VISITBRITAIN introduced in Bangalore on Monday its goodwill ambassador programme targeting Asia-Pacific source markets, part of its 100-million-pound (US$162 million), four-year Britain, You’re Invited global marketing campaign.

According to VisitBritain chief executive Sandie Dawe, the ambassador programme, featuring Bollywood filmmaker Karan Johar, Asia-based television presenter Asha Gill and 2012 Olympic Chinese equestrian rider Alex Hua Tian, will be the first in a series of promotional activities to be rolled out in the next six months to market the destination.

VisitBritain will be spending 50 million pounds for its efforts, a sum that will be matched by contributions from travel trade partners.

Dawe said Asia Pacific was one of Britain’s most important source markets. Last year, the destination saw double-digit growth in arrivals from India, China and South Korea, while numbers from Australia are poised to hit the one-million mark this year.

Indian arrivals, in particular, look promising, said Dawe. “Britain welcomed more than 366,000 Indian visitors last year, a 34 per cent increase over 2009. Indian travellers spent about 358 million pounds during their travel to Britain, a 33 per cent growth over 2009.”

VisitBritain is planning to introduce its ambassadors at home in June. It will launch a global television advertising campaign in September, followed by a stimulus programme targeted at the visiting-relatives market in October.

By Sirima Eamtako

IRELAND is waiving visa fees for citizens of seven Asian and Middle Eastern countries who have valid UK visas, from July to October next year, to attract more visitors.

Under the scheme, citizens of China, India, Bahrain, the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Qatar who are already holding valid UK visas and have cleared UK immigration, will have their 60 euro (US$85) visa fees waived for a stay in Ireland of up to 90 days at a time. A UK visa costs 76 pounds (US$123).

Tourism Ireland marketing manager Middle East and Asia, Aisling McDermott, said the visa fee waiver would be of added significance during the Olympic Games 2012 in London.

India-based Dejavu Holiday director, Jaspreet Chopra, who is planning to introduce Ireland as a new destination to his clients this year, said the waiver was encouraging, especially with his company projecting a 15 to 20 per cent growth in outbound Indian clients to the UK this year.

By Sirima Eamtako

MÖVENPICK Hotels & Resorts has undertaken the management of the Palm Beach Club hotel and rebranded it as Mövenpick Residences Laguna Beach Phuket.

“We are pleased to have the opportunity to operate this exclusive retreat and to expand our presence in Thailand,” said Andreas Mattmüller, COO of Mövenpick Hotels & Resorts, Middle East & Asia.

“We have plans to increase our portfolio in the country and to operate six hotels in Thailand by 2014,” he added.

Mövenpick Residences Laguna Beach Phuket is located on Bang Tao Beach and features 39 residences, including penthouses and two- and three-bedroom suites, some with a private pool or Jacuzzi.

The resort will complement the Mövenpick Resort & Spa Karon Beach Phuket, the first property the hotel company opened in Thailand in 2006.

MACAU’S newest integrated destination resort, Galaxy Macau, officially opened its doors yesterday. It is set to play host to between 30,000 and 40,000 guests daily.

The resort brings together three different hotel brands – Banyan Tree Hotels & Resorts, Okura Hotels & Resorts and Galaxy Hotel – offering a total of 2,200 five-star rooms, suites and villas, and accounting for nearly 12 per cent of Macau’s room total and nearly 20 per cent of its five-star capacity.

The HK$14.9 billion (US$1.9 billion) property features a Grand Resort Deck, where a 350-tonne white sand beach frames a 4,000m2 sky-top wave pool, the largest of its kind in the world.

The Grand Resort Deck also features the first Banyan Tree Spa in the Pearl River Delta, which at 3,400m2 is also the largest in the Banyan Tree group.

CHINA will commemorate its inaugural National Tourism Day on May 19.

To promote the occasion, the China National Tourism Administration (CNTA) has revealed plans to solicit ideas for a logo and slogan, as well as launch a public campaign with various events and activities that are scheduled.

Zhu Shanzhong, vice chairman, CNTA, said: “Creating a National Tourism Day helps raise people’s awareness of tourism, and establishes its role in education by improving peoples’ civility and knowledge through travel.”

He added: “It draws greater attention from society for the development of tourism by forging a better environment for it, boosting spending on travel and thereby establishing tourism as a strategic pillar of the economy.”

Bill Calderwood, interim CEO, PATA, said: “This is an extremely positive signal being sent by China to both the travel and tourism sector and the world in general, about the importance that China places on the travel and tourism industry.”

RAIL Europe has opened its Asian flagship retail outlet in Hong Kong in partnership with Sincerity Travel, a leading local agent for train travel in Europe.

The company’s expansion into Asia is in response to a significant increase in demand for exploring Europe by train, especially among university students and younger travellers.

Philippe Kirsanow, Rail Europe’s sales director for mainland China, Hong Kong, Singapore and Taiwan, said Hong Kong was selected for Rail Europe’s flagship in Asia, as a model and reference for its other regional markets.

“Bookings in Hong Kong were up by 48 per cent from January to April this year, with a 141 per cent increase in April alone,” he said.

Sincerity Travel chairman, Lam Keung, added: “Train is the only way to really explore and experience Europe, and passes aboard Rail Europe are exceptional, affordable value for young travellers.”

With a focus on university students and youth travel, Sincerity Travel has been Rail Europe’s premier sales agent in Hong Kong for over a decade. The group operates six retail outlets in Hong Kong, one in Macau and one in Guangzhou.

