THE PARKROYAL Serviced Suites Kuala Lumpur, which opened in October last year (TTG Asia e-Daily, August 5, 2010), is proving a hit with tourists from the Middle East, say Malaysian agents handling this particular market.

Two-bedroom serviced apartments with full cooking facilities, like those offered by the ParkRoyal KL but in short demand in the city, are usually the preferred accommodation choice for Middle East customers, explained Andy Muniandy, director of sales and business development of Asian Overland Services Tours & Travel.

The ParkRoyal KL, with its inventory of 287 one- and two-bedroom suites in five different categories, is also within walking distance of Jalan Bukit Bintang, known colloquially as “Arab Street”, making it even more popular among Middle East tourists, said World Avenues executive director Ally Bhoonee.

TEXAS-based Sabre Holdings has become the latest travel technology firm to take action against American Airlines, in an ongoing spat over the airline’s plans to force agents into using its Direct Connect booking system rather than their global distribution systems.

Besides downgrading American’s flights on most of its displays and withdrawing booking fee discounts, Sabre has also made clear its intention to end its agreement with American in August, a month ahead of schedule.

The measure by Sabre follows Expedia’s decision to hide American’s airfares on its websites last weekend, after Orbitz Worldwide, which owns ebookers, was forced to pull data on American’s flights having lost a legal dispute against the airline before Christmas.

Sabre said in a statement: “For a number of months, American Airlines has taken actions in an attempt to impose a costly, unproven and unnecessary system on agencies and corporations, including withholding fare content from Sabre.

“We believe these actions are harmful to our agency and corporate customers, as well as consumers, making it harder and more costly to comparison shop. Sabre is taking actions to protect its interests and those of its customers by supporting airlines that value the transparency and efficiency of the proven system we provide.”

US-based Zegrahm Expeditions has taken its 110-pax luxury vessel, Clipper Odyssey, to Asia, with Singapore as the launch pad for a nature-and adventure-themed itinerary in the region.

The ship departed Singapore shores yesterday, bound for destinations such as Malacca, Sumatra, Banda Aceh, Nias Island, Padang and the southern end of Java. Nature expeditions on the itinerary include trips to Gunung Leuser National Park, Krui Village and Way Kambas National Park.

“The Clipper Odyssey is a different kind of cruise, as it journeys on routes and calls at ports most other cruise lines don’t,” explained Darren Tan, managing director of World Express, groundhandler for the ship’s call in Singapore. “Passengers get to stop in parts of Asia where natural reserves are aplenty, and head out on expeditions.”

Tan added that the majority of Clipper Odyssey’s passengers hail from the US and had flown into Singapore to embark on the voyage.

The ship will return to Singapore on January 20, before departing for another itinerary that heads for various ports in Malaysia, Thailand, Myanmar and finally, India.

THE INDONESIAN Ministry of Culture and Tourism is expecting to generate between 40 and 50 per cent tourism income from MICE over the next three years.

Indonesia will host some 600 international meetings and events between 2011 and 2013, including the ASEAN Summit and SEA Games this year, Global CEO Summit in 2012 and APEC Forum in 2013.

Indonesia president Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono has instructed the relevant government agencies to spread the events across different regions in the country.

“Look for meeting places in the cities across Indonesia,” said Yudhoyono. “Don’t use only Jakarta or Bali, but also introduce other cities which are ready for such meetings.”

In the meantime, the Bali Nusa Dua Convention Center, opening in May, will add a convention hall, 17 meetings rooms, a plenary hall for up to 1,800 people and an outdoor venue for up to 1,000 people to the growing MICE facilities on the island.

BANKRUPT Best Tours left in its wake a trail of outstanding debts, with interviews by TTG Asia e-Daily showing its key Asian markets such as Thailand, Vietnam and China being the worst hit.

Exotissimo Travel Group’s CEO Olivier Colomès said Best Tours’ outstanding debt was US$150,000, while a director of sales and marketing of a hotel in Phuket said the property was raking in an unpaid bill of less than a million baht (US$33,176) and that other hotels were suffering a few millions.

Over in China, a letter obtained by TTG Asia e-Daily issued by Best Tours product director Antoine Noens informing clients of the tour operator’s bankruptcy ended with the post-script: “Please be aware that our Beijing office is also a victim with a very large outstanding.”

Current Best Tours bookings are being paid for by a Belgium Travel Guarantee Fund that has designated Belgian travel company ESCAPE to deliver services to affected guests. But it is the outstandings that are giving the partners the sinking feeling.

“Will we get paid? I always have hope. But we also have to deal with suppliers…we have to find some fair deal as we are all working in the same industry,” said Colomès.

Interviews show that partners were caught unawares, even though Best Tours had not been paying up for months. A source said this did not ring the alarm bell because Best Tours was “always a late payer, but it always paid”.

By Sirima Eamtako

SWITZERLAND’s Kuoni Group is at pains to emphasise that its acquisition of Best Tours in Belgium is only an “asset deal” and therefore it is not responsible for any debts of the legal entity.

