PARK Hotel Group is holding a special promotion to mark the Lunar New Year period, offering guests one additional night free for every reservation of two consecutive nights at the best available rates.
Now open for reservations, the deal is valid at any of the group’s hotels in Singapore, China, Hong Kong and Japan for stays between February 1 and 28.
For more information, visit parkhotelgroup.com.
SHERATON Hong Kong Hotel & Towers has rolled out a new MICE offer for meeting planners.
For meetings held from January 15, 2013 to June 30, 2013, planners can earn double Starpoints with no maximum limit, in addition to a free iPad Mini (US$18,000 and above per actualised booking) or iPad 2 (US$25,000 and above per actualised booking).
This offer is valid for bookings confirmed by March 31, 2013.
For bookings or enquiries, contact karina.ting@sheraton.com or (+852) 2732-6706.
CENTARA Grand Island Resort & Spa Maldives is offering an Ultimate All-Inclusive programme, which allows guests to go cashless at the 112-key property in the South Ari Atoll.
From US$607.50 per night for two, guests can enjoy champagne breakfasts, lunches and dinners with a choice of three restaurants; an open bar service that provides cocktails, beers, wines and spirits from 10.00 to midnight at the resort’s two bars; an in-room mini-bar replenished once daily and a daily credit of US$100 per person for spending at the resort.
The promotion is valid from now until April 30, 2013, Rates vary according to room types and period of stay (high or low season), and are subject to service and government tax charges.
For more information and reservations, contact (+66-2) 101-1234 ext 1 or email cirm@chr.co.th.
THE prospects for business travel are looking up in 2013 with corporate spending expected to be greater, based on the latest report by Global Business Travel Association (GBTA).
According to the association, US business travel spending is expected to rise 4.6 per cent in 2013 to US$266.7 billion, despite a slight 1.1 per cent decline in trip volume to 431.8 million for the year.
Factors driving this growth are the forecasted rise in international outbound travel spending by 5.9 per cent and group travel spending by 5.2 per cent, as well as modest price inflation, meaning that companies will be spending more real dollars on business trips.
“Even with an agreement to avert the fiscal cliff in the near term, there are still many issues that need to be addressed; however, companies should now have somewhat greater confidence in their spending decisions,” said Michael W McCormick, GBTA executive director and COO.
“While companies will approach the first half of the year with some caution, pent-up demand to get back on the road should hopefully fuel accelerating growth in business travel spending through the end of 2013.”
Previously a strong driver of overall business travel spending growth, international outbound business travel grew just 0.7 per cent in 2012 as the eurozone impacted confidence and caused a ripple effect on the US and Asia.
Although the eurozone remains troubled, increasing industrial production and retail sales in China signal an improving economy for 2013. Among other factors, a stronger China will improve US export growth and help act as an engine for international outbound business travel, said the report.
After a very challenging year with group travel spending rising just 1.3 per cent in 2012, 2013 should bring a welcome turnaround to the group travel market as the broader economy recovers.
“The projections that we see for both international and group travel are encouraging,” McCormick said. “Businesses will be looking to capitalise on growth opportunities abroad and spend more on in-person meetings and events as well. By nature, meetings are longer-lead investments that require greater confidence in the future.”
THE Indian government has toughened its rules for visa-on-arrival (VOA) seekers, forbidding medical tourists and media personnel from availing of the facility with effect from January.
This is likely to affect medical service providers in Tamil Nadu and Kerala, the two states nearest to the Maldives. India has a separate visa category for medical tourists.
“The visa restrictions will have far-reaching consequences for Kerala as several accredited private hospitals have been approved by insurance companies. The economic implications will be felt soon,” said E M Najeeb, executive director, Kerala Institute of Medical Sciences, which treated 40,000 medical tourists from the Maldives in 2012, up from 36,000 in 2011.
Others, like the Apollo Hospitals in Chennai, have tied up with Maldivian partners to facilitate medical tourism.
Air India officials said that at least 70 passengers fly daily on each direct flight from Male to Trivandrum and Bengaluru, largely for medical treatment. The Indian High Commission in the Maldives is currently processing 50 medical visas day, which is said to be less than the demand.
