Nasi kandar goes airborne on Malindo Air flights

photo: www.malindoair.com

PETALING JAYA: If you have enjoyed satay and chicken rice on a flight, there are more local dishes to savour now.

Malindo Air is serving nasi kandar, spicy chicken and mutton curry, chicken kurma and achar on board its flights – a first for an airline – prepared specially by the popular Original Penang Kayu Nasi Kandar restaurant chain.

The nasi kandar meals are free in Business Class and priced at RM12 each for economy class passengers. “Travellers do not really like airline food so we decided to source for something different and since we introduced the nasi kandar meals last month, it has become the top selling meal on all our jet flights,’’ said Malindo chief executive officer Chandran Rama Muthy.

Original Penang Kayu Nasi Kandar managing director Burhan Mohamed said this was the chain’s first such arrangement with a commercial airline. “We have been catering nasi kandar meals for VVIPs on private jets,’’ he said during a flight to Langkawi. Burhan operates eight nasi kandar outlets in the country – one in Penang and seven in the Klang Valley.

Malindo passengers are given a 10% discount for a limited period for meals at the eight restaurants but they must show their boarding passes within 24 hours of their travel.

Malindo is Malaysia’s third airline which calls itself a hybrid airline – the in-between of full service and low cost airline – because it provides light snacks on board, offers 20kg free baggage, and free in-flight entertainment.

Malindo began operations seven months ago and now flies from Subang and KL Interna­tional Airport. “Next, we are looking at introducing mamak mee goreng but that requires more planning,’’ Chandran said.

Malaysia Airlines has been serving its award-winning satay for several years now, while AirAsia serves the famous Hainanese Chicken Rice on its flights.

-thestar online.

Delegation To Promote Visit Malaysia Year 2014 In North America

NEW YORK, Oct 5 (Bernama) -- A high-powered delegation from Tourism Malaysia in Kuala Lumpur, led by Tourism and Culture Minister Datuk Seri Mohamed Nazri Abdul Aziz, will visit the USA and Canada, beginning tomorrow.

The 10-day visit is aimed at promoting the Visit Malaysia Year 2014 and attracting tourism traffic from North America to Malaysia.

The delegation, which will visit Los Angeles (Oct 6-9), Vancouver (Oct 9-12) and New York (Oct 12-15), will include senior officials from Tourism Malaysia such as its deputy director-general, Datuk Azizan Nordin, and director for international promotion for the Americas, Datin Normasila Musa.

Ahmad Johanif Mohd Ali, the director of Tourism Malaysia's New York office, said in an interview with Bernama, that the delegation's visit would underscore the importance of the North American tourism market for Malaysia, besides highlighting the Visit Malaysia Year 2014 which would be used to attract larger tourist arrivals in the country.

"Our minister will meet the captains of the travel and tourism industry in the three cities. In special seminars organised during his visit, the minister will explain to tour operators our strategy and goals to increase tourism arrivals from the North American region, and also hear their views on the subject.

"The minister will also meet with the Malaysian community, including students, said Ahmad Johanif, adding that North America was geographically, a very big region and Malaysia offered all kinds of attraction to tourists from this region.

He also revealed that his office was going to collaborate with New York s Bronx Zoo to promote Malaysia whose scenic landscape combined with flora and fauna could exude a magnetic appeal to many Americans. The Bronx Zoo maintains a large database of zoo visitors, their families and friends who make an ideal constituency to draw tourism traffic. Tourism Malaysia s New York office plans to use the zoo s website to promote Malaysia as a destination.

While the average American business traveller frequently travels abroad for business purpose, the leisure market has a huge potential to tap.

Last year, some 240,000 visitors from the United States were clocked in Malaysia; during the first half of this year (January-June), 127,221 people from the United States visited Malaysia, a 6.4 per cent increase over the corresponding six months of the previous year.

Seminars with the participation of the local travel and tourism trade will be held in the three cities to promote the VMY2014. The Visit Malaysia Year 2014 Seminar in New York, the last leg of the visit, will be the cherry on the icing , as some tour operators are privately saying, that will cap the visit.

A special 18-member dance troupe from Kuala Lumpur will also provide colourful dances depicting the diverse Malaysian culture.

