THE TOURISM Authority of Thailand (TAT) will be launching a new marketing campaign targeting couples planning to tie the knot overseas, as part of plans to entice the India outbound market.

TAT’s intentions were first announced at a media briefing at PATA Travel Mart 2011 in New Delhi.

A promotional wedding package, which is being offered jointly with Thai Airways, will run from October 1 to December 31. Couples who book economy air tickets directly with Thai Airways for themselves and their wedding party to Thailand will receive a free upgrade to business class. Elephants, drummers and dancers will welcome the couple and their guests upon initial arrival at the hotel. This offer is limited to the first 50 couples, on a first come, first served basis.

Sethaphan Buddhani, director based in TAT’s Mumbai office, said the Thai national tourism body had organised a series of fam trips for Indian wedding planners to Bangkok, Hua Hin, Phuket, Krabi and Chiangmai over the last two years.

The TAT is also in discussions with the Royal Thai Customs department to address the issue of import taxes levied on Indian couples bringing in their wedding jewellery. A solution is yet to be finalised, but the problem will be resolved sooner rather than later, said Buddhani, adding that this would persuade more Indian couples to hold their weddings in Thailand, which he believes costs “only a third of what is normally forked out in India”.

According to Buddhani, Indian weddings in Thailand last for a minimum of three days, and in some instances, up to 1,000 guests are invited.

He added that TAT Mumbai branch handled 11 weddings in 2010, but was unable to provide exact figures for the New Delhi office. Nonetheless, he suggested that New Delhi often handled significantly higher volumes than the Mumbai branch.

A press release published by TAT in June revealed that over 100 large-scale Indian weddings were organised in Thailand last year. “We hope to increase the number of Indian weddings by 15 per cent year-on-year by the end of 2011,” Buddhani said.

VISIT Berlin is strengthening its tourism marketing efforts in Asia through cooperation with the regional travel trade and airlines, and is positioning the German capital as the gateway to central Europe.

According to Visit Berlin sales director, Ralf Ostendorf, the destination marketing agency started promotions in India three years ago in a joint-effort with other German cities, and began this year its online strategy in China through the local travel trade.

“We now plan to attract more visitor numbers from Vietnam, Thailand and Indonesia,” he said, noting that arrival figures from these markets were small at present.

Although there is no specific marketing campaign, Visit Berlin’s strategy for its push in Asia includes the positioning of the German capital as the gateway to Hungary, the Czech Republic and Austria.

This position will be further strengthened when the new Capital Airport Berlin Brandenburg International, with a total annual capacity of 27 million passengers, opens in June next year.

Ostendorf added that Berlin was a destination for all seasons, with music and street festivals being held in the city throughout the year.

Last year, 88 airlines operated via Berlin to 171 destinations, including 127 European cities. The German capital is also connected to longhaul destinations such as New York, Bangkok, Phuket, Beijing, Doha, Dubai, Miami and Mombasa.

By Sirima Eamtako

THE INDONESIA government has gazetted a 1,200-hectare area in Mandalika, southern Lombok as National Tourism Special Economic Territory, as part of plans to develop tourism infrastructure in West Nusa Tenggara province.

The move precipitates the implementation of the Master Plan on Acceleration and Expansion of the Indonesian Economic Development 2011-2023, where Bali, West Nusa Tenggara and East Nusa Tenggara provinces have been grouped under the national tourism and food support corridor.

Meanwhile, the new Lombok International Airport (LIA), which is expected to start operations on October 1, will be the main catalyst for tourism and economic progress in West Nusa Tenggara, according to coordinating minister for the economy, Hatta Rajasa.

The minister, who visited the airport development project last weekend, was quoted by Antara News Agency as saying: “(The development of) Lombok International Airport will (foster) West Nusa Tenggara to become a new special economic growth area and an international tourist destination at the same time.”

Panorama Destination managing director, Rocky Praputranto, said: “The government should shout to the world about the new facilities, entice airlines to fly to Lombok, and optimise the investment made.”

