| Cathay Pacific opens lounge in San Francisco Posted: 19 Dec 2011 12:53 AM PST + Click Image to Enlarge  SAN FRANCISCO-Cathay Pacific Airways has opened a new lounge in San Francisco, making it the carrier’s first passenger lounge in the United States. The first and business class lounge, located on Level 4 of the International Terminal Building at San Francisco International Airport, carries the same design and feel of the CX lounges at Hong Kong International Airport.
As with its Hong Kong counterparts, this lounge will feature white marble, black granite and bamboo wood furnishings coupled with floor-to-ceiling windows for plenty of natural light.
Other features include the airline’s signature Noodle Bar, the Cathay Solus Chairs, first revealed at the carrier’s newest lounge in Hong Kong, three shower suites, seven workstations and wireless internet access throughout.
First and business class passengers on Cathay Pacific or another oneworld carrier are able to utilise the lounge, alongside silver card or above Marco Polo members, Cargo Clan Elite members and oneworld Sapphire members or above.
In addition to this new lounge, Cathay Pacific has been refurbishing several of its existing lounges. As reported earlier, The Wing at HKIA is currently undergoing a makeover, scheduled for completion some time next year, although exact dates have not been revealed. So far, only the first phase of the project is complete; the current phase began in May and the final stage will commence in the first quarter of 2012. The carrier also completed revamping its lounge at Frankfurt airport, now boasting the same ambiance as the lounges in Hong Kong.
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| India's tourism to launch cleanliness campaign Posted: 18 Dec 2011 08:22 PM PST + Click Image to Enlarge  INDIA-The Tourism Ministry is planning to launch a countrywide campaign aimed at creating a mindset of "hygiene and cleanliness" among people. In this regard, the Ministry is organising a workshop on 'Campaign Clean India' here on Tuesday, Ministry officials here said. "The workshop has been organized to hold wider consultations on the campaign, to strive for a synergy of efforts with other Ministries, States, corporates, and educational institutes and to secure support of the regulatory agencies for the campaign," they said in a release. The Government is also planning to take media's help also to give desired visibility and momentum to the campaign.
Former President A P J Abdul Kalam will inaugurate the workshop along with Tourism Minister Subodhkant Sahay. India has been taking various steps to promote tourism as country's tourism potential has remained far from being fully realized with only 0.6 per cent of the global tourist arrivals are recorded by it.
The Tourism Ministry envisages a target of 12 per cent growth rate in in-bound as well as domestic tourists for the 12th Five Year Plan period. It is projected that with this growth rate, the sector will generate 2.5 crore additional jobs.
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| Oman Air opens new Bangkok business class lounge Posted: 18 Dec 2011 07:34 PM PST + Click Image to Enlarge  THAILAND-Oman Air has unveiled its new business class lounge at Suvarnabhumi Airport in Bangkok. The lounge, located at the second floor junction between concourses G and E of the International terminal, serves the airline's passengers flying in first and business class and can hold up to 40 people.
Its premium class passengers can make use of the business centre with private work stations, which is equipped with free broadband and wifi.
Hot and cold snacks, comprising traditional Arabic and Oriental dishes, are prepared under the direction of the chef of the Dusit Thani Hotel Bangkok, and passengers can order juices, hot beverages and drinks from a bar.
The lounge, which has a quiet area for those with longer connections, also contains satellite TV and local and international newspapers and magazines.
It retains many of the features of its flagship lounge which opened in Muscat in January.
The January-February edition of Business Traveller Middle East contains a special report on Oman Air, the new Muscat International Airport and the latest developments in Oman's hospitality sector.
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| Anantara welcomes new Bangkok Riverside Resort & Spa Posted: 16 Dec 2011 01:55 AM PST |
| Phuket’s Indigo Pearl unveils pool villas Posted: 16 Dec 2011 12:25 AM PST + Click Image to Enlarge  THAILAND-The luxury Phuket resort, Indigo Pearl has unveiled its new Private Pool Villas. Opening this month, the Bill Bensley-designed villas mark a key phase in the resort’s multi-million dollar renovation, and position Indigo Pearl as an ‘all suite and villa’ property. Each of the seven villas is set within a walled garden. Ranging in size from 550-2,500m², each villa comprises two bungalows – one a dedicated sleeping zone and the other a living space – and a private swimming pool, all set within walled gardens.
