LOCAL trade players are calling the EU’s decision last Friday allowing all Philippine carriers to fly European skies after a five-year ban a vote of confidence, and expect the move to encourage more connectivity between the two destinations.

The ban has long been a bugbear for travel consultants, whose European customers could not obtain insurance for travel on blacklisted carriers, and is also thought to have affected inbound tourism.

But with Philippines carriers cleared for travel, it shows that the country is “committed to improving the travel and tourism industry in the country by recognising the importance of safety to travellers”, said AA Yaptinchay, general manager, Kirschner Travel Manila.

“Travel agencies can now assure EU passengers of insurance coverage with this lifting of the ban. This means our European visitors will no longer have second thoughts of taking a Philippine carrier and (there will be) definitely less work for consultants in terms of added information and documents provided to clients,” Yaptinchay added.

Yet, it is up to the airlines to “make the most” out of the ban lift, he said.

While Philippine Airlines (PAL) was exempted from the EU ban since 2013 under a partial lift of the EU ban, and Cebu Pacific Air (CEB) since last year, the seven LCCs now allowed to fly to Europe are still incapable of doing so as they lack the aircraft for longhaul routes.

Even flag carrier PAL flies only to London and has deferred its expansion in Europe, while CEB still has no services to Europe as it focuses more on longhaul services to the US and Middle East.

Nevertheless, Michelle Victoria, president, Philippine Travel Agencies Association (PTAA), said the lifting of the ban will allow PTAA to showcase the Philippines as a worthy destination for leisure and business travellers.

“Airfares will be more competitive to the benefit of those travelling to Europe. Commerce will also benefit once Philippine carriers start flying to Europe as we will be able to transport Philippine-made goods and products directly to the European market,” she said.

AUSTRALIA’S aquatic and coastal assets will be the focus of Tourism Australia’s latest iteration of its There’s Nothing Like Australia campaign.

The subject for the yet-to-be-named campaign was the product of extensive research commissioned by the NTO and conducted by BDA Marketing Planning in 11 of Australia’s key inbound markets including China, India, Singapore, Indonesia, Malaysia, Japan and South Korea.

The research found that 46 per cent of the respondents said Australian beaches were the country’s most appealing attraction ahead of Australian wildlife and the Great Barrier Reef, while 47 per cent said the nation’s aquatic wildlife was the most appealing experience ahead of wildlife (non-aquatic) and beach, coastal and harbour experiences.

However, studies also showed that according to Google, online searches for Australian beaches and the Great Barrier Reef were down 10 per cent.

Speaking at a media conference during last week’s Australian Tourism Exchange (ATE), Tourism Australia’s managing director John O’Sullivan said the campaign would play to the country’s natural strengths and competitive advantage.

“Behind the rational drivers of safety and security and value of money, and almost level with food and wine is natural beauty and attractiveness as a destination – our beaches, wildlife and the Great Barrier Reef.”

The campaign is expected to commence in early 2016 and will be launched with the airing of David Attenborough’s three-part documentary The Great Reef in 130 countries, which is said to take viewers on a journey through the past, present and future of the Great Barrier Reef.

The successful Restaurant Australia campaign will continue to run in conjunction with the aquatic and coastal push.

THE largest development in Lagoi Bay to-date broke ground on Bintan this weekend, with the construction of The Haven to begin before end-2015.

The 26ha site will be home to condotels, a beach resort and lakeside villas, to be built over five phases.

Planners have taken care to ensure that the project is eco-friendly and will preserve the mangrose forest and river it sits adjacent to.

The ground breaking comes days after the announcement of six new hotel brands to rise in Lagoi Bay – Prime Plaza, Ambhara Hotel, Dialoog Hotel, Novotel, ibis Styles and Four Points by Sheraton.

It also comes on the heels of Bintan Resorts’ official opening of Lagoi Bay and Plaza Lagoi on May 31.

KAZAKHSTAN’S flag carrier, Air Astana, will strengthen its Asia network by increasing flight frequencies between Astana and Bangkok, and by introducing Astana as a stopover destination.

