STARTING July 1, Hong Kong-based outbound travel agents will no longer be obliged to refund transport-related fees to consumers if package tours are cancelled due to reasons beyond their control, such as political unrest or natural disasters.

At the moment, agents have to refund airline, train and cruise booking fees in full to consumers, and are sometimes forced to absorb costs if suppliers like airlines, hotels and groundhandlers refuse to return the money.

Under the new ruling, agents will only be obliged to return the booking fees to consumers if their suppliers agree to the refund.

The decision approved on May 17 by the Board of Directors of Hong Kong’s Travel Industry Council (TIC) was in response to the string of recent incidents/disasters that caused heavy losses to tour agents’ businesses.

According to TIC, the political turmoil in Egypt earlier this year affected close to 1,500 tour group travellers.

TIC chairman, Michael Wu, said: “Though airlines eventually relented and forked out the refunds, agents still lost more than HK$2 million (US$257,000) because local hotels and groundhandlers refused to return the deposits.”

“Why should agents have to shoulder the responsibility and risk?” he asked.

According to Blue Sky Travel Service managing director, Angela Ng, Hong Kong travellers may now “avoid unstable countries”.

“Since airfares usually account for about 40 per cent of package tour prices, this new ruling might affect consumers’ choice of destination,” she said.

EXPEDIA has been inundated with enquiries since the Singapore launch of its Travel Agent Affiliate Programme (TAAP) on June 8 (TTG Asia e-daily, June 8), according to its manager for travel distribution in South-east Asia, Charee Guico.

“Travel agents have been highly receptive and are keen to find out more about what Expedia has to offer,” she said.

Guico added that a large portion of the enquiries had translated into concrete agreements. “Almost a hundred consultants from major and smaller players have already signed up to the TAAP.”

Expedia will be providing training support to travel agencies that have signed up to join the TAAP.

When asked about future plans for the TAAP in Singapore, Guico said Expedia had decided to expand the TAAP’s product portfolio due to the exceptional level of response and feedback from travel agencies.

Eventually, agents will be able to book flights, car hires and activities on top of accommodation. Even though Guico was unable to provide specific dates for the new offerings, she was confident that “it would definitely be happening in the second half of 2011.”

TTG ASIA MEDIA has appointed veteran industry player and columnist Shekhar Niyogi as its chief correspondent – India.

Shekhar, based in Kolkata, will be in charge of India market coverage for all Travel Group titles, including TTG Asia, TTG Asia e-daily, TTG India and TTGmice.

Shekhar was consultant for 26 years in the travel industry and knows the leisure and MICE markets inside out. He is currently a contributor to several Indian, European and US publications, and a columnist with The Times of India, Economic Times and Hindustan Times, the three leading English language dailies in India.

He is also an education and career consultant in India, and a visiting faculty member teaching retail management and consumer behaviour in two business schools in India.

Meanwhile, TTG Asia Media is also pleased to name Linda Haden as assistant editor based in Singapore.

Linda will be responsible for Singapore market coverage for all Travel Group titles, and will assist in regional analyses as well as in the commissioning and editing of articles.

In the past decade, Linda was an active contributor to Mintel’s Travel & Tourism Analyst and its UK Travel Intelligence series, based initially in London and then in Zurich. She has conducted in-depth interviews with industry leaders and trade associations to ascertain market trends, threats and opportunities.

KOREAN Air’s first-ever A380 services will be launched between Seoul (Incheon) and Tokyo and Hong Kong tomorrow.

The pioneer A380 flight will take off from Incheon International Airport at 9.10 on June 17, and arrive in Narita International Airport at 11.30. The same flight will then return to Seoul, depart at 20.00 to Hong Kong International Airport, and arrive at 22.30 on the same day.

Configured in a three-class layout with 12 first-class Kosmo Suites and 301 economy-class seats on the lower deck, and 94 business-class Prestige seats on the upper deck, Korean Air’s A380s will feature the lowest configuration of any A380 operator (TTG Asia e-Daily, May 23).

The flag carrier has ordered ten A380 aircraft – the first five will be delivered by end 2011, the remaining five by 2014.

The airline will gradually expand its A380 services to popular shorthaul routes in Asia, such as Bangkok in July. The A380s will then be deployed on longhaul routes to destinations in Europe and North America, such as New York in August, Paris in September and Los Angeles in October.

THAI Airways International (THAI) intends to invest 118.6 billion baht (US$3.9 billion) on 37 new aircraft. Scheduled for delivery between 2012 and 2017, the planes are part of THAI’s plans to upgrade its aging fleet, now operating at an average age of 11.7 years.

THAI’s president, Piyasvasti Amranand, said at a press conference yesterday that the aircraft acquisition, approved last week by the airline’s board, was clear of improper procedures that had plagued the national carrier in the past.

Of the total investment, about 49.5 billion baht has been allocated for the purchase of six Boeing B777-300ERs and five Airbus A320s, to be delivered between 2014 and 2015, and four A350s, to be delivered between 2016 and 2017.

The remaining 69.1 billion baht will be spent on a 12-year operating lease of 22 aircraft – six A320s to be delivered between 2012 and 2013, eight B787s to be delivered between 2014 and 2017, and eight A350s to be delivered between 2016 and 2017.

In a further development, the Thai flag carrier is planning to acquire 38 more aircraft through a budget of 229 billion baht, for delivery between 2018 and 2022.

Meanwhile, THAI is in the process of retrofitting 12 existing B747-400s, scheduled for completion between this year and 2013. The first upgraded aircraft returned to serve on the Bangkok-Frankfurt route at the end of last month, complete with new seats and an improved in-flight entertainment system.

SOFITEL Luxury Hotels will open a new hotel in Kunming in early 2014. This will be the first Sofitel property in Yunnan province, China.

Markland Blaiklock, senior vice president of Sofitel Asia Pacific, said: “With this additional presence, Sofitel Luxury Hotels will have a total of 27 hotels in Greater China, including upcoming projects in Sanya, Haikou and Lianyungang which will come on line in the next three years.”

The Sofitel Kunming will feature 405 hotel rooms and suites, three restaurants and two bars, a large pillar-free ballroom and a multi-function room, eight meeting rooms of various sizes, the group’s signature So SPA, a fitness centre and an indoor swimming pool. It will also have an executive lounge and a fully-equipped business centre.

The new hotel will be located in downtown Kunming. In the hotel’s immediate vicinity, Luosi Bay Central Business District is being redeveloped under an ambitious urban planning scheme, and is set to become a focal point of the city.

INDIAN low-cost carrier (LCC) IndiGo Airlines is expanding beyond domestic services, and will offer a daily Delhi-Singapore flight from September 15. Dubai and Bangkok are its other preliminary international destinations.

IndiGo will operate a daily flight from Delhi to Dubai from September 1. Daily flights on the Delhi-Bangkok route will begin on September 8.

Starting October 2, the LCC will run daily Mumbai-Dubai and Mumbai–Bangkok services.

All flights will be operated using Airbus A320 aircraft configured for international operations.

The LCC will offer a promotional return fare of S$275 (US$223) on its Singapore-Delhi-Singapore service.

The carrier’s next tranche of international routes is expected to include Mumbai–Singapore, Mumbai–Muscat and Delhi–Kathmandu links, while expansion to Abu Dhabi, Sharjah and Jeddah is also on the cards.

Indian start-up carriers are obliged to complete five years of domestic service before they can apply to operate on international routes. SpiceJet was the last Indian carrier to achieve this qualification (TTG Asia e-Daily, November 11, 2010).