HOTEL transaction volumes in Thailand have risen and even surpassed yearly average rates following the devastating flood crisis that affected the country, according to the latest figures from HotelClub.

“Now that the Thai flood situation has stabilised with cleanup well underway and all tourist attractions open for business, our on-the-ground hotel experts are seeing a significant increase in market confidence and foreign visitors,” said Chaminda Ranasinghe, commercial director, HotelClub.

Hotel transaction volumes in Thailand have risen sharply in the past five weeks for HotelClub. The week commencing November 8 produced a 400 per cent increase in transaction volume compared to the week commencing October 24, when volumes plummeted due to worsening flood conditions.

Year-on-year transactions are increasing as well, with transaction volumes during the week commencing November 28 up by 15 per cent compared to the same period last year.

For Bangkok specifically, hotel volumes increased 40 per cent during the week commencing November 28 compared to the week prior – resulting in a return to pre-flood average weekly transaction levels.

Meanwhile, to encourage inbound traffic further, HotelClub will be launching a Thailand – Still Amazing campaign on December 12.

As part of the initiative, HotelClub will donate AUD$5 (US$5) from every transaction at participating hotels to the Thai Red Cross Society. Selected Thai hotels will also be offering discounts of up to 60 per cent off regular rates.

For more information on the campaign and how to contribute, visit www.hotelclub.com/promo/thailandstillamazing

AIRASIA X, the longhaul affiliate of Malaysia-based LCC AirAsia, has launched four-weekly flights from Kuala Lumpur to Osaka, the carrier’s second destination in Japan after Tokyo and sixteenth overall.

Speaking at the official launch ceremony, Azran Osman-Rani, CEO, AirAsia X, said: “Brand affinity for the AirAsia X brand remains at an all time high, with demand also returning to pre-tsunami levels.”

“The route would be a strong feeder for our guests intending to connect onwards either domestically or internationally from Osaka.”

“Similarly, guests from Japan and surrounding regions would be able to fly into Kuala Lumpur and connect onwards to AirAsia’s network of over 165 routes in South-east Asia and beyond,” he added.

To coincide with the launch, AirAsia X is offering special introductory all-in fares from as low as RM199 (US$63) for a one-way Kuala Lumpur-Osaka ticket. The offer is valid for online bookings made from now till December 11, for immediate travel from now till March 31, 2012.

THE SURIN Phuket, formerly known as The Chedi, will reopen its doors on December 21 after undergoing an extensive refurbishment.

Located on Pansea Beach, the resort has been redesigned by Paris-based architect and interior designer Ed Tuttle, who was also the resort’s original designer.

The property’s 89 one-bedroom and 19 two-bedroom cottages, which come in Hillside Cottage, Superior Cottage, Deluxe Cottage, Beach Deluxe Suite and Beach Studio Suite categories, are now larger and brighter.

Public areas have been expanded, and a new beach bar and 90m² gym added on to existing facilities such as a pool, a gym, and three meeting rooms which can accommodate up to 64 guests.

The resort’s lounge and restaurant have also been renovated.

Meanwhile, The Surin is offering an early bird discount of 10 per cent for bookings made at least 60 days in advance, for stays between March 1 and April 15 next year.

INDIAN tourism authorities are dishing out incentives to local filmmakers in a bid to persuade them to showcase the county’s various destinations and attractions.

India’s Minister for Tourism, Subodh Kant Sahai, discussed this agenda with leading Indian filmmakers at the recent International Film Festival of India in Goa, offering cash incentives of up to US$20,000, tax waivers and marketing assistance.

“India is not being promoted enough,” he lamented.

The efforts are an attempt to replicate the success of movies like Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara (You don’t get life a second time; shot in Spain), Don (Malaysia), and 3 Idiots (Ladakh) in creating a surge in Indian visitor numbers to these destinations.

The Ministry of Tourism will also assist in logistics management and location shoot infrastructure, and may even decide to subsidise filmmaking expenses if one or more predetermined destinations are featured.

