Fun Sabah Tours to manage Russia visa applications from Malaysia

September 12, 2018

Malaysians travelling to the Russian Federation can now avail a simplified visa application process offered by Fun Sabah Tours.

Fun Sabah Tours has obtained the authority to manage visa applications for all travellers from Malaysia. With this new one-stop platform, Malaysian travellers will be able obtain their visas easily when they purchase Truly Russia or Truly Islamic Russia Tour Packages (Ex Hong Kong) by Fun Sabah Tours.

From left: Fun Sabah Tours’ Clement Tsen; ATC Air Service’s Vun Ling Ling; MATTA’s Tan Kok Liang; ambassador of Russia to Malaysia Valery N. Yermolov; and ATC Air Service’s Daniel Ho

Clement Tsen, Fun Sabah Tours’ general manager, revealed that the platform currently offers two packages to Russia. Tours are conducted in English or Mandarin, and are priced from RM11,000 (US$4,200). Malaysian travellers who purchase either of these packages can submit their visa applications together with their booking deposit.

In addition, up to December 31, 2018, World Cup Fan ID holders will not need a visa to travel to Russia if they can provide their IDs when booking the tour packages with Fun Sabah Tours.

ATC Air Service’s Daniel Ho added: “Fun Sabah Tours is located in East Malaysia and we are expanding this facility to partner and authorise agencies located in Kuala Lumpur, Penang and Ipoh, among others.”

Rascal Voyages sails beyond Indonesia as luxury yacht fleet grows

By TTG Asia

September 12, 2018

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Luxury yacht charter Rascal Voyages will sail beyond its base in the Indonesia archipelago to more destinations in Asia as it expands with five new boats.

The first Rascal Phinisi yacht carved a niche in the luxury hospitality industry by allowing guests to tailor-make their own land and sea itineraries for an exclusive private charter experience.

Rascal is a 31-metre-long phinisi cruiser that was launched at the end of 2016

The five new yachts will provide the same unique flexibility and increase in size to offer an additional sixth cabin, with each yacht offering Rascal’s signature accommodation experience.

Two of the five are already under construction and scheduled for completion in 2020. One will serve Indonesian waters alongside Rascal, while the other will voyage two routes – from Thailand to Myanmar, and Singapore to Malaysia, plying the Eastern seaboard of the Malaysian coast with destinations such as Pulau Rawa, Tioman, Redang and Perhentian.

The further three yachts will complete by 2021, accessing the Indian Ocean and Gulf of Thailand with unique itineraries around the Maldives and Cambodia.

The additional above-water cabin has been conceptualised for the new yachts to house floating experts in residence. Following Rascal’s partnership with Conservation International, which saw the discovery of two new species during a survey expedition of Raja Ampat, the larger boats will enable guests to select from a team of diving professionals, conservationists and wellness enthusiasts to join them on board.

Each yacht will be built-to-order, with six double ensuite guest cabins and a range of indoor and outdoor spaces.

Activities include trekking, a variety of watersports and diving. Yoga lessons, spa treatments and photography courses can also be arranged.

For F&B, an onboard chef prepares a daily menu, combining international and Asian cooking with local produce – including in settings such as pop-up island feasts and sunset beach BBQs. There is also a cocktail menu featuring Rascal Rum, which was crafted by international bar superstars, Proof & Company, especially for Rascal Voyages.

Available only for private charter, nightly rates start at US$9,500 (full board) and vary depending on itinerary and season.

GTEF put spotlight on the Greater Bay Area, Belt and Road countries

By TTG Asia

September 12, 2018

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GTEF-Guangzhou — A group photo of representatives of GTEF’s major sponsors and integrated tourism and leisure enterprises in Macau

In its fourth edition, the Global Tourism Economy Forum (GTEF) will take place this October with a greater focus on the burgeoning Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area.

At the recent China (Guangdong) International Tourism Industry Expo (CITIE 2018) in Guangzhou, GTEF was introduced as an international tourism platform that connects the Greater Bay Area, the Belt and Road countries and the rest of the world.

A group photo of representatives of GTEF’s major sponsors and integrated tourism and leisure enterprises in Macau

During the expo, GTEF held meetings with major public and private tourism entities to exchange views, deepen mutual understanding and explore collaboration possibilities. Visitors at GTEF’s booth were also encouraged to participate in interactive games that were designed to increase their understanding of the forum and encourage them to join GTEF 2018.

