OUTBOUND agents in Singapore are reporting a booming longhaul business despite higher airfares, with last weekend’s NATAS TRAVEL 2011 posting unprecedented sales figures.

Europe topped the list of destinations sold at the fair, while evergreen favourites such as Japan, Taiwan and South Korea continued to dominate the top five. NATAS CEO, Robert Khoo, said the favourable exchange rate and good economy were push factors for longhaul.

Agents told TTG Asia e-Daily that travellers were snapping up packages to less common destinations such as Eastern Europe and Scandinavia, and enquiring about South America due to Singapore Airlines’ new flight to Sao Paulo this month.

Hong Thai Travel Services manager, advertising and marketing division, Stella Chow said: “We see bookings for our 12- to 14-day holidays picking up. Because the employment market is good, people are more willing to take long leave, and there’s pent-up demand from the last few years.”

She added that Hong Thai, encouraged by this trend, had just launched mono-destination packages for Spain and Italy.

Seiki Travel director Kelvin Goh said bookings for longhaul had even eclipsed those for the region. “Longhaul used to be less than five per cent of our bookings a few years ago. Now it’s 50 per cent or more.”

Outbound giants Chan Brothers Travel and CTC Travel also noted a growing popularity in FIT and customised itineraries.

SECURITY concerns continue to plague the Philippines as it tries to grow its market out of Singapore.

safe2travel senior manager business development/MICE, Teddy Lim, said the Philippines had all the ingredients for an ideal incentive destination but Singapore corporates still harbour doubts over the country’s peace-and-order situation.

“We are proposing Cebu for incentives, but most times, HR departments back out the minute they hear ‘The Philippines’,” said Lim.

Pan Pacific Travel Corporation Philippines vice president and assistant general manager Robert Dee said: “We are hoping for growth out of Singapore, but the problem of security always surfaces. The concept of security is taken out of context, partly because of excessive media coverage on negative events.”

Department of Tourism assistant secretary for international tourism promotions Benito Bengzon admitted that the Philippines still had to battle market misperceptions. He cited the TOP COP programme, where policemen are fielded at tourist attractions, as an initiative to overcome the security hurdle.

Meanwhile, Bengzon is hoping for 2011 arrivals from Singapore to at least match last year’s growth rate of 23 per cent. A total of 121,083 Singaporeans visited the Philippines last year, making it the country’s eighth biggest market.

By Ollie Quiniquini

MALAYSIAN outbound travel agents are seeing double-digit growth in demand for customised tours for small leisure groups, and do not expect this segment to be affected by the increasing cost of air travel.

Mayflower Acme Tours has seen a 25 per cent year-on-year increase in business from this segment since 2009. Deputy general manager Abdul Rahman Mohamed said: “These travellers choose not to join series tours and are willing to pay more because they can afford to. They know exactly what they want to see and usually opt for destinations where English is widely spoken, such as Australia, the US and Europe.”

GTA by Travelport general manager Al Mulenga said his company had seen a 300 per cent growth in demand from Malaysia, Indonesia and Brunei for quoted FIT tours (tailormade, full-board tours for small groups) since these were introduced two years ago.

He said travel was mostly to regional destinations, North Asia, Europe, Australia, New Zealand and the US. The trips typically lasted between three to five nights for shorthaul destinations, and five to seven nights for longhaul destinations.

THAILAND’s Ministry of Tourism and Sports (MoTS) is expecting to receive Cabinet approval today for its seven-billion baht (US$228 million) tourism development plan for 2012 to 2014.

Permanent secretary Sombat Kuruphan said the plan would involve the public and private sectors working together to increase the competitiveness of Thai tourism attractions, covering 385 projects in eight designated tourism clusters, including the Lanna civilisation in the north, the E-sarn civilisation in the north-east, UNESCO World Heritage Sites in eight provinces, the Mekong River lifestyle and the royal coast in the upper south.

Thailand registered annual tourism growth of 7.51 per cent between 2005 and 2010, with visitor arrivals growing from 11.51 million in 2005 to 15.84 million last year, according to MoTS’ Tourism Department.

Arrival numbers are expected to grow by 4.4 to five per cent to around 16.5 million to 16.6 million this year.

THE NATIONAL Association of Travel Agents Singapore (NATAS) is planning to roll out an accreditation programme for Singapore agency professionals by next year.

Unlike the existing CaseTrust-NATAS Joint Accreditation Scheme which evaluates companies and is more consumer-focused, this would be a professional accreditation that is largely personal, said NATAS CEO Robert Khoo.

“This will assess one’s personal ability to be a travel agent such as how to sell (travel) and handle customers. Those who have gone through training modules and passed a test will be able to hold a title such as a NATAS-certified consultant,” he added.

Khoo explained that this would also be different from the Customer Centric Initiative launched last November for the travel services sector, which has a focus on service excellence.

