HILTON Worldwide will open its second hotel in Jaipur under its mid-market brand Garden Inn, following the launch of the 179-key Hilton Hotels & Resorts Jaipur in May this year.

The hotel chain has signed an agreement with real estate developer Goverdhandham Estate for the 125-room greenfield project, and is expected to be operational by end-2015, said Daniel Welk, vice-president, operations-India, Hilton Worldwide.

India features prominently in the group’s expansion plans, where it has 13 properties operational with five more to come by 2015, including the first Conrad hotel and a DoubleTree in Agra.

This year alone, Hilton added DoubleTree Suites by Hilton Bangalore and Hilton Bangalore Embassy GolfLinks.

Hilton currently has four out of its 11 brands in India, but aims to introduce its other luxury brand, Waldorf Astoria.

“We are talking to a number of partners to introduce some of our other brands in India,” added Welk.

SWITZERLAND Tourism has mapped out The Grand Tour of Switzerland, a marketing effort to position the country as a single destination rather than just a stop on a European trip for most overseas clients.

Just as Australia has the Great Ocean Road and California the Pacific Coast Highway, Switzerland Tourism is encouraging tour operators and travel agencies to woo more FITs with deeper and more immersive tours through its grand tour route, which connects 44 highlights in one journey.

Fifteen of the highlights are nature attractions; 10 traditional/historical; eight art, culture and architecture; 11 are boutique towns; and 12 are UNESCO World Heritage Sites.

The whole route covers 1,600km and is designed to make it convenient for the trade to promote self-drive or train journeys, not just through the entire tour but segments of it that fit clients’ duration or specific interest.

With it, the trade can easily flesh out a tailored itinerary for clients, with rental car or Swiss train pass and hotel vouchers included, said Urs Eberhard, Switzerland Tourism’s executive vice president markets & meetings.

Eberhard, together with Swiss partners, will be in Singapore on August 26 to launch the grand tour, and the 150th anniversary of winter sports, to South-east Asian tour operators.

“Our market research also shows that those days when you travel for two weeks and stay put in one place, especially among Europeans, are declining. Exploring and touring are making a comeback. Asian groups, for example, typically have eight days and we want to make sure they understand that they can spend them here, that Switzerland may be small, but it has so many highlights and each region has its own attractions,” said Eberhard.

The grand tour idea is also an attempt to spread the international markets to new areas other than tried-and-tested landmarks such as Jungfrau and Lucerne. This comes at a time when Asian markets, “especially the drivers China and South-east Asia, seem hungry for new products and destinations”, added Simon Bosshart, Switzerland Tourism’s director global accounts and director Asia Pacific.

Said Bosshart: “In these still growing and maturing markets, the past strategy of simply being cheaper than the competitor doesn’t work anymore, and the travel trade has to be creative and come up with new and deeper products in order to satisfy the customer demand. While our big landmarks such as Jungfrau and Lucerne are still the most demanded spots, lesser known destinations such as the Valais, Ticino or Eastern Switzerland have shown substantial growth in the recent years.”

– Read more in TTG Asia’s Longhaul report, September 12

AT THE behest of the ruling Thai military, the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) and Ministry of Tourism and Sports are enforcing a new set of standards to wipe out jet ski scams targeting tourists.

The Jet Ski Rental Service Standards require jet ski operators to have a three-month legal business licence tied to a permanent address and a valid insurance policy.

Certified supervisors with first-aid training and signs clearly displaying rental fees, terms and conditions must also be present. Compliant operators will be issued a Merry Elephant logo to guarantee standards.

Tourists renting jet skis must also pass an assessment test and wear standard safety lifevests at all time for their own safety.

Common at Thailand’s beach destinations especially Pattaya and Phuket, jet ski scams usually see tourists returning a rented jet ski being told they have damaged the vehicle and must pay an exorbitant repair fee, fees that are often extracted under threats of violence.

Thawatchai Arunyik, governor of TAT, said: “The move is one of several measures put in place by the National Council for Peace and Order to help restore the confidence of tourists visiting the kingdom. To bring an end to rip-offs and scams, new regulations will be put in place and more ethical working practices encouraged.

“As we strive to improve the image of the country’s tourism industry, it is vital that all jet ski businesses understand that such standards are vital, and that they have to improve their quality of service, staff training and business ethics. They also have to bring to the attention of the authorities any operators who are involved with scams and damaging the reputation of Thailand, so that they can be prosecuted and forced out of business.”

VIETNAMESE carrier VietJet is adding another daily roundtrip between Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC) and Bangkok from September 12.

This brings HCMC-Bangkok services to twice daily with a total weekly capacity of 5,040 passengers on the route.

Flights now depart Tan Son Nhat Airport in HCMC at 11.05 and 14.05 daily, while return journeys take off from Bangkok at 13.50 and 16.35 daily.

Tickets for the new daily service are available for purchase on www.vietjetair.com.

The Vietnamese airline recently launched Seoul (Incheon)-bound flights out of Hanoi and Danang (TTG Asia e-Daily, July 29, 2014).

