AIRASIA is taking a second stab at the LCC market in Japan after its failed partnership with All Nippon Airways (ANA) saw it bow out of the market (TTG Asia e-Daily, June 25, 2013). This time, Rakuten is coming on board as a minority shareholder in the carrier that is expected to be airborne by summer next year.

Rakuten will hold 18 per cent of shares, the third largest stake after AirAsia’s majority stake of 49 per cent, and Octave Japan, which was incorporated in Japan in May with a mission to acquire, own, manage, hold, sell and dispose of the shares of AirAsia Japan as well as make collections from the shares of AirAsia Japan.

Odagiri Yoshinori, CEO of AirAsia Japan, said: “We are ready to take on this challenge and with great teamwork, we hope to bring AirAsia’s successful low-cost business model once again to Japan. Our counterparts in Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia, the Philippines and India have seen great and encouraging responses in their markets, and we will work towards the same for Japan.”

AirAsia split ways with ANA over differences in management last year, leading to the creation of ANA-owned Vanilla Air (TTG Asia e-Daily, August 21, 2013).

Commented Tony Fernandes, group CEO of AirAsia: “The AirAsia Japan team is now working hard with the relevant authorities to obtain necessary operational approvals, and we hope that all will be in place to start both domestic and international flights by the summer of 2015.”

The remaining shares are held by Noevir Holdings (nine per cent), which has business interests in cosmetics, pharmaceuticals and health food, apparel and aviation business; and Alpen (five per cent), which makes and sells sporting goods and manages ski resorts, golf courses and fitness clubs.

HILTON Worldwide today announced the opening of DoubleTree by Hilton Johor Bahru, the second property for the brand in Malaysia.

DoubleTree by Hilton Johor Bahru in the heart of the upcoming Iskandar Region, within the state’s central business district, is less than 5km from Johor-Singapore Immigration Checkpoint and near major shopping outlets, cultural and historical sites, Legoland theme park and other leisure facilities.

The property offers 335 guestrooms, including 52 suites, each equipped with Wi-Fi, the brand’s signature bedding, in-room workspace, 40-inch LCD TV and a walk-in rain shower.

Other facilities include a dedicated events and meetings floor spanning over 2,140m² and offering 10 versatile function rooms, four F&B outlets, an outdoor pool, a 24-hour fitness centre with steam rooms and Jacuzzis as well as multi-level parking.

As part of the opening promotion, Hilton HHonors loyalty members will be rewarded with an additional 1,000 bonus points per night, up to a maximum of 5,000 points per stay from today to December 31, 2014.

TRAVEL professionals in Singapore believe that it will be an uphill task convincing clients to pick New Zealand for their events, saying that longhaul destinations such as Europe and the US hold stronger appeal.

Interviewed at Tourism New Zealand’s (TNZ) one-day roadshow in Singapore last week, Philomena Tan, corporate sales manager, Holiday Tours, noted that New Zealand is perceived as an expensive destination.

“Airfares to New Zealand are also less competitive compared to other longhaul destinations in Europe and the US. Budgets for our clients have shrunk by up to 50 per cent in the last two to three years, and more companies are holding events closer to home,” she said.

UOB’s Travel’s vice president for MICE, Jennifer Tan, observed that her MICE clients are inclined to destinations with shopping offerings. “Compared to destinations in Europe or the US for example, New Zealand does not have any big malls or big brand names – which is what our clients look out for when choosing a destination.”

Bert Goethals, head of Asia-Pacific, transHotel, added: “The outdoors, which what New Zealand is all about, actually holds little appeal to Asian clients. Moreover, New Zealand does not carry the same level of prestige that is conferred onto European destinations such as Spain or France for instance.”

TNZ’s Cristina McLauchlan, business events manager – South & South-east Asia, said: “New Zealand is perceived primarily as a leisure rather than a MICE destination. Actually, we have the infrastructure to host MICE events (with up to 2,000 delegates)…but not many individuals are aware of this.

“This roadshow is a clear opportunity for TNZ to inform members of the travel trade in Singapore that a broad spectrum of support is available to them right on their doorstep.”

Vast financial resources have been allocated to bolster TNZ’s MICE ambitions including a three-year marketing plan and new business event-specific marketing campaign (TTG Asia e-Daily, November 20, 2013).

SRILANKAN Airlines today commenced its first-ever regular weekly charters from Colombo to the Chinese south-western province of Chongqing, operated with Airbus A320 aircraft.

The service is a collaboration between Walkers Tours, the tour operating arm of Sri Lanka’s John Keells Group, and Chongqing Huapont International Travel Service.

