TRAVEL sellers at the recent ASEAN Tourism Forum in Nay Pyi Taw have introduced special tour fares for Malaysian buyers as the ringgit continues to depreciate against the US dollar.

Andy Carroll, global head of sales & marketing of Vietnam-based Exotic Voyages, said: “Malaysia is a new market that we started to develop in the middle of 2014. To encourage more Malaysians travel, we offer packages to Vietnam and Myanmar 15 per cent less than what we offer to other regional markets and it has resulted in good growth, partly because this market is so new.”

Hanoi-based VNHolidays CEO and director, Tony Tran, said his company is working with hotels to create special packages for the Malaysian market for the upcoming March school holidays.

He said: “Malaysia is a price-sensitive market. Customers may change suppliers for as little as a US$5 difference. However, we don’t want to compete on pricing and we’d rather concentrate on service quality.”

Meanwhile, inbound Malaysian travel consultants report that Malaysian companies have already started cutting travel budgets and are choosing domestic and regional destinations for business-related travel.

Adam Kamal, CEO of Rakyat Travel, said some business travellers are purchasing air tickets of a lower fare category, where no changes can be made after the ticket has been issued.

“Clients from the banking industry who used to book single rooms for business travel are now getting rooms on twin-share basis and are opting for local hotel brands instead of international hotel chains,” he added.

Nanda Kumar, managing director at Hidden Asia Travel & Tours, said: “Malaysian companies are trimming budgets by downgrading hotels, cutting down on the length of stay, and the destination for company outings, which will be done before the close of company accounts in May for submission of 2014 income tax, by opting for local destinations.”

Thailand and Indonesia are popular choices, while some are venturing to Siem Reap as a new destination, he said. “Inbound travel consultants (in Cambodia) may quote us in US dollars but it is still a value-for-money destination. I am selling 4D3N packages at US$150 per person based on twin-share in three-star accommodations.”

TWO homemade time bombs detonated outside of Siam Paragon Shopping Centre last evening prompted an emergency evacuation, and one man was slightly injured.

According to the Bangkok Post, the bombs were concealed behind a transformer at BMA Express Service and exploded on a walkway between Siam BTS station and Siam Paragon at 20.00.

Civilians were evacuated from Siam Paragon and the surrounding areas and police closed off roads in the vicinity, said the daily.

BTS train services were stopped at 20.10 after the explosion but resumed at 20.38, said The Nation.

The police were quoted by the Bangkok post as saying that the bombs “were not intended to kill”.

Siam Paragon is a popular mall for tourists and shoppers that garnered it the title of the world’s most Instagram-med place in 2013.

LUXURY travel show ILTM says it will field 200 new China buyers at its Shanghai edition in June as reports indicate that travel has become the leading leisure pursuit for China’s wealthy.

ILTM Asia senior exhibition director, Alison Gilmore, told TTG Asia e-Daily that the buyers will be sourced not only from first-tier Chinese cities but emerging second and third tiers, including but not limited to Chengdu, Wuhan and Guangzhou.

“We will also ensure translators are on hand at ILTM Asia to help with communication for any luxury travel buyers attending,” she said.

According to Gilmore, the show aims to introduce at least 30 per cent new buyers each year. Last year, for instance, 42 per cent of a total of 468 buyers, from 21 countries, were first-timers to the event. This year’s show targets an increase in buyer numbers to 500-550, of which 48 per cent will be new buyers to ILTM Asia.

“But this year we will focus on Hong Kong and China as the region from where we will be hosting the majority of our new faces,” said Gilmore. “At last year’s ILTM Asia Global Forum, travel was cited as the leading leisure pursuit for China’s wealthy. By 2020, we understand the number of foreign trips made from China will double.”

She added: “Other key target regions for us to source both the new and the established will include Singapore, Australia, Indonesia, Taiwan and Japan.

“With increasing numbers of wealthy travellers seeking new experiences across all four corners of the world, there are also increasing numbers of specialist buyers who are creating their bespoke itineraries.”

Another report, the 2015 China Luxury Forecast, by Ruder Finn and IPSOS Group, also shows travel is now the number one category of luxury for Chinese consumers, and spending by Chinese travellers is expected to drive more growth in luxury markets outside China.

This year’s ILTM Asia is the ninth edition of the show and will be held from June 1-4.

Read more in TTG Asia Luxury June 2015

MORE than 10 months since the ill-fated incident took place, Malaysia Airlines (MAS) yesterday officially declared the disappearance of flight MH370 an accident with no survivors.

The announcement will clear the way for MAS to proceed with the compensation process to the appointed next-of-kin of all MH370 passengers.

“We officially declare Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 an accident in accordance with the Standards of Annexes 12 and 13 to the Chicago Convention and that all 239 of the passengers and crew onboard MH370 are presumed to have lost their lives,” said Department of Civil Aviation Malaysia, director-general, Azharuddin Abdul Rahman, in a media statement.

“We have endeavoured and pursued every credible lead and reviewed all available data. Despite all these efforts over the last 327 days (as of January 28, 2015), the search unfortunately has yet to yield the location of the missing aircraft.”

On March 8, 2014, the Beijing-bound aircraft disappeared shortly after taking off from Kuala Lumpur. A majority of the passengers were Chinese.

Searches in the following months have failed to turn up any trace of the missing plane and the fate of the Boeing 777-2H6ER jet remains unknown.

However, the search for MH370 remains a priority, MAS declared in its media statement.

