A TOTAL of 53 buyers and 91 sellers from all over the Philippines attended the recently concluded PhilippineMICE Conference 2011. This year’s mix of buyers came from China, Singapore, Malaysia, India and Vietnam, some visiting the country for the first time.

P. Pavan Kumar, general manager for sales at Kuoni Travel Group India is interested in bringing groups of about 20 participants to Manila, with possible side trips to the lakeside city of Tagaytay, about 60 kilometers from the capital.

“Flights from India into the Philippines are a limitation, but we will look at Cebu more closely in the future,” he said.

He added: “We were hoping to meet more DMCs like us, who can take of business with one price and one package, with nothing more to worry about.”

Dada Estonactoc, director of sales and marketing at the as-yet-unopened Nandana Resort in Boracay, said she had been hoping to meet more foreign buyers at the conference.

“It is easy for us to make client calls to local prospects, whereas foreign buyers come here for the first time and don’t know us yet,” she explained.

The province of Davao in Southern Philippines has won the bid to host the next edition of the annual conference in 2013, skipping a year to facilitate the Philippines Tourism Promotions Board’s hosting of PATA Philippines in 2012.

THE RECENT spate of riots in the UK has seemingly had little impact on traffic to and from Indonesia.

Association of the Indonesian Tours and Travel Agencies (ASITA) Jakarta chapter vice chairman, Rudiana, said: “The interest for UK continues to be big, even though the tours include London and Manchester (two of the locations where riots occurred).

“We have not heard of any cancellations in relation to the riots thus far.”

Rudiana, who is also director of sales and marketing of WITA Tours, added that his company had five groups due to depart for the UK during the upcoming Hari Raya peak holiday season.

Panorama Tours Indonesia managing director Leisure Travel Management, Meity Monica Lukito, said: “We have four groups, 30 pax each, taking mono Britain packages, and 20 groups of 25-35 people each touring Western Europe including London; all are on.”

Meanwhile, Pacific World Nusantara (PWN) Bali and Bali Tours & Travel reported business as usual for inbound traffic from the UK.

PWN regional country manager, Ida Bagus Lolec, said: “Booking patterns are normal and we haven’t noticed any unusual cancellations.”

GROUNDED domestic carrier Yangon Airways has applied for permission to resume flights, and is expecting to return to the skies ahead of the peak tourist season.

The airline’s spokesperson said that while the application for an Aircraft Operation Certificate (AOC) with the Department of Civil Aviation (DCA) was ongoing, the airline was actively recruiting air crew.

“We hope to start in time for the coming peak season and will issue a public announcement when we receive our AOC,” the spokesperson said.

The airline was forced to stop operations from December last year after its AOC was suspended by the DCA. Although neither the airline nor DCA gave a reason for the suspension, it was thought to have been linked to a failed takeover by a rival carrier.

A Yangon-based ticketing agent said Yangon Airways was one of the more reliable domestic airlines in Myanmar, and that the airline seldom changed its flights schedule or cancelled flights.

“I have heard they are planning to relaunch from coming peak season, and this will give both customers and travel agents more options when purchasing tickets for domestic flights,” the ticketing agent said.

Prior to its grounding, Yangon Airways operated scheduled and charter services from Yangon to 13 domestic destinations.

THAI Airways International (THAI) last week placed an order to purchase four Airbus A350-900 and five A320 aircraft, to be delivered between 2014 and 2017, as part of plans to upgrade its aging fleet (TTG Asia e-Daily, June 15).

The Thai flag carrier will also lease an additional eight A350s, to be delivered between 2016 and 2017; and six A320s, to be delivered between 2012 and 2013.

THAI plans to use the A350s on longhaul services to Europe, and the A320s on domestic and regional routes.

THAI president Piyasavasti Amranand said the fleet upgrade would play a significant role in ensuring that the airline keeps abreast of regional competition.

In the second half of 2012, THAI will take delivery of the first of six A380s it has ordered.

The carrier will also decommission 50 aircraft between this year and 2017.

THAI operated at a cabin factor of 77.3 per cent last month, the highest level recorded in the month of July over the past four years. The airline recorded a load factor of 66.4 per cent in the second quarter, and 76.1 per cent in the first quarter.

STARWOOD Hotels & Resorts Worldwide will operate a Le Méridien resort on Koh Samui from October 1, 2011.

Located on Lamai Beach on the east coast of Koh Samui, the resort is a short drive to the island’s recreational and cultural facilities, including Lamai Temple and the Yacht Club.

