THE EXPANSION of the Bengaluru International Airport’s passenger terminal building will double its terminal area to 70,000m2, giving the airport the capacity to handle over 17 million passengers per annum, with the flexibility to expand to 20 million passengers.

The three-year-old Bengaluru International Airport currently has the capacity to handle 11 million people yearly and sees 33,000 passenger movements every day. The airport’s passenger traffic is growing at an annual rate of 18 per cent, higher than the national average of 16 per cent.

Bangalore International Airport Limited vice chairman GV Krishna Reddy said: “The decision to begin expansion has come at an appropriate time, given the rapid pace of growth that the airport is witnessing. ”

The work is due to commence in June this year, and is scheduled to finish within 18 months. Mumbai-based Larsen & Toubro has been chosen as the construction partner for the project through an international bidding process.

At the moment, 33 airlines operate to Bengaluru and connect to over 50 local and global destinations.

Thai AirAsia, Thai Tiger Airways, China Southern Airlines and All Nippon Airways have shown interest in flying to the destination in the future.

By Anand & Madhura Katti

ANANTARA Hotels, Resorts and Spas has appointed Masstige Moments as its GSA in Australia, in line with an overall plan to grow its global reach of hotels, resorts and spas over the next five years.

Tabatha Ramsay, vice president sales, Anantara, said: “With the aim of strengthening sales leadership for Anantara’s growing international portfolio, the appointment of Masstige Moments as Anantara’s GSA in Australia illustrates Anantara’s commitment to growth in key markets, and the faith we have in our dynamic global journey.”

Masstige Moments is run by Sydney-based Juanita von Stieglitz and Perth-based Margi Jansma.

VIETNAM-based Windsor Real Estate Management Corporation (WMC) will kick off its two-year expansion plan in Ho Chi Minh City with the opening of a mixed-used complex in the second half of the year.

The 40-storey complex, tentatively named Times Square, will comprise 250 hotel rooms, 100 apartments and high-end retail and commercial offices, among other facilities. The complex will be located in Ho Chi Minh City’s District 1, a busy commercial area.

The expansion plan undertaken by the group also includes the acquisition and renovation of several three-star properties, a second serviced apartment and other hotel projects by joint-venture or acquisition.

Speaking to TTG Asia e-Daily in Singapore, WMC CEO, Anthony Truong, said that the plan was to have 2,000 rooms in Ho Chi Minh City in the next two years. He has also started developing the group’s mobile booking capability to complement an existing online direct booking and payment system for travellers.

When asked how the home-grown group would compete with other international hotel chains in the city, Truong said: “There are not that many international and regional hotel chains and brands in Ho Chi Minh City. Sure, Renaissance, Park Hyatt and Equatorial are there, but there are still not that many international five-star hotels. Hotel development in the city is still in the early days, and it is time we establish ourselves. We can be the next big regional player.”

Truong added that the 400-room five-star Windsor Plaza Hotel Saigon and 38-unit Sherwood Residence serviced apartment, which WMC owns and manages, have performed well in terms of occupancy, attracting a majority international clientele.

AUSTRALIA saw a double-digit percentage increase in business-event arrivals from Asia last year, with India, Singapore and China taking the top three spots. Arrivals from India grew 56 per cent; Singapore, 45 per cent; and China, 26 per cent.

Speaking to TTG Asia e-daily during the Business Events Australia roadshow in Singapore yesterday, Maggie White, general manager South/South East Asia & Gulf Countries, Tourism Australia, said business out of South-east Asia has been “fabulous”.

“There is still growth out of these markets even up till end of March, and that is despite the strength of the Australian dollar,” she said.

White also noted that Australia receives a good number of repeat visitors from the region. Repeat visitorship from Singapore last year was 84 per cent – the highest among Asian source markets, followed by Indonesia at 76 per cent, Malaysia at 74 per cent, and Thailand at 63 per cent.

White said that it was important to “start attracting travellers when they are young, which will give us many more years to keep courting them”. “This is especially important in South-east Asia, where the demographic is young,” she explained. “We have to use social media to reach this generation of incentive travellers, who don’t want destinations that are not buzzing or lack a presence on social media platforms.”

