CONVINCED that it should collaborate rather than compete with its South-east Asian neighbours, the Department of Tourism (DoT) Philippines has set about establishing partnerships with the region’s NTOs, with Malaysia being the latest, as air links between the two neighbours rise significantly.

DoT secretary Ramon R Jimenez Jr said at the core of its cooperation with Malaysia was the development of the Muslim market. “The Philippines is a predominantly Christian country, so we have much to learn in terms of attracting and taking care of Muslim tourists,” he said.

Jimenez hopes the country can also leverage on Malaysia’s strength in the Europe market, while Malaysia will benefit from the Philippines’ US connection.

He also revealed that similar discussions had been held with his Singapore counterpart, with the goal of creating packages combining both destinations. “We are determined to form a team who will create high-end packages: Europeans can fly into Singapore for a city tour, go to Boracay to get their tan and tattoo, then fly to Singapore again.”

From March 25, Malaysia Airlines is increasing its flights to the Philippines to thrice daily, while SEAir will launch a thrice-weekly Clark-KK service on May 1. Cebu Air has reportedly filed paperwork for flights to Kuching, while Zest Air is looking to mount flights to KL mid-year.

Tourism Malaysia’s acting director-general Azizan Nordin added that the NTO was also widening the number of airlines it worked with. To attract more tourists from the US and Russia, for instance, it will work with the Philippines and South Korea.

The trade, however, has its eye focused closer home, on the Malaysian and the Philippine markets themselves. “As Manila and Clark are just an hour-an-a-half flight away from KK, it will be easy to persuade Sabahans to visit the Philippines,” said Borneo Trails Tours & Travel general manager, Tan Kok Liang.

Infrastructure will also be a focus

ASIDE from growing demand, the Philippines is embarking on capacity building, said Department of Tourism secretary Ramon R Jimenez Jr.

With a new law being implemented this year, 21 areas have been declared tourism enterprise zones, where investors will be offered incentives such as a moratorium on income tax for a property’s first year of operation and no limit to the hiring of expatriate executives, said Jimenez. This is in addition to international airports that are being built and the expansion of cruise terminals across the country, the former meant to boost international arrivals, and the latter, South-east Asian arrivals.

Jimenez also revealed that a Singapore group had already expressed interest in turning the former post office in Manila into The Fullerton Hotel, similar to the one in Singapore.

Read the full report in TTG Asia, March 9, 2012

Read the full report in ITB Berlin

Additional reporting by N. Nithiyananthan and Marianne Carandang

BANGKOK Airways’ daily Kuala Lumpur (KL)-Samui flights from March 31, along with its aim to seal Malaysia Airlines (MAS) as its latest codeshare partner by then, sees Firefly flying into action to protect its Samui marketshare.

Both airlines are banking on the medium and longhaul markets. Firefly has announced it is “working closely with the Tourism Authority of Thailand to promote Samui as an upmarket leisure destination as well as a destination for weddings, honeymoons, corporate team-building and incentive travel”.

Firefly’s head of marketing and communications, Angelina C Fernandez, said there was demand for destination weddings and honeymoons from medium and longhaul markets. “These foreigners arrive in KL, spend a few nights…in Malaysia and then continue their holiday to Samui to fulfill their wedding and/or honeymoon plans.”

Bangkok Airways, which is courting the same market, may have the upper hand as it flies from Kuala Lumpur International Airport whereas Firefly operates from Subang. With a planned airfare of “US$170 to US$180 one-way”, its president, Puttipong Prasarttong-Osoth, said he was confident of a load factor of “60 per cent plus” in the first year and “close to 70 per cent” by 2013.

Firefly’s load factor is above 80 per cent since the airline started the service on October 26, 2008. Its only competition now on the route is Berjaya Air, which also operates to Samui from Subang.

Samui is by far Bangkok Airways’ most profitable route, accounting for 40 per cent of total traffic. This year, the airline will also increase its Samui-Hong Kong service from daily to 10 flights a week. Other expansion includes an extra flight from Bangkok to Chiang Mai and Phuket and 12 weekly direct flights from Bangkok to Lampang, all from March 25.

Read the full report in TTG Asia, March 9, 2012

Read the full report in ITB Berlin.

MALAYSIA is going for the high-end jugular with its new Luxury Malaysia branding, targeting key Asian markets and Europe.

