SOLUTIONS provider Amadeus today launched its Consulting Services initiative in Asia-Pacific, aiming to help travel consultants improve their services and boost their bottom line.

Amadeus Consulting Services is made up of two components – the Amadeus Discovery Workshop and Project Management Services.

Travel agencies that take the Discovery Workshop will have Amadeus engineers conduct an on-site assessment of its workflow tools and operations, to come up with a list of recommendations on how to maximise business and operations.

Project Management Services provides travel consultants with on-site support in managing complex technology developments or migrations. Amadeus experts can also manage the project on the consultant’s behalf.

Bruno des Fontaines, vice president, customer solutions group, Amadeus said: “Asia-Pacific is a vast region, but our customers here all face similar issues – they need to improve productivity, but they don’t always know the right way to go about it.

“Amadeus Consulting Services makes personalised, manageable recommendations that really reduce the stress of changing business processes. So, ultimately our team can do the hard work on behalf of our customers.”

BETTER known for its shopping and culinary delights, Hong Kong is holding the fifth edition of the Great Outdoors Hong Kong campaign to raise awareness of the city’s natural attractions, featuring new elements such as guided cycling tours.

The campaign kicked off yesterday and is scheduled to run from now until February 21, 2014, offering 10 guided tours along six themed hiking trails available for visitors on weekends. Previously five weeks long, this year’s promotional period will last about three and a half months.

In addition, organiser Hong Kong Tourism Board (HKTB) has introduced guided cycling tours spanning 16km between Shatin to Tai Po. Held in collaboration with a local cycling group, cycling tours take place once a month and give tourists a new way to enjoy Hong Kong’s scenery.

HKTB has also published a new Great Outdoors Hong Kong activity guide that details hiking trails, cycling tracks, outlying islands and guided tours for the traveller.

The guides will be available at major ports of entry, HKTB visitor centres and hotel concierges for the duration of the campaign.

LUFTHANSA plans to ramp up capacity in South-east Asia in the coming year, beginning with the launch of a new direct Kuala Lumpur-Frankfurt flight in summer.

The carrier will commence the five-weekly service on March 30 using an Airbus A340-600 aircraft with eight seats in first class, 48 in business class and 270 in economy.

The new service marks the first time Lufthansa offers a non-stop connection between the two cities. A Jakarta leg will be tagged on to the itinerary, providing longhaul travellers access to the Indonesian capital via Kuala Lumpur.

Previously, Kuala Lumpur was connected to Frankfurt only through a four-times-weekly flight via Bangkok. This service will be dropped as a result of the new direct flight from Frankfurt to Malaysia.

The existing Bangkok-Ho Chi Minh flight run by Lufthansa will also be axed, with daily connections between those cities operated by partner airlines instead.

Furthermore, flight timings of Lufthansa Group airlines Lufthansa, Swiss International Air Lines and Austrian Airlines into the Star Alliance hub airport in Bangkok will be adjusted for better flexibility for passengers. Lufthansa flight LH773 Bangkok will be brought forward to 12.00 for arrival in Frankfurt at 18.30, while LH772 will depart Frankfurt at 17.35 to touch down in Bangkok at 09.35.

Steffen Harbarth, area manager Asia-Pacific at Lufthansa, commented: “With the current service extensions and flight schedule measures, we are improving the offer for our customers in South-east Asia. Indonesia will now be connected with the Lufthansa network once again and for the first time, our European network can be reached non-stop from Malaysia.”

“With our new flight we are extending the offer to our customers in South-east Asia by 27 per cent compared with the same period last year and will thus grow next year at an above-average rate in this part of Asia.”

TOURISM in Malaysia has been spared the wrath of super typhoon Haiyan as the cyclone diverted from its original course to make landfall in Vietnam today, although the Malaysian Meteorological Department has maintained its high seas warning.

The warning is in effect for Sabah, Labuan, Kelantan, Terengganu, Pahang and east Johor until tomorrow even as immediate danger from typhoon Haiyan has passed, said the weather authority.

Tour operators interviewed said tourism activities have not been affected.

Ganneesh Ramaa, manager of Luxury Tours Malaysia, said: “We are monitoring the situation in Sabah carefully. If there are heavy rains and choppy sea conditions, we will avoid sea activities. Tours to Kota Kinabalu and Sandakan are running as normal.”