Some trade sources feel that the move is linked to the Maldives cancelling the contract of India’s GMR for the development of the Male airport last year.
Meanwhile, other changes to VOA are also afoot. After extending the facility to six South-east Asian countries in January 2011, plans are in the pipeline to extend the facility to several more prime source markets like Germany, France and Russia shortly.
VOA will also be issued from Kerala’s Trivandrum airport from April 1.
Padmini Narayanan, managing director of Chennai-based Akshaya India Travels, said: “This facility, if delivered seamlessly, can increase inbound tourism manifold.”
India issued 13,903 VOAs from January to November 2012, a 25 per cent growth from the 11,921 VOAs issued during the corresponding period in 2011.
YEAR-to-date arrival figures for 2012 showed a fall in numbers from Malaysia’s biggest market, but Tourism Malaysia’s office here believes there is no cause for worry even as the destination gears up for Visit Malaysia Year (VMY) 2014.
Speaking to TTG Asia e-Daily yesterday on the sidelines of a welcome and farewell party for Tourism Malaysia’s Singapore directors, incoming director Noor Aine Ismail said between January and September 2012, there were 9.3 million arrivals from Singapore, a 5.1 per cent decline over the same period in 2011.
However, she believes the main reason for this drop is an administrative one. From last January, visitors to the country were logged according to their nationality rather than country of residence, effectively leaving out Singapore’s huge chunk of expatriates from the tally.
This year’s target is a three to five per cent increase in arrivals over 2012, a figure that Noor Aine feels is attainable, considering that her office would also be receiving additional budget in the run-up to VMY 2014. While the actual amount is still unknown for now, she said this would help in the organising of more activities in the market starting this year.
A new event planned for 2013 is a laksa food fair, which will showcase Malaysia’s many different takes on the dish. Consumer shows such as the Malaysia Truly Asia Travel Fair and product seminars for the trade will also continue.
“We will try to build interest in Singaporeans to go beyond common destinations like Johor Bahru, Malacca and Kuala Lumpur to places like Perak, islands off the East Coast, as well as Sabah and Sarawak. We will invite state (tourism representatives) and product owners to participate alongside us in fairs,” she said.
Formerly a deputy director in the international marketing division covering Europe, the Americas and Oceania, Noor Aine explained that unlike reaching out to those regions, efforts in Singapore would be more “mass”.
However, she noted a few up-and-coming special interest segments in Singapore that her office would be zooming in on, such as cycling trips and homestays.
Meanwhile, Tourism Malaysia’s Singapore outgoing director Zalizam Zakaria has been posted back to HQ.
THE Globus family of brands is set to increase its market share in Malaysia this year with the recent appointment of Kuala Lumpur-based Sedunia Travel as its GSA on January 1, 2013.
With a growing middle class segment fluent in English, Malaysia has the potential to become Globus’ largest market in Asia, said GSA business development manager Ray Smith.
According to Smith, Malaysia is currently the company’s third largest Asian market after the Philippines and Singapore, and the fifth largest Asian market for one of its brands, Avalon Waterways.
He added that Avalon Waterways, which offers river cruising in Europe, Egypt, Asia, the US and Galapagos, is primed for growth in Malaysia and would especially appeal to the baby boomers, retirees and the corporate market as river cruising is still a new product.
Avalon Waterways has introduced 12 new tours for 2013, including Mississippi River cruises as well as more themed cruises centred on food, wine appreciation and art.
Sedunia Travel’s executive director, Teoh Leng Lan, said the company would work with Malaysian travel consultants to sell Globus family of brands products through regular advertisements in the print media, product training and a fixed exchange rate that will be determined on the first of every month.
ABU Dhabi Tourism & Culture Authority (TCA Abu Dhabi) has launched a destination promotion office in New Delhi led by Indian travel industry veteran Bejan Dinshaw and his team who will cover the entire market, with also dedicated MICE and PR representations.
“We have been getting the pulse of the Indian market via roadshows and participation in trade fairs (over the past two years),” said Mubarak Al Nuaimi, international promotions manager, TCA Abu Dhabi. “We have reaped dividends from our ‘toe in the water’ approach with India now being our second largest overseas market for hotel guests after the UK.”
