MALAYSIAN-listed land developer Landmarks commenced construction of a second integrated resort development on Bintan over the weekend.

Treasure Bay, a water resort city built at a cost of S$425 million (US$334 million), will occupy 337 hectares on the northern coast of Bintan.

Gabriel Teo, executive director and COO of Landmarks, told TTG Asia e-Daily that the resort’s phase one site, which will span 89.7 hectares when completed by 2015, will be a high-end destination, although there will be room in other sites for different grades of accommodation and attractions.

The phase one site will comprise a multi-modal transportation terminal and marina that will cater to ferries and possibly sea planes and cruises, a resort built in a ring layout with 150 to 180 keys, a cluster of serviced villas with potentially 200 units, a wedding hall and an underwater 300-seat banquet hall extending from the resort into a manmade lagoon, as well as a collection of retail, F&B and entertainment outlets.

“We envision Bintan to be more than just a short-break destination when all these are complete,” Teo said.

A hotel management company has not yet been appointed for the resort and villas in phase one.

APPLE Aviation will take over from Deks Air as Kuwait Airways’ Malaysian GSA from tomorrow.

Apple Aviation’s managing director Desmond Lee said the company plans to release a host of consumer promotions to increase awareness and and enhance the image of Kuwait’s national carrier.

“We will also create more outbound tour packages to Kuwait, Europe and the US, and sell these through outbound agents participating in the upcoming MATTA Fair in Kuala Lumpur,” Lee added.

Kuwait Airways offers thrice-weekly direct services between Kuwait City and Kuala Lumpur. The carrier started flights to Kuala Lumpur in November 2006, and is currently the only airline servicing this route.

THE INDONESIAN government has given the green light for a second airport to be built on Bintan island, to be located within the Lagoi Bay site that has been earmarked for a massive integrated resort development.

The new airport, which will cater to chartered, domestic and private flights, will offer quicker access to Bintan’s existing as well as future tourism facilities, said Asad Shiraz, director of marketing with Bintan Resorts International, whose parent company, Gallant Venture, is leading the resort development.

Lagoi Bay is situated near Bintan’s tourism centre, close to properties such as Ria Bintan Golf Club, Club Med Bintan and Nirwana Resort Hotel.

Bintan is currently served by Kijang Airport on its southern end.

HURT by weeks of unrest, an 80 per cent drop in arrivals and some US$1.5 million lost in tourism revenue, Egypt now wants to beef up its marketing budget to support tour operators, travel agents and airlines, as well as harness the power of media to bring back travellers.

Adel El Masry, director, Egyptian Tourism Office, India, told TTG Asia e-Daily that he was seeking to double his annual budget for joint campaigns with travel agents and tour operators in South and South-east Asian markets including India – Egypt’s biggest and fastest-growing market out of Asia – as well as Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia and the Philippines.

The NTO had already been subsidising half of the costs for trade promotions specific to Egypt, but could fund only 20 to 35 travel agents and tour operators a year with its current budget of US$300,000, said El Masry.

Support for airlines will be increased through initiatives such as sponsoring tickets as lucky draw prizes, added El Masry, although there is no budget specifically allocated to carriers.

The director is also looking to double his media budget from its current US$800,000 per annum, to be used for advertising across various channels and fam trips.

When asked how confident he was that the new government would approve these measures, El Masry said: “They were the ones who asked us to try and promote Egypt again quickly. I think they will make a decision within the next few months.”

– Full story in TTG Asia, March 11

THE LAO Tourism Marketing Board (LTMB), established last July in a partnership between the Lao National Tourism Administration (LNTA) and the private sector (TTG Asia e-Daily, December 2, 2010), will officially launch in Vientiane tomorrow.

The board is planning to promote the country’s offerings in priority markets – France, the UK, Germany, Japan, South Korea and Australia – to increase tourists’ spending and length of stay, and expects its marketing strategy to be finalised in April.

Details on first-year budget and funding, to be generated from a new fee-collection system targeting tourists, are to be confirmed by LNTA chairman Somphong Mongkhonvilay at a later stage.

Meanwhile, the LTMB is in the process of selecting a French firm for initial public relations activities in the French market.

TRAVEL Mart India and its UK-based technology partner El Media launched last week Vamoose.in, a new e-commerce portal that offers discounted group deals on hotel, leisure and vacation packages.

Vamoose.in is currently targeting the domestic market, but deals for inbound travellers will be added from mid-April. “Vendors get group business with upfront earnings out of FITs,” said Vamoose.in chairman Manoj Gursahani.

