LUANG Prabang’s top hotels and restaurants had raced to fill all 72 seats of Lao National Institute of Tourism and Hospitality’s (Lanith) Passport to Success training sessions in March, in a bid to achieve The Mark certification for food production as well as workplace safety and hygiene.

Launched last July, the training modules accredited by Chartered Institute of Environmental Health (CIEH) have since received overwhelming demand, prompting Lanith to offer two more sessions commencing on June 8 and 15.

Luang Prabang View Hotel general manager, John Morris Williams, who sent four of his kitchen crew to the courses, said: “CIEH carries a lot of power behind it, and staff being trained under that banner gives recognition to both our hotel and staff, while assisting travel agents, who are always looking for establishments with high standards.”

Two CIEH training sessions will be offered at the institute’s Vientiane campus from August 17 to 28.

To attain The Mark certification, restaurants and hotel dining outlets must pass a strict CIEH audit awarded by the Luang Prabang Safe and Green Tourism Scheme.

IN A bid to reverse slowing tourism figures, the Singapore government today announced the launch of a S$20 million (US$14.8 million) global marketing campaign next month.

Intended to ride the wave of international interest on the nation’s Golden Jubilee – 50 years of independence this year – the campaign will run until this year-end, luring visitors with flight and hotel deals, retail offerings as well as entertainment options.

Lionel Yeo, Singapore Tourism Board’s (STB) chief executive, revealed: “We will be putting up attractive flight rates with airline partners, special dining experiences and special SG50 itineraries that include key milestones in Singapore’s history.”

The campaign, which will be marketed in key regions like Indonesia, China, India, the Philippines, Japan, South Korea and Vietnam, will coincide with the annual Great Singapore Sale next month.

Yeo added that hotel partners will also be rolling out a ‘stay two nights, get third night free’ promotion, with more than 20 hotels already expressing an interest in it.

According to Singapore’s second minister for trade and industry, S Iswaran, Singapore received 2.4 million visitors for the first two months of 2015, a year-on-year decline of about five per cent.
This followed bleak tourism performance last year, where total international arrivals in 2014 dipped 3.1 per cent to 15.1 million, from the record 15.6 million in 2013.

Iswaran said: “With an uncertain global economic outlook, intensifying regional competition and a relatively strong Singapore dollar, challenges will remain in the near term.”

Nevertheless, he added: “Outbound travel to Asia-Pacific is expected to continue to grow, so will intra-Asia travel, as Asian economies and disposable incomes rise. We must be ready to seize our share of this growth.”

With “modest growth” expected, STB is projecting between zero and three per cent for visitor arrivals, and between zero and two per cent for tourism receipts this year.

Just last week, the NTO had announced a new two-year S$35 million joint marketing collaboration with the Changi Airport Group.

JAPAN’S travel industry has expressed shock at news that the transport ministry is planning to impose a new levy on travellers using Tokyo’s Haneda International Airport.

The ministry intends to introduce the new fee in 2017 to fund the expansion of the airport in the run-up to Tokyo hosting the 2020 Olympic Games.

The proposal is for international travellers to pay an additional 500 yen (US$4.18) levy, while anyone taking a domestic flight will be required to pay an extra 100 yen.

The airport needs to raise about 100 billion yen to build new terminal facilities and expand the apron to enable the facility to add close to 40,000 arrivals and departures a year. Haneda presently handles around 450,000 flights a year.

Eiko Sato, general manager of the public relations department at the Japan Association of Travel Agents (JATA), told TTG Asia e-Daily: “At present, passengers on international flights are already charged 2,570 yen at Haneda. A new levy will increase the burden on passengers and result in a decrease in travel demand.

“JATA, as a representative of the travel industry, remains opposed to the introduction of any new levies on the use of airport facilities.”

CARLSON Rezidor Hotel Group is to sink its roots deeper into India with plans to grow its portfolio in the country – particularly in the south and west – to over 170 hotels within the next five years.

The group currently has 117 hotels in operation and under development across 45 cities in India.

From last year to 1Q2015, it had opened a total of 10 hotels and signed six new hotels in India. In April 2014, a partnership with Bestech Hospitalities was also inked for 43 more Park Inn by Radisson hotels in north and central India by 2024.

For the rest of 2015, it expects to open eight to nine hotels and sign 12 to 15 new ones in cities across the country.

It seeks to broaden brand presence in India with the introduction of its upscale Radisson Red and modern luxury Quorvus Collection.

MYANMAR’S tourism growth looks set to continue as arrivals through Yangon for the first two months of 2015 saw further increase from the record performance achieved during the same period last year.

According to figures from the Myanmar Tourism Federation, the city welcomed 193,891 tourists in January and February this year, a hike of 7.2 per cent year-on-year.

More than 63 per cent of the visitors in January and February this year were from Asia, the majority of which came from Thailand, China, Japan and South Korea.

Josep Niubo, director of Lotus Bonita, said: “We have seen a year-on-year increase in arrivals to Yangon for the first two months, as well as growth in hotel bookings and flights out of Yangon to destinations in Myanmar.

“We can expect to see continued growth in the future, as more people talk about their positive experiences here. Word-of-mouth will be key to growth.”

Despite the negative headlines Myanmar has attracted in recent weeks regarding the police crackdown on student protesters in March and the ongoing conflicts between rebels and the Myanmar army in the Kokang Region, trade players are confident that tourist arrivals will not be affected.

