Singapore Flyer has suspended its flights operations since last Thursday morning after it experienced a “technical issue”.
According to Singapore Flyer’s Facebook page, a “thorough check” will be conducted of the observation wheel before flights are resumed.
The Straits Times reported that Straco Leisure, which owns the Singapore Flyer, is conducting a probe and updates will be made through the attraction’s online channels.
The observation wheel remains closed at press time.
The PATA Destination Marketing Forum 2018 (PDMF 2018), formerly known as PATA New Tourism Frontiers Forum, will be held in Thailand’s north-eastern city of Khon Kaen from November 28 to 30 this year.
Held under the theme “Growth with Goals”, the event will be hosted by the Thailand Convention & Exhibition Bureau (TCEB) and the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT).
PATA CEO, Mario Hardy, commented that putting the spotlight on Khon Kaen is in line with the association’s advocacy for tourism dispersal to secondary and tertiary destinations.
Added Supawan Teerarat, TCEB’s senior vice president – strategic business development and innovation: “The event, which will serve as a driving force for international MICE events in Thailand, contributes to implementing the government’s policy of stimulating and developing the regional economy.
“In order to further stimulate Thai participation, TCEB has negotiated waivers of registration fees for Thai operators and relevant government agencies for the event,” she continued.
PATA will offer complimentary registration to all interested parties who wish to attend.
For more information about the event, please visit www.pata.org/pdmfor email events@PATA.org.
New UNWTO secretary-general Zurab Pololikashvili has appointed Shanzhong Zhu as executive director of UNWTO for a two-year term starting January 1, 2018.
A Chinese national, Zhu also served as UNWTO executive director in the team of the former secretary-general Taleb Rifai.
He was previously the vice chairman of China National Tourism Administration (CNTA) from late 2008 to 2013, overseeing international relations, marketing and promotions in domestic and overseas markets, tourism information centre, tourism security and the establishment of a public service network. .
Joining CNTA in 1989 to 2008, he has served the Chinese NTO in different capacities, namely as director of CNTA Sydney Office, director of CNTA New York Office, deputy director-general of international marketing department and director-general of the marketing and communication department of CNTA.
Prior to that, he was department manager of China International Travel Service.
Mövenpick Hotels & Resorts has appointed Brice Borin as the general manager of the 105-villa Mövenpick Resort & Spa Kuredhivaru Maldives, which will open this year as the brand’s first property in the country.
Prior to joining Mövenpick, Borin was the general manager of the Soori Bali.
With almost three decades of experience in the hospitality industry, the French hotelier spent more than 20 years working for hotel groups in Asia-Pacific such as Regent Hotels & Resorts and Anantara Hotels & Resorts.
ASEAN tourism ministers and VIPs on Wednesday came together to launch the ATF 2018 gala opening ceremony at Royal Flora Ratchaphruek botanical gardens in Chiang Mai.
Donning the traditional northern Thai mo hom indigo shirts, these tourism leaders also crossed their arms in the signature ASEAN group handshake, signifying the regional solidarity shared in supporting the ATF 2018 theme of ‘Sustainable Connectivity, Boundless Prosperity’.
During the opening ceremony dinner, the Tourism Authority of Thailand also took the opportunity to highlight its marketing focus on Thai gastronomy tourism, with 10 Thai celebrity chefs serving up an eclectic mix of modern Thai dishes to offer ATF delegates a taste of the country’s rich culinary traditions.
Thailand is hoping a tax deduction scheme will help drive tourism into 55 secondary provinces.
Tanes Petsuwan, Tourism Authority of Thailand’s (TAT) deputy governor for marketing, said as part of the country’s Go Local campaign, travellers to the 55 areas can claim back taxes paid on hotels and tours.
The tax-back scheme will first be offered to domestic travellers this year, with the programme extended to international visitors in 2019.
“We hope the tax deduction measures will help boost the economies of these provinces and create more (tourist) demand,” said Tanes, adding that TAT’s biggest challenge in promoting secondary provinces lies in “creating a flow of tourists from big cities to small cities”.
However, some international buyers at ATF 2018 appeared less enthused about the tax-back scheme, and told TTG Asia that the move would have little effect on their market.
David Capaldi, founder and CEO of US-based Blue World Journeys, explained: “For the US, I don’t think this would encourage people to extend their stay (in Thailand) as they have a limited number of holidays.”
Albert Sánchez Ramos, account manager Spanish & Latin markets, Destination Asia Thailand, said the majority of his clients were first-timers to Thailand, and as such preferred “to do the typical itinerary and see Bangkok and Chiang Mai”. “I don’t think this would affect our markets,” Ramos remarked.
