THE popularity of zero-fare tours among Chinese travellers has rebounded six months after China implemented its new tourism law banning them, with lax penalties for breaking the law a likely contributor to the revival.

Hong Kong Polytechnic University School of Hotel & Tourism Management assistant professor, Tony Tse, presented these findings in his paper on The Legal Aspects of Shopping Tourism in the Chinese Outbound Market during the Global Tourism & Hospitality Conference and Asian Tourism Forum (Global 2014 and 11th ATF) held earlier in the week.

“The number of groups with shopping itineraries plunged 70 per cent to (about 3,000) when the new law was launched. The impact died slowly as of March (2014), as the figure (nearly 14,000) surpassed the same period of previous year.

Implemented in August last year, the law explicitly states that travel agencies are “prohibited from organising tourism activities and luring tourists with unreasonably low prices, or getting illegitimate gains such as rebates by arranging shopping or providing tourism services that require additional payment” (TTG Asia e-Daily, August 21, 2013).

Tse pointed out: “Obviously, this is not working and a local newspaper also reported on the resurrection of this tour recently. People in China use sponsor coupons to draw business and indeed, the penalty is not significant to curb this practice.

“For instance, in Article 5 of the Tourism Law, in case of violation, agencies just pay the price of the returned purchase to visitors,” he said.

The three-day conference drew nearly 300 delegates from more than 25 countries, and was jointly organised by the School of Hospitality and Tourism Management (SHTM) of Hong Kong Polytechnic University and Taylor & Francis Group. Bringing in educators and editors of leading journals, the conference’s theme was Charting the New Path: Innovations in Tourism and Hospitality – Innovations-Research-Education.

BUDGET carrier Flydubai is set to double its network in India starting this June with the addition of Delhi, Kochi and Thiruvananthapuram services.

The airline will operate four weekly flights to Delhi from June 1, and three weekly flights each to Kochi and Thiruvananthapuram from June 2 and 3 respectively. All will offer economy and business class seats.

Sudhir Sreedharan, senior vice president commercial (GCC, subcontinent, Africa), Flydubai, said: “These new flights will give passengers from different regions in India direct links to Dubai, enhancing flight connectivity beyond the city to GCC countries and to destinations in Africa, Central Asia, Russia and Europe, most of which have no or very few direct links to India.”

The expansion comes on the heels of a bilateral air services agreement between India and Dubai that paved the way for 11,000 more seats on Dubai-India routes.

“Flydubai is seeing a good demand since it began operations in India. The new flights will not just catch the fancy of point-to-point passengers but transit passengers as well,” said Ankush Nijhawan, managing director of major Indian travel conglomerate Nijhawan Group.

Flydubai started operations to India in 2010, and currently flies to Lucknow, Hyderabad and Ahmedabad.

TRANSPORT and tourism-related businesses in Thailand are still operating as usual with no obstructions despite a coup d’état and curfew declared by Thai army chief Prayuth Chan-ocha yesterday.

The Royal Thai Army has imposed a nationwide curfew between 22.00 and 05.00 as well as a ban on public gatherings of more than five people, with the ruling applying to both locals and tourists alike.

However, exceptions will be granted for those travelling to and from the airport during the curfew hours, and tourists are advised to have passports and airline tickets with them.

It is “business as usual” for Asian Trails, which is “operating all tours and transfers as scheduled”, according to CEO, Laurent Kuenzle.

He said: “We have informed all our clients in Thailand personally of the current situation…We operated all transfers to all airports in the entire country without any problems including during curfew hours as the military allowed our transfer operations to go on as normal even during curfew hours.”

Added Exotissimo Travel Group COO, Hamish Keith, who is currently in the UK: “The view from the UK is quite calm and measured. The news has not been overly sensationalising events and presented this as a political development rather than a military event and people here seem to understand there is no threat of risk for foreign travellers. All the tour operators and members of the public that I have spoken with today are quite pragmatic and are not overly concerned at this point.”

Airports of Thailand (AOT) chairman, Sita Divari, has affirmed that all six airports under AOT management – including Bangkok, Phuket and Chiang Mai – remain open and are operating as normal.

