CHINESE tourists planning a trip to Singapore can now purchase Flashpay cards for use on local transit and taxis in the Lion City, and pick them up upon arrival at Changi Airport, thanks to a partnership between Singapore’s NETS and Alipay.

NETS and Alipay yesterday launched an overseas transport card that can be purchased via Alipay Wallet, Alipay’s mobile wallet, which has 190 million active users across China.

To purchase the card, users simply log into their registered account via Alipay Wallet, and an e-voucher will be sent to their account. Travellers can collect their Flashpay cards by presenting the e-voucher at designated “Changi Recommends” counters at Changi Airport upon touchdown.

The cobrand Alipay Flashpay card costs S$50 (US$38.20), comprising a card cost of S$5 and a stored value of S$45. Customers are allowed to purchase up to five Alipay FlashPay cards. Visitors who redeem the card from now until March 31, 2015 will receive a S$20 voucher, courtesy of Changi Airport Group (CAG), a partner of this collaboration.

Ang Sok Hong, senior vice president, sales, NETS, said: “Given Alipay’s popularity amongst Chinese consumers and its volume of traffic, it was only natural for us to partner with Alipay to see how we could make outbound travel more seamless for Chinese tourism.”

Wendy Sun, head of business development for Alipay in South-east Asia, said: “This transportation card will provide Chinese tourists a hassle-free travel experience and we look toward to making this collaboration a great success.”

Peh Ke-Wei, vice-president, passenger development, CAG, said: “China is an important market to Changi Airport and is currently our fifth largest source market in terms of passenger numbers. CAG is constantly on the look-out to collaborate with like-minded partners to boost passenger traffic to and via Changi Airport.”

BCD Travel is venturing into Cambodia by tying up with Tonle Travel, a local corporate travel and inbound tour specialist with whom it has already enjoyed a working relationship of more than four years.

The latest expansion marks the global travel management company’s 18th market in Asia-Pacific.

The addition of Cambodia into BCD Travel’s portfolio reflects the country’s strategic importance to global business as a trading and logistics hub for the Indochina region. Vinay Chhaya, vice president of operations in Asia-Pacific for BCD Travel, said: “The partnership with Tonle Travel allows us to enhance our service offering and grow our presence in a key emerging market.”

Tui Rutten, managing director of Tonle Travel, commented: “Cambodia’s robust economic performance continues, with 7.5 per cent anticipated real growth in 2015 and rising foreign direct investment. This growth in the manufacturing, construction and service sectors has resulted in increased demand for quality corporate travel management solutions.

“By partnering with BCD Travel, we can add immediate value to our Cambodian customers’ business travel programmes, and foster new business development growth.”

Greg O’Neil, president for Asia-Pacific, BCD Travel, added: “With the solid economic outlook in Asia, we see great opportunity in continuing to expand our presence throughout the region. This new partnership sends a clear message: As a global player in the business travel market, we’re committed to helping corporate customers and their travellers travel smart and achieve more – wherever they need to be.”

THAILAND’S tourism industry will recover and return to 2013 levels in terms of RevPAR within next year as long as the country remains politically stable, opined Patrick Basset, Accor’s COO for Thailand, Vietnam, South Korea, Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar and the Philippines.

RevPAR at Accor’s Thailand properties was up seven per cent year-on-year in November, which outperformed the market average by about 10 per cent.

However, Accor’s occupancy in Bangkok, which slid from 74 per cent in the first nine months of 2013 to 61 per cent in the same period this year, is forecast to rise to 71 per cent next year.

Phuket, which remained stable at 70 per cent, is expected to increase to 72 per cent in 2015.

“We were directly hit by the street protests and political turmoil from November 2013 and then by the declaration of martial law [and coup d’etat] from June,” said Basset, adding that the market had started to recover in the third quarter.

“Security is one of the biggest concerns for tourists, but as long as the situation remains calm and Thailand is not in the news for the wrong reasons, then we will see a return to previous performance next year.”

“Thailand remains the best tourism destination in South-east Asia,” he said, adding that while arrivals could increase to as much as 40 million from about 25 million this year, the government must invest in infrastructure to ensure the country is able to cope with the increase.

Basset said future prospects for Accor and other international hoteliers also remained strong in Thailand, given that internationally branded hotels only accounted for about one-fifth of current supply, which is low compared to developed markets.

“We signed 14 (management contracts with) hotels in Thailand this year, up from an average of 10 per year,” he said. “As the market gets more competitive, more owners are looking to international brands to manage their properties.”

Seven hotels with a total 1,425 rooms joined the brand’s network in Thailand this year, expanding Accor’s Thailand portfolio to 54 properties and 12,827 keys with another five hotels in the pipeline.

FINOLHU Villas is set to become the world’s first luxury resort using solely solar power when it opens in the Maldives come mid-January 2015.

The Club Med-managed property at Gasfinolhu island, featuring 52 luxury bungalows and a solar power system, is 40 minutes away from Male, the resort’s officials said.

The resort will be Club Med’s second facility in the Maldives after the 240-room Club Med Kani, located just five minutes away.

According to Maldivian media reports, the resort’s many solar panels cover the walkway from the jetty to the reception, as well as the rooftops of utility buildings.

The panels are capable of producing 1,100 kilowatts at power peak, while the island at full occupancy only requires 600 kilowatts at peak load.

The resort’s power system is automated and computer programmed, and can switch from solar to diesel power when necessary, particularly when there is continuous rain and no sunlight to generate solar power.

Excess solar power is stored in batteries during the day, which is then used to power the resort at night.

Tourism-dependent Maldives has over 100 resorts which consume 49 per cent of the country’s annual diesel imports. The authorities have been looking at alternate energy options and have been encouraging resorts to do the same.

