THE monster 7.8-magnitude earthquake that shook the Kathmandu valley on Saturday has now claimed 4,310 lives and injured almost 8,000, according to official figures.

All expeditions and tourism-related activities have ground to a halt, said the consulate general of Nepal, Kolkata office, and prominent heritage sites have been destroyed or affected.

At least 17 mountain climbers were killed on the slopes of Mount Everest after an avalanche was triggered by Saturday’s quake, and many more remain stranded at Camp 1 and Camp 2 awaiting evacuation to base camp, say international news agencies.

However, Singapore’s The Straits Times reported that local travel agencies including CTC Travel and Dynasty Travel have no plans to change tours to Kathmandu or Tibet, the latter having also been affected by the tremors.

Sheryl Lim, regional director of Insight Vacations Asia, told TTG Asia e-Daily that the tour operator is saddened by the earthquake. “Our thoughts and prayers are with the families of the affected.”

“Insight Vacations runs a four-day Mini Stay in Kathmandu as part of the India Specialist Program. We did not have any clients in Kathmandu at the time of the earthquake,” she said. “We will be guided by the advisory of the relevant authorities in Nepal when they are available to update our clients on their future travel plans.”

Insight’s tour season and programme start only in August and the tour operator will advise adjustments as more information becomes clear.

Meanwhile, regional carrier SilkAir has announced that flights to and from Kathmandu will continue to operate as per its schedule, but will waive all administrative charges and penalties for customers holding confirmed tickets issued on or before April 25 who would like to rebook travel to and from Kathmandu between now and October 31, 2015.

In response to TTG Asia e-Daily’s query, a PATA spokesperson said in an email: “On Saturday, we held the PATA Foundation Charity Gala Dinner (in Leshan, China), where the chairman of the PATA Foundation publicly pledged to help Nepal.” Further details are pending.

The UN is also said to be readying a flash appeal for funding from the international community tomorrow.

For those who would like to donate towards relief efforts, Facebook is facilitating donations to International Medical Corps and has pledged to match all gifts dollar for dollar, up to US$2 million.

The Singapore Red Cross is also accepting contributions online atwww.sggives.org/nepalsrcs.

GLOBAL hotel solutions provider HRS is riding on GDSs to extend its reach and offer of independent hotels that are traditionally not available in GDSs.

Earlier this month, Travelport and HRS signed a multi-year global distribution agreement that added up to 70,000 hotels from HRS’ properties to Travelport’s Travel Commerce Platform.

Speaking to TTG Asia e-Daily, Todd Arthur, managing director for HRS in Asia-Pacific, said: “The company made a strategic decision to collaborate with GDSs as we see that it provides a value for all three parties: the corporate customer, the (travel agencies) and the GDSs.

“GDSs have always been very strong in content with chain hotels and Tier 1 cities, but not for independent hotels and Tier 2 and 3 cities, especially in Asia-Pacific,” he said, citing Penang, Surabaya and Wuhan as examples.

“These second- and third-tier cities are largely driven by independent hotels and content has not been our there in the public domain so that is why we need to come in.”

Using Japan as an example, he said: “Only 10 per cent of business properties there are connected to GDSs. There is just such a significant gap in content.”

Apart from Travelport, HRS is also currently connected with Amadeus and Sabre.

“By providing the complete picture in the system, the end-user will no longer have to spend additional time sourcing for hotels outside the system, which will slow down productivity and incur higher costs,” Arthur explained.

Risk management and employee safety is one of the key concerns in the region as well.

Besides its tie-ups with GDSs, HRS earlier this year partnered risk management provider iJET International to roll out new booking tools merging its booking data into iJET’s Worldcue systems.

The collaboration provides companies with a consolidated view of their employees on the road, which closes another gap in the process of the value chain by keeping the organisation a step ahead in the domain of corporate travel agencies.

Using the recent earthquake catastrophe in Nepal as an example, Arthur said: “We are able to track immediately who’s there and which companies they are from for instant updates.”

HOTELS in Beijing are set for a “better 2Q2015”, according to STR Global, which presented a Travel Trends in Asia update at the PATA Annual Summit last week.

Jesper Palmqvist, area director Asia-Pacific, STR Global, said: “There is a 15.1 per cent increase in the number of rooms in China over existing supply but China is not necessarily oversupplied. It depends on each specific market.”

He said that Beijing will see improvement this year and that the outlook in 2016 is bullish, adding that budget and economy hotels, such as Home Inns, are doing well in China.

Home Inns operates across 335 cities in China with a total of 2,609 hotels and is planning to open more hotels as well as to expand to Singapore, a popular destination among outbound Chinese tourists, he said.

He added: “There has been good recovery in the last 12 to 15 months for Shanghai, Suzhou and Shenzhen, which have turned around – first in occupancy, followed by rates.”

“Rates in Chongqing, for example, are going up by 19 per cent as there is strong demand and it will continue to do well in the next couple of years.

“In Wuhan, RevPAR is up 16 per cent,” he added.

The presentation also showed that boutique and lifestyle brands in China are doing well in 2015.

THE new mass rapid transit (MRT) rail system that will dramatically reduce the time taken to travel between Taoyuan International Airport and Taipei is on course to open this December.

The Taoyuan International Airport MRT is undergoing test runs at present and is around 95 per cent complete, with further testing scheduled, according to Taiwan’s transportation bureau and Xinhua.

At a speed of 90kph, travellers will be able to commute from the airport to Taipei Main Station in a little over 30 minutes, with trains departing in each direction every 10 minutes at busy periods of the day and every 15 minutes at quieter times.

