TOURISM Malaysia is making its first concerted effort to woo volunteer tourists, namely travellers who wish to contribute to the community or to the preservation of wildlife in a destination through volunteer activities.

The NTO has put together 20 voluntourism packages developed by seven local tour operators that offer travellers volunteer opportunities at places such as turtle conservation centres, orang utan rehabilitation centres, children’s homes and national parks.

Introductory offerings vary in length, from the 4D3N Sea Turtle Adoption Programme in Sarawak priced at RM1,200 (US$368) per pax, to the 28D27N Borneo Native Programme in Penampang, Sabah at RM2,980 per pax.

While volunteer tourism itself is not new and has been promoted by inbound tour operators for years, this marks the NTO’s first proactive promotion of this segment.

Tourism Malaysia director-general, Mirza Mohammad Taiyab, said offerings would be expanded further in future to showcase more packages from more tour operators.

The NTO is targeting Malaysia’s local expatriate community; researchers from around the world; and international schools, especially those in Singapore, Japan, South Korea and Australia.

A total of 10,000 voluntourism brochures have been produced and will be distributed to the trade and consumers from key markets.

Said Mirza: “We’ll be happy to have 500 takers within the first six months.”

INDONESIAN flag carrier Garuda Indonesia has named Bird Group as its general sales agent for India in the hopes of increasing the visibility of its products and services there.

The company is tasked with the management of Garuda’s marketing and sales activities in India, and will be responsible for all the airline’s sales, marketing and ticketing activities in India via its headquarters in New Delhi.

Nicodemus Lampe, vice president, area Asia, Garuda Indonesia, commented: “India’s tourism industry is expanding rapidly, and already we’re seeing a steady flow of leisure and business travellers flying between India and Indonesia.

“Bird Group is a veteran in air travel management, and we’re confident that their strength and capabilities will help strengthen our presence in India and enhance the quality of our services to better serve passengers between the two markets.”

JETSTAR Asia has unveiled a new link to Phuket from Australia, while also tweaking its flight frequencies on some routes ahead of the year-end travel season.

Beginning December 14, Jetstar will commence twice-weekly direct flights from Melbourne to Phuket. This will be upped to three times weekly in March 2014.

Jetstar Group CEO, David Koczkar, said: “We see a lot of customers booking flights to Phuket via Sydney or Singapore, so we’ve decided to add a non-stop flight for Victorians.”

The LCC’s Melbourne-Honolulu service will also receive a boost on December 19, with frequencies to rise from three to four times a week.

Singapore flights will also increase from five to six times a week on December 18.

Earlier in the week, Jetstar also announced that the first international flights out of Adelaide would take off on December 16 with the launch of a thrice-weekly service to Auckland.

On the other hand, Jetstar would be suspending its four weekly direct services between Singapore and Osaka on November 1 as well as its thrice-weekly Singapore-Beijing route from November 30.

However, the carrier would continue to serve Osaka from Singapore via 14 weekly flights to Taipei and four per week to Manila.

THAI AirAsia has announced it will begin daily direct flights between Bangkok (Don Mueang) and Kunming on November 15, making the south-western Chinese city its eighth destination in the country.

Operated with Airbus A320 aircraft, flights will depart Don Mueang Airport at 09.00 and land at 12.30 in Kunming. On the return leg, flights will leave Kunming at 13.20 and arrive in Bangkok at 14.50.

Tassapon Bijleveld, CEO, Thai AirAsia, said the LCC has continued to focus its efforts on China through the introduction of new routes, recognising the significant potential of China due to its large population and strong purchasing power.

Air traffic to China out of Thailand has also continued to grow relentlessly, and AirAsia’s two-and-a-half-hour flights to Kunming would allow travellers to make quick and convenient weekend trips, he commented. “Thai AirAsia currently operates up to 119 flights to China a week on 10 diferent routes. Annually, our flights to China average a passenger load of 85 per cent.”

Celebrating the impending launch of the new service, Thai AirAsia has begun accepting bookings on the flight with rates starting from 1,690 baht (US$53) per trip, including taxes and fees.

Three-day, two-night package deals including accommodation and roundtrip air tickets are also available from AirAsiaGo at 5,099 baht per person, based on twin-sharing and inclusive of all taxes and fees.

Both prices are available for bookings until September 22 for travel between November 15, 2013 and August 4, 2014.

LUXURY hotel group GHM is making its first foray in the Maldives with the opening of its first resort there in 2016.

Chedi Dhapparu inhabits a 55-hectare crescent-shaped atoll located 20 minutes away by speedboat from Hanimaadhoo International Airport.

When completed, the resort will offer 40 hotel suites, half of which will be over-water rooms. All 20 units of 90m² Chedi Club Suites also provide guests with private pools.

Also featured are 90 hotel-managed residential villas in one- to four-bedroom layouts, the largest unit covering 565m².

All 130 units will grant guests direct beach access as well as views of a coral reef lagoon or the open ocean.

To ensure the area’s ecosystem remains intact, GHM plans to launch a programme to maintain the ideal levels of coral in the lagoon, which is popular among dolphins and other marine species.

Guests can expect a sea-facing spa with 10 double treatment rooms, a health club with a tai chi terrace, a club lounge for guests staying in over-water suites, a beach club featuring a dive centre and a bar.

Other facilities to come up are a library, a cigar lounge, and four F&B outlets such as a Japanese restaurant and a dinner-only venue serving cuisine from the Maldives, India and Sri Lanka.

GHM had also announced in July an agreement with Taiwanese business development company, Elements Innovation, to launch three luxury hotels in Zhudong, Taiwan (TTG Asia e-Daily, July 10, 2013).

