boss Tony Douglas had agreed to join RIA — Saudi Arabia’s newest airline. Earlier reports had suggested that global consulting firm Korn Ferry had been looking to find a replacement for Douglas.
Neves’ appointment news comes a day after reports of the Supreme Council for Financial and Economic Affairs transferring full ownership of Etihad Aviation Group to ADQ, an Abu Dhabi-based investment and holding company.
“The transfer complements ADQ’s efforts to realize Abu Dhabi’s vision to strengthen the emirate’s position as a global aviation hub delivering integrated and competitive aviation services,” a release from the investement company stated on Tuesday.
Earlier this year, Etihad Aviation Group’s ancillary businesses were transitioned into ADQ to create a new integrated aviation support services company.
After the privatisation of TAP in 2015, the airline was renationalized during Covid. As a result of the exit of private shareholder David Neeleman, Neves’ stint with the Portugese carrier came to an end in September 2020.
Soon after his exit from TAP, Neves went on to launch a startup — P2D Travel, which Neves himself describes as “a platform to empower anyone to earn money by selling travel on social networks.”
In August 2021 it had been reported that his startup had received an investment from Point Break Capital, which valued the company at over $12.7 million.
Hungary’s largest hotel, the 499-room Danubius Hotel Hungaria City Center in Budapest said it would not accept bookings between November 1 and February 28 as the energy crisis brought about by Russia’s war on Ukraine bites the broader hotel and spa sector.
Management said it would be “impossible” to run successfully during the winter season because of rising energy costs, according to the Hungarian travel news website Turizmus on Monday.
Recently, the Kastelyhotel Sasvar Resort, housed in a 19th-century castle also announced a temporary shutdown because of the energy crisis.
The three-star Hotel Lover in Sopron will close at the end of October after being in business for 40 years. Rising energy costs coming after the long pandemic was the final blow, management told local media.
A UK-based hotel operations software platform is expanding offerings for restaurants through an acquisition.
Guestline announced Tuesday that it has acquired UK-based Newbridge Software, a company that offers an electronic point of sale (ePOS) platform for bars and restaurants. Newbridge will operate as a division of the Guestline Group.
Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.
Guestline’s existing software platform covers a range of operations and payments for hotels across Europe and Asia, the company said. The company was founded in 1991.
Founded in 2016, Newbridge has worked with standalone and group operators across the UK. The software includes real-time revenue and profit reporting, and it has features that enable table ordering, rewards programs and promotions.
The Newbridge software will be fully integrated into the Guestline system, giving existing clients access to the ePOS software. The Newbridge software will also be offered as a standalone service, continuing to serve independent bars and restaurants
Andrew McGregor, CEO of Guestline, said in a statement that enhancing ePOS capabilities has been part of the company’s strategic focus.
The following excerpt is from today’s edition of Daily Lodging Report, a subscription newsletter.
The Hoxton is set to expand its global community, with seven hotels lined up to open in some of Europe’s key cities by early 2024.
The Hoxton will open its fourth London hotel in Shepherd’s Bush this December, followed by a huge 18 months with openings in Brussels, Amsterdam, Berlin, Edinburgh, Vienna and Dublin.
The hotels are:
Shepherd’s Bush with 237 rooms
Brussels, opening spring 2023 with 198 rooms
Amsterdam, opening in spring 2023, the second property in the Eastern Docklands district, will offer 136 rooms
Berlin, opening in summer 2023 with 234 rooms;
the 211-room Edinburgh property is opening in the summer 2023;
Vienna will be opening in late 2023 with 196 rooms;
Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts said on Monday it had appointed Alejandro Reynal CEO and president as the luxury hotel management company seeks to improve its use of data to enhance performance.
Reynal most recently was president and CEO of Apple Leisure Group, a resort company Hyatt acquired in the past year. But intriguingly he has expertise in applying data-based approaches to businesses, having previously held top positions at Atento, a global customer relationship management firm, and Telefonica, a telecom.
“Throughout his career, Alejandro has led and inspired global teams to embrace innovation, leverage the power of data and insights, and deliver top financial performance and value to both investors and customers,” said Michael Larson, chief investment officer of Cascade Investment, in a statement. Larson is the money manager who calls the shots in the fund, which holds the personal investment assets of billionaire Bill Gates.
In the past year, Cascade has increased its stake in Four Seasons, and now holds a 71 percent stake in the company. It has said it wants the lodging company to boost its uses of the latest technologies to enhance performance.
