Mimi Hudoyo, Jakarta (2010-10-29)

THE BOROBUDUR Temple will be fully open tomorrow after parts of it were covered in ash from the erupted Mount Merapi since Tuesday.

Borobudur, Prambanan and Ratu Boko Temple Park Management director of marketing Agus Canny said: “The cleaning finished today and the temple complex will be fully operational again tomorrow.”

Canny said a scheduled dinner and The legend of Mahakarya Borobudur when history comes to life performance will take place tomorrow evening as planned.

The park’s management will donate money collected from the event to disaster victims.

Steve Finch, Phnom Penh (2010-10-29)

CAMBODIA’S two international airports will, by the end of this year, see traffic rebound to the same levels recorded before the onset of the global economic crisis, according to operator Société Concessionnaire des Aéroports (SCA).

In the first 10 months, international air traffic was up by 10 per cent for Phnom Penh and 31 per cent for Siem Reap, but domestic traffic was down by 12 per cent and nine per cent respectively, according to SCA.

Nicolas Deviller, CEO of SCA, said 35 additional flights had been confirmed for the upcoming winter high season, from end-October to end-March 2011.

The capacity hike includes AirAsia’s seven additional weekly flights and Malaysia Airlines’ two additional weekly services on the Kuala Lumpur-Phnom Penh route.

Bangkok Airways will also operate an additional flight on the Phnom Penh-Bangkok route.

For Siem Reap, Korean Air will introduce a new weekly service from Busan while adding seven weekly flights on its Seoul route.

National carrier Cambodia Angkor Air will also increase the frequency of its Phnom Penh-Siem Reap route from three to four times daily.

S Puvaneswary, Kuala Lumpur (2010-10-29)

THE HALAL travel market is being given a shot in the arm with a new mobile application that targets Muslim travellers worldwide.

Halal-friendly hotels, holiday packages, restaurants as well as destination and airport guides can be found on crTravel Guide, an Android mobile application launched earlier this month by Singapore-based company, Crescentrating.

Asian Overland Services Tours & Travel director of sales & business development, Andy Muniandy, said the application would be useful for first-time Muslim FIT travellers to Malaysia as information they required would be at their fingertips.

Malaysia is one of 20 destinations covered in the application. Others include India, China, Thailand, Sri Lanka and Singapore.

With 1.6 billion Muslims worldwide, halal-friendly travel services is set to rise in demand.

Crescentrating CEO, Fazal Bahardeen, said another 20 destinations would be added over the next six months. The next step would be to launch mobile applications for iPhone, iPad, Symbian and BlackBerry devices, he added. This is scheduled for April 2011.

Singapore-based EuroAsia Communications, which helped with crTravel Guide's development, will distribute the application through its partner network of telco operators in countries such as Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia and India.

Karen Yue, Singapore (2010-10-29)

DISCOVER Holidays, one of Singapore's leading inbound operator for the Middle East market, has seen a steady increase in Iranian holiday-makers coming to Singapore for cruises.

The agency's managing director, Rodney Yew, told TTG Asia e-Daily that he had seen at least a 20 per cent increase in Iranian volume over the past two years, as a result of the growing interest in cruises.

Yew said: “This year alone we handled 800 Iranians who came to Singapore for cruise holidays, and they were all high-end travellers. They cruise out to Asia and stopover in Penang and Phuket.”

However, Yew could not say if Singapore's soon-to-come International Cruise Terminal, due to open in 2011, would help to further boost Iranian cruise numbers.

“It is still too far out to make a projection. Moreover, the Iranian political situation is a little shaky now, and developments could impact the state of its economy and spending confidence.”

Gracia Chiang, Singapore (2010-10-29)

THE LACK of mid-tier hotels in the city-state has caught the attention of Singaporean company, Hup Heng Group, which launched the 83-room boutique property Moon@23Dickson this month.

Located in Little India, this is the first hotel development for the group, which specialises in property development and trading of automotive spare parts.

“There are a lot of hotels that charge between S$300 (US$231) and S$400 a night as well as under S$100, but only a handful with rates around the S$200 mark,” said managing director Billy Ong.

Average rates at Moon@23Dickson are between S$150 and S$160 for room sizes that range from 16m² to 30m². Rooms come with perks such as designer platform beds, interactive IPTV, complimentary mini-bar and Wi-Fi access and evening cocktails at the lobby lounge.

Assistant director of sales, Vincent Ng, said the hotel would distribute its rooms mainly through corporate clients and online travel agents, targeting professionals in the creative industries as well as trendy leisure travellers.

Ong told TTG Asia e-Daily that the group was aiming for 500 keys in Singapore within the next five years, but was still undecided about the number of boutique properties they would have. There are no plans for overseas expansion yet.

Karen Yue, Singapore (2010-10-29)

RECOGNISING the widening scope of travel into the city, the second Singapore Experience Awards, held yesterday evening, saw the introduction of three new awards – Best Healthcare Experience, Best Education Experience and Best Enrichment Experience.

Organised by the Singapore Tourism Board (STB), the annual event celebrates the tourism industry's best visitor experiences.

STB sector planning and development group service quality director Neeta Lachmandas-Sakellariou told TTG Asia e-Daily it was necessary to keep the award categories relevant amid the changing landscape of the tourism industry.

“If dining becomes (an) extremely important (aspect of tourism), we might have a best chef award or best restaurant manager award.”

Thirty awards were presented, and winners included Parkway Hospitals Singapore for Best Healthcare Experience; PSB Academy for Best Education Experience; Science Centre Singapore for Best Enrichment Experience; The Ritz-Carlton, Millenia Singapore for Best Hotel Experience; Sea Asia 2009 for Exhibition of the Year; and Ernst & Young Asia Pacific Tax Symposium and Transfer Pricing Forum for Meeting of the Year.

Prudence Lui, Hong Kong (2010-10-28)

IN view of travel agents' rising operational costs, Hong Kong's Travel Industry Council (TIC) has introduced a directive to allow its members to charge various service fees from November 1.

Recommended fees for nine items have been identified, from the provision of ticketing services to the processing and handling of visa applications.

For example, booking of hotels where the clients’ own corporate agreement exists and no commission is paid to the agent is chargeable at HK$150 (US$19) per hotel; processing of free ticket or upgrade redemption for airline frequent flyer programmes will cost HK$500 per ticket; and emergency delivery of travel documents after office hours is at HK$300 per transaction.

According to the TIC, the spike in costs has been exacerbated by airlines gradually cutting or removing agency commissions.

TIC executive director Joseph Tung said: “A suggested service fee table can help agents and consumers broker better communication or understanding about the fees that agents have to collect for the work they are doing for the consumer.”

- Full story in TTG Asia, November 5

Sirima Eamtako, Bangkok (2010-10-28)

TURISMO Asia CEO, Nino Jotikasthira, has confirmed that all business interests of the company will fall under one legal entity, Pacific World (Thailand), from November 1.

Under the new legal entity, Hotelbeds will be the product and service brand for FIT and leisure business; Pacific World for MICE. Jotikasthira will manage the Hotelbeds brand as regional director Thailand, Vietnam and Cambodia – FIT. Shanghai-based Jacques Arnoux, Pacific World's managing director – Asia, will oversee the MICE business.

As such, Turismo Asia as a legal entity will be “dormant” as of November 1, said Jotikasthira.

“I will not hold any shares in the new legal entity but will continue to work in the company. I have no plans to stop working,” he added.

The dropping of the “Turismo” name, a move that took some six months to finalise, has taken the industry by surprise, given that the brand was built from scratch by the late Roberto Jotikasthira. To this, the younger Jotikasthira said: “My father knew this was coming because it was his vision (to seize sound business opportunities when they arose).”

Pacific World (Thailand) will be headquartered at the Bangkok office of the former Turismo Asia.

- Full story in TTG Asia, November 5

Mimi Hudoyo, Jakarta (2010-10-28)

CANCELLATIONS have been few and far between for Indonesia tours, despite the eruption of Mount Merapi.

Pacto is feeling the impact of the Italian government's travel advisory against Java but its traffic from German and Dutch accounts is still going strong.

Umberto Cadamuro, Pacto's director of product development, said: “Unfortunately, we received a couple of cancellations today from our Italian agents following the advisory. But this only affects the Java tours. The tours to Bali have not been affected so far.”

Cadamuro said numbers to Java were small, compared to those to Bali, as it was still the off season. “We are sending press releases and updates on the situation to clients to avoid panic. So far so good.”

Panorama Destination has yet to receive any cancellations though enquiries on the situation have been growing.

CEO Dharma Tirtawisata said: “With the exception of Borobudur Temple, which has limited its operational area, all other attractions have not been affected and are accessible. We do not need to divert programmes.”

Neither Pacto nor Panorama had clients for Mentawai.

Singapore (2010-10-28)

FURAMA Hotels International has accepted the termination of the hotel management agreements by the owner of the FuramaXclusive Patong Beach and FX Resort Patong Beach hotels in Phuket.

The hotel chain is, however, pursuing legal action against the owner of the properties for violation of the management contracts.

Furama claims that the owner informed the trade that it had rebranded the hotels on October 22, despite there being a 90-day transition period under hotel management agreements. Moreover, the owner took over the FX Resort Patong Beach on October 25. The chain has thus sent out notices to all staff, suppliers, agents, wholesalers and guests that Furama would not be responsible for “anything happening at the hotel”.

Furama Thailand sales and marketing vice president Tatcha Riddhimat said: “It is unfortunate that the owner has taken things into her own hands and breached the agreements, despite the trust built up between owner and management. This has seriously infringed on our management and brand rights.”

Ollie Quiniquini, Singapore (2010-10-28)

DYNASTY Travel is now turning its attention to high-end inbound traffic, on the heels of opening its upscale retail outlet, Royale Dynasty, at the Marina Bay Sands Shoppes today.

Managing director Clifford Neo told TTG Asia e-Daily that the company's fledgling Singapore Plus inbound business unit would be further developed in the next six months, with a transaction-enabled website, to offer regional tours to high-net-worth visitors.

Singapore Plus will initially target the Australian, Indonesian and UK markets, with a two-tier product – one for top-end, ultra-luxury consumers and another for upscale tourists.
 
Neo said: “We will promote the product online to reach consumers. We will also send managers to these markets to tap the trade.”

The Singapore Plus division is expected to account for 10 to 15 per cent of the company's revenue.

Meanwhile, the Royale Dynasty outlet, which will push the agency's high-end personalised  Signature Tours, is targeted to bring in five to 10 per cent of revenue through higher profit margins.

Raini Hamdi, Singapore (2010-10-28)

ACCOR Asia-Pacific is in talks with owners to reposition the Sofitel JJ Oriental Pudong and Hotel Sofitel Shanghai Hyland as a Pullman and an M Gallery respectively, as their contracts come to an end and a new Sofitel which reflects the brand’s new standards, the Sofitel Hotel Shanghai Jing'an, opens next year.

Markland Blaiklock, Sofitel Asia-Pacific’s senior vice president, confirming this in an interview, said Sofitel was now moving into a “strategic expansion mode” following its three-year repositioning as a luxury brand with French elegance and a rationalising exercise that saw the number of Sofitel hotels worldwide whittle to 120 last year, from 206 in 2006.

Many of the hotels that left the Sofitel portfolio had been rebranded as either a Pullman or an M Gallery when their contracts reached an end, he said.

On his strategy, Blaiklock said the focus was still on expanding the Sofitel brand, especially in key cities in the region where Sofitel was not present, such as Singapore and Hong Kong.

