Bruce Buchanan

JETSTAR Group CEO, Bruce Buchanan, has decided to call time on his nine-year career with the Qantas Group to explore new opportunities in helping other Australian firms looking to expand in Asia.

Buchanan is stepping down as part of a broader management restructuring at Qantas, which will see the Australian flag carrier split its international and domestic arms into separate businesses (TTG Asia e-Daily, May 22, 2012).

Buchanan will remain with Jetstar for the next six months to assist with the transition, after which he will provide consultancy services for an additional 18 months.

Jayne Hrdlicka, currently group executive, Strategy and Technology at Qantas, will assume Buchanan’s position as CEO, Jetstar Group.

COSTA Cruises has decided to deploy a second cruise ship, Costa Atlantica, to Asia from May 2013.

The 2,680-guest Costa Atlantica features 1,057 cabins, including 54 suites with private balconies, 620 cabins with private balconies, 40 Wellness cabins, and four Wellness suites.

Having previously operated the 1,680-guest Costa Classica in Asia, the double positioning of the 2,394-pax Costa Victoria and Costa Atlantica in Asia will offer a combined daily passenger capacity of 5,074.

From May to June 2013, Costa Atlantica will depart from Singapore on seven-night cruises to Malaysia and Thailand, and on three- or four-night cruises to Malaysia. The three itineraries can also be combined to form a 14-night itinerary, covering Kuantan, Laem Chabang/Bangkok, Koh Samui, Langkawi, Penang, Port Klang and Malacca.

From June through October 2013, the ship will depart from Shanghai on short cruises to South Korea and Japan, calling at Jeju, Busan, Fukuoka, Hososhima and Kagoshima.

HOTEL Vio Indonesia, a hotel chain managed by Dafam Hotels, is planning to add 600 rooms to its Bandung inventory over the next few years.

Speaking to TTG Asia e-Daily during the soft launch of Hotel Vio Pasteur Bandung last weekend, Hotel Vio Indonesia owner and Multi Sarana Propertindo president director, Karadi, said: “Bandung is by no means saturated. You keep seeing kilometres of traffic during weekends – which gets worse during long weekends – between Jakarta and Bandung, showing that there is a market and it is growing year after year.”

The 62-room Hotel Vio Pasteur Bandung is Dafam Hotels’ second property in the city, in addition to the 30-room Hotel Vio Cimanuk. The 40-room Hotel Vio Express Pasopati is expected to open later this year, and two more hotels are in the pipeline.

Karadi added: “We will have some 600 rooms in Bandung, but not (all) in one location. Instead, we will spread them across eight to 10 strategic locations, creating a chain of properties that cater to different guests’ needs.”

Dafam Hotels managing director, Andhy Irawan, emphasised that the varied locations would appeal to different travellers, while each hotel would also offer unique facilities. For example, Vio Cimanuk is close to factory outlets and the city’s old garden, while Vio Pasteur is just off the Jakarta-Bandung toll road and five minutes away from the airport.

SRI Lanka’s Laugfs Holdings, a new entrant in the hospitality sector, is keen to add the Maldives to its overseas portfolio.

W K H Wegapitiya, chairman of Laugfs Holdings, told TTG Asia e-Daily that the company was now scouting for a prime location in the Maldives to set up a resort under its new brand, Ananthaya.

The group joins other established Sri Lankan brands in the Maldives, including Chaaya Resorts by the John Keells Hotels Group, Adaaran Resorts by Aitken Spence, and Malwatte Hotels & Resorts, which is joining hands with Hilton International to manage a four-star resort currently under construction.

Wegapitiya said: “We have six leisure projects (in Sri Lanka), three of which are nearing completion. One includes a marina – a first for any resort here.” He added that a 150-room property at Passikudah would be ready by September, an 88-room hotel at Chilaw was due to open in December, and a 200-room resort with 50 villas and a marina was coming up at Waskaduwa.

Laugfs Holdings is also in talks with a Thai company to set up a resort in Thailand. At press time, no details were available.

Started 15 years ago in the LPG industry, Laugfs Holdings has since diversified into other businesses such as supermarkets and restaurants. The group began investing in the leisure sector when Sri Lanka’s ethnic conflicts ended in 2009.

TIGER Airways registered a S$104.3 million (US$81.9 million) loss for the financial year ended March 31, 2012, wiping out S$39.9 million in profit generated the year before.

Total revenue generated by Tiger Airways in FY11-12 dropped to S$618.2 million, down from S$622.3 million in FY10-11, while Cost per Available Seat Kilometre grew by 12.0 per cent year-on-year.

For the quarter ended March 31, 2012, the airline registered a loss after tax of S$16.4 million, versus profit after tax of S$1.4 million for the same quarter the year before.

Tiger Airways attributed the dismal financial performance to its six-week suspension by Australia’s Civil Aviation Safety Authority, in tandem with heightened fuel prices.

Chin Yau Seng, Tiger Airways group CEO, said: “The six-week suspension (in Australia) contributed significantly to the poor financial result, and led to the under-utilisation of our fleet, which resulted in significant and adverse variances in our financial unit metrics in FY11-12.”

On a positive note, Tiger Airways concluded its 33 per cent equity investment in PT Mandala Airlines in January 2012, allowing the Indonesian carrier to resume operations in April 2012.

“Further, and in line with our joint-venture strategy across South-east Asia, we recently signed a revised term sheet to purchase a 40 per cent equity stake (for US$7 million) in Philippines-based South-east Asian Airlines. We are aiming to conclude this deal by the second quarter of FY12-13,” Chin added.

HONG Kong-based Swire Travel will open a wholly-owned office in Shanghai this July, marking its second foray into China after Beijing.

