RISING air connections from China will help to further drive the Chinese market for Chiang Mai, particularly the FIT segment.

Air China will introduce a thrice-weekly Beijing-Chiang Mai service from November 7 using Boeing 737-800 aircraft. A month later, China Southern Airlines will commence daily flights between Guangzhou and Chiang Mai from December 1 on Airbus A319 aircraft. Juneyao Airlines already started four-times-weekly Shanghai (Pudong)-Chiang Mai services in April this year.

To capitalise on the rising tide of Chinese to the city, Chiang Mai-based Standard Tour will promote more FIT packages and Mandarin-led tours, and will appoint a new marketing representation in Guangzhou by this year-end. Similarly, plans to appoint a marketing representative in Shanghai and Beijing by next year are in the pipeline for Bangkok’s Discovery Holidays.

Prasit Itthipattanakul, general manager, inbound & transportation division at Standard Tour, said: “More scheduled flights are better than charters (in growing arrivals). This year, we’ve already seen a growth of more than 100 per cent from last year in Chinese inbound business to Chiang Mai. The Chinese inbound market is likely to stay strong next year, although we are awaiting to see any impact from the new Chinese tourism law.”

Wacharaporn Phiewkaow, managing director of Discovery Holidays, added: “These air links will boost FIT demand to Chiang Mai and help to grow the quality of Chinese travellers. Compared with groups, Chinese FITs tend to have better destination knowledge and higher expenditure levels, and are also more experienced travellers.

“Overall, we’re expecting 30-40 per cent increase in Chinese business to Thailand next year, with a forecasted growth of about 20 per cent for Chinese arrivals to Chiang Mai.”

Prasit pointed out that Chinese travellers to Chiang Mai are more likely to be FITs or repeat visitors to the country, as first-timers tend to visit Bangkok and/or Phuket.

THE scenic Zhangjiajie National Forest Park in Hunan province has gained greater stardom following the premiere of 2009 science-fiction movie, Avatar, which was filmed at the natural attraction known for its spectacular columnar land formations.

Yang Qian, operation manager of Zhangjiajie Neosalle International Travel Service told TTG Asia e-Daily: “Avatar was so popular that it made our mountains famous worldwide. People who saw the movie wondered where that beautiful place was located.”

Yang said the number of tour groups to the national park had tripled since the movie hit the screens, and added that tourists could easily spend up to three days there should they desire a complete tour of the destination.

According to the Zhangjiajie Tourism website, there are now 854 hotels in the park and 53 of them are star-rated.

Two- to three-day photography tours are offered to avid Avatar fans who want to be photographed at specific film locations, Yang said.

Riding on the global popularity, the park renamed one of its mountain peaks – the South Pillar of the Heaven that was said to have inspired the movie’s director James Cameron – to Hallelujah Mountain in 2010, after the floating rocks in the film. The peak stands 1,074m above sea level.

According to Yang, travellers from South Korea and Thailand formed the bulk of park visitors, although there is a growing number from Europe.

The park will likely attract more attention with its glass bridge in the Great Gorge scenic park within Zhangjiajie, slated for completion by the end of 2014. Joining the summits of two mountains, the glass bridge will rise 400m from the ground and span 365m long and 3.2m wide. It will be the world’s tallest and longest of its kind.

Built with a special glass floor, visitors will not only be able to enjoy an unobstructed view of the Great Gorge, they will also be able to literally walk in the air.

THAILAND’S established hospitality companies are displaying a great interest in the Chinese market with robust expansion strategies outlined for the next few years.

Centara Hotels & Resorts, group director of sales – China & Northeast Asia, Jason Lu, said: “Following Centara’s aggressive expansion drive in the last couple of years, the company is now ready to launch an office in Shanghai, which will officially begin operation in November this year. Previously, we used the services of a marketing representative in China.”

The Mandarin name for Centara is not firmed up yet, as discussions with investors and owners are still underway, said Lu.

The first Centara hotel is likely to open by 1Q2014, either in Shanghai’s Sheshan or Hainan’s Sanya, while MoUs with other Chinese cities are now underway.

“China’s hospitality sector has seen a lot of competition in recent years while secondary cities also offer great potential, so we do not have any particular strategy to launch resorts in first-tier cities only; second-tier cities will be considered too – wherever the opportunities are,” Lu remarked.

He added: “We are likely to roll out resort-style properties or convention hotels – where Centara’s strengths lie. We will likely push for the Centara Grand or Centara brands to be launched, depending on available investment opportunities.”

Meanwhile, Dusit International has entered into a joint venture agreement with China-based Changzhou Qiao Yu Group to establish Dusit Fudu Hotels & Resorts to spearhead Dusit International’s expansion in the country.

“China is set to become the largest hotel market and is currently Thailand’s largest feeder market, with 3.2 million visitors to Thailand from January-August 2013, up a staggering 88 per cent year-on-year,” said Lim Boon Kwee, president of Dusit Fudu Hotels and Resorts.

Lim expects to roll out four hotels in Jiangsu, Zhejiang and Hainan provinces in 2014, with at least 50 Dusit-branded properties to be launched across China within the next five years.

Other leading Thai hotel chains have also forayed into the Middle Kingdom. Onyx Hospitality Group will open Amari Huidong in Guangdong and Amari Dali in Yunnan by 2016.