THE SARAWAK Regatta, to be held in Kuching from September 15-18, will incorporate for the first time the 2011 International Waterski & Wakeboard Federation Sarawak Wakeboard World Cup from September 16-18.

Thirty representatives from at least 15 countries will compete in the international wakeboard competition, while the Stars of Florida Waterski Show Team will conduct water-based performances at the event.

Promoted by the Sarawak Tourism Board (STB), the regatta is expected to attract an audience of more than 100,000.

STB CEO, Rashid Khan, said: “I am confident that the Sarawak Regatta will boost the positive growth of tourist arrivals in Sarawak this year.”

“Total tourist arrivals for the first half of this year increased 18.5 per cent compared to the same period last year,” he added.

With its origin dating back to 1872, the regatta is held annually at the Kuching Waterfront on the Sarawak River. Open to local and international amateur paddlers, 104 teams comprising 2,128 paddlers have already confirmed their participation.

Other events to be held in conjunction with the regatta include a craft exhibition, a cultural show, and a trade and food fair.

By N. Nithiyananthan

DELEGATES at PATA Travel Mart (PTM) 2011, which takes place in New Delhi from September 6 – 9, can look forward to winning a car in a lucky draw organized by Hertz and co-sponsored by TTG Asia Media.

Open to all registered PTM delegates, taking part in the competition comprises of two simple steps.

Participants have to first answer correctly a short series of questions and submit their details on the Hertz microsite, which will be available online from September 5 till 12:00 on September 9.

Participants will then be invited to attend the PTM 2011 closing ceremony, hosted by the Philippine Tourism Promotions Board at The Ashok hotel’s convention hall on September 9, to find out if they have won the prize.

Those wanting to take a closer look at the prize vehicle can do so outside TTG Asia Media’s Cybercafe (#M2) during PTM.

Look out for further details in the TTG-PTM 2011 Official Daily.

ORION II, the newest acquisition for Australia-based Orion Expedition Cruises, made its inaugural call into Singapore earlier today, marking the start of the cruise line’s foray into South-east Asia.

Orion II is a luxury ship that can accommodate 100 guests in 50 suites, each featuring ocean views, and a sitting area or separate living room. Onboard facilities include a library with Internet access, a gym, a beauty salon, a boutique, a medical centre, a dining room, two sun decks, a Jacuzzi and a swimming platform.

Sarina Bratton, founder and managing director of Orion Expedition Cruises, said the cruise line would be using Singapore as a hub for its upcoming programmes, including a range of five- to 20-night itineraries to Antarctica, North-west Australia, Papua New Guinea, Japan, the Russian Far East and South-east Asia.

Describing Orion as “Abercrombie and Kent on the water”, Bratton said Australia was the cruise line’s top source market, followed by the US and Japan.

Bratton said she was keen to grow Orion’s business in Asia, and that she would be tapping Singapore, Hong Kong, Indonesia and China as part of immediate expansion plans. “Over time, once we can gauge response levels, we will allocate more (time and resources) accordingly,” she said.

Agents TTG Asia e-Daily spoke to said it was still too early to judge if Orion would succeed in attracting an Asian clientele.

Gina Teo, managing director of Stamford Discovery Cruise Centre, said: “Orion probably appeals to a very small base of Asian travellers. Generally, most Asians are only familiar with mainstream cruise brands.”

ALL Nippon Airways (ANA) will be launching its Boeing 787 Dreamliner services with a charter flight from Tokyo-Narita to Hong Kong on October 26.

This flight is only available to ANA Mileage Club members and will be balloted if demand exceeds the 264-seat capacity. ANA’s first B787s will be configured in this 264-seat domestic/regional layout with 12 business and 252 economy-class seats.

Subsequent B787s employed on regional routes will offer 222 seats, while a third configuration with space for 158 pax (46 business-class seats that recline into fully-flat beds, and 112 seats in economy-class) will be deployed on longhaul international routes.

On November 1, ANA will commence regular daily B787 services linking Tokyo-Haneda Airport to Okayama and Hiroshima.

By early-December, the carrier will launch a weekly B787 service between Tokyo-Haneda and Beijing, followed by thrice-weekly services between Tokyo-Haneda and Frankfurt in January next year. The Frankfurt service will be boosted to a daily frequency by February.