Gold Coast Convention Bureau account manager Asia – business events, Sidd Ketkar, agreed, saying that the bureau was in the early stages of developing an online ambassador programme that would allow satisfied incentive participants to share their experiences in Australia through a social media platform.

“Some clients have posted their experiences on YouTube, and we could eventually share those links with potential incentive participants (via this platform),” he said.

THE EXPANSION of business to secondary destinations and more remote areas in Indonesia has resulted in increasing corporate and MICE travel in the country, as well as a demand for suitable MICE facilities and hotel rooms.

Some Indonesia-based buyers at Indonesia MICE and Corporate Travel Mart in Manado over the weekend told TTG e-Daily they were expecting their business to grow by between 10 and 20 per cent this year.

They said expanding businesses, introduction of new products, and business acquisitions have driven increasing corporate and MICE events at home.

Novartis Indonesia, for example, is opening more offices and outlets in the country.

“We have offices around the country and we send staff everywhere,” said Astrid Mantho, Novartis Indonesia executive secretary OTC business unit. “We do not only need hotel rooms and meeting spaces in major cities, but also remote areas like Papua.”

Mitra Adiperkasa, general manager procurement, general affairs and licensing, Wanda Febriane, said: “We are entering Manado with a couple of sports brands soon, and we hope other brands we represent will follow. For this we need rooms here.”

THE INDONESIA MICE and Corporate Travel Mart (IMCTM), jointly organised by Bank Danamon Indonesia, the Ministry of Culture and Tourism and RajaMICE.com, has been a driving force for the country’s MICE industry and development, especially for fledgling MICE destinations.

Indonesia Ministry of Culture and Tourism Ministry’s director general of tourism marketing, Sapta Nirwandar, said last year’s edition helped generate 50 billion rupiah (US$5.6 million) in corporate and incentive investment for Indonesia.

“The visit of top corporate buyers to destinations like Jogjakarta and Lombok for IMCTM in 2009-2010 managed to boost MICE traffic there,” he added.

The Ministry’s MICE director Nia Niscaya said: “The event is rotated within 10 MICE destinations in Indonesia to introduce to companies the facilities we have in Indonesia. Not all destinations have convention centres, but there have been extensive hotel development in the secondary cities, with sizeable meeting spaces and facilities.”

Bank Danamon Indonesia executive vice president card business, Dessy Masri, said: “The fact that corporate spending for travel and MICE in Indonesia was up by 65 per cent last year showed the growing market domestically.

“We have also seen events and trips spreading to areas other than just Jakarta and Bali, showing that awareness to other destinations is increasing,” she added.

ORGANISERS of the Thailand Tourism Marketing-Mapping the Future Conference, held in Bangkok last Thursday (TTG Asia e-Daily, April 28), are due to convene at a roundtable discussion in mid-June to form four working groups to help drive the country’s tourism industry forward.

PATA Thailand Chapter chairman, Bert van Walbeek, said that the organisers, which included PATA Thailand Chapter, Skal International Thailand, the Joint Chambers of Commerce, and the Tourism Authority of Thailand, would form working groups on four subjects – branding, sustainable tourism, e-marketing & social media, and reputation management.

Van Walbeek added that the high turnout at the conference demonstrated that the trade was keen on playing a part in the development of the country’s tourism industry.

By Sirima Eamtako

MALAYSIA Airlines’ low-cost subsidiary Firefly is targeting more destinations in Indonesia, including Medan, Padang and Palembang in Sumatra, and Balikpapan in Kalimantan.

Firefly managing director, Eddy Leong, said: “Indonesia has plenty of prospects and is a huge market for both business and leisure travellers. We will most likely fly to more new destinations in Indonesia under our second phase of expansion, when additional Boeing 737-800 and Boeing 737-400 aircraft are added to our fleet.”

“Plans include introducing a Johor Bahru-Jakarta route. Bandung and Jakarta are attractive shopping destinations among Singaporeans and Johoreans, and many Indonesian workers in Johor Bahru will also be able to easily fly home.”

The carrier recently launched two new routes from Johor Bahru to Surabaya starting August 14, and from Johor Bahru to Bandung starting August 16. Initial sales figures for Surabaya and Bandung have been “promising”, according to Leong.

By Ellen Chen