THE RECENTLY opened 478-unit Swiss-Garden Residences Kuala Lumpur has registered an average occupancy rate of 90 per cent for its first quarter as of end-July.

The robust figure seemingly validates Swiss-Garden International Hotels, Resorts & Inns’ decision to venture into the serviced residences segment in April (TTG Asia e-Daily, July 21).

Swiss-Garden Hotel & Residences Kuala Lumpur group general manager central region, Rayan Komatt, said: “There is an increasing demand (for serviced residences) from both leisure and business travellers. Leisure travellers now opt for accommodation that provides spacious homely comfort, while business travellers seek space, privacy and modern facilities, yet complemented with hotel services.”

“We are optimistic that the trend will continue to grow,” he added.

Another reason cited by Komatt for the strong response was the property’s location in the heart of Kuala Lumpur, close to prime tourist attractions and shopping areas.

Built at a cost of RM330 million (US$111 million), Swiss-Garden Residences Kuala Lumpur offers one- and two-bedroom apartments, as well as a penthouse. Room rates start from RM298 per day to RM5,600 a month. The property also has more than 1,000m2 of convention space, including a ballroom and seven meeting rooms.

Swiss-Garden’s expansion plans for this segment are already underway.

“Swiss-Garden International will be adding three more properties to its current portfolio, namely the Swiss Garden Hotel & Residences in Butterworth, Penang, Swiss-Garden Hotel & Residences Cameron Highlands, and Swiss-Garden Hotel & Residences Malacca within the next two years,” said Komatt.

“The group’s room inventory is expected to increase by approximately 90 per cent.”

By N. Nithiyananthan

INDONESIA’S overseas tourism marketing representatives want regional tourism offices in the country to be more proactive in promoting its new products and destinations.

According to feedback from Visit Indonesia Tourist Officers (VITO) from 10 countries who attended a recent Indonesia Ministry of Culture and Tourism marketing workshop, tour operators in their respective markets were of the opinion that current initiatives to raise awareness and product knowledge were insufficient.

“The tour operators have been asking what is new in Indonesia,” said VITO country manager for the Netherlands, Susan van Egmond. “They have also been asking when the Sumatara fam trip (originally scheduled for last year following Garuda Indonesia’s inaugural service to Amsterdam) will materialise.”

VITO Malaysia manager Mohd Shafie Obet said: “Bandung has been doing very well, so we would like the regional tourist office in West Java to send us more information on places like Garut and Tasikmalaya.

He added: “Riau Islands is (our) closest neighbour, but the potential has not been optimised. I invite the regional government to inform us of events in Batam a few months before the dates for us to promote in Malaysia.”

The Indonesia tourism ministry’s director general of destination development, Firmansyah Rahim, said there were currently two major programmes in place to facilitate communication on new products and destinations.

“The first one is to develop a travel planner for Indonesia. We are collecting travel planners from the regions, with the emphasis on new products,” he said.

“We are also doing destination management organisation programme in 15 destinations such as Sabang, Raja Ampat, Jakarta Old Town, Toraja and Rinjani. This is basically integrated destination management, bottom up, putting forward stakeholders’ ownership.”

KC RESORT and Over Water Villas Koh Samui is seeing a surge in arrivals from mainland China, Hong Kong and Taiwan.

The resort’s Chinese clientele has jumped from 20th to fifth position on its list of top source markets – after Australia, South Korea, Germany and the UK – in less than a year.

KC Hotels and Resorts area general manager, Andreas Kraemer, attributed the rise to the appointment of a Hong Kong sales representative last November, as well as direct Hong Kong-Samui flights, which he says have helped to boost short-term bookings.

Kraemer is hoping the Chinese market will become the resort’s second- or third-largest contributor by year-end, but remains confident that the Australia market will remain in top spot.

Opened in January 2008, the 95-key property has been attracting a steady stream of mainly leisure travellers, with more than 50 per cent coming from the Australian, South Korean and German wedding and honeymoon segments.

Meanwhile, KC Hotels and Resorts has set its sights on developing the Middle East source market and will appoint a sales representative in Tel Aviv, said Kramer. The group’s other sales representative offices are in London and Melbourne.

The group is also scheduled to open its second property in Koh Samui, the 45-key KC Beach Resort and Pool Villas, in February next year, and will take over an existing boutique property in Phuket about six months later.

