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.

SINGAPORE-based Asiatravel.com Holdings will unveil its new TACentre.com tomorrow, billing it as Asia’s first online travel wholesale platform which can provide traditional brick-and-mortar agencies with full packages 24/7 and for which they can get instant confirmation.

Far from being dead, traditional agencies in Asia were “doing well”, said Asiatravel.com’s executive chairman, Boh Tuang Poh. One reason was the continued growth in Asian outbound leisure markets, he explained.

The issues facing agencies, however, are rising costs and manpower shortages.

With TAcentre.com, agencies can improve their operational productivity, customer service efficiency and increase profitability, as the job of creating packages and finding the best rates have already been done for them, said Fred Seow, vice president marketing.

“Many online platforms claim to be online. The content is viewable online; the consultants still have to wait for confirmation. With TAcentre.com, they are able to get instant confirmation,” said Boh, when asked about the platform’s key differentiator.

– Full report in TTG Asia, October 19, 2012

ARRIVALS from Malaysia and Indonesia to Japan have rebounded significantly in the past 12 months, and the Japan National Tourism Organization (JNTO) is reaching out to court Muslim tourists from these markets, alongside a marketing campaign to shore up Muslim visitor numbers from Singapore.

Said Motonari Adachi, JNTO’s executive director in Singapore: “The Muslim population within Singapore, Malaysia and Indonesia shows immense potential. Demand from this segment is picking up and is expected to increase, partly because of the introduction of multiple-entry visas in the case of Indonesia and Malaysia, and the increase in low-cost airline capacity between Japan and South-east Asia.

“However, in order to capitalise on these burgeoning markets, we need to create more awareness, especially through travel consultants, that Japan welcomes Muslims, and that we have the facilities to cater to Muslims including the ability to offer halal food options.”

To aid travel consultants in selling Japan to the Muslim market, JNTO will launch a guidebook for Muslim visitors by year-end. Plans are also in place to open an office in Jakarta in April or May 2013, to act as a point of contact and information for Indonesian travel consultants and consumers.

In addition, JNTO has set aside part of its 2013 marketing budget for travel consultant roadshows in Kuala Lumpur, Penang, Kota Kinabalu, Surabaya and Medan. An e-learning programme for travel consultants in Singapore, Malaysia and Indonesia is also on the cards.

Adachi revealed that Muslim buyers from Singapore, Malaysia and Indonesia would be participating at Japan Travel Mart (JTM) for the very first time in November.

“We have representatives from TM Fouzy Travel & Tours in Singapore, the Bumiputra Outbound Tours Association in Malaysia and Panorama Tours in Indonesia attending JTM this year,” he said.

Between July 2010 and 2012, the number of visitors from Malaysia and Indonesia to Japan grew by 29.9 per cent and 10.4 per cent, respectively. Tourist arrivals from Singapore dropped by 14.7 per cent over the same period.

CAESARS Entertainment Corporation is looking to make its inaugural foray into Asia by establishing a hotel and entertainment business in India, and is searching for potential partners to build 15 hotels in the country over the next decade.

Mumbai, Bangalore, New Delhi, Goa and several tier-two cities are on the radar for the Las Vegas-based gaming company, which owns and operates over 50 hotels and casinos and seven golf resorts worldwide.

Neera Chanani, South Asia–head, Caesars Entertainment Hospitality, said: “We have spent the last year exploring the Indian market and there is a lot to offer. In the non-gaming space, we will focus on hotels and convention centres and building entertainment destinations within or adjacent to them.”

When asked how much Caesars was planning to invest in India, Chanani said: “There is no fixed figure in our mind.” He added that the company was looking to establish partnerships with event management and real estate companies, and was not averse to pumping in cash to invest in properties.

Anshuman Mitra, director, Starlite DMC New Delhi, said: “Caesars can look at innovative breakthroughs and pioneering efforts in the non-gaming entertainment segment that is largely untapped in India. It will be a coming of age for the Indian entertainment and hospitality industry and also for events business.”

PHILIPPINES’ AirAsia has added Singapore to its list of destinations out of Clark International Airport, where passenger terminal fees have just been reduced from PHP600 (US$14.50) to PHP450 for departing passengers on international flights.

Operating on Airbus A320 aircraft, AirAsia’s daily service to Singapore begins December 15, departing Clark at 06.10 and landing at Changi International Airport at 09.40. The return flight leaves Singapore at 10.10 and touches down at Clark at 13.40.

The new airlink is expected to boost Philippine arrival numbers to Singapore, which as of May 2012 totalled 299,366, a drop of 0.2 per cent year-on-year.

Meanwhile, international passengers departing from Clark are now required to fork out PHP450 per person, including a PHP350 terminal fee and PHP100 security fee.

Danny Cerdeña, general manager, Blue Voyage Travel Services, which is located in Pampanga (the same area as Clark Airport), said he had been receiving fewer requests for flights out of Ninoy Aquino International Airport, except for longhaul journeys.

According to Cerdeña, travellers to destinations such as Hong Kong, Bangkok, Singapore and Kota Kinabalu prefer the convenience that Clark Airport offers. “Flights (from Clark) don’t get delayed, and if they do, it’s very, very rare,” he said.

His clients to the US also prefer to fly Asiana Airlines out of Clark despite the long layover, because the airline offers complimentary short-term accommodation for early morning arrivals and free city tours, he added.