LEADING Spanish longhaul tour operator Nobeltours has been forced to stop selling packages to China after its inbound partners there refused to work with them any further.

Other operators have since been picking up the company’s bookings for China, during what is traditionally Spain’s busiest travel period.

One of Nobeltours’ local rivals, Catai, said they had already taken on 200 of the company’s China clients, and that more destinations were now being affected.

Nobeltours, which owns the Indoriente brand, has been operating for more than 25 years and was one of the pioneers in setting up longhaul packages from the country.

The Barcelona-based travel agents’ association, Unió Catalana d’Agències de Viatges Emissores, said seven of its members had been experiencing problems with Nobeltours of late.

Another Catalonia-based travel agent body, Asociación Catalana de Agencias de Viajes, said: “If they don’t clarify quickly what is happening in China, the effects could get worse.”

One agent said they had received an e-mail from Nobeltours explaining that the company was experiencing “ a critical economic situation” and could not guarantee ground services in China because of “serious problems” with their agents.

Spanish travel website, Hosteltur, has reported that Nobeltours’ problems began when they accumulated a debt of 200,000 euros (US288,000) with their China agents.

Although this debt has since been paid off, the agents demanded a deposit of 100,000 euros to keep working for Nobeltours.

When Nobeltours refused, the agents dropped them, and Nobeltours was forced to pass its clients on to rival operators.

THE THAILAND Convention and Exhibition Bureau (TCEB) kicked off last week its World Expo 2020: Believe in Thailand campaign to raise awareness and support for the country’s bid to host the event (TTG Asia e-Daily, June 20).

TCEB president, Akapol Sorasuchart, said Thailand would be competing against Turkey – the first country to tender the bid – and Russia, which was expected to table its bid before November 2.

The Bureau International des Expositions (BIE), the umbrella organization supervising international exhibitions, is slated to reveal the bidding result in June 2013.

If awarded host country status, Akapol said Thailand would spend some 31 billion baht on infrastructure and facility development to host the event in Ayuthaya’s Bangsai District, some 30 minutes by car from Bangkok’s city centre.

TCEB has spent about 50 million baht on the World Expo 2020 marketing and publicity campaign to date, after first stating its intention to bid for the event in late-2009.

By Sirima Eamtako

PANORAMA Destination has opened an office in Makassar, South Sulawesi and will soon open another in Labuan Bajo, East Nusa Tenggara. The expansion is to meet the growing inbound numbers to destinations beyond Java and Bali.

Panorama Destination managing director, Rocky Praputranto, said: “We used to have local agents in the destinations to handle our clients, but with the growing number of tourists to areas like Sulawesi, Kalimantan and Nusa Tenggara, we feel the need to have our presence there.”

According to Praputranto, improved accessibility and infrastructure, as well as growing awareness on the impact of tourism on the local economy, had resulted in burgeoning demand for tours outside of Java and Bali.

“The domestic networks of Indonesian airlines have improved a lot (compared to five to ten years ago), accommodation facilities are better in terms of quality and number of rooms,” he said.

“Besides, with more airlines connecting the secondary destinations to regional hubs like Singapore and Malaysia, visitors now have a greater variety of overland tours.”

With the launch of Garuda Indonesia’s Singapore-Makassar flights last month, travellers planning to visit Sulawesi no longer need to fly to Jakarta to catch a domestic connection to Makassar, Praputranto said.

Similarly, demand for Komodo Island has been on the rise over the last couple of years, prompting Panorama Destination to open the office in Labuan Bajo, which is the gateway to the island.

“Apart from Komodo, our office in Labuan Bajo will redevelop the Trans Flores and other East Nusa Tenggara islands, which were very popular in the 1990s among the European market,” he said.

MYANMAR recorded a 40 per cent year-on-year increase in the number of independent foreign visitors over the first half of 2011. The rise in FIT arrivals has raised concerns among tour operators selling packaged tours.

Of the 172,244 arrivals recorded between January and June, only 5,525 came on group packages, down more than 60 per cent over the same period last year, according to data from the Ministry of Hotels and Tourism.

Seven Star Tours managing partner, Phyu Phyu Mar, said the company currently handled more FITs, who book flights and hotels rather than complete tour packages. The fluctuations in local exchange rate were among a number of reasons discouraging tourists from buying package tours, she explained.

A Yangon-based tour operator said hotel room rates were likely to jump by between 15 to 25 per cent, while most domestic airlines would hike fares by 10 per cent – or even higher for some remote destinations – during the upcoming high season from October to March.

Former Union of Myanmar Travel Association secretary, Hpone Thant, said group tour numbers could easily bounce back if tour operators designed more “interactive” packages and marketed them effectively”.

MALAYSIA Airlines (MAS) and AirAsia reported contrasting figures for their second quarter financial results ended June 30, 2011.

MAS recorded a second consecutive quarter of losses. Its RM526.7 million net loss for the quarter was more than double its RM242.3 million loss in 1Q2011. Revenue as of June 2011 was higher by 8.7 per cent at RM3.49 billion, compared to RM3.21 billion a year ago.

In a statement, MAS said the Board did not anticipate making a profit for the second half of 2011, although the expected losses would not be as severe as for the first half of 2011.

MAS is anticipating its forward bookings to Europe, the US and Japan markets to pose a challenge, while a normal trend was expected for regional destinations.

