JET Airways has confirmed a codeshare agreement with Vietnamese flag carrier Vietnam Airlines, to offer links between the two countries via Singapore and Bangkok.

Under the codeshare arrangement that takes place with immediate effect, Jet Airways will place its code on Vietnam Airlines’ flights from Bangkok and Singapore to Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi.

Vietnam Airlines in return will have its code on Jet Airways’ services between Bangkok and Mumbai/Delhi, as well as from Singapore to Mumbai/Delhi and Chennai.

With the commencement of Jet Airways’ Ho Chi Minh City service on November 5, Vietnam Airlines will place its code on Jet Airways’ Bangkok /Ho Chi Minh route, as per the codeshare agreement.

Tickets for codeshare services are already on sale.

Gaurang Shetty, senior vice president – commercial, Jet Airways, commented: “This new partnership between Jet Airways and Vietnam Airlines illustrates our group’s strategic positioning that continuously strengthens our offer between India and the rest of the world by developing our network.”

Shetty said the partnership will “strengthen the international reach of both airlines and provide increased benefits to all our guests”, and expects it to boost demand for business and leisure travel between India and Vietnam.

The Indian carrier had last year been reported as on the cusp of such an agreement with four other airlines as well, namely Malaysia Airlines, Garuda Indonesia, American Airlines and Kenya Airways (TTG Asia e-Daily, September 11, 2013).

THAILAND’S Centara Hotels & Resorts has secured a management contract with Crystal Development to open its third property on Bali, the Centara Crystal On The Bay Nusa Dua, in early 2015.

The resort is a 20 minutes’ drive from the airport. It is also close to Pulau Penyu and Tanjung Benoa, which are 10 minutes from the resort by boat. Serangan is a 20-minute boat ride away.

Thirayuth Chirathivat, CEO, Centara Hotels & Resorts, said the new property would feature “an innovative architectural design that will become a landmark on the bayfront at Nusa Dua”.

“Bali is a destination that is of great strategic importance to us, and we are honoured that Crystal Development has the confidence in Centara’s international skills and profile to manage this very fine property,” he said.

Centara Crystal On The Bay Nusa Dua is a six-storey building facing Nusa Dua Bay, with Nusa Dua Beach 20 minutes away by boat or 10 minutes by car.

The resort offers 210 rooms in the categories of Deluxe, Suites, Pool Suites and Jacuzzi Suites, ranging from 37.7 to 147.5m², all of which come with a private balcony.

Facilities available at the hotel include an infinity pool and terrace, two swimming pools, a pool bar, an all-day dining restaurant, a rooftop restaurant and bar, meetings facilities, a wedding chapel, a Kids’ Club and a Spa Cenvaree.

Centara has two other properties on Bali, the first being Centra Taum Seminyak Bali, and the second, Centara Grand Nusa Dua Villas, still in the construction phase.

SWISS-GARDEN International will add two serviced residences to its collection by the end of this year, in line with its aim to incorporate such apartment products into its portfolio since 2010.

The Swiss-Garden Hotel & Residences Malacca, located in the central business district close to popular tourist areas, will offer 306 hotel rooms, 463 units of serviced apartments, a grand ballroom with seating capacity for 800 pax, and six multifunctional rooms, among other facilities.

The hotel will sit within a mixed-used complex comprising retail and F&B outlets, with Singapore retail giant Tangs as the anchor tenant.

The Swiss-Garden Resort Residences Sungai Karang in Kuantan will offer 264 rooms, including 88 studio suites and 176 two-bedroom suites.

Linda Evelyn Wong, spokesperson for the Malaysian hospitality group, said the new Malacca property is expected to attract predominantly families, tour groups and corporate incentives, while the Kuantan resort will cater well to the large community of oil and gas, and shipping firms in the city.

“The Swiss-Garden Hotel & Residences Malacca is still a long way to opening, but it has already received bookings from several church groups out of Singapore,” Wong revealed, adding that Malacca is a popular destination for group tours and activities organised by churches across the border.

