ACEH has the potential to become a bigger tourism destination but must first improve service levels and accessibility, said tourism stakeholders attending Indonesia Tourism Mart and Expo (TIME) 2014 in Banda Aceh over the weekend.

Ben Gosman, managing director of Free Incentives, the Netherlands, said: “The people have been helpful, friendly and they accept differences, which is different from the perception of Aceh being a (strict) Muslim area.”

He said that Aceh could appeal to the Dutch market with its cultural and nature attractions. “We cater to travellers who want an off-the-beaten-track market, and Aceh is exactly that.” Gosman also noted that Aceh has better land infrastructure than some destinations in the country.

Sellers at TIME 2014 noted that the special interest travellers have been making their way to Aceh. Pulau Weh Dive Resort owner and director, Vincent Chong, said: “We received divers from Singapore, Malaysia, Japan and China. It took a lot of effort to get them to come to Aceh, but once they do, they come back.”

Anas Zulham Almansur, owner of Balrose Holiday, said: “We recently hosted a group of 12 golfers from Taiwan (to Aceh).”

The Indonesian province has been the subject of negative press over the decades – from the Free Aceh Movement between 1976 and 2005, to the Boxing Day tsunami and earthquake in 2004, and most recently, sharia law.

Rahmadhani, director of programming and planning, Aceh Culture and Tourism Office, said Aceh welcomes guests “regardless of their religious practices”. “If female travellers want to wear a scarf over their head while they are here, they are welcome to, but if not, that is okay too as long as they are dressed properly.”

Aceh is creating more events to attract visitors to come and experience the destination for themselves, said Rahmadhani. But restrictions still exist, such as the prohibition of alcohol consumption.

Buyers, however, pointed out there was still work to be done. “What Aceh and the Indonesian government need to do is promote Aceh internationally,” Gosman said, adding that improving air accessibility is also necessary.

Riek Vogler, director of Asia Way Amsterdam, said: “Hospitality is new to the destination, so locals still need to learn how to serve international travellers,” she said.

THE Myanmar Tourism Federation (MTF) is establishing Tourism Bank Public Company to provide small- and medium-size businesses with financial assistance to operate in the travel and tourism industry.

Speaking at the opening ceremony of the Hilton Hotel Nay Pyi Taw recently, minister for hotels and tourism Htay Aung, said that the bank will be used to improve the business prospects of companies.

A representative from MTF told TTG Asia e-Daily that detailed plans of the bank have not yet been established.

According to local reports, the privately owned bank will comprise about two dozen members of the federation – which includes hotel owners and businessmen in the tourism industry – and has been granted permission to operate by the Directorate of Investment and Company Administration (DICA), which appraises proposed investments in Myanmar.

It is now awaiting a licence from DICA.

Thet Zin, director of travel agency Living Irrawaddy Travel Services, said that she was sceptical that the loans would help.

“I don’t think that financial help is the main issue that we need (as a travel company),” she said.

“After all, our main product is offering a service, so we only need a small investment to start a company. The main challenges are human resources, training and education. Maybe loans will be useful for starting up restaurants or souvenir shops,” she added.

TOURISM has been designated as a stand-alone ministry in the Working Cabinet line-up of Indonesia’s new president, Joko Widodo (Jokowi), heralding a shift in the mindset towards the industry.

Announced yesterday, the Ministry of Tourism and Creative Economy will now become the Ministry of Tourism. Arief Yahya, CEO of state-owned telecommunication company Telekomunasi Indonesia (Telkom), has been appointed to spearhead the ministry.

Arief graduated from Bandung Institute of Technology where he studied electronic technology, and obtained a master degree in telematics from Surrey University, UK. He subsequently built his career at Telkom.

Indonesia’s Cabinet ministers are sworn in today and will conduct their first meeting right after that, where Jokowi will outline the tasks and goals of each ministry for the next five years.

Speaking with local broadcast media after the announcement, Arief said that part of his assignment is to improve and expand Indonesian tourism marketing, especially through online media.

Tourism has never had a single ministry to itself, starting off as a directorate general in the 1970s and becoming the Department of Tourism, Post and Telecommunications in 1983. It changed to the Ministry of Culture and Tourism in 1998, State Ministry of Tourism and Art in 1999, and Ministry of Culture and Tourism in again in 2000, before it became the Ministry of Tourism and Creative Economy in 2011.

BESPOKE luxury tour operator Asia to Africa Safaris has broadened its offerings to include expeditions to Latin America and Antarctica, and is reflecting this in a rebranding under the name A2A Safaris.

Helping Asian travellers heed the call of the wild for the last 13 years, A2A spent the last two years working on its Latin American offerings.

Recently appointed managing director of A2A Safaris, Kim Nixon, explained: “A2A started by specialising in tours to Africa and began having clients who would travel with us two to three times. A lot of them began to ask ‘Where else can we go? Where else can you take us?’ And that was the impetus for us to begin featuring Antarctica and Latin America.”

