THE International Air Transport Association (IATA) has expressed “disappointment” over the European Commission’s (EC) proposed changes to its passenger rights legislation.

Under the proposals put forward by the EC, passengers have to be reimbursed after a five-hour delay for all intra-EU flights and short international flights of less than 3,500km; after nine hours for flights of less than 6,000km; and after 12 hours for flights of more than 6,000km. The same applies to passengers who miss a connecting flight because their first flight was late.

Airlines are required to offer alternative routes via other carriers or transport methods where it cannot provide rerouting on its own services within 12 hours.

IATA highlighted three areas of concern in a statement:

• The new proposal regarding compensation for passengers who miss a connecting flight, which puts the burden for compensation on the operator of the first flight, would amount to a breach of the Montreal Convention and discourage European carriers from offering connections to longhaul destinations. They would also be impossible to enforce for journeys with connecting flights outside Europe.

• Diversions are treated the same way as cancellations by mandating significant compensation to passengers, although most diversions are made for safety reasons. Tony Tyler, director general and CEO, IATA, said: “It is perverse for regulators to second guess and potentially impose penalties for a captain’s decision made in the interest of the health and safety of passengers and crew.”

• There is no limit on cost or class of service when offering passengers alternative routes of transport given that an airline has no seats on its own services. “If your Bic pen doesn’t work, you don’t expect to get a Mont Blanc as compensation,” said Tyler.

The new proposals are subject to the approval of all EU member states and the European parliament, and are due to come into effect in 2015, reported the UK’s The Telegraph.

MAKEMYTRIP has partnered OneAssist to offer customers credit card and smartphone protection in case of loss or theft, becoming the first Indian travel company to provide such a service.

Customers protected by OneAssist plans will have all activities on the lost cards and smartphone blocked up to seven days prior to the report made in order to prevent data misuse and financial loss. OneAssist will also settle hotels bills and arrange for a return ticket if required.

Travellers only need to call one number instead of contacting individual banks when they lose their credit cards, explained Rajnish Kapur, chief information officer and head – customer service, MakeMyTrip.

In the event of passport loss, OneAssist will support the customer with necessary documentation and foreign language translation where needed.

MakeMyTrip customers can purchase OneAssist protection while booking their tickets or holiday packages online. They are currently available to international travellers and HDFC Bank credit card holders, and will soon be offered to domestic travellers.

Sonal Swamy, director, Syrisa Travels, said: “The loss of (one’s) credit cards, mobile phone and passport can become a nightmare for tourists travelling abroad. OneAssist plans will provide the immediate and permanent relief that is crucial in such situations.”

SINGAPORE continued to see an upward march in visitor numbers and tourism receipts for 2012, but this has dropped to single-digit growth.

Some 14.4 million tourists arrived in Singapore last year, a nine per cent increase over 2011, while tourism receipts recorded S$23 billion (US$18.4 billion), a mere 3.6 per cent rise. In 2011, visitor arrivals and tourism receipts grew by 13 per cent and 17 per cent respectively (TTG Asia tourism data, February 7, 2012).

The Singapore Tourism Board (STB) has forecast 14.8-15.5 million arrivals and tourism receipts of S$23.5-24.5 billion for 2013.

Addressing Singapore’s parliament, second minister for trade and industry, S Iswaran, said arrivals could not grow “indefinitely and sustainably” at the rates of recent years”. “Domestically, our land and manpower constraints mean we need to find new ways to do more with less. The next phase of tourism growth would thus have to come from increasing the yield through visitor spend, rather than just visitor numbers.”

He said: “Externally, the rise in Asian tourism over the coming years presents a window of opportunity for us to attract discerning travellers who seek out differentiated and value-added experiences.”

Iswaran pointed out that there was a need for strong content in the tourism sector to drive the push for high-yield tourists, adding that STB would establish a new Kickstart Fund with an initial funding of S$5 million to support lifestyle concepts with strong tourism potential and scalability, including pop-up entertainment, dining, retail or arts events.

Luxury Tours & Travel Singapore’s director, Michael Lee, was not optimistic about 2013’s prospects. “The tourism outlook in Singapore this year is not good because prices are rising everywhere. For example, hotel prices here cannot attract tourists because they are so high. Singapore is the most expensive city among neighbouring countries and this will make us lose out,” he said.

Nevertheless, Lee added: “Hopefully our new attractions here can bring (tourists) in, but we must make sure there are good service standards too.”

Additional reporting by Lee Pei Qi

FOUR hotels in Christchurch are scheduled to reopen by year-end after repairing damage wrought by the 2011 earthquake, bringing the number of hotels in the city’s three- and four-star segments to 19.

Heritage Christchurch’s Old Government Building will open its doors in May while Rendezvous Hotel Christchurch will welcome guests in the second quarter. Novotel Christchurch will resume operations in September and Latimer Hotel Christchurch in late 2013, said Tim Hunter, CEO, Christchurch & Canterbury Tourism.

Panorama Tours Malaysia’s head of outbound tours, Nick Chong, said having the refreshed products would appeal to guests, adding that he is selling sightseeing tours combining Christchurch and Queenstown as part of an 11-day itinerary combining the North and South Islands.

Hunter said that Christchurch and Canterbury Tourism were hammering out details of a collaboration with Singapore Airlines to get more family traffic for this winter season. The airline runs daily Singapore-Christchurch flights.

Christchurch International Airport has also commited to help fund marketing efforts to boost winter holiday traffic to the South Island of New Zealand.