THE impact of last Saturday’s oil spill off Koh Samet (TTG Asia e-Daily, July 30, 2013) has been limited to the island’s northern beach, and the Thai government is taking action to assist local businesses affected by the situation, according to the country’s NTO.

According to an update released by the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT), only 10 per cent of the original spill remains on the sole affected area of the island, Ao Phrao. TAT estimates that the remaining sludge will be removed within one or two days. While slick has been found on other northern areas on Koh Samet, these areas are not open for beach activities.

Some 500 personnel of the Petroleum Authority of Thailand, navy personnel and volunteers had facilitated a rapid clean-up effort, it said.

Swimming can still be done on the eastern shores of the island, including the beaches of Had Sai Kaew, Ao Wong Duean, Ao Phai, Ao Kio and Ao Karang.

Furthermore, the size of the oil film has shrunk from 9km² on July 31 to 5km² and the density of the spill, thinned “considerably”. The nearby Plateen Island, Kham Island and Kudee Island also remain totally unaffected.

The update reported that Thailand’s minister of tourism and sports, Somsak Pureesrisak, was in Koh Samet and would be meeting local tourism operators to deal with the fall-out of the oil spill.

Initiatives including tax cuts and marketing efforts are on the table, and local banks are also ready to assist, allege local news reports.

The minister has also been quoted as saying the Thai cabinet is all for PTT Global Chemical, the company responsible for the spill, compensating hotels for lost business due to last-minute cancellations.

TWO hotels in Singapore have changed hands recently, with Grand Park Orchard and Gallery Hotel going to new owners.

According to local paper The Business Times, Park Hotel Group has closed its second sale in Singapore within the year, selling the Grand Park Orchard including retail podium Knightsbridge.

Chinese group Bright Ruby Resources bought the property for S$1.2 billion (US$900.9 million).

In a deal believed to have been brokered by Jones Lang LaSalle, Park Hotel Group will continue to run the 309-room hotel on popular shopping belt Orchard Road.

Park Hotel Group had in March sold off Park Hotel Clarke Quay to Ascendas Hospitality Trust (TTG Asia e-Daily, April 9, 2013).

Also reported in The Business Times today, Robertson Quay Investment has sold the freehold Gallery Hotel to RB Capital for S$230 million in a deal allegedly brokered by Knight Frank.

RB Capital last year purchased 16 ground-floor retail units at The Quayside building adjacent to the 223-key hotel.

The Gallery Hotel is the company’s latest hotel acquisition. RB’s portfolio also includes Holiday Inn Express Clarke Quay, Park Hotel Farrer Park and Holiday Inn Express Bukit Bintang in Kuala Lumpur, all of which are under development and expected to open within the next two years.

ASIATRAVEL has inked a deal with Beijing-based augmented reality technology player, Senscape Technologies, to provide travel content and transaction processes for Senscape’s mobile application.

The company’s latest mobile application, Senscape Tour, will carry Asiatravel’s inventory of over 110,000 hotels, 400 airlines and 600,000 attractions, theme parks and tour products worldwide.

Users will thus be able to purchase any product on the mobile application with instant confirmation.

Senscape Tour, which offers the traveller on-the-go travel, instant bookings and a digital diary synced with the user’s various social media accounts, is set to be a featured application for a leading smartphone manufacturer’s product to be launched later in the year.

Asiatravel’s executive chairman and CEO, Boh Tuang Poh, said: “As technology is very much a part of everyone’s lifestyle, we believe a mobile application like Senscape Tour will further enrich travellers’ experience and ease their buying process.

“Travellers need information of all the travel products but in today’s context, this information has to be ready for the traveller to access, at his own convenience, before and during the trip. Senscape Tour, in our opinion, has all these to cater for today’s independent traveller.”

DESPITE strong interest from local investors in developing hotels within Indonesia’s tertiary areas, Best Western International has dug in its heels and remains staunchly disinterested in entering the budget hotel segment.

