JETSTAR Asia will be increasing its flight services between Singapore and six destinations, namely Kuala Lumpur, Penang, Hong Kong, Shantou, Haikou and Hangzhou, to cater to the increasing demand over the Lunar New Year holidays.

Flights from Singapore to Kuala Lumpur and Penang will see eight and nine additional services respectively on February 4 to 7, 11, 12 and 14, 2016.

Five flight services will be added to the Singapore-Hong Kong route which will operate on February 5 to 7, 11 and 12, while three additional services will operate on February 8, 9 and 14 on the Singapore-Shantou route.

Lastly, two additional flight services will each operate on the Singapore-Haikou and Singapore-Hangzhou routes on February 9 and 13 as well as on February 8 and 13 respectively.

These flights will operate on top of the airline’s regular scheduled services from February 4 to 14.

Bangkerohan River

DAVAO’s travel trade has come up with attractive rates and new products to better leverage on Cebu Pacific’s recently launched twice-weekly direct flights from the city to Singapore, the second carrier to do so after SilkAir.

Assistant tourism secretary Art Boncato notes that currently, passenger traffic mainly consists of travellers heading to Singapore and not the other way around.

Jennifer Caneda, tour coordinator, House of Travel, said the Visit Davao Fun Sale, which will run from March 25 to May 21 this year, will have more participating tour operators, hotels and shops offering bigger discounts of up to 50 per cent off their products.

Hotels are also offering special rates for groups booking a minimum of 15 rooms, on top of the contracted rates for the whole year.

Michael Walohan, supervisor, Blooms Travel and Tours, said that for adventure seekers, a tour of Talikud Island was soft launched recently at reduced rates and as part of new itineraries.

Walohan added that other tours will also be offered this year in cooperation with the Philippines Department of Tourism, including a pub crawl, food market visit and one which features Muslim-friendly tourism products.

THE World Tourism Organization (UNWTO), in its latest Visa Openess Report, has revealed that travel visa requirements globally have dropped to its lowest level in history.

As of last year, 39 per cent of the world’s population could travel for tourism without obtaining visas prior to departure, compared to 23 per cent in 2008.

Breaking the numbers down further, on average, 18 per cent of the world’s population was able to travel to a destination without a visa in 2015, while another 15 per cent could receive a visa on arrival, while six per cent was able to obtain e-visas.

As well, emerging economies remain more open than advanced economies. At the regional level, South-east Asia, east Africa, the Caribbean and Oceania remain the most open areas while central and north Africa, as well as north America were in 2015 the most restrictive.

“Prioritizing travel facilitation is central to stimulating economic growth and job creation through tourism. We are pleased to see that a growing number of governments around the world think likewise,” said UNWTO secretary-general, Taleb Rifai.

“The current security challenges should not deter us from advancing visa facilitation. On the contrary, enhancing security and facilitating tourism travel should always go hand in hand.”

He added: “In fact, at a moment when safety and security are top of the agenda for all of us, we need to work closer together to promote a safe, secure and seamless travel environment by using the possibilities offered by technology and international cooperation in data sharing.”

LIFE in Jakarta has returned to normal shortly after the terror attacks in the Indonesian capital last week.

The street in front of the bombing and gunning site was reopened about five hours after the incident which took place around 10.50, with hotels, shopping malls and offices nearby continuing operations as per normal.

Arief Yahya, Indonesia’s minister of tourism, said: “For tourism, the sprightfulness of the security troops in capturing the terrorists has given assurance that safety and security in Jakarta and Indonesia are under control.”

The minister acknowledged however, that he was concerned about the incident and decided to suspend all international promotions and advertising campaigns for a week. But he retracted his statement three hours later.

He said: “After following the situation, we are confident that the situation is safe, under control and normal. We have decided to continue the Wonderful Indonesia advertising and promotion programmes.”

In the meantime, greater security measures are being taken not only in Jakarta but also in other cities.

Angkasa Pura Airport Authority, one of Indonesia’s two airport authorities, will be tightening security at all of its 13 airports using security detail from the Indonesian Police Department and National Armed Forces, as well as placing additional CCTVs at the Jakarta Soekarno-Hatta International Airport.

Security for public transportations services will also be tightened, according to Indonesia’s minister of transportation Ignasius Jonan.