The line will also serve as a commuter route and will have 14 stops, although people heading directly to or from the airport will be able to take an express service skipping commuter stops.

Each train will be able to transport a maximum of 855 passengers and 5,200kg of luggage in large storage areas, said the transportation bureau. No decision has been reached on the price of tickets on the route.

“Traveller-friendly” carriages will also be equipped with screens providing details on flight arrivals and departures.

WHEN Abacus releases Abacus ContentPlus retail platform in May, travel consultants will find it equipped with a host of travel experiences provided by City Discovery.

Abacus’ partnership with City Discovery integrates 8,000 concerts, cabarets, activities, attractions and tours from over 700 destinations into Abacus ContentPlus.

The B2B2C retail platform will allow travel consultants to either sell City Discovery products separately or bundle them into itineraries alongside flights, accommodation, car rentals and transfers.

Purchases and bookings are instantly confirmed for sporting and entertainment events, while priority access is also given for a range of attractions.

Martin Symes, chief marketing officer of Abacus, said in a press release: “We are adding a new dimension to the services offered by this region’s travel consultants, with products that deliver on the promise of experiential travel.

“This is about value too. While Abacus (travel consultants) benefit from the incremental revenue, travellers will enjoy City Discovery’s consistent low price guarantee.”

Abacus ContentPlus, currently in beta testing, will be free to use as one of 60 Abacus Red Apps integrating with Abacus WorkSpace.

THERE will be no change in existing management and business direction at Crystal Cruises despite the acquisition by Genting Hong Kong announced last month.

Edie Rodriguez, president and COO of the luxury cruise line, said: “Genting lets us run independently and our plan in Asia remains unchanged. With published itineraries through 1Q2018, we will certainly continue to call on Asia. In fact, our third vessel is targeted to deliver in 2018.”

“We hosted a travel consultant dinner in Hong Kong last week and some of their talk included if Genting would turn Crystal Cruises into Star Cruises. This is absolutely not (true) and we’ll sail on our own.”

Rodriguez told TTG Asia e-Daily the only think she could reveal prior to the closing of the deal is that Crystal Cruises intends to maintain its guest-to-space ratio, guest capacity and on-board ambience.

The US$550 million deal closes in six weeks’ time.

Asian travellers account for 10 per cent of Crystal Cruises’ business and Rodriguez said the company would grow this segment organically.

Travel consultants contribute 96 per cent of Crystal Cruises’ business.

OPENING its doors in Seoul on May 1 is the new 27-storey Shilla Stay Seodaemun.

Located close to Seoul’s financial and retail hubs, the 319-room hotel is a one-minute wak from the subway station and is near tourist attractions, including the Seoul Museum of Art.

Guests can choose from the Standard room (20.6m²), the Deluxe room (24.6m²) or the Grand room (58.5m²). Amenities include a restaurant, meeting room and fitness centre.

The hotel is releasing a grand opening package for guests staying at the hotel from May 1 to 31. Prices start from 169,000 won (US$156) per night for a weeknight stay or 229,000 won for the weekend, coming with a free breakfast for two, gift hamper, free Wi-Fi and access to the fitness centre.

DUSIT Fudu Hotels and Resorts will launch a luxury Dusit Thani Resort in Zaozhuang, Shandong province in 2018.

When it opens, the Dusit Thani Thai Cultural City Resort Zaozhuang, Shandong will be the first internationally branded and luxury five-star resort in the city.

The hospitality company signed an agreement with Zaozhuang Thai Cultural City Development, which will develop the only Thai cultural city in China to celebrate and showcase Thai culture including upscale Thai retail brands and cultural performances.

Zaozhuang in southern Shandong province is two hours from Beijing and three hours from Shanghai by train, and the resort is a further 15-minute drive from the city’s high-speed train station.

The 257-key Dusit Thani Thai Cultural City Resort Zaozhuang, Shandong will offer conference, an international all-day dining restaurant, a Chinese restaurant, and Dusit’s signature Benjarong Thai restaurant.

DINOSAURS are here to stay at the new Lee Kong Chian Natural History Museum, which will open its doors to the public from tomorrow.

Home to over a million plant and animal specimens, the seven-storey 8,500m² museum in the National University of Singapore’s Faculty of Science is the city-state’s first and only natural history museum.

It will feature three main stars, Prince, Apollonia and Twinky, three 150-million-year-old diplodocid sauropod dinosaur skeletons.

Visitors can also expect to see more than 2,000 specimens, divided into 15 zones, in the exhibition gallery. The main gallery showcases the history and biodiversity of plants and animals, while the heritage gallery, Singapore’s natural history and treasures.

Predicting this new spot will attract visitors who are natural history buffs, Judy Lum, group vice president sales and marketing, Tour East Singapore, said: “Natural history has a wide appeal, and I foresee this will draw interest (especially) from educational institutions, visitors from North Asia and visitors from longhaul destinations.”

Star Holiday Mart general manager, Dominic Ong, said clients are already requesting the museum be included in travel itineraries.

However, the museum has announced that admission tickets are valid only for a duration of 90 minutes, with six such sessions a day starting at 10.00 and ending at 17.30. Each slot can take about 200 people, and tickets must be pre-booked through ticketing agent Sistic.

This administrative measure will help to maximise the visitor experience as large crowds and long queues will inhibit visitors from enjoying history and science, said the museum’s website.

Ong, who will include this new spot in his packages according to requests, added that this time restriction factor will further help tour operators in time management.

Tickets are now available from Sistic and start at S$15 (US$11) per adult for local residents. Standard tickets are S$20 for adults and S$11 for children.