STARWOOD Hotels & Resorts has kicked off its global resorts campaign for 2012, which aims to both educate and reward travel industry members.

Travel professionals can Explore Destinations, Experience Luxury, and Earn Rewards by viewing a four-minute video designed to introduce the company’s range of resorts and travel options in various destinations around the world.

The video can be viewed at www.starwoodpro.com, the group’s web portal for trade players, and is available from October 1-14.

After completing the module, travel professionals will get a second night free when they book one resort night via the ProLearning page by December 31, 2012. The stay is valid from December 1, 2012 through December 31, 2013.

Chris Austin, vice president, global retail leisure and luxury sales for Starwood Hotels & Resorts, said: “We want our partners in travel to understand all the options we provide their customers, and we want our travel professional partners to experience it for themselves. We hope to welcome thousands of travel professionals to our resorts in the coming year as a result of this promotion.”

TIGER Airways and Scoot yesterday sealed a Memorandum of Understanding that will see the two low-cost carriers offer joint itineraries, with the initial phase beginning today.

Under the initial phase, customers may purchase a single itinerary for travel from Sydney or Gold Coast in Australia, served by Scoot; to Phuket, Ho Chi Minh City or Kuala Lumpur in South-east Asia, served by Tiger, via a transit in Singapore.

Passengers travelling from Australia to South-east Asia will be issued a single ticket containing all flight details and are entitled to 15kg check-in baggage allowance. On arrival in Singapore, they will be required to pass through immigration and collect their bags before checking into the second leg of the flight.

The two airlines are looking to implement a direct connection process to remedy this, which will allow passengers to transit to their next flight without passing through immigration or collecting baggage.

“Both carriers operate highly complementary networks, with Scoot focusing on medium-long haul routes of five or more hours, and Tiger focusing on shorter-haul journeys,” said Scoot CEO, Campbell Wilson.

“With Tiger’s move to our new den at Changi Airport Terminal 2, it’s the perfect time to leverage the strength of our networks to our customers’ benefit. The joint itineraries and new services we will be rolling out will greatly expand the travel options for both Tiger and Scoot customers,” said Tiger Airways Group CEO, Koay Peng Yen.

Brendan Sorbie, chief representative South-east Asia, Centre of Asia-Pacific Aviation, told TTG Asia e-Daily: “Tiger needed to revaluate its business model and its approach to partnerships. To grow and perhaps even to survive it needs to embrace a new model, which includes working with other carriers.”

“Scoot, as a long-haul carrier, needs feed if it is to become a viable entity of decent size, and Tiger is the most logical partner,” he added.

Joint itineraries originating from Australia are available for sale from today, for travel from October 15. Air tickets for travel departing South-east Asia will be available for sale and travel from November 2.

ONE year after acquiring specialised education tour company Holidaybreak UK, Cox & Kings will kickstart education tours in India in 2013, and expects a 25 per cent ROI in developing this niche segment.

Peter Kerkar, executive director, Cox & Kings, said: “Education tours will be rolled out in India next year and the company is developing a site within the country for its education tours. Our strategy is to become education tour specialists. We have done market studies and have held discussions with 300 schools.”

Typically, Indian education tours have a group size of 30-40 students accompanied by three or four teachers. Textbook learning is augmented by visits to historical and cultural locations under the supervision of trained guides and teachers.

The current size of the outbound education tours market in India has grown to about 80,000 annually. Trade experts are bullish that the yearly growth of 20-25 per cent is sustainable for several years to come.

Sanjay Maniar, director, Travelaid Kolkata, said: “Most good schools are recognising the fact that students, travelling with their peers under supervision of their teachers, learn to experience other cultures and norms and, most importantly, see places that they have only read about. This experiential learning is priceless.”

CHANGI Airport Group (CAG) has renewed its partnership with Singapore Airlines (SIA) and SilkAir to introduce a series of stopover packages.

Starting from S$54 (US$44) per night, promotional rates for these packages will last from now until March 28, 2013 and are valid for travel between October 1 and March 31, 2013.

The Singapore Stopover Holiday packages bundle hotel accommodation with complimentary transfers, unlimited rides on the SIA Hop-on Bus, and free admission to 14 key attractions including the Singapore Flyer, MINT Museum of Toys, HiPPO RiverCruise, Singapore Zoo and National Orchid Garden.

Packages comprising only accommodations and transfers are also available.

Peh Ke-Wei, vice president for passenger development, CAG, said: “This is a great time to visit or stop over in Singapore, especially with the many new and exciting tourism developments. We would like to encourage travellers to take advantage of the attractive Singapore Stopover Holiday packages being offered to come and experience Singapore and Changi Airport.”

AFTER a lull of over two years, a deluge of over 20,000 Russian tourists is expected to arrive in Kerala between October and March 2013, cushioning the impact of falling visitor numbers from traditional European markets.

Fifty-seven charter flights from Russia have been scheduled between 4Q2012 and 3Q2013, and are expected to at least double the number of Russian arrivals registered last year. The first such flight carrying 150 passengers will arrive in Trivandrum on October 17, followed by at least a flight each week thereafter.

These visitors will cover the Trivandrum, Kovalam, Munnar and Cochin circuit, spending at least two weeks engaging in a range of activities including Ayurveda treatments and yoga sessions, said Doronina Irina, group tours manager, West-Line Travel Moscow.

Dipak Deva, CEO, Kuoni India & South-east Asia, welcomed the influx, saying it would make up for the “dying” European market. “Tourism in India has survived rough patches because of Russian inbound into our country,” he said.

