IATA has come out to make its position known regarding the dispute over length of credit cycles in Sri Lanka (TTG Asia e-Daily, July 9, 2013), pointing out that IATA “does not determine the remittance frequency”.

The payment scheme in question, IATA’s Billing and Settlement Plan, provides a standardised interface between travel consultants and airlines and removes the need for travel consultants to provide individual bank guarantees for each airline they sell for.

According to an email to TTG Asia e-Daily from Albert Tjoeng, assistant director of corporate communications, Asia-Pacific, IATA, changes to the BSP agency programme operated around the world has to be proposed by the local Agency Program Joint Council (APJC) and approved by the Passenger Agency Conference (PAConf).

APJC comprises an equal number of representatives from both airlines and consultants, and is authorised to consider all aspects of the agency programme and make recommendations to PAConf.

IATA, as secretary to PAConf, “does not determine the remittance frequency”.

However, Tjoeng observed that moving to a seven-day credit cycle would reduce the financial burden of travel consultants as a result of lower financial guarantee requirement from more frequent remittances.

Sri Lankan consultants benefit from a bank guarantee that is 23 per cent lower, while the figure is 28 per cent for small consultants.

Furthermore, the seven-day cycle would bring Sri Lanka in line with best practices in neighboring BSPs, such as Australia, India, Japan, Malaysia, Singapore and Thailand, countries already on a weekly or more frequent remittance cycle.

Tjoeng also highlighted that the enforcement of the seven-day cycle had already been postponed thrice: to January 1, 2010, January 1, 2012 and July 1, 2013.

The secretary of Sri Lanka’s Ministry of Civil Aviation met with industry representatives on July 10, and agreed to proceed with the implementation of the weekly settlement for BSP Sri Lanka from July 1.

Sri Lanka’s APJC is also to submit a new proposal to PAConf in October 2013 for consideration.

TRAVEL consultants who sell adventure travel products may now join an association with their like-minded global counterparts, via a new membership programme unveiled by the Adventure Travel Trade Association (ATTA).

The programme is meant to attract such travel consultants and strengthen the global adventure tourism network.

ATTA president, Shannon Stowell, said: “For years, we’ve looked to support and reach out to travel (consultants) specialising in adventure travel.

“Now, with our dedicated membership programme, we plan to more readily integrate these travel (consultants) into the adventure tourism supply chain, to offer specialised training and to connect them with partners that will bring more adventure travel offerings to consumers.

“Travel (consultants) have the power to influence buying behaviour with their traveller relationships and this is precisely what we wish to cultivate within our network.”

Annual, fee-based membership to ATTA costs US$150 per consultant and requires an accreditation number from organisations such as IATA, CLIA, among others.

Member benefits include invitations to events and fam trips, including ATTA’s upcoming Adventure Travel Mexico event; webinars on destinations, marketing, PR and adventure travel offerings; travel consultant page listing and traveller inquiry form on adventure.travel, a consumer-facing adventure portal; and opportunities to become destinations specialists and partner with destinations on co-marketing projects, etc.

Consultants will have to fill up an application form found on the association’s website, www.adventuretravel.biz, to apply.

INTERCONTINENTAL Hotels Group (IHG) has opened Holiday Inn Express Singapore Orchard Road, the first of two Holiday Inn Express hotels planned for the city-state.

The 221-room hotel marks the entry of the brand into the Singapore hospitality sector.

Located within walking distance of shopping malls, the hotel also boasts easy access to Somerset and Orchard MRT stations.

Guests can enjoy free Wi-Fi access within hotel premises, an express breakfast bar or grab-and-go breakfasts, and make use of the hotel’s self-service business centre and laundry room.

Holiday Inn Express Singapore Orchard Road is the third Holiday Inn Express hotel in South-east Asia, after Holiday Inn Express Phuket Patong Beach Central and Holiday Inn Express Bangkok Siam.

Holiday Inn Express Singapore Clarke Quay is slated to come on stream in 1Q2014.

Clarence Tan, COO South-east Asia and Resorts, IHG, said: “Globally, Holiday Inn Express is one of the largest and fastest-growing brands in the industry and, in South-east Asia, the brand has a particularly bright future ahead.

“We are confident that Holiday Inn Express will do well in Singapore, whether guests are here for a quick stopover or longer trip, for business or for leisure.”

To celebrate its opening, the hotel has rolled out a special rate of S$198 (US$157) for stays until November 30.

JET Airways will launch a second daily flight on its Chennai-Singapore route beginning August 1, with the daytime flight allowing seamless onward travel to destinations in Australia and New Zealand.

The new flight, operated with a Boeing 737-800 aircraft, will depart Chennai at noon and arrive in Singapore at 18.50.

The existing Chennai-Singapore service is a night flight.

Jet Airways currently runs two daily flights from New Delhi to the city-state, and one each from Mumbai and Chennai.

Sudher Raghavan, chief commercial officer, Jet Airways, said the new flight came in response to “increased demand due to tourist and business traffic”.

“With the introduction of this additional service, we aim to popularise (our service) among guests wanting seamless connectivity to Australia, New Zealand, Japan, Vietnam via Singapore, with our codeshare partners. The new flight would also help in connecting our guests flying into Chennai from other cities in South India.”

C Nagendra Prasad, chairman, Chennai-based Travelexpress, commented: “The additional flight will benefit inbound business travellers and tourists as they will be offered more flexibility in connections from Singapore, to and from destinations in their country.

“This flight will also increase tourism traffic in south India, and the flight’s morning arrival timing to Chennai will allow easy transfers to many tourist destinations.”

Other carriers plying the route are Air India, Tigerair, IndiGo, Singapore Airlines and SilkAir.

