ARRIVALS in Sri Lanka rose 30 per cent last year to 855,975 and officials are expecting 925,000 visitors this year.

Sri Lanka Tourism Promotion Bureau managing director Rumy Jauffer said earnings rose 47 per cent to US$850 million from 2010. Sri Lanka, recovering from a bloody conflict that ended in 2009, is aiming to reach 2.5 million tourists by 2016 from an average 450,000 during 30 years of war.

India continued to dominate the inbound market with 171,374 arrivals, up 35 per cent from 2010, followed by the UK with 106,082, a marginal growth of 0.6 per cent, and Germany with 55,882 arrivals, up 22 per cent.

Stability is also providing a boost to conferences and meetings. Bandula Ekanayake, director general & CEO of the Bandaranaike Memorial International Conference Hall, Sri Lanka’s biggest convention centre, said the hall had received many inquiries to host international conferences, trade shows and meetings. “We recently got an inquiry from the Indian-based regional office of Domino’s Pizza which wants to have an international meeting here with European (partners),” he said.

Achini Dandunnage, senior manager of Sri Lanka Convention Bureau, expects at least 15 per cent growth, on top of the 12 per cent last year, in MICE tourism with many international events confirmed including the Commonwealth Parliamentary Conference with some 1,000 participants. “This year and next year will see a lot of growth in MICE,” she said.

ACCOR opened last week the Sofitel Mumbai BKC (Bandra Kurla Complex), the group’s flagship Sofitel property in India.

Developed in partnership with local realtor Shree Naman Group, the hotel offers 302 rooms, including 22 prestige suites and one imperial suite, a So SPA, an outdoor swimming pool, a fitness centre and a Turkish hammam.

There are a total of six F&B outlets, including an all-day dining restaurant, a chocolate patisserie, outlets serving Indian and vegetarian dishes, a poolside bar and a lobby bar.

MICE facilities include eight meeting rooms, and a 270-m2 grand ballroom capable of hosting 224 pax banquet-style.

Accor is planning to open 12 new hotels under three different brands in India by the end of the year.

At the moment, the group’s India portfolio includes 10 properties under its Ibis, Novotel and Mercure brands, offering more than 2,000 keys.

INTERCONTINENTAL Hotels Group (IHG) will launch a new upscale hotel brand in China by the middle of the year and is planning to eventually expand the brand across Asia-Pacific, according to a report in MarketWatch.

In an interview with Dow Jones Newswires, Jan Smits, IHG’s chief executive of Asia, Middle East & Africa operations, explained that the move was to enable the group to become top-of-mind among increasingly wealthy Chinese travellers.

Subsequent plans include exporting the brand to other Asia-Pacific markets to cater to outbound Chinese travellers, with Hong Kong and Singapore seen as logical choices for expansion.

Event though details about the new brand have yet to be revealed, IHG has decided to bring forward its launch date—which was originally scheduled for later this year.

“There’s obviously a lot of interest in a domestically-grown brand that has got the benefit of a large international system behind it. Owners have shown significant interest,” Smits was quoted as saying.

According to MarketWatch, 12 contracts for the new brand have already been inked across China, including in Beijing and Shanghai.

THE PHILIPPINE Department of Tourism (DOT) has revealed a new international tourism brand for the country, incorporating a revamped slogan, It’s more fun in the Philippines.

The new brand, developed by BBDO Guerrero/Proximity Philippines under the supervision of Tourism Secretary Ramon Jimenez, effectively replaces the previous one, Pilipinas, Kay Ganda!,  which was discontinued just a week after being launched in November 2010 (TTG Asia e-Daily, November 16, 2010).

Using an ethnic weave design that incorporates the Philippine islands, the new brand is expected to make its debut at international travel tradeshows such as next week’s ATF in Manado and ITB Berlin in March, where the “first iterations of a new (international marketing) campaign will emerge in the first half of 2012”, said Jimenez.

Covering mainstream and digital communications that would harness the power of media platforms like Facebook and Twitter, a formal campaign launch is expected to follow.

“Going viral is at the very core of our media strategy…we have tremendous influence on the web, and we are determined to leverage that strength,” said Jimenez.

A partner campaign for the domestic market uses the snappy slogan, “#1forFun”, which prior to today was being circulated on Twitter with the help of DOT’s own twitter account, @DOTPhilippines.

Cebu Pacific VP for marketing and distribution, Candice Iyog, said: “The unique combination of fun destinations and the remarkable hospitality of Filipinos make the difference for tourists. DOT’s new campaign is an honest representation of the many things that the Philippines can offer the world.”

Celine Clemente, newly elected president of the Philippine Tourism Congress and president of Cordym Tours and Travel, added: “It’s a simple slogan that’s easy to pronounce and with a simple message: we want others to come to the Philippines, where we can offer you a package of fun.”

INDONESIAN airline operators are feeling the heat from a new set of government measures implemented since January 1 to raise industry service standards.

Local airline companies must now fork out compensation of up to 300,000 rupiah (US$33) per passenger when a flight is delayed for more than four hours, up to 200,000 rupiah per kg for lost luggage, and a supplementary compensation fee of 200,000 rupiah per day for a maximum three days while customers are waiting for the missing bags.

The new regulations also stipulate compensation on injury and death at the airport pre-, post-flight and during transit.

Indonesia Minister of Transportation, Evert Erenst Mangindaan, explained in a statement: “(The new regulations) have been introduced to make airline operators care more about (customers), be it cargo or passengers.”

Indonesia Director General of Air Transportation, Herry Bakti Gumay, said airline operators would be given a chance to cut the compensation liability in half provided they offer alternative travel arrangements.

