JETSTAR Asia reported capacity growth of 46 per cent during the 2011 financial year, as the low-cost carrier continued to grow its network from Singapore.

According to Jetstar Asia, more than 2.7 million people flew with the airline in the 12 months leading up till June 30, 2011, up from 2.2 million the year before.

With most of the new capacity growth coming online in the second half of the year, increased passenger numbers are expected to be fully realised in the next full financial year.

In addition, Jetstar Asia increased its Normalised Profit Before Tax to S$18 million (US$14 million). This contributed to a record result for the Jetstar Group overall, which posted a 29 per cent increase in earnings before interest and tax of A$169 million (US$168. 4 million), and total passenger growth of 14 per cent to 19 million passengers.

Jetstar Asia CEO, Chong Phit Lian, said: “We have achieved both growth and profit for a second year, as well as delivering on our Chinese growth plan and servicing Singapore with first-time access to value-based, longhaul flying.”

“This result provides us the momentum for further growth of the Singapore hub, including a continued focus on China with flights to Ningbo (already launched), and longhaul flights to Beijing starting in November,” she added.

STARWOOD Hotels & Resorts will open The Naka Island, A Luxury Collection Resort & Spa, Phuket, in November this year.

The boutique resort is located on Naka Yai Island, 25 minutes from Phuket International Airport, including a five-minute ride by private speedboat.

The property features 67 450m2 villas with open-air bathrooms, private plunge pools, and sala pavilions.

Each guest on The Naka Island will be able to avail of the services of the Experience Guide – a personal butler, concierge and guest relations officer rolled into one.

Facilities include a spa, a 163m2 multi-function sala pavilion and multiple scenic outdoor locations, while F&B options include an all-day dining restaurant, an open beachside grill house, and a wine cellar and bar.

KOH SAMUI, which welcomed SilkAir’s inaugural service from Singapore today, looks set on receiving more regional flights.

SilkAir chief executive Marvin Tan said the airline is hoping to increase the frequency of its new direct Singapore-Samui service from three flights per week to five from year-end.

Tan said a healthy demand for the route would allow SilkAir to operate at a high load factor from the start, with passengers coming from all markets, both from its own and Singapore Airlines networks.

SilkAir uses an Airbus A319 aircraft on the route.

Bangkok Airways runs its once-daily Singapore-Samui service with the same type of aircraft at a 75 per cent load factor, but did not have enough planes to expand its frequency, said its president, Captain Puttipong Prasarttong-Osoth.

However, the airline will be receiving two new A319 aircraft within the next five months, and it plans to use the expanded fleet to boost access to Koh Samui from other regional markets.

Captain Puttipong said from the next summer timetable, Bangkok Airways would be launching a new daily Samui-Kuala Lumpur service and would also be boosting the Samui-Hong Kong service from one to two flights daily.

Koh Samui is currently served by Bangkok Airways, with about 30 flights daily from domestic and regional destinations and Thai Airways International with two flights daily from Bangkok. From Kuala Lumpur, Firefly Airlines operates four flights per week and Berjaya Air two flights per week.

By Sirima Eamtako

JAPAN Airlines (JAL) and China Eastern Airlines have expanded their codeshare partnership to include all their Sino-Japan networks, with reservations and sales of the new flights beginning today.

From October 8, both JAL and China Eastern will use ‘JL’ and ‘MU’ for all flights between China and Japan for the two carriers.

As a result of the expanded agreement, JAL will add Yantai to its network of 15 cities in China, and China Eastern will add Shizuoka, Okayama and Nagasaki to its network of 12 cities in Japan. Both carriers will have a combined 386 weekly flights on 42 routes between the two countries.

BRISBANE edged out Sydney to win the bid for the International Water Association (IWA) Water Congress in 2016, which is estimated to attract 3,000 delegates and generate A$11 million (US$11.3 million) for Queensland.

The event for the largest global network of water professionals will be held at the Brisbane Convention & Exhibition Centre.

