CONCERNS over Hong Kong’s limited infrastructure for an influx of 4.1 million Shenzhen visitors have forced the Hong Kong and Chinese governments to put changes in the Individual Visit Scheme (IVS) on hold indefinitely.

Under a recalibrated IVS, Shenzhen was to begin offering its residents multiple-entry visas to Hong Kong on September 21. (See TTG Asia e-daily, September 3, 2012)

Gray Line Tours managing director, Michael Wu, said the move would not dampen travel demand to Hong Kong as the scheme was still in operation, although visas issued would only allow one to two entries to the city per application.

“It may not be convenient but they (Chinese visitors) will still come. I agree with the government’s decision, given the immense pressure that would be imposed on our immigration staff. The advantage of the current IVS is visitors may stay longer and spend more, instead of taking daytrips under the multiple-entry visa.”

Hong Kong Tourism Board (HKTB) chairman, James Tien, believes that the move can help ensure that visitors to Hong Kong receive proper service and a satisfactory experience.

“HKTB welcomes travellers from mainland China and the rest of the world. Nevertheless, it is important to take into account the concerns of Hong Kong society even as we welcome them. As such, we believe the decision by the government will ensure that Hong Kong’s visitor capacity and its tourism facilities can accommodate visitors’ needs.”

China Travel Services (Hong Kong) assistant general manager, Ng Hi-on, sees the need for HKTB to grow its pie in the long run.

“Hong Kong cannot just rely on China. It needs a balanced growth in European and American markets too. These longhaul markets do not always perform well but we should not put all our eggs in one basket,” he said.

WEGO.COM has unveiled a new look for its Deals feature by taking on a more photo-driven approach to showcasing travel deals. With the revamp, the travel search engine is also keen to work with travel suppliers who have special deals.

Wego Deals lists travel deals from all over the Internet for all destinations, curated by an automated aggregation service as well as Wego’s staff. Expedia, Viva! Holidays, Seven Oceans, Qatar Airways, Virgin Australia and Intrepid Travel are some of its partners.

“Any travel company that has a fabulous deal they want to tell consumers about should get in touch with the Wego Deals team,” said Wego chief marketing officer, Dean Wicks.

HARD Rock International will storm China in 2015, which is when its first two Chinese hotels in Shenzhen and Haikou are expected to be ready.

Developed in collaboration with Mission Hills Group, which owns and operates sports and leisure properties in the Pearl River Delta and Hainan, the 280-room Hard Rock Hotel Shenzhen and 250-room Hard Rock Hotel Haikou will feature Hard Rock’s famed rock and roll design elements as well as guest amenities inspired by its music roots, while seamlessly fusing with the signature style of Mission Hills and the surrounding landscape.

Hard Rock Hotel Shenzhen will feature luxury suits on the top floor, a Body Rock fitness centre, signature restaurants, an entertainment lounge, a recording studio and a nightclub, among others. Its 3.2-hectare counterpart in Haikou will sit in Hainan Island’s carbon-friendly Haikou Town Center, an integrated development with golf, shopping, dining, entertainment and cultural facilities.

Said Ken Chu, chairman, Mission Hills Group: “As China’s only hotel(s) embracing and implementing music throughout the guest experience, they will be a welcome addition to our unmatched selection of recreation options.”

THAI Airways is set to begin direct flights to its newest destination, Sapporo, Japan on October 30.

The Bangkok-Sapporo route will be serviced thrice-weekly in the period after its launch, but will be increased to four flights a week from December 30. THAI Airways is deploying the Airbus A330-300 aircraft for this route.

Flights will depart Bangkok on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday at 23.45 and arrive in Sapporo at 08.00 local time the next day.

Return flights are scheduled to depart Sapporo on Monday, Wednesday and Friday at 10.45 and touch down in Bangkok at 16.15 on the same day.

THAI Airways currently flies to five destinations in Japan: Nagoya, Osaka, Fukuoka and both Narita and Haneda airports in Tokyo.

The airline is offering a special promotion on all Japan routes during the introductory period for the new flight. Economy class tickets start from 29,300 baht (US$942), while Royal Silk class tickets start from 64,920 baht, excluding taxes and surcharges.

