Malaysia Airlines will deploy its flagship Airbus A350-900 aircraft on both of its daily non-stop services between Kuala Lumpur and Doha starting April 1.
The aircraft boasts a seating capacity of 300, including 40 in Business Class, 32 in Economy Comfort, and 228 in Economy Class. With a one-two-one configuration, the Business Class cabin features the Thompson XL Vantage seats, providing passengers with comfort and direct aisle access, in addition to more storage space to ensure practicality and accessibility.
Malaysia Airlines will deploy the Airbus A350 aircraft on its Kuala Lumpur-Doha route
Malaysia Airlines’s Kuala Lumpur-Doha service is in partnership with Qatar Airways.
Mövenpick Hotel Hanoi Centre, Vietnam
The 155-key Mövenpick Hotel Hanoi Centre offers facilities including a Kinetic Gym & Wellness Studio, Cabana Club Pool, restaurants and bars, two meeting rooms and a ballroom.
Located in the vibrant French quarter, Mövenpick Hotel Hanoi Centre is just a short 10-minute drive to attractions like Hoan Kiem Lake, Ngoc Son Temple, The Huc Bridge, St Joseph’s Cathedral, Hoa Lo Prison Museum, and the Temple of Literature.
Mantra Club Croc
Mantra Club Croc, Australia
The 160-room Mantra Club Croc on Airlie Beach has reopened after undergoing a refurbishment.
Situated close to the beachfront and Coral Sea Marina, the property is housed in a traditional Queenslander-style building, and now offers a reimagined room service, new poolside cocktail service, and complimentary high-speed Wi-Fi. The resort’s reception area and poolside restaurant and bar will also be refurbished later in the year.
Facilities comprise a large lagoon pool, spa, gym, conference centre, and complimentary parking for cars, trailers, caravans and boats.
Moxy Bengaluru Airport Prestige Tech Cloud
Moxy Bengaluru Airport Prestige Tech Cloud, India
Moxy Bengaluru Airport Prestige Tech Cloud is located just 10 minutes from Kempegowda International Airport Bengaluru in North Bangalore, and is near the city’s iconic sites and major upcoming projects.
The hotel features 128 rooms, six of which are suites, and facilities such as a game arcade, library, co-working spaces, F&B venues, fitness centre, outdoor swimming pool, and event spaces. Other offerings include onsite parking and an airport shuttle service.
Guests can visit attractions like the ISKCON Temple, St Mary’s Basilica, the National Gallery of Modern Art, the HAL Heritage Centre and Aerospace Museum, as well as the British-era Opera House which offers virtual-reality experiences.
Hotel 101-Fort
Hotel 101-Fort, the Philippines
Hotel 101-Fort in Bonifacio Global City offers a total of 606 identical Happy Rooms, each with a queen and single bed setup, free Wi-Fi, cable television, and a kitchenette with a microwave oven and coffee maker.
The hotel also has an onsite café, swimming pool, gym and conference room, commercial areas, and a huge parking space.
The Five Footway Festival is returning to Singapore from March 9 to 17 with a host of fun and exciting activities for visitors of all ages at various locations in Chinatown.
Gain a deeper understanding on the way of life, values, and traditions of the country’s forefathers in Chinatown, and how the lives of early immigrants were centred at the Five Footway across trades, clan activities, cultural, arts and entertainment activities and beyond.
Experience the Kirin Dance Performance during Singapore’s Five Footway Festival in Chinatown
Visitors to the festival can also register for the walking trail, Conserved Buildings in Chinatown, to learn about the conservation of heritage buildings in Singapore, the history behind some of the oldest buildings in Chinatown and the activities that used to line the Five Footways.
Other highlights include folktale-telling at Joss Stick Storytelling; a Hokkien Puppet Show, Kirin Dance Performance; and the Tan Ah Huat theatrical walking tour that tells the tale of Chinatown back in the early days of Singapore through the eyes of a Chinese immigrant from the 1920s. This tour comprises cultural theatre acts across Cantonese opera, Teochew opera and Peking opera performances, and more.
