SCANDINAVIAN outbound tour operator TUI Nordic will be sending 150,000 holidaymakers to Thailand during the winter season from November to March, up from last year’s 135,000, in spite of increasing costs.

TUI Nordic CEO, Christian Clemens, said the figure was based on the continued strong demand for Thailand, which is firmly entrenched as the tour operator’s second most popular destination. The Canary Islands is its number one destination.

Clemens said tour prices for the coming winter season had been maintained, even as the tour operator battled increasing fuel costs, the stronger Thai currency against the euro and later-booking trends.

He said that TUI Nordic was able to achieve this through fuel hedging and early-booking discounts from hotel partners.

During the winter months, TUI Nordic normally operates six flights per week from 10 Scandinavian cities to Bangkok, Phuket and Krabi. This year, it will start operating the flights from mid-October, extending the high season by an additional month for its 160 Thai hotel partners, and facilitating the use of early-bird discounts.

TUI Nordic has also urged Thai tourism authorities to spend more on destination marketing targeting outbound travel during the summer season from early-April to early-October. The tour operator has only been operating one regular weekly flight between Scandinavia and Thailand for three consecutive summers.

“We need sustained destination marketing support from the Thai tourism authorities,” said Clemens.

By Sirima Eamtako

THE LURE of a 1,600-euro (US$2,347) Thailand tour package – which turned out to be a con deal – was just too hard to resist for 1,000 would-be Spanish holidaymakers.

The police have issued an international arrest warrant for the owner of travel agency Siente Tailandia (Feel Thailand), Pedro Marti, who has apparently absconded with the money and closed shop.

According to reports, Marti operated from Tarragona, south of Barcelona, and is rumoured to be married to a Thai national.

The regional information technology crimes unit in Catalonia estimated that as much as 700,000 euros could have been fleeced from victims of the fraud, and reported that complaints about the company continue to pour in daily.

The main attraction for people booking with Siente Tailandia was a 13-night circuit tour of Thailand for 1,600 euros, or 700 euros, for those who arranged their own flights. The offer included stays at four-star hotels, various excursions, a Spanish-speaking guide and basic insurance.

At least two tours did take place, according to Spanish police.

One of the victims, Silvia Stinga, said she and her boyfriend were planning a trip incorporating Thailand and Vietnam in August. Bank transfers to make final payments for the holiday were set for mid-May, but they never heard from Marti again and nobody answered the contact number.

“Marti didn’t create any lack of confidence because he was very attentive and the price was not too cheap,” said Stinga, adding that the difference between Marti and other tour operators was that he offered “more personalized attention”.

Among those who reported the company to police was a couple on honeymoon, who were due to meet Marti at the airport in Bangkok. When they could not contact Marti, they went to the hotel where they were supposed to have rooms reserved, but discovered that there had been no bookings made.

AN INCREASING number of international hotel chains are eyeing Sri Lanka, now that it appears to be on the road to recovery following the civil war that ended in 2009.

International chains that already have a foothold in the country include Hilton and Taj, while Thai-based Six Senses recently signed a deal with a local partner to establish two resorts (TTG Asia e-Daily, May 10).

Movenpick Hotels & Resorts, which last December signed a management contract with Sri Lanka’s SoftLogic Group to operate a new five-star, 224-room hotel in Colombo, is now turning its attention to other properties.

In an interview with the Sri Lanka-based Business Times in January, Andreas Mattmuller, Movenpick COO for Middle East and Asia, revealed that along with their SoftLogic partners, Movenpick was scouting for properties to manage on the country’s southern and eastern coasts.

The Swiss group is joined by the likes of Accor, Starwood and Four Seasons, which have also shown an interest in either owning or managing properties in Sri Lanka.

Meanwhile, Banyan Tree yesteday terminated a management agreement for the 77-room Deer Park Hotel in Giritalle, which has been managed under the Angsana brand, in order to focus on developing its own projects in the country.

Banyan Tree revealed in a press statement that its plans for Sri Lanka encompass either single-hotel projects in iconic, pristine areas, or an integrated resort with several hotels, a golf course, residential developments and retail and spa centres.

The model for its envisaged Sri Lanka integrated resort is Banyan Tree’s Laguna Phuket project.

A delegation headed by Ho Kwon Ping, executive chairman of Banyan Tree, was recently in Sri Lanka to visit possible sites.

