THE FORMER National Business Travel Association (NBTA) rolled out last Thursday its new name and logo, even as it announced impending changes to its member privileges.

The Global Business Travel Association (GBTA) said it would expand its global footprint of networking and educational events, offer free worldwide registration for all GBTA webinars, and provide access to new and improved industry research and resources, among other tweaks.

In addition, it will help members to find the expert they need on any topic, in any global region. This will be coupled with a new website which will allow members to find resources more easily and enable greater collaboration.

Michael McCormick, executive director and COO, said: “Following the initial announcement of our evolution to GBTA last August, we conducted a global membership survey to gain a clear understanding of our members’ needs and expectations. After analysing the feedback, we have reshaped, refined and expanded our organisation’s benefits to best fit our members.”

THE MYANMAR travel trade is gearing up to promote the country at ITB Berlin next month with several first-time participants, in the hope of attracting more European visitors after experiencing positive growth in 2010.

According to the Myanmar Marketing Committee (MMC), the Myanmar booth at ITB Berlin will see 18 representatives from tour companies, hotels and airlines, including new faces such as Unique Asia executive director Lynn Zaw who will be looking out for new business contacts.

Air Mandalay business development manager Edwin Briels said the show was also an ideal platform for the airline to update international tour operators about travel possibilities to Myanmar.

Briels said: “2010 saw a steep increase of foreign tourists, and I think this uptrend will continue in 2011.”

Directorate of Hotels and Tourism director-general Htay Aung said the country also planned to attend ITB Asia in Singapore this October.

HANOI-based Luxury Travel Vietnam is strengthening marketing activities to draw more lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) travellers, and will be promoting the country as an emerging destination for this market at ITB Berlin next month.

The tour operator launched initiatives to woo the affluent gay and lesbian market last year (TTG Asia, September 3-9, 2010).

Sales and marketing manager David Nguyen said: “Thailand is a well-established destination for LGBT travellers…(but) quietly, Vietnam has become a popular niche market for gay tourists.”

Asian Trails Vietnam managing director Bui Viet Thuy Tien said LGBT visitor numbers had been increasing in South-east Asia, though there was a common misperception that the market looked for specific products.

As DINKs (double income, no kids), many LGBT travellers would fit comfortably in the upmarket segment where privacy was as important as luxury and pampering in a holiday, she said.

ICS Travel Vietnam country manager Marc de Swart, however, was unsure if locals were ready for such tourists. He said being gay might be accepted in Thailand and in southern Vietnam, but this was still frowned upon in central and northern Vietnam.

By Luat Tran

JAPANESE hotel group, Okura Hotels & Resorts, is making its debut in the kingdom with a newly-created five-star Okura Prestige brand.

Working with Thailand’s TCC Hotels Group, the latter is investing three billion baht (US$97.43 million) to develop the 242-room Okura Prestige Bangkok, which will be situated on the 23rd through 34th floors of the mix-used Park Ventures – The Ecoplex on Wireless Road. Its 22-storey office space is slated to open in September while the hotel will welcome guests in March 2012.

Hotel Okura president Toshihiro Ogita said the hotel would be the launch property of the new Okura Prestige collection, which would be positioned amid luxury international five-star hotel brands. The aim is for 20 hotels worldwide within five years.

Hotel Okura now manages and operates 23 Okura hotels globally, including three under development in Macau, Taipei and Bangkok. Together with its affiliated JAL Hotels, it has a portfolio of more than 80 properties.

TCC vice president for local hotels – international brand Georges Baurin said Okura Prestige Bangkok would join the group’s stable of new projects, including a Hilton hotel and a Doubletree by Hilton in Bangkok as well as a Starwood Luxury Collection resort in Koh Samui.

By Sirima Eamtako

INBOUND tour operators are calling for watersports certification in the wake of an accident on Saturday which saw a Chinese tourist being rammed by a water scooter while walking along Penang’s Batu Ferringhi beach.

Responding to the case, the state government immediately ordered a temporary ban on watersports activities on Batu Ferringhi.

Malaysian Tourism Minister, Dr Ng Yen Yen, has also urged the Penang state government to come up with regulations involving safety procedures, zones for watersports activities and insurance claims.

She said seven beach accidents had been recorded in Penang over the last three months with three people sustaining serious injuries.

DiscoveryMICE CEO/president Lee Choon Loong said: “A temporary ban on watersports activities in Penang is not an effective solution because it does not address the core issue of safety. Certification will ensure that all operators know how to handle the equipment professionally.”

