IN OUR online article dated September 15, 2011, on Kuoni Travel Group appointing Abacus International as its distribution service provider, we quoted Ashwini Kakkar, executive vice chairman of Mercury Travels India, as saying “Kuoni had made the right move given the fast-evolving distribution landscape in India”. In fact, Kakkar did not say this.

Kakkar agreed to speak at the Abacus event only after repeated requests from Abacus, multiple assurances about neutrality, and on the condition he spoke only about “top industry trends”.

His speech was erroneously linked to Kuoni’s decision to appoint Abacus, when in fact he spoke in general about “top industry trends”.

We also failed to highlight the chain of events between Kuoni, HRG, DNATA and the erstwhile SITA which led to the GDS change to Abacus from Travelport.

All the travel companies where Kakkar is personally a stakeholder use the Galileo GDS of Travelport and, specifically in the case of Mercury Travels, the company is in the process of renewing its agreements with Galileo.

THE MOOD surrounding India’s festive season has been dampened by recent travel advisories issued by the US, UK, Canada, Australia and New Zealand, with these countries warning against terror threats.

Indian tourism minister Subodh Kant Sahai has called the advisories “scaremongering”, while inbound operators TTG Asia e-Daily spoke to were worried, but have not seen any cancellations so far.

However, they said the advisories could generate unnecessary concern among foreign tourists, pushing down the number of arrivals in what are usually the high-season winter months.

Arjun Sharma, managing director, Le Passage to India, said: “It is surprising that in the absence of any real or perceived terror threat, several governments have issued such irresponsible advisories as it impacts the livelihood of so many people employed by the industry; in fact it can affect the economy.

“I am happy that our tourism ministry has reacted vociferously against this move and hope they will be able to influence these countries to withdraw. Or else we may see a fall in winter bookings.”

Rakesh Ramnani, director – leisure of Vensimal World Travel, said: “This kind of panic is unfounded, and may lead tourists to choose Thailand or China as alternative destinations”.

Inbound travel to India grew 10 per cent year-on-year from January to August, compared to 3.4 million arrivals in 2010. The US and UK are key source markets for India for both leisure and business travellers.

THAILAND could lose more than 25 billion baht (US$815 million) in tourism revenue and fall short of earlier tourist targets this year should the current flood crisis last until December, said the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT).

TAT governor Suraphon Svetasreni explained that the country’s tourism marketing arm had analysed three different scenarios.

In the worst case – if the flood prolonged in the central plains and engulfed the entire Bangkok until year-end – Thailand would suffer more than 25 billion losses in domestic and international tourism revenue for 2011. Foreign arrivals are also predicted to slide to 19.1 million, down from 19.5 million projected.

Should the flood continue in the central plains and spread to the whole of Bangkok until November, the country would lose some 15.5 billion baht in tourism revenue, and miss the foreign visitor target by 220,000 arrivals.

Even if inner Bangkok is spared from the waters and the crisis ends by this month, the country would still be staring at a loss of about 3.7 billion baht in tourism revenue and 70,000 less foreign visitors.

The crisis has prompted the government to declare public holidays from today to October 31, encouraging residents to leave Bangkok to unaffected areas.

No official advice has been issued to tourists or tour operators at press time, although foreign governments like Singapore’s have already asked citizens to defer non-essential travel to the city. This afternoon, the Bangkok governor met with tourism stakeholders to discuss the crisis.

Meanwhile, the Thai Hotels Associations (THA) has roped in 61 member hotels across the country, offering special room rates for flood-affected residents at 600 baht, 900 baht, 1,200 baht per night, depending on the class of hotel.

THA vice-president Surapong Techaruvichit said he expected more hotels to follow suit. Asia Hotel Group, for example, was also allowing guests to move from its Bangkok hotel to sister properties in Pattaya and Cha-am at no extra charge.

THA is also in the process of lobbying member hotels in unaffected areas such as Phuket, Koh Samui, Pattaya and Hua Hin to join a newly-launched 1 Check-in 1 Dollar campaign to raise funds for flood victims.

By Sirima Eamtako

SHANGHAI is set to host next year’s edition of China International Travel Mart (CITM), armed with a host of new hardware offerings.

