BRAND USA will establish a foothold in the Hong Kong market through the creation of a marketing representation office within the next few months.

Appointed to represent the NTO in Hong Kong is BrandStory, a PR company with presence in Singapore and China, which hopes to get the Brand USA office off the ground by 3Q2013.

The Hong Kong set-up follows similar launches in China and Japan. Brand USA is also aiming to expand its presence to India, Australia and New Zealand within the year.

Besides Brand USA making landfall in Hong Kong, the Visit USA Committee (Hong Kong), a membership-based committee that promotes travel to the US, will also be reactivated, according to US Consulate General – Hong Kong & Macau, commercial specialist, Kimmy Lee.

In March, the local US Consulate General rolled out measures to streamline visa application procedures, a long-standing stumbling block for travellers.

Applicants can now settle visa fees at any 7-Eleven store in Hong Kong or Macau, book visa appointments through a new web-based system, seek assistance from a new call centre, and have their passports delivered to their home or office for free. They can also pick up their passports in person at three locations on Hong Kong Island and Kowloon.

Hong Thai Travel Services’ deputy general manager, Daniel Chan, said: “I hope the Brand USA office in Hong Kong will push more new destinations rather than the traditionally hot cities like San Francisco and New York. Out of all the states, there should be something new to excite Hong Kongers, for example, Miami.”

However, he pointed out that the stringent visa approval process remained a hurdle.

Air capacity is another major concern, as flights between June and September are usually full and tickets are expensive, said Chan. “Flight frequency has not returned to pre-September 11 levels, otherwise airfares would definitely be lower.”

THE changing lifestyles of Indonesia’s growing middle class are carving out a significant opportunity for travel and tourism players.

Speaking at the Indonesia Hospitality & Tourism Investment Conference in Jakarta recently, Indonesia Investment Coordinating Board chairman, Chatib Basri, said: “There was a 40 million increase in the number of middle-class Indonesians (between 2003 and 2010), and that is bigger than the populations of Malaysia, Singapore and Australia put together.

“People are willing to pay US$200 per dish at a food festival with a celebrity chef from France, and they spend thousands of dollars to buy batik products, something that would not have happened five years ago,” he noted.

“What I’m trying to say is that there is a huge opportunity for investment in tourism and hospitality in Indonesia to meet domestic customers’ demands.”

He cited how the growth of LCCs within Indonesia had not only improved domestic connectivity but allowed more people to travel to exotic local destinations such as Lombok by making flights affordable.

Marriott International’s executive vice president, Asia-Pacific, Paul Foskey, quoted China as a case study of a country that has been successful in developing domestic tourism.

“The country has seen huge infrastructure investment, everything from highways to airports and railways. (There has also been) a lot of encouragement for developers to build leisure destinations,” he said, adding that Sanya had managed to develop itself into a prominent domestic travel destination.

“Sanya has the highest RevPAR in all of China purely through the domestic leisure market,” noted Foskey.

The Chinese government has also created national holidays to encourage domestic tourism, he said.

“So hopefully the (Indonesian) government and private sector can really work together and promote domestic tourism.”

INDIAN OTA Ezeego1.com has ventured into selling sports tickets on its website by teaming up with Sports Events 365.

In partnership with the international sports and shows ticket broker, Ezeego1.com now carries tickets to international sporting events such as Champion League games, Grand Slam tournaments and Formula One races.

Under the site’s Online Sports Tickets section, users can perform location-based searches of future sports events or search for an event by selecting a competitor, allowing users to find out where their favourite team or player will be competing in the future.

The site also provides detailed information such as dates, times, seating charts for venues and local street maps.

Neelu Singh, COO, Ezeego1.com, said: “With sports tickets being the fastest-growing segment in the travel industry and our customer loyalty growing day by day, it was necessary to introduce an attractive product like this. It will not only enhance our product offering but will also attract a new category of customers.”

MALINDO Air will commence daily services between Kuala Lumpur and Sibu, Miri and Tawau next month, effectively ending AirAsia’s dominance on these routes for low-cost flights.

The services to Sibu, Miri and Tawau will commence on June 11, June 14 and June 26 respectively.

The new routes coincide with the delivery of Malindo’s two Boeing 737-900ER aircraft next month, bringing its fleet size to four.

All-inclusive economy fares start from RM98 (US$32) to Miri and Sibu, and RM138 to Tawau. Business class fares start from RM499.

Miri-based Planet Borneo Tours executive director, James Wan, said: “Additional seat capacity on the Kuala Lumpur-Miri route increases the possibility of having larger incentives and teambuilding groups in Miri.

“We currently have difficulties securing more than 50 seats. The new flight also provides clients with a new travel option on a low-cost carrier with added benefits such as in-flight entertainment and light refreshments.”

SWISS International Air Lines’ (SWISS) direct Singapore-Zurich service is launching today, marking the return of the airline to Singapore Changi Airport after a four-year hiatus.

The daily flight will be operated using an Airbus A340-300 aircraft, seating 219 passengers in a three-class configuration, and departs from Singapore Changi Airport’s Terminal Two.

Out of Singapore, flights leave Changi at 23.10 and land in Zurich at 06.10, while Singapore-bound flights depart Zurich at 22.45 to touch down in Singapore at 17.15.

Tourism arrivals from South-east Asia have grown 30 per cent over the last three years.

Urs Eberhard, executive vice president, Switzerland Tourism, said: “We expect a further positive quantitative impact of an additional five to 10 per cent growth from this region and Australia due to the new direct SWISS flight.”

VIRGIN Airlines has set an ambitious goal of using only clean-burning fuels on all flights by 2020, in a bid to make air travel one of the greenest industries.

