CITS Shanghai, through its MICE division, has acquired a stake in Incentive Travel & Conventions, Meetings China (IT&CM China), the pioneer MICE and corporate travel trade show in China, owned and organised by TTG Asia Media and its partner, MP International.

The move marks a new chapter for the five-year-old show, which will leverage on CITS Shanghai’s knowledge and network of the China market to bolster the participation of Chinese buyers and exhibitors.

A hundred industry stakeholders, ranging from hotel representatives to government officials, attended a signing ceremony in Shanghai today.

Darren Ng, managing director, TTG Asia Media, said: “CITS is among the top 100 companies in China, delivering one of the largest domestic and outbound leisure, corporate and MICE business in the country.

“I see the tripartite partnership as taking IT&CM China to a higher plane, as we leverage on the synergies of CITS’ unparalleled access to these buyers and exhibitors, MP International’s operational strength and TTG Asia Media’s foothold on the international front. The fit could not have been better.”

CITS Shanghai, on the other hand, sees MICE and corporate travel as one of the fastest-growing markets in China, and IT&CM China as the “best” platform to engage industry players.

Ike Zhang, general manager – Partner Relations, American Express China of CITS MICE, said: “We hope our involvement will expand the MICE market in China further, thereby growing the pie for everyone. We intend to leverage on our existing relationships with buyers, exhibitors and the government, to help bring the event to the next level, and promote both China MICE inbound and outbound.”

He added: “We are committed to investing in various resources to deliver this promise. For example, new staff who are well-versed in MICE and corporate travel have already been employed and are ready to work the market.”

Earlier, TTG Asia Media committed to moving the show from next year onwards to the Shanghai World Expo Exhibition and Convention Center (TTG Asia e-Daily, April 14). The past five shows have been held at ShanghaiMart Expo, and the size of the event was around 4,000m². The new venue allows for a 50 per cent increase in event space to 6,000m², with an option to increase further to 8,000m².

IT&CM China anchors Shanghai Municipal Tourism Administration’s Shanghai Business Events Week. Next year’s edition, the sixth installment, will be held from April 17-19.

ANGSANA Hotels & Resorts is set to add Mauritius to its growing portfolio of destinations, with the launch of Angsana Balaclava in the fourth quarter of 2011.

Located 15 minutes away from the capital of Port Louis, the five-star boutique resort will be situated along the picturesque Baie aux Tortues or Turtle Bay, famed for its turquoise sea and sandy beaches.

Angsana Balaclava will feature a spa, 49 suites and a four-bedroom villa. The architecture and interior will consist of thatched roofs, rattan wall coverings, as well as stone flooring.

GLOBAL travel management company Radius will receive a multi-million dollar investment from shareholders in Asia-Pacific, Europe, and the Americas. These investors include Cox and Kings from India, UK-based Portman Travel, and Travel and Transport from the US.

The capital infusion will help Radius rescale its infrastructure to meet demand from a 200 per cent growth of their client portfolio over the last three years. Over the last 18 months, leading travel agencies from the Americas, Asia-Pacific and Europe, the Middle East and Africa have joined the network.

Chris Vasiliou, president and CEO of Radius, said: “This investment will allow us to take full advantage of the current market opportunity. Our intention is to add significant global sales and support resources, as well as expand our technology offering and data management and reporting capabilities.”

William H. Tech, CEO of Travel and Transport and chairman of Radius, said: “We will continue to invest in the organisation to improve our services. This recapitalisation is vital to help us achieve our goal to become the world’s leading corporate travel management company for global accounts.”

IN A bid to boost business during and just after the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan, Accor in Indonesia will launch a Ramadan Super Sahur buffet breakfast promotion. This is in addition to discounted room rates at its Indonesian properties.

The promotion, valid from August 1 to September 15, will be available at almost all MGallery, Novotel, Mercure, ibis, and All Seasons properties in the country, with the exception of hotels in Lombok and Bali, where only select properties will provide the package.

The buffet breakfast will be offered at 500 rupiah (US$0.06) per person.

Announcing the initiative at a press conference in Jakarta yesterday, Accor Indonesia director of operations, Michel Vivier, said a pilot campaign conducted last year, within its ibis network in Indonesia, secured more than 40,000 bookings.

“Based on this success, we will launch the programme nationwide at more than 30 hotels across the archipelago, and we are expecting more than 400,000 hotel guests to enjoy the package,” he said.

Accor Malaysia-Indonesia-Singapore regional director, sales, marketing & distribution, Adi Satria, said: “The campaign is unique to Accor, and we are optimistic that the feedback will be positive.”

THE GARUDA Indonesia Pilot Association (APG) is threatening to go on strike if the national carrier refuses to meet its demands for local pilots to have pay equity with their foreign counterparts.

According to APG technical deputy, Isays Sampesule, the strike is scheduled to take place in two week’s time.

A foreign captain working for Garuda can earn up to US$10,200 per month including benefits, while a local captain’s earning power is only about 43 million rupiah (US$5,050) per month.

Garuda’s executive vice president operations, Ari Sapari, said recruting foreign pilots was part of the airline’s plans for expansion.

He explained that Garuda had no choice but to hire foreign pilots, as it took time for trainees to graduate from the local pilot academies and gain the flying time and licenses required.

