PANORAMA Group and Booking.com have formed a strategic partnership to launch Bookpanorama.com, with an initial investment of about US$2 million.

Bookpanorama.com, an online hotel reservation system offering accommodation from around the world, leverages Booking.com’s portfolio of more than 270,000 hotels in 179 countries worldwide.

With a book-now-pay-later policy, Bookpanorama.com allows travellers to pay the hotel directly upon checkout, distinguishing it from rivals.

Panorama Group CEO, Budi Tirtawisata, said: “E-commerce offers huge potential, and now is the perfect time to enter this business. In future, we expect to see e-commerce as the main (business channel) of Panorama Group.”

Currently, there are 55 million Internet users in Indonesia today, or 23 per cent of the population. The number of Internet users is expected to leap to 160-170 million by 2015.

Bookpanorama.com is Panorama Group’s third e-commerce business after Rajakamar.com, which focuses solely on local accommodation reservations, and Travelicious.co.id, an online daily deals site.

A JAPANESE delegation from Kansai visited the Malaysian Association of Tour and Travel Agents (MATTA) headquarters yesterday to promote travel to the Kansai region, which includes the prefectures of Mie, Nara, Wakayama, Kyoto, Hyogo and Shiga.

Led by Keiji Yamada, governor of Kyoto Prefecture, the delegation highlighted the Visit Kansai Year as well as the region’s readiness to welcome Muslim travellers.

Traditional Kansai cuisine will be a central theme of the Visit Kansai Year, an ongoing campaign running until December 31, 2013, with 40-50 events featuring food this year, according to Yamada. There are 30 halal restaurants in Kansai, he added.

New Kansai International Airport also boasts a halal restaurant and a prayer room, said Ken Harata, the airport’s senior vice president.

To reach out to Malaysian travellers, Yamada said Wakayama Prefecture and Universal Studios Japan will exhibit under the Japan National Tourism Organization pavilion at the upcoming MATTA Fair in Kuala Lumpur from March 15 to 17.

Last year, Japan received 8.3 million tourists, of which 100,000 were Malaysians.

SIX SENSES Hotels Resorts Spas will launch its Six Senses brand in the Caribbean, South America and Bhutan as it embarks on an expansion strategy that will see it add five new-build properties in five countries by 2016.

The company is developing properties in St Lucia, the Dominican Republic, Columbia and Bhutan, while Six Senses Qing Cheng Mountain, China is expected to open by end-2013.

The proactive growth plan follows a number of key leadership appointments, including Wolf Hengst as executive chairman, Neil Jacobs as CEO and Anna Bjurstam as vice president of spa and wellness. President Bernhard Bohnenberger will continue in that role, reporting directly to Jacobs.

Six Senses will also introduce a new visual identity, scheduled to go live with a new web site in early March. The six-sphere pyramid graphic will be retained, but reproduced in purple. It will be reproduced in green to be used specifically for the Six Senses Spas.

THE proposed high-speed rail system linking Singapore and Kuala Lumpur in 90 minutes is set to be a game changer for travel between the two cities, as airlines and bus companies mull over how to remain competitive.

Scheduled for completion in 2020, it will dramatically cut the journey between the two cities, which currently averages eight hours by rail. Ticket prices and end-point station locations have not yet been announced.

The agreement, touted to be the biggest joint infrastructure project by the two countries, was unveiled by Singaporean prime minister Lee Hsien Loong and Malaysian prime minister Najib Razak as they wrapped up their annual leaders’ retreat in Singapore yesterday.

Responding to the development, Sebastian Yap, a committee member of the Express Bus Agencies Association, told TTG Asia e-Daily: “This is a huge blow to our routes between Singapore and Kuala Lumpur, but this is all part of the developing technology today so we have no choice but to embrace it.”

Yap said that coach operators would have to change the way they operate and added that buses could offer travellers the option of visiting other cities in Malaysia apart from Kuala Lumpur.

Lotus Ooi, general manager, Konsortium Express & Tours, agreed. “We will have to look at new options now to complement each other (in order) to meet changing market demand,” he pointed out.

Logan Velaitham, CEO of AirAsia Singapore, however, felt there would be minimal impact on the LCC. “We compete against our cost at all times and not against others’. In addition to a cost strategy, AirAsia adopts a ‘value innovation’ strategy by carefully studying market relevance and embracing technology to help improve efficiency and stay relevant in the ever-changing market.” (See CAPA’s detailed analysis on air traffic impact.)

Apart from the planned fast trains, the two leaders visited joint projects in Johor and broke ground for the first of two wellness projects in Medini Iskandar, reported local broadsheetThe Straits Times. The two-hectare Afiniti in Medini North will have a wellness centre, shops, residences, a corporate training centre, as well as a 310-unit serviced apartment managed by CapitaLand’s Ascott. The other project, Avira, will be located at Medini Central.

The prime ministers also witnessed the signing between CapitaLand, Temasek Holdings and Iskandar Waterfront Holdings for a waterfront township to be built on a manmade island in Danga Bay, which will have a marina, a shopping mall, office space, homes and recreational facilities.

ZAMBIA Tourism Board is in the final stages of sealing a deal with Mumbai-based Blue Square Consultants for market representation in India.

The NTO will raise awareness of Zambia through advertising, roadshows and fam trips for the media and trade. It is also looking at educating travel consultants through a tie-up with Kuoni Academy and an online training programme.

Apart from wildlife, the country’s adventure products and UNESCO World Heritage Site Victoria Falls will also be promoted.

Mato Shimabale, director marketing, Zambia Tourism Board, said: “I think it is the right time to open a representation office in this part of the world as Indian travellers are looking for new destinations.”

Around 25,000 Indians visited the African nation last year, a number that Zambia Tourism Board aims to double over the next two years. Traffic mostly comprises business travel.

“Our target is to attract a lot of leisure and MICE movement. Zambia is co-hosting the UNWTO 2013 General Assembly from August 24 to 29. Almost 1,000 delegates are expected to participate at the event. This shows that we are well positioned to host MICE events,” said Shimabale.

He also shared that an airline may start direct flights between the two countries in the coming months.

Colette Mphande, reservations manager, Amazing Zambia, said: “Our main focus is to collaborate with local partners as they know the market here.”

WITNESSING its first-ever annual profit since its 2005 opening, Hong Kong Disneyland (HKDL) saw an 18 per cent growth in revenue for the year ended September 29, 2012.

The park recorded a net profit of HK$109 million (US$14.1 million), bringing total revenue for fiscal year 2012 to HK$4.3 billion.

According to news agency AFP, the number of visitors to HKDL rose by 13 per cent to post 6.7 million, a record high. Visits by Hong Kong residents and mainland Chinese grew by 21 and 13 per cent respectively.

Figures in the park’s release stated that locals comprised 33 per cent of HKDL visitors, mainlanders 45 per cent and foreigners 22 per cent.

Hotel occupancy stood at 92 per cent, also a company record, while per capita guest expenditure rose six per cent.

HKDL managing director, Andrew Kam, said: “The opening of Toy Story Land and Grizzly Gulch, together with strong sales and marketing strategies, have been key drivers for our growth.”

The openings in July 2012 contributed to an increase of more than 40 per cent in the number of annual pass holders to 195,000.

Meanwhile, a new themed area, Mystic Point, is scheduled to open in mid-2013, marking the completion of the park’s expansion plans and bringing the total number of attractions and entertainment options to over 100.