CENTARA Hotels & Resorts is planning to open its third hotel in Bangkok, the Centara Watergate Pavillion Hotel and Spa.

The new four-star property will be located at Rachaprarop, and will occupy 10 floors of the Watergate Pavillion shopping complex.

The property is being developed at an investment cost of approximately 700 million baht (US$23 million), and will be opening in the second quarter of 2012.

Chris Bailey, senior vice president for sales and marketing at Centara Hotels & Resorts, said the four-star category of the hotel would broaden Centara’s base in Bangkok, as both of its existing properties are five-star.

“This opens up another sector of the market for us and enhances our presence in the Rachaprarop district, where Centara Grand & Bangkok Convention Centre at CentralWorld is also located,” he said.

The Centara Watergate Pavillion Hotel and Spa will offer 288 guestrooms. Of these, 243 will be standard rooms, 27 will be premium rooms, and 18 will offer a family-friendly concept.

Facilities will include an all-day restaurant, a rooftop restaurant and rooftop bar, a Spa Cenvaree with nine treatment rooms, a 56m2 fitness centre, and two 56m2-meeting rooms.

TIGER Airways will launch a direct service between Singapore and Cebu from September 6.

There will be four flights a week when the service launches, and this will increase to a daily service in October.

Stewart Adams, managing director of Tiger Airways Singapore, said: “We are excited to introduce Cebu as our newest travel destination. Cebu is the number one tourist destination in the Philippines, and it holds a strong appeal for many travellers looking to escape to a tropical paradise.”

Tickets are available from S$55 (US$45) one-way (Singapore to Cebu), for travel from the launch date.

BUYERS from 36 countries are expected to attend the third edition of the annual Lombok Sumbawa Pearl Festival, which will be held from July 6 to 10 on the island in West Nusa Tenggara province.

The festival is being organised this year as part of the Visit Lombok Sumbawa 2012 campaign.

Quality pearls cultivated in Indonesian waters, such as from West Nusa Tenggara, Papua and Maluku, will be on auction at the event.

Indonesia Ministry of Culture and Tourism director general of tourism marketing, Sapta Nirwandar, said: “There will be some 200kg of pearls for auction, and we expect a transaction of US$150,000 out of it.”

Nirwandar said this was a significant increase over last year, when 20kg of pearls were put on auction, with a turnover of US$45,000.

Lombok is the largest pearl trading centre in Indonesia, with products from local pearl farms being exported to the US, Japan, Switzerland and Italy, according to
West Nusa Tenggara governor, Muhammad Zainul Majdi.

“Pearls from Lombok are of high quality, and they are a potential attraction for travellers and buyers,” he said.

THE TRAVEL Corporation has started offering a new line of high-end tours to the Australian outback, with Singapore as its first Asian target market.

Positioned as a luxury experiential product, Inspiring Journeys takes small groups of 16 to 20 travellers to destinations such as Kakadu National Park, Kings Canyon, Fraser Island and Mornington Wilderness Camp.

The packages offer accommodation in luxury retreats, lodges and resorts, transfers via customised four-wheel drive Mercedes Benz vehicles, and tours led by expert narrators.

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

Robin Yap, managing director, Singapore of The Travel Corporation, told TTG Asia e-Daily: “Interest from Singapore has been pretty good, and we will officially launch Inspiring Journeys in August, then reach out to travel agents in other Asian markets.”

Yap said that Inspiring Journeys would not compete with the group’s other product lines such as Contiki, targeted at travellers aged 18 to 35, and Insight Gold, which encompasses luxury escorted tours to Europe.

“There is no overlap and we will educate our travel agent partners on how to differentiate the many product lines we have,” he said. “Product training will be provided through our GSAs in other Asian markets.”

MALAYSIA Airlines (MAS) has started collaborating with local medical centres to offer medical tourism packages to the international community.

MAS Holidays and TMC Life Sciences’ Tropicana Medical Centre recently signed an agreement to offer a variety of packages including airfare, accommodation and health screenings.

MAS executive vice president of commercial strategy, Amin Khan, said: “The international medical tourism market is fast-growing, with a lot of potential. As such, we decided to partner with hospitals as a strategic move.”

The move to promote Malaysia as a medical tourism hub is in line with the country’s Economic Transformation Programme, which is targeting a 16 per cent growth in arrivals to the country from the medical tourism industry.

TMC group CEO, Francis Lim, said health screenings and cosmetic surgeries were some of the more popular services requested by foreign visitors.

“We are already making inroads in drawing clients from Indonesia, Bangladesh and Indochina, and we hope to expand our services into Europe, the Middle East and all major destinations on MAS’ routes,” he said, adding that TMC was hoping to tap into at least five per cent of MAS’ current four million international passenger arrivals.

By Ellen Chen

SAM RATULANGI Airport in Manado, North Sulawesi reopened this morning after being closed yesterday due to the volcanic eruption at Mount Soputan.

Garuda Indonesia vice president corporate communications, Pujobroto, said in a media statement: “With the airport reopening at 07.00 local time, Garuda flights between Jakarta and Manado have returned to normal.”

“GA600 Jakarta-Manado-Ternate return, which was stranded in Manado yesterday, departed for Ternate this morning. In the meantime, Jakarta-Manado-Jakarta flight GA606 which could not fly yesterday evening, managed to fly this morning.”

Mapanget Megah Wisata Tours and Travel managing director, Reenaldo Wangkar, said: “The airport has reopened and all is running as per normal today.”

The ash cloud from the volcano, however, has blown westwards towards Balikpapan, East Kalimantan. While the Sepinggan International Airport in Balikpapan remains open, the ash cloud has forced some airlines to take a different route to reach the destination.

