BEST Western International has opened the second hotel under its Best Western Premier brand and fifth property in Vietnam, the Best Western Premier Hon Tam Resort & Residences.

Located on Hon Tam Island close to Nha Trang, the 49-bungalow eco-resort is only accessible by boat.

Glenn de Souza, vice president international operations-Asia & the Middle East, said: “Vietnam is one of Asia’s hottest new destinations and the Nha Trang coast is now drawing large numbers of domestic and international visitors.”

Best Western International plans to quicken the pace of its development plans in the country, and has a further three hotels expected to launch in Vietnam by end-2014.

Accommodation options range from the 52m² Deluxe Bungalows to the 64m² Family Suite Bungalows, each featuring a private balcony and equipped with amenities such as flat-screen televisions and free Wi-Fi. Facilities include four F&B outlets, a swimming pool, spa, fitness centre, sauna, steam room, karaoke room, game room as well as meeting spaces in the form of the resort’s two meeting rooms and an outdoor venue with a 900-pax capacity.

REGENT Hotels and Resorts will welcome two jewels in its crown this year with the launch of the Regent Phuket Cape Panwa and Regent Bali.

“It’s an exciting time for Regent. Both the Phuket and Bali properties will immediately become flagships for the Regent brand in these two absolutely crucial resort island markets in Asia,” said Regent Hotels and Resorts’ president, Ralf Ohletz von Plettenberg.

Launching this month, Regent Bali is situated on the eastern part of Bali’s coastline in the Sanur district. The hotel features a four-hectare tropical garden, a 200m beach, 94 suites, one beachfront Regent Villa, 25 Regent Residences, a spa and two dining outlets.

Over in Thailand, Regent Phuket Cape Panwa will welcome guests in December, offering 70 rooms with panoramic sea views and 35 pool suites. The resort is located on Cape Panwa on the south-eastern tip of Phuket.

Both hotels were designed by Bangkok-based Blink Design Group. Its founder and creative director, Clint Nagata, said the firm is helping Regent “return to its Asian roots”.

THE Indian government has toughened its rules for visa-on-arrival (VOA) seekers, forbidding medical tourists and media personnel from availing of the facility with effect from January.

This is likely to affect medical service providers in Tamil Nadu and Kerala, the two states nearest to the Maldives. India has a separate visa category for medical tourists.

“The visa restrictions will have far-reaching consequences for Kerala as several accredited private hospitals have been approved by insurance companies. The economic implications will be felt soon,” said E M Najeeb, executive director, Kerala Institute of Medical Sciences, which treated 40,000 medical tourists from the Maldives in 2012, up from 36,000 in 2011.

Others, like the Apollo Hospitals in Chennai, have tied up with Maldivian partners to facilitate medical tourism.

Air India officials said that at least 70 passengers fly daily on each direct flight from Male to Trivandrum and Bengaluru, largely for medical treatment. The Indian High Commission in the Maldives is currently processing 50 medical visas day, which is said to be less than the demand.

Some trade sources feel that the move is linked to the Maldives cancelling the contract of India’s GMR for the development of the Male airport last year.

Meanwhile, other changes to VOA are also afoot. After extending the facility to six South-east Asian countries in January 2011, plans are in the pipeline to extend the facility to several more prime source markets like Germany, France and Russia shortly.

VOA will also be issued from Kerala’s Trivandrum airport from April 1.

Padmini Narayanan, managing director of Chennai-based Akshaya India Travels, said: “This facility, if delivered seamlessly, can increase inbound tourism manifold.”

India issued 13,903 VOAs from January to November 2012, a 25 per cent growth from the 11,921 VOAs issued during the corresponding period in 2011.

YEAR-to-date arrival figures for 2012 showed a fall in numbers from Malaysia’s biggest market, but Tourism Malaysia’s office here believes there is no cause for worry even as the destination gears up for Visit Malaysia Year (VMY) 2014.

Speaking to TTG Asia e-Daily yesterday on the sidelines of a welcome and farewell party for Tourism Malaysia’s Singapore directors, incoming director Noor Aine Ismail said between January and September 2012, there were 9.3 million arrivals from Singapore, a 5.1 per cent decline over the same period in 2011.

However, she believes the main reason for this drop is an administrative one. From last January, visitors to the country were logged according to their nationality rather than country of residence, effectively leaving out Singapore’s huge chunk of expatriates from the tally.

This year’s target is a three to five per cent increase in arrivals over 2012, a figure that Noor Aine feels is attainable, considering that her office would also be receiving additional budget in the run-up to VMY 2014. While the actual amount is still unknown for now, she said this would help in the organising of more activities in the market starting this year.

A new event planned for 2013 is a laksa food fair, which will showcase Malaysia’s many different takes on the dish. Consumer shows such as the Malaysia Truly Asia Travel Fair and product seminars for the trade will also continue.

“We will try to build interest in Singaporeans to go beyond common destinations like Johor Bahru, Malacca and Kuala Lumpur to places like Perak, islands off the East Coast, as well as Sabah and Sarawak. We will invite state (tourism representatives) and product owners to participate alongside us in fairs,” she said.

Formerly a deputy director in the international marketing division covering Europe, the Americas and Oceania, Noor Aine explained that unlike reaching out to those regions, efforts in Singapore would be more “mass”.

However, she noted a few up-and-coming special interest segments in Singapore that her office would be zooming in on, such as cycling trips and homestays.

Meanwhile, Tourism Malaysia’s Singapore outgoing director Zalizam Zakaria has been posted back to HQ.

THE Globus family of brands is set to increase its market share in Malaysia this year with the recent appointment of Kuala Lumpur-based Sedunia Travel as its GSA on January 1, 2013.

With a growing middle class segment fluent in English, Malaysia has the potential to become Globus’ largest market in Asia, said GSA business development manager Ray Smith.

According to Smith, Malaysia is currently the company’s third largest Asian market after the Philippines and Singapore, and the fifth largest Asian market for one of its brands, Avalon Waterways.

He added that Avalon Waterways, which offers river cruising in Europe, Egypt, Asia, the US and Galapagos, is primed for growth in Malaysia and would especially appeal to the baby boomers, retirees and the corporate market as river cruising is still a new product.

Avalon Waterways has introduced 12 new tours for 2013, including Mississippi River cruises as well as more themed cruises centred on food, wine appreciation and art.

Sedunia Travel’s executive director, Teoh Leng Lan, said the company would work with Malaysian travel consultants to sell Globus family of brands products through regular advertisements in the print media, product training and a fixed exchange rate that will be determined on the first of every month.