COMPARED to the year before, the InterContinental Hotels Group’s (IHG) 2011 first quarter revenue increased 16 per cent to US$80 million. Operating profit increased 39 per cent to US$25 million, predominantly driven by RevPAR growth and a six per cent year-on-year increase in rooms.

Andrew Cosslett, chief executive of IHG, said: “We delivered a strong set of results. Global RevPAR grew 6.9 per cent, with 18.8 per cent growth in greater China.”

IHG’s Asia-Pacific RevPAR increased 9.9 per cent, including rate growth of 4.8 per cent. Excluding Japan (33 hotels), where the earthquake and resultant events negatively impacted March growth, RevPAR grew 13.6 per cent.

Greater China continues to be IHG’s strongest market, with RevPAR up 18.8 per cent, including rate growth of 9.9 per cent.

Cosslett added that IHG was confident about the outlook for the rest of the year.

“Demand for our brands continues to strengthen with both guests and hotel owners. This is driving our performance and reinforcing our industry-leading pipeline,” he said.

IHG signed 915 rooms (five hotels) in the first quarter, three of which were in Thailand, including an InterContinental resort on the West coast of Koh Samui and a Hotel Indigo on Phuket Naithon beach.

The group inked a further seven deals in April, including three in India and three in Indonesia.

Key openings for the quarter included the InterContinental Kuala Lumpur and Crowne Plaza West Hanoi, the first hotels opened under those brands in Malaysia and Vietnam respectively.

BUDGET longhaul carrier AirAsia X is awaiting landing rights in Osaka, Fukuoka and Nagoya, and has also set its sights on obtaining landing permissions in Istanbul, Dubai or Abu Dhabi.

AirAsia CEO, Tony Fernandes, told media during the launch of its year-long To Japan With Love campaign (TTG Asia e-Daily, May 11) that Japan remains a huge market despite the March 11 disaster.

“The potential between Japan and South-east Asian destinations is massive,” said Fernandes. “Once we have the green light for increased landing rights, AirAsia X has the potential to transform the business, cultural and economic connectivity between Japan and South-east Asia.”

“We’re expecting AirAsia Philippines to be flying more into Japan, and will announce routes in September,” he added.

AirAsia X currently operates thrice-weekly flights between Kuala Lumpur and Tokyo’s Haneda airport.

The carrier is also keen on obtaining landing rights in Istanbul, Dubai or Abu Dhabi to establish new routes to the Middle East. In 2009, AirAsia X was flying into Abu Dhabi, but the airline halted operations there last year.

“The Middle East is a huge market, and the UAE is a prime focus,” said Fernandes.

“Besides leisure and business travelers, AirAsia X’s budget flights would benefit the thousands of foreign workers in the region from Indonesia, Thailand and the Philippines, who would have another airline option to fly home.”

By Ellen Chen

NEWLY-launched five-star brand Shaza, a joint venture between Kempinski and Guidance Hotel Investment Company (GHIC), wants to extend its shariah-compliant concept to Asia, after establishing a robust pipeline of projects in the Middle East and North Africa.

Dr Hasnita Hashim, managing director, Guidance Financial Group, which like GHIC is a subsidiary of Capital Guidance, said: “There have been attempts to create shariah-compliant hotels, but they are more localised one-offs. We wanted to create a brand that encompasses the values, aesthetics and culture of the Islamic civilization, but of an international five-star standard that has scalability.”

Speaking to TTG Asia e-Daily on the sidelines of the recent Hotel Investment Conference Asia Pacific (HICAP) UPDATE, she explained that Shaza was making up for its have-nots, such as the absence of a common swimming pool and alcohol, with offerings such as a hammam (Turkish bath) and spa, top chefs in F&B outlets, bigger-than-usual room sizes, a kids’ centre and tasteful Islamic art.

Two properties have opened over the last few months – one in Medina, Saudi Arabia, and the other in Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina – while more are under development in Egypt, Morocco, Bahrain and the UAE.

Hashim expects to have more than 10 hotels under the brand within the next five years, which will comprise its own investments, management contracts, as well as a mixture of both.

Identifying Malaysia as a suitable destination for its debut property in Asia, Hashim said negotiations had been ongoing for at least two years, but the company was still waiting for a chance to snap up an elusive prime location in Kuala Lumpur.

Hashim explained that Shaza was targeting Muslim travellers, as well as international guests who were “looking for a true experience of the region rather than just going to your standard, five-star Western hotel”. In that respect, it is also exploring opportunities in Hong Kong and London.

SIAM@SIAM has inked a deal to operate the 200-room Mode Sathorn Hotel in Bangkok next April, the second property to come under its management.

Siam@Siam managing director, Kla Kitchakarn, said he was confident the hotel’s strategic location in the prime business area of Sathorn Road would allow it to command an average daily rate (ADR) of around 3,600 baht (US$119) and achieve 50 per cent occupancy in its first year.

According to Kla, the 83-key Crown Lanta Resort & Spa in Krabi, the first property to come under its management portfolio, enjoyed 80 per cent occupancy and 3,600 baht ADR in the 2010/2011 high season. “We are building up the rate to around 6,500 baht by next year,” he said.

Meanwhile, Kla said the company-owned flagship hotel, the 203-room Siam@Siam Design Hotel and Spa, was poised this year to achieve 82 per cent occupancy and 3,000 baht ADR. Last year, the hotel’s occupancy and ADR dropped to 69 per cent and 2,790 baht respectively due to the Thai political crisis.

Siam@Siam plans to grow its inventory in Thailand to around 1,000 rooms, through developing one Siam@Siam each in Phuket and Pattaya, and managing an additional property in Bangkok.

By Sirima Eamtako