Fresh deals are featured on the portal everyday and are available for about a week. The deals are confirmed once a minimum number of bookings are reached, otherwise the deal is cancelled and customers are not charged. Once confirmed, deals are valid for a minimum of six months.

The site is marketed through social media platforms, advertising campaigns via Google and daily emails to a subscriber database, while a call centre with a toll-free number provides after-sales support.

Vamoose.in plans to add air tickets, travel insurance and other travel-related products to its offerings in due course.

By Anand & Madhura Katti

MӦVENPICK Hotels & Resorts will mark 2011 with four openings in India, Singapore and Thailand. These account for roughly a third of all launches planned for this year.

The Swiss chain will enter Singapore and India with the Mӧvenpick Heritage Hotel and Mӧvenpick Hotel & Spa Bangalore respectively.

The 181-room Mӧvenpick Heritage Hotel on Sentosa island will open one of its two wings in March, while the 182-room Mӧvenpick Hotel & Spa Bangalore will be ready in the fourth quarter. No date has been firmed up for the unveiling of the former’s second wing.

In Thailand, the 208-key Mӧvenpick Suriwongse Hotel Chiang Mai and 81-pool villa Mӧvenpick Resort & Spa Mae Nam Beach Koh Samui will join the existing Mövenpick Resort and Spa Karon Beach Phuket by year-end. A fourth Thai property will also open in Pattaya in 2013.

Craig Fong, director of sales and marketing of the Phuket property, said the chain’s openings in Thailand were a reflection of confidence in the destination’s ability to rebound.

VISITOR numbers from South and South-east Asia to Australia hit new highs last year, with Singapore arrivals surpassing 300,000 for the first time.

Arrivals from Singapore reached a new milestone with 308,000 visitors in 2010, an increase of eight per cent compared to 2009.

“This reinforces that Australia continues to remain top of mind as Singaporeans’ preferred holiday destination,” said Maggie White, regional general manager, South/South-east Asia and The Gulf.

Meanwhile, the markets of Malaysia, Indonesia and India saw impressive double-digit growths.

Malaysia contributed 236,900 visitors last year, an increase of 12 per cent over 2009; Indonesia delivered 124,000 visitors, climbing by 14 per cent; and India brought 138,700 visitors, up 11 per cent.

White attributed the destination’s appeal and growth in arrivals to the strong support from trade partners as well as competitive airfares across the region.

Australia received 5.9 million international visitor arrivals in 2010, an increase of five per cent over 2009.

IATA has called on the Japanese government to establish pro-aviation policies such as more open skies agreements and measures to raise cost-competitiveness at airports.

IATA’s director general and CEO, Giovanni Bisignani, noted that recently boosted capacity at Tokyo’s two main airports, Haneda and Narita, were a positive change. “Already it has stimulated low-cost competition and boosted visitor arrivals to a record-breaking 8.5 million last year.”

Noting that this was not enough, Bisignani said Japan’s government was “destroying the international competitiveness of Haneda and Narita by milking them like cash cows”.

He called for the proposed 170 yen (US$2.07) per passenger security fee at Haneda to be abandoned, for international operations charges at Haneda to be brought level with those for domestic operations, and for a permanent compensation solution to cover the greater time and ground transport costs for passengers who choose Narita over Haneda.

Bisignani also encouraged Japan to continue to open its market with further open skies agreements, noting recent deals with the United States, Korea, Singapore and Malaysia.

MALAYSIAN agents are eyeing Turkey as a replacement market for the Middle East, now that the Malaysian and Turkish governments have agreed to waive visa requirements for each other’s citizens.

World Avenues executive director Ally Bhoonee said: “Turkey is good to tap as it is a year-round market, and would help make up for the expected shortfall in Gulf Cooperation Council visitors during the years when their peak travel season coincides with Ramadan.”

Air access between the two countries will also improve as Turkish Airlines will reinstate its Istanbul-Kuala Lumpur flights, which were suspended in 2002. At present, Malaysia Airlines (MAS) is the only carrier serving the Malaysia-Turkey sector.

Mayflower Acme Tours deputy general manager Abdul Rahman Mohamed said: “Improvements in air access will help, especially during the peak Malaysian outbound year-end period when it is hard to get seats on MAS. The removal of visa restrictions will also encourage more last-minute travel.”

New Straits Times reported yesterday that the governments of the two country would work on a framework to be concluded this year, in conjunction with free-trade agreement negotiations.