ANGSANA Hotels and Resorts will launch its first hot spring destination retreat, Angsana Tengchong Hot Spring Village, in Tengchong, Yunnan province.

Located in a valley, the resort will feature 28 suites with balconies and nine villas, each with private hot spring tubs, a spacious Angsana Spa and an array of 43 outdoor and indoor hot spring pools.

Four dining establishments – a Chinese restaurant that serves Yunnan and Cantonese cuisines, a wellness-focused café, a lounge and a F&B kiosk for quick bites – will be on offer.

Angsana Tengchong Hot Spring Village will cater to corporate event planners too, with its 100m² conference room that can accommodate up to 40 people for meetings and teambuilding programmes.

This is the fourth Angsana resort to launch in China.

PASSENGER numbers at Melbourne Airport rose four per cent in April 2013 compared to the same month last year, with a total of 2,451,847 domestic and international passengers travelling through Victoria’s aviation gateway.

International numbers grew five per cent to 572,437 passengers, with travellers from China leading the way in terms of growth. China saw a 22.9 per cent increase on April 2012, reaffirming the ongoing importance of this market for Victoria’s tourism, education and business sectors.

Other markets in Asia also grew in April, with passengers from Taiwan up by 18.1 per cent, Vietnam by 14.3 per cent, the Philippines by 7.4 per cent and India by 4.1 per cent.

Melbourne Airport CEO, Chris Woodruff, said: ‘This growth highlights the importance of providing more aviation capacity between Australia and key international markets, particularly in Asia. The Australian Government must lead the way in supporting more capacity on key air routes so airlines can provide the additional seats the travelling public is demanding.”

International travel by Australian passport holders increased by almost six per cent, while domestic passenger numbers grew four per cent to 1,879,410 passengers.

SINGAPORE Airlines (SIA) has registered improved net profit of 12.8 per cent year-on-year to S$379 million (US$302.3 million) for its financial year 2012-13.

This is despite a lower operating profit, which fell 19.8 per cent to S$229 million due to high fuel prices and yield pressures against the backdrop of a weak global economy.

Passenger revenue grew on the back of 7.3 per cent passenger carriage growth, albeit at lower yields, contributing to a 1.6 per cent rise in group revenue. Promotional activities necessitated by intense competition as well as depreciation of revenue-generating currencies against the Singapore dollar depressed passenger yields by 4.2 per cent.

SIA expects the global economic outlook to remain uncertain in the new financial year. Forward passenger bookings for the next few months are almost flat compared to the same period last year.

MALAYSIA Airlines (MAS) will increase frequency between Kuala Lumpur and Kathmandu to seven times weekly beginning June 1, 2013.

At present, the airline operates five times weekly into the Nepalese state on Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays.

MAS director of commercial, Hugh Noel Dunleavy, said: “We have such great demand from our passengers to fly between Kuala Lumpur and Kathmandu. With the daily frequency, our customers will be able to travel conveniently and at ease. On top of that, the increased frequency will provide excellent connectivity between Malaysia and various other destinations on Malaysia Airlines and our oneworld routes.”

A two-class configured Boeing 737-800 aircraft with 144 economy-class seats and 16 business-class seats is being used for this Kuala Lumpur-Kathmandu return service.

LEADERS from the global theme park and attractions industry will travel to Marina Bay Sands’ Sands Expo and Convention Centre in Singapore for Asian Attractions Expo 2013, which will be held from June 4-7.

Opened only to attractions industry professionals and the media, Asian Attractions Expo 2013 will showcase new ride concepts and innovative new products, and invite delegates to learn about industry trends, discuss hot topics and share best practices with industry peers.

Some 250 companies that deal in related products and services, including theme park rides, motion and virtual-reality simulators, theatrical production services and F&B innovations, are expected to exhibit at the show and engage with more than 3,000 owners and managers from theme parks, water parks, zoos, aquariums, museums, family entertainment centers, casinos and resorts in 60 countries.

Asian Attractions Expo 2013 will feature a Leadership Breakfast on June 6, with Ocean Park Hong Kong CEO, Tom Mehrmann, presenting a keynote address, as well as a conference programme, education sessions and networking functions.

Paul Noland, president and CEO of Association of Amusement Parks and Attractions, the organisation that owns and produces the annual expo, said: “The trade show floor at Asian Attractions Expo is the perfect place to connect buyers and sellers from around the world. (It) is packed with business-building products, services and new ideas.”

The event was held in Hong Kong last year.

BANGKOK Airways and Qatar Airways have commenced their codeshare agreement on selected flights in Thailand and within the region, effective from May 15.

The new partnership will enable passengers of Qatar Airways a smooth transit through Bangkok’s Suvarnabhumi Airport and onward to Samui, Phuket, Chiang Mai, Trat, Sukhothai, Lampang, Krabi, Phnom Penh, Yangon and vice versa.

Peter Wiesner, Bangkok Airways senior vice president – network management, said: “This new partnership will offer better flight connectivity for passengers travelling longhaul routes with Qatar Airways to Bangkok for their onward journey within Thailand, Cambodia and Myanmar.

