THE NATIONAL Trades Union Congress (NTUC) launched yesterday Singapore’s first-ever Tourist Guide Chapter to safeguard the rights and advance the interests of licensed tour guides in the country.

The professional chapter aims to tackle the menace of illegal tour guides (TTG Asia e-Daily, May 30, 2012) and raise industry standards through development programmes, while looking at ways to attract senior citizens and housewives re-entering the workforce to join the profession.

An MOU was signed at the launch by NTUC, Raffles Medical Group and Q&M Dental Group to provide chapter members with healthcare and insurance benefits not previously available to them.

Placed under the auspices of the Attractions, Resorts and Entertainment Union, the chapter has so far enlisted over 300 members, a figure anticipated to grow in the near future. Currently, some 2,300 tour guides are licensed to work in Singapore.

Jean Wang, honorary secretary of the 400-member Society of Tourist Guides Singapore, welcomed NTUC’s move to step up as an advocate for licensed tour guides in the country.

“We both share a common objective – to improve the welfare of (licensed) tour guides. Together, we can press the government for a change in legislation to improve working terms and conditions for our members,” she said.

TIGER Airways has unveiled plans to add Hyderabad and Phnom Penh to its network.

Starting September 27, 2012, the carrier will mount five-weekly services between Singapore and Hyderabad.

Daily flights from Singapore to Phnom Penh will begin on October 1, 2012.

Hyderabad will be the carrier’s sixth Indian destination after Bengaluru, Chennai, Kochi, Thiruvananthapuram and Tiruchirappalli, while Phnom Penh will mark its inaugural foray into Cambodia.

Tiger Airways has been steadily growing its network, which now extends to over 35 cities in the region. Earlier in the year, it launched new services to Dhaka, Kochi and Colombo (TTG Asia e-Daily, March 23, 2012).

INDONESIA welcomed 3,180,779 tourist arrivals from January till May, an 8.81 per cent increase over the same period last year.

This number exceeded the Ministry of Tourism and Creative Economy’s target of 3,160,000 arrivals.

Indonesia’s Minister of Tourism and Creative Economy, Mari Elka Pangestu, said: “The growth in arrivals is good news, given the uncertain global economic situation. With this trend, we are optimistic that we will be able to reach our target of eight million arrivals and US$9 billion in revenue this year.”

Arrival figures from Japan were particularly buoyant during the first five months of 2012, registering 12.01 per cent year-on-year growth for the month of May. This comes after several consecutive years of moderate if not negative growth from the Japanese market.

Pangestu said the resurgent demand from Japan could have been stimulated by the introduction of Garuda Indonesia’s five-weekly Tokyo (Haneda) – Bali (Denpasar) flights in April, as well as Japan’s gradual recovery after the tsunami.

SUSTAINABLE Luxury Hospitality (Thailand), a new subsidiary formed by Six Senses Resorts & Spas after its acquisition by Pegasus Capital Advisors, has won the lease bid for Six Senses Yao Noi beyond Phuket.

Six Senses will continue to operate the 54-villa property as the new lessee, effective July 1, 2012.

“The appointment of Six Senses Resorts & Spas as the lessee will be beneficial for stability, and the seamless flow of operations and continuous success of this iconic property”, said Bernhard Bohnenberger, president of Six Senses.

“Moreover, we will now be supported and backed by a strong parent company in the form of Pegasus Capital Advisors, which will ensure the long-term growth, recognition and strength of the Six Senses brand.”

Pegasus Capital Advisors, a US-based private equity fund manager, acquired the Bangkok-based resort and spa management business of Six Senses Resorts & Spas for an undisclosed sum in April (TTG Asia e-Daily, June 26, 2012).

As part of the deal, Pegasus now holds all of the resort and spa management contracts and related intellectual property rights of the Six Senses and Evason branded properties.

Sustainable Luxury Hospitality (Thailand) is a subsidiary of the new organisational structure that has been put in place to take over the current operations and all Six Senses and Evason management agreements.

WEGO has chosen to establish its Centre of Excellence for social media and mobile product development in Jakarta.

“Indonesia is a market of high strategic importance to Wego, where we have been investing and seeing great results, but it also serves as a base from which we can produce innovative work in mobile and social media,” said Ross Veitch, Wego co-founder & CEO.

“The landscape, talent available and proximity to Wego’s global headquarters in Singapore make Jakarta the ideal location for this focused development activity,” he added.

Wego said in a press statement that the social media team’s immediate focus would be on developing new applications and features that leverage the power of social networks. The mobile team, meanwhile, will focus on creating mobile apps for users across existing and emerging mobile platforms.

Led by Indonesia managing director, Graham Hills, Wego has more than doubled its investment in the country in the past six months. Its Indonesia team, which operates out of new offices in Kuningan, is expected to grow to 50 staff by the end of the year.

MOVENPICK Hotels & Resorts has signed an agreeement to manage the Movenpick Resort & Spa, Quy Nhon, in Vietnam and the Movenpick Hotel Makati in Makati City, the Philippines.

“The new properties will bring the number of hotels we have under development in Asia to 18,” said Andreas Mattmüller, COO Mövenpick Hotels & Resorts Middle East and Asia.