The festival will also provide visitors with opportunities to pick up some of these traditional skills through various workshops and classes.
Discover the rich heritage of Hakka culture with Hakka Imperial Kitchen – learn to make a traditional omelette toast, attend the Traditional Wedding Talk, and marvel as an expert cooks up Hainanese dishes.
Visitors to the Five Footway Festival, especially families with children, can enjoy childhood games together at Pagoda Street with the nostalgic can and ring toss, hoop wheeling, zero point, and snakes and ladders. They can also munch on the much-loved traditional Singaporean snacks and biscuits, and meet-and-greet with stilt-walking Samsui women and khaki shorts policemen. Other interesting activities include movie screenings, dragon dances, wushu and many more.
Vietjet celebrates the Year of the Dragon with offers such as super-saver tickets and a 20 per cent discount on Business class fares.
From now till February 26, Vietjet offers Eco tickets starting from just US$60 one-way across its entire flight network, including domestic and international routes. Additionally, passengers will receive a 20 per cent discount on Business class tickets by using the ‘SPRINGBU20’ code when booking international and connecting flights via Vietjet’s website and the Vietjet Air mobile app.
Vietjet’s special offers include 20 per cent off Business class tickets; Golden Bridge in Vietnam, pictured
The promotional tickets are available for flights scheduled between April 1 and November 30, 2024.
Passengers opting for Business class travel can indulge in premium amenities, including a dedicated check-in area, luxurious lounges, private cabins with flatbed seats, and a selection of organic food featuring diverse international cuisines.
All Vietjet passengers receive complimentary Sky Care travel insurance, ensuring peace of mind and complete protection throughout their journey with the airline.
Sri Lanka Tourism is targeting 600,000 Indian tourist arrivals in 2024, aiming for best-ever figures from its number one inbound tourism source market.
Last year, Sri Lanka recorded 302,844 tourist arrivals from India, which was more than double compared to 123,004 tourist arrivals recorded in 2022. So far, the best year for Sri Lanka Tourism in the Indian market was in 2018 when it recorded 424,887 tourist arrivals.
Sri Lanka Tourism will launch a major promotional campaign in the Indian market in order to attract more Indian tourists to Sri Lanka; Colombo, Sri Lanka, pictured
In order to meet its target, the NTO is launching a major promotional campaign in the Indian market starting mid-April. It also organised two city roadshows for Indian travel consultants covering Mumbai and New Delhi earlier this month. Also in the pipeline are a couple of roadshows that will be organised in tier-II Indian cities later this year.
“We have bounced back strongly post the setbacks caused by the pandemic and the economic crisis. In the recent past, our campaigns have focused on confidence building that we as a country are ready and secure to welcome tourists. However, in our new campaign beginning April, our focus is going to be on showing the diversity of Sri Lanka as a destination,” said Nalin Perera, managing director, Sri Lanka Tourism Promotion Bureau while speaking to TTG Asia on the sidelines of New Delhi roadshow on Tuesday.
“We are traditionally known for sun and beach but we have much more, be it culture, religion, culinary, adventure, wildlife and more.”
Perera shared that the 360-degree communication campaign will be covering digital, print and TV platforms with a ‘substantial’ investment.
“Considering strong demand from the Indian market, we are going to embark on an aggressive promotional campaign in India. The campaign is also going to focus on regional reach within the country,” he added.
The new year has already begun on a high note for the Sri Lankan tourism industry’s prospects in India. In January 2024, the number of Indian tourists visiting Sri Lanka increased by over 100 per cent, rising from 13,759 in January 2023 to 34,399.
Some of the segments that Sri Lanka is focusing on in India include FITs, families, wedding and MICE. In order to promote the destination for Indian film shoots, Sri Lanka is planning to introduce a single window clearance system by the first financial quarter of 2024.