Brisbane Convention and Exhibition Centre general manager, Bob O’Keeffe, said of the win: “This congress provides a great opportunity to increase Brisbane’s international profile as a leading business destination and showcases the city’s capability to host world-class scientific events.”

The congress was last held in Australia 10 years ago.

UTELL Hotels and Resorts has launched a new groups and events service aimed at securing multiple reservations for member hotels.

Promising a level of personalised service that requires less administration time and complexity, the new service will help Utell members maximise revenue opportunities for group bookings.

Utell Groups & Events enables users to select the service they require by completing an online inquiry form outlining their request or by contacting Utell’s global call centre. The form will be available in English, German, Brazilian Portuguese, Spanish, French and Italian on www.utellagent.com, with dedicated language support available globally.

Elaine Kennedy, vice president, global demand sales, Utell Hotels & Resorts, said: “Whilst group bookings present a substantial revenue opportunity for Utell member hotels, it has historically been very difficult to make group bookings on the global distribution systems.”

“By delivering a personalised, international service, we provide the essential human touch required to deal with complex group booking requests in multiple languages,” she added.

The Groups & Events service is being offered with three variations, including (i) group accommodation only, (ii) meeting space and event assistance only, or (iii) a combination of both – group accommodation, detailed meeting requests and event support.

BEST Western International is expanding its presence in Vietnam, with the signing of the new Best Western Premier Indochine Palace in Hue.

Due to open in the fourth quarter, the 222-room hotel is located in the centre of the city, just 20 minutes from the international airport.

The Palace Floors feature lounges administered by butlers, with rooms boasting extended living spaces. The Indochine Club Suites and Celadon floors are essentially a hotel-within-a-hotel, with own check-in and luxury lounge.

Facilities include a swimming pool, a sundeck with cabana day rooms, the restaurants La Brasserie and Le Petit Café, a lobby lounge, a spa and gymnasium, an executive lounge, and 15 function rooms including Le Grand Salon with a capacity of 400 people banquet-style.

OKINAWA has been seeing a steady increase in the number of visitors from mainland China since a new multi-entry visa was launched on July 1 (TTG Asia e-Daily, September 5), and is rolling out a series of initiatives to boost the number further.

Speaking to TTG Asia e-Daily at the Okinawa MICE Project 2011 in Ginowan, Okinawa Convention & Visitors Bureau (OCVB) chairman, Shigenobu Asato, said there were 2,141 mainland Chinese visitors who availed of the new visa from July 1 to August 31.

“Relatively speaking, since it has only been two months since the new visa was launched, we believe it has been successful so far,” said OCVB Chinese market representative Shigema Sachiyo.

The multiple-entry visas are targeted at upper middle-class Chinese FITs, with annual incomes of at least 250,000 yen (US$39,100), as well as their families, who are required to travel to Okinawa on their first visit. They can subsequently visit other Japanese destinations over the next three years for stays of up to 90 consecutive days, although travel must be undertaken with transit via Okinawa.

Besides the visa boon, Asato said he was hoping to leverage on the historical relationship between Okinawa and China to tap mainland Chinese visitors. Promotional material and a website translated into Mandarin are being rolled out to highlight the various products on offer in Okinawa.

Other scheduled promotional initiatives include a fair in Fuzhou from November 5-7, commemorating the 30th anniversary of Naha City and Fuzhou as sister cities, which will feature Okinawan cultural drum dancers and a tourism seminar with suppliers from Okinawa, and a marketing drive in Shanghai from November 18-20, highlighting the various Okinawan product retailers in the Chinese city.

Contributing to the steady increase in mainland Chinese arrivals to Okinawa are direct flights, including four-weekly Shanghai services operated by China Eastern, as well as twice-weekly Beijing services launched by Hainan Airlines on July 28.

According to Sachiyo, additional twice-daily Beijing services are being planned by Chinese flag carrier Air China, while OCVB is looking to start charter flights from Fuzhou to cater to the South-east China outbound market.

