THE GOVERNMENT of Gifu prefecture in Japan has unveiled two new expressway toll passes targeted at foreign self-drive tourists.

Introduced in partnership with the Toyota Rent-A-Lease Aichi and Central Nippon Expressway companies, the Hayatabi Central Nippon Expressway Pass 2012 G-Pass A and G-Pass S allow travellers to drive along specific toll expressways in Gifu prefecture at discounted rates.

Drivers are provided with an electronic toll collection pass, which facilitates automatic toll payment on expressways, as part of car rental services offered by Toyota.

G-Pass A, which includes routes through the Japan Alps, is priced at ¥7,000 (US$87) excluding car rental, while G-Pass S, which covers expressways along the coast of the Japan Sea, costs ¥9,000. Both routes start from Chubu International Airport, and pass through the city of Nagoya as well as major tourist sites such as Hikone and Takayama.

Speaking to TTG Asia e-Daily at the Visit Japan Travel Trade Meet in Singapore, Gifu Prefecture Tourism Federation director, Toshiyasu Kataoka, said: “This is the first time that Gifu has developed a toll pass especially for international arrivals. This was introduced as we wish to capitalise on the growing demand for self-drive holidays among international tourists. Hokkaido introduced a similar scheme last year, and to bolster tourism, we decided to do the same.”

Kataoka added that normally, tourists bypass Gifu when travelling between Tokyo and Osaka, and the federation was hoping for the new initiative to help divert some tourist traffic to the prefecture.

Both passes are valid for seven consecutive days after purchase, and will only be issued on condition that a vehicle is rented from the Toyota booth located at Chubu International Airport, which is the main international gateway for the central region of Japan.

The self-drive promotion runs from March 21 till June 30, with applications to be submitted latest by June 24.

BANYAN Tree Hotels & Resorts is scheduled to open its inaugural resort in India, Banyan Tree Kerala on December 1, 2012.

Located in Nedithuruthu, midway between Kochi and Alleppey in the southern state of Kerala, the resort will offer 59 villas and one houseboat for a maximum of four guests. All villas will feature two private pools – one lap pool and one regular – in addition to a common outdoor swimming pool.

The resort will also feature four meeting rooms, two F&B outlets, a kids’ club, a gym, and a spa with six treatment rooms.

Manas Sinha, assistant director Key Accounts, Banyan Tree Hotels & Resorts said: “Our focus (for Banyan Tree Kerala) will be on the domestic luxury market. We are adopting a different business plan from what we practice elsewhere.”

Manoj Saraf, managing director, Gainwell Travel & Leisure Kolkata said: “Banyan Tree opening in India is very welcome, as we now have an option to send our high-end clients to a resort within the country. This will be handy for last minute decision-making by clients, and we will not have to bother about visas as in the case of overseas destinations.”

Meanwhile, in order to boost brand recognition in the domestic market, Banyan Tree has organised a series of one-on-one meetings between high-end local tour operators and marketing representatives from its resorts in Asia, starting with one such meet in Kolkata on March 20.

A plot of land in Goa has also just been acquired for the group’s second India property, which will be a 50- to 65-key resort, scheduled to open in fourth quarter 2014.

Banyan Tree will open four resorts worldwide this year, including two in China and one in Vietnam, while 2013 will see the launch of one Angsana in Vietnam and one Banyan Tree each in China and the Philippines.

SINGAPOREANS are still keen on travelling to Japan, even though fewer are actually making their way there due to fears over radiation fallout.

Speaking to TTG Asia e-Daily at the Visit Japan Travel Trade Meet in Singapore, Japan National Tourism Organization’s (JNTO) executive director-Singapore office, Motonari Adachi revealed that 3,154 bookings to Japan were confirmed at the recently concluded NATAS fair, compared to 3,931 the year before.

According to Adachi, Hokkaido was the most popular Japanese destination at the fair, while enquiries for other areas, including Kyushu, Okinawa and Gifu, increased significantly compared to last year.

“The Singapore market is showing signs of revival, although not as fast as we would like it to be,” he said. “But we believe that there is a lot of pent-up demand. JNTO forecasts that visitor volume from Singapore will return to pre-disaster levels by the middle of this year.”

