FOR the first time, DreamWorks Animation is inviting the public to have a glimpse at what goes on in its studios, which churned out blockbuster animation films like Madagascar and Kung Fu Panda.

In a groundbreaking exhibition put together by the Australian Centre for the Moving Image (ACMI) and DreamWorks Animation, 31 films and more than 400 works including character designs, sculptures and will show visitors how ideas leap from initial sketches to the big screen.

The exhibition started last week at the ArtScience Museum in Marina Bay Sands, and is the first stop of a five-year international tour.

Chris Harris, senior manager, ACMI Exhibitions and Touring, said: “The line-up for the following months ahead is New Zealand, Korea, Taiwan and China, and each exhibition will last for around three to four months.”

Marina Bay Sands spokeswoman, Val Chua, said guided tours for corporate groups are available upon request with a minimum of 20 pax.

For groups larger than 30 pax, the museum will be able to provide an itinerary by breaking the group up accordingly, she told TTGmice e-Weekly.

Each 30-minute tour will give visitors first-hand insight into the creation of DreamWorks’ star characters such as Shrek and Po. While all tours are provided in English, Chua said there is a Mandarin option, at an additional cost of S$100 (US$74).

Visitors can also learn the basic principles of animation while creating their own short movie at The Animation Desk, using a simplified version of DreamWorks’ software.

Tickets to the exhibition, priced from S$21 for standard adults, are now on sale.

LUFTHANSA’S 16 euro (US$18) surcharge on all bookings made through intermediaries has elicited a motley of responses from travel agencies and airlines alike.

Taking effect this September, the Distribution Cost Charge applies to bookings on all airlines in the group, including Brussels Airlines and Germanwings.

“I think Lufthansa has struggled financially in recent years and they are trying to find an additional source of income, though I think this (new GDS change) is killing the consultants who give them big volume on groups. They are doing this perhaps mainly to sell direct to end consumers,” said Tony Soorangura, associate managing director of Thailand-based NS Travel & Tours.

Angela Ng, managing director of Blue Sky Travel in Hong Kong, said: “This puts us consultants in a difficult position, especially in the existing challenging business environment.”

The cost will be passed on to all but the most loyal customers, for whom Blue Sky Travel may choose to take on the cost, she said.

But if Lufthansa’s aim is to cut out the middleman and drive more direct bookings, then the fee may have had the opposite effect.

“To save travellers the additional cost, we will encourage them to fly with other airlines,” said Abdul Rahman Mohamed, deputy general manager, channel management at Mayflower Acme Tours in Kuala Lumpur. “The Distribution Cost Charge may also result in travellers making direct bookings with the airline. But when something goes wrong, they are on their own.”

Blue Sky Travel’s Ng said: “I sold fewer Lufthansa air tickets this month and tried to offer more airline options for clients.”

Meanwhile, other agencies appear unfazed.

“My business is not affected as I rarely use the airlines… As far as I know, not many Thai consultants use their service, primarily due to their deposit and payment conditions,” said Soorangura.

Singapore-based Chan Brothers Travel’s marketing communications executive, Rebecca Chua, said impact to travel consultants in her company is “nominal” as they use Lufthansa’s online portal, which does not impose the Distribution Cost Charge.

“Lufthansa needs to understand that there are heaps of alternative airlines that we can select; if they push us hard, we just simply find alternatives and we are sure we can convince customers to follow,” said Soorangura, adding that he does not believe that other airlines will follow in Lufthansa’s footsteps.

However, when asked if Thai Airways International (THAI) is likely to take a cue from Lufthansa, a spokesperson told TTG Asia e-Daily: “It is under consideration since the implementation of the Distribution Cost Charges for GDS will affect many aspects of our airline business.”

GDS bookings make up about 70 per cent of all THAI bookings.

Most airlines that interviewed, such as AirAsia and British Airways, declined to comment on Lufthansa’s new fees.

Cathay Pacific Airways said that its “current practice with GDSs remain unchanged”, while Singapore Airlines said that it has “no immediate plans to implement extra charges”.

Additional reporting from S Puvaneswary, Prudence Lui and Greg Lowe

THE number of buyers and sellers at the second instalment of Bali and Beyond Travel Fair (BBTF) is fewer than half of last year’s, but organisers said the event saw better quality participants this time round.

BBTF 2015 attracted 176 sellers and 171 buyers from 28 countries, a significant drop from the inaugural edition’s 410 buyers and 475 sellers last year.

Explaining the decrease in buyers and sellers, BBTF organising committee’s vice chairman, Tanto Ruwiyadi, said: “On the buyer side, we were more selective this time. Buyers were requested to pay a deposit of US$500 for Platinum category and US$300 for Gold category, refundable upon completion of the event.

“This is to avoid the no-shows we received last year and (to ensure) only the serious buyers come.”

