AirAsia X, AirAsia’s longhaul low-cost sister airline, has received clearance from the Federal Aviation Authority to fly to the US.

The airline is the first Asian LCC to secure approval to operate scheduled passenger flights to any destination within the US. The airline is currently considering flights to several states, as well as Hawaii, as part of its route expansion plans.

AirAsia X Group’s CEO Datuk Kamarudin Meranun said: “Our expansion up until now has concentrated on Asia, Australasia and the Middle East, and we are excited about our first foray into an entirely new market as we look beyond Asia-Pacific. We are also looking to resume our very popular London route, and are working towards securing the necessary approvals.”

He further credits the clearance to the late group COO Anaz Ahmad Tajuddin who passed away two weeks ago due to cancer.

AirAsia Group flies to over 120 destinations in the Asia-Pacific.

(From left) QUO’s David Keen; The Slate Phuket’s Wichit Na Ranong; Phuket Hotels Association’s Anthony Lark; and Outrigger Resorts’ Mark Simmons

Phuket Hotels Association (PHA) has unveiled at Thailand Tourism Forum yesterday a new brand identity, Brand Phuket, making the first concerted effort to develop a concise and consistent identity for the popular island destination.

Targeting to reinvigorate the profile of Phuket around the world, the brand identity was created by Bangkok-based global branding agency QUO to focus on the island’s breadth of experiences, its natural beauty and culturally-diverse communities.

As well, a new logo has been crafted, featuring ‘Phuket’ in letterform with a decorative motif within the ‘U’ which is inspired by elements in Thai handicrafts. The decorative swirls evoke the curl of the surf, while the combination of blues on the logo reflects the waters and skies at the destination.

“Thailand’s tourism industry has undergone a period of extraordinary growth and it is a time to take a step back, consolidate and position and plan for the future,” said PHA advisor Wichit Na Ranong, who is also owner of The Slate Phuket resort.

“The central and core intention of PHA is to bring the industry together to develop the destination. Tourism has been good to Phuket and we now need to ensure we are reinvesting through environmental and educational programmes to ensure benefits and advantages are spread.”

PHA was launched last year by the island’s several prominent hoteliers, comprising more than 61 hotel members representing 9,000 rooms.

Banyan Tree Huangshan

Banyan Tree Holdings has come together with real estate company China Vanke to create a new joint venture Banyan Tree China (BTC), which will consolidate the ownership of Banyan Tree-branded hotels and assets in China.

BTC will also be the development and management platform for new projects by both parties in hospitality, senior-living and wellness, an area which both Banyan Tree and Vanke can “do a lot more in China and the rest of the world”, said Ho Kwon Ping, executive chairman of Banyan Tree, in a press release.

The initial paid-up capital of BTC is estimated to be no more than RMB2 billion (US$292 million).

The joint venture will initially be controlled 50:50 by Banyan Tree and Vanke through Banyan Tree’s injection of all its China-owned assets into BTC at valuation. The current book value of these assets (before valuation) is approximately RMB720 million.

Meanwhile, BTC will invite owners of the other 15-plus existing hotels and 20-plus hotels bearing various Banyan Tree brands under development in China to inject their hotels into BTC under mutual agreement. Vanke may also inject hotels it owns as well as future hotels under development into BTC.

BTC will also own 40 per cent of Banyan Tree’s hotel management company in China and continue the rapid expansion of the various brands under the Banyan Tree Group, namely Banyan Tree, Angsana, Cassia, Dhawa and Laguna.

Vanke will also take up approximately five per cent equity stake in Banyan Tree itself, as did AccorHotels, another strategic partner with which Banyan Tree recently signed a collaboration agreement to co-develop Banyan Tree-branded hotels around the world.

The Indian government’s new service tax on tour operators has come as a jolt to the sector, already reeling under pressure post demonetisation.

Effective January 22, tour operators are required to pay service tax on 60 per cent of the total invoice value of a package tour, according to a government notice. Earlier, the tax was levied on 30 per cent of the invoice value.

This effectively doubles service tax on tour packages to nine per cent from the earlier 4.5 per cent.

Mahesh Iyer, COO, Thomas Cook (India), said: “The impact is two-fold: a resultant doubling of the tax rate on the sector, and given that implementation was within a week, reaction time as well as time for advocacy was negligible. This will see a corresponding increase in tour pricing, which will in turn be passed onto customers.”

The move will benefit foreign tour operators and OTAs unaffected by the increased tax, Nalin Kapadia, chairman, Incredible Vacations remarked. “It seems that the government is looking to make life difficult for small travel agents,” he said.

Others added that the move will mostly hit outbound packages as operators enjoy CENVAT (Central Value Added Tax) credit for all input services for inbound tours. This can help defray service tax on services like hotels, transportation and mobile bills.

“Though CENVAT credit is huge relief to inbound tour operators, many of us also (combine) neighbouring destinations like Sri Lanka and Nepal in our tour packages. With the cost going up we may lose that business to foreign tour operators,” said Amaresh Tiwari, managing director, A.T. Seasons & Vacations Travel.

Koh Phi Phi, Thailand

Tourasia, one of Switzerland’s major specialised tour operators to Asia, expects to produce more arrivals from Poland to South-east Asia this year, having opened a subsidiary in Warsaw last month on December 1.

Managing director Stephan Roemer noted that four out of five most popular Asian destinations for Polish, in arrivals figures, are in South-east Asia. The top five, in order, are Thailand, Vietnam, Sri Lanka, Singapore and Indonesia (Bali).

