CHENNAI-BASED AirAsia India is likely to start domestic services this October with initial flights to South Indian cities such as Bengaluru and Kochi.

The LCC, a joint venture between AirAsia Group, Tata Group and Telestra Tradeplace, has already applied for a no-objection certificate from India’s Ministry of Civil Aviation and expects to obtain clearance for launch soon. AirAsia holds a 49 per cent stake in the airline.

AirAsia India will commence flights with its three existing Airbus aircraft and hopes to add 10 planes annually. AirAsia will invest US$30 million into the joint venture and offer low-cost fares in a market plagued by high fuel and airport costs.

Apart from domestic routes, flights to Gulf and African destinations are also on the cards.

Speaking to reporters in New Delhi on Wednesday, AirAsia CEO, Tony Fernandes, said: “I am hopeful that we will be able to start operations from October. I think the market is now conducive for us to stay here for a fairly long time. India’s population of 1.3 billion offers immense potential to us.

“Considering that 50 per cent of the domestic air travel market in India is between Delhi and Mumbai, through our South India operations we will strive for equal distribution of air traffic.”

Welcoming the news, Arun Anand, managing director, Midtown Travels, said: “Allowing AirAsia to start domestic operations with Indian partnership is a very positive decision. At a time when air ticket costs are going up in the domestic sector, AirAsia, through better management of operations, could offer low fares.”

He said AirAsia flights would help to boost traffic to and fill beds in hotels in destination cities.

“With AirAsia’s upcoming operations, there is a mood of optimism in the Indian tourism scene and as tour operators, we feel we can offer better services and with happy clients, generate more business,” he added.

MILLENNIUM & Copthorne Hotels (M&C) has opened its first overseas M Hotel and eighth property in China, M Hotel Chengdu.

The 196-room hotel is located a 13-minute drive away from Shuangliu International Airport, a five-minute walk from the upscale Xin Nan Tian Di area, and a 10-minute drive away from Chengdu High Tech Zone Park, where many Fortune 500 companies are based locally.

Each room at M Hotel Chengdu is equipped with a separate working area and flat-screen TV, while deluxe and en suite rooms come with kitchenettes.

Other facilities and services at the hotel include a gym, indoor pool, squash court, table tennis area, billard room, kid’s area, 24-hour in-room dining service, a library for surfing the Internet or reading, as well as two business meeting rooms.

Both Asian and International cuisines are served at the M Café on the second floor of the hotel.

M&C operates seven other properties in mainland China: Millennium Hotel Chengdu, Millennium Harbourview Hotel Xiamen, Millennium Hongqiao Hotel Shanghai, Millennium Hotel Wuxi, Copthorne Hotel Qingdao, the luxury Grand Millennium Beijing Hotel, and serviced apartment complex Millennium Residences Beijing Fortune Plaza.

In the China pipeline are also Millennium Fuqing in Fujian and Millennium Hangzhou Resort in Zhejiang.

WIDUS Resort and Casino, located in Pampanga, is undergoing major expansion to tap the newfound potential in increased Middle East flights and MICE opportunities within the area.

The 119-key property will see another 114 rooms come on stream through the addition of a second tower in October, while lobby expansion will start in 1Q2014.

Upgrading works to the casino, starting 4Q2014, will equip it with a 500-pax ballroom and three new F&B outlets, including a steakhouse.

The hotel will also get three more food outlets, says Alfred Reyes, general manager, Widus Resort and Casino.

The property’s convention centre, completed in early 2013, currently offers two major halls of 455m² and 189m², respectively. It will be improved to add another 2,000m² of space through the addition of a 75-pax plenary room and five 50-pax breakout rooms.

Widus is also in negotiations to acquire an additional 1.5 hectares for a water park adjacent to the property, while a third hotel tower with 300 rooms is planned for 2017-2018.

Reyes said the outlook for the property appeared bullish with new flights due to start. Emirates is launching a Dubai-Clark service on October 1, Qatar Airways is starting Doha-Clark flights on October 27, and Etihad Airways is rumoured to be readying an Abu Dhabi-Clark link for the near future.

“We’re also looking at MICE business from the local and Asian market. We expect 50 per cent of our business to come from Clark Freeport Zone, which has over five hundred business locators,” Reyes noted.

Widus wants to tap the opportunities presented by Clark’s yearly Philippine Balloon Festival, the Philippine MICE Convention in 2Q2014 that Clark is hosting, as well as the multi-venue Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Summit 2015. It is also experimenting with staging concert acts.

Reyes said that while South Korea and US guests, and the corporate market would continue accounting for most of Widus’ hotel business, he hoped to diversify into the Japan market and the medical tourism market, with the world-class, Joint Chiefs International-accredited 150-bed Medical City hospital being built at Clark’s Global Gateway Logistics City in the next few years.

FAR East Orchard (FEOrchard) will take the plunge Down Under if a proposed joint venture with Australian property management firm, Toga Group, is approved by shareholders.

The joint venture will see FEOrchard pay A$225 million (US$204.1 million) through a subsidiary for a 50 per cent stake in the joint venture company with Toga.

The new company will own Toga’s hospitality management business, which currently includes management of more than 50 hotels and serviced residences across Australia, New Zealand, Germany and Denmark, under the brands Medina, Adina and Vibe.

In April this year, FEOrchard had announced it was entering a joint venture with Straits Trading Company (TTG Asia e-Daily, April 16, 2013), with Straits Trading Company contributing three hotels in Australia – Rendezvous Grand Hotel Melbourne, Rendezvous Hotel Perth and Rendezvous Studio Hotel Perth Central.

The earlier joint venture is also up for approval by shareholders. According to local papers The Business Times, approval would mean FEOrchard will manage some 13,000 rooms across 80 hotels and serviced apartments, making the company one of Australia’s top five operators by room count.

MICEM, organiser of the World Islamic Tourism Mart (WITM) 2013, is expecting more buyers and sellers at the event this year.

Chairman of WITM 2013, Razali Mohd Sham, said he was anticipating 1,000 quality local and international buyers, up from 704 buyers last year, and 180 exhibitors over last year’s 132.

The second edition of WITM will comprise three big events held in two venues in Kuala Lumpur from September 4 to 8, beginning with a two-day conference, WITM 7^th International Conference on Muslim Tourism, Hajj & Umrah, covering topics such as the Malaysia Tourism Transformation Plan in Muslim tourism, syariah tourism and Muslim-friendly medical tourism.

The keynote address will be delivered by Malaysia’s prime minister, Najib Razak.

WITM will also feature a B2B travel exchange networking session on September 6 and 7 at Putra World Trade Centre, and consumer travel fair WITM-MATTA September 2013 on the final day, at the same venue.

Razali said: “WITM 2013 caters to the vast untapped Muslim tourism market. With a population of over 1.7 billion Muslims worldwide, the Muslim tourism market is a gold mine waiting to be tapped. With WITM 2013, we now have a platform in Malaysia for tourism industry players to meet, network, showcase, market and sell their products and services.”

WITM had been originally scheduled for June 6 to 9 in Kuala Lumpur, but was postponed to coincide with the MATTA Fair in September.

Explaining the decision, Razali said: “We wanted it to coincide with MATTA Fair in September so we could have a larger show, which would gain more interest from the public. As both MATTA and WITM are travel shows, overseas exhibitors including NTOs, need not come twice.”