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Expansion in store for Nok Air
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Thais fine-tune new strategy
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Organisers collaborate to promote Pattaya events
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Las Vegas Sands to build Singapore’s first casino
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31st Expansion in store for Nok Air
Budget carrier Nok Air plans to add two more aircraft to
its fleet in the fourth quarter as part of an ambitious expansion plan.
The two jets, each with a capacity of 150-160 seats, follows the
introduction of its fourth 149-seat Boeing 737-400 jet and a 66-seat ATR-72
propeller plane earlier this year.
The Thai airline, partly owned by Thai Airways International, plans to add
one jetliner to its fleet in each quarter next year.
Nok Air is expected to open its first overseas route - Bangkok to Bangalore
in October. It is also considering a second Indian destination next year and
a Bangkok-Macau service in the third quarter next year. (TTG)
Thais fine-tune new strategy
Thailand’s Ministry of Tourism and Sports is fine-tuning
a four-year national tourism development strategy before the new Cabinet is
formed. The strategy, which covers 19 tourism clusters, is slated to be
ready by June.
The ministry’s permanent secretary, Mr Sakthip Krairik, said the government
had recorded a decline in tourism revenue last year and identified a need to
adjust the current tourism development framework from five years (between
2007 and 2011) to four years (between 2007 and 2010).
The government had earmarked 63 billion baht (US$1.6 billion), to be spent
on 61 tourism projects, for the existing 2007 to 2011 tourism development
strategy.
From the total, 46 billion baht would be spent on 42 priority projects,
while another 17 billion baht had been earmarked for the remaining 19.
The projects include the so-called Tourism Road Map in Esarn, or the
north-eastern region of the country, a Tourism Riviera in Chumpon and Ranong
provinces and a promotion of World Heritage sites.
Mr Sakthip said although the projects were now slated for completion within
four years, they would still be developed under the same five key
strategies. They included improving and developing tourism products,
upgrading related service standards, penetrating new tourist markets,
developing sustainable tourism areas and improving tourism management
mechanisms.
He said to speed up the tourism development process, a series of urgent
workshops would be held between now and June 2 “to brainstorm as well as
come up with immediate tourism development projects”.
The workshops would comprise representatives from public and private bodies
from the 19 tourism clusters.
Mr Sakthip added the results of the workshops would be proposed to the new
Cabinet once it was formed, which was expected to be in June. He said: “The
new plan would enable Thailand to raise the average length of stay and
expenditure of foreign visitors as well as attract more high-yield tourists
in a bid to increase the tourism revenue by 20 per cent per year.”
The ministry will also propose a plan with a focus on promoting more
cultural and natural attractions as part of its push to promote Thailand as
a tourism hub of Asia. (TTG)
Organisers collaborate to promote Pattaya events
The organisers of Incentive Travel & Conventions,
Meetings Asia (IT&CMA) and Corporate Travel World (CTW) 2006 (October 10 to
12) and 67th SKAL World Congress (October 15 to 20) have agreed to promote
each other’s events - both of which are taking place in Pattaya this year.
This first ever collaboration aims to maximise international attendance of
members from the SKAL fraternity and the MICE and corporate travel segments.
Skalleagues will be given access to visit the Double-bill (IT&CMA & CTW)
exhibition on October 12. (TTG)
Las Vegas Sands to build Singapore’s first casino
By Gillian Wong
Associated Press
Singapore has awarded U.S. casino operator Las Vegas Sands Corp. the license
to build the city-state’s first casino - one that is also set to be the
world’s costliest.
The casino-resort at Marina Bay, which will be built on a 20.6-hectare
(50.9-acre) waterfront site near the financial district, is likely to cost
more than 5 billion Singapore dollars (US$3.16 billion; €2.47 billion),
Singapore’s Deputy Prime Minister S. Jayakumar told a press conference.
Currently, the world’s most expensive casino is the US$2.7 billion (€2.10
billion) Wynn Las Vegas that was completed late last year.
Las Vegas Sands beat off competition from three other bidding groups - MGM
Mirage and CapitaLand Ltd., Harrah’s Entertainment Inc. and Keppel Land
Ltd., and Genting International PLC and Star Cruises Ltd.
Sands’ President and Chief Operating Officer William Weidner welcomed the
Southeast Asian island-republic’s decision.
“Our presence in Singapore, combined with our footprint in North Asia and
access to China, the largest source of tourism in the foreseeable future,
will enable us to generate mutual benefits for both economies and for
visitors alike,” Weidner said in a statement.
Singapore last year reversed its decades-old ban on casino gambling, and
said it would award licenses to operate a casino resort at Marina Bay and
another on the resort island of Sentosa to boost tourism and help the
city-state shed its straight-laced image. Sands, which runs the Venetian
casino in Las Vegas and is expanding into Macau, says it expects to open the
resort in 2009.
Jayakumar said Sand’s proposal best met the city-state’s economic and
tourism objectives, and would significantly strengthen Singapore’s position
as a leading destination for conventions and exhibitions.
The casino and resort will be a “large scale iconic development”, he said,
with a construction cost of S$3.85 billion (US$2.43 billion; €1.90 billion)
and a land cost of S$1.2 billion (US$760 million; €590 million).
“The (Sands) proposal also possesses unique design elements which will
provide a memorable image for Marina Bay,” Jayakumar added.
According to the Singapore Tourism Board, the bidders were assessed based on
four criteria: tourism appeal and contribution; architectural concept and
design; development investment; and strength of the consortium and partners.
U.S. casino operators have been rushing to expand in Asia to tap the
region’s fast-growing ranks of millionaires and middle-class consumers.
Besides vying to build a casino in Singapore, MGM and Sands are also
developing properties in Macau, the only part of China where casino gaming
is legal.
The tender for Singapore’s second casino was launched in April. The
government will likely decide on the winning bid for the Sentosa casino
before the end of the year.
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