TRAVEL consultants from more countries can now access Oneworld’s online training programme and learn more about its products in any one of six language options.

Formerly available only in English, the alliance yesterday began offering the Oneworld training academy programme in Chinese, French, German, Japanese and Spanish.

The first module, which Oneworld says will require less than half an hour to complete, takes the travel consultant through a series of Oneworld product lessons with an emphasis on the flagship Oneworld Explorer round-the-world fare.

Travel consultants who complete the module can download and print out a diploma that confers upon them the title of Oneworld Explorer round-the-world specialist.

The Oneworld training programme is available at travelagent.oneworld.com and further modules will be released at a later date.

NOBU Hospitality debuts in Asia with the 3Q2014 opening of a hotel within the City of Dreams Manila integrated resort, backed by big name partners such as actor Robert De Niro and film producer Meir Teper.

Trevor Horwell, CEO of Nobu Hospitality, said Nobu is a luxury lifestyle hotel that would attract the leisure market, while efforts would also be made to court the MICE market.

Named after celebrated chef Nobu Matsuhisa, the hotel will offer 321 rooms and feature the eponymous restaurant with an outdoor cabana style dining terrace overlooking Manila Bay.

Nobu Hospitality opened its first hotel in Las Vegas capitalising on the success of the Nobu restaurant brand. De Niro, who was at the launch ceremony yesterday, said celebrity culture helps a brand but “goes only so far”.

“People will come once or twice or thrice out of curiosity, but they will not come back if you don’t have a good product.”

The hotel is expected to be a hit with Chinese tourists. “This is a bet on the Philippines and it is a bet on China,” said James Packer, director of Melco Crown Entertainment, which runs the City of Dreams in Macau and is one of the companies behind the Manila offshoot.

“We really need it to work for the people of Manila and to also be an attraction that is good enough to get the Chinese market to come here and have fun.”

Nobu hotel is the second hotel in the City of Dreams Manila complex.

SOFITEL Luxury Hotels has rolled out its Sofitel Lunar New Year offer for guests from now until February 28.

Available at Sofitel hotels across China, Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia, the Philippines, India, Australia, New Zealand and Fiji, the offer includes: free daily breakfast; US$60 in F&B credit per room per night for use at any hotel restaurant or bar; and gourmet delicacies such as traditional sweet treats, mandarin oranges and local beverages.

Visit www.sofitel.com/hotel-cms/gb/hotel-deals/offers-532.shtml for bookings or more information.

MALAYSIA Airlines (MAS) and Myanmar Airways International (MAI) have inked a codesharing agreement that will come into effect on February 15, 2014.

MAS will place its flight code on MAI’s Kuala Lumpur-Yangon-Kuala Lumpur services, boosting MAS’s Yangon flight frequency from 14 flights to 19 flights weekly.

On the other hand, MAI will see its code placed on MAS’ services to Singapore, Langkawi, Bangkok and Penang.

The two airlines were formerly united through a similar agreement in 2006, but the deal was suspended in 2010 because of international economic sanctions against Myanmar.

MAS’ CEO, Ahmad Jauhari Yahya, said in a media release: “(The resumed codeshare) is also our initiative towards enhancing air connectivity with key priority markets overseas for increased tourist arrivals into Malaysia and in conjunction with Visit Malaysia Year 2014. We encourage our customers in Yangon to take full advantage of this agreement to connect to various destinations in Malaysia such as Langkawi and Penang.”

To commemorate the resumption, MAS is offering all-inclusive return fares to Yangon priced from RM464 (US$139) for economy class seats and RM1,401 for business class.

Separately, MAS today announced that it will be suspending Los Angeles flights following a route rationalisation exercise, effective April 30.

Calling the route “no longer economically viable”, Ahmad Jauhari said: “The factors contributing to this negative situation today include overcapacity and competition resulting in lower yields, high cost of operating the Boeing 777 aircraft, and pressure from continued increases in fuel costs.”

The same release said the carrier would “focus on Asia where the demand fuelled by a growing middle class and increased global and intra-regional trade. The national carrier will thus increase frequencies to key regional cities to benefit from the strong growth in regional demand”.

MAS continues to serve major cities in the US such as Atlanta, Boston, Washington, Houston, Minneapolis, Portland, Seattle, San Francisco, Las Vegas, San Diego, Honolulu and Raleigh via Europe and Japan through codeshare arrangements with American Airlines and Japan Airlines.

THE Odisha government is inviting more airlines to fly into capital city Bhubaneswar, which is presently not serviced by any international carriers.

GoAir is scheduled to begin flights from Bengaluru and Mumbai to Bhubaneswar in May, while AirAsia will fly from Kuala Lumpur from March pending approval, according to Sharad Kumar, director of Biju Patnaik International Airport, which met with representatives of 20 international airlines last week.

The Odisha government also recently reduced aviation fuel taxes from 20 per cent to five per cent. “The response of airlines was positive. We expect more airlines to be interested in running operations here by February,” said Kumar.

Carriers such as Qatar Airways, SilkAir, Air Arabia and Flydubai are reportedly keen to start services to Bhubaneswar.

Harihar Patra, director-marketing of Toshali Resorts International, which operates resorts in Odisha, said: “Our airport has been ready to receive international flights since last year. We need direct connectivity with other Asian destinations to increase inbound arrivals for our Buddhist, beach, wildlife and cultural tourism destinations. Once international flights begin, Odisha tourism will grow by 50 per cent as we have very good products to offer.”

JK Mohanty, managing director of Swosti Group of Hotels Bhubaneswar, highlighted that the city has evolved as a MICE destination as major hotels have built large convention facilities.

HOLIDAY Inn Express Bali Kuta Square has begun welcoming guests barely a week after InterContinental Hotels Group opened the first Holiday Inn Express hotel in Jakarta (TTG Asia e-Daily, January 21, 2014).

The 115-room Holiday Inn Express Bali Kuta Square is situated 20 minutes from the Ngurah Rai Bali International Airport and close to the destination’s popular shopping and entertainment attractions.

Guests at the latest Holiday Inn Express hotel in South-east Asia can expect free Wi-Fi throughout the hotel, free Express Start Breakfast or a Grab & Go option, and a rooftop pool and bar with views of the beach.

Holiday Inn Express Bali Kuta Square is the sixth Holiday Inn Express hotel to launch in the region after Holiday Inn Express Jakarta Thamrin.

The hotel is dangling special opening rates for guests starting at US$56 per night for bookings from now until June 30.

THE Maldives’ first resort designed and operated on Islamic principles will launch in October, with the aim of becoming a holiday destination for Muslims throughout the world.

The joint venture agreement between Maldives’ ADK Group and Turkey’s Caprice Gold Group, was signed on January 22.

The latter, which has experience in such Muslim-friendly properties, is investing US$170 million in the five-star, 673-room resort on Shaviyani Atoll. It is located 50 minutes from the Ibrahim Nasir International Airport by seaplane.

The resort will offer a separate, secluded beach for ladies, pool villas for couples and a certified halal buffet at all restaurants. No alcohol or pork will be sold within its premises.

ADK Group owner Ahmed Nashid told reporters the resort will be the largest and first Islamic resort in the Maldives, aimed at becoming a holiday destination for Muslims throughout the world.

Caprice Gold operates a Muslim-friendly five-star, 728-room hotel in Didim, Turkey and is currently developing a similar resort with 1,300 rooms and a Caprice Gold Mosque opposite the hotel to be opened in 2014/2015 in Istanbul.

Earlier efforts to launch a shariah-compliant resort by a UAE hospitality group and Maldivian investor in 2011 had failed.