AFTER kicking off its recruitment drive last week, the newly-formed Vietnam MICE Club has so far attracted five members, and is hoping to grow the number to 10 by the end of this week, and 50 by year-end.

Vietnam MICE Club president, Gilbert Whelan, said: “Vietnam MICE Club is not after membership fees. We are providing a platform for our members to showcase their products, while promoting Vietnam as a (MICE) destination.”

The association’s basic fee for members with full rights, excluding 10 per cent value-added tax, is US$1 per room per month for accommodation, and US$7,000 per year for exhibition venues, shopping outlets, restaurants, travel companies, tour operators and DMCs.

Jointly launched in Ho Chi Mih City in June by VinaMedia, Vietnam Airlines and the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, the association is the result of a one-year conceptualization process.

“Vietnam’s potential in the (MICE) market is enormous, it simply needs to be more proactive and that is what Vietnam MICE Club intends to be,” said Whelan.

Whelan said the club would be promoting Vietnam and MICE club member organisations at major MICE-related trade shows around the world. It will also be producing digital and printed promotional materials.

Meanwhile, the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism has offered to provide cultural performances at all MICE Club-sponsored events.

In addition, Vietnam Airlines will offer air travel assistance in various forms to members attending local and international MICE Club-sponsored trade shows, with the first being IT&CMA in Bangkok in October.

By Sirima Eamtako

THE INDONESIAN government will continue promoting Komodo National Park through its Komodo the Real Wonder of the World campaign, after pulling its support for the attraction as a New Seven Wonders (N7W) of Nature competition finalist.

Indonesia minister of culture and tourism, Jero Wacik, said: “We will continue promoting the national park and develop it sustainably through our own campaign, using social media like Facebook and Twitter, and programmes such as concerts.”

The ministry last weekend withdrew Komodo National Park from the N7W of Nature contest, after competition organisers N7W Foundation sought to replace the ministry with Supporters of Winning Komodo (P2Komodo) as the lead agency representing the attraction.

The ministry and competition organisers have been a loggerheads over the past few months over the dropping of the national body as the attraction’s official supporting committee (TTG Asia e-Daily, February 10).

P2Komodo chairman, Emmy Hafild, said it was regretable that Komodo had been withdrawn from the competition.

She added that Komodo had stood a good chance of winning as P2Komodo was to be supported by three Indonesian cellular operators – Telkomsel, XL and Indosat.

STARTING September 15, Malaysia Airports Holdings will increase the international passenger service charge (PSC) to 65 ringgit (US$22), up from 51 ringgit previously.

The fee hike will apply at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport main terminal building, Sultan Abdul Aziz Shah Airport in Subang, Langkawi International Airport, Penang International Airport, Kota Kinabalu International Airport Terminal 1 and Kuching International Airport.

The international PSC rates at the low-cost carrier terminal (LCCT) in Sepang and Kota Kinabalu International Airport Terminal 2 will be raised to 32 ringgit, up from 25 ringgit previously.

According to a press statement from Malaysia Airports, this was the first change in the PSC since 2002.

Apple Vacations & Conventions managing director, Koh Yock Heng, said the PSC increase would not have much impact on the outbound leisure market.

“Customers are already used to paying miscellaneous taxes such as fuel tax. This is not going to make much of a difference,” he explained.

“The airport tax is already included as one of the elements in our tour packages,” he added.

Also due to be increased are aircraft landing and parking charges. The former will be increased in three stages by nine per cent yearly – in January this year, January 2012 and January 2013. The aircraft parking charge will also be increased in three stages, by 18 per cent yearly, over the same period.

THE MALAYSIAN Association of Tour & Travel Agents (MATTA) is planning to make travel insurance compulsory for all outbound travel and tour packages by year-end.

MATTA president, Mohd Khalid Harun, said: “It is to guarantee the deposit. The importance of travel insurance cannot be overemphasized in view of the (adverse) happenings around the world. It is better to be covered to avoid any regrets later.”

