SHENZHEN Airlines is making a return to the Singapore market after an absence of two years.

Starting October 28, the fifth largest airline in China will operate a daily service between Shenzhen and Singapore using a Boeing 737-900 with 167 seats (eight in business and 159 in economy).

When the Chinese carrier suspended service on this route on September 14, 2010, it was operating a thrice-weekly service using the smaller Boeing 737-800.

The service will depart Shenzhen at 22.30 and arrive in Singapore at 02.10, while the return flight will leave Singapore at 08.15 and land in Shenzhen at 12.05.

Shenzhen Airlines is currently offering discounted round-trip fares for RMB800 (US$126), excluding taxes.

Shenzhen Airlines was formally accepted into the global airline network Star Alliance in July last year.

NOVOTEL Hua Hin Cha Am Beach Resort and Spa has started welcoming guests at its 243 rooms.

Fronting the beach between Hua Hin and Cha Am, the resort is a two-and-a-half hour drive from Bangkok and 10-15 minutes away from the Hua Hin Airport. Each guestroom is guaranteed a view of the Gulf of Thailand and free Wi-Fi access is offered throughout the property.

Available also are four F&B outlets, two bars, children’s play areas and a kids’ club, and the internationally known Pevonia Spa.

The resort also caters to MICE clients. Meeting facilities on the grounds include a 576m2 ballroom for up to 400 people and 10 well-equipped function rooms for small- to medium-size gatherings.

General manager, Alexander Parry, said: “Long renowned as a leisure destination, Hua Hin-Cha Am today represents one of Thailand’s top meeting and incentive destinations. With our comprehensive capacity and prime location, the hotel hopes to attract more of the lucrative meeting and event market while also welcoming visitors looking for a place to indulge themselves on the beach and pamper their families with well-being retreats.”

STARTING this year, the Philippines’ Department of Tourism (DoT) will mount an international marketing blitz to promote Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation’s (PAGCOR) Entertainment City, which is located along the Manila Bay area.

Among the first to benefit from the marketing offensive is the US$1 billion Solaire Resort and Casino, the first to open among the four integrated gaming and leisure resorts that comprise Entertainment City.

Slated to open during Solaire’s first phase in 1Q2013 are the Solaire Manila Hotel with 500 luxury rooms, suites and villas; a 1,900m2 column-free grand ballroom for 1,600 dinner guests; a 18,500m2 gaming space on two levels; 300 gaming tables and 1,200 slot machines; various F&B outlets and wellness facilities and parking space for up to 3,000 cars.

Assistant tourism secretary, Domingo Ramon Enerio III, said: “We want to highlight the concept of total entertainment where the specific products therein would target various markets such as locals and international tourists, whether its families, children and youth, senior citizens, students, PMEBs or the MICE market.”

He said the Philippines would also be promoted as a leisure and entertainment city that could compete with Macau, Malaysia and Singapore.

Enerio said the DoT’s assistance in promotions would cover “international marketing sorties of the Tourism Promotions Board, (and the) availability of brochures and other promotional materials in our 17 overseas offices and market representative offices”.

WYNDHAM Hotel Group’s inaugural Singapore properties, the 405-room Days Hotel Singapore at Zhongshan Park and the 384-room Ramada Singapore at Zhongshan Park, will be targeted chiefly at individuals and companies seeking quality and value (see TTG Asia e-Daily, July 13, 2012).

Days Hotel Singapore is scheduled to open in mid-December, while the Ramada Singapore is set to welcome its first guests in early 2013.

“Wyndham is entering the market during a rather unsettled period. The shaky global economy is compelling both businesses and leisure travellers to keep a watchful eye on budgets. Nonetheless, we don’t see this as a problem. This is an opportune time, given that both Days Hotel and Ramada offer cost effective price prepositions in their respective categories,” said Tony Cousens, the GM for both hotels.

Special weekend opening hotel rates for SIngapore residents at the Days Hotel, which sits in the economy band, are projected to be in the region of S$160 (US$127.70) per night, while the upscale Ramada will have a special weekend opening rate of between S$200 to S$300 per night. “We have been able to price the Days Hotel and Ramada at competitive rates as both properties are located on the city fringes, where naturally, operational costs are lower,” said Cousens.

He anticipates that approximately 75 per cent of the Days Hotel customer mix will comprise leisure bookings. Comparatively, 60 per cent of Ramada’s guests are expected to be holidaymakers, with the remainder deriving from corporate sources and MICE.

Key target markets for both properties include Hong Kong, China, Taiwan, India, Australia and New Zealand.

SINGAPORE Airlines (SIA) will begin daily services to Yangon from October 28 on the back of rapidly growing demand for travel to Myanmar. Together with its subsidiary SilkAir, the SIA Group will serve Yangon with 16 weekly flights.

SilkAir currently operates 16 weekly flights to Yangon with single-aisle Airbus A320-family aircraft. SIA will take over seven of these flights with larger 323-seat Boeing 777-200 aircraft, increasing weekly seat capacity by 55 per cent.

“Demand has been growing strongly for both business and leisure travel to Myanmar, and Singapore Airlines looks forward to serving the country for the first time,” said SIA executive vice president commercial, Mak Swee Wah, who is also chairman of SilkAir.

“SIA and SilkAir are constantly looking at new market opportunities, and the launch of SIA services enables us to quickly meet the growing demand for travel to this increasingly popular destination.”