“Presently, production houses have to visit many places to get approvals for shootings. In the single window concept, they will only need to work with Sri Lanka tourism to obtain all required approvals. This we expect will reduce the approval timelines by 50 per cent,” noted Perera.
Overall, Sri Lanka recorded 1.5 million international tourist arrivals in 2023 and is targeting 2.3 million international tourist arrivals in 2024.
TransNusa Airline, a subsidiary of Linkasia Airlines Group and Panca Global International Indonesia, has rebranded itself as a Premium Service Carrier globally.
Established in 2005. TranNusa stopped operations in 2020 due to the global pandemic and was sold. In 2022, the airline saw the injection of new shareholders – Panca Global International Indonesia (51 per cent) and Singapore-based Linkasia Airlines Group (49 per cent) – and a new management team, which developed a unique business model that allowed TransNusa to rebrand itself as a Premium Service Carrier.
TransNusa Airline has rebranded itself as a Premium Service Carrier globally (Photo: axell.rf)
TransNusa Group CEO Bernard Francis remarked that TransNusa has become the fastest growing airline in South-east Asia due to the business plan that was developed and implemented swiftly post Covid-19.
“We knew that traveller’s behavioural pattern had changed, specifically due to the pandemic. Our next step was to develop a customised business model for the targeted passengers,” he said, adding that the airline has flown over one million passengers between October 2022 and December 2023.
In April last year, TransNusa expanded its reach from domestic to international with the launch of its Jakarta-Kuala Lumpur route. Subsequently in the same year, the airline also launched three new routes – Jakarta-Singapore, Jakarta-Guangzhou, and Jakarta-Johor.
Francis, an aviation industry expert who specialises in airline turnaround and revenue management, said that TransNusa has increased its flight frequencies to seven times a week to Singapore, Guangzhou, Guangdong, China and Johor Bahru, Malaysia. The airline has also increased its flight frequencies to 21 times weekly to Kuala Lumpur, 14 times weekly to Yogyakarta and 35 times weekly to Bali.
“Last year, we expanded our operations to include international routes and even became the second Indonesian airline to fly into China. We also managed to obtain all necessary approvals in a short timeframe from world-class Changi airport, reflecting the strong commitment we have towards safety, security, maintenance and aircraft performance measures,” he said.
On the airline’s future expansion, Francis shared that the airline has plans to further expand its international network, as well as to establish another domestic hub and provide its domestic market with premium services.
He stressed that TransNusa’s current services exceeded that of a low-cost airline.
“For our domestic and international flights, we not only provide premium services with competitive ticket prices in comparison to other low-cost airlines, but we have attractive new product bundles called Seat, Seat-Plus and Flexi-Pro,” he explained.
Depending on the product purchased, passengers can enjoy check-in baggage weighing between 15kg and 30kg. Flexi-Pro features include checking in baggage of up to 30kg, seat choices, free F&B, priority check-in and boarding, as well as the flexibility to change the flight schedule and receive refunds if needed.
In addition, all TransNusa flights will only depart and arrive at major international airports, allowing passengers to enjoy the world-class services offered at these international terminals.
Langham Hospitality Group (LHG) has signed management agreements for three hotels in Xiamen Seaworld, a mixed-use development by China Merchants Group (CMG) perched on the western shore of Xiamen’s main island.
The hotels, which open in 2025, will each showcase a different brand from LHG’s portfolio. The selected brands include The Langham Hotels & Resorts, Cordis Hotels & Resorts, and Ying’nFlo, which serve the luxury, upscale and midscale segments respectively.
Langham Hospitality Group’s trio of hotels in Xiamen will open in 2025
The properties will join the group’s existing hotel in Xiamen, the Langham Place, and take the total number of LHG hotels in China to 20.
Xiamen Seaworld is CMG’s first Seaworld complex to be built outside of Shenzhen. The plot itself sits in a well-situated part of Dongdu Free Trade Zone that affords the two towers to house the hotels with unobstructed ocean views and expansive vistas of nearby Huweishan Park.
