Nakala Godahewa

SRI Lanka’s top tourism official, Nalaka Godahewa, abruptly resigned from several key posts yesterday over differences with the government on international marketing and promotion strategy.

Godahewa stepped down as head of the Sri Lanka Tourism Promotion Bureau, Sri Lanka Convention Bureau and Sri Lanka Institute of Tourism & Hotel Management, but retained his role as chairman of the Sri Lanka Tourism Development Authority.

Citing difficulties in amalgamating the four state tourism bodies as one of the reasons for relinquishing the posts, Godahewa stated his intention to focus on the development aspect of Sri Lanka tourism moving forward.

An industry leader who declined to be named said many were aware of Godahewa’s hands being tied in promoting the destination. “I hope (Godahewa’s) sacrifice will make the government take note and resolve some of these issues,” he said.

In recent times, Sri Lankan tourism bodies have encountered serious hindrances related to funding, with P.B. Jayasundera, secretary, Ministry of Finance & Planning, actively slashing their budgets.

Tourism representatives including Godahewa have also been absent from key international travel trade fairs over the past 18 months, due to permission to attend these events being withheld by the Ministry.

JAPAN Airlines (JAL) will boost its New Delhi-Tokyo services to seven flights a week starting December 2012, up from the current five weekly flights.

The carrier operated daily services to New Delhi till 2009, when the global economic crisis forced it to trim its frequency.

Shelly Egbert, manager-sales, JAL said: “We will utilise (Boeing) 787 Dreamliner aircraft on the additional (New Delhi-Tokyo) flights. We have all the necessary approvals required to begin the daily operations. At present, there is good demand (about 70 per cent load factor) on this sector.”

JAL recently deployed the Dreamliner on four out of five weekly flights on the route. A Boeing 777 plane is still being utilised on one of the flights, and will be phased out in due course.

Ashwani Gupta, managing partner, Dove Travels Amritsar, said: “The daily service to New Delhi will play a significant role in increasing the traffic between the two countries. Indian travellers are keen to explore cities like Tokyo, Kyoto and Osaka, while Japanese travellers will have more flight options to explore Buddhist circuits in India.”

Reporting by Divya Kaul

THE CIVIL Aviation Authority of the Philippines (CAAP) has progressed in its efforts to persuade the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to upgrade the nation’s aviation safety rating.

Following last month’s technical review by FAA officials in Manila, CAAP director Mon Gutierrez said the eighty-eight ‘significant findings’ discovered during the FAA pre-audit in January had since been cut down to two.

CAAP is currently acting on FAA requests to develop a new technical training programme based on recognised international aviation standards. It will also facilitate a revalidation process of Philippine carriers flying international routes. It will apply for a new FAA audit once these requirements are met.

The Philippine government is intent on regaining Category 1 status with the FAA, which downgraded the country’s aviation industry to Category 2 in December 2007.

Meanwhile, Gutierrez said CAAP was working to address the “significant safety concerns” that the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) raised during their last visit, such as “the lack of (qualified) technical personnel,” noting that the concerns echoed those of the European Union when it imposed a blanket ban on Philippine carriers in April 2010.

ICAO officers are scheduled to visit Manila for an airline compliance inspection in July-August.

Aileen Clemente, president, Philippine Travel Agencies Association, said: “CAAP is fast-tracking the (reinstatement) process with support from the government. We will be over the hump very soon – they know what needs to be done.”

RAFFLES Hotels & Resorts is close to sealing a deal with a Sri Lankan conglomerate, Cargills (Ceylon), to open a Raffles hotel in Colombo.

The arrangement will see Raffles managing its inaugural hotel in Sri Lanka, housed within a Cargills-owned colonial building dating back to 1844.

The deal will also mark Cargills’ first foray into hospitality business. The company’s other interests span the food retail and manufacturing industries – it owns Sri Lanka’s largest supermarket chain, Cargills Food City, and the local KFC franchise, among other subsidiaries.

Hiran Cooray, chairman of Jetwing Hotels, said the entry of more international hotel brands like Raffles was a boon for Sri Lanka’s hospitality industry.

“They will raise the standard of service and excellence, which will ensure that local brands have to follow suit or fall by the wayside,” he explained.

Raffles Hotels & resorts had earlier been in discussions with the Bank of Ceylon to rebrand and manage its 80-room Grand Oriental Hotel in Colombo, built in 1837 and believed to be the oldest hotel in Asia, as a Raffles.

HILTON Worldwide has opened its first-ever DoubleTree by Hilton in Japan in Naha, Okinawa.

Located directly opposite the Okinawa Monorail station in Asahibashi, the 12-storey DoubleTree by Hilton, Naha offers 227 rooms, a 40m2 meeting venue, a salon, and a laundry.

F&B options include The Riverside Restaurant & Café, the hotel’s all-day dining outlet serving international cuisine.

