THE Tourist Office of Spain is once again pushing the religious pilgrimage tour programme, Camino de Santiago, to Philippine travellers this year and has formed a local consortium to promote the product to the Philippine travel trade.

The consortium comprises five members: Rajah Travel Corp, Executive Resources, Mondial Tours & Travel, Caravan Travel – all based in Manila – as well as Destination Specialists Cebu.

The Tourist Office first promoted the programme in the Philippines in 2010 as the third most-important religious destination for Christians after the Holy Land and the Vatican.

The programme will introduce key stretches of the traditional route, which can be accessed from different points in Europe, but usually from the French Pyrenees mountains up to the heritage town of Santiago de Compostela, northern Galicia, where the Cathedral of St James is located.

Philippine travel companies have made pilgrimage tours, especially those to the Holy Land and Europe, their bread-and-butter business.

“If there’s a piece of business that never goes away year after year, it’s that,” says Nette Oseo, product specialist at Rajah Travel Corp.

Under this programme, the Tourist Office offers 12-night tours with guided walking and non-walking options for the route starting from Madrid, with rates valid till May 2014.

Tony Morales, sales manager at Caravan Travel and Tours, said sales of this tour would depend on the season and price. The company usually bids for such religious programmes for school field trips and parish community groups, rather than for FITs.

Juan Javier Berenguer-Testa, president of Mondial Tours and Travel, said that the product would appeal to visitors who might want to spend up to a month in Spain, adding: “It will appeal to young people or those ‘pushed’ to go into it with a group of friends, as well as people with a spiritual outlook.”

The Tourist Office also intends to promote the tour to the young. “In Spain, young students take on the route using a skateboard or bike during summer,” explained Vien Cortes, its market analyst for South-east Asia, Australia and New Zealand.

MANDARIN Oriental Hotel Group (MOHG) will cease its management of one of Chiang Mai’s leading luxury properties next month over disagreements with the resort owner.

MOHG told TTG Asia e-Daily: “Mandarin oriental Hotel Group will withdraw from the management of Mandarin Oriental Dhara Dhevi, Chiang Mai, on August 31, 2013.

“The group is proud to have established this resort as one of the best in Asia since it began managing the property in 2005. However, the owner and Mandarin Oriental have different aspirations for its management and long-term development.”

Dhara Dhevi Hotel Company will resume management of the property which will be renamed The Dhara Dhevi hotel.

The news that the world-renowned brand will be exiting Chiang Mai did not come as a total surprise, according to Surapong Techaruvichit, president of the Thai Hotel Association.

“Many people have been watching this case for some time as it (Mandarin Oriental Dhara Dhevi) has not been making money,” he said.

“That’s due to over-investment in the property, however. So it’s really a standard business issue and it will not affect Chiang Mai. The luxury market will continue to do well there.”

AIR India will commence daily flights to Sydney and Melbourne from August 29, connecting New Delhi with Australia after a 16-year hiatus.

Using the 787 Dreamliner with 256 seats in economy class and 18 seats in business, India’s national carrier will fly four times weekly on the New Delhi-Sydney-Melbourne route and three-times weekly on New Delhi-Melbourne-Sydney.

Sales on these sectors have started since July 5.

Marian Stanley, general manager of South Melbourne Travel, said: “A daily direct flight will help increase both inbound and outbound traffic. There is growing interest in India as a leisure and incentive destination, with average stay exceeding a week.

“We expect Indian outbound to Sydney and Melbourne to grow substantially as now the air fares available to them will be rationalised, compared with flights via Singapore or Kuala Lumpur.”

Sushil Wadhwa, chairman, Mumbai-based Platinum World, said: “Our corporate clients in insurance and banking have always been keen on Australia as a destination for incentive groups. With direct flights to both cities in demand, we should be able to book many more such groups.”

Rakesh Ramnani, director-leisure, Kolkata-based Vensimal World Travel, said: “With the Rupee hitting an all-time low, Air India will need to maintain a reasonable price line to fit the (shrinking) budget of Indian outbound travellers.”

Until now, Singapore Airlines had monopolised the India-Australia route with their multiple flights from several Indian cities, via Singapore.

AIRASIA has introduced its sixth frequency to its SingaporeBangkok route, with a promotion where Singapore travellers can fly from an allin fare of S$70 (US$55.52).

The promotion is available for booking from yesterday to July 21, 2013, for travel from August 7 to December 31, 2013.

The airline has also opened direct daily flights from Bangkok to Siem Reap, with a promotional price starting from 99 baht (US$3.18) per way, inclusive of airport taxes.

The new service will begin on October 1, 2013. Booking is available until July 24, 2013, for travel between October 1, 2013 and August 5, 2014.

BOUTIQUE Hospitality Management Asia (BHMAsia) has opened X2 Chiang Mai, the first of several properties under its new X2 Villas brand.

The luxury pool villa residence located on Manee Nopparat Road, north of the Chiang Mai old town, can accommodate 10-12 guests. Five bedrooms, four bathrooms, an outdoor pool and garden, a fully equipped al fresco kitchen and dining area, terrace and living room are spread over two buildings.

