SILKAIR’S first flight to Mandalay took off this morning, marking the start of services to its second Myanmar destination after Yangon.

The thrice-weekly service is operated through a circular routing with Yangon on Airbus A319 and A320 aircraft in a two-class configuration.

Flights depart Singapore at 11.35 and touch down in Mandalay at 15.00, while return flights take off at 15.55 and land in Singapore at 20.50. Services run on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays.

SilkAir chief executive, Leslie Thng, said: “As Myanmar continues to open up, we see significant potential for air travel to the country. We have seen increased demand for both leisure and business travel to Myanmar over the past few years, and are excited to be developing this new market.”

Mandalay can be used as a gateway to Bagan as well as Inle Lake.

INTEGRATED resorts developer Melco Crown Philippines will launch DreamPlay by DreamWorks by 3Q2014 at City of Dreams Manila, with a focus on the theme park’s educational and interactive qualities.

Created in collaboration with DreamWorks Animation, the theme park combines real-life and digital features, starring characters from DreamWorks movies including Kung Fu Panda, Madagascar, Shrek, and How to Train your Dragon.

The 6.2ha property required some US$1.3 billion in investment.

“City of Dreams Manila’s DreamPlay concept is unique in that, unlike a theme park which is purely entertainment, it delivers an ‘educational play’ experience through spontaneous and sensory play,” said Clarence Chung, Melco Crown Philippines chairman and president.

Chung said the DreamPlay product is an industry first and “an offering that stands uniquely alone in Asia”.

The project will square off against KidZania Manila, an 8,000m2 education theme park to open in Bonifacio Global City in 2015 that focuses on role-playing activities.

The announcement for DreamPlay comes within days of Melco’s disclosure of the third hotel project for City of Dreams Manila. The two-tower, 365-room Hyatt City of Dreams Manila will open in 2014, and come with a family entertainment centre, live performance lounge, nightclub, two F&B areas and a VIP lounge.

It joins two other hotel projects under construction, a 321-room luxury Nobu hotel, announced in January 2014, and a 260-key six-star Crown Towers, announced last October (TTG Asia e-Daily, October 10, 2014).

AIRASIA will recommence its Kuala Lumpur-Danang service with four flights a week on August 29, the LCC’s third destination in Vietnam after Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi.

The LCC will be the only carrier operating the route, which it had withdrawn on June 10, 2013 as part of its route network realignment.

Adam Kamal, general manager of Rakyat Travel, commented: “For us, Danang is a new destination and an alternative to Bangkok and Thailand, which has seen a marked decline in interest due to the martial law imposed last month (TTG Asia e-Daily, May 20, 2014).”

“We will promote Danang through our website and offer it as a destination for company trips and leisure groups,” he added.

Apple Vacations & Conventions’ group managing director, Desmond Lee, added: “Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City are both popular, year-round (destinations) for Malaysians.

“Danang is a new destination in Vietnam for us to promote…We think it will attract the FIT market as it is not an expensive destination and direct flights via AirAsia are easily available.”

WYNDHAM Hotel Group will introduce two new brands and 15 more properties to its portfolio in China.

Leo Liu, managing director, China, Wyndham Hotel Group, said TRYP by Wyndham and Planet Hollywood will join the group’s network of Days Inn (55), Howard Johnson (44), Ramada (56), Super 8 (560), Wyndham (10) in China.

Planet Hollywood is a lifestyle, entertainment-based brand catering to business and leisure travellers, while TRYP by Wyndham is an urban hotel brand located in cosmopolitan cities. TRYP is present in cities such as New York, Barcelona and Paris.

Liu added: “China is a priority market, and Wyndham aims to bring innovative and well-established hotel brands to further strengthen our presence in the country.”

“For TRYP in China, we are targeting the emerging middle class which takes frequent vacations, while Planet Hollywood is aimed at both international and the more affluent Chinese travellers,” he said, adding that both brands are “stylish, modern, sophisticated” and differentiated in terms of product offerings.

Wyndham is also set to debut 15 new hotels between now and 2017, adding a total of 5,300 rooms in locations such as Hangzhou, Xi’an, Sanya, Huangshan, Chongqing and Zhangjiajie under brands including Wyndham, Wyndham Grand and Ramada.