A networking dinner, CITIE Night powered by GTEF, was held at the Garden Hotel Guangzhou on September 7. The dinner was designed to foster exchanges approximately 100 tourism leaders, exhibitors and media representatives. Macau’s tourism business outlook was also presented by GTEF’s major sponsors, and integrated tourism and leisure enterprises in Macao.

Furthermore, GTEF put forth its 2018 edition, including its Official Partner capacity in the 2018 EU-China Tourism Year (ECTY2018), EU as the Partner Region, and Guangdong Province as the Featured Chinese Province with a special focus on the burgeoning Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area.

GTEF 2018 will be held at MGM Cotai on October 23-24, under the theme Strategic Partnership in a New Era, Rising Momentum for a Shared Future. In addition to panel discussions, GTEF will also offer tourism promotion, investment and cooperation opportunities through bilateral trade meetings, business matching, networking, workshops, and exhibitions.

Spooky fun at Asian theme parks this Halloween

By TTG Asia

September 12, 2018

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Ocean Park Hong Kong
Ocean Park Hong Kong’s Halloween Fest 2018, held from October 5-31, will feature 13 all-new unique experiences at 11 haunted attractions.

Attractions this year include Hong Kong’s first ever multimedia and interactive haunted attraction X-Dimension, which creates a frightful alternate dimension with the use of 360-degree interactive projections and 3D mapping technology; while Devil Seeker’s Tale will offer an interactive game that infuses augmented reality (AR) technology; and Mine Train will provide brand new virtual reality (VR) Halloween content.

This year, Ocean Park is collaborating with Sanrio for the first time to bring the world-famous Hello Kitty and other Sanrio characters to the Park, staging the largest ever HELLO-ween party in Hong Kong.

Hong Kong Disneyland Resort
From September 13 to October 31, Disney will be running its Halloween special.

Get ready for an unforgettable journey, filled with iconic music and scenes from Tim Burton’s The Nightmare Before Christmas. Venture into Dr. Finklestein’s Lab, where Jack Skellington’s friend Sally is desperate for guests’ help. Beware of the evil Oogie Boogie, out to trap guests in his lair.

During the day, Mickey, Minnie and the gang will sport their brand-new Halloween costumes, but the park atmosphere turns ominous as the sun goes down, when fearsome Disney villains come out in force to join Villains Night Out! Chapter 3.

This year, Maleficent leads the malevolent Ursula, the Evil Queen and Jafar in the procession. They will be joined by Jack Skellington, Captain Hook, the Queen of Hearts and Cruella de Vil to cause merry mayhem as they march along Main Street, U.S.A.

In true Disney Halloween fashion, an extensive range of themed merchandise and F&B items will be available, along with spooky Halloween décor and fun-filled recreation activities across the resort’s three themed hotels.

Universal Studios Japan
There will be three types of Halloween events at Universal Studios Japan in Osaka this year – Otona (adult) Halloween, Zekkyo Halloween (Halloween Horror Nights) and Kowa Kowa Halloween (kid friendly). Held from now until November 4, 2018, The attractions are rated from 1 to 5 with 1 being the least scary.

Halloween specific attractions include Blood Legend, a horror theatre 4D show; The Survival – Deadman’s Forest 2, a mission-based outdoor horror attraction; and a four-storey horror maze entitled Hotel Albert.

Sanrio Puroland
Better known as Hello Kitty Land Tokyo, this park’s Halloween special will run from September 14 to October 31, 2018. The limited event at this Japan theme park will be split into a “kawaii” (cute) day-time and somewhat scary night-time schedule.

With the creative support of professional horror event producer, Obaken, visitors are invited to join the Sanrio Character Boat Ride in the dark without anywhere to escape to.

Following the day-time event parade (15.30 on weekdays, 16.30 at weekends and holidays), ghosts will run to the Ghost Pierrot’s Sneaking Horror House where they lurk for visitors who will be given the mission to escape.

Soneva-Michelin Guide pairing to bring star-studded chef meals to Maldives

By TTG Asia

September 12, 2018

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Soneva has partnered the Michelin Guide for 20 dinner events to be hosted at its resorts in the Maldives and Thailand.

The dinners, which run from August 2018 until mid 2019, are part of Soneva’s Festival of Colour, which feature events and activities led by visiting experts, including chefs, explorers, free-divers, astronauts, astronomers, authors, wellness experts, wine producers and sake experts.

