ESCALATING taxes are putting a damper on the Maldives’ allure, with the impact not hitting home yet but expected to be felt keenly in the coming months.

Having introduced a new 3.5 per cent tourism goods and services tax (TGST) in January, to the chagrin of international tour operators who complained of the short notice given, President Mohamed Nasheed announced last Friday that the tax might be further increased to six per cent.

Although no time frame was mentioned, UK-based operators said they had been advised by hotels in Maldives to expect a hike by next January.

Chic Locations UK director, David Kevan, said the general concern was that the destination was beginning to outprice itself, to the advantage of rivals such as Mauritius and Sri Lanka.

“Most operators have been concerned by the Maldives’ pricing even before the latest round of tax increases.

“I don’t think you will find too many UK operators looking at growth for the destination over the next couple of years. In fact, I think most would be more than happy to see a single-digit increase in bookings,” he said.

UK, once the biggest visitor-generating market for the destination, was overtaken by China last year. Germany is in third place.

– Read more in TTG Asia, May 27 issue

THOUSANDS of expatriate workers in tourist resorts in the Maldives have become subject to new restrictions on repatriating foreign currency, introduced to combat ballooning budget deficits spilled over from the regime of former President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom.

The restrictions, according to rules enforced in a gazette notification by the Maldivian Monetary Authority (Central Bank) on May 13, permit workers to only remit their contracted salaries and nothing more.

There are more than 25,000 expatriate workers on the 100-odd luxury island resorts across the Maldives.

“What happens to tips that we receive in local currency, and other forms of (income)?” asked one worker on a resort, who declined to be named.

Most banks in the Maldives have begun limiting the release of US currency against the local currency, the rufiya, for repatriation. The move has inevitably affected the local tourism industry, the country’s main foreign exchange earner.

“There is confusion in the industry about how much can be retained by us in US dollars (for our work). There are no clear guidelines,” said a resort owner, who owns about three properties.

“There is also speculation that all the US dollars earned by locally-owned resorts will have to converted to the local currency,” the resort owner added.

MALAYSIA’S Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) lifted its travel advisory to Japan yesterday.

Malaysian citizens are still advised, however, to defer non-essential travel to areas in the north-east of the country, which are still experiencing the after-effects of the March 11 earthquake and tsunami.

The Japan National Tourism Organization (JNTO) said in a statement: “The lifting of the travel advisory will surely help to boost the confidence of travellers to Japan. With the current special fare promotion to Japan by airlines, and the all-clear signal given, tour bookings are anticipated to rise, as travel agents step up efforts to attract Malaysians to travel there.”

Apple Vacations & Conventions sent a 20-pax tour group to Osaka yesterday, the first Malaysian group to Japan since March 11. The group was a joint promotion package with Singapore Airlines.

“We are offering great discounts of 30 to 50 per cent off our packages, with savings between 2,300 ringgit (US$757) to 2,700 ringgit per passenger, so we expect more bookings ahead,” said the company’s managing director, Koh Yock Heng.

Malaysia Airlines, which flies directly from Kuala Lumpur and Kota Kinabalu to Tokyo and Osaka, has also launched promotional fares to support travel agents.

Japan has become one of Malaysians’ favorite holiday destinations over the last few years. JNTO’s arrival statistics for 2010 showed a significant 27.9 per cent increase in Malaysian arrivals to Japan, with 114,500 visitors, compared to 2009.

During the peak holiday period last December, 17,400 Malaysians visited Japan, a 17.7 per cent jump over the same month in 2009.

Additional low-cost fares launched by AirAsia X from Kuala Lumpur to Tokyo (Haneda) last December also contributed to the surge in Malaysian visitors to Japan.

By Ellen Chen

IN AN attempt to stimulate domestic tourism spending, the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) will be spending 75 million baht (US$2.5 million) for this year’s Thailand Tourism Festival in Bangkok from June 8 to 12.

TAT governor Suraphon Svetasreni said that the Thai NTO expected the event to attract some 230,000 Thailand-based local and foreign visitors, which would inject some 230 to 250 million baht into the local economy. These estimates are about 10 per cent higher than last year’s.

The annual B2C event forms part of the TAT’s ongoing efforts to boost domestic tourism in the country, to reduce Thailand’s dependence on inbound travel. It is held concurrently with the annual B2B Thailand Travel Mart, taking place this year from June 8 to 10 at the same venue, the IMPACT Muang Thong Thani.

TAT is expecting the country’s tourism industry to generate about one trillion baht in revenue this year, with some 400 billion baht coming from domestic tourism.

