INSIGHT Vacations has witnessed strong growth in South-east Asian bookings for winter vacations over the last few years, and expects a 20 per cent year-on-year rise for 2013’s season.

Sheryl Lim, regional director, Asia, Insight Vacations, said the company had received bookings for almost 2,000 passengers from the region for winter programmes last year.

“Travellers from our top three markets – Singapore, the Philippines and Malaysia – are looking for unique experiences. Our European winter itineraries for central Europe, which are from late November until the week before Christmas, gives travellers a chance to shop and purchase unique Christmas decorations, locally-made Christmas handicrafts and to try local food.”

Based on previous years, Lim anticipates top-selling winter itineraries for this year include Insight’s seven-day programme covering Prague, Vienna and Budapest.

Insight Vacations recently launched two new European itineraries and five India, Nepal and Bhutan itineraries for the coming winter season.

Travellers who make full payment for land tours before August 31 will enjoy early-bird savings of up to 7.5 per cent the total cost per person.

ACCOR has padded up its Indonesia portfolio with the opening of Amarterra Villas Bali Nusa Dua within the Bali Tourism Development Corporation complex in Nusa Dua.

The new-built, all-villa property is the third Indonesian and second Bali hotel to become a member of Accor’s MGallery Collection, where it is categorised under the Serenity theme. The two other themes are Signature and Heritage.

Pascal Bellon, general manager, Amarterra Villas Bali Nusa Dua, said: “The opening of these…villas in Bali offers upscale guests unprecedented levels of privacy, five-star hospitality and a sense of ‘serenity’. Combining contemporary comforts with respect to the environment, the resort is inspired by the daily life of a traditional Balinese village.”

Amarterra comes from the words ‘amarta’ for water and ‘terra’ meaning earth, reflecting how these two elements combine to allow guests to relax in Bali’s natural surroundings. The hotel’s architecture was influenced by 13^th century Majapahit Kingdom designs, when Javanese culture had a strong influence in Bali.

The resort has 39 villas, with one, two or three bedrooms.

Each villa is equipped with a state-of-the-art entertainment system, open lounges, a dining area, a private swimming pool and gazebo.

Resort-wide facilities include Terra Terrace restaurant and bar, the Amarterra Spa, an outdoor swimming pool, a beach club, a gym, boutique shop and gallery, and a meeting room.

The resort is offering opening packages until August 7, with rates starting from Rp3,024,000 (US$305) per villa per night including breakfast and free Wi-Fi access.

LANGHAM Hospitality Group is set to debut Langham Place, Haining next year.

The hotel, which will offer 266 guestrooms and suites upon opening, is located in the city centre of Haining within an integrated complex featuring a retail shopping centre, commercial offices and residential apartments.

Haining itself is located at the south of the Yangtze River delta, a 90-minute drive to Shanghai and an hour’s drive to Hangzhou.

Langham Place, Haining will come with an all-day dining restaurant, a lounge and bar, and a fine-dining restaurant inspired by the Michelin-starred Ming Court at Langham Place, Hong Kong.

Guests can also make use of the Chuan Spa, which includes six private treatment rooms, a Contemplation Lounge, an indoor swimming pool and a fitness centre.

For planners, Langham Place, Haining’s meeting and event facilities include a 900m², pillarless grand ballroom, 300m² junior ballroom, eight multi-function rooms of 45-100m², as well as a 3,000m² ceremonial hall in the landscaped Wedding Park along the river.

MALAYSIAN outbound group travel to Australia’s state of Victoria has given way to a larger FIT segment, creating a fertile market for the trade.

Yarra Valley and Dandenong Ranges Marketing interim CEO, Julie Sampson, told TTG Asia e-Daily during the Melbourne Style on Show in Malaysia: “The FIT market from Malaysia started growing after AirAsia X launched flights between Kuala Lumpur and Melbourne in late 2008.

“It opened up a new wave of travel. They (travellers) don’t pre-book everything from their travel consultant anymore. FIT travellers tend to do their research from websites and book day tours when they arrive at the destination.”

Gray Line Australia’s sales and marketing manager, Glen Driver, said: “A large part of our FIT business today are Asians, with Malaysians being a big part of it, thanks to AirAsia X services from Kuala Lumpur to Melbourne. Three to four years ago, our clients were mainly New Zealanders, Americans and Europeans.”

He noted that Asian FITs were inclined towards experiential activities such as helicopter rides, wine and gourmet tours, while also visiting tried-and-tested attractions.

On how her company targets this new segment, Sampson said they “educate the trade to keep their websites updated and to include day tour programmes on their websites”.

The Puffing Billy Railway marketing manager, Nadine Hutchins, said travellers would be able to experience driving a train after the relaunch of the refurbished Climax Locomotive this September. The company advertises its offerings in the Melbourne Official Visitor Guide, and works with inbound tour operators in Australia to get bookings.

Malaysia is Victoria’s fifth-largest tourism market and generated 94,000 visitors for the year ending March 2013, an eight per cent year-on-year rise. Growth is forecast at 4.7 per cent annually until 2022.

Melbourne Style on Show in Malaysia is a super trade mission to South-east Asia, uniting 445 delegates and 315 Victoria sellers over two days. Tourism Victoria is also due to take the event to Singapore and Indonesia.

SRI Lanka, hoping to double accommodation capacity on the island, is actively encouraging local families to open their homes to foreign visitors – and earn money in the process.

The government is dangling several incentives, including a grant of up to one million Sri Lankan rupees (US$7,800) to match any investment homestay operators make in upgrading their product.

Locals can also avail of free training and advice from accountants, architects, marketers on housekeeping, cooking and free publicity offered through the Sri Lanka Tourism Development Authority’s new programme launched last week.

