THE HONG Kong Public Museums portal (www.museums.gov.hk) has failed to gain enough recognition among the local travel trade since it was first launched in February.

The portal serves to promote cultural exhibitions and activities held across 14 museums, two heritage centres, one film archive and one visual arts centre managed by the Hong Kong government’s Leisure & Cultural Services Department (LCSD).

Via Vai Travel director, Sef Lam, said: “Maybe (LCSD) thinks that travel (consultants) are not interested to bring tour groups to museums. Mostly, I update myself on exhibitions through the (individual) museums’ newsletters.”

Grand Holiday (Int’l) managing director, Albert Cheung, called for greater cooperation between LCSD and the local travel trade.

“(The portal) is a good product, but inbound travellers may not be interested in visiting museums, as the majority of them have tight schedules and focus more on shopping,” he said.

So far, LCSD has teamed up with local theme parks to promote its Museum Pass, and has built up partnerships with the Hong Kong Tourism Board and shopping malls to gain additional marketing avenues for its museums and exhibitions.

A full launch of the portal will take place later this year, in tandem with a publicity campaign to drive awareness among locals and overseas visitors.

Apart from the portal, an Enchanting Museums booklet has also been introduced for tourists, and is available at HKTB’s visitor centres and various hotels.

LANGKAWI will welcome its newest boutique resort, Seri Chenang Resort & Spa Langkawi, on August 9.

Perched alongside the Kuala Chenang River next to popular Chenang Beach, the resort is nestled amid lush tropical foliage and offers views of the surrounding paddy fields, mountain and sea.

The property will feature six villas of different sizes – ranging from 113m2 to 393m2 – built to replicate traditional Malay houses. Facilities at the resort will include a Kayangan Spa, an infinity swimming pool, a gym and an art gallery.

To mark its launch, Seri Chenang has introduced an opening promotion of 50 per cent off rack rates for stays during the month of August.

ROYAL Brunei Airlines (RBA) is planning to roll out four new travel packages to Brunei at the upcoming Travel Carnival 2012, scheduled to take place at the Singapore Expo Convention & Exhibition Centre from August 4-5.

Lim Guat Wen, RBA’s country manager for Singapore, said: “The four packages are devised to position Brunei as an alluring and exciting escape for any traveller, who can enjoy off-the-beaten-track activities, and also have a chance to get immersed in Brunei’s history, living cultures, extremely rich biodiversity and stunning views.”

Highlighting Brunei’s hidden attractions and targeting families and couples, the four packages include the 4D3N Ulu Ulu Fun, 3D2N Family Fun, 3D2N Nature to Wonder, and 3D2N Free & Easy Leisure.

Available till October 2012, prices for the Brunei packages range from S$600 to S$888 per pax, and are all-inclusive. The rates cover return economy-class fares on RBA – which operates twice-daily flights between Singapore and Brunei – in addition to accommodation arrangements, round-trip coach transfers, airport taxes and fuel surcharges.

JAPAN Airlines (JAL), which recently completed a dramatic turnaround after filing for bankruptcy in January 2010 (TTG Asia e-Daily, June 6, 2011), has played down the emergence of low-cost carriers in the Japanese market.

The Japanese flag carrier posted a recordbreaking operating profit of 205 billion yen (US$2.61 billion) for the fiscal year ended March 2012, a margin of 17 per cent – two to three times that of rival airlines.

Cost-saving measures, such as replacing older Boeing 747 aircraft with fuel-efficient planes like the Boeing 787 Dreamliner, have helped to “cut fuel bills and offer access to places not suitable for 747s”, explained JAL president, Yoshiharu Ueki.

Looking forward, Ueki said the rise of low-cost players in the Japanese aviation market, such as Jetstar Japan – in which JAL holds a one-third share, as well as AirAsia Japan and Peach Aviation, would not pose a significant threat to JAL’s domestic business.

“We don’t expect Jetstar to have a tremendous impact due to the airport situation (in Japan). Currently, about 84 per cent of our domestic revenues are from Tokyo (Haneda) and Osaka (Itami) airports. Landing slots are limited; it is almost impossible to get a slot at these two airports,” he explained.

“Though some (of Jetstar Japan’s) routes are in direct competition with (JAL), I don’t see a large impact on passengers and revenue,” he added. “We believe the LCC represents a new mode of transport and creates demand in a market that we don’t (serve).”

Meanwhile, Ueki lauded Japan’s extension of the multi-entry visa facility for Chinese travellers (TTG Asia e-Daily, July 5, 2012).

“We are happy to see arrival numbers increase – this proves that visas are a barrier to tourism,” he said. “We are interested in China and have made applications for more landing slots at Beijing and Shanghai international airports, but these are hard to obtain as both airports are extremely crowded.”

CENTARA Hotels & Resorts, which currently has 55 owned and managed properties within its global portfolio, is showing no signs of lowering its growth trajectory.

Over the next five years, the Thai hotel chain is aiming to acquire more than 45 hotels and resorts, with the intention of reaching 100 properties worldwide by 2017.

Aside from Thailand, Centara properties operating under the five-star Centara Grand, four-star Centara, Centara Residence & Suites, Centara Boutique Collection, and Centra value brands, can now be found across the Maldives, Vietnam, the Philippines and Bali.

Further resort openings have been earmarked in Mauritius and Sri Lanka (TTG Asia e-Daily, June 13, 2012).

Meanwhile, Centara has revealed that its inaugural China property will open in Shanghai in 2013, though no other details are available. The company is also looking to establish a presence in developing countries such as Myanmar.

CHANGI International Airport has raised its Passenger Service Charge (PSC) for departuring passengers by S$6 (US$4.80), effective next April.

The marked up fee of S$19.90 will apply to all airfares booked from November 2012, for travel on or after April 1, 2013.

Taking into account the S$8 Passenger Security Service Charge (PSSC) and S$6.10 Aviation Levy imposed by the Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore, departing passengers will have to fork out a total of S$34 once the new tariff kicks in.

The S$9 PSC and S$3 PSSC for transfer and transit passengers remain the same.

Changi Airport Group (CAG) said the fee amendment would help to bankroll new developments required to accommodate growing passenger traffic and cover the airport’s escalating operational costs.

Over the next five years, CAG is committed to a more than S$2 billion expansion and enhancement programme. Two upcoming projects – the construction of Terminal 4 and expansion of Terminal 1 – will raise handling capacity of the airport from 66 million to 85 million passengers per annum (TTG Asia e-Daily, July 19, 2012).

PATA Travel Mart 2013 will take place in Chengdu, the capital of Sichuan province in China, in September next year.

After Hong Kong (2006), Hangzhou (2009) and Macau (2010), Chengdu will be the fourth Chinese city to host PATA Travel Mart.

João Manuel Costa Antunes, PATA chairman, said: “The successful bid of Chengdu to host PTM2013 is meaningful, not only because it will be the first time for a main event of the association to travel to the Midwest of China, but also because Sichuan will be able to show to Asia-Pacific travel industry stakeholders its rich tourism resources and the amazing reconstruction (efforts) four years after the devastating earthquake.”

Martin J Craigs, PATA CEO, said: “PATA has been working closely with Chengdu in many capacities over the past few years, including the development of tourism training, co-branding a seminar on global tourism trends, and destination marketing. We are confident that Chengdu will be able to attract a good quality and quantity of international visitors and buyers to PATA Travel Mart 2013.”

Mu Tao, deputy director of Chengdu Municipal Tourism Administration, said: “Hosting PATA Travel Mart will boost Chengdu’s brand and image; it will also spur the continued growth of the business travel and exhibition economy.”