Anthony Wong, group managing director, Asian Overland Services Tourism & Hospitality Group, added that the government should introduce certification nationwide.

“Those who are not certified should be banned from operating and working in watersports centres,” he said.

FACING possible elimination of Komodo National Park from the New7Wonders of Nature nomination (TTG Asia e-Daily, February 1, 2011), Indonesia’s Minister of Culture and Tourism Jero Wacik claimed the problem arose because Indonesia declined to host the official declaration ceremony.

He said: “When the foundation offered Indonesia to be host, we were interested, but then the requirement was tough. We had to pay US$10 million as soon as we said ‘yes’, and to organise the event we would need to pay another US$35 million.

“It was hard when we weighed the amount of money we needed to host the event even though Komodo might or might not be a winner.”

Meanwhile, New7Wonders said in a media announcement that it contracted with the private sector, not the government.

New7Wonders spokesman Eamonn Fitzgerald said: “The fact remains that there is a legally-binding contract between New7Wonders and a private consortium in Indonesia, and this contract is not being honoured. Unless the contract is honoured or another group takes over the contractual obligations, or the government and private sector decide to work together to resolve this, then New7Wonders cannot operate legally safely in Indonesia, and is forced to withdraw all its activities.”

INDONESIA’s Komodo National Park is in danger of being suspended as a finalist of the New7Wonders of Nature campaign.

The initiative, started in 2007 to create a list of seven natural wonders chosen through a global poll, announced on its official website yesterday that it may be forced to suspend the Indonesian entry as one of its 28 finalists on February 7 “due to certain legal commitments and official pledges not being honoured”.

“Discussions are underway to resolve this matter positively,” the initiative added.

In an SMS response to TTG Asia e-Daily’s request for comment, Indonesia Ministry of Culture and Tourism director general of tourism marketing Sapta Nirwandar said: “We are studying the matter.”

Nirwandar had earlier said that a win by Komodo would help emphasise Indonesia’s new Wonderful Indonesia tourism brand.

BANGKOK hotel occupancy and room rates dropped to their lowest levels in history last year, according to the Thai Hotels Association (THA).

THA president Prakit Chinamourphong cited Horwath International’s Regional Outlook report, which said that Bangkok hotels ran at an average occupancy rate (AOR) of 53 per cent and average daily rate (ADR) of US$93 last year, down from 54 per cent and US$91 in 2009.

“These are the lowest levels ever experienced,” he said.

Other South-east Asian cities beat Bangkok in the rankings, according to the report.

Last year, Manila’s AOR was 72 per cent and its ARR was US$113, Hanoi/Ho Chi Minh City’s was 64 per cent and US$126, Singapore’s was 83 per cent and US$198, Kuala Lumpur’s was 68 per cent and US$111, while Jakarta’s was 68 per cent and US$79.

Prakit said Bangkok hotel rates had always been among the top three in the region before the multiple crises over the last few years.

Oversupply and a burgeoning number of non-licensed hotels further aggravated the situation, he added.

– Read more in TTG Asia, February 11

By Sirima Eamtako

INDIA will get even more exposure in the international scene through special programmes by foreign tour operators who previously did not feature the country.

Gino Bassaletti, product manager of Chile’s Viajes Falabella, said his market’s growing fascination with spiritualism and Buddhism warranted a dedicated programme on India.

“We promote new destination every year. This year, we will do India. We will invest a lot in marketing it but expect good returns,” said Bassaletti.

Zainabz Kutty, director of Singapore’s Travel Z2000 Tours, said she would definitely push India to her clients. “Having now seen the country firsthand, my understanding of India is much better. It is a matter now of deciding which destination to promote first.”

Anita Travel Singapore director Raj Singh also plans to sell India programmes to his largely expatriate clientele. He said he would start with free and easy tours to destinations other than the Golden Triangle of Delhi, Agra and Jaipur, and expects to send at least 100 pax per quarter in the first year.

– Read more in TTG India

By Ollie Quiniquini

ALL Nippon Airways posted healthier financial figures for the April to December 2010 period as booming travel demand and costs cuts reinforced the carrier’s bottomline.

The airline posted net profit of 37.54 billion yen (US$459.3 million), compared to a 35.2 billion yen loss during the same period last year.

The carrier credited a strong rebound in business travel for bolstering revenue on international routes, while there was also increased demand among both business and leisure customers in the domestic flight division, said ANA CEO Eiji Kanazawa.

The opening of the new international terminal at Tokyo’s Haneda Airport in October, which allowed ANA to increase capacity on passenger and cargo routes, also contributed to the strong performance, said Kanazawa.