AFTER setting up a Rapid Recovery Task Force (PRRT) in 2011 (TTG Asia e-Daily, May 12, 2011), PATA is now ready to deploy the initiative should a crisis take place in Asia-Pacific.

Speaking at the official launch of the PRRT at PATA’s head office in Bangkok yesterday, Bert van Walbeek, chairman of PATA Thailand Chapter, said: “Everything about the PRRT was on a trial basis until now. Today we are 100 per cent ready to go.”

The fledgling PRRT has already been “helping behind the scenes” in relaying important travel advisories, contending biased media reports and helping rebuild consumer confidence, van Walbeek pointed out, while recent crises such as the Japan earthquake and tsunami of March 2011 and the Thailand flood crisis in 2011 have also provided learning points for the task force to refine its communication strategy.

“We were in the beginning very much focused on websites but now we realised that social media sites like Twitter and Facebook are the fastest ways to communicate,” he remarked.

PATA CEO Martin J Craigs agreed: “Countering misleading information in media and social media is a key element of the PRRT brief. Perception is reality. The visitor economies in the PATA region have been made painfully aware of this on numerous occasions.”

Apart from the “reactive” post-crisis strategies, PATA would also take “proactive” steps to raise crisis management readiness among its members, said van Walbeek.

PATA’s Bounce Back crisis management booklet, which is already available in Chinese and Japanese, will soon be translated into different South-east Asian languages such as Thai, Bahasa and Vietnamese. Meanwhile, training modules will be ready by mid-2013 and will be presented during PATA Travel Mart 2013 in Chengdu.

Led by van Walbeek, other members of the PRRT include David Beirman, senior lecturer, University of Technology, Sydney; Emma Cashmore, managing director, Axis Travel Marketing, London; Martin J Craigs, PATA CEO, Bangkok; Walt Judas, vice president marketing communications, Tourism Vancouver; Alexander Kesper, security and safety executive, Bali Hotels Association; Ken Scott, managing director, ScottAsia Communications, Bangkok; and Rick Vogel, president, Include, Tokyo.

MALAYSIA is losing out on the growing outbound traffic from India due to the lack of flights between the two countries.

Mirza Mohammad Taiyab, director general, Malaysia Tourism Promotion Board, said: “The number one concern in India is flights. There was a cutback in (air access) when AirAsia pulled out from North India, affecting the tourist inflow. Indian tourists are hoping for an increase in flights.”

“Connectivity must be enhanced for better passenger movements between the two countries. Among Malaysia, Singapore and Thailand, Malaysia has the least flight frequencies to India,” he added.

AirAsia X’s four-time weekly Kuala Lumpur-Mumbai flight was suspended in January last year, followed by the withdrawal of its daily service to New Delhi in March. AirAsia currently flies daily to Bangalore, Chennai, Kochi, Kolkata and Tiruchirapalli, their focus being on shorter flights.

In 2012, Malaysia Airlines (MAS) operated 40 flights a week to India, with 12 weekly flights from Kuala Lumpur to New Delhi and seven weekly flights each to Mumbai, Hyderabad, Chennai and Bangalore from Kuala Lumpur. MAS’ direct flight to Kolkata was withdrawn after only a few months of operation.

Arvind Tandon, managing director of Mumbai-based Faraway Places, said: “Tourism Malaysia has sustained promotional efforts of several destinations like Kuala Lumpur, Langkawi, Penang, Malacca, Kuching and Kota Kinabalu, and trade players are well-geared to receive Indian guests’ requests. However, we do not have enough flights to plan many groups to Malaysia during the high season even though the visa regime has eased considerably.”

Guldeep Singh Sahni, president, Outbound Tour Operators Association of India, agreed: “The severe dearth of flights, specially from North India, is discouraging Indian outbound travellers and steering them away to other destinations in South-east Asia like Vietnam, Thailand and to some extent, Myanmar.”

THE Association of Ticketing Companies in Indonesia (ASTINDO) has expressed regrets over the bankruptcy of Batavia Air (TTG Asia e-Daily, January 31, 2012) and urged the Ministry of Transportation to develop a policy that will protect airline ticketing companies.

