PANORAMA Tours International is looking to establish a new office outside its Indonesian base every year for the next five years.

According to Panorama Tours Indonesia president director, Royanto Handaya, the move to set up foreign offices was to tap the rising interest in travel in Asia, fuelled by the region’s growing connectivity and middle-class segments.

“By having overseas offices, either through joint ventures or wholly owned companies, we can control the standard of service and implement best practices to serve our customers,” he added.

On the radar are cities in Vietnam, Turkey, Australia and Thailand, provided the political situation in these countries are stable, said V Endy Wiselly Lu, vice-president, international business development, Panorama Tours International.

Panorama Tours Beijing, which opened in November 2012, is the company’s fourth overseas office, with the other three located in France, Singapore and Malaysia. All its overseas offices are joint ventures with local partners.

ABSOLUTE Hotel Services (AHS) will combine Sunbeam Hotel Pattaya and neighbouring Hotel Idyll, rebranding both properties as the 268-key Eastin Hotel Pattaya come May 2013.

“This is exciting news as it will be our first Eastin Hotel in Pattaya and the fourth property under the Eastin Brand in Thailand, with a total of close to 1,000 rooms.” said Jonathan Wigley, CEO, AHS.

Located between Beach Road and Pattaya 2^nd Road in the shopping and nightlife districts, both properties are currently undergoing soft refurbishment while operating as the Sunbeam Hotel Pattaya and Hotel Idyll respectively.

The two hotels comprise 268 rooms and suites, with facilities such as an all-day dining restaurant, bakery, outdoor swimming pool, business centre, fitness centre, as well as meeting and function rooms.

CARLSON Rezidor Hotel Group is poised to remain the international hotel operator with the most number of properties in India, following 13 hotel openings and 13 new signings in 2012.

The Group now has 63 hotels in operation and 44 hotels in development in its Indian portfolio.

“Apart from opening 13 more hotels in India this year, we will continue in our efforts to drive hotel management excellence and build capability at all levels. Carlson Rezidor is also ready to move forward aggressively with rolling out our midscale Park Inn by Radisson hotel brand in selected locations in India,” said Simon C Barlow, president, Asia Pacific, Carlson Rezidor Hotel Group.

Properties due to open this year include the 124-key Park Plaza Salem, the 100-key Park Inn by Radisson Gurgaon Bilaspur, the 45-key Country Inn & Suites by Carlson Jim Corbett and the 94-key Country Inns & Suites by Carlson Navi Mumbai.

In 2012, the group launched the first Radisson Blu hotels in Ahmedabad, Ghaziabad, Jaipur and Nagpur, as well as its first hotels in Hyderabad and Kandla. The 13 new deals signed last year comprised major cities, resort destinations and satellite towns such as Faridabad, Gandhinagar, Jalandhar, Karjat, Salem, Gurgaon, Bhiwadi and Goa.

Carlson Rezidor’s expansion in India also gained added traction with the April 2012 signing of a strategic alliance with Bestech Hospitalities to develop a network of 49 Park Inn by Radisson hotels in north and central India by 2024.

LONDON-based broadcaster Travel Channel International has joined PATA as a Preferred Partner, a partnership that will enable both parties to share data including research, statistics and analysis and to develop joint consumer and industry surveys and reports.

The tie-up will also allow the two to collaborate on brand-building opportunities at major events such as PATA Annual Conference, PATA Travel Mart and PATA Hub City Forums.

PATA CEO, Martin J Craigs, said: “Our mutually beneficial partnership with Travel Channel International will give our members special access to exciting programmes and great insights during PATA events. Travel Channel presenters are well versed in addressing the latest trends affecting the travel industry such as luxury getaways, backpacking adventures, culinary holidays, green trips and more.”

Owned by Scripps Networks Interactive, Travel Channel transmits 24 hours a day in 21 languages to 130 countries in Europe, the Middle East, Africa and Asia-Pacific. Its core programming includes World’s Greatest Motorcycle Rides, Inside Luxury Travel, Globe Trekker, Essential and Travel Today.

