IN AN attempt to stimulate domestic tourism spending, the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) will be spending 75 million baht (US$2.5 million) for this year’s Thailand Tourism Festival in Bangkok from June 8 to 12.

TAT governor Suraphon Svetasreni said that the Thai NTO expected the event to attract some 230,000 Thailand-based local and foreign visitors, which would inject some 230 to 250 million baht into the local economy. These estimates are about 10 per cent higher than last year’s.

The annual B2C event forms part of the TAT’s ongoing efforts to boost domestic tourism in the country, to reduce Thailand’s dependence on inbound travel. It is held concurrently with the annual B2B Thailand Travel Mart, taking place this year from June 8 to 10 at the same venue, the IMPACT Muang Thong Thani.

TAT is expecting the country’s tourism industry to generate about one trillion baht in revenue this year, with some 400 billion baht coming from domestic tourism.

By Sirima Eamtako

CHIC Outlet Shopping, a collection of nine high-end, outlet-shopping villages across Europe, has seen phenomenal growth in arrivals from South-east Asia. This is partly due to close partnerships with airlines, travel agents and travel-trade representatives.

Sarah Bartlett, spokesperson for Value Retail, which owns Chic Outlet Shopping villages and also leases out shops to luxury brands, explained: “In Singapore, for instance, we have a deal with Etihad Airways, which offers promotional airfares to travel agents, who will in turn package our shopping villages in their itineraries. We work very closely with the top travel agents in Singapore such as CTC Travel, SA Tours, Chan Brothers and Dynasty Travel.”

She attributed the surge in arrivals from the region to the favourable exchange rate, growing affluence among Asian consumers and positive word-of-mouth.

Chic Outlet Shopping saw a 73 per cent growth in visitors from South-east Asia in the first quarter of this year, compared to the same period last year. The region is now the company’s third largest non-European source market. China maintains top spot, followed by Russia.

Singaporeans registered the largest growth in arrivals to Chic’s outlets – 130 per cent – compared to other South-east Asian destinations. Arrivals from Thailand and Indonesia grew 78 and 65 per cent respectively.

Visits by Asian MICE groups have also been “good”, Bartlett said.

The company’s La Rocca Village in Barcelona welcomed a 200-pax incentive group from China last year, while its La Vallee Village in Paris had “an even bigger group” from Indonesia.

THE INDUSTRIAL district of Rayong, on the east coast of Thailand, near Pattaya, will get its first Marriott property by October.

Rayong Marriott Resort & Spa will be the first new international hotel in Rayong in a long while, according to Marriott’s Luxury Hotels & Resorts (Thailand) spokesperson Anchalee Chamroontaneskul.

The resort will have over 300 guestrooms, large ballrooms that can be divided into small spaces, spacious foyers and open areas that can accommodate private events, as well as a waterpark. Plans are underway to seek partners to offer teambuilding activities and sports to resort guests.

The resort will target holiday-makers and MICE groups, as well as corporate travellers who have business in the automobile companies located in Rayong.

SINGAPORE Airlines (SIA) confirmed yesterday its intention to establish a new medium- and long-haul low-cost carrier (LCC) in Singapore within a year.

While the corporate branding, fleet and network of this new wholly-owned subsidiary remains unknown, what is clear is that the new airline will have different branding from SIA, operate wide-body aircraft and be managed independently.

Recent news of intention by AirAsia and Qantas Airways to establish subsidiaries in Singapore may have hastened the launch of this new airline, but plans – even if only as a contingency – must have been in the works for some time.

The new airline could also be useful for SIA to offload underperforming destinations such as Athens, as well as allow it to embrace new leisure destinations that have hitherto not fit into SIA’s business model.

SIA is in the process of retiring its few remaining B747-400s and a small number of B777-200s. Some of these aircraft could possibly form the backbone of the new subsidiary’s fleet.

MALAYSIA climbed three places to number 28 in the latest International Congress and Convention Association (ICCA) world rankings, while retaining its seventh placing among the top 10 meeting destinations in Asia-Pacific.

The country’s ICCA ranking was boosted by an additional seven international events held in Kuala Lumpur last year, the largest of which was the 18th World Congress of Accountants, with a record attendance of over 6,000 delegates.

Other major meetings included the Asian Pacific Digestive Week (2,661 delegates), 6th World Islamic Economic Forum (2,000 delegates) and the 2nd Global Model United Nations Conference (1,000 delegates).

The number of meetings hosted in the country grew 24 per cent year-on-year, from 96 meetings in 2009 to 119 meetings in 2010. Malaysia welcomed 1.3 million international business event visitors last year, who contributed an estimated US$6 billion in revenue.

