PRIME Travel, a specialist in Japan-bound tours in Singapore for the past 32 years, will send off its first group today since March, when natural disasters struck Tohoku region’s coastline.

The disaster and resulting nuclear threat in Fukushima led to massive cancellations by some 3,000 passengers. Four charter flights with Singapore Airlines planned for April, May and July had to be written off.

Prime Travel’s group of 21 leisure travellers is headed for Tokyo and will return on May 3.

The agency’s managing director, Ven Nishimura, told TTG Asia e-Daily that Japan bookings this year would be a washout because of consumers’ unrelenting fear of radiation.

“But I will still try to sell twice-weekly departures to Japan, to destinations such as Tokyo, Hokkaido and the Chubu region. Promotions will start after Singapore’s polling day (on May 7), when Singaporeans are ready to think about their holidays,” he said.

However, he acknowledged that Tokyo would be harder to sell, as Singaporeans were still fearful of radiation exposure from the nearby Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant. He believes that hope rests in farther destinations such as Hokkaido and the prefectures in the Chubu region.

A STRIKE by an Air India pilots association has been inconveniencing passengers at airports across India since yesterday.

The Indian Commercial Pilots Association (ICPA), originally from Indian Airlines, is demanding higher wages and equal pay and allowances with pilots from Air India. The compensation was promised them during the merger of Air India and Indian Airlines in 2007. ICPA had given management a strike notice on February 23.

In a statement to the press yesterday, Air India said: “The government has appointed an expert committee to examine the principles of integration, pay parity between all employees and to suggest harmonized working conditions of various categories of employees. The expert committee has already begun to function this week.”

A meeting between the airline management and ICPA on April 26 had failed, with the pilots going on strike yesterday.

Travel Forte chairman, Anil Haribal, said: “We were taken by surprise, as there was no prior intimation about the strike. But my clients appreciate Air India’s immediate action taken at the airport in putting passengers on alternative flights available on any airline, and in providing other necessary services.

“They managed to run most scheduled flights (just) with a little delay. It’s sad that this has come at a time when Air India was moving towards stability.”

The airline has been facing severe losses in the last four years and has embarked on turnaround plan after receiving a bailout from the government.

According to Air India, the ICPA strike was illegal, since there were pending proceedings before the Delhi High Court. The airline said that only 12 per cent of the flights were cancelled and the majority of passengers were accommodated on other flights.

By Anand & Madhura Katti

AIR CHINA will be launching its new Beijing-Milan route, to be serviced by an Airbus A330, on June 15. It will be the only Chinese airline that will fly direct from Milan to Beijing.

Roundtrip airfare for the flight on June 15 starts at RMB2,600 (US$399), with ticket prices for flights within the route opening period starting at RMB3,200.

Zhou Enyong, general manager of Air China’s marketing department, said: “The Beijing-Milan route is an expansion of Air China’s network in Europe, successfully making Air China the airline with the most European routes among China’s domestic airlines.”

Air China flies the Beijing-Milan route every Monday, Wednesday and Saturday. The trip is 11 hours and 30 minutes for each way.

INDUSTRY members in Bandung are pushing for a new airport terminal at the Husein Sastranegara International Airport to accommodate growing traffic to the destination.

Association of the Indonesian Tours and Travel Agencies (ASITA) West Java board member and Batik Holidays managing director, Maktal Hadiyat, said: “Bandung is now a destination on its own. New airlines such as Firefly from Johor Bahru to Bandung, and the local Sky Aviation are coming in. Once the overlay of the terminal is over, AirAsia is changing its aircraft from the Boeing 737 series to the Airbus 320 with bigger capacity.”

Travellers who used to depend on the airport in Jakarta to get to Bandung can now fly direct.

“I was told that about 30 per cent of Sky Aviation’s Jakarta-Tanjung Karang traffic was actually headed for Bandung. That’s why the airline opened the Bandung-Tanjung Karang (route) recently. We definitely need a new terminal,” Maktal said.

