SYMPTOMS OF "DISINTERMEDIATION"

"Disinter mediation" is guaranteed to be one of the "buzz words" of the new decade. It broadly describes the revolution in the distribution systems now taking place in travel marketing worldwide. Several major airlines have announced substantial reductions or the absolute abolishment of travel agent commissions. People now shop for travel via the Internet expecting and often demanding better deals than if they had purchased their hotel and travel through traditional wholesaler.

Research shows that the cost to a hotel of materializing a booking over the Internet can cost only 3-5%. That same piece of business secured through the traditional food chain of wholesalers, catalogs and travelers can cost as much as 35% to materialize. No wonder the airlines are investing millions in developing their internet sites.

All this brings to mind remarks made by Richard Bransden of Virgin Airlines at a Japanese travel conference two years ago. When someone from the audience asked what advice Mr. Bransden  would give to someone who owns a travel agent today, his answer without so much as a pause was "sell it."

The time and distribution systems they are a' changing.

Arguably a further symptom of such change is the sad news last week TRAVELNEWS ASIA was ceasing publication. The reason cited by the publishers was the "flight of trade dollars" (to consumer publications).

In other words, travel suppliers are learning to cut out the middle-man.

 

NEWS FROM THE BALI UPDATE DATABASE MANAGER

Over the New Year's weekend the Bali Paradise Online system that supports the distribution and archiving of the Bali Updates underwent an upgrade. Unfortunately, the process took a bit longer than expected and you may have received edition #172 of the Bali Update late or in a few rare instances, perhaps, not at all.

If you missed edition #172 that edition is available at our web site at www.patabali.com where you should click on the "newsletter" icon.

I am assured that the problems were not Y2K related and that Bali Update and all the Bali Paradise Online customers, including PATA Bali and this newsletter, are now being served by a vastly improved delivery system.

We apologize for any inconvenience caused by this "glitch" in our electronic delivery system.

However, this small episode at the dawn of the new millennium did provide proof of evolutionary progress: that "bottom feeders" do sometimes learn to crawl ashore and live among us land creatures. One of Bali Paradise On-line (BPO)'s business rivals on the island quickly seized on the incident to send e-mail's to many of BPO's clients in order to draw attention to the lapse in service and offer substantial discounts if they would immediately switch their interline provider service.

Remember, folks, even the big boys such as AOL and CNN occasionally have their service interrupted. Anyway, many recipients of the opportunistic e-mail were not impressed with the lack of professionalism such an attack represented and sent the offending company an e-mail to tell them so.

So much for rewarding loyalty of your existing customer base. How many existing customers of BPO's rival are now making sure they are enjoying the same generous discount offered to newcomers?

The Golden Rule of Bottom Feeding: "What goes around comes around."

Again, our apologies for the any interruption in service.

 

NGURAH RAI TO CLOSE ON "NYEPI"

Apparently it is now official. The Ngurah Rai International Airport will be closed during the celebration of the Bali Hindu New Year "Nyepi" which falls this year on April 4 this year. According to a circular letter from the Governor of Bali, in strict conformance with observance of Bali's day of silence, airlines will not be allowed to pick up or disembark domestic or international passengers on that date.

"Nyepi" is a day marked by absolute quiet on the island. On this day of reflection which marks the Hindu New Year, all traffic is banned from the streets. Bali appears deserted on this single day of the year when people do not venture outside the walls of their homes and refrain from lighting fires and electrical lamps. Hotels guests are required to confine their activities to hotel grounds. In the past passengers departing or arriving at the Bali airport on Nyepi day were granted special license to travel the roads directly between the airport and the hotel.

Many complaints that tour operators were abusing that permit system has brought about the new and much stricter application of the rules of silence which must be observed by all residents of the island, both Hindu and non-Hindu.

While we await further clarification from the airlines, it seems that all domestic flights will divert to Surabaya on 04 April or be cancelled. International flights will be allowed to operate into the airport on that date where all airline ground and support staff must be accommodated at the airport for the 36 hour "Nyepi" period which commences from the early hours of 04 April and ends on the morning on 05 April. Passengers arriving on international flights during this period will be compelled to stay at the airport that does not have an on-airport hotel. Supposedly people leaving on 04 April will have the option of arriving at the airport the night before to wait in the terminal for their flight the next day.

Local airline circles speculate that the new ruling will cause many airlines to merely cancel their international flight operations into Bali on 04 April.

Stay tuned.