Lee Sheridan, general manager, Journeys Adventure Travel, said: “Without a strong independent traveller market, tourists tend to plan and book their holidays longer in advance and short-term disturbances tend to have less immediate impact.”

THE minister of tourism, culture and environment Sabah, Masidi Manjun has requested the federal government to rethink imposing the Goods and Services Tax (GST) – enforced nationwide on April 1 at six per cent – on domestic flights in Sabah and Sarawak in order to encourage domestic tourism.

The move is supported by the Malaysian Association of Tour and Travel Agents (MATTA). Its vice president (inbound) Tan Kok Liang, said in a release: “In particular, people in Sabah and Sarawak will feel the burden of the GST since air transportation is considered an essential mode of public transportation.

“In addition, East Malaysians travel to West Malaysia for essential travelling such as education, employment, medical purposes and on a need-to basis.”

He said subjecting students to GST for air travel between east and west Malaysia will be a burden to them as there is no alternative public mode of transportation.

“Domestic tourism will be affected, particularly for Sabah and Sarawak where more than 70 per cent of tourists arrive by air. Imposing six per cent GST on domestic flights will cause them to be more costly (on a per-kilometre basis) compared to international flights. Domestic travellers are arguably more price sensitive than international ones.

“This is a clear-cut case of policy makers implementing policies without appropriate consultation with stakeholders. We hope the formal request by the state government of Sabah will be considered positively.”

JAPAN’S civil aviation agency has provisionally lifted a ban preventing Thai airlines from making charter flights to Japan from April 11 to May 31, revealed Thai transport minister Prajin Junthong at a news conference last Friday.

An ICAO audit on the Thai aviation sector last month revealed “significant safety concerns” in the sector, spurring Japan and South Korea to bar new flights from a number of Thai airlines.

Airlines such as Thai Airways, NokScoot and Jet Asia Airways had been included in the ban, with some 120,000 Thai passengers expected to be affected.

With the temporary lifting of the ban, Thai airlines are not allowed to change the type of aircraft they have indicated they will operate. Scheduled flights to Japan will continue to run as normal, reported Reuters.

PLANS to open integrated resorts that bring together casinos, hotels and a range of other leisure facilities in Japan have been stalled after a bill to legalise gambling failed to gain sufficient backing in parliament.

Supporters of the proposal had planned to submit it to the Diet before the April 1 start of the new fiscal year, but disagreement within the ruling coalition led to its withdrawal.

Analysts say the withdrawal is a major blow to the gaming sector.

“The operators had set a target of opening the casinos before the Olympics (in Tokyo in 2020), but they needed to have the legislation passed in this session of the Diet,” Hiroshi Okubo, head of research at CBRE, told TTG Asia e-Daily.

“That chance has now gone and it does not look as if they are going to be able to meet that deadline.”

The Odaiba waterfront district of Tokyo, Okinawa and the Mishima area of Osaka have been mooted as development sites. The company behind the Las Vegas Sands casino has even made a mock-up of the planned property on Tokyo Bay.

Casinos are still illegal in Japan, but the central government has for some years been considering amending the relevant laws to promote gambling. The intention is to attract more foreign tourists and to create a new source of tax revenues.

Japan has set a target of 20 million visitors a year by 2020, with prime minister Shinzo Abe even going on record with an ambitious objective of 30 million a year by 2030, the key driver being casinos that would lure gamblers away from Macau and Singapore.

INDONESIA’S Ministry of Transportation has budgeted Rp71 trillion (US$5.4 billion) to develop airports around Indonesia over the next five years.

Targeting to open an annual average of 15 new airports, these airports will be located in natural disaster hazard areas, remote destinations, and bordering cities and towns.

There are also plans to upgrade existing airports and extend runways.

Speaking at the opening of Garuda Indonesia Travel Fair in Jakarta last Friday, director general of air transportation, Suprasetyo, said: “The number of Indonesian air passenger traffic between 2010 and 2014 totalled 335 million with an average annual growth of 15 per cent.”

“This is considered moderate compared to the potential size of the market. The lack of infrastructure has been identified as the hampering factor.”

This year alone, the government is allotting Rp11 trillion for airport development in hazard areas such as Sabang and Nias.

Suprasetyo added that the government is working on more G2G agreements to improve accessibility with regional and international destinations, and would open 217 pioneering routes in 28 provinces this year.

THE three-day Travel Revolution rivalling the well-established NATAS fair opened last Friday, welcoming 76,000 visitors and planning its second fair in 2H2015.

Travel Revolution was organised by 24 key outbound agencies including Chan Brothers Travel, CTC Travel, Dynasty Travel and SA Tours, which pulled out of the NATAS travel fairciting issues such as high booth rental costs and lacklustre publicity efforts.

Held at Marina Bay Sands, the inaugural free-entry fair brought together more than 70 exhibitors in a 17,000m² space. According to its spokesman Alicia Seah, the overall sales figure is expected to reach approximately S$100 million (US$74 million).

Seah told TTG Asia e-Daily: “This is definitely a boost of confidence, and moving forward we have strong interest to stage the next fair for the second half of the year. We will continue to provide free entrance and reduce rental and operating costs to exhibitors.”
The three-day NATAS fair held earlier last month at the Singapore Expo had offered 92 exhibitors and attracted 55,200 visitors.

While still hopeful for a one-fair resolution, NATAS spokesman Gregory Tan, said: “We are currently in discussions with them (Travel Revolution organising agencies). We hope that we can work together as a family again.”