DESPITE the recent rebound in visitor numbers, Thailand still needs to ramp up its destination marketing efforts to attract untapped segments, according to some buyers who attended last week’s Thailand Travel Market Plus 2011 in Bangkok.

Sao Paulo-based Raidho director, Lucila Nedelciu, said demand from the Brazil market for Thailand, which grew by 25 per cent last year, looked set to grow by another 20 to 25 per cent this year.

“Thailand needs more destination marketing to create recognition as the outbound Brazilian market grows,” she said.

Nedelciu added that the potential of Brazil’s middle class was huge. Now constituting about 13 million of the country’s population of 108 million, the middle class have begun to look beyond neighbouring countries to longhual destinations for leisure travel as their income improves.

Paris-based HotelRooms Inc vice president of sales & marketing-EMEA & Asia, Khalil Masri, said Thailand should employ more online marketing efforts focusing on the uniqueness of Thai culture.

“There are many (similar) destinations that have beaches and palm trees. Thailand needs to give a reason why travellers should visit its seaside resorts,” he said.

The Tourism Authority of Thailand’s deputy governor for marketing communications, Prakit Piriyakiet, said the NTO was focusing on promoting and marketing key destinations that were equipped with conveniences, and would leverage on the influx of tourists to these popular areas to spill demand over to nearby destinations.

Prakit cited the success of Hua Hin where tourists were spilling over to nearby Pranburi and beyond.

Stockholm-based Noble Travel travel manager, Henrik Husgafvel, remained unconvinced. He said new and upcoming Thai destinations needed to increase their marketing efforts to attract repeat visitors.

By Sirima Eamtako

INDONESIAN President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono wants ASEAN to lead the implementation of the UNWTO’s Global Code of Ethics for Tourism.

Speaking at the opening of the Bali Arts Festival last weekend, he said: “As chairman of ASEAN, I would like ASEAN to be the leader in the implementation of the code.”

The code calls for travel industry players to “minimise the negative impacts of tourism on the environment and on cultural heritage, while maximizing the benefits for residents of tourism destinations”.

World Committee on Tourism Ethics chairman, David de Villiers, said ethical standards in tourism were important, because economic benefits alone would be insufficient to keep the industry sustainable in the long term.

“We are living in a world of highly complex and inter-connected issues, like the economic situation in Europe, worldwide currency volatility, and increasing unemployment. The more uncertainties and the more challenges we are facing, the more important ethics become,” he said.

Yudhoyono said that with Asia-Pacific recording the fastest tourism rebound following the global economic crisis, it was crucial to implement the code to balance the needs of the economy, people’s welfare, human rights and sustainable environment.

Commenting on this, World Committee on Tourism Ethics member and Indonesia’s former minister for Culture and Tourism, I Gede Ardika, said: “What is implied in the president’s speech is that Indonesia must set an example for the rest to follow.”

“The first thing we will do is set up a supporting secretariat to develop programmes for the implementation here.”

Ardika added that the secretariat would comprise of the Ministry of Culture and Tourism, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, tourism industry members, and related NGOs.

THE PHILIPPINES’ new action-oriented, five-year National Tourism Development Plan (NTDP), focusing on access and infrastructure (TTG Asia e-Daily, January 21), will be submitted to President Benigno S. Aquino III for final approval next month.

About 10 per cent of the country’s GDP receipts are from tourism, and the Aquino administration considers the industry as a “frontliner and revenue-driver.”

Department of Tourism (DoT) secretary, Alberto Lim, said that the NTDP would focus on three strategies: improving market access and connectivity, introducing more competitive tourist destinations and products, and what the government termed as “improved institutional, governance and human resource capabilities” in tourism.

The first part of the plan will include upgrading the facilities of the Ninoy Aquino International Airport in Manila, as well as the improvement and construction of secondary airports.

Two new airports will be built on the resort island of Panglao in Bohol, and in Daraga, Albay, where national landmark, Mayon Volcano, is located. Airports in Puerto Princesa City in Palawan and Cagayan de Oro on the island of Mindanao will also receive priority upgrading. All four will be given international airport status.

Bohol governor Edgar Chatto told TTG ASIA e-Daily that the Panglao airport project, worth 7.54 billion pesos (US$340 million), would be built under a public-private partnership agreement with the Japan International Cooperation Agency.

Chatto noted that the new airport in Panglao was already attracting local and foreign hotel investors, and had created a wave of expansion in existing resorts. “Investors would like to see the airport construction underway,” he said. “The airport is factored into their investment decisions.”

SINGAPORE’S focus on attracting high-yield visitors (TTG Asia e-Daily, March 22) might actually restrain tourism performance in the long term.

In an interview with TTG Asia e-Daily, Robert Khoo, CEO of the National Association of Travel Agents Singapore (NATAS), emphasised that it was crucial for the Singapore tourism industry to strike a balance between the high-end and mass- inbound markets.

“I applaud the Singapore Tourism Board’s efforts to focus on high-spending tourists, but we must not forget tourists from the lower end of the spectrum,” he said. “If we do not court them actively and effectively, Singapore will no longer be on their list of destinations to visit.”

According to Khoo, travel agents catering to mass-market tourists have cited the acute shortage of budget accommodation as a bone of contention, on top of exorbitant hotel room rates.