In 2011, Singapore arrivals to Japan dropped by 38.5 per cent year-on-year, the biggest decline among all key source markets, according to figures from JNTO.

Singapore outbound travel experts and Japanese tourism organisations whom TTG Asia e-Daily spoke to attributed the drop to the trimming of itineraries offered outside the main tourist destinations of Hokkaido, Tokyo and Osaka following last year’s disaster.

“Travel firms still prefer to focus on selling Hokkaido, Tokyo, and destinations as far away as possible from the Fukashima incident site, as Singaporeans are still afraid to travel to Japan,” said Hamid Samad, assistant director–Business Development, Fascinating Holidays Singapore.

“Fear about radiation contamination is still rife, and some customers have even asked if another earthquake is likely to occur,” he added.

“Singaporeans are an overtly cautious lot,” said Sam How, general manager, Asia-Euro Holidays Singapore. “Japan, for the time being, will probably only draw so called ‘hardcore Japan lovers’ – Singaporeans who have been to Japan before and adore it and all it has to offer.”

As of January this year, preliminary data from JNTO showed that Singapore visitor numbers to Japan were down by only 0.4 per cent year-on-year. JNTO has set a target of 200,000 arrivals from Singapore by end-2012, just below the 180,000 achieved in 2010.

THE PHILIPPINES Department of Tourism (DoT) is targeting a 15-per cent growth in Singapore arrivals this year, as it continues to roll out its newest marketing campaign, It’s more fun in the Philippines, across the region.

Singapore is already the largest South-east Asian source market for the Philippines, contributing 121,083 visitors last year, a 13.8 per cent jump over 2010, according to figures from DoT.

Speaking to TTG Asia e-Daily during the Singapore leg of the annual Philippine Tourism Roadshow, Marie Corazoon Jorda-Apo, director and group head, North America and Asia-Pacific, DoT, said the NTO’s marketing plan for the year would involve advertising through a combination of traditional and online media channels.

“We are going to unveil outdoor billboards this year, and are working out joint promotions with local travel (experts),” she said. “Due to our past success with online tools like Facebook and Twitter, this will continue to be used as part of our marketing efforts.”

According to Jorda-Apo, DoT will attempt to market lesser-known destinations such as Palawan this year. Boracay, Cebu and Bohol are currently the most popular destinations outside of Manila for Singaporeans visiting the Philippines, she added.

“We want to encourage Singapore-based travel experts to market Palawan, a beach resort which is undergoing significant development with the help of major foreign investors,” she said. “Our focus will be on Puerto Princesa, which the Philippine government intends to turn into an international gateway.”

A spokesperson for Pinnacle Travel Service Singapore said: “The Philippine’s beaches have always been (leisure) bestsellers for us. Palawan should do well too, especially since most Singaporeans are becoming more curious about what the Philippines has to offer.”

EXHIBITION and Trade Fairs (ETF), an exhibition organiser based in Australia, has been forced to postpone the 2012 edition of their special events tradeshow, Melbourne’s Event Showcase.

Originally called RSVP Melbourne, the owners and organisers of the tradeshow cited residual effects of the global financial crisis, the consolidation of event suppliers, and reduced marketing budgets as having a dampening effect on the strength of the show.

Even after implementing brand, venue and dates changes during last year’s show—based on feedback from industry representatives and visitors following the 2010 edition, “the overall show format still doesn’t appear to be fully resonating with the industry,” said Jodie Richmond, general manager & CEO, ETF.

“Therefore, we have taken the decision to postpone the show for this year and focus our energies on better understanding the challenges and specific needs of Melbourne’s event industry,” she added.

Consultations with industry members are due to take place later this year to pave the direction for 2013 and beyond, while ETF will now focus on managing Sydney’s Event Showcase and the co-located Australian Business Events Expo in 2012, the company said in a statement.

AIR connectivity between Malaysia and the Philippines is set to increase from next month, following a meeting between Malaysia’s tourism minister Ng Yen Yen and senior officials from five airlines in Manila last week.

