AMERICAN Express (AMEX) Meetings & Events has launched its Meetings Expert service in Asia-Pacific, which aims to help event planners cut down on excessive spending.

The new service focuses on the sourcing portion of meeting planning. By leveraging on tools and best practices of its launch in North America, Meetings Expert will assist planners in securing the best terms from hotels and venues.

AMEX director for Japan, Asia-Pacific and Australia, Danielle Puceta said: “Based on our pilot, we have seen all types of industries find this service valuable as it saves time for meeting planners or executive assistants.”

The service connects companies with recommended experts who provide advice on negotiating all aspects of a meeting contract, including securing of conference venues, accommodation, F&B and ancillary spending for events with a minimum of 10 rooms per night. It also helps to track meetings sourced and provides standardised reporting.

“The basic reporting can also provide companies with savings and more control over meetings sourcing, a category which can often be completely unmanaged. This is an attractive option to many industries,” said Puceta.

According to AMEX, existing clients have achieved an average savings of 28 per cent per meeting with this new tool.

Reporting by Patricia Wee

GLOBAL leisure travel specialist Flight Centre has opened its first retail store in Hong Kong, with a focus on servicing the local expatriate market.

“This new store will bring a more sophisticated retail travel offering to Hong Kong and will be the only local travel (consultancy) with a focus on servicing expatriate clients,” said general manager for Flight Centre Greater China, David Fraser.

“The expatriate and returned overseas Chinese markets have been underserviced in Hong Kong in the past, so Flight Centre has positioned itself to pursue this opportunity and target these markets more aggressively,” he added.

The outlet features two teams of local and expatriate travel consultants offering native English and bilingual services, offering short- and longhaul international flight bookings, accommodation, tours packages, as well as processing of visas and other travel documents.

Located at 49 Caine Road in Central, the new retail facility is the third Flight Centre-branded shop in Asia and the first outside of Singapore.

DYNASTY Travel launched Singapore’s first-ever holiday booking app for iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch users during the bi-annual NATAS fair last weekend.

iDynasty, available as a free download from Apple’s App Store, allows users to search for holiday destinations, view travel itineraries including departure dates, prices and trip highlights, as well as book their desired packages from within the interface.

At the moment, the app only offers group packages, but plans are in the pipeline to introduce flight and hotel booking features in the third or fourth quarter.

According to Dynasty Travel’s managing director, Clifford Neo, iDynasty plays a critical role in the company’s strategy to grow its online business.

Some 3,000 downloads of the app were made during the three-day NATAS fair, although this has so far only translated into 15 bookings. Dynasty Travel’s website generates approximately three to four per cent of the company’s overall group package sales, according to Neo.

“Ultimately, we hope that half of our business will stem from our online interests, including our website and the app,” he said.

An Android version of iDynasty is due to be released in the second half of the year, while a version for the Malaysia market is set to launch within the next two months.

INTERCONTINENTAL Hotels Group (IHG) has launched Even, a new mainstream hotel brand targeted at the health- and wellness-oriented traveller.

To be introduced in the US market at the onset, Even will operate on a limited service model, with a concept based on four main ideals: exercise, eat, work and rest.

Even properties will be characterised by larger fitness centers, in-room extras such as hypoallergenic linens and coat racks doubling up as pull-up bars, as well as menus with an emphasis on natural, fresh and energising ingredients.

Kirk Kinsell, president, the Americas, IHG, said: “The US represents two-thirds of IHG’s rooms today, and this exciting new brand will help us to continue to grow our share in this important market. We expect to sign contracts for 100 Even Hotels within the next five years.”

According to IHG CEO Richard Solomons, a capital investment of US$150 million has been committed to grow the Even portfolio over the next three years.

The first Even address will be announced in second quarter 2012, while the first hotel is expected to open in early-2013.

INDONESIA’s Ministry of Tourism and Creative Economy is planning to organise a travel fair targeted at local youth, and will also attempt to persuade the government to introduce additional public holidays, in a bid to boost the domestic travel industry.

Speaking at a press conference in Jakarta yesterday, Ministry of Tourism and Creative Economy director general of destination development, Firmansyah Rahim, said: “The demand for travel during school holiday seasons and long weekends is high. We need to encourage the young travellers, especially students, to travel within the country.”

“Therefore, we are taking a number of steps to boost the market.”

Firstly, private sector organisations will be invited to organise a special travel mart for youth travellers, in cooperation with the ministry. “We invite the travel trade to come up with special offers and packages designed for students, with (discounted) fares,” said Rahim.

The ministry is also working on establishing additional long weekend holiday periods in Indonesia, either by declaring public holidays on single working days sandwiched between an existing public holiday and a weekend, or by declaring the following Monday a non-working day whenever a public holiday falls on a Sunday.

ONE of Vietnam’s leading inbound tour operators, Come & Go Vietnam, has launched its inaugural luxury itinerary to cater to growing demand in the high-end inbound segment.

“We’ve launched the itinerary to reflect the growing number of requests we’re receiving for upscale programmes,” said Tim Russell, director of Come & Go Vietnam, which is based in Ho Chi Minh City.

“Luxury travel is the tourism industry’s fastest-growing sector, and that applies to Vietnam as much as anywhere else,” he added.

Once seen as a budget to mid-range destination, Vietnam has moved upscale in recent years—a development reflected in its growing portfolio of gourmet restaurants and luxury resorts.

This trend has prompted Come & Go to introduce a 14D/13N Luxury Vietnam package for FITs, which takes customers on a north-to-south journey starting in Hanoi, through Halong Bay, Hue, Hoi An and the Mekong Delta, and ending in Ho Chi Minh City. The tour can also be undertaken in the opposite direction.

Guests stay in top-end properties such as the Sofitel Metropole Hotel in Hanoi, the Nam Hai resort in Hoi An, and the Park Hyatt Saigon in Ho Chi Minh City. They sample local and international cuisine at renowned dining outlets such as Restaurant Bobby Chinn and La Verticale, which is run by French chef Didier Corlou.

“We find that mid-range travellers are making their own independent travel arrangements,” said Russell.

“Luxury travellers, on the other hand, tend to be cash-rich and time-poor, and are happy to pay experts to take the time putting tours together for them.”

Reporting by Duncan Forgan

SINGAPORE Changi Airport’s budget terminal will be closed on September 25 and flattened to make way for a new Terminal 4.

Construction on the new terminal is slated to begin next year, and is expected to finish by 2017, Changi Airport Group (CAG) said in a statement.

Terminal 4 will reportedly be able to facilitate faster passenger processing and quicker turnarounds, and will not have aerobridges. It will also feature a larger terminal building, with the capacity to handle up to 16 million passengers a year.

In comparison, the existing budget terminal catered to 4.6 million passengers last year.

Airlines currently operating out of the budget terminal, including Berjaya Air, Cebu Pacific, Firefly, South East Asian Airlines and Tiger Airways, will shift operations to Terminal 2 starting September 25.

Aviation executives interviewed by TTG Asia e-Daily during the recent Low Cost Airlines World Asia Pacific 2012 conference in Singapore were unsure if the impending move would bump up airfares for affected airlines, but were certain that operational costs would climb.

Brendan Sorbie, chief representative Southeast Asia, Centre for Asia Pacific Aviation, said: “The (budget) terminal was originally built for modular expansion. That was CAG’s original vision, and this move is certainly not what airlines expected when they began operating at the terminal.”

“The move to rebuild the terminal could also be accorded to the current terminal’s inability to accommodate wider-body aircraft such as the A330, which more low-cost airlines have begun using in recent years to fly midhaul routes,” he added.