EXPEDIA aims to draw more business from travel agents in Singapore, with the expansion of its Travel Agents Affiliate Programme (TAAP) from just hotels to other related services, offering attractive commissions for bookings.

Dan Lynn, CEO, AirAsiaExpedia, said: “With the launch of the full service (programme), we now offer packages on flights, and for our package business, we offer fantastic commissions.”

Charee Guico, manager Expedia, Travel Agent Distribution, SEA, said aside from the 10 per cent commission agents get on bookings of Expedia Special Rates hotels, and less than five per cent on other GDS hotels, they will also get six per cent for car rentals, 10 per cent for destination services/tours, and 1.5 per cent for flights booked as a package with another component.

Expedia also has added incentive tier schemes for agents, from Standard to Platinum, depending on booking volume. “As you go up the tier, your commission goes up,” Guico said.

“We have some agents who were already on the Silver tier just on their first month. In fact, since we launched (TAAP) in June (in Singapore), we already have some Platinum members.”

One advantage for agents using Expedia is that they can easily access the system for as long as they have Internet connection. “It’s Expedia everywhere. Even if they’re outside the office, there is no system requirement. As long as they have Internet, they’re ready to book,” Guico added.

There are currently 500 agents in Singapore under the TAAP programme. Plans for TAAP in South-east Asia include Malaysia by the end of the year.

By Amee Enriquez

THE growing demand for budget properties in Indonesia has prompted Swiss-Belhotel International to join the bandwagon with its budget Zest Hotel brand.

Swiss-Belhotel International chairman, Gavin Faull, said of the budget brand: “Zest Hotel was developed to be a value-for-money accommodation, which offers a new benchmark of services and facilities for both business and leisure travellers.”

The first property is under construction in Ambon, with Jakarta next on the cards.

Swiss-Belhotel International senior vice president Operations and Development for Indonesia and Malaysia, Emmanuel Guillard, said: “Our target is to operate 30 Zest Hotels within three years.”

Aside from Ambon and Jakarta, Zest Hotel will aim to build in Surabaya, Jogjakarta and Makassar, Guillard said, as the demand for budget accommodation is growing in major and secondary cities. Investors are also showing increasing interest.

“With the current 21 operating hotels and 27 development projects throughout the archipelago, Swiss-Belhotel International aims to boost that figure to 60 hotels (in the three- to five-star categories) within the next three years,” he said.

THE Perak state government is looking to increase international visitors, with the declaration of 2012 as Visit Perak year.

To facilitate this, five clusters have been identified to grow arrivals. “The five clusters are Belum and Lenggong, Taiping, Kuala Kangsar, Ipoh and Pangkor,” said Hamidah Osman, chairman of the state committee responsible for tourism. “The clusters will be developed into three-day, two-night packages.”

Perak’s capital Ipoh, Taiping and Kuala Kangsar are urban centres featuring history and heritage. Pangkor is a popular beach resort, Belum has one of the oldest rainforests in the world, while Lenggong is an archaeologically-rich area.

Perak currently attracts three million tourists a year, mostly domestic.

Chief minister, Dr Zambry Abd. Kadir, said: “We are still working on the target for 2012. However, of the increase in the number of tourists we aim for, we want at least 40 per cent of them to be international visitors.”

In addition to the five clusters, two trails are also being packaged – one on history and heritage, and another on food.

“The food trail is specially targeted at Singaporeans, (the state’s main source of international tourists),” Zambry said.

Singapore-based Citiskies Travel Mart customer service manager, Liyana Ahmad Kamal, said: “Having just visited Belum and Lenggong, I know that such a package is sellable to adventurous travellers. I am not so sure about heritage though. It will be hard for Ipoh to compete with Malacca, which is well established.”

Ipoh-based Syuen Tours Travel & Leisure general manager, May Wong, thinks the food trail will do well. “I already have customers from Singapore who regularly visit Ipoh just to try out the food,” Wong said.