However, an interesting feature of the promotion campaign to promote the VMY 2014 will be a promotion film that will be screened four times every hour of the day, lasting for about 30 seconds each time, for a duration of 12 weeks until the end of the year; the film will highlight Malaysia s rich culture, and the adventure and nature segments of its tourism sector.

The film will be screened on a giant screen at a strategic location at New York s Times Square, just next to the NASDAQ tower, and will be viewed everyday by several thousands of New Yorkers and tourists from around the world who flock to get a glimpse of Times Square and are a common sight here.

However, the film s grand finale, as it were, will be on New Year s Eve when hundreds of thousands of visitors, both from within and outside the United States, throng to the Times Square to witness the countdown to the arrival of the New Year and the departure of the old one.

Hundreds of thousands of people gathered at Times Square will view the film about Malaysia s tourist attractions. Indeed, this will be an appropriate finale for promoting the VMY 2014, said Ahmad Johanif.
-bernama.

WAITGC 2013 - World Amateur Inter-Team Golf Championship Organised By Tourism Malaysia

ROUND 1 - JOHOR (11-14 MARCH)

1. Tanjong Puteri CC

2. Horizon Hills GCC / Ponderosa GCC

Hotel: Mutiara Johor Bahru

ROUND 2 – SABAH (22-25 APRIL)

1. Dalit Bay GCC

2. Sabah GCC

Hotel: Hyatt Regency Kinabalu

ROUND 3 – PENANG (13-16 MAY)

1. Penang Golf Club

2. Penang Golf Resort

Hotel: The Gurney Resort Hotel & Residence

ROUND 4 – SELANGOR (17-20 JUNE)

1. Impian Golf Club

2. Glenmarie GGCC

Hotel: The Royale Bintang Damansara

ROUND 5 – LANGKAWI (9-12 SEPTEMBER)

Gunung Raya Golf Resort

Hotel: Sheraton Langkawi Beach Resort

ROUND 6 – KUALA LUMPUR/PUTRAJAYA (7-10 OCTOBER)

1. Templer Park Country Club

2. Kota Permai GCC

Hotel: The Royale Chulan Kuala Lumpur

GRAND FINAL – MINES (25-27 NOVEMBER)

The Mines Resort & Golf Club

Hotel: The Royale Chulan Kuala Lumpur

-WAITGC facebook.

AirAsia voted the best again

SEPANG: AirAsia has won the Best Asian Low-Cost Carrier award again from TTG, Asia-Pacific’s leading travel news publisher, for the seventh time since 2005.

AirAsia Thailand business development director M.L. Bovornovadep Devakula received the award on behalf of the AirAsia Group at the 24th Annual TTG Travel Awards 2013 in Bangkok yesterday.

AirAsia Group CEO Tan Sri Tony Fernandes said winning the Best Asian Low-Cost Airline award for the seventh time was amazing.

“Ever since AirAsia was established nearly 12 years ago, we always strive to provide the best services and products to our guests, along with various innovative aspects in our business to make travelling easier and pleasurable,” he said.

The prestigious annual event honours stellar organisations and individuals in four categories: Travel Supplier, Travel Agency, Outstanding Achievement and Travel Hall of Fame.

The award was for providing the best service, network and schedules, along with having the most professional sales and marketing team in terms of innovative ideas, incentive programmes and servicing.

Voters also acknowledged the airline for being most agent-friendly in terms of reservations, confirmations and commission payments.

TTG’s award winners were determined through voting by readers of TTG Travel Trade Publishing’s print and online titles. For 2013, a total of 120,000 valid votes were received from end of May to early August.

Fernandes thanked TTG for the honour, as well as guests and industry insiders for voting them the best.

“We will not rest on our laurels, but instead continue to work hard to maintain our position as the market leader in the industry,” he said.

TTG Asia Media managing director Darren Ng said the win again this year affirmed AirAsia’s reputation in the region’s travel trade as being among the industry’s best.

-thestar online.

16th Malaysia National Lion Dance Championship 2013 ( 23~24 November 2013 )

This year, Resorts World Genting is proud to host the 16th Malaysia National Lion Dance Championship 2013, the biggest and most established high-stilt lion dance championship in Malaysia!

