London-based Worldwide Events will hold its romance trade travel event, Amour, in Bangkok from February 14-17, 2018, following the show’s debut in Venice this year.

The three-day programme will comprise one-to-one meetings, networking activities, gala dinners and after parties. It will bring romantic destinations and hotel suppliers throughout Asia-Pacific together with global buyers of romance travel such as destination wedding planners, concierge & lifestyle management companies and private travel designers.

Both the supplier and hosted buyer lists are capped at 100 each.

Richard Barnes, CEO of Worldwide Events, commented: “We know that B2B events work better when there’s a smaller group, which is why we curate an exclusive guest list to create an intimate environment, with everyone staying in one property. It allows us to host fun, interactive events designed specifically to help build strong and lasting relationships with potential clients.”

Besides Bangkok, Amour will also be rolled out in Monte Carlo next year.

Hong Kong-based luxury boutique resorts brand Anayara Resorts will make its debut in Thailand with two new openings in the pipeline.

Its first Thailand property, expected to soft-launch in December this year, is located along the Ao Yon-Khao Kad Panwa stretch of beach in Phuket’s south. Overlooking Chalong Bay, Anayara Luxury Retreat Panwa Resort will feature six bedroom suites, each more than 100m² in size.

Anayara Luxury Retreat Panwa Resort 

Private MPV transfers are available to guests, in addition to activities such as private yoga, taichi or Muay Thai sessions. Facilities include a spa and small fitness area, while F&B options include the Beachside Volcano Stone Grill and Sunset Bar.

The adult-only property can also accommodate receptions for up to 100 pax.

The second property, Anayara Luxx Panwa Phuket, is slated to open in 1Q2019. The retreat will feature one- and two-bedroom overwater pool villas, each with its own terrace, pool and garden. The three-bedroom pool villa features a living area, kitchen, master bedroom, three guest bedrooms and an outdoor terrace and pool.

On top of the wellness features like meditation sala’s, a spa and gym, facilities also include a library, meeting loft, cooking studios, organic herb garden, sky bar and cigar lounge adjoining a small beach club.

Following Phuket, Anayara Resorts has plans to expand in other Thai resort destinations including Koh Samui, Koh Lanta and Koh Lipe, as well as island destinations like Bora Bora and the Maldives.

Crystal AirCruises – the luxury private jet operator owned by Genting Hong Kong – has unveiled the inaugural itinerary onboard its soon-to-launch 86-seater Crystal Skye aircraft, the world’s only twin-aisle private plane.

Crystal Skye will depart from Hong Kong or Macau on September 30 on a eight-night voyage to Nairobi and Tahiti, priced at US$45,000 per guest and including hotels and accommodation, food, all beverages, entertainment, private plane transfers and butler service.

Plane interior

The plane also has the highest crew to passenger ratio of any twin-aisle aircraft, and offers 88 Crystal Exclusive Class seats designed for maximum personal space and convertible to 180-degree lie-flat beds. Features include a social lounge with stand-up bar, while cuisine will be prepared by an executive chef in two state-of-the-art galleys, and paired with an elegant premium wine list from the Crystal Skye Cellar.

Other comforts available onboard include Bose Noise Cancelling headphones, Apple iPads, complimentary global Wi-Fi, interactive TVs with on-demand programming and music library, individual USB ports and power outlets, and a live cockpit-to-ground listening channel.

Crystal AirCruises will take delivery of Crystal Skye on August 1 from Greenpoint Technologies in Washington and will be christened on August 12 during the Virtuoso Week in Las Vegas.

Crystal Skye will also be made available for private charters for one to 28 nights. With its ability to fly non-stop for 19 hours, longer than any commercial air flight (surpassing the current longest route from Singapore to New York at 16-17 hours), it affords guests a wide range of destinations to choose from on their private journeys.

The Crystal US offices and Genting offices will be the main sales points for the aircraft charters, while the aircraft will be operated for Crystal AirCruises by Comlux Aruba NV.

Amid the US market’s growing travel interest to Asia-Pacific, the Philippine Department of Tourism (DOT) is deploying a strategy to twin destinations at home with others in the region.

Addressing Asian-American travel agents and media during the Philippine business mission in San Jose, California this week, Philippine tourism secretary Wanda Tulfo-Teo said: “While destination twinning has already been an established programme of the DOT in the recent years, we have been working to expand the reach of this strategy to new emerging markets like Vietnam, Thailand and Malaysia, among others.”

Opening up secondary destinations; Colonial Plaza Salcedo, Vigan pictured

One of the immediate plans of the DOT is hence to strengthen its partnership with the travel trade in the US’ West Coast, which has already committed to bring US tourists to Manila and Bangkok in October this year.

Purificacion Molintas, DOT attache in San Francisco, said the tourism office in San Francisco recently started implementing the twin-destination promotions in collaboration with DOT Los Angeles targeting Thailand, Vietnam and Malaysia.

She added that California and Vancouver, being home to diverse Asian diasporas in North America, are perfect target markets for the programme.

With the significant improvements seen in the Philippines’ air connectivity in recent years, Teo is enlisting the support from various stakeholders in implementing the twin-destination tour packages, including Philippine Airlines; Eva Air, which flies to Cebu; Asiana Airlines; and Korean Airlines, which has just added flights from San Francisco to Manila.

The tourism chief is confident that twinning Philippine destinations will not only bring in foreign arrivals especially from North America, but also open up opportunities for domestic tourism and secondary gateways.

For instance, packaging Clark – a secondary gateway to Laoag, Vigan and La Union in the Philippines – with other Asian destinations could help bring the country’s lesser-known destination to prominence.

The US, second top foreign visitor market for the Philippines, contributing 428,767 arrivals in the first five months of 2017, up 12.8 per cent on the period last year.

Sri Lanka Tourism Promotion Bureau (SLTPB) plans to appoint PR agencies and its own marketing officers in key source markets, a change from its earlier move of having tourism offices in the UK, Germany and France which have since closed.

The first stage of this plan, SLTPB chairman Udaya Nanayakkara told TTG Asia, is to appoint representatives with experience in tourism marketing in Delhi, Mumbai and Chennai in India; Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou in China; and London, Frankfurt, Paris, Tokyo and Melbourne.

Galle 

The agencies will handle all areas of destination marketing and coordinate with the SLTPB officer in those markets, while decisions on ad placements will be made in Colombo.

Nanayakkara said all approvals are in place with the terms of reference to be finalised shortly by a ministerial committee, after which it will accept global tenders from creative, PR and advertising agencies. He hopes to increase the earlier estimated budget of U$3 million to US$6 million.

Following multiple postponements, the new US$1.3 million digital campaign is now scheduled for a December launch in the UK, Germany and France, followed by the global destination marketing campaign in May 2018.

The US has entirely lifted its laptop ban for passengers flying from 10 airports in the Middle East and North Africa into the country, after the Department of Homeland Security declared that it is satisfied with “enhanced security measures in place”.

The controversial ban, which was imposed in March this year to address the potential threat of hidden explosives, was lifted earlier this month for Emirates, Etihad Airways, Qatar Airways and Turkish Airlines. The remaining airports and airlines are now exempted too.

Welcoming the end of the laptop ban, Greeley Koch, executive director of the Association of Corporate Travel Executives, commented: “This is one less burdensome regulation business travellers – and tourists – must grapple with as they plan their future travel. The policy was insufficient as a standalone measure to address very real ongoing security threats, and did not take into account the need for travellers to maintain connectivity and productivity, especially for long intercontinental flights where being off the grid can lead to business interruption.”

A travel ban on citizens from six Muslim-majority countries – Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen – still remains but this is being challenged in US courts.