Peter Foster, president, Air Astana said “seasonal, twice-weekly winter flights between Astana and Bangkok will become year round from September“ this year. Daily flights between Almaty and Bangkok remain unchanged.

From September, Astana will also serve as a stopover for services between Hong Kong to Almaty, so as to provide convenience to business travellers from Hong Kong heading to Astana.

Foster revealed future network expansion plans in Asia include new services to Western and Central China, Singapore and Tokyo.

Meanwhile, Air Astana’s newly introduced Stopover Paid by Carrier programme to stimulate return traffic between Kuala Lumpur and Istanbul via Almaty has seen four or five group bookings already, said Richard Ledger, vice president, worldwide sales, Air Astana.

Launched in May, the programme competes for business with Turkish Airlines and Malaysia Airlines, both of which have direct services between Kuala Lumpur and Istanbul.

On the return leg under this programme, groups of 20 or more are eligible for complimentary arrival and departure transfers, and hotel accommodation with breakfast in Almaty city for a day.

Desmond Lee, group managing director of Apple Vacations & Conventions in Kuala Lumpur, said: “For Malaysian outbound travel consultants, it will be easier to convince their customers to travel with Air Astana to Istanbul if they create and market packages combining Istanbul and Almaty as twin cities.

“Istanbul is a well-known destination for Malaysians but more destination awareness is needed for Almaty.”

Meanwhiile, President N A Nazarbayev, last Friday announced that 10 more countries have been included in the visa-free programme for 15 days, effective July 15. They are: Switzerland, Spain, Belgium, Hungary, Monaco, Singapore, Australia, Norway, Sweden and Finland.

SINGAPORE’S representative on the international clubbing scene, Zouk, is ready to relocate after securing the lease for a space in Clarke Quay.

Currently situated on Jiak Kim Street where it has been since 1991, the long-standing party venue’s lease is set to expire in December this year.

Zouk will make its new home in a 2,787m2 site in Block C in Clarke Quay sometime between June and September 2016.

The 24-year old club is organising a series of 2015/2016 farewell parties to commemorate the move as well as its 25th anniversary in April 2016, while the annual ZoukOut music festival will continue to be held on Siloso Beach, Sentosa as always.

Founder Lincoln Cheng said in a press statement: “We are happy that Zouk has found a new home to move to, where it will continue its legacy for the next generation. The move to a new venue was inevitably, a foregone conclusion, so when the space at Clarke Quay became available, we set out immediately to move to the new venue, to make our new home at the earliest opportunity.

He added: “Clarke Quay has always been identified as one of Singapore’s key entertainment hubs, and with Zouk being the number seven club in the world, along with all our other prerequisites being met, we identified Clarke Quay as being the most ideal venue for us to grow our new roots at.”

AUSTRALIAN flag carrier Qantas revived services on the Singapore-Perth route last week, offering flights five times a week to the capital of Western Australia.

Flights are served by Boeing 737 aircraft.

The Perth-Singapore route was ceased in May 2014 as part of the A$2 billion (US$1.5 billion) cost reduction exercise.

QF72 is scheduled to depart Singapore this evening bound for Perth, one of five return services that Qantas will operate each week with its Boeing 737 aircraft. With a flying time of around five hours, the flight is scheduled to land at 11.40pm.

Qantas International CEO, Gareth Evans, said in a press statement: “There has been a fantastic response since we announced the new services in April, with customers jumping to book great deals to Perth and beyond.

“We’re seeing many of our customers choosing to make the most of the early evening departure from Singapore and the excellent connections it offers from the rest of Asia with our airline partners.”

“Many of our codeshare partners have also been attracted to our Singapore-Perth schedule, adding their code to the Qantas flights, with nine carriers now marketing the services to their customers,” added Evans. “This is great news for tourism in Western Australia, with the route being promoted to more international customers than ever before.”

AIR ticketing companies in Indonesia want Bank Indonesia (BI) to postpone the implementation of the rupiah as the de facto currency of choice until the end of the year, when the airlines, GDSs and IATA systems will be fully ready.
Announced earlier this year, the Indonesian central bank BI will disallow domestic transactions conducted in any currency but the rupiah from July 1, although foreign currency transactions made before June 30 with credit payment after July 1 will be allowed.