Khoo said that the higher cost of visiting Singapore, compared to other regional destinations, was already pushing some tour groups to seek alternative accommodation in neighbouring Johor, or to even drop it from their multi-destination itineraries altogether.

He added that there was an urgent need for Singapore to build more economy hotels in order to prevent a possible exodus of mass-market tourists.

THE KOREA MICE Expo (KME) 2011 will see 180 exhibitors, 300 international and domestic buyers and over 3,000 meetings industry professionals converge at the Coex Convention and Exhibiton Centre in Seoul, from June 28 to 30.

The annual event is the largest MICE industry trade show in South Korea. The 2010 edition experienced a two-fold increase in foreign buyers, a 73 per cent increase in business consultation sessions, and an additional 15 countries in attendance compared to the year before.

It is expected that this year’s KME, the second consecutive year that the event will be taking place in Seoul, will see its largest turnout to date.

The event is hosted by the Seoul Metropolitan Government and the Korea Tourism Organization, and is organised by the Seoul Tourism Organization and the Korea Convention Society.

PHILIPPINE budget carrier Zest Air is capitalising on two of the country’s top beach destinations, adding two new routes to China starting end of June to early July.

A Kalibo-Beijing service will be inaugurated on June 26, 2011, while a Cebu-Shanghai (Pudong) service will start operations on July 2.

Kalibo is one of two gateways to the resort island of Boracay. Flights on Zest Air’s Kalibo-Shanghai route, which have run twice-weekly since January 24, will also be increased to four times a week starting June 25.

Tour operators would not gain as much from this development as resort and hotel properties in these locations, said Felise Cruz, assistant marketing manager at T.R.I.P.S., a travel agency in Manila. Other outbound travel agencies added that the new routes merely add nominal commissions. They prefer to offer other value-added services instead.

Zest Air chairman Alfredo Yao also revealed this week that the carrier was in negotiations for a Puerto Princesa-Shanghai route with Chinese authorities. The route would support President Benigno Aquino III’s campaign to get Puerto Princesa international recognition as one of the New7Wonders of Nature. Puerto Princesa is one of 28 global finalists vying for a slot in November.

ZestAir, formerly known as Asian Spirit, has undergone rapid expansion since it changed ownership in 2008. The airline’s upcoming destinations include Taipei, Singapore and Palau. It is also in joint venture talks with a Saudi Arabian partner to launch routes to Bahrain and Dammam.

Zest Air has set aside 10 billion pesos (US$230 million) to acquire up to six new aircraft by yearend – four Airbus A320s, as well as two Boeing jets to handle its Middle Eastern flights once the entitlements are settled. The carrier projects that its passenger traffic will increase to three million this year from last year’s 1.2 million.

SINCE helping end the civil war in 2009, Sri Lanka’s military has taken on an active role in the country’s tourism industry, in addition to its normal duties.

The airforce operates return-passenger flights from Colombo to the northern city of Jaffna, while the army is involved in tourism development in the country’s north and east.

The navy, on the other hand, operates a short-distance cruise liner for corporate functions and weddings, and also recently launched whale-watching cruises using a passenger vessel.

Tour operators and special invitees were on board the inaugural cruise earlier this week. Whale-watching enthusiasts get the chance to observe these mammals in the blue waters off the eastern port city of Trincomalee.

Sri Lankan waters are well-known for its blue whales and sperm whales, particularly just off the coast in the east, south and north-west regions.

THE PHILIPPINES’ air panel, headed by its Civic Aeronautics Board (CAB), has increased seat entitlements between the country and Malaysia for the Manila-Kuala Lumpur route. The extra capacity will soon be distributed among local carriers.

CAB legal division head, Wyrlou Samodio, confirmed the agreement for 2,520 additional weekly seats between the two ASEAN countries. Samodio disclosed to TTG Asia e-Daily that talks on increasing entitlements on routes to Indonesia, Sri Lanka and Vietnam were also planned within the quarter.

Low-cost carrier Cebu Pacific immediately lodged a request to obtain an initial 720 of the allotted seats immediately following the agreement. Cebu Pacific is currently entitled to 1,800 seats on the Manila-Kuala Lumpur route, while 500 seats are allotted to Philippine Airlines in a codeshare agreement with Malaysia Airlines.

The Philippines has a total of 18,300 weekly seats to Malaysia, distributed across different airports, including the Diosdado Macapagal International Airport in Clark, Pampanga, which has a largely unutilized allocation of 9,000 seats. Zest Air and Air Philippines Express have reportedly agreed to take up part of the Clark airport allocation, while SEAir’s participation is yet to be determined.

Meanwhile, Samodio reiterated the opportunity offered to foreign airlines by the Philippines’ open skies policy, implemented in March this year, which gives foreign airlines third, fourth, and fifth freedoms of the air rights to airports outside Manila.

BEST Western International has opened its second hotel in the Philippine capital, Best Western Antel Spa Suites.

The newly-built property is situated in the financial centre of Makati, and joins the Best Western Hotel La Corona, located along Manila Bay.

Targeting both business and leisure travellers, the 144-suite hotel offers facilities that include an outdoor swimming pool, a spa, massage service, a children’s playground and concierge.

Best Western now has three properties in the Philippines, including Best Western Boracay Tropics Resort. Plans are underway to add more properties in Manila and Cebu.