Expansion of the sub-brand, So, which is a trendy and design-led take on Sofitel, is a secondary priority, while another sub-brand, Sofitel Legend, targets only around 10 or so properties worldwide that have a sense of heritage and history.

He said talks were still ongoing with the Centara group to rebrand the Sofitel in Hua Hin as a Legend.

- More in TTG Asia, November 5, Luxury Travel report

S Puvaneswary, Kuala Lumpur (2010-10-28)

A NEW direct flight from Kuala Lumpur to Riyadh is expected to boost travel from Saudi Arabia's capital into Malaysia.

Malaysia Airlines (MAS) will launch thrice-weekly, direct services from Kuala Lumpur to Riyadh from December 17, its second new destination in Saudi Arabia this year.

World Avenues executive director Ally Bhoonee expects a five per cent increase in business volume from Riyadh next year.

Bhoonee said his company would be marketing more aggressively in Riyadh as it has an outbound office there. “More seats from Saudi Arabia give us better opportunities to close the deal,” he said.

Andy Muniandy, Asian Overland Services Tours & Travel director of sales and business development, said he was now eyeing the MICE market from Riyadh due to the convenience provided by the direct flights.

MAS' twice-weekly flights to Dammam via Dubai commenced on May 5. The airline already has six weekly direct flights to Jeddah.

Mimi Hudoyo, Jakarta (2010-10-27)

GROUNDHANDLING agents say tour programmes to Jogjakarta and Central Java as well as to West Sumatera are still in operation although travel has been rerouted to avoid the disaster areas.

Ayu Mandiri Tours and Travel managing director Adji Sutomo said: “Apart from the affected areas of Kaliurang, Ketep, Kaliadem (which are on the Merapi slopes), other attractions and tour routes in Jogjakarta and the surrounding areas (like Solo, Magelang and Semarang) are intact.”

Dewatha Sakti product marketing manager Agnes Priyanti said: “We are in contact with the authorities here and have received information that while there may be more explosions, they will be minor.

“While visits to Borobudur Temple are limited, other temples like Prambanan and Ratu Boko are not affected at all.”

A Java Crisis Media Centre has also been set up by Jogjakarta tourism stakeholders today.

In West Sumatera, Association of the Indonesia Tours and Travel Agencies (ASITA) West Sumatera Chapter chairman Hanafiah said: “Mentawai Islands are a surfing paradise and surfers know the challenges of such places. Although the tsunami may affect travellers for now, the destination’s popularity will bounce back soon.”

The closest island in Mentawai, Muarasiberut, is more than 10 hours away by ferry from Padang, he said. The rest of the provincial areas was not affected by the tsunami.

Mimi Hudoyo, Jakarta (2010-10-27)

ASHES of the erupted Mount Merapi in Jogjakarta-Central Java have covered parts of the Borobudur Temple, prompting the management to limit operations of the temple over the next few days.

Levels three to seven are now out of bounds to travellers, who are advised to bring their masks when visiting the temple.

The Borobudur, Prambanan and Ratu Boko Parks Management marketing director, Agus Canny, said: “We need to take the measures for the safety of the temple and travellers because the ashes contain damaging sulphur. We need to immediately vacuum-clean the ashes and this will take between three to five days.”

Borobudur Temple is located some 30km away from the mountain and is not in the red alert zone.

Bangkok (2010-10-27)

THE THAILAND Ministry of Tourism and Sports (MoTS) plans to carry out immediate restoration of tourism and sporting sites once the flood-stricken areas in the country have returned to normal.

According to the Tourism Authority of Thailand's (TAT) flood watch, as of yesterday many parts of 18 Thai provinces in the north, north-eastern, ccntral and eastern remain flooded, although the situation has eased over the last few days.

MoTS deputy permanent-secretary Thanitta Maneechote said the ministry had prepared a strategy for the short-, medium- and long-term, that would be executed once the floodwaters had receded. TAT will carry out tourism promotional tasks while the Department of Tourism will collaborate with related government agencies on the rehabilitation of tourist sites.

Thanitta said the floods had caused tourism-related establishments in E-sarn about 70 million baht (US$2.33 billion) in losses, due to trip postponements, re-routings and cancellations.

MoTS opened a Flood-Crisis Management Centre for Tourism and Sports (Specific Unit) last Friday to provide information to tourists and athletes who were travelling within the flooded areas.

TAT has advised travellers to contact the hotel or resort where accommodation has been booked to enquire about the latest situation prior to travel.

Karen Yue, Singapore (2010-10-27)

FLOODS in parts of Thailand and Indonesia's earthquake, tsunami and volcano eruption, are expected to suppress demand out of Singapore for these destinations.

While travel agents said no cancellations had been made so far, they believed Singaporeans might hold back on forward bookings.

AD Travel general manager, Joe Lim, said enquiries for both destinations had slowed.

“Travellers are worried that the problems will spread. Our 2010 targets for Thailand and Indonesia will be affected, and we hope bookings for other destinations will make up for the shortfall.” He added that much interest appears to have been diverted to Hong Kong.

CTC Travel senior vice president (marketing & PR), Alicia Seah, said those who were booking for the Chinese New Year holidays early next year might be cautious about buying trips to Thailand and Indonesia.

However, she noted that Singaporeans were not backing out of these destinations for now, as popular areas had escaped unscathed from the natural disasters.

CTC Travel has about 30 customers in Bangkok and Indonesia, mostly in Bali and Surabaya, and 100 more are due to leave for these destinations next week, while Chan Brothers yesterday received four new bookings for Bangkok.

Chan Brothers spokesperson Ivy Tan said: “Singaporeans can still head to Phuket, Krabi, Chiang Mai or Bali this year end as they are unaffected by current events.”

S Puvaneswary, Kuala Lumpur (2010-10-27)

AGENTS selling Thai and Indonesian holidays are reporting strong year-end bookings despite recent natural disasters in both countries.

Sri Sutra Travel managing director, Syed Razif Al Yahya, expects a 20 per cent increase in sales of Indonesian tour packages for the year-end period compared to the previous year.

He said demand for popular shopping and entertainment areas for the Malaysian market such as Bandung, Surabaya, Bali, Jakarta and Solo were not affected by the calamities in central Java and west Sumatra. He did not foresee any cancellations.

Mayflower Acme Tours senior general manager, Chan Meng Fatt, also said he expected at least a 20 per cent increase over last year in outbound traffic to Indonesia, mainly to Bali.

He cited affordability of travel and close proximity as factors driving demand.

For travel to Thailand, Apple Vacations group managing director, Desmond Lee, said year-end bookings to unaffected areas such as Chiangmai, Pattaya and Bangkok were holding strong, and there were no cancellations to date.

Anand & Madhura Katti, Mumbai (2010-10-27)

TOP Indian OTA Yatra Online has expanded into the B2B market with a majority share in US$102 million-worth ticket consolidator Travel Services International (TSI).

Under Yatra, Delhi-based TSI will expand across India and is expected to continue operations under the same name.

While Yatra has no plans to expand globally, co-founder and CEO Dhruv Shringi has hinted at existing opportunities in developing countries such as Vietnam, Cambodia and Sri Lanka.

Internet penetration is growing at a fast pace in India. The country had 81 million Internet users as of August, a number expected to swell to 350 million by 2015, with half of them accessing the web via mobile phones. Visitation to travel sites has grown by 60 per cent in the last 15 months and OTAs reach 45 per cent of visitors to these sites.

At the Eye for Travel travel distribution summit last month, Shringi said as Indians moved away from demand for basic travel, OTAs were now stepping in to meet “personalised, Indian-specific travel needs”.

Gracia Chiang, Singapore (2010-10-27)

GOLD Coast Tourism Corporation has launched its new brand, Gold Coast, Famous for Fun, at a time where Australia is facing stiffer competition from longhaul destinations such as Europe and the US.

This follows a new campaign by its state, which launched Queensland, Where Australia Shines last month.

Lindsay Wallace, executive director for marketing and corporate relations, said South-east Asia brought 105,000 travellers to Gold Coast last year, but the strong Australian dollar could divert attention elsewhere.

“The currency has certainly made some travellers in South-east Asia review and postpone (their trips). That's why the re-invigoration of the Queensland and Gold Coast brand is so important.”

The brand will replace the Very Gold Coast, Very GC tagline, which has been around for five years. The previous brand was difficult for international travellers to understand, said Wallace, because it “focused on the city and not the holiday experience”.

In contrast, the new marketing approach plays on the tourist's emotion, highlighting four types of fun experiences – beaches, theme parks, entertainment and hinterland.

Feeling the pressure from competition elsewhere, the city itself was also undergoing a makeover, said Wallace. She revealed that three hotel and apartment developments were about to open over the next year or so. Hilton Surfers Paradise Residences, Soul and The Oracle will inject more than 1,000 rooms into Gold Coast, as well as offer a range of new retail and dining options.

The last large-scale apartment development on the Gold Coast was five years ago, said Wallace.

Mimi Hudoyo, Jakarta (2010-10-26)

GO Vacation Indonesia (GVI) has bagged its first Russian account in more than a decade, beginning its partnership this month with Pegas Touristik which handles chartered flights from Russia to Indonesia.

GVI director Horst Pezzetta said the company had welcomed a Yekaterinburg-Bali group on October 20 with 302 passengers.

There will be three chartered flights a month into Bali, up until April next year, arriving from three cities: Yekaterinburg, Novosibirsk and Khabarovsk. They will be operated by Nordwind Airlines’ Boeing 767 aircraft with 304 seats.

Pezzetta said GVI was expecting around 22,000 passengers during this winter season alone.

The company is currently offering 11-day standalone packages for Bali and Lombok as well as an 11-day Bali-Lombok combination package.

He said: “Surprisingly, not everyone is interested in only Bali. We had 60 people taking the Lombok mono-destination package in the first flight.”

Ollie Quiniquini, Singapore (2010-10-26)

THE TOUR Asia Group (TAG) has appointed marketing representatives in the UK, Canada and Norway, and is seeking to make similar arrangements for the US and Europe.

India-based Special Holidays Travel director Sandeep Jain said: “The main target for the alliance is longhaul. We want these marketing representatives to push Asian itineraries involving at least three countries that TAG is present in.”

TAG was formed in June last year with 11 agencies in Asia pledging to be tied together financially. Jain said the merger would still be worked out but the alliance was going strong, with members working together on marketing and joint itineraries.

“There have been a couple of changes in the core group. We will sign up replacements in two countries in a month's time. For TAG to work, members must look at growing together. Those not looking at collective growth will not be part of the alliance,” said Jain.

He added the alliance intended to grow membership to 25 in the next year and was on the lookout for partners in Hong Kong, China and Myanmar, among others.

TAG's website is expected to be transaction-enabled by early next year.

Brussels (2010-10-26)

A NEW tourism goods and services tax for the Maldives that will kick in next January is making international operators see red.

The tax will impose a levy of 3.5 per cent on goods and services sold to tourists, including accommodation and domestic transportation.

The European Association of Travel Agents and Tour Operators (ECTAA), which represents 29 European countries, said that the move would cause operational difficulties for tour operators due to the short notice given. The measure would also favour other value-for-money destinations such as Thailand and the Caribbean.

In a letter to the Maldives Association of Travel Agents and Tour Operators (MATATO) president Yoosuf Riffath last week, ECTAA secretary general Michel De Blust said that since most tour operators had already distributed their brochures for the 2010/2011 winter season, which starts in November, they would have to now republish these, inform all retailers of the new tax or absorb it into their costs.

