SILKAIR will introduce thrice-weekly services to Hanoi starting June 5, 2012.

Subject to government approval, the new flights will be operated using Airbus A319/320 aircraft.

Together with Singapore Airlines’ (SIA) daily services, both airlines will offer a total of 10 round-trip services a week to Vietnam’s capital.

Meanwhile, SIA’s thrice-daily Singapore-London services will be operated using only Airbus A380 aircraft from June 1, 2012.

Currently, two of the services are operated with the A380, while one is operated with the Boeing 777-300ER.

The switch to the larger A380 will increase seat capacity on the route by 17 per cent a day.

HKR International’s Auberge Discovery Bay Hong Kong resort on Lantau Island is scheduled to open later this year.

Located 30 minutes from Hong Kong International Airport, the property will feature 325 sea-facing rooms and suites, an all-day dining restaurant, and an outdoor terrace offering cocktails and light refreshments.

MICE facilities will encompass 1,300m2 of floorspace, including a 700m2 pillar-free ballroom, and several smaller breakout rooms and function areas.

Leisure amenities will include a seaside chapel, perfect for couples and wedding planners with its idyllic waterfront setting, and a Spa Botanica providing nine treatment rooms with sea views.

INSIGHT Vacations, The Travel Corporation’s premier brand, has introduced its first-ever Asian programme, featuring India.

The new programme features six itineraries, including two Insight Gold tours with stays at Oberoi and Taj Hotels, and four Premium escorted tours. The Premium itineraries range from eight to 14 days, while the Insight Gold tours span from 10 to 11 days.

Travellers will have the opportunity to explore the Golden Triangle, as well as less-trekked regions such as Kerala. Trip extensions to Sri Lanka, Nepal and Bhutan are available.

Rolled out in Australia and the US in January, Insight is now targeting affluent consumers in Singapore, Indonesia, the Philippines, Thailand, Malaysia and Hong Kong. A maximum of 35 tourists will embark on these tours, which are priced from US$2,365 per pax on a twin-sharing basis.

According to Sheryl Lim, regional director, Asia for Insight Vacations, customers will be able to snap up package deals tied with Jet Airways by the end of this month.

In terms of B2B marketing, Insight will focus on educating its existing travel trade partners on a group or one-to-one basis, said Lim.

“India is still a relatively new destination for most of the travel consultants we work with. Our goal is to work initially with agents who currently distribute our European and US products. We intend to target repeat customers first,” she explained, adding that travel experts would earn a 12 per cent commission with each sale.

OP Meena, an assistant director for India Tourism in Singapore, said he was confident that Insight’s new programme would do well. “Based on our research, we think that the products will resonate well with consumers in Asia,” he said.

However, an executive with Pacific Arena Singapore was less resolute about the viability of the new programme. “India is not perceived in a positive light by Asian customers and it is simply too exotic for some. These negative associations, coupled with the relatively high prices, make this a tough product to sell,” she said.

INDONESIA is looking to grow its share of Australia’s burgeoning outbound cruise market.

“Australia has been contributing some 40 per cent of cruise calls to Indonesia. The number of Australians taking a cruise today is around (half a million), and is projected to reach one million (by 2020),” said Indonesia’s Minister of Tourism and Creative Economy, Mari Elka Pangestu.

“So, this is a big market with huge potential that is waiting to be tapped, apart from the surfers, backpackers and other (leisure and MICE) segments (from Australia) to Indonesia.”

Indonesia has been registering double-digit growth in Australian arrivals over the past few years, with the market expanding by around 20 per cent in 2011 alone, added Pangestu.

According to Carnival Australia shore excursion manager Michael Mihajlov, apart from Bali, Lombok and Komodo Island were growing in popularity among P&O and Princess cruises sailing out of Australia.

Mihajlov said: “Travellers would like to see the real Indonesia, local activities, soft adventures, and something educational. Indonesia, in the minds of the Australians, is an exotic destination, with warm people and good value.”

BEST Western International (BWI) is busy expanding its Indonesian portfolio, and will open fifteen new hotels in the country by 1Q2013.

The new properties will add some 1,700 keys to BWI’s existing inventory of 623 rooms in the country.

Best Western International Area Development Office (ADO) Indonesia president director, Iwanto Hartojo, said: “We have been operating five hotels in Indonesia since (ADO Indonesia) opened five years ago.”

“We are now expanding, and up till 2013 will open another 15 hotels across Jakarta, Bogor, Semarang, Solo, Bali, Banjarmasin, Samarinda, Palu and Malang.”

Best Western ADO Indonesia corporate director of sales, Bina Sembiring, said: “We now have three hotels in Bali, one in Jakarta and one in Solo, which currently is the only Best Western Premier hotel in Indonesia.

“The new projects underway will see us present in Java, Bali, Kalimantan and Sulawesi. We are also looking to have our footprint in Sumatra.”

Hotels scheduled to open this year include the 140-room Best Western Serpong, 138-room Best Western Premier Galaxy Banjarmasin (South Kalimantan), 272-key Best Western Premier Sun Heritage Bali, and 80-room Best Western Mansion Kuningan, Jakarta.

JET Airways is planning to boost international services from 370 to 518 flights per week for the upcoming winter 2012 schedule, after Air India’s monopoly on unutilised international routes was lifted.

