AFTER many failed attempts, the Malaysian government has finally launched ENTRI (electronic travel registration and information) and e-visa services for mainland Chinese travellers. Both services started on March 1 and will run until December 31.
This has resulted in ENTRI, where mainland Chinese travellers visiting Malaysia for a period of not more than 15 days can apply for visa-free entry, with processing fees costing 160 yuan (US$25).
Meanwhile, the launch of e-visa services allows applicants with not more than 30-day stays to apply for visas online, with processing fees costing 200 yuan.
MARCO Polo Hotels has appointed Kitty Liu as regional director of sales, Shanghai for the hotel group.
In her new role, Liu will drive incremental business across all major segments to Marco Polo and Niccolo hotels from the Shanghai market.
The Chinese national was most formerly assistant director of sales – regional sales office for Park Hotel Group, and has further sales experience during her time with Starwood, Shangri-La and Carlson Rezidor.
JW Marriott Hotel Hong Kong turned 27 on February 27, 2016 and the occasion was celebrated with the hotel’s Quarter Century Club members – those who have loyally been with the hotel for more than 25 years – during a cake-cutting ceremony. Mark Conklin (front left), general manager and Iris Chan (front right), director of rooms operations, joined in the celebrations. Chan has been with the JW Marriott family since the hotel opening.
THAILAND’s Don Mueang International Airport will officially reopen its upgraded Terminal 2 tomorrow, allowing the airport to accommodate 30 million passengers a year, 11.5 million more than before.
The terminal was already partially reopened since December 24, 2015, allowing most domestic flights to operate from there.
“It is going to relieve the crowded situation at Don Mueang,” said Chula Sukmanop, director general, Department of Airports. “The area is almost double from what we have now.”
Upgrades comprise improvements to the terminal, three concourses, walkways and toilets.
There will, however, be no increase in flight capacity as airside facilities – such as runways, taxiways and aprons – did not undergo upgrades, said Sukmanop.
An upcoming 10 billion baht (US$282.3 million) third phase of developments will focus on renovating the old domestic terminal to include a new walkway connecting the building to the Sky Train station and parking for up to 3,000 cars.
THE nation of Kazakhstan, which made its debut at the NATAS Travel Fair 2016 last week, is targeting well-travelled Singaporeans to boost inbound numbers from South-east Asia.
Speaking to TTG Asia e-Daily, Nurlan Meirmanov, third secretary of the Embassy of the Republic of Kazakhstan of Singapore, Australia and New Zealand, said their key inbound markets are China, Russia, Europe and US, while “tremendous potential for growth” is found in South-east Asia.
Meirmanov said: “Singaporeans have travelled to many places and we know Kazakhstan will appeal to them because this is one country that many of them have yet to visit.”
Hence, the need to raise awareness about the destination’s natural and cultural offerings propelled them to participate in tradeshows like NATAS for the first time, said Meirmanov, who added that they will use this opportunity to reach out to travel agents.
As the lack of direct air connectivity is currently a stumbling block, Meirmanov said the potential new direct air connection between Kazakhstan and Singapore, which is still in its “processing stage” by Air Astana, will be “highly welcomed”.
Air Astana’s ticketing and reservation officer, Randolph Leonor, confirmed that there are plans to introduce this new direct flight by end-2017.
Mohan, outbound manager of Famous World Tours, said: “Kazakhstan is more suited for the regular travellers who have been to many places and just want a new place to explore.”
While Mohan said they have not received any interest about this destination, he added: “If there are new direct flights and more information about the place, we may consider offering them because it is an exotic place that will attract Singaporeans.”
MALAYSIAN tourism authorities, overwhelmed by protests from Indians and Sri Lankans over a restrictive visa entry process, say they are seriously considering relaxing the policies.
“I will send recommendation on the need to relax the visa rules,” said Daljit Singh, member of Tourism Malaysia’s board of directors, during a press conference in Colombo last week.
He was responding to comments that while Malaysia wants to welcome as many visitors as possible, its visa process for Indians and Sri Lankans remain highly restrictive.
“We were told in India too that the visa process was restrictive and (we) need to look into this (as a matter of urgency),” added Daljit.