ASTINDO board member, Pauline Suharno, said: “The court’s decision to declare the airline bankrupt is another disaster for ASTINDO members. (It is regrettable) that ticketing companies have to bear the burden of (yet another airline default).”

The now-defunct Adam Air went bankrupt in 2008, while Mandala Airlines faced debt problems in 2011 before being taken over by Tiger Airways and Saratoga Group.

“We are demanding Batavia Air to return our deposits as they belong to ticketing companies and are not part of the airline’s assets.”

Suharno explained that non-IATA airlines required ticketing companies to pay a deposit before tickets could be issued. In her opinion, such arrangements meant that airline companies were operating with funds belonging to ticketing companies.

“Therefore, we are renewing our plea to the Ministry of Transportation to issue a regulation on escrow accounts, so that whenever an airline default happens, (airline ticketing companies) can take their money back,” she added.

ASTINDO and Raya Insurance recently developed an insurance scheme to protect members from loss caused by airline defaults such as the Batavia Air incident.

“This is our way to protect our business, but we also need a strong government law to protect (middlemen like) us,” she said.

SINGAPORE hotels delivered a stellar performance last year, boosted by a record 10.7 million tourist arrivals to the country in the first three quarters of 2012 as well as the debut of several attractions, according to the latest CBRE Hotels MarketView.

Hotel occupancy for the 12-month period ending November stood at a robust 86.5 per cent, on par with last year’s level. Occupancy reached as high as 90 per cent in the month of July. Demand for luxury hotels stayed strong in 2012 as occupancy grew by 2.6 per cent, while upscale hotel occupancy rose by a mere 0.5 per cent.

Both midscale and economy tiers saw occupancy drop by 1.3 per cent and 0.9 per cent respectively.

In the same period, average daily rate (ADR) was S$260 (US$213), up 7.1 per cent year-on-year. September rates hit a new high at S$282 due to the F1 races.

Of the four hotel tiers, upscale properties witnessed the largest growth in ADR of 8.7 per cent, registering S$300. Economy hotels on the other hand rose by a mere 1.2 per cent to S$111.

Revenue per available room (RevPAR) of Singapore hotels rose by 7.2 per cent to hit $225 – a muted increment compared to the 16.1 per cent growth seen the year before. Luxury hotels recorded the strongest improvement in RevPAR – 10.3 per cent ­– among all tiers.

The review noted that Singapore welcome 1,200 new rooms coming from eight hotels. This year, a further 16 new hotels with 4,000 rooms are slated to be opened. In the next four years, a total of 11,000 rooms are expected to enter the market, representing a 25 per cent increase in the stock of gazetted rooms as at end-2012.

Midscale hotels will supply the largest number of rooms at 4,100. In addition, hotel sites on the 1H2013 Government Land Sales Reserve list, if triggered and sold, could add 1,800 more rooms.

The sizeable room supply and slower visitor growth could lead to lower occupancy rates and slower ADR growth, resulting in very limited RevPAR increments. CBRE expects an occupancy rate of 80-82 per cent and ADR growth of three-five per cent in 2013.

Meanwhile, labour shortage and manpower costs remain the main concerns for hotel operators, which if unmitigated, could impact profit margins.

INDONESIA’s Batavia Air has stopped operations as of midnight on January 31 following a successful bankruptcy petition by aircraft leasing company International Lease Finance Corporation (ILFC) in the Central Jakarta Commercial Court.

Batavia Air has failed to make a US$4.68 million lease payment to ILFC for two Airbus A330s on December 13, 2012, Antara News Agency reported. The airline’s operation and ticket sales continued normally until the court’s decision on January 30.

Ministry of Transportation’s director of air transportation, Herry Bakti Gumay, said: “The Ministry has requested that Batavia Air give an alternative to passengers who had booked and bought tickets to choose another carrier, and other airline companies to provide services to the default airline’s passengers with the minimum price (available).”

In Singapore, passengers holding Batavia Air tickets can obtain refunds from the airline’s office at the basement of Changi Airport Terminal 2.

In 2012, Batavia Air was the target of a US$80 million acquisition attempt by AirAsia to beef up its presence in Indonesia, but the deal was called off in October last year (TTG Asia e-Daily, October 15, 2012).