As to the drop in seller numbers, Tanto said the transition from the Ministry of Tourism and Creative Economy to the Ministry of Tourism had affected budget allocation, which resulted in the loss of funds equivalent to the participation of 100 sellers.

TTG Asia e-Daily also learnt that while it was mandatory for members of the Association of the Indonesian Tours and Travel Agencies to participate in 2014, this was not the case this year.

I Ketut Ardana, chairman of BBTF 2015, said: “As a new event, the committee is learning and continually improving. The new system is a way to do. (Although) there was a…decrease in the number of participants compared to that of 2014, we had better quality participants this time.”

The Ministry of Tourism meanwhile aims to turn BBTF into a regional event.

Speaking to the media at the second ever BBTF in Bali last week, I Gde Pitana, deputy minister for international tourism marketing development, said: “Bali is the major gateway to Indonesia and it was logical to have the event here, but the ministry will encourage (more) participations from other destinations in the country in the future.”

Tourism minister Arief Yahya had also expressed his hopes that BBTF will draw the participation of neighbouring countries, the way Malaysia’s MATTA Fair has, according to I Gde Pitana.

“Looking at the (potential) transaction of this year, the show this year is estimated to generate Rp9.5 trillion (US$707 million), a significant increase over last year’s, which was Rp6.3 trillion,” said Arief.

MAKING good on its long-standing promise to drop visa requirements, Indonesia has officially granted visa-free entry to citizens of 45 countries including China, Japan, South Korea and the US.

A Presidential Regulation signed by president Joko Widodo on June 9 was followed by a formal announcement posted on the State Secretariat website on June 13, stating that visa-free arrivals are valid for 30 days with no extensions allowed.

One tour operator in Indonesia, Panorama Tours Indonesia, confirmed with TTG Asia e-Dailythat their groups have entered Bali without visas, indicating that the new regulation was immediately effective.

Out of the 45 countries listed, 15 have enjoyed visa-free entry before while 30 others are new, including China, Russia, South Korea, Japan, the US, Canada, New Zealand, Mexico, the UK, Germany, France, the Netherlands, Italy, Spain, Switzerland, Belgium, Sweden, Austria, Denmark, Norway, Finland, Poland, Hungary, the Czech Republic, Qatar, the UAE, Kuwait, Oman and South Africa.

Passport holders from the countries above will no longer need a visa when entering through the airports in Jakarta, Bali, Medan, Surabaya, Batam, and seaports of Sekupang and Batam Centre, Batam, Sri Bintan and Tanjung Uban Riau.

The new facility is available for those entering on government service, educational activities, socio-cultural affairs, tourism, business, family visits, journalistic duties or transits.
Visa-free entry was already open to all ASEAN member countries plus Chile, Morocco, Peru, Ecuador, Hong Kong and Macau.

With visa-free entry in place for some of the world’s biggest outbound travel markets, Indonesia is targeting 10 million tourists to Bali by 2019.

ALL licensed travel consultants in Singapore must ask outbound leisure customers if they would like to purchase travel insurance covering travel consultant insolvency starting next month, announced the Singapore Tourism Board (STB) last Friday.

This new licensing condition, which will kick in from July 15, requires travel consultants to offer their customers travel insurance against the company’s insolvency and to record their customers’ final decision.

It is applicable on a per person basis whenever a consumer makes a deposit or payment of S$500 (US$371) or above, or purchases a travel package costing S$1,000 or more.

An STB statement said the new rule “serves to educate consumers of the measures they can take to protect their interests when they make travel bookings”, and was launched following STB’s discussions with the trade assessing consumer protection measures over the past year.

Assistant chief executive of STB, Yap Chin Siang, said: “With the implementation of the new licensing condition, consumers will now be better informed on steps that they can take to protect themselves against unforeseen circumstances including travel consultant insolvency.”

The new condition comes in on the heels of the sudden closure of Asia-Euro Holidays which left travellers in the lurch last month.

Yap said STB will assist industry stakeholders with implementation of the new condition and will “layer on with continued consumer education efforts”.

Alicia Seah, director of marketing communications at Dynasty Travel, told TTG Asia e-Dailythat 90 per cent of the company’s travellers purchase travel insurance. The 10 per cent that do not may have forgotten to do so or simply do not wish to, especially if they are visiting nearby destinations such as Malaysia and Thailand.

Seah said more has to be done to address the “root of the problem”, the financial health of travel agencies, and suggested more stringent background checks on owners or directors before the issuance of a travel consultant licence.

“We can also ensure an annual or conduct a financial audit every two years to ascertain the financial health of all travel agents before renewing the licence,” she added.

TWENTY per cent of Travelport’s revenue comes from beyond air offerings, a new source of revenue that Travelport wants to further establish by placing more focus and investment in technology.

Cognizant to the needs of agencies struggling with reduced air commissions, Mark Meehan, Travelport’s managing director, Asia-Pacific, said: “We want to help them grow their business in the beyond-air space. They know where the customer is going and what the customer wants, so there are opportunities to increase customer spend by providing hotel, car rental and other add-on services.

