Northstar

23 ATF OFFICIAL SUPPORTING DAILIES | 23 www.travelweekly-asia.com news highlight Indonesia is calling on its friends – in particular Singapore and Japan – to develop tourism infrastructure, notably its ports – to facilitate more visits by the largest cruise ships. President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo is keen to make Indonesia a maritime superpower, but he knows he cannot achieve his goals without big injections of foreign investments into potential projects. Jointly, Singapore and Indonesia have agreed to develop four ports in Indonesia – Medan, Palemberg, Mövenpick Hotels & Resorts is moving ahead rapidly with its hotel development in Asia where it has recently opened new properties in Colombo and Bali. The Swiss-headquartered company's global target is 120 hotels under management by 2020. "Asia is where the real opportunities are," said Holger Jakobs, Mövenpick vice president sales and marketing Asia. Holger says Vietnam, Myanmar and Japan are key targets for growth for Mövenpick, a hotel company that is targeting a diverse portfolio of urban and coastal hotels and MÖVENPICK – ALL THE RIGHT MOVES IN ASIA resorts, several of them in developing destinations such as Quy Nonh, Phu Quoc and Quang Binh in Vietnam. Mövenpick will open a property in Nha Trang and is talking to investors in Danang. "The last piece in the puzzle is Ho Chi Minh City – we'd like to be there," said Jakobs. "Three years from now, we would like to have seven or eight hotels in Vietnam." Mövenpick's third property in Phuket will open beachside at Mai Khao, close to Phuket international airport, in 2018. Also close to opening is a resort at Khan Lai, a UNESCO World Heritage site. The resort will add an 18-hole golf course at a later date. Over in the Philippines, a Cebu property will be joined by one in Boracay, a total rebuild of a beachside resort. Mövenpick has signed for a property in Khulma, an old river port, now the third largest city in Bangladesh and home to several national companies. In Japan, Hokkaido looks attractive to Mövenpick. "We are currently talking to investors in Japan," said Jakobs. Mövenpick is close to finalising a couple of projects in the Maldives and is keen to move into Myanmar. INDONESIA IS KEEN TO UPGRADE PORTS – WITH HELP FROM ITS FRIENDS Semarang and Bali for cruise ships. Indonesian coordinating minister for maritime affairs, Luhut Panddjaitan, said Indonesia could learn from Singapore's expertise in cruise terminal development and operation. "We are studying cruise facilities in Singapore because we would like to develop port infrastructure for two ships of 1,000 to 2,000 passengers to berth at the same time," the minister said. In 2015, the government of Indonesia relaxed its rules imposed on the cruise industry and allowed foreign-flagged cruise ships to stopover in five of the country's largest ports in an effort to boost tourism. The five ports assessed to be able to accommodate and serve foreign cruise ships are Tanjung Priok in Jakarta; Tanjung Perak in Surabaya, East Java; Belawan in Medan, North Sumatra; Makassar in South Sulawesi; and Benoa in Bali. Indonesia has also appealed to Japan to consider investments into infrastructure, including tourism- related projects. "We want to boost infrastructure development in the eastern part of the country, which has been left behind," Luhut said in his opening remarks at a Japan-Indonesia Business Dialogue in Jakarta. "We look at Japan as an ideal model. Hence, we want to speed up Indonesia's infrastructure development, and we hope there will be more Japanese business people involved in such development," Luhut said. By Ian Jarrett By Ian Jarrett By Lee Xin Hui Indonesia seeks more big cruise ships. Tour East Group, part of the Global DMC Network established by JTB Group, plans to roll out more packages to showcase integrated ASEAN packages, according to Dennis Law, senior vice president, sales & marketing Asia, China, India & Middle East, JTB-Tour East Asia Pacific. These itineraries will focus on Indochina (comprising Vietnam, Cambodia and Myanmar), Singapore- JTB-TOUR EAST TAPS ON VISIT ASEAN@50 Dennis Law Room with a view in Colombo. Malaysia-Thailand and Singapore- Bali, and will be offered by JTB-Tour East offices in Asia Pacific. Said Law, "Visit ASEAN@50 campaign is complementary to what we and our overseas branches are already doing. We're ready to tap on the campaign and be a supplier to supplement existing promotions." With a global market undergoing economic crisis, Law is confident of the intra-ASEAN region's potential. For the industry to really capitalise on Visit ASEAN, however, he believes that it will be beneficial for NTOs to identify unique aspects of a destination, and value-added services to offer "livelier packages" for inbound tourists. PHOT0S CREDIT: ISTOCK

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