FRHI Hotels & Resorts has enhanced its Famous Agents training programme to further travel consultants’ understanding of its three distinctive hotel brands and unique guest experiences each offers.

Famous Agents Academy is developed in conjunction with and accredited by Travel Agent University (TAU), moderator of online courses for travel consultants.

Upon successfully passing each module, member consultants will receive both course credit with TAU as well as Famous Agent bonus points.

The number of credits and points earned will vary from course to course.

As an additional incentive, members can earn 15 bonus points for completing the first module. They can choose from a variety of courses and material can be covered at their own pace.

Courses will be updated on an ongoing basis to ensure material is current and engaging, so members are encouraged to “check-in” to refresh their FRHI knowledge.

To enroll, travel consultants can sign in at famousagents.frhi.com and follow the Famous Agents Academy link on the homepage.

SINGAPORE’S National Trades Union Congress’ (NTUC) recommendation on minimum fees for tour guides, announced last month, is too simplistic and not practical, several inbound travel consultants told TTG Asia e-Daily.

NTUC Tour Guide Chapter’s new guideline recommends a minimum fee of S$150 (US$120) for a four-hour, half-day tour, and S$250 for a full-day one. There are no penalties for not following the recommendations.

Tour East group vice president of sales and marketing, Judy Lum, said: “The steep increase as recommended by NTUC is not realistic for our business.

“I acknowledge that the increase in guide fees is a reasonable consideration just as an employer would increase the salary of the staff to help offset inflation, but it has to be within reasonable range and viable for a tour agency to continue operating these tours.”

An inbound operator who declined to be named said: “There are many types of tours and they all vary quite widely in terms of the time, effort, language and service required of the tour guides. Hence, a one-size-fits-all guideline may not be that practical.

“Each company will have to decide for itself how best to compensate its own tour guides according to market needs.”

National Association of Travel Agents Singapore acting CEO, Patricia Auyeong, concurred, adding: “Such guidelines can be disruptive…it can also be anti-competitive so it is best left to market forces to determine the fees.”

GTMC Travel CEO, Samson Tan, said: “Guidelines are good for the industry and if business goes down, it is up to the industry to negotiate among themselves.

“It must be a win-win situation where both the agencies and tour guides benefit for a long-term perspective.”

Likewise, Lum said: “Discussion on such matters should have the objective of a solution where both sides benefit; it is very simplistic to assume that tour agencies laugh to the bank by not paying the guides what they deserve.”

According to local broadsheet The Straits Times, as of December 2013, there were 2,360 licensed tour guides in Singapore employed by travel consultants. They charge from S$10 an hour, or up to S$180 per hour if they offer specialised knowledge or speak multiple languages.

THE 12-year-old Hyatt Regency Hua Hin, which first opened its doors in December 2001, has completed a comprehensive makeover last month to boast an entirely new look and feel.

The remodel started in 2010 with the overhaul of the Regency Club rooms and suites, and continued in 2012 with the restoration of the Presidential Villas.

Activity then ceased until earlier this year, when construction began on the refurbishment of 79 Hyatt Guestrooms and the establishment of 50 Deluxe Rooms, a new room category at the 213-room seaside resort.

The Deluxe Rooms are located on the ground floor and select areas of the second floor. Each comes with an enclosed balcony that makes for a spacious living area, a comfortable sofa bed and a “buy one get one” treatment at the hotel’s residential spa, The Barai.

“A lot of time and effort went into this programme,” said Sammy Carolus, general manager of the Hyatt Regency Hua Hin. “But it was absolutely necessary in order to meet the desires of today’s travellers.

“This overhaul reaffirms our commitment to providing guests with quality products and services,” he added.

The hotel is also a founding member of It’s in Hua Hin, a destination marketing organisation (DMO) launched in 2010 to promote the world-class accommodations and activities available in and around Hua Hin.

Other members of the DMO include Anantara Hua Hin Resort & Spa, Banyan Golf Club, Banyan Resort and Hua Hin Hills Vineyard.

HSMAI Asia Pacific’s annual learning and networking event for hospitality sales, marketing and revenue management professionals, Asia Connect, will take place this year at Singapore’s Marina Bay Sands Expo & Convention Center on September 3.

Asia Connect 2014 will focus on topics including The New Sales Professional, Game Changing Consumer Trends, Real-time Marketing Solutions and Digital Customer Engagement.

Keynote speaker Ani Bhalekar, mobility solutions expert at Accenture Digital, will touch on Tapping the Growth of the Mobility Marketplace, while Bob Gilbert, president and CEO of HSMAI, will present key findings of an upcoming HSMAI Foundation Special Report,Evolving Reality of the Modern Sales Professional.