Kalutama Travel director, Reza Novaldi, said: “There really is growing number of visitors to Bandung, both directly from Kuala Lumpur and Singapore, and AirAsia is planning to add domestic routes from Padang, Palembang, and Semarang (to the city).

“The overlay of the runway, which is expected to finish in May, is delayed due to the weather. This means capacity increase may be delayed. But more than that, Bandung’s infrastructure definitely needs upgrading to accommodate traffic growth.”

PT Angkasa Pura II Husein Sastranegara Airport general manager, Eko Diantoro, recently told local media that rains were the cause of delay. He said construction on the terminal building was expected to begin at the end of the year.

AT LEAST 25 decision-makers from Thai tourism establishments have registered for the Thailand Tourism Marketing-Mapping the Future Conference, to be held in Bangkok on May 19.

PATA Thailand Chapter chairman, Bert van Walbeek, said the event aims to attract 200 English-speaking Thai and foreign travel high-ranking executives and academics to discuss trends on the Tourism Authority of Thailand’s (TAT) priorities and to help the NTO plan ahead.

He said that while TAT does “look forward now”, it has been too busy with day-to-day operations and constant challenges. He added that results from the conference would help the NTO strategically map its tourism marketing for 2012-15.

The conference will bring Future Brand’s chief growth officer Tim Riches, Hong Kong Polytechnic University’s Dr Thomas Bauer, Omnicom Media Group Thailand’s digital business director Tiwa York and University of Technology Sydney’s Dr David Beirman to present global trends and practices on branding, sustainable tourism, e-marketing and social media, as well as reputation management.

Delegates’ suggestions during the four brainstorm sessions will be proposed to the TAT. But whether they will be used in the NTO’s strategy will depend on the effectiveness of the four joint working groups �?? to be formed as the conference concludes �?? and also on the TAT, said van Walbeek.

The TAT is spending two million baht (US$66,968) to bring in six speakers, including keynote speakers China Tourism Academy’s Dr Xu Chen and Eramus University’s Professor Frank Go for the conference, which is co-oranised by PATA Thailand Chapter, Skal International Thailand and the Joint Chambers of Commerce. Delegates will be charged 500 baht per person.

By Sirima Eamtako

THE WORLD’S first floating golf course is being developed in the Maldives, with the US$500 million project expected for completion in 2015.

Swiss golf course management specialists Troon Golf said in a statement that they are setting up the 18-hole world-class golf course with Dutch Docklands, industry experts in floating technology.

The golf course is to be interconnected by underwater tunnels and incorporates a set of artificial floating islands. It also takes sustainable development into consideration. Located five minutes from the airport, it will include luxurious accommodation overlooking the golf course and reef.

INDONESIA’S state-owned airport operator, PT Angkasa Pura I, has inked a Memorandum of Cooperation with IT solutions firm SITA, aimed at providing the best in passenger services.

The cooperation will start with the new international terminal at the Ngurah Rai Airport in Bali, which has the most foreign tourist arrivals in Indonesia. The Surabaya and Balikpapan airports will also be early beneficiaries.

Tommy Soetomo, president director of PT Angkasa Pura 1, said: “ By partnering with SITA, PT Angkasa Pura 1 and its Indonesian airports will have world-class systems providing the best in passenger services with minimal CAPEX investment,”

“As we looked at how we should develop Indonesian airports, we realised that SITA has the capability to provide all the information technology systems required for airport management and operations and the flexibility to share our risk by charging on a per passenger basis.”

Damian Hickey, SITA regional vice president, South Asia and India, added: “With this Memorandum of Cooperation, SITA will bring our Intelligent Airport vision to Indonesia, providing the latest airport technology using real-time information. Passengers will enjoy improved flight information displays, check-in, baggage reconciliation and overall, a seamless journey and better airport experience.”

Airports in Indonesia will be among the first to experience the Intelligent Airport, with the implementation of all of the SITA systems that are planned to be completed at Ngurah Rai Airport before Indonesia hosts the Asia Pacific Economic Co-operation (APEC) summit in Bali in 2013.