Said De Blust: “I kindly ask for your support on this issue, by bringing to the competent authorities our request for the postponement of the introduction of the tax at least to next year’s winter season.”

French Association of Tour Operators president René-Marc Chikli had earlier also appealed to MATATO with a similar letter, taking issue with the fact that they were not consulted or told about the aims of this tax.

Bernie Rosenbloom, Vientiane (2010-10-26)

CONSTRUCTION on the US$86.4 million Luang Prabang Airport expansion project will proceed as planned despite concerns from tour operators and hoteliers that its proximity to the UNESCO World Heritage site could damage the latter's appeal.

Lao National Tourism Administration vice chairman Vang Rattanavong explained that cost was the reason why a location farther from the city was not chosen.

He said: “The government understands bigger planes mean more noise, and consideration was given to building a new airport outside the city, including a site on the Mekong’s western side, but the budget was insufficient to allow such a move.”

Slated for completion in 2013, the expansion includes a new 9,800m² passenger terminal and a new 3,000m runway that will be able to accommodate Boeing 737 and Airbus A320 aircraft. The existing 2,200m runway can only handle the 72-seat ATR or smaller planes.

Rattanavong said the upgraded airport would attract more flights from Cambodia, Thailand and Vietnam, and possibly lure Asian airlines from China, Malaysia and Singapore as well as international carriers.

Sim Kok Chwee, Singapore (2010-10-26)

AFTER years of protracted negotiations, Japan and the US finally formalised an open skies agreement yesterday, paving the way for more airline alliance cooperation on flights between the two major markets.

The accord provides full liberalisation for flights between both countries by their respective carriers, and is expected to take effect in the first half of 2011.

Just three days ahead of this accord’s signing, the Japanese government granted anti-trust immunity to the joint services by All Nippon Airways and newly-merged United Airlines and Continental Airlines, and between Japan Airlines and American Airlines. These joint services similarly need approval from US authorities, which has already granted its 'approval in principle'.

United Continental Holdings, the new holding company for United Airlines and Continental Airlines, said the deal would allow for new air services between the two countries, although this would still be dependent on slot availability at Narita and Haneda airports.

The open skies agreement replaces a bilateral air services agreement dating back to 1952, which gave US carriers the lion’s share of flights across the Pacific.

Hong Kong (2010-10-26)

NEW World Hospitality relaunched its New World Hotels flagship brand with a new marketing campaign yesterday, while unveiling plans for four new hotel developments in China.

New World Hotels will open in Guiyang (2011), Beijing (2012), Shenyang (2013) and Qingyuan (2014), joining the brand's five properties and two affiliated hotels across China, Vietnam and the Philippines. The total number of New World Hotels is expected to more than double by 2015.

As part of its new positioning, New World Hotels has also introduced the concept of 'modern Oriental hospitality' through a print and online advertising campaign that will run in newspapers, magazines and on websites in Hong Kong, China and Asia-Pacific. A new logo will be reflected across all communication platforms including new websites of the brand and its parent company.

New World Hospitality has more than 20 projects under development, representing an investment of over US$1.1 billion across three distinct brands. In addition to New World Hotels, the group manages the select service brand, pentahotels. A new premium luxury brand is also in the pipeline.

Raini Hamdi, Singapore (2010-10-25)

CARLSON’S recent sale of the Regent brand for US$55 million, coming on top of  its sale of Carlson Marketing for US$200 million last year, has plumped the coffers for Carlson to step up investment in its Radisson brand.

Carlson’s president and CEO Hubert Joly said that the privately-held global hospitality and travel company was using the proceeds to hone its leading brand Radisson further.

Some US$1 billion to US$1.5 billion will be invested in Radisson. This includes upgrading Radisson hotels in the US and expanding its new Radisson offshoot, Radisson Blu, an upper-upscale tier, design-led brand.

Of 35 Radisson hotels in operation in Asia, 23 are being rebranded Radisson Blu; of 36 Radissons under development in the region, 30 are Radisson Blu.

Carlson will also grow its other brands Country Inns & Suites By Carlson, Park Inn and Park Plaza in the region. Asia is a huge contributor to Carlson’s Ambition 2015 masterplan to grow its hotel business by 50 per cent to 1,500 hotels worldwide by 2015.

Gracia Chiang, Singapore (2010-10-25)

BUOYED by strong growth in intra-Asia travel, Marriott International will continue expanding into the region, with China, India and Thailand as its priority markets.

In an interview with TTG Asia e-Daily, regional vice president of sales and marketing for Asia-Pacific, Dominic Sherry, said that the chain was seeing a "huge increase in local business" in countries such as China.

Locals made up just 20 per cent of its customer mix in China five to eight years ago, whereas the figure is now 55 to 57 per cent. In Thailand, Singapore tops the list for group bookings.

Sherry said the chain planned to grow its Asia-Pacific portfolio from 132 properties to 200 within three years, while at the same time increasing rates in markets such as Singapore, Hong Kong and Seoul, where demand is strong. He declined to reveal any percentages.

Marriott has 56 hotels in China to date and will have 70 by the end of next year, with most of the new ones opening in secondary cities like Tianjin and Suzhou. India and Thailand will have 30 each in roughly two years or more, up from 12 and 18 respectively.

Singapore (2010-10-25)

MALAYSIA continues to be the top destination for Singapore travellers, with 6.3 million trips made between January and June, an increase of 2.5 per cent as compared to the same period in 2009.

According to a survey by the National Association of Travel Agents Singapore, Indonesia came in second with half a million visits, followed by China with 484,000 visits.

Nine out of the top 10 outbound destinations registered positive growth for the first six months of this year, with the highest growth registered by Japan with an increase of 100.8 per cent. South Korea grew by 61.8 per cent; Hong Kong, 32.8 per cent; Taiwan, 30.3 per cent and Indonesia, 28.3 per cent.

Moderate growth was recorded for Thailand with an increase of 11.3 per cent, Australia with 3.4 per cent, and Macau with three per cent.

Karen Yue, Singapore (2010-10-25)

NEPAL is banking on its ecotourism appeal to achieve its Nepal Tourism Year 2011 target of one million arrivals and drive 40 per cent of tourists to rural destinations such as Illam and Gorkha.

Nepal Tourism Board tourism marketing & promotions officer Kuber Kumar Bista said: “Most tourists are now just spending time in key cities such as Kathmandu, but there are 75 districts in Nepal. We want the villages to benefit from tourism as well.”

Promotion of homestays in villages such as Sirubari will be done and travel agents will be encouraged to weave village festivals into their itineraries and showcase local ethnic cultures and history, giving their clients a glimpse of  the “real Nepal”, said Bista.

Bista said the new campaign would target markets such as Japan, the UK, the US and most of Europe, which has strong affinity with Nepal, with many of its travellers going on expeditions.

Other potential segments are volume markets such as Chinese and Indian travellers, who usually visit Nepal over the weekends, and emerging markets such as the Middle East and Eastern Europe.

London (2010-10-25)

BOEING'S new 787 Dreamliner will be introduced to global trade members at the World Travel Market's opening ceremony in London on November 8.

Jeff Cacy, Boeing managing director, airline marketing services, said the B787 was the most environmentally-friendly airplane to have ever been produced.

The 787 Dreamliner will use 20 per cent less fuel as compared to other airplanes of similar size, provide up to 45 per cent more cargo revenue capacity for airlines and feature passenger-friendly innovations such as a new interior environment with cleaner air, large windows, more stowage space, improved lighting and other conveniences.

Japan's All Nippon Airways will be the first recipient of the aircraft next year.

Currency incentives for longhaul travel out of Asia

THE DEPRECIATION of the US dollar and the euro against Asian currencies may be stifling inbound traffic into the region but the silver lining in the currency cloud is the boom in longhaul travel out of Asia.

Travel agents are reporting greater outflows of passengers from Asia to hitherto costly longhaul destinations in Europe and the US, though certain markets are seeing the floodgates blocked by travel barriers such as visas.

Discover Holidays (Asia) Singapore managing director Rodney Yew has seen a sharp increase in demand for Europe and the US as these become more affordable.

Spain and Greece, in particular, have spiked in popularity due to affordable packages. Another push factor is the lack of air seats for regional destinations. That said, industrial problems such as the one currently paralysing systems in France make agents think twice about pushing Europe due to the logistical nightmares such situations bring, said Yew.

Europe and the US have also become extremely hot among Filipinos. Grand Holidays Philippines general manager Queenie Panares-Borromeo said demand for the US and Europe had spiked in the last few months due to the weakening of the currencies in these regions. Even Australia and Japan have become less prohibitive and thus more popular, said Panares-Borromeo.

Proposed tax not a fatal blow for Asia

THE PROPOSED Green Tax on flights departing from Germany from January 1 is not expected to significantly dent travel to Asia.

Under the proposed law, a 45 euro (US$61) tax will be levied on flights covering more than 6,000km, under which Asia-Pacific destinations fall.

Germany-based RM Project Management & Partner’s Ruth Meerkemp said, while 45 euros was a lot of money, many travellers were unaware of the tax since airfare components were not broken down in the ticket. Gerhard Bleile, president of MICE specialist Veranstaltungsplaner.de, said those travellers who were indeed concerned about the tax would check airfares out of other cities in Europe and fly out of there instead if it translated into savings.

Asian suppliers catering to the German market had mixed views on the effect of the green tax on passenger volumes. Sarawak-based Masama JS Adventure Tours business development manager Marco Wunsch said the tax represented a very small percentage of the overall travel cost. Fixed series bookings for 2011 continued to come in strongly, he said.

But Heribertus Ajo, Floressa Bali Tours Adventure & Leisure’s area manager, warned that the tax could hurt German traffic to destinations beyond Bali, which already entailed additional air travel.

Visa snags hamper Asian traffic to longhaul destinations

WHILE currency appreciation stands to open the floodgates of Asian outbound to Europe, visas remain the breakwater.

European NTOs and Asian buyers at ITB Asia can only concur with a report released last week by the European Tour Operators Association (ETOA) showing over 450,000 tourists a year are deterred from travelling to Europe due to the lengthy and tedious visa application process.

ETOA noted that Indian and Chinese tourists applying for visas were the most likely to encounter bad communication and red tape. Peggy Xin, product distribution manager for China, FCm Travel Solutions, said Chinese travellers would rather travel within Asia, where it is easier and less costly to get a visa. A visa application to Europe and the US costs an average of RMB1,000 (US$150), whereas it is only RMB150 on average to countries in South-east Asia.

Piet Jonckers, principal advisor, Tourist Office for Flanders, Belgium, said the estimate of over US$698 million loss per year by ETOA as a result was reasonable. He said the Indian market to Belgium was growing on average 30 to 35 per cent a year but this could “definitely be more” if visa procedures were more efficient.

Sirima Eamtako, Bangkok (2010-10-22)

THE TOURISM Council of Thailand (TCT) has reported good advance bookings for all regions of the country from mid-December to end-February next year.

“Bookings are coming from key markets, including China, Taiwan, Russia, Iran and the Middle East, as well as a lot of Indian weddings for about 300 to 400 guests per event,” said TCT president Piyaman Techapaiboon.

Based on TCT’s survey with operators of tourism-related establishments in key Thai cities,  particularly those with popular tourist areas in the south and north, average occupancy rate should not be less than 80 per cent for the upcoming peak period.

TCT said the increased number of international flights, including chartered services, helped to stimulate more bookings into Thailand. Improved air access would be aided further with Qatar Airways’ six-weekly Doha-Phuket flights, which will be launched on November 1, and another 30 winter chartered-flights on a 500-seat aircraft from Sweden.

