IHG’S Holiday Inn Express is set to make its presence felt in Indonesia soon, with the construction of the proposed 160-room Bali Legian hotel starting middle of this year.

Holiday Inn Express Bali Legian will be located along Jalan Imam Bonjol and is projected to open by early 2013.

IHG signed the management agreement with PT Wismatama Indah Makmur, which is owned by the Lukminto family.

Jan Smits, chief executive of IHG Asia Australasia, said: “Bali is Indonesia’s most popular holiday destination and is a great location for us to introduce the brand to the country. We continue to look for the right opportunities to expand Holiday Inn Express’ presence in other key Indonesian cities.”

MALAYSIA AIRLINES (MAS) is allotting a minimum of 150,000 seats for Indonesia during its one-month Global Deal, Dream Gateway promotion.

Launched in Jakarta yesterday, an average reduction of up to 65 per cent off the normal price for economy and business class seats is on offer.

The lowest price for Indonesia is the Medan-Kuala Lumpur route, which starts from US$2 for an economy class one-way (fuel surcharge, insurance and airport tax not included), and the highest is US$955 from six Indonesian gateways to Europe.

The promotion is valid for sales between April 25 and May 24, with a travel period until March 31, 2012.

MAS executive vice president sales & marketing, Dato’ Bernard Francis, said: “The mega sale is in line with our new products.

“We have done a lot of branding exercises. We have received new aircraft and will have more,” he said. “We are inviting customers to experience the value of our services.”

The promotion is also part of the airline’s effort to stimulate the “slight dampening” traffic due to the high fuel price and Japan disaster.

When asked why MAS picked Jakarta over Kuala Lumpur for its promo launch, Francis said: “Indonesia is a very important market for MAS. Business from Indonesia has grown by 15 per cent annually in the last three years.”

MAS is expecting a revenue of US$10 million from the promotion. The airline has 89 flights between Malaysia and Indonesia per week, with a country average load factor of 75 per cent, according to MAS area manager, Indonesia, Roslan Ismail.

MAS regional senior vice president ASEAN region, Muzammil Mohamad, said: “The mega sale is a good opportunity to fly beyond Kuala Lumpur with MAS, as we have convenient connections.”

INBOUND agents from India are seeing a growth in demand for rural tourism, especially with FIT travellers from Western societies.

Sita business head Europe, Philip Thomas, said the company has seen a 25 per cent year-on-year growth last year over 2009. “This year, demand is also strong, especially from France, Italy and UK,” he said.

He said rural tourism is a small but fast-growing market. “Many are well-off and well-travelled. They are mentally prepared for the experience. They know the facilities are not as good as hotels, but they seek not so much comfort, but experiences that will make a memorable holiday,” he said.

The company sells farm-stay packages in Punjab and homestays around India. He said some combine a rural stay with community volunteer work, which is also growing in popularity.

Le Passage To India executive director, Khalid Khan, said his company has seen a 20 per cent growth in rural tourism last year, especially from France and Germany. He said many of his foreign clients are those who are already involved in farming and agriculture and they travel to India to study farming practices there.

Red Lantern Journeys is a US outbound agent who sells tours to India. CEO Ambrose Bittner IV said that rural homestays in Kerala are popular with FIT clients between the ages of 40 and 70. “They provide quite good service with families taking good care of the travellers,” he said.

He added that such stays are usually for up to two days and are part of an extension of a longer programme. “Some rural experiences are out of the way. If a traveller spends less than two weeks in India, it is really not worth it. The biggest challenge is logistics and fitting the rural programme into the bigger itinerary.”

AFTER an encouraging first quarter, Diethelm Events is anticipating a “hazy” outlook for the next six months, according to executive manager David Barrett.

He cited the expected upcoming Thai election and customer concerns over Japan as factors.

“The outlook for the fourth quarter will be subject to the outcome of the election. Hopefully, if we can have a clear election where people stand by the results, we can continue to build business,” Barrett said.

The DMC, one of Thailand’s largest, regained customer confidence in the country from November last year, following political turbulence between March and May. It noted, however, that misleading media coverage of recent rainstorms in the south had dampened prospects to the destination.

Despite the volatile outlook, the DMC is continuing its efforts in promoting Thailand. It will launch a new off-property Thai cultural evening at a Bangkok city-centre temple at IMEX in Frankfurt next month.

Its all-inclusive promotion to corporate meeting and incentive travel planners in South Africa and Russia, launched last year, will also be expanded from Khao Lak to include Phuket, Koh Samui and Bangkok. The package offers four days/three nights of accommodation, all meals and transfers and an excursion for a group of 50 to 150 delegates.

By Sirima Eamtako

TO CAPTURE a larger slice of the Muslim travel market, Malaysia needs to innovate more, tour operators were told at the fifth International Conference on Muslim Tourism, Hajj and Umrah 2011 in Kuala Lumpur.

“There much potential in Islamic tourism in Malaysia due to contributing factors, such asour liberal policies comfort in food, beverages, personal needs and facilities,” Zainuddin Abdul Wahab, director-general of the Islamic Tourism Centre (ITC), which is organising the second International Islamic Tourism Conference and Travel Mart in Kuala Lumpur from Oct 13 to 16.

“Islamic tourism has long been defined as merely Umrah and Hajj tours, when there are many avenues to expand on, such as halal food trails, historical and cultural journeys and modern Muslim cities,” Wahab added.

The Malaysian Association of Tour and Travel Agents (MATTA) past president and group president of the Mitra group, Tunku Iskandar Abdullah, said Malaysia is “barely scratching the surface”.

“The Muslim market is far larger than what we think. We should not just focus on the Arabian and Middle East, but also the huge North Africa and China market,” he said.

