THE integrated resort (IR) model would benefit multiple industries across South Korea, but government opposition to the construction of tourism facilities still posed a hurdle, said Korea Tourism Organization (KTO) president, Charm Lee.

Speaking to TTG Asia e-Daily at the Korea MICE Expo 2013 last week, Lee said: “In terms of tourism, we see Singapore as a role model. An example we are following is Singapore’s courtship of international associations, encouraging them to base their Asian offices there, which in turn drives more association meetings to the city. Our most recent achievement in this direction is the Green Climate Fund’s establishment of its headquarters in Incheon’s Songdo City.

“Singapore’s success with the IR model is also something we can emulate. A single IR, through its MICE facilities, gaming, theme park, shopping outlets and accommodation, will supply the destination with large infrastructure to capture mega events, and that in turn brings business to the taxi companies, retailers, medical specialists when travellers have their health checked, and IT companies when delegates purchase the latest local gadgets.

“If Singapore, with its limited land, can work this model so well, South Korea can do even better because we have lots of land to support the required scale of such infrastructure and we enjoy a more central location on the world map,” he explained.

What is lacking, acccording to Lee, is a favourable licensing environment.

“It isn’t just gaming that some authorities are objecting (to). Hotels are also regarded by some as frivolous, as a place to play (in), so building permits are difficult to obtain and taxes are prohibitive for developers. It is far easier to secure a permit to build a department store than a hotel,” said Lee.

He added that KTO had been working hard to change the mindset of government agencies through regular open dialogues and hosting the annual Korea MICE Expo.

Although the tourism sector lacked the lobbying muscle of major industries, there had been progress, as “evident in the government’s recognition that tourism is one of the key economic pillars”, Lee pointed out.

VIETNAM Airlines today commences two new direct flights to Danang, one from Seoul, South Korea and another from Siem Reap, Cambodia.

The Seoul service will be operated thrice weekly, while Siem Reap flights will be a daily service, and together bring Vietnam Airlines’ total number of international routes to 28.

Round-trip tickets for Seoul are priced at 5.9 million Vietnamese dong (US$281), while Siem Reap-Danang tickets cost 1.7 million Vietnamese dong.

Despite the room boom in Danang over recent months, hotel managers and investors in the area have remained resolutely upbeat, believing that new flights will bring with them bigger demand.

In January this year, hoteliers, resort and golf course owners, and travel operators came together to set up the Central Coast Vietnam Destination Marketing Organisation (DMO), to promote the region as a competitior against established beach destinations such as Bali (TTG Asia e-Daily, January 29, 2013).

The DMO’s chairman, Louk Lennaerts, predicts more international flights would come on line in the coming months.

“Vietnam Airlines is also considering direct flights from Japan to Danang, while Thai Airways is still looking at flights from Bangkok with its sister airline, THAI Smile,” he said.

By David Lloyd Buglar

ANANTARA Hotels, Resorts & Spas will unfurl its banner in India through the opening of eight new properties by 2018.

The first, a 130-key resort, is currently under construction and is likely to be commissioned in Mahabalipuram, on the Bay of Bengal coast, by 2014. Other destinations the group has identified for setting up and managing new properties in are Rajasthan, Goa and Kerala.

Marion Walsh-Hedouin, group director-PR and communications, Anantara, said in a media statement: “Investing in India is a key move that will reap excellent results in future. Setting up Anantara hotels in India will also help target Indian outbound travellers for leisure and MICE (and encourage them to stay at) our other Asian properties.”

Of the group’s properties, Anantara Bangkok Riverside Resort & Spa and Anantara Lawana Koh Samui Resort & Spa are already popular with Indian nationals and have hosted Indian weddings.

Ashwani Gupta, managing director, Amritsar-based Dove Travels, said: “Anantara’s brand needs to be established in India and the opening of (Anantara) resorts in India will certainly help with that. It will also fulfil a growing need for true luxury hospitality in India. Anantara is popular with a select niche of luxury clients among those who travel overseas frequently.”

MEETING facilities at the Grand InterContinental Seoul Parnas are undergoing major refurbishment that will give the hotel a brand new ballroom from the first week of February 2014.

The new 1,500m² pillarless space will be able to accommodate 1,200 guests banquet-style or 1,100, classroom-style. Event organisers can also utilise a 656.8m² pre-function area adjoining the ballroom.

