Colombo, Sri Lanka

The Malaysian Association of Tour & Travel Agents (MATTA) has embarked on targeted sales missions to India in a bid to reverse declining arrivals from the market.

Following its earlier sales mission to Bengaluru and Chennai in August, MATTA inbound vice president, Tan Kok Liang, will lead a delegation of 10 agents in the upcoming mission to Kochi and Colombo from November 30 to December 3.

The association is planning more roadshows in 2017, starting with Nepal and Delhi in February, then Calcutta and Mumbai in June, Chennai and Bengaluru in August, before ending in Cochin and Colombo in December, according to exco member for India, Ganneesh Ramaa.

Ganneesh commented: “India has always been among the top 10 (feeder) markets for Malaysia. However, with growing competition from other countries, we have to work hard and cannot merely rely on Tourism Malaysia (to) reverse the negative trend.

Shanti Devi, operation manager at Asian World Holidays, said the earlier sales mission in August had proven useful for acquiring sales leads from new agents and offered more focused opportunities to seek out Indian agents with an interest in selling the destination.

Gopalan Mariappan, director and owner at Sanbury Travel, who will be participating in the upcoming mission to Cochin and Colombo, also sees value in face-to-face meetings with agents. “It is also an opportunity for us to update agents on new attractions and packages, which will help them promote the destination better to their clients,” he elaborated.

According to statistics from Tourism Malaysia, arrivals from India dropped 6.2 per cent to 722,141 in 2015. The decline continued into 1H2016 with a five per cent fall in visitors from the corresponding period in 2015.

MA Privileges last week launched Happyfun.Asia, Malaysia’s first dedicated amusement park ticketing site with an instalment payment plan.

Among the theme parks that have come onboard are Legoland Malaysia, Kidzania Malaysia, Puteri Harbour, A’Famosa, Angry Birds Activity Park, Flip Out, according to CA Ngoh, director of HappyFun.Asia.

Meanwhile, HappyFun.Asia has appointed Gem Travel and Tours as agent to provide front-end support for its customers.

The site offers a 12-month zero per cent instalment plan for CIMB credit card holders, requiring customers only to pay for 11 months. The company is in talks with other major banks to make the instalment plan available to more cardholders.

The unexpected closure of Taiwan’s struggling TransAsia Airways on November 23 were met with mixed reaction across the industry, ranging from shock to dismay.

In the first three quarters of 2016, the 65-year-old company ran up losses of more than NT$2.2 billion (US$69.2 million), with problems mainly attributed to the two plane crashes the carrier suffered in 2014 and 2016.

Said chairman, Vincent Lin: “We tried to look for domestic and international professional bodies, partners or even a new operational team to help TransAsia. It’s a pity that the hope was not fulfilled.”

Given the short notice given by TransAsia’s immediate termination, William Lu, general manager of Best Travel, had to cancel the reservations of overseas clients booked on the carrier.

Lu elaborated: “While the refund process is ongoing, they may not travel to Taiwan and choose other destinations instead. We try to downplay the impact and waive the cancellation, which affects our business.”

On the other hand, Swire International Travel Services general manager Norman Meng is less perturbed as TransAsia is not a choice carrier among his clients. He said: “We seldom use TransAsia as it operates mostly to secondary routes. This does not appeal to TMCs, and as a non-alliance member the only mileage that can be accumulated is with the airline itself.

“Only specific domestic destinations such as Penghu and Hualien are affected as TransAsia is the only airline that operates these routes. Other flight routes and time slots will soon be replaced by other Taiwan Airlines such as China Airlines and Eva Air,” he added.

Maya Bay, Phi Phi Island, Thailand

The Thai trade is raising expectations for the Russian tourist market this year, as the sector has shown strong signs of recovery following a stabilising rouble.

Pegas Select (Thailand), a major inbound tour operator in the Russian market, expects sales of Thailand tour packages to surge 25-50 per cent during the period from October 2016 to October 2017.

Nikorn Yatinunt, director and advisor of Pegas, said: “I believe the situation will be better in winter 2017. Thailand can beat Vietnam and become one of our clients’ two most popular destinations if the Thai government amends some regulations to facilitate tour business.”

At present, Pegas’ three most popular destinations are Turkey, Vietnam and Thailand respectively, a change from the previous order of Turkey, Egypt and Thailand, Nikorn shared.