More than 30 chefs are confirmed to host dinner events at Soneva properties in 2018 and 2019, most of which have originated from restaurants that have received Michelin stars.

This will be the first time that the Michelin Guide has done any kind of event in the Maldives.

Soneva and the Michelin Guide will jointly promote the following chef events, most of which feature chefs from restaurants worldwide with two or three Michelin stars:

Kiko Moya, from two-star Spanish restaurant L’Escaletta, at Soneva Fushi between August 26 – 31, 2018
Gert de Mangeleer, from three-star Belgium restaurant Hertog Jan, at Soneva Fushi from October 7 – 12, 2018
Bruno Oger, from two-star French restaurant La Villa Archange, at Soneva Fushi from October 15 – 21, 2018
Pere Planaguma, from two-star Spanish restaurant Les Cols, at Soneva Fushi from November 25 – December 2, 2018
Tim Raue, from two-star German Restaurant Tim Raue, at Soneva Fushi from December 5 – 14, 2018
Ronan Kevarrec, from two-star French restaurant La Table de Plaisance, at Soneva Fushi and Soneva Jani from December 22 – January 04, 2019
Tom Aikens, from two-star UK restaurant Toms Kitchen, at Soneva Fushi from February 14 – 17, 2019
Guillaume Bracaval, from two-star French restaurant Michel Troisgros, at Soneva Fushi from March 4 – 9, 2019
Maxime Meilleur, from three-star French restaurant La Bouitte, at Soneva Fushi from October 6 – 11, 2019
Yoann Conte, from two-star French restaurant Bord du Lac, at Soneva Fushi from November 5 – 12, 2019

More chef events will be announced soon.

“Gastronomy is now one of the most important factors when deciding where to stay, especially in the luxury travel segment when ‘good food’ is no longer enough,” commented Sonu Shivdasani, Soneva’s CEO and co-creative director.

Finnair appoints Topi Manner as CEO

By TTG Asia

September 12, 2018

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Topi Manner will assume the post of CEO at Finnair from January 1, 2019.

Manner will take over from Finnair’s current CEO Pekka Vauramo, who has left the airline to become the CEO of Metso Group. Finnair’s current chief financial officer Pekka Vähähyyppä will act as interim CEO from now until the end of this year.

Manner has had a long career in several management positions at Nordea, the largest financial group in the Nordic countries. Since 2016, he has been a member of Nordea’s Group executive management and held the post of head of personal banking.

Zazz Hotels & Resorts to debut in HCMC

By TTG Asia

September 12, 2018

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Zazz Hotels & Resorts, an upscale brand owned by Asia Prestige Management and managed by Unicorn Hotels & Resorts, will be making its debut in Ho Chi Minh, Vietnam next year.

Scheduled to open in 1Q2019, Zazz Urban Ho Chi Minh Hotel is located in District 5, Saigon’s. The urban oasis-themed hotel will offer 40 stylish guestrooms and suites with floor-to-ceiling windows, and decked out with in-room amenities including complimentary ultra-fast Wi-Fi, flatscreen TV, entertainment system.

This is the first Zazz-branded hotel to open

The boutique hotel also features a street-front cafe & restaurant called Day’li, that will serve up a selection of authentic Vietnamese coffees and pastries. There will also be a rooftop bar, Zook.

Other facilities will include a gym, an outdoor swimming pool, and a co-working space equipped with high-speed Internet and state-of-the-art audio-visual capabilities.

In addition, the hotel will be launching a mobile app called Zapp. Zapp will allow guests to make fast reservations and custom requests, as well as access to other hotel services. It will also feature restaurant, spa and nightlife recommendations in the area.

Dusit moves into luxury vacation rentals with Elite Havens acquisition

By TTG Asia

September 11, 2018

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Thailand-based Dusit Thani Public Company (DTC) has expanded into the high-end vacation rental market through the full acquisition of Elite Havens.

DTC made the acquisition through its wholly owned Hong Kong-incorporated subsidiary, Dusit Overseas Company, which has bought all shares in LVM Holdings (LVMH), a Singapore-incorporated company and the ultimate holding company of Elite Havens, for approximately US$15 million.