Datuk Tuan Ibrahim Tengku Abdullah, managing director of Two One Holidays Malaysia, added that Malaysia needs to upgrade its existing tourism products and introduce new attractions.

“Many Middle Easterners vacation with their families. They seldom travel alone. As far as family entertainment goes, we are already losing out to Singapore’s Sentosa Island, which has been aggressively introducing interesting products,” he said.

MATTA president Dato Mohd Khalid Harunpointed out Malaysian operators do not have the license to sell to overseas agents. “That is Tourism Malaysia’s job,” he said.

By Ellen Chen

BEST WESTERN INTERNATIONAL recently opened its first Best Western Plus hotel in Asia Pacific, the Best Western Plus @20 Sukhumvit, in Bangkok.

“The new Best Western Plus is positioned towards a growing segment of trendy yet value-conscious travellers who are increasingly sophisticated and want hotels offering a lifestyle along with the traditional bed-and-breakfast element,” said Best Western International’s vice president for operations Asia and the Middle East, Glenn de Souza.

Located on Sukhumvit Soi 20 in Bangkok, the hotel is near Sukhumvit Road, and is just walking distance from the Asok Skytrain and Sukhumvit MRT underground stations.

The hotel has 78 guest rooms. Facilities include a rooftop Jacuzzi, concierge, business services, tour arrangements and valet parking, among others.

BANGKOK AIRWAYS is offering a special return airfare priced at 4,300 baht nett (US$144) on the Bangkok-Koh Samui route to help restore confidence on the island, as news of recent rainstorms have continued to affect bookings.

The fare will be effective from May 12 to July 31, with the promotion available for 250 seats per day per sector. The airline will launch the promotion at its Ultimate Destination fair to be held at Siam Paragon in Bangkok from May 12 to 20.

The airline’s corporate communications vice-president, Nandhika Varavarn, said the fare would be available to all markets, as well as to agents and hotels that want to offer attractive packages to entice bookings.

“More special airfares will be launched in the coming months,” Varavarn said.

Hotels in Koh Samui have been running at 30-35 per cent occupancy after the rainstorms and floods hit the island from March 26 to 29, according to the island’s travel trade interviewed by TTG Asia e-Daily, during the Samui Big Cleaning Day on April 24.

According to the trade, hotels normally run at 80-85 per cent occupancy in March and April.

– Read more in TTG Asia, April 29

By Sirima Eamtako

THE NEWEST player set to join Singapore’s serviced residences scene in July is 8 on Claymore.

The 85-unit residence on 8 Claymore Hill is adjacent to the Royal Plaza on Scotts hotel, which manages the property. It is also the first serviced residence project under Summit Residences of the Preferred Hotel Group.

“The opportunity was there. The potential is there. There are a lot of apartments for rent (in Singapore), but serviced apartments are few,” said Royal Plaza on Scotts general manager, Patrick Fiat, when asked about the venture.

In addition to its prime location near the Orchard Road area, what will distinguish 8 on Claymore from competitors are amenities, like the fastest Internet connection on the island and the award-winning service that Royal Plaza on Scotts is known for, Fiat said.

– Read more in TTG Asia, April 29

By Amee Enriquez

LION AIR received its newest Boeing 737-900ER aircraft yesterday, with 14 more units to be delivered this year.

The aircraft was the 43rd out of the total 178 aircraft it ordered, to be delivered until 2017. It is the 47th Boeing 737-900ER aircraft in Lion Air’s fleet.

In welcoming the new arrival in Jakarta, Lion Air general affairs director Edward Sirait said: “Lion Air will continue to add aircraft with the new Boeing Sky Interior, the first to be used by an Indonesian airline.”

The airline is investing US$8.9 billion in its new fleet, which will enable it to expand its domestic and international network. Sirait added that new routes and additional frequencies will be announced.

Lion Air recently opened Jakarta-Medina twice-weekly services.

INBOUND agents from India are experiencing double-digit growth in business, slightly over a year after AirAsia began direct daily services between Kuala Lumpur and Kochi in November 2009. AirAsia is currently the only carrier servicing this route.

With direct flights from Kuala Lumpur to Kerala’s commercial capital, three inbound agents agreed that it was easier to promote Kerala to the Malaysian market as a complete mono-holiday destination.

Indus Travel Company director, Punit Bhasin, said that without direct flights, Kerala only used to be part of a tour programme combining Chennai or Mumbai. Length of a typical stay used to be two nights, but has now increased to five nights.

He added that the direct flights had grown his business from the Malaysian market to Kerala by 50 per cent.

Go India Journeys manager, Australasia & Far East market, Kumar Guru, said his inbound business from Malaysia to Kerala has improved by at least 75 per cent.

He said AirAsia’s flights out of Kuala Lumpur to Kochi had also attracted traffic from neighbouring countries such as Indonesia, The Philippines and Thailand to use Kuala Lumpur to connect to Kochi.

He said the biggest attractions for the Far East market to Kerala are Ayurveda treatments and cruising the backwaters in houseboats, also known as Kettuvalloms.

Pioneer Personalized Holidays director, Ranju Joseph, said the Malaysian traffic he received were mainly FIT travelers and this segment had grown by some 30 per cent.

He said: “This is also a price-sensitive market. Customer expectations of hotel properties do not match their perception of value, and this is our biggest challenge. We are now identifying better properties for the budget segment.”

Bhasin also agreed that the Malaysian market is price sensitive. He said his challenge is to create experiences with a small budget. “I believe more affluent travelers will start travelling to Kerala, as Ayurveda treatments become increasingly popular. It will then become easier to promote the destination, and people will be willing to spend more for their holiday experiences,” he said.