ASIA’S economy hotel sector is maturing, with international players scaling up in the space to meet demand for cheaper branded stays and more institutional investors jumping into the game as owners.

Speaking at the 4th annual Economy Hotels World Asia today, Accor Asia Pacific chairman and COO, Michael Issenberg, revealed that almost half of respondents surveyed in its inaugural Asia Economy Hotels Research 2012 would consider staying at an economy hotel on future trips for both business and leisure.

Six out of 10 also said they preferred an international brand over a domestic one, and were happy to pay a premium – nearly 90 per cent more in markets such as India and Hong Kong. A total of 845 travellers across Asia participated in the survey.

Issenberg added that the investment landscape for economy hotels was also changing. “Interestingly, we’re finding an increasing institutional appetite. We recently participated in a REIT that listed (in Singapore) in July with Ascendas, and there are a number of economy hotels in that portfolio.

“It’s great to see that the Asia region – where historically the ownership of hotels was sometimes driven by either ego or potential real estate appreciation – is moving to a more mature cycle of investing across different market segments, and there is increasing recognition of the high and regular returns that economy hotels are providing to owners,” he explained.

Accor, which is in the midst of revamping its economy brand, Ibis (TTG Asia e-Daily, September 14, 2011), will unveil a major communications campaign next month.

Issenberg told TTG Asia e-Daily that while a third of the chain’s hotels in the region was currently economy, 40 per cent of pipeline committed over the next three years was in this sector. This year alone, it signed more than 50 such properties in Asia-Pacific, and opened in cities such as Hong Kong and Bandung.

Unfazed by the competition, InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG) is also ramping up its economy portfolio, with key signings in Singapore, Kuala Lumpur, Bangkok, Phuket, Jakarta, Bali and India for its Holiday Inn Express brand.

IHG vice president of operations South-east Asia, Alan Watts, said there was room for more growth in Asia. “People are screaming for a value alternative, especially in a market like Singapore where rates are high and (leisure travellers) come mainly to see the new attractions.”

He explained that Holiday Inn Express catered to those who liked Holiday Inn but did not need a full-service concept because they were “purpose-driven travellers” who wanted to maximise their business or leisure time.

– Read more about how Accor is evolving its product to meet changes in the economy hotel space in TTG Asia, September 21, 2012

A JOINT venture agreement between Malaysia’s National Aerospace & Defence Industries and Indonesia’s Lion Group was signed this afternoon, marking the start of the formation of a new Malaysia-registered low-cost carrier.

Named Malindo Airways, the LCC will begin operations in May 2013, and will have its hub in Kuala Lumpur International Airport 2, which is also slated to open next year.

Although routes have not been confirmed, Lion Air president director, Rusdi Kirana, said Malindo Airways would fly to South-east Asia, South Asia, East Asia and within Malaysia.

Kirana added: “The airline will be positioned as a low cost carrier; pricing will be lower than AirAsia’s fares. Its differentiating features are comfort through a seat pitch of 31 inches, and the provision of inflight entertainment and Wi-Fi access.”

The airline will operate on Boeing 737 aircraft initially, and Kirana said Boeing 787 Dreamliners would be introduced to the fleet in 2015.

Malindo Airways will receive 12 aircraft a year, over the next 10 years.

IN OUR online article dated September 7, 2012, we reported that “Bangkok Airways will commence a daily service to Vientiane, marking a comeback to the Lao capital after a hiatus of four years”. In fact, the new service is Bangkok Airways’ inaugural flight to Vientiane as the carrier has never flown to the Lao capital before.

We are sorry for the error.

TTG Asia e-Daily has revised the article as such:

From December 1, Bangkok Airways will commence a daily service to Vientiane, marking the carrier’s first-ever connection to the Lao capital.

Using Airbus A319 aircraft, the outbound flight will depart from Bangkok’s Suvarnabhumi International Airport at 08.15 and arrive in Vientiane at 09.30. The return flight will leave Vientiane at 10.10 and land in Bangkok at 11.25.

Other carriers serving the Bangkok-Vientiane sector include Thai Airways International, Lao Airlines and Lao Central Airlines.