Including the DoubleTree by Hilton, Naha, Hilton Worldwide currently operates 10 properties in Japan.

LUXURY Travel Vietnam will launch a new office in Danang on June 1, in anticipation of an influx of visitors to the coastal city.

Pham Ha, CEO of Luxury Travel, said: “Danang is going to boom. Our business (in Danang) has increased by 30 per cent, and much of that has to do with the new airport (terminal) and air links to the central coast of Vietnam.”

“We have just won several new big accounts, and will open our new Danang office to meet the increased demand.”

Pham added that relatively few travel companies in Vietnam had their own offices in Danang, as most were sub-contracted to local tour operators.

Danang is seeing a growing array of tourism infrastructure and attractions, such as the Montgomerie Links golf course, international-chain hotels and luxurious resorts. The new terminal at Danang International Airport, with a capacity of four million passengers per year, opened last December.

Luxury Travel’s new Danang office will be located at 38 Hai Phong Street, near the Han River Bridge.

THE RAFT of cancellations by Chinese tour groups and charters has freed up large swathes of room inventory and may even result in reduced rates in Boracay, as the Philippines tourism industry continues to count the costs of Manila’s standoff with Beijing.

Several properties in Boracay have even reported cancelled roomnights up to a year in advance.

Dada Estonactoc, director of sales & marketing at the recently opened Nandana Boracay, had orginally made “healthy forecasts” for the resort’s Chinese tour and FIT markets up till March 2013.

Now, Estonactoc has turned to Taiwan and South Korea to plug the shortfall in Chinese bookings. “Europe, Australia, and the US can be added to these alternative markets, (although) they are still seasonal”, she added.

“There hasn’t been a lean season in Boracay in one year,” said Hannah Yulo, director of the 150-room Paradise Garden Resort Hotel & Convention Center in Boracay. “We’re (now) focusing on the domestic market, and are diverting our (overseas) efforts to South Korea and Japan.”

“But it’s not easy…it takes time to develop these (alternative) markets,” she added.

Meanwhile, Yulo predicted that many Boracay resorts would be slashing prices when they exhibit at the upcoming Philippine Travel Mart from August 10-12.

RAHSIA Estates, a property developer based in Kuala Lumpur, has appointed Ri-Yaz Hotels & Resorts to manage its new five-star hospitality project in Langkawi.

Currently being constructed at a cost of RM380 million (US$127 million), Rahsia Estates Resort Residences & Spa will comprise 268 hotel rooms and residential suites when it opens in mid-2015.

Rahsia Estates CEO, Hanizah Abdul Hamid, said: “This will be Langkawi’s first gated mixed hospitality and resort residential development.”

According to Hanizah, the 6.9-hectare estate will be divided into three precincts. Precinct 1 will have 121 apartment units ranging from 73m2 – 167m2, Precinct 2 will feature a 116-room hotel and spa, while Precinct 3 will offer 31 cabana villas with private pools and landscaped gardens.

Ri-Yaz Hotels & Resorts managing director, Shaheen Shah, said: “Our expected average room rate (for the Langkawi property) is RM1,200 a night, and we are targeting 65 per cent occupancy.”

Asian Overland Services Tours & Travel assistant account manager, Ronnie Chan, said: “This property will compete with the Four Seasons (Resort Langkawi) in price, which is hard to sell. It will be a bigger challenge to sell 268 units at that price. Our clients from Europe, Australia and Asia are more comfortable with rooms in five-star hotels costing about RM500-600 a night.”

Ri-Yaz currently operates two other hotels in Malaysia – the Cyberview Resort & Spa in Cyberjaya, and the Ri-Yaz Heritage Marina Resort & Spa in Duyong Island, Terengganu.

By N. Nithiyananthan

IATA has urged China to continue the development of its aviation industry by ensuring sufficient capacity based on global standards and best practices.

Speaking at the China Civil Aviation Development Forum 2012 in Beijing, IATA director general and CEO, Tony Tyler, said that air transport played a significant role in China’s ongoing economic development.

“China is looking to increase its share of world trade from 10.4 per cent to 15 per cent. Aviation connectivity will be critical to making that happen,” he said. “Already, (China) is prioritising investments in airport and air navigation infrastructure.

“The challenge is to keep pace with rapidly growing demand, based on global standards which underpin safe and efficient global connectivity.”

In order to maximise growth potential, Tyler highlighted the need for China to expand its air navigation infrastructure to keep pace with burgeoning demand.

“IATA has worked successfully with China to open new entry points and create more flexibility in cooperation with the military. However, the challenge is growing daily as travel demand increase,” he said.

The more flexibility we have in how we share airspace between military, domestic and international flights, the better we will be able to manage growth and meet passenger expectations.”

Tyler added that planning for hub capacity at Beijing Capital International Airport, already the world’s second busiest airport in terms of passenger numbers handled, should also be a top priority.