According to Darren Morrish, general manager of both the Grand InterContinental Seoul Parnas and the InterContinental Seoul COEX, the current ballroom will be demolished to make space for a new commercial tower.

Morrish revealed that the new commercial tower would also house a hotel, although it would not be a brand under the InterContinental Hotels Group.

“The new ballroom, along with the rest of our meeting facilities which will be refurbished, and the event spaces within the InterContinental Seoul COEX, will allow us to continue catering to large corporate groups. Between the two hotels we have 1,200 guestrooms.”

Besides refurbishing the event venues, the hotel is also remodelling its dining establishments, fitness club and business centre. Works will complete progressively throughout 2014.

THE recent surge of last-minute booking apps in an increasingly competitive online marketplace has triggered a wave of interest among the Asian travel trade, who debated over the potential and challenges of same-day apps during the No Vacancy Southeast Asia 2013 conference in Bangkok.

Increased mobile usage and Asian travellers’ inclination towards last-minute vacations spells potential for mobile-dedicated solutions, according to Tomas Laboutka, CEO and co-founder of HotelQuickly, a same-day, mobile-only booking app (TTG Asia e-Daily, May 3, 2013).

Laboutka remarked: “HotelQuickly would enable hotels to optimise occupancy real-time and RevPar while protecting their branding and fostering loyalty among customers.

“Unlike travel flash sites which train travellers to wait for a certain brand to offer hugely discounted rates, we rotate the inventory in real time every day, so users won’t know which specific brand will be available on a particular day.”

However, same-day booking apps drew mixed reviews from hospitality industry members that TTG Asia e-Daily spoke to.

“Last-minute apps are unlikely to work with the big chains due to the higher commission rates of 20-25 per cent versus 15 per cent for OTAs,” said Shade Shah, revenue and yield manager of Park Regis Singapore. “Unlike boutique hotels, our brand awareness is already there, so we don’t really need such apps (to boost branding).”

On the other hand, a hospitality industry leader who declined to be named, said: “The OTA scene is very competitive and mature now as many hotels are already participating there. Our hotel is now playing it wide, tapping new channels such as Agoda, Groupon, HotelQuickly, social media, etc, to utilise all partnerships since we always play rate parity.”

When asked if last-minute booking apps are revolutionising the travel landscape, Agoda CEO, Robert Rosenstein, replied: “We view them as competitors, but it’s up to consumers. We also work closely with hotels. We could also sell rooms at huge discounts, but do hotels want that?”

EUROPEAN hotel portal Hotel Reservation Service (HRS) has announced the opening of a regional sales office in Singapore.

Aimed at servicing business and private travellers, HRS runs a portfolio of more than 250,000 hotels across 180 countries and offers online hotel booking and travel management solutions.

HRS services are available on multiple platforms, from desktop to mobile, and are free for corporate clients. Reservations are made direct and come with immediate confirmation. The HRS solution is also set up to comply with the client corporation’s travel policies and provides detailed reporting.

Furthermore, HRS is looking to expand its distribution model by strategically integrating with GDSs.

“Asia-Pacific is a high growth area and an important region for HRS to offer corporate travellers more choices and better service. We want to help companies here maximise profitability by cutting corporate travel costs through an efficient travel management system,” said HRS CEO, Tobias Ragge.

“Asia is experiencing strong economic growth and an unprecedented rise in the consumption of travel services. With the world’s biggest, youngest and most tech-friendly consumer group working and living in this region, it is a promising market to be in,” said HRS commercial director of Asia-Pacific, Christian Lukey.

TO ENCOURAGE more group travel out of India into the Philippines, the local government is working on a new policy granting group visas to segments such as MICE and family travellers.

“We are working closely with the office of consular affairs of the Department of Foreign Affairs to encourage them to come out with a policy on group visas, which includes incentive groups, conference groups and family groups. They are considering this and will come up with a new policy soon,” said Glen Agustin, team India head, market development group, Department of Tourism.

Should such a scheme come to pass, groups with bona fide and accredited tour operators will be given a group visa. This erases the need for individual visas and travellers will not be required to show money.

“For FITs, they (will still be) required to apply (for individual visas), pay the necessary processing fees and fulfil all requirements, including show money,” he added.

“However, since the market development group seeks to reduce barriers to entry for tourists, we are exerting all efforts to encourage our partner government agencies to ease the granting of visas to legitimate tourists,” Agustin explained.