“I have a deep admiration for Four Seasons and the more than 50,000 people around the world who make this company so special,” said new CEO Reynal on LinkedIn. “I look forward to leading this exceptional organization into the future as we seize the opportunities ahead and continue to deliver best-in-class experiences for our guests, residents, partners and all who connect with our brand.”
The European Union and Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) have signed a new open skies agreement aimed at recovering and expanding airline links between the two regions.
The agreement is unique as it covers two blocs of countries — the EU has 27 members and ASEAN 10 — rather than two countries or between the EU and, for example, the U.S. The agreement, unveiled Monday, will drop all restrictions on flights between the EU and ASEAN for airlines based in either region. It goes into effect immediately.
“It will support the aviation sector’s recovery after COVID-19 and restore much-needed connectivity,” EU Commissioner for Transport Adina Vălean said. She added that the agreement provides a “platform” for the EU and ASEAN to collaborate on “economically, socially and environmentally sustainable aviation.”
The departure board at Bangkok’s Suvarnabhumi airport. (Ronald Yeo/Flickr)
Airlines based in ASEAN, which includes Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, and Thailand, are currently the largest in the market. Singapore Airlines and and Thai Airways flew the most passenger capacity between the blocs this year, according to scheduled data from Diio by Cirium. KLM and Lufthansa are third and fourth, respectively.
The agreement also appears to be a way for the EU to offer its own airlines a leg up in competition with the Gulf carriers, which include Emirates and Qatar Airways that carry large numbers of connecting passengers between the two regions. The bloc described the pact as helping “EU and ASEAN airlines to compete with competitors targeting the lucrative EU-ASEAN market.”
Airline capacity between the EU and ASEAN will be down 28 percent compared to 2019 in the fourth quarter, Diio data show.
Today, the 🇪🇺 & #ASEAN have signed the 1st ever bloc-to-bloc aviation agreement!
The✈️ agreement will support the sector's recovery & restore connectivity, while upgrading standards for flights & ensuring commitment on social & environmental matters.
Latin America’s airlines likely face two more years to return to “total normality,” Roberto Alvo, the CEO of the region’s largest carrier, Latam Airlines, warned Sunday.
“The pressures that the industry has to bear … has not yet fully recovered and that means the industry has not yet left this major crisis behind,” he said at the ALTA Airline Leaders Forum in Buenos Aires. Those pressures include a strong U.S. dollar, high fuel costs, and the continued lack of any state financial support from the region’s governments.
With that in mind, plus the financial toll many Latin American airlines suffered during the pandemic, Alvo expects “total normality” for the industry by the end of 2024.
(Alexandro Dias/Flickr)
Alvo’s comments come on the eve of the annual general meeting of the regional airline trade association, ALTA. The CEOs of many of Latin America’s major airlines, including Aeromexico, Avianca, Azul, and Gol, are expected to share their views on the recovery and outlook at the event. Alvo is president of the ALTA executive committee.
Normality, however, does not mean travelers won’t return sooner. In fact, Alvo forecast a full recovery in terms of airline passenger traffic by the end of next year. That is a little later than the outlook for his airline; Latam expects a full traffic recovery by around the middle of 2023.
“We are at a period of strong recovery of [the] industry,” Alvo said. Air travel in some countries, including Colombia, the Dominican Republic, and Mexico, is already above pre-pandemic levels, with others in the region rapidly catching up.
In August, data from global airline trade group IATA show Latin American passenger traffic had recovered to nearly 90 percent of 2019 levels. That made Latin America the most recovered air travel market — in terms of passenger traffic — in the world, even ahead of North America that was at 89 percent of pre-pandemic traffic.
Evolving the ever-popular Buy Now Pay Later model, one travel company is now offering up to 20 percent interest to customers willing to bank their deposit with it.
India’s EaseMyTrip is calling the concept “Save Now Buy Later” and the investment solution offers a bank-like interest rate on the customer’s cash. It claims its new “Systematic Investment Plan” is a travel industry first.
However, customers must invest on a recurring basis. The minimum period is 90 days, after which the collected amount can be redeemed to book a vacation package or a hotel stay. The maximum duration of the investment is two years or $600,000, whichever is achieved first for both domestic and international travel.
EaseMyTrip also provides Buy Now Pay later for its customers.
“Our constant endeavour is to ease our customers’ travel experience in whichever way possible and we are certain that this new investment scheme will enable them to take their holiday and stay from their return on investment,” said chief operating officer Lokendra Saini
A regional consumer affairs agency in Spain fined eDreams Odigeo $23,300 (24,000 euros) for allegedly duping some consumers into buying the company’s much-publicized Prime subscription service.