Vasantha Leelananda, executive vice president and head – destination management sector, John Keells Group, said: “This gives us an opportunity to open a new hub out of Chongqing, and we are thankful to the airline and our partner in China for having confidence in the destination.”

The carrier has previously run non-regular charters to Kunming and Chengdu.

Charters between European destinations and Colombo were popular before the country’s civil war, but disappeared when the conflict broke out.

Chinese arrivals to Sri Lanka for the period January-May 2014 rose 139.6 per cent year-on-year to 43,885 from 18,316.

TUNE Hotels has launched its ninth hotel in the Philippines within two years – Tune Hotel Aseana City – with a 10th soon to come.

The 200-key property, owned and operated by Red Planet Hotels, is located in the centre of the Aseana City in Paranaque, a newly developed precinct in Manila.

Sahlee Zaldivia, country head for Red Planet Hotels, said: “The Aseana City precinct continues to grow, and is fast becoming one of the country’s newest and most impressive lifestyle and travel destinations, the perfect location for the Philippines’ latest Tune Hotel and our ninth overall in the country.”

Like other hotels within the chain, Tune Hotel Aseana City offers five-star beds, hot showers and high-speed Wi-Fi, housekeeping services, electronic keycard access into rooms, CCTV systems, and no access into the main lobby without a keycard after midnight.

The 189-room Tune Hotel Ayala Avenue will be opened in November, even as the company continues to seek out new sites for hotels.

Red Planet Hotels CEO, Tim Hansing, said: “We see the Philippines as the perfect platform to drive the South-east Asian expansion of Tune Hotels because of the country’s acceptance and embracing of new and inspiring brands that enable travel to the wider population.”

THE Malaysian Association of Tour and Travel Agents (MATTA) is cheering the government’s move to limit the amount of diesel sold at petrol kiosks nationwide from August 1, an issue that has been causing headaches for ground transport operators.

According to Malaysian daily the New Sunday Times, petrol station operators will have to submit monthly reports on diesel sales to the Ministry of Domestic Trade, Cooperatives and Consumerism while fleet card holders must seek approval from the ministry for additional quota after having exhausted their allocations.

This is aimed at curbing the actions of syndicates in Malaysia that purchase subsidised fuel and resell to industries to make a profit.

MATTA vice president – ground transportation, S Jaya Kumar, said the diesel shortage at petrol stations has been going on for years. “We’ve received a lot of complaints from our members about the shortage, especially towards the end of every month. My coach drivers have first-hand experience of this, having to go from one petrol station to another in Malacca, looking for fuel. The stations did not have enough fuel to fill a full tank, so the drivers had to fill little by little until they had enough fuel to travel to Singapore,” he elaborated.

“We’ve highlighted the diesel shortage to the Land Public Transport Commission and the Ministry of Transport, and we are glad that action has been taken.”

But Kumar cautioned: “However, it is imperative that the Ministry of Domestic Trade, Cooperatives and Consumerism give approvals quickly – within one or two working days when tourism players request for additional allocations as ours is a dynamic industry with sudden spikes especially during festive seasons, school holidays, the year-end period and summer holidays. ”

SILKAIR kicked off its first flights to Hangzhou last week, marking the beginning of services to the carrier’s eighth destination in China.

The four-times-weekly service operates every Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Sunday on Airbus A320 aircraft in a two-class configuration.

Flights depart Singapore at 10.00 to arrive at 15.20 in Hangzhou, while return flights take off from the capital of Zhejiang province at 16.20 to reach Singapore at 21.25.

SilkAir chief executive, Leslie Thng, said: “SilkAir will be the only full-service carrier connecting Hangzhou directly to Singapore. We are confident that this service will see strong demand from the different market segments flying into and out of Hangzhou to our combined SilkAir and Singapore Airlines network.

“China is an important market for SilkAir. The launch of our flights to Hangzhou shows that we remain committed to develop this market which has strong potential for growth.”

Besides Hangzhou, SilkAir flies to other Chinese destinations including Changsha, Chengdu, Chongqing, Kunming, Shenzhen, Wuhan and Xiamen.

NORTH Pattaya Alliance (NPA) has officially launched destination and branding campaign North Pattaya – More than you think to overcome its reputation for having Thailand’s largest red-light district, with the help of MICE business and Indian weddings.

“We’re using the slogan: ‘You think you know Pattaya, think again’, to get potential clients to take another look at Pattaya,” said David Barrett, executive director for events at Onyx Hospitality Group, who has been a driving force behind the initiative.