“This is an innovative and brilliant move. We need such out-of-the-box initiatives to promote our destinations,” said P. P. Khanna, director, New Delhi-based Diplomatic Travel Point.

SCOOT, which recently unveiled plans to operate Singapore-Sydney flights starting June 2012 (TTG Asia e-Daily, December 7), is trying to build strong relations with the travel trade to boost its reach, as part of its two-year marketing strategy.

Speaking to TTG Asia e-Daily, Susan Teng, National Association of Travel Agents Singapore (NATAS) – Outbound Committee chairman and general manager of Singapore-based Viewers Choice Travel, said that Scoot representatives recently met with NATAS officials, to share details about the airline’s business model and future plans.

“They are happy to work with the industry and are happy to take on groups, something other low-cost carriers did not do when they first launched,” she said.

Teng declined to reveal further details, but did mention that Scoot was keen to line up exclusive packages for Singapore-based travel consultants to sell, although this is still in the process of being worked out.

“We are still in the dark about Scoot’s exact plans, but we generally view their willingness to work with travel professionals as a positive sign of things to come,” she said.

AYUTTHAYA is starting to see a recovery in tourist numbers as restoration and rehabilitation efforts gather pace following the subsiding of floodwaters, which completely submerged the ancient Thai capital for more than a month.

Supot Prommanot, director of the Third Regional Office of Fine Arts, Ministry of Culture, said FIT and group traffic to Ayutthaya started to recover starting end-November, and the Fine Arts Department was planning to resume admission fee collections from mid-December onwards.

According to Supot, floodwaters are no longer a problem at the majority of popular attractions in Ayutthaya. Some residual water at certain sites is still being drained, albeit slowly so as not to destabilise temple foundations, he added.

Meanwhile, a team of experts from Italy, Japan, the Netherlands and Thailand, led by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation, is surveying Ayutthaya to formulate recommendations for a short- and long-term restoration plan to be presented to the Thai government.

Last year, Ayutthaya recorded more than 6.53 million domestic and international visitors, an increase of 82.3 per cent over 2009, and generated about nine billion baht in tourism revenue.

By Sirima Eamtako

THE THAILAND Convention and Exhibition Bureau (TCEB) has turned its attentions to the country’s foreign affairs and commerce ministries in its bid to host the World Expo 2020 in Ayutthaya, as its request for a 300-million baht fund boost from the government had been turn down.

TCEB president Akapol Sorasuchart said the MICE bureau was hoping to cooperate with the two ministries on top of its own efforts, which involves a promotional campaign through direct marketing and social networking elements, using a portion of its annual budget allocation (TTG Asia e-Daily, August 24).

“We will use all means necessary to win this event for Thailand,” he said.

However, Akapol stopped short of going into details of the planned initiatives to win votes from the 158 member countries of the Bureau International des Expositions (BIE), the Paris-based body that sanctions and recognises international exhibitions.

TCEB’s bid team made its second presentation at the BIE General Assembly late last month, after submitting its application to organise the World Expo in June (TTG Asia e-Daily, June 20).

The team’s next milestone will be the launch of the 2,000m2 World Expo 2020 pavillion at next year’s Board of Investment Fair, which will be held at IMPACT Convention Center from January 5-20. BIE’s secretary general, Vicente Gonzales Loscertales, will be invited to attend.

Meanwhile, Akapol said the recent flood crisis in Ayutthaya would not be a concern by the time World Expo 2020 comes around, as the Thai government was preparing to put flood control measures in place over the next two years.

Ayutthaya is competing against Turkey’s Izmir, Russia’s Ekaterinburg, Brazil’s Sao Paulo and the UAE’s Dubai for the right to host World Expo 2020.

By Sirima Eamtako

MALAYSIA Airlines (MAS) unveiled yesterday a plan to revamp its loss-making operations, which involve a multi-prong strategy to streamline the flag carrier’s network, reduce costs and win back customers.

“We are in a very, very deep crisis,” said MAS group CEO Ahmad Jauhari Yahya. “Malaysia Airlines needs to make hard and unpopular decisions simply to survive.”

