TIGERAIR and Cebu Pacific Air (CEB) today announced both airlines would enter a strategic alliance, which will see CEB try to tame the losses of Tigerair Philippines.

Tigerair yesterday sold its 40 per cent stake in Tigerair Philippines to CEB, who is set to acquire the remaining 60 per cent owned by local investors.

Lance Gokongwei, CEO of CEB, said CEB and Tigerair Philippines would be kept as separate entities and the Tigerair Philippines brand would be retained for the first year.

Meanwhile, Tigerair and CEB will collaborate on operational and marketing fronts, as well as cross-sell domestic and international routes, creating the largest LCC network in the region, said Gokongwei.

Travel consultants TTG Asia e-Daily spoke to were unmoved by the development. Tony Morales, sales manager at Caravan Travel & Tours, pointed out that the alliance would be a disadvantage to travel agencies, who would lose even more business to online.

John Paul Cabalza, president, Philippine Travel Agencies Association, agreed. “We have no margin, no commission – we just charge a service fee,” he said.

He added that Tigerair would bring in a lot of potential inbound travellers, while CEB had good B2B and B2C platforms. “The end result is that consumers have more choices; there’ll be more product offerings”.

In the meantime, Gokongwei said that CEB will pursue expansion into high traffic regions such as the Middle East, Australia and India.

But Jingle Mendoza, operations manager at Diamond Wings Travel & Tourism, which focuses on leisure business from the Middle East, noted: “CEB tickets can cost up to 18,000 pesos (US$402), and some people have experienced delays of several hours on their route…We have tried, but we also have a hard time getting seats (from CEB).”

MYANMAR began allowing Philippine nationals to enter the country visa-free for up to 14 days on January 4, although pricing and supply challenges remain.

Simon Ang, managing director-operations at Celebrate Life TLC, said: “Yes, it’s an advantage not to have to apply for a visa. The only problem is there are still no direct flights.”

With flights mostly transiting in Singapore or Bangkok, Ang does not foresee dramatic growth in travellers to Myanmar anytime soon.

Furthermore, accommodation demand still outpaces supply. Ang commented: “Hotels are really booked. Four-, five-star properties have to be reserved two to three months ahead.”

However, Filipinos tend to plan their travels within a shorter timeframe, he said.

Ang, who has three groups going to Myanmar between now and end-February, said that his business remains primarily leisure-based but he has handled several trade missions recently. “The chambers of commerce, top businessmen are also going,” Ang remarked.

Patricia Escobal, operations manager for tours at FCM Travel Solutions Philippines, said pricing tours to Myanmar remains a challenge as inbound operators quote high prices.

Tour programmes to Myanmar focus on Mandalay, Yangon, and Bago, thus making domestic flights necessary. “This makes the packages as expensive as going to Australia, New Zealand, or Europe,” Escobal said.

Myanmar and Cambodia last month also agreed to a mutual visa exemption for ordinary passport holders, reported Xinhua news agency.

AIR France will launch a new service between Jakarta and Paris’ Charles de Gaulle via Singapore starting March 30, in line with the French government’s growing interest in Indonesia.

The service, which returns after a 10-year hiatus, will be operated by a Boeing 777-300 with 303 seats in four classes.

Duncan Rutgers, country manager for Air France-KLM Indonesia, said: “Jakarta as Air France’s new route fits perfectly into our strategy where we are focusing on the (rich) potential of the South-east Asian region.

“We believe among Indonesians, Paris is a very attractive destination, not only for holidaymakers but also for business travellers.”

The new flight will complement the existing Jakarta-Kuala Lumpur-Amsterdam and Denpasar-Singapore-Amsterdam routes, both operated daily by KLM. “Jointly, there will be 21 flights per week from Indonesia to Europe as of summer 2014,” he noted.

Rutgers highlighted that the reintroduction of the Jakarta-Paris service is in line with the French government’s sharpening focus on Indonesia.

“There are many French companies coming into Indonesia. There are currently around 250 companies operating in the country. Our foreign minister has also encouraged Indonesians to study in France,” he said, adding that he was confident that Indonesia is an emerging market for the airline.

The resurrected service is also part of Air France’s adjustment to aircraft deployment, which saw the Airbus 380 formerly serving Paris-Singapore moved to Paris-Shanghai and the Singapore route given over to the B777-300 to enable the latter continue on to Jakarta.

On the competition posed by Middle Eastern airlines, which have good route network in Europe, Rutgers said: “With the size of the Indonesian middle class, available capacity in the market is still not enough. There is a natural demand for growth we can fulfill.”

HERTZ is going green with the launch of a range of fuel-efficient vehicles in Singapore today, the first time the Green Traveler Collection is offered in Asia.

In an exclusive partnership with Peugeot vehicle distributor AutoFrance, Hertz’s Green Traveler Collection has kicked off with three diesel-powered models.

The chosen models produce less than or about 140g of carbon dioxide per kilometre travelled, exceeding the Neutral Band of the new Carbon Emissions-Based Vehicle Scheme set by the Land Transport Authority of Singapore.

