RAJAmice, organiser of the Indonesia Tourism and Holiday Fair (ITHF), is optimistic its outbound and domestic travel show would withstand the challenge from the new ASTINDO International Travel Fair (ITF).

The sixth ITHF will be held from March 30 to April 2 while ASTINDO ITF debuts in Jakarta from April 1 to 3.

According to RAJAmice CEO, Panca Sarungu, ITHF provides a greater variety of products and has the benefit of a one-day head start over the newcomer. He noted that travellers would usually want an early start to grab discounted fares for limited airline seats.

Sarungu denied that ITHF favoured certain big agents, as implied by ASTINDO ITF organising committee chairman Elly Hutabarat’s claim that the association’s fair would provide a level playing ground to all members big and small.

Asked whether there was room for two concurrent fairs, Sarungu said: “It is true that the outbound market for Indonesia is big and still growing. But at the end of the day, the question is who will be more successful. This depends on how we negotiate with the airlines and banks.”

Most agents quizzed by TTG Asia e-Daily revealed that they would most likely participate in both fairs.

• Full story in TTG Asia, January 28

RESPONDING to the growing need for hotels in India, a Hospitality Development and Promotion Board (HDPB) has been set up for the approving and facilitating of hotel projects, allowing for speedy clearances.

Announcing the new initiative at the Hotel Investment Forum India, Tourism Minister Kumari Selja said: “We are aware that hotels require multiple permissions, up to 64 in some cases, for start-up in India…HDPB will be operational soon and we hope to encourage greater investment in this area.”

The board will be chaired by the Secretary (Tourism), Government of India, and members of the board will comprise representatives from relevant ministries and departments as well as two non-official members who have knowledge of the hospitality sector.

As requirements and permissions for hotel start-ups vary from state to state, state governments will also be encouraged to set up similar state-level boards.

India currently has 159,000 hotel rooms, out of which 63,542 fall into the branded category. Among the latter, less than half belong to foreign hotel brands.

Another 62,000 rooms are expected to be added by 2015, and Horwath HTL India has predicted that the country will need 375,000 rooms in eight to 10 years.

By Anand & Madhura Katti

THAI hotel room rates for the next contractual period between November 2011 and March 2013 are expected to be frozen at the current levels.
The stronger baht, volatile economic situation in Europe and the political uncertainty in Thailand remain key challenges while higher airfares due to increased oil prices and a “green tax” for longhaul European departures could make matters worse, said tour operators.

LTU Asia managing director Raymond Honings said: “The stronger baht against the euro has made Thai hotel room rates and everything else in Thailand 25 per cent more expensive for the European market.”

Asian Trails CEO Luzi Matzig said a slew of new openings in Bangkok, Koh Samui and Phuket would also pressure Thai hoteliers to maintain rates.

Transorient Asia general manager Andre van der Marck expected hotels to keep rates at last seasons’ levels and to launch special deals during slow booking periods.

Thai hoteliers, however, said a slight inflation adjustment of three to five per cent would be tabled at the upcoming ASEAN Tourism Forum 2011 next week. Some hotels, on the other hand, said they were mulling lower rates in order to do away with special deals during the year.

By Sirima Eamtako

INDIA’S burgeoning domestic market is filling rooms and propelling hotel investments within the country, according to panel discussions at the three-day Hotel Investment Forum India, which ends today.

The Leela Palaces, Hotels and Resorts president Rajiv Kaul said: “The last three years have made us more respectful towards the domestic market. We’re already seeing domestic travellers accounting for 48 per cent of business at our leisure hotel in Goa. It is 30 per cent for our properties in major cities and we expect it to reach 50 per cent very soon.”

Kaul added that weddings were also a growing source of income for hotels, noting that the chain’s luxury hotel in Goa was doing a thriving wedding business.

Taj Hotels & Resorts managing director and CEO, Raymond Bickson, said the chain was also keen to tap into the youth market, with 60 per cent of India’s population being under the age of 25.

“The domestic travel industry is going to define products whether it is for business, leisure or MICE,” said Horwath HTL India director Vijay Thacker.

MGM Mirage Hospitality vice president of development for India, Rishi Kapoor, pointed out that integrated resorts should be built to increase length of stay.

“There is not a single city in India where (my family) can spend more than two days without being bored,” said Kapoor.

By Anand & Madhura Katti

THE Indonesia Ticketing Agents Association (ASTINDO) will debut its travel fair in April, competing head on with the established Indonesia Travel and Holiday Fair, organised by RAJAmice.

ASTINDO will hold its fair at the Jakarta Convention Center April 1-3, while RAJAmice’s event will be held at the Grand Central Park Jakarta from March 31 to April 3. Both are going after a flourishing outbound market, but one touts “association” strength while the other banks on “independent” advantage for success.

Fair committee chairman Elly Hutabarat noted that outbound business was growing, especially with a stable Indonesian economy and the lifting of the exit tax from January 1 (TTG Asia e-Daily, November 18, 2010).

Said Hutabarat: “This is the first such event organised by an association, and we are putting forward fair-playing fields and opportunities to members.”

