QATAR Airways is to join oneworld, becoming the first of the three major Gulf carriers to sign for a global airline alliance.

Qatar Airways CEO, Akbar Al Baker, said: “Alliances are playing an increasingly important role in the airline industry today – and that will continue long into the future. Qatar Airways has carefully reviewed its strategic options and it is clear that joining oneworld is the best way forward for us as we look to strengthen our competitive offering and give passengers more choice.”

British Airways will serve as Qatar Airways’ sponsor during its implementation into the alliance, a process that is expected to take between 12 and 18 months.

The Doha-based carrier will become oneworld’s second member airline based in the Middle East. Royal Jordanian was the first carrier from the region to join a global alliance when it boarded oneworld in 2007.

Qatar Airways’ addition will plug 15 destinations and three countries – Iran, Rwanda and the Seychelles – into the oneworld map, boosting the alliance’s global coverage to 856 destinations in 159 countries and provide routing alternatives across hundreds of city pairs.

Qatar Airways already codeshares with oneworld member designate Malaysia Airlines. Two oneworld member airlines currently serve its Doha home – British Airways from its London hub, and Royal Jordanian from its Amman base – along with member elect SriLankan, from its Colombo hub.

American Airlines’ chairman and chief executive, Tom Horton, chairman of the oneworld governing board, said: “Adding Qatar Airways will significantly improve our connectivity between many of the destinations that are most important to (our) customers, so (the) agreement with Qatar Airways will enable us to offer even more value.”

oneworld CEO, Bruce Ashby, added: “oneworld is delighted to be the first of the global alliances to welcome a member airline from this region, enabling us to be the first to offer consumers the services and benefits offered by both a global alliance and a Gulf carrier.”

MALAYSIA Airlines will introduce double daily Airbus A380 services on its Kuala Lumpur-London (Heathrow) route beginning November 24. The flag carrier will also commence daily A380 operations to Paris effective March 1, 2013, replacing existing daily services with Boeing B777 aircraft.

The move will raise the weekly seat capacity on the Kuala Lumpur-London route from 5,971 to 6,916 seats in each direction, a 16 per cent increase.

MAS group CEO, Ahmad Jauhari Yahya, said: “This initiative is part of our efforts to standardise our product offering on (the Kuala Lumpur-London) route for oneworld customers when we join the alliance early next year (TTG Asia e-Daily, February 9, 2012).”

Noor Mohammad, head, Europe department, Asian Overland Services Tours & Travel, said increased capacity on the Kuala Lumpur-London route would help alleviate the shortage of seats during the peak British travel season in November and December.

“However, whether it will lead to a significant increase in (inbound) tourists is still too early to tell, as it will also depend on airfares,” he added.

Abdul Rahman Mohamed, deputy general manager channel management, Mayflower Acme Tours, said: “MAS has the inventory, but whether it will stir the market depends on its fare pricing. Will it be as competitive as Middle East carriers, especially during the peak season?”

MAS’ move to boost capacity to Europe comes at the expense of planned A380 services to Sydney (TTG Asia e-Daily, August 13, 2012) and Melbourne. The carrier was orginally due to deploy the A380 on its daily Sydney-Kuala Lumpur flights from November 26, with Melbourne expected to follow from March 2013.

THE Jetstar Group yesterday launched its first Indonesian retail outlet in Kelapa Gading, the southernmost subdistrict of North Jakarta, to reach out to an extended customer base in the country.

Operated in collaboration with Holiday Tours & Travel, Qantas Group’s GSA for Indonesia, the outlet is expected to make it more convenient for Indonesian consumers to book and pay for fares across the entire Jetstar network.

Barathan Pasupathi, CEO, Jetstar Asia and Valuair, explained: “While credit card payments make up between 80 and 90 per cent (of overall transactions) in places such as Singapore, in Indonesia it is around 25 to 30 per cent. Many customers here still like to talk to people when planning a trip and prefer cash payments.”

He added: “Our Indonesian services are now running at around 80 per cent load factor and there is still room to grow. (The new retail outlet) will also make it more convenient for group bookings.”

Pasupathi told TTG Asia e-Daily that the group was planning to open additional retail outlets in Jakarta and other Jetstar destinations in Indonesia, while travel products including hotels and travel insurance would soon be available.

The Jetstar Group currently operates 80 flights a week from Australia and Singapore to Jakarta, Bali, Surabaya and Medan.

UBM Asia and RajaMICE have joined hands to launch SATTE Indonesia, with the first edition scheduled to take place in Bali from June 12-14, 2013.

An offshoot of the B2B travel tradeshow held annually in New Delhi, the introduction of SATTE Indonesia recognises the growing importance of Indonesia as a travel destination.

Christopher Eve, senior vice president, UBM Asia, said: “The growth of Indonesia’s economic importance in the South-east Asia region and around the world means that there are huge opportunities for both inbound and outbound travel operators and suppliers.”

“On the inbound side, Indonesia’s rich diversity of tourism offerings, as well as its rapidly increasing business travel (segment), offer huge potential. Meanwhile, the vast population and burgeoning middle class mean that there are enormous opportunities for outbound and domestic travel.”

SATTE Indonesia 2013 is expected to bring together over 300 domestic and international sellers and more than 250 domestic and international buyers. There will be three days of pre-allocated appointments for buyers and sellers as well as a four-day travel mart.

I B Lolec, country manager, Pacific World Indonesia, said: “This could be a great international tourism marketplace for Indonesia, especially Bali, which will be ready with more rooms and better infrastructure in 2013, in particular the new airport. This event would be absolutely great if SATTE Indonesia can bring quality overseas buyers.”

