AUSTRALIAN cruise operator P&O Cruises today announced it will return to Singapore to offer four roundtrip voyages as part of its 2015/2016 programme.

The Singapore season will take travellers to destinations in Indonesia, Thailand and Cambodia and see the cruise line’s maiden calls to Krabi, Sabang (Palau Weh), Koh Chang and Sihanoukville.

Pacific Eden, which joins P&O under a recent fleet expansion initiative, will operate the Singapore cruises. It is slated to arrive in Singapore in July 2016.

Ann Sherry, CEO, P&O Cruises, said that the cruise operator’s fleet expansion has allowed it to sail out to more destinations including Asia, and that its Singapore-based itineraries were a sign of the maturing of the Australian market, also the world’s fastest-growing cruise market.

“Last year, nearly 834,000 Australians took a cruise holiday, 20 per cent more than in 2012, and many of these are people who have cruised before and are now keen for new destinations and new cultural experiences,” she said.

“As growth in the fly-cruise segment shows, an increasing number of passengers are prepared to travel internationally to begin their cruise and P&O Cruises is responding to this market opportunity.”

The Singapore season will include a seven-night South-east Asia western itinerary to the Malaysian and Thai towns of Sabang, Phuket, Krabi and Langkawi; a seven-night South-east Asia eastern itinerary visiting Sihanoukville in Cambodia and Koh Chang, Bangkok (Laem Chabang) and Koh Samui; and a 13-night itinerary from Singapore to Cairns, with a call to Dili in Timor-Leste, Indonesia and Darwin.

P&O last offered roundtrip cruises from Singapore in 2006.

HAVING established itself as a sports tourism destination for top-performing athletes from around the world, integrated resort Thanyapura Phuket (TTGmice e-Weekly, November 28, 2013) is now training its sights on corporate groups from Asia.

“Many people are talking about mindfulness today, and more companies are seeking balance for (their) high performers to relieve stress,” said Philipp Graf von Hardenberg, who was appointed president and CEO of Thanyapura Phuket in June.

Existing programmes combining mindfulness, sports and motivational elements are rising in popularity for corporate groups, which on average stay two or three nights at the destination, he said.

The resort also offers mind-training programmes for corporates, headed by Alan Wallace, an ordained monk and former translator to the Dalai Lama.

While admitting that corporates make up a small component of Thanyapura’s current business, Graf von Hardenberg said: “Some of (these executives) will come back as individual guests. These people have high expectations, and they want to achieve something during their vacation time.”

Thanyapura is aiming at the corporate and MICE markets of Hong Kong, Singapore, Kuala Lumpur and Bangkok, regional cities located a short flight from and with ample daily connections to Phuket.

The bulk of Thanyapura’s guests currently hail from Asia-Pacific, with Thailand making up roughly 25 per cent, Australia 15 per cent, China 12 per cent, and the Netherlands, Hong Kong and Singapore at around 10 per cent each.

The chief executive also revealed that it sees the fastest growth in the guest segment aged 35 years old and above. “More middle-age or older people aged 50 and above are coming in regularly to train for triathlons, plus younger people are also keen in sports and marathons.”

Separately, the resort will debut new track and field programmes next year and has plans to partner professional golf courses to develop indoor golf courses for golf clinics.

When asked if the Thanyapura concept will be replicated elsewhere, Graf von Hardenberg does not rule out the possibility but any expansion beyond Phuket’s shores is likely to take place after 2016.

THE owner of Cruise Shipping Miami, Marintec China and Sea Japan has acquired Seatrade Communications, furthering its already extensive reach and control of cruise conventions.

UBM and Seatrade have collaborated on a series of maritime events worldwide in the past, and the new deal, announced last week, consolidates UBM’s position within the industry.

Chris Hayman, executive chairman and owner of Seatrade since 2003, will continue on as chairman, and the business will remain headquartered in Colchester, the UK.

Seatrade’s cruise sector events include Seatrade Latin America Cruise Convention and Seatrade Middle East Cruise Forum, backed by Seatrade Cruise Review and the online Seatrade Insider.

The company also operates events in the general maritime and offshore marine sectors and has offices in Dubai, Singapore and China.

Michael Duck, global maritime director and executive vice president of UBM Asia, said: “The unified portfolio and management structure will create a simplified, coherent and stronger global offering for our clients. From both a company and personal perspective, I am delighted that Chris Hayman – who is widely known and respected throughout the maritime industry – will be staying with the business. We look forward to working with him and the world-class teams at both UBM and Seatrade over the coming years.”