She explained that limits were set on the number and size of booths a company could buy so that the fair would not be dominated by top agents. Booths would also be raffled.

The show is targeting 70 exhibition booths, 20,000 visitors and 40 billion rupiah (US$4.42 million) worth of transactions over three days. Pacto Convex’s subsidiary, Titan Convex, has been appointed to manage the fair.

ASTINDO secretary general Anto Haditono said: “Customers will come to a fair where the top 20 agents are participating.”

RAJAmice CEO Panca Sarungu said his show had objectivity as it was not affiliated with a travel agent or association, had the track record, and was backed by national and international airlines plus Indonesia’s biggest private bank which provides credit for travellers.

Outbound agents are already divided. Genta Tours Jakarta managing director Dharmawan said: “We have decided to take part in (the ASTINDO fair) because it is backed by 12 national and international airlines, which are committed to giving special prices at the show.”

NATIONAL carrier Myanmar Airways International is preparing to mount flights to China, Cambodia and Indonesia, as part of plans to expand in the region.

Operated from Yangon, flights to Guangzhou are scheduled to begin in mid-February, while services to Siem Reap, Phnom Penh and Jakarta are expected to start by end-February.

The airline’s marketing executive Aye Mra Thar said a weekly flight was planned for Guangzhou. Details of the schedule and fare pricing will be announced early next month.

Flights to Siem Reap and Phnom Penh will be direct services. Jakarta, however, would be served via Singapore because “the market potential between (Myanmar and Indonesia) is not strong enough to support a direct service at the moment”, she said.

The airline also plans to introduce a ‘sister cities’ package on the Siem Reap-Yangon-Bagan route, leveraging on the heritage sites of Siem Reap and Bagan.

AUSTRALIA-BASED Strategic Airlines will launch services to Phuket from Melbourne and Brisbane from February, keeping direct air links between the Thai island and the two cities intact after V Australia’s withdrawal from those routes scheduled to take place in the same month (TTG Asia e-Daily, October 18, 2010).

Strategic will commence a twice-weekly Melbourne-Phuket service from February 22 and a twice-weekly Brisbane-Phuket service from February 24. Both flights will be operated with a 274-seat Airbus A330 aircraft.

MALAYSIA-BASED conference producer DiscoveryMICE will organise a series of three international tourism conferences in Laos over the next four years.

This follows a memorandum of understanding recently inked between DiscoveryMICE president and CEO, Lee Choon Loong, and Lao National Tourism Administration vice chairman Soukaseum Bodhisane.

Lee said the objective of these conferences was to develop the capacity of the tourism industry in Laos and neighbouring countries in the areas of rural tourism, MICE, and travel information and communications technology.

The first conference is scheduled to be held in Vientiane next year, in conjunction with Visit Laos Year 2012.

Lee is currently looking for commercial partners in the region to stage these conferences, which will see hoteliers, tour operators, travel agents, destination management companies, tour guides and other ground operators coming together under one roof.

GARUDA will use most of the funds generated from its upcoming Initial Public Offering to grow its fleet, according to president and CEO Emirsyah Satar.

With up to 9.32 billion shares being released to the public at a price between 750 (US$0.83) and 1,100 rupiah per share, the airline will gain between 6.97 (US$774 million) and 10.23 trillion rupiah from the public listing on the Indonesia Stock Exchange, scheduled to take place February 11.

According to the IPO prospectus, Garuda plans to use 80 per cent of the funds to buy 10 Boeing 737-800NGs, six Airbus 330-200s, five narrow-bodied aircraft for its subsidiary LCC Citilink, and five sub-100 aircraft to serve ultra-short haul destinations.

WITA Tour sales and marketing manager Rudiana expects Garuda’s next move to be network expansion, especially in Europe and the US.

“Traffic demand for inbound and outbound from Indonesia is on the rise, and other regional and international carriers are enjoying the market at the moment,” he said.

Garuda now operates 84 planes and expects to have a total of 150 aircraft in its fleet by 2015.

INDONESIA’s Mandala Airlines has run into financial difficulties and is halting all operations from today.

The announcement has caught the travel trade by surprise, as the airline appeared healthy, expanding regionally last year with services from Jakarta to Singapore, Hong Kong and Macau, and from Balikpapan to Singapore.

Agents are worried they will not be able to withdraw their deposits – some with up to 200 million rupiah (US$22,220) – with Mandala.

“Many of the affected agents are medium-sized ones who work together with Mandala to create group and incentive tours with cheaper fares,” said Indonesia Ticketing Agents Association board member Rudiana. “Some of them have already confirmed bookings.”

Quizzed on the association’s plan of action, Rudiana said it was still too early to tell. “We are still collecting information from our members, but I hope the airline will pay them their dues,” he said.

Mandala president director Diono Nurjadin said the airline was in negotiations with investors to resolve its financial situation. “Some investors have shown an interest in buying Mandala’s shares, but we are unable to name them right now,” he said.

Nurjadin also said it should not be long before the airline would operate normally again, and promised that Mandala would give “fair” refunds to passengers.