SereS Hotels & Resorts has opened an upscale boutique resort, the SenS Hotel & Spa Conference, in Bali’s cultural town of Ubud.

The hotel features 91 rooms and six suites, all equipped with beddings from Serta as well as premium amenities.

It also offers facilities for meetings, conferences, events and wedding receptions that can accommodate up to 300 people. Hotel guests can then unwind at the hotel’s in-house spa.

To celebrate the opening, SenS is offering an introductory price of US$60 per night. The offer runs until the end of 2015.

The WTM Portfolio, part of Reed Travel Exhibitions, is set to enter Asia and China in 2016 with the launch of two events under the new WTM connect brand.

WTM connect Asia will take place at Straits Quay Convention Centre in Penang from May 18 to 20, 2016, while WTM connect China will be held at the Renaissance Sanya Resort and Spa, Hainan Island from May 23 to 25, 2016.

According to the release, the new WTM connect events will offer a unique one-to-one format targeted at the booming Asian and Chinese leisure travel markets, allowing exhibitors to exclusively meet with elite hosted buyers.

WTM Portfolio, director, Craig Moyes, commented: “WTM connects are targeted events for exhibitors to meet with especially hand-picked buyers. The WTM Portfolio will help facilitate more than US$7 billion in travel industry business deals in 2015, the WTM connect events in China and Malaysia will see this figure increase further in 2016.”

Malaysia will be the host country for WTM connect Asia 2016, with local hosts including Tourism Malaysia, Malaysia Convention & Exhibition Bureau and Penang Global Tourism.

With a new travel trade show on the horizon, private sector players are urging greater differentiation between such events.

“(WTM) has to be innovative and uniquely different from ITB Asia to attract buyers and sellers,” said Gracie V Geikie, director and principal consultant at Planet Borneo Group of Companies. “Personally, I am beginning to see a lethargy in travel trade shows because they are all a ‘me too’ event. There are also too many trade shows around of the same nature.”

Ally Bhoonee, executive director of World Avenues, agreed: “In my opinion, there are too many trade shows in the marketplace and this is not helping the industry as we keep seeing the same buyers.

“Trade shows are an expensive affair for sellers and profit margins have gone down due to the presence of OTAs. To make an impact, WTM connect Asia will have to address these concerns.”

TRAVELPORT and Axess International Network have joined forces to release an enhanced desktop version of their global travel commerce platform, Axess Crea Advance, for travel consultants across Japan.

The two companies have been partners on the project since April 2012, with the newest version of their Axess agency desktop platform incorporating a range of new functions and services.

Powered by Travelport Smartpoint, the upgraded system offers a broad range of additional data on flights, hotels and hire cars, as well as user-friendly merchandising features designed to make communicating with the customer easier and more powerful.

The Rich Content and Branding options on flight sales, for example, permit airlines to display and promote their entire product range – from entertainment options to meals and details on the aircraft operating the route – saving time on searching the airline’s website for the same information.

Travelport also delivers details on more than 650,000 hotels around the world, including photographs, with an additional function showing ratings of properties from Tripadvisor.

“We have invested US$475 million into our travel commerce platform since 2012, so we’re very serious about what we do,” Mark Meehan, managing director for Travelport Asia-Pacific told TTG Asia e-Daily at the Visit Japan Travel and MICE Mart 2015 in Tokyo.

“Agencies can’t just offer a seat on a flight anymore,” he said. “It’s increasingly about the efficiency and data available to the consultant and communicating that to the consumer.

“The system has also been shown to have economic benefits to agencies, so it is improving their bottom lines as well,” he added.

Travel consultants already connected to the Axess system can undergo training with the new platform scheduled to be operational in 2017.

In addition to delivering a new agency desktop, Axess has also partnered with Travelport to launch Locomote, a smart technology platform that gives Japanese companies complete control and visibility of their corporate travel on any device anywhere in the world.

VIRTUOSO will launch its luxury travel network in the Asian market with the addition of five new member agencies in Singapore and Hong Kong.

The five members are Country Holidays, Jebsen Travel Group, Charlotte Travel, Luxe Travel and Quotient Travel Planner.

Michael Londregan, Asia-Pacific managing director of Virtuoso, said: “The Asia marketplace is scheduled to become an increasingly powerful force is the luxury travel market and Virtuoso is very excited to be developing our brand in Asia with these established and highly regarded members.”