While most agents TTG Asia e-Daily spoke to felt that the new initiative was another opportunity to differentiate themselves, there were some reservations.

“If it’s not government-driven, it may die a natural death. I don’t think I’ll send any people for this unless it’s compulsory,” said Nam Ho Travel director Marshall Ooi.

Khoo aims to get at least 20 per cent of his members’ workforce certified, but admitted this would be challenging.

“As it is, only a handful of our agents are CaseTrust-accredited and some don’t even want to renew their CaseTrust. We will have to make sure this new accreditation gets enough publicity.”

MANDALA Airlines looks set to survive its financial meltdown after a voting session last Thursday saw 304 out of 344 debtors agreeing to convert monies owed to them into shares in the company.

The session was held after earlier efforts to get debtors to back Mandala’s debt restructuring programme failed (TTG Asia e-Daily, February 23).

While this signals a positive step forward for the airline to return to normal operations with new investors, travel agents are still skeptical after losing out when AdamAir was declared bankrupt in 2008.

Association of the Indonesian Tours and Travel Agencies Jakarta chapter chairman Herna Danuningrat said: “We want our members’ money back first, and then we will renegotiate terms and conditions to get a win-win solution.”

Mandala president director Diono Nurjadin said the voting results would be submitted to the courts, who will have the final say on March 2 on whether the airline will be declared bankrupt.

MALAYSIAN-listed land developer Landmarks commenced construction of a second integrated resort development on Bintan over the weekend.

Treasure Bay, a water resort city built at a cost of S$425 million (US$334 million), will occupy 337 hectares on the northern coast of Bintan.

Gabriel Teo, executive director and COO of Landmarks, told TTG Asia e-Daily that the resort’s phase one site, which will span 89.7 hectares when completed by 2015, will be a high-end destination, although there will be room in other sites for different grades of accommodation and attractions.

The phase one site will comprise a multi-modal transportation terminal and marina that will cater to ferries and possibly sea planes and cruises, a resort built in a ring layout with 150 to 180 keys, a cluster of serviced villas with potentially 200 units, a wedding hall and an underwater 300-seat banquet hall extending from the resort into a manmade lagoon, as well as a collection of retail, F&B and entertainment outlets.

“We envision Bintan to be more than just a short-break destination when all these are complete,” Teo said.

A hotel management company has not yet been appointed for the resort and villas in phase one.

APPLE Aviation will take over from Deks Air as Kuwait Airways’ Malaysian GSA from tomorrow.

Apple Aviation’s managing director Desmond Lee said the company plans to release a host of consumer promotions to increase awareness and and enhance the image of Kuwait’s national carrier.

“We will also create more outbound tour packages to Kuwait, Europe and the US, and sell these through outbound agents participating in the upcoming MATTA Fair in Kuala Lumpur,” Lee added.

Kuwait Airways offers thrice-weekly direct services between Kuwait City and Kuala Lumpur. The carrier started flights to Kuala Lumpur in November 2006, and is currently the only airline servicing this route.

THE INDONESIAN government has given the green light for a second airport to be built on Bintan island, to be located within the Lagoi Bay site that has been earmarked for a massive integrated resort development.

The new airport, which will cater to chartered, domestic and private flights, will offer quicker access to Bintan’s existing as well as future tourism facilities, said Asad Shiraz, director of marketing with Bintan Resorts International, whose parent company, Gallant Venture, is leading the resort development.

Lagoi Bay is situated near Bintan’s tourism centre, close to properties such as Ria Bintan Golf Club, Club Med Bintan and Nirwana Resort Hotel.

Bintan is currently served by Kijang Airport on its southern end.

HURT by weeks of unrest, an 80 per cent drop in arrivals and some US$1.5 million lost in tourism revenue, Egypt now wants to beef up its marketing budget to support tour operators, travel agents and airlines, as well as harness the power of media to bring back travellers.

Adel El Masry, director, Egyptian Tourism Office, India, told TTG Asia e-Daily that he was seeking to double his annual budget for joint campaigns with travel agents and tour operators in South and South-east Asian markets including India – Egypt’s biggest and fastest-growing market out of Asia – as well as Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia and the Philippines.

The NTO had already been subsidising half of the costs for trade promotions specific to Egypt, but could fund only 20 to 35 travel agents and tour operators a year with its current budget of US$300,000, said El Masry.

Support for airlines will be increased through initiatives such as sponsoring tickets as lucky draw prizes, added El Masry, although there is no budget specifically allocated to carriers.

The director is also looking to double his media budget from its current US$800,000 per annum, to be used for advertising across various channels and fam trips.

When asked how confident he was that the new government would approve these measures, El Masry said: “They were the ones who asked us to try and promote Egypt again quickly. I think they will make a decision within the next few months.”

– Full story in TTG Asia, March 11