“If you look at the official figures there are considerable increases, particularly to Thailand and Sri Lanka. They report increases of high double digits,” he said.

“Poland is a young market with growth potential. The population is 40 million and at present, 10-20 per cent have the comparable buying power of a market like Germany. That equals to a market size of four to eight million potential travellers. The number of travellers is growing. The annual growth in GDP is approximately four per cent, among the highest in Europe,” Roemer assessed.

Though young, Roemer said Polish are seasoned travellers who want to go farther. Tourasia is targeting the luxury segment with its refined concierge service, own deluxe vehicles and innovative roundtrips. But it will also have “an adequate offer for the tourist class segment”, he said.

Its new office, centrally located in Warsaw, is manned by four staff, led by Piotr Chojnowski, whose career rose from product director at TUI Poland to CEO of Onholidays before joining Tourasia.

“We are setting up our infrastructure and will start the promotions and sales in spring (March/April),” said Roemer.

This isn’t the first time Tourasia operates in foreign markets. The company also owns Tischler Reisen in Germany, another major specialised tour operator to Asia.

In Asia, Tourasia operates its own network of DMCs in Myanmar, Thailand, Vietnam and the Philippines under the name All Asia Exclusive, which also caters to Asian outbound markets. Presently it employs 32 employees in Switzerland and over 140 in Asia.

Street near Hatyai Plaza market

The Thai border city of Hat Yai, which depends on Malaysia as key tourism feeder market, has been hard hit by the anaemic ringgit that makes even short trips pricey for Malaysian vacationers.

The Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) estimated that Malaysian arrivals to Hat Yai had fallen by 10 per cent year-on-year in January 2017 while the average length of stay had gone from two nights to just one. Travel spend took a beating too, falling more than 30 per cent to 2,000 baht (US$57) per head per day.

Krit Praphanrasnikorn, managing director of President Hotel Hat Yai and former president of the Hat Yai Songkhla Hotel Association, said the ringgit had depreciated by more than 20 per cent against the baht, which means a weaker buying power for Malaysians in Thailand.

Exacerbating Hat Yai’s tourism predicament is the LCC boom, which Krit said has turned the destination into a stopover location where Malaysians park their cars and depart on flights for other Thai resort destinations like Chiang Mai, Phuket and Krabi.

“The tourism situation in Hat Yai will hit rock bottom in 20 years’ time and the poor (Malaysian performance) is likey to continue at least two years from now,” Krit said.

He urged tourism authorities to develop new destinations and products to keep up with travellers’ evolving demands.

TAT’s Hat Yai director Panu Woramit acknowledged the challenge and told TTG Asia that there are plans to create entertainment and sporting events to woo Malaysian travellers. These activities will begin after the Songkran festival in April.

Panu added that TAT and tour operators in Hat Yai are actively sourcing for new markets to reduce the destination’s dependence on Malaysia. They are pinning their hopes on China, as from April 2 there will be three regular flights a week from Kunming to Hat Yai.

Sihanoukville

A series of measures to plant the Cambodian coastal resort of Sihanoukville on the map as one of the region’s premier beach resort are paying off.

Tourism officials hope beautification projects to clear up the beaches, plans to double the airport’s capacity to 500,000 passengers per year and efforts to secure more international flights will continue to drive visitors to the destination.

Mick Spencer, owner of ANA Travel & Tours, said the development is mostly being driven by the Chinese, with Sihanoukville being heavily marketed in China.

Several projects are also underway to build casino complexes in the destination.

“The airport expansion is to accommodate an anticipated influx of casino junket Chinese mainlanders,” Spencer said, adding the number of visitors from Europe has remained stable during the last few years.

A marketing initiative introduced in 2016 that gives cash incentives to airlines using Sihanoukville’s airport for international flights has also been renewed for another year.

Last January, Cambodia Airports started offering airlines $10 per passenger – with a maximum of $1,000 per flight – on international scheduled flights departing from Sihanouk International Airport.

Khek Norinda, Cambodia Airports spokesman, said: “This has proved successful in attracting new airlines to Sihanoukville and increased the number of visitors.”

He added passengers landing at the airport increased by 65 percent in 2016.

Bun Socheat, manager of Mekong Travels, said: “These efforts and general development in the area are paying off and will help increase Sihanoukville’s popularity in the future.”

FIT Ruums, Webjet’s new B2B travel distributor in Asia, has unveiled a new rewards programme.

The programme allows travel suppliers, including NTOs, to directly incentivise and educate agents with a series of rewards such as lifestyle products, hotel stays, bespoke event invitations and fam trips. Rewards can also be tailored to the individual needs of each market.

“FIT Rewards creates a platform for our supplier partners to launch their new products, allowing more targeted product penetration, education and adoption by their key bookers in the travel trade,” said Daryl Lee, director of FIT Ruums’ parent company, WebBeds FZ.

A series of online stores, similar to the iTunes Store, will be created for each Asian market, further enhancing the suppliers’ ability to target their local clients.

Kok Sheng Sun, chief commercial officer of FIT Ruums, said: “We anticipate high demand from the agent community, and look forward to unveiling an exciting new range of products and activities, and expanding our online reward stores across Asia in the coming months.”

To celebrate the launch of FIT Rewards, travel agents who sign up FIT Rewards before January 31, 2017 will receive 1,000 bonus FIT Points. Every booking made before the end of January 2017 will earn the member an additional 500 FIT Points.

FIT Ruums will also reward the travel agency that makes the most bookings in January 2017 with rebates of 50 per cent off its booking values.

For more information, please visit rewards.fitruums.com.