KOREAN Air will increase its Seoul (Incheon)-New York flights from once to twice daily come May, padding up services that the airline says offer the quickest access between South-east Asia and the US.

The airline deploys an Airbus A380 on the routes to New York and Los Angeles.

John Jackson, vice president of sales & marketing for the Americas, Korean Air, said: “We have the easiest and fastest connections to South-east Asia through the world-renowned Incheon International Airport. Take for example, Houston, our newest market. Our flights to Singapore will be three hours shorter than our closest competitor. And our service to Vietnam will be anywhere from four to 15 hours quicker.”

Korean Air had earlier this year announced that a new four-times weekly Seoul (Incheon)-Houston service will commence in May (TTG Asia e-Daily, February 6, 2014), but has had to increase frequencies to daily following strong response.

MARRIOTT International has successfully introduced the Marriott brand in Osaka city with the launch of Osaka Marriott Miyako Hotel in partnership with Miyako Hotels & Resorts.

Located in front of Osaka Abenobashi station, the hotel is 30 minutes from Kansai International Airport and offers easy access to cities such as Nagoya, Kobe and Kyoto.

Osaka Marriott Miyako Hotel occupies the 38^th to 55^th floors of the new 300m Abeno Harukas building and features 360 rooms, including six suites and 33 premium rooms.

Hotel facilities include an executive lounge with light refreshments and snacks for executive floor guests, the Greatroom lobby, lobby lounge, bar, kitchen buffet restaurant Cooka for Japanese and international cuisines, and ZK restaurant on the 57^th floor serving Japanese and Western fare.

In terms of meeting facilities, the hotel is entirely Wi-Fi enabled and has one 230m² meeting room and six smaller ones at 32m² each.

Osaka Marriott Miyako Hotel is the first Marriott brand hotel in Osaka and the fourth in Japan.

PHILIPPINES-BASED LCC AirAsia Zest will double the number of flights between Manila and Incheon in South Korea as passenger traffic on the route heats up, as well as launch a Kalibo-Taipei service next month.

Beginning May 1, AirAsia Zest will increase flights on said route from once to twice a day. The new frequency departs Manila at 14.55 and arrives in Incheon at 19.55 while Manila-bound services leave Incheon at 20.55 to touch down at 00.10 the next day.

Joy Caneba, executive vice president and COO of AirAsia Zest, said the services would “open up new affordable access between countries especially this summer when more and more Koreans are looking forward to bask in the Philippine sun” and Filipinos travel to South Korea.

To mark the occasion, the LCC is selling promotional seats with base fares starting at 599 pesos (US$13.40), available for booking online between March 19 and 30. Tickets are valid for travel from May 1 to June 30.

AirAsia Zest is also due to launch new daily direct flights linking Kalibo (Boracay) and Taipei from April 15. Promotional fares for this route are also available on the AirAsia website.

THE first Ferrari theme park in Europe will come up in 2016 as part of the existing Port Aventura complex near Spanish seaside resort Salou, some 100km south of Barcelona.

The 100 million euro (US$139 million) project will include a Ferrari Land theme park; the first and five-star Ferrari-themed hotel with 250 rooms; restaurants, shops and extensive simulator areas for race cars.

TTG Asia e-Daily understands that the theme park will be operated on a licence agreement and targeted at “catering for all ages” with rides including the “highest and fastest vertical accelerator in Europe”. Another attraction will be a roller coaster with cars that are modelled on the world famous marque.

Ferrari Land is expected to be an added draw for a complex that already receives around four million visitors a year, nearly half of them foreigners.

Andrea Perrone, administrator for Ferrari Brand, said that “after the success of Ferrari World in Abu Dhabi we have received many requests to build new leisure parks”.

Port Aventura had been selected because it provided an “opportunity to bring the success of Ferrari to Spain, where we have many fans”, she explained.

Sergio Feder, chief executive at Port Aventura, said it had been looking for “a long-term plan supported by a well-known international brand” to help boost annual visitor numbers to five million.

“Ferrari was an obvious choice, not only for the brand value it represents but also for its consolidated experience with the Ferrari World Abu Dhabi theme park,” he added.