“(Within North Pattaya) we have a synergy of products. All (member hotels) have meetings space. All are targeting corporate members and Indian weddings.”

Barrett said the Indian weddings market has proven more resilient than MICE in the face of Thailand’s political crisis (TTG Asia e-Daily, May 21, 2014).

Part of the NPA’s campaign is focused on establishing Pattaya as the top destination for Indian weddings in Thailand. It currently enjoys third place, accounting for 15 per cent of such events, after Phuket (40 per cent) and Hua Hin (30 per cent).

Ittipol Khunpluem, mayor of Pattaya, said the initiative will help the city recover from the political crisis as well as develop more sustainable business in the long term. “We fully support the initiative and have set up a special budget for the alliance, so we can also allocate more funds to help mitigate the crisis.”

NPA will hold the Festival of Rice in October, which will include a number of special events and dining options across NPA’s member hotels. Corporate and media fam trips, brochures, a new website and dedicated YouTube channels are in the works as part of promotions.

The alliance comprises seven hotels – Amari Pattaya, Cape Dara, Dusit Thani Pattaya, Holiday Inn Pattaya, Pullman Pattaya Hotel G, The Zign Hotel and Centara Grand Mirage Beach Resort – Thailand Convention and Exhibition Bureau, Tourism Authority of Thailand and City Hall.

IN THE face of warnings about the haze returning soon in Singapore – and stronger – Millennium & Copthorne Hotels (M&C), which operates five hotels in the city, said it has taken a coordinated approach to protect staff and guests from the effects of the environmental pollution.

Close to 3,500 N95 masks are being distributed to staff at Grand Copthorne Waterfront Hotel, Orchard Hotel, Copthorne King’s Hotel, M Hotel and Studio M.

It is also stocking its hotel lobby shops with masks for guests and will continue to update them of the hourly PSI readings via notice boards in the lobbies. Thus far, there is no disruption of business, a statement said.

At The St Regis Singapore, which is owned by parent company CDL, a set of standard operating procedures has been developed for the safety of guests and employees. The hotel is also ensuring that there are sufficient disposable N95 masks for guests and staff, while respirator test fittings are conducted for employees who need to work outdoors.

At W Singapore – Sentosa Cove, also under CDL, outdoor activities will be suspended if the PSI reaches hazardous levels of above 350. There are also in-house doctors on standby in case of guests with breathing or medical conditions.

THE Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) Jakarta Office has come up with a number of programmes to entice Indonesians back to the country following a nationwide rescinding of the curfew two weeks ago.

Nithee Seeprae, director of TAT Jakarta Office, noted that some 600,000 Indonesian travellers visited Thailand last year. “This year up to May, there were around 200,000 arrivals. When martial law was imposed last month, some cancelled their visits, but those who decided to still come have returned to Indonesia saying they enjoyed their stay, felt safe and enjoyed good shopping bargains.”

Nithee targets a 15 per cent increase in arrivals for 2014. “With good promotion, hard work and help from Indonesian outbound operators and media, we are confident of achieving the target of 750,000 arrivals this year.”

To that end, TAT has launched the Yuk ke Thailand lagi or Let’s go back to Thailand campaign, highlighting the Amazing Thailand Grand Sale 2014, halal tours, golfing and festivals.

The fasting month of Ramadan this year coincides with Indonesia’s school holidays and TAT’s Halal Tour, which includes stays in certified halal hotels and visits to the Java Mosque.

Indra Nugraha, marketing manager, TAT Jakarta Office said: “Travellers can practise fasting, and the hotels can provide (breakfast before dawn) and iftar.”

Indra added: “We invite outbound operators to discuss with us on programmes. We are working with Siam Paragon, for example, to give welcome packs and souvenirs (for groups).”

TAT is also introducing new products for repeat visitors, such as Ananta Samakhom Throne Hall and Cartoon Network Amazone theme park, which will open in July in Pattaya. The NTO continues to promote destinations beyond Bangkok like Hua Hin, Hat Yai, Chiang Mai and Chiang Rai.

Furthermore, TAT Jakarta office will invite tour operators and the media to visit Thailand as part of TAT’s big Welcome Party for Best Friends, a mega fam trip from July 22-26.

Paskorn Siriyaphan, ambassador of Thailand to Indonesia said: “The situation in Thailand now has returned to normal. The curfew has been fully lifted nationwide, so tourists can freely explore Thailand. Shopping complexes, restaurants and other attractions operate normally and (are already) packed with tourists.”

TAT is going all out with promotions in its source markets such as India (TTG Asia e-Daily, June 20, 2014) to make up for revenue lost during a tumultuous 1H2014.