LAMPUNG, a province located on the southern tip of Sumatra island, is hoping to leverage on its hosting of this year’s Tourism Indonesia Mart & Expo (TIME) to showcase what it has to offer to international buyers.

Lampung governor Sjahroedin said: “I’m hopeful that TIME will serve as the momentum to boost our efforts to improve regional tourism as the primary means for facilitating local development, and ultimately the general welfare of the people.”

“I believe the event will serve as an eye-opener for the international community (of what Lampung has to offer).”

Sjahroedin said the launch of TIME 2011 in conjunction with the annual Krakatau Festival in Lampung was the perfect platform to showcase the destination’s potential.

Indonesia Ministry of Culture and Tourism director general of tourism marketing, Sapta Nirwandar, agreed, saying that with Lampung opening up to international tourism, it would add variety to the list of destinations available in Indonesia.

“Lampung has a lot of potential,” Nirwandar said. “Krakatau is known worldwide—it is an icon of Lampung. However, other products, such as cruising around the (Krakatau) volcano, still need to be developed.”

Last year, Lampung received about two million domestic visitors, as well as 3,500 from overseas—a number which is expected to grow by five to ten per cent this year, according to Lampung Regional Tourism office manager, Gatot Hudi Utomo.

Sjahroedin said a host of infrastructural developments were in the pipeline to facilitate the expected increase in arrivals, including a bridge connecting Java and Sumatra across the Sunda Straits, and over 150km of roads linking Bakauheni to South Sumatra.

Sjahroedin added: “Our airport (Raden Inten) is being extended to have a 2500m-long runway, and it will be extended to 3,000 metres (at a later date) and become an international airport.”

AIRASIA’s plan to gain a foothold in Vietnam by establishing a new low-cost carrier (LCC) came to an abrupt halt after regulatory approval was denied for its proposed joint venture with VietJet Aviation.

The Civil Aviation Administration of Vietnam objected to the use of the AirAsia branding in the joint venture, which would have resulted in a new LCC called VietJet AirAsia.

AirAsia explained in a statement to the Malaysian stock market that the joint venture had been allowed “to lapse with immediate effect”.

AirAsia deputy group CEO Kamarudin Meranun suggested that the airline had not given up its aspirations of tapping Vietnam’s fast-growing market.

“In the proper time and condition, we may re-look the opportunity for a joint venture with VietJet, but it has to be the right time, environment and condition,” he said.

A 6.8-MAGNITUDE earthquake struck off the coast of Bali earlier today, damaging buildings in resort areas, and sending residents and tourists fleeing into the streets.

The epicentre of the quake was at a depth of 10 kilometres, 143 kilometres south-west of Nusa Dua.

National Disaster Management Agency (BNPB) spokesperson Sutopo Purwo Nugroho was quoted by The Jakarta Post as saying: “No fatalities or injuries were reported, but, several hospitals, temples and houses were slightly damaged.”

According to Sutopo, Denpasar experienced the strongest impact of the tremor.

“A milder impact was felt in Kuta, Ubud, Tabanan and several places in East Java like Gambiran, Muncar, Negara, Srono, Genteng and Banyuwangi,” he said.

No tsunami alert has been issued so far.

A MISSING ‘zero’ on its website cost Taipei-based Lion Travel Service more than NT$500,000 (US$16,500) in losses when a number of online customers signed up for an erroneously priced tour of the Tateyama Kurobe Alpine Route in Japan.

The four-day package, which takes travellers on a mountain-sightseeing route between Tateyama, Toyama and Omachi in Nagano, was supposed to have been priced at NT$24,900 per pax.

Instead, the tour was priced at NT$2,490 per pax and published on Lion Travel’s website at 23.00 on September 29.

By the time the error was rectified at the start of the next working day, 24 online customers had already booked the tour, according to Liu Leng-Hon, a vice president at Lion Travel.

Explaining the decision to honour the transactions, Liu said: “Even if we could avoid responsibility, Lion would insist on making good on its customers’ claims even though it means taking a loss.”

Liu added: “Lion’s work environment heavily relies on its e-commerce model, so controls are in place for the listing of online prices, price changes and tour group sizes so that error is kept within reasonable limits.”

Roget Hsu, secretary general of Taiwan’s Travel Agent Association, said the country’s Consumer Protection Commission allows online sellers to withdraw or correct mistaken pricing only if no orders have been made.

“Once there has been a booking, the travel agent must honour the price,” he said.

By Glenn Smith

THE PERTH Convention Bureau (PCB) recently launched Redefine Perth, a campaign targeting business event planners from South-east Asian markets, especially Indonesia and Singapore.

Paul Beeson, PCB CEO, said: “The corporate and incentive market was a key part of our success in recent years, of which South-east Asia was a core contributor.”