It is a yearly affair for the lion dancers to gather and compete in a test of skill, endurance and concentration. Accompanied by the beating of the drum, each team will be pushing their limits to prove themselves worthy to be crowned the best among their peers. Don’t miss out on this spectacular event steeped in history and culture!
-www.rwgenting.com

Weak rupee hurts Malaysian MICE sellers

Malaysia's traditional peak season for Indian inbound incentives – September to mid-December – is likely to be a washout, according to Malaysian MICE specialists who have blamed the weak performance largely on the depreciating Indian rupee.

Hidden Asia Travel & Tours Malaysia’s managing director, Nanda Kumar, told TTG Asia e-Daily: “All three incentive groups from India that were secured earlier and slated for travel to Malaysia this quarter have postponed their trips. Comparatively, in 4Q2012, we handled eight incentive groups with 80 to 300 delegates from that market.”

Arokia Das, senior manager of Luxury Tours Malaysia, said he had seen a 20 per cent year-on-year drop in incentives from India this peak season due to reduced Indian buying power and the stiff competition between inbound operators in Malaysia.

According to Das, inbound operators are resorting to selling below net rates to win business, with some surviving on shopping tours for both incentive and leisure groups.

Illustrating the severity of the situation, he said: “A three-night land package in Kuala Lumpur, inclusive of a twin-share stay in a local four-star hotel, costs about RM800 (US$246) per night three years ago. Now it costs RM600 to RM650. With inflation, prices should go up, not down.”

The Indian rupee had depreciated by 21.4 per cent, from Rs54.60 to US$1 in January to Rs66.30 in September. This has pushed Indian clients to scale down on hotel options and choose Kuala Lumpur as a single destination instead of twinning the city with a beach destination such as Langkawi or Penang, as they had done in the past, revealed Das.

C P Sharma, managing director at New Delhi-based Neptune Travco, concurs, saying that he had to feature only the Malaysian capital city in two meeting and incentive programmes this quarter in order to reduce costs for the client.

The company has also negotiated with hotels for better rates in order to make its proposals more competitive.

-TTG Asia.

MAS Offers Special Fare To Australian Cities From India

NEW DELHI, Oct 4 (Bernama) -- Malaysia Airlines (MAS) has introduced special fares from Chennai and Bangalore to Australian cities as part of a tourism promotion campaign along with Tourism Australia.

The fares, from Rs 44,999 (RM2,328) from Chennai and Bangalore, Rs 46,999 (RM2,431) from Mumbai and Hyderabad, and Rs 51,999 (RM2,690) from Delhi, will be on sale till the end of this month. The fares are valid till April 30, 2014, The Times of India reported.

"India has always been a major source market and MAS keeps introducing new promotional fares and value added service, be it new Indian menu or onboard entertainment or increased baggage allowance," its regional sales vice-president, South Asia and Middle East, Azahar Hamid said.

MAS provide seamless connections from six Indian cities to Australia via Kuala Lumpur. The report said, the latest offer comes after leisure travel to Australia has been on an upswing in recent months, with a consistent increase in the number of Indian travellers.

There were 10,900 visitors from India during July 2013, bringing the total for the first seven months of the year to 95,900. This is an increase of 6.3 per cent when compared to the number of passengers in the same period in the previous year. Leisure arrivals during this period increased by 15 per cent.

Tourism Australia's Country Manager, Nishant Kashikar, said: "The offer by MAS will provide a boost to leisure travel from India during the upcoming holiday and wedding (honeymoon) season."

MAS offers connection to Australian gateway cities like Adelaide, Brisbane, Darwin, Melbourne, Perth and Sydney from six Indian cities. In addition to the competitive fares, the airline also allows baggage allowance of 40kg in business class and 30kg for economy.
-bernama.

Soroptimist International's Goodwill Ambassadors Visit Malaysia

PUTRAJAYA, 4 Oct 2013: As part of their exchange programme called SWP Educate, Exchange Connection from 3 to 13 October 2013, 22 goodwill ambassadors from Soroptimist International of the South West Pacific (SISWP) visited several tourist destinations in Putrajaya and Kuala Lumpur today.

Before the start of their tour, members of the delegation, led by its President Y.Bhg. Puan Sri Siew Yong Gnanalingam, visited Tourism Malaysia at its headquarter in Putrajaya and were given a warm welcome by its Director General Y.Bhg. Dato’ Mirza Mohammad Taiyab. 

