THE Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACC) has approved of the partnership between Qantas and Emirates for a period of five years, following a six-month review process that began in 2012.

The tie-up will allow passengers to travel seamlessly through international and Australian networks and gain from frequent flyer benefits on both airlines.

Qantas and Emirates will also at least maintain their current capacities on the four routes they operate between Australia and New Zealand. Subject to approval in New Zealand, the ability to cooperate on these routes will allow airlines to market both Australia and New Zealand to their global networks.

Qantas Group CEO, Alan Joyce, said: “Customers are already responding very strongly to the joint network that Qantas and Emirates have built, and to the frequent flyer benefits that extend across it, with a significant increase in bookings.”

In September last year, Qantas inked a global agreement with Emirates, which saw the former drop Singapore as a stopover on the Kangaroo Route and the end of its partnership with British Airways on the sector (TTG Asia e-Daily, September 6, 2012).

The ACCC gave preliminary approval to the partnership in January this year (TTG Asia e-Daily, January 17, 2013), enabling the carriers to work together on joint sales, marketing and pricing strategies.

Qantas and Emirates offer a total of 98 flights a week between Australia and Dubai, with Qantas continuing daily services from Melbourne and Sydney to London, via Dubai. Passengers transiting in Dubai can connect to 65 one-stop destinations in Europe, North Africa and the Middle East.

MALAYSIANS are increasingly exploring new destinations, driven by air developments in the region.

According to a study by metasearch site Wego, Malaysian users searched 900 more destinations for flights than in 2011, bringing the total number of flight destination searches to 2,500. The behaviour of 100,000 travellers using Wego.com.my in 2012 up to February 2013 was analysed.

In terms of accommodation, users are now looking at stays in 400 new destinations out of almost 2,000 destinations in total, for the same period.

Internationally, Bangkok, Jakarta, Taipei and Singapore still reign, but may face competition from secondary destinations.

Dean Wicks, chief marketing officer, Wego, said: “Users are constantly finding new routes with AirAsia, Jetstar, Malindo Air and other carriers, which soon become popular especially if they are seen to be affordable.

“It’s driving a shift away from the traditional selections of Bali and Phuket in favour of destinations like Bandung, a favourite weekend retreat with Jakarta residents; Hat Yai; Macau; and Perth.”

He cited Istanbul as another destination that has caught the eye of Malaysian travellers, and believed that further developments in aviation would increase the popularity of secondary destinations further.

Within the country, Kuala Lumpur is the top search. One in every eight Malaysian users seeks flights to the capital and even more for hotels in the city.

Other cities in the top 10 are (in order): Langkawi, Penang, Cameron Highlands, Port Dickson, Johor Bahru, Genting Highlands, Kota Kinabalu, Malacca and Kuching.

Accommodation-wise, 16 per cent of Malaysians booked five-star hotels; 26 per cent booked four-stars, 31 per cent booked three-stars; 17 per cent booked two-stars; and the rest was spread among one-star and uncategorised hotels.

KINGDOM Property has sold The Suites Tower, part of its Southpoint Pattaya twin tower project, to a local Thai investor for development into internationally managed serviced residences.

The purchase of the 224-unit building represents about 30 per cent of Southpoint Pattaya’s saleable area, which generated strong buyer interest following its Environmental Impact Assessment approval in November last year.

Southpoint Pattaya is located close to Bali Hai in Pattaya City on an elevated site on Pratumnak Hill, within walking distance of the Royal Varuna Yacht Club. Valued at 2.5 billion baht (US$85.3 million), the development is slated for completion in 2015.

Unit sizes at the condominium range from 30m² for studios, 41-87m² for one-bedroom units and 61-97m² for two-bedroom apartments. It includes a dedicated sky deck in each tower, an infinity edge lap pool, a fitness centre and a landscaped family zone featuring a children’s pool and playground.

Pattaya saw over eight million hotel guests in 2012, according to a release by Kingdom Property.

COSTA Cruises’ Costa Atlantica will be sailing into Singapore in May, offering passengers a series of shorthaul voyages around the region.

First announced last year (TTG Asia e-Daily, May 22, 2012), the 2,680-passenger ship sets sail on May 8, 15, 29 and June 5 on three-night journeys to Malacca and Penang, and May 4, 11, 18, 25 and June 1 and 8 on four-night trips to Phuket and Langkawi.

Costa Atlantica features 1,057 cabins, including 54 suites with private balconies, 620 cabins with private balconies, 167 external cabins and 212 inside cabins. Passengers can enjoy interior design inspired by Italian films and dine at the replica of the famous Caffe Florian, which opened in Venice in 1720.

Facilities and entertainment include a spa, live performances, a children’s club and tailored Kid’s Programme, four restaurants, a multipurpose sports pitch, outdoor jogging track and four swimming pools.

Costa Atlantica joins sister vessel Costa Victoria in Singapore, doubling Costa’s capacity in Asia.

WORLDHOTELS is bringing its branded hotel concept to Indonesia, kicking off plans to open 30 Worldhotels in the country with the announcement of Worldhotel Balangan, which will launch in early 2014.

The chain has also recently signed for a second property in Bali, offering 200 rooms and villas in Pecatu.