From January to November 2012, 125,180 Indian guests stayed in Abu Dhabi’s hotels and hotel apartments – a 30 per cent year-on-year increase – and accounted for 496,581 guest nights, a 34 per cent year-on-year rise. Indian guests stay an average of four nights in Abu Dhabi.
Al Nuaimi added that India would play a key role in assisting Abu Dhabi attain its 2013 target of 2.5 million hotel guests, and was likely to be the emirate’s largest overseas source market for hotel guests in 2014.
TCA Abu Dhabi, along with its trade partner Lama Tours, is currently leading an industry delegation on a roadshow promotion across five Indian cities, including New Delhi, Ahmedabad, Mumbai, Bangalore and Chennai. The inaugural promotion in Ahmedabad is aimed at leveraging Etihad Airways’ recently launched Abu Dhabi-Ahmedabad daily service.
TCA Abu Dhabi and a delegation will also attend SATTE 2013 in New Delhi later this month.
Said Kulwant Singh, managing director of Lama Tours, which recently opened a dedicated office in Abu Dhabi city: “The prospects are excellent with the Abu Dhabi product (segment) maturing. The leisure offering in particular will be given a major boost later this month when the much-anticipated Yas Waterworld Abu Dhabi – the UAE’s largest waterpark – opens on the entertainment hub of Yas Island.”
“We see potential in the leisure sector as well as within the weddings and MICE segments,” he added.
HONG Kong’s Ocean Park has unveiled plans to launch several new attractions in 2014 and a hotel in 2016, as part of its strategy to expand the park into an integrated resort destination.
The 495-room Ocean Hotel will be built on a 17,044m2 site in front of Ocean Park’s main entrance, providing convenient accommodation for guests spending multiple days at the park.
Allan Zeman, chairman of Ocean Park, said: “We are now ready to transform Ocean Park into a premier international resort destination and further fulfil our role as a major pillar of Hong Kong’s tourism industry. With the completion of the MTR South Island Line in 2015, the new hotel will also enhance Southern District’s position as a new base for travellers.”
A new shark aquarium and a koala exhibition will open in the third and fourth quarter of 2014 respectively, while the now-closed Tai Shue Wan area will be redeveloped into a water park, according to Zeman.
TTG Events has entered into a partnership with global association and event management company MCI Group to inaugurate Association Day as well as an education segment on incentive travel at all three IT&CM events in Shanghai (IT&CM China), Delhi (IT&CM India) and Bangkok (IT&CMA and CTW Asia-Pacific).
MCI Group will lend its expertise to two half-day educational tracks. Topics focusing on incentive travel/performance improvement will be catered specifically to association buyers and corporate travel professionals. They will run concurrently alongside each other, with allocated slots for business appointments and networking with exhibitors at the event.
“Through the very nature of their job, association and corporate travel executives are isolated and have limited opportunities to interact and meet with peers who face the same strategic and operational challenges and issues,” said Robin Lokerman, president Asia Pacific & Americas of MCI Group.
He added: “MCI group is looking to educate association buyers and corporate travel executives on best practices in association and incentive travel management respectively and the latest trends in Asia during our two half-day tracks. Expect a highly interactive programme focusing on key Asian issues of immediate concern and relevance. From a keynote session to expert panel discussions of clients and round-table discussions, the different meeting formats employed will allow all participants to contribute and learn.”
Said Darren Ng, managing director for TTG Asia Media: “Association Day was born in recognition for the need of a focused and comprehensive association executive programme consisting of tailored education, networking and structured business engagement sessions for association decision makers. Exhibitors at the IT&CM events are also very eager to explore business opportunities with association buyers.”
The first Association Day and Corporate Travel education programme will take place at IT&CM China 2013 on April 18, 2013. Each Association Day is expecting an attendance of some 40 international and local association professionals.
The Association Competency Course for Professional Association Executives conducted by the Australasian Society of Association Executives and Canadian Society of Association Executives will continue to be offered at IT&CM China and IT&CMA and CTW Asia-Pacific as part of its Association Day programme.