Piyaman said the healthy forward bookings, coupled with continued aggressive stimulus measures by Thai public and private sectors, would allow Thailand to record about 15.1 to 15.7 million visitors this year.

Qatar bumps up Phuket, Hanoi routes

QATAR Airways will be funnelling traffic from Europe, where its network has expanded to 20 points, to its new Asian routes, Phuket and Hanoi.

Six-weekly flights from its base in Doha to Phuket via Kuala Lumpur were launched on October 12, while four-weekly flights from Doha to Hanoi will be launched on November 1.

The airline is also increasing its Doha-Bangkok frequency to triple-daily, from twice-daily, and Doha-Ho Chi Minh City to daily, from thrice-weekly, from November 1.

Qatar has grown exponentially in the region, from just four Asian destinations seven years ago to 19 with Hanoi. With one new aircraft a month being delivered, it is expanding its network further.

Globally, it flies to 93 destinations with a fleet of 89 aircraft now and expects to fly to 100 destinations with a fleet of 100 aircraft by March 2011.

Sim Kok Chwee, Singapore (2010-10-22)

THE IMPORTANCE and pitfalls of ancillary revenue was addressed by speakers at the Aviation Outlook Asia 2010 conference in Singapore from October 20-22.

Continental Airlines’ managing director of greater China and South-east Asia, Walter Dias, said that US domestic carriers were the most aggressive in unbundling airline products because they needed it the most. “Ancillary revenue increasingly makes the difference between making a loss and a profit,” he said. His sentiments were echoed by Hotel Reservation Service CEO, Tobias Ragge, who said: “Ancillary revenues are a cornerstone of successful airline business models.”

However, Bahrain Air’s director of commercial operations, Richard Nuttall, and Mondial Assistance’s travel international sales director, Xavier Mauriac, warned that the core business of securing flight bookings could be compromised if customers became confused as a result of too many unbundled products.

Speakers also warned that customers and corporate travel managers found it increasingly difficult to compare fares as a result of the proliferation of unbundled services.

Gulf Air’s head of e-commerce, Nicola Simionato, suggested that airlines could take a leaf from low-cost carriers’ modus operandi – where a seat came free with each purchase of a basket of unbundled services.

Mimi Hudoyo, Jakarta (2010-10-22)

SINGAPORE, Malaysia and Australia travellers continue to pick Indonesia as their top destination in the next two years, according to Visa and PATA Asia Pacific Travel Intentions Survey 2010.

Based on past and future travel plans for the next two years, the online survey conducted by Nielsen involved 6,714 respondents from 13 key Asia-Pacific markets. It indicated that among respondents most likely to head to Indonesia, 29 per cent were from Malaysia, 18 per cent from Australia and 15 per cent from Singapore.

Taiwan was next at nine per cent, followed by Japan and South Korea at eight per cent each. Both countries had been important markets for Indonesia, but showed declining figures due to the economic crisis.

Fifty-nine per cent of respondents who would go to Indonesia within the next two years were repeat  travellers who were drawn by the destination's dining and shopping options as well as the natural scenery.

First-time travellers who would consider visiting Indonesia cited new attractions, the natural scenery and affordability as deciding factors. They were likely to visit with spouses, stay in four- and three-star hotels for three to five nights and spend an average of US$1,538 per person per trip, including airfare.

Google wants to help agents go online

THE HEAD of travel of Google South-east Asia, Sajith Sivanandan, believes offline travel agents in the region must be helped to thrive, saying Google would be happy to collaborate with bigger tourism bodies such as NTOs or tourism ministries on this effort.

Sivanandan said that Google would be willing to enter into such a collaboration by providing education, technology and co-funding, so that these agents, along with small operators such as bed-and-breakfast, could be brought onto the online ecosystem.

Sivanandan said he believed agents had been slow to adapt because they had no “appetite” as they had their core clients, which meant they never had to advertise. But with all data pointing to a shift in consumers booking online, they could easily get disintermediated, he said.

Existing players that provide solutions for agents to embrace technology are reviewing Google’s remarks carefully – indeed, every word Google says on travel is being watched carefully, with the market rife with speculation on how Google will broaden into the travel vertical following its acquisition of flight information software, ITA.

- Full report in the next issue of TTG Asia

Sarawak spends 1 million to help trade

SARAWAK is pumping in RM1 million (US$319,700) to promote the state to Singapore’s local and expatriate market.

The budget would focus on direct promotional efforts aimed at Singapore consumers, which is a key South-east Asia market. This would include advertisement placements in the local media and local promotional brochures to supplement the efforts of outbound agents in Singapore.

These strategies would complement the efforts of a newly formed consortium of 26 outbound travel agents in Singapore, who would work closely with seven inbound tour operators in Singapore to promote the destination through 38 packages created specially for this market. These packages range from full-day tours to Niah Cave to six-day/five-night tours to Kuching and Sibu. 

Sarawak's eight-month campaign, which ends in June 2011, is timely as it comes in the wake of improved air connectivity between Singapore and Sarawak over the last two years. Furthermore, Malaysia Airlines will launch new daily flights between Miri and Singapore on October 31. This will be the only direct connection between the two points since AirAsia suspended its services on the Miri-Singapore route on March 1. Direct air links between Miri and Singapore are vital for Sarawak’s tourism as Miri is Sarawak’s northern gateway.

Visas key to Indian gains

VISAS – be they fees, requirements or processing time – are the biggest hurdle to Indian outbound traffic, so much so that they often become the determining factor in the choice of destination of FITs, families and MICE groups.

Given the choice, Indian travellers would opt for countries that either had visa-on-arrival arrangements or uncomplicated visa application procedures, said Indian travel agents interviewed by the TTG ITB Asia daily.

Vicky Soin, general manager – outbound (MICE) of Abercrombie & Kent India, said MICE groups of at least 400 pax would choose not to go to a country that required visas to avoid possible schedule and programme snags.

For instance, the French Embassy rejected some visa applications of a group from Phillips India and, when queried, threatened to withdraw the visas for the entire group, Soin revealed.

Sim Kok Chwee, Singapore (2010-10-21)

TOKYO'S Haneda Airport opens a new international terminal and runway today, sparking off competition with Narita Airport, and in the process, opening up new slots, according to ANA’s executive vice president Keisuke Okada.

Okada noted that Narita Airport’s longer main runway and non-stop longhaul services would most likely continue, while Haneda’s new 2,500m runway is better placed to jump-start regional services.

He also disclosed that more foreigners were now travelling on domestic services and service delivery on board ANA’s domestic flights were being tweaked to cater to the demand.

An open-sky agreement between Japan and the USA, together with anti-trust immunity for codeshare flights with airline alliances, would strengthen ANA’s expectation of a return to profitability in 2010, and according to Okada, future growth would be underpinned by growth in international operations.

ANA now operates 236 international flights per week (201 from Narita and 35 from Haneda), with an  expected 364 flights by 2011 (266 from Narita and 98 from Haneda).

Luxe cruises gain in popularity

LUXURY cruises in Asia are taking off, with demand picking up significantly by 150 per cent from Malaysia and 100 per cent each from Singapore and South Korea as compared to 2009’s figures.

Jebsen Travel & Tour Services managing director Lim Chee Tong cited these figures, saying he had not anticipated this year’s enthusiastic demand for luxury cruises from Malaysia, Singapore, South Korea, Japan, Thailand, Indonesia and the Philippines.

Lim said the increase was due to promotional offers by luxury cruise liners, which narrowed the gap between luxury and five-star cruising, and increased awareness among high-end consumers. He added that Jebsen had many advance luxury cruise bookings for 2011.

Consumer preferences are different now, with many opting for higher-category cabins such as the penthouse suite or those with balconies, said Lim. 

Alaska and the Mediterranean are the popular luxury cruise destinations out of Malaysia, Singapore and South Korea. Northern Lights and Antarctica cruises are growing in popularity.

Sim Kok Chwee, Singapore (2010-10-21)

DRIVEN by rapid economic growth, Beijing Capital Airport (BCIA) has propelled itself to second position in Airport Council International’s (ACI) ranking.

From January to August 2010, China airports’ cumulative passenger throughput reached 178 million, a growth of 17.8 per cent over the same period in 2009. From this total, BCIA’s passenger throughput of 49.87 million represented a 13.5 per cent growth.

BCIA’s vice president Li Ziaomei said: “The Bohai Economic Rim – with Beijing in the middle – accounts for 30 per cent of China’s national GDP, and from January to August 2010, the national GDP grew 11.1 per cent.”

Li added that BCIA’s and China’s aviation growth trajectory would be bolstered by plans to introduce a seven-day visa-free stay for all visitors. No date has been set, but BCIA is targeting 2015 as the year it would become a major aviation hub. This coincides with World Tourism Organization’s forecast that China would be the number one tourism destination and the fourth-largest tourism source in the world by 2015.

China’s GDP is forecasted to grow 10.5 per cent in 2010 and 9.6 per cent in 2011, according to the International Monetary Fund.

Sirima Eamtako, Bangkok (2010-10-21)

AIR France will resume its direct Paris-Phnom Penh flight via Bangkok from March 27 next year. It last operated flights through Cambodia in 1974.

Operating with three flights per week, the airline will initially utilise an Airbus A340 with 275 seats – 30 seats in Business, 21 in Premium Voyageur and 224 in Voyageur Economy, and will subsequently deploy the 309-seat Boeing B777-200.
Société Concessionnaire des Aéroports (SCA) said the move resulted from its breakthrough talks with Air France and Cambodia’s State Secretary for Civil Aviation.

SCA develops and operates Cambodia’s three international airports in Phnom Penh, Siem Reap and Sihanoukville. Its CEO Nicolas Deviller said: “The return of Air France is a testament of confidence in the traffic growth potential between France and Cambodia.”

About 70,000 French national passengers were expected to be travelling through Cambodian airports this year, he added.

Along with Air France’s service, Phnom Penh International Airport will be served by 410 flights per week, connecting with 22 destinations, next year.

Egypt funds tour operators' promotions

EGYPT is offering to shoulder half the costs of tour operators embarking on promotions for the country.

Samy Mahmoud, undersecretary head of international tourism of the Egyptian Tourist Authority, said the NTO would subsidise 50 per cent of the costs of production of brochures and advertising material specific to Egypt.

The scheme, which has been introduced in India where there have been more than 20 takers including Cox & Kings and Thomas Cook, is being opened to more markets, including Asia.

And as the NTO started tapping MICE out of the region some four years ago, Mahmoud said assistance would also be offered to tour operators and DMCs bringing in MICE groups.

eLong ups the stakes in OTA market

CHINA’S eLong, which is majority-owned by Expedia Inc, aims to be the number one OTA in hotel bookings in China as dominant player Ctrip goes through what it believes is “a growth trap”.

eLong’s CEO Cui Guangfu said Ctrip could be the overall biggest player in China for all he cared, but he was muscling in to make eLong the leader in online hotel bookings.

He observed Ctrip’s acquisitions of offline travel agent Wing On Travel Hong Kong and Taiwan’s largest OTA ezTravel as signs it was pressured to grow.

Cui said: “They are busy. Growth creates the pressure for growth. If you are already number one, you will need to find ways to grow and the acquisitions will help them grow.”

Ctrip said in its Q2 Earnings Call that the acquisitions were made “to enhance our products and reach out to more customers in the greater China region”.

– Read more in From the Top, TTG Asia November 5

Agents want ease of hotel booking

TRAVEL agents believed the ease of booking hotel inventory is nearly on par with price, when it comes to selecting accommodation for clients, according to a study just released by Amadeus on Asia-Pacific hotel distribution trends.

