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Tourism Australia brings buyers and sellers to South East Asia Mission 2008
Delegates to the SEAM 2008 event organized
by Tourism Australia take a break between meetings at Dusit Thani,
Pattaya’s Napalai Convention Hall.
The South East Asia Mission or SEAM 2008 brought delegates from this
part of the continent to meetings and exhibitions at the Napalai
Convention Hall of Dusit Thani Pattaya to promote tourism in Australia.
Over 150 buyers and sellers registered for the event that lasted for
three days starting 27 October.
Stephen Cheah, Partnership and Distribution Manager (Asia) of Tourism
Australia spoke of Australia as a great destination for different niche
markets of travelers and stressed that the friendliness and warmth of
its people towards their visitors contribute greatly to the beauty of
their country.
Meantime, the hotel management hosted informal cocktails for the
delegates on the last night of the meetings to express their
appreciation to Tourism Australia for having chosen Dusit Thani Pattaya
as the venue for the event.
In a statement, Mr. Cheah said, “We looked into other hotels in Pattaya
when we were deciding on where to hold the SEAM 2008. But when we were
given a tour around Dusit Thani Pattaya, we were just awed by the
hotel’s man-made cascading waterfall in the Atrium just below the main
lobby and we knew right away this was the resort we wanted to be for the
meetings. We agree that is one of the hotel’s most unique features,
besides its private beaches as well as its great location.”
Dusit Thani Pattaya has looked to short-haul markets especially for MICE
events in order to cushion the impact brought on by the global economic
crisis to many businesses, not only in Thailand but also around the
world.
Dusit International’s Senior Vice President Octavio Gamarra also
believes that short-haul markets from the Middle East and Asia Pacific
such as United Arab Emirates, China, Hongkong, Singapore, Korea and
India will provide more buoyant feeder markets since their economies
have not been as seriously affected by the economic slowdown as the
western financial markets.
THAI to tighten operation costs
Thai Airways International (THAI) plans to reduce flight frequencies and
use smaller aircraft for its regional routes, due to the
lower-than-expected demand.
THAI executive vice-president for commercial, Pandit Chanapai, said the
changes were targeted to be in place from December 1.
THAI anticipates suffering about a 15 per cent drop in average cabin
capacity for the last three months of this year, from 85 per cent for
the same period last year.
Although in the first half of this year the airline performed at about
12 per cent above target, the declining demand is anticipated to drag
the entire year’s cabin factor target of 80 per cent down to 76 per
cent.
However, the airline is optimistic it will be able to increase next
year’s seat capacity by at least two per cent. (TTG)
Cebu Pacific to pioneer
services out of Clark
Cebu Pacific will start international operations out of the Diosdado Macapagal
International Airport (DMIA) in Clark, Pampanga on November 8.
The airline will base an Airbus 319 aircraft at DMIA and operate daily flights
to Hong Kong and Singapore, four times weekly to Macau, and thrice weekly to
Bangkok.
Cebu Pacific will be the only Filipino carrier operating international flights
out of Clark and the only one with direct Clark-Hong Kong and Clark-Bangkok
services.
Clark is the airline’s fourth operational hub, after Manila, Cebu and Davao.
Cebu Pacific launched Clark-Cebu flights on October 1 and daily Manila-Busuanga
(Palawan) services on October 6, both on ATR 72-500 aircraft.
The airline is acquiring up to 18 ATR 72-500 aircraft and has already taken
delivery of three this year. Another three are expected to arrive before
year-end.
Meanwhile, Cebu Pacific is preparing for the launch of its thrice-weekly
Manila-Osaka flights on November 20. Osaka is the airline’s first destination in
Japan and its 15th in Asia. (TTG)
Balloons descend
on city for air show
Some 50 hot-air balloons from around the world are
ready to soar in Pattaya.
Ariyawat Nuamsawat
Some 50 hot-air balloons from around the world are once again ready glide
through the sky to gently touch down in the city for the Pattaya Flying Fantasy
2008 International Air and Balloon Show on November 27-30.
The balloons came last December, too, in a spectacular show.
