WITH the Malaysia Golf Tourism Association teeing off yesterday, the country will pursue more high-yield tourists and increase revenue from the sport by 15 per cent a year. This is up from the RM200 million (US$65.5 million) in 2010.

The association, which will embark on a strategic five-year development plan to turn Malaysia into The Golf Destination in Asia, was launched by Tourism Malaysia chairman Dr Victor Wee on behalf of Tourism Minister Dr Ng Yen Yen.

More than 85 per cent of golf tourists to the country are Singaporeans who are day trippers, said Paul Gibbons, pro tem chairman, Malaysia Golf Tourism Association.

He added that the main challenge was to attract golf tourists, who spend one-and-a-half times more than leisure tourists, from medium- and longhaul destinations.

The association will also gather statistics on golf tourists and develop a strong branding and marketing collateral.

Gibbons said a major opportunity for promotional efforts will be next year’s IAGTO Asia Golf Tourism Convention that will be held in Malaysia for the first time.

It will bring together more than 150 specialised travel agents selling Asia as a golf destination and 150 suppliers from Asian countries.

THE SPOTLIGHT will be on PATA’s role as a membership association during the first plenary session of the 60th Anniversary and Conference from April 9 to 12 at the China World Hotel in Beijing.

Taking the anniversary theme Building Tourism: Past. Present. Progressive, Plenary 1 will examine PATA’s impact over the past 60 years, its relevance today and its commitment to the future.

Lead presenter Robert Broadfoot, managing director, Political and Economic Risk Consultancy, will provide an overview of key factors influencing the landscape of the region’s travel and tourism industry.

A panel discussion will follow, with representatives from different sectors including government, carrier, hospitality and industry, as well as the PATA 2011 Face of the Future winner and a PATA Life member. The session will be moderated by TIME magazine’s Liam Fitzpatrick.

Representing the industry sector, Hans Lerch, vice chairman and CEO, Hotelplan Holding AG, said PATA must now be the foremost authority on travel and tourism in Asia-Pacific by, for example, showing a strong reaction to what had happened in Japan. He recalled a period in the mid-1990s, when PATA’s influence was second to none.

The 60th Anniversary and Conference marks the return of the PATA Annual Conference after a five-year hiatus. For more information, visit www.pata60.org

EXPECTING a 20 per cent growth in the Malaysian car rental market for this year, the Hertz Corporation is opening branches at the airports of Johor, Kelantan and Sabah, as well as a downtown location in Perak.

The four locations are Senai International Airport, Lumut Downtown, Sandakan Airport and Sultan Ismail Petra Airport.

Mohd Izazi Bin Haji Hashim, general manager, Hertz Malaysia, said: “Continued geographical expansion is critical to our growth strategy, as we see an increase in the number of inbound travellers to Malaysia who wish to take advantage of the nation’s comprehensive network of highways.”

Corporates still account for 80 per cent of the Malaysian business, with the remaining 20 per cent going to leisure clients.

Hertz Malaysia, managed by franchise partner Sime Darby Rent A Car, is said to have the largest network in the country – with 17 locations based at major airports and cities across the nation – and the biggest fleet of rental cars.

TRAVELPORT has notified Kuoni Travel Holdings that its lenders have consented to the disposal of Gullivers Travel Associates (GTA).

For the deal to go through, Kuoni has to do an investor roadshow first, then their shareholders at the Kuoni AGM on April 20 have to approve a capital increase to fund the US$705 million acquisition.

The transaction is expected to be completed by May 5.

AUSTRALIA’S premium ticket packaging provider, Showbiz International, has set its sights on the South-east Asian market, with a new website selling event packages starting with Singapore.

Focusing on live entertainment experiences, Showbizasia.com offers travellers to Singapore a chance to purchase their complete itineraries, including concerts, hotel stays, fancy dinners and visits to local attractions.

Admission tickets to Disney’s The Lion King and the Singapore Flyer, rooms at Marina Bay Sands and meals at IndoChine Restaurant are among the offerings.

Showbiz Group CEO, Craig McMaster, told TTG Asia e-Daily that although the website has been operational for only two weeks, a number of event tickets has been sold and initial traffic is good.

McMaster admitted that the structure of Showbizasia.com is in competition with inbound travel agents, but said the company is open to partnerships with wholesale agents to move packages.

Katie Marsden, head of marketing, product and business development, will be leading Showbizasia.com’s operations in Singapore. She said that they also intend to sell events for other Asian destinations.

FOLLOWING explosions at the Fukushima nuclear plant, the Indonesian Ministry of Foreign Affairs issued yesterday a four-point travel advisory for its citizens.

Indonesians in Japan and those travelling there for important matters should always communicate with the Indonesian embassy in Tokyo or with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Jakarta for status updates.