In an email interview, Kuoni Group’s CEO Peter Rothwell told TTG Asia e-Daily: “The takeover of Best Tours in Belgium is an asset deal. This means, we did NOT take over the company. We bought only the brand Best Tours. Therefore Kuoni is not responsible for any debts of the legal entity. We are not informed in details about the amount of debts.”

But asked what was the best way forward for the brand to continue the relationship it had with hotel and ground partners, Rothwell said: “Our Benelux organisation will contact all suppliers the next few days and will discuss what future relationship they can build up with the Kuoni Group and the brand Best Tours.”

He added: “Of course we are aware of the reputation damage that happened to Best Tours due to the liquidation of the company. The brand Best Tours is now managed by Kuoni and we work on transferring the successful business management from Kuoni to Best Tours. Suppliers already working with the Kuoni Group know about the very good reputation of Kuoni worldwide.”

He said the acquisition of the brand was aimed at gaining a strong foothold in the Belgium market for the Kuoni Group, apart from its positive synergy effects with the existing Kuoni business in the Benelux.

Asked if the Best Tours account would shift to Asian Trails (it was handled by Exotissimo in Vietnam and Marintur in Indonesia), he said: “We only took over the brand less than a week ago. We will decide on the future setup the next few weeks.”

MAYFLOWER Acme Tours is now seeking a bigger bite of the sports tourism market following its recent appointment as general sales agent in Malaysia for English Premier League, Spanish La Liga, Wimbledon tennis and Rugby World Cup packages.

The company will aggressively target those keen on watching live football, tennis and rugby matches overseas through local print media and its website. It is also selling wholesale to agents nationwide.

“Response for English Premier League packages has been good so far, with close to 100 packages sold since September,” said deputy general manager Abdul Rahman Mohamed. “There is also growing demand for La Liga packages.”

INDONESIA’S Directorate General of Customs and Excise has clarified that it will not be making drastic changes to its baggage check system despite a new ruling on import duty on travellers’ personal belongings that kicked in on January 1 (TTG Asia e-Daily, December 3).

When the new regulation was announced last November, speculations were rife among the travel industry that stringent baggage checks would be conducted starting this year.

Import duty is imposed on personal belongings and commercial goods exceeding US$250 per person or US$1,000 per family, a limit that was already part of an older regulation.

What is new is primarily a revised Customs Declaration (CD) form, said Customs and Excise spokesman Evi Suhartantyo.

“We received complaints that our CD is complicated. So we cut the size, reduced the questions from 15 to 11 and provided separate forms for Bahasa Indonesia and English,” she said.

Travellers also have to declare cash, cheques or other forms of payment with a value exceeding US$11,100.

Suhartantyo told the media: “Customs at the airports or seaports will proceed as usual. It’s impossible to check baggage one by one as it would jam the ports. Customs will only look for suspicious baggage.”

BANGKOK-BASED Exotissimo Travel Group has ventured beyond South-east Asia with the introduction of Exotissimo Travel Japan, the seventh destination for the 18-year-old DMC.

CEO Olivier Colomès said: “Exotissimo Travel Japan has been registered with a capital of 21 million yen (US$250,000) and is wholly-owned by Exotissimo Travel Group.”

He added it was easier to set up a 100 per cent foreign-owned company in Japan than in other existing Exotissimo locations, where offices are under a shareholding structure.

Even though operations officially start March 1, the company will “most probably” get its first group before the launch date due to high demand from existing MICE and high-end niche agents in North America, Europe and Australia, said Colomès.

Based in Tokyo, Exotissimo Travel Japan has six staff – three local and three foreign – including managing director Inès Zand and product manager Jarrod Stenhouse.

Read the full report, TTG Asia, January 14 issue

By Sirima Eamtako

ASIA’S only doublebill event in MICE and corporate travel IT&CMA and CTW will reach a milestone this year as it commemorates a decade of being hosted in Thailand.

Leading international MICE bureaus and suppliers have already firmed their commitment to participate ahead of the show, which will be held from October 4 to 6 at Bangkok Convention Center, CentralWorld.

New exhibitors include Hard Rock Hotels and Starwood Hotels and Resorts, the latter coming in with a 54m² space. Other returning participants are Dusit International, Seoul Tourism Board, Silversea Cruises and Thailand Convention and Exhibition Bureau, among others.

Some 95 per cent of buyers and corporate travel managers from last year’s show have also indicated their interest to participate in IT&CMA and CTW 2011.

The 2010 event featured 13,000 business appointments between 304 exhibiting companies and 483 MICE buyers and corporate travel managers, a figure “not including the many other business leads that were realised during the official networking functions”, said Darren Ng, managing director of event organiser, TTG Asia Media.

According to feedback, more than 90 per cent of exhibitors were optimistic of receiving orders over the next six to 12 months, and over half of these expected their orders to range from US$250,000 to above US$500,000.