MAHARASHTRA Tourism Development Corporation (MTDC) launched its maiden seaplane service last week with private air charter company MEHAIR.

Apart from connecting its inland water bodies, the service will connect Mumbai with state tourist destinations adjacent to water bodies, deploying a Cessna 206 Amphibian for four passengers. A Cessna 208 Amphibian aircraft for nine will be inducted by April.

In the first phase, the service will be rolled out to destinations like Ambay Valley, Lonavla and Lavasa while in the second phase, MEHAIR will connect Mumbai with the Konkan coast.

The first commercial flight will be flagged off to Ambay Valley, the first approved seaplane waterdrome in the mainland of India. Seats can be booked at www.mehair.in with effect from March 10.

Through the service, MTDC expects to promote the backwaters of Konkan region as a weekend getaway.

“Maharashtra is a diverse landscape ideally suited to be connected by a seaplane service. Presently one has to spend five to six hours to reach backwater areas but with the service, one can reach these places in about 40 minutes,” said Jagdish Patil, managing director, MTDC.

Vivek Kumar, CEO of Ambay Valley City and Hotel Sahara Star, said: “Seaplane services will add to the appeal of Ambay Valley and offer a quick and exciting mode of transport for tourists from Mumbai.”

Meanwhile, MTDC is coming up with an ambitious Sea World India project in Sahyadri. The ocean-based theme park is expected to be Asia’s largest and will be developed as a public-private partnership. The NTO is acquiring 485 hectares of land for the project.

CAMBODIA’S capital will welcome another Shinta Mani hotel, a third in the country, in 2017.

Sokoun Chanpreda, chairman of HMDAsia who manages Shinta Mani hotels, has confirmed the addition of Shinta Mani Phnom Penh to the company’s current two properties in Siem Reap.

The property to be located close to Wat Phnom and the Post Office on Sisowath Quay Boulevard will target the corporate sector and support the Shinta Mani Foundation and Development Center, as do its existing properties.

It will offer 150 rooms, a rooftop restaurant and bar, small conference room, gym and spa. The ground floor will house five to seven F&B outlets.

LEYTE is the latest destination added to the Department of Tourism’s (DoT) cruise programme that aims to bring cruising business to areas affected by the Bohol earthquake or super typhoon Haiyan last year.

DoT begun its tourism recovery cruise programme in the immediate aftermath of the disasters and in January started talks with DMCs and cruise sales experts on the tourism and cruise options available in Leyte, one of the worst-hit destinations.

Leyte joins other affected spots including Cebu, Tagbilaran in Bohol and Coron in Palawan, confirmed DoT director Corazon Jorda-Apo, who works with the cruise niche market development programme.

Sharp Travel Services’ president, Lou Banzon, who brought in a Hapag-Lloyd cruise to Leyte last year and in January this year and will see another one this month, said: “Expedition cruises of up to 600 or 650 are more apt for this destination at this point of time (due to existing damage to Leyte’s port).”

Cruises to Leyte may be preferable to land tour arrangements from Leyte airport in Tacloban City – which is currently running at limited capacity – that add two to three hours of travel to the nearest viable attractions, said Banzon. She has continued to send proposals for other cruise ships to visit Leyte.

A typical Leyte cruise itinerary includes a shore stop in the virgin beaches in the Kalanggaman Island cluster allowing passengers to picnic, swim and snorkel.

WITH increasing hotel inventory on its website and rising awareness among the travelling public, bookpanorama.com is aiming for triple-digit growth in business this year.

Hans Tjandra, general manager, bookpanorama.com, said: “We are confident that the target is achievable because of the huge number of domestic travellers, despite (the devaluation of the rupiah).”

Hans said that since the launch of bookpanorama.com in February 2013 (TTG Asia e-Daily, February 20, 2013), the site’s property inventory has almost doubled.

“There are currently more than 400,000 hotels worldwide, among which 5,100 properties are in Indonesia, comprising of hotels, villas, apartments and hostels,” he said.

Hans shared that the biggest challenge faced after the launch of bookpanorama.com was educating the market on e-commerce and the site’s book-now-pay-later principle.

“The Indonesian market was not convinced that they could pay the hotel after staying and not when they made the booking (like they normally do),” he said.

Appointing popular Indonesian artist Dewi Sandra as its brand ambassador has shown some results, with 35 per cent of customers making bookings on the campaign site.