Adrianus Pangarso, corporate general manager new property, area development Indonesia office, Best Western International, said Indonesia’s growing economy and improved transport links had boosted travel, especially for business, to tertiary destinations where the mining and agricultural industries are based. This has caught the eye of local investors, who are now keen to develop hotels in their own areas.

He said: “We are operating nine hotels today and expect this to go up to 12 by year-end, and 34 projects are in progress in major provincial capitals in Indonesia, as well as other cities like Berau (East Kalimantan) and Pangkalan Bun (Central Kalimantan), and we are in discussions with investors about projects in Luwuk (Central Sulawesi) and Berau (East Kalimantan).

“In fact, four investors had approached us in 2011 about hotel development in Malang when we were planning a hotel there.”

However, Adrianus emphasised that Best Western would stick to operating economy and mid-scale properties rather than hop on the budget brand bandwagon that is currently in vogue.

“The growth of budget brands and properties today is just a trend. Like fashion, we will see (the trend pass) soon…With Indonesian buying power increasing, travellers will not care about the Rp100,000 (US$10) difference in price for better facilities and services anymore,” he explained.

“Look at the airline industry – why did Lion Air come up with the (full-service) Batik Air? It’s because they saw the market potential now being enjoyed by Garuda Indonesia,” Adrianus added, pointing out that despite the fact that LCC flights were no longer cheap, such carriers still enjoyed full loads.

The company recently opened the Best Western OJ Hotel Malang (TTG Asia e-Daily, July 29, 2013) this week, Best Western Hariston Jakarta the week before, and is due to open three more in the near future.

HILTON Worldwide has signed a management agreement with Dijaya Land Development for the Hilton Okinawa Kin hotel, which will come under the first integrated resort development in the Japanese prefecture.

Scheduled to open in 2016, the 190-room hotel will be located on the eastern side of Okinawa’s main island facing Kin Bay and the Pacific Ocean, 48km away from Naha International Airport.

Hilton Okinawa Kin marks the hotel group’s 12^th property in Japan and will offer an all-day dining restaurant, one specialty restaurant, a bar, a business lounge, meeting rooms, boardrooms and a ballroom.

Recreational facilities available include a fitness club, a spa and a swimming pool.

“Okinawa is one of the most sought-after destinations for domestic travellers in Japan, and is growing in popularity among tourists from South Korea, Taiwan and China,” said Dickson Tan, group managing director, Dijaya Land Development.

“The Hilton Okinawa Kin will be part of the first integrated resort development of its kind in Okinawa and we are confident that it will be well placed to meet the demands of both domestic and international travellers looking for world-class accommodation in Okinawa.”

THE 2015 Cricket World Cup will swing into New Zealand and Australia, with seven cities from each country to host the tournament over the summer of 2015.

Appointed cities to host the tournament in New Zealand are Auckland, Hamilton, Napier, Wellington, Nelson, Christchurch and Dunedin, while in Australia, games will be held in Adelaide, Brisbane, Canberra, Hobart, Melbourne, Perth and Sydney.

To run between February 14 and March 29, 2015, the ICC Cricket World Cup is one of the world’s largest sports tournaments and the flagship event of the international cricket calendar.

The coming event will feature 49 matches over 44 days, according to news agency Xinhuanet.com.

SINGAPORE’S events sector will get a boost in standards in the near future, as the International Special Events Society (ISES) gets ready to unveil a Singapore chapter within the next few months.

Benjamin Fox, general manager at Turning Point Solutions and president of the ISES Singapore Chapter, said: “It is a very exciting time for the local events sector because everyone is looking at raising the industry standards today, so this is an appropriate time for us to come in.”

ISES, which aims to “deliver creative excellence and professionalism in special events”, currently comprises more than 7,000 professionals across 36 countries. Hong Kong is the only country in Asia with an ISES chapter so far.