MAS will continue with its fleet renewal exercise. Following the delivery of five new Boeing 737-800s and five new Airbus A330-300s as of mid-August, there remains a firm order for 38 737-800s, 10 A330s, six A380s and two A330 freighters.

In comparison, AirAsia increased its revenue by 15 per cent year-on-year to RM1.1 billion for 2Q2011. Its profit before tax of RM145.0 million was up 0.6 per cent year-on-year. However, net profit fell by 48 per cent to RM104.3 million, from RM198.9 million a year ago, in the face of rising fuel prices and costs, as well as economic uncertainty.

In a statement, AirAsia Group CEO, Tony Fernandes, said: “The second quarter is traditionally one of our weaker quarters. But despite the challenging environment in the industry…, we’ve grown revenues, our cash balance is a healthy RM1.9 billion, and our gearing level has been reduced to 1.48 times as compared to 2.27 times a year ago.”

AirAsia’s revenue from ancillary services in Malaysia increased by 15 per cent year-on-year, amounting to an income of RM50 per passenger.

By N. Nithiyananthan

HOTEL Muse, a member of Accor’s MGallery Collection, is scheduled to open on September 15, and will compete in Bangkok’s luxury segment.

The hotel’s general manager, Bodo Klingenberg, said the property, which cost one billion baht (US$33.5 million) to build, would target corporate guests and high-end leisure travellers.

He said the hotel activated its online reservation system last week, offering introductory rates starting from 5,555 baht net per room per night, including daily breakfast. “We have already received some bookings, and the booking pace keeps growing,” he said.

Developed by Thailand-based Fico Corporation, the hotel is located in the heart of Bangkok on Langsuan Road, home to a slew of serviced residences, and within walking distance of the Chid Lom BTS Skytrain station.

Hotel Muse is Fico’s fifth property under Accor management. The other hotels are the Novotel Bangkok Fenix Ploenchit, Novotel Bangkok Fenix Silom, Mercure Samui Fenix Resort and Le Fenix Bangkok Sukhumvit.

By Sirima Eamtako

GARUDA Indonesia is expecting revenue of up to 400 billion rupiah (US$47 million) over the two-week Hari Raya holiday season.

The Indonesian flag carrier has bumped up capacity to meet the anticipated demand hike (TTG Asia e-Daily, August 12), adding 24,930 seats through 99 extra flights and operating bigger aircraft.

Garuda president and CEO, Emirsyah Satar, said: “The number of passengers during the period of one week before and one week after Hari Raya (August 30-31) will increase by 25 per cent. Therefore, we have increased the frequency and will use bigger aircraft (on some routes).”

Together with regular services, Garuda is allotting a total of 891,697 seats for this year’s Hari Raya, a 24 per cent increase over last year’s 715,255.

Among the biggest number of extra services are Jakarta-Denpasar (36 extra flights) and Jakarta-Singapore (30 extra flights).

ASTON International is planning to add 22 new properties to its two-star Favehotel network in Indonesia and Malaysia. The move will make Favehotels the largest budget hotel chain in the region, with a portfolio of 25 properties by 2012.

The new hotel projects will add 3,280 keys to the group’s hotel network, with several destinations such as Jakarta, Jogjakarta and Bali seeing multiple Favehotel developments simultaneously.

Aston International vice president sales and marketing, Norbert Vas, said: “The select service hotel business is all about distribution, brand awareness and consistency. The more Favehotels we open, the better for each one of them and the better for our brand-loyal guests.”

Some of the locations Aston is looking to expand in are Wahid Hasyim, Sunter, Melawai, Menteng, Thamrin, and Wolter Monginsidi in Jakarta; Timoho, Kusumanegara, Cendrawasih in Jogjakarta; and By Pass, Umalas, Seminyak, Legian, Kuta Galeria, Kuta Square, and Gatot Subroto in Bali.

Bandung, Bogor, Langkawi, Malang, Medan, Pekanbaru, Solo and Tangerang are also on the agenda.

THE INDONESIAN Ministry of Transportation is planning to increase the compensation limit for deaths caused by plane accidents from 200 million rupiah (US$23,500) to 1.2 billion rupiah per person.

Minister of Transportation, Freddy Numberi, was quoted by Bisnis Indonesia as saying that the increment was to bring Indonesian carriers in line with international compensation standards, which can reach US$100,000 per person on average.

Numberi said airlines would have to absorb the heightened insurance premium, which is on top of the state-owned Jasa Raharja insurance already incorporated in ticket prices.

Meanwhile, Numberi is due to issue a ministerial decree on the Responsibility of Air Transportation Operators, which will stipulate that airlines have to extend their insurance policies to cover delays in compensation.

UTELL Hotels & Resorts has expanded its international portfolio, adding more than 10,000 rooms in June, including several five-star and major destination properties.

More than 40 per cent of Utell’s June growth occured in Asia-Pacific, with more than 20 per cent of the growth resulting from new five-star properties.

In the region, there were new member hotels in Tokyo, Mumbai, New Delhi, Shanghai, Beijing and Singapore, among others.

Important additions include three Constellation Hotels in Australia, two Jinling Hotels and seven Zhejiang New Century Hotel Management Company properties in China, and four Avenues World properties in India.

Fulfilling expected additions to the Utell portfolio from previously announced agreements, five Japan Ryokan properties joined, and another Seekda hotel was added to the portfolio in Japan.