CELEBRITY Cruises is launching a new route from Japan aboard its 91,000-ton Celebrity Millennium from October 17, departing from Kobe with ports of call in Busan as well as in the Japanese cities of Kochi and Akita.

“Many of the bookings and inquiries that we have taken so far are from Japanese customers. We are also keen to sell to the international market,” said Yukihiko Hashimoto, a spokesman for the marketing division of Miki Tourist, which is acting as Celebrity Cruise’s sole Japanese agent.

The company aims to attract travellers from Hong Kong, Taiwan, South Korea and, to a lesser extent, China, Hashimoto told TTG Asia e-Daily.

The 12-decked Celebrity Millennium has accommodation for 2,158 passengers, with amenities including 11 restaurants, a gym, a 1,300-seat theatre and a relaxation spa. The vessel’s Celebrity iLounge is also the first authorised retailer of Apple products at sea.

Shore excursions feature visits to the castle city of Kochi and Akita in autumn, views of Mount Fuji from the city of Shimizu, and time for eating and shopping in Busan.

Prices for the eight-night journey range from Y159,800 (US$1,280) per person for a double cabin to Y299,800 for the premium Aqua Class stateroom. Passengers have a choice of disembarking at Kobe or Yokohama.

MYANMAR National Airlines (MNA), previously known as Myanma Airways, has returned to the international arena with the launch of six-weekly services between Yangon and Singapore on August 17.

The airline will operate the route using its new Boeing 737-800 aircraft to offer business, premium economy and economy class cabins. MNA is also the first Myanmar carrier to offer premium economy service.

From October 26, the Singapore service will be operated on a daily basis. The carrier will also begin services from Yangon to Hong Kong and Taipei in October.

Eileen Lim, country manager of MNA, said: “Besides through fares to domestic destinations, our Singapore-Yangon service also connect conveniently with our flight to Bagan and passengers and their baggage may be checked-through to their final destination.”

Familiarisation trips to showcase its new international service and rejuvenated operations are also in the works, according to MNA’s sales manager, Patrick Chia. In the last two decades, the airline operated only domestically while other local carriers provided international services.

MNA has ordered six B737-800s, the second of which will be delivered in October and the remaining to be delivered by 2017 at the rate of two per year.

THE Singapore Tourism Board (STB) has launched a S$10 million (US$7.1 million) fund for the development of tour and technology initiatives.

Named the Experience Step-Up Fund (ESF), the capital serves to encourage businesses to develop new tourism experiences that can enhance overall visitor satisfaction in Singapore.

Choo Huei Miin, director of visitor experience and capability development at STB, said: “Increasingly, travellers are seeking varied and engaging experiences that allow them to gain a deeper appreciation and understanding of our stories and heritage.

“Through the ESF, which is underpinned by STB’s Quality Tourism strategy, we aim to spur tourism businesses to create and deliver more and better experiential offerings that add to Singapore’s overall destination attractiveness. They are also encouraged to adopt innovative technology solutions to up their game.”

Sentosa Development Corporation and Robinsons are two businesses that are looking at utilising the ESF.

Susan Ang, divisional director, island investment and branding at Sentosa Development Corporation said that the scheme “will be helpful to our many partners on the island as they would have the opportunity to tap on this funding to enhance their offerings and ultimately, create a more dynamic and memorable experience for all our visitors”.

Robinsons, meanwhile, is hoping to utilise the new fund by establishing a heritage gallery at their flagship store at The Heeren shopping mall, commented Christophe Cann, group managing director, Robinsons.

STB is now calling out to Singapore registered business to submit their tour development and technology initiatives proposals from now until February 5, 2016.

Evaluation sessions for proposals will be held in October and December this year, and February next year. Applications are to reach STB by the 5th of the month of the evaluation cycle.

More details will be shared at the STB’s industry briefing session on September 4. Information on the briefing session is available at www.stb.gov.sg.

THE wreckage of an aircraft which went missing in Indonesia’s remote region of Papua on Sunday has been found by local villagers.

The shorthaul plane, operated by Indonesian carrier Trigana Air Service, had lost contact with air traffic controllers around 15.00 local time after taking off from Jayapura, the capital of Papua province, while en route to Oksibil Airport in Indonesia.

It is still unknown if any passengers survived the crash as search and rescue teams attempted to reach the mountainous site early Monday morning.

There were 54 passengers aboard the ATR 42-300 twin-turboprop plane, consisting of 44 adults, five crew members, four children and one infant. No tourists were on the flight, according to local media reports.

Trigana is a small airline company operating in remote parts of Indonesia. It has been on the EU’s list of banned carriers since 2007, along with other local carriers such as Lion Air.

The ban forbids those on the list from operating in European airspace due to safety and regulatory concerns.

This is the latest in a series of unfortunate air disasters to befall Indonesia, including an incident in December 2014 which saw an AirAsia jet carrying 162 passengers crash into the Java Sea.

SKYSCANNER has revealed that travellers from Malaysia begin planning their holidays earlier than others from around the world, according to information gathered from the travel metasearch site’s user data in June 2015.

Booking 59 days in advance before a trip is the global average. Malaysian travellers, however, book 79 days in advance to top the list, followed closely by Taiwanese travellers who plan 77 days ahead. Chinese travellers land on the other end of the spectrum, booking their itineraries only 40 days in advance.

Singaporean and Japanese travellers book 64 days in advance, placing them slightly above the global average.

In a chart dominated by Asian nations, the only two non-Asian countries are the US and the UK, logging advance bookings at 56 and 69 days respectively.

Vietnam, India and Indonesia all fall below the global average and recorded 48, 56 and 57 days accordingly.

THE ringgit depreciation may result in stronger demand for domestic travel, according to officials from Tourism Malaysia and inbound players in the country.

This year, Tourism Malaysia is targeting an increase of 5.7 per cent in domestic tourism as compared with 2014.

Iskandar Mirza Mohd Yusof, director, domestic marketing division of Tourism Malaysia, said: “The weak ringgit will affect people’s propensity to travel and we expect to see a shift from outbound to traveling within the country.

“Based on findings from MATTA Fair in March, the top five domestic destinations are Kedah (including Langkawi), Pahang, Johor, Selangor and Kuala Lumpur.”

To further grow domestic travel, the upcoming MATTA Fair from September 4-6 will see a total of 110 tourism trade players participate under the umbrella of Tourism Malaysia.

State travel organisations from Sabah, Langkawi, Johor, Negri Sembilan, Terengganu, Kedah, Kuala Lumpur, Labuan, Pahang and Putrajaya will also participate in the fair.

The ringgit started falling in late 2014 and had dropped to 3.99 to the US dollar today from 3.16 a year ago.