 

NEW FACE AT THE RITZ CARLTON BALI

Mr. Marc Dardene, Manager of the Grand Hyatt Singapore has been appointed as the General Manager of the The Ritz Carlton Bali.

 

DRUG AND ALCOHOL REHABILITATION CENTER TO OPEN

The planned Drug and Alcohol Rehabilitation Center (See Bali Update #167) will officially open on Monday, January 17, 2000.

The center's location is on Jl Kertha Mulya II/7 in Denpasar. Telephone 62-(0)361-720329.

 

FRENCH PATA TRAVEL MART

The Pacific Asia Travel Association (PATA) French Chapter is holding the 18th Post ITB Travel Mart on March 16, 2000.

Open to only the first 75 buyers who register for this event, sellers of travel pay only US$ 460 which also includes a special luncheon with the French Travel Trade and  an evening out in Paris. Non-PATA members must pay an additional $US 180 to attend. The French Chapter has also arranged for discounted hotel accommodation for sellers at the Golden Tulip Saint Honore which is nearby to the venue for the mart which will be held at  Salons Hoche on the avenue Hoche in Paris.

For more information contact the French Chapter by e-mail at paris@patafrance.com or visit their web site at www.patafrance.com

 

PATA GO BETWEENS

The Pacific Asia Travel Association (PATA) is holding two go between travel trade workshops in Amsterdam on February 29 and in Munich on March 2.  These have been scheduled to coincide with the travel plans of PATA members participating at ITB in Berlin.

Both cities are available to PATA travel sellers for $US 750 or $US 425 per city for those registering and paying before January 31, 2000.

For more information contact John Semones, Managing Director Europe PATA at e-mail pata@monaco.net

 

TOURASIA WINS AWARD

The Swiss Travel trade have awarded the "Golden Travel Star" to TOURASIA naming them the best tour operator for the Asia Pacific area from Switzerland.

This is the 6th time that Mr. Stephen Roemer and his TOURASIA team have received this prestigious award.

 

STRONG BALI PRESENCE AT JATA

The Japanese Association of Travel Agents (JATA) congress and travel exhibition is held once every two years in Tokyo and represents the leading event on the Japanese travel industry calendar. The event attracts all the major players in Japanese travel and always includes world renowned industry leaders as speakers. This year's event keynote address was from Lord Marshall of Knightsbridge-Chairman of British Airways.

Over 700 exhibitors from some 70 countries participated in this years JATA Trade Show. In the past, Indonesia's participation at this event was coordinated by the Indonesian Tourist Promotion Office in Japan. Now that that office has been closed due to economic restraints, Mrs. Makiko Iskandar, President of Rama Tours and the Treasurer of ASITA Bali assumed the role previously played Tourism office and initiated a mission for the Bali Tourism Industry to participate in the December '99 JATA event. As a result some 34 Indonesian travel companies cooperated by sharing exhibition space at JATA.

Highlighting the week was a  'Bali Rasa Sayang Seminar' held on 02 December that was attended by some 37 invitees, including senior staff of key wholesalers, travel journalists as well as the Manager of Garuda Indonesia in Japan.

 

ART EXHIBITION BY BUTET KARTAREDJASA

"Anomali II" a painting  exhibition by Butet Kartaredjasa now through 30 January. Open daily 1000 until 2000 hours at the Graha Budaya Mangsi located on Jalan Bypass Ngurah Rai, Sanur (approximately across the road from the Makro Mega Market).

 

A REJOINDER: CHANGE IN THE VISA POLICY

Many readers of last week's BALI UPDATE were appalled at the prospect that Indonesia is considering changes in the 2 month tourist stay permit granted on arrival to the citizens of 48 countries. One lady who visits Bali on a regular basis said that she needs her passport for business and if she were now required to surrender her documents to the nearest Indonesian Embassy that would mean that Indonesia would be off her travel itinerary.

Meanwhile, other readers pointed out that any curtailment in the visa facility would be badly out-of-step with regional efforts to increase tourism revenues. Myanmar and Vietnam have recently indicated they would be adopting a visa on arrival policy to increase flows.

Will those countries reap an unexpected windfall as people divert from Indonesia due to the imposition of stricter visa policies?

The travel industry pins its hopes on wisdom carrying the day when the nation's policymakers come to make a final decision on this matter.

Thank you to the many readers who sent their positive comments on our Y2K story.

 

TRAVEL QUOTE

"When You Look Like Your Passport Photo, It's Time to Go Home." ERMA BOMBECK

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