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.”

CHINESE conglomerate HNA Group and Spanish partner NH Hoteles have rolled out a roadmap for expansion in China over the next five years, intending to open up to 300 mid-range hotels.

Bai Haibo, CEO of HNA’s hospitality division, indicated at an annual Spanish-Chinese business forum in Beijing that there were plans to develop “mixed-capital companies, expand the NH brand in China, and build between 200 and 300 hotels”.

He was quoted by Spanish business daily Expansión as saying that the openings would likely start in 2014, “perhaps with the simultaneous opening of several city establishments”. Beijing, Hangzhou, Kunming, Xi’an and Sanya are potential locations.

Said Bai: “We want to use Spanish (hotel) management capabilities to create a brand that is adapted to Chinese customs and international standards.”

But back in its home market, NH has been cautious about committing to a figure. The company has sent a statement to the Spanish national stock market authority CNMV, acknowledging that it is working on the “constitution of a joint venture in the Chinese market”.

NH also said the situation was “premature” to be exact about dates and the number of hotels that are in the pipeline.

Besides cooperating in the Chinese market, NH said it is also pushing its European network of hotels as the preferred brand for HNA’s outbound passengers.

HNA, owner of Hainan Airlines, took a 20 per cent stake in NH in April (TTG Asia e-Daily, April 22, 2013), making it one of the chain’s two main shareholders.

MALAYSIA Airlines (MAS) is ramping up frequencies to Sydney and Melbourne with additional flights to come on stream from November 21 onwards.

The airline’s double-daily operations from Kuala Lumpur to Sydney will see four more weekly flights added for a total of 18 weekly flights. This will be raised further to 21 flights from February 5 next year.

Its Melbourne service will also be boosted from twice-daily to thrice-daily on November 21.

Holiday Tours’ vice president inbound, David Jayabalan, said the increased capacity will help grow tourism for both Malaysia and Australia. The change in frequencies is also timely given the country’s campaign Visit Malaysia Year 2014, he added.

“Hopefully, the increased capacity will also reduce airfares as that would encourage a higher number of Australians to visit Malaysia. For the Australian market, Malaysia competes with other destinations such as Bali, Jakarta, Hong Kong and the Philippines,” commented Arokia Das, senior manager, Luxury Tours Malaysia.

“We will promote beach stays in Peninsular Malaysia and nature tours to Taman Negara National Park and to East Malaysia.”

Earlier this year, MAS also upped the capacity on the Bandar Seri Begawan, Brunei route on August 15 and added a third daily flight to Medan on September 15.

The carrier reinstated its Kuala Lumpur-Dubai service in August (TTG Asia e-Daily, June 27, 2013), and is launching new destinations Kochi and Darwin in September and November respectively (TTG Asia e-Daily, July 9, 2013).

In a recent release, MAS said it had seen a steady increase in passenger traffic since the start of 2013 matching the added capacity. Seat loads have also improved, registering 83.3 per cent in July 2013, a 9.1 percentage point increase from last year.