SRI Lanka’s historic Galle Face Hotel, first opened in 1864, has completed a 30-month long restoration of its North Wing’s 72 rooms and suites, restaurants, bars, lobby, ballrooms and executive lounge.

Interiors now come with mahogany furnishings, grey marble casing in its bathroom walls as well as private balconies in 21 of the 26m2 to 60m2 rooms. There is also now a 120m2 signature suite, the Empress Eugenie, featuring a 60m2 terrace.

Other restorations of the iconic hotel include the addition of an executive lounge, The Long Room, the Verandah restaurant doubling in size, as well as the Poolside Bar and Terrace extending its open-air perch. The Americano Bar is now renamed Traveller’s Bar, a 19th century-inspired space.

The hotel last refurbished its adjoining South Wing in 2006, and is now undergoing a lower-impact redressing of the 84 rooms there.

Signing of Radisson Blu Cam Ranh Bay

CARLSON Rezidor Hotel Group will be developing the Radisson Blu Cam Ranh Bay in Vietnam, the first property for the group there, slated for a 1Q2019 opening.

The 290-key, new-build, beachfront resort is located four kilometres away from Cam Ranh International Airport, and will also offer 40 villas with access to a 800-meter stretch of beach.

Amenities include sea sports facilities, a pool, fitness centre, spa, grand ballroom, multiple meeting rooms, two dining options, as well as a lounge and pool bar.

SCENIC Cruises has confirmed new itineraries on both the Mekong and Irrawaddy rivers next year.

The Scenic Spirit, which will launch on the Mekong in January 2016, will travel between Vietnam’s Ho Chi Minh City and Cambodia’s Siem Reap on an eight-day circuit. Meanwhile, Scenic Aura will launch on the Irrawaddy in Myanmar, and it will be an 11-day trip between Mandalay and Pyay.

Both ships are all-suite – 34 on Scenic Spirit and 22 on Scenic Aura – and will range from 24m² to 80m² in size. The package, targeted at the above-55 demographic, includes free beverages, butler and laundry service, tips, gratuities, and most activities.

“Our expansion into South-east Asia has been a huge success since we launched our Mekong cruises last November. Our guests’ appetite for cruising this region with us has been voracious, with sales surpassing expectations,” said Adam Burke, journey designer Asia at Scenic Cruises.

The recent IT&CMA in Bangkok that saw 14% more exhibitor participation, with a showcase of 297 leading destinations, CVBs and corporate brands from around the world, garnered thumbs ups from delegates across all categories as they accomplished set objectives during over 100 business, education and networking activities.

The spot-on buyer profile, successful garnering of leads, excellent organisation that resulted in strong business matches and productive discussions, as well as massive exposure outreach were among the reasons cited by satisfied exhibitors.

“This is a very important show to be part of. The organisers have been spot on with the buyer base and we were very happy with the number of buyers and meetings we had,” said Domingo Ramon C. Enerio III, Chief Operating Officer of Tourism Promotions Board Philippines. He and his team also took home the Stickiest Function Award, as voted by delegates, for staging a fun and memorable hosted dinner function for buyers and media, proving that their participation had undoubtedly gained Philippines invaluable marketing mileage.

“We obtained fantastic leads with these buyers. The ability of IT&CMA and CTW Asia-Pacific to connect us with such buying potential is the reason why we chose to return to the event. This is the platform that enabled us to achieve our business targets,” shared Edward Kwek, Business Events Manager, South & South East Asia of Tourism New Zealand.

“The PSA effectively found buyers with a mutual interest in meeting us, which translates to a higher percentage of business interest or lead potential,” said Anmi Luna, Director of Crowne Meetings Philippines.

Anake Boonjourn, Assistant Sales Manager of Novotel Phuket Resort couldn’t have agreed more, “The PSA system and Buyers profile gave us an insight into the buyers we were going to meet, and it helped in facilitating productive discussions. As a new exhibitor, the exhibition showcase was also a great opportunity for brand exposure.”

Korea Tourism Organization (KTO) that also took home the Stickiest National Pavilion Gold Award for the most impressive destination booth design, remarked, “We benefitted greatly from the business appointment structure. We were able to have fruitful meetings which will lead to future successful collaborations. The exposure outreach was massive as we met with many buyers from all around the world,” said Assistant Manager Changho Ham.

As returning and new exhibitors are starting to secure their space for next year, join them in booking yours before 31 December to enjoy early bird savings of 5% and more. Email sales.itcma@ttgasia.com for details.

To discover the highlights of IT&CMA 2015, click here. For more event information, visit www.itcma.com

CARLSON Wagonlit Travel (CWT) is feeling the impact of Lufthansa Group’s GDS 16 euros (US$17) fee which came into effect in September, and also frowns at plans by the airline group for exclusive offers outside of GDSs.

In November, the airline group, which encompasses Austrian Airlines, Brussels Airlines, Lufthansa and SWISS, also revealed plans to enable direct connect solutions with various industry partners.

Scott Brennan, executive vice president and head of global supplier management at CWT, said there are fundamental issues with these initiatives, due to the following points:

• Fragmentation of content that creates complex, manual searching and booking.

• Less comprehensive comparison shopping resulting in reduced visibility of competitive fares.

• Limitations for TMCs to communicate directly with travelers or to assist with travel changes or during emergencies.

• Fragmented data for reporting and traveler tracking.

• Additional cost – even if Lufthansa’s €16 fee is avoided – to bring bookings made directly with Lufthansa back into the managed program and to manage inefficiencies and complexities related to changes, exchanges, refunds, invoicing and reporting.

CWT further reinforced its view that GDSs currently present the most efficient, complete and cost-effective distribution solution currently available for the corporate travel industry.

GLOBAL air travel demand is expected to soften as a result of negative developments in the world economy.

IATA is now forecasting demand to reach seven billion by 2034, instead of stronger figure of 7.4 billion it forecasted earlier.

The updated count is based on a 3.8 per cent average annual growth rate using 2014 baseline numbers (3.3 billion), a lowered outlook from the 4.1 per cent previously projected.

This dampened forecast reflects negative developments in the world economy, especially slower growth predictions in China, expected to reduce appetite for air travel globally.

“Economic and political events over the last year have impacted some of the fundamentals for growth. As a result, we expect some 400 million fewer people to be traveling in 2034 than we did at this time last year,” said Tony Tyler, director general and CEO of IATA.

“It is important that we don’t create additional headwinds with excessive taxation, onerous regulation or infrastructure deficiencies,” he added.

Still, China is likely to remain the fastest growing market from now till 2034, with 758 million new passengers expected to be added. The next four biggest growth markets for the same period are the US (523 million), India (275 million), Indonesia (132 million) and Brazil (104 million).

According to these projections, China will overtake the US as the world’s largest passenger market by 2029.