“We already operate seven hotels in Asia, including two in Thailand, two in Vietnam and one each in the Philippines, India and Singapore. Our vision is to operate 25 hotels in the region by 2015,” he added.

The Mövenpick Resort & Spa, Quy Nhon will be the company’s third hotel in Vietnam, following openings in Saigon and Hanoi. Scheduled to launch by end-2015, the 180-room resort will feature 52 cliff and hill villas, a spa, a 600m2 ballroom, several restaurants, cafés and bars, a boat jetty, a gym, and a wedding studio.

Slated to open in 2016, the Mövenpick Hotel Makati will be the third Mövenpick in the Philippines after the Mövenpick Resort & Spa Cebu and a property on Huma Island, Palawan.

Based within the Mövenpick Hotel & Residences Tower, the Mövenpick Hotel Makati will feature 304 rooms and suites, 250 residences, an all-day dining restaurant, a rooftop venue, a bar with an entertainment lounge, a 1,200m2 ballroom, and a variety of multi-function rooms.

This year, Mövenpick will open the doors to the recently renovated 286-room Mövenpick Suriwongse Hotel Chiang Mai and another property in Huma Island, Palawan.

KOREA MICE Expo 2012, which takes place from July 3-5 at the Coex Convention and Exhibition Center in Seoul, is set to see greater attendance figures compared to last year.

This year’s expo is expected to draw some 300 buyers, 200 sellers and 3,000 trade visitors, compared to 251 buyers and 176 sellers during last year’s edition.

Most of the buyers this year will come from China, Singapore, Indonesia, Thailand, Germany and the US, said Seoul Convention Bureau spokesperson, Alexander Paik.

Paik added: “This year’s expo takes place during the final year of the Visit Korea 2010 -2012 campaign. Additionally, 2012 has been dubbed Korea Convention Year, thus making this a very meaningful industry event.”

Some key events scheduled to take place include the signing of an MOU between Thailand Convention and Exhibition Bureau, Seoul Tourism Organization, Kyung Hee University and Hallym University to establish a framework for exchange and collaboration.

TICKETS for the upcoming Rainforest World Music Festival in Sarawak are selling fast and the organiser, Sarawak Tourism Board, is expecting some 22,000 visitors during the three-day event.

Scheduled to take place at the Sarawak Cultural Village in Santubong from July 13-15, the Sarawak Tourism Board is targeting a mix of domestic and international tourists, including medium haul visitors from China, South Korea and Japan, and traditional longhaul markets such as Netherlands and the UK.

Angelina Bateman, director, corporate communication & government relations, Sarawak Tourism Board, said: “We are working with inbound and outbound operators from these markets as well as Tourism Malaysia offices overseas to promote the festival.”

Hotels in Kuching and the Santubong area are expected to experience high volume during the three-day event, and tour operators are advised to secure rooms early for their groups.

THE TRANS Studio Bandung integrated tourist attraction development, which belongs to Indonesia’s CT Corp, officially opened its doors yesterday.

Situated within a 10-hectare site in Bandung, the development incorporates Trans Studio Bandung indoor theme park, Trans Studio Mall (previously known as Bandung Super Mall), and two hotels – the 606 Ibis Bandung Trans Studio—the largest ibis property in Asia Pacific, and Trans Luxury Hotel Bandung.

While the theme park and shopping mall have been operational for the past few years, the opening of the two hotels finalises the development of the complex.

CT Corp chairman Chairul Tanjung said the company was planning to develop another integrated tourist attraction in Jakarta, which will be 10 times the size of Trans Studio Bandung.

“We want to develop 20 such complexes in Indonesia within the next 10 years,” he said.

THE CIVIL Aviation Administration of China will soon relax regulations to allow foreign GDS companies to sell air tickets in China.

According to sources whom TTG Asia e-Daily spoke to, the new ruling will apply only to international flights operated by foreign carriers. Airlines will also have to send in individual nominations for their travel agent partners.

Bart Tompkins, managing director of Amadeus China, said: “All airlines with domestic and international bookings (in and out of China) currently have to operate via TravelSky. What this new regulation will do is allow, for the first time, an international GDS to operate (air ticketing) inside of China.”

“Though we expect (the new ruling) to be announced very shortly, the effective day will still be a few months away,” he added.

Playing down the impact on the travel trade, Tompkins said: “It will not be a huge ‘big bang’, but will be a gradual process as the market evolves and we begin to offer our products more widely.”

A Chinese travel consultant who declined to be name said: “Normally, airlines do not have to apply individually for each (booking by a) travel consultant (partner). One of the effects (of the new ruling) will be the slowing down of the entire process. This will cause foreign GDSs to be less effective for agents to use, but in the long run it is a good step forward.”

James Leung, managing director, Century Holiday International Travel Service Shenzhen, said: “We are console agents who work with airlines directly, so it won’t change the way we do business.”

“However, this will benefit SMEs (travel consultants) who are non-IATA members,” he said. “In the past, they had to book through us console agents, but once the new ruling is implemented, they will be able to go directly to the source. I don’t see it as new competition, though, as China is such a huge market.”