Tourism Malaysia also took the opportunity to promote Malaysia and the upcoming Visit Malaysia Year 2014 to the delegates, who came from Australia, New Zealand, Mongolia, Fiji, Thailand, Cambodia, Papua New Guinea, Indonesia, Singapore, and Malaysia.

Besides sponsoring their tour around Putrajaya and Kuala Lumpur, Tourism Malaysia also hosted a dinner for the delegates at Saloma Bistro and Theatre Restaurant.

The delegates are only spending about 3 to 4 days in Kuala Lumpur before continuing their exchange programme in other countries. Through their visit, the international delegates are expected to share their experiences upon returning to their home countries, promoting Malaysia as a value-for-money and top-of-mind tourist destination. 

Their experiences will not only be publicised in the South West Pacific and ASEAN countries, but will also reach Soroptimist International’s social media networks, which has 85,000 members in 127 countries.

Indeed, hosting the visit of these goodwill ambassadors is in line with Tourism Malaysia’s efforts to promote Visit Malaysia Year 2014, a milestone event for the country’s tourism industry, which is expected to bring in 28 million tourists with RM76 billion in receipts.

BACKGROUND OF SOROPTIMIST INTERNATIONAL OF THE SOUTH WEST PACIFIC (SISWP):


SISWP is one of the 4 Federations (besides SI Great Britain and Ireland, SI Europe, and SI America) in Soroptimist International, which is a worldwide organisation for women in management and the professions with the mission to transform the lives of women and girls through educating, empowering and enabling opportunities.

The SWP Educate, Exchange Connection programme was initiated by its President, Y.Bhg. Puan Sri Siew Yong Gnanalingam, as an exchange programme between countries of the SISWP to build goodwill, undertsanding and friendship.

The goodwill ambassadors will be hosted by the respective clubs in the host country for a week of cultural immersion and to visit the projects of service of the host clubs.

Next year, from 2 to 4 May, SISWP will be organising the SWP Conference of Clubs (COC) 2014 in Kuching, Sarawak.

-Tourism Malaysia.

LEGOLAND® MALAYSIA Announces Junior Lifesaver Winners Following Innovative Facebook Campaign

NUSAJAYA, 3rd October 2013 – Six lucky children are riding the wave of success following the announcement of the LEGOLAND® Malaysia Junior Lifesavers. The six winners will become the faces of the LEGOLAND Water Park and join the team during the opening period.    

The winners were handpicked by LEGOLAND following an overwhelming response to a search run on Facebook. The Junior Lifesaver Facebook app could be used to nominate avid swimmers under the age of 12, and children could even nominate themselves by providing a simple entry explaining why they should win. 

The winners of this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity include three children from Malaysia. They are Alleya Bte Razali (9 years old), Rudi Cowan (11 years old) and Chong Aimen (12 years old).  The behind-the-scenes experience is set to begin next weekend, when they will spend the day at the soon-to-open Water Park getting to know the ropes.  

Siegfried Boerst, General Manager of LEGOLAND Malaysia said: “With less than three weeks until the Water Park opens I am delighted to announce the latest additions to our opening-day team. LEGOLAND is a special place to visit but is also a unique place to work so I am sure our Junior Lifesavers will really enjoy their experience. We are currently putting the finishing touches to the Water Park and look forward to welcoming guests on 21st October 2013.” 

All six Junior Lifesavers have been awarded with Premium Annual Passes, granting them unlimited access to the LEGOLAND Malaysia Resort all year round, for themselves and up to four family members. They will also be 

treated to a behind the scenes tour and receive a unique LEGO® model. 

The LEGOLAND Water Park has more than 20 unique water based rides and over 70 LEGO models. It is the first to have a second gate, which means it can be enjoyed separately or in combination with the LEGOLAND Theme Park.  

Today LEGOLAND released ticket prices for the Water Park. Starting at RM 105 for adults and RM 85 for children and senior citizens, Day Tickets will be available to purchase online now. For families who want to enjoy both the 

Theme Park and Water Park, Combo Passes are also available at RM 175 for adults and RM 140 for children and senior citizens. MyKad holders are also able to enjoy a rebate of RM10 on the Water Park Day Tickets and RM 30 on Combo Passes. 