The expansion into Asia comes off the decision to base the new regional headquarters for Asia-Pacific in Australia, following the brand’s move into Europe and the UK in 2014, noted Londregan.

He added: “The growth of Virtuoso in the Asia-Pacific region proves that demand for service from expert travel advisors and experiential travel that is unique and bespoke is a global reality and Virtuoso is perfectly placed to help agencies and advisors move with the demand.”

INDONESIA’s Topotels Hotels & Resorts is set to manage Ramada Encore Meridin in Johor Bahru following the signing of a franchise agreement between developer Mah Sing Group and brand owner Wyndham Hotel Asia Pacific.

Slated to open in 2018, the 322-unit serviced apartment is currently under construction at The Meridin@Medini, an integrated hotel complex in the Iskandar area.

The Johor Bahru property is the second Ramada Encore brand managed by Topotels Hotels & Resorts after the launch of Ramada Encore Seminyak in Bali in 2014.

THE Leading International MICE event centred in the Asia-Pacific region is set to kick off on September 29, 2015 at the Bangkok Convention Centre at CentralWorld Bangkok, Thailand.

It presents the largest line-up of over 20 MICE, events intelligence, corporate travel and association management knowledge sessions helmed by over 30 expert speakers.

Headlining the education front is the first-ever ASEAN MICE Forum, endorsed by the ASEAN Marketing and Communications Working Group. This unprecedented event enables IT&CMA to play a pioneering role in developing ASEAN’S MICE potential through the engagement of global industry leaders.

The 2015 edition sees a growth of 14 per cent in exhibitors’ participation, with sponsorship engagements increasing by more than 40 per cent over 2014. All these have been made possible by TTG Events’ unwavering commitment to deliver quality content and buyers to the events.

Featuring one of the largest CVB collections in the region, IT&CMA has once again delivered a truly global showcase of Convention Visitor bureaus. The international presence is witnessed by the entrance of new European, Middle Eastern and Asian bureaus like Berlin, Geneva, Lucerne, Zurich, Dubai and Jeju, while returning destinations Switzerland, Philippines, Macau and India are making a statement with an even bigger showing this year.

Ralf Ostendorf, director of market management at Berlin Tourismus & Kongress GmbH explained the motivation behind exhibiting at IT&CMA 2015 for the first time: “Our first experience with IT&CM Events was at IT&CM China earlier in Shanghai this year, and it proved to be a successful show for us. We are looking forward to the same success at IT&CMA 2015, as we see a lot of potential for Berlin as a MICE destination in Asia.”

Having reaped results from past sponsored networking functions at IT&CMA, Seoul Metropolitan Government, is delighted to return as a luncheon host for buyer and media delegates.

Maureen O’Crowley, executive director, MICE Division, Seoul Tourism Organisation expressed her confidence backed by success at previous years’ events: “We had been the proud sponsor of Seoul Gala Dinner for several years. This year, we are excited to engage with buyers and media at a Seoul Hosted Luncheon. At this luncheon, we will be highlighting new incentives from Seoul, especially our special support programs. Through this intimate session, we want to create an event stronger working relationship with our target audience.”

IT&CMA and CTW Asia-Pacific 2015 will be held from September 29 to October 1, 2015 at the Bangkok Convention Centre at CentralWorld. For more information, log on to www.itcma.com orwww.corporatetravelworld.com/apac.

KUALA Lumpur-based DMC Red Apple Travel has outlined ambitious plans to become a global player in the travel industry by growing its inbound and outbound business.

“Our vision for the next five years focuses on deeper penetration in existing markets, and targeting new markets like Africa and Latin America,” Suneet Goenka, group managing director at Red Apple told TTG Asia e-Daily.

In the past three years, Red Apple has expanded its destination offices in Europe and Australia, and widened its source markets to Japan, Russia, the Middle East and South-east Asia.

Emerging markets are next on the radar. “We intend to start a distribution office by early 2016 in Latin America, with Brazil being the first entry point for us,” added Goenka.

Red Apple is already working on its toehold in Africa, with a marketing campaign underway in Egypt, Morocco, Kenya, Tanzania, Nigeria and South Africa.

The company will also open inbound offices across Indochina, Eastern Europe, Scandinavia and New Zealand.

“We will maintain our core DMC business. However, we are building business units that will be owned by Red Apple Group, which includes our own fleet, restaurants or even hotel management at some point,” said Goenka.

Financing for the massive growth plan will come from existing resources, he added.