The Langham, Xiamen, Seaworld will occupy the larger of the towers, featuring a sky lobby that occupies the hotel’s top floor, a 880m2 ballroom, meeting rooms, F&B, and spa.
Located in the second of the two towers are Cordis, Xiamen, Seaworld and LHG’s first mainland China branch of Ying’nFlo. Facilities at Cordis comprise a 543m2 ballroom along with 755m2 of meeting venues – guests of The Langham and Cordis will benefit from a reciprocal arrangement that permits use of both hotels’ ballroom and event venues.
The Ying’nFlo hotel will include adaptable furniture and digital technology features, and guests can mingle, work or relax at the property’s signature House of Ying’nFlo open space, which will be the largest of its kind anywhere.
LHG CEO Bob van den Oord said: “The Langham, Cordis and Ying’nFlo will serve as iconic additions to Xiamen Seaworld, a visionary complex that we are proud to be part of. They will also bolster our presence in a wonderfully vibrant city that continues to show great promise.”
AirAsia is expanding its network to 12 cities in India, facilitated by its seamless Fly-Thru connecting service.
To commemorate 20 years of operations in Singapore, AirAsia is offering competitive low fares for travel between Singapore and India.
Velaitham: through our Fly-Thru service, we seamlessly connect travellers from Singapore to India and vice versa, bolstering arrivals into Changi Airport
AirAsia operates an extensive network flying to 12 cities in India. Customers can now fly from Singapore to Chennai, Tiruchirappalli, Kochi, Hyderabad, Bengaluru, Kolkata, New Delhi, Amritsar, Trivandrum, Jaipur (commencing April 21), Visakhapatnam (commencing April 26) and Ahmedabad (commencing May 1) via its seamless Fly-Thru service in Kuala Lumpur. Through its Bangkok (Don Mueang) hub, passengers can also fly to Bengaluru, Kolkata, Kochi, Jaipur, Chennai, Lucknow, Ahmedabad, Gaya, Guwahati and Visakhapatnam.
In addition, the airline has introduced its free seats promotion, highlighting four cities in India –Visakhapatnam, Jaipur, Trivandrum and Ahmedabad – with promotional fares from as low as SG$173 (US$128) from now till February 25, for travel between September 1, 2024 and June 18, 2025.
Logan Velaitham, CEO of AirAsia Singapore, said: “Through our Fly-Thru service, we seamlessly connect travellers from Singapore to India and vice versa, bolstering arrivals into Changi Airport. This enables access to AirAsia’s extensive network of over 130 destinations with a convenient short-stop in Kuala Lumpur or Bangkok (Don Mueang), without the need to collect or re-check in baggage during transit.”
Globus family of brands (GFOB), comprising of luxury river cruising operator Avalon Waterways and escorted coach touring companies Globus and Cosmos, has appointed Holiday Tours & Travel Group (HTT) as their distributor for the Asia region (excluding Hong Kong) effective March 1.
Headquartered in Singapore, HTT will represent the GFOB product portfolio in the key markets of Singapore, Malaysia (via H Travel), Thailand, South Korea and the Philippines.
From left: Globus’ Gai Tyrrell and Holiday Tours & Travel Group’s Duncan Choo
The new appointment and subsequent consolidation of distribution aims to see GFOB enhance their opportunities in Asia, drive increased brand awareness and amplify sales growth, with HTT enacting product sales in the respective markets utilising their expert local market knowledge and proven experience as travel industry leaders across the region.
Hong Kong will remain represented by the current GSA, as an independent market.
GFOB managing director Asia Pacific, Gai Tyrrell, said the brand has strong ambitions for growth and the partnership with HTT is vital for the company’s expansion in Asia.
