SCOOT has unveiled Australia’s Gold Coast as its second port of call, having already chosen Sydney as its first stop (TTG Asia e-Daily, December 1, 2011).

“(The route to Sydney will provide) direct access to one of the world’s premier air hubs for Queensland and north New South Wales, and to one of the world’s best holiday destinations for Singaporeans,” the airline’s chief executive Campbell Wilson was quoted by Agence France-Presse as saying.

The medium- and longhaul low-cost carrier will begin flying out of Changi International Airport from middle of this year, starting with a single Boeing 777-200 aircraft, before expanding to four B777-200s within three months and 14 by mid-2016.

Scoot also intends to fly to China, with longer term plans to fly to India, Europe, Africa and the Middle East.

THE POLITICAL crisis unfolding in the Maldives has not impacted the local tourism industry thus far, according to tourism stakeholders whom TTG Asia e-Daily spoke to.

The country’s president Mohamed Nasheed stepped down yesterday in the face of what his supporters termed a coup d’état by opposition elements. Vice President Mohamed Waheed Hassan Manik, sworn in as his replacement shortly after, has since pledged that tourists would not be at risk from the political disruption.

The Maldives Association of Travel Agents & Tour Operators said in a statement: “The geographical isolation of resorts and inhabited islands leaves tourists away from daily activities of local population centers. We would like to assure that the holidays of tourists in Maldives would not be affected in the current scenario.”

Kai Jellinghaus, destination manager for Germany-based REWE Destination Service AG, said all flights into the Maldives were operating as per normal, and that he had not received any cancellations for bookings.

“The situation (in the capital Male) is stabilising,” he said, adding that the UK has issued a travel advisory, while Germany has asked its nationals to be cautious when visiting Male.

Michelle Flake, contracting & marketing manager of Scaevola Travel, an inbound operator, revealed she had fielded a few calls from clients concerned about the situation, but that “they (had) not cancelled as I explained that this won’t affect the resorts”.

The political crisis is an unwelcome disruption for the Maldives, which was hoping to welcome its inaugural millionth international arrival in a single calendar year this September.

According to Simon Hawkins, managing director of the state-owned Maldives Marketing & PR Corporation, arrivals to the Maldives are expected to grow by 18-20 per cent this year over the 931,333 received in 2011.

China was the top source market in 2011 with 198,655 visitors, a 67-per cent jump over the year before, while Europe – despite a fall in arrivals from the UK and Italy last year – was now showing hints of a recovery.

European markets accounted for 57.7 per cent of inbound traffic in 2011, down from 63.8 per cent the year before. Last year, there were 104,508 visitors from the UK (8.5 per cent drop from 2010), 90,517 from Germany (+ 17.4 per cent), 83,088 from Italy (- 7.3 per cent) and 63,936 from Russia (+ 30.2 per cent). The average length of stay was 7.0 days, down from 7.4 days in 2010.

BHUTAN flag carrier Druk Air intends to launch twice-weekly services between Paro and Mumbai on September 1, coinciding with the scheduled introduction of flights to Singapore around the same period (TTG Asia e-Daily, February 6, 2012).

Speaking to TTG Asia e-Daily during the recently-concluded PATA Adventure Travel & Responsible Tourism Conference and Mart 2012 in Paro, Sonam Wangchuk, manager, marketing & planning, Druk Air, said: “Mumbai was selected as it is a key hub for domestic and international air traffic in India. With the new flights, Druk Air will be able to tap demand from the central and southern parts of India.”

Wangchuk warned, however, that the Mumbai flights might not take off as scheduled if the airline is unable to obtain a third A319 aircraft, similar to the situation with the launch of Singapore services—already postponed twice before.

“Druk Air has ordered another A319 from Airbus, but the plane will not be delivered until 2015,” he explained. “Consequently, the airline is looking to lease a plane so that we can offer these (Mumbai) flights as planned.”

Draft plans have been drawn up to configure the aircraft with seating for 12 business-class and 120 economy-class passengers, Wangchuk added.

BHUTAN’s MICE industry will get a much-needed hardware boost in the near future, if plans for a new conference centre in the capital Thimpu come to fruition.