TransNusa Airlines CEO, Juvenile Jodjana, said: “The opening of the airport will not only benefit Lombok but also East Nusa Tenggara, which (consists of many islands and) relies a lot on air transportation.

NEXT year’s PATA Travel Mart is scheduled to take place September 25-28 at the SMX Convention Center in Manila (TTG Asia e-Daily, December 23, 2011), where the very first edition of the event was held back in 1978.

The inaugural event saw just over 300 delegates in attendance, a far cry from the current 1,000 plus participants.

Daniel Corpuz, undersecretary for tourism promotions and planning of the Philippines’ Department of Tourism, said that PATA holding the mart in Manila was a “strong indication of the region’s business confidence in the Philippines”.

Corpuz added: “With the current growing private sector investment in tourism facilities development throughout the Philippines, there is no better time to see the new products, convention facilities and other tourism infrastructure in place since the last time we hosted a big PATA event there.”

LAMA Desert Tourism, one of the largest inbound operators in the UAE, launched on September 1 its Lama Connect global hotel reservation system.

This new online booking engine is connected directly to the back-end systems of individual hotels, enabling users to receive live availability.

Speaking to TTG Asia e-Daily at PATA Travel Mart last week, R G Singh, the sales manager for North India at Lama, said response had “been good so far”, although he declined to give specific details.

Singh said that would be targeting the Indian, Chinese, Russian and Gulf travel trade through a series of roadshows, showcasing various properties in the UAE as well as London, over the next eight months.

MALAYSIA’S Amir-Husin Holidays, which has seen good interest in China as a hotspot for ski holidays, is now planning to market the destination to corporate incentive groups during China’s winter months.

Speaking to TTG Asia e-Daily at PATA Travel Mart last week, the agency’s managing director, Amir Omar, said: “Few people know that there are good ski resorts in China. Beijing Nanshan Ski Village has been a popular option for my travellers, as it is the biggest ski resort in Beijing and located only an hour from Beijing city centre. The other option is the Beijing Rose Valley Ski Resort.”

Omar added: “Beijing offers travellers a cheaper alternative to ski resorts in farther winter destinations. A five-day ski holiday in Beijing costs only US$1,000, inclusive of accommodation, meals and flight. Plus, Beijing is not that far away, so travellers save on travelling time.”

Amir-Husin Holidays sent almost 400 leisure travellers to Beijing’s ski resorts last year, a number Amir is confident of growing through corporate incentive group bookings.

“The only downside is that these resorts do not have enough guestrooms for large groups. We have to house the group in hotels in Beijing and transfer them to the ski resorts,” he said.

SRI LANKA-based John Keells Holdings (JKH) is launching a new 240-room business hotel in Colombo, as part of its plans to restore the business travel segment in the capital.

JKH and construction firm Sanken Lanka are jointly setting up the three-star property, with the former due to manage the property.

“We are setting up a no-frills hotel for the business traveller,” said JKH deputy chairman Ajit Gunawardene, adding that Sri Lanka had a lot of catching up to do in the business travel accommodation sector.

Gunawardene said Colombo had only 3,200 rooms capable of hosting business travellers, compared to a destination like Kuala Lumpur, which has some 35,000 keys. “The demand for business rooms will grow, and JKH is looking at creating 1,000 rooms in the capital in this accommodation segment,” he said.

Although most of the hotels in Colombo were set up in the 1980s for business travellers, this travel segment subsequently dried up due to the civil war, which ended in 2009.

Shiromal Cooray, managing director of Jetwing Travels, said the demand for business hotels would grow. “We may soon see more no-frills hotels where business travellers are happy with a basic, comfortable room,” she said.

THE TAIWAN Tourism Bureau (TTB) has begun issuing fines this week to Taiwan FamilyMart and China Travel Service (Macao) for offering a visa service that violates several travel industry regulations.

