INDONESIA will waive visa requirements for tourists from China, Australia, Japan, South Korea and Russia as well as introduce third-country visas next year.

Announcing this following a coordinating ministers’ meeting this morning, Indonesia coordinating minister of maritime affairs, Indroyono Susilo, said: “A task force has been set up to make the (government regulation) amendments, with a target to implement this in 2015.”

This is a breakthrough for a country that has thus far followed a policy of reciprocity in visa regulations.

Part of the Ministry of Tourism’s quick-win programmes to boost arrivals to Indonesia and achieve 20 million arrivals by 2019, tourism minister Arief Yahya is expecting 500,000 arrivals from the five target markets alone as a result of the visa-free facility.

“These five countries are Indonesia’s major markets, with big potential to grow…We may lose US$25 per tourist in visa fees, but will receive US$1,200 through their spending,” he said. “We will lose US$11.3 million, but gain US$600 million.”

Currently, tourists from China, Australia, Japan, South Korea and Russia must obtain visas on arrival to enter Indonesia.

On the third-country visa programme, Indroyono said travellers who have gained entry to Singapore and Malaysia will be granted visa-free access to Indonesia.

Arief explained: “We still need to discuss details with the related government departments, but the idea is other country’s customers can also be ours. Longhaul travellers, for example, have come a long way to Singapore or Malaysia, and they also want to visit us while in the neighbourhood.

“But we have made this difficult with our visa requirements. Why don’t we let these countries check them and we just welcome them?”

Within South-east Asia alone, Arief sees market potential in Singapore’s 15 million arrivals, Malaysia’s 25 million and Thailand’s 26 million.

However, he also said in future third-country visas could also apply for areas like the US, EU and Australia, which are known for their stringent visa application requirements.

ECOTOURISM in Myanmar is set to receive a boost with a national Ecotourism Policy and Management Strategy underway.

Working on the strategy are the Ministry of Hotels and Tourism (MOHT), Ministry of Environmental Conservation and Forestry, and the Myanmar Tourism Federation.

The strategy is meant to support biodiversity, conservation, community-based income generation, and strengthen the management of protected areas and cultural assets in Myanmar.

This includes Lampi Island Marine National Park in the south and Hkakaborazi National Park in the north.

MOHT had held a national consultation workshop in end-October to gain information and suggestions from industry stakeholders. Details of the workshop were released to the press recently.

It was the latest in a series of consultation sessions that have been held since May this year and the initial results from these will be compiled for further discussion at national level.

A collaborative Ecotourism Task Force has also been established, drawing senior officials from 15 ministerial departments in Myanmar.

THE six-storey, 19-room Adonis Hotel officially opened yesterday in the heart of Singapore at Purvis Street, converted from a pre-war shophouse that was once a traditional Hainanese bakery.

Targeting business travellers, Adonis Hotel is the first hospitality venture of local wellness and beauty brand Adonis Group.

There are four categories of rooms, namely Quaint Queen, Deluxe King, Premier King and Suites (Artist, Explorer and Photographer). The property’s only other facility is the 30-seat Argo Café at the lobby level.

Asked how the hotel, with an introductory price tag from S$185 (US$143) to S$588, intends to differentiate itself in the already mature hospitality market, Andrew Wang, director of Adonis Hotel Management Hospitality told TTG Asia e-Daily location plays a part.

“Guests have easy access to Suntec Singapore Convention & Exhibition Centre, City Hall MRT interchange, Singapore Art Museum, historical CHIJMES, and the bustling shopping belt in the Bugis and Suntec City district,” he said. “We also offer complimentary mini bar items and Wi-Fi throughout the premise, which are typically chargeable in five-star hotels.”

The hotel’s small inventory and staff strength of 21 is an advantage, rather than a weakness, he added, as it allows for a more personalised service and peaceful environment.

He therefore does not see the 92-key Porcelain Hotel, an existing boutique hotel owned by another homegrown wellness and beauty brand Mary Chia, as a competitor.

Since its soft opening in July, Adonis Hotel has enjoyed high occupancy, with 80 per cent of guests comprising FITs and business travellers from the region and beyond.

Hotel manager Bhaktananda Yap said: “Our average occupancy since opening until October was around 85 to 95 per cent.”

He added the hotel has been promoting through OTAs such as Booking.com and Expedia, and will look at partnering brick-and-mortar travel agencies early next year.

The hotel is also not ruling out further expansion in Singapore and Malaysia in the near future.

INFRASTRUCTURE improvements and collaboration between governments and the private sector are key to the successful development of the Maritime Silk Road, one of two ambitious multi-national Silk Road projects envisioned by Chinese president Xi Jinping.

Over 40 tourism officials participated in the third edition of the Global Tourism Economy Forum in Macau last week, themed Maritime Silk Road – From Macau We Begin.

Unveiled at the forum was a report by the UN World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) and Global Tourism Economy Research Centre on Asian tourism trends.

Xu Jing, regional director for Asia and Pacific, UNWTO, said China is the largest generator of trips in the region and dominates intra-regional travel, especially to countries along the Maritime Silk Road, such as Thailand, Indonesia, India, Kazakhstan, Sri Lanka, Iran, Greece, UAE and France.