As to the challenges and opportunities influencing Wyndham’s China expansion, Liu noted: “There are many non-first tier cities that are ready for hotels and it’s very exciting to see that. But lack of qualified hotel workers is a challenge for the entire industry.”

SECURITY forces in the Eastern Sabah Security Zone (Esszone) are getting a boost to increase safety and restore confidence among tourists and the local population.

Malaysian daily The Star reported that three General Operations Force and three armed forces battalions have been assigned to the high-risk area to enable a swift response to security threats.

The number of police stations has also been increased, while Sabah is studying the feasibility of upgrading its radar system for a security boost.

Shahidan Kassim, minister in the prime minister’s department, was quoted as saying: “We have deployed 31 high-speed and bulletproof boats to enhance monitoring under various maritime agencies along Sabah’s waters.”

Arokia Das, senior manager of Luxury Tours Malaysia, welcomed the measures as a “good start” to recovering tourist traffic in the affected areas, but is not taking the risk of sending visitors there.

“We still prefer recommending tourists to go to Tunku Abdul Rahman Marine Park in Kota Kinabalu for sea activities. We don’t want to take chances.”

The extra boost in security follows a number of high-profile kidnapping cases including one that saw Chinese national and fish farm manager Yang Zai Lin kidnapped from his workplace, Wonderful Terrace on Pulau Baik (Baik Island), about 30km south of Lahad Datu (TTG Asia e-Daily, May 7, 2014); and the murder of a Taiwanese tourist and abduction of his wife at Pom Pom Island Resort on Pom Pom Island, a 45-minute boat ride from the town of Semporna, Sabah, last year (TTG Asia e-Daily, November 18, 2013).

SEREENA Supa’at has been named director of sales and marketing at the 157-key, ultra luxury hotel The Patina, Capitol Singapore.

As director of sales and marketing, Sereena will formulate, implement and drive all sales and marketing initiatives.

She brings with her more than 15 years of expertise in luxury hospitality, having worked for hotels such as Capella Singapore, St Regis, Mandarin Oriental, Fullerton and Banyan Tree hotels.

The Patina, Capitol Singapore will be the fourth pre-opening hotel Sereena is involved with.

INDONESIA is fertile ground for hotel investment, but pushing rates up will remain a challenge for investors and hotel operators.

Speaking at the Second Annual Indonesia Hotel Investment Conference in Bali last Friday, Yanti Sukamdani, chairman of Indonesia Hotel and Restaurant Association shared that within the hotel investment space, Indonesia will welcome 288 new hotels by 2016 including 17 projects in Jakarta, 12 in Bogor, 12 in Jogjakarta, 15 in Cirebon, 19 in Surabaya, 15 in Makassar, and 67 in Bali.

She urged hoteliers and industry stakeholders to consider the challenges that continue to plague the industry. “When we build more hotels, we need more water, electricity, food and beverage, (things that the tourism stakeholders) need to consider about.”

She pointed out obstacles such as increasing land costs, not only in Bali but other Indonesian major destinations as well.

“Hotel rates in Indonesia remain low compared to other countries and this adds to the challenge both investors and hotel operators are facing,” she said.

The average room rate of four- and five-star hotels in Indonesia is about US$100 with RevPAR of US$70, while one- to three-star hotel rates stand at US$50 with RevPAR of US$38.

“While the tourism authority, the Indonesia Tourism Promotion Board (of which Yanti is chairman) and the tourism industry need to work harder to improve the product and services of our hotels, it is important for investors to calculate well the pay-back period,” Yanti said.

Nevertheless, the country’s tourism sector is doing well according to statistics from the Ministry of Tourism and Creative Economy.

Yanti said: “Tourist arrivals to the country up to April showed a (10.6 per cent) increase from 2.7 million in 2013 to 2.9 million.”

Domestic tourism is also rising. “The number of movements during this period was 55.9 million and the target for the whole year this year is 255 million,” she added.

Tourism receipts grew 6.9 per cent in 1Q2014, outstripping national GDP growth of 5.2 per cent, while investment in tourism during the same period soared 256.4 per cent from US$36.5 million to US$130.1 million.