The interactive conference will also feature panel discussions such as Hoteliers of a New Generation, Voice of the Customer and research findings from the HSMAI-CNI Pulse of the Industry Survey.

To take the survey, visit https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/hsmaiap2014. For conference registration, visit https://hsmaiasiaconnect.eventbrite.com.au.

SKYJET Airlines is launching new scheduled flights from Manila to Kalibo and Baler on August 15 and 17 respectively.

Skyjet’s three-times weekly, 45-minute flights will land in Kalibo, Boracay, instead of Caticlan, as previously planned.

On the other hand, the 20-minute flight to Baler in Aurora province, east Central Luzon, operates three times weekly, and is a ground-breaking commercial route previously only served by charters.

Interest in Baler has increased because of improved roads, rising popularity as a surfing destination and the recent opening of upscale 106-room resort Costa Pacifica at Sabang Beach.

“Costa Pacifica is starting to attract more tourists, but there are no flights there,” said Dino Reyes-Chua, Skyjet president.

“Our mission is to serve the unserved, discover the undiscovered,” he added, singling out the carrier’s routes to the remote islands of Batanes (currently also served by PAL Express) – its flagship route – and Busuanga in Coron, both flying three times weekly.

Skyjet has also disclosed plans to launch commercial flights to Naga, replacing a previous route to Virac, Catanduanes; Vigan, a finalist in the New7Wonders Cities of the Worldcampaign; and Siargao, another surfing destination in northern Mindanao.

Meanwhile, three-times weekly Taipei-Kalibo charters are in the works, as well as a brand new Boracay-Coron charter.

“The problem for South Korea, China, and other European markets is it would be tiring for them to fly from Coron to Manila, and from Manila again to Boracay,” said Reyes-Chua.

Skyjet has also taken note of growing interest in the Boracay-Coron route from a traveller exit survey conducted by the Coron municipality.

Coron flights during the peak season starting September or October might increase to a daily frequency, Reyes-Chua added.

MYANMAR is witnessing the emergence of new tourism destinations as tour operators strive to cater to visitors looking for experiences beyond the Big Four of Bagan, Yangon, Inle Lake and Mandalay.

Khiri Travel, for example, will offer from October a new tour linking Bagan and Mrauk U. Located in the restive Rakhine State, Mrauk U is home to hundreds of temples and pagodas, but attracts small tourist numbers, as most travellers will need to fly to Sittwe, then take a boat to Mrauk U.

“Southern Chin State and Mrauk U are beautiful areas, and it’s certainly an area that can use more economic development,” said Edwin Briels, general manager of Khiri Travel Myanmar.

Despite security issues in Rakhine State, Briels believes Mrauk U remains a safe place to travel to. “Khiri Travel carefully follows the advice of the Myanmar government, who considers Mrauk U safe for travellers. The destination feels very peaceful and quiet,” he said.

Meanwhile, Remote Lands too has introduced a tour to Loikaw, a remote town in Kayah State with attractions including the 11th century Taungkwe pagoda, the weekend market and remote tribes that live a few hours’ drive away from the main town.

“Our clients are always looking to explore new areas that aren’t as heavily touristed as Bagan, Mandalay and Inle Lake,” Jay Tindall, co-founder of Remote Lands told TTG Asia e-Daily, adding that Myanmar Airways’ recent addition of direct Yangon-Loikaw flights makes Loikaw more accessible.

On the announcement that three Pyu city states have been added to the UNESCO World Heritage List, Tindall commented: “We definitely expect the UNESCO status of the Pyu cities to raise interest in the area and will be promoting it more actively.”

Other destinations gaining interest include Pyin Oo Lwin and the trekking destination of Hsipaw in Northern Shan State.

AIRASIA Group has launched a product called Premium Flex designed to entice corporate road warriors.

Passengers will enjoy the flexibility of changing their flight without being charged a fee. However, they will have to pay the fare difference, if any.

Premium Flex offers a maximum of two changes to flight date or time, complimentary 20kg baggage allowance, complimentary seat selection, express boarding and express baggage at the airport carousel.

The product is available for all AirAsia flights (except for Sri Lanka). Flight change is available up to two hours before the scheduled departure time of the original flight and must be at least three hours before the departure time of the new AirAsia flight and at least four hours before the departure time of the new AirAsia X flight.

The change can be performed via web, mobile and all AirAsia official offline booking channels.

