AN ENTIRE ship will be dedicated to Asian travellers for Avalon Waterways’ Christmas-time river cruise come December 14-22, 2015, as the river cruising arm of the Globus family of brands seeks to expose more Asians to such holidays.

Announcing this during the launch of Avalon Waterways’ 2015 itineraries in Kuala Lumpur this morning, Raymond Smith, GSA business development manager for the Globus family of brands, said this was the first time the company was dedicating an entire ship to the Asian market with the intention of introducing river cruising in Europe to non-English-speaking travellers in Asia.

The cruise, from Nuremberg, Germany to Vienna, Austria on the Danube river, will have dedicated local cruise guides conversant in local Asian languages on board the Panorama Suite ship, where all 83 cabins have a balcony.

Smith said that while Avalon Waterways’ river cruising is fast growing in popularity among Asian travellers, overall numbers remain small compared with more mature markets such as North America, Australia and New Zealand. Malaysia leads in Asia in terms of passenger volume, followed by Hong Kong and South Korea.

“River cruising in Europe is very popular with the Asian markets especially (on) the Danube and Rhine rivers. France has the potential to be popular as well, but Asians, who have the tendency to book last minute, never get to go as the particular cruise is (usually) sold out.”

To encourage Asians to book early, Avalon Waterways is offering special early booking deals for its 2015 season, limited only to North Asian and South-east Asian passengers.

Couples who book from now until December 31, 2014 can save between US$500 and US$1,000 on select European river cruises.

For next year’s programme, Avalon Waterways will deploy two new vessels on the Rhone and Seine rivers. They will join the existing two ships, doubling the capacity of previous years.

In Asia, the river cruise operator is also introducing its inaugural itineraries for Myanmar.

AIRLINES are restarting flights to Okinawa today as Typhoon Neoguri, with winds of up to 250km per hour, moves towards the north of the East China Sea.

All Nippon Airways (ANA) said normal operations are expected for domestic flights to and from Okinawa’s Naha, Miyako and Ishigaki airports today, except for a number of morning flights.

ANA advised: “Since all flights from Okinawa Naha airport were cancelled for yesterday (July 8), counters and security check points at Okinawa Naha airport expect to be congested today. Please allow extra time to get to the airport as check-in will be accepted from two hours before departure time. We apologise for any inconvenience, and appreciate your understanding.”

However, flights from or to the southern Kyushu region today and tomorrow may be diverted or turn around depending on weather conditions, with afternoon flights to Oita, Miyazaki and Kagoshima particularly likely to be affected. Certain flights have already been cancelled.

Passengers are advised to check their flight status beforehand.

Flag carrier Japan Airlines also stated that domestic operations would return to normal today, although Amami-Oshima Airport flights may experience irregular operations.

Originally a super typhoon, Typhoon Neoguri lost strength as it approached the islands of Okinawa where emergency rain and high-seas warnings were issued and over 100,000 people urged to evacuate.

International flights were cancelled earlier this week as Typhoon Neoguri approached.

According to Focus Taiwan news channel, China Airlines cancelled two roundtrip flights between Taipei and Okinawa on Tuesday and postponed flights from Taichung and Kaohsiung by subsidiary Mandarin Airlines to Wednesday. Eva Air pushed back its Taipei-Okinawa flight to early Wednesday morning while TransAsia Airways scrapped its Taipei-Okinawa Tuesday flight.

China information site eChinacities.com also reported that China Eastern Airlines cancelled its scheduled flights between Shanghai and Okinawa on Monday due to the typhoon.

IT’S time to flex those innovative muscles for the world to see as part of the TTG Asia 40tude Innovator Award, where participants can stand to win US$2,000 in cash and free passes to this year’s ITB Asia.

The Award is to identify and acknowledge a travel agency, tour operator or wholesaler that has displayed fortitude and foresight by embracing technology in today’s dynamic travel landscape.

Hopefuls are invited to submit a one-page entry on how they embraced change, covering the following points:

• What your key businesses are and goals for the company
• What problems you encountered
• How you used IT to overcome them and reach objectives
• How these solutions benefited your customers
• How these solutions benefited your staff, bottom line

Entries are to be submitted by August 29, 2014. Click here for more details.

The TTG Asia 40tude Innovator Award is part of TTG Asia Media’s host of celebrations to mark its 40^th anniversary of delivering breaking and incisive news to the Asia-Pacific travel trade.

TRAVELLERS flying into the US via the Middle East or Europe should make sure their smartphones or electronic devices have enough battery power to be switched on when asked to.

This forms part of a new, stringent set of safety measures rolled out by the US Department of Homeland Security’s Transportation Security Administration on Sunday over fears that Al-Qaeda linked militants could use such devices in attacks on passenger planes.

According to news reports, security officers may ask travellers to turn their devices on and those with powerless devices will be denied boarding and subject to additional screening.

The Department has also requested airport and airline authorities in Europe and the Middle East to examine passengers’ shoes and step up the number of random screenings.

Airlines are thus calling on passengers to allow extra time to get through such processes.