HERTZ Global Holdings (HTZ) has completed its acquisition of Dollar Thrifty Automotive Group (DTG).

Dollar Thrifty is now a wholly owned subsidiary of Hertz.

Said Hertz chairman and CEO, Mark P Frissora: “Over the past six years, we have competed successfully with only one global premium brand in place while our competitors have had multiple brands to work against us. We now have two additional popular brands to compete across multiple market segments, with plans to offer them to our many partners and customers.”

Hertz completed the acquisition by purchasing the shares of Dollar Thrifty common stock at US$87.50 per share in cash. Dollar Thrifty’s common stock will no longer be listed on the New York Stock Exchange.

DESPITE the global economic gloom, arrival figures to Singapore held up relatively well in 1H2012, although visitors are keeping a closer watch on their spending, according to industry observers and the Singapore Tourism Board’s (STB) latest statistics release.

Visitor volume to the country grew by 11 per cent in 1H2012, compared to the same period last year. This was an impressive result, given the stellar outcomes achieved in 2010 and 2011. Between January and June, some 7.1 million visitors made their way to Singapore.

Tourism receipts came in at S$11.5 billion (US$9.4 billion) in the first half, a growth of seven per cent year-on-year, reversing the trend in the last two years where the rate of growth in tourism spend outstripped that of arrivals.

Inbound travel experts concur with STB that the first half of the year was a good one, with most reporting that they have managed to hit targets. However, 2H2012 has been more tumultuous, with the global economic slowdown weighing down on travellers from around the globe.

“Singapore’s strong currency has been particularly off-putting for regional leisure markets such as China and India. Not only are customers looking at other less expensive South-east Asian destinations such as Thailand, even Europe and the Caribbean now offer significantly better value than Singapore and some are actually choosing to head there instead,” said Yvonne Low, executive director, The Traveller DMC.

Tony Aw, assistant general manager (inbound), Hong Thai Travel Services, whose firm suffered a slowdown in bookings in 2H2012, despite clocking significant growth in the first half said: “(Leisure) visitors who come to Singapore are now trimming costs, for instance by switching from four-star to two- or three-star properties, or by shortening their stay, just to make visiting Singapore much more affordable.”

While some industry players are reluctant to make forecasts for 2013 due to the economic ambiguity, most believe that the clutch of new attractions such as Gardens by the Bay, the Marine Life Park and River Safari will spur arrival and expenditure growth in 2013.

AIR CANADA is expanding its international services in 2013, with the launch of new routes to Seoul and Istanbul, seven additional weekly departures to Beijing from Toronto and Vancouver, as well as the move to upgrade its Calgary-Tokyo Narita flights to a daily service.

Ben Smith, executive vice president and chief commercial officer of Air Canada, said: “With our Asia expansion alone, we will be flying 11 daily departures or more than 43,000 seats a week across the Pacific Ocean this summer – a commitment of up to 14 widebody aircraft valued in excess of C$2 billion (US$2 billion).”

With effect May 1, Air Canada will fly daily between Calgary and Tokyo’s Narita International Airport, up from five departures a week.

Come June 1, the Toronto-Beijing and Vancouver-Beijing routes will welcome three and four additional weekly departures respectively.

The new thrice-weekly Toronto-Seoul service will commence on June 2, while the thrice-weekly service to Istanbul will begin two days after.

Smith said: “Our service to Istanbul, the bridge between Europe and Asia, adds an exciting destination to the Air Canada network, with easy connections throughout Turkey and points in Central Asia, the Middle East and Africa with our Star Alliance partner Turkish Airlines.”

MALAYSIA-BASED aircraft charter house, Tourism Vacation Resources, will organise its first-ever charters between Russia’s Vladivostok and Malaysia with 17 seasonal flights from December 17, 2012 to March 26, 2013.

Operating every Monday from Vladivostok to Langkawi or Kota Kinabalu during the charter period, the services are a collaboration between Vladivostok Air and Tourism Vacation Resources, with the Russian carrier operating the flights on its TU204-300 aircraft, said Adam Abdullah, COO, Tourism Vacation Resources.

Adam said: “We see an opportunity as no visa is required to enter Malaysia (Russian citizens do not need a tourist visa for stays under 30 days) and there are currently no direct flights between Malaysia and Russia.

“Also, it takes nine hours to fly from Vladivostok to Moscow, but with our direct charter services it will take six hours to travel to Kota Kinabalu and 8.5 hours to Langkawi.

“We have also made arrangements with ground handlers in Kota Kinabalu and Langkawi for ground packages,” he said.

According to Adam, the first three scheduled charter flights have been fully sold, and he plans to do outbound charters to Vladivostok in summer 2013.

PACIFIC WORLD has repositioned itself as a global DMC, with other TUI Travel-owned DMCs in Europe rebranded as Pacific World, and aims to triple in size by 2017.