Chris Hayman, chairman and owner, Seatrade, commented: “Seatrade’s strategy of developing high-quality events and global intelligence for the general shipping, offshore marine and cruise sectors, fits well with UBM’s world-class events in these fields. We look forward to working with them to expand our combined global reach, and to provide the kind of content which is so critical to success in these dynamic industry sectors.”

AMADEUS has unveiled a new solution suite that it says will cut down the manual processing required of travel consultants in managing visa and passport requirements.

Launched in Asia-Pacific today, the Amadeus Visa Pass enables travel consultants to handle visa and passport issues throughout the travel cycle, including pre-booking, booking and post-booking stages.

At the pre-booking stage, travel consultants will be alerted to the visa and passport expiry dates for repeat customers via email and queue messages.

Amadeus Visa Pass will also automatically check visa requirements according to travellers’ nationality and intended destination once a booking has been made, and add the requirements into the Passenger Name Record for easy tracking and reference by the travel consultant.

In the post-booking stage, the solution can also aid travel consultants in creating, tracking and updating visa request applications through the visa tracking portal, and send application status updates directly to the traveller.

Leon Herce, vice president, distribution commercial, Amadeus Asia-Pacific, said: “The travel potential in Asia-Pacific is unmatched anywhere else in the world; however, visa processing is often complicated. Our goal is to simplify the visa management process as much as possible for both the travel agency and the traveller. Amadeus Visa Pass completely changes the way travel consultants can handle the visa process on behalf of their customers, which will undoubtedly remove some of the hassle commonly associated with visas in Asia-Pacific.”

TRAVELPORT Worldwide has increased its ownership stake in eNett International, a joint venture with PSP International following five successful years of operation.

Since the joint venture’s inception in June 2009, Travelport had held a majority stake of 57 per cent while its partner, PSP International, held the remainder.

The latest deal saw Travelport acquiring an additional 16 per cent from PSP, raising its holding to 73 per cent in a transaction which values the eNett business at US$450 million.

At the same time, PSP has entered into a long-term agreement with eNett to provide various banking services to the company, including PSP becoming the primary issuer of Virtual Account Numbers (VANS) used by eNett.

“eNett is a significant element in realising Travelport’s goal to redefine travel commerce, enabling a range of state-of-the-art and innovative alternative payment methods for B2B transactions which represent a considerable global market opportunity,” said Travelport president and CEO, Gordon Wilson.

“Travelport felt that the time is right to own more of this growing business and this deal provides the opportunity for the two shareholders in eNett to play to their respective strengths.”

Anthony Hynes, eNett managing director and CEO, said: “Following the signing of a significant multi-year extension of our partnership with MasterCard announced last month, this new agreement allows eNett to further leverage the expertise of its respective shareholders as it continues to expand into other markets and verticals around the world.”

Using unique MasterCard VANs, eNett provides travel companies with a fast, easy and secure way to pay or to be paid, reducing the risk of fraudulent transactions and improving overall payment, reconciliation and tracking processes.

HOLIDAY Inn Pattaya last week opened its newest 25-floor Executive Tower with 200 additional rooms.

The tower features a top-floor Executive Club for breakfast and evening drinks, while an additional main dining restaurant offers buffet breakfast and international cuisine. Recreational options include infinity and children’s swimming pools, a fitness centre and a kids’ club.

Dedicated meeting space includes Pattaya’s first auditorium facility within a hotel, a 115m² venue for up to 75 pax in theatre style, and three configurable meeting rooms enhanced by natural daylight.

“There is strong demand for MICE in Thailand every year, which Holiday Inn Pattaya Executive Tower is well positioned to meet,” said Kate Gerits, general manager, Holiday Inn Pattaya.

AMADEUS has reported commendable results in 1H2014, supported by organic growth and the contribution of acquisitions.

Adjusted profit for the period grew 8.9 per cent to 380.6 million euros (US$510.9 million), backed by 8.5 per cent revenue increase to 1,730.9 million euros, and 8.8 per cent EBITDA growth to 702.6 million euros.

The company maintained strong organic growth in its core distribution and IT solutions businesses.

Distribution revenue increased 4.6 per cent to 1,271.5 million euros, with air travel agency bookings rising 3.8 per cent to 241.8 million.

Content agreements were signed and extended with 21 airlines, while new agreements were inked with leading global travel companies such as Orbitz Worldwide and TUI Travel.