According to Kartikeya Tripathi, Amadeus’ regional director Hospitality Business Group Asia Pacific, markets in the Pacific cited ease of booking as a major consideration while Asian markets were still largely focused on price. The Philippines, he noted, was still a very price-conscious market while India was more concerned about ease of booking. Malaysia, Singapore and Thailand were evenly split between the two.

After price, location was clients’ key criteria when requesting hotel bookings, according to agents. Brand came in last in the five-criteria questionnaire.

Bhutan rolls out the incentives

BHUTAN is luring international hotel chains to fly their flags in three previously inaccessible regions by dangling a 10-year tax holiday for new properties, among other incentives.

The landlocked country is opening up its central, eastern and southern regions to tourism development. Kunzang Norbu, the Tourism Council of Bhutan’s head of services division, said: “In the past, only western Bhutan was sold. We’re now developing the entire country.”

Air connections are also being enhanced, with the country opening up its skies to domestic flights.

Three airlines, including national carrier Druk Air, are bidding to provide domestic services between the international airport in Paro and airports being developed in the newly-opened regions. An airline will be selected by end-October.

Sirima Eamtako, Bangkok (2010-10-20)

THAILAND has been named the preferred destination in South-east Asia in the next two years for travellers from the UK and Australia, according to the Visa-PATA Asia Pacific Travel Intentions Survey 2010. 

Conducted in May by Nielsen, the survey featured responses from 6,714 Internet users, aged 18 years or above, who had travelled internationally for holidays in the past two years or intend to do so in the next two years.

About 39 per cent of respondents from Australia and 34 per cent from the UK named Thailand as the destination they would consider visiting in the next two years.

The findings indicated travellers from the UK and Australia were likely to visit with their spouses or partners and preferred to stay at four-star hotels. They were likely to spend more than US$2,000 on average for their holidays and would most likely pay more for good food and the opportunity to experience new cultures.

In the first nine months of this year, Thailand welcomed 589,087 visitors from the UK, a 1.7 per cent drop, and 502,778 arrivals from Australia, a 10.46 per cent increase.

Melbourne (2010-10-20)

MELBOURNE Airport's total passenger numbers increased by 11.8 per cent in September this year as compared to the same period in 2009.

The growth was spurred by the international market, which increased 15.7 per cent to 519,042 passengers and the domestic market, which grew 10.8 per cent to 1.9 million.

Passengers from Malaysia showed the highest increase of 56 per cent, followed by South Korea at 42 per cent, Indonesia at 29 per cent, Taiwan at 23 per cent and Thailand at 21 per cent, while Chinese passport holders increased 13 per cent.

Melbourne Airport CEO Chris Woodruff said that Victoria's strengths as a tourism destination and the airport's key operational advantages were key drivers of its growth.

Prudence Lui, Hong Kong (2010-10-19)

MALAYSIA'S Tune Hotel Group has partnered Red Planet Hotels in a franchise to grow its presence in budget travel markets.

Red Planet Hotels cited the unique hotel concept of Tune Hotels as a key factor in its decision for the partnership. The no-frills Tune Hotel Group, which is owned by AirAsia, adopts a limited-service model used by low-cost airlines. 

“The concept has been successful. Brokering on this success, we are expanding the market to include China, Thailand, India, Philippines and Bangladesh,” said Red Planet Hotels chief executive officer Tim Hansing.

He added: “The concept is for Red Planet Hotels to operate Tune Hotels under the franchise model. Recently, 1,023 rooms were signed, covering six hotels in three countries – including cities like Jakarta, Bangkok, Pattaya, Angeles City and two in Manila, while more deals are in the works.”

Red Planet Hotels would operate Tune Hotels under the franchise model. The expanded Tune Hotel model would be similar to the original concept, where guests are charged for the services they use.

Plans are in store to tackle the lucrative China market, but Hansing declined to disclose the location of Red Planet Hotels' debut in China.

San Francisco (2010-10-19)

AIRLINE ancillary revenue is poised for huge growth, increasing to £18.4 billion (US$29 billion) worldwide, according to preliminary results of the Amadeus Guide to Ancilliary Revenue by IdeaWorks 2010.

Amadeus executive vice president commercial Philippe Chereque said: "£18.4 billion, while significant, is still less than five per cent of the operating revenue generated by the airlines in this study. At Amadeus, we expect to see ancillary revenues grow significantly as airlines are only now beginning to use the high-yield travel agency channel to sell their range of ancillary services."

As ancillary services become an increasing component of revenue and airlines add more layers of complexity to airline offerings, they are challenged to consider the smooth end-to-end process of selling, fulfilling and delivering such services, added Chereque.

Karen Yue, Singapore (2010-10-19)

CHENGDU Culture & Tourism Development Group has partnered MICE industry players in Hong Kong to drive a twinning of destinations and grow awareness of the Sichuan capital city among corporate event planners.

The tourism group’s European project team manager Ouyang Ge explained that Hong Kong enjoyed strong business travel traffic and would provide a captive audience for Chengdu’s tourism promotion efforts.

“Chengdu hosts many corporate events, but we are still not as renowned as Beijing and Shanghai among MICE planners. Working with Hong Kong will offer us a good platform. Furthermore, Chengdu is connected to Hong Kong by flights, and business travellers and corporate event planners may be encouraged to take a post-show trip to Chengdu,” said Ouyang.

To raise awareness of Chengdu among international travel agents, many of whom were still unfamiliar with the city, Ouyang said the tourism group had established an online education programme in the US in 2009. Short tours for leisure and business travellers, which were sold by local tour operators, had also been developed by the group.

Melbourne (2010-10-19)

ROYAL Brunei Airlines will fly direct to Melbourne Airport from March 29, 2011.

Departing from Brunei capital Bandar Seri Begawan, the airline would start a four-times weekly service, providing 118,000 seats annually.

"South-east Asia is one of Victoria's fastest-growing markets and Royal Brunei Airlines' services will enable tourism and trade opportunities to be developed further," said Melbourne Airport CEO, Chris Woodruff.

Shanghai (2010-10-19)

LANGHAM Hotels International and Mandarin Oriental Hotel Group are set to enter Shanghai in October and 2013 respectively.

The Langham Xintiandi will be a 24-storey five-star luxury hotel with 357 guest rooms and suites, including a grand ballroom and eight meeting rooms.

The Mandarin Oriental Pudong is expected to open in 2013 and the hotel will feature 362 guestrooms and 210 serviced apartments.

Located in the Lujiazui Central Financial District, the hotel will be part of a mixed-use development comprising office towers, a residential complex and retail shops.

Sirima Eamtako, Bangkok (2010-10-18)

VIRGIN Blue's V Australia is not giving up on Phuket despite suspending direct service from February 2011.

Raymond Honings, managing director of LTU Asia, the airline's GSA in Thailand, said V Australia was working to find suitable aircraft to serve Phuket as the current Boeing 777-300ER would be reshuffled to serve longhaul routes, due to V Australia concentrating on growing traffic to Down Under via Los Angeles and Abu Dhabi from February next year (TTG Asia e-Daily, October 12).

Said Honings: “Phuket is one of the airline group’s key destinations in this region, apart from Bali. V Australia’s flights to Phuket from December to February are fully booked.”

V Australia currently operates a twice-weekly Brisbane-Phuket service. Its weekly Melbourne-Phuket service will also be increased to two flights per week from December 20.

Honings added that the Virgin Blue Group had not dropped Phuket entirely as its other carrier, Pacific Blue, would continue with its thrice-weekly Perth-Phuket service.

Hoteliers in Phuket said the suspension of V Australia's services would impact small- and medium-sized hotels that relied on last-minute direct online bookings.

However, the island was already popular among Australians even when it was not served by direct flights, said Ittivudh Sumongkol, sales and marketing director of Holiday Inn Resort Phuket.

Mövenpick Hotels and Resorts vice president sales and marketing – Asia, Christina Bartz, said there were still many flight options from Australia via Bangkok.

S Puvaneswary, Kuala Lumpur (2010-10-18)

EGYPT has identified two new destinations in Asia – Indonesia and the Philippines – that will help it increase its marketshare of tourists from the region, which currently stands at only 12 per cent of total arrivals.

Egyptian Tourist Authority (ETA) marketing consultant and international campaigns director chairman office, Ayten Fouad, said there were plans to start an integrated marketing communications campaign in the two countries, involving print and online media.

An improved version of ETA's website, www.egypt.travel, will be launched at the World Travel Market in London next year. The site will have information in 14 languages and customised content for each of its major markets, said Fouad.

For its three top Asian markets – India, Malaysia and Singapore – Egypt is targeting niche segments such as honeymoon, MICE, diving, spa and wellness.

Outreach efforts to Malaysia and Singapore are currently serviced out of India as there are no Egyptian marketing representatives in these countries.

However, Malaysian Harmony Tours & Travel CEO, Cooper Huang, said a local representative office was needed to provide product updates and marketing support for agents.

From January to September this year, Egypt received 10.56 million foreign tourists.

Mimi Hudoyo, Lombok (2010-10-18)

BEIJING Huayuan International Travel is looking into twinning Lombok and Bali on tour itineraries following the success of its weekly Beijing-Bali charter flight tours that were launched last July.

CEO Tony Ong said: "The Bali tour is very popular and we are now looking at what we can do next. Coming (to Tourism Indonesia Mart and Expo 2010), we find that Lombok is suitable."

He said Chinese travellers were fond of beach resort destinations like the Gili islands of Trawangan, Meno and Air.

There are daily ferry services from Bali to Trawangan, but Ong was considering chartering a ferry for his groups, which has almost 300 tourists each.

Visit Indonesia Tourism Officer China Representative Office Beijing marketing manager Ning Du said Lombok's proximity to Bali could propel it to be “the next destination for the Chinese”.

She said: “Chinese travellers today know only Bali, and we want to introduce other areas in Indonesia.”

Rahul Khanna, Yangon (2010-10-18)

MYANMAR has introduced a prepaid card system for entrance fees at the country’s heritage sites.

The system is implemented at several sites in Bagan, Mandalay, Bago, Kyaikhtiyo (Golden Rock) and Yangon’s National Museum, and will later be introduced for others.

A prepaid card, which ranges from US$2 to US$10, costs the same as a regular entrance fee and is valid for one day. The card's pin and serial numbers store the visitor’s name, passport number and nationality, which will be registered upon entry at the site.

The system was designed to make it easier for tourists and travel agents to pay entrance fees, said Kyaw Oo Lwin, director-general of Department of Archaeology, National Museum and Library, Ministry of Culture.

He added that it would also help maintain more up-to-date visitor data, improve administration and eliminate problems encountered when charging cash.

Prepaid cards will be available for purchase at the Ministry of Culture in Yangon and Nay Pyi Taw, and at the National Museum in Yangon.

“We are planning to sell the cards online, and through travel and ticketing agents,” said Kyaw.

The department collects entrance fees at 37 heritage sites, 13 archaeological museums and nine libraries across the country.

Sim Kok Chwee, Singapore (2010-10-18)

RIDING on the city-state's robust recovery, several foreign airlines will be expanding their services to Changi Airport over the next few months.

Air Macau will relaunch twice-weekly services to Singapore starting November 19 using the Airbus A321. Three days later, Korean Air will add four weekly flights between Seoul and Singapore. The latter will initially be operated by B747-400 aircraft before being downsized to the A330-300 from January 2.

Taking advantage of peak season travel for those seeking warmer destinations, Russia's Transaero Airlines will reinstate twice-weekly B767-300ER services routing Moscow-Denpasar-Singapore-Moscow from December 28.

