THAI Airways International (THAI) has reported a three per cent year-on-year increase in forward bookings for both the third and fourth quarters of this year.

The airline’s executive vice president for commercial, Pandit Chanapai, said most advanced bookings for the third quarter were from East Asia, with Japan showing recovery.

Frequency hikes are under consideration for THAI’s Bangkok-Osaka and Bangkok-Beijing routes to meet the higher demand.

Pandit said although forward business from Europe, the airline’s main market, was slow for the current quarter, it was expected to surge in the last three months of the year, when Thailand enters its high season.

THAI carried 17.5 million passengers in 2010, recording a load factor of 73.7 per cent, 0.8 per cent higher than the year before. This year, the carrier operated at an average load factor of 76.1 per cent in the first quarter, and 66.5 per cent in the second quarter.

The airline is expecting its total passenger numbers for the year to grow by three per cent, said Pandit.

By Sirima Eamtako

THE WORLD PCO Alliance has added four new partners to its ranks.

With the addition of ARTION Conferences & Events from Greece, Pioneer Events from Egypt, Meetagain from Sweden, and Talley Management Group from the US, the 19-member alliance now covers all six continents across the globe.

The other PCOs that form the alliance include Eventcorp from Australia, Exclusive South America from Brazil, The Conference Company from South Africa, and Congress Solutions International from the UAE.

Asian representatives include China Star from China, KW Conferences from India, Congress Corporation from Japan, AOS Conventions & Events from Malaysia, Ace:Daytons Direct (International) from Singapore, People-X from South Korea, K & A International from Taiwan, and Creative Destination Management from Thailand,

Its European members are International Conference Services from Denmark, Colloquium Paris from France, and Keynote PCO from Ireland.

ST. REGIS Hotels & Resorts will open in November South China’s first St. Regis Resort, on Hainan Island.

Situated on an 800-metre stretch of Yalong Bay, the St. Regis Sanya Yalong Bay Resort will offer 401 rooms and suites, including 28 beachside villas.

Besides facilities including an Iridium Spa, the property will be the first on the island to offer butler service to all guests.

F&B outlets at the resort include Social, offering international cuisine; The Beachfront Restaurant–Driftwood; contemporary Chinese dining restaurant, Yan Ting; Decanter by Haut-Brisson; and the Drawing Room–Lounge and Bar.

CENTARA Hotels & Resorts will be soft-opening in end-2011 its first property in Khon Kaen, in north-eastern Thailand.

The 196-room Centara Hotel & Convention Centre Khon Kaen, located near the Central Plaza Khon Kaen shopping and lifestyle centre, will be operated by Centara under a management contract.

Chris Bailey, senior vice president for sales and marketing at Centara Hotels & Resorts, said: “The hotel will become the hub for the MICE business in this part of Thailand, a market that is growing, and the hotel is only 15 minutes away from Khon Kaen airport.”

The hotel’s Khon Kaen Convention Hall can hold up to 2,000 attendees seated theatre-style and 2,500 for a reception, while the Prachasamosorn Ballroom has a capacity for 700 persons seated theatre-style and 350 for banquets.

The convention hall has access to an outdoor swimming pool, which is surrounded by a landscaped garden suitable for cocktail receptions and hosted events. There are also six intermediate meeting rooms for breakout sessions or separate functions.

Other facilities include a Spa Cenvaree, a fitness centre, an all-day restaurant offering international and pan-Asian cuisines, a restaurant serving Cantonese cuisine, a British-style pub, a club lounge, a bakery shop and deli, and a lobby lounge.

AIRASIA will be partnering with Japan’s All Nippon Airways (ANA) to launch the first-ever low-cost carrier (LCC) operating out of Tokyo’s Narita Airport.

The new LCC, which will operate as AirAsia Japan, will serve both international and domestic routes. Operations are scheduled to commence in October 2012, subject to regulatory approval.

AirAsia Japan is expected to facilitate connections between Japan and AirAsia’s network in South-east Asia.

AirAsia and ANA’s partnership follows a similar agreement between Japan Airlines and Jetstar Airways earlier this month (TTG e-daily, July 1).

Earlier this year, ANA launched an LCC called Peach, targeted at the Chinese budget travel market and based at Osaka’s Kansai International Airport (TTG e-daily, February 10).

MALAYSIA-based hotel chain Swiss-Garden International will be launching six or seven new properties across Malaysia within the next two to three years. The group is also considering adding a fourth brand to its portfolio of Swiss-Garden, Swiss-Inn and Swiss-Garden Residences properties.

Speaking to TTG Asia e-Daily in Singapore, the company’s newly-appointed group general manager sales & marketing, Francis Lee, said the new properties would be located in destinations such as Malacca, Sabah, Cameron Highlands, Butterworth, Kuantan and near Senai Airport in Johor Bahru.

He said: “For now, our expansion is focused on Malaysia, but if an opportunity to expand overseas presents itself, we will take it. We have a travel lodge in Sydney (Garden-Lodge Sydney), and are, in fact, looking at having properties in Melbourne, Vietnam and China.”

Lee said Swiss-Garden’s expansion was being driven by strong performance and burgeoning demand. “In the first quarter this year, all our hotels enjoyed an average occupancy rate of 80 per cent, and RevPAR grew between eight and 10 per cent. That was largely due to strong support from travel agent partners, corporate clients and online bookings,” he said.

He added: “The Swiss-Garden brand is also fast gaining recognition. Imagine, we opened Swiss-Garden Residences in April, and saw 80 per cent occupancy right away.”

According to Lee, Asian markets make up 50 to 60 per cent of Swiss-Garden’s business. Customers from Australia contribute 20 per cent, and the rest are from Europe.

