AS POLITICAL tensions in Bangkok continue to escalate, more countries have issued or revised travel warnings to their citizens visiting Thailand.

Singapore updated its travel notice yesterday, noting that the Thai government has expanded the Internal Security Act to all districts of Bangkok, Nonthaburi, Pathum Thani’s Lardlumkaew district and Samut Prakarn’s Bang Pli district, including Suvarnabhumi Airport.

It stated: “Political demonstrations have now expanded beyond the main protest area at the Democracy Monument along Ratchadamnoen Avenue and are taking place in various locations within Bangkok, including at some government buildings.

“Protest areas may also include popular tourist areas like Silom Road and Ratchaprasong intersection, and new locations for street protests could be announced at short notice.”

This is in contrast to earlier this month when demonstrators mainly gathered at the Democracy Monument (TTG Asia e-Daily, November 5, 2013).

According to a report in the Bangkok Post, 23 countries have issued travel advisory notices, such as the US, the UK, France, Japan, China, Taiwan and South Korea.

However, many tour operators are still reporting business as usual.

In an email to partners yesterday, Destination Asia Thailand said: “Largely these demonstrations are of a peaceful nature and do not affect our day-to-day operations.

“Our daily sightseeing programmes are operating as normal – on some tours we have substituted the bus with river transport where possible in order to avoid the traffic congestion.”

A check with major outbound agencies by Singapore broadcaster Channel NewsAsia also found no cancellations at press time.

Chan Brothers Travel’s manager for marketing communications, Jane Chang, was quoted as saying: “As we all know, the protests… are almost an annual affair in Bangkok so that could be the reason why customers are adopting a wait-and-see approach to their Bangkok trip.”

THE recent political tension between Indonesia and Australia over the tapping of President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono’s phone conversation with the First Lady has not impacted tourist traffic between the two countries, according to trade sources.

Indonesia’s minister of tourism and creative economy, Mari Elka Pangestu, said: “We have not seen any impact so far. Arrivals from Australia are as usual and we have not heard of any cancellations due to the issue.”

Meanwhile, Indonesian outbound traffic to Australia is also reported to be intact.

Elok Tour managing director, Pauline Suharno, said: “The (Christmas and New Year) holiday packages were sold and payments finalised when the issue came up. So far, we have not had any cancellation.”

Similarly, Australia Centre director, Rudy Prasetyadi, said: “We have not seen any negative response for travel to Australia, but then, Australia is not at the top of Indonesians’ list as a year-end holiday destination, so the number of travellers is not big.

“In December, hotels in Australia are expensive. In Sydney, for example, hotels require a minimum stay of three nights during the year-end period. This causes high tour prices. Besides, it is summer in Australia.”

The busy season for outbound to Australia is during the June-July school holidays and Lebaran, Indonesia’s biggest holiday season.

INTEGRATED resort developer Las Vegas Sands last week announced a partnership with Beckham Ventures to develop dining, retail and leisure concepts at Sands China properties in Macau and Marina Bay Sands in Singapore.

“We are very excited about the partnership and we fully expect it to grow in the years to come, especially as we aggressively explore opportunities to further expand our presence in Asia,” said Michael Leven, president and chief operating officer of Las Vegas Sands Corp.

Sands China president and CEO, Edward Tracy, said: “David Beckham’s well-known personal values and his endeavours in both business development and community outreach make a perfect match for our two brands to come together in a way which is sure to positively impact the Asian market.”

Marina Bay Sands president and CEO, George Tanasijevich, added: “He was involved in our very successful Sands for Singapore community festival and his participation was inspiring to the young people he met with as well as the local charities which benefitted from his generosity. We greatly look forward to further promoting our partnership with David in a variety of exciting and creative ways at Marina Bay Sands.”

TIGERAIR content will be bookable through the GDS for the first time following a new distribution partnership between Travelport and the low-cost carrier, which has also become the first airline in Asia-Pacific to adopt the technology provider’s new aggregated shopping technology.

As part of the agreement, Tigerair’s three Asian airlines – Tigerair Singapore, Tigerair Philippines and Tigerair Mandala in Indonesia – will be made available to all Travelport-connected agencies worldwide.