In conjunction with this new product launch, AirAsia is offering a 20 per cent discount on all flights throughout its route network until August 17. The discount also applies to AirAsia X flights for travel up to December 14, 2014.

ONE Farrer Hotel & Spa Singapore is putting the final touches to its opening on September 3 and, though the hotel is pitched at the luxury level, rates will not be luxurious at the start in a bid to draw the well-heeled to a new location and product concept.

For the first three to six months, the opening rates for the three-in-one hotel concept will range from S$280 (US$224) for rooms at the Urban Hotel, to S$400 for suites and S$1,000 for villas at the Skyline Hotel, said general manager and vice president hotel operations, Gilbert Madhavan.

Chairman, Richard Helfer, said: “The rates at One Farrer Hotel & Spa for a while would be more attractive than some other areas of the city, as it’s in a new location and we are a new independent hotel. This plus our superior facilities are good reasons for people to come as they know we’re a five-star hotel and they can try it out at a lower rate for now.”

The 243-room hotel has a three-in-one concept: Urban Hotel, levels 11-15, targeted at business and leisure travellers; Loft Apartments, levels 16-17, targeted at the extended stay market; and the Skyline Hotel, levels 18-20, targeted at the luxury segment.

It is part of a mixed-use development called Connexion at Farrer Park, which also boasts The Farrer Park Medical Centre, home to more than 200 medical specialists, and The Farrer Hospital, one of the first private hospitals to be built ground-up in Singapore after 30 years.

But only 25 per cent of the hotel’s business mix will be medical tourism. The rest will be leisure (15 per cent), corporates (30-35 per cent) and the remainder, meetings and incentives.

Helfer, former founding chairman and CEO of Raffles International Hotels & Resorts, said One Farrer Hotel & Spa would “drive” the leisure and corporate market with its concept and service standards.

– Richard Helfer on making a Connexion, View From the Top, TTG Asia, September 12 issue

TATA-SIA Airlines Limited (TSAL), the joint venture between Tata Sons and Singapore Airlines, yesterday announced the brand name of its full-service airline, which is expected to commence flying from October.

Vistara, derived from the Sanskrit word ‘Vistaar’ meaning limitless expanse. It will begin operations in October subject to approvals from India’s Directorate General of Civil Aviation.

Headquartered in New Delhi, Vistara will take delivery of its first plane, an Airbus A320-200 in September and plans to increase its fleet to 20 aircraft, including A320neos by the end of the fifth year of operations.

While the airline’s route network in India is unannounced, TSAL’s CEO, Phee Teik Yeoh, said: “We will operate in cities where there is a clear demand for a full-service carrier be it metro or non-metro cities.”

Queried whether it is the right time to commence operations in India considering the majority of domestic airlines are making losses, Yeoh said TSAL remains positive as the new Indian government is investor-friendly and has announced measures for the sector, like opening new airports in the country (TTG Asia e-Daily, July 29, 2014).

Mukund Rajan, member of the Group Executive Council at Tata Sons and director at TSAL, added: “The time is rights for us to commence operations as Indian travellers are looking for fresh options. India is expected to become the third-largest aviation market in the world by 2020, which clearly means there is a potential that needs to be tapped.”

Tata Sons had partnered Singapore Airlines in September 2013 for the joint venture, holding 51 per cent stake in TSAL (TTG Asia e-Daily, September 20, 2013).

PATA today released The Rise of the Young Asian Traveller report, revealing the key travel habits and attitudes of Asia’s future travellers in order to help tourism professionals understand the need to engage young people as consumers and employees of the industry.

Crucial information covered in the report include: their dream destinations (France, the US, Australia, Japan, and Italy); why youth travel does not always mean ‘budget travel’ in Asia; what the leap to mobile technology will mean for travel providers across the region; how low cost carriers have capitalised so successfully on the youth market; why the most sophisticated tourism boards look to attract students as well as leisure travellers; who exerts the biggest influence on young Asians’ travel decisions; and why it is important to start reaching the next generation of your brand’s consumers today.

PATA CEO Martin Craigs said: “This report highlights very effectively why Asia’s top destinations and tourism brands need to sit up and take notice of young consumers and their travel tastes. Today’s young travellers will very quickly become business and family travellers, so it is important to show them your trust and loyalty from a very early stage.”

The Rise of the Young Asian Traveller can be purchased at the PATA Online Store.

The report is based on participation from almost 3,000 travellers between the ages of 15 and 34 in an online survey distributed across 13 countries in North-east and South-east Asia, including China, South Korea, Japan, the Philippines, Thailand, Vietnam, Indonesia and Malaysia (TTG Asia e-Daily, February 20, 2014).