THE ASIA Cruise Association (ACA) has swelled its ranks with the inclusion of Holland America Line and Seabourn as its newest members.

Incorporated in 2009, ACA serves as a collaborative platform for industry and destinations in Asia to collectively raise consumer awareness on cruising, train travel sellers to sell cruise products, and work with regulatory bodies on solving customs, immigration and quarantine issues.

ACA chairman, Liu Zinan, said: “The addition of Holland America Line and Seabourn to ACA is a boost to our membership and industry representation. We need the collective efforts of all cruise lines and industry stakeholders to grow the Asian cruise industry.”

Steven Simao, director of International Sales for Holland America Line and Seabourn, said: “Both Holland America Line and Seabourn believe that ACA is a good conduit for cruise lines to reach out to the trade and consumers.”

“With the rising number of Asian guests travelling to other cruise regions like the Caribbean and the Mediterranean, our membership with ACA creates an important opportunity to help drive the growth of the Asian source markets.”

With the admission of Holland America Line and Seabourn, ACA now has 12 cruise line members including Azamara Club Cruises, Carnival Australia, Celebrity Cruises, Costa Cruises, Cunard, Princess Cruises, Royal Caribbean International, Silversea Cruises, Star Cruises and MSC Cruises.

SILKAIR will have a new chief executive from September 3, when current Singapore Airlines (SIA) vice president Network Planning, Leslie Thng, replaces incumbent Marvin Tan.

Thng, who has been with the Singapore flag carrier for the past 13 years, joined its regional wing SilkAir as a board director on April 1, 2012.

Before taking on his current role, Thng was based in Frankfurt as SIA’s general manager for Germany. Prior to that, he was based in Italy and China for more than four-and-a half-years. He also previously worked in the airline’s Loyalty Marketing and Network Revenue Management departments.

Tan, who has been CEO of SilkAir since October 2010, will be returning to SIA as senior vice president Cabin Crew.

Meanwhile, SilkAir has signed a letter of intent to buy 23 Boeing 737-800 and 31 Boeing 737 MAX 8 aircraft, with purchase rights for another 14 planes. The US$4.9 billion combined list price for the firm-ordered aircraft is the largest in SilkAir’s history.

Deliveries are scheduled to begin in 2014 and continue till 2021, by which time SilkAir’s fleet would have more than doubled in size. The carrier currently operates 21 Airbus A319s and A320s, with three more A320s due for delivery by end-2013.

ASCOTT has signed an agreement to purchase The Cavendish London for £158.8 million (US$247 million).

Ascott will take over the management of the hotel in 4Q2012, after which it will be transformed into a serviced residence under the Ascott The Residence brand and renamed Ascott St James London.

Located on Jermyn Street, in the St James area of Mayfair, the addition of The Cavendish London will boost Ascott’s portfolio to seven properties in the capital. It will also enhance Ascott’s presence in Europe – where it currently manages over 5,000 units across 45 properties in 20 cities.

Chong Kee Hiong, Ascott’s CEO, said: “London is one of the most resilient hospitality markets, where demand from business and leisure travellers for international-class serviced residences continues to grow. This is an attractive opportunity to acquire a quality operating property that is strategically located in the prestigious Mayfair area. We see the potential to transform this property into one of the best luxury serviced residences in London.”

Accommodation at The Cavendish London consists of 230 rooms and suites. For business travellers, there are five meeting rooms offering carbon-neutral meeting package options and a business centre equipped with Apple iMac computers. Wireless Internet connectivity is available throughout the property.

Dining options at The Cavendish London include Petrichor Restaurant, the chic Lounge and the Lobby Bar. The hotel also provides 24-hour concierge, porter and room services, and has a car park.

Ascott’s London portfolio currently comprises the Ascott Mayfair, Citadines Prestige Trafalgar Square, Citadines Prestige Holborn-Covent Garden, Citadines Prestige South Kensington, Citadines Barbican and St Marks serviced residence.

COME December, Singapore Ducktours will cease operating its HiPPO River Cruises along the Singapore River, having failed to secure the tender to run water taxi services on behalf of the country’s Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA).

Ducktours took issue with URA’s emphasis on bid price instead of the bidder’s track record during the tender process, and argued that the authority’s new requirements – including the S$3 (US$2.40) and S$4 price caps on standard and express fares, respectively – simply did not make business sense.

“According to our projections, by providing the full water taxi services as per URA’s tender specification, operators would incur a loss of up to S$1.6million per year,” said Ducktour’s deputy director, Pamela Wee.

“Our research indicated that with a S$3 standard water taxi service available at all times, the tourist market would be cannibalised. Tourists would opt for the more affordable S$3 water taxi DIY tour, and tour consultancies would have a harder time convincing visitors to go on tour packages – which can cost up to six times more. Based on our projections, this market segment could crash by more than 50 per cent,” she explained.

On top of using an online blog to air its grievances, Ducktours published an open letter – signed by Ducktours’ CEO James Heng and addressed to Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong – appealing for a review.

“Although URA authorities replied that the tender (was) in order, we owe it to everyone at Ducktours and HiPPO for a chance to have the tender re-examined, thus the letter to the Prime Minister. We do not know who else we can go to, as the URA has not shared why we were not re-awarded (the tender),” said Wee.

If the appeal fails, Singapore Ducktours, as outlined by Wee, will seek to work with its competitor, Singapore River Cruises – one of two bidders that secured the tender – to offer water taxi services on the river. Global Yellow Pages & Leisure Empire – a greenhorn to the travel trade, was the second company to be awarded the tender.

In a statement to the media, a URA spokesman said that the tender was awarded “after careful evaluation which included study of the design of the routes and cost competitiveness”.