Additionally, travel consultants can now book optional add-ons such as checked-in bags, pre-allocated seating and meals through the Travelport Merchandising Platform.

The partnership will also see Tigerair participating in the aggregating shopping component of the merchandising platform. Travelport Aggregated Shopping consolidates within the same screen shopping results from traditional carriers connecting through ATPCO with those from Tigerair and other LCCs which prefer to connect with Travelport via an API connection.

Alexander Knigge, group chief commercial officer, Tigerair, commented: “Travelport’s merchandising platform allows us to display our fares alongside those of traditional carriers and reach the travel agency community more easily.

ASIA-WIDE revenue growth of hotel markets could soften this year, but a positive turn is expected in 2014, according to a report newly released by Cushman & Wakefield.

Akshay Kulkarni, regional director of Cushman & Wakefield’s hospitality sector group across South Asia and South-east Asia, said: “Several hotel markets have had a large supply influx of rooms in the past year or so. This has led to region-wide RevPAR levels falling in the first half of 2013 due largely to declining occupancy levels. However, we expect much of the excess supply to get absorbed soon on the back of strong tourism demand. As occupancy starts increasing, we will see room rates rising upwards in most markets.

“RevPAR growth in Asian hotel markets is expected to turn positive in 2014. The only exception is likely to be Seoul, which is seeing an unprecedented pipeline of least 15,000 rooms over the next two to three years.”

Most hotel markets across Asia saw positive RevPAR growth in 2012, except Mumbai and NCR, India. Bangkok (19.3 per cent), Hong Kong (10.1 per cent) and Jakarta (9.8 per cent) were the top markets benefiting from increases in occupancy and average daily rates. Declining markets included Bali (-4.6 per cent), Ho Chi Minh City (-7.0 per cent), Mumbai (-15.1 per cent) and NCR region (-21.6 per cent).

In 2013, the dramatic influx of new hotel rooms in recent years has led to some price relief in markets such as Singapore and Shanghai. Yet emerging markets like Dhaka, Yangon and Colombo with limited high-end hotel stock amid strong tourism demand are enjoying strong revenue growth. Overall, Asia-wide RevPAR is expected to fall below 2012 levels, although performances will vary across markets.

As for investment volumes, Cushman & Wakefield expects to reach US$10-12 billion this year, making 2013 a record year for hospitality investment post-GFC.

Said Kulkarni: “Expect 2014 to equal or come close to this year’s level in terms of transactional activity. Japan’s investment market will undoubtedly improve further and lead the pack, due to strong corporate demand and greater investor optimism arising from Abe’s economic reforms. Less transactional activity is expected for Singapore after a busy year.

“Similarly, levels in China could come down due to a pricing mismatch and differences in buyer and seller expectations. India, Thailand, Indonesia and to some extent, the Philippines could see more exciting times ahead with some major transactions to be closed. Emerging countries such as Myanmar and Sri Lanka have recently become viable investment destinations due to improved political stability.”

KUONI Group Travel Experts and Crescentrating, which promotes Muslim travel through its rating system, have announced a partnership in which the travel provider will market halal-friendly group travel arrangements and packages for Muslim families, leisure and MICE groups.

The partnership was launched at the Global Islamic Economy Summit in Dubai from November 25 to 26.

Besides launching their first brochure – aimed at businesses selling travel to Muslim clients – in Asia next month, Kuoni and Crescentrating will also co-develop new group travel products and enhanced travel booking and management services for the Muslim travel market.

Dany Bolduc, COO of Crescentrating, said: “Crescentrating, together with Kuoni Group Travel Experts, is committed to establishing a leadership position in Muslim group travel, a huge and underserved market worth US$130 billion in 2013.”

Indonesia, Pakistan, India and Bangladesh have the largest Muslim populations, according to the Pew Research Center’s Religion & Public Life Project.

