ONLINE travel portal Expedia will partner with Thomas Cook India to offer free visa assistance to its clients, in a move expected to net travellers less familiar with visa application procedures.

The service is likely to appeal to first-time and younger travellers who may be at a loss when dealing with the complexities of visa applications.

Vikram Malhi, spokesperson for Expedia India, said: “We will send a person to the traveller’s home to collect documents and through our partner Thomas Cook’s help, we will get the visa done in a seamless and easy way for the traveller.

“We wanted a credible partner for visa services and that is why we picked Thomas Cook, as they have been in this market for a long time.”

Expedia expects the new service to widen their customer base to include younger travellers, having primarily catered to an older demography conversant with visa procedures. By reducing the hassle in applying for visas, the service is also predicted to spur domestic tourists to travel overseas.

Rakesh Lamba, managing director, New Delhi-based Prakriti Holidays, said: “Most first-time tourists gravitate towards offline tour operators and feel at ease with a person handling their visa paperwork and other travel needs. It’s the person-to-person contact that is reassuring and should work well for this arrangement with Thomas Cook India.”

The only other online travel portal offering a similar service is Yatra.com. MakeMyTrip and Cleartrip do not offer such free visa assistance, although visa forms are available for download on the MakeMyTrip website.

GE AVIATION Services (GECAS), a subsidiary of General Electric, will lease state-run Myanma Airways two modern Embraer E-190 aircraft, making Myanmar the 76th country where GECAS leases aircraft.

U Than Htun, managing director of Myanma Airways, confirmed that the airline has placed an order for two Embraer E-190s that will arrive in November. They will replace the airline’s existing Fokker F-28s and enable Myanma Airways to begin offering regional services.

Myanma Airways, not to be confused with Myanmar Airways International, was formed in 1948 as Union of Burma Airways and operates only scheduled flights to 19 domestic destinations.

GECAS president and CEO, Norman C T Liu, said: “These two aircraft – modern, fuel-efficient (and) powered by GE engines ­– will help Myanma Airways expand its fleet and their operations.

“The seats of the E-190 aircraft are wider than an Airbus A-320 and the cargo area is (larger) too. Service charges for maintaining the aircraft are also cheaper,” he added.

U Than Htun said Myanma Airways would begin using the two new aircraft in the first week of December.

“We will use the aircraft to fly to Gaya in India, Chiang Mai in Thailand and domestic destinations, such as Heho, Mandalay and Nyaung Oo, this summer,” he said.

BALI Hotels Association (BHA) sought to strengthen its members’ resilience against terror threats through a one-day security workshop last Thursday, following the recent arrest of 11 terrorist suspects in Indonesia’s Solo, Central Java.

The workshop, attended by 78 security and training managers, covered a range of subjects and featured guest speakers from the British and Australian embassies. BHA also presented a new version of its Hotel Security and Safety Self-Assessment Tool, while the Bali Security Managers Association launched the Bali Security and Safety Emergency Radio Communications System. Police representatives also shed light on new meetings regulations for Bali.

BHA security and safety executive, Alexander Kesper, said: “This workshop underlines our commitment towards the highest standards not only with regard to the creation of unforgettable and unique holiday experiences for our guests, but also security and safety. To safeguard our guests and employees is a top priority and a team effort.”

Meanwhile, tighter police security is seen at Bali’s Gilimanuk, where ferry services connect Java with the resort island.

However, travel trade players in Jogjakarta and Central Java have reported business as usual.

Mekar Wisata Jogjakarta director, Tusi Kuswenda, said: “We have not had any queries or cancellations despite the news. We currently have a group of expatriate students touring Jogjakarta, visiting and helping a village affected by the Mount Merapi eruption a couple of years ago.”

Association of the Indonesian Tours and Travel Agencies (ASITA) Jakarta chapter chairman, Hasiyanna Ashadi, who is also Marintur Indonesia’s managing director, also said she had not heard any queries on security issues from either side.

“It is probably because the latest terrorist targets were the Indonesian police and not tourist and public spots, and security forces have been quick in breaking the cell,” she said.

Nevertheless, Jogjakarta Tourism Office director, Tazbir Abdullah, said they were taking precautions and appealing to tourism stakeholders and society to stay calm and vigilant.

“(The regional government) is ready to issue safety information should anyone be in doubt,” he said.

THE newly-elected chairman of the Hong Kong Hotel Association (HKHA), Victor Chan, has predicted slower growth for the city’s hotel rates next year.
Chan said a single-digit growth was expected in 2013, following two to three years of double-digit increment, as some 20,000 new hotel rooms were expected to come into the market over the next five years.

He also warned of heightened manpower challenges in the hotel industry in 2013, created by a yawning communication gap between “supervisors and Gen Y frontline staff”.

To reach out to new blood, HKHA works closely with The Hong Kong Polytechnic University to organise Winter School, an executive development programme in hospitality.

“We place emphasis on both education and training, particularly the sales and marketing aspects. Apart from liaising with industry veterans to give career talks in schools, we also hope to venture out on a society-wide level to promote careers in the hotel industry.”

