Representatives from MNC Land and MCC Group after the signing of an agreement for the construction of an integrated theme park resort, at the Grand Hyatt Hotel in Jakarta

INDONESIAN developer MNC Land has entered into an agreement with China Metallurgical Corporation (MCC) Group for the development of a new integrated theme park resort in Bogor city.

According to a press statement, this will be the first world-class development of its kind in Indonesia.

The theme park alone is expected to encompass a 55ha space, excluding two hotels and an entertainment precinct also in the works. The entire resort is part of a broader plan by MNC Land to develop a 3,000ha lifestyle and entertainment hub.

MCC, who were involved in the structural design, construction and project management of Shanghai Disneyland, Universal Studios Singapore and Chimelong Ocean Kingdom, will be in charge of the design and build of the integrated resort.

Seperately, road works are also underway to extend the Bogor-Sukabumi expressway to provide easier access from Jakarta to the region.

Philippine DoT secretary Ramon Jimenez, Jr.

FOREIGN visitor spending to the Philippines contributed an 8.2 per cent share of the country’s total exports in 2015 to reach 306.6 billion pesos (US$6.6 billion), nearly doubling from the 4.3 per cent share reported five years ago.

According to the 2015 Philippine Tourism Satellite Accounts released by the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA), this ranks tourist arrivals as the third biggest export item last year.

As propellers of GDP growth, tourism also climbed to third place, after the trade industry and real estate segment. Tourism industries employed 4.98 million people in 2015.

“Looking back, the positive outlook of the industry, harmonious public and private partnership, a good marketing campaign and the strong government support that the Department of Tourism (DoT) received allowed tourism to reach the economic heights where it is today,” commented DoT secretary Ramon Jimenez, Jr.

“To maintain the industry’s growth, the 2016-2022 National Tourism Development Plan is being finalised for presentation to this administration, and to the new administration for approval. This should help sustain the strong first quarter growth in tourist arrivals and help the country meet its target of 6.5 million tourists by year-end.”

Jimenez has served as tourism secretary for the last five years and is slated to step down next month when Wanda Tulfo Teo takes over the post.

INTERNATIONAL travel spend is predicted to rise massively over the next decade due to a surge in households attaining the means to embark on cross-border holidays.

According to Visa’s first-ever Global Travel & Tourism Report, an estimated 282 million households will travel at least once per year by 2025, up nearly 35 percent from 2015. Consequently, travel expenditure is expected to reach US$5,305 per household annually, excluding air fares.

Leading the growth for the next 10 years are emerging markets, especially China, with travel spend anticipated to rise 86 per cent to US$255 billion, almost double that of the next largest spender, the US, standing at US$134 billion with 33 per cent growth.

Developed markets such as Germany and the UK will still account for a significant volume of global travel spend (up 31 per cent to US$97 billion and up 58 per cent to US$96 billion respectively), but will experience much less increase compared to emerging markets.

Russia, for instance, only accounted for US$22 billion in travel spend in 2015, but will rise 118 per cent to US$49 billion in 10 years’ time.

Visa added in its report several trends that are fueling this surge, notably that nearly half of all global households (945 million) will have the monetary means to travel by 2025.

As well, travellers over 65 years of age will more than double their international travel to an estimated 180 million trips per year, accounting for one-in-eight cross-border trips globally.

This bodes well for the medical tourism segment as Visa predicts aging travellers, who tend to spend more and travel for longer, to combine their leisure trips with medical pursuits.

At the same time, the development of 340 new airports globally over the next decade and the increasingly rapid spread of travel information from now till 2025 will also be a boon for connectivity and foster greater interest and conveniences in travel.

“Travelling internationally will become more common and attainable in the future thanks to changing demographics, combined with technology advances that make travelling abroad easier and less expensive,” said Wayne Best, chief economist at Visa.

“What will emerge is an expanding ‘traveling class’ that will spend a growing portion of their household income on cross-border travel. Tomorrow’s travelling class will likely be older and hail from emerging markets — looking very different from today’s typical international traveller.”

NOK Air is expanding services to China and investing in pilot training as CEO Patee Sarasin looks to overcome his “toughest year emotionally” at the helm.

Nok Air will launch thrice-weekly flights from Bangkok to Kunming in November, but Patee said the airline will also tap other regional markets as it aims to get back in the black.

“Everyone seems to think China’s a goldmine, for now, and it is – we’re talking about over 10 million people coming in from China, and our charter flights are packed every day,” he said.

“But I do not believe it’s going to be long-lasting. As the domestic market in China grows and as more airlines want to get in, you’re going to see a slowdown in that growth. Our expansion has to cover more areas, such as India.”

The price war among LCCs and a pilot shortage meant while passenger loads were in the 80-90 per cent range daily, Nok Air’s yields were down significantly.

Patee said Nok Air had more than replaced the 14 pilots who left in February, but more is needed to prevent the same fiasco from happening again.

