FAR East Hospitality will host its first heritage festival later this year, allowing foreign travellers to gain a deeper understanding of Singapore’s culture when they stay at its hotels and residences.

Held in conjunction with the Singapore HeritageFest 2013, the Far East Heritage Festival will run from July 19 to September 18 and is predicted to attract some 200,000 participants.

On offer are guided tours to colourful districts such as Kampong Glam, and personalised cultural experiences where participants can sample local food, play traditional games or learn about vanishing trades like parrot astrology.

Guests who stay at Far East Hospitality properties during the festival period can participate in all events for free and will receive S$80 (US$65) in cash vouchers for spending at Orchard Central, a 20 per cent discount off admission fees to four museums and complimentary Wi-Fi access.

In addition to the above, those who stay between July 19 and August 18 will enjoy trail activities at four locations as well as receive a Heritage Festival Passport with a suggested itinerary for a self-guided tour, and a dual-purpose bag.

Exhibitions and recreated spaces located in the trails along Orchard Central, Little India and Village Hotel Albert Court, Kampong Glam and The Fullerton Heritage Gallery @ The Fullerton Hotel are open to all visitors.

Arthur Kiong, CEO, Far East Hospitality, said: “As a home-grown operator and Singapore’s largest operator of hotels and residences, we believe in taking the lead to share Singapore’s success story.

“The inaugural festival is Far East Hospitality’s way of introducing Singapore’s rich culture and heritage to local and overseas travellers alike. While Far East Hospitality is currently focused on providing Singapore-inspired hospitality and rich experiences throughout the festival period, we will subsequently explore the possibility of making this an annual event for more guests to learn about Singapore’s yesteryears.”

When asked how much of an increase in occupancy the company was expecting as a result of the festival, Kiong said: “Taking into account the traditional lull periods from July to September, Far East Hospitality is expecting a 20 per cent increment for leisure individuals and online booking segments.”

Bookings will be open from today until September 18, unless sold out prior.

TRAVELLERS from Saudi Arabia now form the largest user base of metasearch engine Wego out of all the Gulf states, with trending overseas destinations including Jakarta and Kuala Lumpur.

According to Mohamad Ibrahim Masri, managing director, Wego Middle East and North Africa: “Travellers from Saudi Arabia are now considering (flight and accommodation) options at over 2,000 destinations for trips this summer, representing a huge opportunity for the industry.

“Almost seven in 10 transactions online are for air ticket purchases averaging over US$1,600, the highest in the region. Accommodation is also averaging almost US$900 per booking.”

On what Saudi Arabian travellers were searching for, Jakarta made up eight per cent of search volumes to August, more than doubling in three years. Istanbul and Kuala Lumpur are also gaining traction.

For inbound, Wego singled out the United Arab Emirates as seeing strong demand especially for flights from Asia. South Asia dominates a quarter of the total, with growth from Malaysia, Singapore and Indonesia also registered.

“Travel suppliers and intermediaries from the Gulf states should now be building their brands to cater to new online audiences in these markets, especially the burgeoning middle classes demonstrating greater purchasing power and intent,” said Masri.

The press release credited the spike in demand for flights to UAE to the recent Emirates and Qantas alliance (TTG Asia e-Daily, March 27, 2013), Etihad Airways and Virgin Australia’s codeshare pact and Etihad’s newly minted agreement with Air France, resulting in a boost for major hubs in the UAE.

SINGAPORE Airlines (SIA) is adding a new Surabaya service to its network and will increase the frequencies of outbound flights to Bali and Jakarta.

From July 26, SIA will take over one of subsidiary SilkAir’s two daily Surabaya flights, deploying 285-seat Airbus A330-300 aircraft to increase SIA-SilkAir capacity on the route by almost 50 per cent.

Surabaya-bound flights depart Singapore at 07.50 and arrive at 09.10, while return flights leave at 10.30 to reach Singapore at 13.35.

On the same day, the carrier will add its ninth daily service to Jakarta. Flights leave Singapore at 16.25 and touch down at 17.10, taking off at 18.10 and arriving at 20.45 on the return leg.

SIA will also kick off a fourth daily service to Denpasar, with the aircraft scheduled to depart Singapore at 07.00 and land at 09.35 every day. Singapore-bound flights leave Denpasar at 21.45 and arrive the next day at 00.15.