ASIA EXPERIENCE TOURS’ online B2B portal, OneAsia.travel, will extend its offerings to include instant confirmation for bookings made online from early May.

“Our agents can start booking online with instant confirmation for the whole of Asia from May 9,” said Asia Experience Tours CEO, Ngiam Foon.

The portal features hotel offerings in Asia, covering over 20 countries and 260 destinations.

Ngiam said: “With this latest development, we expect to see more than a 30 per cent increase in online sales and this couldn’t come at a more timely manner, with the Malaysian ringgit at its strongest. We anticipate more outbound travel this year.”

OneAsia.travel will also be promoting their complete Asia offering at the upcoming Arabian Travel Market (ATM) in Dubai from May 2 to 5. The portal went live more than a year ago.

THAILAND-based hotel chains are entering Vietnam, where visitor arrivals grew 34.8 per cent year-on-year to five million last year, and rose 11.9 per cent quarter-on-quarter to 1.5 million between January and March.

Centara Hotels and Resorts brought the 36-villa Chen La Resort and Spa Phu Quoc into its Centara Boutique Collection, renaming it as Chen Sea Resort and Spa Phu Quoc, in March.

Its president, Gerd Steeb, said: “We believe Vietnam holds immense tourism potential for the future.”

Anantara Hotels, Resorts and Spas is making its first entry with the rebranding of L’Anmien Resort and Spa as Anantara Mui Ne Resort and Spa in July. The 90-key resort is located 200km north-east of Ho Chi Minh City.

Absolute Hotel Services, another Thai-based hotel management company, has lined up openings of four properties �?? U GTC Hanoi, U Hang Choiu Hanoi, U Ho Chi Minh and Thuy Tu Hotel Danang �?? within the next few years. It is also slated to sign management contracts for three more properties.

The three companies followed Six Senses Resorts and Spas, which opened its third property in Vietnam, the 50-villa Six Senses Con Dao in December last year. This joined the 58-pool villa Six Senses Ninh Van Bay and the 91-key Evason Ana Mandara-Nha Trang.

RELAIS & CHATEAUX is going into tour operating and will start conceiving and selling tours this year.

The hotel representation company has already sealed a joint venture with Paris-based travel agent Voyageurs du Monde to handle Europe tours, and is now seeking a JV partner in Asia for regional itineraries.

President International and chairman of the Board, Jaume Tapies, in an interview in Singapore yesterday, said 25 per cent of bookings by clients involved a string of hotels, while a survey done by Relais & Chateaux showed all clients expected itinerary planning assistance.

Another reason why it is going into tour operating is a rise in Internet bookings. With the Internet, the Relais & Chateaux website can be “a one-stop shop”.

“Agents are also able to book these tours and earn their commissions,” Tapies said.

The ideal Asian partner it seeks is “a top tour operator which does a la carte, tailor-made tours, as every client wants something different”.

“We don’t want to be just hotels and restaurants. We want to be able to put together the links between them. After all, our origins were (centred) on ‘the road to happiness’,” he said.

Despite its French origin, name and brand that conjure European country houses or manors, Relais & Chateaux is rapidly growing in Asia. There are currently 51 members in Asia-Pacific. In five years, their goal is 200 members.

Tapies said the way for Relais & Chateaux to have a slice of Asia’s bursting outbound market for all its 500 members was to have more Asians travelling within Asia and staying at Relais & Chateaux members. This makes Asia top priority for more new members.

Europe currently contributes 60 per cent of business to Relais & Chateaux members, and North America, 20 per cent, with others accounting for the rest.

Apart from going into tour operating, Tapies also unveiled other new initiatives for this year, including producing books such as Chefs at Home featuring its grand chefs, and launching niche marketing centring on food and wine events/experiences, celebrations, romantic escapes, special interests and rest-and-relax.

– Read more in TTG Asia, Guide to Hotels – Marketing Representation, May 27