From left: Dusit International’s La-ead Kovavisaruch and Suphajee Suthumpun; and Elite Haven’s Jon Stonham and Riyaz Moorani

Established in 1998, LVMH directly and indirectly holds shares in nine companies in South-east Asian countries. The largest company of its kind in Asia, it performs integrated marketing, reservations, concierge and management services for luxury villas and currently maintains a network of more than 200 fully staffed properties across Indonesia, Thailand, Sri Lanka, and the Maldives.

“Our investment in Elite Havens marks another important milestone in our strategic journey, particularly our two-pronged plan for expansion, which includes doubling our number of hotels in operation, and providing broadened experiences for our customers.” said Suphajee Suthumpun, Group CEO, DTC.

Villa Tievoli, part of Elite Haven’s portfolio

The purchase of Elite Havens will help DTC extend beyond the midscale to luxury segments it currently serves with its brands, and into the luxury villa rental category, Suphajee added.

As part of its strategy for balance, diversification and expansion, DTC has been actively enhancing its operations with investments in new market segments.

The Thai hospitality company forayed into the shared economy last year with an investment in Favstay, a Thai hospitality startup offering condos and villas for rent in Thailand’s top destinations, and in April this year announced it would also enter the affordable lifestyle segment with the launch of Asai Hotels.

Bedsonline unveils new brand identity with expanded agent offering

By TTG Asia

September 11, 2018

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Following the integration of GTA and Tourico Holidays with its parent group, Bedsonline has unveiled a new brand identity to accompany its significantly enlarged product portfolio with platform enhancements.

The brand refresh for Bedsonline will include a new logo and brand identity. The global sales teams will also kick off a campaign to introduce customers to the newly revised offering, including through sales meetings, presentations, webinars and various events held in local markets, the details of which will be published soon.

Bedsonline unveils new brand identity to support the growth of travel agent customers worldwide

The new identity and website will boast a “360 degree” proposition that presents the well-rounded support for travel agent customers worldwide.

Bedsonline said the platform now offers travel agents a more diverse product portfolio of over 170,000 hotels globally – of which over 90,000 are directly sourced to offer unique and competitively priced content – 24,000 transfer routes and 18,000 activities, plus 140,000 cars available for hire.

In addition, Bedsonline touts a user-friendly technology, with the “best-in-class search engine designed specifically for the needs of travel agents”. The tool allows users to filter and compare results in a flexible and practical way, including intuitive email and PDF functions. Bedsonline’s parent group is the only distributor to operate its own cloud-based, open source data centre and handles up to 1.5 billion searches per day.

Thirdly, Bedsonline says it has the strength of local knowledge combined with a global offering.

Alistair Rodger, director of retail travel agents at Hotelbeds Group, commented: “Already we are speaking with our customers globally to explain to them how they will benefit from these changes. Shortly we’ll be hosting a series of events and workshops to present the new enhanced offering. This follows the expansion of our product portfolio and strengthened position to negotiate the best deals for our customers with the inclusion of Tourico Holidays and GTA into our Group – along with all the additional improvements we have made by picking the best-of-class functionalities and know-how from across the three companies, such as improved payment options, operational support and loyalty rewards.”

At PHIST, join fight for sustainable island tourism

By TTG Asia

September 11, 2018

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With the Phuket Hotels for Islands Sustaining Tourism (PHIST) Forum round the corner, a new video has been released to drum up support for the sustainable tourism movement.

The event will take place at the JW Marriott on September 24, gathering speakers and supporters from the hospitality and airline industries as well as other sectors such as BMW, Coke and Central Retail to focus on the core issues in sustainable island tourism and how to fight them.

PHIST 2018 also will host the GreenGroove exhibition of sustainable suppliers and services for the hotel and tourism industry. Attendance is free, registration is recommended as spaces are filling fast.

Interested parties may register at https://phist.phukethotelsassociation.com.

Fun Sabah Tours to manage Russia visa applications from Malaysia

Rascal Voyages sails beyond Indonesia as luxury yacht fleet grows

GTEF put spotlight on the Greater Bay Area, Belt and Road countries

Spooky fun at Asian theme parks this Halloween

Soneva-Michelin Guide pairing to bring star-studded chef meals to Maldives

Finnair appoints Topi Manner as CEO

Zazz Hotels & Resorts to debut in HCMC

Dusit moves into luxury vacation rentals with Elite Havens acquisition

Bedsonline unveils new brand identity with expanded agent offering

At PHIST, join fight for sustainable island tourism

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