Thai Airways International, Bangkok Airways and Thai AirAsia have also confirmed operations of all scheduled incoming and outgoing flights, but strongly recommend passengers allocate at least three hours of travel time to the airport and stay updated with traffic news to avoid missing their flights.

Meanwhile, at least one hotel has responded to the situation with promotions. Swissôtel Le Concorde Bangkok sent an email out this morning with details of a Curfew Rate valid until May 31, offering its classic room at 2,200 baht nett (US$68) for a night, with discounts for in-house services thrown in.

As of Friday morning, a blackout has been imposed over TV and radio stations, but print media, the Internet and both land and mobile phone communication services are not affected.

All attractions remain open, but businesses and public services have adjusted their operation hours to comply with the curfew. BTS Skytrain, MRT Subway and Airport Rail Link systems will operate their train services until 21.00, while major shopping malls in Bangkok are closing earlier at 20.00 on Friday.

International SOS has advised travellers to defer non-essential travel to Bangkok and urged registration with their respective embassies to ensure regular updates prior to and during their visits to the country.

Several countries have also issued travel advisories for Thailand, including Malaysia, India, Singapore and Ireland.

The Tourism Authority of Thailand has provided a list of numbers for tourists seeking more information or assistance.

For the latest updates on this developing situation, follow TTG Asia’s Twitter feed at twitter.com/ttg_asia and Xinyi Liang-Pholsena’s tweets from the ground attwitter.com/xinyi_pholsena.

THE Langkawi Development Authority (LADA) will hold the third Langkawi International Laksa Carnival (LILAC), which showcases the different takes on the popular dish across Malaysian states.

The carnival will be held at Laman Padi in Langkawi from May 30 to June 1, and will also feature rice noodles from around the region such as Philippines, Vietnam, Japan, Thailand and Indonesia.

According to LADA’s CEO, Khalid Ramli, LADA is targeting 28,000 visitors, or a 12 per cent increase over 2013’s figures, during the three-day event.

At a press conference yesterday, Khalid said the carnival aims to promote the different types of laksa and to bring the noodle dish to a higher level by encouraging innovation through a laksa competition.

Adam Kamal, deputy president 2 of the Malaysian Inbound Tourism Association, said: “LADA should have marketed this year’s event earlier so travel consultants could devise food trail packages. Running for the third consecutive year, it shows that this event is gaining popularity and the relevant authorities should consider incorporating it into Tourism Malaysia’s list of major events.”

THAI army chief general Prayuth Chan-ocha has just taken control of the government in a peaceful coup on Thursday afternoon, just two days after martial law (TTG Asia e-Daily, May 20, 2014) was declared in Thailand.

Announced during a televised broadcast, the latest coup marks the 12th in Thailand. The last military coup took place in September 2006.

No curfew has yet been announced.

In an email this afternoon, Destination Asia Thailand said: “Bangkok continues to function as normal with most businesses and offices continuing to operate, as people are able to move around the city freely. The shopping malls within the city also remain open for business as normal. The public transport systems including the BTS Skytrain, the MRT Subway and the Airport Rail Link continue to operate as scheduled, as do the rail services and bus links from Bangkok to the provinces.”

Update: At 18.15 local time, a nationwide curfew from 22.00 to 05.00 has been declared.

INDIA’S travel trade is anticipating sops and tourism-related reforms from the new government, formed by the winning Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) that had identified tourism as one of five engines of growth for the economy in its election manifesto.

“BJP was the only party which had put tourism in their manifesto. The industry is confident that the new government will stop the discrimination against tour operators and exempt them from service tax, just as exporters are exempted based on their foreign exchange earnings,” said Subhash Goyal, president, Indian Association of Tour Operators.

“We expect that the new government will announce a uniform taxation regime that will benefit the entire industry,” added Ranjan Kumar Mishra, managing director of Odisha-based Eastern Voyage.