Khalid cited the Tourism Act 1992, which made travel insurance compulsory for those performing the Haj and Umrah, as a precedent for the initiative.

MATTA has already started discussions with more than 10 insurance companies to develop the plan. It will be undertaking a roadshow across the country to get members buy-in.

“The road show is to make our members’ understand and aware of our rationale for the insurance plan. They can then tell their customers,” Khalid said.

Already held in Kuala Lumpur, other areas targeted for the roadshow were Johor (in the south), Penang (in the north) and East Malaysia (Sabah and Sarawak).

Sarawak-based Borneo Adventure managing director, Philip Yong, said: “Borneo Adventure introduced in 2000 compulsory insurance for all customers participating in its inbound tours. The company bears the cost of the insurance premium which includes provision for evacuation (from Sarawak).”

He added: “However, it is not clear how travel insurance can be forced upon the customer in the absence of legislation.”

Saying that he had not yet “received any information from MATTA on the matter”, Yong refrained from further comment.

By N. Nithiyananthan

CHINA’S Jin Jiang hotel chain, a force in the local market but not internationally, has hired former Banyan Tree Group senior vice president and managing director hotel operations, Bernold O. Schroeder, as CEO to spearhead the charge overseas.

TTG Asia e-Daily understands that Jin Jiang’s over 100 three- to five-star hotels were previously under an international vice president operations, but with its ambition to be “a truly international chain” within the next few years, Jin Jiang created the new CEO position, which has the full P&L responsibility, comprehensive brand strategy and international development for the star-rated hotels.

Its JinJiang Inns, of which there are 550 or so, are under a separate leadership team.

Contacted by TTG Asia e-Daily, Schroeder, who started on August 1 based in Shanghai, said his priority was “to strengthen first the operation (in China), create a strong brand position and superb sales and marketing platform. With this three platforms, we will have a good base to go international”.

Jin Jiang is also creating and establishing a ‘J’ brand, the first hotel of which is under construction in Pudong, and will be the world’s tallest when completed. The group also has a stake in luxury hotels such as the Fairmont Peace Hotel and the Waldorf Astoria Hotel in Shanghai, aside a 50 per cent ownership in the 240-property Interstate Hotels Group in the US.

Asked why he decided to join Jin Jiang, Schroeder said: “It will be an exciting journey and I see a lot of parallels with Banyan Tree, where I was for 14 years. I was for eight years their SVP/MD hotel operations, but also did development.

“Every country needs a ‘national’ hotel brand that internationally represents the country. Singapore, Hong Kong, India, Dubai, Japan etc all have this, but in China it is missing. Jin Jiang should occupy this space.”

KUONI Connect, the unit of Kuoni Destination Management specialising in online distribution, has entered into a distribution agreement with travel technology provider Dolphin Dynamics.

Kuoni Connect’s inventory, comprising over 15,000 two- to five-star hotels in more than 2,000 destinations in Europe, the Middle East, India, Asia, Africa, North America and Australia, will now become bookable via Dolphin Dynamics’ reservation platform.

Users will be able to search, book and combine Kuoni Connect’s worldwide product portfolio with other products linked via the Dolphin reservation platform and product database.

THE TRAVEL Corporation has officially launched in Singapore its Inspiring Journeys brand of luxury experiential products based in the Australian outback.

Having received encouraging levels of interest since its preview in July (TTG Asia e-Daily, July 5), Inspiring Journeys will now be rolled out to travel agents in other Asian markets.

Robin Yap, managing director of The Travel Corporation Singapore, said the new brand would target high-end clients who “are highly motivated by options”.

“The client in this target market is time-poor and likes to try new things and take the path less travelled,” he said. “We have built our approach around allowing travellers to discover, explore, learn and relax.”

As with other product lines under The Travel Corporation’s banner, Inspiring Journeys will be sold through travel agents, who will be given a 10 per cent commission.

Yap said: “We see the trade as absolutely integral partners in launching this brand, and we’re committed to working with travel agents and the industry to ensure they receive the relevant training and support to sell our product.”