For Ben Gosman, managing director of FreeStyle Incentives based in the Netherlands, information on the secondary provinces must come first before he is able to work the new destinations into existing itineraries.
“(Destination) knowledge comes before (traveller) incentives,” he remarked.
TAT too sees the importance of raising awareness of the kingdom’s secondary provinces in order to achieve its new objective. Accordingly, it will reduce promotions of major and well-established destinations such as Bangkok, Chiang Mai, Phuket and Pattaya this year, and shift its marketing efforts to lesser-known ones.
Petsuwan said: “We hope this will encourage people to extend their trip. For example, people visiting Chiang Mai will go on to visit Lampang province.”
Through this new direction, TAT hopes to increase visitors numbers in these areas to 10 million, and generate an annual tourism income of US$3 million.”
Ally Bhoonee, founder of tour specialist World Avenues Malaysia, has expanded his portfolio to include hotel and resort management services through the establishment of a new company, WA Hospitality Management in Kuala Lumpur, of which he is the company director.
WA will provide services such as market study and impact analysis, strategy development, hotel positioning, financial planning and cash flow projections, marketing planning, pre-opening scheduling and procurement.
Some of the first clients are Langkasuri and DYKS Holdings. With Langkasuri, WA has signed a three-year contract to manage Camar Resort in Langkawi, a 90-key, four-star business class beach hotel which will begin operations in March 2018.
With DYKS Holdings, WA will manage the 150-room, four-star Kensington Hotel Kuala Lumpur, and the four-star casino Morow Hotel in Siem Reap. Both properties are scheduled to open in 2020.
Ally, a travel and tourism industry veteran with more than three decades of experience, said: “Expanding the business into hospitality is a natural progression. The travel industry is saturated with small profit margins and massive competition from OTAs. On the other hand, South-east Asia’s hotel industry is booming.”
He hopes to grow the company’s hotel management services in the region, and is closely watching Vietnam and Myanmar for hotel management opportunities.
The world’s first Cartoon Network-branded cruise liner will make its maiden sail from Singapore late this year, the outcome of a partnership between Oceanic Group and Turner, the media company behind Cartoon Network.
The 11 guest-deck, 2,000-guest Cartoon Network Wave will sail from the Singapore Cruise Centre to 13 destinations within Asia-Pacific, including Malaysia, Thailand, China, Taiwan, South Korea, Australia and Japan.
Featuring Jake the Dog as the cruise ship façade, the 50,000-tonne Cartoon Network Wave features 800 fully-themed cabins and suites across four room types, including the world’s first triplex suites.
The theme and onboard experience will be inspired by Cartoon Network’s universe, including shows such as Adventure Time, Ben 10, The Powerpuff Girls and We Bare Bears.
There will be nine restaurants, pubs and bars; a rope adventure park; thematic night parties; indoor herb garden; indoor and outdoor spaces, among others.
The Singapore Tourism Board (STB) has suspended Citi Travels & Tours from conducting travel agent activities with effect from January 10, after the latter failed to submit its audited statement of accounts within six months after the close of the financial year.
The travel agency located in Singapore’s Little India is required to fulfil its existing obligations to its customers, but will not be allowed to accept new travel bookings until further notice.
In a statement, STB explained that the submission of audited accounts is a requirement under the Travel Agents Regulations. A failure to do so within the stipulated deadline raises concern over the company’s ability to meet the minimum financial requirements.
STB also found that the travel agent had failed to fulfil its obligations to a customer.
Japan will enforce its Private Lodging Business law on a later date than originally expected, with the legislation set to allow short-term rentals while also putting in place new rules to regulate the running of private lodging businesses.
It was previously reported in the media that the law could come into force this month, but the date is now set at June 15, 2018, according to an announcement made at the 32nd Meeting of ASEAN, China, Japan and South Korea NTOs, which took place on January 24 at ATF.
At the meeting, it was also announced that there will be a new system for private lodging operators, administrators and agents to communicate property and reservation information.
The system will be supervised by prefectural governors, the Japan Tourism Agency and its parent Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism.
Yasuto Kawarabayashi, vice commisioner, Japan Tourism Agency, said the new rules will provide government with “appropriate regulation” of increasingly popular private lodging (minpaku) services, and is “needed to ensure public health, prevent troubles with residents and address illegal minpaku”.
This follows after the Private Lodgings Business Bill was passed in June last year. As part of the Bill, owners will be allowed to rent out unoccupied homes or rooms as accommodation for a total of up to 180 days per year, it was revealed last year.
