Malindo Air’s upcoming services from Kuala Lumpur to Jeddah, the first Middle Eastern destination in its network, is expected to bolster Malaysia’s Muslim pilgrimage travel segment.

Malindo Air will complement other carriers on this route, namely Saudi Airlines, Malaysia Airlines and AirAsia.

Chandran Rama Muthy, CEO, Malindo Air, said in a press release: “This new route will create another affordable option for our Muslim guests to perform Umrah and Hajj. We already have plans to progressively increase our frequency from twice to four-times weekly, and to a daily frequency during the month of Ramadan.”

The service will run twice weekly from February 21 until March 25, with frequency likely be increased thereafter.

Syed Razif Al-Yahya, group managing director of Sutra Group of Companies, said: “This route will cater to Umrah and Hajj pilgrims from Malaysia during the Malaysian school holiday and Ramadan peaks.”

The new Jeddah-Kuala Lumpur service will benefit inbound traffic into Malaysia too, pointed out Within Earth Holidays’ executive director Saini Vermeulen, as it will help to curb the “shortage of seats during the Middle East peak travel season in summer”.

“However, the airline will have to create brand awareness of its offerings in Saudi Arabia as this is its first foray into the market,” Saini added.

There will be an hour-long technical stop at Ahmedabad, India along this route.

Sens Asia Travel, founded last year by Vietnam-based HG Holdings, has entered into a joint venture in Germany to create Sens Asia Travel GmbH and offer its “sensory-driven” Asian itineraries to German travellers.

The official signing will be held during ITB Berlin next week.

Photo credit: Sens Asia Travel on Facebook 

“German travellers love extraordinary travel experiences and this, combined with the importance of sustainability in their travel decisions, made this a very logical step for us as we grow the brand in Europe,” said Sens Asia Travel managing director Linh Bui Ngoc.

German entrepreneur Martin Peter Moll, who has been appointed as managing director of Sens Asia Travel GmbH, said: “This is a company that puts people first and is deeply committed to sustainable travel experiences, working with communities and ensuring they are direct beneficiaries of the tourism to their areas.”

Based in Hanoi, Sens Asia Travel operates offices in Thailand, Myanmar, Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos and Indonesia, with openings in Sri Lanka due later this year.

Malaysian travel agents expressed their relief when authorities declared klia2 clean of any trace of the VX nerve agent, following a sweep of the airport after the assassination of Kim Jong Nam that has also resulted in a diplomatic row between Malaysia and North Korea.

Ally Bhoonee, executive director at World Avenues Travel & Tours, opined: “Statement and actions taken by the relevant authorities have provided a reassurance to overseas tourists that this airport is free of the toxin. When there is any negative publicity, our overseas clients will enquire about the situation before sending their clients to Malaysia.”

People walking at the departure terminal of KLIA2 Airport in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. 

Alex Lee, CEO at Ping Anchorage Travel & Tours, said: “The declaration clears the air of any doubt people may have. The Malaysian authorities did the right thing in carrying out a sweep of the airport and screening it for contamination from hazardous materials.”

The VX nerve agent, a deadly chemical declared by the UN as a weapon of mass destruction, was smeared on Kim’s face on February 13 at the airport, resulting in his death.

Air China will launch thrice-weekly Barcelona-Shanghai flights beginning May 5 this year.

Flights depart Barcelona’s airport at 12.30 and reach Shanghai at 06.40 the next day for Fridays and Sundays. The Tuesday flight will depart from Barcelona at 11.45 and reach Shanghai at 05.55 the following day, while the return flight will depart at 00.30 and land in Barcelona at 08.00 on the same day.

The route will be operated on an Airbus 330-200 with 16 business class seats and 239 economy class seats.

This is Air China’s second route to Barcelona. In May 2014, the carrier started flying four-times-weekly from Beijing to Barcelona via Vienna.

Minor Hotels will roll out its first Avani property in South Korea with the 400-key Avani Busan, scheduled to open in 2019.

The hotel also represents Minor Hotel’s first property in South Korea, which sees the company signing a management agreement with hotel developer, UL Group.

Avani Busan’s facilities will include an all-day dining restaurant, meeting rooms, a rooftop bar, spa, gym, swimming pool and a Korean-style bathhouse. In addition to the hotel, 136 exclusive branded residences will also be included in the development.

The hotel will be situated within the East Busan Tourism Complex Zoning, where Lotte World (opening 2019) and Lotte Mall will be located less than 250m from the property. Also within walking distance is the Haedong Yonggungsa Buddhist temple.

William Heinecke, founder, chairman and CEO of Minor International, commented: “South Korea is an important feeder market for Minor Hotels and we also see a lot of opportunity as an inbound market, both for this new Avani and potentially for future Minor Hotels’ properties as well.”

Minor Hotels currently has a portfolio of 156 hotels and resorts in 24 countries across the globe, 17 of which are Avani-branded.

Bolstered by the strong double-digit growth in arrivals from Hong Kong (35 per cent), Singapore (33 per cent) and Malaysia (65 per cent) in the year ending September 2016, Tourism Tasmania will keep its marketing priority on these key markets as well as China’s top-tier cities.

