LONGHAUL travel consultants at the recently concluded ASEAN Tourism Forum (ATF) in Vientiane have seen growing interest in Sabah and Sarawak, with competitive airfares and hotel rates pushing up demand.

Norway-based Asia Spesialisten’s director of sales and marketing, Oddvar Sivertsen, said: “Low-cost carriers have opened air access to the more remote parts of Sabah and Sarawak, and this too is causing demand for tailor-made, off-the-beaten-track tours.”

Cheaper airfares and hotel rates had driven demand for FIT travel, especially among the 30-50 year-old group, he observed. Tours to these states typically combine a beach experience, a soft adventure component and cultural tours that incorporate educational elements and novel experiences.

Air France’s new thrice-weekly direct flights between Charles de Gaulle Airport and Kuala Lumpur International Airport beginning April 22 has also interested at least one DMC from France.

Abako general manager, Jose Henrique Goncalves, said: “We’re in the middle of preparing a concept paper on Borneo as an incentive destination and once ready, we will promote it to our clients in the automobile, construction, health and finance sectors.

“With direct flights, we don’t have to stop in Singapore for a night, which is expensive. Malaysia’s hotel rates are competitive and one can negotiate with them. The French have a good image of Malaysia as a destination that is modern yet retains an old-world charm.”

Germany-based Kornelius Reisen’s owner, Johannes Harle, said Sabah and Sarawak also appealed to niche travellers keen on nature, culture and adventure.

A MASTER plan to redevelop and conserve Manila’s historical walled city of Intramuros will spawn a river promenade, theme parks, boutique hotels, museums, theatres and other attractions.

Though details are not yet known, TTG Asia e-Daily understands that the restoration project will be open to private investors. Meanwhile, Augusto Rustia, chief, Cultural Properties and Conservation Division of the Intramuros Administration, said some components of the master plan are already underway.

Maestranza Park, facing Pasig River, will have a promenade, a dock for river cruises, cafes, restaurants, shops and exhibition areas, patterned after Singapore’s Clarke Quay. The reconstruction of San Ignacio Church also started this year to make way for an ecclesiastical museum, which will house 7,000 artefacts.

Other developments include the conversion of the former Ateneo Municipal School into a boutique hotel and the transformation of the space along Santa Lucia Gate into a small-scale theme park of Old Manila’s historical landmarks, similar to Madurodam in The Hague. The American Barracks will also house an American colonial period museum.

Rustia, whose department is being consulted for the master plan, said he would like Intramuros’ restoration to include more features, such as the revival of the Rajah Sulayman Theater and the art performances in Puerto Real.

However, he lamented that there was a lack of funds and conservation was not a priority in the country.

LAGOI Bay Bintan is shaping up as a leisure and MICE destination, with several new resorts and attractions coming online over the next one year.

Bintan Resorts International’s director for marketing, Asad Shiraz, said the myriad activities and accommodation options due to open soon in Lagoi Bay would draw more high-end FIT travellers as well as corporate meetings and incentive groups.

Beginning operations this June are lifestyle mall Lagoi Beach Village, an amphibious ultra-light aircraft, a canopy walkway in the forest surrounding Lake Lagoi and teambuilding activities involving ropeways. By end-2013, an off-road rally car circuit will round up the slate of new attractions.

On the accommodations front, The Sanchaya will debut 19 luxury villas and nine suites in September 2013, adding to Lagoi Bay’s five-resort, 1,400-key room inventory.

Early next year, Alila Villas Bintan and Swiss-Belhotel Lagoi Bay, Bintan will further plump up the inventory with over 250 new rooms. Both properties are within walking distance to The Sanchaya, Lake Lagoi and Lagoi Beach Village.

Bintan welcomed 476,000 arrivals last year, according to Asad. Of the total figure, 30 per cent were Singaporeans, 20 per cent Indonesians and the rest from all over the world.

With the new developments, Asad hopes Bintan will attract more Indonesian, Chinese and Indian tourists both for leisure as well as meetings and incentives.

SINGAPORE-based The Ascott Limited has dipped its toes into North American waters through the sealing of a marketing partnership with AKA, a luxury brand of serviced residences, and the appointment of Serviced Apartments Worldwide (SAW) as its sales representative in the country.