INTERCONTINENTAL Hotels Group (IHG) will refurbish and convert the Rydges Perth into the city’s first InterContinental hotel by 2017.

The hospitality company has signed a management agreement with Unir Hotels for the 240-key InterContinental Perth, located in Perth’s CBD with key facilities such as Perth Convention & Exhibition Centre, His Majesty’s Theatre, and retail and dining outlets.

InterContinental Perth will come with function spaces including a boardroom and meeting rooms, a business centre, in-room Internet access, and a Club Lounge. A bar-and-restaurant concept is in the works.

InterContinental Perth will become the third IHG property in the Western Australian capital, joining Holiday Inn Perth and Crowne Plaza Perth, and the sixth IHG property in the country.

AFTER a hiatus of eight years, Air New Zealand will return to the Lion City to begin a new direct service between Singapore and Auckland from January 6, 2015.

The daily service will be operated on a Boeing 777-200 aircraft.

Styling itself as the official airline of Middle-earth, the fictional fantasy realm created by JRR Tolkien, Air New Zealand has teamed up with Tourism New Zealand, Warner Bros Pictures, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures and New Line Cinema to launch a Hobbit-themed installation in Bugis Junction shopping mall in Singapore last Friday.

The display showcases the airline’s latest offerings for vacations in New Zealand and also its unique Economy Skycouch seats.

Commenting on the airline’s promotions surrounding The Hobbit trilogy’s latest movie, Mischa Mannix-Opie, sales and market development manager Singapore, Air New Zealand, said: “It’s a big opportunity to promote Air New Zealand around the globe as the official carrier to Middle-earth and it’s perfect timing in Singapore, as not only is the promotion around the movie, it’s also in the lead-up to our launch on January 6.”

“We are also working very closely with the travel consultant community here in Singapore to reintroduce them to Air New Zealand, and educating them on the products we have on board.”

Flying Economy class on Air New Zealand will also give passengers the choice of upgrading to an Economy Skycouch seat for a fee, one of 18 that can be found on the Boeing 777-200. The Skycouch is a row of three seats with footrests that can be raised to horizontal in order form a flat, flexible space.

Mannix-Opie said: “There are a lot of families from Singapore that are coming to New Zealand for a holiday, so we think it’s a great opportunity for them to use these seats when they are flying with us.”

Air New Zealand is currently offering a “S$500 (US$383) off Premium Economy Offer” as part of its Middle-earth promotion until December 31 for travel between Singapore and Auckland from January 6 to June 30, 2015.

More details can be found on www.airnewzealand.com.sg

TO ENCOURAGE tourists to create their own compelling experience in Singapore, an app which purposefully guides tourists to take detours while enroute to their main destination proved to be the winning idea at the Travel & Tourism Hackathon yesterday.

Organised by the Singapore Tourism Board (STB), the Hackathon is the first time STB is roping in industry partners to explore digital solutions to enhance the Singapore travel experience.

Winning app Detourist, which is still a prototype at this stage, will help tourists plan routes within the city-state depending on the user’s schedule to seek out “hidden gems”.

For example, a tourist planning to go to Orchard Road from City Hall could have his or her route detoured through South Bridge Road.

One of the five behind Detourist app, Alexander Lim, who is also a senior copywriter from advertising company JWT Singapore, said: “We want to bring people out of the usual Singapore to discover our culture and heritage. There is a lot more Singapore can offer.

“We want to showcase our strangely wonderful place and bring them into our kopitiam, getai, trishaw riders, while still hitting the well-known attractions.”

The team bagged the top prize of S$10,000 (US$8,000) cash.

Other than Detourist, other ideas presented at the Hackathon include utilising social apps like Instagram and Facebook to create personalised itineraries.

This is STB’s third hackathon this year. By tapping “top-notch creative minds”, STB hopes to generate ideas to enable local tourism businesses to offer something different to both locals and visitors.

John Conceicao, executive director, capability & innovation, STB, said: “Like many other destinations, Singapore is seeing increasingly discerning visitors who are also digitally savvy. We hope to generate refreshing and innovative ideas that can engage people on a more personal and meaningful level through good storytelling.”

STB’s CEO, Lionel Yeo added that STB is prepared to work together with some of these agencies that participated in the Hackathon, and will be looking at setting aside a “modest sum of money” to help polish these raw ideas for commercial use.

STARWOOD Hotels & Resorts Worldwide last week announced the opening of Sheraton Wuhan Hankou Hotel, the brand’s first foray into the capital city of Hubei Province in China.

Owned by China Oceanwide Construction Group, the property is located at Jianshe Dadao, with retail malls directly accessible via the hotel’s lobby, and less than two kilometres from the Hankou Railway Station.

It offers 509 guestrooms and suites, each equipped with amenities such as a 46-inch LED flat-screen TV and a spacious work area with wired and wireless high-speed Internet access.

There are 15 meeting rooms, plus a pillarless Sheraton Ballroom with a high-definition LED screen and outdoor pre-function areas. Other facilities include the Sheraton Club Lounge, a gift shop, fitness centre, spa, Kid’s Club and three F&B venues.

“With the region’s robust economic growth and rapid infrastructure development, there has been an increase in the demand for quality accommodations, and Sheraton Wuhan Hankou hotel is well positioned to serve hospitality needs of upper-scale business and leisure travellers in Wuhan,” said Liu Zong, area managing director, West & Central China, Starwood Hotels & Resorts.

A special opening package is available till April 30, 2015, starting from RMB688 (US$112) plus 15 per cent service charge, with breakfast for one person for one night’s stay in a Deluxe Room.