The two companies launched on August 23 a jointly-run visa service for Taiwanese travellers to China, allowing them to extend their Taiwan Compatriot Entry Permits at any of FamilyMart’s 2,800 locations in Taiwan (TTG Asia e-Daily, August 29). FamilyMart collects applications and fees at its stores, and delivers them to China Travel Service for processing. Later, customers pick up their entry permits at the same store.

Taiwan-based travel agents immediately questioned the service’s legality and complained about its price, NT$499 (US$16.80) per application, roughly NT$200 less than a similar service provided by travel agents.

FamilyMart is not a licensed travel agent, and even though China Travel Service is, it is not allowed to process documents collected by a non-travel entity, according to Taiwan’s Regulations for the Administration of Travel Agents, which stipulates that “A travel agent may not establish a branch institution in a name other than that of the parent, nor may it allow partners or non-travel companies to operate a travel business under its name”.

TTB’s deputy director of hotel, travel and training, Alice Chen, said the service was deceptive. “China Travel Service does the document processing, but FamilyMart is the one that is promoting it. Consumers don’t know this,” she said.

TTB said it would levy a NT$90,000 fine against FamilyMart for each violation, and likewise a NT$50,000 fine against China Travel Service.

FamilyMart spokesperson, Sean Yang, said: “TTB called a meeting with us last week, and asked us to explain how our service does not violate the law.”

FamilyMart is expecting a formal warning letter from TTB based on that meeting, according to Yang. “After we receive this letter, we will discuss it with our lawyer and decide whether or not to continue the service,” he said.

By Glenn Smith

TOURISM Australia is taking the next few months to map out a 10-year strategic plan targeting the Indian market, which will focus on a number of topics including branding and distribution.

Speaking to TTG Asia e-Daily at PATA Travel Mart last week, Tourism Australia managing director, Andrew McEvoy, said the structure of the 10-year India plan would follow that of the board’s China 2020 Strategic Plan, which was launched in June 2010.

“We have been told that we are not active enough in our marketing in India, and that’s true, so branding is one of the key things the 10-year plan will look at,” McEvoy said.

“We will also increase our number of Aussie Specialist Agents in India. This year we had 2,500 agents in India signing up for the programme, but only 650 were qualified.”

McEvoy pointed out that India held great potential as a source market, with a 200 per cent growth in arrivals projected by 2020. India is expected to generate over 300,000 visitors and A$2.4 billion (US$2.5 billion) in tourism earnings for Australia within 10 years.

“India has shown strong growth despite limited direct services,” McEvoy said. “All flights from India to Australia are serviced through other ports such as Singapore and Kuala Lumpur, but Australian airports are very competitive and are keen to see new tails into our country.”

Currently, Qantas is the only carrier flying direct services from Mumbai to Brisbane, via Singapore.

MALAYSIA Airlines (MAS) Chairman, Md Nor Yusof, last Friday expressed disappointment about the threat of industrial action from the national carrier’s unions over its proposed collaboration with AirAsia (TTG Asia-eDaily, August 10).

In an internal circular to MAS employees, Md Nor, said: “I would like to clarify that we are not in a trade dispute in relation to the Comprehensive Collaboration Framework (CCF) which is a management, board and shareholder matter done in the best interests of the Company.”

According to Md Nor, MAS had had several engagements with the unions on the CCF. “Nonetheless, I have always placed the employees’ interest at the forefront of all business decisions. I have and will continue to constantly engage all employees,” Md Nor said.

“I am working tirelessly towards firming up the details of the collaboration and will announce them officially, subject to regulatory approvals, at the appropriate time,” he added.

The threat of industrial action had come last Thursday from employees belonging to Malaysia Airlines System Employees Union of Peninsular Malaysia (MASEU), Air Workers Union Sarawak (AWUS) and Air Transport Workers Union Sabah (ATWUS), which together represent more than 15,000 workers.

Warning that the national airline would lose out in the long run if it pulled out of the profitable low-cost sector, the unions said they would stage a picket if the deal between MAS and AirAsia went through.

By N. Nithiyananthan