The living pavilion features a lounge, dining area and small spa, complete with massage beds, steam showers and sauna. A large decking area extends to a barbecue area. The bedroom pavilion features a king-size bed and a bathroom with indoor and outdoor showers, jacuzzi and walk-in wardrobe.
In addition, three ‘Pleasure-seeker Residences’ can be interconnected, opening up a 2,500m² three-pool, four-bedroom suite.
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| Savoring banh beo in Hue style Posted: 15 Dec 2011 08:55 PM PST + Click Image to Enlarge  VIETNAM-Why does this rustic and simple food have such a strong attraction on people? Well, to enjoy delicious banh beo, diners should come to a small alley next to An Dinh Palace at the corner of Nguyen Hue and Phan Dinh Phung streets or to Ba Do or Huong Cay food shops on Nguyen Binh Khiem Street. These shops are popular to diners. Shop owners prepare cake-making materials and start cooking once customers order food. That’s why diners always have a chance to savor hot and freshly-made cakes.
Banh beo is made from two main ingredients including rice powder and shrimp. To make the cake, people usually combine rice powder and nang powder with water to make it chewy. Then people wait for five hours to steam the mixture. After that, they put some cooking oil into small bowls, put on a steam cooker and pour powder mixture inside these bowls. A good cake should be steamed from 8 to 10 minutes.
Shrimp will be ground with spices and then fried with cooking oil. Eateries will put shrimp on the surface of the rice cake bowl and other ingredients including fried onion and pigskin. Banh beo is served to guests with a special sauce made from shrimp broth, fish sauce and fresh chilies.
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| Japan tourism rebounds strongly Posted: 15 Dec 2011 01:11 AM PST + Click Image to Enlarge  JAPAN-The World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC) announced the launch of the 3rd of 4 quarterly reports about Japan’s recovery for the travel and tourism industry following the Tohoku Tsunami in Japan this year. According to the report, “The Tohoku Pacific Earthquake and Tsunami: Impact on Travel & Tourism - Update December 2011,” Japan’s tourism industry has rebounded strongly in the second half of 2011 and more rapidly than previously expected.
The first report, launched at WTTC’s Global Summit in Las Vegas in May 2011, set 3 recovery scenarios and suggested that the overall impact of the earthquake and tsunami could range from a reduction of ¥0.9 trillion (low impact scenario) to ¥1.9 trillion (high impact scenario) in travel and tourism’s contribution to Japan’s GDP in 2011.
In WTTC’s second Japan update report in September 2011, analysis of tourism data showed that the recovery was in line with the low impact scenario, and more recent analysis shows that domestic and outbound tourism is now back to pre-March 2011 baseline, with inbound well on the way to recovery.
Updated scenarios, based on this most recent data, suggest that the total negative impact of the earthquake and tsunami on travel and tourism’s contribution to Japan’s GDP will be roughly ¥0.7 trillion and confined largely to 2011 (less than even the most optimistic “low impact” scenario produced in the immediately after the disaster).
Data from the Japan National Tourism Organization and STR Global also suggest that Japanese domestic and outbound tourism has recovered “losses” to levels consistent with or better than forecasts made prior to the earthquake. Due to the dominance of domestic tourism relative to inbound tourism, this implies that total Japanese travel and tourism demand and GDP will have recovered by the end of 2011. For the year as a whole, there is a noticeable negative effect, but this should not have any lingering impact in 2012. This recovery can be attributed to the speed of the restoration of basic infrastructure immediately after the earthquake and has been supported by the ongoing appreciation of the yen.
Furthermore, airline data from Japan Airlines and All Nippon Airways suggest a quicker recovery in demand for long-haul destinations than for travel to other Asian destinations. This is in contrast to the inbound trends and may be due to a fundamental change in the pattern of demand.
Inbound travel has yet to fully recover, and for 2011 as a whole, foreign visitor arrivals are expected to be around 25 percent lower than in 2010. Arrivals continue to be in line with WTTC’s previous low impact scenario, which states that international tourist arrivals will recover in numbers by early 2012.
This is partly the result of growth in short-haul arrivals, by October arrivals from Hong Kong, China, and Taiwan were back to, or above, October 2010 levels and backed by strong performance in the Indian and Thai markets, although the latter has dropped off due to the severe flooding in Thailand.