AIRASIA will begin running its Medan operations out of Kualanamu International Airport on July 25, having completed its system migration.

The LCC is currently based in Polonia International Airport.

With system migration completed, guests travelling from and to Medan from July 25 will receive an updated flight itinerary with the new airport code for Kualanamu International Airport (KNO), replacing Polonia’s MES code.

Passengers already checked in for flights to and from Medan for the flight period July 25 onwards will need to check in again up to one hour before departure time.

For more information, passengers may refer to AirAsia’s website www.airasia.com.

SWISS-BELHOTEL International Hotels and Resorts has expanded its Indonesian portfolio with the recent launch of Swiss-Belhotel Balikpapan.

Soft-opened with 100 rooms in the heart of the city, the four-star property is the 34^th hotel in Indonesia operated by the group.

Targeted at business travellers, Swiss-Belhotel Balikpapan is conveniently situated a short distance from Seppingan International Airport and the commercial hubs within the city centre.

Meanwhile, leisure travellers can also take advantage of a mall located just beside the hotel, affording easy access to shopping, dining and entertainment venues.

“Balikpapan is a rapidly growing city with a proud heritage and Swiss-Belhotel International is delighted to open this hotel today,” said Gavin Faull, chairman and president, Swiss-Belhotel International Hotels and Resorts.

Swiss-Belhotel Balikpapan will feature 230 guestrooms and 25 apartments when completed by end-2013.

The new hotel launch brings the Hong Kong-based group’s portfolio to more than 120 hotels and resorts spanning two- to five-star categories across Asia and the Middle East.

Indonesia is Swiss-Belhotel International’s largest market, with 33 hotels in operation and another 56 under development and scheduled to open in the next two years.

DRUKAIR, the national carrier of Bhutan, has entered into an exclusive agreement with Chapman Freeborn for the introduction of charter planes and helicopters, opening up the destination to international private jet travellers.

Chapman Freeborn will provide the service and obtain the necessary permits to operate charters to Bhutan.

Unlike MakeMyTrip which operates air charters to Bhutan, targeting bulk load of leisure travellers, the Chapman Freeborn service will cater to high net-worth individual travellers in the luxury travel segment.

Shailendra Seth, director, Chapman Freeborn, said in a media statement: “Our aim is to promote luxury travel to Bhutan. The use of aircraft charter services through helicopters has a distinct advantage over scheduled operators. It provides the fastest available mode of transport on short notice, the quickest accessibility to remote areas, no waiting time at check-in counters and at airports for connecting flights and hence is very attractive to the time-conscious clientele.”

Landing at Paro International Airport, located 2,128m above sea level, requires Drukair-certified specialist navigators.

The Drukair-Chapman Freeborn alliance is expected to attract private jet users in markets such as the US, the UK and Europe, and emerging markets in Asia.

Sanjay Kothari, managing director, Just Holidays, said: “Bhutan is a luxury destination with limited access. Air charters will allow us to package luxury holidays for high-end clientele without worrying about flight frequency or connectivity.”

THE Tourist Office of Spain is once again pushing the religious pilgrimage tour programme, Camino de Santiago, to Philippine travellers this year and has formed a local consortium to promote the product to the Philippine travel trade.

The consortium comprises five members: Rajah Travel Corp, Executive Resources, Mondial Tours & Travel, Caravan Travel – all based in Manila – as well as Destination Specialists Cebu.

The Tourist Office first promoted the programme in the Philippines in 2010 as the third most-important religious destination for Christians after the Holy Land and the Vatican.

The programme will introduce key stretches of the traditional route, which can be accessed from different points in Europe, but usually from the French Pyrenees mountains up to the heritage town of Santiago de Compostela, northern Galicia, where the Cathedral of St James is located.

Philippine travel companies have made pilgrimage tours, especially those to the Holy Land and Europe, their bread-and-butter business.

“If there’s a piece of business that never goes away year after year, it’s that,” says Nette Oseo, product specialist at Rajah Travel Corp.

Under this programme, the Tourist Office offers 12-night tours with guided walking and non-walking options for the route starting from Madrid, with rates valid till May 2014.

Tony Morales, sales manager at Caravan Travel and Tours, said sales of this tour would depend on the season and price. The company usually bids for such religious programmes for school field trips and parish community groups, rather than for FITs.

Juan Javier Berenguer-Testa, president of Mondial Tours and Travel, said that the product would appeal to visitors who might want to spend up to a month in Spain, adding: “It will appeal to young people or those ‘pushed’ to go into it with a group of friends, as well as people with a spiritual outlook.”

The Tourist Office also intends to promote the tour to the young. “In Spain, young students take on the route using a skateboard or bike during summer,” explained Vien Cortes, its market analyst for South-east Asia, Australia and New Zealand.

MANDARIN Oriental Hotel Group (MOHG) will cease its management of one of Chiang Mai’s leading luxury properties next month over disagreements with the resort owner.

MOHG told TTG Asia e-Daily: “Mandarin oriental Hotel Group will withdraw from the management of Mandarin Oriental Dhara Dhevi, Chiang Mai, on August 31, 2013.

“The group is proud to have established this resort as one of the best in Asia since it began managing the property in 2005. However, the owner and Mandarin Oriental have different aspirations for its management and long-term development.”

Dhara Dhevi Hotel Company will resume management of the property which will be renamed The Dhara Dhevi hotel.

The news that the world-renowned brand will be exiting Chiang Mai did not come as a total surprise, according to Surapong Techaruvichit, president of the Thai Hotel Association.

“Many people have been watching this case for some time as it (Mandarin Oriental Dhara Dhevi) has not been making money,” he said.

“That’s due to over-investment in the property, however. So it’s really a standard business issue and it will not affect Chiang Mai. The luxury market will continue to do well there.”