-www.legoland.com.my

Tourism Malaysia Boosts Awareness Of VMY 2014 In The Philippines

MANILA, 3 Oct 2013: With the celebration of Visit Malaysia Year (VMY) 2014 just around the corner, Tourism Malaysia organised a special business session today for trade members and media in the Philippines to boost awareness of VMY 2014 in the market.

The one-day business session, which took place at Solaire Resort Manila provided a platform for invited travel trade members in the Philippines to network with Malaysian delegates, in an effort to encourage greater cooperation and formation of more tourism products and tour packages, particularly during VMY 2014. 

The programme included a travel mart where members of the Malaysian delegation and their Philippines counterparts engaged in a table top session.

Prior to that, they enjoyed a video presentation on VMY 2014 and several presentations by airlines, cruises, and Malaysia tourism product owners.

In addition, there was also a briefing on the ASEAN Tourism Forum (ATF), which Malaysia will be hosting next year from 16 to 23 January in Kuching, Sarawak. The prestigious event, scheduled to be attended by tourism ministers, senior officials, tourism industry players, and international media, is set to kick off VMY 2014 with a bang.

In the evening, Tourism Malaysia organised a VMY 2014 Gala Night at Solaire Resort Manila, hosted by its Deputy Director General (Promotion) Madam Chong Yoke Har.

Among the dignitaries who graced the event were the Undersecretary, Department of Tourism, Philippines the Hon. Daniel G. Corpuz and the Malaysian Ambassador to the Republic of Philippines H.E. Dato’ Mohd Zamri Mohd Kassim. 

Besides promoting VMY 2014, the dinner was held to thank the local travel trade members and media for their continued support and assistance in promoting Malaysia.

The Malaysian delegation is comprised of 31 organisations including Johor Tourism Department, Sabah Tourism Board, Labuan Corporation, KidZania Kuala Lumpur, Legoland Malaysia, Sepang International Circuit, and Regency Hotel.  

On 11 October, a business session will also be organised in Cebu at Marco Polo Plaza Hotel. Besides the two business sessions for trade members and media, Tourism Malaysia will also be organising four consumer roadshows in three cities namely Manila (7 & 8 Oct) , Iloilo (9 Oct) and Bacolod (10 Oct).      

In 2012, a total of 508,744 Filipinos visited Malaysia. Arrivals from the Philippines for the first half of 2013 were 277,378, which was an increase of 16.5% compared to the same period in 2012. This year, Tourism Malaysia aims to attract 520,000 Filipino tourists to Malaysia.

-Tourism Malaysia.

HALFEST - Halal Fiesta Malaysia 2013

-Halfest fb.

Malaysia Airlines Wins ‘Asia’s Leading Airline’ at World Travel Awards 2013

Dubai, 2 October 2013 – Malaysia Airlines was voted ‘Asia’s Leading Airline’ at the World Travel Awards 2013 (WTA), beating 11 other big name full service carriers. The prestigious recognition was presented at the WTA’s Asia and Australasia gala ceremony yesterday evening at Dubai.

On hand to receive the honour was Malaysia Airlines’ Director of Customer Services, Dato’ Mohd Salleh Ahmad Tabrani, along with four uniformed staff – Cabin Crew Edward Pang and Anderia Dominic Cotter, Check-in Counter staff Siti Fahratul Fuadah Zainal and Ramp Services Supervisor Mohd Azam Shah Ishak.

“Getting ‘Asia’s Leading Airline’ recognition by the World Travel Awards is due to our team’s passion to deliver Malaysian Hospitality at all customer touch-points. We do our best to deliver a high quality of customer service, sincerely, and consistently across all touch-points”, said Dato’ Mohd Salleh.

“We thank all our travel partners and customers for voting Malaysia Airlines”, added Dato’ Mohd Salleh.

The World Travel Awards, into its 20^th year now, is based on votes by travel industry peers and customers. Considered the Oscars of the travel industry, the World Travel Awards is a unique benchmark for industry quality and business excellence.

‘Asia’s Leading Award’ was a fitting recognition for Malaysia Airlines as the carrier celebrates its 41^stanniversary yesterday.

The World Travel Award win is another feather in the cap for Malaysia Airlines. Earlier this year it won the Skytrax World Airline Awards as a 5-star airline and for the Best Signature Airline Dish, in addition to the people’s choice awards for Malaysia, the Putra Brand Awards (Silver).