Garuda’s flights between Jakarta and Balikpapan, which are usually via Banjarmasin, have been rerouted via Makassar today to avoid the ash cloud. “There is no cancellation, but the flights will be delayed,” said Pujobroto.

Mount Soputan, which is located some 25km from Manado, started erupting on Sunday morning, forcing the Indonesian Ministry of Transportation to issue a Notice to Airman closing the Sam Ratulangi Airport. The closure caused five out of 12 flights to Manado on Sunday to be cancelled, while some outbound flights were also stranded.

THAILAND will continue to count on its decade-old Amazing Thailand marketing slogan to achieve its target of 19.5 million foreign arrivals and 760 billion Thai baht (US$24.85 billion) in revenue next year.

The country will use its popular theme, first introduced in 1998, with the updated tagline Always Amazes You.

Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) governor, Suraphon Svetasreni, said the NTO was planning to introduce two key messages – one for Asian markets and the other for the US and European markets – as well as continue to be more aggressive in its digital marketing strategy via social network channels.

Meanwhile, TAT has revised its 2011 target to 18-18.3 million foreign visitors and 700 billion baht in revenue, an increase over its original target of 15.5 million and 600 billion baht. The revision was in view of the country registering a 24.3 per cent year-on-year increase to 8.2 million visitors over the first five months of the year.

Last year, Thailand welcomed 15.9 million arrivals, up 12.6 per cent over the year before, despite almost three months of political crisis in Bangkok, the global economic downturn and the volcanic eruption in Iceland in April.

– Read more in TTG Asia, July 8 issue

By Sirima Eamtako

THE STRING of natural disasters in New Zealand, Australia and Japan, coupled with unrest in the Middle East, put a dampener on Singapore outbound travel in the first half of 2011.

Expectations were high among local travel agents that bookings would increase in 2011, due to the relative buoyancy of 2010. However, agents whom TTG Asia e-daily recently spoke to reported a 10 to 40 per cent decline in bookings over the first six months of 2011, compared to the same period last year.

Stella Chow, manager, Outbound Tours, Hong Thai Travel Services, said: “Singaporeans were hit by an avalanche of uncertainty in the first six months of 2011, and as a result, many decided to scrap their travel plans.”

Business in April and May, traditionally busy months for the travel trade, was “sluggish and slow”, according to Mike Chan, managing director, Global Holidays.

Alicia Seah, senior vice president (marketing & PR), CTC Travel, added: “Bookings for the June holiday period were a huge disappointment.”

It is not all doom and gloom though, as pointed out by Robin Yap, managing director, Insight Vacations. “We are seeing a remarkable surge in bookings out of Singapore to Europe because of the weakening euro,” he said.

Yap said the strengthening Singapore dollar was also stimulating travel to the US, albeit from a small base.

STARWOOD Hotels & Resorts Worldwide will open a slew of Sheraton-branded properties in China by the end of September.

The group will open its second Sheraton in both Beijing and Xian, and will debut the brand in Guangzhou, Zhenjiang, Wanning and Hangzhou.

Sheraton Beijing Dongcheng Hotel will feature 441 guest rooms and four restaurants, as well as more than 2,322m2 of meeting and function space.

Sheraton Xian North City Hotel will offer 491 guest rooms, more than 1,672m2 of meeting space and three restaurants.

The 445-room Sheraton Guangzhou Hotel will be located in the heart of Guangzhou’s Tianhe CBD. The Sheraton Guangzhou Huadu Resort, located in Beixin Town in the northeastern part of Huadu city, will feature more than 100 deluxe rooms, villas, and suites.

Sheraton Zhenjiang Hotel will feature 289 guest rooms and suites, an indoor pool, a fitness centre and spa, several restaurants and more than 3,065m2 of meeting space.

Sheraton Shenzhou Peninsula Resort, located to the southeast of Wanning City on Hainan Island, will feature 307 rooms, more than 836m2 of meeting space, a Shine Spa for Sheraton, and a swimming pool.

Sheraton Hangzhou Wetland Park Resort will offer 383 guest rooms, more than 1,114m2 of meeting space, three restaurants and a spa.

With the addition of these seven hotels, Sheraton will grow its China portfolio to 42 hotels by year’s end, moving Starwood closer to its goal of operating 100 hotels in the country by end 2012.

CENTARA Hotels & Resorts’ second property at Ao Nang in Krabi will soft-open in September.

Located near Nopparat Thara beach, Centara Anda Dhevi Resort & Spa Krabi is a newly-built four-star property. Centara signed a management contract for the resort with Anda Dhevi Resort and Spa Company Limited in January this year.

Chris Bailey, senior vice president for sales and marketing at Centara Hotels & Resorts, said that although the new resort is situated near the Centara Grand Beach Resort & Villas Krabi, located at Pai Plong Bay, the two are not competing for the same market.

“The two resorts in fact represent two different segments of the tourism market, and consequently, they complement each other,” he explained. “We now cover a broader range in the increasingly popular resort of Krabi, and this makes us stronger in Southern Thailand.”

The Centara Anda Dhevi Resort & Spa Krabi will offer 135 rooms and suites, consisting of 72 Deluxe Garden View rooms ranging in size from 36 to 40m2, 50 Deluxe Pool View rooms at 42m2, one Family Suite Pool View at 83m2, 11 Deluxe Pool Access rooms at 46m2, and one Honeymoon Suite Pool Access room at 92m2.

The resort will have an all-day dining restaurant serving Thai and international cuisine, a lobby bar and lounge. It will also offer facilities including a 43m swimming pool with waterslides and a bar, a children’s pool, a kids’ club, a fitness centre and a SPA Cenvaree.

There will also be two meeting and events rooms, both fully equipped as convention rooms. The first room can accommodate up to 200 guests, while the second room can hold up to 80 people.