As part of its overhaul, MAS will cut loss-making routes – mainly longhaul– and redeploy aircraft to profitable regional and domestic alternatives.

Buenos Aires, Johannesburg, Cape Town and Dubai will be axed in early 2012 (TTG Asia e-Daily, November 11), while Rome and Frankfurt are under consideration. On the other hand, frequencies to Manila, Jakarta and Tokyo will be boosted.

A new premium full service carrier will also be introduced by the second half of 2012, offering flights to ASEAN destinations and key cities in South Asia and greater China (TTG Asia e-Daily, October 21). In the long term, the new airline will run all the domestic and regional services currently operated by MAS.

“We intend to create a separate management structure to focus on the unique customer needs of regional premium travellers,” said Ahmad Jauhari.

Meanwhile, cooperation with AirAsia and AirAsia X for greater efficiencies under the Comprehensive Collaboration Framework is expected to save MAS up to RM100 million (US$31.9 million) a year.

Developments expected to help win back customers and reduce fuel costs include the delivery of 23 new aircraft next year, including five Airbus A380s starting from July 1, and MAS attaining full membership in the oneworld alliance by September 2012 (TTG Asia e-Daily, June 6).

“MAS can reach out to destinations not covered, via networks of other airlines. Also, this alliance has a gap in South-east Asia, and MAS can play a role to fill it,” said Ahmad Jauhari.

With these measures, MAS is hoping to cut losses to RM165 million in 2012, and turn a profit by 2013. The airline’s nine-month cumulative loss for the first three quarters of 2011 was RM1.25 billion.

By N. Nithiyananthan

TIGER Airways has aborted plans to launch a new regional budget carrier together with Thai Airways International (THAI), due to its failure to obtain the necessary approval from Thai authorities.

“As a result, Thai, Tiger Airways and Ryanthai (a proposed partner with links to Irish budget airline RyanAir) have decided not to proceed with the incorporation of Thai Tiger,” the carrier said in a statement.

Tiger Airways and THAI first revealed their intentions to set up the new airline in August last year (TTG Asia e-Daily, March 2).

Meanwhile, VietJet Air, the proposed partner of AirAsia in its failed attempt to tap the Vietnamese market, has launched independent operations, and will offer four-daily Ho Chi Minh City-Hanoi services on a 180-seat Airbus A320 aircraft.

The airline was due to operate as VietJet AirAsia, but AirAsia allowed its interest in VietJet to lapse after regulatory approval was denied for its proposed joint venture (TTG Asia e-Daily, October 13).

VietJet Air is planning to launch Ho Chi Minh City-Danang flights in early 2012, with a Hanoi-Danang service and flights to South-east Asian destinations expected to follow by middle of next year.

STARWOOD Asia Pacific Hotels & Resorts will kick off a recovery initiative for Thailand by January next year to recoup business lost during the recent flood crisis.

Details of the recovery initiative were not available at press time, but Alison Taylor, Starwood’s vice president, sales, Asia-Pacific, said its structure would be similar to the group’s successful MICE recovery campaign in Japan, which has so far garnered more than US$6 million in meetings-related sales for its 15 properties there (TTG Asia e-Daily, November 22).

Fam trips for MICE buyers and MICE-specific promotions, including discounts of up to 30 per cent off the master account, were offered as part of the Japan recovery efforts. About 90 per cent of the event bookings reeled in were from Asia-Pacific, while enquiries from farther afield have started to stream in.

According to Taylor, over a hundred group bookings across the 16 Starwood properties in Thailand were cancelled or postponed due to the floods.

“As in other hotels across the industry, occupancy at Starwood properties, especially in Bangkok, fell following the floods,” she said. “The impact is much greater for Starwood properties in Bangkok compared to properties outside of the city.”

“However, we are confident that business will resume, as has always been the case for Thailand,” she added.

Taylor said clients considering Thailand could continue to rely on Starwood because of the group’s ability to “seamlessly relocate them elsewhere should something happen, as we have many properties in other nearby destinations such as Malaysia, Singapore and Bali”.