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.

TRAVEL consultants have taken a hit following the voluntary administration of Australia-based Classic International Cruises (CIC) on October 31, which has itineraries covering Asia, Australia and Europe.

Its Athena ship was impounded in Marseille, along with other vessels over unpaid bills. A viable replacement was not secured for its first 2012/2013 cruise, scheduled to depart Marseille on November 12, or for the rest of its season.

CIC’s cancellations have left travel consultants saddled with credit card chargebacks and unhappy customers. An estimated 5,000-plus passengers had booked cruises from ports such as Fremantle, Adelaide, Sydney and Singapore with deposits of 40 per cent.

Tour de Force Travel’s owner, Carol Shaw, is claiming for A$10,000 (US$10,468) but she estimates she will lose A$5,000. “We don’t know where we stand on the list of CIC creditors. We were able to rebook eight clients on other cruises, including four out of Singapore and four out of Sydney, and have been able to minimise the damage to our agency. We are telling some customers we will give them travel credit,” said Shaw.

Asia Escape Holidays operations manager, Peter Dollman, said his company had come through the cancellations reasonably well as it had not taken any credit card bookings.

He said Asia Escape had found alternative cruises to accommodate passengers departing via Singapore.

CIC’s voluntary administration follows the mid-year closure of Kumuka Worldwide, dealing a blow to travel consultants and leaving one with A$15,000 in credit card chargebacks alone.

INDIAN OTA MakeMyTrip has acquired a majority interest in hotel aggregator and tour operator ITC Group.

A hotel aggregator and tour operator for Thailand, the ITC Group comprises three companies: International Tour Center, ITC Bangkok and ITC South. It offers hotel reservations, excursion tours and other travel-related services for inbound and outbound travellers in South-east Asia.

MakeMyTrip paid US$2.2 million to the existing shareholders for the sale of their shares in the ITC Group and US$1 million for subscription of new shares in the ITC Group. MakeMyTrip will also acquire the remaining shares of the ITC Group from the existing shareholders in cash, payable in four tranches, over a period ending 2016.

The latest acquisition announcement is the second in a month for MakeMyTrip, which earlier revealed it had acquired the Hotel Travel Group, beefing up its presence in Thailand, Singapore and Malaysia.

The move will help MakeMyTrip further expand its presence in Thailand, a key market for its outbound holidays business, by establishing more direct hotel relationships in the country.

OFFICIALLY relaunching this evening, the Singapore Cruise Centre’s (SCC) rejuvenated terminal at HarbourFront is giving the once-unchallenged operator fresh ammunition in its fight for business against newcomer, Marina Bay Cruise Centre Singapore (MBCCS).

Upgraded to the tune of S$14 million (US$11.5 million), the cruise/ferry terminal was injected with a 26 per cent increase in passenger operations space. Arrival immigration counters and automated gates have been doubled, as have baggage check-in counters. There are also more amenities such as a new VIP check-in lounge.

Said SCC CEO, Christina Siaw, “When passengers step onto shore, 95 per cent will be out of the terminal in 30 to 40 minutes. Previously, it took 10 to 20 per cent more time.” Bags will now take about 30 minutes to be discharged from the ship to the arrival hall, an improvement of 45 minutes from before.

While the terminal’s footprint is unchanged at 12,800m2, almost 30 per cent of retail space was sacrificed, while other infrastructure changes were made to enlarge operations space. The terminal has also been modernised to give a garden and holiday feel.

The last renovation works for HarbourFront were in 2005 and 2008, but both were not as major.

With the soft opening of MBCCS in May, Siaw said that cruise calls have “fallen a bit”, although she does not have numbers for the 2012/2013 financial year ending March 2013. In 2011/2012, SCC received 347 cruise calls, with a passenger throughput of 901,976.

“(MBCCS) is handling the bigger ships, plus some companies want to have their smaller ships (call at the same terminal). We expect to lose about 20 per cent of passenger throughput,” she predicted.

As SCC is unable to take larger ships because of height restrictions posed by the nearby cable car attraction, it is looking at ways to get smaller- and medium-sized vessels to call more often, which include providing a higher degree of customisation to each customer, said Siaw.

Currently handling about six million passengers yearly at all its terminals, she foresees a small increase in overall passenger numbers for SCC’s next financial year, as its ferry business, which contributes about five million passengers, continues to flourish.

Despite the arrival of MBCCS, Siaw pointed out that it was still a win-win situation, as the new terminal was attracting business from first-time cruise ships, helping to grow the overall cruise pie for Singapore. SCC is expecting three maiden calls in the cruise season of 2013/2014.