Zulkefli Hj Sharif, Malaysia Convention & Exhibition Bureau (MyCEB) CEO, said: “The growth of meetings hosted in Malaysia and improvements in our ICCA rankings reflect the strength of the collaboration and commitment between the Malaysian Tourism Ministry, MyCEB and our industry partners to bid for, secure and deliver successful international meetings for the country amidst an increasingly competitive market.”

“Within the next five years, the business tourism industry will be further supported by new facilities, offering international and regional associations and meeting planners more venue options to host their meetings and events in Malaysia, and be able to rotate to other parts of the country such as Pahang, Penang and Sarawak, besides Kuala Lumpur,” he added.

Key developments in the pipeline include the expansion of the Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre by an additional 10,000m2 by end-2013, the launch of Penang International Convention and Exhibition Center by 2014, and the proposed development of MATRADE Centre (93,000m2) by 2014.

By Ellen Chen

SOUTHEAST Asian Air’s (SEAir) Manila-Cebu and Manila-Davao routes, due to launch in July, have been suspended by Philippine civil aviation authorities, who are investigating whether the airline’s partnership with Singapore’s Tiger Airways violates local laws.

The temporary cease-and-desist order was issued after joint and separate complaints were filed by the country’s four other carriers – Philippine Airlines, Cebu Pacific, Zest Air, and Air Philippines Express.

The complaints allege cabotage rights – the license to carry passengers and shipment cargo between two points in one country, and which are usually extended only to domestic airlines – are being violated by SEAir’s aircraft lease and marketing agreement with the Singapore carrier. SEAir’s two new routes would be operated using Tiger Airways aircraft.

Wyrlou Samodio, head of the Civil Aviation Board’s legal division, told TTG Asia e-Daily on Monday: “SEAir’s lease agreement (with Tiger Airways) will be affected if the findings show it was used to circumvent cabotage rules.”

SEAir’s relationship with Tiger Airways dates back to 2006, when SEAir signed the aircraft lease agreement, as well as a marketing arrangement to use Tiger Airways’ reservations system. Tiger Airways is currently in the process of acquiring a 32.5 per cent stake in SEAir for about US$6 million.

SEAir operates three international routes from Clark International Airport using Tiger Airways aircraft: Singapore, launched last December; Hong Kong, launched last March; and Macau, due to begin on May 27.

Tiger Airways has been busy making other budget airline investments in South-east Asia. Last week, the carrier said it would acquire 33 per cent of Indonesia-based PT Mandala Airlines, which is in rescue talks with an Indonesian private equity fund planning to secure 51 per cent majority ownership.

THE INDONESIAN government is set to tackle Jakarta international airport’s capacity problems by revamping it at a cost of 11.75 trillion rupiah (US$1.4 billion) over the next three years.

The Soekarno-Hatta International Airport redevelopment project will include renovating Terminal 1 and 2, completing the development of Terminal 3, and building a new cargo terminal.

The airport has the capacity to handle 22 million passengers yearly, but is currently catering to 44.2 million passengers. The situation has been a concern for the travel trade and air passengers, especially during peak season.

Indonesia’s vice president, Boediono, said: “The development of Soekarno-Hatta airport should be a national priority, as the longer we delay the project, the more difficult it will be to overcome (the problem of capacity shortage).”

The vice president’s spokesman Yopie Hidayat said that the target was to increase the terminal capacity to 62 million passengers per year, and the apron capacity from 125 aircraft to 174 aircraft by 2014.

Commenting on the plan, WITA Tours director of sales and marketing, Rudiana, said that improvement should not only be in terms of hardware, but also services.

“The convenience of passengers should be the priority,” Rudiana said. “There should be clear signs, lanes, and flows, especially for arriving passengers.”

SINGAPORE-based luxury tour operator Lightfoot Travel opened its first office in Hong Kong last week.

Lightfoot Travel director, Nico Heath, said the move was precipitated by good business and demand from Hong Kong.

“Ninety per cent of our overall traffic is from Asia, and the rest is from Europe,” he said. “In our Singapore office, FIT makes up 80 per cent, while corporate travel accounts for 20 per cent.

The Hong Kong operations will consist of two staff (one for the Macau market), headed by travel specialist Lucy Jackson, who is in-charge of developing tailor-made travel products.

Jackson said: “Our primary market is expatriates, but we still want to get into the local market, as well as tap the booming China market.”

“As corporate business has bounced back, some banks want to treat their clients or reward the best sales team, so I will also drive business by expanding the corporate side.”