Mount Barujari 

LOMBOK International Airport has reopened at 08.00 local time this morning, following its closure at 16.55 yesterday after Mount Barujari – dubbed Mount Rinjani’s ‘child’ – erupted.

Mount Barujari erupted yesterday at 11.50 and the spread of the volcanic ash disrupted several flights to and from the Lombok airport. In total, 25 domestic flights and four international flights were cancelled.

While the eruption did not affect Ngurah Rai International Airport in Bali directly, some flights cancellations still took place.

Affected flights included Tigerair from Denpasar to Perth and Virgin Airlines from Denpasar to Brisbane. Other airlines that have cancelled flights to Bali include Tigerair from Adelaide, Perth and Melbourne, and Virgin Airlines from Brisbane and Sydney.

Although the eruption has stopped, the Mount Rinjani observatory office has requested climbers to stay away from Mount Barujari as an eruption can take place again at any time.

THE Japan National Tourism Organization (JNTO) recently conducted its inaugural Destination Japan Specialist Programme for outbound travel consultants in New Delhi and Mumbai.

“This offline specialist programme was conducted to offer detailed information to travel trade partners in India about Japan that would enhance their product knowledge and help them to create itineraries for tourists,” said Daisuke Kobayashi, director of Singapore, Malaysia & India, JNTO.

As part of the programme, a workshop was conducted and agents were divided into groups to create customised itineraries based on themes. At the end of the workshop, each participating travel agent was certified as a Destination Japan Specialist.

Kobayashi hopes the specialist programme will stir up Indian demand for new destinations in Japan. He said: “Indian travel agents are aware of the Golden Route in Japan but now we are also looking to promote the Alpine Route, where one can experience beautiful nature. We may also introduce an online specialist programme in India after gauging the success of the offline programme.”

Seeing potential in selling Japan as an outbound destination, Gopal Kumar, director, Balaji Travco India, commented: “There is a strong business travel movement from India to Japan and such a specialist programme will help us to present Japan as a leisure destination effectively.”

In 2015, Japan welcomed 103,200 visitors from India, a growth of 17.3 per cent year-on-year, while foreign arrivals hiked 47 per cent to 19.7 million. JNTO is targeting 40 million international tourist visitations in 2020.

ASEAN is calling for bids from experienced consultants to create the ASEAN Tourism Marketing Strategy 2017-2020 for adoption by the region’s NTOs.

The tourism marketing strategy, which will sit within the framework of the already adopted ASEAN Tourism Strategic Plan 2016-2025, will follow from the Visit ASEAN@50: Golden Celebration campaign in 2017.

Specific deliverables include a competitive analysis of tourism in ASEAN; vision, objectives, goals and targets; market research findings on aspects such as purpose of trip and length of stay; branding, logo and tagline; action plans; budget requirements and resourcing; monitoring and evaluation; an implementation timetable, and more.

The scope of work for the marketing plan includes a market research programme that analyses ASEAN’s current market positioning and confirm likely future patterns and trends in visiting the region.

An overall budget of US$30,000 has been allocated.

The service agreement is scheduled to be signed by September 9, while presentation and adoption of the finalised strategy is expected to take place mid-2017 in front of the ASEAN Head of National Tourism Organizations in Vietnam.

“ASEAN is looking forward to hearing from experienced consultants with a proven track record in preparing tourism marketing plans,” said Tran Phu Cuong, acting director general, Vietnam National Administration of Tourism, and coordinator of the bids for the marketing strategy.

“The consultant will be experienced in working across multi-cultural settings, and be willing to think and act creatively and strategically, and produce innovative tourism solutions.”

Interested consultancies must submit a letter of interest and a proposal to the ASEAN secretariat at eddy@asean.org and copy the ASEAN tourism marketing coordinator at atmcwg@gmail.com by August 19, 2016.

The full terms of reference for bidding for the ASEAN Tourism Marketing Strategy 2017-2020 can be found here.

Chiang Rai

HK EXPRESS will launch twice-weekly flights between Hong Kong and Chiang Rai from November 25, 2016, making the Hong Kong-based LCC the first airline to offer scheduled services from the former British colony to the northern Thai city.

Flights depart Hong Kong at 13.45 on Mondays and 14.00 on Fridays, arriving at 15.50 and 16.05 respectively. The return flight departs Chiang Rai at 16.35 on Mondays and 17.05 on Fridays, landing in Hong Kong at 20.05 and 20.35 respectively.

As Chiang Mai has been a hit for its guests over the last several years, HK Express is confident that neighbouring Chiang Rai – where the Golden Triangle is located – will become a popular destination for Hong Kong travellers seeking off-the-beaten-track experiences, said the airline in a press release.

IN A bid to professionalise the local surf industry and to provide more job opportunities to the coastal and surfing communities, the Philippine Department of Tourism (DoT) has implemented two programmes to develop surfing as a major tourism product.

One programme will focus on the classification and accreditation of resorts, surf camps or other facilities that provide surfing lessons to clients. These training facilities need to have certified surfing instructors to teach or supervise, and require them to have essential teaching equipment and gear such as soft training surfboards and rash guards, and adequate spaces for class lessons, lockers, toilets and showers.

Such resorts or facilities must also have emergency rescue and crisis response capabilities such as first aid kits and communications equipment to handle urgent conditions.

A national criteria for the certification and classification of surf training facilities has been completed and subjected to public consultation. It is now undergoing final refinement.

Another component in the programme is the help local coaches upgrade and become internationally-certified professional surfing instructors, and increasing the number of such certified instructors. To be certified, an instructor must undergo an intensive Surfing Instructors Certification Course.

The DoT has partnered with Australia’s Academy of Surfing Instructors (ASI) and its local chapter, the Academy of Surfing Instructors Philippines (ASIP), for this project. ASI is the world’s leading professional education, certification and accreditation standard for surfing, while ASIP’s role is to execute all ASI functions and conduct instructor certification courses in the Philippines.

So far, some 50 surfing instructors have received their ASI Level 1 certification and 15 more from Mati, Davao Oriental, will soon join their ranks. At least two more runs are scheduled this year – one in Baler, Aurora and another in Zambales – which are expected to produce about 50 more ASI level 1 certified instructors.

MALAYSIA Airlines Berhad and Boeing last week announced a US$5.5 billion deal for 50 units of 737 Max aircraft – 25 firm orders and 25 purchase rights – with the first delivery commencing in 2019.

“This deal is a game-changer for Malaysia Airlines with much lower costs and greater efficiency, which we will pass on to our customers with lower fares,” said Peter Bellew, newly-appointed CEO of Malaysia Airlines.

Elaborating on the benefits, he said the 737 Max 9 has 180 seats, 18 more than Malaysia Airlines’ existing fleet; new slimline seats with more legroom; new Wi-Fi enabled internet; and new CFM Leap-1B engines which will reduce fuel consumption by up to 15 per cent and reduce operational noise emissions by 40 per cent.

The Malaysian national carrier has operated almost every derivative of the 737 airplane family and took delivery of its 100^th 737 in December 2014. It currently operates 56 737-800s and will go on to take delivery of a mix of 737 Max 9 and 737 Max 8 aircraft.