THAILAND-based airlines are offering to rebook or refund passengers scheduled to travel during the current flood crisis.

Thai Airways International has announced that all tickets issued on or before October 28 on its website, ticketing offices and travel agents in Thailand, with the travel period from October 1 to December 15, can be changed with no additional fees. However, the national carrier said the new travel date must occur by December 31, and changes must be made by November 30.

Bangkok Airways, Nok Air and Orient Thai Airlines are also offering passengers a full refund or a rebooking at no extra charge, if they are scheduled to travel between October and November 15.

Bangkok Airways said passengers travelling within Thailand between October 14 and November 15 can rebook a new travel date before December 15. Unused and non-refundable tickets issued by the airline, booked through their website, or issued by agents can also be fully refunded.

Nok Air, now operating between Suvarnabhumi Airport and nine Thai destinations, will be adding six more destinations from tomorrow. It is also offering a full refund for unused tickets, provided travel takes place before November 15.

Orient Thai Airlines, which also relocated its operations from Don Muang Airport to Suvarnabhumi Airport, said it would allow passengers scheduled to travel by November 15 to rebook up until December 15, at no extra charge.

Meanwhile, the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) has issued an update, clarifying that the flooding is mainly affecting central provinces along the Chao Phraya River, including Bangkok and Ayutthaya.

Other popular tourist destinations in the central region, including Pattaya, Hua Hin, Kanchanaburi and Ko Chang, have not been affected by the floods. Provinces in the south of Thailand have also been spared.

TAT reiterated that Suvarnabhumi Airport, the main gateway to Thailand, remains open and is operating normally, handling 76 flights per hour.

According to the authority, the BTS Skytrain and MRT subway services are operating normally, while taxis and tuk tuks are operating on a limited basis. On the other hand, many bus routes have been rerouted or suspended due to the flooding. Express boat services on the Chao Phraya River have also been suspended.

TTG Asia Media has launched TTG China e-Daily, a free Chinese-language daily news email service for travel professionals in the Greater China region.

Published by the TTG China team, which introduced the first travel agent newspaper for Chinese-speaking industry professionals in China, Hong Kong, Taiwan and Macau, TTG China e-Daily will be sent to over 30,000 travel professionals throughout the Greater China region from Monday to Friday.

Similar to its English-language counterpart, TTG Asia e-Daily, TTG China e-Daily will provide short summaries of breaking travel news stories of the day, with links to the TTG China website (www.ttgchina.com) for full stories.

To complement the launch, the TTG China website has also been revamped, and now includes sections such as Top Stories, Viewpoint, Tourism Data, Agent Talk, Case Study, Hot Moves and Hot Jobs, and Hot Deals, offering incisive analysis, key statistics, useful summaries and special trade promotions.

Darren Ng, managing director of TTG Asia Media, said: “TTG China e-Daily and the revamped TTG China website offer travel professionals in the Greater China region the relevant information they need to make key business decisions both domestically and abroad.”

“The travel industry can now enjoy timely and reliable travel updates on a daily basis from the most sought-after Chinese-language travel news title in the region.”

From November, readers of the monthly TTG China print publication will also be able to access the newspaper on the go with TTG China DIGITAL. This electronic flipbook version of the print edition will be available on online, desktop and mobile platforms.

Chinese-speaking travel professionals are invited to subscribe to TTG China e-Daily at www.ttgchina.com. A contest that rewards one lucky subscriber every month from November 2011 through February 2012 is also underway. Prizes include two-night stays at the following Hong Kong-based hotels: Hyatt Regency Tsim Sha Tsui, Hotel ICON, Le Meridien Cyberport and The Mira.

SIX finalists are vying for PATA Singapore Chapter’s search for the most productive practice this year.

The six finalists, picked from 58 companies, are Mandarin Orchard Singapore, Fairmont Singapore, Dynasty Travel International, International Paradise Connexions Tours & Travel, Adrenalin Events & Education and Vital Shared Services (a department under Singapore’s finance ministry).

This is the second year the chapter is organising the competition, and this year’s challenge becomes more relevant in light of “tightening labour market conditions and economic uncertainties”, according to organisers.

