MAJOR Japanese OTA Rakuten Travel has seen revenue for its Singapore affiliate shoot up by 55 per cent since it was set up in March last year as its sales and marketing hub for South-east Asia.

Yoshihisa Yamada, vice chairman, Rakuten Travel, said Singapore was a “fast-growing market” for Japanese inbound.

In 2012, the number of Japanese travellers heading to Singapore increased 6.6 per cent from 656,406 in 2011 to 700,000.

“Singapore is appealing especially to the younger Japanese travellers, who find it a fashionable and trendy city,” said Yamada, adding that the Japanese regard Marina Bay Sands as a must-see.

To further boost Japanese traffic into Singapore, Rakuten has been working with the Singapore Tourism Board since March to develop a web marketing campaign. The collaboration, which will be rolled out progressively, would allow the OTA to promote Singapore’s attractions in a more interactive manner. The company has also managed to break growth records by dramatically increasing the number of accommodation providers available on Rakuten’s reservations platform.

Yamada shared that Rakuten was still firmly focused on nurturing outbound from Japan for now, but had also started to grow business from China.

In 2011, Rakuten bought ET Solution (Beijing), which operates Chinese online travel website ET Pass, to boost its portfolio of domestic travel services in China and services catering for Chinese travelling abroad. Since then, revenue made from ET Pass bookings has grown dramatically from under RMB50 million (US$8 million) to about RMB550 million in 2012.

Rakuten first branched out internationally in 2002, and has established offices in Malaysia, Vietnam and the Philippines, although Singapore will remain its main South-east Asian hub.

SHANGHAI-based Juneyao Airlines has included a third Thai destination – Chiang Mai – to its international flight network as Thailand continues to climb in popularity among Chinese tourists.

From today, the carrier will begin operating the Shanghai (Pudong)-Chiang Mai segment as a twice-weekly service on Airbus A320-200 aircraft, before ramping up frequency to four times weekly on April 26.

Juneyao Airlines’ Thailand manager, Keith Lam, said: “Thailand is currently a very hot destination among the Chinese. The hugely popular Chinese movie, Lost in Thailand, which has spurred the interest of Chinese tourists in Thailand, was just the tipping point for us to expand our network to Chiang Mai.”

China became the top source market for Thailand in 2012. Last year, Chinese arrivals surged 47.1 per cent to a record 2.7 million arrivals, from 1.7 million in 2011.

Juneyao Airlines launched its first international destination with the commencement of daily flights from Shanghai to Phuket in November 2012. In January, it also started daily flights to Bangkok.

Lam said: “We have been seeing good passenger load factors on our Bangkok sector at about 85 per cent, while Phuket is slightly lower at 80 per cent or so.”

While its Thailand flights are still dominated by Chinese passengers, he revealed that the airline has been active in courting Thai tourists too.

“We are working with Thai travel agencies to create promotions for the outbound Thai market. For example, our Spring Festival packages were well received among the Thais.”

Juneyao Airlines is not the only carrier strengthening its network in Thailand. Hong Kong Airlines started operating a third daily Hong Kong-Bangkok flight on March 31 and will operate the Hong Kong-Phuket service on A330-300 aircraft instead of A320 from April 16. Kenya Airways also ramped up its four weekly services between Guangzhou and Nairobi via Bangkok to daily operations since April 1.

EMIRATES increased its number of services between Dubai and Kuala Lumpur from 26 to 28 weekly flights on April 1, its fourth frequency increase in four years.

The airline has introduced another 1,659 seats per week through two new flight timings, levelling the schedule to four daily flights on the route.

From Dubai, the new flight leaves at 21.35 on Saturdays and Sundays and arrives in Kuala Lumpur at 08.55 the next day, while the return flight takes off from Kuala Lumpur at 10.30 on Mondays and Fridays to reach Dubai at 13.10 the same day.

The sector has faced strong demand in the last few years, resulting in frequency adjustments. As recent as November 2012, Emirates had 21 flights a week, up from 14 weekly flights in 2009. On February 7, the carrier increased its number of services from 25 times a week to 26.

INTERCONTINENTAL Hotels Group (IHG) has opened Holiday Inn Bangkok Sukhumvit 22, marking its third Holiday Inn hotel in the city and 10^th in Thailand.

Boasting 300 guest rooms and luxury suites, the 20-storey hotel overlooks Bangkok’s Benjasiri Park, and is close to the main business district and several large shopping centres.

Facilities and amenities include free Wi-Fi throughout the hotel, a business centre, an outdoor lap pool, a fitness centre and an event centre featuring a variety of rooms and an 800-pax Grand Ballroom.

Dining wise, guests can choose from three F&B outlets: Zeta Café is the all-day dining restaurant; Lounge 9 has a tapas-style menu; and Maya is the stylish rooftop restaurant bar where one can grab an Indian meal and drinks.

Holiday Inn’s Kids Stay and Eat Free programme provides free accomodation for two children under 18 years old when sharing a room with up to two adults. On top of that, each child aged 12 and under gets to enjoy a complimentary breakfast, lunch and dinner from the children’s menu when accompanied by an adult who orders at least one main course.

Holiday Inn Bangkok Sukhumvit 22’s special opening rates start from 2,399 baht (US$82).

CENTARA Hotels & Resorts has signed a management contract with Sweet Water Point Company to operate Centara Grand Modus Resort & Spa Pattaya, due to open in the third quarter of 2013.

Located on Wong Amat Beach at Naklua, Centara’s sixth hotel in Pattaya will have its own private beachfront, and is said to be one of the few in the city to be sited directly on the beach.

Offering a total of 215 rooms in the standard, superior, family, club, suites and two-bedroom suites categories, over half the rooms have an ocean view, while direct pool access is available to several room categories. For families, the resort offers a number of interconnecting rooms as well as rooms with two double beds.

Facilities include a spa, a fitness centre, a Kids’ Club, three swimming pools with a pool bar, a beach club, meeting and function rooms, and two restaurants.

The development also includes 300 condominium units, which can be managed by Centara upon owners’ requests.

The other Centara Grand-branded hotels are located in North Pattaya, South Pattaya and Jomtien.