SIA is the latest in the wave of international carriers launching services to Yangon. Korean Air, Dragonair, EVA Air, All Nippon Airways and Qatar Airways are all commencing flights to the city in September and October.

AIRASIA will commence daily flights between Kota Kinabalu and Davao from November 1, making it the third air link connecting Sabah and the Philippines.

Currently Cebu Pacific Air operates thrice-weekly services between Manila and Kota Kinabalu, while AirAsia offers daily Clark-Kota Kinabalu flights and SEAIR flies three weekly flights between Clark and Kota Kinabalu.

Sabah Tourism Board chairman, Tengku Zainal Adlin, said: “Direct air access to Davao will attract the high-yield business community as Davao is the (economic) and ecotourism centre for southern Philippines.”

The board’s senior marketing manager Noredah Othman believed the direct flights would attract the expatriate community working in Davao and enhance Kota Kinabalu’s appeal as a pre- and post-tour destination.

To entice weekend travellers, Trek Finder Tours general manager Auther J Kimon will develop 3D2N packages and 2D1N packages to promote nature-based activities in Sabah, including the Kinabalu Park and Weston River cruise.

ORIENT-EXPRESS will launch a new river cruiser, Orcaella, which is set to begin sailing in Myanmar from July 2013.

Currently under construction in Yangon, the 50-guest ship will complement Orient-Express’ existing Road To Mandalay vessel, which has been sailing the Irrawaddy River for 17 years.

Named after the Irrawaddy dolphins, the ship will sail along the Irrawaddy River between Yangon and Bhamo, as well as the Chindwin River, a tributary of the Irrawaddy, to as far north as Homalin near the Indian border.

With 40 staff onboard, the four-deck vessel features 25 air-conditioned cabins – of which four cabins will be interconnecting – each outfitted with floor-to-ceiling sliding glass doors and balconies.

Facilities include an observation deck, an all-day lounge and bar, a restaurant, a swimming pool, a fitness centre, a spa treatment room and two boutiques, in addition to a medical room and resident doctor.

Operating between January to April and July to December, Orcaella offers a collection of cruise itineraries varying between seven and 11 nights, with a variety of offshore excursions such as a traditional monks’ noviation ceremony and a train journey into the Kachin jungle.

Prices start from US$5,040 per person for a seven-night cruise, including all meals onboard, excursions, transfers and domestic flights. Road To Mandalay and Orcaella are both available for private charters and can be chartered in tandem, offering a total occupancy of 132 guests.

FOR the first time in half a decade, hotel prices have risen across all regions – four per cent – during the first six months of 2012, indicating a recovery in the hospitality sector, according to the latest Hotel Price Index (HPI) by Hotels.com.

David Roche, president, Hotels.com, said: “The hotel industry bounced back in the first half of this year from a number of natural and political crises in 2011 and it is encouraging to see growth in the sector. While initially it may not seem (like) good news for consumers, hotel prices are still only around their 2005 level, representing great value for travellers when both wages and other prices have risen considerably.”

Rates in Asia climbed four per cent, fuelled by the Japanese who are beginning to travel again after the 2011 Tohuku earthquake, a growing number of Chinese travelling overseas as well as an expansion in the region’s budget aviation sector with new entrants such as Peach Aviation and Scoot.

In the Pacific, which recorded a six per cent hike in rates, a resource boom – particularly in Western Australia – resulted in a room squeeze.

Increasing business travel combined with higher consumer spending in the US drove North American rates up by five per cent.

Meanwhile, the rest of the world is seeing a slower trajectory of growth in hotel rates.

Following the turmoil of the Arab Spring, confidence returned to much of the Middle East and North Africa, resulting in a rise of one per cent in hotel prices.

Although Europe’s overall rates grew one per cent, prices dropped in parts of the eurozone where falling consumer confidence and spending power led to lower occupancy in the major cities and holiday hotspots.

AUSTRALIA’S tourism industry is suffering from a shortage of workers, rooms and investment as it struggles to compete with its Asian rivals, a national survey by the country’s Tourism and Transport Forum (TTF) revealed.

According to the TTF survey, top concerns among industry veterans include the soaring Australian dollar, which is inhibitive to outbound travel from emerging Asian markets, as well as the hike in passenger movement charge from A$47 (US$48) to A$55 as of July 1.

A lack of skilled labour was cited by a quarter of respondents as the key impediment to the country’s tourism sector. Statistics from the federal government show a current staggering 36,000 vacancies in the Australian tourism industry.

Twenty per cent identified room shortage as another major issue. According to Tourism Australia (TA), the country needs 40,000 more beds by 2020 to meet demand.

Most notably, the survey recorded a sharp 12 per cent jump in the number of respondents citing access to bank financing as one of the top three challenges, which affects the ability of local tourism operators to invest in new or refreshed products.

In response, a TA spokesperson said: “TA acknowledges that investment is vital to growing the Australian tourism industry. We have recently been given an expanded remit to play a role in investment attraction, along with facilitating and enhancing air access from key source markets. The role includes working more closely with all levels of government – including Austrade and state and territory investment agencies – to elevate tourism investment on the agenda and work towards developing a more strategic and long-term approach.”

When queried on how Australia could stay competitive, the spokesperson replied that the best strategy would be to focus on distinctive products and experiences to gain a greater share of key growth markets, particularly Asia’s rapidly emerging middle class.