ASCOTT is now offering an Ascott Lifestyle programme to provide bespoke cultural, gastronomical, local and wellness experiences for guests staying at Ascott, Citadines and Somerset serviced residences worldwide.

The experiences – some complimentary – include customised itineraries to explore the city like a local, cultural tours, workshops on the art of making local handicraft and cooking classes by famed local chefs.

According to an Ascott spokesperson, Somerset Heping Shenyang offers free 30-minute cooking classes conducted by an in-house chef to learn how to cook favourites like kung pao chicken and sweet and sour spare ribs, while Somerset Berlian Jakarta offers batik-making workshops at no charge.

Fitness and wellness enthusiasts can choose from yoga lessons, scenic jogging routes or treatments at top spas in the city. For example, guests can participate join the free yoga sessions at Somerset Greenways Chennai and free spinning classes at Ascott Raffles City Chengdu.

Other highlights include priority reservations at restaurants such as the famous Le Jules Verne located in the Eiffel Tower, and recommended trails for avid photographers.

Featured experiences will be updated regularly in the Ascott Lifestyle website.

THAILAND’S state of martial law, imposed since May 22 last year, was announced overnight to have been lifted across the country.

The move reportedly follows Thailand’s king Bhumibol Adulyadej approval to lift the law that was imposed to topple the former government following months of upheaval and sometimes violent street protests in Bangkok.

But tourism, which comprises almost 10 per cent of the country’s GDP, took a beating as a result, as did its MICE industry. Travel operators and tourism stakeholders have been for months urging the government to lift the ruling.

Reuters reported that Thailand has at the same time enacted a security clause known as Article 44 in its interim constitution giving military the power to continue to make arrests without court warrants as well as detain individuals without charges.

DESTINATION New South Wales has announced partnerships with two leading travel retailers to drive visitation to the Australian state.

A two-year MoU has been signed between the NTO and STA Travel in a bid to promote Sydney and regional NSW to youth travellers in key markets including Singapore, Japan, Germany, New Zealand, the US and UK.

CEO of STA Travel Group, John Constable, said: “This new two-year MoU cements and builds on the work we have been doing together over the past two years. NSW is one of our top global destinations for young travellers who flock to work, travel and experience this corner of the world.”

Meanwhile, Lastminute.com.au’s team of bloggers are currently participating in nine different NSW food and wine experiences in a joint campaign, Wine and Dine, in which they share their unique experiences on the retailer’s website.

Destination NSW’s CEO, Sandra Chipchase, said the partnerships were aligned to two areas of focus for the state. “Youth tourism is a rapidly growing market and one we have targeted for visitor growth in NSW. Last year we achieved a new record, with over a million young people travelling to NSW in the year ending June 2014.

“In the year ending September 2014, international and domestic overnight and day-trip wine tourism visitors to NSW spent A$1.9 million (US$1.4 million), contributing significantly to the state’s visitor economy.

“We’ve got very tight targets and KPIs all focused on achieving the government’s goal of doubling overnight visitor expenditure by 2020, so we work with our partners on increasing that incremental business year on year towards that goal,” Chipchase commented.

NEW World Hotels & Resorts has secured a contract from Jakarta-based Mugie Bali Indah to manage New World Grand Bali Resort, scheduled to open in 2017.

The property is New World’s first in Indonesia and adds to the group’s existing properties in China, Hong Kong, Vietnam and the Philippines.

The 10.8ha luxury resort will be part of the Pecatu Indah Resort development located on the southern Bukit Peninsula and 30 minutes’ drive from Ngurah Rai Badung International Airport.

Of the 328 guestrooms, the suites and grand suites will have individual decks and plunge pools. Selected guestrooms, all suites and 85 one to four-bedroom villa residences will be available for purchase. Residents will have access to an exclusive club and pool.

Meeting spaces will include a 1,100m² ballroom and four meeting rooms, while other on-site facilities extend to a wedding chapel, four restaurants and a rooftop lounge.

Apart from an adjacent water park, further recreational options will include a spa, fitness centre, the New Kuta Golf Course in the Pecatu Indah compound, and access to a nearby secluded, cliff-encircled beach.

MACAU’S strained tourism capacity could improve through measures that influence when visitors travel to Macau, where they go and what they do after arrival, recommends a study conducted by the Institute for Tourism Studies’ Tourism Research Centre.

Such measures, the study explained, would help ease the heavy visitor burden on particular days. It also showed that apart from major visitor attractions and restaurants plagued by capacity issues during certain periods of the year, the physical capacity of transportation, particularly taxis and buses, remains overburdened.

Estoril Tours Travel Agency, director of sales, Johnny Choi said the capacity challenge occurs during key festivals or holiday periods only.

“However, though various measures like themed walking tour routes have been launched to divert tourist traffic from key attractions, it’s hard to ask clients to give up prominent sightseeing spots to move to less crowded ones,” he said.

“This is particularly true for first-timers to Macau who prioritise on iconic tourism spots. Unlike destinations like Hong Kong, Macau is too small to realistically provide traffic diversion.”

On a positive note, the study also found Macau’s estimated optimum visitor carrying capacity per day was between 87,573 and 94,956 in 2013, and this improved to between 89,374 and 92,325 last year.

BUDGET carrier Tigerair yesterday announced it will launch a four-times-weekly direct service from Singapore to Ipoh, Malaysia’s fourth-largest city.

The new service will be operated on Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays via an Airbus A320 aircraft, starting May 29 and subject to regulatory approval. Tickets for the new service will go on sale from April 20.

Tigerair CEO, Lee Lik Hsin, said: “We are excited to add Ipoh to our growing Asia network and be the first to operate jet flights in Ipoh. Tigerair already enjoys a significant presence in Malaysia and this addition will help meet demand for both leisure and business travel between Singapore and Malaysia.”

Ipoh will be Tigerair’s fourth Malaysian destination which currently comprises Kuala Lumpur, Langkawi and Penang.

FOUR Seasons Hotels and Resorts will open its first property in Seoul later this year aiming to tap the popularity of the South Korean capital among tourists and business travellers alike.

The 25-storey Four Seasons Hotel Seoul, developed in partnership with Mirae Asset Global Investments, will open on Sejongro Square in the city’s CBD.

The property will offer 317 luxury guestrooms, an exclusive “speakeasy” bar and a number of high-end restaurants. It will also have a selection of meeting rooms, a saltwater swimming pool and a state-of-the-art fitness centre.

It will target Chinese and Japanese visitors, who form the majority of foreign tourists to South Korea, as well as domestic tourists. Its central location is also expected to appeal to business people.

William Mackay, senior vice president for hotel operations Asia-Pacific, told TTG Asia e-Daily: “We continue to focus on expansion to meet demand in regional and international business centres, as well as establishing a presence in gateway cities.

“We want to be where our guests want to go, as well as the places they come from, as we continue to build brand awareness in emerging markets, including South Korea.”

“Luxury travellers in South Korea today, and Asia in general, have higher expectations than ever and we are focused, company-wide, on continuously evolving our products and services to meet their needs,” he said.