AIRASIA this week commenced on-board testing for its Wi-Fi products that will include instant messaging, emails and content streaming.

Tony Fernandes, CEO of AirAsia Group, said: “The Wi-Fi equipment that was introduced to us much earlier was just too expensive and we have decided to develop our own. It has taken us five years to come to this stage, but in true AirAsia style, we have to get it right and provide our guests with the best value at the most affordable rates.”

About 120 volunteers boarded a test flight for the first user acceptance test earlier this week, using instant messaging systems Line, WhatsApp and WeChat during the exercise.

The LCC will offer 60 guests on each flight the chance to take part in the Free User Test, with details to be shared on AirAsia’s website and social media channels.

TOUR guides in Hong Kong are calling for the optional service fees that are significant to their livelihoods to be bundled into tour package prices.

This comes after a spike in cases where travellers refuse to pay the tour guides’ service fees at the end of group tours, which is thought to have been triggered by an outbound travel satisfaction survey released by the Hong Kong Consumer Council in June, advising travel consultants to tell travellers about the voluntary nature of the charge.

Service fees are at a recommended upper limit of HK$100 (US$13) a day for South-east Asia tours, and HK$140 for longhaul tours, as set by the Travel Industry Council.

The Hong Kong Travel Industry (Outbound) Tour Escort and Tour Guide Union received 15 complaints since the report’s release. Union director, Dicky Tong, said: “These situations mostly happen on discount or low-cost tours to South-east Asia or China…When the clients refuse to pay there is a serious knock-on effect down through the system because normally the tour guide has to pass on a share of his fees to the driver as well as the company.”

Tong is discussing the matter with the Travel Industry Council (TIC) of Hong Kong and travel agencies, specifically advising the former to withdraw its directive that service fees are optional.

Hong Kong Certified Escort Association chairman, Lam Chi Ting, suggested service fees be bundled into package prices. “Why can’t we treat it in the same way as the airport tax and fuel surcharge, and collect the fee from the outset, thereby eliminating cause for argument?”

However, Morning Star Travel Service’s general manager, Dannia Cheung, said: “I don’t think it’s good to bundle it in with the package tour because there won’t be any incentive for better service.”

Wing On Travel’s deputy general manager, Simon Ma, on the other hand, said refusing to tip was rare due to the company’s mid- to upscale clientele.

“To combine the fee with the tour price may undercut competitiveness and give the impression that clients are being charged more. Also, tipping is a traditional practice that incentivises the guide to work better.”

Separately, the Singapore workers’ union’s recently implemented minimum wage for tour guides has been met with rancour too (TTG Asia e-Daily, August 13, 2014).

SINGAPORE property group UOL will build a hotel, residences and retail units on its recently purchased Bishopsgate property in London.

UOL announced yesterday in a statement that the land will be developed into a 43-storey tower with 52,255m² in space, encompassing 109 residential units for sale, retail sections and a 190-key Pan Pacific brand hotel.

The prime piece of real estate, Heron Plaza, was bought for 97 million pounds (US$161.9 million) through its two newly UK-incorporated, wholly owned subsidiaries, Success Venture Development (Jersey) and Success Venture Investments (Jersey).

Bishopsgate is London’s central financial district, located close to the existing Liverpool Street Station and future Crossrail station that is part of the East-West railway linking the entire Greater London.

UOL, together with its wholly-owned hotel subsidiary Pan Pacific Hotels Group (PPHG), owns the Pan Pacific and Parkroyal brands.

THE Park Lane Jakarta is marking its 16^th anniversary by joining the Worldhotels global alliance in a bid to strengthen its brand and reach out to new markets in the face of increasing competition.

Jon Richards, general manager, said: “We wanted to join (Worldhotels) earlier, but we have been doing renovations and it has taken a few years to finalise.”

According to Richards, the hotel has renovated guestrooms, revamped the Riva grill bar and restaurant, built new meeting rooms, and is currently constructing two more meeting rooms.

Renovations will be completed by the end of 2014, a “very appropriate” time to join Worldhotels, he said.

Noting the heightened competition in Jakarta’s hotel sector, Richards explained: “With so many hotels coming into Jakarta, we want Worldhotels’ support system and sales offices to help strengthen our brand image internationally, create new market opportunities and in conjunction with the newly established Peakpoints loyalty programme, drive increased demand to our hotel.”

He said The Park Lane Jakarta’s sister hotel, The Park Lane Hong Kong, signed on with Worldhotels eight years ago and has been enjoying substantial business from it.

Luc Bollen, area director of Park Lane Hotels International, said: “New business brings different clientele, different business spending power and demographics.

“We saw the global distribution network (of Worldhotels) work for us, and it has brought us the right client, the right price, at the right time.”

Meanwhile, Worldhotels executive vice president, Roland Jegge, stated that Jakarta was an important destination for the alliance due to the many Fortune 500 companies moving to the city, with the proximity of The Park Lane Jakarta to historic areas a boon.

“We look forward to bringing in guests of many nationalities to The Park Lane Jakarta from the markets they have no received guests from yet,” said Jegge.