GROUP buying websites are gaining popularity in Hong Kong and are beginning to offer travel products, causing some agents to become concerned that these are encroaching on their business.

Groupon recently extended its Groupon Getaways with Expedia partnership (TTG Asia e-Daily, June 3) to Hong Kong, launching a local version of its travel deals site offering discounted flight, hotel and cruise packages.

Hong Kong Pass Travel general manager, Samson Chan said: “Group buying has dampened agents’ business given our low profit margins nowadays. These group buying sites should not sell what agents are providing as they don’t hold travel agent licenses.”

According to Hong Kong’s Travel Industry Council (TIC), only those with travel agent licenses are authorised to sell travel products.

TIC executive director, Joseph Tung, said: “If our members want to promote any packages, they have to register with us first. We want to remind agents that they are not allowed to sell special fares without prior agreement from the service providers.”

Wincastle Travel (HK) senior manager marketing and products, Eliza Li, said the impact of group buying on the industry was minimal at the moment.

“Their clientele is different from ours,” she explained. “They are mostly the younger generation who shop around for the lowest deals, as their budget is limited.”

“In the long term, I would be concerned if they venture into package tours, as that would definitely threaten us.”

Meanwhile, agents like Jie Ling Express have begun using group buying sites to complement their existing sales channels.

Jie Ling’s managing director, Hanes Tong, said: “I treat it as an additional advertising channel. The response is okay for exposure’s sake, but we aren’t totally relying on it.

“Since we are putting our company’s name as the contact point, all clients contact us directly for bookings, so the group buying site isn’t technically selling travel products,” he added.

JETSTAR Japan will commence domestic operations by the end of 2012, and expects to fly from Tokyo (Narita) and Osaka (Kansai International).

The new low-cost carrier (LCC) is considering Sapporo, Fukuoka and Okinawa as its next destinations, and shorthaul international services to key Asian cities are also in the works.

The carrier will launch with an initial fleet of three new 180-seat Airbus A320s in a single-class configuration. This will grow to 24 aircraft within its first few years of operation.

The Qantas Group, Japan Airlines (JAL) and Mitsubishi Corporation each hold a one-third share in Jetstar Japan.

JAL president Masaru Onishi said the partnership with Jetstar was a two-airline strategy that would allow the Japanese flag carrier to serve a larger portion of the Japanese market.

“We are confident that Jetstar Japan will broaden the spectrum of travellers as it creates new demand in this market,” he said. “It will encourage even more movement of people within the country, and also increase the number of visitors from Asia to Japan.”

Jetstar, the first LCC to enter Japan in 2007, currently flies longhaul services from both Tokyo and Osaka to Cairns and the Gold Coast in Australia. It also operates shorthaul services from Singapore (via Taipei) to Osaka through Jetstar Asia.

THE PHILIPPINE Department of Tourism (DoT) is courting associations through its Tourism Promotions Board (TPB) to grow the destination’s MICE business.

DOT assistant secretary and TPB officer-in-charge, Domingo Enerio III, told TTGmice: “There will be a resurgence in MICE activities (by TPB).”

“We have many strong local associations that are willing to host international events, and we are encouraging them to think about hosting their next convention and exhibition here. Many are responding to the invitation.”

Although securing big-ticket events is the bureau’s priority, Enerio said association events with 150 to 1,000 delegates were being cultivated as well.

International Congress and Convention Association (ICCA) regional director for Asia-Pacific, Noor Hamid, pointed out that the Philippines was an attractive destination for business meetings ranging in size from 250 to 499 delegates.

TPB has been actively supplying ICCA with meetings-related statistics in order to boost the destination’s overall ranking.

A number of notable events have been scheduled for the Philippines this year, including the 2011 JCI Asia-Pacific Conference, which brought about 5,000 delegates to Manila in May. The 15,000-pax Lions’ 50th OSEAL Forum will take place in Manila in November.