“We have the platform to provide best in class content that is very easy to use. The hotel platform includes maps and TripAdvisor reviews so the travel consultant can become an important source of information to the consumer.”

Meehan was speaking to TTG Asia e-Daily on the sidelines of Travelport Live conference held last week in Seoul.

A key part of aiding travel consultants sell products complementary to air tickets is the Travelport’s Rich Content and Branding solution that allows airlines to present and market their content any way they wish, and include visuals and textual branding.

David Watson, general manager at Future.Travel, an OTA in Vietnam, said he was using Travelport’s Rich Content and Branding to further develop new functions on his portal, which will let corporate travellers make their own bookings based on their company profiles. This is scheduled to go live on August 1.

AUSTRALIAN DMC Wildnerness Australia this week unveiled its new identity to reflect its dedication to creating new and unique experiences for travellers.

Now called Alquemie, derived from “alchemy”, the company was founded by Charles Carlow in 2001, specialising in high-end experiences and tailor-made itineraries around Australia.

With the rebranding, Alquemie will continue to work in the luxury segment of the travel industry and simultaneously grow its sales and marketing strategy to beyond its traditional markets.

Carlow said in a statement that Wilderness Australia was initially established to offer high-end travellers a safari-style, off-the-beaten-track approach to visiting Australia that involved bush camps and homesteads.

“The Wilderness Australia brand represented the initial concept but neglected to represent the broader scope and creative style of our offering. Our area of expertise is the transformation of luxury Australia, whether it be outback, coastal or urban, into something truly unique and exceptional, and I believe our new brand effectively captures this,” he said.

Along with a new name and logo, the company will roll out a new website, documentation and marketing collaterals in the near future.

THE Nepal Tourism Board (NTB) will step up overseas promotions in the next few months in order to rebuild confidence and traffic for the upcoming peak season starting September.

NTB administrative chief, Ramesh Kumar Adhikari, said: “We’ll focus on the China and India markets as they are our top two sources. Apart from media fam tours in June and July, we’ll rely on Honorary Public Relations Representatives stationed in Europe to design programmes like sales missions and events to promote Nepal.”

International visitor arrivals by air plunged 40 per cent year-on-year in May in the aftermath of a devastating earthquake.

Despite irreparable damage to certain areas in Kathmandu Valley, NTB said it remains safe to visit Nepal: only two of 36 trekking routes and three of eight UNESCO World Heritage Sites have been affected, while 90 per cent of hotels are operational.

Heritage sites, including damaged ones like the collapsed Dharara Tower, will also reopen to tourists from June 15.

NTB’s Adhikari said: “We want to create new interest for visitors to see 721 damaged sites. The (monuments) will be rebuilt in future but given the long time frame for design and reconstruction, we decided to let tourists see the remains.”

Nepal’s travel trade is dangling discounts in order to rebuild tourist numbers.

Worldways Tours & Travels has specialised in the Chinese market for over 20 years and handles around 12,000 pax annually. “All traffic for May, June and July was cancelled and this involved about 2,900 clients. In order to help traffic return, the company will charge 50 per cent less on services and products like hotels and tours until end-August,” said executive director Varun Mehta.

Nepal Social Treks & Expedition’s general manager, Basu Panday, hoped business will bounce back by September and is offering a 20 per cent on adventure tours until then.

But Panday added: “China still hasn’t lifted its travel ban on Nepal whereas the US and Europe have started to come back and help.”

Nepal’s consulate in Hong Kong issued a record 40,000 visas last year but travel consultants here that TTG Asia e-Daily interviewed remain cautious, saying they will continue to monitor the situation.

HOTEL room inventory in the Maldives is set to soar by at least 10 per cent in the next two years, with a guesthouse island project and a new luxury property on the way.

The site of the first development, which will house some 2,100 rooms in the mid-range segment, has just been moved from Thumburi on Laamu Atoll to the 72ha Baresdhoo on the same atoll.

Speaking to TTG Asia e-Daily, deputy tourism minister of the Maldives, Hussain Lirar, said the new site is larger and only 10 minutes away from the domestic airport, as compared to Thumburi’s 20-30 minutes.

Managed by the Maldives Marketing and PR Corporation and first announced in June 2014, the new development will feature small hotels and guesthouses as well as restaurants, shops, entertainment centres and diving facilities provided by independent operators.

The Maldives had 23,917 rooms in 111 resorts at the end of 2014.

Meanwhile, Sri Lanka’s Asia Capital is joining Japanese partner Belluna to build a 70-key luxury resort on Miriandhoo island on Baa Atoll at a cost of US$45 million.

Stefan Abeyesinhe, group CEO at Asia Capital, said there are ample opportunities for new investments in the Maldivian tourism industry as the increase in bed capacity is not adequate to cater to the fast-growing tourism industry.