By the end of the current financial year (March 31, 2012), ANA expects to add more domestic B787 services linking Tokyo-Haneda to Matsuyama, Osaka-Itami and Yamaguchiube.

ANA has ordered a total of 55 B787 aircraft.

THE KUONI Group recorded a turnover of 2.08 billion Swiss francs (US$2.55 billion) for the first half of 2011, an 18.7 per cent increase over the same period last year.

Operating earnings (EBIT) improved to – 32.5 million Swiss francs from last year’s – 37.8 million Swiss francs, despite the 11.6 million Swiss franc-acquisition of Gullivers Travel Associates (GTA) (TTG Asia e-Daily, May 6).

GTA performed well in the first two months following the takeover, generating 358 million Swiss francs in turnover and 11 million Swiss francs in operating earnings (EBIT), excluding acquisition and integration costs.

Peter Rothwell, CEO of the Kuoni Group , said: “The purchase of GTA is an important transformational acquisition for Kuoni, which gives the company an excellent strategic position in a large and growing market.”

Underlying earnings (EBIT) for Kuoni stood at – 1.5 million Swiss francs, compared to last year’s – 1.8 million Swiss francs, boosted by organic turnover growth of 6.2 per cent – especially in Kuoni’s Destinations Division, where turnover increased by 15.0 per cent – and the development of VFS Global.

“The Group’s positive organic turnover growth of 6.2 per cent delivered an improved result. I’m very pleased in particular with the strong growth in the Destinations Division, in VFS Global, and in Scandinavia,” Rothwell said.

The Scandinavian market generated 4.5 per cent organic turnover growth, while VFS Global saw turnover increase by 23.3 per cent to 90 million Swiss francs. Operating earnings (EBIT) for VFS Global rose by 31.6 per cent to 20.4 million Swiss francs, and EBIT margin was 22.7 per cent.

Kuoni is expecting turnover in the range of five billion Swiss francs for the 2011 financial year as a whole, and an EBIT margin similar to 2010.

ONYX Hospitality Group’s Amari Hua Hin property is scheduled to open in March next year.

Located on Takiab Beach, about four kilometres from Hua Hin town centre, the 1.2 billion baht (US$40 million) property is part of a mixed-use development that also comprises the 210-unit Amari Residences.

Amari Hua Hin will feature 223 rooms in four categories, a range of F&B outlets and recreational facilities, a 450m2 ballroom, four function rooms, a standalone conference centre with five meeting rooms, and a 400m2 beachfront area and 600m2 landscaped garden for outdoor events.

According to general manager Simon Dell, the hotel will target leisure, corporate and conference business from local and international markets, especially Europe, the UK, Singapore, Hong Kong, China and India.

“Rates are being determined, but will most likely be in the four-and-a-half-star category,” he said.

This means the hotel will be in the rate range of Hua Hin Marriott Resort and Spa, and heading into a segment already saturated with strong brands such as Sofitel, Hilton, Sheraton, InterContinental, Anantara and Dusit Thani.

By Sirima Eamtako

TRAVIX International, a subsidiary of Netherlands-based BCD Holdings, will be launching Cheaptickets, its B2C online travel-booking brand and the leading OTA in Germany, in Singapore this October.

Cheaptickets.sg will feature fares offered by scheduled as well as low-cost carriers operating within Asia-Pacific, using a proprietary system that permits Cheaptickets to integrate with low-cost airlines’ reservation systems, which are by and large not connected to major GDS channels.

Isabel Gonzalez, brand manager at Cheaptickets.sg, said: “We will be concentrating on selling flights, which will remain our core product, but the site will sell accommodation as well. Dynamic flight and hotel packages are also on the cards.”

Gonzalez mentioned that plans were in the pipeline for similar sites in Hong Kong and Thailand. She added that there were no plans to work with local travel agents at the moment, and that Cheaptickets was concentrating on establishing its B2C presence first.

PATA’S half-day forum on outbound tourism from India and China, entitled Get the Insights – Build the Business, will take place in New Delhi on September 6.

