A NEW website start-up, medisherpa.com, targets US medical tourists with a database of pre-screened medical institutions and clinicians i in Asia.

Currently running on a beta version, the website is scheduled to officially launch on March 31.

Michael Ruggles, co-founder of Singapore-based medisherpa.com said: “There is no denying that the medical tourism market in Asia is seeing unprecedented market growth. We are building a platform to facilitate this influx of medical travellers and there is no better place to do that from than the citystate of Singapore that serves as the gatekeeper to a region synonymous with world-class healthcare, all at low treatment costs.”

Targeted chiefly at North Americans, the website currently features over 300,000 medical institutions and professionals from Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, India and Australia.

Ruggles hopes to seal similar arrangements with leading healthcare providers in South America, Europe, the Middle East and Africa by the end of the year.

The company is also working with partners to develop packages for medical tourists. Plans are also in the works to build the site’s Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) category to expand its appeal to the Singaporean, Hong Kong and Mainland Chinese markets, and to link the site to hotel and airline booking engines.

Medisherpa.com will be free to users, with revenue deriving mainly from display advertisements on the website, and a tiered membership scheme for healthcare professionals who want to be listed on the site.

To date, the website has received approximately 20,000 unique visitors a month, a figure expected to increase five-fold in the coming months as the start-up firm’s online marketing campaigns unroll.

KATA Group Resorts Thailand has launched a new hotel brand, Beyond Resorts, which sees the mid-market value accommodation group venture into the luxury end.

Group president, Pamuke Achariyachai, said: “In order to allow the Kata legend to grow and attract a broader scope of international vacationers, the company will expand its hospitality offerings into the luxurious four-star plus market.”

“Our corporate strategy has been to grow Kata Group’s current four properties to include two high-specification resorts with more to be added in the future.”

Two new Beyond Resorts will open in Khao Lak and Krabi on March 23, strengthening Kata’s presence in the Andaman region.

Beyond Resort Khao Lak is a couples-only hotel offering 153 villas with easy beach access, while Beyond Resort Krabi caters for couples and families with 171 rooms in six configurations.

Beyond Resort Khao Lak has witnessed strong demand since soft opening, with major travel agents Thomas Cook and Go Vacations making 100 room bookings for six months.

Looking ahead, Pamuke plans to re-brand the Karaon Beach Resort & Spa in Phuket under the Beyond label. Confident that there will be sufficient demand, he also intends to increase capacity at Beyond Resort Khao Lak with 50 more villas.

Reporting by Timothy France

JAPAN’S Agora Hospitalities has signed a cross marketing agreement with Hong Kong-based Kosmopolito Hotels International (KHI). Combined, they offer a portfolio of 29 hotels – 23 KHI properties and six Agora hotels.

Both companies can cross-sell each other’s hotels, use the services of supporting functions and share operational resources.

President and CEO of Agora Hospitalities, Aya Aso, said the alliance could help reduce costs now that the total number of rooms exceeds 7,000.

KHI’s current portfolio includes 12 hotels in Hong Kong, five in Malaysia, four in China, one in Singapore and one in London, while Agora manages six hotels in Japan.

MYANMAR’S Ministry of Energy’s announcement that it would stop subsidising aviation fuel from March 1, instead selling it at market rate, will result in an increase in domestic airfares by about 20 per cent from March 8.

Travel consultants caution against such sudden changes, saying they could harm the country’s tourism industry, as they would have to renegotiate prices with customers and overseas partners.

Eainsie Phyu from New Age Travellers said: “Myanmar tourism won’t thrive in this region if these kinds of things happen regularly. We should remember that we are not alone. Travellers have many destinations to choose from.”

Customers who have already been issued tickets for travel from March 8 will be required to pay the fuel surcharge on check-in for most airlines.

But Myat Thu, an assistant general manager from Air KBZ, said his company would impose the surcharge only on those who bought their tickets from March 3 [for travel from March 8] and not before.

The surcharge will depend on the destination, with the largest increase being on routes from Yangon to Myitkyina, Putao, Bhamo, Lashio, Kalay and Kawthoung. Increases range from US$10 to $25 for foreign visitors.

A PUSH by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) for buyers to look beyond the oft-trodden Delhi-Agra-Jaipur circuit is seeing willing takers, thanks to better connectivity through the Kolkata gateway.

Buyers at CII’s Destination East showcase in Kolkata give a nod to the push.

Patrick Lee, regional director of Singapore-based Best Travels Deals, said: “There are several exciting options that the outbound market in ASEAN does not know of. The connectivity is very good in Kolkata and I am sending groups and FIT to beaches in Odisha and the mountains in Darjeeling. Most people do not know that a part of the Himalayas is so near,” he said.

Alan Moxon, managing director of Carte Blanche Travel UK, said: “This is my second visit to eastern India and we are already selling FIT packages for tea tourism in Darjeeling combined with a heritage tour in Kolkata. I hope to bring small groups this year.”

The third edition of Destination East brought 53 buyers from 15 countries to Kolkata to meet suppliers and join a three-day familiarisation trip to Darjeeling, Sikkim, Odisha and the gateway metropolis Kolkata.

A STRONG delegation of 30 to 40 delegates from the Maldivian government and private sector are making a big pitch to buyers at ITB this week that all is well in paradise.

Discussions are also underway to revive the old and familiar “Sunny Side of Life” slogan, a move welcomed by Association of Travel Agents and Tour Operators. The slogan was said to work better and re-branding would require a lot of funding.

The 11-year-old “Sunny Side of Life” was replaced last October with a new slogan called “Maldives – Always Natural”.

Sim Mohamed Ibrahim, secretary-general of the Maldives Association of Tourism Industry, said: “This (ITB) is a good opportunity to meet clients from our main source markets and allay fears that tourists need not worry coming to the Maldives.”

There have been cancellations of bookings since political unrest erupted in Male, the capital of the Maldives, after former President Mohamed Nasheed stepped down on February 7.

SINGAPORE-based travel metasearch engine Wego.com has officially launched Wego Indonesia, one of 35 international sites to be introduced as part of its global expansion.

Available in Bahasa Indonesia and English, the site, www.wego.co.id, has been in beta testing mode since last December.

Wego co-founder and CEO, Ross Veitch, said: “There was strong growth from the Indonesian market over the last 18 months, hence our early decision to invest heavily in localising our services for Indonesians.”

Recent Indonesian market trends observed by Wego include domestic flight clicks growing by over 400 per cent year-on-year, with users frequently referred to Lion Air, Batavia Air, Garuda Indonesia, Sriwijaya Air and AirAsia Indonesia flights.

International flight clicks increased by 180 per cent year-on-year, with Tiger Airways, AirAsia Indonesia, Malaysia Airlines, Lion Air, Garuda Indonesia, ValuAir and Jetstar seeing the most volume. Singapore was the primary international destination for Tiger Airways flights.

Popular destinations within Indonesia, including Padang, Balikpapan, Banjarmasin, Malang, Kupang, Bengkulu, Jayapura, Kendari and Palu, witnessed seven- and up to eight-fold increases in interest, while Bali tripled in search volume year-on-year.

“This tends to suggest that the domestic market is beginning to mature as travellers seek out new destinations beyond Bali,” said Graham Hills, Wego general manager Indonesia.