The company will be offering tailored itineraries to these two continents under the sub-brand A2A Journeys, which will be officially launched in Singapore next week.

A2A Journeys’ new website was unveiled on October 13, while a renewed A2A Safaris page is still on the way.

“Until now we didn’t actively try to build partnerships with other travel consultants because of the revenue dilution that comes with paying out a commission,” Nixon said.

“Furthermore retailers were not in a very good position to be reasonably informative about the destination before. But this has since changed and we are looking to establish relationships with specific, owner-run retail companies, those that are not mass market in approach.”

Making A2A Journeys possible is the company’s Latin America specialist, Steph Wetherell. “We’re currently focusing on seven destinations – Mexico, Ecuador, the Galapagos, Brazil, Peru, Chile and Antarctica,” she said.

A2A can arrange visits to iconic Latin American attractions such as the Iguazu Falls in Argentina, Machu Picchu in Peru, Argentina’s wine region Mendoza, Southern Patagonia, as well as expeditions on the Amazon River and round the Antarctic Peninsula via Chile.

A2A’s offices in Hong Kong, Manila and Singapore deliver one-third of the company’s businesses respectively, with a little traffic from Malaysia, Japan and Thailand as well.

Said Nixon: “It’s important to have new channels of revenue, but right now ours is segmented between B2B and B2C. What we are working on right now in Hong Kong, Singapore and Manila is specialised photographic expeditions, reaching top photographers with cult-like networks of supporters and then getting them to promote to their base.”

Asked if incentives are a market A2A is keen to pursue, Nixon added that the company is barely scratching the potential of leisure travel in the region and will thus continue to focus on this.

USE of social media platforms in the Asia-Pacific (APAC) is as diverse as the peoples that populate the region, found the second Social Media Monitor study by Accor Asia Pacific.

Social media has penetrated the holidays of APAC travellers at an average rate of 70 per cent, with China (84 per cent), Vietnam (83 per cent) and Indonesia (82 per cent) being the most active users.

On the other end of the spectrum are travellers from Australia, New Zealand and Japan, with roughly 40 per cent of tourists from these markets using social media on trips.

Across APAC, travellers spend an estimated 2.8 hours per day on social media platforms while tourists from Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand interact on social media for about four hours a day.

While results show that social media has penetrated the holidays of APAC travellers, different markets displayed a preference for different types of social media.

Facebook remains the most widely used platform, followed by WhatsApp. Close to half of respondents use Facebook multiple times a day and the Philippines is Facebook’s most ardent supporter in the region.

WhatsApp has overtaken Facebook in Hong Kong, Malaysia, Singapore and India, but its position is under threat from other messaging platforms developed in Asia.

WeChat has seen a 13 per cent surge in popularity since last year’s survey, dethroning Sina Weibo as the most used social platform in China where three out of four travellers said they use WeChat multiple times a day.

Line grew by 11 per cent over last year, having found favour in Thailand (71 per cent). It is among the top three most popular networks in Indonesia (33 per cent) and Japan (26 per cent).

Youtube is used by 23 per cent of APAC travellers and Instagram by 11 per cent.

The role of social media through the travel cycle also varies according to market. Travellers from Australia, New Zealand, Indonesia, Japan, the Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam use Facebook throughout.

But users from Singapore, Malaysia and India use it for pre-trip search and sharing of experiences post-trip, but turn to WhatsApp during the trip to keep in touch. This mirrors the experience of South Koreans, who use Kakaotalk instead of WhatsApp.

Hong Kong citizens research and plan trips on Facebook and use WhatsApp to share during and after the trip. In China, Sina Weibo is used for research, while WeChat is deployed for sharing purposes.

Accor Asia Pacific’s Social Media Monitor is the product of collaboration with ORC International, surveying over 6,500 travellers from 13 countries in the region.

LUXURY Travel and cruise company Huong Hai Ha Long launched Emperor Cruises last month, which will start first cruises in Nha Trang by mid-2015.

Emperor Cruises operates a fleet comprising of five 32-pax small cruise boats in the Nha Trang Bay vicinity. A Junk Boat will also start offering day cruises inclusive of cocktails and dinner, as well as charters from February.

From June, overnight luxury cruises will be launched on the first of Emperor Cruises’ five ships, accommodating 36 people in 18 en-suite cabins.

Nha Trang is renown for its scenic landscapes, clear waters and lush islets, and is steadily gaining tourist arrivals with international brands such as Marriott and Hyatt coming soon to the area.

According to the Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism in Khanh Hoa Province, over three million tourists visited Nha Trang and its surrounding attractions in 2013, an increase of 29 per cent compared to 2012.

Emperor Cruises aims to own a fleet of 10 boats, and carry between 300 and 500 passengers a day.

It will make its first international appearance next week at ITB Asia.