LOMBOK is currently trending across all Wego’s travel metasearch sites around the world, but growing fastest in the US.

Search volumes for Bali’s neighbouring island have jumped over 40 per cent year-to-date, compared with the same period in 2011, with one in every five searches made by American Wego.com users.

The trend matches the tourist arrivals captured by the Department of Culture and Tourism, West Nusa Tenggara, measuring 36 per cent uplift for Lombok in the first half of 2012, compared to 2011. Total visitor numbers to Lombok from January to June 2012 reached almost 500,000.

Indonesian travellers still dominate, but international visitors outpaced the average at 47 per cent for the same period last year. Over half of the users of Wego’s 52 country sites searching Lombok were using the local Indonesian site, wego.co.id, with the remainder consisting predominantly of travellers from Singapore, Australia and Malaysia.

“We’re seeing a trend that both domestic travellers and international visitors are discovering new destinations in Indonesia,” explained Graham Hills, managing director, Wego Indonesia.

“Bali may be the most frequently searched, but Lombok is rapidly closing the gap. The destination’s increased accessibility and recently opened international airport will only encourage more visitors and support the expansion of its hospitality sector.”

ASCOTT has been awarded the management contracts for two new properties in Ho Chi Minh City.

The 100-unit Somerset Vista Ho Chi Minh City will open in December, while the 168-unit Vista Residences will be available for lease next month. Both properties are part of The Vista, a premier residential development.

Alfred Ong, Ascott’s managing director for South-east Asia and Australia, said: “With the government’s plans to transform Ho Chi Minh City’s District Two into Vietnam’s new commercial and financial centre, we see strong growth potential to expand into the area.”

Somerset Vista Ho Chi Minh City and Vista Residences will offer a range of apartments ranging from two- to four-bedroom units. Both properties are equipped with facilities such as a lap pool, a children’s pool and playground, a gym, a clubhouse with steam and sauna, a Jacuzzi, tennis courts and a golf putting green.

Meanwhile, Ascott’s first property in Hai Phong – Somerset Central TD Hai Phong City – is set to launch in 2013, while its inaugural property in Danang – Somerset Danang Bay – will debut in 2014.

AYALALAND Hotels & Resorts Corp, a wholly owned subsidiary of Philippine-based Ayala Land, has completed its purchase of Fairmont Hotel and Raffles Suites & Residences Makati from Saudi-owned Kingdom Hotel Investments.

Scheduled to open in December within the Makati City CBD, the property will feature a 280-room Fairmont Hotel, a 32-suite Raffles Hotel, 237 luxury Raffles Residences as well as eight F&B outlets, two outdoor swimming pools, a spa and fitness centre and more than 1,100m2 of event space.

Scott Hetherington, CEO, Asia, Jones Lang LaSalle Hotels, said: “This transaction in the Philippines underpins the strength of investor appetite that exists for well-located, international-branded assets around the region.”

“The sale also signals the exceptional return opportunities available to investors in growth markets such as the Philippines, which enjoys a well-diversified and growing tourist base of high-spending travellers.”

AIR India Express will raise the number of flights it operates between Kerala and Gulf destinations from 92 to 119 per week, starting October 28.

The move was spurred by growing demand from airports in Kochi, Trivandrum, Kozhikode and Mangalore – which serve as gateways to the Gulf countries, as well as sharp criticism over a sudden halt in flights to these destinations last month.

With the commencement of the new winter schedule, Air India Express will fly from Cochin International Airport to Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Bahrain, Doha and Sharjah every day, and thrice weekly to Muscat.

The airline will also operate daily connections from Kochi to Dammam via Kozhikode and thrice weekly to Kuwait.

From Mangalore, the LCC will fly two times a day to Dubai, thrice weekly to Muscat and Abu Dhabi, and twice weekly to Doha and Bahrain.

On the whole, flights from Kerala to the Gulf will see a sharp increase this winter: Kozhikode’s Calicut Airport will operate 7,308 services, up from 5,643; Kochi’s Cochin International Airport will send off 6,105 flights, from 4,903 in the previous schedule; and 4,163 flights will take off from Trivandrum International Airport, a jump from the existing 3,283.