The forum will focus on the present and future behavioural characteristics, expectations and consumption patterns of the 12.07 million Indian and 57.39 million Chinese travellers who travelled overseas last year.

According to PATA’s Strategic Intelligence Centre, Chinese travellers spend an average of US$55 billion each year when they travel abroad, up from US$8 billion 15 years ago. Indians spend US$11 billion each year when they travel internationally.

John Koldowski, PATA’s head of tourism strategy, said: “Our objective is to help PATA members and the travel industry understand where this phenomenal movement of people and money is going. With these insights, PATA members can position themselves to get a bigger share of this growth.”

Apart from Koldowski, Terence Mak, CEO of 3rd Planet, will demonstrate how to use technology to tap the Chinese and Indian markets; Jens Thraenhart, CEO of Beijing-based e-marketing company, Dragon Trail, will give an overview on China’s outbound situation; and Surekha Poddar, executive director of Consumer Research Nielsen India, will reveal the latest findings from Nielsen’s ongoing India and China outbound surveys.

Access to the forum costs US$100 per pax for PATA Travel Mart delegates (New Delhi, September 7-9) and US$150 for non-delegates.

TAIWAN’S second largest convenience store chain, Family Mart, is planning to process applications for Taiwanese nationals travelling to China at its 2,800 retail outlets in the country.

Family Mart will offer entry permit extension services for Taiwan residents headed to the mainland, charging NT$499 (US$17) per head, undercutting local travel agents who normally charge between NT$500-NT$600 for the same service.

Roger Hsu, secretary general of Taiwan’s Travel Agent Association, said: “This is illegal. According to our laws, only travel agents and immigration agents can process visas.”

He added that non-travel agencies are also prohibited from selling outbound air tickets and tours.

Family Mart is planning to sidestep the regulations by delivering completed applications to a single travel agency for processing, believed to be local branch of China Travel Service (Macao).

Hsu said: “We talked to the legal authorities at the Taiwan Tourism Bureau, and we were assured that it would be illegal for a non-travel retail business to aggregate visas and deliver them to a single travel agency. The TTB will tell this agency that this is not permitted.”

Although low in price, fees generated by processing entry permits for travel to China can contribute a significant level of income.

Flying Master CEO, Chen Min Tang, said as much as 20 percent of his revenue comes from this source. “These fees are significant, due to the high volume of Taiwanese travelling to China, and they are part of what enables us to exist. Not all Taiwan travel agencies specialize in outbound to China, but for those that do, the loss of this business would be a serious problem.”

Daver Lau, general manager, Amadeus Taiwan, held a more pragmatic stance: “If you take a longer view, the distribution business will evolve in such a way that the line is less defined.”

“For example, 10 years ago, airlines didn’t sell direct, but now Internet sales are part of their strategy. Even then, the business didn’t all shift to the airlines. Travel agencies also found new ways to adapt. Eventually, there will be a new equilibrium.”

By Glenn Smith

THAILAND has secured the rights to host 26 international conventions up until 2016, with about 30,000 delegates due to attend. The wins were generated over the period November 2009 till July this year, according to the Thailand Convention and Exhibition Bureau (TCEB).

Among the newest wins are the 5,000-pax Million Dollar Round Table Experience for life insurance and financial service professionals in February 2012, and the 3,000-pax International Congress on Infectious Diseases in June next year.

The latest and largest win by far is the 4,500-pax International Congress of the Transplant Society in 2016.

The wins are on top of 16 events with some 66,600 delegates already penciled in from 2010-2012, including the much-anticipated Convention of Rotary International for some 30,000 delegates in May next year.

Destination Asia (Thailand) managing director, Pornthip Hirunkate, said the resurgent conventions figures demonstrated the return of market confidence in Thailand following last year’s political crisis.

TCEB president Akapol Sorasuchart said despite the positive outlook, the Thai MICE bureau would continue to be aggressive with its financial support,

Akapol revealed that TCEB had adjusted its financing strategy to be more proactive on a case-by-case basis in Asian markets with high growth potential.

Akapol identified China, India, Indonesia, Vietnam and the Philippines as key markets, as well as South Korea and Japan. For the European market, TCEB will strive to maintain presence, he said.

By Sirima Eamtako