PRINCESS Cruises yesterday announced that it will welcome a new ship in 2017.

The yet-to-be-named 143,000-ton ship will be the only new order parent company Carnival Corporation anticipates for 2017, according to Princess Cruises president, Jan Swart.

The 3,560-passenger vessel will be built by Italian shipbuilder Fincantieri. It will boast a design platform introduced by sister ships Royal Princess in 2013 and Regal Princess, which entered service in May.

The new ship will feature the cruise line’s signature elements such as central atrium hub with multiple dining, entertainment and retail venues; the adults-only Sanctuary; Movies Under the Stars cinema experience; and 80 per cent of all staterooms with balconies. Some brand-new innovations can also be expected.

Specific features and amenities for the ship, along with deployment details, will be revealed in the coming months.

SINGAPORE Airlines (SIA) put on a poor showing for the first quarter of financial year 2014/2015, reporting a 71 per cent year-on-year depression in net profit on the back of intensified competition, “unforeseen events” and the performance of associated companies.

In a statement released to the press yesterday, the SIA umbrella group reported an operating profit of S$39 million (US$31.3 million), a 52.4 per cent drop over the same period last year.

Discounting non-operating and exceptional items costs, SIA’s profit plunged further to S$35 million, or 71.3 per cent less than the first quarter of the previous financial year.

The airline cited the continued “weak revenue environment” as a factor, compounded by the results from associated and joint venture companies, which contributed S$16 million in losses from last year. Out of this, S$14 million was attributed to Tiger Airways Holdings.

Tiger Airways Holdings shut down its Indonesian offshoot Tigerair Mandala – in which it held a 33 per cent stake – to no one’s surprise after persistently poor results (TTG Asia e-Daily, June 19, 2014).

SIA’s press release did not identify the “unforeseen events” depressing travel demand, though the mysterious disappearance of Malaysia Airlines’ (MAS) MH370 and Thailand’s tourism-crushing military coup would understandably have shaken traveller confidence.

The Singapore flag carrier said: “The outlook for the air transportation industry has become more challenging with the continuing uncertain global economic climate, geopolitical concerns in the region and elevated fuel prices.

“Load factors in the current quarter are expected to be stable year-on-year. Aggressive fares and capacity injections from competitors will continue to place pressure on yields.”

Events of the recent past promise no relief for the industry with the gunning down of MH17 that dealt a second blow to the ailing MAS, and the crashing of TransAsia Airways and Air Algerie, all mere days apart.

PREDOMINANTLY Catholic Philippines is gradually expanding its limited inventory of halal travel products to capture more of the small yet steadily growing Muslim market.

The Department of Tourism (DoT) and the Philippine Travel Agencies Association regularly conduct seminars, trainings and meetings with their Middle Eastern counterparts on meeting the needs of this high-yielding market, while DoT supports the Islamic Da’Wah Council of the Philippines (IDCP) to grant more establishments halal accreditation.

IDCP president Abdul Rahman Linzag said there are only a “handful” of halal-certified hotels and restaurants in Manila, the latest being Makati Shangri-La, Manila, but the number is increasing.

Observed Ine Faustino, general manager of CCT 168 Tours: “With the dearth of halal food, some Muslim travellers choose serviced apartments where they can prepare and cook their own food.”

To woo this market, DoT launched Eid Play Love travel packages on July 14 in Saudi Arabia and the UAE for the long holidays after Ramadan this month and the Eid al-Adha in October.

A take on the popular book and movie Eat Pray Love, the packages promote Philippines, heretofore known as labour export market, as a “Muslim- and family-friendly destination”, said Verna Buensuceso, DoT’s overall in charge for market development group.

Partners in the packages will be asked to send reports to DoT to gauge the success of future promotions planned for the Middle East.

The Philippines is still slowly beefing up facilities needed by Muslim travellers. Manila’s airport has a Muslim prayer room and footwash, while hotels such as Fairmont Makati and Raffles Makati include Qurans, prayer spaces, and Arabic-language TV channels.

The underserved Muslim market is estimated to have been worth some US$130 billion in 2013 (TTG Asia e-Daily, November 26, 2013), and the world’s first international conference on Muslim tourism will be held this September in Spain, bringing together the global travel industry to share how it can cater to this fast-growing segment (TTG Asia e-Daily, July 1, 2014).

HILTON Worldwide this week opened the DoubleTree Resort by Hilton Hainan ­– Qixianling Hot Spring within the Qixianling Hot Spring National Rainforest Park on Hainan Island, China.

The 254-room hotel, owned by Hainan Gold Phoenix Hot Spring Resort, is situated 90km from Sanya Phoenix International Airport. Each guestroom comes with a private sitting area, 42-inch LCD TV and a private balcony offerings views of rainforest gardens and mountains.

In terms of F&B offerings, the hotel features Yuxi restaurant serving Hainan dishes and Cantonese cuisine; Open Restaurant dishing up Asian cuisines, Western grill items, barbecue selections, fresh seafood and deserts; NoDu that recreates popular Asian street food; Shu Lounge in the lobby for tea and light snacks; and the Cigar Bar.