Anura Lokuhetty, deputy chairman and CEO, Serene Pavilions boutique hotel, said homestays and community tourism were positive ways to bridge the demand-supply gap for accommodation and could add another 1,000 to 1,500 rooms to inventory.

The hospitality veteran also pointed out that the homestay concept provided visitors the opportunity to get a feel of the local culture and people, and live like a local.

Nilmin Nanayakkara, managing director, Nkar Tours & Travels, said community tourism helped the economic benefits of tourism trickle down to the villages. Homestays would be attractive to university students, backpackers and travellers seeking a different experience.

“We handle the Scandinavian inbound market where many clients are university students and they would love this cost-effective (option),” he commented. But he cautioned that Sri Lanka needed “good-quality homes”.

Homestay prices begin at US$20 per night inclusive of breakfast, compared to other forms of accommodation that charge upwards of US$40. About 160 homes with two to four rooms each are listed on the Sri Lanka Tourism website for homestays. The country aims to attract 2.5 million visitors by 2016, five times the 500,000 arrivals in 2009.

A SPATE of accidents involving China’s Xian MA60 aircraft has cast doubts on the aircraft model and prompted aviation authorities in Indonesia and Myanmar to take measures.

A Merpati-operated MA60 crash-landed in East Nusa Tenggara last week, sparking safety concerns (TTG Asia e-Daily, June 11, 2013).

However, the airline has said it will continue to deploy its MA60s unless told to do otherwise by Indonesia’s Ministry of Transportation.

Herry Saptono, corporate secretary for Merpati, was quoted in Antara News Agency as saying: “(Merpati’s) MA60s are fit to fly (so) we will continue to utilise the aircraft.”

He added that the airline’s management was still waiting for the results of the National Transportation Safety Committee investigation into last week’s incident, but admitted that the Ministry of Transportation had the power to ground the aircraft.

Meanwhile, Myanmar’s Civil Aviation Department has already grounded the MA60 after a Myanma Airways flight skidded off a runway in southern Myanmar on the same day as the East Nusa Tenggara incident.

According to news agency AFP, it was the second such incident in under a month for Myanma Airways.

JETSTAR Australia will commence flights between Perth and Lombok, Indonesia on September 24, subject to government and regulatory approval.

The four-times-weekly service will be the first non-stop service from Australia to Lombok, operating on Tuesdays, Thursdays, Fridays and Sundays by an Airbus A320.

“For a long time, Australians have loved holidaying in Indonesia so it’s exciting to introduce a direct service to a new and emerging holiday destination,” said Jetstar Australia and New Zealand CEO, David Hall.

“Indonesia has always been an important part of the group’s international network and we’re committed to enabling new travel opportunities for visitors to Indonesia as well as Indonesians keen to explore the region.”

HYATT Hotels last week officially opened Gurgaon’s maiden Hyatt property in the Hyatt Regency Gurgaon, adding more than 3,716m² in meeting and event space to the city.

The hotel is strategically located off the Delhi-Jaipur Highway and spread over 2.4 hectares of land and will offer 451 rooms and 37 suites when fully operational in September. Currently, 231 rooms are available.

Meeting facilities in the hotel occupy the ground floor, including the pillarless 3,000-pax Regency Ballroom which is 1,924m² in area and has 8.5m high ceilings, eight meeting rooms, a boardroom, and a dedicated pre-function area for each venue.

Federico Mantoani, general manager, Hyatt Regency Gurgaon, said: “There was a need for a large MICE hotel that offers state-of-the-art facilities in Gurgaon as it is one of the corporate hubs of the country. Our property will fill this gap. Hyatt Regency Gurgaon will offer unparalleled services to the MICE segment.”

“There are a lot of MICE-specific hotels that have come up in the NCR region. Hyatt Regency Gurgaon will provide an ideal venue for hosting large conventions,” remarked Chander Mansharamani, managing director, Alpcord Network Travel and Conferences.

The hotel is home to four F&B outlets: fine-dining, specialty restaurant Lavana, which serves Awadhi cuisine; Kitchen District; The Lounge for tea, coffee and alcohol; and the Long Bar, which features a 5.5m long counter and serves cocktails.

ENCOURAGED by the results of its newly-opened properties, Ayala Land Hotels and Resorts is planning to grow its hotel portfolio in the Philippines.

The company is planning six more hotels under its four-star Seda brand hotels and will diversify its portfolio with the addition of Seda Suites for all-suite hotels, Seda Resorts for resorts, and larger properties of 400-500 rooms. Seda hotels offer between 150 and 200 keys.

Hotels already confirmed include the Seda Nuvali in Laguna, scheduled to open in 1Q2014; SedaCircuit Makati and Seda Vertis North in Quezon City.

Ayala Land Hotels and Resorts COO, Al Legaspi, who led the opening of the 150-key Seda Centrio in Cagayan de Oro last weekend, said the company would continue to choose locations where it has mixed-use developments for hotel development. “That’s the model for Seda. We want to be in areas where we synergise with malls, residential (properties) and offices.”

Ayala also has six hotels under a new, yet-unnamed value brand in the pipeline, with locations most likely outside of Metro Manila.

“We always looked at hotels as a support business – where we had larger developments, we’d put a hotel there, just to prime the area,” explained Legaspi. “Three years ago, we saw opportunity in the hotel business…so we made this a core business.”

Legaspi also shared that Ayala would look to sell rooms through OTAs as doing so could secure as much as 30 per cent of business. It would also look at regional third-party management contracts in future within the region, where it has received offers.

The company this year launched the Fairmont Makati and Raffles Makati (TTG Asia e-Daily, November 5, 2012), Holiday Inn & Suites Makati, and three Seda hotels.