BUFFALO Tours (Thailand) plans to open an office in Chiang Mai in June and in Phuket by year-end, as the Hanoi-based tour operator is anticipating improved performance from its Thai operations in its second year in the country.

Buffalo Tours (Thailand) general manager, Kenneth Jørgensen, said the company’s Thai operations had suffered due to the political crisis in the country between last March and May, with business achieving lower than expected results for 10 months of the year, and finishing with around 9,000 clients.

Despite a good first quarter so far this year, Buffalo Tours CEO, Tran Trong Kien, said the target for Buffalo Tours (Thailand) in 2011 had been kept conservative at 12,000 customers, which even then would make it the company’s second largest market after Vietnam.

Even though Tran admitted in hindsight that opening a business in Thailand last year had been “a risk in extreme”, Buffalo’s Thai operations are still being expanded in line with the company’s strategy to become a destination expert in terms of product offerings. “It sends a message to the industry that we are committed to Thailand,” he added.

Buffalo Tours also has operations in Cambodia and Laos.

By Sirima Eamtako

SINGAPORE Airlines (SIA) has signed a memorandum of understanding with the Sri Lanka Tourism Promotion Bureau (SLTPB) to jointly promote tourism to Sri Lanka through the airline’s services to Colombo.

SIA’s executive vice president commercial, Mak Swee Wah, said: “The forming of this strategic partnership with SLTPB is testament to our strong commitment to the Sri Lankan market.”

The one-year agreement, effective April 1, will see SIA and SLTPB jointly funding tourism promotion activities such as fam trips targeting trade partners, international media and overseas markets.

According to a statement by SIA, “key markets in the agreement include Australia, Singapore, Japan, New Zealand, Korea, Indonesia, the Philippines and China. Under the partnership, both parties will also provide each other with branding opportunities in their proprietary marketing channels”.

SIA, which has daily flights between Singapore and Colombo, is the longest-serving foreign airline operating to the Sri Lankan capital, having provided air services between the two destinations for more than 40 years.

ANANTARA will open its first Vietnamese property in autumn with the rebranding of L’Anmien Resort and Spa as Anantara Mui Ne Resort & Spa (TTG Asia e-Daily, April 27).

Located 198km northeast of Ho Chi Minh City on the south-east coast of Vietnam, next to the town of Phan Thiet in the province of Binh Thuan, the resort will have 89 rooms, suites and pool villas, and offer a spa, a beach swimming pool, a fitness centre and a reading lounge.

Banqueting, event and meeting facilities at the resort will include five conference rooms for up to 250 participants, as well as al fresco reception locations.

HILTON Worldwide has signed a management agreement with Hatten Group to operate the DoubleTree by Hilton, Melaka. The deal will see the second DoubleTree by Hilton hotel in Malaysia and Hilton’s entry into Malacca.

Scheduled to open in 2014, the 265-room DoubleTree by Hilton, Melaka will form part of a mixed-use development in downtown Malacca, featuring the hotel, extensive retail offerings and residential apartments.

Hilton currently operates five hotels in Malaysia including Hilton Kuala Lumpur, DoubleTree by Hilton Kuala Lumpur, Hilton Kuching, Hilton Petaling Jaya and the Batang Ai Longhouse Resort, managed by Hilton.

GARUDA Indonesia will launch a new daily service from Singapore to Makassar from June 1. This is in line with the carrier’s plans to develop Makassar as its third domestic hub after Jakarta and Bali, and as a gateway to East Indonesia.

The airline will operate this route daily using Boeing 737-500 aircraft, with 12 executive-class and 84 economy-class seats.

“The launch of this new route will mark a significant step forward in our network expansion strategy,” said Risnandi, senior general manager, Area Asia, Garuda Indonesia.

He added that Garuda was experiencing strong growth in passenger traffic from Singapore to Makassar via Jakarta. “There is enormous potential in this market particularly in the leisure segment.”

With 2011 being declared Visit Makassar year, and the city busy adding new events and festivals to its attractions, Risnandi said Garuda would be “teaming up with the local tourism officials to promote Makassar as one of the Indonesian destination of choice”.

“We will be launching great deals and offers to entice travellers from Singapore,” he said.
To celebrate the launch of the new route, Garuda is running a sale from now till May 31. Singapore-Makassar economy-class return tickets are available for S$220, valid for travel from June 1 to August 31.

SINGAPORE Airport Terminal Services (SATS) and Royal Caribbean Cruises last week launched the region’s first cruise-fly service, offering cruise passengers a seamless and convenient transit process from the pier to Marina Bay Sands (MBS) for flight check-in and luggage deposit.

The cruise-fly service debuted on April 30 during Royal Caribbean’s inaugural summer season on Legend of the Seas in Singapore. Legend of the Seas guests who booked the service were personally met by SATS customer service agents at the cruise terminal upon disembarkation from the ship and ferried directly to MBS.

SATS senior vice president, Yacoob Piperdi, said: “Our cruise-fly service provides a seamless experience for Royal Caribbean’s cruise guests who arrive in Singapore in the day and plan to catch a flight later in the evening.”

“These guests can check-in for their flights at their convenience, deposit their bags and have the rest of the day to explore the island hassle-free, without having to worry about airport check-in times or what to do with their bags.”

SATS plans to continue offering this service for Legend of the Seas when it returns this November, as well as for Azamara Quest, also of the Royal Caribbean fleet, and slated to call again at Singapore from this December.

The service is available for guests travelling on Singapore Airlines, SilkAir, Qantas Airways, Air China, China Eastern Airlines, China Southern Airlines and EVA Airways flights.

SRI LANKA’S second international airport in the southern town of Hambantota will be ready by next October.

The first phase of Mattala International Airport, costing 24 billion rupees (US$209 million), will take up 800 of the total 2,000 hectares set aside for airport development, according to Johanne Jayaratne, executive director of the state-owned Airport and Aviation Services Ltd.

Parliamentary Speaker Chamal Rajapaksa said 40 per cent of the runway at Mattala, which is able to accommodate Airbus A380 aircraft, has been completed so far.

The new airport’s terminal will be able to accommodate one million passengers a year, compared to six million passengers at the country’s main international airport at Katunayake, about 30 kilometres west of Colombo.

THE RISING transportation cost in Vietnam is a bigger concern for the ICS Travel Group compared to the increase in Vietnam Airlines’ (VNA) domestic airfares.

The DMC’s chief sales officer Sabine Widmaan said she doubted the increase on domestic airfares would have an impact on foreign tourists to Vietnam, as the country has always been considered as pricey.

“But the biggest challenge will be the increase of transportation rates. A higher transportation rate makes everything so much more expensive, from packages to sightseeing and transfers.”

However, some Vietnam-based tour operators, including Phoenix Voyages and Exotissimo Travel, have expressed concern over VNA’s plan to increase airfares on all its domestic flights by about 20 per cent, and have informed their clients to buy tickets in advance to avoid the rate hike.

The flag carrier was said to bring the hike into effect on March 15 and then May 2, but it has yet to issue a formal notice, according to the tour operators. The airline has not yet responded to an email inquiry by TTG Asia e-Daily on whether it has already increased airfares on domestic flights.

– Read more in TTG Asia, May 13

By Sirima Eamtako