“We were about to open a beach resort near Colombo when it was destroyed by the Asian tsunami (in 2004),” said Ho. “We are happy to be back and are optimistic about the prospects for this beautiful and now peaceful country.”

SINGAPORE-based Bonvo Travel has partnered with B2B conference organiser Fleming Gulf to manage eight conferences in the region.

As the official travel partner for these conferences, Bonvo Travel will provide corporate travel management services to delegates, covering flight arrangements, accommodation, and other related services.

The conferences will cover topics ranging from aviation to defence, banking and finance, oil and gas, life sciences, energy, transportation, telecommunications and construction.

Each event will attract close to 150 global delegates, the majority of whom are from Fortune 500 companies in the blue-chip sector.

The first three conferences will be the 2nd Annual Asia Islamic Banking Conference (July 4 to 5), the Asia-Pacific HSE Forum in Oil & Gas & Petrochemicals (September 20 to 22), and the 2nd Annual Retail Banking Asia Pacific (October 4 to 5). All three will take place in Kuala Lumpur.

The rest of the conferences take place on different dates stretching until May 2012.

TICKET prices of flights to and from Europe are likely to go up next January, when the aviation sector will be included under the European Union’s emissions trading system (EU ETS), despite continued opposition from airlines overseas.

The EU has set a cap on carbon dioxide emissions, with airlines having to pay for emissions that exceed those limits.

Speaking to media on the sidelines of the IATA AGM in Singapore earlier this week, Lufthansa CEO, Dr Christoph Franz, estimated that the ETS would result in an additional annual cost of 150-350 million euros (US$220 million to US$512 million), depending on the actual price of certificates.

Dr Franz explained that while the airline had started to purchase certificates, it has yet to introduce any ETS surcharge in ticket prices, as there were still doubts whether the scheme would be implemented as scheduled.

He added that the ETS was being met with vehement protest from some countries that “have even announced retaliatory measures against EU carriers, which will then increase the competitive disadvantage for European carriers”.

Some 4,000 aircraft operators around the world will be affected by the scheme, with many arguing that the EU has no right to unilaterally impose this on carriers from other countries.

US airlines will take their case to the European Court of Justice next month, while the China Air Transport Association has said it would recommend “harsher counter-measures” against flights by European carriers operated in and out of China.

At a CEO forum during the IATA AGM, Emirates Airline president Tim Clark said the EU’s scheme would likely spawn a series of ETS-like measures in other regions like Asia and the Middle East, further burdening the industry.

“We are now perhaps the highest taxed entity of any business on the planet today,” he said.

– Read more in TTG Asia, June 10 issue

THAI hotel chain Dusit International has bought a partially-completed five-star resort in the Maldives.

The property, located on Mudhdhoo Island in Baa Atoll, is 80 per cent complete, and consists of 100 villas, one spa building, and three restaurants and bars.

In a filing to the Stock Exchange of Thailand, Dusit revealed that it would pay US$60 million for leasehold rights for 33 years until 2044.

Dusit expects to invest another US$17 million to complete the resort and cover pre-opening expenses.

The company added that it was looking for a co-investor, but that Dusit would keep hold of at least 50 per cent equity.

THE TOURISM and meetings industry in Medan, North Sumatra is planning to form the Medan Convention Bureau to boost the domestic and regional MICE market to the destination.

Sumatra Tourism Promotion Board executive director, Artur Batubara, said: “Medan has all the facilities to be a MICE destination. Many developers have invested in (three- to five-star) hotels in Medan, and most of them have meeting facilities. We have about 10 PCOs here, and even have two convention and exhibition halls, each about 3,000m2, opening this year.

“We feel that Medan needs to have a convention bureau to maximise all these facilities.”

He added: “The stakeholders know there is the potential, but there is a lack of confidence among the stakeholders to come forward to bid for an event.”

One of the major business cities in Indonesia, Medan is listed as one of Indonesia’s 10 MICE destinations by the Ministry of Culture and Tourism. Medan has extensive domestic flight connections. Regionally, it has direct flights to Singapore, Kuala Lumpur, Penang, Bangkok and Hong Kong.

Batubara said the city’s MICE business was currently dominated by government meetings, and only recently, health-related conferences have started to appear, thanks to the presence of JW Marriott Medan. The city has previously hosted several sub-regional ASEAN meetings and travel marts.

