From left: Bob Binder, Andy Stuart, and Jason Montague

NORWEGIAN Cruise Line Holdings has made three strategic changes to its leadership team.

Bob Binder, Andy Stuart, and Jason Montague have been named president and CEO of Oceania Cruises, Norwegian Cruise Line and Regent Seven Seas Cruises respectively.

Binder is taking on the new post in addition to his current role as vice chairman of Oceania Cruises and Regent Seven Seas Cruises, a position he has held since 2011.

Prior to this, he served as president of Oceania Cruises, where he played a key role in the development and design of new Oceania ships and restaurant concepts for the line.

Meanwhile, Stuart, president of NCL, and Montague, president of Regent Seven Seas Cruises, will add on the title of CEO to reflect their expanded roles with their respective brands, effective immediately.

All three executives will oversee sales, marketing, passenger services and revenue management for their respective brands and continue to drive the development of itineraries and onboard products to ensure each line delivers its brand promise.

All report directly to NCL Holdings’ president and CEO Frank Del Rio.

THE Thai cabinet approved a MoU on Tuesday demanding the Ministry of Tourism and Sport (MOTS) to establish standard package prices for Chinese arrivals in order to put an end to zero-dollar tours.

The agreement, which focuses on bilateral collaboration and on taking greater care of tourists, will be signed today by the MOTS and the China National Tourism Administration (CNTA). Also included in the signing is the commitment to improve the skills of tour guides to better serve the needs of Chinese tourists.

CNTA agreed to the policy despite concern surrounding Sino-Thai relationships as crackdowns on zero-dollar tours take place, signalling China’s willingness to improve its tourism standards.

The Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) revealed that more than 3,500 agents were blacklisted for being involved in zero-dollar operations.

Thailand’s tourism and sports minister Kobkarn Wattanavrangkul and TAT executives will confer with major travel agents in China next month, and the minister expects the situation to normalise by end-October as pricing standards kick in.

MOTS said that even though the crackdowns will be painful in the short term with Chinese arrivals dropping and package tour prices increasing, it believes that it will be good for the tourism industry in the long run.

The ministry revised its projection of Chinese arrivals in Thailand downwards from 825,679 visitors to 690,375 this month. That figure is still higher than the same period in 2015 with 547,843 visitors.

In any case, a shortage of tour buses is expected after a giant zero-dollar tour network, including OA Transport, was busted earlier this month. Police shuttered 381 firms and impounded 2,155 buses in total. Some travel agents may be put out of business, according to MOTS.

However, TAT is still confident that 10 million Chinese tourists will visit Thailand this year as expected because of the upcoming high season. TAT governor Yuthasak Supasorn also assigned TAT’s five offices in China to closely monitor the situation there.

TAT expects arrivals from China will grow 3.85 per cent to 10.8 million visitors to generate 574.9 billion baht (US$16.5 billion) in revenue (9.12 per cent up year-on-year) in 2017.

CHINA’s antitrust regulatory body has given the green light for the merger transaction of Marriott International and Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide.

With this, the final hurdle is now passed, allowing the two hospitality giants to together form the world’s largest hotel company under the Marriott banner.

The Chinese Ministry of Commerce had earlier in August requested for an extension of the time period needed to complete its review of the Marriott-Starwood merger transaction, delaying the process.

Marriott also went through a short but heated bidding war with a Chinese consortium led by Anbang Insurance Group for possession of Starwood. The tussle saw Marriott emerge victorious and Anbang backing out in March this year.

Pending customary closing requirements, Marriott and Starwood in a joint statement said they will now proceed to seal the transaction in time for the market opening on September 23.

In conjunction with the merger closing, Starwood expects its NYSE-listed shares to cease trading before Friday.

Abdulla Ghiyas

PATA is partnering with the Maldives Association of Travel Agents and Tour Operators (MATATO) to share opportunities and resources between the two organisations, including the revival of a PATA chapter in the Indian Ocean archipelago.

An MoU was signed by Abdulla Ghiyas, president of MATATO, and Mario Hardy, CEO of PATA, during PATA Travel Mart 2016 held in Jakarta earlier this month.

“Signing of this MoU marks a success in our efforts to build corporation with international organisations and institutes, which we believe in the future will add value to our programmes and projects,” said Ghiyas.

“Going ahead, MATATO will be more engaged with PATA events and programmes worldwide, and we will be working together to host PATA events in Maldives in the near future.”

Under the agreement, both organisations will extend cooperation in areas of research and publication, advocacy, training and human resource development and destination marketing.

They will also work together to revive PATA Maldives chapter and bring PATA affiliated programmes to Maldives.

Refugees arrive in Lesbos, Greece, via boat from Turkey

TRIPADVISOR will contribute at least US$5 million from the TripAdvisor Charitable Foundation to aid the humanitarian refugee crisis, an announcement made ahead of the White House’s Private Sector Call to Action Roundtable that took place at the UN Headquarters yesterday.

For its initial contribution, the foundation will expand its partnership with The International Rescue Committee (IRC) and Mercy Corps, providing US$1 million over two years to each organisation.

Additionally, the company has committed to providing in-kind support in multiple areas through its TripAdvisor Media Group.

The company’s contributions seek to address four key areas identified: meeting urgent humanitarian needs in Europe and the Syria region; enabling access to critical information via technology solutions for refugees to make smart and informed decisions along their journey; providing essential education and empowerment opportunities for refugee youth; and supporting and strengthening resettlement opportunities in the US, and in other host communities.

