SATS, which operates Marina Bay Cruise Centre, has set its sights on acquiring Singapore Cruise Centre in a bid to improve efficiencies and make Singapore more attractive as a potential regional homeport.

Subsidiaries SATS Airport Services and SATS-Creuers Cruise Services (SATS-Creuers) have entered a share purchase agreement to buy over the terminal operator for S$110 million (US$87.6 million) from Temasek.

Due to the complementary nature of Singapore Cruise Centre and SATS-Creuers operations, the acquisition will allow for the improvement of efficiencies and better utilisation of berths and resources, making Singapore a more attractive homeport for cruise lines. SATS also plans to extend its cruise-fly and fly-cruise products to Singapore Cruise Centre for seamless transfers to Singapore Changi Airport.

Tan Chuan Lye, SATS’ president and CEO, said: “Together with our strong partnership with Creuers, this transaction will enable us to grow our gateway services business, which in turn will benefit the cruise industry here as a whole.

“The future is bright for the cruise industry in Asia-Pacific. The combined entity can leverage our regional airport presence to facilitate and provide a seamless travel experience for fly-cruise passengers. This will bolster Singapore’s position as an attractive regional cruise hub and homeport for cruise lines which in turn will benefit the economy.”

Singapore Cruise Centre is comprised of the international cruise terminal and regional ferry terminal at HarbourFront Centre, along with the two ferry terminals at Tanah Merah and Pasir Panjang.

The transaction remains subject to approvals from the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore and the Competition Commission of Singapore.

SATS-Creuers is a 60-40 joint venture formed by SATS Airport Services and Creuers del Port De Barcelona to manage and operate the Marina Bay Cruise Centre Singapore (TTG Asia e-Daily, August 1, 2011).

ONCE a leading outbound travel company in the Netherlands, Oad Reizen declared bankruptcy on Wednesday to the surprise of Indonesia’s inbound operators and hoteliers.

A source at Asialink Holidays Indonesia, Oad’s groundhandling operator here, declined to be named but said the dramatic turn of events was “shocking”.

“We have seen inbound volume (from the Netherlands) to Indonesia decrease in the last couple of years as a result of the crisis in Europe…(but) we never had any problems with Oad’s payments to us, while bookings and arrival schedules were normal,” said the source.

Asialink Holidays has seen between 8,000 and 10,000 arrivals during the last couple of years and currently handles 300 travellers in Indonesia, including a batch that departed on the day the Dutch company announced its bankruptcy.

An established and leading travel company in The Netherlands that has been on the travel scene since 1924, Oad’s outbound operations sent tour groups to some 60 countries across the world, including Bali and other Indonesian destinations.

Apart from a dedicated groundhandling operator, Oad has direct contracts with many hotels in Indonesia, with Aerowisata Hotels & Resorts as one of the company’s biggest partners.

Aerowisata’s executive vice president hotel and resort, Francis Dehnhardt, said: “It is so sad that (the bankruptcy) has to happen.

“We have had a long partnership with them and they used to be our biggest source (of tourists from the Dutch market) until about 18 months ago, when we started seeing their traveller volume decrease while some other travel companies’ volumes increased.

“Although we did not have issues with payments with them, we had also heard of their financial difficulties, so we started to reduce our direct business with Oad and work with bona fide local consultants and OTAs, and channel direct bookings to our website.”

Dehnhardt said that although Oad’s outstanding bill is quite significant, it is not damaging the company. “I cannot imagine what would have happened to our hotels if we had not had taken the precautions earlier. I would have been fired for sure,” he quipped.

THE opening of four Thai-Myanmar cross-border checkpoints last month has received a warm welcome from tour operators on both sides.

Myanmar’s Ministry of Immigration and Population announced that Tachileik-Mae Sai, Myawaddy-Mae Sot, Kawthoung-Ranong and Htee Khee-Sunron have been made international entry and exit points.

Calling the change a positive sign, Phyu Phyu Mar, managing director of Seven Star Tours, said: “(The border openings) will increase the number of tourist arrivals through Thailand. We travel consultants can even design different border packages between Myanmar and Thailand. I hope we can see more visitors coming through these border checkpoints in the peak season beginning October.

Ko Aung Naing, managing director of EPG Travel Yangon, commented that the change would be good for Myanmar’s tourism. “I am waiting to see when Three Pagoda Pass (also on the Thai-Myanmar border) will be opened, which is a nice border area for tourism activities.”

At the same time, Thai tour operators expect Thailand to also reap the benefits from the opening of the border crossings. Andre van der Marck, general manager of Khiri Travel Thailand, remarked: “This will further establish Thailand as the hub for the Greater Mekong area than it already is.”

“Mae Sot as a border town will open up…Sukothai in Thailand will benefit from it, as well as the Mon and Kayin states in Myanmar. The openings will create a unique experience to travel overland from one country to the other, and absorbing all the local colour rather than just sitting on a plane for an hour.

“The young at heart, adventurous and early adopters (will make most use of the new travel options) to have a unique experience in combining two great countries in a unique way. The Dutch market and some niche US consultants will start to use it for sure.”

According to van der Marck, Khiri has already prepared programmes utilising the new border crossings and sent them out to its group adventure consultants to “great feedback”.

Additional reporting by Rahul Khanna, Greg Lowe

THE first two lifestyle events that will receive backing under Singapore Tourism Board’s (STB) new Kickstart Fund are the Spot Art Festival and the Singapore Art Book Fair.

Spot Art is an international juried visual arts festival that will showcase the works of emerging artists from South-east Asia. Its inaugural edition will feature over 200 works from more than 70 artists during its run from October 25 to November 4 at the Artrium@MICA.

Developed by creative consultancy Hjgher and independent bookstore and publisher BooksActually, the Singapore Art Book Fair will be launched this November at Gillman Barracks. Specialising in art and design literature, the fair will also offer ticketed fringe events such as artist talks, film screenings, book launches and retail booths.

STB’s Kickstart Fund was launched in June with a S$5 million (US$4 million) kitty to support innovative lifestyle events and concepts with tourism potential.

Both Spot Art and the Singapore Art Book Fair were culled from a total of 23 proposals after two months of evaluation and interviews.

The second cycle of the Kickstart Fund is now taking applications and will close on September 30, with the third cycle due to begin in early December.

DRAGONAIR will launch a new thrice-weekly seasonal service connecting home base Hong Kong to Siem Reap on October 29, with inbound operators and hotels in the Cambodian destination welcoming the imminent increase in arrivals.

Flights depart Hong Kong every Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday.

Diethelm Travel Group’s key account director, Sam Vincent, commented: “The current flights from Hong Kong to Phnom Penh do not allow for easy connections with flights to Siem Reap, often requiring an overnight in Phnom Penh.

“With the start of the direct Dragonair flight, we are eagerly looking to develop business with our existing partners in Hong Kong. The area is already known for its selection of hotels and international golf courses, all of which appeal to the Hong Kong traveller,” Vincent continued.

“Hong Kong is most definitely an emerging market for us and we are looking forward to welcoming an increase in visitor arrivals from this region,” said Dennis Kam, director of sales and marketing at Le Méridien Angkor in Siem Reap.

While Exotissimo Travel’s Cambodia outfit is currently not tapping the Asian market, this may soon change with Dragonair’s new connection. “Many expatriates are based in Hong Kong and are likely to include a visit to one of the most revered highlights in Asia over the course of a weekend,” commented Grégoire Imberty, general manager.

“Hong Kong is also an extremely popular MICE destination. We will look to offer attractive combinations with our sister office in China to link the modern wonders of Hong Kong with the magic of centuries-old Angkor temples.”