HK Express will add a second daily direct flight from Hong Kong to Tokyo-Haneda from November 16, flying to the Japanese city 14 times a week.

The new service is an evening flight from Hong Kong, departing 19.10 and arriving in Tokyo-Haneda at 23.55, while leaving Tokyo-Haneda in the morning at 01.10 and touching down in Hong Kong at 05.25.

HK Express’ deputy CEO, Andrew Cowen, said: “Since the launch of our Tokyo route last November, we have been consistently enjoying a load factor, and have flown over 80,000 guests to the city…the North Asian region continues to be an important market in our development strategy in 2014 and beyond.

“Adding a morning departure from Tokyo to Hong Kong will give guests the option of a mid-morning arrival into the city, which will mean better connections for travellers going for work, or beyond Hong Kong to other cities on our network in South-east Asia.”

The additional Tokyo flights follow the launch of a daily service to Nagoya from September 18, and current double-daily services to Osaka.

To celebrate the launch of the two new flights, the airline is offering one-way fares from HK$680 (US$88) on all Tokyo flights, valid from today until September 30, 2014 at 23:59, for travel between September 26, 2014 and December 31, 2014.

MARRIOTT International will soon debut its first Marriott-branded hotel in Haikou, capital of China’s Hainan, on October 13.

Located on the west coast of Haikou and adjacent to Hainan International Convention & Exhibition Centre, Haikou Marriott Hotel will offer 386 well-appointed rooms including two luxury villas in nine different categories.

Event facilities include an expansive lawn with ocean views for up to 800 guests, and over 4,000m² of configurable meeting space including an 845m² Grand Ballroom and seven meeting rooms.

There are three restaurants and four bars, while recreational offerings include adult and children’s pools and an eco-pool. The Touch Spa boasts six hot spring pools, two steam rooms, two saunas, two Jacuzzis, three foot spa rooms and six treatment rooms.

“We are eagerly expecting this international hotel with Haikou’s most beautiful coastline to launch its debut, expanding the Marriott Group’s hotel network in China,” said Lily Jiang, the hotel’s general manager.

SPAIN expects to welcome a record number of tourists from Japan not seen since direct flights between the two countries were scrapped 16 years ago.

The numbers were up 21 per cent year-on-year to over 290,000 in the first eight months of 2014, with Beatriz Marco, counsellor for tourism at the Spanish embassy in Tokyo, optimistic about them “reaching the 400,000 mark”.

Marco said equally important for Spain and its battered economy is the increased spending by Japanese tourists, which showed 35 per cent growth in the first seven months of 2014.

Speaking ahead of the opening of JATA Tourism Expo Japan last week, Marco said the previous record of 377,000 incoming Japanese was set in 1998, the same year Spanish flag carrier Iberia stopped operating the only direct service between the two countries’ capitals.

Since then, numbers had been falling until 2010, after which average yearly growth hovered around five per cent.

Matilde García de Oro, coordinator for the Hispanic Japanese Tourism Association, said the increase corresponded with projections, given the events held in both Spain and Japan between June 2013 and July 2014 to celebrate the 400th anniversary of diplomatic relations between the two countries.

“Figures have also been boosted by the recent recovery of the Japanese economy,” she said, but highlighting that the figures did not necessarily bring in more business for tour operators as “many people, especially younger ones, are now making their own travel arrangements”.

Similarly, María Jesús Vicente, operations manager, Japan Travel Bureau’s Madrid office, said although the Japanese market has been growing since 2011, the figures quoted by the embassy for 2014 didn’t correspond with the growth expected by her company.

“It’s true we are up on last year, but we are expecting lower figures this winter because of the increase in value-added (sales) tax in Japan,” she said.

Despite growth in other markets, Japan is still the leading Asian tourism market for Spain, she added.

The autonomous region of Andalucía in southern Spain has also seen high demand from Asia over the last year, said director of Spain Leisure and Culture, Irene Muñoz.

She observed: “These (Asian) countries are the outbound markets that have grown most in recent years and at the same time are taking up hotel rooms in what is our low season, especially in winter.”

THE Maldives is embarking on an aggressive promotion campaign from now until 2015 in North America and the BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) countries, taking part in trade fairs and organising its own roadshows.

