QATAR Airways will resume service to Yangon from Doha on October 3, operating thrice-weekly flights using an Airbus A319 and A320 aircraft.

The airline will extend the service to daily from October 28 and will use a B777 aircraft in future if there is increased demand.

Under a bilateral agreement, the carrier can fly 14 times a week between the two countries.

An industry source said the resumption would enhance access between Myanmar and Europe, Africa and the Middle East

Qatar signed a bilateral agreement with Myanmar in 2004 to start operating a Doha-Yangon-Doha flight four times a week from January 2005. The service was halted in January 2008.

SRI Lanka is readying itself for a surge in cruise arrivals – from 4,000 last year to more than 50,000 this year.

The country is expecting 23 to 25 cruise liners in 2012, said Indrajith Fernando, deputy director marketing, Sri Lanka Tourism Promotion Bureau. The bureau is promoting Sri Lanka by taking part in tradeshows and preparing DVDs on the country for visitors.

FTI Berlin, a liner service promoted by Diethelm Travel Sri Lanka, will bring in 4,000 tourists during the coming winter season.

Sailing from Dubai via India, FTI Berlin will make five calls at Colombo, said Abbas Esufally, chairman, Diethelm Travel Sri Lanka. Embarking and disembarking passengers — about 400 each way — will have the option of spending between three to seven days Sri Lanka, unlike other liners that usually make a one-day/night stop, he added.

Abbas said: “There is a huge (potential) for cruise liner tourism and we hope the FTI Berlin will be a catalyst for other luxury liners.”

Other luxury liners calling at Sri Lanka’s shores this year include the QE2 with 1,890 passengers from the UK, Australia, South Africa, Japan and France; the Oceania Nautica with 700 passengers; the Arcadia with 2,100 passengers from New Zealand and Brazil; and the Costa Deliziose with 2,150 passengers.

SINGAPORE Airlines (SIA) recorded an unexpected loss of S$38 million (US$30 million) in the fourth quarter of its 2011-2012 financial year, hurt by soaring jet fuel prices, an uncertain global economy and the cost of phasing out its last B747-400 aircraft.

The loss, the airline’s first since the second quarter of 2010, contrasted with the S$171 million profit posted by the airline a year earlier.

Group revenue rose three per cent to S$3.7 million, but was outpaced by an eight per cent increase in expenditure and fuel costs — which rose 15 per cent during the last quarter. As a result, the group reported an operating loss of S$5 million.

Analysts surveyed by Dow Jones Newswires had forecasted declining profits for SIA due to high oil prices and weak yields, but none of them predicted a loss.

In the meantime, the national carrier also reported a sharp drop in its full-year net profit, down 69 per cent to S$336 million.

UNIWORLD, The Travel Corporation’s boutique river cruise brand, has added Italy to its collection.

The 13-day Splendors of Italy itinerary combines a seven-night river cruise along the Po and the Venice Lagoon with a two-night land stay in Florence and three nights in Rome. A cruise only option, Venice and the Po River, lasting eight days is also available.

Both itineraries are scheduled to debut in Spring 2013.

Melvin Loh, senior sales manager for The Travel Corporation, said that bookings for any itinerary in the preview 2013 brochure made up to June 30 would receive an early bird discount of up to US$2,400 per couple. Travellers have to make full payment to receive the discount.

“We believe that these cruises will appeal to discerning Singaporeans who have been to Europe before who now want to tour at a leisurely place and who are keen to experience the richness of Italy,” said Loh.

The new itineraries will also be sold in Indonesia, Thailand and the Philippines via the firm’s GSAs.

New travel consultants will be offered a commission of 10 per cent if they sign up to sell Uniworld’s 2013 brochure, which will be officially launched in August.

Chan Brothers Travel product manager Tevin Ong said that river cruises offered clients an interesting alternative to touring Europe.

“However, we often find that we need to tell customers that the prices quoted are all-inclusive, and that the cruises offer good value for money to convince them to make a booking.

“Nonetheless, although this is still a relatively new product for us, we’ve noticed that once a client has been on a Uniworld cruise, they are apt to want to go again,” he said.

COSTA Cruises, a first mover in China, has now opened an office in Singapore and, for the first time, is homeporting a ship in the city.

It will base the Costa Victoria in Singapore in November and offer 11 sailings to Malaysia and Thailand with three-night, four-night and seven-night itineraries, the shorter duration being ideal for Asians.

Costa is eyeing the Singapore cruise market and a booming regional leisure traffic to Singapore to fill the 2,394 pax ship.

“In the past, Singapore was just a port-of-call for us during winter. We have observed that in the last three to four years, Singapore has made tremendous development in tourism attractions and has become a final or true vacation destination for Asian travellers.

“For us, a home port must be a big source market and Singapore has become one,” said Leo Liu, Costa Cruises’ vice president of strategy.