Sathirapong Na Takuatoong, president of the Phuket Tourist Association (PTA), said the stabilising rouble exchange rate at around 60 rubles per US dollar since early this year has driven Russians’ confidence in travelling and spending.

The bounce back is apparent in the number of charter flights from Russia to Phuket this high season, and PTA expects the figure to reach more than 20 weekly charter flights from October 2016 to March 2017, he added.

Furthermore, Thai Airways International’s resume Moscow-Bangkok flights in mid-December is expected to aid the Russian inbound market in 2017.

Tanes Petsuwan, Tourism Authority of Thailand’s deputy governor for international markets, revised the projected arrivals of Russians upward from 1.1 million to 1.3 million in 2017, following the strong recovery of the market since August. Thailand is likely to receive at least 1.1 million Russian travellers in 2016, he said.

To keep up the momentum, TAT has joined hands with six major travel agents in the Russian market such as Pegas and Tez Tour for marketing promotions. The NTO is training its sights on Russia’s major cities such as Moscow, Saint Petersburg and Belarus to increase the number of FITs.

Beach area at Cox’s Bazar

Bangladesh is making aggressive plans to bolster the tourism sector, including drawing up its first investment-focused tourism master plan and developing the beach destination of Cox’s Bazar.

“We expect a full comprehensive master plan for tourism will be ready by end next year. If will focus on investment opportunities available to develop various tourism spots across the country,” said Akhtaruz Zaman Khan Kabir, CEO, Bangladesh Tourism Board (BTB), during the PATA New Tourism Frontiers Forum 2016 in Cox’s Bazar last week.

The master plan will also advise the tourism ministry on potential new destinations and attractions in the country, help frame policy guidelines and human resources training, elaborated Kabir. The BTB has already floated a tender inviting expression of interest from firms.

Meanwhile, tourism investment opportunities are being planned for Cox’s Bazar, including an exclusive 445ha tourist zone that will house hotels, restaurants, amusement parks and other facilities.

The existing airport will undergo expansion to meet the growing number of flights, as international airlines like China Eastern have expressed interest to operate flights to the city.

“China is one of our main international source markets. Direct connectivity from China to Cox’s Bazar will help to attract Chinese tourists to the region,” said Taufiq Rahman, chief executive, Journey Plus.

Bangladesh registered 0.6 million international tourist arrivals in 2015.

Pan Pacific Singapore has relaunched its swimming pool after a S$3 million (US$2.1 million) revitalisation programme.

Surrounded by water features and lush greenery, the revamped pool features a new Poolside bar, a family zone with a wading pool and private lounging spaces enhanced with 11 large cabanas, nine day beds and numerous sun loungers.

The Poolside can also be booked for private events and parties for up to 150 pax.

The newly renovated pool, together with the St Gregory Spa and gym, now make up the hotel’s rejuvenated lifestyle floor on level four.

Jenny Fu will lead Beijing office as sales director

UK-based B2B travel wholesaler JacTravel has entered into the China market with the launch of an office in Beijing, adding to its established base in Hong Kong.

The expansion follows a successful drive to secure new clients in China, which has resulted in contracts with leading travel players including Ctrip, Qunar, Tuniu, U-tour and Caissa Travel in the B2C segment and Dida Haoqiao and Marco Polo in the B2B segment.

These companies now connect directly to JacTravel’s accommodation inventory, with real-time access to pricing and availability in more than 12,000 directly-contracted hotels worldwide, international chain hotels and an additional aggregated portfolio of over 130,000 properties.

The new Beijing office will be led by sales director Jenny Fu, who is supported by sales manager Fei Ren and client technical support analyst Justin Zhang.

JacTravel has since built its portfolio to 250 directly contracted properties in China, of which 74 are in Beijing and 60 are in Shanghai, plus a further 650 indirectly contracted properties.

According JacTravel’s CEO, Terry Williamson, the Beijing office has set targets to double the size of business in 2017 and expand its Chinese portfolio further.

The 23-year-old Datai Langkawi will embark on an extensive 10-month renovation from September 4, 2017 before opening its doors again in mid 2018.

The redesign will include renovations to the resort’s guestrooms, suites and villas; the construction of a Nature Centre; additional spa pavilions; a refreshed retail space; and a fitness centre by the beach as well as an overall landscaping enhancement.

Leading the revamp is interior designer Didier Lefort of DL2A, who was part of the original design team for the property’s launch in 1993.