In 2017, eDreams Odiego moved into new offices in Barcelona designed by Vimworks. Source: Vimworks.
The General Directorate of Consumer Affairs of the Balearic Islands, which include Mallorca and Ibiza among the better-known islands in the archipelago, levied the fine against eDreams Odigeo based on consumer complaints, finding that the Spain-based online travel company enticed travelers to book discounted flights, for example, but didn’t show prominently enough online that they would also be charged a roughly 55 euro ($53) annual fee for activation of the company’s subscription service, according to multiple published reports.
Edreams Odigeo announced in August that Prime attracted 3.5 million subscribers, after notching its largest ever quarterly growth in April, May and June, namely 560,000 paying members.
The amount of the fine, $23,000-plus is a tiny for eDreams Odigeo from a financial perspective — the company claims to be the #2 flight online travel agency in the world behind Trip.com Group in China — is inconsequential. But the hit to eDreams Odigeo’s brand reputation, which had some trying times several years ago, could be more significant.
The company’a brands include eDreams, Opodo, and GoVoyages, among others.
An eDreams Odigeo spokesperson commented on the regulatory action.
“The resolution proposal by the Balearic consumer authority is not final and we respectfully disagree with it,” the eDreams Odigeo spokesperson said. “Our subscription programme, Prime, is exclusively offered to consumers as an optional service. Users must expressly opt-in to enroll on the programme after confirming they have read the terms and conditions. All the details of the subscription are displayed clearly and upfront, ensuring that no customer joins the programme unknowingly.
“For further transparency, we offer a free trial period to allow consumers to enjoy the benefits of the service at no cost for 30 days. Furthermore, all customers who decide to join the free trial receive an email confirmation that clearly informs them of their subscription and how to easily cancel it online at any time before any charge is made, should they wish to.”
Janis Dzenis, a spokesperson for WayAway, a recently launched travel price comparison service that operates a subscription plan in the U.S., reacted to the news, arguing that such services need to be up-front with travelers.
“One hundred percent transparency about what the consumer is signing up for is a must for us,” Dzenis said. “Subscriptions are a long-term business play and unsatisfied customers could jeopardise your brand. By all means show people a ‘if you were a subscriber you’d get xx percent off this flight’ option, but it has to be completely clear. No surprises.”
The consumer affairs unit of the Balearic Islands, which is an autonomous province of Spain, likewise proposed a euro 24,000 fine against Spanish low-cost-carrier Volotea on similar lack of transparency grounds in inducing sign-ups for its own subscription plan.
“In the case of Volotea, the Consumer Affairs Directorate of Baleares points out that, when simulating buying a ticket for the Menorca-Asturias route, a discount of just over five euros was offered, but at the same time a subscription to the Megavolotea Plan was activated, with a cost of almost 50 euros per year. In the case of eDreams, different discounts entailed the activation of the Prime service, with a cost of 55 euros,” Facua reported.
The consumer affairs agency considers the case against the airline as being in its preliminary stages, and the proceeding against eDreams Odigeo resolved.
United Arab Emirates-headquartered Global Hotel Alliance has seen a strong post-pandemic travel rebound from its Asian properties, as well as a shift in travel behaviors.
Its hotels in Phuket and Bangkok, Thailand, reported growth in revenue of 535 percent and 345 percent respectively for the first nine months of this year, compared to the same period in 2021.
Total revenue generated by the 22 million members of its GHA Discovery loyalty program reached $900 million for the period, up 68 percent on 2021, and reaching 84 percent of pre-pandemic levels on a like- for-like basis.
August was also the alliance’s second strongest-performing month in its history.
The umbrella organization for independent hospitality brands was also boosted by improved performances across Europe. Earlier this year Madrid-headquartered NH Group joined Global Hotel Alliance, bringing with it over 350 hotels and 10 million loyalty program members
London experienced growth of 300 percent.
More than 60 percent of GHA Discovery revenues came from international stays, with this proportion growing strongly over the summer months. The highest-spending international travelers came from the U.S. ($76 million), UK ($71m) and Germany ($60m).
The average length of stays across all markets globally increased further in the third quarter of 2022 versus the same period in 2021. Europe, for example, has a 64 percent increase. The average was 20 percent.
Business travel has fared less well. The average daily rate for corporate transactions went up by 27 percent In the first half of the year, compared to the 2021 first quarter, but international business travel lagged at 60 percent in the first half of 2022, but the company said it was expecting that figure to increase in the second half. However, Domestic business travel has recovered to 90 percent of 2019 levels.