All stages of the ticket purchasing process are currently conducted in US dollars and Indonesia is not ready to do everything in rupiah yet, said Shirley Leiwakabessy, country manager Indonesia of IATA at an ASTINDO and ASITA Jakarta Chapter members’ meeting where IATA gave a presentation on preparing for the new regulation.

One issue involves GDSs, which may not be able to display prices in rupiah because they only allow up to 11 alphanumeric characters, including the three-character currency code.

Shirley said a first-class ticket from Jakarta to Europe could cost up to Rp100 million (US$7,520) and the system cannot issue the ticket if displayed in rupiah. “To change this (in the GDS system) is not easy… They need investment, manpower and time to do it.”

“We have submitted a letter to BI asking for until the end of the year to solve this,” she added.

In the meantime, Shirley advised companies to contact airlines directly and arrange for payments in such cases.

Edward Jusuf, general manager of Golden Nusa Travel, pointed out during the meeting: “(Based on IATA’s presentation), if we only know the exact price in rupiah upon issuing the ticket, that puts corporate travel companies like us that have contracts with corporates, at the risk of losing out in terms of exchange rates.”

“Why don’t we postpone the implementation until all parties are ready? Please do not get us wrong – I prefer using the rupiah. If all parties were ready today, I wouldn’t have any objection to starting transactions in rupiah today,” he said.

Meanwhile, Fajar Setiawan, assistant director of money management, BI, said: “We are studying the request from IATA. ASITA and ASTINDO members can also submit theirs.”

SHANGRI-LA Hotels and Resorts has opened the doors to its newest hotel in China – the Shangri-La Hotel, Hefei.

Situated between the Yangtze river and Chaohu lake, the 27-storey hotel on Suixi Road is half an hour’s drive to Xinqiao International Airport, Hefei Railway Station or the Hefei South Railway Station.

The hotel offers 401 guestrooms ranging from 45m2 to 135m2, all with full-length windows. The Executive and Speciality Suites come with separate living and sleeping windows, as well as marble-clad bathrooms with a separate bath, walk-in shower and TV.

Guests can expect the hallmarks of Shangri-La’s brand of hospitality, including free Wi-Fi throughout the property and paperless check-ins.

Other amenities the hotel is offering includes the Horizon Club on level 27, Shangri-La’s signature spa, and a 24-hour Health Club featuring personal training sessions, a 25m indoor pool, Jacuzzi, steam and sauna room, and a beauty salon are further offered.

F&B options at the hotel include Chinese restaurant Yang Zi Xuan; food theatre-style Café Wan serving up Western, Chinese, Japanese, local and South-east Asian cuisines and the Lobby Lounge.

Meeting planners will be happy to know Shangri-La Hotel, Hefei is equipped with a 1,400m2 pillarless Grand Ballroom that is capable of holding 900 persons, as well as a business centre and eight other function rooms for smaller-scale gatherings and meetings.

To mark the launch, the hotel is offering an introductory rate of RMB550 (US$89), plus 15 per cent service charge, for a Deluxe Room, dining credit and triple Golden Circle Award Points for members.

The offer is available until October 7, 2015 when booked www.shangri-la.com/hefei.

FOUR airport hotels are in the works as AccorHotels expands its reach across Australia and New Zealand with A$900 million (US$697 million) worth of new properties.

Of these projects, a fair number will be based at Australian airports, including Pullman Sydney Airport, Pullman and ibis Brisbane Airport, Mercure Newcastle Airport and the recently opened ibis Mackay Airport.

AccorHotels Pacific COO, Simon McGrath, said Australia is experiencing its strongest level of new hotel development in 20 years, reflecting the positive sentiment in both the travel and investment markets.

“Importantly, the hotel development boom is coming at a time of major investment in infrastructure, including airports and convention centres,” he said.

“The development of these facilities will be important to absorb the new supply, but equally, the construction of the new venues and attractions rely on new accommodation being added.”

McGrath also said that airline access has been crucial to Australia’s growth in inbound travel.

“China and India continue to be powerhouses, along with other Asian destinations such as Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore – all of which are growing airline services to Australian ports.”