The property will offer 77 guest rooms and villas, three F&B venues, a full-service spa with six treatment rooms, a fitness centre, four swimming pools and 100m2 of meeting and event space.

SOFITEL Luxury Hotels has opened its first hotel in Guangzhou, the Sofitel Guangzhou Sunrich, bringing its China portfolio to 20 properties.

Located in the heart of Tianhe, Guangzhou’s financial and business district, the property offers 493 rooms and suites, a gym, an indoor pool, five F&B outlets, 17 meeting rooms, as well as a 900m2 conference room.

The hotel is also the first Sofitel in Asia to offer the group’s So SPA-branded day spa.

FEWER than expected Chinese FITs travelled to Taiwan in July, the first month that individual travellers from mainland China were allowed to visit the country on FIT visas (TTG Asia e-Daily, June 27).

Even though the number of FIT visas issued is limited to 500 per day and restricted to residents of Beijing, Shanghai and Xiamen, only 1,440 Chinese FITs had travelled across the Taiwan Strait as of August 7.

This was much better, though, than the figure recorded for the whole of July, when only 587 made the trip.

“That first month was bad, bad, bad” said Roget Hsu, secretary-general of the Travel Agent Association of the Republic of China, Taiwan.

Hsu said Taiwanese inbound operators were not inclined to take on too many Chinese customers because of relatively lower margins. “Travel agents here don’t like working with Chinese tours. The tour fees are too low, so there is little or no profit,” he said.

Kitty Wong, president of Taipei-based K&A International, cited a few other hurdles facing mainland Chinese who might want to visit Taiwan.

“These people might live and work in Beijing or Shanghai, but to get a travel permit, they must return to and apply in their hometown,” she explained.

“They also lack the basic information. The Chinese government blocks websites that end in .tw.”

By Glenn Smith

SINGAPORE Airlines (SIA) and Virgin Australia launched earlier this month the first phase of their alliance (TTG Asia e-Daily, June 7), commencing an initial interline agreement and offering reciprocal lounge access to their respective customers.

SIA’s executive vice president commercial, Mak Swee Wah, said: “Customers can now experience the first benefits of this landmark agreement with Virgin Australia.”

Through the initial interline agreement, SIA customers are able to connect to a range of Australian destinations served by Virgin Australia on one ticket, with terminal transfers included.

SIA’s KrisFlyer Elite Gold and PPS Club members will have access to Virgin Australia’s six domestic lounges, while Virgin Australia’s Velocity Gold members will have access to SIA-operated lounges in 14 cities.

Virgin Australia ditched similar arrangements with Malaysia Airlines in June (TTG Asia e-Daily, June 30).

MARRIOTT International is marking its return to Sri Lanka through the management of a 150-room beach resort in the country’s south.

Luxury Hotels International Management, a Marriott-linked special purpose vehicle for Sri Lankan operations, has signed an agreement with Weligama Hotel Properties, a subsidiary of local hotel developer East West Properties, to operate the resort.

Construction on the US$18 million property located in the Weligama Bay area is scheduled to start later this year and be completed within two years.

Nahil Wijesuriya, chairman of East West Properties, said: “Marriott is also in talks with us to manage two or three more properties in Sri Lanka.”

He added that the prospective plans involve five more resorts in Dambulla, Kandy and Nuwara Eliya.

AIRLINES and outbound operators in Indonesia are anticipating the upcoming Hari Raya holiday season to be a busy one, despite it falling barely a month after the end of the summer school holiday period.

Lebaran, the end of the Muslim fasting month, is traditionally the country’s biggest holiday season, with Indonesians travelling en masse to both domestic and overseas destinations.

The peak travel period is one week prior to and after Hari Raya Idul Fitri, which falls on August 30-31 this year.

Bayu Buana Travel Services outbound manager, Nurdin Supena, is expecting a 50 per cent increase in business over last year’s Hari Raya.

“Demand for neighbouring countries and mediumhaul destinations like Malaysia, Singapore, Hong Kong and China is big. Even Europe is in big demand,” he said.

According to Supena, the relatively robust Indonesian currency and increasing European connections offered by Asian and Middle Eastern carriers have contributed to the increased demand.

Carriers such as Cathay Pacific, Garuda Indonesia, China Airlines, Singapore Airlines and Batavia Air have added extra flights to cater to increased demand over the holiday period.