For long-haul markets, and especially European sources, the trend over recent months also appears to have been upwards, but improvement has been slower partly due to the eurozone debt crisis as well as some residual nervousness regarding nuclear safety.
David Scowsill, President and CEO, WTTC, stated: “Nine months after the devastating earthquake and tsunami, which hit northeast Japan, the country’s tourism industry has exceeded even the most optimistic forecasts and is well on the way to recovery. Japan has been doing a great job, in particular with marketing efforts, both internally and externally, and has reminded the world of the unique products Japan has to offer.
“However, there is still some work to be done in attracting previous levels of international visitors, particularly from long-haul markets where there may be residual nervousness regarding the nuclear situation and where economic strife continues. WTTC’s 12th Global Summit, to be held in Sendai and Tokyo on April 16-19, 2012, will showcase Japan’s recovery and bring world travel and tourism leaders together to demonstrate that Japan really is open for business.”
The final Japan update report will be a “one year after” review launched in March 2012.
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| Hanoi to offer fireworks for Lunar New Year 2011 Posted: 14 Dec 2011 08:55 PM PST + Click Image to Enlarge  VIETNAM-The Hanoi City People’s Committee has recently decided to organise a 15-minute fireworks display to welcome the Lunar New Year 2011 at 29 locations between midnight for 15 minutes on January 23rd , 2012. Under the program, Hoan Kiem Lake, Thong Nhat Park (Hai Ba Trung District), Nguyen Hoang Ton Flower Garden (Tay Ho) and Van Quan Lake (Ha Dong) will be the back-drop for four high-range fireworks displays.
Other low-level fireworks will be displayed at 25 districts throughout the City, including Ba Dinh, Hoang Mai, Long Bien, Dong Da, Cau Giay, Gia Lam, Tu Liem and others.
The Committee assigned to the Hanoi Military High Command, in association with the City’s Police and relevant offices and Departments to carry out the program as well as Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism to hold cultural activities at nearly 29 sites to serve local people.
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| Best Western opens new Manila hotel Posted: 14 Dec 2011 08:36 PM PST + Click Image to Enlarge  PHILIPPINES-Best Western International has opened a new hotel in Manila. The Best Western Premier F1 Hotel is located in the Bonifacio Global City area of the Philippine capital, and features 240 rooms ranging from 35 to 100m². Facilities include an all-day dining restaurant, grand ballroom, function rooms, a business centre, Wi-Fi, a range of swimming pools, a gym and spa, and a Premier Lounge.
“Being part of a global brand is an advantage but giving guests a great service and experience to go with that excellent reputation is certainly the pride of Best Western Premier F1 Hotel”, said General Manager Chad Davis.
“The diverse range of facilities, attractions and businesses, including the headquarters of various corporations, makes for a very international landscape at Bonifacio Global City. The addition of a Best Western Premier hotel to this dynamic scene seems only natural, with the Best Western brand being such a globally-recognized name in accommodation. Best Western Premier F1 Hotel has all the makings of quickly establishing itself as the business and leisure hotel of choice in the area” said Best Western International’s Vice President of International Operations for Asia & the Middle East, Glenn de Souza.
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| Thailand arrivals surge 21% Posted: 14 Dec 2011 08:10 PM PST + Click Image to Enlarge  THAILAND-International visitor arrivals to Thailand totalled 17.1 million in first 11 months of 2011 - 21.2% more than the same period last year. Despite the recent floods, arrivals from all major global regions demonstrated double-digit growth in the January-November period, led by visitation from Northeast Asia, which climbed 34.3% to 4.3 million arrivals.
ASEAN arrivals increased 22.1% to 4.9 million, while those from Europe climbed 13.6% to 4.4 million. South Asian arrivals rose 19.8% to 1.1 million, those from the Americas increased 12.9% to 850,000, and Oceania arrivals climbed 7.7% to 830,000. The number of visitors from the Middle East climbed 7.7% to 600,000, and arrivals from Africa rose 11.8% to 120,000.
Thailand is expecting to welcome up to 18.6 million international visitor arrivals in 2011 - 17.7% more than 2010’s full-year total of 15.8 million.
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