ONEWORLD has joined other global air alliances in competing for large convention groups, although data shows international meetings are actually getting smaller.

Like Star Alliance Conventions Plus, Oneworld Events, launched at IMEX last week, offers a “one-stop solution” to planners with a meeting of minimum 500 pax travelling from at least two regions.

The solution comprises discounted flights on its member airlines, an easy-to-use online booking system for attendees, online real-time management reports 24/7 for planners and a promotional toolkit to build attendee awareness, among others. Attendees earn miles as usual, while planners earn credits for travel on participating Oneworld airlines.

Jose Maria Alvarado, Oneworld Alliance’s director-sales, said Oneworld Events was superior to the others because “we are easier to use and faster to market”.

He said timing and technology made it feasible to launch this solution now. “ICCA data shows 3.5 million delegates attend these kinds of conferences and events around the world every year, spending around US$1.5 billion on air travel,” he said.

But a check with ICCA also shows that 75 per cent of international meetings are attended by fewer than 500 pax, with the average size hovering between 230 pax and 256 pax from 2003 to 2012.

This explains why Star Alliance and Skyteam also offer solutions aimed at small meetings (e.g., Star’s Meetings Plus targets events with minimum 50 international passengers from at least three countries).

Asked if Oneworld Events would lose out because of this, Michael Blunt, Oneworld’s vice president corporate communications, said: “Most of our member airlines will continue to offer their own MICE products, and our feeling is that these individual airline offerings are better suited to this end of the market, while our new Oneworld Events product is ideal for the large-scale conference or event.

“Our 500 delegates number is a guideline only, rather than a firm cut-off limit. We will of course look at exceptions so long as many hundred of international delegates are expected to attend.”

Blunt insisted there is “a big market for big conventions and events in many parts of the world”.

“In the past few months, Oneworld has been approached by organisers arranging conferences for 1,000 to 5,000 delegates in venues ranging from Buenos Aires, Singapore and Vienna,” he said.

Kitty Wong, president, K&A International, Taiwan, remains sceptical about the effectiveness of alliances’ MICE solutions. “It’s hard to force all the airline members in the alliance to offer the same deal, i.e., the best market price or 50 per cent off the tariff, especially when the meeting is smaller than 500 pax and the reality is, most meetings are.”

Wong said she was talking to two airlines directly for her bigger conventions of more than 3,000 pax to be held in the next few years and even then, “although I know the key guys, I’m not sure if I can get a better deal”.

Sumate Sudasna, head of CDM Thailand, agreed the fares were “hardly attractive compared to market prices”, but added that the solution could work if it made the event host’s life easier.

THE Turkish government on April 17 launched an e-visa service, coinciding with the peak outbound April-July season for Indians travelling to Turkey, in the hopes of attracting more tourists.

The e-visa system will run concurrently with the visa-on-arrival facility and the same qualifying criteria applies to both – Indian citizens only qualify if they hold a valid Schengen visa, a visa from an Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development member country or a valid residence permit from these countries.

Those who do not qualify must apply through the local embassy.

E-visas can be printed out and used 24 hours after application and the US$20 fee is only processed upon approval.

Also available in 93 other countries, Özgür Aytürk, culture and tourism counsellor, Turkish Embassy New Delhi, said the service made visa application “much easier and quicker”, and feedback had found the system to be easier for travel trade players as well.

He said: “It is hoped that this e-visa facility, along with our new aggressive digital campaign, a localised and upcoming website, and the forthcoming joint marketing campaigns with key tour operators in India, will give us a 25-30 per cent increase in (arrivals for) 2013.”

Last year, 91,000 Indians visited Turkey, a 24 per cent rise over 2011.

By Renuka Vijay Kumar

OCEAN Park Hong Kong is making a sales mission to Indonesia later this year to tap the leisure segment as well as the steadily growing MICE market.

Rosalind Siu, sales director, Ocean Park Hong Kong, said: “We are planning to visit Indonesia to organise an event for travel consultants and media. We want to work with travel wholesalers in Indonesia to create new packages that will include Ocean Park.