“The airline representatives have agreed to increase the frequency of flights (from the Philippines) to Kuala Lumpur and Kota Kinabalu from March,” said Ng, who was on an official visit to launch the Luxury Malaysia brand as well as discuss bilateral collaboration in tourism.

“From March 25, Malaysia Airlines will increase its flights to three times a day; Southeast Asian Airlines will fly three times a week (from Clark International Airport, starting May 1) to Kota Kinabalu; Zest Air will likely start flights (to Kuala Lumpur) from mid-year; and AirAsia is looking at increasing flights.”

Malaysia is targeting 400,000 visitors from the Philippines this year, compared to 362,000 last year.

Ng added: “With the strengthening of collaboration between the travel trade, Malaysia has the opportunity to leverage on connectivity and tourism strengths of the Philippines in the US market. Likewise, the Philippines can also leverage on the connectivity and tourism strengths of Malaysia in the European, Middle Eastern and Indian markets.”

Reporting by N. Nithiyananthan

INDONESIA’s Pacific Royale Airways is set to launch next month as a full-service carrier operating on domestic as well as international routes, a segment that is currently dominated by national airline Garuda Indonesia.

Pacific Royale Airways CEO Samudra Sukardi said: “Our mission at Pacific Royale Airways is to enter Indonesia’s market to address the public concerns in flight safety, punctuality and good services.”

Due to receive its Air Operator’s Certificate in mid-March, the airline has so far been granted approval to launch routes from four Indonesian hubs including Bandung, Surabaya and Jakarta, and to operate 62 domestic and 11 international city pairs. International destinations such as Mumbai, Singapore, Hong Kong and Kuala Lumpur are on the cards.

Domestic operations will start with two Airbus A320-200 aircraft, while two Fokker 50 planes will be deployed to serve feeder destinations within the country. Three additional Fokker 50s and two more A320s will arrive in May, with an Airbus A330 aircraft scheduled to arrive by year-end.

Meanwhile, Pacific Royale Airways has partnered with Abacus International to allow travel consultants within the Abacus network to access its published fares and inventory.

“As we plan to operate domestic flights and potential international flights to Asia, we hope to leverage on Abacus’ network to drive sales and yield,” explained Samudra.

THE ONGOING tussle between Universal Entertainment Corporation chairman Kazuo Okada and Wynn Resorts co-founder, chairman & CEO Steve Wynn has cast a cloud of uncertainty over Okada Resorts Manila Bay, one of four integrated resort projects to be located within the upcoming Entertainment City development in Manila Bay.

Okada, vice chairman and largest shareholder of Wynn Resorts, has been accused by Wynn of doling out US$110,000 worth of bribes to Cristino Naguiat Jr., chairman of the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation, as well as Efraim Genuino, his immediate predecessor, in the form of a 2008 Macau trip including luxury accommodation and gifts.

The accusation follows a suit Okada filed against Wynn earlier this year, for denying him access to the company’s financial records to investigate an alleged US$135-million donation by Wynn to the University of Macau leading up to 2022, the same year Wynn Resorts Macau’s gaming concession is due to expire.

The situation came to a head over the weekend when Okada was ousted from the Wynn Resorts board, and his 19.7-per cent share was forcibly bought back at 30 per cent below market value.

Various media reports have speculated that the tit-for-tat maneuvers are a result of Wynn becoming increasingly concerned over Okada’s plans to open the resort in Manila Bay, which would represent a challenge to Wynn Resorts Macau’s share of the regional gaming market.

The US$2.3-billion Okada Resort Manila Bay, to be managed by Universal’s Philippine unit, Tiger Resorts Leisure and Entertainment, will offer 28,000m2 of gaming space and 2,050 keys across three hotels when it opens in Q1 2014. Planned attractions include an oceanarium, a sports arena, and a ‘Manila Eye’ ferris wheel.

The other licensees in Entertainment City include Belle Corp, which is targeting the completion of Belle Grande Manila Bay’s six hotels totalling 1,000 keys and 19,626m2 of gaming space by end-2013; Bloomsbury Resorts, which will run the 500-room Solaire Hotel; and Travellers International, which will operate the 2,800-key Resorts World Bayshore.