BUOYED by strong traffic growth between the two countries and an interline agreement between Jet Airways and Garuda Indonesia, the Indian travel trade is seeking a greater share of Indonesian travellers.

Jet Airways – in partnership with Garuda Indonesia, Tamarind Tours and Taj Hotels – recently held its first travel product presentation to Indonesian agents in Jakarta.

Charge d’Affairs to the Indian Embassy in Jakarta, Ravish Kumar, said: “Despite Indonesia’s large population, the number of Indonesian-Indians and some 10,000 Indian expatriates living in the country, our number of Indonesian arrivals in 2009 was only 18,000 or 0.37 per cent of total arrivals.”

In comparison, countries like Malaysia, Singapore and Thailand have been delivering between 50,000 and 135,000 arrivals annually.

Tamarind Tours India managing director Mahesh Shirodkar said the door of opportunity to tap Indonesian traffic was “wide open”. He planned to first work with local agents to grow the market, before opening an office in Indonesia.

Indonesian outbound agents, however, said India needed to raise awareness of its offerings.

Bayu Buana Travel Services corporate relations manager Jenny Chandra said: “Those who buy our India programme are mostly seasoned FIT travellers looking for a new place to visit.”

AFTER a record-setting 2010, Vietnam will step up efforts in key markets and attract more dollars from tourist shopping in order to meet its ambitious targets this year of 5.3 million foreign visitors and US$5.6 billion in revenue.

In 2010, the country recorded more than five million visitor arrivals, a growth of 34.8 per cent compared to 2009, far exceeding the initial target of between 4.2 and 4.5 million. Revenue also jumped by 37 per cent over 2009 to US$4.8 billion.

Vietnam National Administration of Tourism (VNAT) chairman Vu The Binh said the key source markets of China, Japan, South Korea, Europe and ASEAN would receive greater marketing attention this year.

“We have very high expectations of receiving two million Chinese visitors, one million Japanese, 700,000 South Koreans and 500,000 Thais this year,” he said. Europe is also expected to supply some 800,000 visitors.

VNAT also noted that foreign visitors currently spent only 20 per cent of their trip expenditure on shopping, a trend it hopes to change. In Thailand, more than half of tourist spending goes to shopping.

To increase shopping revenue, the country will mantain its Vietnam – Your Destination campaign, which tempts tourists with bargains.

By Luat Tran

AIR policy liberalisation and the continued growth of low-cost carriers (LCCs) are opening up hub opportunities for smaller airports in the region.

According to Steven Fitzgerald, chief executive of Wellington Airport, airlines are increasingly setting up hubs in destinations other than their home country, leading to intense competition among airports to woo these carriers.

Centre for Asia Pacific Aviation executive chairman Peter Harbison said: “Most airports have been effective because they are hubs. This will only work if you have a liberalised marketplace.

” Liberalisation, Harbison added, had opened up new city-pairs that would not necessarily be sustainable for airlines to operate from bigger airports. “Smaller airports, which handle mainly point-to-point traffic, will benefit as this is where the growth is.”

LCCs are also driving passenger growth to new destinations through their budget fares. AirAsia X’s hubs in the Pacific are a case in point, said Fitzgerald.

“To become a hub, airports do not need a network airline but an airline with a strong network that offers a range of connections. At the same time, airports must look at passenger hubbing rather than airline hubbing and fill the product gaps in interline services,” Fitzgerald said.

By Ollie Quiniquini

THAILAND is set to gain yet another airline – Thai-Korean joint venture Crystal Thai Airlines (CTA) plans to begin flying between Bangkok and Incheon and Muan on February 3.

Both routes are scheduled for twice-weekly flights on an Airbus A320 in a 174-seat all-economy configuration.

The full-service carrier plans to lease a bigger and longer-range A330-200 in March to launch flights linking Phuket to Incheon. A second A320 is also in the pipeline, and CTA hopes to expand services to include Mumbai, Cochin, Clark, Colombo, Thimphu and Dubai.

Aiming to be the country’s third-largest airline after Thai Airways International and Bangkok Airways, CTA was established last year with a start-up capital of 201 million baht (US$6.5 million). Thai businesswoman Manika Sawasdipan fronts the 51 per cent share and undisclosed South Korean partners with strong travel agent connections own the remaining 49 per cent.

PASSENGER arrivals to Phuket reached a new high of 3.5 million last year – a 22 per cent growth over 2009 – but room supply outpaced demand for the first time in a decade, resulting in a slide in rates as hoteliers battled to retain occupancy.

According to C9 Hotelworks’ latest market research report on Phuket, Russia and China emerged as the major drivers of growth due to burgeoning charter and direct flight capacity.

Figures for 2010 showed a 44 per cent increase in Asian travellers from the previous year, while overall European visitors dropped by one per cent. This translated into a decline in average length of stay, noted the report.

C9 Hotelworks managing director Bill Barnett said: “The departure of legacy geographic markets has come at a cost with shrinking average room rates.”