Reto Kaufmann, Kuoni Group Travel Experts Head of MICE Sales Asia, said: “Last year, we saw room nights booked by group travellers from these four countries rise, particularly Indonesia and India which enjoyed double-digit increases, while Bangladesh quadrupled. And it’s not just leisure travel, more and more of Asia’s businesses…have large numbers of Muslim delegates with specific halal or religious requirements.”

In Asia, China, Malaysia, the Philippines and Thailand also offer significant numbers of potential Muslim travellers. For example China, with a Muslim population numbering 23 million, saw room nights booked with Kuoni rise six per cent last year.

THAILAND’S position as a top tourist destination is helping to fuel the expansion of Emirates’ capacity and network in Asia, according to Jabr Al-Azeeby, the airline’s manager for Thailand and Indochina.

Said Al-Azeeby: “2013 was a magnificent year for us. Demand picked up so much that we are serving six daily flights with the addition of a second Airbus A380 Dubai-Bangkok service since October 27 (TTG Asia e-Daily, August 28, 2013).

“We are already seeing high load factors averaging 85 per cent year-round in and out of Thailand…We (expect to) see very big growth in 2015 when the ASEAN Economic Community starts, with Bangkok as the regional hub.”

The Dubai-based airline currently offers 2,000 daily seats on its Bangkok-Dubai flights; including services to Hong Kong, Sydney and Christchurch, the number of seats out of Thailand total 3,000 daily, Al-Azeeby revealed.

He does not rule out the possibility of further raising Emirates’ Bangkok-Dubai capacity in future although any expansion of its daily Dubai-Phuket service (TTG Asia e-Daily, December 14, 2012) is limited for the time being due to current capacity constraints at Phuket International Airport.

With its growing capacity to Bangkok, the carrier has already observed stronger demand from Europe during Thailand’s current peak season, while its connections to Brazil (Rio de Janeiro) and Argentina (Buenos Aires) have fuelled “huge demand” for South American outbound travel to Thailand via Dubai, he remarked.

Meanwhile, Emirates has also seen strong performance on its Thai outbound services. Among the new destinations launched this year, including Clark, Tokyo (Haneda), Stockholm and Warsaw, the last has received “nice demand from Thai operators using the Polish capital as a gateway to Central Europe”, according to Al-Azeeby.

New cities coming onto Emirates’ flight network in 1Q2014 include Kiev (January 16), Taipei (February 10) and Boston (March 10); other new destinations are expected to be announced after the financial year ends on March 31, 2014.

Emirates will also highlight stopover benefits in Dubai such as a free 36-hour visa offer, special hotel rates starting at US$40 a night, and exclusive tours and excursions priced from US$25, which together will cost travellers less than US$100 for Dubai layovers, Al-Azeeby revealed. The carrier is set to complete the installation of onboard Wi-Fi across all its fleet soon.

In September, Emirates rolled out ultra-luxurious private jet services worldwide on Airbus A319 aircraft, offering 19 seats with onboard amenities such as flat beds and showers.

“We are looking forward to private jet service demand in Thailand,” said Al-Azeeby.

CYPRUS Tourism Organisation (CTO) has plans to open a representation office in India next year, having concluded its maiden two-city roadshows in New Delhi and Mumbai last month as part of its efforts including workshops and fam trips to enhance its presence in the country.

Vassillis Theocharides, director, CTO, said: “We are looking to appoint a representation body next year. However, we have to work on ad hoc projects first. Our present focus is to create awareness of Cyprus in the Indian market. We have not set targets as far as numbers are concerned.”

CTO will roll out an online training programme, www.agentslovecyprus.com, for the Indian and Middle Eastern markets by end-November.

The NTO is targeting the Indian MICE and wedding segments. Theocharides said: “We are open to organising marketing campaigns with partners who can send large groups to Cyprus. We will bear 75 per cent of the campaign cost. We will also hold personal meetings with Indian corporates.”

Guldeep Singh Sahni, president, Outbound Tour Operators Association of India, said: “Although Cyprus is a small country, one can indulge in a lot of activities there. Cyprus is an affordable destination and quite near to European destinations we have been selling.

“Arrivals to Cyprus from Russia and the UK are very high at present. I think India will grow as one of the significant markets for Cyprus in the near future,” he added.