PLANS to revitalise Singapore’s Civic District are being made now, with the Urban Redevelopment Authority calling on local and international consultants to pitch for the project.

Aimed at strengthening the identity of the downtown precinct as an attractive world-class arts and cultural hub, landmarks such as The National Art Gallery, Victoria Theatre and Victoria Concert Hall will be refreshed, while pedestrian connectivity and public spaces will be improved through landscaping works.

Consultants will need to propose ways to improve connectivity to adjacent precincts, such as Fort Canning Park, Bras Basah and Bugis, as well as to the City Hall MRT Station and the Marina Bay waterfront.

Interested consultant teams must submit their proposals by January 31, 2013.

The project is scheduled for completion in the first quarter of 2015

SHERATON Hotels & Resorts has opened Sheraton Bali Kuta Resort on Kuta beach, the group’s fifth property on the Island of Gods.

Located within a shopping belt and 5km away from the Bali Ngurah Rai International Airport, the 203-key resort offers guestrooms of between 46m² and 265m² in size, as well as facilities such as the all-day dining Feast, Italian trattoria Bene, The Lounge, a spa, a fitness centre and more than 1,600m² of event spaces.

Event planners have nine venues to work with, the largest being the 700m² Sahid Ballroom which is divisible and supported by an underground secure parking facility for over 2,000 vehicles. Meeting spaces are equipped with state-of-the-art technology, including broadband and high-speed Wi-Fi Internet access.

To celebrate its opening, Sheraton Bali Kuta Resort is offering a package which includes accommodation in a deluxe room, breakfast for two at Feast, one-way airport transfer and daily resort credit of US$25. Priced from US$225⁺⁺ per night, the offer is valid until June 30, 2013. Terms apply.

SABAH S air connectivity is set to improve as Malaysia Airlines (MAS) launches new flights from Kota Kinabalu to Shanghai and resumes services to Osaka and Perth this month.

From December 11, 2012, the national carrier will commence twice-weekly flights to Shanghai, departing Kota Kinabalu every Tuesday and Friday at 20.20 and arriving in the Chinese city at 0.45 the following day.

Following the suspension of its Kota Kinabalu-Perth and Kota Kinabalu-Osaka routes earlier this year, MAS reintroduced a weekly service to Perth on December 9, departing every Sunday, and will bring back its twice-weekly flights to Osaka on December 20, departing every Monday and Thursday.

Services to all three destinations will be operated on B737-800 aircraft with 144 economy class seats and 16 business class seats.

Muzamil Mohammad, MAS regional senior vice president for Malaysia/ASEAN, said: “The introduction of more international direct flights to and from Kota Kinabalu meets the growing demand for premium connectivity to and from Sabah. Kota Kinabalu is an ideal gateway for air travel to and from China, Taiwan, Hong Kong, North Asia, Indonesia and Australia.”

MATTA Sabah Chapter chairman, KL Tan, said: “94 per cent of tourist arrivals to Sabah depend on air connectivity. We expect a surge of arrivals to the state with the new services to Shanghai and the resumption of flights to Osaka and Perth. The recommencement of flights to Osaka and Perth will also boost market confidence.”

AFTER weathering a long phase of investor apathy and governmental clearances, the Pune International Exhibition and Convention Centre (PIECC) has finally been cleared for construction.

Scheduled for completion by 2017, the 97-hectare PIECC will boast a staggering seating capacity of 20,000, with a floor area of 13,000m². It will have seven exhibition centres, a convention centre, a golf course, a five-star hotel, a business complex, shopping malls and residences.

The US$115 million project is developed by the Pimpri-Chinchwad New Town Development Authority. Upon completion, a private company will be appointed to market PIECC at an international level.

PIECC can expect a ready market, as automobile companies such as Land Rover, General Motors, Fiat, Mercedes-Benz, Volkswagen and Tata Motors, which have manufacturing bases in the vicinity, currently go to New Delhi for their auto shows and conferences.

Sushil Wadhwa, chairman, Platinum Incentives, said: “In India, the domestic demand for large MICE spaces is high and the sooner the PIECC is functional, the better it will be for the industry. With many international corporations and global associations looking at India to host their events, this will be a huge boost for the MICE trade in India.”

TWO Malaysian inbound tour operators specialising in German-speaking markets have reported a decline in business for the year, although statistics from Tourism Malaysia showed a single-digit percentage increase in arrivals from these markets up until the first half of 2012.

Diethelm Travel Malaysia’s managing director, Manfred Kurz, and Asian Overland Services Tours & Travel’s (AOS) director, business development, Noor M Ismail, concurred that the depreciation of the euro and high airfares had resulted in the poor showing.

Said Kurz: “Year-on-year, we have seen a 10 per cent drop in the German-speaking market. The weak euro is not helping as total package prices have gone up by 10 to 20 per cent, depending on the product. Our overseas partners in Germany and Austria have also complained that airfares to the Far East have become more expensive.”

Noor said AOS had seen a drop of some 20 per cent this year and predicted that the drop would be even more severe in 2013, as travellers would hesitate to spend on longhaul holidays.

