INDONESIAN outbound travel consultants are expecting stronger demand to the US this year with the recent formation of the Visit USA Committee by the US embassy in Jakarta.

Panorama Tours Indonesia managing director – corporate incentive management, Vidya Hermanto, said: “There have been no tourism marketing and promotional activities between Indonesia and the US in the last 10 years or so, and obtaining a visa has been difficult due to security reasons.

“The Visit USA committee has shown interest in enticing the Indonesian outbound travellers to the US again, not only from the leisure sector, but also from corporates and students.”

The US was one of Indonesians’ favourite destinations in the 1990s, connected with direct air services, including Garuda Indonesia. However, the market declined in the wake of the 1997 Asian financial crisis and Garuda’s suspension of its US services.

According to WITA Tour director of sales, Rudiana, the US embassy had recently eased the visa application process, such as waiving interviews for travellers who had been previously granted a US visa.

Smailing Tour vice president MICE, Lucky Albertinus, said: “The interest to travel to the US has never been totally dead for us – there are FITs, families or small groups. These are mostly (travellers) who already hold a multiple visa, so they just need to book a flight and go.

“There may not be a drastic change in visa application requirements in the short term, but we can generate more interest from Indonesian travellers with new products (in the US). Honestly, the products we have been selling are the same old ones, so we would like the trade in the US to introduce and promote new destinations and products here,” he urged.

“The Visit USA committee opens up (opportunities) to develop the market, not only for outbound but also inbound traffic from the US as well.”

WHILE 2014 may be still a year away, both the Ministry of Tourism and Tourism Malaysia are already making preparations for Visit Malaysia Year (VMY) 2014, vowing to look into areas such as tourism infrastructure, security and next year’s event line-up.

A target of 28 million tourists has been set for the VMY campaign, two million more than this year’s goal of 26 million, revealed tourism minister Ng Yen Yen during a press conference today.

Having received the green light from the Cabinet for the VYM 2014 since July 2012, it was not until October that a secretariat for the campaign was set up.

Ng said: “We don’t want to rush into things. We want to do it well and prepare the country to welcome the world. Hence, this whole year, we will be preparing the nation for Visit Malaysia next year. Areas we will look at include tourism infrastructure, security, and introducing new events in 2014 and hyping up existing events.”

From January 18, a three-day carnival will take place at the Bukit Jalil National Stadium in Kuala Lumpur to create awareness of the economic importance of Visit Malaysia.

The promotional campaign, together with its logo and theme song, will be officially launched by Malaysian prime minister Mohd Najib Tun Abdul Razak on January 19.

A PERSISTENTLY weak euro and improved consumer confidence at the start of this year have led to stronger forward bookings for Insight Vacations’ European tours.

Sheryl Lim, regional director of Asia, Insight Vacations, told TTG Asia e-Daily that year-to-date forward bookings out of Singapore had risen some 30 per cent, compared to the start of 2012.

“Our forward bookings suffered early last year because the government had advised a possible recession in 2012, causing Singaporeans to think twice about spending. We saw Singaporeans holding back on their mid-year holidays. Fortunately, as the year-end approached, travel bookings came forth strongly. Perhaps Singaporeans realised that if they did not take any holidays by the year-end, they would not have had a proper rest for the whole year,” said Lim.

She added: “It helps that the euro’s exchange rate against the Singapore dollar is still very attractive, making tours much cheaper than before and shopping opportunities in Europe most appealing.”

Lim said as much as 30 per cent of travellers who had booked Insight Vacations tour packages were repeat clients.

“Some travel with Insight Vacations on an annual basis, while others return on a three- to five-year cycle,” she said.

Lim expects a clearer picture of bookings out of Singapore to form after the NATAS Travel sales fair on February 22-24.

“We hope to end 2013 with a 15 per cent increment in bookings out of Singapore – and that is a conservative expectation. Singapore is in fact Insight Vacations’ largest market in Asia, and if the euro continues to stay down, the year could turn out to be very good for us,” she said.

PAN Pacific Hotels Group (PPHG) is fielding a Parkroyal “collection”, the Parkroyal on Pickering, Singapore, which will soft open on January 16.

PPHG’s CEO, Patrick Imbardelli, said this was not a new brand but a new title tagged to a “special child”.

Asked if this would be the start of a Parkroyal collection, he said: “Not necessarily. A lot of consumer brands bring out something that’s a special edition, a collectible, a collection.”

The 367-room Parkroyal on Pickering has a hotel-in-a-garden concept, with gardens constituting twice the hotel’s land area. It also has zero-energy sky gardens powered by solar energy cells.

Facilities include a contemporary open-kitchen concept restaurant, a wellness floor featuring an infinity pool overlooking the city, cabanas to chill out and a 300m garden walk, and ballrooms and meeting spaces of flexible configurations.

The opening promotion rate is S$278 (US$227) ++ for a superior room, inclusive of breakfast for two, valid till March 31.

The new hotel is now the flagship of the brand and sets the stage for its future development. It is owned by the group.

Though Parkroyal has existed since 1962, with roots in Australia, it remains a small brand with 11 in operation and two opening soon. After the new Singapore opening next week, a Parkroyal Serviced Suites Green City Shanghai will open in May.

Imbardelli said the brand’s development was on track. “I don’t see 500 Parkroyals – that’s not our style. We grow when it is the right fit, location, etc. There’s always a place for Parkroyal in Australia, China and South-east Asia, particularly Thailand and Indonesia, which we’re working on.”