Bookpanorama.com is an e-commerce site for online hotel bookings of Panorama Dotcom Indonesia, part of Panorama Group.

THE little-known province of Xaysomboun will be thrown into the spotlight when Laos launches Visit Xaysomboun Year in 2015, though poor tourism infrastructure threatens to hobble the campaign.

Situated near capital Vientiane, the province boasts many unexploited tourism sites and stunning natural scenery, including the cave of King Anouvong and Phou Bia, Laos’ highest mountain peak.

Xaysomboun Provincial Department of Information, Culture and Tourism director, Vonepadith Dalanouvong, commented: “Xaysomboun has a population of more than 81,000 people and many ethnic groups of which visitors can explore their unique traditions and customs.”

“We will build roads to connect the province with all other provinces. We also plan to build an airport to facilitate visitors and investors who are interested in coming to the province,” Sombath Yialiher, governor of Xaysomboun province, who last week signed off on the construction of three new roads from Anouvong town in the hopes of building tourist numbers by easing access.

However, Laurent Granier, general manager of Laos Mood Travel, was less optimistic, saying: “Well, it is not going to change the future of travel to Laos! The current road between Pakxan and Phonsavan is in poor state despite being newly built, and during the wet season, it is virtually impossible to venture there.”

SINGAPORE must continue to “enhance the tourism experience and upgrade the tourism sector” to remain an attractive tourist destination, said Singapore prime minister Lee Hsien Loong.

Speaking at the official opening of river-themed wildlife park River Safari on Friday last week, Lee said: “Travellers are becoming increasingly spoilt for choice. They are not attracted just by iconic buildings or infrastructure, and want different and unique experiences customised to meet their interests.

“Therefore, we have to complement our hardware with good software, imaginative projects, which will create unforgettable experiences and make you want to come back for more visits.”

To aid the tourism sector, Lee highlighted the government has set aside almost S$1 billion (US$800 million) in a Kickstart Fund (TTG Asia e-Daily, September 26, 2013) to help fund new tourism concepts among other initiatives.

Nevertheless, pointing out that tourism is a “high-touch industry”, he said the government is studying how to do more to equip workers with the skills, knowledge and courtesies to do well in the sector.

Noting that the River Safari is Asia’s first and only river-themed wildlife park, Lee said the park makes the Mandai cluster an even more exciting nature destination alongside the Zoo and Night Safari.

The River Safari has attracted more than 1.1 million visitors since its soft launch in April last year (TTG Asia e-Daily, March 26, 2013).

Home to 6,000 animals, the park also houses Singapore’s first pair of giant pandas. As the wait for a baby panda from resident pair Kai Kai and Jia Jia continues, Claire Chiang, chairman of Wildlife Reserves Singapore, said: “We are hoping for good news, maybe in the next two years.”

KHIRI Travel has merged with Indonesia-based Sunda Trails and will be promoting the islands east of Bali under its first office in Indonesia.

The Bangkok-headquartered DMC today announced that it is looking to open offices in Lombok and Flores with dedicated English- and Dutch-speaking teams, kick-starting Indonesian tours with a focus on destinations in East Nusa Tenggara such as Lombok, Sumbawa, Sumba and Flores.

“Indonesia offers a treasure trove of great travel experiences,” said Willem Niemeijer, CEO, Khiri Travel. “The country’s amazing diversity will be reflected in Khiri Indonesia tour offerings, including Java and Bali, the orang utan sanctuaries and Komodo Island, as well as dozens of off-the-beaten-track trips.”

These trips will be personally selected by Anita Verhoeven, who founded Sunda Trails 12 years ago, has been living and working in Indonesia for 20 years and speaks fluent Bahasa Indonesia. According to a Khiri Travel press release, Verhoeven will continue to play a key leadership role in Khiri Travel Indonesia, focusing mostly on product development.

Sunda Trails runs inbound tourism operations to Indonesia and specialises in ecotourism and rural community exploration, besides offering hiking, bicycle tours, diving, marine expeditions and anthropological trips throughout Indonesia.

Sunda handles about 2,000 travellers yearly, including both individual and group bookings.

Niemeijer said the merger will bring efficiencies of scale and fast client response times, while new internal systems will give Sunda’s existing 12-woman strong staff enhanced training and career prospects.