Vietnam Airlines will begin a thrice-weekly service between Sydney and Hanoi from March 28.
To be operated on a Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner aircraft, the flight departs Hanoi every Tuesday, Friday and Sunday at 23.55 and lands in Sydney at 13.15 the next day (12.15 for Sunday departures).
It then returns from Sydney at 15.15 (14.15 on Monday departures) and arrives in Hanoi at 20.50.
Ticket sales are now open on Vietnam Airlines’ website.
On the heels of Air Canada launching daily Montréal-Shanghai services on Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner aircraft last week, Tourisme Montréal and Shanghai Municipal Tourism Administration (SMTA) this week signed an MoU to boost tourism performance.
The tourism organisations anticipate a significant increase in tourist traffic between Shanghai and Montréal thanks to the new connection, Air Canada’s first to Asia from the French-speaking municipality.
With Tourisme Montréal projecting 110,000 Chinese arrivals in 2017, a 30 per cent increase over the previous year, Yves Lalumière, president and CEO of Tourisme Montréal, said: “We’re encouraging local business operators and hotel owners to prepare for the influx of visitors from this market.”
The MoU was signed during a tourism mission to China led by tourism minister, and will see Tourisme Montréal and SMTA discussing strategies to increase reciprocal tourist numbers, promote urban tourism and develop the business travel market by attracting international events and conferences.
The two organisations will also share their respective knowledge on topics such as performance indicators, statistics, strategies and technology tools to improve their respective operating procedures.
The Air Canada service departs Montreal at 13.30 daily and arrives in Shanghai at 16.40 the following day. It returns from Shanghai at 18.15 and lands in Montreal at 18.35. There will be slight differences in the flight schedule from March 12 onwards.
Surfers Paradise, Gold Coast
The Gold Coast’s unique character and experiences have taken centre stage in its newest destination brand platform, We Are Destination Gold Coast, which was launched nationwide on Sunday and will hit international markets in March.
The multimillion dollar campaign was “years in the making”, shared Jan Hutton, chief marketing officer of Gold Coast Tourism.
“Through two years of research and consultation, we’ve discovered that what distinguishes the Gold Coast in an ever-increasing world of choice for travellers is not our beaches or theme parks; instead, it’s the unmistakable life affirming energy that lives there. It is an energy that ignites, inspires, reconnects and makes you feel alive,” Hutton said.
The new branding is also timely for a destination that is already familiar among corporate and association event attendees, she continued. “People attending business events, particularly meetings and incentives, look for iconic memories. Gone are the days when people look forward to standing beneath the Eiffel Tower; now they want to have dinner in a local family’s dining room.
“The braggability when they travel has become much more localised. It is a big change in both leisure and business travel around in the world,” Hutton remarked.
“When you are able to show a deeper side of a destination, you can stimulate and encourage repeat visitation a lot easier. Ultimately, our job is to increase the revenue stream for the destination, stimulating the local visitor economy more by getting people to explore more parts of the Gold Coast (and more often),” she added.
In-market messages and activities attached to the new branding will have “hyper local relevance”, segmented by interest, not geographical region.
Execution includes engaging Gold Coast Tourism’s own digital and social channels to connect with people “in a way that is very relatable and relevant”. Visuals and language used will also be tailored to specific segments, according to Hutton.
“We are also identifying local influencers – bloggers covering travel, lifestyle, fashion and business events, and Instagrammers, etc – and we will seed our content to them,” she concluded.
Paradise Group has appointed seasoned hotelier Carmen Marienberg in the role of COO to spearhead the development of the nine-year-old company.
Marienberg was most recently with Alma Oasis Long Hai Resort in southern Vietnam as general manager for a year and a half. Prior to that, she served as general manager of La Residence Hotel and Spa in Hue.
She is also no stranger to the cruise industry, having worked for Cunard, the MS Berlin and in several capacities for Carnival Cruise Lines.
A German native, Marienberg brings with her 30 years of hospitality experience around the world, and has spent much of her career in the Asia-Pacific region including Australia, Myanmar, Thailand and Vietnam.
Hard Rock Hotels will open its first hotel in China, the Hard Rock Hotel Shenzhen, in summer this year.
Located in Guangdong’s Mission Hills Centreville, the hotel’s 258 rooms – spanning categories such as Studio Suites, Rock Royalty Studio Suites and Rock Star Suite – will boast a mix of music-inspired décor and modern Chinese elements. As well, the hotel offers in-room Fender guitars and DJ equipment via its music amenity programme.
In line with its lineage, guests at the Hard Rock Hotel Shenzhen will be able to peruse memorabilia from legendary music icons on display. Facilities onsite include a fitness centre, kids’ club, four F&B options, as well as 1,000m2 of meeting facilities.