IMPROVED flight capacities have lifted Asian arrivals to Australia, resulting in a six per cent increase in visitors from Asia for the year ending September 2012, led by growth from China.

According to the International Visitor Survey published by Tourism Research Australia last month, Asia accounted for 2.2 million of the 5.6 million arrivals (aged 15 and over), which saw a three per cent rise.

China overtook the UK as the second-largest inbound market, thanks to recent capacity injections by China Southern Airlines, Air China and China Eastern Airlines. New Zealand took the top spot with 1.1 million arrivals, followed by China at 573,071 and the UK with 558,149.

Queensland remained a popular choice for China. Chinese numbers were up 24 per cent to 248,000 and expenditure A$449 million (US$474 million), up 19 per cent.

“There are strong signs the state’s share of the China market will increase even further in 2013, with additional China Southern and China Eastern flights scheduled to arrive in the new year,” said tourism minister Jann Stuckey.

During the same period, 61,000 Singaporeans travelled to Queensland, up 11 per cent, staying longer and spending more year-on-year.

Stuckey remarked: “Scoot’s new direct Singapore-Gold Coast flights, which began in June, have also made an impact, with 31,000 Singaporeans travelling to Gold Coast in the year up to September, a 29 per cent increase over 2011.”

Meanwhile, India also performed strongly, with arrivals increasing 11 per cent to 30,000.

“We know aviation access is vital to increasing international visitor numbers and that is why the Newman government created the A$8 million Attracting Aviation Investment Fund,” she added.

HARNESSING the reach of Ang Lee’s movie, Life of Pi, India has announced its new tourism campaign, Land of Pi.

The film, based on Yann Martel’s book of the same name, was largely shot in Puducherry in Pondicherry and Munnar in Kerala.

The campaign will run in English, Mandarin, Japanese, French and German, with roadshows held in mainland China and Taiwan initially. India’s tourism ministry will also run Land of Pi online contests, in which two winners each month stand to win air tickets to Chennai or Kochi and holiday packages to Puducherry and Munnar. Special walking trails and tours have also been finalised for tourists on Land of Pi itineraries.

Tourism minister, K Chiranjeevi, said the ministry would roll out incentives and promotions for international filmmakers who wish to shoot their films in India.

“Life of Pi is a beautiful film with images that leave a lasting impression. The locales used have been portrayed aesthetically and should give viewers an attractive preview of our destinations. I expect the Land of Pi campaign to elicit great interest in south India as an inbound tourist destination,” said Johny Abraham George, managing director, Intersight Tours & Travels Cochin.

TURKISH Tourism Office has doubled its promotional budget for India from last year and will ramp up cultural showcases in a bid to further encourage further growth from the market.

Turkey received 78,000 visitors from India between January and October 2012, a 25 per cent increase over the same period the year before.

“We plan to invest US$2 million in the Indian market in 2013 – half of which will go to advertising and the rest to participating in tourism fairs, organising film festivals and cultural shows and joint promotional campaigns,” said Özgür Aytürk, culture and tourism counsellor, Turkish Embassy New Delhi.

Turkish Tourism Office is also looking to establish a Yunus Emre Turkish Cultural Center to showcase its culture and offer Turkish language lessons.

Turkish Airlines has also applied for approval to double the number of daily flights it runs from New Delhi and Mumbai. The airline has also applied to operate services to Chennai, Hyderabad, Bengaluru, Kolkata, Ahmedabad and Amritsar.

“Turkey has become very popular among Indian travellers. Efforts to increase the number of promotional campaigns or flights will add to its visitor arrivals from India,” said Prem Syal, CEO and managing director, Hi! Tours.

