MALAYSIA is considering reinstating its visa on arrival (VOA) facility for Indian nationals to keep up with the rising number of Indian visitors to the country.

The facility was withdrawn in May 2008 amid concerns over illegal immigration.

Veneeta Rawat, director, Amazing Vacations Mumbai, said: “Malaysia is a very popular destination for Indian tourists. We hope to package more Malaysia tours for this holiday season if the VOA approval comes through soon.”

Meanwhile, to cater to heightened demand during the ongoing Indian holiday season, Malaysia Airlines has hiked the frequency of its daily Mumbai-Kuala Lumpur service to 12 flights per week till the end of the month.

Sharifah Norjulishima, CEO, SNR Group Kuala Lumpur, said: “VOA and the added flights will create a greater demand for Malaysian destinations, and could mean continued business as Indian tourists are known to (be repeat visitors).”

TIGER Airways will ramp up frequencies to Kuching, Penang, and Haikou during the upcoming Hari Raya Puasa holiday period in August.

The carrier’s flights from Singapore to Kuching and Penang will operate twice daily from August 17 – 26, 2012.

Its flights from Singapore to Haikou will be upped from three- to five-weekly for the entire month of August.

“With the increased frequencies to Kuching and Penang over the Hari Raya Puasa season, our customers will find it easier to make plans to celebrate and spend time with family and friends,” said Stewart Adams, managing director, Tiger Airways Singapore.

AVIATION intelligence provider OAG has signed a deal to provide daily airline schedule feed to Amadeus, offering travel consultants worldwide access to timely, updated flight information.

“Amadeus is the first global distribution system to use a daily OAG schedule feed,” said John Grant, EVP networks of UBM Aviation, parent company of OAG. “This enables travel (consultants) and their customers to access more accurate information when they’re looking to book a flight.”

Approximately one third of the flight schedules in the Amadeus system are now based on OAG’s data.

Containing schedules for over 1,000 airlines and more than 4,000 airports worldwide, the OAG database tracks over 28 million departures a year ahead, and processes up to 50,000 airline schedule-change messages per day.

David Doctor, Amadeus director of distribution marketing, said: “Airlines change their flight schedules to enhance margins, meet market demand and seize competitive advantage, and it is key that this information is made available quickly to travel (consultants).”

“With this new agreement, we can ensure that, for airlines which file their information in OAG, schedule changes are processed and new flights proposed for sale, immediately on the day.”

PHILIPPINES’ AirAsia’s international operations will take off next month with the launch of Clark-Kuala Lumpur flights on June 9.

Operated daily using a brand new Airbus A320 aircraft, the service will complement parent airline AirAsia’s existing Kuala Lumpur-Clark flights, and effectively double the group’s frequency on the route to twice-daily.

Philippines’ AirAsia CEO, Maan Hontiveros, said connections to China and Macau were in the works, but “might take a little longer” to work out given the ongoing territorial fracas between China and the Philippines.

“We are also looking to launch flights to Hong Kong by end-June or early July,” she said.

The Philippine Civil Aeronautics Board (CAB) is currently deliberating over Philippines’ AirAsia’s bid to mount daily flights to Hong Kong, Macau and Xiamen.

Meanwhile, CAB is busy distributing an extra 9,500 seats per week to South Korea among Cebu Pacific, Philippine Airlines and Zest Air. The additional seats will boost capacity to the destination to 28,500 seats weekly.

WITH just two months to go before the London 2012 Olympics kicks off, VisitBritain is upbeat about the local tourism industry’s prospects during the event.

Ticket sales for the Oympics – which will run from July 27 to August 12 – are proceeding well, with most domestic allocations selling out within hours of release.

International ticket sales have also been positive. Kai Yu, president assistant of CAISSA Touristic Beijing, a certified distributor, reported strong demand within China, due to sustained interest following the 2008 Olympics in Beijing.

Nevertheless, Keith Beecham, overseas network director, VisitBritain, is expecting full year arrivals growth to be flat (30 million visitors through 2012), while displacement during the Olympics is a concern.

Beecham is hoping that Fair Price Charters will dissuade UK venues and suppliers from aggressively hiking prices during the event, to alleviate concerns over spiralling costs for visitors.

“This is a non-binding pledge and rates are subject to supply and demand, but we need to price fairly as the eyes of the world will be on Britain,” he said.

Beecham also played down worries over transport congestion during the event, citing the trend of tube traffic dipping by about 20 per cent in August – Londoners usually holiday during this period.

“London can deal with a large number of visitors, and infrastructure is there to support them. Historical patterns suggest London will cope,” he insisted.

Reporting by Timothy France

A TOTAL of 62 travel companies from the UK visited Bangkok last week to open doors to an Asian market which even in its infancy, is starting to supplant the traditional source markets.

Speaking to TTG Asia e-Daily during VisitBritain’s ninth Destination Britain & Ireland APMEA in Bangkok, Alex Mawer, director of marketing, VisitEngland said: ““Asian visitors are holding our country up at the moment. We are losing European visitors as the euro (continues to) depreciate.”

“Asia is where it’s happening and is the right place to invest. Even though (at the moment) we will make a lower return (in Asia) than in Europe or the US, we must have an open door to push on in the coming years,” he added.

Keith Beecham, VisitBritain’s overseas network director, agreed, saying that growing high-yield Asian visitor numbers was top of the agenda, as the UK was experiencing a decline in traditional markets.

“The value (of the Asian market) has grown significantly and we are seeing disproportionately good growth from the region,” he said.

“(Focusing on Asia) is doubly important at the moment, because European source markets are down. The total number (from Europe) is still very big, but they are down trading and not travelling as often as before.”

According to Beecham, APMEA accounted for 14 per cent of total arrivals and 27.7 per cent of tourist spend in the UK last year. Growth from Australia, China and Singapore was particularly robust.

Reporting by Timothy France

AIRASIA X is expanding its network with the introduction of direct flights from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing.

Starting June 22, 2012, the carrier will operate four-weekly services from Kuala Lumpur International Airport to Beijing Capital International Airport. Frequency will increase to a daily from August 6, 2012.

AirAsia X’s Beijing-Kuala Lumpur flights will be operated using the Airbus A330-300 aircraft, with a configuration of 12 premium-flatbed and 365 economy seats.

Azran Osman-Rani, AirAsia X CEO, said: “China is a key market for AirAsia X, and our entry into Beijing supports the Malaysian government’s Economic Transformation Programme, which seeks to enhance connectivity between the two countries. The launch will allow for new segments of travellers between Malaysia, South-east Asia and China.”

Kathleen Tan, AirAsia’s group head of commercial, said: “China National Tourism Administration (recently) named Malaysia as one of the preferred destinations for Chinese tourists. The number of Malaysians travelling to China has also grown tremendously.”

“We are confident travel demand to Beijing will be strong, and (also) hope many (Chinese) will take the opportunity to visit Malaysia, and use it as a gateway to destinations across the region,” she added.

Meanwhile, AirAsia X has decided to suspend flights to Tianjin, effective June 21, 2012. All affected customers will be given the option of switching their bookings to the Beijing route.