MODELLED on the popular golden triangle route of Delhi-Agra-Jaipur, four southern states in India are mulling the formation of a golden quadrilateral comprising Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh.

Speaking to TTG Asia e-Daily on the sidelines of the 29^th annual convention of the Indian Association of Tour Operators (IATO), Suman Billa, secretary, Kerala Tourism, said: “We will be working on a system for seamless travel within the four states. If the golden triangle can do wonders for (tourism in) north India, then the south needs to create a tourist circuit along similar lines.”

The four states have already come to a consensus on inter-state taxation and plan to implement a single taxation regime for tourist vehicle movement in the region.

Officials of the states involved are scheduled to conduct a high-level meeting in Hyderabad on September 14 to further deliberate the proposal and make announcements.

Kerala and Karnataka accounted for 3.8 per cent and 2.9 per cent of total arrivals to India respectively last year, putting them among the top 10 states. India drew 6.6 million foreign tourists in 2012.

Subhash Goyal, president of IATO, commented: “We are extremely delighted that the interests of all the states are now aligned. (The NTO of) Karnataka has already launched a luxury train that covers the other states. If we are able to make an itinerary covering all southern states, it will increase their share of (national) tourist arrivals.”

Added Iqbal Mulla, chairman and managing director, Treasure Tourism Corporation: “It is high time that we create a golden quadrilateral in South India. This will help to take the tourism sector of the region to the next level.”

HOTELS in Singapore are already enjoying strong bookings in the lead-up to the Formula One (F1) Singtel Singapore Grand Prix, which pulls into town from September 13 to 23 (TTG Asia e-Daily, July 22, 2013).

Lim Ee Jin, director of marketing communications of the trackside Fairmont Singapore & Swissôtel The Stamford, said: “Booking pace at both hotels has been noticeably strong and we expect to run full (houses) at both hotels over the race weekend, as we have similarly experienced in past years.”

She added that room rates at both hotels have been kept “highly competitive” as in past years, and rates for the F1 season take into account the 30 per cent government levy imposed on all trackside hotels. Circuit-facing guestrooms at Fairmont Singapore and Swissôtel The Stamford are priced from S$1,150++ (US$905++) and S$1,350++ per night respectively.

At Pan Pacific Singapore, panoramic rooms starting from S$1,100++ per night are close to selling out, said spokesperson Nathalyn Fong. “Most of the room bookings are by foreigners, and we have managed to secure more group business this year as compared to the last two years.”

Non-circuit facing hotels are riding the wave of demand as well. Mark Bulmer, general manager of Carlton City Hotel, said the hotel is “definitely picking up business for the F1 period”. Deluxe rooms at the hotel are going for S$350-$400++ per night, compared to the current opening rate of S$258++.

Austin Watkins, director of marketing, Four Seasons Hotel, Singapore, said the hotel is “nearly full” and all suites have been snapped up for the season. Rates, while similar to last year’s season, are still 20 to 35 per cent higher than normal.

According to a survey by Hotels.com, the number of searches for Singapore staycations for the F1 weekend rose 42 per cent year-on-year.

While 2013 marks the sixth year of the event, Alicia Seah, senior vice president of marketing & PR, CTC Travel, said there is still “strong hotel demand” from F1 supporters, fans and crew members. “Most of the prime-location hotels are fully booked and there is also high demand from locals who want to soak in the atmosphere of the event.”

However, GTA’s head of sourcing (Asia), Alex Tan, noted: “F1 definitely brings hotels business, but it also chases away genuine tourists who want to explore the real Singapore but are not willing to pay the extra money for their rooms during this time.”

TIGERAIR will gradually roll out flights to four new destinations renowned for their historical and natural attractions beginning October 29 – Lijiang, Chiang Mai, Langkawi and Lombok.

Thrice-weekly flights to Lijiang will take off on October 29; four-times-weekly flights to Chiang Mai and Langkawi will start November 2 and 8 respectively; and Lombok services will run three times a week, commencing November 22.

The LCC has also announced that it will boost the frequency of its Surabaya-bound flights from seven to 13 times weekly from November 15.

JET Airways is set to enter codeshare agreements with Malaysia Airlines, Garuda Indonesia, Vietnam Airlines, American Airlines and Kenya Airways.

India’s Directorate General of Civil Aviation last week green-lighted the move, for implementation over the next four to eight weeks.

Commenting on the impact of the tie-up, Anil Punjabi, chairman-east, Travel Agents Federation of India, said: “Additional codeshares will help Jet Airways tap into a larger share of the Indian outbound market, especially from Tier Two and Tier Three cities where it already flies. This segment will emerge as a booming new client base for outbound travel from India.”

Mumbai-based Amazing Vacations’ director, Veneeta Rawat, expects the codeshare agreements would also boost shorthaul travel out of India.

“Jet’s growing flight network through Etihad (Airways’ acquisition) as well as the imminent (codeshare agreements) with Malaysia Airlines, Garuda Indonesia and Vietnam Airlines will facilitate the designing of new tour itineraries in these Asian countries, which are already favoured shorthaul destinations for Indian tourists,” said Rawat.

“Outbound numbers will increase, as longhaul travel is taking a beating because of the weak Indian rupee (TTG Asia e-Daily, July 12, 2013).”

Etihad Airways is in the process of purchasing a stake in Jet Airways (TTG Asia e-Daily, December 4, 2012). The deal, which is due to receive regulatory permission this month, will see 23 Indian cities linked to Abu Dhabi.