ROYAL Caribbean’s Celebrity Cruises has unveiled a range of in-depth, multi-day land tours, which can be sold together with its sailings.

Michael Bayley, president and CEO, Celebrity Cruises, said: “With the introduction of Celebrity Explorations, we are giving our guests more of what they value and expect from Celebrity – authentic, immersive and upscale vacation experiences that combine luxury hotels, guided tours by our destination concierges, and the best in local dining with a unique selection of ocean cruises and more.

“Our new style of travel pairs two exceptional vacations in one,” he added.

There are over 20 different Celebrity Explorations itineraries available for cruises from 2015 to 2016.

Highlights include a three-night tour covering Sydney and the South Pacific that will take guests through the highlights of the city – the Sydney Opera House, Sydney Harbour Bridge, and Bondi Beach – before boarding Celebrity Solstice.

This itinerary is available for sailing between January 18 and March 22, 2015, and October 21, 2015 and April 1, 2016.

Celebrity’s Africa & Iberian Peninsula tour is a five-night itinerary starting in Nairobi that will bring travellers to an upscale lodge in Lake Nakuru National Park and a luxury tented camp in the Masai Mara Game Reserve. Guests take part in three fully escorted expeditions before boarding Celebrity Eclipse in Southampton, England, which sails through the Canary Islands.

This is for sailings departing August 30 to October 21, 2015.

Another highlight is Celebrity’s Amazon & the Antarctic, which sees guests cruise down the Amazon for four days before sailing with Celebrity Infinity to Antarctica, and either Argentina or Chile. Travellers keen on this must travel between December 20, 2015 to February 28, 2016.

BUDGET airline Jetstar Pacific will be connecting Ho Chi Minh City and Bangkok daily from December 10, deploying Airbus A320 aircraft configured for 180 passengers on the route.

This announcement comes shortly after Jetstar Pacific announced new flights from Ho Chi Minh City to Singapore would start on October 27.

Jetstar Pacific is offering discounted fares for this route with prices from 1,190 baht (US$37) until September 1, while stocks last.

Jetstar Pacific currently operates close to 380 services a week to nine domestic destinations within Vietnam including Ho Chi Minh City, Danang, Hanoi, Hai Phong, Vinh, Buon Ma Thuot, Nha Trang, Hue and Phu Quoc.

THE non-profit Yangon Heritage Trust (YHT) will launch heritage tours in Myanmar’s gateway city on September 3.

Walk With YHT tours offer two separate routes – from Strand Road to Scott Market, and the East Downtown and Secretariat tour, which takes participants to the site of the assassination of Aung San, a general and key figure in Myanmar history, and father of Aung San Suu Kyi.

Tours will run on Wednesdays and Saturdays, once in the morning and again in the afternoon. Each tour lasts 2.5 hours and requires a minimum of five participants, with a maximum of 15. Tours are at US$30 per person.

Shwe Yinn Mar Oo, senior communications officer, YHT, said: “We have undertaken significant research into the history of every building, including those on the tour and also peripheral issues which are of interest. YHT’s well-trained tour leaders will bring visitors into the heart of old Yangon with stories and anecdotes from its history from the earliest beginnings to the modern city.”

She added that YHT has produced a self-guided map for Yangon containing six different heritage walks. “Since we are continuing the research work, new routes can also be created in the future. I hope these tours will attract more tourists, researchers, historians and (result in) a new product for the tourism industry.”

Proceeds from the tours will go towards YHT’s continued advocacy work to protect and promote Yangon’s rich urban heritage.

THE Hong Kong Tourism Board (HKTB) embarked on a mega-marketing activity for the Philippine trade earlier this month new tours and trade promotions in order to jumpstart waning Philippine arrivals.

Simon Wong, HKTB regional director for South-east Asia, said the event is the “largest trade revival programme we’ve had” in recent years. Philippine arrivals to Hong Kong fell 14.5 per cent year-on-year from January-June 2014, from 375,294 to 321,051.

HKTB’s effort was spearheaded by its new My Time For… campaign, which in the Philippines, would zero in on three segments: families, young travellers aged 16-30, and the mature market above 46 years old.

To that end the NTO introduced three tour programmes – a Sham Shui Po foodie tour in the New Territories; a Wing Chun kung fu experience plus heritage museum tour; and an eco-tour programme in the fishing village of Tai O.

HKTB’s briefings also highlighted the opening of the Kai Tak cruise terminal, the October 1 launch of the Hong Kong Observation Wheel in Central Ferry Pier, Hong Kong Disneyland’s upcoming Disney Paint the Night night-time light show and Ocean Park’s new shark attraction.