-Malaysia Airlines.

GLH's luxury brand Clermont to establish Singapore, KL properties

The largest owner-operator hotel company in London, GLH, yesterday debuted new luxury hotel and private residences brand Clermont, which will see hotels opening in London, Singapore and Kuala Lumpur.

Clermont London will open next year following the rebranding of The Royal Horseguards, a five-star property situated on the north bank of the River Thames between Trafalgar Square and the Houses of Parliament.

Clermont Singapore will be located within the 290m Tanjong Pagar Centre, a mixed-use development, and open in 2016. There will also be a residential component offering 200 luxury apartments under the Clermont Residence brand as well as four private amenity decks for residents’ exclusive use.

In Malaysia, Clermont Kuala Lumpur will take its place within Damansara City, part of a mixed development project that also encompasses two office towers, luxury residential towers and a lifestyle mall. It is scheduled to open in 2016.

Like its Singapore counterpart, Clermont will offer 370 residential apartments in Kuala Lumpur. Residents can enjoy an Olympic-length pool, aqua gymnasium, function rooms and private dining rooms.

Said Mike DeNoma, CEO of GLH: “Clermont is a vibrant entrant to the global luxury hotel market and we are thrilled to announce today iconic new hotels and residences in a number of globally significant locations.

“The GLH ambition is to open hotels in all of the top 30 global cities, and today’s announcement reinforces the scale of this ambition.” London-based GLH is a global hotel subsidiary of Singapore-listed GuocoLeisure Group.

-TTG Asia.

Canberra Enjoys Malaysian Hospitality

CANBERRA, Oct 1 (Bernama) -- More than 7,000 people attended the Malaysian High Commission's 'Bringing Malaysia to the World' festival here on Sunday, to mark the Centenary of Canberra.

All foreign embassies and high commissions in Canberra opened their doors to the public to enjoy their cultures and cuisines in perfect weather condition.

"We served up our world-famous barbecued satay, roti canai and teh tarik to attract the public from Canberra, Sydney and Melbourne to sample a taste of home," said Malaysia's Acting High Commissioner Eldeen Husaini Mohd Hashim.

The Canberra Times and other online media have billed the Malaysian event as "the best of world culture without the long-haul flight".

Eldeen Husaini said 16 food stalls at the high commission served Malaysian delicacies while cultural shows (Joget Zapin, Sabah Dance, Congkak and Silat) were performed.

Tourism Malaysia, Agriculture Ministry, MIDA, MATRADE, TalentCorp and the Malaysian Student Department displayed booths promoting their products.
Eldeen Husaini said many Australians were amazed at "our Malaysian hospitality and delicious traditional foods".

Visitors were also excited to be able to dress up as 'King and Queen of the Day' and take pictures on a real 'Pelamin' decorated by Malaysian diplomatic officers' spouses here. "The event would not have been successful without great teamwork from all government agencies, students and Malaysians in Canberra," noted Eldeen Husaini.
-bernama.

Melaka Records 6.8 Million Tourist Arrivals Until June This Year

MELAKA, Oct 1 (Bernama) -- Melaka has recorded 6.8 million domestic and foreign tourist arrivals during the first six months of this year, from 6.7 million in the corresponding period last year, Chief Minister Datuk Idris Haron told the State Assembly Tuesday.

He said the state was targetting new markets, like the Middle East and Africa, with efforts being made to attract more tourists from the affected countries to come to Melaka.

"The (state) government is confident of achieving this year's target of 14 million tourist arrivals, compared with 13.7 million last year," he said in his motion of thanks on the speech by the Yang Dipertua Negeri of Melaka, Tun Mohd Khalil Yaakob when opening the Melaka State Assembly sitting.

He called on all quarters to play their role to achieve the target and not to politicise issues, like the case on the closing of Jonker Walk which was aimed to reduce traffic congestion in the area.

Idris said efforts were also being made by the state government to attract more investors and negotiations were in progress with giant companies, like Microsoft and Guardian, to get them to invest in Melaka.

The state government is also discussing with a company from Spain to build a renewable energy plant), involving investment of RM2 billion, he added.

On housing, Idris said the state government had set the cost of affordable homes to be between RM80,000 and RM150,000.
-bernama.