He said the Philippines is “moving forward” when it comes to attracting arrivals from India, for instance, the country began allowing Indian nationals who had visa-free entry to AJACS SUK countries (Australia, Japan, Canada, Singapore, the US and UK) to enter the Philippines without a visa for 14 days, extendable to 21 days.

DESPITE seeing a two per cent slide in overall tourist arrivals in 1Q2013, Nepal has registered blistering 36 per cent growth in Chinese visitorship as the country steps up efforts to woo this market.

Chinese arrivals numbered 14,700 this quarter and 85,832 in 2012. Of the latter, 53,373 came by air and the rest by road. The average length of stay for Chinese tourists is 10 days, as per Nepal government statistics.

Buddhist pilgrimages and adventure activities such as trekking, paragliding and rafting are the main draws for Chinese visitors.

Nepal’s travel trade credited the rise in Chinese arrivals to increased promotions and participation at Chinese tradeshows over the last two years, which looks set to continue in the future.

Said Sushil Ghimire, secretary, Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation, in a media statement: “Since China is our second largest market for tourism (the first being India), we believe the time has come to shift our focus towards China as a large source market, from here on.”

Nepal is mulling the set up of visa facilitation services in several Chinese cities to smoothen the process.

Meanwhile, Bikram Pandey, vice president, Nepal Association of Tour Operators, said: “Inbound travel companies are gearing up for the increase in Chinese tourists by training tour guides with Chinese language skills. New tour packages are being designed specifically for visitors from China.”

Hari Sarmah, CEO, Nepal Association of Tour and Travel Agents, said: “As the Chinese are serious shoppers and entertainment seekers, we are trying to build more of such products to attract them.”

On the other side of the fence, the Chinese government has asked Nepal to revise the bilateral air service agreement between the two countries as the travel demand outstrips the seat capacity allocated to Chinese carriers. Three Chinese carriers – Air China, China Southern Airlines and China Eastern Airlines ­– currently run services to Nepal.

GARUDA Indonesia is reintroducing a service linking Singapore to Surabaya, while increasing the frequencies of its flights out of the city-state to Bali and Jakarta.

Beginning July 19, Garuda will run four-times-weekly flights from Singapore to Surabaya. From Singapore, flights depart at 20.45 and reach at 22.20, while Singapore-bound flights leave Surabaya at 08.45 to touch down in the city at 12.15.

The airline will also increase the frequency of flights to Bali with the launch of a new four- times-weekly service on July 19. A ninth daily flight to Jakarta will be launched on August 18.

“South-east Asia is an important region and Singapore in particular is a key growth market for Garuda Indonesia. We are constantly looking to improve our flight offerings to provide Singapore travellers better connectivity to Indonesia,” said Nicodemus Lampe, vice president, area Asia, Garuda Indonesia.

Garuda’s expanded flight options from Singapore to Indonesia follow similar moves by airlines such as Singapore Airlines (TTG Asia e-Daily, May 8, 2013) and AirAsia (TTG Asia e-Daily, June 4, 2013).

Garuda Indonesia is running a sale on flights to Surabaya from now until August 8. Valid for travel from July 19 to August 9, return economy tickets are priced from S$265 (US$210).

MALINDO Air has set August 1 as the launch date for three new domestic operations from Subang – a twice-daily Alor Setar service and daily runs to Kuala Terengganu and Langkawi.

The routes will be run with the airline’s new ATR72-600 aircraft.

Chandran Rama Muthy, CEO of Malindo Air, said the launch of the new routes would provide the public with more travel options during the upcoming school holidays in August, which also coincide with Hari Raya celebrations.

Currently, Malindo Air’s turbo-prop operations connect Subang with Penang, Kota Bharu and Johor Bahru.

Chandran said: “Malindo Air’s emergence at Subang Skypark Terminal has been warmly received by the public. Our flights to Kota Bharu have been flying with more than 90 per cent capacity most of the time. Following such encouraging response since the launch of our Subang operations, we have decided to implement the new routes from Subang to Alor Setar, Kuala Terengganu and Langkawi.”

Earlier this month, Firefly announced it would add a Johor Bahru-Pekanbaru service and pad up its flight schedule with extra frequencies for the Hari Raya season (TTG Asia e-Daily, June 11, 2013).