At current, visitors to Malaysia have to submit documents such as bank details, employer’s letter and business registration, among others. Meanwhile, visa fees have sharply risen since the process was outsourced to an agency in 2014.
South Asia is an important source for Malaysia, but arrivals from India and Sri Lanka have dropped significantly last year to 722,141 and 51,337 respectively, from 770,108 and 61,670 in 2014.
“We want to increase or retain the earlier numbers,” said Daljit.
Seow (left) and Boh. “Virtual reality and augmented reality are two aspects that will penetrate the travel space next,” said Seow.
SINGAPORE-based Asiatravel.com aims to make virtual travel fairs a reality in the region with its just-launched VTF platform which travel agencies, consumer banks, hotels and NTOs can use.
The company launches the platform with an ongoing DBS Online Travel Fair (February 23 to March 13) exclusive to the bank’s credit cardholders for travel ex-Singapore. Over eight million travel products worldwide are featured, Asiatravel.com said, and there’s a 24-hour customer service hotline and live chat. The bank sponsors gifts such as luggages while online games and contests are organised.
Results are “very encouraging”, said Fred Seow, Asiatravel.com’s vice president marketing and B2B, although he declined to reveal traffic and sales figures to-date. While flights and hotels which customers are already booking online are popular, so are bundled packages of air, hotel and destination activities, he added.
“As this is the first VTF, we are more concerned about users’ experience than site traffic numbers. Furthermore this is a private event extended only to credit card members of this bank. The system recognises and accepts only the bank’s credit cards.
“We like the daily ratio of returned and new visitors while the average number of pageviews is much higher than our normal standard. To us, these are all very positive indicators that the markets need a VTF,” he said.
While declining visitor numbers, lack of manpower and higher costs of participating at brick-and-mortar fairs have led some to believe that VTFs are the way of the future, virtual fairs have yet to thrive, let alone take over physical fairs.
In Malaysia, Smart Online Travel Assistant (SOTA) had organised the eponymous Virtual Travel Fair with The Star Online, the digital unit of Star Publications, but the last collaboration between them was in 2013; today SOTA only provides the platform for travel agents to go online.
Asked to comment on this, Seow said he believed the Malaysian fair had no full e-commerce support, including instant booking confirmation capability.
“Technology has improved rapidly. Virtual reality and augmented reality are two aspects that will penetrate the travel space next,” said Seow.
At the next fair, Asiatravel.com hopes to introduce unique virtual reality experiences that will enhance customers’ experience and help them decide on their purchases.
The company is pursuing agencies and suppliers in countries such as China, India, the Philippines, Malaysia and Thailand to use its VTF platform.
Its executive chairman Boh Tuang Poh is also in discussion with tourism organisations and travel trade associations in the region to organise more VTFs year-round.
Additional reporting by S Puvaneswary in Kuala Lumpur
WITH international sanctions against Iran lifted, the country is set to receive its first five-star foreign-run hotel, the Gran Meliá Ghoo, a resort property to be located by the Caspian Sea in the city of Salman Shahr.
Spain’s Meliá Hotels International signed a contract on March 2 with Iranian businessman Ahad Azim Zadeh to manage the resort, due to open in June 2017, and which will be part of a new mixed-use residential and shopping complex.
Gran Meliá Ghoo will be located in a 130-metre tall tower, with 319 rooms and a 500m2 presidential suite. Facilities will include seven restaurants and bars, more than 1,300m2 of conference space, two swimming pools and a spa.
Meliá Hotels’ vice president and CEO, Gabriel Escarrer, said: “We have always been pioneers in the development of new markets for tourism, which is why we take on this challenge, one that is important for the future of the country. We firmly believe in the tourism potential of Iran.”
Iran is looking to boost arrivals from the current five million a year to over 20 million by 2025. Sanctions had restricted foreign investment into Iran since 2006.
ASSOCIATION, event and communication management company MCI has partnered ICCA Scandinavian Chapter to launch the Global Destination Sustainability (GDS) Index.
The index, which is the first sustainability ranking for event destinations worldwide, aims to promote sustainable growth of international meeting destinations by highlighting best practices and responsible business tourism.
