FOR years bereft of marketing representation, Thailand has now been lumped together with Malaysia as a source market under the purview of Ong Sun Yan, the Philippines’ Department of Tourism’s (DoT) marketing director based in Malaysia.

The heightened focus on Thailand dovetails nicely with a three-month ASEAN tactical campaign started this quarter by the DoT to raise regional awareness of the Philippines as a holiday destination.

Lily Libosada, senior tourism operations officer, Team Asia Pacific, DoT, said that unlike the regular marketing campaign It’s More Fun in the Philippines, this tactical initiative, incorporating advertising and sales promotions, was targeted specifically at ASEAN markets and would only be active till early 2013.

Libosada explained that the growing spotlight on ASEAN markets was to aid the DoT in achieving its target of 4.5 million arrivals, which has been affected to a large extent by China’s ban on group travel to the Philippines.

Thailand is a small yet steadily growing source market for the Philippines, accounting for 24,012 or one per cent of the January-July 2012 tourist arrivals, up 7.1 per cent over the same period last year.

ABACUS International unveiled its newest solution Abacus AutomationHub at the Abacus International Conference 2012.

Abacus AutomationHub is a flexible and extensible solution platform that can fully automate essential but time-consuming tasks such as schedule change notification, waitlist status processing and itinerary delivery. Fully hosted by Abacus, the solution works non-stop during and outside office hours.

Brett Henry, vice president, commercial & marketing, Abacus International, said: “Based on each agency’s needs, Abacus AutomationHub can be personalised so that (travel consultants) will have the time to focus on other revenue-generating activities.”

Abacus AutomationHub comes ready with a set of modules, including Queue Automation, Fare Record Automation, Service Fee Automation, Automated Messaging and Automated Ticket Receipt. Additional modules will be introduced progressively as the solution is being rolled out.

In a separate development, Abacus has integrated PayPal as a payment option in their ready-to-go online booking engines, Abacus WebStart and Abacus WebConnect.

PayPal’s integration with these online solutions provides travel companies with the ability to make travel transactions with more than 113 million active PayPal users across 190 markets globally.

“By integrating PayPal into Abacus WebStart and Abacus WebConnect, agencies can now look forward to an effective platform to start an online business with the added benefit of being transaction-ready,” said Robert Bailey, president & CEO, Abacus International.

“In addition, a strong global brand like PayPal is a real boon to agencies as it instills a certain level of confidence and trust to global travellers who may be initially wary of purchasing travel packages or flight tickets from unknown travel agency websites.”

SINGAPORE conglomerate Fraser and Neave (F&N) has received an unsolicited cash offer of S$1.4 billion (US$1.1 billion) for Frasers Hospitality, its hospitality and serviced residence arm.

F&N said in a filing to the Singapore Stock Exchange (SGX) that the offer was submitted by a third party unrelated to any of its existing directors or shareholders.

According to Bloomberg, two sources with knowledge of the matter identified the bidder as Overseas Union Enterprise, a property affiliate of Indonesia-based Lippo Group, which owns Meritus Hotels & Resorts.

In the same SGX filing, F&N emphasised that it would not be responding to the offer since Frasers Hospitality formed an integral part of its property business and the company was constrained from selling material assets while it remains the subject of a US$7.2 billion takeover bid by Thai billionaire Charoen Sirivadhanabhakdi.

Frasers Hospitality’s portfolio consists of 43 serviced residences across Europe, Asia, Australia and the Middle East under its Fraser Suites, Fraser Place and Fraser Residence brands, three Modena boutique hotels in Shanghai, Tianjin and Suzhou, and the recently launched Capri by Fraser @ Changi City in Singapore (TTG Asia e-Daily, May 9, 2012).

TOURISM Malaysia wants a bigger share of the Russian outbound market and is aiming to grow visitor numbers from Vladivostok and Khabarovsk in the Russian Far East as well as Novosibirsk, the administrative centre of Novosibirsk Oblast.

According to Azizan Noordin, deputy director-general (planning), Tourism Malaysia, the NTO is in discussions with charter operators and travel consultants to schedule charters from these cities to Langkawi and Kota Kinabalu this coming winter.

The NTO will provide outbound agencies with joint marketing support, while Malaysia Airports, which manages most of the airports in Malaysia, has agreed to waive aircraft landing fees to encourage more chartered flights, he added.

From January to June 2012, Malaysia received 24,198 Russian tourists, a 28.2 per cent year-on-year increase.

In an unrelated development, Azizan told TTG Asia e-Daily that Tourism Malaysia was planning to upgrade its marketing office in Almaty, Khazakhstan, into a full-fledged regional office next year. First established in 2007, the office will be tasked with overseeing promotions throughout Central Asia.