MYANMAR’S relative novelty in the South African market is providing luxury travel buyers an opportunity to gain first-mover status in selling the South-east Asian destination to more adventurous travellers.

While South-east Asia remains a popular destination for South African tourists, especially given its better value when compared with the US, Myanmar remains off the radar for many consumers.

The lack of promotion of Myanmar in South Africa presents both challenges and opportunities, Shona Pittaway, managing director of Perfect Destinations told TTG Asia e-Daily at the recent ASEAN Tourism Forum.

“We want to add Myanmar as a destination,” she said. “The main challenge is it is not marketed in South Africa, but that gives us an opportunity. We will be one of the first agencies to offer Myanmar there.

“A lot of effort will be needed to educate the market and inform people about Myanmar being a safe place to travel. Currently, Myanmar is definitely for the more experienced traveller.”

The Tourism Authority of Thailand is currently the only NTO from South-east Asia to market itself in South Africa, said Pittaway.

Having successfully built brisk trade with Thailand, Trade Global Marketing Tours is keen to expand into Myanmar. Said CEO, Ayo Oyeneyin: “(Myanmar) is a new market and we are trying to venture into it.

“I foresee good opportunities in Myanmar in the future and think it can be developed into a stand-alone destination (for the South African market).”

LOUVRE Hotels Group (LHG) is looking to introduce two new budget brands, Premiere Classe and Campanile, in India this year.

“We will be opening Premiere Classe and Campanile hotels in Tier Two and Tier Three cities and none of these properties will be opened in metro cities. We are in talks with a few hotel owners for management contracts and we expect to finalise some deals soon. We are expecting to open four to five budget hotels by this year-end,” said Shashi Razdan, director of sales & marketing – South Asia, LHG.

LHG, which currently has 16 properties operating in India under the Royal Tulip, Golden Tulip and Tulip Inn brands, did not reveal the cities the new properties will be launched in.

Also in the group’s expansion pipeline in India are Golden Tulip Vasundhara, Golden Tulip Neemrana and Royal Tulip Luxury Resort Kufri – Shimla, which will open by April this year.

Meanwhile, LHG is also foraying into its second South Asian market after India with the debut of Royal Tulip Luxury Resort Cox Bazaar in Bangladesh in April.

Razdan said: “We are looking to position ourselves among the leading hotel chains in the country with these new launches. The company is aggressively expanding in the next few years across South Asia thereby increasing its market share and establishing itself as a leading hospitality chain in the region.”

“We are also considering entering other Asian markets like Nepal, Maldives and Indonesia.”

AFTER witnessing a decline in visitor numbers from India in 2014, the Philippine Department of Tourism (DoT) will step up marketing efforts in the India this year to arrest the arrivals slide.

The Philippines recorded 60,000 Indian arrivals last year, down from about 100,000 in 2013, with typhoon Haiyan that hit the country in November 2013 cited as one of the reasons for the dip.

In what it hopes to be a game-changing measure, the DoT has proposed to the Philippine government to waive visa requirements for Indian nationals holding a valid visa to the US, Japan, Australia, Canada, Schengen states and Singapore.

“This proposal will be decided by 1Q and is currently being evaluated by the national government. If given a go-ahead, the scheme will be valid for two years,” said DoT secretary, Ramon Jimenez Jr.

The DoT has doubled its marketing budget for the Indian market for 2015. “We are going to invest in the Indian market in a way we have never done in the past. We will be more active from a marketing and communication point in India. Our focus is on cities that include New Delhi, Mumbai and Hyderabad,” Jimenez added, without disclosing the exact figures.

The NTO is also working towards establishing direct connectivity between both countries. “We expect to hold discussions with India’s national carrier Air India soon,” Jimenez revealed.

Later this year, the DoT will organise a mega fam trip, its biggest ever in India, for around 100 participants including travel consultants and media personnel.

The Philippines is targeting 150,000 Indian tourist arrivals in 2015.

JAPAN’S third-largest carrier, Skymark Airlines, has filed for court protection from its creditors with estimated liabilities of 71.1 billion yen (US$603 million).

Analysts believe, however, that the airline will receive the support of the nation’s two largest carriers, Japan Airlines (JAL) and All Nippon Airways (ANA), as well as the backing of the Japanese government to remain flying for the immediate future.

Part of that support will be in the form of codeshare arrangements with JAL and ANA on the 27 domestic routes that Skymark presently operates in Japan.

The agreements suggest that there will be no major disruptions for the travel industry and it is possible that Skymark will be able to successfully complete its restructuring efforts and rebuild its business.

“They are safe for the time being, but we will have to see what their customers do as there are some who may be wary of a company that is in bankruptcy protection,” Geoffrey Tudor, an analyst for Japan Aviation Management Research, told TTG Asia e-Daily.

“But we must remember that JAL was in the same situation a few years ago and is in very good shape again today,” he said. “Skymark could very well achieve the same outcome.”

A pioneer of LCCs in Japan when it commenced operations in September 1988, initially as part of a consortium headed by the HIS travel agency, Skymark incurred considerable losses in its early years.

A new management team, under CEO and majority shareholder Shinichi Nishikubo, saw the company into the black in 2003 and there were ambitious expansion plans for new longhaul routes, including to New York and London, with a US$2 billion fleet of six Airbus A380 aircraft.

The airline began to experience problems due to the soaring cost of aviation fuel and the falling value of the yen. Skymark is also in dispute with Airbus over the purchase of the new aircraft, with the France-based aircraft manufacturer filing a lawsuit in December over unpaid deposits.