In the pipeline are plans to rope in high-profile celebrities for an ad campaign in the US and Canada next year, according to deputy minister of tourism, Hussain Lirar, who declined to disclose the identities of the celebrities.

The Maldives’ main source markets are China, Germany and the UK, with Russia emerging as well.

Adam Mohamed, executive director, Maldives Marketing and Public Relations Corporation, said the NTO would be participating in WTM Latin America next year, and could also be doing a roadshow in Brazil.

This year the focus has been on roadshows, kicking off with Australia in February, and moving on to China and the CIS states (Kazakhstan) in early October. A roadshow will also be held end-October in Switzerland before participation at WTM in London in November.

“We’re also taking part in a luxury market exhibition in Las Vegas (December 4-7), promoting the honeymoon and water sports segments,” Mohamed said.

Although South America is an emerging market, Abdulla Ghiyas, president – Maldives Association of Travel Agents & Tour Operators, said these travellers prefer a package allowing them to see more of Asia, such as India and Sri Lanka in addition to the Maldives, since they take a whole day travelling to the region.

“(Developing that kind of package) is the challenge we are facing,” he said.

CARLSON Wagonlit Travel (CWT) has begun pilot testing its hotel-booking app function in the US, UK and Ireland, with an international roll-out expected by end-2014.

Users of the company’s CWT To Go app will be able to search for, book and cancel hotel rooms. Search results are displayed on a map and include rates and properties that fall under the travel policy.

CWT’s Traveler Services teams can also retrieve bookings made via the app, providing users with further support if necessary.

David Moran, executive vice president, global marketing and enterprise strategy, CWT, said: “Hotel booking for CWT To Go users is a significant addition to creating a seamless and supportive app. Travellers and travel managers alike have told us mobile booking is important to them, and this is a key step in our mission to become the managed travel app of choice.”

In addition, the new version of CWT To Go is integrated with CWT Portrait, CWT’s traveller profile tool that stores name, credit card, and loyalty programme information, all of which will be viewable on the go.

Another new feature is updated flight alerts containing more specific information.

LONELY Planet has unveiled its list of top 10 predictions for the future of tourism, highlighting new areas of travel as well as trends that are already emerging.

The travel media company was commissioned by IATA to identify 10 predictions for travel in commemoration of the 100^th year of commercial air travel.

One area that Lonely Planet expects to see more of is a demand for unplugged travel or travel without Internet access, a trend that seems to counter the prevailing desire to be connected everywhere.

Ecotourism and voluntourism are also set to grow with a new generation of environmentally conscious travellers. Lonely Planet stated that 70 per cent of travellers expect companies to demonstrate a commitment to preserving the natural environment.

In that light, technology could also free travellers from use of paper as more airlines offer online check-ins, and integrated smartphones form the most important tool for planning and tracking travel.

Online reviews are likely to remain important to travellers, but as they seek more authentic and off-the-beaten-track experiences, face-to-face recommendations from locals will also become an important source of how to enjoy a destination.

Given that flights are cheaper and faster than ever before, travellers have better access to international festivals and can take advantage of an international calendar of events.

Other trends Lonely Planet predicts will emerge include travel as an integrated part of everyday life; improved economy flight products; more leisure activities within airports; the rise of experience hotels that offer something extra; and virtual travel, for instance Google Street View, for planning.

HAVING resumed flights from London to Colombo via Male last year after a 15-year hiatus, British Airways (BA) is axing the route again due to poor load factors.

“The Colombo route is not making a profitable contribution to our business and we are unable to sustain it,” said Christopher Fordyce, regional commercial manager, South Asia, BA, this week.

The service will end on March 28, 2015, but the London-Male leg, where some 90 per cent of BA’s passengers disembark and embark, will restart for the winter season.

Industry sources were unsurprised, pointing to the many other airlines offering the same service. SriLankan Airlines flies to London nine times weekly. Emirates and Qatar also run regular flights.

BA said that with SriLankan Airlines recently joining the Oneworld alliance, customers in Sri Lanka will still be able to enjoy the benefits of BA’s network of flights to Europe and North America.

SPANISH company NH Hotel Group has finally confirmed the establishment of a joint venture company with China’s HNA travel group, which will initially cover six hotels in China.

