BOOKINGS for Princess Cruises’ voyages to Europe and Alaska will open on March 19 and ahead of that, the cruise operator has unveiled the upcoming routes and itineraries.

Princess Cruises’ Europe sailings will be operated by its five ships including the newest and largest vessels, Royal Princess and Regal Princess. Highlights include the cruise line’s return to the Canary Islands and maiden ports of call in Croatia, Ireland, Norway and Scotland.

Its series of British Isles Cruises will see Caribbean Princess anchored in the region for summer and sailing between the UK, Ireland and Scotland, while Pacific Princess will call at maiden ports in Ullapool in Scotland, and Galway on the Irish west coast as part of a 14-day Irish Counties & Scottish Highlands itinerary. Cruises depart from London (Dover).

Other notable itineraries include North Cape sailings to the Arctic Circle during the peak midnight sun period on Emerald Princess and Pacific Princess. Emerald Princess will also visit Norwegian fjords and Pacific Princess will perform maiden call at Haugesund, Norway.

Princess Cruises’ Alaska cruises are also opening for booking soon with 106 depatures from Seattle, San Francisco, Vancouver and Whittier on offer.

Popular itineraries include Voyage of the Glaciers sailing between Vancouver and Whittier to visit UNESCO-listed Glacier Bay National Park.

Over 20 additional land-tour options will also allow passengers to explore the Denali area and beyond, with a new option to buy a prepaid meal package for the land portion.

More information is available on the Princess Cruises website.

ASIAN DMC Diethelm Travel Group has unveiled its Diethelm Distinctive product line with an emphasis on authentic, educational and fulfilling travel experiences, in a bid to sharpen its USP against the popularity of OTAs today.

“There are many travellers who want to do more than simply visit a place, they want to experience and to learn,” says Maarten Groeneveld, CEO of Diethelm Travel Group. “This kind of traveller is not satisfied with pre-packaged culture or nature experiences. He or she wants to meet local people, explore and possibly also to give back to a local community.”

The answer is therefore to “provide the extra personal value for travellers that cannot be obtained from OTAs”, said a Diethelm release.

A Diethelm Distinctive itinerary includes learning elements that enable travellers to acquire new knowledge about local people, culture and the environment.

This includes an evening food tour in Yaowarat, Bangkok’s Chinatown, or canoeing by starlight to explore the caves in Phang Nga.

More information can be found on the Diethelm website.

INDIAN tour operators have expressed concern over the government’s decision to make biometric data collection for UK tourists beginning March 14, saying it will handicap India’s ability to grow tourist arrivals from the UK.

The move requires all UK tourists to make appointments online to visit any of the 14 visa application centres and have fingerprints taken there. Centres are located in cities including Cardiff, Bristol, Manchester, Liverpool and Belfast.

The trade is far from happy. Subhash Goyal, president, Indian Association of Tour Operators, said: “We were looking to double tourist arrivals from UK this year. However, it will be not possible with mandatory biometric data collection.

“We have spoken to the tourism and home affairs ministries to express our concerns and requested they add the UK to the list of countries that can avail e-visas, which will then do away the need for a biometric test overseas,” he told TTG Asia e-Daily on the sidelines of the Travel Agents Federation of India annual convention in Jerusalem.

TTG Asia e-Daily understands that the Ministry of Tourism has already recommended that the UK be granted e-visa services, and the Ministry of Home Affairs is likely to give the go-ahead sooner rather than later.

“The EU is moving towards a biometric regime. So, generally it is done in reciprocity – if a country requires a biometric test to be done for Indian tourists, we also do the same when their tourists visit India,” commented Ashwani Kakkar, executive vice chairman, Mercury Travels.

“But we have to understand that we need tourism more than some of these countries who have very large tourist numbers do. For example, France gets inbound arrivals of 80 million annually and we, as a country about four times larger, get only seven million tourists. So we have to be careful in implementing these tit-for-tat tactics.”

Kakkar added: “We have heard from UK tour operators that compulsory biometric data collection will make things difficult for them, as tourists may need to travel far from home to get it done. It complicates the entire travelling process.”

EVEN as South Africa mounts its biggest marketing efforts in the Philippines to counter fallout from Ebola, its new regulation requiring visa applicants to apply in person in their home country is a major deterrent to travel.

 TTG Asia e-Daily understands that the new visa rule is meant to prevent illegal immigration to South Africa and rules out visa application by post as in the past.

Stephen Motloung, third secretary, admin and consular, South African Embassy in the Philippines, said travel consultants cannot apply for visas for group tours. Instead, each member of the tour group has to apply personally at the embassy in Manila.

The number of Filipino visitors, as with travel in general, to South Africa dropped in 2014 due to fears over Ebola, he said. In 2013, the country welcomed 17,000 Filipino arrivals and it is keen for more.

In tandem with the South African Embassy and South African Airways (SAA), a delegation of tourism stakeholders from Northern Cape province visited Manila to work the travel trade as well as consumers at the Philippine Travel Agencies Association’s Travel Tour Expo 2015.

Other efforts to court Filipino tourists include providing information on the real status of Ebola, fam trips for travel consultants and special tour packages, which Simon Martinez, sales assistant manager at SAA, said constitute the destination’s biggest marketing efforts in the Philippines so far.

Martinez expects Philippine outbound to South Africa to grow at a double-digit rate this year.

TURKISH Airlines is launching a direct flight linking Istanbul with Manila starting March 30, which will likely boost pilgrimage and leisure travel from the Philippines.

“Turkey is a destination for pilgrims, shopping, seamen and a good place for MICE,” said Erhan Balaban, Philippines general manager for Turkish Airlines, adding that these travellers make up the traditional demographics for inbound tourists to Turkey.

Inbound tour operators in Turkey are already in touch with Philippine operators, and Turkish Airlines will tap its own network of Turkish operators to promote destinations such as Pamukkale, Selçuk (Ephesus), Cappadocia and Canakkale, Balaban added.

The route is also an opportunity to pair Turkey with Athens, Rome and Tel Aviv, particularly for religious travellers, said Ligaya Tabirao, general manager, Meteor Philippines, whose company is an 20-year partner of Turkey’s Orion Tour.

Pilgrimage tours are on the upswing from last year, with Egypt, Israel and Jordan “back on track”, said Tabirao.

Although tour operators have expressed scepticism if the thrice-weekly frequency could meet outbound demand from the Philippines, Dorothy Alzona, president and general manager, Skynet Travel, said a typical itinerary to Turkey is seven to nine days long. “People will also go to Greece – so three times a week is okay.”