TOURIST destinations in Visayas devastated by super typhoon Haiyan can bounce back in three to six months, the lead time for the recovery of Asian destinations similarly affected by natural disasters or terrorist attacks in recent history, according to Bill Barnett, managing director of C9 Hotelworks.

Tracking what he called the “big event syndrome”, Barnett noted a three- to six-month recovery for Japan’s east coast from the 2011 Tohoku earthquake and tsunami; Bali from the series of bombings in 2005; and Indonesia, Thailand, the Maldives and Sri Lanka from the 2004 tsunami.

“Tourists will come back quickly to the affected destinations in the Philippines. People want to help. Overseas Filipinos will come back. People will travel out of sentiment. People who don’t know the Philippines will visit,” said Barnett.

“People are travelling on short notice, on shorter-term period, on LCCs,” he added.

He said several things can be learned from the “big events syndrome” of the past, including turning the negative into positive.

“One of the things we learned from the Bali bombings is that the tourism sector is speaking with one voice, telling the people that the hotels are okay and everything is fine.”

In Thailand, in the aftermath of the Asian tsunami, the government intervened and pressed the insurance companies to pay the owners of damaged hotels and resorts quickly.

“That’s the key to rebuilding, and something that maybe the Philippine Department of Tourism can do,” said Barnett.

However, he questioned whether the campaign brand, It’s More Fun in the Philippines, is relevant and appropriate in the aftermath of Haiyan.

THE Philippine and Indonesian travel trade can now make use of an e-trading platform, Standard Online Tourism Architecture (SOTA), developed by Malaysian IT company SOTA.

A one-stop platform, SOTA provides applications for the industry to have an online presence, engage their visitors and sell their packages online.

Speaking on the sidelines of the Asia Pacific Tourism, Hospitality & Technology Conference 2013 in Kuching, SOTA founder and CEO, Rohizam Md Yusoff, said his company has been working with the Association of the Indonesia Travel & Tour Agencies and the Philippines’ National Association of Independent Travel Agencies, going on roadshows and conducting training programmes in major cities to introduce the platform to members of the two associations.

Currently, around 300 travel and tour operators in Malaysia, 80 in the Philippines and 70 in Indonesia are using the SOTA platform, which was developed in 2009.

SOTA has also recently developed an ancillaries platform and tied up with insurance companies and duty-free shops in Malaysia to offer online travel ancillaries products for its members to sell.

JW MARRIOTT became the first property to start operations in the New Delhi Aerocity last week.

JW Marriott Hotel New Delhi Aerocity offers 523 rooms and is the largest property of the hotel chain in India. General manager Balan Paravantavida said: “At present, 418 rooms of the property are operational while the rest of the rooms will be opened in about 45 days.”

The property has one of the largest meeting and conference facilities in the region, offering 2,302m² in meeting space, including the 1,210m² Grand Crystal Ballroom and eight meeting rooms spread across two levels.

“We will be the much sought-after venue for international MICE events,” said Balan.

The ballroom and meeting rooms are fitted with state-of-the-art technology, a 41.8m² pre-function area and a professional event planning team.

Hotel projects in Aerocity had earlier faced delay pending clearance from the civil aviation authorities. The development, which comprises 11 properties that will add some 5,000 rooms to the region’s inventory, is 650m away from the runway of Indira Gandhi International Airport New Delhi.

The nine-month delay of JW Marriott’s opening has resulted in serious cost escalations by an additional US$15.9-23.8 million to around US$143.17 million, according to hotel sources.

THE Philippines will welcome a new boutique hotel in Malate, Manila in the first quarter next year.

Currently under construction, Amélie Hotel Manila will open with an offering of 70 rooms comprising single (24m²), double (33m²) and suite rooms (31m²).

All rooms are equipped with 32-inch flat-screen LED television and complimentary Wi-Fi. Other facilities include a multi-layered roof deck, a swimming pool, a multi-purpose hall, a gym and a viewing deck.

The property is managed by Paramount Hotels & Facilities Management Co.

AIRASIA has launched its zero-baht fare campaign again, this time with three million promotional seats available throughout AirAsia and AirAsia X’s extensive route network.

The zero-baht tickets are available for booking at www.airasia.com as well as AirAsia’s mobile apps and mobile site mobile.airasia.com from today until December 1, 2013, for the travel period May 5, 2014 to January 31, 2015. Seats are from a zero-base fare, with applicable taxes and fees, from 100 baht (US$3.13) one-way.

Domestic destinations featured in this campaign include Krabi, Phuket, Trang, Surat Thani, Chiang Mai, Chiang Rai, Phitsanulok, Khon Kaen, Udon Thani, Ubon Ratchathani, Hat Yai, Nakhon Si Thammarat, Nakhon Phanom and Narathiwat.

International destinations include Yangon, Mandalay, Phnom Penh, Siem Reap, Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City, Guangzhou, Chongqing, Shenzhen, Wuhan, Xi’an, Kunming, Singapore, Hong Kong, Macau, Bali, Chennai, Kuala Lumpur and Penang, among others.