Rajiv Vij, managing director & CEO, Carzonrent New Delhi, too, hoped there would be favourable announcements for the organised car rental services sector that would “benefit the end consumer and also service providers. ”

Madhavan Menon, managing director, Thomas Cook India, said: “We are expecting prioritisation on key issues like safety and infrastructure. Political stability and a focus on economic growth and social development will be vital for the travel and tourism industry.”

MÖVENPICK Hotels & Resorts has signed a management agreement with an existing property on Koh Samui as part of its expansion strategy for Thailand, which will see the Swiss hotelier expand its footprint to as many as nine properties within the next few years.

The Passage, a 50-key property on Lam Yai beach, will be renovated at a cost of 20 million baht (US$616,732) and rebranded as Mövenpick Resort Laem Yai Beach Samui, which is due to open on November 1, said Tossaporn Satitwittayakul, executive director of Thana Group, the property’s owner.

An additional 23 rooms and villas will be added within three years.

Andreas Mattmüller, COO, Middle East and Asia at Mövenpick, said this brings the operator’s hotel count in Thailand to three, with two more properties to open by the end 2015.

“We would like to have (a total of) eight or nine hotels in Thailand within the next few years,” he said, adding that while Thailand is a current focus for the management company’s regional expansion plan, there will be similar developments in Vietnam, Malaysia and the Philippines in the near future.

“Thailand is very fortunate in attracting visitors from diverse markets,” said Mattmüller. “There is an increase in travel from the Middle East. Intra-regional travel from Hong Kong and Singapore is very strong for both Koh Samui and Phuket. We’re also yielding good results from our sales offices in China, Japan and Russia.”

Mattmüller said the current political problems in Thailand have not affected Mövenpick’s position on the country, though it has delayed the opening of the new resort in Pattaya.

The Samui opening will be its third property in Thailand followed by Mövenpick White Sand Beach Resort Pattaya and Mövenpick Suriwongse Hotel Chiang Mai next year.

Negotiations are ongoing for additional properties in Hua Hin, Samui, Bangkok and Phuket, added Mattmüller.

ACCOR has clinched management agreements for two new-build properties in the buoyant hospitality scene of Singapore. Both Novotel Singapore on Stevens and Ibis Singapore on Stevens will open end-2016.

The two hotels will debut as part of lifestyle property developer Oxley Gem’s combined project, making them Accor’s largest hotel development in Asia-Pacific when open.

Situated a few minutes’ drive from Singapore’s shopping belt Orchard Road, the project will also offer easy access to the city’s central business district and international airport.

Novotel Singapore on Stevens will open with 254 rooms, F&B outlets, a swimming pool and fitness centre, as well as meeting facilities including a 500-seat ballroom and meeting rooms.

The 528-key Ibis Singapore on Stevens will come with a lobby bar/café and gym.

Michael Issenberg, chairman and CEO, Accor Asia-Pacific, said the addition of Novotel Singapore on Stevens and Ibis Singapore on Stevens will bring Accor’s Singapore portfolio to nine hotels.

eNETT International has introduced a new system of payment to travel agencies in Singapore that aims to simplify supplier payments while making it safer and faster for them to respond to customers.

Virtual Account Numbers (VANs) are automatically generated 16-digit MasterCard numbers for each booking transaction and enable automatic reconciliation at point of sale. VANs have been successfully implemented in Europe.

Payments are available in 27 currencies, including the Singapore dollar, and foreign currency conversions are provided in real time for price certainty when booking.

According to Anthony Hynes, managing director and CEO of eNett International, a joint venture between Travelport and PSP International, VANs protect agencies against supplier default, reduce costs in manual reconciliation, lessen foreign exchange exposure and give agencies the opportunity to earn a rebate on transactions.

Said Hynes at a Travelport and eNett industry seminar at the Fullerton Hotel Singapore today: “Current trends show that agencies are demanding access to dynamic content that require immediate payments.

“If an agency only makes supplier payments by cash, credit or debit, they might not be able to access a range of content that gives their customers the best rates, including net-commission rates. Or, if they pay by corporate cards or store cards, they might incur significant reconciliation issues, together with opaque foreign exchange and international transaction fees.”