“We are excited to partner with Holiday Tours & Travel Group to enhance our distribution in five of our key Asian markets and this appointment sees us achieve efficiencies with one distributor across the region, which puts us in a strong position to drive significant sales growth,” said Tyrrell.
“It’s an exciting time of growth at Globus family of brands, with our marketing activity driving record results and new product launching in 2024/5, so we are focused on expanding our footprint and customer base in the Asia -Pacific region.”
Duncan Choo, managing director, HTT, commented: “We will be raising brand awareness of the Avalon Waterways, Globus and Cosmos brands and supporting our trade partners to discover the benefits of selling Globus family of brands product.”
The 7th Hospitality Vietnam Conference, part of the Hospitality Asia Event Series managed by Hospitality Asia Media, will take place at Caravelle Saigon, Vietnam from April 3 to 5 this year, drawing an expected 350-plus attendees from diverse sectors in the hospitality industry.
The event comprises three summits – Hotel Investment Summit Vietnam; Hotel Design Summit Vietnam; and Hotel Revenue Summit Vietnam.
The 7th Hospitality Vietnam Conference will be held at Caravelle Saigon in Ho Chi Minh City from April 3 to 5
Other upcoming events in the Hospitality Asia Event Series include the 3rd Hospitality Thailand Conference in Bangkok, Thailand this May, and the 4th Hospitality Malaysia Conference in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia this June.
TransNusa Airline, a subsidiary of Linkasia Airlines Group and Panca Global International Indonesia, has rebranded itself as a Premium Service Carrier globally.
Established in 2005. TranNusa stopped operations in 2020 due to the global pandemic and was sold. In 2022, the airline saw the injection of new shareholders – Panca Global International Indonesia (51 per cent) and Singapore-based Linkasia Airlines Group (49 per cent) – and a new management team, which developed a unique business model that allowed TransNusa to rebrand itself as a Premium Service Carrier.
TransNusa Group CEO Bernard Francis remarked that TransNusa has become the fastest growing airline in South-east Asia due to the business plan that was developed and implemented swiftly post Covid-19.
“We knew that traveller’s behavioural pattern had changed, specifically due to the pandemic. Our next step was to develop a customised business model for the targeted passengers,” he said, adding that the airline has flown over one million passengers between October 2022 and December 2023.
In April last year, TransNusa expanded its reach from domestic to international with the launch of its Jakarta-Kuala Lumpur route. Subsequently in the same year, the airline also launched three new routes – Jakarta-Singapore, Jakarta-Guangzhou, and Jakarta-Johor.
Francis, an aviation industry expert who specialises in airline turnaround and revenue management, said that TransNusa has increased its flight frequencies to seven times a week to Singapore, Guangzhou, Guangdong, China and Johor Bahru, Malaysia. The airline has also increased its flight frequencies to 21 times weekly to Kuala Lumpur, 14 times weekly to Yogyakarta and 35 times weekly to Bali.
“Last year, we expanded our operations to include international routes and even became the second Indonesian airline to fly into China. We also managed to obtain all necessary approvals in a short timeframe from world-class Changi airport, reflecting the strong commitment we have towards safety, security, maintenance and aircraft performance measures,” he said.
On the airline’s future expansion, Francis shared that the airline has plans to further expand its international network, as well as to establish another domestic hub and provide its domestic market with premium services.
He stressed that TransNusa’s current services exceeded that of a low-cost airline.
“For our domestic and international flights, we not only provide premium services with competitive ticket prices in comparison to other low-cost airlines, but we have attractive new product bundles called Seat, Seat-Plus and Flexi-Pro,” he explained.
Depending on the product purchased, passengers can enjoy check-in baggage weighing between 15kg and 30kg. Flexi-Pro features include checking in baggage of up to 30kg, seat choices, free F&B, priority check-in and boarding, as well as the flexibility to change the flight schedule and receive refunds if needed.
In addition, all TransNusa flights will only depart and arrive at major international airports, allowing passengers to enjoy the world-class services offered at these international terminals.