All 12 Pacific World offices in its five geographical areas – Europe, Greater China, Singapore/Malaysia, Thailand/Indochina and Indonesia – now report to a global MD in Singapore, Herve Joseph Antoine. Though TUI is European, Pacific World’s Asian base reflects where business is expected to grow the most in the next five years.

Started in Asia 30 years ago by founders Jacques Arnoux and Bob Guy, Pacific World was snapped up by First Choice UK in 2006 and came under TUI when TUI merged with First Choice in 2007. The four TUI-owned DMCs in Europe that have been rebranded as Pacific World are Ultramar Events Spain, Travel ScotWorld Scotland, TUI Hellas Corporate Services Greece and Miltours MICE Division Portugal.

Asia contributes 60 per cent of business and remains the driver of growth, said Herve. He plans to “multiply the size of Pacific World by three” in five years “by opening new destinations and new source markets” either through acquisition or partnership. Currently, Pacific World owns all its offices.

Herve would not reveal current revenue figures or Pacific World’s contribution to the TUI group. Business is split with 65 per cent for DMC, and the rest equally split between corporate and PCO accounts. “We expect to grow each segment,” Herve said, adding that a global Pacific World attached to TUI has certain advantages such as the ability to offer clients wider diversity, stability, good insurance cover and compliance policy.

“With the economic crisis, especially in Europe, a lot of boutique MICE agencies are in difficulty. Clients are wary about sending business to them.

“Business nowadays is not only about personal relationships but strategic relationships,” said Herve.

– Read the full report in TTGmice, February 2013

THE Singapore government is considering adding hotels, leisure amenities and F&B establishments in Mandai to develop the area as a nature tourism hub.

“With its tropical rainforest and freshwater setting, and the co-location of complementary animal-themed attractions, the Mandai area’s rich biodiversity makes it an ideal location for a nature cluster,” said S Iswaran, Singapore’s second minister for trade & industry at the opening of the Giant Panda Forest yesterday, home to pandas Kai Kai and Jia Jia, and the first River Safari attraction to welcome guests. The river-themed wildlife park will only be fully open in 2013.

According to The Straits Times, the minister also added: “We want developments that are sensitive and complementary to what we already have…we don’t want something that jars with (the existing nature-related attractions in Mandai).”

National Association of Travel Agents Singapore CEO, Robert Khoo, welcomed the idea and told the local broadsheet that the hotels to be built should ideally be similar to the five-star lodges in Kenya and South Africa.

Iswaran said that the Mandai Nature Cluster development was “part of the broader process of ongoing rejuvenation of Singapore’s tourism offerings”.

“We have seen robust 11 per cent year-on-year growth visitor arrivals in the first half of 2012, and additions such as the Giant Panda Forest and River Safari will add further vibrancy and dynamism to our city that can be enjoyed by Singaporeans and visitors alike,” he said.

TRANSASIA Airways officially received delivery of its first Airbus A330-300 aircraft this week, which it will deploy on its international routes to Japan and Singapore. Destinations within a nine-hour radius from Taiwan, including Sydney, New Zealand, Guam and the Middle East are also on the radar.

From 2013 to 2022, the airline will receive a further 31 new aircraft, which includes its second A330-300, six A321-200s, 12 A321neos, and 12 ATR-600 – three of which are optional.

“The delivery of A330 is another milestone for TransAsia Airways,” said Vincent M Lin, chairman of TransAsia Airways. He added: “Together with the 2nd A330-300 expected to be in operation early next year, we will see an annual growth of 40 per cent in passenger capacity on international routes. As the first wide-body jet, A330-300 aircraft will facilitate new destination expansion and enhance our competitiveness among peers.”

“The A330-300 model has many commonalities with the A320 series, which provides us with cost savings in terms of pilot training, maintenance and operation,” said Lin.

Since 2010, TransAsia Airways has doubled its number of scheduled international routes to 16 destinations including Singapore, Macau, Vietnam, South Korea and Japan.

FINNAIR will begin its thrice-weekly direct services to Hanoi in Vietnam from June 14, 2013.

The airline will become the first European airline to ply the Helsinki-Hanoi route, although the flight is still subject to regulatory approval. It is represented by its partner East Sea Travel & Air Service Group in Vietnam.

Finnair said in a media release that the flight was in line with its strategic focus on traffic between Asia and Europe. CEO Mika Vehviläinen said: “We are delighted to be able to add Hanoi as our 12^th destination in Asia. This is yet another important step for Finnair towards our long-term goal of doubling our Asian revenue by 2020.”

The new flight puts Hanoi on the airline’s list of Asian destinations that includes Bangkok, Beijing, Chongqing, New Delhi, Hong Kong, Nagoya, Osaka, Seoul, Shanghai, Singapore and Tokyo.