BRAND USA is kicking off a new culinary campaign next month to entice travellers from Asia-Pacific to explore the US’ gastronomic delights.

As part of the initiative, the NTO is rolling out a high-quality culinary guide to the US and a social media campaign in multiple markets including Taiwan, Hong Kong and Singapore.

Reene Ho-Phang, managing director of Brand USA Taiwan & Hong Kong told TTG Asia e-Daily: “To Asians, food is not just for consumption. It means prosperity, abundance and even healing. With the economic boom, Asians are fast venturing outside their shores to have a taste of other countries’ food offerings. Through the Brand USA Culinary Guide, we hope to rekindle the fondness of America through Asians’ palates.”

Chefs from the country’s Diplomatic Culinary Partnership will travel to the US embassies in Australia, China, Japan, South Korea and Taiwan to launch the campaign during Independence Day celebrations.

Ho-Phang commented: “Unknown to most visitors, the culinary landscape of the US embodies the abundance of native and immigrant influences that reflect its cultural diversity, storied history and rich travel experiences.”

She said that the culinary campaign is expected to further propel with the strong inbound travel to the US from Taiwan and Hong Kong, and noted that with a fourth terminal to come up at Singapore Changi Airport in 2017, Singapore-US travel is predicted to rise in the coming years.

METASEARCH site Lagisatu.com is helping hoteliers tap the Muslim travel market through its hotel listing and booking services tailored specifically for this segment.

Launched in 2013, the site’s MuslimStars feature is incorporated into the results of user searches by indicating how Muslim-friendly a property is on a scale of 100 points. Details include whether the hotel offers halal food, and if guestrooms include a Quran and the qiblah.

A quick search on the site however, indicates that the MuslimStars rating is not available for all hotels and a press statement said that Lagisatu.com currently has more than 10,000 properties registered for its MuslimStars feature.

Lagisatu.com currently has more than 650,000 accommodations, hotels, home stays, inns and resorts across over 83,000 cities worldwide in its inventory.

Co-founder Faeez Fadhlillah said: “Lagisatu.com hotel listings allow hotels to reach out to potential consumers in an extremely effective manner. Because we display the direct contact details of hotels, their special offers and other key information, that sales channel is clear and direct.”

Juergen Gallistl, chief marketing officer of Lagisatu.com, said: “Our data shows that in 2013 the MuslimStars rating was proven to increase the average hotel conversion rate by 21.4 per cent.

“With Lagisatu.com witnessing an increase of 200 per cent increase in traffic since then, we aim to channel some of the traffic to hotels directly, helping them to further increase direct bookings.”

ASIA Premium Travel has rolled out a new B2B brochure and website for the travel trade showcasing the luxury travel possibilities in Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam.

The Cambodia-based DMC’s brochure is a 92-page, full-colour publication focusing on niche travel segments such as luxury, cultural tourism, ecotourism, beach tourism, adventure travel, golf, MICE and multi-country tours, as well as tours for special interest travellers.

Chea Win, co-founder and CEO of Asia Premium Travel, said: “We have just launched the new Asia Premium Travel’s Five Signature Travel Experiences for discerning travellers for the next season, and our brochure is truly rich in content and very educational.”

“The key thing sophisticated travellers want today is personal service and the opportunity to have unique encounters with a destination’s culture, history and people – something they can’t Google,” added Chea Win.

Phan An, director of sales and marketing, said: “We do hope that our new website and first-ever brochure for 2014/15 helps travel professionals to generate sales. Interested travel colleagues can make an appointment with us for further discussion about the profitable market share in emerging destinations.”

Asia Premium Travel also launched the website www.asiapremiumtravel.com specifically for travel sellers to offer information on Indochina.

The DMC is a joint venture company backed by Vietnam-based Luxury Travel that began operations last year as Cambodia’s first high-end tour operator (TTG Asia e-Daily, September 30, 2013).

IATA’S taskforce on aircraft tracking will offer carriers a range of options to install rather than a single solution across the board.

Singapore’s The Business Times today quoted Kevin Hiatt, senior vice-president (safety and flight operations), IATA and head of the taskforce, as saying: “We will explore what options are available and what aircraft currently on board and see how it can be used to potentially fill this gap.”

Speaking from Doha where IATA is holding its annual general meeting, the taskforce’s solution could address airline concerns about the costs of implementing aircraft tracking systems.

The Business Times stated that some 30 vendors are scheduled to present their solutions to the taskforce, but IATA chief Tony Tyler has remained silent on a timeline for implementation.

According to Reuters, an ICAO official said last week that converting all airlines to a global standard of real-time tracking may take up to three years to realise (TTG Asia e-Daily, May 29, 2014).

IATA convened the taskforce following the disappearance of Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 (TTG Asia e-Daily, April 1, 2014), comprised of representatives from ICAO, the airline industry, plane-makers, flight safety organisations and air navigation service providers.

HONG Kong chief executive Leung Chun-ying’s suggestion to slash the number of mainland Chinese visitors by 20 per cent has generated heated debate but tourism stakeholders suggest the government focus on building capacity instead.

Leung’s consult with the Commission on Strategic Development is aimed at reducing infrastructural strain from the influx of tourists brought in by the Individual Visit Scheme (IVS) when Hong Kong relaxed the rules for FITs coming from six Chinese cities almost two years ago (TTG Asia e-Daily, September 3, 2012).

Supporting the mooted change is Hong Kong Association of Registered Tour Co-ordinators chairman, Wing Wong. “(Chinese FITs) don’t benefit our inbound operators at all, except the retail, hotel and transport operators… They pack the shops and there are long queues at immigration counters. Everything is becoming pricey due to higher demand, so other leisure travellers feel Hong Kong is more costly than before,” he said, adding that a 20 per cent reduction is “acceptable”.

In the retail sector, Yue Hwa Products Emporium’s director and general manager Yu Pang-chun could not agree, explaining that turning the Chinese visitors away would drive business away to other destinations.

But Yu admitted the city’s capacity was insufficient. “The city doesn’t have enough tourism infrastructure and there has not been many new additions over the last 10 years as compared to pragmatic Singapore. Therefore, there is a need to expand the pie and build more infrastructure.”

Likewise Charles Ng, honorary president of Hong Kong Inbound Tour Operators Association, said the cut would not resolve the “root cause”, which is the lack of resources. “Therefore, development of other tourism resources is vital,” he stressed.

“Instead of cutting 20 per cent, we should increase inbound traffic from all markets by 20 per cent or more. Group tour traffic is vulnerable to external factors…With a cut, frontline tour guides will suffer and the local economy will be challenged and ruined,” said Ng.

Hong Kong Disneyland’s managing director, Andrew Kam, said: “Hong Kong Disneyland will closely monitor the development of relevant policies and situations.”

Read how an overcrowded Hong Kong is struggling to accommodate a growing number of Chinese tourists