A representative of the Comm Arts Production Company met Mayor Itthipol
Khunplome to prepare for the show at the Learning Park at the College of
Innovative Education, Thammasart University in Pattaya.
In “the greatest show in Asia,” hot-air balloonists from around the world have
been invited to visit Thailand, just in time to help celebrate the 81st birthday
of His Majesty the King, the mayor said.
The air show will see a parachuting competition, a radio-controlled plane flying
competition, an “adventurous flying competition”, a Bruda hot-air balloon
parade, a “miracle kite” performance, even a horse show parade from Horseshoe
Point plus a “balloon night glow” sound-and-light show in the night.
TAT reports increased flight seats from Europe
Despite hotels and tour operators reporting booking slowdowns for the high
season from now until March 2009, the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) is
reporting a 50 per cent rise in the number of seats on this year’s winter
charter flights to Thai beach resort destinations.
According to TAT, two Switzerland-based carriers, BelAir and Edelweiss, have
more than doubled their seat capacity on Zurich-Phuket flights to 18,000 seats
from last high season’s 7,000 to seats. Flight frequencies have also increased
from 24 to 62 flights.
Charter flights from Moscow to Pattaya, Phuket and Bangkok have increased from
446 to 812. Charter flights from Estonia increased from 15 to 25 flights.
France’s XL Always plans to launch one flight per week on the Paris-Phuket
route, from December 21 to April 30, 2009. The airline’s ground handler, Trans
Travel (Thailand) managing director, Francois Quenault, said the flights were
expected to run at around 80 per cent.
However, seats on charter flights from cities in Scandinavia to Phuket, Krabi,
Bangkok and Surat Thani (Koh Samui) have decreased by 1.5 per cent from 198,000
seats to 195,000 in this high season. (TTG)
Australians advised against travel to Indonesia
The Australia Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) has issued a new
travel advice on Indonesia, advising Australians intending to visit Indonesia,
including Bali, to reconsider their necessity to travel as there is a “very high
threat of terrorist attack” in the country.
The advice states: “If you do decide to travel to Indonesia, you should exercise
extreme caution. We continue to receive reports indicating that terrorists are
planning attacks against a range of targets, including Western interests and
places frequented by foreigners.
“There have been recent arrests of high-level terrorist operatives in Indonesia,
but we assess terrorists are continuing to plan attacks. These attacks could
take place at any time, including in places frequented by foreigners.
“Previous terrorist attacks against Westerners in Bali and Jakarta indicate
these areas are priority targets. You should take particular care to avoid
places known to be terrorist targets.” (TTG)
Amex warns
of higher 2009 air-fares
The latest American Express (Amex) Business Travel Forecast and Trends report
for Japan, Asia-Pacific and Australia has thrown up some surprising findings,
chief among them is that air-fares will continue to rise next year, but there
will not be a repeat of the excesses of 2008.
The forecast does acknowledge that some air fares may decrease, particularly for
the rest of the year, but the reductions will not offset the price increases
which were seen earlier, and are likely to be followed by increases throughout
2009.
Amex is also predicting double digit increases in hotel rates for most hotels in
the Asia-Pacific, with the exception of Australia and Japan, as a result of
demand continuing to outstrip supply and regional economies holding fast against
the global economic storm.
Amex foresees the average domestic business trip will rise 5.6 per cent, and a
similar increase for international travel.
Its vice-president, advisory services, Kurt Knackstedt, speaking at the American
Express China Business Travel Forum in Shanghai, said: “Based on the forecasted
economic conditions for 2009 and the substantial increases in 2008, air fare
rises in 2009 will have to soften as airlines fight for the corporate customer,
while enforcing necessary cost containment strategies such as capacity
reductions.
“It is possible we may even see some decreases in fares. However, this will be
short-term and must be realised in the context of the price increases of 2008.
“Furthermore, airlines will continue their pursuit of expanding the suite of
fees charged for services such as in-flight meals and baggage.” (TTG)
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