GARUDA Indonesia and Indonesia’s Directorate General of Immigration have renewed their Immigration on Board service, expanding it with a new Immigration at the Lounge feature and a Fast Track Immigration lane at Jakarta’s Soekarno-Hatta International Airport.

The Immigration at the Lounge service allows business class passengers and Garuda Frequent Flyer Platinum members to have their immigration documents cleared at the airline’s executive lounge. They can also zip through immigration via a fast track lane at the airport.

Garuda’s two new services augment its existing Immigration on Board service. Passengers who obtain a visa on arrival (VOA) voucher at Garuda offices or their airports of origin for US$25 will receive their VOAs and have their documents checked on board, allowing them to bypass the queues at immigration upon arrival at their destination.

The airline has signed an agreement with Bank BRI to issue the VOA vouchers.

Immigration on Board is available on selected Garuda routes: Tokyo (Narita)-Jakarta, Seoul-Jakarta, Sydney-Jakarta, Tokyo (Narita)-Denpasar, Osaka-Denpasar and Sydney-Denpasar.

Said Garuda president and CEO, Emirsyah Satar: “(These) services have given Garuda Indonesia a competitive advantage since the beginning (of the joint agreement with the Directorate General of Immigration), and now with BRI as well.”

DOMESTIC ferry operator 2GO in the Philippines is working to attract value-conscious leisure travellers from overseas, as well as event bookings.

Stephen Rey Tagud, 2GO vice president and chief commercial officer, explained that there were a lot of Indians who wanted to travel around Asia and the Philippines with their families, but were on a tight budget.

The company has been pursuing leads from India and Taiwan obtained at PATA Travel Mart in Manila last September.

Amy G Leyes, assistant vice president for passage group sales, said: “We’re partnering a Taiwanese party organiser (with networks in the Philippines, Singapore, and Malaysia) to sell Boracay as a party destination.”

She added that leisure enquiries were also streaming in from Latvia, Scotland and South Korea.

2GO has also secured a pink market group for 1Q2013, and some 500 to 600 participants are expected. Theme parties on board and in Boracay will be offered in the five-day/four-night programme, as well as bundled packages that include buffet meals, airport transfers, day tours to Intramuros and Tagaytay for early morning arrivals, shuttle services from Manila to Batangas port, and land and boat transfers to Caticlan. A cruise-fly option is also offered to travellers planning on extending their visit in Boracay or elsewhere.

Meanwhile, 2GO is marketing its Batangas-Boracay and Manila-Cebu overnight ferry trips to overseas MICE markets, offering corporate groups on option to host themed meetings and events on board its vessels.

Seminars can be conducted on vessels plying the Cebu route, with setups available for 200 pax in theatre style. Boracay-bound vessels offer converted space in the cafe and an open deck. Ships on both routes can be used for deck parties with band performances, karaoke nights and teambuilding sessions. Free Wi-Fi would be offered from this year and on board e-gaming facilities were being considered, said Tagud.

Top local companies are being targeted, and 2GO is looking to build ties with the Philippine travel trade too. Corporate rates are available for groups of 10 or more.

KEMPINSKI Ambience Hotel Delhi has cancelled its official opening celebrations planned for January 18, citing ongoing unrest in the city as a reason.

Vella Ramaswamy, general manager of the property which had soft opened last October, denies that the move was due to cancellation of bookings from leisure and business clients as a result of the anti-rape protests that have been held in the city since mid-December.

Ramaswamy told TTG Asia e-Daily: “The Kempinski Ambience Delhi is located in the heart of the city and therefore has to respect the ongoing sentiment of the capital. The city is (concerned about) the safety of its citizens and we would like to contribute in our own way by not celebrating the grand opening of the hotel.”

He added: “The entire political and administrative leadership is pensive over the current situation. New Year celebrations in the city were also curtailed in most of the places.

That said, Ramaswamy is confident of “hosting substantially big events in the first quarter of 2013”.

The hotel is still open for reservations, although no definite date has been set of the official opening.