However, some industry players expressed reservations about increased Russian inbound. Riaz Ahmed, managing director, Abad Hotels and president, Kerala Travel Mart 2012, said: “Kerala is not a charter destination as we do not have the capacity nor the products to handle charter tourists.”

Similarly, Paul Kennes, managing director, Horizon Noveaux Switzerland, cautioned that mass marketing Kerala could destroy the destination’s cultural appeal. “Kerala should not focus on numbers, but on the quality of tourists who appreciate the culture and spend money for the value of the experience,” he said.

INDIA is planning to extend its visa on arrival (VOA) facility to Buddhist pilgrims from Thailand and Malaysia, as part of an initiative to promote Buddhist tourism in the country.

Speaking at last week’s International Buddhist Conclave in Varanasi, India’s tourism minister, Subodh Kant Sahai, said: “India, being the land of origin of Buddhism, is the main attraction for Buddhist tourists from across the globe. We are drawing up plans to attract more tourists from Buddhist countries like Thailand and Malaysia by providing them special facilities such as visas on arrival.”

Meanwhile, India’s Tourism Ministry has also identified three new Buddhist circuits for development.

The first, the Dharmayatra or Sacred Circuit, is a five- to seven-day tour including visits to Gaya (Bodhgaya), Varanasi (Sarnath), Kushinagar and Piparva (Kapilvastu), and a day trip to Lumbini in Nepal.

The second, Extended Dharmayatra or Retracing Buddha’s Footsteps, is a 10-15 day itinerary including visits to Gaya (Nalanda, Rajgir, Barabar caves, Pragbodhi Hill, Bodhgaya), Patna (Vaishali, Lauriya Nandangarh, Lauriya Ariraj, Kesariya, Patna Museum), Varanasi (Sarnath), Kushinagar and Piparva (Kapilvastu, Shravasti, Saniska), with a day trip to Lumbini.

The third is the Buddhist Heritage Trails State Circuits, covering Jammu and Kashmir – Ladakh, Srinagar and Jammu; and Himachal Pradesh – Dharamshala, Spiti, Kinnaur and Lahaul.

Mahaparinirvan Express train journeys will also encompass new Buddhist attractions in Odisha.

Yupha Moonsarn, director, Virgo Virgin Tours Bangkok, said: “The interest of Thai tourists in visiting India is increasing, and the introduction of VOA and new Buddhist circuits will increase demand by 100 per cent in the next two to three years.”

KERALA unveiled a host of new products, destinations and hotel properties during the recently concluded biennial Kerala Travel Mart at Le Meridien Kochi Resort & Convention Centre.

Bekal, Kozhikode, Wayanad, Munnar, Thekkady, Kumarakom, AlleppeyKollam and Thiruvananthapuram were some of the destinations featuring new products such as water sports, naturopathic healing, traditional spa treatments, cultural immersion tours and soft adventure travel. There were also 70 new properties offered.

Kerala’s tourism minister, A P Anil Kumar, said: “We need to add newer destinations, which are numerous across the state, to cater to the increased flow of domestic and international inbound tourists to our destination.”

Presenting their wares to 454 international buyers from 48 countries and 1,742 Indian buyers, 416 exhibitors displayed products ranging from beach holidays, Ayurveda and wellness tourism, adventure travel and cruise packages, to luxury hotel and home and farm stays.

A 21-member delegation from Ukraine was also in attendance, spearheading a good response from Eastern Europe countries.

Last year, foreign tourist arrivals to Kerala jumped 11.2 per cent to 732,985, up from 659,265 in 2010.

STARTING today, Japan Airlines (JAL) and British Airways (BA) will embark on a joint business agreement that sees the two airlines sharing revenue on Europe-Japan services, as well as expanding flight options to customers on both sides.

Having begun codesharing on flights between Tokyo (Haneda and Narita) and London (Heathrow) in September, the airlines have opted to cooperate further on all non-stop flights between Japan and Europe. This includes the 19 weekly services between the UK and Japan, as well as JAL’s Paris and Frankfurt services.

Meanwhile, the codeshare arrangement has been expanded beyond respective hub cities. JAL customers are now able to book tickets to Belfast, Helsinki, Frankfurt and Gothenburg, while BA passengers can fly JAL to Kansai, Okayama, Hiroshima, Izumo, Nagasaki, Kagoshima and Okinawa.

The websites of both airlines will allow passengers to check in, book online and access flight information, regardless of which airline they are flying with.

Top-tier loyalty programme members from both sides can accumulate bonus points with either airline, while JAL Mileage Bank members travelling on BA will see their accumulation rate for miles jump from 25 per cent to 70 per cent.

ABSOLUTE Hotel Services is expanding its porfolio with U Avela Hua Hin, scheduled to open in early 2014.

Featuring a private beachfront location, U Avela Hua Hin will be the first villa-style resort under the U Hotels & Resorts brand.

“We are delighted to continually expand the U portfolio in Thailand with our seventh property in the Kingdom,” said Jonathan Wigley, CEO, Absolute Hotel Services.

U Avela Hua Hin will offer a total of 41 keys including 12 deluxe rooms, six deluxe pool access rooms, 20 one-bedroom pool villas and three two-bedroom pool villas.

Facilities will include an indoor bar, a beach restaurant, a small meeting room, an outdoor swimming pool, a fitness centre, several spa treatment rooms, and a library/business centre.