Turkish Airlines will also add a sixth weekly flight between Istanbul and Singapore from January 9.

Mimi Hudoyo, Lombok (2010-10-18)

LOMBOK will have a dedicated MICE facility when NTB Convention Centre opens in Mataram's city centre in mid-2012.

Manna Hotel Management operations director Winarno said: "The project, which will break ground in December, responds to the travel industry's demand for such facilities as MICE business is growing."

The venue, however, will not be ready for the ASEAN Tourism Forum in January 2012, which the West Nusa Tenggara regional government is bidding to host.

The convention centre will be home to a ballroom with 5,000 theatre-style seats, 14 meeting rooms and a 3,920m² exhibition hall.

It is part of Indosinga Investama's Pearl City development, which includes a 400-key hotel, 150-room apartment and a mall. The project's target completion date is 2014.

Prudence Lui, Hong Kong (2010-10-15)

HONG KONG'S ongoing zero-fare-tour predicament has spurred the Travel Industry Council (TIC) to introduce 10 measures to control the professional conduct of tour guides.

Following the escalation of forced shopping incidences involving tourists on mainland inbound tours, a TIC-formed task force has come up with recommendations to regulate travel agents, tourist guides and registered shops; promote consumer rights; and enhance spot checks.

One of the key recommendations was to set up a penalty points system for travel agencies and tour guides. Aimed at deterring forced shopping, this system would enable TIC to suspend the offending party's licence for three months for the first offence if 30 demerit points were accumulated within two years. The second offence would evoke a one-year suspension, while the third offence would cause the offender to lose its licence.

The task force also proposed basic salaries for tour guides as well as a "one-tour, one-guide policy" to prevent agents from deploying various guides when their clients go shopping.

TIC executive director Joseph Tung said that the council would aim to implement these measures within the next few months as they were now working on the details and directives.

Full story in TTG Asia soon

Travel agents urged not to be “bozos”

FAMOUS author, venture capitalist and former chief evangelist of Apple, Guy Kawasaki, has urged travel agents to "jump to the next curve” and "don't let the bozos grind you down" in his keynote at Abacus International Conference, where 500 Asian agents are converging.

Kawasaki said he paid a heavy price for being a “Bozo clown” – turning down an interview for the CEO position at Yahoo! because he did not see how it could be a business.

Kawasaki's keynote was on the art of innovation, a topic close to agents’ hearts as they seek their space in a fast-changing landscape. He said that companies had to find the "meaning" and "mantra" of their business in order to be successful, and to provide customers with value-added products that were also unique.

- Are you a bozo? Full analysis in TTG Asia soon

Central Java wants regional travellers

CENTRAL Java is aiming to attract regional travellers, starting with Singapore.

Central Java Tourism Promotion Board chairman Andhy Irawan said: "We have a direct flight between Singapore and Semarang by Batavia Air thrice a week and would like to maximise this link. Together with Batavia Air, we promoted Central Java at the recent NATAS Fair in Singapore and created a consortium of 10 Singaporean agents. We are now planning to create the packages."

In the works are themed three-day/two-night packages that include Semarang (heritage), Pekalongan (batik), Wonosobo (temples and plateau) and Solo (culture and culinary).

"We are working on some incentives such as providing free land transport for a group with a certain number of people and special deals with Batavia Air to attract the market," said Irawan.

He added that Sriwijaya Airlines was planning to fly between Semarang and Kuala Lumpur, allowing the board to tap into that market too.

New hotel groups enter Indonesia

INDONESIA'S hospitality scene is seeing new players entering the market as more destinations open for domestic and international travel.

Dafam Hotels & Resorts, a new hotel group based in Semarang will open three- and two-star hotels in Central Java. Managing director Andhy Irawan said: "We are planning to have 10 hotels in the first couple of years. The first five will open in Semarang, Cilacap Pekalongan and Jogjakarta (with 105-120 rooms) between this year and next. There is a growing corporate business with mining and energy projects in some areas.”

Cocotinos, which debuted in Kimabajo, Manado a couple of years ago, has just opened its second property in Sekotong Lombok with 23 rooms and five villas. "Cocotinos reflects the owner's passion for beach and sea activities. The one in Kimabajo caters to divers while the (Sekotong Lombok property) is more for leisure beach activities and games although we also have a dive centre," said general manager Iwan Sitompul.

Opened in August, the resort has secured a group series and FITs from Germany and The Netherlands for this year and next. Future properties with similar concepts will be developed in Bintan and Flores.

New York (2010-10-15)

THE WORLD Trade & Travel Tourism Council (WTTC) has appointed David Scowsill as its new president and CEO.

Scowsill, who takes over from Jean-Claude Baumgarten, will start his term on November 15. He will promote the interests of WTTC's private sector enterprises to governments worldwide, address political, environmental, social and technological factors that concern the industry, and encourage public and private sector partnerships.

Prior to his WTTC post, Scowsill was CEO of Opodo, vice chairman of Worldhotels and regional general manager for Asia-Pacific at British Airways. He also held portfolios in private equities and ventures in hospitality, consumer brands and airlines.

Sim Kok Chwee, Singapore (2010-10-15)

PHILIPPINE Airlines (PAL) has decided to temporarily suspend services to Brisbane from Oct 31, which is currently operated twice-weekly via Melbourne.

Following the decision, PAL will instead start a weekly Manila-Sydney turnaround flight, a weekly Manila-Sydney-Melbourne-Manila flight and a thrice-weekly Manila-Melbourne-Sydney-Manila service. All five routes to Australia are serviced by new B777-300ERs.

A PAL spokesperson cited “marketing considerations” as the reason for the suspension but reiterated the long-term importance of the Australian market.

No date has been set for the resumption of services to Brisbane.

Sirima Eamtako, Bangkok (2010-10-15)

VINA Properties, a Ho Chi Minh City-based tourism-related developer, has announced the acquisition of two hotels and a golf club in Dalat.

According to its statement, Vina Properties took over the reins in June at the Dalat Palace Golf Club, the 43-room Sofitel Dalat Palace Hotel and the 140-room Mercure Dalat du Parc.

At press time, Accor/Sofitel has confirmed that there was no change to the management contracts.

Bangkok (2010-10-15)
QATAR Airways will launch direct flights from Doha to Phuket on October 12, starting with six weekly flights.

Serviced by a 272-seat Airbus A330, the new route will be Qatar Airway's second destination in Thailand, after Bangkok.

“The Middle East in general and GCC countries in particular are very important sources of visitor arrivals for us in Thailand...” said Pramoth Supyen, director of Tourism Authority of Thailand's Dubai office.

Middle East visitor arrivals to Thailand from January to August increased 25 per cent over the same period last year.

Meanwhile, Qatar Airways will increase flights between Doha and Bangkok from two to three flights daily from November 1.

Asian travel agents buoyant about 2011

THE smiles are back on the faces of Asian travel agents after GFC uncertainties last year, with 62 per cent surveyed by Abacus International anticipating a promising outlook for the next half year.

Agents across the region TTG Asia e-Daily spoke to at last night's opening dinner said business was going well and remained unperturbed by competition from online travel agents (OTAs) or their suppliers.

Global OTAs, such as Expedia, have made their intention known to grow the business in emerging markets, including Asia, while Asian OTAs such as India's MakeMyTrip and China's Ctrip have grabbed headlines as success stories.

"Nobody will die," said Sudhir Patil, director, Kesari Tours India, when asked whatever happened to predictions of agents dying.

Abacus president and CEO Robert Bailey said: “Positive growth in travel bookings in recent months has fuelled optimism for the industry's outlook. Abacus has experienced 11 per cent year-on-year growth in total booking volumes to August. Of this, the number of travellers has grown by 15 per cent and this trend is expected to continue into the first quarter of 2011.

“This has been a better-than-expected result from our earlier forecast of three to five per cent in the first half.”

Karen Yue, Singapore (2010-10-14)

HAVING seen a continuous growth in bookings from senior citizens over the last two years, Singapore-based CTC Travel is launching a specialised product line that caters to mature holiday-makers.

CTC's Golden Age Vacation line will offer tours to Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, Europe and China – popular destinations among the older crowd – that will depart from next January. Tour routes will be designed according to the interest of senior travellers.

CTC Travel senior vice president (marketing & PR), Alicia Seah, told TTG Asia e-Daily that the seniors market is growing by five per cent annually and 20 per cent of outbound volume comes from senior citizens. CTC brings some 50,000 travellers out of Singapore every year.

Golden Age Vacation will feature longer tours that allow seniors to explore the destination at a comfortable pace, elderly-friendly hotels and special dietary meals, among other things. Travel Wellness Managers, who are trained in basic first aid and elder-care skills, will also be on hand.

Despite added features and a longer tour duration, Seah said the packages would not be substantially pricier than usual, as departures would be mostly during off-peak periods.

Lombok appoints marketing reps in Australia and South Korea

WEST Nusa Tenggara's island of Lombok aims to expand into markets such as Australia, China and India, and regain markets like South Korea.

For starters, the West Nusa Tenggara Tourism Promotion Board has appointed John Forsyth of Asia Travel Experts as its representative in Australia and Tony Huang of Island Marketing as its representative in South Korea. It intends to have marketing representatives in China and India as well.

The board's chairman, Awan Aswinabawa, said Australian arrivals had started to make an impact in the last few years and the board was looking “to grow the market”.

South Korean visitor numbers, on the other hand, had been on the decline for the last two years due to the global financial crisis.

Aswinabawa said: "We need people who can communicate in the respective markets. John Forsyth knows this region very well and Tony Huang has been promoting Lombok for many years."

While Aswinabawa did not specify any target increases for both markets, he said the board was working towards the government's goal of obtaining one million arrivals to West Nusa Tenggara by 2012.

The board this year received 1.5 billion rupiah (US$168,161) from the regional government.

Lombok vies for ATF 2012

THE WEST Nusa Tenggara government is proposing for Lombok to host the ASEAN Tourism Forum (ATF) when the event returns to Indonesia in 2012.

West Nusa Tenggara governor, Muhammad Zainul Majdi, said: "I understand there are a couple of other destinations wanting to host this event.

"I was told that the fact that we have not had any experience in hosting such a large event might work to our disadvantage. But if the central government does not give us a chance, we will never gain experience.”

Ministry of Culture and Tourism director general of marketing, Sapta Nirwandar, said that Manado and Palembang were also being proposed by the North Sulawesi government and the South Sumatra government respectively.

He said: "We are happy to see the enthusiasm of the regional governments, but ATF has set certain criteria that we need to follow. It is to our interest to promote a destination, so as long as the destination meets the criteria, including having enough space for TRAVEX (the travel mart).”

ATF, which was held in Yogyakarta in 2002, rotates annually among the member countries of ASEAN.

Rahul Khanna, Yangon (2010-10-14)

HOTELS in Myanmar's capital are adding more rooms in anticipation of an influx of visitors for a gem emporium from November 17 to 19.

The event, which will be held for the first time in Nay Pyi Taw, is expected to attract as many as 6,000 foreign visitors, mainly from China and Thailand.

With such a huge turnout expected, the current supply would be inadequate, said a hotel spokesperson.

According to Myanmar's Ministry of Hotels and Tourism, there are currently nine hotels and 435 rooms in Nay Pyi Taw.

In response to anticipated demand, the 44-room Royal Kumudra Hotel is adding 50 new keys. It is also developing a new 20-room Hotel Ayeyarwady near the newly-opened National Landmark Garden.