“And with Malacca being such a hot favourite among Singaporeans, who drive two, three hours over to enjoy good food and shopping over the weekends, the property can expect to see really good business from Singapore,” she said.

Explaining the company’s focused growth on serviced residences products, Wong said demand has been “huge”.

“Our first serviced residences property, Swiss-Garden Hotel & Residences Kuala Lumpur, enjoys an average occupancy rate of over 90 per cent despite being in an area with many other similar accommodation options. The property welcomes a lot of Middle Eastern families on holiday as well as corporate travellers,” she said.

Meanwhile, the company’s portfolio is set to grow even further from next year. D’Majestic Kuala Lumpur and Swiss-Garden Johor Bahru are scheduled to open in 2015, while the Pavilion-Garden Suites in Kota Bahru, Damai Laut Sea Villa, and Swiss-Garden Hotel & Residences Cameron Highlands are slated to welcome guests by 2016.

They will join nine other properties that are currently in operation in Malaysia and Australia.

GOVERNMENTS in South-east Asia are increasingly on the alert as Ebola spreads beyond West Africa, though the consensus is that the region is at “low-risk” of catching the virus.

Singapore’s Ministry of Health on Sunday issued a health advisory on the Ebola situation, advising the public “not to be alarmed by reports of Ebola cases overseas” but encouraging people to postpone non-essential travel.

Local daily The Straits Times also reported the ministry as saying that hospitals will remain on the look out, and test travellers who have recently been to affected areas and are showing symptoms.

Malaysia is likewise on the alert with officers at the country’s major entry points including the Kuala Lumpur International Airport instructed on how to identify and handle passengers with symptoms, and alert the relevant authorities.

Thailand’s hotel association has urged its 800 plus members to continue post alerts on the situation and national carrier Thai Airways International yesterday said it is taking additional precautions, such as screening passengers during check-ins and before aircraft boarding, and deep cleaning the aircraft interior and 36 more touch points within the cabin, among others.

In the Philippines, people arriving from West African countries will be monitored for a month. Hong Kong also said that it would quarantine all travellers from Guinea, Sierra Leone and Liberia who showed Ebola-like symptoms, reported The Straits Times.

The Brunei Times said the country’s health authorities have also advised citizens to avoid visiting the affected areas and take preventive measures should they travel there.

West African countries Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea form the epicentre of what has been called the deadliest outbreak of Ebola in history, having killed close to 1,000 people of the 1,700 plus cases confirmed so far. Liberia has declared a state of national emergency.

However the virus has travelled beyond the borders of these countries – Nigeria has seen five new cases and a second death. The Thai media reported yesterday that 21 tourists to Thailand are being monitored for signs of the disease.

A woman returning to Hong Kong from Kenya last week was tested negative for Ebola, while a Saudi Arabian man who had been in Sierra Leone and was suspected of Ebola died from a heart attack yesterday, though Saudi Arabian authorities did not reveal whether the man was suffering from Ebola.

The World Health Organization convened an emergency meeting of medical and health experts in Geneva yesterday to review the ongoing situation, discuss the employment of experimental medication, and determine if the Ebola outbreak is a Public Health Emergency of International Concern. The possibility of travel restrictions was also on the agenda.

BRITISH Airways (BA) has launched a number of targeted promotions to build the UK flag carrier’s brand among Thai communities, said the airline’s country commercial manager for Thailand and Indochina.

Chaiyavut “Billy” Chomsakorn, the first Thai national to be appointed to the position (Hot Moves, May 15, 2014), said: “My focus is on (reaching out) to Thai communities, to get that market going, but you have to get the balance right between the local and expat communities.”

“The UK is very popular with Thais wanting to study overseas, and we are now the only direct flight to London to offer students a baggage allowance of 46kg on economy flights. We also recently launched a promotion with Kbank cardholders and we’re always looking for new ways to add value for customers.”

More targeted promotions will be rolled out before the year-end, he said.

Online sales are growing for the carrier, but travel consultants, especially corporate and business specialists, account for the majority of its ticket sales.