“I also understand that for the Indonesian market, consumer fairs are very important. What we are planning for initially is to support consultants with discount coupons (to sell or package) when they participate in consumer fairs.”

MICE groups, particularly corporate incentives from Indonesia, have grown over the last few years and is a market that Ocean Park intends to tap for the first time.

Said Siu: “We don’t have a hotel in the park yet, but we have the facilities and attractions to cater for one- or half-day programmes such as teambuilding, theme and award dinners, which have been popular among (Hong Kong) companies.”

The sales mission would also provide the right occasion for Ocean Park to introduce its plans for new exhibits and attractions including Australian koalas, a shark aquarium and new rides to open between next year and 2015.

An MTR station is also scheduled to open across from the park’s entrance in 2015.

“A new resort-type, four-star accommodation will start building (works) soon, with 400 rooms to open in 2017. We will also (begin) developing a new Water World – an indoor and outdoor water park – end of this year, to open in 2017,” shared Siu.

“We used to have an outdoor water park, but it was too hot during the summer and could not open during the winter because it was too cold. This new concept will allow us to open year-round with heated water during winter.”

THAI-based LCC Nok Air will start flights this year linking the port city of Mawlamyine in Mon State to Mae Sot on the Thai border, confirmed Myanmar’s Department of Civil Aviation.

Come September, Nok Air will open the Mae Sot-Mawlamyine route and extend it to Yangon the following month. A 34-seater Saab 340B turboprop aircraft will be deployed on this route, which will be launched on a trial basis as Nok Air awaits permission from the aviation authorities to run it as a charter service.

U Win Swe Tun, deputy director general, Department of Civil Aviation, said that the department had suggested that Nok Air begin with charter flights.

“Before the airline opens the new service from Mae Sot, we will establish customs and immigration sections at Mawlamyine airport. The plan is almost confirmed,” he said.

“I think this route will draw business visitors from Thailand to Mawlamyine, and Thai visitors who want to go to Golden Rock Pagoda will be able to come through Mawlamyine rather than Yangon.”

The LCC will be the first foreign airline and second airline after Myanma Airways to serve Mawlamyine airport. Myanma Airways runs flights out of Mawlamyine to Yangon, Dawei and Myeik in Tanintharyi Region.

Nok Air will also launch a Bangkok-Yangon service from Don Muang Airport this November, and is studying the possibility of linking Chiang Mai to Bagan and Yangon.

THAILAND Travel Mart Plus (TTM+), which will take place from June 5 to 7 at IMPACT Muang Thong Thani, will once again focus on the niche tourism markets of health and wellness, wedding and honeymoon, golf and eco-tourism.

Organised by Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT), the mart will feature 39 niche tourism operators, according to TAT deputy director for international marketing, Juthaporn Rerngronasa.

TTM+ will expand from 380 sellers in 2012 to 395 in 2013, of which 86 are making their debut this year, up from 75 last year.

Meanwhile, a stronger Greater Mekong Subregion presence ­– from 12 sellers in 2012 to 20 in 2013 – indicates “good growth in demand for this region”, Juthaporn opined. One of the new exhibitors this year is Yunnan Provincial Tourism Administration.

The mart will also see more buyers, with 303 participants from across 58 countries, including new source markets of Algeria, Belarus, Laos, Latvia and Slovenia. Similar to last year, the UK and India will have the largest representation, with 30 and 26 buyers respectively. There will also be nine buyers from Latin America and 23 from Central and East Europe.

TAT will introduce a new forum with two keynote sessions, as well as its biannual Friends of Thailand awards presentation ceremony, which recognises and rewards the efforts of tourism industry members in maintaining a positive image of Thailand and ensuring a steady flow of visitor arrivals. The ceremony is scheduled to take place on June 5 and will see awards go to 38 recipients from 24 countries.

In the meantime, the Thailand Tourism Festival (TTF) 2013 will take place between June 5 and 9 at the same venue. Showcasing the tourism potential of Thailand’s five regions, Thai cuisine as well as contemporary Thai and international art and culture, TTF is expected to welcome some 200,000 visitors this year to generate about 300 million baht (US$10 million).