Other developments underway include 64 more rooms at the 67-room Amara hotel, 42 more at 30-room Aureum Palace Hotel and 48 more at 70-room Hotel Thingaha.

All projects are expected to be completed before the emporium.

More new properties are also expected to come online in Nay Pyi Taw such as the 102-room Sky Blue Hotel, slated to open in June next year.

S Puvaneswary, Kuala Lumpur (2010-10-14)

APPLE Hotel on Jalan Alor soft opened yesterday with 39 rooms, launching at a time when Kuala Lumpur is seeing strong demand for budget properties.

The latest budget hotel in the Malaysian capital charges from RM88 (US$29) nett to RM138 nett. Another 61 rooms are scheduled to open by the end of next year.

The property has four room categories – single, double, twin and family – that come with free Wi-Fi.

Grace Holidays general manager Godwin Miranda said the opening was timely as there was a demand-supply gap for budget hotels in the city.

“The LCCs (low-cost carriers) have made it more affordable for young people to travel. They save on accommodation but spend more on sightseeing. Even business travellers are looking for budget hotels with basic facilities.”

Miranda added that the hotel's location, close to the commercial and business areas, was a plus point.

London (2010-10-13)

OVER 450,000 tourists a year are deterred from travelling to Europe due to the lengthy and tedious visa application process, according to the latest European Tour Operators Association (ETOA) report on visa processing.

Conservative estimates by the ETOA put the financial loss to the European Union (EU), caused by poor visa processing, at over €500 million (US$698 million) per year.

ETOA’s survey of tour operators and agents focused on origin markets whose citizens must obtain a visa to visit the EU such as China, India and the Middle East.

UK visa procedures were identified as most likely to cause potential visitors to give up on their travel plans, closely followed by France. Over 58,000 tourists cancelled their trips to the UK owing to slow visa processing, and ETOA estimates that nearly 314,000 decided not even to apply.

ETOA noted that Indian and Chinese tourists applying for visas were most likely to encounter bad communication and red tape.

“Applications clearly have to be made available in the applicants’ mother tongue,” said Tom Jenkins, ETOA executive director. “Not doing so breaks a basic rule of sales and certainly acts as a disincentive to travel. It displays a sweeping arrogance to applicants.”

Jenkins added: “The cancellations caused by problematic visa processing have repercussions... That Europe is perceived as slow and bureaucratic is a major disincentive in itself.”

Sirima Eamtako, Bangkok (2010-10-13)

AIR access between Thailand and India will be given a boost with AirAsia’s scheduled launches of two new routes on December 1.

The low-cost carrier will introduce a daily flight for Bangkok-Kolkata and four weekly flights for Bangkok-New Delhi. Its ticket sales system was activated yesterday.

The new flights will join the existing 125 direct weekly services between Bangkok and major Indian cities operated by carriers such as Thai Airways International (THAI), Indian Airlines and Air India.

In addition, THAI will increase its frequency on two routes for the winter timetable, from October 31 to March 26. It will up its Bangkok-Kolkata service from five to seven flights per week and double its Bangkok-Mumbai service to 14 flights per week.

According to official data made available to TTG Asia e-Daily, this year’s number of incoming direct and indirect flights from India to Thailand will reach 5,895 with 1.41 million seats, representing a 12.7 per cent and 16.5 per cent increase over 2009 respectively.

The Indian market has been identified by the Thai travel trade as one of the fastest growing sources of visitor arrivals to Thailand. In the first nine months, arrivals from India totalled 531,017 visitors, a 21.6 per cent growth over the same period in 2009.

Investors sought for Lombok resort

THE INDONESIA Investment Board is inviting new investors for the development of a 1,250-hectare resort in Central Lombok after UAE-based property developer Emaar requested for a "rescheduling" of its investment plan there.

Speaking at a media conference today, West Nusa Tenggara governor Muhammad Zainul Majdi said: "Emaar has requested to reschedule its investment plan, but we are not going to wait and are going to open the investment opportunity to other investors instead."

He added that three potential investors had shown interest in the development but did not reveal who they were.

The site in Lombok Tengah is close to the new airport.

Hong Kong (2010-10-13)

THAI-BASED hotel management company ONYX Hospitality Group yesterday announced the acquisition of Shama, a boutique serviced apartment provider with properties across Greater China and Thailand.

ONYX Hospitality Group’s 100 per cent acquisition of Shama will support the growth of ONYX  into the serviced apartment sector, following the imminent launch of its Amari Residences Bangkok and the launch of its first property under the Saffron brand, Oriental Residence Bangkok, which opens next.

Founded in 1996 in Hong Kong, Shama now operates 13 properties and boasts mainly Fortune 500 corporations as clients in the region. Shama will continue to trade under its brand name following the acquisition, and will become a brand offering within the ONYX stable which includes hotels and resorts brand, Amari; its new select service, Ozo; and the luxury property portfolio, Saffron.

Shama’s established footprint in Greater China will provide ONYX access to China’s serviced  apartment market, as well as an opportunity to develop all brands within the ONYX portfolio in China.

S Puvaneswary, Kuala Lumpur (2010-10-13)

AGENTS in Malaysia were optimistic about the business opportunities presented by Tourism Australia’s new global campaign, There’s Nothing Like Australia, which was launched to the trade today.

The interactive campaign invites the public to participate in content development by sharing their unique Australian experiences and later voting for their favourite entries, a departure from previous promotions where the NTO would generate material.

Golden Tourworld Travel managing director, Jason Lim, said the campaign's interactive slant allowed agents to discover off-the-beaten-track destinations in Australia that Malaysian tourists enjoyed. 

“We may be able to develop new packages based on consumer feedback from this campaign, but it also depends very much on accessibility and affordability.”

He added that the timing of the campaign launch was perfect, as it targeted year-end travellers.

Pang Lai Yee, product marketing at Reliance Shipping & Travel Agencies, said at the very least, the campaign would catch the attention of those who had never travelled to Australia.

“They could vote for what they like best and by doing so, they may choose Australia as their next holiday destination.”

There's Nothing Like Australia has already been rolled out in other Asian countries such as Singapore, Japan and Hong Kong.

Sirima Eamtako, Bangkok (2010-10-13)

SWISS hotel chain Mövenpick Hotels & Resorts has inked an agreement with Thai developer Jumroen Chittaratsaenee to manage three more properties in Thailand, bringing its portfolio to five in the kingdom.

The Mövenpick Resort and Spa Mae Nam Beach Koh Samui will feature 81 pool villas and is scheduled to open at the end of 2011. General manager Roland Svensson said the resort would be competing with two upcoming upscale five-star resort brands – W Retreat Koh Samui and Conrad Samui – and would be positioned a step below from Banyan Tree Koh Samui and Four Seasons Resort Koh Samui.

Slated to also open in 2011 is the rebranded, 286-room Mövenpick Suriwongse Hotel Chiang Mai, in the heart of the famous Chiang Mai Night Bazaar.

For Mövenpick's third development, Chittaratsaenee is turning an unused hospital building on Phayathai Road, near Suvarnabhumi Airport Rail Link’s City Line Phaya Thai Station, into Mövenpick Hotels and Residences Bangkok. Due to open in 2014, it will have 266, loft-style guestrooms and 100 residential units.

Meanwhile, the chain’s existing project Mövenpick White Sand Beach Resort, near Pattaya, has encountered some delays and will open instead in 2013. Mövenpick already has one property on Karon Beach in Phuket.

Sim Kok Chwee, Singapore (2010-10-12)

VIRGIN Blue's longhaul carrier V Australia will rationalise its network and concentrate on growing traffic to Down Under via Los Angeles and Abu Dhabi.

From February 2011, it will terminate its services from Australia to Phuket, Johannesburg and Nadi.

Instead, it will launch nonstop thrice-weekly services from Sydney to Abu Dhabi from February 2011 in an effort to tap traffic from Europe, and plans to add thrice-weekly services between Brisbane and Abu Dhabi from February 2012.

V Australia’s new strategy relies heavily on its codeshare agreements with Delta Airlines and Etihad Airways, and maximises the portion of the overall journey operated by its own aircraft.

Virgin Blue Group of Airlines' CEO John Borghetti said the alliance with Etihad allowed it to redefine its longhaul operation and unlock a genuine global network.

Choosing a hub in the Middle East over a more traditional Asian one enables V Australia to carry two-thirds of a European traveller’s journey as opposed to just one-third via Asia. This move sharpens the competition on the Kangaroo Route which is traditionally routed via Asia.

In the last decade, an onslaught of competition from airlines such as Emirates, Etihad Airways and Qatar Airways – which can provide one-stop flights between Australia and many European cities – has eroded the market share of incumbent carriers such as Qantas Airways and British Airways which can only offer two-stop services to cities beyond London.

Mimi Hudoyo, Jakarta (2010-10-12)

AS part of its regional expansion, Panorama Tours plans to have a physical presence in Hong Kong.

Panorama Tours' managing director Rama Tirtawisata said: "Demand for Hong Kong from Indonesia is growing and there is a need to have Panorama Tours' presence in the destination to be able to cater for Indonesian travellers' needs, with Panorama standard of service."

Panorama will initially appoint a representative there by year-end while it looks out for a joint venture partner, like the ones it has in Malaysia and Singapore, to flag its brand in the Chinese market.

Tirtawisata said that while Indonesian-run groundhandling agents could cater to Indonesian travellers, these agents were usually too small to have bargaining power to negotiate with hotels and transportation companies.

On the other hand, agents with more clout either could not understand Indonesian needs or also handled other big outbound players from Indonesia. "This means that, at the end of the day, what we are offering will be the same as the others," he said.

S Puvaneswary, Kuala Lumpur (2010-10-12)

TOURISM Malaysia, the marketing arm of the Ministry of Tourism, will reveal how it intends to gain a bigger market share of high-yield tourists and unveil its five-year plan for international promotions next month.

Following that, it will conduct seminars to educate industry players.

Malaysia aims to shift from targeting mass, middle-income tourists to high-yield visitors, with the goal of doubling receipts to RM103.5 billion (US$33.4 billion) by 2020. (TTG Asia e-Daily, September 22)

“We must all move forward with one voice and with the same objective,” said Tourism Malaysia's deputy director general of marketing, Amirrudin Abu.

Tourism Malaysia has also embarked on capacity building, succession planning, and instilling innovation and creativity in the workplace.

Prudence Lui, reporting for TTGmice, Taipei (2010-10-12)

TAIWAN will host a slew of big international events next year such as the centenary celebration of the Republic of China, Taipei International Flora Expo, World Association for Symphonic Bands Ensembles and three key design shows.

Taipei City Government's Department of Information and Tourism commissioner, Tuo Chung-hwa, said hosting mega-events was a key marketing direction due to the international exposure and credibility it created and the boost it gave to the city’s infrastructure.

“Take the upcoming Taipei International Flora Expo as an example. Except the Pavilion of New Fashion (Far Eastern Eco Ark), all 13 theme halls and pavilions will remain on site as a MICE facility.” He added that the site could accommodate large-scale events of up to 4,000 people and part of it would be converted for exhibition and retail use.

Meanwhile, the second phase of the TWTC Nangang Exhibition Hall has been confirmed,  generating a total of 5,000 booths for the venue by 2012. Dazhi district along the Neihu metro line will also undergo a massive development and become a new business zone with a cluster of five-star hotels, capable of hosting a 3,000-pax convention.

Ollie Quiniquini, reporting for TTGmice, Bangkok (2010-10-12)

INDIAN luxury travel operator, Abercrombie & Kent (A&K), recently established a full-fledged MICE division, handling groups and events out of India.

