Travel & Tourism

Jaunts abroad offer useful cover for China’s Ctrip

21 May 2019

The $20 bln travel giant, owner of Skyscanner, has become a top shareholder in India's MakeMyTrip. Efforts at diversification are prudent: rivals are proliferating at home, and the economy is cooling. There's protection too, if Beijing pulls tourists into a worsening trade war.

Saga is a wake-up call for UK insurers

4 Apr 2019

Shares in the company that focuses on baby boomers fell 38 percent after it issued a profit warning and cut its dividend. Data protection laws and the UK financial watchdog’s keener focus on prices that are causing problems for its insurance business will also hurt rivals.

Brexit gives easyJet handy excuse for summer blues

1 Apr 2019

The low-cost airline blamed political turbulence in Britain for weak passenger demand. Anaemic euro zone growth is probably a bigger culprit. With fuel costs rising and air-traffic disruption still likely, easyJet will struggle to repeat last year’s high-flying performance.

Etihad is strapped in too tightly at Jet Airways

19 Mar 2019

The ailing $400 mln Indian carrier has stopped flights to Abu Dhabi, the hub of its 24 pct shareholder. Even with some planes grounded, Jet may be trying to strong-arm support for a restructuring. It’s a harsh reminder that Etihad has more to lose than just its equity investment.

Cambodia’s casino king faces new poker hands

11 Mar 2019

Malaysian tycoon Chen Lip Keong is enjoying an extraordinary monopoly in Phnom Penh: his $6 billion flagship group, NagaCorp, grew net profit by more than 50 percent last year. But new rules and an influx of Chinese tourists will inspire upstarts to try their luck too.

Macau’s festive blowout defies economic worries

27 Feb 2019

The $38 bln Chinese gambling hub looks resilient despite concerns about slowing consumption onshore. Visits rose by 27 pct over the Lunar New Year holiday; quarterly results at Melco and MGM also inspire optimism. Efforts to attract the up-and-coming middle class are paying off.

A plucky local upstart will take on Macau’s moguls

31 Dec 2018

Regulators in the world’s largest gambling hub could allow new players onto the casino floor when licenses expire in 2020. With frayed U.S.-China relations dealing American giants Sands and Wynn a weak hand, homegrown names like Suncity and Golden Dragon will try their luck.

Drones prove disruptive capacity – in a bad way

20 Dec 2018

Rogue devices forced London's Gatwick airport to close, grounding flights and stranding thousands of passengers the week before Christmas. Even known risks with new technology - already highlighted by UK aviation authorities - can be hard to manage.

Wanda takes a deft detour into Party nostalgia

18 Dec 2018

The property conglomerate said it will build a $1.7 bln “red tourism” destination, even as it sells off other theme parks. Wang Jianlin’s outfit may be shedding assets to pay back jittery creditors, but officials are the constituency he really needs to placate.

Club Med embarks on overheated holiday escape

13 Dec 2018

The vacation resorts arm of Chinese conglomerate Fosun priced its IPO at the bottom end of the indicated range. A $2.4 bln market cap, however, imputes a multiple on par with its most richly valued peers. Sluggish tourism trends could leave optimistic investors scorched.

Buyouts are the new activism at Elliott

10 Dec 2018

Months after putting it in play, Paul Singer’s hedge fund is joining a $4.4 bln buyout of Travelport. Public investors don’t value the e-commerce also-ran, and getting margins near leader Amadeus may reap big gains. It’s a new way for Elliott to put its money where its mouth is.

Marriott breach invites data cops to check in

30 Nov 2018

Another 500 mln people now have to worry about identity theft. Hanging onto personal data, protecting it ineffectively and disclosing breaches only slowly are habits in corporate America. It’s not only Google, Facebook and their ilk that merit privacy rules more like Europe’s.

Global hotel chains get Kentucky fried in China

19 Nov 2018

A video showing staff at Marriott, Hilton and other chains cleaning cups with dirty towels has gone viral, forcing local managers to apologise. As Yum Brands found, Chinese smear campaigns can become big business headaches. An escalating trade war only increases the stakes.

M&A can bring relief to Asia’s crowded skies

19 Nov 2018

Too many carriers, with too many planes, offering cheap fares have left the industry on its knees, and put price controls back on the agenda. Consolidation is a better fix. With Indonesia’s Garuda taking over a rival and India’s Jet Airways in play, a turning point may be near.

Chinese tourists leave investors holding the bag

14 Nov 2018

Luggage giant Samsonite said mainland sales fell 5 pct last quarter, blaming trade tension and consumer anxiety. Travel website Ctrip is now more cautious, while peer Tongcheng-Elong shrank its IPO. The gloom will globe-trot, including to the planned market debut for Club Med.

Self-fulfilling prophecy imperils Chinese shoppers

10 Oct 2018

Tourism spending during last week’s Golden Week holiday grew a healthy 9 pct from a year ago to nearly $90 bln. Any “consumer downgrade” seems more informed by alarming anecdotes than any hard data so far. There are good reasons, though, to fear the spread of skittish sentiment.

Jet’s poor piloting exacerbates Indian turbulence

10 Aug 2018

Naresh Goyal’s airline says it is not short of cash or in talks to sell a stake. Yet the failure to get its earnings signed off on time suggests profound problems. The industry is suffering from high costs and low fares, but the carrier's mixed messages test investor patience.

Cathay’s improved flight path is still bumpy

8 Aug 2018

Halfway through a turnaround, the Hong Kong carrier reported a narrower half-year loss and higher fares. That's reassuring after price pressures at rival Singapore Airlines. But a more tangible trade war, rising costs and a weak yuan may yet test the recovery its shares expect.

Europe airlines show strike pain is for passengers

18 Jul 2018

EasyJet expects a 45 pct rise in pre-tax profit in 2018 thanks to more passengers and charges on checked bags. The limited damage that French air controllers’ strikes inflicted on the company and its peers reveals such disruptions are more a problem for customers than carriers.

Old folks help cruise lines sail past cost iceberg

27 Jun 2018

Shares in $42 bln Carnival sank almost 8 pct as fuel prices and currency rates holed earnings. But the industry, like healthcare, is one of the few where retirees spend good money. As long as cruises remain a popular pensioner pastime, Carnival and rivals should remain shipshape.