INDIA continues to lead as Sri Lanka’s largest source market and a target for the country’s promotions efforts, despite a 1.7 per cent fall in the number of arrivals year-on-year.

According to statistics from the Sri Lanka Tourism Development Authority (SLTDA), Indian arrivals dipped to 83,981 in 1H2013 from 85,426 in 1H2012.

“Tourism is one of the largest contributors to the emerald isle’s GDP. Last year we recorded a 17.5 per cent rise in tourist arrivals with over 1.5 million visitors, of which 176,000 were from India,” said Upekkha Samaratunga, consul general of Sri Lanka in Mumbai.

“A major component of the Indian arrivals was MICE, followed by FITs and families. India is one of Sri Lanka’s biggest source markets in South Asia and has large outbound MICE activity,” she continued, sharing that the Sri Lankan government was focusing on the Indian MICE segment this year.

To encourage the growth of this segment, Sri Lanka will conduct roadshows and workshops in India between August and December to educate the travel trade on Sri Lanka’s MICE facilities.

SriLankan Airlines has also unveiled a MICE brochure for the Indian market and rolled out airfare discounts for both MICE and leisure tourists for the July-October period.

Sisira Abeyratne, manager-tours, Colombo-based Rosen Tours, said: “The Indian outbound market to Sri Lanka can grow much more if more flights are introduced and special fares offered during the Indian holiday season.”

Meanwhile, Sri Lanka also has hopes for the performance of its other source markets. Rashmika Larence, manager at Colombo-based Walker Tours, said: “The Buddhist pilgrims from China and Japan are growing exponentially as the east coast is opening up many new resorts and the country as a whole is offering superior tourism products.”

Sri Lanka, which received about 16,582 tourists from China for the first half of this year, welcomed 512,281 tourists over the same period, registering 13.1 per cent growth. SLTDA is aiming for 1.3 million tourists this year, and 2.5 million by 2016.

RESORTS World Genting will splash out more than RM400 million (US$124.7 million) to build a Twentieth Century Fox theme park, following a licensing partnership signed between the two parties last Friday.

Scheduled to open in 2016, the new theme park will be built within Resorts World Genting grounds and feature over 25 rides and attractions based on some of Fox’s most recognisable and powerful film brands, including Ice Age, Rio, Alien and Night at the Museum.

Genting Malaysia’s president and COO, Lee Choong Yan, signed an agreement with Jeffrey Godsick, president, consumer products, Twentieth Century Fox in a ceremony last week, solidifying the partnership between both sides.

Lim Kok Thay, chairman and chief executive of Genting Malaysia, who was at the event, said in a release: “Twentieth Century Fox is one of the world’s largest producers and distributors of entertainment content in the world. The Fox brand is popular throughout the world because the studio has earned a reputation for quality, creativity and longevity. We’re honoured to partner with Twentieth Century Fox to realise the vision of a world-class integrated resort.”

The Genting Outdoor Theme Park will be closed from September 1 to facilitate the construction of the Twentieth Century Fox theme park.

HONG Kong-based Dragonair has announced a thrice-weekly seasonal service to Siem Reap, Cambodia, subject to government approval.

The service is scheduled to commence on October 29 and will be operated using Airbus A320 and A321 aircraft, departing Hong Kong every Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday.

Dragonair currently operates 10-times-weekly flights between Hong Kong and Phnom Penh, and the Siem Reap service marks its second Cambodian destination.

Patrick Yeung, CEO, Dragonair, said: “Our new service to this increasingly popular tourist destination will further strengthen Hong Kong’s position as one of the world’s leading aviation hubs and further promote tourism and business ties between Hong Kong and Cambodia.”

AS OUTBOUND Chinese tourism continues to boom, luxury hotel group The Peninsula Hotels is padding up its hospitality experience for Chinese guests with the new “Long Qing” programme.

To be implemented at all of its nine hotels across Hong Kong, China, Thailand, Japan, the Philippines and the US from August 1, the programme offers Chinese guests familiar home comforts such as dim sum, congee, soya milk and Chinese-language newspapers. In-room printed materials will also come in Chinese.

The name of the new amenity programme comprises two characters – “Long” means “dragon” and by extension, the Chinese people, while “Qing” implies emotion and experience away from home.