More corporates flying LCCs

Companies' continued quest to keep travel costs down has resulted in a greater adoption of budget flights among business travellers.

A Carlson Wagonlit Travel (CWT) report this year indicated that business travellers would increasingly use LCCs in 2013, with 34 per cent of travel managers in Asia-Pacific looking to budget airlines to optimise savings.

Nandan Bhatia, head of Britannia Industries India, said: “According to our company’s policy, we have to book (seats with) the lowest possible fare, so we have to look at LCCs.”

Abhimanya Chettri, manager of Robert Bosch Engineering and Business Solutions India, said: “We have been using LCCs because their prices can be 30 to 40 per cent lower (than full-service airlines).”

Fred Seow, vice president for marketing of Asiatravel, said: “Sometimes the total difference in fares can be quite significant and LCCs today also ply the same routes as legacy carriers. Meetings and incentives today are held by organisations of all sizes, types and budgets.”

Nonetheless, the CWT report highlighted that companies need to consider numerous factors, such as less frequent flight schedules, flights operating from secondary airports, as well as the costs and risks related to bookings outside of GDSs.

Akbar A Shareef, managing director and chief executive of Rakaposhui Tours Pakistan, cited seat availability as his reason for not using LCCs, while Sunil Shekhar Gupta, regional procurement manager of Freescale Semiconductor India, said his company would not use LCCs to fly its VIPs as it does not “look good”.

LCCs’ availability largely outside the GDS platforms is not an issue for Chettri: “We will usually book directly with LCCs, and since we are buying in bulk with them, there are terms and conditions we can negotiate as well.”

An Abacus survey this year has revealed similar findings, with almost three-quarters of respondents seeing more clients adopt budget airlines to tighten corporate travel spend, mostly due to policies governing the choice of lowest fare (77 per cent), but also for alternative flight times (40 per cent) and data capture (40 per cent). To ease the booking process for clients, Abacus is working with LCCs to make all their fares available on its platform.

Meanwhile, AirAsia will be launching a travel programme for business travellers later this week, according to its spokesperson.

-TTG Asia.

Tourism Malaysia Promotes Visit Malaysia Year 2014 In France

PUTRAJAYA, 1 Oct 2013: Tourism Malaysia made its presence felt in France when it heavily promoted the Visit Malaysia Year 2014 at the International French Travel Market (IFTM) Top Resa from 24 to 27 September at Paris Expo, Porte de Versailles. 

IFTM Top Resa is among the tourism industry’s leading event for networking, doing business, innovating and keeping abreast of market developments across the leisure, business and events sectors.

This year’s IFTM Top Resa saw Malaysia occupying a 62.5 square metre booth for its trade delegation consisting of eight travel agencies, three hotels and resorts, and three tourism bodies.

During the four-day trade show, Tourism Malaysia organised various networking events, delivered presentations on Malaysia’s attractions, and arranged for meetings with trade and media partners. The Director General of Tourism Malaysia Y.Bhg. Dato’ Mirza Mohammad Taiyab officially launched the Visit Malaysia Year 2014 Sales Challenge during the cocktail function on 24 September, an incentive programme for French travel agents to promote Malaysia holiday packages to their clients. He also revealed the improved Tourism Malaysia website specially created for the French market.

Tourism Malaysia booth was visited by several dignitaries including the French Minister for Craft Industries and Trades, Commerce and Tourism Madame Sylvia Pinel, President of the French Travel Agents Association (SNAV) George Colson, President of ASIA Voyages Jean-Paul Chantraine and also Jean Todt.

Following IFTM Top Resa, Tourism Malaysia organises the Visit Malaysia Year 2014 Grand Seminar today for French travel agents to learn in greater depth about Malaysia’s tourism offerings. The one-day seminar, conducted via quizzes, briefings and e-learning modules, will also have presentations by the Kuala Lumpur City Hall and Malaysia Airlines. The participants will also learn more about the mechanics of the Visit Malaysia Year 2014 Sales Challenge.

France is an important source market for inbound tourists to Malaysia showing impressive growth in the past decade. In 2003, Malaysia received only 23,845 arrivals from France. Last year, a total of 136,172 French tourists visited Malaysia. At the half year mark of 2013, Malaysia received a total of 75,145 arrivals from France.

-Tourism Malaysia.