“Moreover, Thailand’s key destinations, namely Samui, Phuket and Chiang Mai always have great potential which attract a large number of tourists. Therefore, we believe this partnership will offer a unique service for Qatar Airways’ passengers and strengthen Bangkok Airways’ extensive network as well as boost tourism in Thailand and Asia.”

Qatar Airways CEO, Akbar Al Baker, said: “Qatar Airways’ hub in Doha is strategically placed to connect East and West, and with this added partnership, we are able to cater to passengers who wish to seamlessly connect onwards to further destinations in countries where the airline already has an established presence – in Thailand, Cambodia and Myanmar.

“This new codeshare with Bangkok Airways gives our passengers greater and easier access to more points across Thailand, which is one of our most popular destinations in Asia.”

Reservations are now open for the codeshare flights.

EMIRATES Holidays and TUI India, the tour-operating arm of Emirates airline and Le Passage to India respectively, have tied up to target the Indian outbound and inbound markets. Both companies signed an MOU on May 15, 2013.

As part of the tie-up, TUI India will be the preferred sales agent for Emirates Holidays for outbound business while Le Passage to India will be the exclusive destination management company for Emirates Holidays in India, Nepal and Bhutan.

Emirates Holidays destination and leisure management divisional senior vice president, Marc Bennett, said: “Through partnerships like this we are looking to establish Emirates Holidays as one of the biggest tour-operating brands in the world. At present, our India reach contributes only five per cent to our overall business.

“Overall, I would imagine that a 100 per cent growth is very achievable with the right distribution mechanism. India as a destination market contributes less than five per cent to our business and that, in my opinion, is an immense opportunity for us.”

India’s inbound travel is expected to benefit more from this alliance. Emirates Holidays is looking for strategic partnerships on similar lines across the globe in countries including the US, Angola, Indonesia and South Korea.

“In the US where the demand and interest in India is colossal, we are very close to announcing (another) partnership. There is an immense opportunity to bring more tourists from America to India, which will be handled by Le Passage to India with Emirates Holidays,” added Bennett.

TUI Travel tour operations – new markets director, Jeannette Linfoot, said: “This exclusive agreement between TUI India and Emirates Holidays in India is just the beginning of many joint initiatives which will be forthcoming on a global basis. We see great advantage from leveraging the strengths of both the Emirates Group and TUI Travel to create opportunities and add value to our respective businesses.”

The partnership will initially focus on promoting Dubai as an outbound destination in India. Emirates Holidays has launched an extensive offline and online marketing campaign, Hello Dubai, across key cities in India to promote Dubai as a destination. It is also in the process of launching a microsite for India soon.

THE city of Bandung has formed the Bandung Tourism Promotion Board (BTPB) to develop and promote the city for tourism.

With a start-up capital of seven billion rupiah (US$721,649) from the Bandung municipal government, the board’s first move is to develop a database on the city’s attractions and to create a Bandung travel planner.

BTPB chairman, Nicolaus Lumanauw, said: “Data is something we are lacking in, therefore this will be our first move.” The board has signed an MOU with Basis Bay Singapore to develop the database for Bandung.

The city has also recently been declared Creative City by UNESCO and Nicolaus plans to highlight this in the travel planner.

“Our focus will be on ecotourism, city tours, science and health tourism. We have an active volcano, and biological and geological attractions to attract travellers. Bandung does not only have museums; the city itself is an open-air museum, with all the heritage and historic buildings and sites which have not been packaged and promoted,” he said.

The first target market will be students from Singapore and Malaysia.

“Bandung is the nearest destination for the students to learn about volcanoes and it is convenient for them to come here, with AirAsia flying four times daily from Kuala Lumpur and both AirAsia and SilkAir flying daily from Singapore,” he said.

In line with the national programme to develop health tourism in Indonesia, Bandung has prepared online marketing programmes with the local Hasan Sadikin Hospital and Santosa Hospital as well as other stakeholders.

When quizzed on the possible overlap with the provincial promotion board, West Java Tourism Promotion Board, Nicolaus said: “We will work together with them in promoting West Java, while we create and promote products which have not been highlighted before.”

The mayor of Bandung, Dada Rosada, in his speech at the launch of the board in conjunction with West Java Tourism Exchange last Tuesday, said: “The city government is committed to improving facilities and infrastructure to make the city a pleasant place to visit. We are planning to develop roads and monorails to connect the tourism spots to make them more accessible for travellers.”

He revealed that in the first quarter of the year Bandung received 1.55 million domestic and international tourists. The city currently has a total of 340 star- and non-star-rated hotels with 16,140 rooms.

MOHAMED Nazri Abdul Aziz has been named Malaysia’s tourism and culture minister with Joseph Salang Gandum as the deputy minister, in the new cabinet line-up announced by the Prime Minister yesterday, following the 13th General Election on May 5.

However, Borneo Post reported that Joseph Salang has declined his appointment to make way for young blood from his party to be appointed.

Mohamed Nazri was formerly a minister in the Prime Minister’s Department while Salang was the deputy minister of Information, Communications and Culture.

When contacted, Malaysia Inbound Tourism Association honorary secretary-general, Adam Kamal, said he welcomed the new appointments and that the association planned to invite Mohamed Nazri to the annual gala dinner next month. “It will be a good platform for him to meet our 400-strong members,” he added.