“Last summer as thousands of refugees arrived on the shores of Greece, TripAdvisor was one of the first companies to respond with relief support, also raising the profile of the crisis with their millions of subscribers worldwide,” said David Miliband, president and CEO of IRC.

“TripAdvisor’s leadership in the travel sector and continued investment will be invaluable in addressing the needs of refugees.”

Nevertheless, Steve Kaufer, CEO of TripAdvisor, acknowledged: “No single company or organisation can tackle this crisis singlehandedly and our (contribution) is only a small fraction of what is desperately needed.

“With the state of the issue, governments around the world need to do more to find and implement lasting solutions; however, it’s incumbent upon the private sector to leverage our unique expertise, resources and capabilities in partnership with nonprofit organisations.”

TripAdvisor first made a donation to both IRC and Mercy Corps through its foundation one year ago.

Tokyo International Airport is commonly known as Haneda Airport

SHORTAGE of runway space at Tokyo’s airports has led Japan’s ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism to permit both international and domestic flights to use Haneda International Airport’s Terminal 2 from March 2020.

At present, the terminal is dedicated to domestic flights, but arrivals and departures are expected to increase in the coming years and soar as Tokyo prepares to host the 2020 Olympic Games.

Terminal 1 presently serves Japan Airlines while All Nippon Airways’ flights primarily operate out of Terminal 2. The third terminal is solely used for international flights, but its location forbids the expansion of the concourse and the parking positions for aircraft.

The ministry intends to remedy the problem by expanding Terminal 2 and creating a new area for international flights.

The expansion work will include new entrances and exits, immigration screening facilities, duty-free shops, restaurants and waiting areas.

Access to the airport will also be revamped, with names of stops on the Keikyu Line and the Tokyo Monorail that presently link the airport with central Tokyo likely to be renamed to avoid confusion for travellers going to the international and domestic terminals.

The ministry plans to increase annual takeoffs and landing at Haneda from 90,000 a year at present to 129,000 a year in 2020.

The addition of nearly 40 per cent more flights a year will bring in around seven million more travellers annually, a number that existing facilities at the airport would not be able to cope with.

Construction work at Haneda is scheduled to begin on April 1, 2017.

Perhentian Island, Terengganu

TOURISM Malaysia is confident arrivals from Singapore will pick up this year despite the record low in 2015 which saw a seven per cent drop from 2014 to 12.4 million.

Speaking to TTG Asia e-Daily, the newly appointed director of Tourism Malaysia – Singapore office, Ishak Ismail, said the latest statistics showed an increase of 3.2 per cent in Singapore tourist arrivals into Malaysia.

Explaining this “significant increase”, Ismail said: “One of the key advantages for Singapore tourists is the better exchange rate which makes it very affordable for them to travel to Malaysia.

“There are also other factors like increased flight connectivity and more LCCs entering the competition.”

As such, he expressed optimism that visitor arrivals for 2016 will be “definitely better” than last year. He is targeting for every Singaporean tourist to travel to Malaysia at least four times this year.

He added he aims to lure Singaporeans beyond cities like Kuala Lumpur, Malacca and Johor Bahru as there is “a lot of untapped potential” in the north-east region of Malaysia.

Highlighting the upcoming Visit Terengganu Year 2017 campaign as an example, he said: “This state will leverage its well-known snorkelling and diving islands, Redang and Perhentian, to promote tourism in the mainland.

“I am sure a lot of (Singaporeans) have not been to this part of Malaysia before so we want to give them something new to see in Malaysia that they may not even realise existed.”

Ismail said they will be working closely with travel agents to further market and promote Terengganu.

EMIRATES is rerouting its New Zealand service, making Auckland its final stop instead of Christchurch.

The planned reroute of EK418/419 will come into effect from October 30 and alters the current service plying to Christchurch from Dubai via Bangkok and Sydney.

According to Emirates, the reroute is being done to cater to increasing demand to certain New Zealand destinations from Thailand.

Daily flights depart Bangkok at 19.30 and will arrive in Auckland at 15.55 the next day, after a stopover in Sydney.

The return service then departs Auckland at 16.30, makes a stop in Sydney at 17.55, before arriving in Bangkok at 01.10 the next morning. The service then continues to Dubai, arriving at 06.45.

Shyam Rai Temple, Bishnupur

IN ITS pursuit of more international arrivals, West Bengal Tourism has rolled out a series of initiatives targeting tourists from China, which currently number few to the eastern Indian state.

“We have already hosted 17 Chinese travel agents for a fam trip to the state in January this year. We plan to host another group of agents, most probably (in October). We are also looking to (work with the Institute of Chinese Language) to develop a pool of trained Mandarin-speaking guides, which are in shortage at present,” said Surajit Bose, additional director and joint secretary to West Bengal Tourism.

Besides launching a digital advertisement campaign in China in addition to advertising in Chinese magazines, it will also participate in Chinese trade shows to highlight its tourism products.

In addition to Darjeeling and Sunderbans National Park that are already popular among international tourists, West Bengal Tourism will promote cultural attractions like Santiniketan and Bishnupur – famous for its terracotta temples – to Chinese tourists.

Several tour operators from the state have also set up offices in China to grow the market, said Bose.

Welcoming the NTO efforts, Debjit Dutta, chairman, Indian Association of Tour Operator (IATO) West Bengal chapter, said: “There is already direct air connectivity available between Kunming and Kolkata. China is a potential market for us and we expect to record more Chinese tourist arrivals with the state tourism department promoting West Bengal.”