MALAYSIA Airports Holdings has launched its new airport hotel brand, Sama-Sama, marking its entry into airport accommodation sector.

The airport operator will own and operate the five-star full-service Sama-Sama KL International Airport hotel adjacent to Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA) as well as the existing transit hotel – which will be rebranded as Sama-Sama Express KLIA. With the completion of KLIA2, Malaysia Airports will also operate its transit hotel, Sama-Sama Express KLIA2.

Said tourism minister, Ng Yen Yen, at the hotel launch yesterday: “It is heartening to note that Malaysia Airports is expanding on its repertoire of airport services to include hospitality with its Sama-Sama brand. It is always a proud moment to see a Malaysian brand grow from strength to strength and achieve success on the world stage.”

Malaysia Airports chairman, Wan Abdul Aziz Wan Abdullah, said: “Not content with just providing world-class, award-winning airport services, Malaysia Airports had the vision to offer every passenger who lands at KLIA a seamless travel experience – from the aircraft to the airport and to the hotel room. We will provide the connectivity, the convenience, the facilities and our unique Malaysian hospitality to welcome them. And so the Sama-Sama brand is born.”

Malaysia Airports aims to launch the Sama-Sama brand in other markets where it plans to operate airport hotels, according to Wan Abdul Aziz. Malaysia Airports manages and operates 39 airports in Malaysia, and also has operations in India and Turkey.

In the Malay language, sama-sama means “togetherness” and “you’re welcome”.

THE TASMANIAN government is working on marketing campaigns to boost its tourism industry, which has suffered as a result of the recent bushfires.

Tourism Tasmania will develop short-term campaigns to encourage the return of visitors to affected areas and boost confidence in the tourism industry, said tourism minister, Scott Bacon.

He said that these post-bushfire recovery campaigns are in addition to Tourism Tasmania’s major annual autumn tourism campaign and marketing activities, which this year will be boosted by a further A$1 million (US$1.1 million) from the state government.

“Tourism Tasmania has been working closely with the Tourism Industry Council of Tasmania and the state’s regional tourism organisations to keep visitors, local operators and the global travel trade and media informed about the bushfire situation,” said Bacon. “In particular, we want to emphasise that Tasmania is still open to visitors.”

“This is an important message for both people holidaying in the state and those planning to come to Tasmania, to ensure they realise that in many parts of the state, it is still business as usual.”

In other states like New South Wales (NSW) where the fires have caused damage, some parks and reserves have been affected. All walking tracks in NSW national parks are closed until at least Monday, while picnic and camping areas in the east of the state remain open. In the western region, including Northern Tablelands, parks and reserves are closed, as are a few South Coast parks.

Guests planning to visit parks or reserves are advised to check the websites or contact the park office for up-to-date details.

INDIA’S Ministry of Tourism will organise an international tourism mart in Assam’s Guwahati from January 18-20, marking inaugural efforts to host such events in the country’s north-east.

Tourism minister, K Chiranjeevi, said: “The mart will provide a platform for delegates to engage in one-to-one meetings with sellers from the north-eastern region. Tourism product suppliers on their part will be able to reach out to international buyers.”

“North-east India has lot of tourism potential and efforts like this will help the region to be promoted on the international front,” said Subhash Goyal, president, Indian Association of Tour Operators.

The Adventure Tour Operators Association Of India is also holding its 10^th annual convention in Guwahati from January 20-22.

At present, north-east India attracts few domestic and international tourists. Assam received around 16,000 foreign visitors in 2011, while the numbers were negligible in other north-eastern states of Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Tripura and Arunachal Pradesh.

Around 100 delegates from Australia, Germany, Indonesia, South Korea, Singapore, the UK and the US, among others, are expected to attend the mart. Post-mart fam tours will be held for overseas delegates from January 21-28.

Apart from the north-eastern states, the state of West Bengal will also participate in the event.

ASIA remains a high priority market for Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, accounting for approximately a quarter of the group’s existing hotel rooms and over half of its pipeline.

Nearly two-thirds of Starwood’s new hotels in 2013 will open in fast-growing markets. Starwood plans to open its first property in Tajikistan, while also expanding further in such Asia-Pacific markets as Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam, Bangladesh, China and India.

Starwood’s new luxury hotels in the region for 2013 include The Castle Hotel in Dalian, China; Vana Belle, Koh Samui in Thailand; and W Guangzhou – the first W Hotel in mainland China.

In the upscale segment, Sheraton will roll out nine properties in China this year, adding to its inventory of 57 hotels in the country. The Westin brand will debut in Chennai, Singapore, Qingdao, as well as Haikou and Sanya in Hainan, while Le Méridien properties will be launched in Ho Chi Minh City. Dhaka and Mahabaleshwar in India, in addition to Zhengzhou and Jiaonan in China.

Starwood’s mid-market portfolio, which includes Aloft, Element and Four Points by Sheraton, will account for about one-third of the company’s global development pipeline and nearly 45 per cent of expected hotel openings worldwide in 2013. Aloft’s portfolio will be driven heavily by openings in China, North America and India in 2013, and will debut in Panama, Malaysia and Turkey during the year.

“Rising wealth, increasingly global businesses and a digitally connected world are creating unprecedented demand for travel and new travel patterns, and we continue to be as bullish as ever about our long-term growth,” said Frits van Paasschen, president and CEO.

Starwood signed a total of 131 new hotel management and franchise agreements in 2012, representing an increase of 17 per cent over 2011 signings levels, including 31 conversions, 12 of which opened during 2012, according to Simon Turner, president of global development.