NAY Pyi Taw International Airport opened for commercial operations on December 19, becoming the country’s third international airport after Yangon and Mandalay.

According to Myanmar’s transport ministry, the airport located in Yangon has a 3.6km runway and 10 passenger aerobridges, and can handle 50,000-65,000 flights, two million domestic visitors and tree million foreign visitors a year.

Meanwhile, Yangon international airport, which can handle 2.7 million passengers a year, is being expanded to handle 3.7 million by end 2012 or early 2013.

Myanmar’s other international airport in Mandalay has a 4.2km runway and can handle up to three million passengers a year, but at the moment only attracts regular flights from Kunming, China.

A large increase in passenger numbers at Yangon International Airport has also prompted the government to consider reviving the mothballed Hantharwaddy airport project near Bago town, which has been on hold for many years.

THERE were an estimated 7.6 million overseas visitors to Indonesia in 2011, according to Indonesia Minister of Tourism and Creative Economy Mari Elka Pangestu.

Speaking during a year-end press conference, Pangestu said that with 7.6 million arrivals, Indonesia would have achieved an increase of 8.5 per cent over 2010. Tourism contributed US$8.5 billion in 2011, the fifth largest revenue earner for the country, she added.

Data from Statistics Indonesia revealed that there were 6.93 million confirmed arrivals to the country between January and November 2011, up 8.9 per cent over the same period the year before.

This means that 670,000 arrivals were needed in December to reach the 7.6 million figure, which Deputy Minister of Tourism and Creative Economy Sapta Nirwandar was positive of achieving.

“While it is not as high as the summer season, December is a high season, therefore, arrivals are usually higher than November (which yielded 654,900 visitors),” he explained.

Indonesia is targeting eight million arrivals in 2012 and will focus its marketing efforts on Asia-Pacific source markets (TTG Asia e-Daily, December 6).

“We may not expect arrivals from Europe to be up with the economic crisis there, but we do not expect the market to dip either, as the economy in Germany, the UK and The Netherlands are still okay, while arrivals from severely affected Greece and Spain are relatively small to Indonesia,” said Nirwandar.

HONG Kong-based travel management firm Westminster Travel will launch this month a new retail brand, S Travel, which will specialise in FIT packages.

According to Westminster Travel managing director Larry Lo, four retail outlets established under the Westminster brand focusing on FIT travel products will soon be rebranded under the S Travel banner.

“So far, there are only few players specialised in FIT. Travel Expert is the only leader. So this could be an opportunity for us given our reputation and resources,” he said.

“Apart from Central, Shatin, Tsuen Wan, Causeway Bay, we plan to expand ten more shops in prime areas in 2012-2013.”

The move will follow the company’s business diversification plan after the acquisition of Westminster from Sime Darby Hong Kong in late 2007, and will draw a line between its retail and wholesale/corporate businesses.

“Because Westminster does more corporate and wholesale, we realised this retail business upset the corporate travel business image,” Lo explained.

Westminster Travel has employed a marketing company to help build brand awareness for S Travel and a new website will also be launched soon.

INTERCONTINENTAL Hotels Group (IHG) has signed an agreement with Vietnamese conglomerate the BIM Group for two new-build Crowne Plaza properties in Vientiane and Phu Quoc, both scheduled to open in 2015.

As the first IHG-managed property in Laos, Crowne Plaza Vientiane will mark the hotel group’s strategic presence in all capital cities in Indochina – in addition to Hanoi, Vietnam and Phnom Penh, Cambodia.

The 200-room Crowne Plaza Vientiane will be positioned on a two-hectare prime area within the city centre.

Jan Smits, CEO, IHG Asia, Middle East and Africa, said: “The debut of the first Crowne Plaza hotel in Vientiane will further invigorate tourism in this part of the world.”

Meanwhile, Crowne Plaza Phu Quoc Resort will be the brand’s fourth property in Vietnam.

Located on the southwest coast of Phu Quoc Island, the property will be part of a 155-hectare integrated resort development in Duong Dong district along Long Beach. Housing 400 rooms, including 95 residences and five villas, the hotel will occupy 10 hectares on the site and will feature an exclusive beachfront.

KLM Royal Dutch Airlines is set to transform its non-stop Amsterdam-Manila services into a one-stop service via Taiwan or Hong Kong in April. The move would result in a reduction in the number of seats available from Europe and Amsterdam to Manila, since capacity will be shared by both stops.

Currently the only European carrier still operating direct flights to Manila, the restructure is part of KLM’s efforts to counter the impact of the Common Carrier Tax (three per cent) and Gross Philippine Billings tax (2.5 per cent) being levied by Philippine authorities.

Philippine-based airlines operating both domestic and international services are exempted from paying the taxes.

KLM’s general manager South China Sea, Cees Ursem, said: “These taxes are a heavy burden for all foreign carriers, but especially for European carriers. That’s why all the European carriers have left the Philippines in the last decade.”

“We still think that the Philippines is a market with a lot of potential, but it has its limitation when it is getting too expensive for foreign carriers,” he added.

European carriers that have exited the Philippines in recent years include Aeroflot, British Airways, Alitalia, Swissair, Air France and Lufthansa.

ANGSANA Hotels & Resorts has launched Angsana Balaclava in Mauritius.

The 52-key resort is located in Turtle Bay on the northwest of the island, a 15-min drive from the capital, Port Louis.

The property offers 18 garden suites (72m2), 21 spa suites (84m2) and 10 beachfront suites (125-180m2) with private plunge pools, and an imperial villa (770m2) with four bedrooms, three private pools and a personal butler.

Facilities include three overlapping swimming pools separated by waterfalls, a beauty salon, a fitness centre, a business centre, and an Angsana Spa.

The main restaurant, Oryza, offers both al fresco and indoor dining options and is surrounded by the pool, beach and Sylea bar. The Passion Grill, with its swim up bar, offers a poolside dining alternative. There are also in-villa or private dining options.

STAR Cruises has embarked on a US$25-million refurbishment of SuperStar Virgo.

The 1,870-pax Singapore-homeported cruise ship will receive a makeover of its hull design and cabins, as well as its F&B, entertainment, shopping, sports and recreation facilities.

The vessel will return to service on January 23, 2012, and is scheduled to ply the straits of Singapore and Malacca in various two-, three- and five-night itineraries calling at destinations such as Phuket, Langkawi, Port Klang, Malacca, Redang, and Penang; and one- and two-night high seas cruises.

“This US$25-million investment underpins Star Cruises’ continuous drive to grow Asia’s cruise industry,” said William Ng, CEO, Star Cruises.

“The Asia-Pacific cruise industry is expected to grow in leaps and bounds, and Star Cruises is well-positioned to take the lead in further developing and expanding the industry,” he added.

This rejuvenation programme follows the refurbishments of Star Pisces (homeport in Hong Kong) and SuperStar Aquarius (current season’s homeport in Sanya), in February and April last year respectively, at a combined cost of US$13.6 million.