VARIOUS industry members have come out to flay reports citing a fall in tourist arrivals to India, mostly based on a survey recently released by the Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India (ASSOCHAM).

ASSOCHAM’s survey asserted that there had been a 35 per cent drop in the number of foreign women travellers to India over the last three months, while overall tourist arrivals had plunged 25 per cent (TTG Asia e-Daily, April 2, 2013) after a spate of high-profile attacks on women.

“I would like to say on record that tourist arrivals into India in January and February have been positive, not negative as reported,” said K Chiranjeevi, India’s tourism minister.

“Foreign tourist arrivals to India have grown by 2.1 per cent in these two months and foreign exchange earnings have risen by 19.8 per cent in terms of rupees,” he revealed.

The ministry said foreign tourist arrivals in January and February were 699,000 and 688,000 respectively, up from 681,000 and 677,000 respectively last year.

Meanwhile, the Indian Association of Tour Operators (IATO) has also written to ASSOCHAM secretary general D S Rawat expressing its “unhappiness” that the association had not been approached to take part in the survey.

“We have to take into consideration that more than six million foreign tourists visit our country and one or two unfortunate events can happen. It should not put a question mark on the security and safety of our foreign tourists. Such condemnable incidents happen in other countries too at times,” said Subhash Goyal, president, IATO.

“We are not seeing any decline in tourist arrivals. We have also written to ASSOCHAM to say that they should also consult an apex tour operator body like us when they conduct a survey involving foreign tourist arrivals,” he added.

Calling the survey baseless, Rajeev Kohli, joint managing director, Creative Travel India, also questioned the survey’s credibility.

“ASSOCHAM said that they surveyed 1,200 tour operators from different cities, which doesn’t seem to be true. I have spoken to many tour operators including some big names but none was approached for this survey,” he said. “We have been witnessing growth of 25 per cent and the mood remains positive among most of the tour operators.”

KOREA Tourism Organization (KTO) has sought to reassure travellers that the entire country remains stable and all tourism facilities are operating as normal in the face of escalating tensions with North Korea.

In a press release issued yesterday, KTO stressed that the South Korean government was “taking all appropriate measures to resolve the situation peacefully”.

The NTO also pointed out that no travel advisories had been issued against South Korea so far.

According to official statistics, inbound arrivals increased almost 12 per cent to an all time high of one million visitors in March. Visitor arrivals from China and Singapore grew by 56 per cent and almost 29 per cent respectively.

THE World Federation of Tourist Guide Associations (WFTGA) will launch its inaugural training programmes in Malaysia from June 17 to 29 in Sabah.

The training programmes, to be organised annually, are open to licensed tourist guides from all over the world, said Roger Rajah, area representative for Asia and South Asia and executive board member, WFTGA.

Four courses will be on offer this year: a Hands-on-Training course, Train the Trainer course, International Trainer course and Lead International Trainer course.

“The courses are meant to enhance tourist guiding skills. With a WFTGA certificate, participants will be more sought after in the marketplace,” said Rajah.

The classes will be held within Universiti Malaysia Sabah at the WFTGA International Training Centre, which is jointly managed by the association and university.

For details, email info@wftga.org.

MAJOR Japanese OTA Rakuten Travel has seen revenue for its Singapore affiliate shoot up by 55 per cent since it was set up in March last year as its sales and marketing hub for South-east Asia.

Yoshihisa Yamada, vice chairman, Rakuten Travel, said Singapore was a “fast-growing market” for Japanese inbound.

In 2012, the number of Japanese travellers heading to Singapore increased 6.6 per cent from 656,406 in 2011 to 700,000.

“Singapore is appealing especially to the younger Japanese travellers, who find it a fashionable and trendy city,” said Yamada, adding that the Japanese regard Marina Bay Sands as a must-see.

To further boost Japanese traffic into Singapore, Rakuten has been working with the Singapore Tourism Board since March to develop a web marketing campaign. The collaboration, which will be rolled out progressively, would allow the OTA to promote Singapore’s attractions in a more interactive manner. The company has also managed to break growth records by dramatically increasing the number of accommodation providers available on Rakuten’s reservations platform.

Yamada shared that Rakuten was still firmly focused on nurturing outbound from Japan for now, but had also started to grow business from China.

