FOLLOWING massive cancellations on Monday due to a widespread warning strike in Germany, Lufthansa says it expects operations to return to near-normal levels on Tuesday.

In a press release yesterday, the airline said the early shift would be on duty at Germany’s airports and only minimal disruption was likely to occur.

Lufthansa advised all passengers to check the status of their flights on its website before setting off for the airport, as a precautionary measure.

Monday’s warning strike by the Ver.di trade union had wreaked havoc on Lufthansa’s flight operations, with close to all domestic and intra-EU flights cancelled and about 150,000 passengers affected.

Unlike strikes in previous years, the carrier also cancelled most of its longhaul operations, reported Reuters. These included flights to Asia, including countries such as Singapore and India.

THE Philippines will play host to a world-class golf championship for the next five years as a result of a new deal sealed between Resorts World Manila and Asian Tour to title sponsor a US$750,000 tournament.

Scheduled to take place from November 14 to 17, all four rounds of the Resorts World Manila Masters will be staged at the Manila Southwoods Golf and Country Club as well as broadcast live on Asian Tour’s global television platform to reach over 200 countries.

The deal is Resorts World Manila’s first sponsorship on the Asian Tour and will attract top stars such as the Philippines’ Angelo Que, Juvic Pagunsan and Frankie Minoza.

It is hoped that the event will give the country’s golfing scene and tourism sector a boost.

Steve Reilly, COO, Resorts World Manila, said: “As this is a five-year agreement, we have every desire to grow the Resorts World Manila Masters into a sporting extravaganza that will entertain golf fans and television viewers from around the world. We want our event to be the golfing pride of the Philippines, hence the long-term agreement with Asian Tour.”

“We recognise the need for Resorts World Manila to fully support junior golf programmes in our country. With golf returning to the Olympics in three years’ time, we hope to play a role in ensuring that the Philippines will be represented in golf,” he added.

Asian Tour is the official sanctioning body for professional golf in the region.

THAILAND-based Sala Hospitality Group has rolled out two new Sala boutique branded properties in Chiang Mai and Bangkok, with another slated to open in Ayutthaya early next year.

Launched a few days ago, the 17-room Sala Rattanakosin Bangkok marks the group’s first property in the Thai capital. Located on the eastern bank of the Chao Phraya River just across Wat Arun, the 17-key hotel features a riverside restaurant and a rooftop bar and terrace.

Earlier this month on April 1, Sala Lanna Chiang Mai opened its doors by the Ping River with 16 rooms and suites, including a two-bedroom pool suite, as well as two riverfront dining outlets.

Meanwhile, the 27-room Sala Ayutthaya will be unveiled in early 2014.

While guests at the seven-key Sala Khaoyai are mostly domestic, the above properties would cater to a mix of local and international travellers, said Sala Hospitality Group, COO, Brian Moodie.

When asked about Sala’s recent surge in openings, he said the new properties in Bangkok and Chiang Mai would make a “perfect complement” to the group’s beach resorts in southern Thailand. Sala has bigger, non-boutique resorts in Koh Samui and Phuket, with a third coming up in the former in late 2014.

Sala Samui Chaweng will launch with 100 rooms, including 65 pool villas and suites.

BRITISH Airways (BA) will trim capacity on its Bangkok services by 22,568 seats annually in each direction between London and Bangkok from October 27.

BA will replace the 337-seater Boeing 747-400 that operates its daily connection linking Bangkok and London with a 275-seater B777-200ER.

As a result of this change, BA will no longer offer first class service on the route. The latter comprises 48 seats in business class, 24 in premium economy and 203 in economy.

Additionally, the flight’s departure time from London-Heathrow has been moved from 22.05 to 15.05 to arrive in Bangkok in the morning. Bangkok-London will now become a daylight flight.

Just like the carrier’s Sydney and Singapore services, outbound Bangkok flights will move from the current Terminal 3 to Terminal 5.