He added: “The (local) pilots have full employment status, while the foreign ones are on contract, so they are temporarily hired. Therefore, both have different payment schemes.”

Garuda has 700 local pilots and 100 foreign pilots on its payroll.

THE NEWLY-opened Buritara Resort and Spa in Bangkok is looking to boost its business from travel agents and tour operators.

Buritara group CEO, Tite Chinsomboon, said the resort, which opened on June 3 and is located on Rama 9 Road in the heart of Bangkok, was mounting sales missions to build relationships with travel agents and tour operators.

According to Chinsomboon, the property, which features 68 tented glass houses scattered throughout a 1.76-hectare landscaped organic garden and petting zoo, would be able to offer something different from the city’s other four-star accommodation options, most of which are of the high-rise variety.

The resort’s highest building is a two-storey, clubhouse-style bistro, which overlooks a raised pool deck and a man-made lake. For functions, it has a 450-seat event hall, as well as eight 10-pax breakout rooms.

Tite said the resort had been running at about 30 per cent occupancy in its first month of operation, with the majority of bookings coming from walk-ins and its own seven-staff sales team.

“We are now running at an average daily rate of just above 2,000 baht (US$66), but we will eventually be moving towards a standard rate of about 4,000 baht, to reflect our four-and-a-half-star product and service standards,” he added.

Meanwhile, business from local residential meeting groups is growing. Last month, the resort hosted a three-day/two-night meeting for Dhipaya Insurance and Lotus Thailand – the latter has also signed a deal to hold a monthly two-night residential meeting at the property.

By Sirima Eamtako

FIREFLY will start thrice-daily flights between Kuala Lumpur and Langkawi from December 1.

Firefly’s managing director, Eddy Leong, said: “Market research has shown there is good demand for this sector. Thus, we will be utilising our biggest aircraft, a B737-800 with a seating capacity of 189, on the route.”

Leong added: “The flights will depart from Kuala Lumpur International Airport’s main terminal. This is advantageous especially for those passengers arriving to Kuala Lumpur International Airport main terminal on Malaysia Airlines and taking their onward flight to Langkawi on Firefly.”

Firefly also flies twice daily from Subang to Langkawi, and twice daily from Penang to Langkawi using its ATR 72-500 aircraft.

SILKAIR will be launching thrice-weekly direct services to Koh Samui, its third Thai destination after Phuket and Chiang Mai, from September 27.

SilkAir will be using Airbus A319 aircraft on the Singapore-Samui route. It will also offer evening flights through Bangkok Airways’ once-daily service, using the same aircraft type.

Bangkok Airways senior vice president for network management, Peter Wiesner, said the codeshare agreement with SilkAir would allow it to drive traffic into Koh Samui from both Singapore and longhaul destinations connecting via Changi International Airport.

The bulk of Koh Samui’s traffic is from Bangkok through direct daily services on Bangkok Airways and Thai Airways International. The island also receives traffic from Hong Kong through a direct Bangkok Airways flight, and from Kuala Lumur on Berjaya Air and Firefly.

Meanwhile, SilkAir and Bangkok Airways also codeshare on SilkAir’s Singapore-Chiang Mai and Singapore-Phuket routes, as well as Bangkok Airways’ Bangkok-Samui, Samui-Phuket and Chiang Mai-Samui services.

INDIGO Airlines, which is poised to launch international operations to Dubai, Bangkok and Singapore from September 1 (TTG Asia e-Daily, June 15), is in no hurry to add more destinations to its international portfolio.

Instead, the indian low-cost carrier (LCC) prefers to explore the potential of the first three and concentrate on boosting frequencies, according to its president, Aditya Ghosh.

For the Singapore market, IndiGo will initially offer services to Delhi (starting September 15) and Mumbai, with Chennai and Bangalore to follow by end-2011 or early 2012.

IndiGo sets itself apart from other LCCs in offering low fares over a sustained period of time. Its introductory offer of S$276 (US$225) all-in return fare between Singapore and Delhi is expected to last for months.

Besides direct bookings on its website, which delivers about 35 percent of all business, IndiGo also facilitates bookings by travel agents who register on the website.

Jacqui Walshe, managing director of The Walshe Group, IndiGo’s GSA in Singapore, said: “Travel agents are a valuable distribution channel for us, and we will strive to facilitate their bookings.”

LION Air will deploy reserve aircraft to certain airports, and increase aircraft ground time in an effort to improve its punctuality.

Lion Air general affairs director, Edward Sirait, said: “Having reserve aircraft in a number of airports will enable quick replacement if and when an aircraft is out of order, or when there is an arrival delay from the previous departing point.”

He added: “Extended ground time will allow better checking-in, baggage and ground-handling processes.”

Lion Air and sister company Wings Air, which together serve 63 Indonesian and seven regional and international destinations, have been experiencing problems with aircraft punctuality of late.

The airline recently received a warning from the Indonesian Ministry of Transportation, following a five-hour flight delay at Hasanuddin Airport in Makassar, which left passengers stranded at the airport in the middle of the night.

The airline has also been on the receiving end of negative feedback due to repeated delays.

Director General of Air Transportation, Herry Bakti Gumay, warned that if the delays continue to occur, the government would be forced to reduce the airline’s flight frequencies.