Travel &
Travel & Tourism Navigating the Sales & Asian Trails CEO Laurent Künzle gives his “take” on Halong Bay, Vietnam Temple, Chiang Mai, Thailand With 27 years travel management experience in Asia and himself a regular visitor to large international travel shows around the world, Laurent Künzle, CEO of Asian Trails, understands the benefits of attending these kinds of events and how to leverage from meeting customers at shows. We talk to him about this, but moreover, about his company’s core philosophy. Laurent Künzle CEO of Asian Trails Laurent Künzle is the CEO of Asian Trails and Kuoni Destination Management Asia-Pacific. In 2007, following the sale of Asian Trails to Kuoni, Kuenzle became the Group Managing Director based in Bangkok. He is one of the co-founders of Asian Trails Ltd, operating in Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam and Myanmar followed by Laos, Malaysia and Indonesia. Laurent has been living in Asia for almost 27 years. He previously worked for Kuoni Travel in Hong Kong, Korea and Japan and for Diethelm Travel as Country Managing Director for Cambodia and Myanmar. Created in 1999, Asian Trails’ founding principle is that a Destination Management Company (DMC) should include much more than just offering standard tourism services. Of utmost importance is our management team, all leading travel professionals with years of experience in the region to provide unsurpassed experiences in Asia and consequently exceed customers’ expectations. Asian Trails’ philosophy is that only a company that holds on to its entrepreneurial style since its birth can deliver these exceptional experiences. This entrepreneurial empowerment extends to all levels of staff – the result being a drive to create unique and cost-effective travel products and services that are unequalled anywhere else in the world. What do you look for when visiting a travel show like ITB Asia? Our primary role is to meet existing and potential clients. We brief them on current and future destinations and product trends, then discuss strategies and partnerships. From our own DMC business perspective, we look of course at destinations and product development as well as identifying technology trends. Negotiations are usually completed after the trade shows once the client decides what he wants to do at which destination. Supplier negotiations are therefore mostly held outside of the trade show environment. Do you also talk to destination NTOs/ regional tourism offices to create new products or obtain their marketing support? Yes we do. Each tourism authority in each country in Asia has a different agenda and distinctive priorities. However we do work 32 Hotel & Tourism SMARTreport / Worldwide Edition N°27 / September - November 2015
Marketing Jungle getting the best from a trade show hand in hand with them as much as possible. We elaborate strategies more on the marketing side than on products. We discuss general product strategies, destination development as well as future infrastructure enhancements. All these elements are integrated into our country evaluation and can be the foundation for the creation of future products. So travel shows are one of the most efficient ways to meet your customers and suppliers… Well, some are and… some are not. There are too many travel shows and we focus on the ones that bring us most benefits. The shows at which we decide to be present then are turning into an important part of our sales & marketing activities. I believe they will continue to be essential in the future, since face-to-face interaction continues to be an important part of our business activities in the traditional tour operating and MICE business. Do you gain inspiration or new ideas after visiting a travel show? Yes definitely. First of all, meeting existing and potential clients keeps us focused on their changing requirements and their future strategies to which we have to adapt. It works also the opposite way: we talk about Art Deco in Bandung, West Java, Indonesia Face-to-face interaction continues to be an important part of our business activities in the traditional tour operating and MICE business destination and product development to which our clients may adapt. Source markets in particular are developing, changing at lightning speed, and trade shows help us understand these changes and allow us to dig deeper into them with key partners. In addition, technology changes and evolution are a key focus at trade shows to understand where these tools will lead us. Inspiration is also gained by looking at new or emerging products and the development of destinations. ABOUT ASIAN TRAILS GROUP LTD The Asian Trails Group is headquartered in Bangkok from where it offers destination management services in all of its eight destinations: Thailand, Vietnam, China, Malaysia, Myanmar, Indonesia, Cambodia and Laos. Since 2007, following the sale of Asian Trails to Kuoni, the group represents in Asia- Pacific all the activities of Kuoni Destination Management. Asian Trails operates in accordance to the regulations, set by its major shareholder – the Kuoni Travel Group, one of the most respected and recognized travel brands in the world. With over 650 full-time employees in 33 offices, Asian Trails continues to expand its wings in Asia. The company is also deeply involved in corporate responsibility towards Asian local communities. Asian Trails’ commitment to operate sustainable programs creates support and development for our host communities. Corporate Social Responsibility has become an integral part of the DMC daily operations, whether this is constructing a school, supporting libraries, or just simply creating a healthy and safe environment for communities. CONTACT Asian Trails Ltd. 9 th Floor, SG Tower, 161/1 Soi Mahadlek Luang 3 Rajdamri Road, Lumpini, Pathumwan Bangkok 10330 Thailand Phone: + 66 (0)2 626 2000 ext 2150 www.asiantrails.travel www.asiantrails.org www.cleverhotel.org Hotel & Tourism SMARTreport / Worldwide Edition N°27 / September - November 2015 33