At the moment, the board for the new CVB is being established, while a discussion with the Medan Municipal Government is underway on how the bureau will be run, its funding and programme.

A MULTI-agency effort is underway in Japan to re-instill confidence in the country as a holiday destination. The initiative will initially target travel industry professionals, and subsequently, consumers.

Tourist information centres and the Japan National Tourism Organization’s website are disseminating up-to-date information in multiple languages around-the-clock, including in English and Mandarin.

The Japanese government has also approved a supplementary budget of 4.1 trillion yen (US$51 billion) for 2012 to assist in recovery efforts.

Naoyoshi Yamada, vice commissioner for international affairs, Japan Tourism Agency at Japan’s Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism, said that the greatest barrier to attracting visitors back to Japan was the radiation problem resulting from the Fukushima nuclear power plant disaster.

“In Tokyo, radiation levels have remained in the normal band, and are in fact even lower than in Singapore,” he said.

International organisations, such as the International Atomic Energy Agency, World Health Organization and World Meteorological Organization, have confirmed the return to normalcy.

While domestic tourism has recovered quite strongly since the disaster, international travel into Japan is somewhat sluggish.

Yamada hopes that visits by high-profile personalities such as Lady Gaga this month, and the staging of the World Travel and Tourism Council in Tokyo next year, will help boost inbound travel.

Japan has even made a direct appeal to Chinese travellers to return, and this has been helped by the recent visit of the chinese premier and minister of tourism.

SINGAPORE Airlines (SIA) and Virgin Australia today agreed to establish a long-term partnership that will provide the platform for both carriers to coordinate schedules, offer attractive joint fares and tie up their frequent flyer programmes.

Virgin Australia’s CEO, John Borghetti, called this a “ground-breaking alliance”, saying: “This is an enormous game-changer that will not only make us more competitive in Australia, but also result in more employment opportunities, given the industry’s ability to generate 600 jobs in the economy for every 100 jobs in the aviation industry.”

SIA CEO, Goh Choon Phong, said: “This is a pro-competition alliance and the potential is immense.”

No equity in either carrier was involved, but both airlines were focused on maximising the synergy offered by this alliance.

Subject to regulatory approval by the Singapore and Australia governments – which is expected within six months – Virgin Australia’s customers will be able to access about 70 additional destinations covered by SIA and its subsidiary SilkAir, while SIA/SilkAir customers will enjoy similar access to about 30 new destinations served by Virgin Australia.

Both airlines will codeshare on each other’s international and domestic flights, but the cooperation for the moment will not extend to the trans-Pacific Australia-US route that SIA has long sought.

“We want to continue pushing for the trans-Pacific flight from Australia to the US, and hope that the alliance with Virgin Australian will strengthen SIA’s case,” said Goh.

Goh emphasised that going forward, “anything that helps this alliance is on the table”. He did not discount the possibility of SIA expanding its operations into more Australian points, or jointly operating a route with Virgin Australia.

Borghetti also confirmed that there was a possibility of Virgin Australia operating its aircraft into Singapore.

BANGKOK-based Absolute Hotel Services (AHS), which established operations in the Middle East last month, is now looking to expand in China. AHS started its overseas expansion last year, when it went into joint ventures in Indochina and Mumbai.

AHS CEO, Jonathan Wigley, said he was in talks with potential partners in China to form more joint venture agreements, similar to its current deals in Doha, Hanoi and Mumbai, which it intends to use as platforms for expansion in the Middle East, Indochina and India.

Established in 2008, the hotel management company has 52 properties and 5,000 rooms in Thailand, Indonesia, Vietnam, India, Qatar and Oman under its management portfolio.

Twenty-six properties are branded under AHS’s deluxe boutique brands U Hotels and Resorts, 24 are branded under mid-scale Eastin Hotels, Eastin Residences and Eastin Easy, and two are unbranded properties.

Of these properties, six – in Thailand, Vietnam and India – are operational. By the end of the year, 14 will be operational; by end-next year, 41 properties will be online.

In supporting inventory growth, Wigley said AHS had invested “substantially” on marketing infrastructure, supplying both B2C and B2B distribution capabilities to properties under its network.

By Sirima Eamtako