Those who must travel to Japan should avoid areas badly impacted by the earthquake and tsunami, such as Miyagi, Iwate, Fukushima and Ibaraki.

Indonesians who are in Japan must note and obey the Japanese government’s advice.

They should also closely monitor the latest developments, especially announcements made by the Japanese government, the Indonesian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and its embassy in Tokyo.

Avia Tour outbound manager Waluyo Setiono said: “With the nuclear plant explosion, travellers were already concerned about going to Japan even before the advisory was issued. In fact, some have diverted travel to other countries.”

Dwidaya Tours managing director Effendy Dharmawan said: “The advisory is good in the sense that travellers now have a reliable source to get updates on the situation rather than us having to get information from here and there for them.”

THE FIRST ASEAN e-Travel Mart, to be held in Bangkok from March 23 to 25, has attracted more than 500 buyers, including big names from the online travel market. This is almost double its initial target of 300 buyers.

Organiser Tourism Technology Association (TTA) president, Apichai Sakulsureeyadej, said that over 300 buyers were tourism players from Thailand while the rest were from other ASEAN countries. They will be trading with some 40 sellers comprising mainly tourism-related software and technology providers and regional hotel chains.

He noted that even in its inaugural year, the event had drawn major online travel players, such as Agoda, Expedia, TripAdvisor, Google, AirAsia, Wego, Web Sawadee and Asian Trails. Some are participating as both buyer and seller and/or speaker.

Registration will be on March 23. There will be a B2B show on March 24 and 25, when buyers and sellers will trade and discuss issues concerning online tourism business.

Apichai said TTA expected the event to result in a trading value of 300 to 400 million baht (US$9.8 to 13.1 million) and the purchasing of tourism software and technology of between 60 and 80 million baht.

By Sirima Eamtako

HONG KONG’s inbound and outbound travel to and from Japan have been severely affected by the earthquake, tsunami and nuclear crisis in the country.

Based on Travel Industry Council statistics, there were 238 cancelled tour groups with 2,853 travellers scheduled to depart for Japan before March 25. About 51 tour groups with 1,251 travellers will continue to unaffected regions like Okinawa and Hokkaido.

EGL Tours executive director Steve Huen said the company had cancelled all Japan tours departing before March 20, which involves some 47 groups and about 1,200 travellers. All tours until the end of the month to Sendai and other disaster-affected areas have been cancelled.

Worldwide Package Travel Service has received zero bookings for Japan tours since the tsunami struck. The company has decided to cancel all tours to north-east Japan and departing this month to Tokyo. General manager Frankie Wong said: “March is not usually a busy period, but we have to be prepared for the worst during the four-day Easter holiday next month if the nuclear issue remains.”

Japanese inbound travel specialist Towa Tours’ director and general manager, Gianna Wong, is expecting at least a 40 per cent drop in inbound traffic. “If the nuclear crisis can be contained, the impact will last for three months. Otherwise it’ll be at least six months.”

THE INDIAN Ministry of Tourism is taking up the cudgels for the industry in the battle against the proposed new service taxes on hotel rooms (TTG Asia e-Daily, March 11).

Anand Kumar, joint secretary of the Government of India’s Ministry of Tourism, said Tourism Minister Subodh Kant Sahay was in talks with the Ministry of Finance to “rationalise the tax and be considerate to the trade”.

Kumar said: “We’re still in discussion (with the Ministry of Finance) and have asked them to take the national picture into consideration.”

In reaction, Dipak Deva, Kuoni Destination Management’s CEO Destination Management, India & South Asia, said: “The industry has made the proper representation to the government and (we) hope it takes our plea into consideration.”

Saying he was not against taxes, Deva believed the industry should be given time to adjust to the new tax regime, should it be passed. Since business is contracted 10 to 12 months in advance, tour operators need 12 months’ lead time to meet their contractual obligations, he said.

But Sanjeev Joshi, ICS India director, said: “The tourism lobby is so poor. There is not much we can do about these taxes.”

– Full report in TTG India

By Ollie Quiniquini

ALILA Hotels and Resorts’ management agreements for Alila Villas Hadahaa in Maldives, Alila Cha-Am in Thailand and Alila Luang Prabang and 3 Nagas Luang Prabang in Laos will end on April 1.

In a letter sent last week to travel agents, the chain’s sales and marketing vice president, Doris Goh, said: “Our colleagues at the properties will continue to provide services until March 31 and will ensure a smooth transfer of operations to the new management team, of which you will be notified in due course.”

Goh added that there should be no changes to confirmed bookings.

Thailand-based KS Resort and Spa, which owns the four properties, is reportedly in talks with several international hotel chains to take over the management.