Connie Cheng, vice chairman, Shanghai Municipal Tourism Administration, said the city had completed its preparations for the event. “We will tap the combined resources of Shanghai’s tourism service providers and the municipal government, in tune with the efforts of the national tourism bureau to make the event a success,” she said.

CITM 2012, scheduled to take place from November 15-18, will feature 57,500m2 of exhibition space at the brand new Shanghai New International Exhibition Center (SNIEC) in Pudong.

New accommodation options include the 574-key Kerry Hotel, Pudong, the 182-key The Residences at Kerry Parkside, and the 401-key Jumeirah Himalayas Hotel Shanghai, all of which are located within walking distance of SNIEC.

Subway connections via Line 2 and Line 7, as well as the inner ring road and various highways, will provide the necessary connections, said Cheng, adding that these routes were rigorously testing during the World Expo.

SOFITEL Luxury Hotels ends its nine-year search for a hotel in Singapore with a deal worthy of popping a Cristal back at the corporate office.

At one fell swoop, the management agreement signed yesterday with Royal Group Holdings (RGH), as tipped by TTG Asia e-Daily on October 20, enables Sofitel to flag its new brand, So, on an iconic building circa 1927, in a location at the heart of the CBD, with a partner who told TTG Asia he was in it not for the money but the “legacy”.

Asok Kumar Hiranandani, RGH president, said: “For me, this is not commercial. If I can leave a legacy, it’ll be nice. The building is something you want to keep, like a piece of painting you want to hang on the wall.”

A hotel developer told TTG Asia if it was for legacy, Hiranandani was in it for the right reason. “It’s difficult to make money when you can carve out only that many rooms in a heritage building – because of the floor plate and plan – and adhere to conservation guidelines at the same time,” she said.

So Sofitel Singapore will have 135 rooms and suites, with floor areas between 24sqm and 140sqm, when it opens in early 2013. RGH is pumping in S$130 (US$103) million to S$150 million in the 60-year leasehold property which was up for tender in January.

– Full report, TTG Asia, October 28, 2011

BANGKOK, which has been warned to prepare for floodwaters travelling from the suburban areas into the inner city, is seeing a postponement of events scheduled in the Thai capital for this and next month.

Queen Sirikit National Convention Center (QSNCC) has reported postponements of four events scheduled for October. The Happy Workplace Forum 2011, the CSR Thailand 2012, the Furniture Fair and a concert by Kasikorn Bank have been postponed to either December or January.

Four other events scheduled for November – the Royal Project, the Krungsri Auto Car, a Carabao concert and the Commart – have also been postponed.

Meanwhile, World Didac Asia 2011, to be held in QSNCC, is still confirmed for October 26 to 28.

QSNCC’s newly appointed president, Sakchai Pattarapreechakul, said: “Our first priority is to offer utmost assistance to all concerns, including facilitating the postponements of events, and providing 500 food packs daily to flood victims from October 21.”

He added that it was too early at press time to estimate the impact from the flood.

However, Sakchai said that in its initial assessment, the centre had performed according to targets in the first 11 months of its fiscal year with the exception of its 12th month (November), depending on how the flood situation unfolds.

By Sirima Eamtako

Update (18.05, GMT+8): Airports of Thailand has confirmed Don Muang Airport’s closure from 7pm today. Nok Air has re-confirmed it will halt flight operations in and out of Don Muang through October 31. It did not mention whether it will resume flights from November 1.

AIRPORTS of Thailand said it would suspend operations at Don Muang Airport from 5pm today due to a flooded runway. Thai budget airline Nok Air had earlier announced it would suspend all flights from noon until November 1, while domestic carrier Orient Thai Airlines moved its flights to Suvarnabhumi Airport from 3pm. Both operate from Don Muang.

Nok Air CEO, Patee Sarasin, said: “The reason is because the water level is now at a critical (state in the) area at the northern part of the runway. (Passengers) can change (their) flights free of charge.”

The airline operates between Bangkok’s old airport and domestic destinations. It has yet to decide whether to divert its operations to Suvarnabhumi Airport, which at press time is operating as usual and deploying flood prevention systems.

Meanwhile, Orient Thai Airlines said its passengers scheduled to travel between October 12 and 31 were allowed to change flights and travelling dates at no cancellation charges.