MALAYSIA Airlines (MAS) chairman Mohd Munir Abdul Majid is leaving when his contract expires at the end of the month. Munir, who has been the national carrier’s chairman since 2004, informed the MAS board of his decision during a meeting yesterday.

“After seven years, I will be stepping down as your chairman when my term ends on 31st July 2011. Allow me to thank you for your support in those years, and to call on you to give that support to my successor,” Munir wrote in a email circulated to colleagues.

“Though I leave, I will continue to follow the developments in Malaysia Airlines with great interest.

“The airline has faced many challenges, some extremely serious, but is still standing.

“However, survival alone is not enough, as the airline can be knocked out by any number of factors,” he added.

MAS is reportedly experiencing a tepid financial year, with operating losses expected at year-end.

Despite leaving, Munir urged airline employees “to commit yourselves to a real transformation of the company and airline to achieve consistently strong performance in the future”.

The chairman’s resignation is the second among top MAS officials this month. Senior general manager (sales and marketing) Bernard Francis submitted his resignation earlier in the month.

No announcement has been made yet regarding Munir’s successor.

PATA Indonesia Chapter (PIC) was relaunched yesterday after being dormant for the past five years.

With new chairman Setyono Djuandi Darmono, president commissary of Borobudur, Prambanan and Ratu Boko Temple Park Management at the helm, PIC has set a target of achieving 20 million arrivals by 2020.

Darmono said: “Indonesia is lagging behind its neighbouring countries in tourism. Seven million arrivals a year are too few for a country as big and as rich in attractions as Indonesia.”

“Therefore, PIC is calling on tourism stakeholders to join hands in supporting the tourism authority to boost arrivals with an annual growth of 15 per cent a year.”

Asked if such a target was not overly ambitious considering arrivals to Indonesia had been increasing by between eight to 10 per cent over the last five years, Darmono said: “A growth rate of 15 per cent is still small for a country like Indonesia, when arrivals are only seven million.”

Darmono added that to entice travellers and airlines to Indonesia, more of the country’s tourism products needed to be developed and promoted.

He said that PIC would be working with the Indonesian Sultanates and Kingdoms Association to develop 100 destinations where the various royal houses have a presence. Local tourism stakeholders will be roped in to develop infrastructure and products, as well as promotional initiatives.

“These royal houses are rich in culture and traditions, which are valuable tourism assets,” he said.

MACAU is pulling out the stops to promote itself to both consumers and the travel trade, as other neighbouring destinations up the ante on their own marketing campaigns.

Between July 14 and 19, the Experience Macau roadshow made various stops across South-east Asia, including Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore and Indonesia. Over 20 representatives from Macau’s tourism sector including airlines, travel agencies, venues and hotels participated in the trip, which was targeted chiefly at the trade.

Charles Leong, general manager, MGTO Singapore, said stiff competition from Singapore’s two integrated resorts was a key challenge for Macau.

“The novelty of (Singapore’s) integrated resorts has diluted some traffic from Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand and to some extent, Hong Kong. However, it is to be seen if the novelty factor will decline with time,” he said.

To compete against neighbouring destinations, Macau is working closely with mainland China authorities as well as the travel trade across East and South-east Asia to develop Macau’s tourism products, infrastructure and manpower.

Ceclia Tse, head of promotion & marketing department, said: “Collaboration and support from governments and the travel trade is vital to Macau’s future tourism development.”

Tse cited Macau’s recent framework agreement with Guangdong province as an example.

The deal, signed on March 7, sealed Guangdong and Macau’s commitment to jointly promote multi-destination tours and devise a mutually beneficial long-term tourism development strategy.

The strategy includes cooperation on a number of joint tourism projects encompassing niche segments such as medical, cruise and cultural tourism, as well as making it easier for Guangdong residents to visit Macau.

A similar pact is being discussed by Macau and Hong Kong.

According to Tse, MGTO’s next round of marketing initiatives will be targeted at key South-east Asian markets including Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore and Indonesia.

The initiatives will focus on promoting Macau’s upcoming large-scale events such as its Grand Prix, the Macau International Fireworks Display Contest and the Macau International Music Festival.

CATHAY Pacific is seeking a fresh take-off to Kolkata, in a development that industry representatives are saying is the biggest move for civil aviation in east India since the low of March 2009, when British Airways made an exit from the city.

Tom Wright, Cathay Pacific’s general manager for India, Middle East, Africa and Pakistan, is believed to have written to the chief minister of Bengal, Mamata Banerjee, seeking “a meeting to explore the possibilities of Cathay Pacific or Hong Kong Dragon Airlines (its sister airline) starting scheduled passenger services from Hong Kong to Kolkata”, according to sources.

Cathay Pacific, which operated flights to Calcutta between 1953 and 1970, presently runs services from Hong Kong to Mumbai, New Delhi, Bangalore and Chennai.

Sources said the airline decided to explore the Kolkata market, based on market research and positive feedback about its business prospects in the region.

In another development, Nayef H. Al-Fayez, managing director of Jordan Tourism Board said: “We will request Royal Jordanian Airlines to look at Kolkata. There is a lot of MICE tourism from east India, but the biggest impediment is the lack of a direct flight to Amman.”

Royal Jordanian operated flights to Kolkata for 18 years till 2006.

Kolkata’s international presence has grown since Hainan Airlines, SilkAir and Qatar Airways launched services from the city last month (TTG Asia e-Daily, June 22).

Emirates, Thai Airways International, Singapore Airlines, Lufthansa, Air Asia, Air India, Jet Airways, Kingfisher Airlines, and some other low-cost carriers already have a strong presence there.

By Sirima Eamtako