Indochina still offers untapped potential, operator says
The Australian market still offers untapped potential for travel to many areas of South East Asia despite the common perception that it is ground well trodden, according to Travel Indochina.
Managing director Paul Hole told Travel Today that only a "really small percentage" of the total travel market has properly considered travelling to countries such as Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos and Burma.
"One of the big mistakes travel agents make is that they think that just because they've been aware of Vietnam and Cambodia in particular for so many years, they think the rest of the country has already considered it as a holiday destination," he said.
"There is much more upside out of the Australian marketplace."
Hole highlighted considerable growth for its range of Mekong river cruises out of Australia with the "five-star" Jahan operating "very full". The firm also has access to the "four-star" Jayavarman but has no plans to add an additional vessel at this point.
Burma also continues to be hugely popular, although growth to the destination is held back to a degree by supply issues.
"We could sell three times what we do if we had the hotel rooms," Hole said.
He indicated development is underway, although there remains some uncertainty about how this can be done while respecting the colonial architecture that is one of the destination's major drawcards.
He remained confident about the outlook for 2013, acknowledging "nervousness around election years" may lead to a quieter first half than last year. However, he predicted pent-up demand after the election process is over will see sales bounce back.
"We'll probably see a bigger second half that we've seen for some time," Hole said.
Email the Travel Weekly team at traveldesk@travelweekly.com.au
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