“We will be producing more pilots as we go. We are thinking much more long-term than just a short-term fix,” he said.

Meanwhile, eight Boeing 737-MAX aircraft are on order for the next three years, and Patee said these would replace older stock as Nok Air aims to increase capacity while keeping maintenance costs down.

“The order of the aircraft has been designed for conservative growth rather than explosive growth as Thai AirAsia and Lion Air have been doing. I believe our competitors are feeling the pinch with all these aircraft with nowhere to fly to. We don’t want to be putting ourselves in that situation.”

As for ramblings that the airline is in need of a leadership shake-up, Patee said he would see Nok Air through its current difficulty before planning any departure.

“There will be a time when I will have to hand over to somebody else. We’re looking into how we can plan this correctly. It’s not going to be my face forever – it’s bloody tiring, running an airline is not an easy task.”

THE Langkawi Municipal Council will be imposing a levy on domestic and foreign tourists starting July 1.

Known as the Langkawi Tourism Promotion Levy, the fee will range between one ringgit (US$0.25) and nine ringgit for each day of stay, depending on the traveller’s accomodation type.

Tourists staying in one- and two-orchid (star) rated accommodations will be charged one ringgit per room per night; three ringgit for three- and four-star hotels; five ringgit for five-star accommodations; seven ringgit for six-star accommodations; and nine ringgit for seven-star accommodations.

When asked to explain what was meant by six- and seven-star accommodations when the Ministry of Tourism and Culture Malaysia classify hotels only up to five-star, Mohd Rawi Abdul Hamid, Kedah state tourism committee chairman, said: “In the future, there may be.”

He added that the funds collected would reduce Langkawi Municipal Council’s dependency on funding from the state government to carry out projects. Plans are for the levy to go towards beautification works on Langkawi island.

“If you go to Phi Phi Island, there is a tourist charge. Penang has also imposed a bed tax. These are all income to carry out projects for the further enhancement of tourism,” he explained.

However, the levy has ruffled some feathers. Ally Bhoonee, executive director of World Avenues, said: “I am not against the levy but communication of this new levy is very sketchy. Who is responsible for informing the international travel community? Is it the Langkawi Development Authority?

“Right now I have to inform agents for every new booking which is a lot of work for us. If we forget to include this information, we can be threatened with lawsuits, even though the amount is small. The authorities should have planned way in advance and made announcements last year in lieu of this impending levy.”

AIRLINE distribution intermediary APG and Vietnam Airlines have entered into another GSA agreement in six additional countries.

The partnership will see APG providing full sales and marketing services as well as call centre and ticketing facilities in Belgium, Netherlands, Denmark, Norway, Sweden and Turkey.

APG was also recently appointed GSA for Cambodia’s national carrier Cambodia Angkor Air (May 2016) in nine countries across the US and Europe, and for Xiamen Airlines (June 2015) in four new countries.

APG currently has presence in 176 countries and commercial relationships with 180 airlines.

Bailey: My focus remains in South-east Asia

CHRIS Bailey has resigned from Bangkok-based Centara Hotels & Resorts after 12 years of service with the company, during which he rose to be chief operating officer of the fast-expanding chain.

“It has been a hugely difficult decision and indeed a while in the making for me. I have enjoyed over 12 years with the company but feel I cannot add much more to their current journey and so the time is right to seek the next step in my career plan.

“As such I have taken the decision to resign and seek new opportunities available to me. After more than 20 years in the region, my love and focus remain here in South-east Asia and am currently exploring various opportunities although nothing is finalised,” he told TTG Asia e-Daily in an email interview.

Bailey will leave at the end of September. “It’s business as usual now and thereafter as the wonderful team that has grown with me and supported me so well remains in place and very much active,” he added.

Graham Ramsey, CEO of ATPI

ATPI Group has acquired New Zealand-based Business World Travel, expanding the group’s reach in the travel management and events business in the region.

With this, ATPI now has 34 wholly-owned offices spread across 18 countries worldwide.

Expansion in the Asia-Pacific region for ATPI has recently included the acquisition of Australia-based Voyager in January 2014, the purchase of DTC Travel in Malaysia in October 2015, as well as new expanded premises in Singapore to accommodate a growing team. The company also launched ATPI Sports Events in Australia earlier this year.

Grant Bevin, founder of Business World Travel, will continue to lead his company’s operations from New Zealand.

Commenting on the acquisition, Graham Ramsey, CEO of ATPI, said: “The purchase of Business Travel World is a significant milestone for our global business. As part of our growth strategy over the last two years we have focused on extensive investment and acquisitions.

“Through this most recent deal, we have a new exciting venture that reinforces the high standards of client service that are a cornerstone of our business. In turn, Business Travel World and its clients will benefit from ATPI’s bespoke technology, purchasing power, and comprehensive people development and training.”