The additional flights are expected to bring down airfares, which spiked following cutbacks and service cancellations by Air India and Kingfisher Airlines.

E M Najeeb, chairman, Air Travel Enterprises Trivandrum, said: “The carriers have to meet the demand from Kerala to the Gulf and vice versa. The frequency should be increased further and fares rationalised. It will be a win-win situation for all concerned.”

Kerala-Gulf connections are important for the large Keralan expatriate population working in the Middle East. Several trade players, with the support of the state government, have mooted the idea of starting a new airline, Air Kerala (TTG Asia e-Daily, July 27, 2012), for which approval from the Ministry of Civil Aviation is pending.

IATA has come out in defence of its New Distribution Capability (NDC) standard in the wake of criticism from some sections of the travel trade (TTG Asia e-Daily, October 24, 2012).

In an email to TTG Asia e-Daily, Albert Tjoeng, assistant director, corporate communications, Asia-Pacific at IATA, stressed that the airline industry body had been actively engaging the travel trade throughout the development of the new standard.

“This engagement has been done directly with (travel consultants), as well as with (travel consultants) associations. The aim is to better understand travel (consultant) concerns, and to raise awareness of the NDC initiative,” he explained.

Tjoeng detailed a series of workshops, presentations and meetings over the last four months during which various trade bodies such as the American Society of Travel Agents, European Travel Agents’ & Tour Operators’ Association (ECTAA), Guild of European Business Travel Agents, Agency Solutions Technical Working Group, World Travel Agents Associations Alliance and United Federation of Travel Agents’ Associations had played a part.

He added: “The development of the NDC standard involves participation of the travel (consultants) directly instead of through their associations. The expertise needed for the standard development is often found with the travel (consultant) and not the associations.”

“In fact, ECTAA proposed that two of their member (agencies) attend the next NDC workshop in Montreal in November. IATA accepted and invited them. These two (agencies) are now actively participating in the (NDC) Working Group.”

In a separate email, Travelport waded into the debate: “At this time, much of the IATA NDC statement appears only conceptual in nature, based on high-level principles that do not necessarily incorporate the input of all the critical components of the travel value chain from supplier to travel (consultant) to consumer.”

“For these standards to be effective, more work needs to be done and open dialogue will be paramount to its success. We call on IATA to address the concerns raised by trade bodies and demonstrate a real collaboration across the value chain, including GDSs and the travel agency community.”

MALAYSIA Airlines’ (MAS) monopoly on the Kuala Lumpur–Paris (Charles de Gaulle) sector will come to an end once Air France launches thrice-weekly services on April 22, 2013.

The Air France service will be operated on Boeing 777-200 aircraft with 247 seats – four in La Première, 49 in business, 24 in premium economy and 170 in economy. Ticket bookings will available from November 9, 2012.

Currently, MAS operates daily flights on this route – also using the B777-200, but with a higher seat capacity of 282.

Air France’s entry will almost double available seat capacity between Kuala Lumpur and Paris, and will also complement existing Kuala Lumpur-Amsterdam services operated by partner carrier KLM Royal Dutch Airlines.

Yap Sook Ling, managing director, Asian Overland Services Tours & Travel, said: “The increase in seat capacity will create more interest from French organisers to hold incentives in Malaysia. It will also be good for inbound players, as French FITs tend to be more adventurous and visit the outskirts, and not stick to the main tourist areas.”

Desmond Lee, group managing director, Apple Vacations & Conventions, said: “The added capacity will make it easier to block seats for groups of 100 pax intending to travel to Paris on a direct flight.”

“During peak season, it is not easy to get seats on Malaysia Airlines, and we (usually) have to break the group up and travel via Dubai, Doha or Singapore. With the added capacity, there will be a better chance of flying to Paris and onward to Central Europe.”

In a separate development, Malaysia Airlines will become a full member of oneworld with effect from February 1, 2013.