It is also a short walk from the old city walls and north gate of Chiang Mai centre, and sits near popular and trendy restaurants on the riverside as well as a local spa.

THE Maldivian government has announced a public tender for the lease and development of tourist resorts on six virgin islands.

Eligible bidders can make offers for 50-year leases on the following islands: Ismehela Hera in Seenu Atoll, Dhigudhoo in Gaafu Alifu Atoll, Kudafushi in Raa Atoll, Fasmendhoo in Raa Atoll, Vanabadhi in Thaa Atoll with Kani in Thaa Atoll, and Kunnamelai in Noonu Atoll.

Interested parties may obtain more information, inspect and purchase bidding documents from today to July 28, 2013 on the Ministry of Tourism, Arts and Culture website, and bids must be delivered before 13.00 on August 1 to an address that has yet to be announced.

More information on bidding can be found on the ministry’s website at www.tourism.gov.mv or at the ministry’s office.

TRIPADVISOR will launch an online platform that will enable independent hotels and bed and breakfasts (B&Bs) of all sizes to access services previously available only to major OTAs, booking engines and hotel chains, in late 2013.

Called TripAdvisor Connect, the platform will give accommodation owners the ability to manage their online promotion themselves via online tools that help them analyse their advertising results, as well as encourage more user reviews through automated post-stay review collection emails via their Internet booking engine.

To be eligible to participate, accommodation owners must be TripAdvisor Business Listings subscribers and must provide real-time availability and the ability to book online via a certified Internet booking engine.

Jean-Charles Lacoste, TripAdvisor’s vice president of direct connect solutions, said in a release: “Major OTAs and hotel chains have been able to bid for traffic on TripAdvisor for many years and we have provided channels for review collection. Now, TripAdvisor Connect will provide automated and self-managed versions of these services to hundreds of thousands of independent hotels and B&Bs.”

Julio Bruno, TripAdvisor’s global vice president of sales and TripAdvisor for business, said: “Business Listings subscribers have asked us to provide the same real-time pricing and availability check that previously only larger businesses had used. Through TripAdvisor Connect, subscribers will now be able to use the full suite of promotional services and track their advertising spend. This means that the even the smallest guesthouse will have the same visibility as a large hotel chain, and they can manage their promotions themselves from their Management Centre.

“Hoteliers frequently ask us how they can improve their ranking on TripAdvisor. The answer is simply to remind guests to write a review. Reviews are an essential part of building a great online reputation. With TripAdvisor Connect, we’ve automated the process of sending a reminder to write a review after a guest checks out.”

THE Turkish Tourism Board, in association with the Turkish Hoteliers Federation, is planning a five-city roadshow in India this November.

“The roadshow will most likely kick-start from November 11 and include cities such as New Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru, Kolkata and Ahmedabad. We expect participation from 30 members of the Turkish travel trade including hoteliers and travel consultants,” said Özgür Aytürk, culture and tourism counsellor, Turkish Embassy New Delhi.

On show at the roadshow will be Turkey’s various tourism products in segments such as weddings and honeymoons and golf tourism.

Apart from participating in major tradeshows, the tourism board is looking to launch an India-centric website and start an online training programme for Indian travel consultants. “We are presently working on the various modules of the online training programme,” revealed Aytürk.

Turkey has been working to significantly increase tourist arrivals from India, doubling its promotion budget for the market to US$2 million for 2013 (TTG Asia e-Daily, January 14, 2013).

Last year 91,000 Indians visited Turkey and the country’s tourism board expects growth of 25-30 per cent in arrivals for 2013.

When asked about the impact of the Gezi Park Protest in Istanbul on tourism, Aytürk admitted: “I don’t have the latest tourist arrival figures yet, but there may be a marginal effect on tourist arrivals in Istanbul.

“But we have other popular tourist destinations in Turkey. In fact, Antalya is our tourism capital. We are not witnessing any negative growth in other places.”

BEST Western International continues its rapid expansion in Indonesia with the signing of Best Western Serpong in Tangerang, West Java.

Scheduled to open in 4Q2013, the seven-storey hotel adds 196 rooms, including 12 suites, to Best Western’s collection in the Greater Jakarta area.

“West Java is booming. Jakarta and its fast-emerging satellite cities, such as Tangerang and Bogor, are becoming key business hubs in South-east Asia,” said Glenn de Souza, vice president international operations-Asia and the Middle East, Best Western International.

“We are currently undertaking an unprecedented period of expansion in Indonesia, which will see us more than quadruple our collection of hotels in the country over the next few years. Included in this will be at least seven properties in the Greater Jakarta region.

“As this area expands further in the years ahead, Best Western will be there, growing along with it,” de Souza added.

Rooms at Best Western Serpong come with flat-screen LCD TVs, Wi-Fi and private balconies. The hotel is also equipped with a fitness centre and outdoor swimming pool, as well as two F&B outlets.

In the meantime, the hotel company has also recently launched the 67-key Best Western Mega Kuningan, while Best Western Grand Palace Kemayoran is expected to start operations by end-August, near the Jakarta International Expo in the Kemayoran area.