SINGAPORE has beaten Tianjin, China and Monterrey, Mexico to secure a five-year contract to host the prestigious Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) Championships between 2014-2018.

International tennis stars will battle it out every year-end at the 7,500-seat Singapore Indoor Stadium, part of the US$1 billion Singapore Sports Hub, scheduled to open in April 2014 (TTG Asia e-Daily, September 13, 2012).

For the first time at the WTA’s season finale, both top eight single players and top eight doubles teams will face off in the same city for the top US$6.5 million prize.

There will also be new entertainment events including WTA Future Stars, WTA Legends exhibition matches, concerts, coaches and trade symposiums, Women in Business Leadership Conference, daily fan festivals open to the public and a VIP experience.

Singapore is the first city in Asia – and the ninth city worldwide – to host the WTA Championships.

“This world-class event is expected to draw local and foreign tennis fans and add to Singapore’s reputation as a vibrant global city by complementing our existing suite of lifestyle offerings,” said Lionel Yeo, CEO, Singapore Tourism Board (STB).

World Sport Group represented Singapore for the winning bid, with support from the Singapore Sports Council and STB.

SEVEN of the top 10 hospitals on the 2013 World’s Best Hospitals for Medical Tourists list are in Asia, offering opportunities for the travel trade to work more closely with healthcare providers.

Issued by the Medical Travel Quality Alliance, on the list are:

1. Prince Court Medical Center (Malaysia)
2. Asklepios Klinik Barmbek (Germany)
3. Clemenceau Medical Center (Lebanon)
4. Fortis Hospital Bangalore (India)
5. Wooridul Spine Hospital (South Korea)
6. Bumrungrad International (Thailand)
7. Anadolu Medical Center (Turkey)
8. Bangkok Hospital Medical Center (Thailand)
9. Gleneagles Hospital (Singapore)
10. Asia Heart Institute (India)

Only five Asian hospitals made the cut last year.

Julie Munro, president of the Medical Tourism Quality Alliance, said: “Most hospitals do not understand the value a medical travel facilitator can bring. Medical travel facilitators have pretty much brought this on themselves because many of them don’t understand the full complement of services and needs a patient has.

“It is easy enough to talk about providing airport pickups and a cell phone, but the real value a medical travel facilitator can bring is understanding and knowing the local healthcare system. They need to act as a patient advocate to make sure care is conducted in the proper way.”

Facilitators must understand everything from how nurses handle medication to the specific treatments surgical staff provide, she explained.

At the same time hospitals also need to ensure staff have relevant language skills, foreign patients are charged the same as locals and that hospital security meets international standards.

Providing aftercare services and follow-ups once a patient has left the country where treatment was provided is another essential requirement, added Munro.

INDONESIA will need 800 new hotels or 100,000 more rooms within the next decade in order to keep pace with the projected growth of domestic and international tourists to the country.

Speaking during the first Indonesia Hospitality & Tourism Investment Conference, HVS China and South-east Asia chairman, David Ling, said: “Last year, the number of domestic movements was 245 million. Assuming that the growth of the market is four per cent in the next 10 years, there will be around 400 million trips a year.”

According to Statistics Indonesia data, there are currently 1,623 hotels or 155,000 rooms in the major provinces of Jakarta, West Java, Central Java, East Java and Bali. By 2023, 256,000 rooms will be required, Ling projected.

This represents a tremendous opportunity for developers, investors, hotel management groups, airlines, travel companies  and other stakeholders, Ling pointed out. “New hotel developments, in economy to luxury sectors, are required to cater to the anticipated increase in demand for hotel accommodation.”

Indonesia’s minister of tourism and creative economy, Mari Elka Pangestu, said: “We have set a focus on 16 destinations (TTG Asia e-Daily, September 28, 2012) in the country for development and these are open for (the trade) to invest in.”

“In fact, we have seen hotel investment flowing beyond Java and Bali, especially into eastern Indonesia where the resources and commodity businesses, such as palm oil and coal, are growing. Hotels in these areas are even equipped with meeting facilities to cater to the demand for these businesses.”

Many panellists and speakers at the conference raised the lack of infrastructure as one of the challenges in developing properties in Indonesia, a problem Pangestu herself has acknowledged.

The minister said transportation and connectivity development was a major focus of Indonesia’s economic development plan, with 12 new and upgraded airports to open this year and 24 new airports to open up to 2015.

Meanwhile, road construction, railway and port development are also underway.

SLATED for completion in 2014/2015, recreational facilities at the 1,300-hectare Lagoi Bay will be ready in full force by end-2013.

They include a beach village mall, a canopy adventure trail suitable for teambuilding activities, an off-road rally car circuit and South-east Asia’s first ultra-light aircraft ride centre and flying school.

The 28-key luxury The Sanchaya is set to debut in November, followed by Alila Villas Bintan and Swiss-Belhotel Lagoi Bay, Bintan early next year, adding over 250 more new rooms.

Chia Tek Yew, executive director, strategy & marketing, Bintan Resorts International, said arrivals to Bintan have grown over the last five years, rising four per cent year-on-year to 487,475 in 2012. He predicts over one million arrivals annually by 2015. Based on last year’s arrivals, Singaporeans comprised 32 per cent and Indonesians, 18 per cent.

Chia said: “Singaporeans form the bulk of our audience, and they like such resort destinations. Lagoi Bay will now provide them the opportunity to experience another resort destination, which will give them a high quality lifestyle experience.”

He added: “Currently, Indonesians in Jakarta have to fly to Batam first before reaching Bintan. But with the new (airport opening by 2015), accessibility will be better and we should be able to attract more Indonesians into their own island.”

– Read more in TTG Asia May 17-30, 2013 – Integrated Resorts

MEDIA company 3^rd Planet is set to roll out a new application that allows tablet users to explore international attractions in 3D for better trip planning.

Come 1Q2014, iOS and Android-based tablet users will be able to download the Wonders of the World mobile travel app for free from respective app stores and explore landmark attractions across the world.

“With more than 87 per cent of travellers using the Internet for the bulk of their travel planning, understanding the location in detail becomes critical in order to spend enough time to enjoy the views and experiences of the actual destination, especially UNESCO World Heritage sites,” said a media statement by 3^rd Planet.

“However, with the current resources from the Internet, travellers often did not plan enough time (to explore an attraction) as there is no way to deeply comprehend the size of the location, and the key points of interests.”

The mobile app is part of the Wonders of the World Project, jointly organised by 3^rd Planet and China Intercontinental Communication Center. The project is a global event that will allow the international tourism industry to showcase the best of each country’s travel destinations to travellers around the world in an interactive 3D environment.

In 2011, 3^rd Planet launched an interactive online travel programme for PC and Mac operating systems that lets users virtually explore destinations and attractions in minute detail with the click of a mouse TTG Asia e-Daily, December 16, 2011.