AMADEUS has renewed its agreement as the exclusive distribution technology provider of MakeMyTrip.com.

Deep Kalra, founder & CEO of MakeMyTrip.com, said: “We have gained immensely through our long-term relationship with Amadeus. They have been our valued partners, providing us with exclusive GDS technology.”

“With this renewed agreement, along with Amadeus’ technology, we will be able to add more value and benefits in our offerings,” he added.

The technology provided by Amadeus to MakeMyTrip.com includes Amadeus Web Services 2.0, its low-fare search technology Amadeus Master Pricer and its suite of solutions.

TRAVELPORT’S Orbitz Worldwide has gained the edge in its ongoing tussle with American Airlines (AA) over the carrier’s plans to force agents into using its Direct Connect booking system rather than their global distribution systems (TTG Asia e-Daily, January 6).

Orbitz, which owns ebookers, was forced to pull data on AA’s flights, having lost a legal dispute against the airline before last Christmas.

The Circuit Court of Cook County, Illinois today entered an injunction against AA, overturning its December 21, 2010 ruling. It also agreed with Travelport that the injunction should have been granted in December, which would have prevented AA from terminating its contracts with Orbitz.

AA will now have to reinstate Orbitz’s ability to display and ticket AA flights. As a result, Orbitz is able to sell AA’s fares and content immediately.

Travelport’s chief commercial officer, Kurt Ekert, said: “Travelport is delighted with the court’s ruling requiring AA’s fares to be reinstated on Orbitz, enabling consumers to book AA tickets through Orbitz. We view this as a significant ruling.”

SINGAPORE-based hospitality and tourism education provider Shatec Institutes has opened a new, self-run restaurant where trainees can hone their culinary and service skills.

Beyond the combination of new bistro, sandwich and bar counter facilities, Recipes offers Shatec students an avenue to practice their service and culinary skills in a real-life setting, as well as the opportunity to work with top chefs.

“This restaurant is a venue to profile our talents to future employers,” said Shatec Institutes chief executive, Anthony Yip. “We have every confidence in our students to rise to the challenge that awaits them at Recipes, to provide good food and good service.”

“Recipes provides an excellent opportunity for hands-on experience in hospitality and F&B service that will serve me well when I join the industry,” said Karen Li, who hails from Foshan, China, and is currently enrolled in Shatec’s diploma in hospitality management programme.

OVER 100 corporate travel managers have registered so far for this year’s Incentive Travel & Conventions, Meetings Asia (IT&CMA) and Corporate Travel World Asia Pacific, to be held in Bangkok from October 4 to 6.

More than 450 MICE buyers have signed up as of the moment. Fifty per cent are first-time registrants representing six new countries: Bangladesh, Cambodia, Denmark, Latvia, Lebanon and Turkey.

Other confirmed delegates include corporate travel buyers and representatives from Accenture Service, Agilent Technologies, Coach Shanghai, Corrs Chambers Westgarth, Cummins Power Generation(s), Deakin University, Emerson, Fidelity Business Services India, General Electric, HRG Sita (India), Mazda Motors of New Zealand, Mercedes Benz, Sephora Cosmetics China, Standard Chartered Bank, Symantec Asia Pacific and Australia, Tata Capital and United Nations Children’s Fund.

On the exhibition front, newcomers at IT&CMA include Starwood Hotels & Resorts, Hyderabad International Convention Centre, HPL Hotels & Resorts, Cox and Kings India, Park Hotel Group, Diners Club HK, Caravelle Hotel, Furama Resorts, UVI Holidays India, Wuzhen Tourism and Mission Hill China.

SEARCH engine giant Google last Friday released a new search tool that helps travellers quickly see which airlines serve a specific route, as well as flight times and frequencies.

A quick search on Google’s toolbar for flights to and from a particular destination will provide a summary of flight information right on the results page. It also provides a list of destinations with non-stop flights from a particular origin.

This is Google’s first move into travel since its recent acquisition of ITA Software, a company specialising in airfare search and pricing systems (TTG Asia e-Daily, May 20, 2011).

“While this flight schedule feature does not currently use ITA’s search technology, this is just a small step towards making richer travel information easier to find,” wrote Petter Wedum, Google software engineer, on Inside Search, the official Google Search blog.

The flight search service is currently available in 10 languages: English, French, Italian, German, Spanish, Dutch, Brazilian Portuguese, Polish, Russian, Turkish and Catalan.