Tassapon Bijleveld, CEO of Thai AirAsia, said: “This year we have continuously added more frequencies and new routes into our network such as Khon Kaen, Phitsanulok, Siem Reap and Kunming. Furthermore, starting from December 1, passengers will be able to conveniently connect to their preferred destination with our 30 new Fly-Thru routes via Don Mueang Airport without the hassle of collecting their bags at any stopover transit point.”

MALAYSIA Airlines (MAS) will continue to grow its footprint in the Asia-Pacific region over the coming years, with a particular focus on destinations within six hours’ flight of Kuala Lumpur.

Duncan Bureau, senior vice president sales & distribution, commercial at MAS, said the airline will increase its frequencies and add new routes within South-east Asia, India and Australia.

The airline has restarted services from Kuala Lumpur to Darwin on November 1 with five-times-weekly services and plans to further increase frequencies, after having terminated services to the Northern Territory in 2002.

Duncan added that the airline’s narrow body fleet of Boeing 737-800 aircraft will grow from the present 39 to 55 by 2015 and the additional aircraft used to service said routes within six hours’ flight time from Kuala Lumpur.

The airline will improve aircraft utilisation by upping operations of its B737-800 fleet from the present 11.5 hours daily. This will be done by cutting its current 1.5 hour turnaround time, revealed Duncan.

MAS has already raised utilisation from nine hours daily to its current rate over the past 18 months.

WEST Nusa Tenggara (NTB) is churning out a series of infrastructure and facility developments as well as cultural and sporting events as the destination gathers steam towardsTambora Greets the World 2015.

The campaign includes cultural events, cruises, MICE events and sporting activities such as cycling, trekking and diving.

Tambora Greets the World 2015 commemorates the 200^th year of Mount Tambora’s eruption. Designed to promote tourism to NTB, it aims to draw some two million domestic and international arrivals by 2015 (TTG Asia e-Daily, June 17, 2013).

Said NTB Regional Tourism Promotion Board chairman, Awan Aswinabawa: “Improvements and constructions of roads to tourist attractions are under way, as are renovations and improvements of the attractions themselves.”

He said that the tourism industry in Lombok and Sumabawa – which make up NTB province – was getting more confident about competing in the domestic and international markets with the increased development of hotels and air links.

“Airline access has been growing in the last five years, from merely Singapore-Lombok by SilkAir, we now have AirAsia from flying from Kuala Lumpur and Jetstar from Perth,” Awan commented.

Tigerair started flying Singapore-Lombok on November 22 (TTG Asia e-Daily, September 11, 2013), while Cathay Pacific Airways will commence Hong Kong-Lombok flights next year, according to Awan.

He said NTB governor Zainul Majdi would lead the local industry on a sales mission to Hong Kong and Australia to promote the destination, while NTB will see an addition of 900 in 2014, adding to the existing 3,000 star-rated rooms.

Last year, arrivals to NTB totalled 1.2 million with 471,700 tourists coming from overseas.

KHIRI Travel has launched a new website showcasing the company’s business offerings in the Greater Mekong region to the B2B market, with ramped-up interaction through social media features.

Khiri.com allows travel consultants to access personalised files and pages through a secure login and create a repository of files without relying on email attachments. They can also register for Khiri’s monthly e-newsletter.

The website offers other information such as a picture database, contact list for each Khiri office, festival calendar, price quotes and itineraries for travellers.

Other value-added highlights include a contact form, a testimonial section, blogs, a press release section and a sustainability zone introducing the company’s charitable arm, Khiri Reach.

JETSTAR Asia has launched four additional weekly flights between Singapore and Penang, increasing the service to double daily.

The increased service will see a total of 21,840 available seats monthly between the two destinations.

As of November 21, the additional flights will take off from Singapore on Tuesday and Saturday at 20.30 to land in Penang at 22.00, and depart from Penang at 22.40 to land in Singapore at 00.05.

As of November 25, the new flights will depart from Singapore on Monday and Wednesday at 19.50 to land in Penang at 21.15, and depart from Penang at 21.55 to land in Singapore at 23.30.

Fares start from S$74 (US$59) one way, inclusive of airport taxes and fees.

FOLLOWING an extensive 170 million baht (US$5.3 million) facelift, Anantara Bophut Koh Samui has reopened (TTG Asia e-Daily, March 1, 2013).

The resort’s 106 guestrooms have seen a wide-ranging overhaul with the previous six room and suite categories increased to eight. The Deluxe Garden View and Deluxe Sea View rooms are now bigger at 36m², while suite categories were increased to five with the addition of the Garden View and Royal Garden View suite types of 70m² and 75m² respectively.

Anantara Beachfront Pool Suites now feature a 20m² private pool and allows direct beach access.

The resort also boasts a new hospitality room that allows guests who arrive prior to check-in time or who want to freshen up before departure to make use of its shower facilities and free refreshments.

F&B offerings have also been changed. Full Moon restaurant now serves Koh Samuian-style char grill fusion cuisine, Eclipse Bar has been given a more open, pub-like ambience, while a new cocktail bar whips up fusion snacks and panoramic views across to Phangan Island.

Guests can also visit local fishermen and Bophut Beach and select their choice of fish, which the Anantara culinary team will serve up for dinner.

For children, the new purpose-built Baan Ling Noi Children’s Club will keep young ones entertained with a range of activities.

Other facilities that received makeovers include the lobby, ballroom, meeting facilities and public spaces.