TACENTRE.COM, a B2B online wholesale platform launched by Asiatravel.com Holdings Singapore earlier this month (TTG Asia e-Daily, October 8, 2012), is aiming to rope in 80 per cent of the travel agencies in the Philippines and 50 per cent of those in Hong Kong, as well as expand its portfolio of global packages tenfold to one million by early next year. Most low-cost carriers will also be integrated.

Boh Tuang Poh, executive chairman, Asiatravel.com, said: “For the Hong Kong market, we are aiming to have 50 per cent of existing 1,600 travel consultants signed up for the service in the first year (of operations).”

Dennis Chan of Manda Travel Hong Kong, said he would book on TACentre.com given its instant confirmation and speedy booking process. “Its biggest advantage is that it’s fast and meets last-minute booking (requirements),” he explained.

Edward Chan, general manager, Vigor Tours Hong Kong, said the all-inclusive nature of the packages on offer were especially attractive. “We had to approach suppliers separately for bookings in the past; now we save a lot time. However, whether TACentre.com’s prices are lower than those quoted by suppliers matters because clients are price sensitive and they do price comparison,” he warned.

Meanwhile, the Philippines is the company’s biggest market next to Singapore. Boh said contrary to popular notion, Filipinos do travel and have a bigger family size than Singaporeans.

Allan Sapad, senior travel consultant, Griffin Sierra Travel Manila, said TACentre.com was worth trying out because unlike other B2B platforms, it offered airline ticketing, and accepted credit card and interbank payments without additional charge.

Donna Marie Nisperos, marketing executive, Central Bancorporation (Travel & Leisure) Manila, added that TACentre.com was helpful for Asian destinations, noting its instant booking confirmation, unlike other alternatives where confirmation takes several days.

Over the next 12 months, Asiatravel.com Holdings is planning to roll out TACentre.com across markets such as Malaysia, Indonesia and China. “China has a lot of group business, and FIT is the next big market given the huge population in key cities such as Shanghai, Guangzhou and Beijing,” said Boh.

Plans are also afoot within the year to offer local languages on the portal: Thai language in Thailand; Chinese in China and in Hong Kong; Bahasa in Malaysia and Indonesia; and Arabic in the Middle East.

Additional reporting by Rosa Ocampo

THE Supreme Court of India has lifted its ban on tourism in the core zones of more than 40 government-run tiger reserves in time for the start of the peak tourist season.

Tiger tourism had ground to a halt in July when the court issued a temporary banning order upon receiving complaints that commercial activity was impacting the native tiger population.

The rescinding of the ban will allow tourists back into 20 per cent of core zones within reserves, and comes in the wake of new guidelines for tiger conservation enacted by the National Tiger Conservation Authority.

The new rules disallow the construction of any new tourism infrastructure and outline the gradual removal of all permanent structures within core tiger habitats.

P P Khanna, vice president, Association of Domestic Tour Operators of India, said: “Tiger tourism is vital for tour operators as 25-30 per cent of business is based on it. With the ban lifted, we expect an influx of tourists again in all tiger reserves.”

Vishal Singh, director, Travel Operators for Tigers India, said: “The lifting of the ban will allow legitimate businesses to continue to showcase India’s very best natural heritage.”

However, some inbound operators such as Amaresh Tiwari, managing director, A T Seasons & Vacations Travel, feel the decision may have come a little too late.

“As there was anxiety about the future of tiger tourism in India, a lot of bookings for October and November were affected. A few bookings were cancelled and a few diverted to the cultural sector,” he explained.

JAPAN Airlines (JAL) and British Airways (BA) have added Rome, Milan, Bologna, Amsterdam and Warsaw to their list of codeshare destinations from October 28.

As part of the arrangement, JAL will place its flight indicator on BA-operated services between London and these cities, boosting the number of destinations codeshared between the two oneworld alliance members to 32 within Europe.

The deal between JAL and BA is an extension of their joint business agreement signed earlier this month (TTG Asia e-Daily, October 1, 2012).

The previous codeshare arrangement covered 27 European destinations served by BA, as well as JAL’s flights on 17 routes originating from Tokyo’s Narita and Haneda airports to 14 international and Japanese destinations.