ROYAL Caribbean International is intending to resume cruise operations in Japan, in view of the stabilised situation there and recent lifting of travel advisories by countries such as Singapore (TTG Asia e-Daily, May 13) and China.

The cruise line will now deploy Legend of the Seas to ports of call in the country, starting with Okinawa on August 1, after its Hong Kong summer season.

The ship will then operate 11 sailings, including a number of charters to destinations such as Okinawa, Fukuoka, Kagoshima, Beppu, Nagasaki and Hokkaido, from late July to early October.

Royal Caribbean said the sailings were mostly based on the ship’s itineraries originally planned for this year, which do not call at areas affected by the disaster.

WITH an election in the country scheduled for July 3, the Thai Hotels Association (THA) is hoping that the incoming government will be able to resolve the industry’s lingering problems.

Addressing members at yesterday’s monthly gathering, THA president Prakit Chinamourphong said the association would urge the new government to address the issues of hotel licensing and zoning.

He said hotels in the country were facing competition from a burgeoning number of serviced apartments operating without a proper license. The demarcation of areas for hotel development would help curb current oversupply in areas such as Bangkok.

According to Prakit, hotels in the Thai capital run with average room rates (ARR) of just above US$100 per roomnight, compared to hotels in Hong Kong and Singapore, with ARR at about US$250.

Hotels in Bangkok finished the first quarter of 2011 with an average occupancy of 60 per cent, a 10 per cent increase over the same period last year.

In May, hotels are expected to run at more than 60 per cent occupancy, up from around 30 per cent occupancy during the same month last year, when the Thai capital was besieged by political unrest and about 20 hotels were forced to close for weeks.

By Sirima Eamtako

GARUDA Indonesia today launched its Makassar-Singapore daily flights, in line with the opening of the South Sulawesi capital as its third hub, after Jakarta and Bali.

Garuda president and CEO, Emirsyah Satar, said: “Makassar is growing fast as a business city and it is strategically located in the eastern part of Indonesia.”

Makassar’s Sultan Hasanuddin International Airport will serve 13 of Garuda’s domestic and regional destinations – Ambon, Balikpapan, Biak, Denpasar, Jakarta, Jayapura, Palu, Surabaya, Gorontalo, Manado, Ternate, Timika and Singapore.

The airline also revealed that its fourth hub would be developed in Medan, Sumatra, serving western Indonesia.

In the meantime, the airline has raised frequencies on a number of regional services, including Jakarta-Beijing from three to five flights per week, Denpasar-Seoul from three- to five-weekly, Jakarta-Singapore from seven to eight times daily, and Jakarta-Bangkok from daily to twice a day.

ACCOR is adding 21 new hotels in Indonesia, which will increase its capacity by 4,526 rooms.

The new properties will expand the company’s Indonesian portfolio to 74 hotels, including 40 existing hotels and 13 previously announced properties that are under construction.

The 21 properties include the 316-room Pullman Jakarta Central Park, opening in 2011, as well as the 230-room Novotel Jakarta Gajah Mada, 151-room Kuta Beach Heritage, 604-room ibis Bandung Supermal, 200-room all seasons Bali Nusa Dua, 183-room all seasons Bali Benoa, which are all opening in 2012.

Scheduled to open in 2013 are the 180-room Novotel Banjarmasin Airport, 240-room Mercure Palu, 169-room Mercure Serpong Alam Sutera, 200-room ibis Makassar Losari, 198-room ibis Jakarta Senen, 150-room Formule 1 Semarang, 136-room Formule 1 Bali Kuta Sunset Road, 200-room Formule 1 Jakarta Daan Mogot, 186-room Formule 1 Yogyakarta Jend Sudirman, 120-room all seasons Bali Kuta Dewi Sri, 189-room all seasons Bali Kuta Circle and 196-room all seasons Jakarta Thamrin.

In addition, the 230-room Mercure Pekanbaru, 208-room Novotel Sentul and 240-room ibis Jakarta Cawang are slated to launch in 2014.

BANGKOK-based Onyx Hospitality Group’s economy brand concept Ozo will make its inaugural appearance in Hong Kong in February 2012.

The 250-room property, located on Hennessy Road, will undergo an extensive refurbishment before being relaunched as Ozo at the Wesley, Hong Kong, in late 2012.

Peter Henley, CEO of Onyx Hospitality Group, said: “We are truly delighted to have this unparalleled opportunity to debut the Ozo brand in such a prime location in one of the world’s most vibrant cities.”