The airline is the latest to beef up Singapore-Indonesia links, with SilkAir (TTG Asia e-Daily, May 3, 2013) and Tiger Airways (TTG Asia e-Daily, May 7, 2013) having made recent announcements.

ASIAROOMS.COM’S survey on online accommodation bookings has found that travellers prefer to pay for their rooms upon checkout rather than at the point of booking.

The AsiaRooms.com Traveller Confidence Index 2013 revealed that 29 per cent of all respondents would prefer paying upon checkout. In comparison, 24 per cent would pay a basic room rate in advance and 23 per cent would fork out an advance deposit.

When it came to preferred payment methods, credit and charge cards took tops with 70 per cent, followed by debit cards with 37 per cent.

Clarence Lin, brand development lead, AsiaRooms.com, commented: “Customers appreciate the convenience of a simple accommodation booking experience that comes with a guaranteed stay and future payment options.”

The same survey stated that Asian travellers were mostly likely to book their business and leisure trips online. Some 75.2 per cent of respondents from Asia said they had purchased travel online within the last year, up 4.9 per cent from last year’s index and above the global average of 65.4 per cent.

Singaporeans took the crown when it came to booking trips online, with 84.3 per cent of respondents from the Lion City having made an online booking in the last 12 months.

Travellers are also less price-sensitive compared to the year before. The number of Asian travellers who cited affordability as a reason for lower accommodation usage in the coming year fell 17.5 per cent from last year.

Singaporeans once again led in accommodation spend per night at US$132, besting the global (US$115) and regional average (US$122). The survey noted that Singapore travellers spent more nights overseas and more per night on accommodation.

Commissioned by AsiaRooms.com in partnership with VisionOne UK, responses were collated from more than 12,000 online participants in over 25 major international markets across Asia-Pacific, America and Europe.

WITH over 70 per cent of Indian arrivals still first-time tourists to Malaysia, the country’s NTO will continue to push traditional destinations.

Tourism Malaysia’s director for India, P Manoharan, said holidays in Kuala Lumpur, Penang, Resorts World Genting and Malacca would be emphasised in its promotions to Tier Two and Tier Three cities.

Luxury Tours Malaysia’s senior manager, Arokia Das, commented: “Many first-time travellers to Malaysia from Tier Two and Tier Three cities are middle-aged and spend quite a bit on shopping.

“They tend to do dual destinations, combining Malaysia with Singapore,” he added.

According to Manoharan, the East Malaysian states of Sabah and Sarawak appeal to mature travellers looking for an experiential holiday in offbeat destinations.

He also shared that Tourism Malaysia was increasing its focus on online marketing. “Online marketing has a wider reach and is more cost-effective compared to print and electronic media.”

The NTO has set a target of 780,000 arrivals from India this year, up from last year’s 691,271.

TRAVEL agencies across India are banding together to close for business today in protest against a cut in commissions.

According to Jay Bhatia, chairman – Western region, Travel Agents Association of India (TAAI), at least 1,000 travel consultants have pledged not to open today. Large international travel companies who declined to be named have said they will remain closed, and other associations such as the Travel Agents Federation of India have also thrown their weight behind the move.

At the heart of the issue is the zero commission policy, which India’s travel trade has repeatedly lobbied against since it took effect in January. Discussions with airlines and the Directorate General of Civil Aviation have not yielded positive results.

The impact has also been exacerbated by the recent unbundling of services from airfare prices (TTG Asia e-Daily, May 2, 2013).

Lamented a travel consultant who requested anonymity: “We are already not making any money from booking air tickets.”

As of this morning, a letter of appeal had made rounds on social media to IATA and non-IATA agencies asking them to remain shut.

Iqbal Mulla, president, TAAI, said: “National and international airlines have adopted unethical practices which are not in favour of the passenger or the consultant.

“We need to safeguard the rights of consultants and issues affecting their business and threatening their survival such as the weekly settlement system, disparity in fares, etc.”

Bhatia added: “We need to stop this cartelisation of airlines. We need to regulate fares (especially during holidays and long weekends) and ensure that airlines maintain complete transparency in setting airfares.”

He said travel consultants demanded a regulatory body to prevent the exploitation of airfares, while also challenging the conversion of the existing fortnightly payment to a weekly one.

Bhatia estimated that the one-day shutdown would cost airlines an estimated Rs1 billion (US$18.2 million) in business from Mumbai alone, while a TAAI source said airlines would lose Rs400 million from New Delhi.

By Renuka Vijay Kumar