THE Ascott Limited continues to grow its footprint in China with the announcement that it has secured contracts for five properties across Yinchuan, Changsha, Shenyang and Xi’an.

The 200-unit Citadines Xingqing Yinchuan and 150-unit Somerset Xingqing are located adjacent to each other within an integrated development in east Yinchuan, home to six National Economic and Technological Development Zones. The international airport is 25 minutes away.

Both properties are targeted at different segments, with Citadines designed for the independent traveller and Somerset for families. Facilities include a swimming pool, sauna, gym, playground, lounge, business centre, and meeting areas.

Meanwhile the 164-unit Somerset Riverside Changsha is part of Liuyanghe Enjoytown and a 25-minute drive away from the Changsha Huanghua International Airport. Residents can choose from studios to three-bedroom apartments.

All three properties are earmarked to open in 2018.

Ascott also plans to open its second Shenyang property, the 330-unit Somerset Olympic Centre Shenyang, in 2015. Located in the Hunnan commercial area, the residence offers a range of studios to four-bedroom apartments and the usual facilities.

The fifth Ascott serviced residence in Xi’an, the 156-unit Somerset Xindicheng Xi’an is scheduled to debut in 2016. A mere 30-minute drive from the international airport, the residence is located within a block which houses SOHO apartments. Guests can choose from studios to three-bedroom apartments and enjoy facilities such as a gym, swimming pool, yoga room, steam room, playground, business centre, meeting room, restaurant, and reading lounge.

Kevin Goh, managing director for North Asia, Ascott, said: “Besides deepening our presence in China’s first-tier cities, we are expanding into high-growth cities such as Yinchuan and Changsha.

“As the first international serviced residence operator to enter Yinchuan and Changsha, Ascott will enjoy first-mover advantage to capture the city’s signidicant untapped demand for spacious, secure, and homely accommodation.”

THE Indian government expects to introduce a new civil aviation policy by January and a draft of the policy was released earlier this week by civil aviation minister Ashok Gajapathi Raju.

Proposals detailed include the enhancing regional air connectivity, developing the airports of New Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai, Hyderabad, and Bengaluru as international hubs, the creation of more airports through public private partnerships, rationalising the cost of aviation turbine fuel, disinvestment in government controlled Airport Authority of India and Pawan Hans- a helicopter service.

The government could also review the existing 5/20 rule, which only allows Indian carriers that have operated on domestic routes for five years and a fleet of 20 aircraft to fly internationally.

“We are considering modernising Ahmedabad and Jaipur airports also through a PPP model, and awarding management contracts for Chennai and Kolkata airports. There is no country in the world which has a constraint like the 5/20 rule. It needs to go,” said Raju to reporters in New Delhi.

The draft policy also seeks to develop infrastructure to support helicopter operations.

“While we see a major thrust on remote connectivity in the draft, the role of small aircraft operators needs to be given due consideration,” said a e-mail statement from the Business Aircraft Operators’ Association.

The draft policy will be examined by an expert committee consisting of government and industry stakeholders, before the finalised version is implemented in January.

LUXURY longhaul travel from the Philippines is fast expanding on the heels of a growing economy, a trend highlighted at Insight Vacations’ launch of authentic and experiential tour programmes for 2015 yesterday.

Bernadette Arnaiz, managing director of Rajah Travel Corp, Insight Vacations’ partner in the Philippines, said: “You’ll be surprised because most of our sales refer to couples and families who want this type of experience. They want to be spoiled. Filipinos like longhaul from seven to 14 days.

“That’s why we’re getting the numbers now. Most of our sales in the Philippines are premium (for Insight), not premium savers (for another company).”

Insight Vacations’ CEO, John Boulding, said Insight has a “high repeat business” in the Philippines, an important market divided into three areas: sophisticated travellers who have studied or have businesses overseas, urban sophisticates living in Manila, and the rural wealthy or entrepreneurs who have money but limited time for travel with their children or extended families.