The company last year began intensifying efforts in other markets, such as the UK and Eastern Europe, to make up for the possible drop. It is also promoting dual destinations such as Singapore-Malaysia and Malaysia-Cambodia to attract repeat visitors from German-speaking markets.

Meanwhile, Diethelm is reaching out to niche market segments such as “photography enthusiasts and those who love nature and soft adventure”. “There is still a following for the normal packages such as city tours, and visits to the national park of Taman Negara. Langkawi and Sabah are still high in demand,” said Kurz.

Germany showed 7.2 per cent growth in the first half of 2012 over the same period in 2011, recording 64,705 arrivals from 60,347 before. Arrivals from Switzerland grew 8.9 per cent to 13,058 in the first half of 2012.

INDIA’S Ministry of Tourism has successfully won the right to host the Global Spa & Wellness Summit (GSWS). To be held in Jaipur from October 4-7, 2013, this is the second time that the event will be held in Asia, after it was held in Bali in 2011.

This is the seventh edition of GSWS. Earlier editions have been held in New York City, Interlaken, Istanbul and Aspen.

The ministry expects about 400 international delegates from over 40 countries to attend this by-invitation-only global summit. Participants will come from sectors like hospitality, tourism, finance, real estate, medicine, technology, consultancy and other related industries, according to Ministry of Tourism sources. Max Healthcare, a private sector company, will be responsible for ground facilitation for the conference.

Gerie Bauer, president, Great Spas of the World US, said: “India is a logical place to hold this summit. India has offered its ancient wellness secrets through yoga, Ayurveda and meditation to the rest of the world.”

Susie Ellis, chairperson and CEO, GSWS, said in a media release: “It is very significant that we will be meeting in India, where the government has taken a worldwide leadership role by identifying wellness tourism as an important contributor to a nation’s economy. India is an ideal location to explore the historic roots of wellness, and address new markets and new revenue opportunities around the globe.”

Sonal Swamy, director, Syrisa Travels India, said: “Spa and wellness products in India have attained quality standards on par with the rest of the world…GSWS will benefit from the interface with Indian stakeholders.”

FOLLOWING a recently inked codeshare agreement with Etihad Airways, Garuda Indonesia has commenced services to London, Paris, Manchester, Moscow, Athens and Muscat, via Garuda’s new Middle Eastern hub, Abu Dhabi.

The Indonesian airline also flies from Jakarta to Amsterdam via Abu Dhabi four times a week.

Garuda Indonesia president & CEO, Emirsyah Satar, said: “The opening of the Abu Dhabi hub will facilitate passengers who wish to travel to more than 80 destinations served by Etihad Airways in 50 cities in Europe, North America, the Middle East and Africa.”

As partner, Garuda Indonesia will support Etihad Airways’ network development in the eastern regions, while Etihad Airways will endorse Garuda Indonesia’s expansion in the west.

As part of this collaboration, Garuda Indonesia can sell Etihad Airways’ tickets for more than 27 destinations in Europe, North America, the Middle East and Africa.

Etihad Airways will also be able to sell Garuda Indonesia tickets on the following routes: Jakarta-Kuala Lumpur, Jakarta-Abu Dhabi and to major cities in Indonesia, such as Surabaya, Denpasar, Manado, Makassar and Balikpapan (from Jakarta).

The agreement covers several aspects, such as passenger codeshare, cargo cooperation, airport service improvements, engineering and maintenance, lounges and frequent flyer programmes.

BASED on the results of its recent survey, Travelport is exhorting travel agencies to harness mobile technology to offer younger, technology-savvy travellers support throughout the travel cycle and create new points of sale.

According to the findings, ‘digital natives’ or people aged 35 and under, show a strong preference for accessing travel information via their mobile devices to view itineraries, search for travel-related information, view boarding passes and perform online check-ins, with 60 per cent viewing their smartphones as their “travelling companion” to whom they turn to for advice for the duration of their trip.

While leisure travellers rate the ability to receive travel alerts as the most critical aspect of notifications, there is a growing demand for travel offers and advice, such as promotional offers on hotels, dining offers, destination guides and airport information.

They also wanted to see a better design, offline access, a user-friendly format and the ability to customise what is viewed.

Yet half of all agencies surveyed are involved only up till the traveller’s point of departure. Though most offer multiple services including car rental, travel insurance and rail, communication is limited to traditional face-to-face contact, email or telephone.

This creates an opportunity for travel consultants to cash in on, stated the survey.

Travel agencies can provide discount vouchers, restaurant promotions as well as airport information, destination news, traffic and weather updates, thus adopting new points of sale via mobile platforms that are likely to be key sales conversion factors.

A move in this direction would take agencies closer to becoming full service, ensuring they are available for the traveller throughout all the phases of the travel cycle and not just when bookings are made.

The survey also found that despite being technology savvy, one in two travellers used offline travel agencies and two in three used OTAs. Digital natives were also more likely to engage travel consultants when planning complex trips.