During the sales mission to Hong Kong last week, Tourism Tasmania’s CEO John Fitzgerald, told TTG Asia: “This year, we will not have extra marketing dollars for new markets and (instead) maintain our focus on existing ones. There is a growing awareness (of Tasmania) in some Asian destinations such as Indonesia, but we are not planning to create offices in those places.”

Tourism Tasmania’s CEO John Fitzgerald speaking at the sales mission in Hong Kong

Although China fell from top to second spot after registering a 15 per cent drop in arrivals, Fitzgerald sees that as a natural slowdown after the spike in 2015 following president Xi Jingping’s visit to the state in 2014. He is confident that Chinese arrivals will “bounce back”.

But while the lack of direct international access has been a stumbling block in marketing the state, Fitzgerald expects an improvement when Hobart Airport’s runway extensions are completed in mid-2018 to enable the landing of widebody aircraft.

He added: “Hobart will also welcome 1,200 new hotel rooms in 2018/2019, an increase of 30-40 per cent in capacity. Apart from homegrown brands like the 114-room MACq 01 (opening mid 2017), there will be international brands like the 221-room Hyatt Centric (2019) and 187-room Crown Plaza (opening 2017).”

As well, Kai Yang, director of Tassie HD Holiday, among the 13 operators participating in the sales mission, hopes to drum up awareness for the company’s two new properties – Macquarie Hotel and Elizabeth Hotel – set to open in December 2017 and June 2018 respectively.

Meanwhile, Elanor Investor Group, which owns Peppers Cradle Mountain Lodge in Tasmania, has recently appointed a salesperson for Asia in Sydney to step up its marketing efforts in the region.

Said its marketing manager for hotels, tourism and leisure, Philip Haine: “Our top markets are Singapore and Hong Kong while Malaysia is small but growing. I want to (promote) that the hotel offers more than luxury rooms but versatile experiences too like wine tasting to touring.”

Tourism Tasmania’s 2017 Asia Mission took place in Kuala Lumpur, Singapore, Hong Kong, Shanghai and Chengdu from February 20-27.

Despite recent safety issues surrounding Europe, the continent remain the best-selling destination for agents participating in Travel Revolution 2017, which was held at the Marina Bay Sands over the weekend.

Organised by the Singapore Outbound Travel Agents Association (SOTAA), the three-day travel fair saw a strong turnout despite fewer travel agents this year, said Kay Swee Pin, president of SOTAA.

Travel Revolution 2017. Photo courtesy: Chan Brothers Travel

Kay, who is also SA Tours’ managing director, told TTG Asia that the agency outperformed last year’s sales for Europe, a crowd favourite, with Spain, Portugal and the Balkans topping the list.

“It is quite surprising, because it’s only February and (consumers) are already booking for December. In 2016, we had record numbers going to Finland and Norway, so maybe those who have gone have come back and spread the word. We are very optimistic and have pre-booked hundreds of igloos to make sure we cater to the demand,” she said.

Kay added that many are repeat travellers venturing out of Central Europe, with the Balkans especially popular at the fair.

Meanwhile, Chan Brothers Travel expects to achieve its sales target of S$20 million (US$14 million), double that of last year’s edition, based on its performance in the first two days, said its head of marketing communications, Jane Chang.

Chan Brothers Travel saw a surge in demand for Central Europe unlike the previous year where demand leant towards destinations outside of Central Europe.

The tour operator also saw good uptake in new tours introduced this year such as the Southern Lights tours in New Zealand, as well as self-drive campervan convoy tours in Western Australia.

With the spike in sales, Chang commented that infusing creative ideas in mass travel fairs like Travel Revolution 2017 have helped change Singaporeans’ perspective on travels and exposed them to different experiences.

Following the assassination of Kim Jong-nam at klia2 airport last week, Malaysians have been advised not to visit North Korea over security reasons.

North Korea has demanded for the return of Kim’s body and has blamed Malaysia for his death. In response, Malaysian tourism and culture minister Mohamed Nazri Abdul Aziz has dubbed North Korea “a rouge state”, according to a report by The Star.

An outbound agent, who requested anonymity, do not see any fallout arising from the tourism minister’s declaration as demand for North Korea has always been slow. He said: “It is a remote country and there is not much information on the place. But we will stop selling since Mohamed Nazri has made this statement.”

Currently, Malaysian passport holders do not need a visa to visit North Korea. Instead, they only need an entry permit, which can be obtained after purchasing a full package tour that includes hotel accommodation, transfers and meals through an accredited travel agency.

According to the North Korea Tourism website, the accredited agency will submit the entry permit application to Kuala Lumpur-based DPR Korea Tourism office for processing, which will take two weeks.

And despite calls from Malaysian parliamentarians to review the country’s visa-free policy for North Koreans, Mohamed Nazri did not deem it a necessary move as the initiative only benefitted North Korean officials; ordinary citizens are forbidden to travel out of their country in the first place.