THE BUSINESS Travel Coalition (BTC) is lobbying TMCs and corporate travel managers to help fight further increases in the UK’s Air Passenger Duty (APD) ahead of March 23, when the 2011 budget will be presented.

In a letter circulating online, signatories are urging the Chancellor of the Exchequer and the Secretary of State for Scotland to “reduce this burden on the competitiveness of the UK for meetings, incentive trips, conventions and tourism”.

Titled “Our friends in the UK travel industry urgently need our help…”, the email states that the APD has risen by 325 per cent over six years and “the UK is already losing our business to European destinations that have no such duty or whose duty is a fraction of the UK’s” .

BTC chairman Kevin Mitchell said the counterproductive tax could add up to US$275 for UK-exiting passengers.

Organisations who wish to add their names to the letter can do so by March 18 at http://svy.mk/g87hpi.

EVEN if Jakarta hoteliers are picking up on using online inventory distribution channels to supplement traditional methods, many still find it challenging to persuade owners to invest in the technology.

Hotel managers attending the Indonesia E-Tourism Summit in Jakarta last week told TTG Asia e-Daily that the perception of technology being expensive and the fact that majority of the domestic market – the hotels’ main business – still relied on direct bookings or travel agents, made it difficult to convince owners of the merits of web-based systems.

Grans Flora Hotel Jakarta’s resident manager, Jamal Muhamad, said: “We know the opportunity to grab inbound business through online channels is there and the returns are better. However, with strong domestic corporate business already filling our hotel, it is not easy to convince the owner to invest in the technology.”

Marbella Hotels’ director of sales and marketing, Paula Purba, said: “We have just started to develop our own system, but the owner is already asking how much money we are putting in and what kind of return on investment we are talking about.”

Digital agency Water & Stone’s founding partner, Ric Shreves, said: “There is an essential amount of money to invest in the beginning, but with more companies now doing the business we do, prices have actually gone down. When the system is up and the right strategies are in place, you will then start seeing the returns.”

CORPORATE travel management company GetThere, owned by Sabre Travel, has opened its first Asia-based office in Singapore.

Rattray said: “Having a direct presence in Asia will ensure that our mission of providing market-specific solutions to our existing and potential customer bases is realised.”

GetThere’s global general manager, Suzanne Neufang, added: “Our investment will provide not only local expertise and support, but also a direct channel for future developments and region-relevant functionality.”

OUTBOUND Malaysian MICE players report that groups scheduled for Japan are switching destinations, as many fear the risk of radiation contamination due to the nuclear crisis there.

So far, Sri Sutra Travel has had a 44-pax incentive group scheduled for six-days/five-nights in Tokyo and Osaka in April change their destination to Dubai. An ICT-based company that booked an incentive trip for 60 pax to Tokyo in July has also put travel on hold as they ponder whether to proceed.

Sri Sutra Travel’s managing director, Syed Razif Al Yahya, said the situation was even pushing some companies to cancel their meetings and incentive trips to all parts of Japan.

Apple Vacations & Conventions’ senior sales manager, Gwen Teng, said the situation was similar on her end, with groups afraid of transiting in Tokyo, as there have been reports of radiation being detected there in the 24 hours.

Teng said all of Apple’s five meetings and incentives groups with plans to visit Japan in March and April had already switched destinations to China, Australia and Europe.

Diners World Travel’s (Malaysia) senior travel manager, Thomas Ng, said only one of its 17 business travellers with trips scheduled to Tokyo this month had proceeded as planned.

CIANJUR District Culture and Tourism Office is developing a train tour to Gunung Padang, in cooperation with national train company Kereta Api Indonesia (KAI), to attract more tourists to Bandung, West Java.

Cianjur District Culture and Tourism office tourism business section head Neneng Sumaryanti said: “The highlight of the 90-minute train ride between Bandung and Cianjur will be South-east Asia’s biggest megalithic site, Gunung Padang. Along the way, travellers will also enjoy the scenery and go through an old 600m long tunnel. The journey itself will tell a story.”

The office is inviting about 30 travel agents and event organisers from Jakarta and Bandung to try the attraction at the end of the month. “We would like their input before releasing the product to the public,” Sumaryanti said.

PASSENGERS on flights from Japan to Malaysia being scanned for radiation contamination have so far tested negative, said a source from the Atomic Energy Licensing Board (AELB) yesterday.

This means the radiation levels that the passengers had been exposed to in Japan were within the safety limits set by the International Atomic Energy Agency.

The AELB started scanning passengers, aircraft and luggage coming in from Japan for radiation contamination since Monday.

According to the source, contaminated individuals will be treated at the Malaysian Nuclear Agency in Bangi, Selangor.