HOTEL rates in Koh Samui saw a drop in the first half of this year, although unprecedented occupancies resulted in an overall growth in RevPAR.

Market-wide room occupancy in Koh Samui peaked in the first half of 2012, the best six months since the global financial crisis of 2008.

Data collated by C9 Hotelworks recorded 67 per cent occupancy for 1H2012, compared to 59 per cent for the same period last year, driving average RevPAR up by 12 per cent in 1H2012, despite a one per cent decline in ADR to US$144.

“Many resorts have dropped rates because the market is very competitive with a lot of big brands coming in,” said Manish Jha, general manager, Anantara Bophut Resort & Spa, Koh Samui.

“We realised that by dropping rates and creating value, we could generate volume. ADR at my resort fell five per cent year-on-year, and as a result occupancy increased from 71 per cent in the first half of 2011 to 83 per cent in 2012. As a result, RevPAR surged 16 per cent,” he added.

The upscale segment reported 73 per cent occupancy, followed by midscale and luxury hotels at 69 per cent and 59 per cent respectively. The budget segment lagged behind at 52 per cent, suffering from a lack of budget airline access to the island.

Increased arrivals, partially driven by improved connectivity between the island and key regional hubs of Singapore, Malaysia and Hong Kong, also boosted occupancy, rising 16 per cent year-on-year. International arrivals jumped 25 per cent, with strong growth from traditional European markets, pushing up the average length of stay from 4.8 to 5.5 days.

Bill Barnett, managing director, C9 Hotelworks, said growth was sustainable in the long term.

“The development pipeline is limited to just a few properties over the coming years, and air connectivity is likely to improve. Meanwhile arrivals should continue to grow, lured by branded properties and destination fatigue in longhaul markets to places like Bali and Phuket,” he explained.

Jha shared his optimism, but was more cautious in his assessment. “Obviously 16 per cent growth in arrivals cannot hold, and this will probably drop to around four per cent growth through the next year.”

BEST Western International celebrated its 10th year in Asia with a four-day event in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

The chain held its 8th Asian & Middle Eastern Members’ Meeting, themed The Great Golden 10, from August 27-30 at Best Western’s new luxury hotel, Best Western Premier Dua Sentral, Best Western’s new Malaysian flagship hotel.

Delegates took part in a series of day trips, talks, evening soirees and social events, topping off the four-day event with a gala dinner and award ceremony at Dua Sentral’s fusion restaurant, Hugo’s On 6.

Best Western set up its regional headquarters in Bangkok in 2001 to oversee operations in Asia and the Middle East. The chain now has 205 hotels across 24 countries under three distinct brands.

AIR India is planning direct flights to Sydney from November, having taken delivery of its first Boeing 787 Dreamliner last Saturday.

The first of 27 B787s, the new aircraft arrived at New Delhi from Seattle.

The B787 is expected to operate on major domestic routes like Delhi-Mumbai. Thereafter, Air India intends to commence daily flights to New York, Melbourne and Osaka from Mumbai, Chennai and New Delhi. It is also looking at converting their existing flights to Chicago and New York into non-stop direct flights.

Chairman of Air India, Rohit Nandan, said: “The 787 will allow us to open new routes.”

Air India sources stated that the Australia route is top priority as it is a very lucrative one. An estimated 150,000 Indians will travel to Australia in 2012, and the volume is expected to rise to 500,000 in the next decade or so.

The Mumbai-Sydney flight route will kick off in November. The new route is part of the airline’s turnaround plan as it was recently given a new lease of life with substantial funding by the Indian government.

The airline expects to take delivery of two more 259-seater 787s by early October and the remaining 24 by 2016, which will all be used on longhaul routes.

Anil Punjabi, chairman-east, Travel Agents Federation of India and managing director of AR-ES Travels said: “Air India needs to keep costs at the minimum and leverage the advantages of the 787 to the maximum in order to start making profits. It has the experience to do well on longhaul routes.”

*Our writer was informed by an Air India source that Melbourne is the only Australian destination that Air India flies to but this was incorrect. Air India does not fly to Australia currently. We have removed the error from our original article.