Paul Leung, president, Hong Kong Inbound Travel Association, noted Filipino travellers are drawn to theme parks and shopping. “We’ve designed a special 2+1 package – the third (person) enters free. It will be applied on three packages: Ocean Park, Sky100, and Ngong Ping 360.”

The association is offering the trade this deal for two weeks starting August 15, valid for travel until October.

Meanwhile, Rita Ma, senior sales manager at Noah’s Ark Hong Kong, one of the newer theme parks in Hong Kong’s New Territories, said it had been receiving Internet bookings from the Philippine market.  “The numbers show Filipinos buy directly online, even at the published rate.”

Although 80 per cent of Filipinos tourists stay overnight, the average length of stay is two nights. Per capita spend increased 7.7 per cent from 2012 to 2013, said HKTB’s Wong.

RISING demand from new source markets and the entry of more international branded hotels could help the former royal capital of Laos deliver on its potential as a cultural destination, reveals new research from C9 Hotelworks.

In Luang Prabang, Accor’s rebranding of Hotel De La Paix Luang Prabang and the 3 Nagas Luang Prabang under its Sofitel and MGallery brands respectively, as well as Aqua Expeditions’ launch of a luxury Mekong cruise to Vietnam and Cambodia will take place by year-end. Anantara Luang Prabang will open in August 2016.

Combined, they are expected to boost destination marketing and generate incremental international demand for the market, said Bill Barnett, managing director of C9 Hotelworks and author of the Luang Prabang: Hotel Market Update report.

“As in most cases the private sector will boost the destination with hotel brands, inducing more demand,” he told TTG Asia e-Daily.

Historically Luang Prabang has failed to cash in on its cultural cachet when compared with competing markets such as Siem Reap. But while more international hotels and cruises could help tip the scales in the destination’s favour, it is not a given.

“The key challenge is to see the destination develop from a seasonable trend into a more mainstream market,” he said. “Additionally more demand generators are required to keep visitors returning and avoid being a ‘one-trick pony’, where there is the constant need to develop new visitors.”

Last year’s completion of a new terminal and extended runway at Luang Prabang International Airport helped support a 16 per cent rise in international arrivals to 342,557 for financial year 2013/14 and a five per cent increase in star-rated room supply, which now accounts for more than one-third of all registered accommodation units.

Growth came predominantly from traditional source markets such as Scandinavia, Switzerland, the Netherlands, New Zealand and Russia, but also newer markets including Latin America.

However, muted airlift and high operating costs for carriers dampened the positive impact of airport improvements on arrivals.

THE growth of Millennial travel has changed the face of travel in Indonesia in the last two years, presenting both a hurdle and a springboard for change.

High-level members of the industry spoke today at the Asian Travel & Tourism Industry Dialogue: Asian Millennial Travellers, and How to Tap This Growing Market, a roundtable session held at Pullman Jakarta and co-organised by Singapore Tourism Board (STB) and TTG Asia Media under the TravelRave banner.

Ajay Sohoni, associate principal, Consumer Research Centre, McKinsey & Co, said Millennial travellers in Indonesia are financially savvy, willing to take risks in travel options, and use credit cards. They rely on the Internet as their primary tool for research when buying products, but listen to their friends for suggestions rather than family.

Social media and mobile technology are taking root in the country and altering the consumer behaviours significantly, according to Nicholas Oudin, head analyst, Travel (APAC).

He said: “Today, two-third of Indonesians are looking for local brands as opposed to international brands when they travel. This is a good chance for the industry.”

Oudin also said social media provide hotels with opportunities to customise their own products. To leverage word-of-mouth recommendations, hotels, for example, can offer special rates to guests based on their number of social media followers.

The elephant in the room remained how Millennials can contribute to the industry in terms of manpower that was touched on in the first instalment of this series of collaborative roundtable sessions (TTG Asia e-Daily, July 9, 2014)

Neeta Lachmandas, assistant chief executive, STB, said: “On top of hardware and technology, it is critical that we look at ways to attract and support Millennial talents to fully understand the needs of their peers. When we have such talents in the workplace, they in turn will be empowered to create products and services which are of value to other fellow Millennial travellers.”

Budi Tirtawisata, CEO, Panorama Group, said that the clout of Asian Millennial travellers cannot be ignored and it was necessary to take their habits and preferences into account when launching business initiatives. Employees must thus be able to understand this market.

However, Budi reminded the audience that while Millennials are important, they are not the only travel demographic.