BATAVIA Air has suspended several routes, cut frequencies and put some aircraft aside for maintenance to keep business going, following the collapse of acquisition talks with AirAsia and its Indonesian partner Fersindo Nusaperkasa (TTG Asia e-Daily, October 15, 2012).

The airline’s commercial director Sukirno Sukarna told the media in Jakarta earlier this week that the deal’s cancellation meant that the company would not get the fresh cash it needed to rejuvenate its fleet, but it was not the end of the world for Batavia Air.

“We will continue our plan to rejuvenate our aircraft, but it will be slower than we had hoped for earlier,” he said.

He added that the airline had suspended its Jakarta-Medan, Jakarta-Gorontalo and Bandung-Singapore services to improve efficiency and facilitate aircraft maintenance during the low season. Batavia Air has 33 aircraft and is operating 20 at the moment.

“We have suspended the routes during the low season and will restart services during the peak season, starting end of November,” he said.

IN A BID to boost its status as a regional hotel chain to one that is known the world over, Park Hotel Group (PHG) has rebranded its Regional Sales Offices to Global Sales Offices (GSO).

The move follows closely behind PHG’s establishment of its eighth GSO in Sydney on October 1, marking the group’s first foray into the Australasia region.

The Sydney GSO is tasked with developing source markets in Australia and New Zealand, and aims to drive increased business to PHG’s network of nine hotels in Singapore, China, Hong Kong and Japan.

PHG’s sales network spans other major gateway cities such as London, Tokyo, Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Hong Kong and Singapore.

IN KEEPING with its ‘asset-light’ strategy, Accor has sold 60 per cent of its stake in 15 Formule 1 hotel projects in India to Samhi, an Indian hotel investment and development firm that owns properties, particularly those in the mid-scale and economy segment, across India.

Accor ­­will, however, continue to run the hotels under long-term management contracts.

Of the 15 wholly-owned or leased Formule 1 hotel projects in India, two – in Ahmedabad and Greater Noida – are already open and functional, while one is due to open this December in Pune.

Samhi has partnerships with Chicago-based Equity International, Marriott International and GTI Capital Group, and had bought over Royal Orchid Hotel in Ahmedabad in April this year. They are also developing properties in Bangalore, Chennai and Gurgaon with brands such as Courtyard by Marriott, Fairfield by Marriott and Hyatt Place.

SINCE establishing a presence in China four years ago, Tourism Tasmania has registered rising arrivals from mainland China and Hong Kong.

Some 9,000 travellers from Hong Kong visited the Australian island-state between June 2011 and June 2012, a year-on-year increase of 38 per cent, while Chinese arrivals rose 30 per cent to 10,800.

However, Tourism Tasmania director of marketing, Kathryn McCann, acknowledges that growth has been impeded by a number of factors.

McCann said: “To Chinese travellers, Tasmania is a new destination and our challenge is to create awareness among consumers. We want to tap young affluent travellers, but the lack of point-to-point air connection and charter flights is an issue.

“In the next 12 months, we will leverage past campaigns and (push) experience-driven itineraries such as food tours and (visits to) natural habitats.”

“The lesser-known north-west and western districts of the island will also be (promoted) in Asia,” she added.

To support Tourism Tasmania’s Asian foray, a full-time representative in Shanghai was recruited to build the Chinese market. Lara Giddings, the premier of Tasmania, also led a delegation to China and Hong Kong in September to promote tourism and explore investment opportunities.

The tourism bureau will further enhance marketing efforts in Asia with its first-ever 10-day Asian roadshow, which will cover Shanghai, Guangzhou, Hong Kong, Malaysia and Singapore in May next year.

HILTON Worldwide has entered a management agreement with Chatan Hotel and Resort Corp, a subsidiary of Orix Real Estate Corp, to manage Hilton Okinawa Chatan in central Chatan, Okinawa, Japan.

The 346-room Hilton Okinawa Chatan is scheduled to open in 2014, offering a 530m2 function room, a 120m2 meeting room, a business centre, an all-day dining restaurant, a specialty restaurant, a lobby lounge, a full service spa and fitness gym, indoor and outdoor pools, and other facilities.

“This agreement is a significant milestone for us as it represents the Hilton brand’s entry into Okinawa and our 11th property in Japan. Okinawa hosts nearly 5.5 million visitors a year and tourism contributes close to US$5 billion annually. Backed by a strong partner like Orix Real Estate Corp, we are confident that Hilton Okinawa Chatan will compete well with the existing international and local hotel supply,” said Andrew Clough, senior vice president, development, Middle East & Asia Pacific, Hilton Worldwide.

Hilton Okinawa Chatan sits approximately 20km away from Naha International Airport, and faces Mihama American Village, one of the largest shopping complexes in Okinawa.

HONG KONG-BASED Dragonair will commence a new four-times weekly service to Yangon, Myanmar on January 9 next year ­– provided the government gives its nod.

The new service will enhance Dragonair’s presence in the region and provide a significant boost to both leisure and business traffic between Hong Kong and Myanmar.

The airline intends to operate the new service with Airbus A321 aircraft, departing Hong Kong every Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Sunday.

Besides connecting passengers from around the world with Myanmar, Dragonair will offer passengers from Myanmar a greater choice and convenience in flying onwards to mainland China via its own network, or to other destinations worldwide via Cathay Pacific Airways, through the Hong Kong hub.

In addition to the new Yangon service, Dragonair will also be increasing frequencies to a number of destinations in its winter schedule, effective from October 28. Services to Phnom Penh will rise from seven to 10 flights per week, while an extra flight has been added to Kota Kinabalu, making a total of six weekly flights to the Malaysian destination.

As well, the airline is set to resume services to Haikou, Hainan, with a daily flight commencing October 28.