THE THAILAND Convention and Exhibition Bureau (TCEB) has awarded Ubon Ratchathani with MICE City status, as part of its plans to stimulate the domestic events industry through the new Believe in Thailand: D-MICE campaign.

This brings the total number of MICE Cities to seven, including Bangkok, Chiang Mai, Songkhla, Chonburi, Pitsanulok and Khon Kaen.

TCEB president Akapol Sorasuchart said a catalogue highlighting MICE facilities and services in the seven cities had been created.

Going forward, Akapol said TCEB would focus on organising buyer-meet-seller events, expanding popular exhibitions to the MICE Cities, and strengthening manpower training, particularly in four key MICE destinations – Phuket, Chiang Mai, Pattaya (Chonburi) and Hat Yat (Songkhla).

According to Akapol, domestic MICE business is expected to almost double from three years ago, to reach 2.5 million delegates and 20 billion baht (US$668 million) in revenue next year.

However, support from the government is currently lacking, with only eight million of the 90 million baht TCEB was seeking for next year’s budget to boost domestic MICE having been approved so far.

By Sirima Eamtako

THE RENOVATION and refurbishment of rooms at the Berjaya Langkawi Resort, which commenced in September 2009, will be completed by July 2012.

Berjaya Hotels & Resorts corporate director marketing & communications, Abel Nelson Nang, said: “When ready, the inventory will reduce from 350 to 341 rooms and suites. In the process, superior and deluxe rooms will be upgraded into rainforest and seaview chalets respectively. In some cases, two superior rooms will be merged into a rainforest studio. More than 100 rooms have already been completed.”

Nang added: “The rooms are the first of a three-stage upgrade to the 70-acre property costing RM40 million (US$14 million). The second stage will involve the junior chalets on water, including an extension of the units, while stage three will focus on the main buildings, reception area and restaurants.”

The property will remain open during the entire renovation process.

“The renovation is being done in phases. Each stage is made up of eight different phases,” Nang said. “Areas where work in ongoing will be cordoned off. Guests are continually updated on ongoing work so that there is minimal disruption to their routines and experiences.”

Rates are expected to be revised upwards following the renovations.

“Our revised rates will bring us closer to the other high-end properties on the island,” Nang said. “Even so, Langkawi still remains very competitive compared to other resorts in neighbouring countries.”

By N. Nithiyananthan

GROUNDED domestic carrier Yangon Airways looks set to return to the skies on October 16, following its suspension by Myanmar’s Department of Civil Aviation last December (TTG Asia e-Daily, August 15).

Yangon Airways’ Aircraft Operation Certificate was reinstated last week, and the carrier has started to accept bookings from today (September 5).

The airline’s spokesperson said it would resume scheduled flights between Yangon and all previous domestic destinations – Nyaung Oo, Mandalay, Heho, Kengtung, Tachileik, Dawei, Myeik, Kawthoung, Thandwe and Sittwe, using its two ATR72 aircraft.

Yangon Airways will rejoin Air Mandalay, Air KBZ, Air Bagan, Asian Wings and state-run Myanma Airways in the domestic airline market.

AN INCREASING number of companies across Asia-Pacific, particularly in China, India, Malaysia and Vietnam, are becoming more aware of their legal obligations to look after the safety and security of employees and their families abroad.

According to Philippe Huinck, regional managing director, South & South-east Asia of International SOS, which provides third-party security, medical and healthcare services, this rise can be partly attributed to the rapid expansion of organisations outside their home country.

“As companies globalise, they look for new markets, hence this results in more business travel and expatriations,” he explained. “As new and emerging markets are relatively unfamiliar grounds, the risks to travellers are higher.”

Huinck said demand for International SOS’s services is mainly from the energy, mining, oil & gas and infrastructure sectors, and that his clients prefer an integrated approach to managing risk, with most opting for a combination of medical and security services.

Political and economic upheavals were the other key factors inciting businesses to ensure that staff travelling overseas on business “received access to timely information, advice and assistance based on their immediate requirements”, he added.

Between January 2010 and January 2011, International SOS experienced a 15 per cent increase in the number of clients worldwide. Its year-on-year revenue growth hit 21 per cent over the same period.

A NEW multiple-entry visa is growing the burgeoning China outbound market for Japan, especially Okinawa.

Since July 1, multiple-entry visas are issued to well-to-do individual Chinese tourists and their families who are required to travel to Okinawa on their first visit. The visas are valid for three years and permit stays of up to 90 consecutive days. This is a boon compared to the usual single-entry, 15-day visa.

Speaking to TTG Asia e-Daily at the Visit Japan Travel Trade Meet in Singapore, JTB Okinawa Corp general manager-inbound, Toshihide Ozaki, said: “We’ve had a lot of enquiries for hotels from FITs since July. Even enquiries for group trips have gone up.”

He pointed that a new twice-weekly flight from Beijing by Hainan Airlines, which began on July 28, was also driving up demand, adding that China Eastern was already operating a four-weekly service from Shanghai.

According to local paper Ryukyu Shimpo, close to 1,000 visas were issued in a month since the change, a 15-fold increase over 50 received last July.

Just a year ago, the Japanese government had taken measures to increase the number of individual visitors from China by reducing the minimum income levels needed to qualify for a visa and expanding the number of offices where visa applications are taken from three to seven.