Roland Jegge, executive vice president, Asia-Pacific, Worldhotels, said: “Since launching the Worldhotels branded hotel concept two years ago, we now have 16 branded hotels coming to 20, and half of them are in Asia.”

To grow the Worldhotels brand in South-east Asia, the chain has linked up with Tauzia Hotel Management in Indonesia.

“While Worldhotels is (in charge of) global sales and marketing, Tauzia provides technical assistance, management and operational consultancy. I’m happy to announce that our first branded hotel in Indonesia will open in 2014,” said Marc Steinmeyer, president director, Tauzia Hotel Management. “We plan to have two or three Worldhotels-branded properties in Bali, and we will later bring the brand to Jakarta and Surabaya with business hotels.”

Once the brand is established in Indonesia, Steinmeyer said there were plans to take it to neighbouring countries.

Apart from the Worldhotels-branded properties, luxury resort The Breezes Bali Resort & Spa has recently become a Worldhotels affiliate property, joining Ayodya Resort Bali, The Sultan Hotel Jakarta and Bintan Lagoon Resort.

Added Jegge: “We are looking at other destinations in Indonesia like Bandung, Surabaya and Jogjakarta for more branded or affiliate properties, with an aggressive plan to add more than 30 properties to the network in Indonesia over the next 10 years.”

SINGAPORE’S integrated resorts and attractions continue to exert a strong pull on visitors, with sightseeing/entertainment (including gaming) coming in as the top-contributing component to tourism receipts in 2012.

Last year saw the debut of new products such as Port of Lost Wonder in Sentosa and the Bird Breeding Centre in Jurong Bird Park.

During a media conference today on last year’s tourism performance, STB chief executive, Lionel Yeo, reiterated the country’s desire to increase tourism yield through visitor spend rather than footfalls.

He said: “We cannot be growing visitors indefinitely and we really want to focus on discerning business and leisure travellers who can take advantage of the differentiated offerings in Singapore.

“We want to go after CEOs who will bring their entire senior team to Singapore for teambuilding or corporate learning exercises as Singapore can provide them the experience they need.”

As part of its push for high-yield tourists, STB had earlier announced a new Kickstart Fund with an initial funding of S$5 million (US$4 million) to support local SMEs or individuals with creative ideas for lifestyle concepts with strong tourism potential and scalability (TTG Asia e-Daily, March 14, 2013).

Some 14.4 million tourists arrived in Singapore last year, a nine per cent increase over 2011, while tourism receipts recorded S$23 billion, a mere 3.6 per cent rise. STB has forecast 14.8-15.5 million arrivals and tourism receipts of S$23.5-24.5 billion for 2013.

As to whether Singapore was losing out on budget tourists, STB assistant chief executive, Melissa Ow, said: “We recognise that Singapore is an expensive city but we should see price in the context of what it buys.

“It is about whether you want to have a quality and valuable experience at the end of the day.”

Meanwhile, Singapore also saw a growth in the number of travel agencies, from 1,046 in 2011 to 1,103 in 2012.

THE largest KidZania in Asia is due to open its doors on March 29 in Siam Paragon in Bangkok.

Spanning 10,000m², KidZania Bangkok is the 12^th attraction in the franchise and the third in South-east Asia after Jakarta and Kuala Lumpur. Singapore’s KidZania will open on Sentosa by 2014 (TTG Asia e-Daily, June 5, 2012).

The KidZania concept blends entertainment and education in realistic, interactive cities where children can role play any of 80 careers in 65 establishments such as a bank or restaurant.

Partnering 22 global and local brands such as AirAsia, Coca-Cola, Canon and Muang Thai Life Insurance, this makes for a more authentic experience – children can climb into a real Boeing 737 fuselage and cockpit for a test flight, for example.

Unique to KidZania Bangkok, children can explore the Green Tea Factory or Drinking Water Research Center.

KidZania also has parks in South Korea, Japan, Dubai, Chile, Portugal and Mexico, while there are a dozen locations under development such as in India.

THE Five Country Conference (5CC), consisting of Australia, Canada, New Zealand, the UK and US, has collaborated with VFS Global to set up a visa application centre in Singapore.

The centre started operations yesterday for Australia, New Zealand and UK visas, offering a seamless visa application process for these countries, but also jointly tackling visa and identity frauds.

While the centre will handle applications, the respective immigration authorities will assess the visa applications.

The British high commissioner, Antony Phillipson, said: “The use of shared visa application facilities will save us costs through shared infrastructure and resources, and allow us to maintain the very high levels of service we provide to our customers in Singapore and continue to develop new premium products to meet their needs.”

Key features of the joint visa application centre include longer operating hours, dedicated counters for applicants and travel consultants, standardised documentation, a dedicated call centre, an online appointment system and application status tracking and SMS alerts for visa status updates.

Located on Cecil Street, the centre is open between 08.00 and 16.00 from Monday to Friday. A nominal fee is levied for services at the centre.

Over the past decade, the border control agencies of the 5CC nations have worked together on several areas of cooperation including the use of biometrics to tackle identity fraud, information sharing, intelligence and repatriation.