Asnawi Bahar, president, Indonesian Association of Tour & Travel Agencies, said: “Our members with a total of 7,000 travel agencies all over Indonesia should be able to become actively involved at SATTE Indonesia 2013.”

THAILAND, Indonesia and the Maldives are currently the hottest hotel investment markets in the Asia-Pacific region, according to Jones Lang LaSalle Hotels.

“We are seeing fantastic potential coming out of Thailand, Indonesia and the Maldives, backed by rising RevPAR, healthy investor interest and solid travel demand,” said Tom Oakden, executive vice president, investment sales, Jones Lang LaSalle Hotels.

“While hotel transactions in Asia and globally have slowed in the last year, investor sentiment remains strong for the right prospects, and these markets are showing the greatest opportunity for capital value growth.”

In Thailand, RevPAR is climbing in Bangkok despite new hotel supply, while resort markets such as Phuket are exhibiting stronger income growth potential. Whereas domestic players once dominated the market, overseas investors are increasingly coming into the picture – with greater liquidity as a result. Thailand has seen five major hotel deals in the last 18 months – including the Mövenpick Phuket, which was the country’s largest open market hotel transaction to date.

In Indonesia, Bali and Jakarta have traditionally dominated foreign investor interest, but this is diversifying to other regions. Lack of new stock is a challenge, although latest Jones Lang LaSalle research indicates that investors are preparing to sharpen yield expectations. Coupled with exceptional year-to-date RevPAR growth, this may help close the gap between the pricing expectations of buyers.

The Maldives has broadened its appeal beyond honeymooners with a healthy influx of Chinese visitors in the last three years. From an investment perspective, the Maldives commands one of the highest ADRs globally and guest capture for food, beverage and ancillary income sources is high. Government policies on foreign investment have also relaxed, allowing leases to be extended for 50-year terms. While RevPAR growth was affected by negative publicity in 1H2012, the destination has rebounded strongly with August showing double-digit RevPAR growth.

TTG Travel Trade Publishing, the Asia-Pacific region’s leading travel trade business resource publisher, rolled out its newest publication, TTG Asia Luxury, during last week’s IT&CMA and CTW Asia-Pacific in Bangkok.

Targeted at buyers of premium travel and luxury meetings from Asia-Pacific, TTG Asia Luxury is circulated bi-annually to an audited database populated with top management.

“With the greater number of high net worth individuals and companies willing to spend on luxury travel, there has been a corresponding growth in Asia-Pacific’s luxury travel products and services,” said Darren Ng, managing director, TTG Asia Media.

“We firmly believe that this market can only grow with the growing number of Asian (travel consultants) beginning to commit to selling luxury travel.”

Besides containing the latest updates in the Asia-Pacific luxury travel scene, TTG Asia Luxury also features guides and reports that are intended to remain useful throughout the year.

The inaugural edition features a list of the top 40 luxury hotel brands in Asia-Pacific, guides on responsible luxury travel and luxury MICE, handpicked destinations with premium offerings, and a report on luxury travel in the emerging markets of China and India.

RESORT development is showing no signs of slowing down in Boracay, which received 854,468 tourist arrivals for the year as of August 28, a 36.2 per cent year-on-year increase, according to provincial government statistics.

Over the last few months, the most prominent high-end resort openings include Nandana Boracay (92 rooms) and The District Boracay (48 rooms).

Fairways & Bluewater, which recently added 113 keys to its 143 existing rooms, intends to pack on another 400 keys over the next few years. The property is also renovating its lobby area, restaurant and Graham Marsh-designed golf course, while a new conference venue is being built to complement an open-air pavilion and amphitheatre near its private beach, Paradise Cove.

Elsewhere, Paradise Garden Resort Hotel & Convention Center will launch 41 new rooms by Chinese New Year; Crown Regency Resort & Convention Center will add 254 rooms to its 267-room inventory by March 2013; while The Astoria Group previously added 30 rooms to the Astoria Boracay and will open a 100-room property in 2014 (TTG Asia e-Daily, September 13, 2012).

According to Wenie Maligaya, director of sales at Crown Regency Resort & Convention Center, which targets groups and incentives, corporate rates are pegged at PHP 5,000 (US$120) for two pax until further notice. The property is counting on new business with the recent opening of a 1,800m2 wave pool, ideal for surfing lessons.

Onelle Pacheco Verzosa, director of sales & marketing, Best Western Boracay Tropics, said promo packages and low season rates at her property were in effect till mid-October.

“We’ve relied on group business from Taiwan and South Korea (in the absence of Chinese business due to the ongoing territorial spat over Scarborough Shoal), and the local market has also provided good support,” she said.

HILTON Worldwide will debut its first property in Bangladesh in 2015, having signed a management agreement with Premier Hostels & Resorts to manage Hilton Dhaka.

Andrew Clough, senior vice president, development, Middle East & Asia Pacific, Hilton Worldwide, said: “We have been expanding aggressively across Asia-Pacific with a wide range of award-winning brands, and this is a significant milestone for us as it marks both Hilton Worldwide’s and the Hilton brand’s entry into Dhaka, a key financial hub and one of the fastest growing cities in the world.”

Located in the central business district on Gulshan Avenue, Hilton Dhaka will offer 250 rooms, one all-day dining and two specialty restaurants, a deli and lobby lounge as well as a bar.

It will also boast a full service spa, fitness centre, roof-top pool, ballroom, a lifestyle meeting floor and carpark facilities.