According to industry sources, Swire Travel’s new Shanghai office will focus on the corporate travel segment, catering to its existing customer base with business dealings in the city. MICE capabilities will be developed at a later stage.

Jonathan Kao, general manager, Four Seas Travel Shanghai, played down the impact of Swire Travel’s entry, and highlighted the importance of providing China-centric solutions rather than adapting practices used in Hong Kong.

“(Swire Travel) are too small to make any difference. However, we welcome the competition, as it would increase the service quality of the overall industry (in Shanghai),” he said.

Meanwhile, Alcuin Li, general manager, Travel Expert Business Services Hong Kong, which opened its first Chinese office in Shenzhen two months ago, noted that the latest enhancement of the Closer Economic Partnership Arrangement (CEPA) between Hong Kong and China had been a boon for cross-border tourism development.

“I believe more and more (Hong Kong) travel consultants will penetrate into China, and hope to see an ultimate (CEPA) relaxation for the whole Chinese outbound travel market. It would be an advantage to get in first and be ready when the good news is announced,” he said.

CENTARA Hotels & Resorts will soft open its second Bali resort property, Centara Grand Nusa Dua Resort & Villas, in 3Q2012.

Originally scheduled to soft open in December 2011, the five–star resort’s design concept is based on a blending of Chinese and Indonesian-Malay cultural styles.

The property will offer 68 suites with the option of a private pool, lagoon access or private Jacuzzi, and 14 private pool villas with one, two or three bedrooms and butler service.

Facilities include a Spa Cenvaree with nine treatment rooms, two large pools, a fitness centre, a club lounge, a library, five meeting rooms, and a 37.5m² boardroom. F&B options include a fine-dining Asian restaurant, an all-day outlet, and two bars.

“Our main market for Centara Grand Nusa Dua Resort & Villas will be the leisure and honeymoon sectors, but due to the location of the resort next to the Bali Convention Centre, a large part of our business will also be from the meetings and events sector,” said Martin Heiniger, cluster general manager, Centara Hotels & Resorts Bali.

“The market mix for MICE is forecast at 60 per cent domestic and 40 per cent international,” he added.

Centara’s inaugural resort in Bali is the Centra Taum Seminyak Bali, located in the centre of Krobokan, at Seminyak.

“The opening of Centara Grand Nusa Dua Resort & Villas provides Centara guests with the option of the new five-star Grand brand resort, or the Centra value brand, at two very popular destinations on the island,” said Heiniger.

AIRASIA X’s Kuala Lumpur-Beijing flights, due to launch on June 22, will serve to boost overall traffic between Malaysia and China, but will probably be less of a boon to travel consultants dealing in group tours.

Tan Lu Cheng, marketing representative, Yangtze Cruise & Tours Kuala Lumpur, said: “This new route will definitely help move greater traffic between both destinations. The cheap airfares will be the biggest attraction. However, we do not use AirAsia. We will continue to work with Malaysia Airlines on the route.”

Geff Hoo, sales manager, Apple Vacations & Conventions Kuala Lumpur, said: “We have no plans at the moment to use AirAsia X for group travel to and from Beijing. We will continue to work with full service carriers with scheduled flights on the route.”

Hoo, however, is anticipating a substantial increase in FIT traffic between China and Malaysia once AirAsia X’s new connection takes off.

“We have Apple Flexi where we sell ground packages in China. There would be (increased) opportunities to sell these packages to independent travellers (from Malaysia) (with the introduction of AirAsia X’s flights),” he explained.

CENTRAL Java is busy upgrading its infrastructure in anticipation of an influx of travellers during Visit Central Java Year 2013.

Central Java Culture and Tourism Office head, Prasetyo Aribowo, said: “The new airport terminal (at Achmad Yani International Airport in Semarang) is being built to the north of the current terminal, at an investment of 800 billion rupiah (US$80 million), and is expected to be completed next year.”

Construction of a new toll road linking Semarang and Solo is also expected to finish in 2014, and will halve the journey time between the two cities to about an hour each way.

Meanwhile, the regional government and Central Java Tourism Promotion Board will jointly organise the Indonesia Corporate Meeting & Incentive Travel Mart 2013 in Semarang to showcase the various destinations in Central Java for meetings and incentives.

“Places like Semarang and Solo have good facilities for meetings, and there are different themes to offer incentive groups,” said Aribowo, adding that the target for 2013 was to hit 25 million arrivals, compared to 21.8 million last year.

PHILIPPINE Airlines (PAL) has axed its Hong Kong-Kalibo flights less than a month after launch, indicating that China’s travel advisory against the Philippines is starting to impact the latter’s already estranged Greater China market.

Introduced on April 27 to lure more Hong Kong travellers to Boracay, PAL scrapped the twice-weekly service on May 15, following the release of the travel advisory and Chinese travel firms’ suspension of tours to the Philippines.

A Manila-based travel consultant specialising in inbound from Hong Kong confirmed the flagging demand for PAL’s Hong Kong-Kalibo flights, explaining that China’s travel advisory, together with Hong Kong’s ongoing travel ban to the Philippines, contrived to make Hong Kong tourists avoid the destination altogether.

Sef Lam, director, Via Vai Travel Hong Kong, said: “Some of our (Hong Kong-based) clients do not feel comfortable going to the Philippines for holidays, saying that since we look (like mainland) Chinese, the Filipinos may treat us badly.”

“Emotions may run high, especially if there are demonstrations in the streets, and it would not be a good idea to be caught in a traffic jam with demonstrators nearby,” he added.

PAL is not the first carrier to suspend flights in the wake of the territorial standoff between Beijing and Manila. China Southern Airlines will halve its twice-daily Guangzhou-Manila services from May 26 – June 30, in anticipation of an expected drop in cross-straits traffic.