Bangkok scores on TripAdvisor

TripAdvisor places Thailand’s capital city, Bangkok, at the top of its Travellers’ Choice Asia Destinations list of 25 cities.

Released Tuesday, Bangkok ranked first of all destinations in Asia, while Chiang Mai was in sixth place.

Bangkok was ahead of Cambodia’s Siem Reap and Phnom Penh (fifth and 23rd), Vietnam’s Hanoi , Ho Chi Minh City, Hoi An and Halong Bay (14th, 15th, 17th and 25th), and Laos’ Luang Prabang (19th).

In addition, Bangkok was ranked 13th in the Top 25 Travellers’ Chioce World Destinations 2013, while Chiang Mai was ranked 24th one place after Siem Reap.

France’s Paris led the top global listing followed by New York City, London, Rome, and Barcelona.

The survey also showed Thailand’s top 10 destinations. Not surprisingly most of them were linked to beach holidays and in South Thailand. They were: Bangkok, Chiang Mai, Krabi, Pattaya, Phuket’s Patong, Hua Hin, Phuket Town, Phang Nga’s Khao Lak, Phuket’s Karon, and Surat Thani’s Bophut.

TripAdvisor chief marketing officer, Barbara Messing said: “Based on insights from millions of travellers, worldwide, TripAdvisor Travellers’ Choice awards help identify the most highly rated and loved vacation spots.”

“The awards highlight 412 winners worldwide and these impressive destinations offer something special for every traveller to help them plan their next trip.”

Top 25 Travellers’ Chioce Destinations in 2013

Note: (+/- denotes change in ranking year-over-year, 0 is no change and new is new to the top 25).

Myanmar’s foreign arrivals up 44%

YANGON – Foreign arrivals at Yangon airport during the first four months of the year jumped 44% year-on-year, with Europeans accounting for about one-third, reports said Sunday.

Through April, 253,136 foreign visitors arrived at Yangon airport, 67,460 of them Europeans, the Myanmar Times reported.

Among European arrivals, France was the main source market followed by Britain and Germany, according to Ministry of Hotels and Tourism figures.

About 60% of all arrivals in the main commercial city were from Asia, led by Thailand, Japan, South Korea and China.

Of the total arrivals, 64% were tourists and the remainder were business travellers.

The increase in visitors was largely attributed to political and economic reforms undertaken by the government since 2011.

“Last year more than a million tourists visited the country (through all entry points),” said Aung Myat Kyaw, chairman of Union of Myanmar Travel Association. “Since Myanmar is an increasingly popular destination, I believe arrival numbers will be 50% more than last year.”

Starwood HQ shifts to Dubai

DUBAI, UNITED ARAB EMIRATES, : Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide announced it has uprooted its global headquarters from Stamford, Connecticut, USA, to Dubai for just a month.

The relocation to Dubai took effect 1 March and ends 5 April.

Starwood President & CEO Frits van Paasschen and the company’s top executives will conduct day-to-day business from Dubai, an increasingly important global destination and travel hub.

It constitutes an expensive exercise even for cash-rich Starwood and in an era of tele-conferencing and internet connectivity, critics may say “why bother.”

However, the largest hotel management company in the world cities its successful relocation to China in June 2011. No details were given, but it is understood that the HQ transfer would also include life partners( spouses) of the top management and generous out-of-country living expenses.

A press statement claims it ‘reflects Starwood’s innovative management approach to cultivating a more global culture by understanding, appreciating and leveraging different societal perspectives and approaches to business and hospitality.”

“Working day-to-day in a different market allows you to see the world through a different lens”

Frits van Paasschen

“With 80% of Starwood’s pipeline coming from rapidly growing markets, it is simply not possible to lead a truly global business from a boardroom in Connecticut,” said van Paasschen. “We expect this relocation will deepen our relationships with partners, associates and customers.”

The relocation involves the transfer of more than 200 Starwood executives and general managers from the US Europe, Asia and Latin America who will be required to hold meetings in Dubai as the company runs day-to-day operations almost 7,000 miles and a nine-hour time zone away from its usual HQ outside New York City.

The team will meet with associates, customers, owners and prospective developers in the UAE and also take advantage of Dubai’s location for business travel to destinations including Mumbai, Addis Ababa, Jeddah, Dushanbe and Kuwait.

The Middle East continues to evolve as an international business and leisure travel hub with Dubai now home to many multinational 58 million visitors, a number which is expected to grow at annual rates above 10%, and the airport is expected to be the world’s largest in terms of international passenger traffic by 2015.

With the opening of W Doha in 2009, Starwood introduced a new luxury hotel category in the Middle East, and plans are underway to open new W hotels in Amman, Muscat, and Abu Dhabi as well as two W properties in Dubai. Following the W brand’s debut, Starwood introduced its St. Regis brand into the Middle East with the 2011 opening of The St. Regis Saadiyat Island Resort (Abu Dhabi).

St. Regis has since opened in Doha and will this year unveil a second St. Regis hotel in Abu Dhabi, located on the Corniche. Future St. Regis openings in the region include The St. Regis Cairo, The St. Regis Amman, and The St. Regis Dubai.

SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENT FROM TOURISM MALAYSIA !

SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENT!

The official name for Kementerian Pelancongan Malaysia has been changed to Kementerian Pelancongan dan Kebudayaan Malaysia, or Ministry of Tourism and Culture Malaysia.

We look forward to the achievements of greater heights of excellence under this new portfolio.

Thank you and Salam 1Malaysia.

New Minister of Tourism for Malaysia

Kuala Lumpur : She was considered an extremely efficient and dynamic Minister of Tourism, and she can be credited with many initiatives such as boosting home stays and promoting new tourism activities such as art tourism.

But unfortunately, she was also highly unpopular among the tourism trade as well as voters. Most people found her to be totally disconnected from the real world and looked down on others. After losing her constituency seat, former Malaysia Minister of Tourism and Culture, Seri Dr. Ng Yen Yen, now makes way for a new Minister following the recent election which brought incumbent Prime Minister Nasjib Tun Razak back into office.

The new strong man for tourism is a Malay, Datuk Seri Mohamed Nazri Abdul Aziz. Entered in the political arena since the early 90s, the 59-year-old was a Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department in charge of parliamentary affairs since 2008. He is a rather controversial figure in the political field speaking, his mind in outspoken ways, and he has a rather unusual way of doing politics in Malaysia.

Talking to the financial magazine, Edge Malaysia, outgoing Minister of Tourism Ng Yen Yen said that she was confident that the ministry would spur on to greater heights under Nazri’s leadership. “He is the right man for the job,” she said, in welcoming Nazri to a “hardworking, result-oriented but happy” ministry. Ng was speaking to her staff before officially handing over her duties to Nazri, on Friday.

Datuk Seri Mohamed Nazri Abdul Aziz’s appointment as the Tourism and Culture Minister is an acknowledgement by the government that it is an important revenue generating entity, explained Ng Yen Yen.

Source: dispatchnewsdesk.com

Where Thais travel: Top 10 destinations in 2012

TAT finalises TTM features

Tourism Authority of Thailand says this year’s Thailand Travel Mart’s welcome reception will honour foreign travel-related professionals who have supported Thailand’s tourism.

It was decided to move the awards presentation for the 2013 “Friends of Thailand,” which is normally part of the annual Thailand Tourism Awards to the TTM to add value to the show.

The welcome reception this year will adopt a street food theme to reflect the country’s most popular dining activity.

Many of the Friends of Thailand awardees are from international markets and they usually attend the travel mart. The officials travel awards presentations are made later in the year, July or August, at an industry cocktail hosted by TAT at the close of its annual marketing plan meeting.

Started in 1996, the awards honour foreigners who have supported Thailand’s tourism industry.

At present, 395 sellers have paid for booths at TTM,  309 or 78.23% are repeat sellers, while 86 or 21.77% are new participants to the show.

As the events strives to build business for niche markets, TAT reserved slots for speciallised products health and wellness, golf, ecotourism and weddings/honeymoons.

TAT governor Suraphon Svetasreni said: “We will promote niche-market tourism as we move into a new era of marketing and development. This year, it will be more evident than ever as the entire structure of TTM+ is geared towards this strategy and connecting the right buyer to the right seller.”

At press time there were 22 sellers from the health and wellness segment, nine from wedding and honeymoon, six from ecotourism, and three from golf.

TAT is flagging niche markets as the driver that makes the event different from other trade fairs, but it has not been easy to attract operators from niches as most of them lack promotional funds, or are not convinced of the value of presenting their products to the trade.

They are asking TAT to clarify how many buyers will attend the show that have a track record in their specific markets. In the past, the TTM has followed the identical buyer format adopted by most shows in the region. The buyers are mainly sending groups to the region and are not specialising in any particular segment. This is borne out in the boxes they tick on the buyer registration form. The majority tick  most of the travel segment boxes as part of their business mix rather than just  a few niche markets.

There are 413 registered buyers so far. The first 10 major buyer nationalities are: India (51); UK (38); Thailand (23); Australia (23); Russia (20); US (18); South Korea (17); Israel (11); Italy (10); and New Zealand (10).

Thailand buyers are mainly companies that represent major tour operators overseas, but they also create their own tours to Mekong Region countries. Some of them are online travel agencies such as Agoda. There are also a few large domestic travel firms included.

Nine travel associations will participate; five national tourism offices from Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Vietnam and China’s Guangxi; 20 companies from the Greater Mekong Subregion, 266 hotels and resorts, 31 tour operators and travel agents, 12 entertainment/theme park/cultural products, six each representing transportation companies and other travel services.

The 10 official hotels are: Chatrium Hotel Riverside; Holiday Inn Express Bangkok Siam; The Imperial Queen’s Park; Mercure & Ibis Bangkok Silom; Montien Riverside Silom; Novotel Bangkok IMPACT; Novotel Bangkok Fenix Silom; Pathumwan Princess; Swissotel Le Concorde Bangkok; and The Sukosol (Siam City).

The 12th TTM+ 2013 will be held 5 to 7 June at the Exhibition Centre Hall, IMPACT, Muang Thong Thani located in the northern suburbs of Bangkok.

Last year, TTM+2012 welcomed  1,000 participants including 420 sellers and 409 buyers from 61 countries