By N. Nithiyananthan

THE completion of the Qinghai Yushu Airport in 2014 is expected to boost international air connections and foreign arrivals to the Chinese province.

Qinghai Tourism Administration director, Wu Dawei, said: “The current lack of international direct flights into Qinghai has limited the growth potential of international arrivals. Entry is only via Shanghai or Beijing, which the average longhaul visitor considers inconvenient. We are hopeful that the larger new airport will attract bigger jets that fly international routes.”

According to Wu, Qinghai attracted mostly special interest international visitors, drawn to the natural and cultural attractions, with the US, Europe, Malaysia, Singapore, South Korea and Japan as the biggest source markets for the segment.

Attractions include Qinghai Lake, Mengda Nature Reserve, Anyemaqen Mountain and Ta’er Monastery, built in 1577.

“We regularly handle small groups from Japan that visit during the flowering season, and bird-watching groups are also common,” Wu said.

“Hotels in Qinghai are all domestic brands, which are fine with the domestic market and niche international segment.

“But to grow international arrivals beyond the nature and culture segments, international hotel brands are needed. Brands such as Shangri-La, Kempinski and InterContinental have expressed intentions to set up properties in Qinghai,” he said.

The Qinghai Tourism Administration has stepped up international marketing efforts, hoping to improve tourism infrastructure.

Apart from participation at international travel marts such as the PATA Travel Mart and IMEX, the bureau is also attending government-led trade shows and its own roadshows in Singapore, South Korea and Malaysia.

ANCIENT cities in the Chinese province of Henan are banking on religious attractions to draw in more Indian travellers, said Henan Tourism Group deputy general manager, Lion Liang.

“India is a relatively new source market, but it has been feeding good business travel numbers to Henan,” Liang said.

Although the Henan Tourism Group did not have exact figures, Liang said 80 per cent of Indian arrivals to China were there for meetings, incentives and trade fairs.

“We can encourage these business travellers to extend their stay in Henan or bring their family by showcasing the many Buddhist temples in Luoyang, Anyang and Kaifeng,” Liang said.

At a Henan tourism presentation in New Delhi during PATA mart in September, the province’s ambassador, Zhang Yan, said the Longmen Grottoes in Luoyang were popular among Indian travellers.

He described the UNESCO World Heritage attraction, home to 100,000 statues of Buddha and his disciples, as an “embodiment of the profound mutual influence of cultures between our two countries”.

The White Horse Temple in Luoyang, the Indian-style Buddhist Hall of which was inaugurated by Indian President Pratibha Patil, is also a key draw for Indian visitors, Zhang said.

To grow leisure arrivals from India, the Henan Tourism Group is partnering with the local government and the China National Tourism Administration on a series of roadshows to India next year to promote religious and history tours.

TAIWAN outbound travel to Europe has seen a nearly 40 per cent increase this year, according to the country’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

The ministry attributed the rise to the ease of obtaining visas under the European Union’s Schengen visa-waiver programme for Taiwan passport holders that went into effect on January 11.

Year-on-year comparisons show Taiwan outbound to Europe increasing 39.6 per cent for March to August, with a peak of 57 per cent in July alone.

Grace Chou, director of European sales, Lion Travel, confirmed that Taiwan travel agencies were seeing an increase in outbound traffic to Europe, but was surprised by the figures reported by the ministry.

“Forty per cent is a bit incredible,” said Chou, adding that Lion Travel, in comparison, experienced growth in Taiwan outbound to Europe of 10 to 15 per cent for group tours, and 20 to 25 per cent for FITs.

Chou said she doubted if the numbers could be much higher as there has not been a corresponding increase in flight frequencies to Europe during this period.

According to Zhou, besides the visa-waiver scheme, another reason for the boost in Taiwan outbound to Europe is favorable exchange rates.

“The NT dollar to euro exchange rate had been around 1 to 43 or 44, but has dropped below 1 to 40 at times this year,” she said.

By Glenn Smith