THE largest KidZania in Asia is due to open its doors on March 29 in Siam Paragon in Bangkok.

Spanning 10,000m², KidZania Bangkok is the 12^th attraction in the franchise and the third in South-east Asia after Jakarta and Kuala Lumpur. Singapore’s KidZania will open on Sentosa by 2014 (TTG Asia e-Daily, June 5, 2012).

The KidZania concept blends entertainment and education in realistic, interactive cities where children can role play any of 80 careers in 65 establishments such as a bank or restaurant.

Partnering 22 global and local brands such as AirAsia, Coca-Cola, Canon and Muang Thai Life Insurance, this makes for a more authentic experience – children can climb into a real Boeing 737 fuselage and cockpit for a test flight, for example.

Unique to KidZania Bangkok, children can explore the Green Tea Factory or Drinking Water Research Center.

KidZania also has parks in South Korea, Japan, Dubai, Chile, Portugal and Mexico, while there are a dozen locations under development such as in India.

THE Five Country Conference (5CC), consisting of Australia, Canada, New Zealand, the UK and US, has collaborated with VFS Global to set up a visa application centre in Singapore.

The centre started operations yesterday for Australia, New Zealand and UK visas, offering a seamless visa application process for these countries, but also jointly tackling visa and identity frauds.

While the centre will handle applications, the respective immigration authorities will assess the visa applications.

The British high commissioner, Antony Phillipson, said: “The use of shared visa application facilities will save us costs through shared infrastructure and resources, and allow us to maintain the very high levels of service we provide to our customers in Singapore and continue to develop new premium products to meet their needs.”

Key features of the joint visa application centre include longer operating hours, dedicated counters for applicants and travel consultants, standardised documentation, a dedicated call centre, an online appointment system and application status tracking and SMS alerts for visa status updates.

Located on Cecil Street, the centre is open between 08.00 and 16.00 from Monday to Friday. A nominal fee is levied for services at the centre.

Over the past decade, the border control agencies of the 5CC nations have worked together on several areas of cooperation including the use of biometrics to tackle identity fraud, information sharing, intelligence and repatriation.

RIVER Safari, said to be Asia’s first river-themed wildlife park, will open its doors to the public in a soft opening on April 3.

Built at a cost of S$160 million (US$128 million), the 12-hectare park features over 150 plant species and 300 animal species in eight river habitats including the Mississippi, Nile and Amazon rivers.

The giant panda forest, home to pandas Kai Kai and Jia Jia, was opened late last year as a preview and will be one of the new park’s main attractions. Riverboat rides and other exhibits will be opened at a later date.

While the Marine Life Park in Resorts World Sentosa features the world’s largest oceanarium, the Amazon Flooded Forest in River Safari is described as the world’s largest freshwater aquarium.

Director of exhibit design and development at the River Safari, Cham Tud Yinn, said: “This (River Safari) is the best platform for us to show the plight of this environment, and how fragile freshwater systems and animals are. We hope people can learn how to care and conserve these rare endangered animals.”

Entrance fees during the soft opening phase are S$25 for adults, S$16 for children between three and 12 years old, and S$12.50 for senior citizens above 60 years of age. The park opens daily from 09.00 to 18.00.

The current giant panda preview, for which visitors pay a top-up fee on top of the price of a Singapore Zoo admission ticket, will end on March 31. Visitors will only be able to view the pandas via River Safari from April 3 onwards.

The opening of River Safari, which is situated at Mandai between the Singapore Zoo and Night Safari, is part of the Singapore government’s plan to develop the Mandai area as a nature tourism hub (TTG Asia e-Daily, November 29, 2012).

ADMISSION fees for Hong Kong Disneyland Resort will be revised upwards from tomorrow.

Under the new pricing, a one-day general admission ticket will cost HK$450 (US$58) instead of HK$399, while a two-day general admission ticket is priced at HK$585, up from HK$499.

For children aged three to 11, a one-day pass will cost HK$320 instead of HK$285. Two-day passes for the same age group will sell for HK$415 compared to HK$355 before.

However, travel trade partners will continue to be charged current prices for general admission and child tickets until June 30, allowing them sufficient time to communicate the new pricing to their clients and make any necessary arrangements.

Admission fees for seniors aged 65 or above remain unchanged, at HK$100 for a one-day pass and HK$170 for two days’ admission.

A Hong Kong Disneyland spokesperson said that tickets continue to represent great value, especially since “new investments have been made to expand the park”.

Recent park additions have included the themed areas of Grizzly Gulch and Toy Story Land, while Mystic Point will open in May 2013. With these three openings, the park size’s will go up by almost a fourth.

SLOVENIA-based Adria Airways has appointed Dex Aviation as its general sales agent (GSA) for India, even as the two countries work towards improving air connectivity.

“Appointing Dex Aviation as our GSA is the first step in developing our sales network in India,” said Mark Anzur, president & CEO, Adria Airways.