Additional reporting by Mimi Hudoyo

FOLLOWING a strategic review of its operations (TTG Asia e-Daily, January 28, 2013), AirAsia has decided not to launch flights from Singapore to India and China.

According to an earlier press statement, AirAsia claims that routes less than three hours allow better revenue returns due to more sectors flown.

The carrier’s CEO Tony Fernandes said: “Routes originating out of Singapore to larger-population countries like China and India tend to be more than five hours, hence AirAsia’s decision not to proceed with any venture there in the foreseeable future.”

Most major Indian cities such as New Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore and Chennai are approximately a five-hour flight from Singapore or the rest of South-east Asia.

Anil Punjabi, chairman-east, Travel Agents Federation of India, said: “The current connectivity AirAsia offers to Bangkok and Kuala Lumpur from Kolkata has been very useful for our inbound and outbound tourist traffic. It is possible that AirAsia may look at a presence in India in the near future as all flights within India to neighbouring countries like Nepal, Bhutan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and the Maldives are all of less than three hours’ flight time.”

* Our article initially stated that AirAsia would be ceasing its flights to China and India, which was factually incorrect and has been amended.

PHM Hospitality has been appointed by Ulimo Baseliob to manage The 101 Palembang, which will become the Jakarta-based company’s first property in the South Sumatran city of Palembang when it opens in mid-2014.

The 1O1 Palembang will target business and leisure travellers from the mid-scale premium market. Occupying 1,800m² on Jalan Rajawali, the hotel will feature 141 rooms and facilities such as a swimming pool, meeting rooms, a coffee shop and a gym.

Meanwhile, PHM Hospitality is currently developing properties ranging from budget to four-star deluxe in major cities in Indonesia such as Jakarta, Bogor, Bandung, Yogyakarta and Bali.

The 1O1 Jakarta Dharmawangsa will open its doors in mid-2013, while The 1O1 Bogor Suryakencana and The 1O1 Yogyakarta Mangkubumi will roll out by the end of this year.

Besides The 1O1 Palembang, other properties expected to debut next year include The 1O1 Bandung Dago, The 1O1 Bali Petittenget, The BnB Bali Sunset Road as well as The Haven Bali Brawa.

Earlier this month, PHM Hospitality renamed The Haven Seminyak to The Haven Bali Seminyak, The 1O1 Legian to The 1O1 Bali Legian, and The BnB Kelapa Gading Jakarta to The BnB Jakarta Kelapa Gading.

EARLIER this week, China’s first luxury cruise ship Henna set sail on her maiden voyage from Sanya Phoenix Island International Port, becoming the first Chinese company to enter the cruise market.

Operated by Cruise Yacht Management, which is owned by HNA Tourism, Henna features 739 passenger cabins, including nine suites with balconies, 432 ocean-view staterooms and 298 interior staterooms. It has a maximum passenger capacity of 1,965.

The cruise ship is outfitted with a range of facilities, ranging from restaurants, duty-free shops and casinos to cinemas, meeting rooms, and a swimming pool.

Homeporting in Sanya and Tianjin from January to April, Henna will sail between Sanya and Vietnam’s Halong Bay and Danang from January to April, and between Tianjin and South Korea’s Incheon and Jeju Island from May to September.

According to the China Daily, the 223m vessel was first built in 1986 for Carnival Cruise Lines, before being bought over by HNA Tourism from Pacific Sun P&O Cruises Australia last year. It underwent a refurbishment to become Henna.

VIETNAM Airlines will commence a weekly service from Nha Trang to Moscow using Boeing 777-200ER aircraft from April 5, marking the country’s third air link to the Russian capital city.

During the winter season, flight frequency on the Nha Trang-Moscow segment will be ramped up to twice-weekly from October 17.

A Vietnam Airlines representative in Russia was quoted by a Voice of Vietnam report as saying that the new route aimed to maintain large numbers of Russian visitors to Vietnam amid a global economic slowdown.

The Vietnamese flag carrier is currently offering a 10 per cent discount for return tickets on this new route until June 30.