Laurent Kuenzle

ASIAN Trails Thailand will be handling the clients of Finland’s leading tour operator Aurinkomatkat in South and Central Thailand from November 1, an opportunity that arose when DER Touristik, which bought Apollo (Kuoni Scandinavia), shifted the account to its subsidiary, Go Vacation Thailand.

“Losing the Apollo account to DER-owned DMC Go Vacation enabled us to look at options to work with other major tour operators in northern Europe and we are very happy that we could come to an agreement with such a reputable company as Aurinkomatkat,” said Laurent Kuenzle, Asian Trails Group’s CEO, in an email interview.

Aurinkomatkat, part of the Finnair Group, carried nearly 200,000 passengers to various destinations last year, with a total turnover of 172 million euros. Kuenzle would not reveal the size of the account, only saying Thailand is a “major destination” for Aurinkomatkat.

He added: “We believe that the Finnish market is very interesting for Thailand. Thailand sees a large number of repeat travellers from Finland and is by far their (Aurinkomatkat) number one destination in Asia. Thailand is excellent value for money and has quality beach properties available for every budget.”

Currently, the account is being handled by Asia World Thailand.

Janne Ohralahti, head of procurement category marketing, hotels & transportation of Finnair Plc, said: “We strongly believe that Asian Trails has not only the infrastructure in place in Thailand but also has demonstrated that on-the-ground service standards remain its highest priority in Thailand.

“Its extensive network of offices in key destinations in Thailand with employees who understand our needs were decisive factors to appoint Asian Trails Thailand as our partner.”

MEMBERS of the travel industry have welcomed the first direct flight linking Cambodia with Japan amid expectations it will attract a new wave of tourists.

All Nippon Airways (ANA) launched a fully-booked Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner that landed in Phnom Penh for the first time on September 1.

Shinya Katanozaka, president and CEO of ANA, said: “We are truly honoured to be the first airline to connect our two countries. Cambodia is not only a fascinating tourism destination, it is also garnering global attention for its high potential for economic growth, so we look forward to welcoming both leisure and business passengers on our flights to and from Cambodia.”

It is hoped the daily service will frogleap Cambodia towards its aim of attracting 300,000 Japanese visitors by 2020.

Hen Sunsein, general manager of Mekong Travels, said: “We are seeing an increase in Japanese visitors, especially business-orientated.”

It is also hoped the flight will boost connectivity with the rest of the world, adding an extra arm to traveller options.

Kimhean Pich, CEO of Mekong Discovery, added: “We welcome this flight. It connects Cambodia to a lot more of the world.”

A DROP in Chinese arrivals and delays in launching new routes has forced Mega Maldives Airlines to shed jobs.

It has reduced its fleet from five aircraft to three while immediately making 65 positions in the company redundant.

“Furthermore, we have also made the decision to put on hold replacing 50 positions that are vacant and were due to be filled this year. As a result, the company’s total staff will now be reduced from almost 400 at the start of 2016 to 278. This is a reduction of 50 local staff and 64 foreign staff,” stated the airline.

Arrivals from China, the Maldives’ biggest source market, have dropped nearly 11 per cent in the six months to June this year.

But Mega, which accounts for 30 per cent of total Chinese traffic to the Maldives, says it will still continue its Beijing, Shanghai and Hong Kong services.

The airline said the slowdown in China was one that the carrier foresaw and planned for in late 2015. “Therefore, an extensive diversification of our route network was planned for this year, which included South Africa, India, Thailand and Europe.

“Unfortunately, for a number of reasons, many of which were outside of our control, we have had to either reconsider or delay these routes.”

Tokyo Skytree

THE Tokyo Metropolitan Government conducted an exercise earlier this month specifically to test the city’s ability to safeguard foreign tourists in the event of a major natural disaster.

The safety drill involved evacuating 120 volunteers playing the part of foreign tourists from the observatory deck of the 634-metre tall Tokyo Skytree after a simulated earthquake of magnitude 7.3 strikes the city.

Staff at the venue, which has become one of the most popular tourist sites in the country since it opened in May 2012, were required to escort visitors from the upper floors of the tower to safe zones at ground level.

The staff then communicated with the tourists through a megaphone equipped with an automatic translation function to determine whether any were injured or required medical treatment.

Police and fire fighting teams also took part in the exercise.

Local authorities across Japan are stepping up their efforts to provide timely and appropriate information to foreign visitors, whose numbers are expected to swell to 40 million in 2020.