INTERCONTINENTAL Hotels Group’s (IHG) CEO of six years, Andrew Cosslett, is stepping down and will be succeeded by Richard Solomons, the current CFO and head of commercial development.

The change in leadership will be effective July 1.

When asked why he decided to step down, Cosslett told TTG Asia in an email: “Deciding when to hand over the reins is a key part of leadership. I have had a wonderful six years at IHG and the company is in excellent shape. Despite the current challenges we are all dealing with in places like Japan and Christchurch, the outlook for the industry, and for IHG in particular, is very positive and I will leave with friendships that will last and a hatful of great memories.”

He did not say what his plans would be after IHG.

In announcing Cosslett’s departure, IHG chairman David Webster said: “Andy has been an outstanding chief executive since joining the company in February 2005 and we are very appreciative of the contribution he has made during his time at IHG. While we understand and respect his decision to leave at this stage, we are extremely sorry to see him go.

�?�”In Richard Solomons we have an able and worthy successor…He is the board’s first choice to take the company forward. Richard and Andy have worked very closely over the last six years and in making this appointment, the board is ensuring continuity in management and in our strategy to drive growth.�?�”

Among Cosslett’s biggest contributions were transforming IHG into an asset-light company and steering it through the downturn with fearless restructuring and cost-cutting, including his controversial decision to axe Asia-Pacific chief Peter Gowers less than two years after the promotion (TTG Asia, July 24, 2009).

Also under him was a billion-dollar Holiday Inn relaunch, which has been successfully completed.

WITH the Malaysia Golf Tourism Association teeing off yesterday, the country will pursue more high-yield tourists and increase revenue from the sport by 15 per cent a year. This is up from the RM200 million (US$65.5 million) in 2010.

The association, which will embark on a strategic five-year development plan to turn Malaysia into The Golf Destination in Asia, was launched by Tourism Malaysia chairman Dr Victor Wee on behalf of Tourism Minister Dr Ng Yen Yen.

More than 85 per cent of golf tourists to the country are Singaporeans who are day trippers, said Paul Gibbons, pro tem chairman, Malaysia Golf Tourism Association.

He added that the main challenge was to attract golf tourists, who spend one-and-a-half times more than leisure tourists, from medium- and longhaul destinations.

The association will also gather statistics on golf tourists and develop a strong branding and marketing collateral.

Gibbons said a major opportunity for promotional efforts will be next year’s IAGTO Asia Golf Tourism Convention that will be held in Malaysia for the first time.

It will bring together more than 150 specialised travel agents selling Asia as a golf destination and 150 suppliers from Asian countries.

THE SPOTLIGHT will be on PATA’s role as a membership association during the first plenary session of the 60th Anniversary and Conference from April 9 to 12 at the China World Hotel in Beijing.

Taking the anniversary theme Building Tourism: Past. Present. Progressive, Plenary 1 will examine PATA’s impact over the past 60 years, its relevance today and its commitment to the future.

Lead presenter Robert Broadfoot, managing director, Political and Economic Risk Consultancy, will provide an overview of key factors influencing the landscape of the region’s travel and tourism industry.

A panel discussion will follow, with representatives from different sectors including government, carrier, hospitality and industry, as well as the PATA 2011 Face of the Future winner and a PATA Life member. The session will be moderated by TIME magazine’s Liam Fitzpatrick.

Representing the industry sector, Hans Lerch, vice chairman and CEO, Hotelplan Holding AG, said PATA must now be the foremost authority on travel and tourism in Asia-Pacific by, for example, showing a strong reaction to what had happened in Japan. He recalled a period in the mid-1990s, when PATA’s influence was second to none.

The 60th Anniversary and Conference marks the return of the PATA Annual Conference after a five-year hiatus. For more information, visit www.pata60.org

EXPECTING a 20 per cent growth in the Malaysian car rental market for this year, the Hertz Corporation is opening branches at the airports of Johor, Kelantan and Sabah, as well as a downtown location in Perak.

The four locations are Senai International Airport, Lumut Downtown, Sandakan Airport and Sultan Ismail Petra Airport.

Mohd Izazi Bin Haji Hashim, general manager, Hertz Malaysia, said: “Continued geographical expansion is critical to our growth strategy, as we see an increase in the number of inbound travellers to Malaysia who wish to take advantage of the nation’s comprehensive network of highways.”

Corporates still account for 80 per cent of the Malaysian business, with the remaining 20 per cent going to leisure clients.

Hertz Malaysia, managed by franchise partner Sime Darby Rent A Car, is said to have the largest network in the country – with 17 locations based at major airports and cities across the nation – and the biggest fleet of rental cars.