The airline has sought permission from India’s Ministry of Civil Aviation to mount an additional 35 weekly flights to Germany, and seven weekly services each to Belgium, France, Saudi Arabia, Vietnam, Doha and Sharjah.

Jet Airways has already added 74 flights per week for the ongoing 2012 summer schedule.

Other Indian carriers such as SpiceJet and IndiGo are also expected to file for permission to expand, not only for winter 2012 but also for summer 2013.

Aviation analysts at KPMG believe that high operating costs and lower profits in the domestic market are pushing Indian airlines to shift capacity to international routes.

Arjun Dhanwatay, COO, Cenin Tours & Travels Nagpur said: “(More) Indian carriers (will soon be able to) offer international connections from non-metro cities, where a critical mass of demand exists, and can win over a large segment of international travellers who currently have to fly domestic to New Delhi or Mumbai to avail of international flights.”

VFS Global would like to clarify the final paragraph of the article, New India visa centres in Singapore unlikely to boost travel (TTG Asia e-Daily, April 11, 2012).

We had published: BLS International Services is a partner of the High Commission of India in Singapore, entrusted with the management of passport and visa application processes, while VFS Global is a subsidiary of the Kuoni Group, which was appointed to manage the new VACs in Singapore. The latter is responsible for accepting and processing visa applications from Singapore residents only, while all other applications will continue to be assessed by the High Commission of India.

In a note to TTG Asia e-Daily, a spokesperson of VFS Global said:

“BLS International and VFS Global share the identical service-provider relationship with the High Commission of India in Singapore. It is not that BLS is a “partner” and VFS Global has a different kind of relationship with the High Commission of India as your article mentions.

Also please note that both companies have been appointed to deliver the same basic bouquet of services. It is not that VFS Global can accept applications from Singapore residents only “while all other applications continue to be assessed by the High Commission of India”. While VFS Global, and BLS International, accept and process applications for passport, visas and other consular services, ALL applications (regardless of nationality) continue to be assessed by the High Commission of India exclusively.”

TTG Asia e-Daily has revised the article as such:

THE LAUNCH of two new India visa application centres (VACs) in Singapore, managed by VFS Global, received mixed responses from travel consultants, who welcomed the move but deemed it insignificant in boosting travel to India.

India’s tourism minister, Subodh Kant Sahai, said in an official statement that he hoped the VACs – located at Rangoon Road and Anson Road – would facilitate travel to India for Singaporeans. Tour consultancies handling Singapore’s outbound market to India, however, believed that the new VACs would have a negligible impact on demand.

Rajeev Kohli, joint managing director, Creative Travel India, said: “The opening of the two centres in Singapore will certainly make it easier for Singaporeans to submit applications. However, I doubt that this will heighten demand dramatically. In fact, Singapore has been on India’s visa-on-arrival list for a while but this has not translated into a significant increase in arrivals.”

“In my opinion, a similar service for core markets such as the UK would have been a more logical priority for the government, as Singapore constitutes a minute proportion of arrivals into India each year,” he added.

Ramesh Travel Service Singapore’s general manager Ram Samtani also expressed similar views that the VACs would do little to augment demand. He said: “The Indian government should focus on marketing India more actively to Singaporeans instead. Many are still unaware of tourist spots outside the Golden Triangle.”

The two new centres highlighted the High Commission’s commitment to improving its service capabilities though, said Samtani. “Previously there were five appointed visa administration bureaus in Singapore, four attached to travel consultancies and one to a courier company. This has now been whittled down to two – VFS Global and BLS International Services – which are both specialists in visa processing so there’s no conflict of interest. It is definitely the right approach,” he said.

VFS Global and BLS International Services are both entrusted with accepting and processing applications for passport, visa and other consular services. All applications will continue to be assessed by the High Commission of India, Singapore.

KENYA Airways will commence four-weekly flights between Nairobi and New Delhi on May 15, with further plans to expand its reach in India to four other cities soon.

The airline currently operates 10 weekly Mumbai-Kenya flights.

Tasneem Sharafally, director, Mumbai-based Global Destinations said: “Kenya is becoming increasingly popular for family vacations. (Travellers) want (Kenya’s) safari and luxury outdoor accommodation.”

Sharafally expects an increase in business for the summer holiday season, driven by additional connections to other African destinations via Nairobi.

Jennifer Opondo, head-marketing, Kenya Tourist Board, said: “Historically India and Kenya have had a good amount of trade and visits, as there is a large Indian migrant population in Kenya. We are culturally familiar with each other. This makes for a good platform to increase Indian (arrivals) to our country.”

Kashmira Irani, director of Mumbai’s Maher Tours & Travels, noted that Indian leisure traffic to Kenya had been growing, “compared to Indians mainly visiting friends and relatives”.

“This is a healthy trend and a sign of good growth,” Irani said.

India is Kenya’s largest Asian source market and the fifth largest worldwide. Kenya Tourist Board aims to grow Indian tourist arrivals from 58,986 in 2011 by 15 to 20 per cent in 2012. Most of the tourists and business travellers to Kenya are from the western Indian states of Maharashtra and Gujarat, followed by New Delhi in the north.