In 2011, Rakuten bought ET Solution (Beijing), which operates Chinese online travel website ET Pass, to boost its portfolio of domestic travel services in China and services catering for Chinese travelling abroad. Since then, revenue made from ET Pass bookings has grown dramatically from under RMB50 million (US$8 million) to about RMB550 million in 2012.

Rakuten first branched out internationally in 2002, and has established offices in Malaysia, Vietnam and the Philippines, although Singapore will remain its main South-east Asian hub.

SHANGHAI-based Juneyao Airlines has included a third Thai destination – Chiang Mai – to its international flight network as Thailand continues to climb in popularity among Chinese tourists.

From today, the carrier will begin operating the Shanghai (Pudong)-Chiang Mai segment as a twice-weekly service on Airbus A320-200 aircraft, before ramping up frequency to four times weekly on April 26.

Juneyao Airlines’ Thailand manager, Keith Lam, said: “Thailand is currently a very hot destination among the Chinese. The hugely popular Chinese movie, Lost in Thailand, which has spurred the interest of Chinese tourists in Thailand, was just the tipping point for us to expand our network to Chiang Mai.”

China became the top source market for Thailand in 2012. Last year, Chinese arrivals surged 47.1 per cent to a record 2.7 million arrivals, from 1.7 million in 2011.

Juneyao Airlines launched its first international destination with the commencement of daily flights from Shanghai to Phuket in November 2012. In January, it also started daily flights to Bangkok.

Lam said: “We have been seeing good passenger load factors on our Bangkok sector at about 85 per cent, while Phuket is slightly lower at 80 per cent or so.”

While its Thailand flights are still dominated by Chinese passengers, he revealed that the airline has been active in courting Thai tourists too.

“We are working with Thai travel agencies to create promotions for the outbound Thai market. For example, our Spring Festival packages were well received among the Thais.”

Juneyao Airlines is not the only carrier strengthening its network in Thailand. Hong Kong Airlines started operating a third daily Hong Kong-Bangkok flight on March 31 and will operate the Hong Kong-Phuket service on A330-300 aircraft instead of A320 from April 16. Kenya Airways also ramped up its four weekly services between Guangzhou and Nairobi via Bangkok to daily operations since April 1.

EMIRATES increased its number of services between Dubai and Kuala Lumpur from 26 to 28 weekly flights on April 1, its fourth frequency increase in four years.

The airline has introduced another 1,659 seats per week through two new flight timings, levelling the schedule to four daily flights on the route.

From Dubai, the new flight leaves at 21.35 on Saturdays and Sundays and arrives in Kuala Lumpur at 08.55 the next day, while the return flight takes off from Kuala Lumpur at 10.30 on Mondays and Fridays to reach Dubai at 13.10 the same day.

The sector has faced strong demand in the last few years, resulting in frequency adjustments. As recent as November 2012, Emirates had 21 flights a week, up from 14 weekly flights in 2009. On February 7, the carrier increased its number of services from 25 times a week to 26.

INTERCONTINENTAL Hotels Group (IHG) has opened Holiday Inn Bangkok Sukhumvit 22, marking its third Holiday Inn hotel in the city and 10^th in Thailand.

Boasting 300 guest rooms and luxury suites, the 20-storey hotel overlooks Bangkok’s Benjasiri Park, and is close to the main business district and several large shopping centres.

Facilities and amenities include free Wi-Fi throughout the hotel, a business centre, an outdoor lap pool, a fitness centre and an event centre featuring a variety of rooms and an 800-pax Grand Ballroom.

Dining wise, guests can choose from three F&B outlets: Zeta Café is the all-day dining restaurant; Lounge 9 has a tapas-style menu; and Maya is the stylish rooftop restaurant bar where one can grab an Indian meal and drinks.

Holiday Inn’s Kids Stay and Eat Free programme provides free accomodation for two children under 18 years old when sharing a room with up to two adults. On top of that, each child aged 12 and under gets to enjoy a complimentary breakfast, lunch and dinner from the children’s menu when accompanied by an adult who orders at least one main course.

Holiday Inn Bangkok Sukhumvit 22’s special opening rates start from 2,399 baht (US$82).