Revenue for IT solutions grew 21 per cent to 459.4 million euros. Excluding Newmarket International and UFIS, revenue increased 11.6 per cent to 423.5 million euros.

Revenue from passengers boarded increased 15.6 per cent to 328.5 million euros.

Luis Maroto, Amadeus president and CEO, commented: “Amadeus’ core business continues to deliver strong results despite improved but still challenging market conditions. The distribution business outperformed the industry, enabling us to continue to gain market share.

“We continue to implement our growth and diversification strategy into new IT areas,” he added.

BLUEWATER Resorts has announced further expansions at its Cebu properties and is now looking at development opportunities in Siquijor instead of Bohol and Palawan.

At its flagship 168-room Bluewater Maribago Resort, in Cebu’s Lapu-Lapu City, a mid-rise building of 50-60 rooms with serviced apartment options is in the works, which will be followed by two high-rise towers.

Meanwhile, Bluewater Sumilon, located about two hours south-east of metro Cebu, has expanded from 14 to 27 rooms, according to Bluewater Resorts president Julie Alegrado-Vergara.

However, in Bohol, Bluewater has altered its ambitious plans to expand its 54-room property on Panglao Island to 200 rooms and add meeting rooms and a convention hall.

“Now it’s wait and see; the game has changed,” Vergara explained, adding that occupancy rate has fallen to 40-45 per cent after the Bohol earthquake last October.

Bluewater Panglao did not suffer any major damage during the earthquake, although misperceptions regarding the level of damage sustained on Bohol island persist, noted Bluewater Resorts vice president for sales and marketing, Margie Munsayac.

In 2011, the group had disclosed the expansion plans for Bluewater Panglao, in addition to the purchase of a 2-ha land parcel in San Vicente, Palawan for a future resort.

However, Vergara said: “Everyone’s been waiting for (San Vicente’s new) airport, but it’s not there.”

She revealed that with the recent acquisition and ongoing renovation of a city hotel in Dumaguete that would be using a sister brand, Almont Hotels and Resorts, Bluewater is now looking to acquire a property in Siquijor.

Bluewater is planning to offer guests multi-resort stays amongst their properties in Cebu, Bohol, Dumaguete and Siquijor, if a common billing system could be worked out, she said.

KERALA Tourism and UNESCO last week signed an MoU to preserve and develop the Spice Route for tourism, almost a year after the idea was mooted by the state with keen support from the UN organisation.

The ancient route linking India’s south-western coast to Europe will enable enthusiasts to travel through the road used by traders for over 2,000 years.

Slated to be one of the world’s largest tourism-linked conservation projects, the initiative will partner 31 countries that the spice route passes through: Afghanistan, Myanmar, China, Denmark, Egypt, Eritrea, Ethiopia, France, Germany, Greece, India, Indonesia, Iran, Iraq, Italy, Jordan, Lebanon, Malaysia, Mozambique, Oman, Pakistan, Portugal, Saudi Arabia, Somalia, Spain, Sri Lanka, Syria, the Netherlands, Turkey, UK and Yemen.

European countries like Portugal, the Netherlands, Denmark and Germany have shown great interest in the initiative.

Kerala secretary-tourism, Suman Billa, said: “The project will create a unique collaboration with countries across different continents.”

Kerala tourism minister, AP Anilkumar, said: “Like the Silk Road, the Spice Route will be a huge addition to the global tourism map and help Kerala create a unique product.”

Kerala Tourism will host an international conference on the Spice Route trail in Kochi in 2014, which will see the participation of all partner countries.

“We are working with UNESCO to organise a culinary festival in which chefs from all the 31 countries will reinvent the different culinary traditions of their countries,” revealed Billa.

Kerala Tourism has allotted Rs250 million (US$4.1 million) for exploratory activities of the project.

The Spice Route will link the cardamom and tea-growing estates, Asia’s largest cinnamon farm, spice trading centres, the dhow (country boat) building centre and the original spice sailing port, Muziris.

SILKAIR is now offering economy class passengers the choice of securing preferred seats in exit rows.

The preferred seats are available for purchase during the seat selection phase when customers make their bookings on silkair.com, any time before check-in opens.

The offer will be available to customers who make purchases directly from the airline or through their travel consultants, on a first-come, first-serve basis, subject to terms and conditions.

For flights to and from China, India, Australia and Nepal, a fee of US$40 is applicable. For flights to and from all other SilkAir destinations, US$20 is applicable.