Lebua pampers women travellers

BANGKOK, 23 May 2013: Tower Club at Lebua offers a “Girl Getaway” package to serve women travellers’ requirements.

The package sells at US$799++ for double occupancy, from now until 31 October,  including privileges. Apart from the “special bathroom amenities for women travellers, most of the other features in the package could just as easily be applied to male travellers.”

The hotel identifies some of the features as free, however, as they are  integral features of the US$799 package they are more accurately described as services covered in the price.

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Visakha Bucha Day

BANGKOK, 23 May 2013: Visakha Bucha Day is an important religious festival in the Buddhist calendar, falling usually in May on the full moon day of the sixth lunar month.

When a year has an extra eighth lunar month –Adhikamasa (there are 13 full moons in that year)– the Visakha Bucha Day falls on the full moon day of the seventh lunar month (June).

This year the religious holiday will be celebrated Friday 24 May and is a public holiday in most Mekong region countries namely Thailand, Myanmar, Laos and Cambodia and also Singapore.

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Central to expand to Samui

BANGKOK, 23 May 2013: Central Pattana Plc will invest in two major shopping mall projects; CentralFestival Samui and CentralPlaza Salaya, valued at Bt7 billion and due to open in 2014.

Samui is a popular holiday island in South Thailand, while Salaya is residential area with universities on the western edge of Bangkok.

Both will be designed as theme malls to add more value and to differentiate them from other malls.

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Phuket in the dark

PHUKET, 22 May 2013: A massive blackout apparently originating from a fault at an hydropower station at the Rachaphrapa dam in Surat Thani blacked out Phuket  last night, along with all provinces south of the dam, according to a report posted on Thaivisa.com.

The blackout started at about 1900, but 50 minutes later limited power became available. The web news channel said it was not clear when full power would be restored.

Most of the island’s popular restaurants and entertainment spots closed leaving the usually brightly lit streets of tourist zones  dark and almost deserted.

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Coronation Day holiday

BANGKOK, 3 May 2013: Thailand’s citizens enjoy another public holiday, 5 May, to mark the coronation day of His Majesty King Bhumibol Adulyadej the Great.

The holiday falls on a Sunday, which means offices and banks will close on Monday the 6th (substitution day).

Coronation Day is known in Thai as Wan Chatramongkhol, but it involves religious and civil ceremonies that cover a three-day period.

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Police crackdown on Russian illegals

PHUKET, 30 April 2013: Police on this tourist island arrested 30 Russians in raids at a Patong bay nightlife zone, the local online news service Phuketwan reported yesterday.

Police said they were checking for human trafficking and prostitution with Russian nationals the main target.

The raids also focused on time-share touts and other foreigners who are selling scams to tourists, but the main emphasis was to crackdown on Russians who are entering the country as tourists and working in the entertainment business on the island without work permits.

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Labour Day holiday

BANGKOK, 30 April 2013: Thailand’s companies and factories take a holiday 1 May for National Labour Day.

The holiday was adopted to give workers an opportunity to rest for a day, although Thailand’s workers enjoyed a five to seven day break during the annual Songkran Festival mid-April.

Labour Day is observed by banks and commercial enterprises, nationwide, but not government departments that observe the Royal Ploughing Ceremony, 13 May.

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PATA forum checks connectivity

BANGKOK, 26 April 2013: More than 100 Tourism experts, academics and students shared views on travel connectivity at the PATA Youth Forum held at Thammasat University Thursday.

Experts in various presentations  made a case for better connectivity with customers and creating more value for the tourism experience.

Assistant Prof Dr Glenn McCartney, Hospitality and Gaming Management, University of Macau and Author of “Event Management: An Asian Perspective” addressed the audience on the subject “Experience – Making Events Happen.”

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CEB reports Q1 results

MANILA 25 April 2013: The Philippines’ largest national flag carrier, Cebu Pacific flew more than 3.53 million passengers from January to March (Q1) 2013, an increase of 5% compared to 3.37 million passengers in Q1 2012.

Seat sales, increased routes and flight frequencies and sustained promotions paved the way for international passenger growth in CEB’s ASEAN routes. CEB flew over 376,000 passengers in Q1 2013, posting a 12% growth compared to Q1 2012.

CEB flies from the Philippines to ASEAN destinations; Brunei, Bali, Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh, Jakarta, Kota Kinabalu, Kuala Lumpur, Siem Reap, Singapore and Thailand.

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China show has video dailies

SHANGHAI, 18 April 2013: IT&CM China 2013 delegates and travel executives elsewhere can now watch highlights of the event on Youku (China’s own video streaming site) as video clips of the show are released daily until 19 April.

YouTube videos will be available after the event closes.

“Thanks to technology, we are able to bring video highlights of the event from the day before, right to our delegates. These video dailies not only capture the essence of the key sessions that took place, but also give delegates or other industry professionals who are not present, a glimpse into what took place. Complementing the existing printed TTG Show Daily: IT&CM China 2013, this is our way of taking communication with our delegates and the industry to another level.” said TTG Asia Media managing director Darren Ng.

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