The Peninsula Hotels vice president of marketing, Robert Cheng, said: “The Chinese market is definitely important for us and the Chinese are especially ready to invest in experiences.

“We see a good mix of travellers in our hotels from China, South-east Asia and the US, but definitely the Chinese numbers are catching up.”

Although unable to provide specific figures on the proportion of guests from China, Cheng said the Peninsula hotels in Beijing, Shanghai and Hong Kong saw the highest number of Chinese tourists. Thailand has a “good showing” and the Philippine hotel is experiencing double-digit growth in Chinese customers.

Cheng shared that Peninsula caters to the Chinese love of shopping with last year’s launch of the Lifestyle Academy programme at its Hong Kong, Shanghai and Beijing hotels, where stylists take guests shopping and dish out professional advice.

Based on United Nations World Tourism Organization data, China is the world’s top tourism market based on expenditure (TTG Asia e-Daily, April 8, 2013) and some 100 million Chinese tourists are expected to travel outside China by 2020.

The Peninsula Hotels will open its 10^th property in Paris at the end of next year. Most recently, the group has also announced new hotel expansion plans in London and Myanmar.

REGENT Singapore has unveiled its new look following an eight-month facelift and now boasts rejuvenated guestrooms and meeting spaces.

The hotel’s 440 guestrooms, including its 46 suites with private balconies, have benefited from the refurbishment. Guests can expect new carpeting, paint, wallpaper, freshly upholstered furniture and updated technology in rooms.

Cuscaden and Nassim, Regent Hotel’s meeting rooms, have also been renovated to allow more natural daylight in.

BEST Western International has soft launched its 129-room Best Western OJ Hotel Malang, marking the first of more openings to come in East Java.

A two-hour’s drive from Surabaya, the hotel is expecting to grab a slice of the growing corporate and leisure pie Malang is enjoying, thanks to the expansion of the regional and national economy.

Best Western OJ Hotel Malang general manager, Agus Anom Suroto, said: “Malang is a tourist destination (part of Java overland tours and as a weekend getaway from Surabaya) and education city (due to the number of prominent universities) with a growing (corporate) MICE scene.

“These are the markets we are after, balancing the leisure and corporate segments, and we are expecting to reach 60 per cent occupancy in the next six months.”

The hotel is located in Malang city centre, 25 minutes from the airport, and has four room categories, five meeting rooms seating between 50 and 320 seats theatre-style, an indoor swimming pool, restaurant, lounge and free Wi-Fi throughout the entire hotel’s premises.

A roof top café with indoor and outdoor spaces is under construction and expected to be ready next month, offering views of Malang city and the surrounding volcanoes of Semeru, Arjuna and Panderman.

The hotel’s introductory rate starts from Rp360,000 (US$37) per room per night, including breakfast for two.

Hotel owner Mintarjo said some Rp100 billion had been invested into the hotel, including the cost of land.

In the meantime, Best Western International’s area development office Indonesia corporate general manager-new property, Adrianus Pangarso, said another hotel was under construction in Surabaya for completion by end-2014.

The area development office was also looking at Madium, Bojonegoro and Tulung Agung for expansion in East Java.

JAPAN’S Wakayama Prefecture will play host to the second edition of the ASEAN Tourism Association (ASEANTA) Board Members Meeting from today until August 1.

ASEANTA president, Mohd Khalid, will lead the 30-strong delegation from the 10 ASEAN countries for the second ASEANTA meeting for the year, to be held in Shirahama City.

The agenda includes a table-top discussion and networking session with key representatives of more than 30 organisations from the local travel trade in Wakayama, a tour around the city for inspection and the annual fireworks festival.

The association meets four times a year, with the goal of looking at ways to form partnerships and work closely with industry, public sector and other private businesses within and outside of ASEAN, to promote the ASEAN region as a destination of choice for both business and leisure travel.

Said Mohd Khalid: “With the existence of the ASEAN-Japan partnership, ASEANTA has also set its sights on further developing and enhancing tourism-related services between ASEAN and Japan.

“There is tremendous potential, not only in marketing and promoting travel and tourism, but also (for) investments within ASEAN by investors from Japan. Certainly, there is a possibility of exploring joint opportunities in travel and tourism between ASEAN and Japan.”