(From left) Sean Wong, CFO of Cambodia Airports; Chloé Lapeyre, general manager of Phnom Penh International Airport; Thong Khon, minister of tourism of the Royal Government of Cambodia; Song Hoi-see, founder and CEO of Plaza Premium Group; and Jenny Zhang, group operations director of Plaza Premium Group, jointly officiated the grand opening ceremony of Plaza Premium Lounge Phnom Penh. 

PHNOM Penh International Airport is now home to Cambodia’s first Plaza Premium Lounge, accessible by travellers regardless of airline or seating class.

The new lounge measures over 1,393m², holds close to 300 seats and is located on the Mezzanine floor of the International Departures level at the airport.

The contemporary airport lounge also houses a 10-seater private VIP room with three shower rooms attached, a wellness spa, as well as a variety of F&B options including a bar. Complimentary Wi-Fi, electrical outlets for tablets, laptops and mobile phones is available too.

An option for pre-booking of the lounge for two- or five-hour packages (US$35-US$50) can be made on its website.

Plaza Premium Lounge will also be opening an outlet at Siem Reap International Airport this year.

THE series of bomb and small arms attacks in Jakarta’s central business district yesterday, including the bombing of a Starbucks café and a police post, has had “no impact” on the nation’s tourism industry, said Minister of Tourism Arief Yahya.

“Everything is back to normal. We have checked and there is no report of cancellations from airlines, hotels and travel companies in Jakarta,” he said.

“Our Crisis Centre had checked with all 14 hotels along Jalan Thamrin-Sudirman. As of 22.00 last night, there was no early check-out reported and all are confident that the situation is back to normal.”

Herry Lukman, member on the board of directors of Sari Pan Pacific Hotel Jakarta, the hotel closest to the incident, confirmed this. “We have received no complaints from guests, no one checked out earlier, let alone an exodus,” he said.

Endah Faeni, owner of Mitradaya Adipratama PCO, who was handling a business meeting at Sari Pan Pacific Hotel Jakarta yesterday, said: “The company had been meeting there since Monday. All 30 participants were evacuated when the attack took place, but the meeting resumed after it was declared safe. Today, they are continuing according to schedule.”

As well, Krishnadi, Indonesia Hotel & Restaurant Association (IHRA) Jakarta Chapter chairman, told TTG Asia e-daily that as of press time, he has not received any cancellation reports from members.

He also added that there were no cancellations for meetings, which is a significant market for hotels in Jakarta, especially for those located along the main business district of Jalan Thamrin-Sudirman.

However, he noted that cafes and restaurants along these streets, where businessmen usually hold business lunches, were quiet.

Vivi Herlambang, corporate director, sales, marketing and business development at Sahid International Hotel, said while meetings continued at Grand Sahid Jaya today, there were a couple of cancellations from the hotel’s Japanese clients.

Meanwhile, Artotel Jakarta reported that a few of its hotel guests have requested to check out earlier.

Famous suspension bridge on Langkawi Island

MALAYSIA’s Kedah state government hopes to increase domestic and international footfall through its year-long Discover Kedah 2016 campaign.

It is aiming for 5 million tourists this year, comprising 63 per cent domestic and 37 per cent foreign arrivals, expected to bring a total of RM5.87 billion (US$1.33 billion) in revenue to the northern state.

Zulkifli Mohamad, CEO of Kedah Tourism, said: “Langkawi has a strong brand and an international airport and through this campaign, we want people to associate Langkawi with Kedah. When they visit Langkawi, we also want them to extend their holiday to the mainland.” Traditionally, the islands of Langkawi often overshadows the Kedah mainland and has more developed tourism products.

The campaign will target tourists from the ASEAN region, China, South Korea and Japan. It will also target Russia and Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) countries through charter flights.

Products promoted in the campaign include the Alor Setar Heritage Trail, Merbok River Cruise, Sedim river and tree top walk, Ulu Legong Hot Spring, Mount Keriang Cave and Kedah Paddy Museum.

To lure more domestic tourists, Kedah Tourism will be involved in the upcoming MITA Tourism Fair, organised by the Malaysian Inbound Tourism Organisation. It will be held at the Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre from January 29 to 31.

The inaugural fair will highlight attractions and products within Malaysia, aimed at promoting domestic tourism.