A site for the yet-unnamed conference centre has already been designated in the centre of Thimpu, but no schedule for its construction have been set so far. The facility will be able to house between 800-1,000 delegates, said Kesang Wangdi, director general, Tourism Council of Bhutan.

“It was necessary for us to plan for such a facility as a lot of MICE activity congregates in Thimpu, which is Bhutan’s main seat of government and its offices,” he said.

According to government proposals, the low-rise, eco-friendly facility will be designed and operated based on the national policy of Gross National Happiness, to ensure that local communities benefit from its presence.

Wangdi said the TCB was also looking at the feasibility of developing several smaller MICE venues in other areas of Bhutan, particularly in the central and eastern regions where new domestic airports (Yonphula and Bumthang) have been built.

According to Wangdi, around a quarter of Bhutan’s 37,482 arrivals in 2011 were for MICE.

AIRASIA Philippines yesterday received its air operator certificate from the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines, and is planning to launch three domestic and three international routes from its hub at Clark International Airport.

The carrier is scheduled to start domestic flights to Davao (March 15), Kalibo and Puerto Princesa next month, with Singapore, Hong Kong and Macau heading the list of intended international destinations.

AirAsia Philippines expects to obtain commercial flying permits for its first set of international routes by end-March, and will add Bangkok and Incheon when it obtains a second leased Airbus A320 towards the end of the year.

The country’s Civil Aeronautics Board has also granted the airline 1,260 seats for a Clark-Kuala Lumpur route, seven flights a week for Clark-Cambodia, six flights per week to Japan—which can be used for either Osaka or Nagoya, as well as air rights to China, Taiwan and South Korea.

AirAsia Philippines CEO Marianne Hontiveros said the carrier would bulk up with at least 16 leased A320 aircraft by 2015-2016.

“Our initial target was 857,000 passengers (handled per year), premised on full-year operations in 2012,” she added, but that target has since been revised downwards.

AUSTRALIA’s Tourism Northern Territory has appointed Pacific Leisure Marketing as its marketing representative in Singapore. Adventure travel and MICE have been earmarked as key focus areas for development.

Pacific Leisure Marketing’s managing director, Charles Leong, told TTG Asia e-Daily that his first task was to raise awareness of the Northern Territory (NT), which he admitted was “less well-known compared to other Australian states”.

Major destinations in NT include Darwin, Alice Springs, Katherine, Nhulunbuy, Tennant Creek and other areas in the centre and central northern regions of the country.

According to Leong, NT’s nature as “an outdoor, adventure type of destination” endears it to “young travellers and incentive groups who want fresh ideas and unique venues”, but makes it difficult to sell to the average Singaporean consumer, for whom adventure travel is still a niche segment.

“Most Singaporeans prefer shopping and dining during their holidays,” he explained. “However, younger travellers are seeking different experiences, and families are now affluent enough to send their children on holidays.”

Apart from reaching out to these younger travellers as well as MICE buyers, Pacific Leisure Marketing is also planning to organise training and fam trips for travel consultants, develop tactical advertising in tandem with travel agencies, and engage in joint marketing efforts with trade players.

“We have been talking to Jetstar and SilkAir about collaborating on media and trade fam tours, which we hope will take place in March when SilkAir inaugurates its Singapore-Darwin services (TTG Asia e-Daily, December 13, 2011),” said Leong.

Felicia Teng, general manager of Singapore-based The Meeting Lab, said the addition of SilkAir’s new route to Darwin would help persuade more corporate groups to consider the destination, as “not all corporate travellers are willing to fly low-cost”.

On another note, Jetstar is scheduled to boost its current Singapore-Darwin daily services to 10-weekly starting March 25.

THIS YEAR’s ITB Asia will take place at The Sands Expo and Convention Centre, Marina Bay Sands, Singapore, from October 17-19.

Suntec Singapore, which has hosted ITB Asia for the past four years, is currently undergoing major refurbishment (TTG Asia e-Daily, November 1, 2011). The show plans to return to the newly renovated venue in 2013.

Exhibition floor space at ITB Asia 2012 is expected to increase by about 15 per cent compared to last year’s event, which saw over 7,500 trade visitors in attendance, representing more than 90 countries.

The 2011 show also had the largest conference line-up ever, including the inaugural TTG Travel Agent Conference.