“(However), the report notes that tourism along the contemporary Silk Road is becoming a two-way flow. Conventional destinations are now becoming new source markets, such as the Middle East sub-region for China, and the Middle East for Malaysia,” he said.

But in order to realise the potential of the Maritime Silk Road, there needs to be more air links to secondary and tertiary hubs with a special emphasis on LCCs, Xu said.

Public and private sector collaboration was also singled out as an important factor. Examples raised during the forum include Malaysia’s plans to develop cruise tourism and Croatia’s shift away from sun-and-sand offerings to a cultural heritage focus.

The Maritime Silk Road was envisioned by China’s Xi in October 2013, alongside a second new and land-based Silk Road.

EMUTRIP, unveiled by GTA this week at the World Travel Market in London this week, is a free mobile tool that streamlines travel consultant itinerary processes while allowing for more revenue opportunities.

The whitelabel tool gives travel consultants the ability to dynamically package content from GTA’s database and elsewhere to create customer itineraries under the agency’s own brand.

Travel consultants can edit the itineraries with notes, reminders, and additions that provide travellers with recommendations on attractions and excursions, allowing them to more easily up-sell and cross-sell products to travellers even on the go.

Customers can view their Emutrip-generated itineraries on the Emutrip app, available for download on the App Store and Google Play or through the itineraries emailed to them by travel consultants.

Although the mobile tool is available only in English presently, it will be rolled out in other languages in 2015.

Emutrip is currently a free to use solution but will see functionality and content boosted in the future to become an “all-in-one” sales tool with third-party content such as local weather and news, special offers, transfers or destination services.

For more information, visit www.emutrip.com.

PREMIER Inn, the UK’s largest budget hotel chain with over 670 properties globally, is making its Singapore debut with Premier Inn Singapore Beach Road, expected to open in mid-2016.

Located within walking distance to the cultural districts of Haji Lane and Arab Street, and the Marina Bay Sands business district, the 300-room Premier Inn Singapore Beach Road will have 300 rooms starting from 18m².

It will feature amenities like a swimming pool, gym, and meeting room facilities.

Erik van Keulen, senior vice president for development, Asia-Pacific, said: “We want our hotels (in South-east Asia) to be looked upon as three-star properties rather than fully budget ones like our UK properties – which mostly have no additional amenities apart from rooms.”

Keulen said Premier Inn is courting “a good mix” of business and leisure travellers, and expects the initial bulk of traffic to come from the UK and Middle East as these markets are more familiar with the Premier Inn brand.

He said: “Our gameplan now is to establish ourselves well across the South-east Asia market because it is still relatively new.

“Singapore is a vital part in our international expansion strategy because it is an integral part of South-east Asia, and this will support our growth in the region,” he added.

In 2012, Premier Inn launched its inaugural Asia-Pacific hub in Singapore in its bid to expand its regional presence.

The expansion plan will see the group boasting 10,000 new rooms by 2018 in Singapore, India, Indonesia, Thailand, and the Middle East across key cities including Bali, Bogor, Jakarta, Makassar, Surabaya, Jogjakarta, Bangkok, Chennai, Goa, Mumbai, Dubai, Sharja, Muscat, Doha, and Jeddah.

“Opening new hotels in these three key regions is now part of our long-term strategy to further enhance and develop the Premier Inn brand globally and we are confident it will be well received in these markets by value-conscious travellers,” Keulen added.

HAVING already cultivated a strong base of local guests, Filipino hotel group The Discovery Leisure Company is ready to make waves in international markets as part of its next phase of growth, with plans to adopt a suite of GDS, booking engine, and RFP solutions by 1Q2015.

By then, it would have also signed a hotel representation company to help it drum up awareness abroad, shared group director of sales & marketing, Odette Huang.

Formerly from Royal Plaza on Scotts Singapore for nine years, Huang joined Discovery five months ago and has since built up a small digital team, which will support her in the area of e-commerce and marketing, as well as data analytics.

With a collection of five hotels and resorts spanning mid- to upscale, Discovery caters for both regular and extended stays. In Manila, it has the 220-room Discovery Suites in Ortigas and will open the 140-key Discovery Primea in Makati early next year.

Discovery’s three other properties are also new or undergoing renovation – the B&B-style, seven-key Discovery Country Suites Tagaytay near Manila will reopen next month, the 88-key Discovery Shores Boracay is adding 12 villas, and the 55-key Club Paradise in Coron, Palawan was acquired last September, with the island destination undergoing refurbishment in stages.

“Without proper distribution we would be dependent on wholesale travel. But now we know that places like Boracay and Palawan are becoming repeat destinations. Many have booked their initial trips through wholesalers but afterwards, they are more than happy to book on their own,” explained Huang, adding that almost a quarter of Discovery’s guests are repeats.

About 30-40 per cent of Discovery’s resort bookings come from wholesale, although she sees this share shifting in future. A loyalty programme for consumers was also launched in June.

“(With all these new initiatives), we’re looking at 20 per cent growth in revenue for 2015, and that’s modest. This year, we grew 12 per cent,” she said.

While nearly half of resort business is local, overseas markets that are coming include Russia, China, Japan, Taiwan, Singapore, Australia, the US, and Europe.