SINGAPORE Tourism Board (STB) today launched Rediscover, the second wave of its 50^thanniversary celebrations, shining the spotlight on long-standing icons that may have been eclipsed by the city’s string of recent openings.

Running from April to October, there will be carnival-style events, behind-the-scenes tours, sports-oriented activities as well as art, heritage and architecture talks and tours.

STB assistant chief executive, experience development group, Melissa Ow, said: “It’s not always about discovering the new, but (it’s) also important to help people revisit, reconnect and understand that there is really so much that we offer as a city, as a destination.”

As it commemorates 50 years of tourism development and promotion, STB wants locals to reacquaint with established attractions as well as build a better understanding of the tourism industry and the careers it has to offer.

However, Ow said that the invitation is extended to overseas visitors as well. Promotions will be carried on STB’s marketing platforms, but as capacity on many of the tours is limited, registration has to be on a first-come, first-served basis, she pointed out.

Kicking off next Easter weekend is an egg-themed carnival at Jurong Bird Park, Singapore’s first major attraction.

Other highlights include a back-of-house tour which showcases how Singapore’s cable car system operates, access to the zoo’s hospital and kitchen to see how animals are cared for, an exclusive view of the iconic rotunda and dome at the National Museum and cruise ship open-house visits.

There will also be opportunities to see the soon-to-be-opened Singapore Sports Hub, with guided tours led by local sporting personalities such as C Kunalan.

The first phase of Tourism50 – Reminisce – was launched last month and focused on evoking memories of older attractions such as Haw Par Villa. The third phase – Celebrate – will feature festive light-ups and events leading up to the country’s 50^th year of independence next year.

More information is available at www.xinmsn.com/rediscoversg.

THE US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has restored the Philippines to Category 1 status according to the international aviation safety standards as set out by ICAO.

This follows a review of the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (CAAP) conducted last month that found it to have met standards in technical expertise, trained personnel, record keeping or inspection procedures.

With the safety status upgrade, Philippine airlines can operate flights to the US and carry the code of US carriers.

The Philippines held Category 1 rating until January 2008, when it was downgraded.

Aileen Clemente, executive vice president of the Tourism Congress of the Philippines, said the body was “delighted and excited” about the development.

“This will hopefully provide more optimal connectivity (to the) Trans-Pacific area,” she said, adding that this would allow the Philippines to be an Asian hub.

PAL executives confirmed that they were in the process of preparing a statement, but were awaiting formal confirmation by the CAAP, and would release the statement today or tomorrow.

Cebu Pacific Air vice president for corporate affairs, Jorenz Tañada, said: “We congratulate CAAP at this most significant achievement. We are excited at the prospect of flying to the US. This can only bode well for the Philippine aviation industry in general and Philippine carriers in particular.”

The EU last year rescinded its ban on national flag carrier Philippine Airlines (TTG Asia e-Daily, July 11, 2013) and the airline has since unveiled plans to launch services to Europe (TTG Asia e-Daily, September 18, 2013).

The FAA Category 2 status was viewed by the industry as the last hurdle for Philippine aviation after the lifting of the EU ban.

DESPITE oversupply issues, Indonesian hospitality professionals remain upbeat about prospects, projecting revenue to grow by 10 per cent by 2016.

This was revealed in a survey at the Driving Hotel Revenue Indonesia Summit, which also showed that growth would be driven by better operating processes and newer technologies.

Adwien Dhanu, president, Jayakarta Hotels & Resorts, said that while outlook was positive, the anticipated 10 per cent increase in revenue would not simply “fall into every hotel operator’s lap”.

“Hoteliers need to enhance their understanding and approach to revenue management so that properties are pricing themselves correctly…Given the current issues around oversupply, the government should look to curb new development until occupancy levels recover. More work also needs to be carried out to improve tourism infrastructure in general, including traffic management in the Legian area,” Adwien said.

Rio Kondo, vice president development Indonesia & Malaysia, Accor, said: “While there are fast-maturing hotel markets like Jakarta, Bali, Surabaya and Bandung in Indonesia, where manoeuvring new hotel projects can be precarious, I believe opportunities in this vast archipelago are still plentiful but one must be observant and thorough.”

The same survey highlighted digital hotel bookings as another area expected to deliver significant benefits to the industry, with a 40 per cent increase in digital bookings forecast for 2016.

Philip Stanley, regional director of sales, IDeaS, said Indonesian hoteliers have to capitalise on growth in digital bookings by having the “right strategies and systems in place to determine the best rate for their rooms” and ensurely timely delivery of these rates.

Organised by pricing and revenue management software provider IDeaS Revenue Solutions, the Driving Hotel Revenue Indonesia Summit brought together over 200 hotel owners, general managers, revenue managers and sales directors from across Indonesia for educational sessions.

SILKAIR is set to launch flights to Hangzhou, its eighth destination in China, on June 27.

The airline will deploy an Airbus A319 and A320 on the route, with both business and economy class seats.

The four-times-weekly service departs Singapore at 10.00 to reach Hangzhou at 15.20, while return flights leave Hangzhou at 16.20 to touch down in Singapore at 21.25.

Leslie Thng, chief executive of the airline, said: “The launch of services to Hangzhou, reaffirms SilkAir’s commitment to continue to grow our network in China, which is one of our key markets. Hangzhou is a city that attracts both the leisure and business traveller and we believe that our new service will certainly benefit them.”

AIRASIA will commence thrice-weekly flights from Kuala Lumpur to the port city of Visakhapatnam this October.

Speaking to the media during a meeting with Air Travellers Association in Bengaluru, AirAsia India’s general manager, Suresh Nair, said that Visakhapatnam has excellent potential because of its status as an industrial hub and busy port, proximity to significant Buddhist sites, and imminent investment in tourism development.

K Vijay Mohan, director of Holiday World Visakhapatnam, said: “Increased connectivity with South-east Asia will add inbound and outbound tourist flows, and such flights could help the destination to grow by 30 to 40 per cent annually. The beach resorts and golf courses in Visakhapatnam, in addition to Buddhist heritage sites, are a definite draw.”

Nair added that depending on the success of the route, the LCC may run flights between Bangkok and other Indian destinations too.

SilkAir currently operates four-times-weekly Singapore-Visakhapatnam flights and Air India connects the city to Dubai. Carriers such as Air Arabia and SriLankan Airlines are awaiting the Indian government’s permission to launch flights to Sharjah and Colombo respectively.