Ramesh Marwah, director, Dex Group, said while there were no direct services between India and Slovenia, the governments of both countries had begun discussions on the topic and he hoped for positive news soon.

“We are looking to establish closer cooperation with Indian airlines too,” he added.

Indian arrivals to Slovenia numbered 5,000 in 2012.

“Not many Indians are travelling to Slovenia at present, but we hope to see an increase in numbers with efforts like these. We are targeting leisure, wedding and MICE segments. We want more and more Indian movies to be shot in Slovenia as it is an effective way to increase awareness about the destination,” said Janez Premoze, the Slovenian ambassador in India.

Slovenia is also participating in tradeshows like SATTE and inviting Indian travel consultants to take part in the upcoming Slovenian Incoming Workshop 2013, scheduled to take place in Portoroz from April 18 to 20.

“More and more Indians are looking to visit new destinations. Slovenia can cater to this market with the right promotions and engagement with travel consultants,” said Ashok Singhal, CEO, Balaji Travco India.

Dex Aviation will also promote Adria Airways’ other destinations apart from Slovenia. A Star Alliance member, the carrier flies to 18 cities throughout Europe.

ARCHIPELAGO International launched its inaugural Hotel Neo by Aston property yesterday with the soft opening of Neo Hotel Cideng Jakarta.

Positioned as a budget brand, Neo is pitched slightly higher than Archipelago’s other budget brand, Favehotel.

Norbert Vas, vice president sales and marketing, Archipelago International, said: “We call (Neo) a superior select service hotel.

“While Favehotel is very rigid in structure and design, Neo is more flexible – the room size is bigger, the design is more playful and elegant, and (rooms) come with amenities such as a coffee- and tea-making facility, an in-room safe, a vanity mirror and a hairdryer, which Favehotel does not have.”

On market segment differentiation, Vas said: “Neo is more geared towards business travellers to appeal to both the Indonesian and international markets, while Favehotel caters more to the Indonesian market, price-wise. Neo is (priced) between Rp150,000 (US$15.40) and Rp200,000, higher than Favehotel’s rates.”

Vas said two more Neos were opening in Bali and Jakarta this month, with 30 more in the pipeline. All Neos will be non-smoking properties. He expects half of Neo’s business to come from e-commerce.

Neo Hotel Cideng Jakarta is the second hotel owned by Robina Putra Perkasa that is managed by Archipelago International, after Favehotel Wahid Hasyim Jakarta.

THAI Airways International’s sub-brand, THAI Smile, will commence three new routes to India, and one each to Malaysia and Myanmar from March 31.

The carrier will begin five-weekly flights between Bangkok and Mandalay on March 31. Leaving Bangkok at 07.25, the plane will arrive at Mandalay at 08.50, taking off at 09.30 the same day and touching down in Bangkok at 11.55.

Also on March 31, THAI Smile will launch twice-weekly Bangkok-Ahmedabad flights. The service will depart Bangkok at 19.30 and land in Ahmedabad at 23.00. On the return leg, the flight will leave Ahmedabad at 23.59 and arrive in Bangkok at 06.20 the next day.

Four-weekly flights between Phuket and Kuala Lumpur will begin on April 2, leaving Phuket at 09.20 and arriving in Kuala Lumpur at 11.40. They will depart Kuala Lumpur at 12.30 to reach Phuket at 12.55.

THAI Smile had earlier announced flights out of Phuket to New Delhi and Mumbai (TTG Asia e-Daily, March 1, 2013).

Phuket-New Delhi services will run twice a week from April 1, with flights taking off from Phuket at 22.05 and landing in New Delhi at 00.55 the next day. The return leg will see flights leaving New Delhi at 01.55 and arriving in Phuket at 07.55.

Also twice-weekly, Phuket-Mumbai flights will begin on April 3. They will depart  Phuket at 22.25, reaching Mumbai at 01.10 the next day, while taking off at 02.20 from Mumbai, landing in Phuket at 08.20.

AIR China is solidifying its foothold in North America by launching a new route from Beijing to Houston in July 2013. This follows the expansion of its schedules into New York, Los Angeles and Vancouver, and upgrading of its aircraft on its New York and San Francisco routes.

Kicking off in July 11, non-stop Beijing-Houston flights will be operated four-times-weekly with Boeing 777-300ER. The flight will depart from Beijing at 15.00 and land at Houston on the same day, local time. From Houston, the flight will leave at 01.40 the next day, arriving at PEK at 05.00 the following day, local time.

From March 31, 2013, the Beijing-New York and Beijing-Los Angeles services will be enhanced to 11 weekly flights and twice daily respectively. All flights will be operated with the B777-300ER.

Starting May 17, 2013, frequency on the Beijing-Vancouver route will also be increased to 11 weekly flights, which will be operated with Airbus A330-200.

Meanwhile, the airline’s Beijing-San Francisco route will be operated with the B747-400.