By Sirima Eamtako

MYANMAR’s iconic Shwedagon Pagoda is on track to welcome a record number of foreign visitors this year, bypassing the all-time high set just last year.

According to the pagoda’s board of trustees, 136,579 overseas visitors visited the historic site in Yangon between January and August 2011, a 40 per cent year-on-year increase.

The figure is generally considered an indicator of the health of Myanmar tourism, as the majority of foreign tourists visit the pagoda at least once during their stay.

Last year, there were 175,054 foreign visitors to the attraction, a 54.2 per cent year-on-year increase, beating the previous high of 151,262 in 2006 (TTG Asia e-Daily, December 14, 2010).

According to a pagoda spokesperson, the majority of overseas visitors this year were from Thailand, China, Malaysia, South Korea and Spain.

SINGAPORE Airlines (SIA) will be deploying the Airbus A380 aircraft on its daily flights linking Singapore to Frankfurt and New York (JFK) from January 15, bringing to an end its last longhaul one-stop service operated with the aging B747-400s.

The higher density version of the A380 with 471 seats will be utilised on the route, injecting 25.5 per cent more capacity (20 per cent and 27 per cent increases in business- and economy-class, respectively). There are also 12 suites on board the A380, compared to 12 first-class seats on the B747.

The additional business-class capacity on SIA services between Singapore and New York is not expected to affect its daily non-stop Singapore-New York (Newark) flights, but will instead allow the Singapore flag carrier to offer a homogenous business-class product between Singapore and New York.

New York will be SIA’s second North American destination after Los Angeles to be served by the A380, while Frankfurt will be its fourth A380 destination in Europe.

CENTARA Hotels and Resorts will be ending its 25-year partnership with Accor in Thailand next January, and will be extracting its three properties in the Thai capital from the Accor network.

Centara is expected to make an announcement today regarding the futures of Sofitel Centara Grand Bangkok, Sofitel Centara Grand Resort & Villas Hua Hin, and Novotel Hat Yai Centara.

With the impending exit of the two Sofitel-branded properties, Accor is scheduled to open next year the 345-room Sofitel Bangkok Sukhumvit and 238-room Sofitel So Bangkok.

Centara Hotels and Resorts chairman, Suthikiati Chirathiwat, said: “Sofitel has been an important milestone of Centara’s development, sharing vision and driving towards the success.”

“It has been a rewarding journey and there might be other opportunities to re-establish this partnership,” he added.

Sofitel Asia Pacific senior vice-president, Markland Blaiklock, said Sofitel was grateful for the close collaborative relationship with Centara over the past 25 years.

“This will continue through to the conclusion of the agreements and may be followed with other collaborations in the future, which would be most welcome,” he said.

MYANMAR citizens intending to travel to Indonesia are still required to obtain a visa in advance, despite recent reports to the contrary (TTG Asia e-Daily, September 12).

D Jumara Supriyadi, third secretary at the Indonesian embassy in Yangon, explained that the proposed bilateral visa-free system would only come into effect if the Myanmar government introduced similar concessions for Indonesian nationals travelling to Myanmar.

“As of now both Myanmar and Indonesian citizens still need a visa to travel between the two countries,” said Supriyadi. “The operation of this regulation needs very much the same commitment from the Myanmar government, which we believe they will do.”

According to Supriyadi, the visa-free initiative was launched in July “in an effort to contribute positively in pushing forward the implementation of the ASEAN vision to establish the ASEAN Community in 2015”.

“The Myanmar government will be ready to discuss and decide the matter at the next bilateral meeting during the next second Indonesia-Myanmar Joint Commission, which we plan to hold at the end of this year in Myanmar,” Supriyadi added.

CHINA Airlines (CAL) will join the SkyTeam airline alliance on September 28, having signed the official Adherence Agreement last September.

Through joining SkyTeam, the Taiwan flag carrier will expand its international coverage 10-fold via codesharing to 926 destinations in 169 countries. CAL passengers will also be able to redeem miles on qualifying flights through the alliance’s frequent flyer programme, as well as use SkyTeam airport lounges.

SkyTeam spokesperson Marisca Kensenhuis said: “Taipei is one of Asia’s strongest economies. China Airlines’ membership adds value to SkyTeam for both passengers and cargo customers, thanks to a leading position in Taiwan and excellent links to a number of existing SkyTeam hubs throughout the wider Asia-Pacific region, North America and Europe.”

