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.

AS tipped by TTG Asia e-Daily on February 15, US-based private equity fund manager, Pegasus Capital Advisors, through one or more of its affiliates, has entered into a binding agreement to buy Bangkok-based Six Senses Resorts & Spas for an undisclosed sum.

Under the terms of the deal, Pegasus will acquire all of the Six Senses and Evason branded resort and spa management contracts and related intellectual property rights and operate them under a new company managed by Pegasus and its affiliates.

Bernhard Bohnenberger, currently the president of Six Senses, will be continuing in that role and heading the Six Senses’ Bangkok office.

In a statement, Craig Cogut, founder, Pegasus Capital Advisors, said: “Going forward, the new Six Senses will be a debt-free company with committed capital for expansion into new and within existing international markets. We are confident that our president Bernhard Bohnenberger and our strong management team will continue to build on its legacy as a recognised leader in luxury hospitality.”

The Soneva brand and resorts, as well as the company’s real estate assets and holdings, are not included in the transaction and will continue to be led by Sonu Shivdasani, the former founder and CEO of Six Senses, who will serve as chairman, CEO and principal shareholder of The Soneva Group.

“This transaction will allow me to focus solely on the development of the Soneva portfolio of resorts and real estate assets, and allow the Soneva and Six Senses brands to flourish independently of each other,” said Shivdasani. “For myself and Eva, my wife, this means we can devote all our energies to our first love – the development of the Sonevas. Soneva will continue to operate its philanthropic arm, The Slow Life Trust, and remain dedicated to achieving environmental goals and a corporate commitment to sustainability.”

The transaction is expected to close within the next three months.

INDUSTRY observers concur that Singapore will continue to be a hotel investment hotspot for now, given that room rates are anticipated to resume their bull run for the foreseeable future.

“Occupancy rates should remain around the 80 per cent mark in the next couple of years, and this should keep rates relatively buoyant. Prior to the opening of the integrated resorts in 2010, Singapore room rates were lower than they should have been and now hotels are making up for lost time,” said Robert Hecker, managing director, Horwath HTL.

Some 10,000 rooms are coming on-stream in Singapore across all categories between now and 2016, raising the country’s total room inventory by 20 per cent and bringing room count to just over 50,000. Average room rates are expected to rise by five to 10 per cent from 2011. Hotel industry analyst CB Richard Ellis expects occupancy to hover between 83 and 86 per cent in 2012.

Eric Levy, managing director of Tourism Solutions International, said investors were drawn to Singapore because “it is a safe bet”.

“The yield per square footage in Singapore is better than most other markets in the region. Singapore offers hoteliers and investors ample opportunity to secure modest, but guaranteed returns, as tourism arrivals should remain relatively robust given the onslaught of new tourism infrastructure anticipated in the next couple of years.

“In fact, the main problem hotel investors face is actually finding a suitable property or piece of land in Singapore to put their stake down in the first place,” added Levy.

Hecker remarked that hotel investors in Singapore were also keen to gain a foothold here, as the country offered not only “good levels of revenue and profit, but high capital appreciation as well”.

However, he warned that escalating price inflation in Singapore could potentially erode margins. “On top of escalating land costs, operational costs are rising, and this will inevitably eat into the bottom line,” he said.

IATA will introduce a new weekly payment system in India from June 1, 2012, a move that is likely to impact Indian travel consultants the most.

The association recently informed travel consultants of the new remittance frequency in the India billing and settlement plan (BSP), which will see ticket sale proceeds remitted to airlines every week, instead of the current fortnightly arrangement.

Indian travel consultants who are already in dire straits due to reduced commissions and direct bookings have expressed their unhappiness over the move. The weekly payment system is expected to hit mainly the small- and medium-size consultants – comprising more than 80 per cent of the business segment in India – who often give long credit periods to their clients.

On the other hand, the increased frequency is expected to improve cash flow to struggling Indian carriers. Air India, Jet Airways and Kingfisher were reportedly instrumental in securing the approval from IATA to change the billing cycle.

According to sources, the weekly payment system was first mooted by the national carrier Air India back in 2009. IATA approved a resolution to change the billing cycle in India at its conference in October last year.

Reporting by Divya Kaul

NARITA International Airport Corp has announced plans to build a new terminal for budget carriers by March 2015, in anticipation of the fast-growing LCC sector in Japan.

This will be Japan’s second LCC-dedicated air terminal after Osaka’s Kansai International Airport, which is currently under construction.

The new budget terminal will be converted from an existing building, and will feature simple interiors and infrastructure, such as boarding stairs instead of aerobridges, to keep costs down. When completed, it is expected to handle some 7.5 million passengers and up to 50,000 flights per year.

Meanwhile, Narita airport has also begun building additional facilities such as bus gates and check-in counters in preparation of the new LCCs debuting this year.

Jetstar Japan will commence flights from July 3, while AirAsia Japan is expected to launch its first flights in August.

ROBINSONS Land Corp (RLC), part of the Gokongwei Group that owns local budget carrier Cebu Pacific, is expanding its no-frills Go Hotels brand with plans for 30 properties across the Philippines within the next four years.

Three Go Hotels properties will open this year in emerging tourist destinations in the Visayas, in addition to the recently opened 108-room Puerto Princesa Hotel in Palawan and the 223-room flagship hotel in Manila’s Epifanio de los Santos Avenue (EDSA).

Roseann Coscolluela-Villegas, RLC’s spokesperson, said Go Hotels’ expansion is part of the group’s diversification strategy amid the country’s rosy tourism prospects.

These hotels are targeted at balikbayan (overseas Filipinos) returning to the Philippines and stop-over travellers hopping from one province to another, said Coscolluela-Villegas.

Similar to Cebu Pacific, Go Hotels use a variable pricing scheme that allows travellers to take advantage of lower rates through early bookings online. Rooms are typically no-frills with attached bathrooms, while Wi-Fi enabled common areas allow guests to enjoy their meals or use their laptops.

Apart from Go Hotels, RLC also owns Crowne Plaza Galleria and Holiday Inn Galleria in Manila, as well as two Summit hotels outside the capital.