Thailand’s political crisis, and the recent spate of air traffic incidents including the disappearance of Malaysia Airlines MH370 (TTG Asia e-Daily, March 25, 2014) and the downing of MH17 over Ukraine (TTG Asia e-Daily, July 18, 2014) have not affected business in a major way, said Robert Williams, BA’s regional commercial manager for South-east Asia.

“Business (between London and Bangkok) has been steady over the past few months,” he said, though he would not provide supporting figures. “We have not seen any significant effect (from the political problems).”

“Our thoughts go out to Malaysia Airlines and the victims of the accidents…We do everything we can to reassure any concern passengers have to help them remain confident that air still remains a very safe and secure way to travel.”

TOURISM Western Australia (WA) and China Southern Airlines have renewed a strategic co-operation agreement to leverage the carrier’s network in promoting Perth as a choice destination for Chinese tourists, with the launch of direct flights between China and Perth via Guangzhou.

Stephanie Buckland, CEO, Tourism WA, stated that this marks the second instance of cooperation between the two organisations, following the first agreement in May 2011.

Under the new MoU, both parties would each invest A$2.4 million (US$2.2 million) over the next three years, mainly to develop the Chinese market and promote Perth’s renowned natural landscapes, gastronomy and wines to China’s business visitors, groups and FITs.

According to statistics for the year ending March 2014, the number of Chinese visitors to Western Australia reached 33,900, representing a 6.3 per cent year-on-year increase from 2013, and a three-year average annual growth rate of 19.1 per cent.

In the same period, Chinese visitors spent A$163 million, a 2.4 per cent year-on-year increase from 2013, and posting a three-year average annual growth rate of 8.6 per cent.

Tourism WA will also intensify its campaign to promote Western Australia’s destinations, including brand new, in-depth local travel experiences, as well as introducing little-explored destinations in Western Australia.

Tourism WA director of international marketing, North Asia, Johnny Nee, hopes to attract 100,000 Chinese visitors to the state annually by 2020.

International hotel groups have recently announced new-build hotels in Perth, for a total of 819 new rooms in the state capital. Expected to commence business operations between 2016 and 2018 are: Aloft Perth Rivervale; DoubleTree by Hilton Perth Waterfront; and The Ritz-Carlton, Perth.

Translated from the original TTG China e-Daily, August 5, 2014, article by Ong Yanchun

BESPOKE Hospitality Management Asia (BHMAsia) is aggressively growing its portfolio locally and overseas, aiming for 30 more X2 properties by 2016.

In 2014, Thailand-based BHMAsia has so far launched design resort X2 River Kwai in Kanchanaburi, Thailand, and will open X2 Oasis Phuket Villa and X2 Mae Ping Villa in Chiang Mai in Q3 and Q4 of 2014 respectively.

BHMAsia’s development pipeline features six more properties for 2015, and announced plans for an X2 Apartment in Sydney and X2 Chiang Mai Villa last year.

Frederic Garnier, director of operations and development, said: “We have X2 overseas projects in China, Sri Lanka and Indonesia in the pipeline. While continuing the global growth momentum, our team is working hard to expand X2 properties into the popular and emerging destinations in Thailand. We are going to open two exclusive X2 Villas in Phuket and Chiang Mai in the next couple of months while the X2 Residences projects in Kamala, Koh Samui, Kui Buri and Koh Kood are ongoing. X2 Hat Yai Hotel is expected to open in 2016/2017.

“With some China projects under negotiation having over 150 rooms, we are confident to have 30 X2 properties by 2016. We have a strong team with a lot of energy and international experience. Inquiries from property owners and investors are always welcome.”

Setting up shop in Bangkok meanwhile, has proven to be trickier than expected. Said X2 founder, Anthony McDonald: “We are currently looking for a property developer or hotel investor to work with to undertake a flagship project with us. The X2 brand has a strong mixed-use “Hotel-Residence” model that provides exceptional returns for a property investor, so hopefully we can identify the right partner for us to do a larger-scale project in the capital.”