THE Department of Tourism (DoT) has rolled out its maiden cruise manual Cruising Philippines, Asia’s Caribbean in a bid to increase the destination’s share of the growing market in Asia.

The 45-page manual outlines the country’s various ports, capacities and infrastructure, tourist attractions and shore excursions.

“We’re promoting the country to investors and encouraging cruise ships to include the Philippines in their itineraries and to make it their homeport,” said Warner Andrada, division chief for product development.

Wally Cervantes, vice president and general manager, Arpan Air, which represents several cruise lines in the Philippines, said the manual is a step in the right direction in promoting the Philippines as cruise destination. “Most cruise companies are looking at Asia and new ports that they can visit.”

Cervantes added: “But I hope they will not stop there. They should also look at how to improve our product offering in terms of improving the facilities at the ports and the activities available to cruise passengers.”

Marilyn Tunguia, inbound tour supervisor, Sharp Travel Service, ground handler of Hapag-Lloyd cruise ships, said the manual generated awareness about other Philippine destinations. “Boracay and Palawan are popular, but it’s good that other destinations like Hundred Islands in Pangasinan and Kalanggaman in Leyte are also being brought to the radar of cruise operators.”

HOLLAND America Line will continue to deploy two of its ships in Asia for the new season from winter 2014 to spring 2015.

The 1,432-passenger Volendam will sail a series of 14- and 17-day cruises and non-repeating itineraries, while the 1,404-passenger Rotterdam will take a 90-day Passage to the Far East journey.

Jerrol Golden, manager for international public relations, revealed the cruise line’s plan toTTG Asia e-Daily last Friday.

Last season, both ships were also deployed in the region to sail 14-day roundtrip Singapore itineraries.

Volendam’s Asian Adventure cruises from Singapore will call at ports in Malaysia, Thailand, Myanmar and India, while its Far East Discovery cruises between Singapore and Hong Kong will call at Koh Samui, Sihanoukville and several ports in Vietnam.

In the spring, it will depart Hong Kong and end at Kobe, calling at ports in Shanghai and Xingang (Beijing), Jeju and Busan, and Nagasaki.

Rotterdam will start 2015 with a 90-day roundtrip Passage to the Far East voyage from Rotterdam, the Netherlands with calls at Portugal, Morocco, Spain, Malta, Greece, Muscat, Oman, Dubai, India and Thilawa (Rangoon).

Golden said the company’s major markets include North America, Australia, the UK, the Netherlands and Germany.

Asked what percentage of its business Asia contributes to, she said: “While I can’t share guest numbers or percentages as a publicly traded company, I can say that our presence in the market is an indication we understand the value and importance of the Asian market. We are extremely optimistic this sector will continue to grow.”

She added: “We have been sailing in Asia for several years and have increased port calls/turnarounds in Singapore to 11 this year, up 36 per cent from 2013.

“Three ships have graced the waters in Asia: Amsterdam is currently operating a world cruise, the Rotterdam and Volendam.”

Holland America Line is headquartered in Seattle and has satellite sales offices in Sydney, Rotterdam and Southampton. Asked whether it has plans to set up offices in Asia, she said: “As of now, we depend on local sales agents to sell Holland America Line.”

A DESTINATION management plan for the greater Inle Lake region has been set in motion to ensure sustainable tourism, which also includes a proposal for establishing a permanent destination management organisation.

Backed by international NGOs and the Luxembourg government, the project is by the Institute for International Development (IID) and the Nepal-based International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD). So far, it has resulted in the creation of a committee representing both the public and private sector which is holding an open group discussion today with participants from the local tourism sector.

Other activities will include developing a visitor forecast model, preparation of guidelines for sustainable tourism development, training in tourism planning and conducting the first detailed survey of tourists in the region.

Inle Lake is the second largest freshwater lake in Myanmar, a listed ASEAN heritage area that is currently being assessed for qualification as a UNESCO International Biosphere Site.

Tourism at Inle Lake has expanded rapidly recently with a minimum of 200,000 domestic and international visitors annually.

Joern Kristensen, director, IID, said: “Through our research…we found people, the environment and infrastructure are quite unprepared for this rapid increase in tourism. So there should be more focus on providing training and employment for local people.”