Planners will be glad to know the hotel is equipped with a grand ballroom, three flexible meeting rooms and an outdoor courtyard that collectively provide some 603m² in meeting and event space.

Other amenities include free Wi-Fi throughout the entire hotel, a 24-hour business centre, a 24-hour fitness centre, a luxury spa, two outdoor swimming pools, and the largest hot spring on Hainan Island.

To mark the opening of the hotel, members of Hilton’s HHonors loyalty programme will receive 1,000 bonus points per night on best available rates at the hotel until December 30, 2014. The bonus is capped at 5,000 extra points per stay.

TOURIST arrivals to Myanmar have increased again the first-half of this year, according to the Ministry of Hotels and Tourism.

From January to June, 470,747 visitors entered the country, up 23.1 per cent year-on-year. 
About 71.9 per cent, or 338,331, were from Asia, including 80,311 from Thailand, the largest single group; 35,803 from China; and 35,650 from Japan.

Over 17 per cent, or 79,767, hailed from Europe, with the largest group from France (17,517), followed by the UK (16,508) and Germany (12,424).

“The performance is pretty good, but the challenges remain,” said Aung Myat Kyaw, managing director of Orchestra Travel in Yangon, adding that the shortage of hotel rooms, especially in Yangon, Mandalay and Inle Lake region, would continue to be the major challenge until 2016 (TTG Asia e-Daily, March 13, 2014).

Aung Myat Kyaw said his inbound travellers come mostly from France, Germany, Italy and Scandinavian nations, and the top destinations in the country remained Yangon, Mandalay, Bagan, Inle Lake and Ngapali Beach.

FIT numbers increased five per cent year-on-year to 150,629 while travellers on packaged tours increased 11 per cent to 74,935. Increases were also recorded for travellers on business and social visas, at 26.8 per cent and 3.3 per cent respectively.

U Htay Aung, union minister of Hotels and Tourism, recently said that Myanmar will endeavour to hit three million visitor arrivals in 2014.

“The advantage is Myanmar is a chair of ASEAN this year and we will be hosting many meetings, particularly ASEAN Summit, ministerial meetings, senior official meetings and working group meetings.”

But the country is not resting on its laurels. Myanmar’s tourism minister Htay Aung said at this year’s ASEAN Tourism Forum in January that citizens of Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia and Brunei should be able to visit Myanmar visa-free by end-2014 (TTG Asia e-Daily, January 21, 2014).

Myanmar has signed visa waiver agreements with the Philippines (TTG Asia e-Daily, January 8, 2014) and Indonesia (TTG Asia e-Daily, May 14, 2014) since.

FLYDUBAI will commence flights to India this year, at the same time Royal Jordanian Airlines has announced their withdrawal of India flights.

Beginning October, Flydubai will operate five-weekly flights between Mumbai and its base in Dubai. The carrier will also increase the frequency of its New Delhi flights to five times a week, for a total of 25 weekly flights to seven destinations in India.

Aneel Guptaa, manager director of Anjali Tours & Travels Mumbai, stated: “More connectivity to Dubai is a boon for this market as both business and leisure travel is increasing by 15 to 20 per cent every year. This additional seat capacity will help us plan for the Deepavali holiday season well in advance.”

Meanwhile, Royal Jordanian Airlines will withdraw flights to Mumbai from September 10, and New Delhi from October 31 as part of a planned restructuring.

In 2014 alone the airline has axed flights on eight routes, including destinations in the Middle East and North Africa due to security reasons, confirmed the airline’s president and CEO, Nasser Lozi.

UNIWORLD Boutique River Cruise Collection will offer more European itineraries in 2015 than any other cruise line, having opened bookings for its 33 all-inclusive European itineraries with six new programmes and 45 more departures on the Rhine and Danube River cruise.

The new itineraries include an eight-day Holland & Belgium at Tulip Time, 10-day Delightful Danube & Prague, 10-day Eastern Europe Explorer, 13-day Jewels of Spain, Portugal & the Douro River, and the 22-day Ultimate France.

Robin Yap, Asia president for Uniworld’s parent company, The Travel Corporation (TTC), said: “What is unique about such holidays is that they offer an all-inclusive floating holiday experience. The experience includes shore excursions, gourmet cuisine and unsurpassed hospitality.”

Yap highlighted the two special holiday season itineraries, Daube Holiday Markets and theEnchanting Christmas & New Year’s Cruise, as most likely to find popularity among travellers.

The latter takes travellers from Passau to Budapest – and will hear the largest organ in Europe on Christmas Eve in Passau, and then ring in the New Year in elegant style with a gala dinner and ballroom dance in Budapest, said Yap.

Both itineraries will be featured on the new super ship, the SS Maria Theresa, which will set sail in spring 2015 (TTG Asia e-Daily, May 2, 2014).

Yap said that while cruises are most popular among travellers above the age of 45, honeymooners are an emerging target group who enjoy cruises because they are all-inclusive and hassle-free.

To welcome the addition of the new itineraries, couples who pay in full at the time of booking will save up to US$2,000. Bookings must be made by October 31.