Focus on tech in 2017

Regal International Hotels and Akquasun organised a three-city joint roadshow to clarify the pre-registration procedure for Indians travelling to Hong Kong.

The three-city networking event was held in New Delhi, Bengaluru and Mumbai. Christoph Szymanski, Group Director of Project and General Manager, Regal Oriental Hotel, defined the event as an important networking activity to meet the key players and frontline staff of the travel partners who have contributed significantly to the growth in business from the India market.

B. A. Rahim, Group Director, Akquasun, commented, “This event is important to us as we need the travel trade to understand that the procedure is simple and the hotel chains in Hong Kong are in full support to cater to the increasing number of Indian visitors to the destination.”

Rahim also informs that Akquasun will be introducing its online system at upcoming trade shows like SATTE, OTM and IITT and the company plans to focus on enhancing its technology arm in 2017. “The first quarter of 2017 looks good for tourism but the second one looks even better. This year we also plan to open up offbeat destinations like Bosnia to the Indian market,” he adds.

Elaborating on the collaboration with Akquasun Group, Szymanski states that, three years ago, the market share for Regal Oriental Hotel geographically for India was at 3-5 per cent. However with the joint operation with Akquasun, the market share has risen to 17 per cent as of 2016. “Akquasun has opened a new office in Hong Kong and we are supporting them in order to deliver highest guest satisfaction. In 2017, Q1 is a bit slow, but we have received a large number of bookings from all segments like FIT, MICE, corporate etc. and hopefully we should be able to capture at least 20 per cent of the Indian market share by the end of 2017,” he says. The hotel is focusing on product marketing and stressing on customer feedback. Szymanski points out that they have received specific food requests from the Indian market and the hotel is altering its menu according to the region where the Indian guests belong to in order to maximise customer satisfaction.