Ascott’s marketing partnership with AKA will see the former recommend its US-bound customers to stay at AKA properties while AKA will refer its customers to lodge in Ascott’s properties when travelling out of the US. AKA provides luxury furnished suites in metropolitan US locations, widening Ascott’s reach to 80 cities across the US, Europe, Asia-Pacific and the Gulf region.

Meanwhile, Ascott has also named SAW’s Carol Barron as its sales representative in the US and Canada market. As sales representative, she is charged with driving sales and promoting Ascott serviced residences.

Tony Soh, Ascott’s chief corporate officer, said: “Ascott’s serviced residences are located in key cities where many American multinational corporations have set up operations. Currently, these companies account for more than 30 per cent of our corporate business and we expect this to increase.”

He added that international outbound business travel from America was forecast to increase and travellers were expected to stay for longer, generating demand for serviced residences.

CHINA’S travel-hungry travellers are seizing the upcoming Lunar New Year holidays to take a vacation, and overseas destinations such as Japan, Cambodia and Vietnam are set to benefit, according to Skyscanner.

The global travel search site reported that outbound searches from China for travel during the New Year period shot up by 122 per cent overall compared to the period immediately preceding it, and this is up 209 per cent on the same holiday period in 2012.

Japan ranked number one for an increase in searches, tripling to 309 per cent despite recent political tensions. This is followed by Vietnam (275 per cent) and Cambodia (274 per cent). Singapore, meanwhile, ranked ninth for showing an increase of 186 per cent.

Yi Bao, general manager for Greater China, Skyscanner, said: “Our data shows that more and more Chinese travellers are using the New Year holiday week to travel, and in particular (to) destinations such as Vietnam and Cambodia.

“Where once most people would stay at home, the availability of cheap flights means families can relax abroad for a few days, or visit family overseas, for far cheaper than they think.”

THE World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) has voiced hopes that countries across the world will continue working on visa facilitation to ease tourism flows, even as Asia-Pacific and the Americas have been named as the most open regions in 2012 in terms of tourist visa requirements.

When travelling to Asia-Pacific, 20 per cent of the world’s population do not require visas, 19 per cent are eligible for visas on arrival (VoAs) and another seven per cent can obtain e-visas. For the Americas, these figures stand at 31 per cent, eight per cent and one per cent respectively.

Although 21 per cent of the global population does not need a visa to enter Europe – the least open region – only six per cent can apply for VoAs and the continent has no e-visa system.

Globally, 63 per cent of the world population must secure visas before travel, 16 per cent can apply for VoAs and two per cent are allowed to get e-visas.

The silver lining is that recent years have seen progress towards visa facilitation. Between 2008 and 2012, the percentage of the global population that required a traditional tourism visa for travel fell from 77 to 63 per cent.

Since 2010, 43 destinations have scaled down processes from mandatory visas to allowing VoAs, e-visas or scrapping the need for the document altogether, affecting 5,080 destination-source market relations.

According to research by UNWTO and the World Travel and Tourism Council, improving visa processes could generate an extra US$206 billion in tourism receipts and up to 5.1 million more jobs by 2015 within G20 economies alone.

Said UNWTO secretary-general, Taleb Rifai: “An overall restrictive visa policy means lost opportunities for economic growth and jobs, which tourism could bring to destinations. Travellers regard visas as a formality which entails a cost. This can be a deterrent to travel if costs – whether monetary or indirect – including distance, wait times and service, exceed a certain threshold.”

HAINAN Airlines will add a new route to the US come September 13, when it launches direct flights to Beijing from Chicago.

The four-weekly service will operate on Tuesdays, Thursdays, Saturdays and Sundays on two-class Airbus A330-200 aircraft. Beijing-bound flights depart Chicago at 15.30 and arrive at 18.40 the next day, while flights to Chicago will take off from Beijing at 13.20 and touch down at 13.30 the same day.

Hainan Airlines currently runs flights from Toronto and Seattle/Tacoma to Beijing.

Rosemarie Andolino, commissioner of the Chicago Department of Aviation, said: “Securing new investment and interaction between Chicago and China is a high priority for mayor Rahm Emanuel, and (the) new service from Hainan (Airlines), a mainland China-based carrier, is a critical step in that direction.”