SEVERAL companies, including Sino Group of Hotels which is behind The Fullerton Hotel Singapore, have expressed interest in transforming the 86-year old Manila Central Post Office (Philpost) building into a hotel, according to a source from the Philippine government.

The source has confirmed plans to lease the disused, five-storey Philpost building, which boasts an expansive floor area and elegant neo-classical architecture, for conversion into a five-star hotel.

Philippine president Benigno Aquino III is expected to issue an executive order next month authorising a committee to make official the plans for the Philpost building.

Wilkie Delumen, chief of the historic preservation division of the National Historical Commission, said “Philpost is a heritage structure that will be preserved, not demolished” and revealed that there were also suggestions to include a post office museum as part of the hotel redevelopment.

Delumen added that redevelopment of buildings in the Philpost vicinity, including Plaza Lawton, the Metropolitan Arts and Theater Building, and the National Press Club Building, was in the pipeline.

ACCOR has opened the 201-room Mercure Bali Nusa Dua, the fourth property under the Mercure label in the destination.

The hotel is located close to the Bali Tourism Development complex, major convention centres and the many shopping, dining and entertainment options in the Bali Collection Shopping Mall.

The hotel has a restaurant, lobby and pool bar, a fitness centre and a swimming pool which is divided over two levels and connected by a waterfall.

Three meeting rooms with a capacity of up to 200 pax will accommodate conferences, weddings and other events.

To celebrate its opening, Mercure Bali Nusa Dua is offering a special launch promotion with room rates starting from Rp690,000 (US$72) per room per night, valid until December 20.

MEGAWORLD Corp, a real estate company in the Philippines, will build two three-star Savoy hotels in Manila and Boracay, which are expected to open in 2016.

Savoy Hotel Newport City, a stone’s throw away from Resorts World Manila and Ninoy Aquino International Airport’s three terminals, will be a 10-storey structure with 510 rooms, while Savoy Hotel Boracay Newcoast is designed as a beach hotel with more than 500 rooms.

Both hotels will be managed by a Megaworld affiliate which owns Richmonde Hotels, according to the company. Richmonde has two existing three-star hotels in Manila.

SANDS China is all set to secure 25 per cent of the Indian outbound market to China, Macau and Hong Kong, following the opening of the 3,896-key Sheraton Macao Cotai Central this month – the last of the three hotels in the company’s latest Sands Cotai Central integrated development in Macau.

At the moment, Sands China’s The Venetian Macao-Resort-Hotel enjoys 84 per cent of the overnight market share of Indians visiting Macau, an unprecedented record in the industry.

Brendon Elliott, vice president of sales & resort marketing, Sands China, said: “The company will continue to engage the Indian market to maintain and create demand. About 25,000 Indians visit The Venetian for meetings and incentives every year. I think it is a pretty healthy number, but we want to increase MICE visitors from India.”

To capture the Indian market, Sands China has taken a five-city road show to India earlier this month. Elliott added: “The Venetian has a dedicated Indian chef and a banqueting team to cater to all kinds of requirements in terms of food.”

The company is expecting stronger demand from the Indian leisure and meeting segments on the back of improvements in air connectivity. For instance, THAI Airways is scheduled to start its twice-daily Bangkok-Macau flights, which will provide Macau-bound connections for current services arriving from the Indian cities of Delhi, Mumbai and Kolkata.

Rajesh Sethi, managing director, Carnation Travel Services, said: “THAI’s operations will certainly open new segments of outbound tourists who were not going to Macau before. We will invest more time in marketing our Macau products in combination with Bangkok to more price-conscious travellers.”

The Macau Government Tourist Office is also talking to the Indian Civil Aviation Ministry about the possibility of operating direct flights to Macau on Indian carriers such as SpiceJet and IndiGo.

A PIONEER in Singapore’s online travel space, Asiatravel.com, is taking decisive action to get itself back in the black, after experiencing significant losses in both 3Q2011 and 3Q2012.

“We’ve been profitable since the company first listed in 2001. Unfortunately, 2011 and 2012 have proven to be rather tumultuous for us. We faced intense competition from rivals who had deep pockets to pour into marketing and advertising. Simultaneously, we invested a substantial amount in developing and launching new products and services,” said Boh Tuang Poh, executive chairman, Asiatravel.com.

“Nonetheless, we are confident that we will be able to ride it out, and return to profitability in the near future.”

In order to turn the company around, the group will focus on three core areas – B2C online hotel reservation; B2C online flight packages; and B2B online services, which has been its most resilient division so far.

Boh said: “First and foremost, we aim to make Asiatravel profitable once again by the first half of the 2013 financial year. Once this is achieved, we will jumpstart growth by deepening each of the three core products we’ve developed, while ensuring that we make significant returns on our investment. B2B is particularly crucial for us, as we believe growth in this area will be rapid, especially once our online B2B platform, TAcentre, is fully up and running.”

However, Boh admitted this was easier said than done, owing to the ongoing challenge in attracting and retaining quality employees.

“To some degree, we are stretching ourselves too thinly in terms of manpower. To ease this crunch, we outsource back-end operations including IT to Batam and Myanmar, with most employees across our main offices remaining focused on their key roles as travel consultants and managers. Furthermore, in order to move ahead of the pack, we are investing in our staff to grow organically.”