Another inbound travel consultant, Alex Lee, CEO of Ping Anchorage Travel & Tours, shared: “We are keeping our partners overseas informed of the situation. Due to the annual heavy rains this time of year, beach resorts on islands off the coast of Terengganu such as Redang, Perhentian and Lang Tengah are closed until early next year. However, our tours along the coast of Terengganu and Pahang are running as usual. There have not been any cancellations.”

Nicolas Reschke, group director of sales and marketing at Sutera Harbour Resort, said the resort is running at high occupancy and there have been no cancellations.

Super typhoon Haiyan, which has been called the year’s strongest typhoon, hit the Philippines last week and is feared to have left over 10,000 dead (TTG Asia e-Daily, November 8, 2013).

INTERCONTINENTAL Hotels Group (IHG) has opened Holiday Inn Express Semarang Simpang Lima property in the capital of Central Java, marking the brand’s first hotel in Indonesia.

The hotel is located a 15-minute drive from Ahmad Yani International Airport in the centre of Semarang’s famous shopping, dining and entertainment district.

Boasting 198 guestrooms, the hotel comes with free Wi-Fi throughout its premises, a Free Express Start Breakfast or a Grab & Go option, a self-service business centre and laundry room.

“Indonesia accounts for two-thirds of the development pipeline for Holiday Inn Express in South-east Asia and we are excited to debut the brand in one of the country’s most vibrant cities. Semarang is a popular destination for both business and leisure travellers where the majority are domestic travellers who stop enroute between Jakarta and Surabaya,” said Clarence Tan, COO South-east Asia and Resorts, IHG.

IHG will open 20 more Holiday Inn Express hotels across the South-east Asian region over the next five years.

Holiday Inn Express Semarang Simpang Lima is offering a special opening rate for guests, beginning at Rp361,250 (US$32) per night for bookings made from now until March 31, 2014.

COLOMBO hotels are seeing rates skyrocket this week as the Commonwealth Summit rolls into town, with five-star accommodation costing thrice the usual price.

Up to 4,000 rooms in 33 hotels have been booked for the summit, which will be attended by over 30 heads of state and their delegations (TTG Asia e-Daily, August 28, 2013).

Hotel rates for delegates as decided by the government are US$571 net per night for a five-star hotel; US$431 for four-star; US$343 for three-star; US$273 for two-star; and US$159 for one-star. Regular rates for a five-star room hover around US$180.

However, Vipula Wanigasekera, member of the accommodation committee for the Summit and general manager of the Sri Lanka Convention Bureau, said five-star hotels will lose business this week despite the higher rates as they cannot open their restaurants or rooms to non-resident clients and non-Summit delegates.

This includes hotels such as Hilton Colombo, Cinnamon Lakeside Colombo, Cinnamon Grand Colombo, The Kingsbury and Hotel Galadari.

“The (five-star) rates have been fixed based on hotel rates prevalent during previous Commonwealth Summits in Perth and Trinidad, and also to compensate for lost business,” he explained.

One operator who declined to be named, said his hotel could lose over US$500,000 this week.

MONTARA Hospitality Group is looking to expand two resort brands across the region and expects to open about 10 new properties within the next three years.

The Thai company, which owns and operates Trisara and Boathouse in Phuket, will offer an owner-centric investment-based management model under the Trisara and By Montara brands.

“We’re speaking to owners of exceptional pieces of land across the region to develop Trisara,” said Montara chairman, Narong Pattamasaevi. “We’re ready to co-invest with clients. We want to be flexible to their needs rather than offer a traditional management model. I’m an owner myself so I can see things from their perspective.”

Trisara will be developed on plots of land ranging from 10 to 13 hectares where the company can build and manage 40 to 60 villas. The new properties will be mixed-use resorts and incorporate residential villas which individual investors can purchase. By Montara, beachfront non-villa properties with no more than 120 rooms, will be developed on smaller plots.

The group will focus on its traditional source markets, the US, Australia, Europe and the UK, though corporate incentives are more likely to come from within the region.

The company is looking to open three to four Trisara properties within the next few years, two of which will be in Thailand, along with six or seven By Montaras.

“We’re looking at Thailand, Indonesia, the Maldives, anywhere appropriate within a four-hour flight of Thailand,” said Narong.