Asato said: “All of our direct flights from China are almost always fully booked. We are definitely looking to cater to the increased demand by boosting frequencies and adding new routes, but at the moment, the (international) airport is running at near full capacity and facilities are hard pressed to cater to the increased numbers.”

Meanwhile, Koichiro Toyama, Singapore business development representative, Okinawa Industry Promotion Public Corporation, said the Okinawa government was looking to open a representative office in Beijing, which would add to its existing offices in Shanghai, Taiwan and Hong Kong.

According to Toyama, the government has already appointed a person to manage the office, but is still looking for a suitable venue. “With the new office, it will be easier for Chinese travellers to apply for visas, organise seminars (in Okinawa), and for us to provide tourism information and sell our products to the Chinese market,” he said.

WITH the start of operations of the Lombok International Airport (LIA) on October 1, the West Nusa Tenggara (NTB) provincial government is hoping to establish direct air links between Lombok and Malaysia, Australia, Hong Kong and the Middle East.

NTB regional tourist office head, Lalu Gita Aryadi, said: “We would like to get direct services here. Malaysia is a potential market for us, but air connection has been an issue. Arrivals from Australia have been growing in the last couple of years, but we have been relying on Bali so far. Hong Kong is a hub for us to reach the China, Korea and Japan markets.”

He added that the regional government had plans to do roadshows and promotions in Indonesia and overseas to create awareness for the new airport and destination.

When asked why they were only making an effort recently, Lalu said: “We have been concentrating on pushing the airport authority to open LIA, (as the opening had already been postponed a few times). Once the airport runs, we will start promoting to airlines.”

Lombok’s current airport, Selaparang, will cease operations on September 30. On October 1, all airlines will depart and land at LIA, located in Central Lombok, 40km from Selaparang, according to Lalu, quoting from the announcement made by the Angkasa Pura I airport authority.

Indonesia AirAsia (IAA) said that the airline had plans on flying the Kuala Lumpur-Lombok route four times a week next year.

IAA marketing and distribution director, Widijastoro Nugroho, said: “We have (always) been interested and planned to fly to Lombok as early as two years ago, but the airport opening was postponed and we have deployed the aircraft initially assigned for Lombok to other destinations.”

He added: “Now we need to plan again and wait for the availability of aircraft, probably next year.”

The airlines that currently fly to Lombok are Garuda Indonesia, Lion Air, Batavia Air, Merpati Nusantara Airlines, Wings Air, Travira Air, and SilkAir.

IN A bid to boost its trade show business, Thailand has launched the Next Best Shows marketing campaign, offering monetary support for international exhibitions scheduled in the country over the next three years.

Thailand Convention and Exhibition Bureau (TCEB) president, Akapol Sorasuchart, said a budget of 85 million baht (US$2.7 million) had been set aside to support the three-year campaign, to run from next year to 2014.

The campaign will support qualified trade fairs by matching funds for 50 per cent of total marketing spending in regional markets or during the period that the trade show is held.

To quality, trade fairs must have been held in Thailand thrice before; be committed to continue its next three editions; comprise at least 10 per cent exhibitors and five per cent visitors from overseas; cover at least 40,000m2 of exhibition space; and implement a registration system per the Global Association of the Exhibition Industry’s (UFI) guidelines.

At least 20 shows, like Food and Hotel Thailand, Wire and Tube and Medical Fair, have already been earmarked as potentially qualifying for monetary assistance.

Akapol said the campaign would help TCEB achieve its 75 per cent growth target in the number of MICE visitors, an 87 per cent increase in revenue in 2016, up from this year’s expectations of 720,000 visitors and 56 billion baht receipt.

Based on The Trade Fair Industry of Asia 7th Edition, 2011, as reported by UFI, Thailand’s exhibition industry in 2010 was number one in South-east Asia, with 71 international trade fairs held, US$132.6 million generated and 432,500m2 of exhibition space used.

Singapore ranked second with 80 shows, US$103.4 million revenue and 250,000m2 space used, followed by Malaysia with 49 shows, US$87.34 million revenue and 265,000m2 space used.

By Sirima Eamtako