HILTON Worldwide has made its maiden foray into Pune with the signing of a franchise agreement for DoubleTree by Hilton Pune-Chinchwad, slated for opening in June.

The franchise agreement with Panchshil Hotels secures the fourth DoubleTree by Hilton hotel in India. The 115-room property is located in Chinchwad, which forms one of the country’s largest industrial hubs together with neighbouring suburb Pimpri.

Facilities include in-room Internet access, three dining outlets, an executive lounge, 24-hour business and fitness centres, an outdoor rooftop pool and 260m² of meetings and events space.

“With the launch of our fourth (DoubleTree) hotel in India, we will be well on our way to doubling our network in the country this year. Presently, we have two hotels in Delhi NCR, at Gurgaon and Mayur Vihar, and a resort in Goa. We will open an all-suite hotel in Bengaluru and a resort in Jaipur later this year,” said John Greenleaf, global head, DoubleTree by Hilton.

Hilton Worldwide currently operates 12 hotels and resorts in India.

Martin Rinck, president, Asia-Pacific, Hilton Worldwide, anticipates the hotel group’s portfolio will increase to 17 hotels in India by the end of 2013.

OAKWOOD has picked a new colour for each of its brands in Asia, launching a summer promotion and consumer campaign to promote its properties.

Oakwood Premier is associated with peacock blue, Oakwood Residence, forest green and Oakwood Apartments, mandarin orange.

Eric Ow, spokesman for Oakwood Asia-Pacific, explained that the shift to the brands’ new colours would take place in a gradual and subtle way. “You won’t see our residences suddenly painted all green, for example, but in some decorations and amenities,” he said.

“We also organise themed activities and gifts to introduce and (allow guests) to interact with the new colours. At the Oakwood Premier Cozmo Jakarta, for example, the residents are delighted with a teal macaroon exclusively prepared by the signature restaurant,” Ow revealed.

The company has rolled out the Oakwood’s Color of Summer promotion, featuring special deals for stays in any of its 25 properties, while a new consumer campaign, What’s My Color, has also been launched, inviting the public to share in words, photos or videos what the colours mean to them.

CREATING a pipeline of unique and innovative content is one of the priorities set for Singapore’s tourism industry in the medium term, as the country seeks to sharpen its leisure and business event offerings in pursuit of quality growth.

Speaking at the annual Tourism Industry Conference yesterday, second minister for trade & industry, S Iswaran, said that in order to differentiate Singapore in the midst of keen regional competition, it was imperative to develop “distinct content and programming”.

Singapore Tourism Board (STB) chief executive, Lionel Yeo, explained that this would entail the NTO working with travel consultants to “create more itineraries that are catered to discerning travellers”, meaning less of the mass-market, single-day tours but those that offer “deeper immersion”.

In line with this push, details of the new Kickstart Fund, which supports experimental lifestyle concepts with tourism potential, were outlined yesterday. Running from June 3 to March 2016, grants of up to 50 per cent of qualifying costs per project will be available, capped at a maximum of S$75,000 (US$60,457). Projects could range from art tours to live events.

Agencies can also leverage the existing Tourism Technology Fund in either their business processes or the creation of enhanced experiences.

In addition, STB will launch a series of workshops in July, which will see leading consultants engage with attraction players in master classes to develop more in-depth products.

While industry members generally felt that the high-yield direction taken by the government was a necessary one, not every one agreed on how to get there.

For STB’s Yeo, what was lacking was the “ability to tell a good story”, a similar point raised by Association of Singapore Attractions chairman, Kevin Cheong, who said “heartware” – providing heartfelt service and targeting the heart of the consumer ­– was key.

However, Chan Brothers Travel group managing director & CEO, Anthony Chan, said that a master plan needed to be drawn up by STB to chart the resources, such as land and manpower, required by the tourism sector over the next decade.

– Read more in TTG Asia, May 3 issue