It will evaluate the sustainability performance of cities and bureaus in four key areas: city environmental strategy and infrastructure; city social sustainability performance; industry supplier support; and convention bureau strategy and initiatives.
Guy Bigwood, group sustainability director at MCI, said: “Our vision is to have over 100 cities benchmarking and collaborating together by 2020. I am pleased to announce we have 25 Scandinavian cities based in Finland, Denmark, Norway, Iceland and Sweden, as well as our first wave of global cities including Barcelona, Geneva, Stuttgart and Sydney.”
Martin Sirk, CEO of ICCA, commented: “The unique feature of the GDS Index is that this is a bottom-up phenomenon, driven by the destinations themselves.
“We believe this is an excellent platform for leaders in sustainability from every region to showcase their policies and good practices, and for any destination to swiftly improve their competitiveness,” he added.
There is just one word to describe the latest Alila outpost in Seminyak: sexy.
There is just one word to describe the latest Alila outpost in Seminyak: sexy.
Location Simply fantastic, minutes’ walk to Seminyak’s chic boutiques and restaurants and boasts a long beachfront.
Ambience I arrive in extremely heavy rain. Yet, curtains of water and staff scrambling to keep the lobby dry fail to dampen Alila’s stylish vibes. The architecture has the brand’s stamp on it – clean lines, minimalist, open spaces – except this newest Alila is larger, more sprawling, more contemporary, posher. Some may argue it needs to be more Balinese but for me the architecture fits like a glove in trendy Seminyak. A beautiful, old temple on prime beachfront is incorporated right into the heart of the development – what better Bali flag is there than that?
Room I’m in Deluxe Ocean Suite 134 which is on the third floor of a low-rise building, one of three buildings that comprise the hotel. The size of my suite is a generous 60m2 and its sleek, clutter-free design makes the room feel even more spacious and comfortable. The huge balcony with an inviting daybed hits a yearning; I know I will be immersing myself in a book there often, or watching people along the beach and enjoying the famous Seminyak sunset.
Ironically, there isn’t enough space in the very spacious suite – too few drawers for clothes and no working table. But its modern comforts are faultless; I love the complete range of Alila toiletries, free speedy Wi-Fi, LCD TV with satellite channels and plenty of movies, and coffee-/tea-making facilities.
There are several room types and sizes. At the time of visit in early February, 124 of 240 rooms have opened.
F&B Move aside Potato Head next door. Alila’s Beach Bar clearly is the new flavour of the month. A large open pavilion with the cosiest daybeds and cushiest floor couches, it’s the place to be anytime from 11.00 but especially in the evenings, with beach music being spun by a DJ.
Alila’s all-day dining is an open-kitchen beachfront restaurant with many sections, including an Asian noodle bar and a grill & rotisserie. I love the variety it offers. My favourites are the chilli crab claws and crispy chicken with Szechuan lemon mayonnaise.
Facilities Three of five infinity pools have opened – and how gorgeous they are. Equally a dream is the fitness centre near the Beach Bar which is lined with the best machines, yoga room, body-building and relaxation spaces. Other facillities include the Alila Spa and an Event Centre which can host meetings and banquets for up to 350 people.
Service Alila prides itself on being ‘Surprisingly Different’. On standby at the lobby are handsome, young ‘menpower’ dressed in smart white shirts and navy trousers ready to welcome and help guests with luggage, shopping bags, directions, etc. All the staff I encounter are clearly proud to be part of a swanky hotel; morale is high and they are so eager to be of service. There are real stars among them, like Roma who serves at the all-day dining restaurant, and there are others who are still ‘raw’ but their enthusiasm more than make up for their inexperience.
Verdict Hottest chick in town and dripping with tropical cool. A great addition to Alila’s portfolio, and that of Design Hotels, of which it is a member.
No. of rooms 240
Rates Check various introductory deals on offer throughout the year on the website
AFTER many failed attempts, the Malaysian government has finally launched ENTRI (electronic travel registration and information) and e-visa services for mainland Chinese travellers. Both services started on March 1 and will run until December 31.