Speaking at the inaugural Creating Climate Wealth Workshops Summit’s press conference today, Virgin Group founder and chairman, Richard Branson, said: “The airline industry is a good example (of how an industry) can minimise environmental impact by reducing carbon output, which can in turn save a lot of money.

“If you use clean fuels, the government does not have the excuse to tax you, and when you gain competitiveness over dirty fuels, you can reduce the cost of fuel, which will reduce the cost of your tickets and (result in) more people wanting to travel with you.”

Virgin Atlantic became the first commercial airline to partly power a flight by biofuel in 2008 when it flew from London to Amsterdam on fuel obtained from Brazilian babassu nuts and coconuts.

Virgin Atlantic is now piloting a low-carbon jet fuel derived from waste gases in New Zealand, and the Group hopes to see it utilised on commercial routes between Shanghai and New Delhi to Heathrow in a few years, according to David Addison, research executive, Virgin Earth Challenge under Virgin Group.

Addison noted that “with more intelligent customers today who care about the planet, they will likely want to travel with airlines who pride themselves on renewable fuel”.

Branson – also the founder of the non-profit Carbon War Room, which gathers entrepreneurs together to implement climate change solutions – called for more airlines to share their expertise in reducing carbon emissions.

He added that the latest member of Carbon War Room was AirAsia Group CEO, Tony Fernandes, who accepted Branson’s offer when they were on board an AirAsia X flight yesterday.

Separately, Virgin Australia has integrated its recently acquired Skywest Airlines to form a new domestic carrier based in Western Australia. Named Virgin Australia Regional Airlines, the new airline will operate 32 aircraft deployed to 41 destinations.

TRAVEL consultants in Singapore are putting together more tour packages to the Philippines as statistics point to an increasing number of residents from the city-state heading there.

According to the Philippine Department of Tourism (DoT), there were 148,215 visitors from Singapore in 2012, registering 15.7 per cent growth over 2011. Singapore is among the Philippines’ top 10 source markets.

Having sold FIT packages so far, Joe Lim, executive director, Konsortium Express and Tours, will be bringing his first leisure group of 100 to Manila and Tagaytay next month. He said: “There is greater push and publicity to promote the Philippines over the past year so it is not surprising to be receiving a frequent flow of enquiries.”

A tour group offers an option for those who want “easy holidays”, said Lim, adding that he intended to introduce more of such tours.

Jenny Ho, managing director, Classic Travel, said: “The appeal of the Philippines to Singaporeans is that there is no language barrier and service standards are excellent. We want to see how we can promote more tours because we observe growing interest not just in Manila, but also in other areas like Cebu, Palawan and Boracay.”

A spokesperson from Econ Holidays, Jimmy Woo, echoed Ho’s enthusiasm, but pointed out that accessibility to certain destinations, such as Boracay that requires flight transfers, was still an issue.

Charles Leong, marketing director, DoT, said: “The perception of the Philippines as a fun and attractive tourist destination has been growing over the past two years due to better branding and publicity of the country.”

Referring to the tour bus hostage crisis in Manila in 2010 (TTG Asia e-Daily, August 16, 2011), he added: “There may still be that concern about safety from some, but most have already overlooked that as it was a one-off encounter.”

FINNAIR is preparing to launch its two new routes to Asia next month, but further expansion to this region is likely limited in the near future.

The airline will kick off thrice-weekly flights to Xi’an and Hanoi (TTG Asia e-Daily, November 29, 2012), becoming the first European airline to connect these cities and bumping up its Asian destinations to 13.

In addition, Qatar Airways’ and SriLankan Airlines’ upcoming entry into Oneworld will also spell opportunities for Finnair to extend its reach, said Finnair’s senior vice president commercial, Allister Paterson, at a press conference at Helsinki Airport.

However, expansion in Asia will be restricted until the airline starts to take delivery of its 11 Airbus A350 aircraft order in 2015, Paterson revealed. The airline’s executives declined to reveal new destinations on the company’s radar.

Said Finnair deputy CEO, Ville Iho: “North Asia-North Europe is the sweet spot for Finnair. Going via Helsinki saves four hours on average, an important consideration for business travellers.”

Added Paterson: “The Asia-centric approach works better for the Far East markets. We are seeing good load factor on our Asian routes, although they are lower on developing markets like Chongqing and Xi’an…Not everyone knows the Polar route, so we need to teach geography (to the travel trade). There is a lot of growth left in Asia, which we plan to grow.

“For almost all of our Asian destinations, our location in Helsinki enables us to make a round trip within 24 hours, allowing us to optimise daily schedules and drive up aircraft utilisation.”

Finnair has outlined plans to double its revenue from Asia-Europe traffic by 2020 from a 2010 baseline (TTG Asia e-Daily, September 15, 2011).

EMAAR Hospitality Group has launched a new four-star brand targeting young travellers looking for affordable but luxurious stays.

The first property under the freshly unveiled Vida Hotels and Resorts brand will open in downtown Dubai this June with 156 rooms. Vida Hotels will be located in prime city locations where the young travellers congregate.

Josef Kufer, COO, Emaar Hospitality Group, said: “Our lifestyle brand will target a larger share of the emerging market of young visitors. During their stay, guests can order food and beverages via their iPads and smartphones.”

“With so much to offer in entertainment, fine dining and luxury experiences, younger travellers are looking to extend their stay in Dubai from three to five days on the same budget. Vida will cater to this segment,” commented Imen M’Hedhbi, sales and marketing manager, Dubai-based Royal Adventure Travel & Tourism.

Emaar Hospitality Group’s portfolio includes The Address Hotels + Resorts, Arabian Ranches Golf Club, Dubai Polo & Equestrian Club and the Dubai Marina Yacht Club.