By Sirima Eamtako

CHIC Outlet Shopping, a collection of nine high-end, outlet-shopping villages across Europe, has seen phenomenal growth in arrivals from South-east Asia. This is partly due to close partnerships with airlines, travel agents and travel-trade representatives.

Sarah Bartlett, spokesperson for Value Retail, which owns Chic Outlet Shopping villages and also leases out shops to luxury brands, explained: “In Singapore, for instance, we have a deal with Etihad Airways, which offers promotional airfares to travel agents, who will in turn package our shopping villages in their itineraries. We work very closely with the top travel agents in Singapore such as CTC Travel, SA Tours, Chan Brothers and Dynasty Travel.”

She attributed the surge in arrivals from the region to the favourable exchange rate, growing affluence among Asian consumers and positive word-of-mouth.

Chic Outlet Shopping saw a 73 per cent growth in visitors from South-east Asia in the first quarter of this year, compared to the same period last year. The region is now the company’s third largest non-European source market. China maintains top spot, followed by Russia.

Singaporeans registered the largest growth in arrivals to Chic’s outlets – 130 per cent – compared to other South-east Asian destinations. Arrivals from Thailand and Indonesia grew 78 and 65 per cent respectively.

Visits by Asian MICE groups have also been “good”, Bartlett said.

The company’s La Rocca Village in Barcelona welcomed a 200-pax incentive group from China last year, while its La Vallee Village in Paris had “an even bigger group” from Indonesia.

THE INDUSTRIAL district of Rayong, on the east coast of Thailand, near Pattaya, will get its first Marriott property by October.

Rayong Marriott Resort & Spa will be the first new international hotel in Rayong in a long while, according to Marriott’s Luxury Hotels & Resorts (Thailand) spokesperson Anchalee Chamroontaneskul.

The resort will have over 300 guestrooms, large ballrooms that can be divided into small spaces, spacious foyers and open areas that can accommodate private events, as well as a waterpark. Plans are underway to seek partners to offer teambuilding activities and sports to resort guests.

The resort will target holiday-makers and MICE groups, as well as corporate travellers who have business in the automobile companies located in Rayong.

SINGAPORE Airlines (SIA) confirmed yesterday its intention to establish a new medium- and long-haul low-cost carrier (LCC) in Singapore within a year.

While the corporate branding, fleet and network of this new wholly-owned subsidiary remains unknown, what is clear is that the new airline will have different branding from SIA, operate wide-body aircraft and be managed independently.

Recent news of intention by AirAsia and Qantas Airways to establish subsidiaries in Singapore may have hastened the launch of this new airline, but plans – even if only as a contingency – must have been in the works for some time.

The new airline could also be useful for SIA to offload underperforming destinations such as Athens, as well as allow it to embrace new leisure destinations that have hitherto not fit into SIA’s business model.

SIA is in the process of retiring its few remaining B747-400s and a small number of B777-200s. Some of these aircraft could possibly form the backbone of the new subsidiary’s fleet.

MALAYSIA climbed three places to number 28 in the latest International Congress and Convention Association (ICCA) world rankings, while retaining its seventh placing among the top 10 meeting destinations in Asia-Pacific.

The country’s ICCA ranking was boosted by an additional seven international events held in Kuala Lumpur last year, the largest of which was the 18th World Congress of Accountants, with a record attendance of over 6,000 delegates.

Other major meetings included the Asian Pacific Digestive Week (2,661 delegates), 6th World Islamic Economic Forum (2,000 delegates) and the 2nd Global Model United Nations Conference (1,000 delegates).

The number of meetings hosted in the country grew 24 per cent year-on-year, from 96 meetings in 2009 to 119 meetings in 2010. Malaysia welcomed 1.3 million international business event visitors last year, who contributed an estimated US$6 billion in revenue.

Zulkefli Hj Sharif, Malaysia Convention & Exhibition Bureau (MyCEB) CEO, said: “The growth of meetings hosted in Malaysia and improvements in our ICCA rankings reflect the strength of the collaboration and commitment between the Malaysian Tourism Ministry, MyCEB and our industry partners to bid for, secure and deliver successful international meetings for the country amidst an increasingly competitive market.”

“Within the next five years, the business tourism industry will be further supported by new facilities, offering international and regional associations and meeting planners more venue options to host their meetings and events in Malaysia, and be able to rotate to other parts of the country such as Pahang, Penang and Sarawak, besides Kuala Lumpur,” he added.

Key developments in the pipeline include the expansion of the Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre by an additional 10,000m2 by end-2013, the launch of Penang International Convention and Exhibition Center by 2014, and the proposed development of MATRADE Centre (93,000m2) by 2014.

By Ellen Chen