Emirates has rolled out advanced seat selection and payment based on its branded fares on the Travelport platform.
Previously offered only on the Emirates website, the paid seat selection applies to certain economy fares and is now available to over 68,000 Travelport-connected travel agencies and TMCs in over 180 countries.
Norwegian Escape, the first ship in NCL’s Breakaway-Plus Class
Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings (NCL) has reached an agreement with Italian shipbuilder Fincantieri to construct four ships, with an option for additional two.
The four 140,000-gross ton ships will each accommodate approximately 3,300 guests and will be delivered in 2022, 2023, 2024 and 2025, with an option for two additional ships to be delivered in 2026 and 2027.
Costing approximately 800 million euros (US$848 million) each, the new class of ships will build upon the brand’s most recent Breakaway-Plus Class ships and will be energy efficient. Further details of the ships’ features will be announced at a later date.
Photo credit: Dynasty Travel
The 50th edition of the NATAS travel fair held last weekend at the Singapore Expo witnessed a record turnout of close to 111,000 visitors, but the spike in visitorship translated to mixed performance for participating agents.
Dynasty Travel, one of some 20 agencies returning from a rival fair, raked in more than S$10 million (US$7 million) in sales, a 20 per cent increase from last year’s fair.
The agency’s spokesperson Alicia Seah added that Europe came up tops as the most popular destination for Singaporeans, with the sector accounting for 30 per cent of overall sales revenue for the leisure market.
Seah believes that the travel culture is strongly embedded among Singaporeans, who will “take to the skies whenever possible”.
Not all agencies are seeing brisk business at the fair though. Famous World Tours outbound manager Tarasuraman Tharani told TTG Asia that the firm had a “challenging year (at the fair) with fewer enquiries” and that booking volume was not up to their expectations.
Welcoming the doubling of attendance at this year’s fair, Devinder Ohri, president of NATAS, also recognised the challenges ahead in global travel and urges travel agents “to adapt to thrive in this ever-changing landscape”.
Oakwood Premier Incheon
Singapore-based Mapletree Investments has acquired Oakwood Worldwide in full after its initial purchase of a 49 per cent stake in its Asia-Pacific operations (Oakwood Asia Pacific) in 2014.
The deal marks Mapletree’s long-term strategy to strengthen its corporate housing and serviced apartment business, as it gains control of Oakwood’s network in more than 95 countries as the world’s largest provider of corporate housing and serviced apartments.
Commented Hiew Yoon Khong, Mapletree’s group CEO: “Our full ownership of Oakwood will allow us to enhance efficiencies and the growth momentum of our corporate housing and serviced apartment business.
“Mapletree intends to step up the acquisition and development of corporate housing and serviced apartment assets that will add to our earnings streams and expand housing options available to clients and guests. We will be looking at markets across the US, Europe and Asia-Pacific, regions where Oakwood is a well-regarded brand,” he added.
Christopher Ahearn will return to Oakwood as CEO after serving as its senior vice president of sales and marketing from 2005-2010. Prior to rejoining Oakwood, he was senior advisor to TPG Capital.
Oakwood’s founder and chairman Howard Ruby will assume the non-executive role of chairman emeritus, where he will serve in an advisory role.
Mapletree is currently developing three serviced apartment properties in Japan and Vietnam as well as one other asset in the US, which will be managed by Oakwood Worldwide upon completion.
Following the initial acquisition in 2014, Oakwood also took over the management of all nine of Mapletree’s corporate housing and serviced apartment assets in the US and Australia.
Tourists watching the lightshow at Marina Bay Sands, Singapore
The Singapore Tourism Board (STB) and Japanese travel giant JTB have signed an MoU to promote Singapore as a key destination in 2017 to Japanese travellers.
It is the first MoU between the two organisations, and Singapore is the first country in Asia to receive such emphasis. Under the MoU, STB and JTB will collaborate on product development marketing, sales and public relations to promote the Lion City as an attractive leisure and business destination in Japan.
For a start, STB and JTB will jointly develop and promote new travel packages targeting different consumer segments in the Japanese market including first-time travellers. For example, JTB customers will be able to enjoy an exclusive, customised night tour of Singapore on board an open-top bus.
Both organisations hope to further raise the profile of Singapore in Japan and attract 90,000 Japanese visitors through this year-long campaign spanning from April 2017 to March 2018.
In 2015 and 2016 respectively, STB and JTB had collaborated on commemorative tours and promotions to mark the 50th anniversary of Singapore’s independence and 50 years of Japan-Singapore diplomatic relations.