Vicky Soin, A&K’s general manager – outbound (MICE), expects to have a full team in place by December. Already, the division has handled three incentive groups – one to Malaysia and two to Thailand – and has another scheduled for the US later this year.

“We will go full blast into marketing and promotions to get the A&K brand known down the line and among corporates. It is important for us to build brand awareness.”

While A&K’s MICE division will definitely handle incentive groups, Soin said the medium-term plan was to mine the corporate world for conferences and business events such as product launches. The division will eventually set up an events team to handle such projects.

Singapore (2010-10-12)

TTG Asia Media mourns the passing away of Dharam Chand, its long-time media representative for India.

Chand, or 'DC' as he was fondly known to us, died in his sleep in the early hours of October 11.

DC left an international ad agency to set up his own company, Adcom International. Always a professional, he strived for excellence and was passionate about his business, his clients and the travel and tourism industry.

TTG Asia group publisher Michael Chow, who lost a loyal partner and a real friend, said: "Even when he was not well a couple of months ago, DC took the time and effort to set up the appointments for me in India to introduce the inaugural issue of TTG India. Despite his weak health, he came to the office to meet me and to discuss the sales and marketing plan for the launch of TTG India in India.

"DC even instructed his son Mohit to return to New Delhi (from New York) and to accompany me for sales calls to clients in New Delhi."

On a personal level, DC loved his family very much, and was always talking about and caring for his family.

He left behind a lovely wife, a retired senior civil servant; a daughter, married with one child and working as an IT professional in New York; and a son who is embarking on an MBA in New York.

Sirima Eamtako, Bangkok (2010-10-11)

THE LONG-AWAITED Chiang Mai exhibition and convention centre is scheduled to open in early 2012 after much delay.

Initiated in June 1996, construction of the facility was to have begun in 2006 but was delayed due to technical and bidding glitches. Works began this year, with a budget of 1.8 billion baht (US$60 million).

However, the project’s developer, Ministry of Tourism and Sports, will require another 500 million baht for interior works. An additional one billion baht may be required for surrounding infrastructure unless the ministry is able to secure investment from responsible authorities for electricity, water and road systems.

News surrounding the centre’s scheduled opening has already drawn a lot of interest, according to Vorapong Muchaotai, secretary-general of the Chiang Mai Tourism Business Association. “We have been getting a lot of enquiries about Chiang Mai’s offers in terms of products and services for the (MICE) market,” he said.

The centre will feature 10,000m2 of exhibition space, a large convention hall and three medium-sized meeting rooms, among other facilities. It will be managed by either the Thailand Convention and Exhibition Bureau or a private sector company.

Karen Yue, Singapore (2010-10-11)

ASCOTT Properties is on the lookout for investors and a hotel management company for its latest project, a city hotel in Bangladeshi capital, Dhaka.

Ascott managing director Mosharraf Hossain said the company had acquired a plot of land in Banani, a diplomatic zone in Dhaka and wants to build a luxury hotel with more than 200 keys.

“Dhaka is booming commercially and the city has several top hotel brands such as Westin and Sheraton. To compete well, we will need to have an international quality hotel. It is easy to build hotels, but tough to run it,” Hossain said.

Bangladesh-based Ascott Properties has a serviced residence and residential apartments in Dhaka, and plans to develop hotels in Chittagong, another commercial hub in the country, and Cox's Bazar, a popular beach resort destination.

Karen Yue, Singapore (2010-10-11)

SRI LANKA'S MICE ambitions are getting a huge boost from Indian corporate groups, who view the country as an ideal incentives destination.

Sri Lanka Convention Bureau senior manager Achini Dandunnage said: “We have many Indian corporate groups now, with 100 to 150 delegates per group. These are multinational companies such as Coca Cola. Group numbers may seem small, but delegates are very good spenders.”

Dandunnage credited short frequent flights between India and Sri Lanka and similar food and culture for the healthy arrivals of Indian business travellers.

He also said that the Commonwealth Games in Delhi had caused several international incentive groups to choose Sri Lanka over India.

“These groups chose Sri Lanka over India because of the hotel room rates. India room rates are much higher. In Sri Lanka, a night's stay at a Hilton hotel costs US$120 or so.”

Mimi Hudoyo, Jakarta (2010-10-11)

PHILIPPINES Airlines (PAL) is planning to start Manila-Denpasar services in December in a bid to grab markets from Japan and other North Asian countries.

Tripuri Group director of business development Eddy Lenggu said: “The popularity of Bali as a tourist destination continues to grow...PAL has a good network from Japan, Korea and China to Manila; therefore, opening Manila-Bali means business for the airline.”

Apart from North Asian countries, Lenggu also sees the opportunity to boost traffic from the US to Indonesia with this new flight as PAL has good connections between Manila and major cities in the US.

PAL now has seven flights per week between Jakarta and Manila, three direct and four via Singapore.

Tripuri is a holding company of GSAs in Indonesia and its subsidiary Sheira Semesta Cemerlang is PAL’s Indonesia GSA.

S Puvaneswary, Kuala Lumpur (2010-10-11)

MALAYSIA'S corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiatives are helping to counter weak MICE demand from Europe, following the latter market's recovery from 2008’s global financial crisis and the weakened pound and euro.

Ping Anchorage Travel & Tours CEO Alex Lee said he had won two pitches for 2011 based on the CSR components he had introduced for the programmes. Lee successfully sold the idea of adopting endangered terrapins in Terengganu, and beat Thailand and Indonesia competitors for the business.

Planet Borneo Tours is also introducing new CSR programmes in 2011 to meet increasing demand for community-based projects that impact the local population. Its executive director, James Wan, said growing demand for CSR was not limited to just companies, but also included FITs and group tours as tourists wanted to be involved with the local community.

Full report in TTGmice, Malaysia Report, December – January issue

Rahul Khanna, Yangon (2010-10-11)

THE 300-ROOM Centrepoint Towers Hotel is slated to open early next year, following the opening of office and retail spaces at its twin building in mid-September.

Located at the corner of Merchat and Sule Pagoda Roads in Yangon’s Kyautada Township, the international-standard hotel will have a banquet hall, a coffee shop, two restaurants and three bars.

The twin towers will be equipped with a private automatic branch exchange (PABX) phone network to accommodate a minimum of 500 telephone lines. Fibre-optic internet cabling is being installed.

The opening of Centrepoint Towers will conclude 15 years of development for the site's owner, Thailand’s  LP Holding, which signed a 30-year agreement with Myanmar’s Ministry of Hotels and Tourism in November 1993.

AOT reviews incentives, expands airports

THE AIRPORTS of Thailand (AOT) is mulling the extension of incentives  and embarking on expansion programmes for airports in Bangkok and  Phuket.

AOT senior executive vice president, business development and  marketing, Nitinai Sirismatthakan, said AOT was mulling the extension  of discounts on landing and parking fees.

The AOT incentives, offering 15 per cent discount on landing fees and  50 per cent off parking fees for airlines that signed the concession  contract before March 31, expire on December 31.

Meanwhile, after much delay, AOT has started on the expansion of  Suvarnabhumi and Phuket Airports this month.

The 62.5 billion baht (US$2.1 billion) development at Suvarnabhumi  Airport, to be completed in 2016, will increase the airport's annual  passenger capacity from 45 million to 60 million.

Phuket Airport's 5.8 billion baht expansion programme will raise  annual capacity to 12.5 million passengers from 2013 to 2020, from the  current 6.5 million.

Both airports are now nearing saturation point, with Phuket Airport  and Suvarnabhumi Airport chalking up six million passengers and 40  million passengers respectively last year.

Bonvo enters Thailand and India

Singapore-based corporate travel management company, Bonvo, will open  full-fledged offices in Thailand and India by next year.

The new offices will offer inbound and outbound corporate travel and  MICE services. Bonvo's general manager Andy Lim will drive the Thai  office, while Christine Moorthy, head of meetings and incentives, will  spearhead the opening and operations of the Indian office in Mumbai.

Bonvo also plans to set up offices in other Indian cities.

According to Moorthy, the Bonvo expansion would help to raise the  profile of the company's Lifestyle & Rewards division, which  customises employee reward programmes for corporates. Rewards come in  the form of holiday packages tailored according to the interest of  employees.

“Few agencies offer such a service to corporates,” said Moorthy.  “Corporates are changing the way they reward and retain staff.  Offering tailored holidays to their staff is a more attractive way of  showing their appreciation than the traditional monetary reward.”

AACVB unveils new initiatives

THE ASIAN Association of Convention and Visitor Bureau (AACVB) will  organise the Asia For Asia Summit from next year onwards and introduce  more MICE education programmes.

AACVB chairman and Thailand Convention and Exhibition Bureau president  Akapol Sorasuchart said the Asia For Asia Summit would be rotated  among member countries. Singapore will host the next summit in October  2011, and AACVB is considering timing it with the ITB Asia trade show.

Sorasuchart revealed that AACVB intended to co-locate and coincide its  meetings with major trade shows as more frequent meetings, on top of  the annual general meeting, would tighten communication channels among  members and AACVB.

The association is also in talks with IMEX to co-organise the Future  Leaders Challenge, which is held alongside the Incentive Travel &  Conventions, Meetings Asia (IT&CMA) show in Bangkok. It is also  working out education programmes for MICE professionals.

Bangkok (2010-10-08)

TWENTY-NINE new winners were recognised at this year's TTG Travel  Awards held last night at the Centara Grand and Bangkok Convention  Centre at CentralWorld in Bangkok.

The new awardees included Hong Kong Disneyland for Best Theme  Attraction, City of Dreams for Best Integrated Resort, and Harbour  Plaza Hotels & Resorts for Best Local Hotel Chain. Also, all four  award winners under the Resorts – Individual Property category were  first-time recipients.

CTC Holdings won the award for Most Entrepreneurial Travel Company,  which was conferred for the first time this year as part of the  Outstanding Achievement Awards handpicked by the TTG Asia editorial  team.

SilkAir was inducted into the Travel Hall of Fame, after having won  the Best Regional Airline award 10 times.

The TTG Travel Awards recognised the contributions of 77 individuals  and organisations for their achievements in their respective fields.  Winners were determined by the 48,300 votes that came in between June  and August from readers of TTG Asia, TTG China, TTGmice, TTG-BTmice  China and TTG Asia e-Daily.

MEET Taiwan pushes for unique venues

MEET Taiwan, the business events and exhibitions promotion arm of the  Taiwan Bureau of Foreign Trade, is pushing the local government to  open up special venues such as the National Palace Museum and Chiang  Kai-shek Memorial Hall for MICE.

MEET Taiwan project leader Sin Chen said: “Taipei's MICE  infrastructure is developing very fast, with 600 new hotel rooms  available now within walking distance of the Taipei World Trade Centre  and even more five-star hotels coming up in the near future. But we  need more than new hotels. We need exceptional venues to provide new  experiences to event delegates, especially those who visit Taiwan  regularly for events.

Chen added that MEET Taiwan is taking a proactive stance in sharing  events case studies held in Taiwan to highlight the destination's MICE  capabilities.

IMPACT Muang Thong Thani gets Novotel

ACCOR will open a Novotel property early next year within Bangkok's  IMPACT Muang Thong Thani.

The 380-key Novotel IMPACT will have two restaurants, a bar, a pool  and a fitness centre.

Oswald Pichler, Accor's vice president of operations for Thailand,  Cambodia and Laos, said that the Novotel brand “will reach a new  segment in the events and exhibition market” with this hotel.