The “Our Productivity Story” competition comprises three phases: essay submissions, seminar presentation and online video voting.

This year roped in 20 per cent more participants than last year.

The six finalists presented their productivity initiatives to a panel of judges at a tourism industry productivity seminar jointly organised by the PATA chapter and the Singapore Workforce Development Agency (WDA) as part of the competition.

They are producing a short video on their productivity stories which will be posted on YouTube. The public may vote for the best story from November 14 to 30. The votes would contribute to half of the competition’s final results which would be announced during the annual Tourism Ball on December 3.

“I am encouraged to see the high quality of the finalists’ entries and the diversity of the productivity initiatives the participants of the competition had rolled out to improve their business competitiveness,” said Dr Robin Yap, chairman of activities, PATA Singapore Chapter.

THE MARRIAGE between the creative economy and tourism sectors under Indonesia’s newly-established ministry would create synergies that enable the destination to better sell itself.

Speaking at her first media briefing on Wednesday since being appointed Minister of Tourism and Creative Economy, Dr Mari Eka Pangestu said: “The creative industry has big potential to play a nation-branding role, which in turn will develop tourism.”

She referred to the positive effects brought about by homegrown luxury brand Bagteria, used by a world trendsetter like Paris Hilton, and La Glacon, a locally-designed Spring collection chosen by Lady Gaga for her US’ Harper’s Bazaar photo sessions.

“A number of cities in Indonesia, such as Bali, Batam and Solo, have actually used local creative products to boost (tourism).

“Pekalongan and Solo in Central Java are capitals of the batik industry. We can then form a corridor connecting these cities, package them and promote them for tourism,” Dr Mari said.

“The tourism sector is a consumer of various creative products from different industries,” she added, citing souvenirs as an example.

“Similarly in the film industry, being a venue for filmmaking is also part of nation branding,” Dr Mari said, adding that she expected more movies to be shot in Indonesia, following the success of Eat, Pray, Love and The Philosophers.

The Ministry is currently working on a roadmap stretching to 2014, which will include developing creative zones and corridors. It is scheduled to be ready by year-end.

IN OUR online article dated September 15, 2011, on Kuoni Travel Group appointing Abacus International as its distribution service provider, we quoted Ashwini Kakkar, executive vice chairman of Mercury Travels India, as saying “Kuoni had made the right move given the fast-evolving distribution landscape in India”. In fact, Kakkar did not say this.

Kakkar agreed to speak at the Abacus event only after repeated requests from Abacus, multiple assurances about neutrality, and on the condition he spoke only about “top industry trends”.

His speech was erroneously linked to Kuoni’s decision to appoint Abacus, when in fact he spoke in general about “top industry trends”.

We also failed to highlight the chain of events between Kuoni, HRG, DNATA and the erstwhile SITA which led to the GDS change to Abacus from Travelport.

All the travel companies where Kakkar is personally a stakeholder use the Galileo GDS of Travelport and, specifically in the case of Mercury Travels, the company is in the process of renewing its agreements with Galileo.

THE MOOD surrounding India’s festive season has been dampened by recent travel advisories issued by the US, UK, Canada, Australia and New Zealand, with these countries warning against terror threats.

Indian tourism minister Subodh Kant Sahai has called the advisories “scaremongering”, while inbound operators TTG Asia e-Daily spoke to were worried, but have not seen any cancellations so far.

However, they said the advisories could generate unnecessary concern among foreign tourists, pushing down the number of arrivals in what are usually the high-season winter months.

Arjun Sharma, managing director, Le Passage to India, said: “It is surprising that in the absence of any real or perceived terror threat, several governments have issued such irresponsible advisories as it impacts the livelihood of so many people employed by the industry; in fact it can affect the economy.

“I am happy that our tourism ministry has reacted vociferously against this move and hope they will be able to influence these countries to withdraw. Or else we may see a fall in winter bookings.”

Rakesh Ramnani, director – leisure of Vensimal World Travel, said: “This kind of panic is unfounded, and may lead tourists to choose Thailand or China as alternative destinations”.

Inbound travel to India grew 10 per cent year-on-year from January to August, compared to 3.4 million arrivals in 2010. The US and UK are key source markets for India for both leisure and business travellers.