Fox said: “This will be an internationally-recognised platform that brings all the people in the events industry together, to network, advance their businesses and improve their quality. Members of this Singapore chapter will be able to participate in educational seminars and networking events.”

He added that ISES’ monthly seminars would raise topics such as risk management and how to ensure safety during events.

With six other committee members, Fox said he was targeting roping in at least 40 members once the chapter was officially up and running.

Open to “good and reputable” event specialists from all industries, Fox said annual membership fees started at S$500 (US$393) and would vary according to company size.

FOREIGN tourists to the Philippines are now able to stay up to 30 days without a visa, up from 21 days before, a recent implementation by the Department of Foreign Affairs that has raised cheers from the trade.

Effective today, the change is applicable for citizens of 151 countries with passports valid for at least six months beyond the intended length of stay and an onward air ticket.

While citizens of India, China and Taiwan are excluded from this, Brazil and Israel nationals remain eligible for 59-day visa-free entry in line with existing bilateral agreements with the Philippines.

Jaime Victor Ledda, assistant secretary of the Office of Consular Affairs, commented that longer visa-free stays could encourage more tourists and investors to stay as it removed “the need for them to report to immigration offices”.

“It will also give them more flexibility in planning and managing their schedules,” added Ledda.

The trade has welcomed the move as well.  “The additional nine days of visa-free stay is a big deal for both leisure and business travellers,” said Francisco Lim, general manager, Adkins Travel Agency, remarking that many of them needed to stay longer than 21 days.

He explained that the new rule would save tourists time and money in applying for an extension of their stay, which has a seven-day waiting period.

Kristine Mariano, sales and reservations officer at Amkor Travel & Tours, said: “The new regulation will definitely attract more tourists into the country, make them stay longer and plan their Philippine itineraries better.”

It is a “big relief” especially for longer-staying tourists such as students and foreigners with families in the country, she commented.

Mariano added a visa extension is also costly – 3,530 pesos (US$81) for a seven-day processing period or more for same-day processing.

PHU Bai International Airport in central Vietnam has been given the green light to resume operations on September 20, two months ahead of schedule.

The airport, located 15km from Vietnam’s ancient capital Hue, had shut on March 20 for a series of runway repairs and upgrades that were estimated to have cost between 500-600 million dong (US$23.5-28.2 million).

Part of the Vietnamese government’s plans to develop Hue and Vietnam’s central coast as key tourism destinations, the upgrades will allow the airport’s runway to receive larger aircraft and increases the airport’s capacity to five million passengers a year.

Vietnam Airlines has announced that it will resume operations to Hue with thrice-daily flights from Ho Chi Minh City and two daily flights from Hanoi.

Phan Trong Minh, general manager of La Residence Hotel & Spa in Hue, said: “Restoring direct access to Hue is a crucial step in enticing visitors and boosting the city’s profile.

“Now that logistical issues are out of the way, Hue can reclaim its place as one of Vietnam’s most alluring – and accessible – destinations.”

GARUDA Indonesia has been forced to postpone the launch of its Jakarta-London service as the runways and apron at Jakarta’s Soekarno-Hatta International Airport have been deemed unsuitable for heavy-duty aircraft.

The airline had initially planned to commence London flights on November 2 (TTG Asia e-Daily, February 5, 2013) via a Boeing 777-300ER aircraft, but will now launch the five-times-weekly service in May 2014 instead.

According to a Garuda Indonesia press release, runways and aprons must have a pavement classification number (PCN), an indicator of strength, of at least 132 for the B777-300ER to operate.

Soekarno-Hatta’s 28-year-old runway is nearing “fatigue” with a PCN of 120.

For Garuda to continue with its flight to London under such conditions take-off weight would have to be cut through a reduction in passenger numbers and removal of cargo, and the airline would not be able to fly directly to London.

Said the statement: “Consequently, the implementation of this flight with these conditions in this competitive world of air travel would have a serious effect on the operational and business requirements of this route.”