EMIRATES has increased its Jakarta-Dubai direct services from twice to thrice daily from March 2, providing more options for passengers continuing their journey from the Middle Eastern hub.

Travellers can choose to fly on a morning, mid-day or evening flight to suit their itineraries.

Emirates airline manager in Indonesia, Mohammed Al Nahari, said: “In line with the many (customer) requests, the increase in frequency makes Emirates one of the biggest longhaul airlines operating in Indonesia.”

The new flight leaves Jakarta at 07.45, arriving in Dubai at 12.15. The other two flights depart Jakarta at 12.40 and 17.55, touching down in Dubai at 05.30 and 22.45 respectively.

JETSTAR Asia is set to add six more weekly services between Singapore and Perth beginning April 1.

The new flights bring the carrier’s weekly Perth services to 13, offering an extra 2,000 seats per week between the two cities. Services are operated twice daily except for Sundays.

Jetstar Asia CEO, Bara Pasupathi, said: “Singapore travellers are the third biggest group of visitors to Perth. Last year, Jetstar Asia carried more than 100,000 passengers between Singapore and Perth.”

“The additional services from Perth will see a 40 per cent increase in connections from our Singapore hub to South-east Asian hotspots like Kuala Lumpur, Penang, Phuket and Ho Chi Minh City along with Greater China cities in Hong Kong and Taipei, making these destinations more accessible,” Pasupathi added.

PREMIER Hotels of Asia has been appointed the sales & marketing representative for Mandarin Oriental Hotel Group (MOHG) in India.

With offices in Singapore and India, Premier will target both the corporate and leisure segments in the Indian market.

Melanie Foo-Tiplady, vice president sales, Asia-Pacific, MOHG, said: “Outbound travel from India continues to grow rapidly for both corporate and leisure travel segments. In recent years, the Indian market has also witnessed a strong growth in MICE travel as well as special interest leisure travel.”

The Group now operates, or has under development, 45 hotels representing almost 11,000 rooms in 28 countries, with 19 hotels in Asia, 13 in the Americas and 13 in Europe, Middle East and North Africa.

Premier also provides sales and marketing services in Singapore and Hong Kong for The Leela Palaces, Hotels and Resorts.

UZBEKISTAN Airways is planning to mount direct flights between Singapore and Tashkent late this year.

Revealing this at its inaugural roadshow in Singapore yesterday, Uzbekistan Airways’ commercial director, Erkin Ubaydullaev, said the national carrier had observed a growing interest for non-stop flights between Singapore and Uzbekistan’s capital from both countries.

A twice-weekly service is being considered, with an average load of about 100 passengers each way.

Pointing out that this would eliminate the need for travellers to transit at Kuala Lumpur or Bangkok, he said: “We hope that the number of tourists will grow by at least twice compared to previous years.”

Patricia Auyeong, acting CEO for National Association of Travel Agents Singapore, said Uzbekistan had great tourism potential for tourism because of its rich history and culture. She said: “Singapore travel agencies have been selling this country as a travel destination for the last few years.

“Although the numbers are relatively small, (travel consultants) saw an increase in the number of Singaporeans visiting the country. In 2011, there were 350 Singaporeans, and in 2012, the number increased to 500.”

Uzbekistan Association of Tourism Organizations’ chairman, Otabek Djalilov, said: “Singapore is an important market for us in Asia, and we are pretty sure this new tourist destination will appeal to Singapore even more now.”

Ubaydullaev added that Singapore was a popular Asian destination for Uzbekistan’s outbound travellers as well.

The Tourism in Uzbekistan and Uzbekistan Airways roadshow, which also took place in Kuala Lumpur earlier this year, will make its way to Bangkok later in 2013.

– Read more in TTG Asia, March 8, 2013

THAI Smile, a sub-brand of Thai Airways International, will commence direct flights from Phuket to Mumbai and New Delhi, which trade sources say will boost travel to the already popular beaches in the south.

Operating four times a week, Phuket-Mumbai flights begin on March 31 and Phuket-New Delhi on April 1.

Rajesh Sethi, newly-elected president of the Society of Foreign Travel Operators, said: “Phuket has been very popular even though the traveller has to transit in Bangkok. With direct flights, southern Thailand will benefit from a large influx of Indian tourists as they will explore that region more.”