Evidently, stakeholders interviewed said the Chinese market had been steadily growing for areas such as Hokkaido and Kyushu until the March double disaster.

Hokkaido Tourism Organization assistant promotion section leader, Saori Komuro, said: “Before the tsunami, our fastest growing market was China. There is no significant recovery yet, but it is picking up very fast.”

In the meantime, JTB’s Ozaki said he was also now trying to gun for Chinese MICE, especially from Japanese companies based in Shanghai and Beijing.

INDONESIAN automotive components manufacturer ADR Group has emerged as the winner of Tourism Queensland’s Million Dollar Memo, walking away with A$1 million (US$990,000) worth of Queensland travel incentives.

ADR Group vice-president of International Business Development, Rusman Salem Mustam, came in first among 20 finalists from 11 countries and regions after an eight-day challenge, which spanned a range of destinations and incentive experiences in Queensland (TTG Asia e-Daily, July 7).

Queensland minister for Tourism, Manufacturing and Small Business, Jan Jarratt, said: “Even though only one company could win the A$1 million in Queensland incentive travel, all of our finalists are richer for their experience, and our aim is for them to go home and inspire their company to choose Queensland as their next incentive travel destination.”

Tourism Queensland CEO, Anthony Hayes, said Queensland’s tourism industry would be the ultimate winners of the Million Dollar Memo challenge.

“The Million Dollar Memo has already generated over A$22.5 million in global publicity for Queensland via both Tourism Queensland and the companies themselves,” he said.

“We estimate the campaign message has reached an audience of around five million, including the entrants’ personal contacts, business networks, customers and suppliers.”

CHAN Brothers Travel will be launching its first self-owned retail outlet, featuring its new Chan’s World Holidays brand targeting younger FITs and English-speaking groups (TTG Asia e-Daily, May 19), on September 6.

Located at the Chan Brothers Building on North Bridge Road, the outlet will offer English-speaking package tours to Asia and China, Chinese-speaking package tours to longhaul destinations, seasonal package tours to destinations off the beaten track, as well as Muslim tours.

Aside from these, a selection of 2-to-go package tours to Israel, Turkey, New Zealand, India and other destinations will also be available.

Anthony Chan, group managing director of Chan Brothers Travel, said: “Chan’s World Holidays is a bold initiative we are undertaking, by channeling our resources to grow, renew and reinvent the core business, thereby catering to different segments of the market.”

As part of its opening celebration from September 6 to 11, Chan’s World Holidays will be offering free flights for the second traveller for package tours to Europe, the Arctic and South Korea; 1-for-1 package tours to China; and 50 per cent off the second traveller for package tours to Taiwan, among other promotions.

HOTELS in Myanmar are recording strong forward bookings from all markets for the upcoming high season from October 2011 to March 2012.

Chatrium Hotel Yangon sales and marketing director, May Myat Mon Win, said the hotel had so far recorded a 25 per cent growth in advance bookings for the high season.

The hotel’s occupancy rates for the January-July period had already risen by about 20 per cent year-on-year, she added.

At Shwe In Thar Floating Resort in Inle Lake, forward bookings for the high season were up 20 per cent over last year, with the hotel already fully booked from October to December.

According to Didier Belmonte, general manager of The Strand Yangon, European markets accounted for the majority of high season bookings at his hotel – 2,042, compared to 1,489 during the same period last year.

Belmonte added that guests from Asian markets were showing the sharpest (46 per cent) increase for stays during the peak period – 1,059, compared to last year’s 721.

He said most Asian guests were from Singapore (259, up from 120) and Hong Kong (98, up from 32), but the biggest growth was from Thailand (157, up from a base of zero).

THE THAILAND Convention and Exhibition Bureau (TCEB) is pressing ahead with plans to host a Formula One race in Bangkok.

This is part of TCEB’s strategy to bring high-profile events into the country, including the World Expo 2020 (TTG Asia e-Daily, August 24).

TCEB president Akapol Sorasuchart said an initial feasibility study for hosting the race in Bangkok had been completed, while preliminary discussions with Formula One CEO Bernie Ecclestone in June had yielded promising results.

The only stumbling block left is persuading the Thai government to lend its support. “We plan to propose the event as part of our 2012 budget,” Akapol said, but declined to pin down an exact date for the event.

TCEB is considering a street-racing model for the race, running over a period of three days including practice and qualifying runs, around Ratchadamnoen Avenue in Bangkok’s historical quarter.

The MICE bureau is currently seeking a consultancy firm to study the event’s potential benefits, which include increased tourism spend from parking and docking fees for private jets, helicopters and yachts, hotel stays, and ticket and corporate booth sales, on top of invaluable media exposure.

“If the event can be held as planned, we expect a ticket sell for about 100,000 seats and a total of one million spectators during the period,” Akapol said.

By Sirima Eamtako

BRISBANE-based Strategic Airlines will be rebranded as Air Australia from October 31.

The airline will continue to operate the twice-weekly Melbourne-Phuket and Brisbane-Phuket routes, which it started on February 22 and 24, respectively.

Launched in 2009, the airline also operates Brisbane-Bali, Brisbane-Port Hedland and Perth-Derby services.

The carrier is planning to introduce domestic flights from Melbourne to Brisbane, while international services from Melbourne and Brisbane to Honolulu will commence in December.