Keen competition last year also exercised further downward pressure on room rates, as supply growth edged higher by 17 per cent, outstripping demand growth of eight per cent. Market-wide occupancy increased by four per cent, but was offset by a three per cent fall in room rates.

Phuket has a total pipeline of 5,749 keys, representing a 12.9 per cent increase in existing supply.

AIRASIA X’s four-weekly direct flights between Kuala Lumpur and Paris commencing on February 14 are being hailed by inbound players as a huge opportunity to cater to an under-tapped market.

The route is currently served only by Malaysia Airlines’ (MAS) daily flights.

Ping Anchorage Travel & Tours CEO, Alex Lee, said the country had previously lost out on French business to neighbouring Thailand and Singapore due to insufficient seats on MAS’ services.

The additional 1,308 seats weekly would ease the supply crunch during peak travel periods such as the European summer and winter seasons, he added.

Grace Holidays general manager Godwin Miranda said the company would resume marketing efforts to France, which were stopped in 1994, and also look at Swiss and Belgian customers.

Grace has already developed itineraries for eco-tourism packages in Peninsular Malaysia, and will start promoting East Malaysia to French-speaking markets in the second half of the year.

ASCOTT will manage the 220-unit Ascott Bonifacio Global City Manila and the 215-unit Citadines Salcedo Makati, both slated to open in 2014.

Ascott Bonifacio Global City Manila will be the second Ascott-branded property in the Philippines and the group’s first property in Taguig City. A 15-minute drive from the Makati district, the property will offer studios, one-, two- and three-bedroom apartments, as well as office suites, and boardroom and meeting areas.

Citadines Salcedo Makati, the first Citadines Apart’hotel in the country, will be situated in Salcedo Village within the Makati Central Business District. It will offer studios, one- and two-bedroom apartments, and recreational facilities including a fitness centre and swimming pool.

Ascott currently operates four properties in the country.

BALI tourism authorities have taken steps to ensure the local tourism industry suffers minimal impact from reports of a Legionnaires’ disease outbreak on the island.

With 11 cases – nine Australian, one Dutch and one French – of the potentially fatal infectious disease detected in tourists returning home from Bali so far, the Bali Hotels Association (BHA) has advised members to conduct immediate tests, increase spot checks at their respective properties, and report findings to the association.

Bali governor Made Mangku Pastika also urged hotels to maintain better standards of hygiene. “The hotels (where the 11 affected tourists stayed) have been summoned and sternly warned,” he said.

Meanwhile, a number of hotels in Kuta – favoured by Australian travellers – said the issue had not yet affected business.

Discovery Kartika Plaza Bali director of sales and marketing Alice Matulessy said bookings for the hotel remain steady. “It is too early to say whether it will affect bookings later,” she added.

Ismullah Lahsin, general manager of White Rose Bali Hotels & Villas and Sun Island Boutique Villas and Spa, said it was not really a big issue among tourists. “I haven’t received any queries about the disease from travel agents or travellers,” said Lahsin.

SINGAPORE-based Crescentrating.com has endorsed all five properties of Malaysia-based Legend Group of Hotels & Resorts for their halal-friendly services and facilities.

Crescentrating.com rates hotels on a scale of one to seven based on services and facilities provided to Muslim travellers, with a rating of seven being the most halal-friendly.

Legend Hotels, the first big Malaysian hotel group to receive these ratings, scored a Crescentrating rating of five for each of its properties, indicating that food is prepared in halal-certified kitchens, there are kiblat direction markings in the guestrooms, and Muslim prayer timetables and prayer mats are provided on request, explained Crescentrating CEO Fazal Bahardeen.

Andy Muniandy, director of sales and business development of Asian Overland Services Tours and Travel, said the Crescentrating rating was an added value for hotels, especially when catering to conservative Muslim travellers from Gulf countries.

Ally Bhoonee, executive director of World Avenues, an inbound tour operator and wholesaler strong in the Middle East market, agreed, saying the high ratings would help convince conservative Muslim travellers that they would feel comfortable staying in the properties.

According to Fazal, more than 12 hotel brands in Malaysia have been rated so far.

SOME Malaysian inbound operators, reeling from a drop in European arrivals over the last two years as the continent continues to suffer from a limp economy and weak currency, have turned to developing new markets to make up for the revenue loss.

To compound the situation further, the UK and Germany have also implemented additional flight taxes – air passenger duty and green tax respectively – that have affected passengers to longhaul destinations like Malaysia the most.

Ping Anchorage Travel & Tours CEO, Alex Lee, saw business from Europe halve in 2010 compared to 2008. “We also saw a decrease in the length of stay and spending among the leisure market in Europe,” he said.

Lee said targeting the Asian markets would help address the problem. “We have intensified our marketing efforts to the domestic (Malaysia) market, South-east Asia (Singapore, Thailand and Indonesia) and China to make up for the shortfall,” he said.

Similarly, Diethelm Travel’s managing director Manfred Kurz is “developing new markets in advance”, extending marketing efforts to Russian-speaking tourists in Eastern Europe. The company will initially target FITs before expanding to groups and MICE.