Screenshot of CS Travel’s website on March 23

SINGAPORE-BASED CS Travel (CST) has been suspended from carrying on the business of a travel agent from March 18 to April 17, according to an advisory by the Singapore Tourism Board (STB).

During the period of suspension, CST is required to fulfil its existing contractual obligations to its customers but will not be allowed to accept new travel bookings.

CST has been slapped with the temporary suspension for having contravened provisions under Singapore’s Travel Agents Regulations.

STB stated that they have received 12 consumer complaints since 2013 relating to CST’s lack of professionalism and poor service standards.

According to Ruth Lim, spokesperson for CS Travel, “the agency is currently serving her month long suspension over a complaint case that occurred last year. We are still bringing tour groups out of Singapore and taking in balance payments from our customers, business is as per normal, the only activity we are unable to do during this period is the taking in of new bookings”.

“We have since improved and would like to assure all that this will not occur again,” she added.

AIRPORT taxis will soon be available globally on Amadeus booking solutions in partnership with Dutch-based company Taxi Tender, allowing travellers to pre-arrange taxi pick-ups at airports via travel agents as well as directly from airline and airport websites.

The rates are also discounted using Taxi Tender’s proprietary system which calculates average taxi fares for the route, then auctions the business to local taxi and transfer companies who then bids for the job.

“After a thorough selection process, we opted for Taxi Tender to become one of our providers. Now we can jointly provide all players in the travel industry – worldwide and across all channels – a comprehensive and transparent service offering,” said Peter Altmann, head of Amadeus cars & transfers.

ACCORDING to the annual Economic Impact Report 2016 by the World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC), the tourism sector added 7.2 million jobs to the global economy and contributed over US$ 7.2 trillion to worldwide GDP last year, or 9.8 per cent of global GDP.

David Scowsill, president and CEO, WTTC, noted the sector’s significant 3.7 per cent growth and resilience despite uncertainty in the global economy and challenges to the sector last year, including “terror attacks, disease outbreaks, currency fluctuations and geopolitical challenges”.

He added: “Travel and tourism also supported a total of 284 million jobs in 2015, an increase of 7.2 million, which means it now supports, directly and indirectly, one in 11 jobs on the planet.”

The sector’s direct contribution to GDP growth outpaced overall GDP country growth in 127 of the 184 countries covered by the research. This trend was most marked in countries including Iceland, Japan, Mexico, New Zealand, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Thailand, and Uganda.

The growth of the sector has been attributed to a worldwide increase in middle-class households, an ageing population, which tends to travel more, and growing connectivity between destinations, making travel more accessible and affordable.

While all regions of the world showed growth in GDP contribution, South-east Asia was the fastest growing with a 7.9 per cent increase followed by South Asia, which grew 7.4 per cent.

Meanwhile, the Middle East grew 5.9 per cent, the Caribbean 5.1 per cent, Sub-Saharan Africa 3.3 per cent, North America 3.1 per cent, Europe 2.5 per cent, North-east Asia 2.1 per cent, Latin America 1.5 per cent and North Africa 1.4 per cent.

In 2016, the sector is forecasted to grow by 3.5 per cent in total contribution to GDP, and is again expected to outpace global economic growth for the sixth consecutive year.

INDONESIA has finally decided to grant Australia’s travellers visa-free facilities despite the unlikelihood Indonesian passport holders will get the same treatment from the Australian government.

Australians were previously granted visa-free access into Indonesia, but got dropped from the list because Indonesian law stipulates the rights have to be given on a reciprocal basis.

The Indonesian Ministry of Tourism is currently requesting that Australia give its citizens visa-free access since Indonesia is one of the biggest source markets for Australia, with the potential to grow even further.

Even if unsuccessful, the new policy remains a boon for Indonesia’s arrival numbers, according to Arief Yahya, Indonesia’s minister of tourism, who expects some 20 per cent growth in arrivals from Australia with the change.

Citizens from a total of 168 countries are now granted the right to enter Indonesia visa-free for 30 days via selected major entry and exit points in the country.