Should passengers need to be transferred to other carriers, the airline would still have to bear any additional cost that might arise due to a higher cabin class, and would also have to return the balance if passengers’ tickets were to be downgraded.

THE TOURISM Authority of Thailand (TAT) has decided to focus on promoting its niche tourism offerings as it adjusts its marketing strategy in anticipation of a slowdown in longhaul demand.

Juthaporn Rerngronasa, TAT deputy governor international marketing – Europe, Africa, Middle East and Americas, said the NTO would look to work closely with travel professionals specialising in the medical, honeymoon, golf and green tourism sectors during its various roadshow and tradeshow activities.

“We will kick start our mart-within-a-mart project at ITB Berlin, where niche tourist market specialists will be hosted to participate in a special table top session,” she said. “Sellers wanting to join will be charged an extra fee on top of the normal participation cost under the TAT pavilion.”

TAT intends to deploy a similar strategy at Arabian Travel Market in Dubai, World Travel Market in London and Leisure Travel Fair in Russia.

According to Juthaporn, niche tourism is expected to suffer less of an impact from a number of upcoming developments affecting travel cost, such as an eight per cent hike in the UK’s Air Passenger Duty in April, and the implementation of the European Union Emissions Trading System carbon tax.

The upcoming elections in Russia, France, the US and China might also dampen travel demand from these markets, Juthaporn added.

Reporting by Sirima Eamtako

THE MALDIVES government has placed a moratorium on its controversial ban on spa and massage facilities in the country’s resort hotels, pending a Supreme Court ruling on whether their operation falls foul of the country’s constitution—which is guided by Islamic law.

Last week’s abrupt ban sent shockwaves throughout the local travel industry, which denies charges by religious groups that the high-end spas and massage parlours, an integral component of the various holiday resorts in the Maldives, were fronts for prostitution.

Maldives president Mohamed Nasheed acted quickly to lift the ban following complaints from the travel industry, the main source of income in the country.

A spokesperson for the presidents’ office told TTG Asia e-Daily: “If the court rules that spas are contrary to the constitution, then the government must abide by the court’s ruling and re-impose the ban. But we are pretty confident the court will not rule this way.”

Ajit Gunawardene, deputy chairman of Colombo-based John Keells Group, which operates three up-market resorts in the Maldives, said: “We are relieved and happy that the status quo remains.”

SINGAPORE Airlines will be making several frequency adjustments to its Northern Summer operating schedule (March 25 to October 27, 2012) to match capacity to prevailing travel demand.

A daily service will be added to Seoul, boosting the frequency to four-daily from thrice-daily, including one flight that continues to San Francisco.

In West Asia, frequency to the Maldives’ capital Male will increase to twice-daily from the current 10 flights per week.

Mumbai services will be hiked to 19 per week from 17.

Frequency will also increase to points in Australia. Adelaide services will increase to 10-weekly from the current seven, while Brisbane and Perth will each be served 21 times per week, rather than 19 and 18, respectively.

Meanwhile, some markets will see frequency reductions during the Northern Summer schedule.

Singapore–Moscow–Houston services will be reduced to five-weekly from daily. Singapore–Munich–Manchester services will be reduced to six-weekly from daily.

Singapore–Taipei services will be reduced to 14 per week from 18.

Some Middle Eastern services will also be restructured.

Flights to Riyadh, which are currently served via Abu Dhabi, will instead operate via Dubai. This will result in Abu Dhabi being served three times per week, down from seven weekly, with flights carrying on to Jeddah.

Dubai will continue to be served with 10 weekly flights, four of which will carry on to Riyadh and three to Cairo.

THE MELBOURNE Convention + Visitors Bureau (MCVB) has managed to secure eight major congresses for Melbourne, worth an estimated A$23.5 million (US$24.3 million) to the Victorian economy.

The one national and seven international business events, all scheduled to take place at the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre over the period 2013-2017, are expected to attract approximately 7,150 delegates from across the globe.

The event wins for 2013 include: the International Conference on Care and Housing for the Ageing 2013; IEEE International Conference on Power Electronics – ECCE Asia 2013; Inaugural Broadband World Congress 2013; The Mental Health Services Conference 2013.

Events lined up in 2014 and beyond include: the International Symposium on Information Theory and its Applications 2014; International Congress on Noise Control Engineering 2014; Congress of the Asia-Pacific Federation of Coloproctology 2015; and AFMC International Medicinal Chemistry Symposium 2017.

MCVB CEO Karen Bolinger said: “All of these wins relate directly to the excellent standard of Melbourne’s conferencing facilities and also demonstrate the appeal of our city to major associations.”

The wins follow the recent announcement that Melbourne will host the International AIDS Conference in 2014, the largest medical conference ever to be held in Australia (TTG Asia e-Daily, November 29).

CAMBODIA’s southern coastal province of Sihanoukville has finally received scheduled flights with Cambodia Angkor Air’s launch of thrice-weekly services from Siem Reap.

The flag carrier inaugurated the route on December 19, which it operates to Sihanoukville International Airport using a 65-seat ATR72 aircraft.

One of the country’s three airports that are developed and managed by Cambodia Airports, Sihanoukville International Airport had not attracted any regular flights up until now.

Cambodia Airports CEO Emmanuel Menanteau said: “We are proud and delighted to have the national flag carrier be the first airline to launch scheduled flights to/from Sihanouk International Airport.

“Regular air access is critical to unlock the huge potential of the Kingdom’s coastal area, to create opportunities for tourism and trade and to drive the socio-economic development of Cambodia,” he added.

Cambodia Airports has so far invested more than US$30 million on the development of Sihanoukville Airport, including an extension of the runway from 1,400m to 2,500m, an enlargement of its shoulders to 45m, and the doubling of passenger terminal floor area to 1,000m².