Speaking during a press conference to introduce the branding at ITB Berlin, Malaysia’s tourism minister Ng Yen Yen said efforts were being made to turn the country into a premier duty-free shopping destination, including the abolishing of all import duties on comestics, jewellery, watches and electronic goods starting this year.

Other initiatives implemented to draw high-end visitors include the organising of annual fashion and cultural events such as the 1Malaysia International Shoe Festival, as well as premier sporting events like the CIMB Asia Pacific Classic Malaysia golf tournament.

Junaida Lee Abdullah, deputy secretary general-management & monitoring, Ministry of Tourism Malaysia, said: “The Luxury Malaysia initiative will allow us to inform people abroad that you can have a luxurious holiday in Malaysia.

We have a lot of potential to offer as a high-end destination, with plenty of first-class products , dining options, hotels and attractions, but they may not have been marketed so well before.”

Susan Soong, assistant general manager, Borneo Eco Tours Kota Kinabalu, said she was planning to introduce more luxury products soon

“Sabah has many tour operators catering to high-end clients, and also plenty of luxury jungle resorts and five-star accommodation options. Up to 40 per cent of our clients are high-end, ” she added.

Read the full report in TTG Asia, March 9, 2012

Read the full report in ITB Berlin

ACCOR has shined the spotlight on China’s outbound market and is putting its full weight behind efforts to achieve double-digit growth in bookings for its properties in Asia, Australia and Europe.

“This is the year of China,” said Accor senior vice president sales and marketing, Graham Wilson, in an interview with the Daily.

“We are targeting an increase of 16.8 per cent in Chinese business to France this year, 18.2 per cent to the UK and 18 per cent to Germany. In Asia, we are looking at an increase of 11 per cent in Thailand and about 20 per cent in South Korea.”

As part of its efforts to develop the Chinese market, Accor has relaunched its Grand Mercure brand in China as Mei Jue, mainly targeting the domestic market. It has also appointed Samuel Shih as Accor China chairman and CEO to develop partnerships with operators in key cities such as Beijing, Guangzhou, Shanghai, as well as Hong Kong. These partnerships will look at developing both the domestic and outbound markets.

To grow the Chinese outbound market for Accor properties worldwide, the company intends to expand the reach of its China Optimum Service Standards, a programme that sees hotels design its services specifically for the Chinese market. The programme, created in consultation with leading tour and travel operators from China, made its debut in Australia last year.

“We are introducing congee and dim sum in our hotels in France and Germany, for example. We are also introducing information in Mandarin, and offering Mandarin TV shows in the guestrooms,” said Wilson.

He added: “The Chinese outbound market is projected to reach 100 million by 2020 and Accor has 4,000 hotels worldwide, so we want to make sure we capture the whole spectrum of the market. We have a wide range of products for all markets, so we are trying to differentiate and make sure there is an emotional connection between the brand and guest experience.

“(Chinese) guests do not care much about the size of the room; they care about the location and the experience they get for the price,” he said.

Read the full report in TTG Asia, March 23, 2012

Read the full report in ITB Berlin

AIR New Zealand will operate direct twice-weekly services between Auckland and Denpasar, for a start only during the peak period from June to October.

The new service, using a Boeing 767- 300 aircraft, will add some 600 weekly seats to the island during the peak international and domestic holiday season when rooms, especially in Bali’s south like Kuta and Tuban, are usually crowded.

As it cuts the travel time by at least four hours, the trade sees it as an opportunity to boost traffic from New Zealand.

“Travellers from New Zealand previously needed 12-14 hours to get to Bali without a direct flight, averaging about 700 passengers per week. With the direct eight-hour flight, we are confident we can double the number,” said Herdy Sayoga, Bali Village marketing group executive director. Bali Village will work with Air New Zealand on a roadshow in Auckland this May to drum up support for the direct service.

Concerns of overcrowding in Bali are dismissed by the trade, which contends the island can accommodate the expected influx of travellers from the new service.

Ismullah Lahsin, general manager of White Rose Bali Hotel & Villas and Sun Island Boutique Villa & Spa, said: “Generally, there is a room crunch in Bali, especially in the southern area, and the domestic market is huge. On the other hand, there are many new two- and three-star hotels opening in areas off the beachfront, and the domestic market likes to stay there.”

Nia Niscaya, Ministry of Tourism and Creative Economy director of international promotion, said the direct flight offers “the opportunity to boost the (New Zealand) market”.

“Hopefully the flights will not stop after one season only,” she said.

Read the full report in TTG Asia, March 9, 2012

Read the full report in ITB Berlin