“The airline’s network also compliments those of our existing members China Southern and China Eastern,” she added.

David Chambers, regional vice president Asia Pacific, Sabre Airline Solutions, said: “It bodes well for China Airlines to be included in the SkyTeam alliance. Joining an alliance immediately broadens the airlines’ reach to new customers outside their traditional network – a solid differentiator to low-cost carriers.”

By Glenn Smith

SINGAPORE Cruise Centre (SCC) has partnered five maritime players to form Asia’s first structured network of cruise resource suppliers, Cruise 360, which promises to help new and existing cruise lines achieve greater operational ease when they call at Singapore.

SCC CEO Christina Siaw said: “The purpose of Cruise 360 is to help cruise companies get in touch with vendors they need, and to make sure that all the services and support needed by the ship are lined up when it arrives in Singapore, so no time is wasted.”

Apart from SCC, Cruise 360’s first batch of members include cruise crew and crewing services supplier Magsaysay Maritime Corp; consumables and logistic solutions provider HMS Far East; Sembawang Shipyard, which has been repairing and refurbishing cruise ships since the 1970s; InterCruises Shoreside & Port Services, which specialises in shore excursions, tour arrangements, passenger check-ins and transfers; and Shell Marine Products.

Cruise 360 members have also pledged to offer perks to cruise operators who tap into the new resource network. These perks, which are usually only available to regular clients, include HMS’s waiver of the usual two-day advance order to provide cruise operators with same-day order and delivery, Intercruises’ concierge-style counter services at the pier for passengers, and Magsaysay’s new crew-handling processes.

Cruise 360 members are not required to pay a membership fee and competing suppliers can join the network. However, Siaw said vendors who wished to join Cruise 360 must “bring value” to cruise operators.

“Members must be of international standing and be best-in-class suppliers,” she said.

As the newly elected chairman of the Asian Cruise Terminal Association, SCC plans on introducing the Cruise 360 concept to member ports in the region, which will comprise the strongest vendors in the respective local markets.

Magsaysay president, Marlon Rono, told TTG Asia e-Daily that such trade partnerships would propel the company’s business forward and help shape Singapore into a cruise gateway to Asia.

“Some 30 to 40 per cent of Asian cruise crew turnover is handled by us, and being in this partnership will help us grow that pie,” Rono said. “At the same time, Magsaysay will raise Singapore’s current status as an important crewing city to one that is seen as the key crewing capital of Asia.”

THE UNITED Federation of Travel Agents Association (UFTAA) recommended at a board meeting in Kuala Lumpur last week that membership to the association be extended to individual travel agencies.

With membership only open to national travel agents’ associations since UFTAA was set up in 1966, the decision marks a major shift in policy.

The recommendation will become a reality when endorsed by the 45th UFTAA Congress in Venice from November 19-24, which will be held onboard a cruise ship for the first time.

UFTAA president, Dr Mario Bevacqua, said: “UFTAA is the only global association of national associations of travel agents. Opening up membership directly to agents will enable the board to know better what their needs are.”

“Opening up membership will also enable us to harness the power of our network,” he added.

A white book listing various issues faced by agents, with solutions provided by experts, will be released at the 45th congress. “The white book will cover all issues which are part of an agent’s daily work ranging from visas to IATA, and provide solutions to them,” Bevacqua said.

Meanwhile, UFTAA’s board of directors has approved the Malaysian Association of Tour & Travel Agents’ (MATTA) bid to host the 46th UFTAA Congress in Kuala Lumpur from November 17-22, 2012.

This would be Malaysia’s second time hosting the congress since 2002, when it was attended by about 250 travel agents.

Participation next year is expected to be open to all travel agents given the proposed changes in membership criteria. “We will be doing it on a bigger scale next year. We are targeting for about 1,000 agents to attend,” said MATTA president, Mohd Khalid Harun.

MATTA will form a team with Tourism Malaysia, Malaysia Convention & Exhibition Bureau and the Malaysia Association of Hotels to plan the event. “Hosting the congress in Malaysia will provide an ideal opportunity to create awareness among travel agents on Visit Malaysia Year 2013,” Khalid said.

By N. Nithiyananthan