“Quite a few groups visited Perth recently from all over South-east Asia and specifically, a great deal from Indonesia and Singapore – hence the focus of this new campaign.”

Redefine Perth incorporates print and online ads inviting planners to register interest in the capital of Western Australia, as well as recently concluded networking events in Jakarta and Singapore. PCB’s Singapore office is playing an active role in the campaign.

“We’ll continue to concentrate much of marketing spend on South-east Asia,” said Beeson. “The growth of the region, and our proximity to it, means this market will continue to be a core focus.”

“In particular, Singapore and Indonesia look set to continue as our high-growth markets,” he added.

Aside from South-east Asia, PCB is also looking at growing China, especially in view of new direct Perth-Guangzhou flights operated by Southern China airlines.

By Amee Enriquez

FASTBOOKING, an online solutions provider for the hospitality industry, has reached an agreement to distribute its client properties via Travelport’s recently-launched hotel booking platform, Travelport Rooms and More.

An improved version of existing online leisure portal Travelport Leisure, Travelport Rooms and More allows agents to compare deals and commissions across aggregators – thanks to meta-search technology from Sprice.com, which was acquired by Travelport in May last year (TTG Asia e-Daily, June 29).

FastBooking said in a press statement that the partnership would “boost the visibility of its client hotels among the 65,000 connected travel agency customers in the worldwide Travelport network and create more high-value opportunities”.

Alain Hirschfeld, marketing director, business development for FastBooking, added: “Our goal is to increase our hotels’ online business with travel agencies worldwide and to consolidate our position in this high-potential segment.”

Other aggregators that have joined the Travelport Rooms and More bandwagon include Agoda, Kuoni Connect, LateRooms.com, Transhotel, Ctrip, Zuji, Cleartrip and TUI Cars.

THE SINGAPORE Tourism Board (STB) has seized Tourist World Travel Services’ (TWTS) Travel Agents License, following a string of complaints against the company since last year.

According to a press statement, the escalating trend of complaints since February 2010 forced STB’s hand, resulting in an investigation that revealed TWTS had “engaged in business practices contravening the Travel Agents Act and Regulations”.

STB issued in July this year a notice of intent to revoke TWTS’ license, which was subsequently surrendered on August 19.

Two enforcement checks were conducted in the following weeks to ensure that TWTS had ceased operations. A raid was also carried out on the ex-agent’s premises on September 16, following a tip-off that TWTS was still offering travel products and services.

The ensuing case against TWTS remains under investigation.

SINGAPORE Airlines’ new medium- and longhaul low-cost subsidiary (TTG Asia e-Daily, August 26) is slated to take off in April next year.

The Straits Times reported yesterday that Scoot Airlines would start off with a single Boeing 777-200 aircraft, before expanding its fleet to four 777-200s within three months and 14 by mid-2016.

While exact destinations have yet to be confirmed, the airline is expected to fly to destinations in Australia, New Zealand, the US and Europe.

SILKAIR launched yesterday thrice-weekly Singapore-Bandung services, operated using A319 aircraft with business- and economy-class seating.

Flight frequency will be increased to five-weekly from October 30.

The airline is targeting between 70 per cent and 80 per cent seat load factor on the route, according to SilkAir chief executive Marvin Tan.

Although its airfares are significantly higher than AirAsia – the only other carrier operating Singapore-Bandung services – Tan is optimistic there is a market segment for the airline.

“Not all passengers care only about low cost. There is a market for premium carriers as well,” Tan was quoted by Bisnis Indonesia as saying.

Bandung is SilkAir’s ninth destination in Indonesia and its 37th overall. The airline’s other Indonesian destinations include Balikpapan, Lombok, Manado, Medan, Palembang, Pekanbaru, Solo and Surabaya.

THE RECENTLY-formed Vietnam MICE Club (TTG Asia e-Daily, August 18) has attracted 12 members to-date, and is on track to reach a total of 30 by year-end.

Club members joining its inaugural trade show participation at IT&CMA 2011 in Bangkok last week included Center of Incentive Tours and Events, Rex Hotel Saigon and Furama Resort Danang.

According to Vietnam MICE Club president Gilbert Whelan, the organisation has budgeted to participate in eight trade shows in its first year of operations, including IT&CMA, World Travel Market in the UK, IMEX in Germany, AIME in Australia and EIBTM in Spain.

“Although we are not the official national tourism organisation, we will be presenting our club stand as a country’s pavilion in all the trade shows,” he said.

Whelan added that members had been allowed to participate free-of-charge in two shows—IT&CMA and International Travel Expo in Hong Kong.

Even though the club is aiming to take a proactive approach in promoting Vietnam as a MICE destination, Whelan said he would leave it up to clients which members they preferred to award business to.

“We will focus on the marketing activities only,” he said.

By Sirima Eamtako