Eddie Ho, general manager of Hertz Singapore, commented: “Being the only major car rental company to offer a dedicated fleet of reservable lower emission cars further demonstrates Hertz’s dedication to helping our customers save on fuel costs and reduce their travel carbon footprint.”

The reservable Green Traveler Collection vehicles will soon be joined by the luxury Prestige Collection and Family Collection vehicles. These can be reserved by make and model at airport and downtown locations.

SINGAPORE-BASED Citystate Travel has acquired luxury cruise specialist, ACE Cruise Holidays, in an effort to boost the capability and market reach of its cruise division.

As of January 1, ACE Cruise Holidays’ director, Peter Wong, has joined the senior management team of Citystate Travel’s cruise division, bringing with him a seasoned cruise consultant.

Speaking to TTG Asia e-Daily in an interview, Citystate Travel executive director Albert Ho said both parties first mooted the idea of a collaboration about two years ago.

“Citystate Travel’s primary focus has been on selling regional sailings and has been named Royal Caribbean International’s top agent for years now. We feel that the cruise division could be made more complete by deepening its transaction in international cruises. And that is where Peter’s company comes in. ACE Cruise Holidays specialises in international cruises, especially those by luxury cruise lines, and he has vast experience in the cruise industry himself,” Ho said.

“There is no doubt that both companies are profitable and this merger serves to advance our cruise ambitions,” said Wong, who founded ACE Cruise Holidays four years ago and is among Royal Caribbean International’s top three agents for the past three years.

Explaining Wong’s new role at Citystate Travel, Ho said Wong would lend his expertise in identifying high-end cruise products that would appeal to local and regional travellers, and roll out “new activities to reach out to premium travellers with the additional resources we now have”.

This includes advertising in periodicals to “educate the market on the vast variety of cruise products available”.

Wong is also tasked with fine-tuning Citystate Travel’s CRM programme – either by employing a third-party system or by developing its own – and will train the company’s next generation of staff in handling well-travelled, high-end clients.

“While we are strong here in Singapore, we are still in the infancy stage when it comes to Asian business and we do want to grow our bookings from other markets in the region. So, Peter will also spearhead our expansion in Asia this year,” said Ho, who would only reveal that his first office outside of Singapore would be located in a populous city in South-east Asia.

Ho expects the merger to grow passenger volume by 10 per cent to 20,000 passengers by end-2014, and bring about average annual growth of eight per cent over the next five years.

NEPAL is ramping up promotions and travel trade engagement this year in the face of negative arrivals growth from India.

According to Nepal Tourism Board, the country recorded 103,568 arrivals by air from India between January and August 2013, an 18.1 per cent year-on-year decrease.

“India is our major source market and accounts for 33 per cent of our overall tourist arrivals. (In 2012) we witnessed 13 per cent growth from India. However, presently we are seeing a decline in numbers,” said Nandini Lahe Thapa, senior director of tourism products & resources development, Nepal Tourism Board.

To tackle this, the NTO will sell Nepal as an adventure, golf tourism and MICE destination, while continuing to promote less-travelled religious sites including Janaki Temple, Muktinath Temple, Damodar Kund lake, Jagatpur and Lumbini.

Nepal Tourism Board held an education session for over 100 Indian travel consultants in New Delhi last month and is partnering travel trade associations for wider awareness.

This includes the India Golf Tourism Association that is organising fam trips to Nepal for its members in February and March.

“Travelling to Nepal and staying two to three nights is still cheaper than going to Indian cities like Begaluru and Trivandrum,” said Rajan Sehgal, association president.

Nepal Tourism Board aims to welcome two million tourists by 2020, and will target South-east Asian markets as well.

GOLDEN Tulip Hospitality Group has launched its first property in Indonesia with the recent opening of a four-star hotel in Banjarmasin.

Located in the central business district of the South Kalimantan capital, Golden Tulip Galaxy Hotel is a newly built property with 138 deluxe rooms and suites.

It boasts of F&B facilities including the Galaxy Lobby Lounge, The Branche restaurant, The Duck King restaurant for Chinese fine-dining, and rooftop lounge Opio.

Mark van Ogtrop, managing director of Golden Tulip South East Asia, said: “This is a very important milestone as we enjoy strong growth in Indonesia. We are thrilled to be launching our brand in the country, which we anticipate to be one of the most important markets for us in the future.”

Commenting on the group’s choice of Banjarmasin for its first location in Indonesia, van Ogtrop said: “Banjarmasin as the capital city of South Kalimantan is one of the most important cities in Indonesia with a significant economic growth that has a good potential for MICE business market.”

The hotel caters to MICE visitors and banqueting guests with the largest ballroom in the city and a wide range of meetings rooms. In addition, there is a large entertainment and karaoke centre called the Peak International Executive Club.

Other facilities available include an outdoor pool with an open deck and bar area, a fitness centre, salon and the Dedari Spa.

Golden Tulip Galaxy Hotel is now dangling a special launch of Rp805,000 (US$66) per night including breakfast for two, valid until end-February.

Golden Tulip currently has 20 hotel projects in Indonesia, including developments in Bandung, Bali, Puncak, Bogor, Bekasi-Cikarang, Jakarta, Malang, Lampung and Makassar.