With the greater availability of charter flights, more Chinese and Indian tourists heading to Indonesia are choosing destinations beyond the traditional hotspot of Bali.

Charter flights from China and India have increased 40-50 per cent from last year, driven by intense promotions and multi-destination packages, said Gajah Tour Bali general manager Bambang Sugiono.

Lombok, Banyuwangi, Bromo, Komodo and Belitung are most popular, according to Bambang, who added that tourists typically stay five days and favour water sports. Gajah Tour is planning to add more destinations such as Padang and Morotai.

Meanwhile, a recent charter addition is Korean Air’s seven flights from Incheon to Lombok between July and October 2017.

Testament to their success, some charters from China have turned into scheduled flights. These include Lion Air’s services to Jakarta from Sanya (Hainan) and to Manado from Shanghai and Guangzhou, as well as Garuda flights linking Jakarta to Shanghai and Guangzhou.

Charter flights are a way to escalate arrivals as the government works towards the target of 20 million visitors by 2019, said Eddy Sunyoto, international marketing manager at Association of The Indonesian Tours and Travel Agencies.

TTG Asia will be taking a break for the public holiday in Singapore on Wednesday, August 9, in recognition of the country’s 52^nd National Day.

News will resume on Thursday, August 10.

Happy National Day in advance to all Singaporean readers!

Tokyo-headquartered hospitality company Fujita Kanko plans to open its 10^th Hotel Gracery hotel in the fall of 2018.

Located near Asakusa subway station in Tokyo, Hotel Gracery Asakusa will feature 125 guestrooms and have an emphasis on concierge service.

The 10th Hotel Gracery will have an address in Asakusa; one of the district’s key attractions, Sensoji temple, pictured

Notable Asakusa sites include Sensoji, Tokyo’s oldest temple built in the 7^th century; Nakamise Dori, a shopping street leading to Sensoji packed with traditional crafts, souvenirs and street food; and Hanayashiki, Japan’s oldest amusement park. Tokyo’s biggest traditional festival, Sanja matsuri, happens in Asakusa each May.

Future scheduled Gracery openings include Hotel Gracery Seoul in 2018 and Hotel Gracery Taipei in 2019. Recently opened locations are in Naha (Okinawa), Kyoto, and Shinjuku (Tokyo) with the popular Godzilla-themed Hotel Gracery Shinjuku.

Fujita Kanko has 70 properties/facilities, including its five-star flagship, Hotel Chinzanso Tokyo, and 32 mid-priced hotels throughout Japan in the Hotel Gracery and Washington Hotels groups.

Australia’s Mantra Group has entered into an agreement with Deague Group to acquire the local Art Series Hotel Group for approximately A$52.5 million (US$41.7 million), excluding transaction costs.

The move will see seven luxury hotels representing more than 1,000 guest rooms added to Mantra Group’s management portfolio of 128 properties and over 21,500 rooms across Australia, New Zealand, Indonesia and Hawaii.

Penthouse of The Johnson, one of the Art Series properties

The seven hotels, inspired by namesake Australian contemporary artists, are The Cullen, Prahran, Melbourne; The Larwill Studio, North Melbourne; The Olsen, South Yarra, Melbourne; The Blackman, St Kilda Road, Melbourne; The Chen, Box Hill, Melbourne (currently in the final stages of construction and set to open in November 2017); The Johnson, Spring Hill, Brisbane; and The Watson, Walkerville, Adelaide.

The hotels will continue to operate under the Art Series brand.

Mantra Group CEO Bob East said: “This acquisition enhances our existing portfolio and presents a unique opportunity for Mantra Group to increase its footprint across three key locations (Melbourne, Brisbane and Adelaide) in a single transaction.”

The deal is expected to complete late this year.

Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba Group Holding and the world’s biggest hotel chain Marriott International have entered into a joint venture to tap the growing number of Chinese travelling abroad.

The joint venture will leverage the strengths of both companies – Marriott International’s global portfolio of brands and Alibaba’s huge user base, payment system and platforms – to offer reciprocal benefits.

At the ceremony to announce the joint venture (from left) Marriott International’s Stephen Ho, Peggy Fang Roe, Craig S. Smith and Arne Sorenson; with Alibaba Group’s Daniel Zhang, Li ShaoHua, Jiang Fan and David Chai

Chinese travellers will be able to book Marriott hotels through Fliggy, Alibaba’s travel service platform. The partnership will also market directly to Alibaba’s customer base, provide a link between the loyalty programmes of both companies, and support Marriott hotels globally with content, programmes and promotions customised for the Chinese traveller.

Alipay, Alibaba’s online payments platform, will be accepted at Marriott hotels in select global markets with further expansion expected around the world.

Arne Sorenson, president and CEO, Marriott International, said: “By forming this partnership, we are pairing our hospitality expertise with Alibaba’s digital travel platform, retail expertise and digital payment platform, Alipay, and driving membership to our loyalty programmes. With the growing number of Chinese consumers exploring new destinations, this venture will introduce our hotels worldwide to this new and growing travelling class.”

In a separate partnership, Cathay Pacific has also entered into a strategic cooperation with Alibaba Group to broaden the Hong Kong-based airline’s reach to more potential customers in China.

Alibaba’s travel services platform Fliggy will enhance travel planning customisation for carrier’s passengers and promote global travel among Chinese consumers.

Alibaba Cloud, the cloud computing arm of Alibaba Group, will support Cathay Pacific through its data centres and network resources in 14 regions.

As well, Alipay will work with Cathay Pacific on marketing initiatives and explore payment service options at different touch points along the passenger journey.

As the appetite for culinary tourism increases worldwide, operators can now turn to The Independent Food Tour Association (TIFTA) for support and referrals.

TIFTA was launched by eight founding members in Asia, including SingaBites, Food Tour Malaysia, Oishii Tokyo, Taste of Thailand Food Tours, Saigon Street Eats, Lost Plate Food Tours, Eating Adventures Food Tours and Queenie’s Food Tours.

Demand for food tours on the rise; food lovers in Hong Kong pictured (photo credit: Eating Adventures Food Tours)

James Pelham, co-founder of TIFTA and founder and chief taster of Singapore-based Singabites, said: “The food tour sector is constantly growing and becoming more and more popular. By starting TIFTA, we want to make it easier for food travellers to find the best tours as well as create a community where we can all help each other grow.”

Pelham envisions TIFTA as a platform that travellers can use to find reliable and high-quality food tours around the world. The association is now concentrating its efforts in Asia with the goal of recruiting 30 tours by the end of 2017.

The association accepts only operators that are “locally run and use local vendors during their tours thus putting money back into local food communities”, Pelham told TTG Asia.

“We don’t accept members who are owned by big agencies or government organisations. We want to help the small guys,” he elaborated.

TIFTA will also consider customer and peer reviews as part of its recruiting process, said Pelham, and will “keep (members’) standards high” by monitoring reviews and changes in company activity.

The corporate travel segment is also on the plate for the association’s expansion. “With our contacts across the region, we could definitely help corporate event planners,” said Pelham. “Food is one thing that everyone can agree is a good reason to get out of the office and have fun.”