He said 28 per cent of the company’s business in the Philippines come from either small groups or extended families, 48 per cent from singles and couples, and the rest are VFRs.

Spain is hot for Philippine travellers, while Italy remains very big due to fashion, food, history and architecture.

All of Eastern Europe, from The Balkans to Croatia, is very strong while the Scandinavia and the Alps are one of the fastest-rising destinations in 2015. Switzerland is back big time.

Boulding added that there is an opportunity in the Philippines to start developing India, Nepal and Bhutan.

Of the 113 escorted journeys in 2015, 14 are new itineraries, including Egypt, Dalmatian Islands and Croatia.

HOMEGROWN LCCs are making their presence felt in the Taiwan market with flights scheduled to commence in the weeks ahead.

Tigerair Taiwan, which received its air operator’s certificate in September, launched daily Singapore-Taipei flights that same month, followed by daily services to Bangkok and four-times-weekly flights to Chiang Mai this month. The carrier is expecting to double its Airbus A320 fleet to handle future growth.

A spokesperson from the LCC said to TTG Asia e-Daily at the Taipei International Travel Fair: “Our wishlist includes Okinawa and Hokkaido, as well as South Korea. Also, once our application is approved, we’ll inaugrate Macau-Taipei before end-2014.

This December will also see the launch of TransAsia Airways Group’s V Air and its inaugural Bangkok-Taipei route, followed by services to Japan and South Korea next year.

The decision to fly to Bangkok first was made on feedback from its Facebook fan page, said V Air’s PR manager, Vanda Chang. “We target price-centric FITs who know what they want. By end-2015, we’ll have a fleet of five and then build it with two or three new A320s every year,” she said.

She also noted: “Competition is keen as Taiwan already has 15 airlines in operation, including traditional carriers.”

Meanwhile, Vietjet Air will begin Taipei-Ho Chi Minh City flights in December and Kaohsiung-Ho Chi Minh City in 2015.

PATA has announced a new partnership with Tourism Malaysia for the development of TMmPOWER, a new PATAmPOWER white-label software platform and next-generation business decision-making tool.

With the platform, time previously spent looking for data on Malaysia’s tourism industry performance can now be spent on analysis, leading to smarter, faster decisions based on metrics.
PATA CEO Mario Hardy said: “Tourism Malaysia’s initiatives are in line with PATA NextGen activities…This (TMmPOWER) will enable tourism professionals to access data and make analytic-based decisions to improve their competitive advantage.”

Tourism Malaysia is the first NTO to implement the new application.

VIETNAM, Mozambique and Croatia are some of the countries looking to tap the growing Taiwanese outbound market, which saw 10 million go on holiday in the first 10 months of 2014.

Taipei International Travel Fair chairman, CT Su, predicts Taiwanese outbound will grow five per cent to 11.3 million.

Keen to get a share is Vietnam. Tran Phu Cuong, deputy director general of the international cooperation department, Vietnam National Administration of Tourism (VNAT), said: “We want to attract more Taiwanese because the market is big with high spending power.”

VNAT held roadshows in Taichung and Taipei last most, and will soon be promoting beach tourism and city breaks. The country welcomed over 306,000 Taiwanese from January to September this year, up three per cent year-on-year.

Croatia also recorded strong increase in Taiwanese traffic since becoming an EU member last year and offering visa-free access to visitors, and is now focued on building awareness, and business and MICE groups into capital Zagreb.

Zagreb Tourist Board, convention bureau director, Zlatan Muftic, said: “A new airport is under construction in Zagreb, and the new terminal will be completed by 2016 with air bridges providing direct access from plane to terminal.”

However, Mozambique has had a disappointing response from Taiwan so far due to the lack of knowledge about the destination, said Achilles Yeh, representative of the Mozambique Investment Promotion Centre in Taipei.

But with the spike in tourist numbers from Japan and South Korea in recent years, Mozambique tour operators have tailored programmes and services to Asian tastes, said Yeh.