Laguna Phuket’s assistant vice president – destination marketing, Debbie Dionysius, was similarly positive. She said: “The growth of airline services from India is particularly exciting for us as we are engaging holidaymakers in this important market. Laguna Phuket is less than five hours by air from major Indian cities.”

Indian tourist arrivals to Thailand crossed the one-million mark for the first time in 2012.

Elsewhere, Cathay Pacific Airways is considering new flights from Hong Kong to other Indian cities after introducing four-weekly flights to Hyderabad and increasing flight frequency to Chennai. The airline also currently flies to New Delhi and Mumbai, while subsidiary Dragonair flies direct to Kolkata.

GHM today announced the termination of its management of The Strand Yangon in Myanmar.

The 112-year old, 30-room property will return to the arms of owner Strand Hotel International, who will manage the hotel instead.

GHM has run The Strand since September 1999, and GHM co-founder Adrian Zecha had been instrumental in launching the renaissance of the property.

“It is with deep regret that we close the book on GHM’s long relationship with The Strand,” said GHM president Hans R Jenni. “We have enjoyed many years of collaboration with the owners of this extraordinary hotel.”

PATA has teamed up with the producer of Digital Innovation Asia (DIA), E-Tourism Asia, to stage a series of digital events ahead of its own annual summit in April.

PATA’s DIA events, running from April 23 to 25, are timed to lead into the PATA Annual Summit, which will be held from April 25 to 28. These events include the China Boot Camp, Blogger Match-up Asia and Speak-out Asia.

China Boot Camp on April 23 will help companies understand how to reach and connect with affluent and sophisticated Chinese consumers, given the powerful influence of social media in modern China.

The Blogger Match-Up on April 24 will see speed-dating sessions connect bloggers from the region and the world with travel and tourism providers from Asia. It will also offer workshops on how to leverage citizen journalists, as well as how small with low budgets can be effective and engaging on social media.

In the evening, the inaugural Digital Innovation Asia Awards will also recognise the best in digital innovation in the travel and tourism industry from the region.

On April 25, the Tourism Authority of Thailand will host the inaugural Speak-Out Asia, featuring respected and well-known digital revolutionaries, showcasing technology solutions and sourcing innovations from across the region. It will include include Digital Aid Asia @ Speak-Out Asia, an initiative to leverage technology in developing responsible tourism.

JAPAN Airlines (JAL) has tweaked its flight schedule for the period of March 31 to May 31 to accommodate operational adjustments after grounding its Boeing 787 Dreamliners in January (TTG Asia e-Daily, January 17, 2013).

The airline has decreased the frequencies of services out of Tokyo’s Narita International Airport, reducing Narita-Boston flights from seven to four times weekly, Narita-San Diego from seven to three times weekly and Narita-Honolulu from three to two daily round trip flights.

Domestically, JAL will run 16 daily round trips from Haneda Airport to Sapporo instead of 18, and decrease the number of Haneda-Okinawa (Naha) services from 14 to 12. However, the carrier will operate 13 flights every day to Okinawa between March 31 and April 1, and April 27 and May 6.

Due to the grounding of Dreamliner aircraft, changes in aircraft deployment will be made on the following routes: the B767-300ER replaces the B787-8 for flights from Narita and Haneda to Singapore; the B777-200ER will take over from the B787-8 on routes from Narita to Boston, San Diego and Moscow; Haneda-Beijing will be plied by a B737-800 instead of a B787-8; and Haneda-Shanghai will be served by the B767-300ER and not the B777-200ER.

BEST Western International’s newest Indonesian property, Best Western Star Hotel, has opened its doors in the city of Semarang, Central Java.

The 258-room, newly-built hotel is located in Semarang’s CBD. Facilities include a rooftop sky pool bar, a restaurant and nine separate meeting rooms covering more than 620m², the largest of which can hold 180 guests. Free Wi-Fi is also available in all guestrooms.

“As we enter 2013, Indonesia will become a key part of our Asian expansion strategy,” said Glenn de Souza, vice president international operations – Asia & the Middle East, Best Western International.

“This year we plan to add at least 12 new hotels to our Indonesian collection, encompassing many of the country’s fast-growing cities.”

The group said it was also on track to more than quadruple its Indonesian portfolio within the next three years.