Read the full report in TTG Asia, May 18, 2012

FINNAIR inaugurated flights to Chongqing on May 9, the first carrier to open direct services between Europe and the inland Chinese megacity.

Mika Vehviläinen, CEO of Finnair, said: “We believe Chongqing has the potential of developing into a hub for travel between Western China and Europe, both for business and leisure travellers.”

Chongqing’s population of 32 million, about the size of Austria, is expected to double over the next five years. Chinese and Western companies, especially in the electronics, automotive and chemical industries, are currently expanding their operations in Chongqing, said the airline.

Chongqing also provides convenient access to river cruises on the Jialing and Yangtze rivers, and the city is well connected to Lhasa, Xian and Kunming.

Finnair is using Airbus A330 and A340 aircraft on this route, which takes eight and a half hours.

The airline first announced its plans to fly to Chongqing last year. The new route is in line with its strategy to offer shorter connections between Asia and Europe via Helsinki.

In addition to four flights per week to Chongqing, Finnair also flies daily to Beijing, Shanghai and Hong Kong from Helsinki.

This summer, Finnair will operate 81 flights per week to 11 destinations in Asia.

THE FIRST travel agency in Singapore for women travellers only has opened. Its name? Stilettos Travel, of course.

The company offers Asian programmes, but will expand to other parts of the world. It focuses on heritage and culture, exotic destinations that single women travellers may find difficult to travel to if travelling alone, and CSR-oriented activities. Itineraries are designed around regular sightseeing, but made more “involving” by including interactions with the local communities.

It also offers a Travel Buddy Pairing service to help women find like-minded travel companions.

Founded by two women entrepreneurs, Tay Lay Suan and Anna Koh, Stilettos Travel has since organised trips to Bhutan, Siem Reap, South Korea and Hua Hin. Group sizes range between four to 10 pax.

“As women ourselves, we noticed that travel agencies could not cater precisely to our needs. What does a woman look for when she travels? She wants a programme focused on her interests, good company, and above all, she wants to be assured of her safety,” said Tay.

Added her co-founder, Koh: “On top of this, we find that many of our female friends would very much like to travel and experience the world, and have the means to do so, but are often constrained by companionship and differing interests with their spouses or families.”

THE INDONESIA Corporate Meeting and Incentive Travel Mart (ICMITM) 2012, ending today in Medan, is anticipating a 30 per cent jump in transaction amounts compared to last year’s event, buoyed by strong domestic and overseas demand.

Jointly organised by the Ministry of Tourism and Creative Economy and Bank Danamon American Express (AMEX) Corporate Card, the fifth ICMITM brings together 100 AMEX corporate card members and 80 sellers from North Sumatra and other parts of Indonesia for two days.

Participating hoteliers yesterday said they were getting business worth between 500 million rupiah and 800 million rupiah for events within the next one to three months. Between 91 billion rupiah (US$10 million) and 95 billion rupiah in total is expected.

Dessy Masri, Bank Danamon, executive vice president – card business head, said: “Before the event, we asked buyers to send us (information about) the events they are planning and we sent them to the sellers, so that sellers come prepared with special offers to discuss with the buyers.”

Indonesia’s deputy minister of tourism and creative economy, Sapta Nirwandar, said: “We hope to see bigger transactions this year with the MICE market in Indonesia growing, as we promote more destinations in the country.”

According to Dessy, the average T&E budget of a company was between 10 per cent and 15 per cent of total company spending, of which 30 per cent were on MICE. Total transaction for T&E recorded by Bank Danamon AMEX corporate card last year was 500 billion rupiah.

AUSTRALIA is seeing increasing numbers of Chinese and Japanese visitors, who are driving steady growth in inbound tourism despite the robust Australian currency and continued economic frailty in key longhaul markets.

According to Australia’s Department of Resources, Energy and Tourism, overall arrivals in 1Q2012 grew 4.1 per cent year-on-year. During the quarter, there were nearly 200,000 Chinese visitors to Australia, a 10.7 per cent year-on-year increase, while Japanese arrivals rose 5.8 per cent to 98,000.

Longhaul markets such as the US and UK did not fare too badly either, said Australian Minister for Tourism, Martin Ferguson.

“A recovery in arrivals is now more evident from the US, which has increased by 3.3 percent and the UK, which rose by 3.1 percent, despite relative weakness in their respective economies,” he was quoted by Agence France-Presse as saying.

Meanwhile, the main underperforming markets were Malaysia and Germany.

Ferguson credited improved flight access as a key driver in the growth of inbound tourism. “The Australian government has been in negotiations to continue to expand our airlines’ access to the world and to allow foreign carriers to increase their access to Australia,” he said.

Carriers such as China Southern Airlines, which doubled its Guangzhou-Melbourne services to twice-daily last October, and launched thrice-weekly Beijing-Perth flights a month later, are leading the charge to provide adequate air connectivity for Chinese tourists looking to head Down Under.