Beijing-based HNA-NH Management Joint Venture Company currently manages a total inventory of over 1,300 beds in the capital, while new properties in Haikou, Sanya and Tianjin are due to begin operations in 2015.

HNA, which holds a majority 51 per cent stake in the JV company, will own all properties initially, but the accord will also cover third-party clients.

The JV company aims to move into the mid- to upper-midscale, predominantly business hotel sector throughout Greater China.

Meanwhile, NH said that one of its main goals will be to establish a prototype international hotel model for China that will operate under the Spanish group’s name. It will also set up a dedicated, independent team to develop the Chinese market.

A major partner in NH, HNA holds just under 30 per cent of the Spanish company’s shares.

MASTERCARD and HNA Transforex Currency Exchange jointly launched China’s largest tax refund platform earlier this week, giving Chinese travellers the option of filing for tax refunds on overseas purchases from the comfort of their homes.

This new initiative follows hot on the heels of another scheme, which saw Beijing Caissa International Travel Service and Tianjin Bohai TransForex joining hands earlier this year to offer Chinese travellers the option of submitting their overseas shopping tax claims through more than 40 of the former’s outlets in Beijing.

Ann Cairns, president, international markets, MasterCard, said that MasterCard had invested in new technology and improved transaction security to offer this holistic platform.

It connects with consumers, financial, institutions, merchants, governments and businesses across more than 210 countries and regions. Refunds will take a minimum of three working days to be remitted to the customer’s MasterCard account.

Transforex president, Liu Jiang-Tao, said the company had previously focused solely on providing currency exchange but is now positioning itself as an integrated tourism services provider to offer international outbound shopping tax, tax rebates for shopping in Hainan and issuing of electronic travellers’ cheques.

MasterCard and Transforex are partnering seven leading global tax refund agencies for the platform, collectively commanding over 90 per cent of the global shopping tax refunds.

The Chinese are now the world’s highest-spending tourists, according to UN World Tourism Organization data, with outbound tourism steadily increasing in tandem with rising income levels.

Chinese outbound travellers spent some US$128.7 billion in 2013. But inadequate understanding of tax refund mechanisms, cumbersome procedures and language barriers saw tourists leave as much as three billion euros (US$3.8 billion) in unclaimed refunds behind.

Article by Jessie Liu. Translated by Ong Yanchun from TTG China e-Daily, September 23, 2014

THE first Japan Travel Week kicked off in Tokyo last night, carrying the hopes of local stakeholders that the consolidation of tradeshows will make it the world’s largest international tourism event.

Shigeto Kubo, commissioner of Japan Tourism Agency, said: “Japan has various tourism exhibitions but they have all been segmented. This year is our first attempt to consolidate all the inbound, outbound, MICE, and domestic travel events into one big Japan Travel Week, making it one of the world’s largest international tourism events.”

Running from September 24 to 28, Japan Travel Week merges the country’s biggest inbound travel show, Visit Japan Travel Mart (VJTM), with a MICE component in the form of Visit Japan MICE Mart 2014.

The event is organised by JTA and Japan National Tourism Organization (JNTO). VJTM attracted 400 sellers and 358 buyers this year, while Visit Japan MICE Mart brought together 11 sellers and 18 buyers.

In addition, the Japan Association of Travel Agents (JATA) is combining its international travel exhibition JATA Tabihaku with Tabi Fair Japan, a domestic tourism exhibition hosted by the Japan Travel and Tourism Association (JTTA), to form the JATA Tourism Expo Japan.

More than 970 organisations and companies from 47 prefectures throughout Japan, and 150 countries and regions worldwide are participating at JATA Tourism Expo Japan this year.

Norio Yamaguchi, JTTA chairman, commented: “The world’s travel market has been growing rapidly and the Asian market has been growing by 10 per cent year-on-year. Asia has gained the attention of the world (as a destination and travel market). With JATA Tourism Expo Japan, we would like to promote Japan to the world’s travel market and to make Japan a competitive destination in the world.”

Taleb Rifai, secretary general of UN World Tourism Organization, said: “The world has known Japanese travellers for a long time. It is about time for the world to know Japan and to come to this beautiful country. The region of Japan has to be opened up and the concentration of the distribution of travellers has to be more evenly distributed.”