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

TRAVELLERS exiting the Maldives will have to pay a US$25 Airport Development Fee (ADF) on top of their airfares starting next year.

The ADF will be levied from January 1 by GMR Male International Airport, which manages the Maldives’ international airport.

A company official was quoted by Maldives-based Haveeru Online as saying that the fee is to be included in airfares of passengers leaving the Maldives.

“We’ve given the notice six months before in order to give enough time for the airlines to prepare,” the official said.

WHEN Singapore Airlines (SIA) takes delivery of its 12th Airbus A380 in June, the carrier will reduce the aircraft’s overall capacity to just 409 seats, compared to the 471 seats on board its earlier configuration.

The aircraft’s business-class section will be expanded from the present 60 seats to 86 seats, all located exclusively on the upper deck, at the expense of 88 economy-class seats. The main deck will offer 12 suites and 311 economy-class seats.

With this change, SIA will be operating A380s with the second-lowest seat density behind Korean Air, whose A380s will have 407 seats (12 in first class, 84 in business class and 311 in economy class).

SIA’s lower-density A380s will initially be deployed on its Singapore-Sydney route (SQ221/SQ212) starting June 20. Current plans do not include service on the Singapore-Tokyo-Los Angeles route.

THE TERENGGANU state government is preparing for a surge in visitors to Lake Kenyir, the largest man-made lake in South-east Asia. As such, major developments are in the pipeline to create a viable and attractive tourist destination.

Several three- to four-stars hotels are being developed on some of the 340 islands on the lake, including a luxury hotel on Pulau Poh, linked by a new cable car facility from Pengkalan Gawi jetty.

There are also plans to turn one of the islands into a duty-free haven next year.

Terengganu chief minister Ahmad Said, at the launch of the Kenyir Festival earlier this month, said: “We are seeing a greater appreciation for nature among visitors, so the lake is a definite draw for the state.”

Over 200,000 tourists visited Lake Kenyir last year, an increase from 160,000 in 2009. The visitors were mainly from Singapore, China and Arabic countries.

Anthony Wong, group managing director, Asian Overland Services Tours & Travel, said: “It’s natural to see an increase in Chinese visitors to Lake Kenyir, as many of them live far from nature, and thus enjoy being close to oceans, lakes and forests.”

By Ellen Chen

THE NORTH Sulawesi Tourism Promotion Board has launched a new branding, with the tagline Manado Joy, to attract leisure tourists and MICE to the destination.

The board’s executive director, Widijanto, said they had chosen to highlight Manado in the tagline, as it was better known than North Sulawesi. “If you Google it, there are many references on Manado,” he explained.

The tagline is coined from the colloquial local expression “Jo”, while the new logo depicts the ocean, a coconut tree, a flower and Tarcius spectrum, the smallest monkey in the world. “These symbolise the variety of attractions in North Sulawesi,” said Widijanto.

Plans are in motion to promote the tagline and logo to the local travel trade, as well as introduce the branding to the international community at the ASEAN Tourism Forum 2012 in Manado.

SCANDINAVIAN Airlines (SAS), the flag carrier of Denmark, Norway and Sweden, has agreed to further develop and enhance its partnership with Singapore Airlines (SIA). The two entered into a codeshare agreement last December.

In a joint statement, SAS chief commercial officer, Robin Kamark, and SIA senior vice president marketing, Tan Chik Quee, said: “We see opportunities for deeper cooperation, which will strengthen our customer offering and provide more options for seamless travel between Northern Europe and South-east Asia. We look forward to announcing these plans once they are finalised.”

The deal may cover additional codeshare flights, as well as network cooperation on potential new sectors between Scandinavia and Singapore.

SAS had previously added its SK code to SIA-operated flights between Copenhagen and Singapore, and selected flights between Singapore and Bangkok. The SQ prefix was reciprocally added to SAS-operated flights from Copenhagen to Helsinki, Oslo and Stockholm.

THAILAND-based Six Senses Spas & Resorts will open a Six Senses Spa at Hotel Missoni Kuwait in early summer 2011.

The 1,500m2 spa, located on the second floor of the five-star designer hotel launched in March this year, will have 13 treatment rooms including two Hammams (Turkish baths), separate areas for men and women and a bridal room with salon, pedicure and manicure areas.

The spa will also house a fitness centre with mixed and ladies-only gyms, a yoga studio, experience showers, saunas, steam rooms and luxurious relaxation areas.

“As well as Six Senses signature treatments and traditional Asian therapies, the spa menu will offer locally-inspired treatments using organic ingredients such as dates, olives and Arabic spices,” the company said in a statement.

Hotel Missoni Kuwait is located in Salmiya, close to the main shopping district of Kuwait City.

SRILANKAN Airlines yesterday took delivery of its first brand-new aircraft in a decade, an Airbus A320-200. The airline plans to add at least six aircraft to its fleet this year, as part of its expansion programme to cater to a growing number of passengers and routes.

This was the first of three A320 aircraft scheduled for delivery in 2011, with the second and third due to arrive in the last quarter of the year. An Airbus A340 widebody aircraft is scheduled for delivery in late May.

The airline expanded its global network to 51 destinations in 32 countries, launching services to Guangzhou and reactivating daily flights to Kochi (TTG Asia e-Daily, March 21). It will also commence flights to Moscow in September.

SriLankan Airlines’ last brand-new aircraft arrived as far back as in 2000, while aircraft arrivals over the years have been on lease.