AIRASIA X will suspend its four-times weekly service between Kuala Lumpur and Tehran from October 15.

Passengers who have booked flights beyond October 14 will be offered a full refund or credit shell.

The Malaysia-based carrier cited “challenging economic and business conditions including the volatility of the Iranian currency” as its basis for pulling out.

AirAsia X’s decision comes just months after the Malaysian Association of Tour & Travel Agents and the Iranian Tour Operators Association inked an MoU to collaborate on tourism-related events and promotion of each other’s products.

Both associations have an agreement with Mahan Air, Iran Air and AirAsia X to allocate up to 50 per cent of their capacity on the outbound sector between Kuala Lumpur and Tehran. Mahan Air and Iran Air will continue to serve Kuala Lumpur.

Earlier this year, AirAsia X suspended operations to Christchurch, London, Paris, New Delhi and Mumbai.

MYANMAR tourism officials have unveiled wide-ranging plans to develop the country’s tourism industry in anticipation of a surge in inbound tourists.

During a keynote presentation at last Friday’s Lao National Institute of Tourism & Hospitality (LANITH) Quarterly Symposium in Vientiane, Kyi Thein Ko, head of secretary, Myanmar Tourism Federation (MTF), said Myanmar had engaged a branding firm to promote its tourism products, while MTF maintains a large presence at major regional and international travel tradeshows.

Eighty per cent of the marketing target themes such as history, culture, temples, nature, architecture and Buddhism in the country’s four main destinations: Yangon, Mandalay, Bagan and Inle Lake.

The country has also designated 15 eco-destinations. “We would like to share information in developing our ecotourism with Laos, as they have the experience,” said MTF senior tourism advisor, Daw Kyi Kyi Aye.

Addressing Myanmar’s high-end room shortage, Daw Kyi Kyi Aye said “local hotels were now upgrading,” and the situation was ripe for foreign investors, who have already earmarked US$1.15 billion for new upscale hotels that will add 1,415 rooms to the local inventory.

She noted that only 35 hotels with 6,560 rooms were geared for business travellers, and this lack of quality accommodation was an issue that the Ministry of Hotels & Tourism was acting on. “We don’t want more hotels for backpackers, but for the ‘laptop’ guests, as business travellers spend money,” she said.

Concerning connectivity, Daw Kyi Kyi Aye said Myanmar was planning to develop international air hubs at its major destinations, as well as more expressways and overland routes to neighbouring countries.

“We must be ready for the SEA Games in 2013 when we will also hold the ASEAN Chair,” she said. “We also have some 800 meetings scheduled and we aim to be a MICE destination by 2014 before hosting the ASEAN Tourism Forum in 2015.”

Both she and Kyi Thein Ko stressed the importance of partnerships, communication among stakeholders and human resource development in developing an effective strategy to promote the destination.

Discussions are already being held with LANITH chief technical advisor, Peter Semone, to provide guidance in implementing a Passport to Success skills training programme, starting a tourism and hospitality school, and producing master local trainers and educators.

QUAY Grand Suites Sydney was today rebranded to Pullman Quay Grand Sydney Harbour, making it the third Pullman in Sydney as part of an aggressive local expansion for the five-star hotel brand.

Simon McGrath, COO, Accor Pacific, said growing the Pullman brand in Australia was a key priority for the group, with many of the former Mirvac hotels scheduled to be rebranded to Pullman over the next 12 months.

“The Pullman brand holds such a rich history and is highly regarded throughout Asia and Europe, and it makes sense for us to grow this brand in Australia where there is clear demand for quality internationally branded hotels aimed at the corporate and upscale leisure markets,” he said.

“Pullman is already a major brand in key source markets for Australia across Asia and Europe, and it is anticipated that there will be some 150 Pullman hotels and resorts by 2015.”

Set on the eastern shore of Circular Quay and overlooking Sydney Harbour, the Pullman Quay Grand Sydney Harbour offers 67 one- and two-bedroom suites, fine dining in Quadrant Restaurant, and three function rooms that can cater for up to 140 guests.

The hotel joins Pullman Sydney Olympic Park, Pullman Sydney Hyde Park – currently undergoing an upgrading programme following a rebranding from Sydney Marriott in May – Pullman Reef Casino in Cairns and the recently rebadged Pullman Resort Bunker Bay in Western Australia’s Margaret River region.

The Sebel Cairns, The Sebel King George Square Brisbane and The Sebel Albert Park Melbourne are all primed to take on Pullman branding within the next six months, putting Pullman on track to grow its Australia network to 15 hotels by end-2013.