Scoot: Ready For Take Off From Singapore To Miri Twice Weekly

By Anthony Tan
VIRGIN Communications
email:  anthonykhtan@yahoo.co.uk

Scoot Tigerair Pte Ltd, operating as Scoot, will launch its twice weekly direct flights from Singapore to Miri effective 23 February. 

The Singaporean low-cost airline, a subsidiary of Singapore Airlines, was initially scheduled to commence the Singapore-Miri route on 19 January but had postponed to this new date due to unforeseen circumstances.

According to Sarawak Transport Minister Dato Sri Lee Kim Shin, the letter of confirmation for the route from Scoot was received on 3 February by his ministry. 

Sarawak Transport
Minister Dato Sri
Lee Kim Shin

“With the opening of this new route between Singapore and Miri, the distance, time, and comfort of doing business will be less of a hassle, especially if we need to bring in cargo or business travellers from overseas via Singapore to Miri,” he says.

Additionally, expenses will be greatly reduced compared to transiting in Kuala Lumpur.

Currently, Scoot is operating flights from Singapore to Kuching three times weekly. It will be very timely for the airline to operate the Singapore-Miri route as Miri is the northern gateway into Sarawak.

Miri is also one of the main gateways to numerous wildlife attractions such as Gunung Mulu National Park, which features the world’s largest cave passage at Deer Cave besides other interesting caves. This renowned national park can be reached by air in 30 minutes from Miri.

The city is also the gateway to the fantastic caves at Niah National Park, Sarawak’s largest natural lake at Loagan Bunut National Park and Lambir Hills National Park with one of the world’s biggest biodiversity. 

Dato Sri Lee views the Singapore-Miri route as a manifestation of the airline and other big corporations’ confidence in Sarawak and Miri can offer investors in terms of the oil and gas industry.

Passengers of airlines not using the aerobridge at the Miri Airport will
have to walk to the terminal building

He reminds all travellers entering Sarawak to comply strictly with the standard operating procedures set by Malaysia’s National Security Council, Ministry of Health and the Sarawak Disaster Management Committee (SDMC).

They include filling the EnterSarawak and e-Health form to curb the spread of Covid-19 in the state. 

Just a short drive by road outside the Miri City, tourists can experience the
traditional native welcome ceremony to their longhouse  

Acknowledging the support of the Sarawak Trade and Tourism Office in Singapore, Ministry of Tourism, Arts and Culture, Ministry of Transport, Malaysia Aviation Commission, Civil Aviation Authority of Malaysia, Sarawak Tourism Board, Malaysia Airport Holdings Berhad, Immigration Department, Custom Department and SDMC, he says the Singapore-Miri flights are now open for booking at Scoot’s website, https://www.flyscoot.com.

Singapore-Miri Flight Schedule

Frequency	From	To	Flight No.	Departure Time	Arrival Time
Wednesday	Singapore	Miri	TR 400	12.20pm	2.20 pm
Saturday	Miri	Singapore	TR 401	3pm	5pm

Malaysia Is Top Destination For Muslim Travellers

By Anthony Tan | VIRGIN Communications

email: anthonykhtan@yahoo.co.uk
 

 

Malaysia has emerged as the world’s friendliest destination, according to Singapore-based Muslim travel specialist Crescentrating, which is recognised for its rating standard for halal friendly travel services.

Crescentrating lay claims to having developed the world’s first system to rate travel and hospitality services as well as facilities for halal Compliance which include the availability of halal food or information on halal food and prayer information among others.

Its survey, which evaluate countries in terms of their attentiveness to the needs of Muslim travellers, covers the availability and accessibility to halal restaurants that provide meat slaughtered according to Islamic procedures.

The survey, also looked into the provision of male and female prayer rooms at airports, shopping malls, touristic attraction venues and hotels.

Following behind Malaysia are the United Arab Emirates, Turkey, Indonesia, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, Morocco, Jordan, Qatar and Tunisia in this year’s top 10 rankings for halal-friendly holiday destinations.



Fazal Bahardeen

Crescentrating chief executive Fazal Bahardeen estimated the Muslim travel market at US$140bil (RM453.3bil) last year, accounting for almost 13% of the global total.

 

Non-Muslin countries such as Japan and Singapore have been cashing into the potential of the Muslim travel market, which is expected to increase to US$200bil (RM647.57bil) by 2020.

 

Japan, which improved its ranking to 40th from 50^th place last year, among the 60 countries, represented the biggest improvement overall and was the most active destination last year to focus on the Muslim travellers segment.

 

Bahardeen said the country launched initiatives such as awareness programmes for the local industry and releasing a Muslim travel guide to Japan. Some airports and hotels in Japan have also started to offer halal food and prayer rooms.
 

He said Singapore, the only non-Muslim country which is ranked sixth among the top 10 countries mentioned above, has performed better than even some of the Muslim countries in enticing those who follow the Islamic faith.
 

The island state offers man-made tourist attractions, a wide selection of local food and is renowned for its cleanliness and orderliness.
 

Bahardeen said other non-Muslim countries which have yet to see the potential of Muslim tourists spending are Italy, Belgium, Ireland and Mexico, which are ranked bottom four in its survey.
 

He, however, noticed that an increasing number of destinations have been tapping into the Muslim travel segment and adapting their services to take into account the unique faith-based needs of Muslim travellers.
 

In Malaysia, the Islamic Tourism Centre plays a key role in educating the industry on how to cater to Muslim travellers.
 

There are now more hotel kitchens with halal certification and an increasing number of hotels catering to the specific needs of Muslim travellers.
 

One hotel even has separate timing for males and females requiring privacy for the use of gym and swimming pools, Bahardeen added.


 

Australia posts strong growth of business and conference arrivals from HK, Germany and the US

By Laura Lee

Australia’s business and conference arrivals continue to show strong growth trends with 809,500 business arrivals registered for the year ended 30 September 2010, up 11% from the previous corresponding year.

Of this, 170,600 were convention or conference arrivals, which represented an 18% increase year-on-year (y-o-y). For the three months ended 30 September 2010, there were 52,600 convention or conference arrivals, up 16% y-o-y. For September alone, 17,200 convention or conference arrivals were registered, which represented an increase of 18% y-o-y.

Strong growth from its convention or conference arrivals was registered from Hong Kong, up 60% to 3,639; Germany (up 50% to 2,988); the United States (up 40% to 22,056) and the Philippines (up 33% to 3,389) although they are not in the top 10 placings.

South Korea and Singapore, which both posted 32% growth each to register 6,881 and 6,585 convention or conference arrivals, came within the top five and sixth placing respectively.

Malaysia, whose contribution in terms of convention or conference arrivals amounted to 3,260 for the year ended 30 September 2010, up 6% from a year ago. Malaysia was ranked number 14.

In terms of total business arrivals, Malaysia registered 19,723 for the first nine months of 2010, up 12% from the previous corresponding period. Here, Malaysia made it to the 10th placing.

Total arrivals to Australia from January to September rose 6% to 5.8 million. Malaysia, which contributed 228,252 arrivals during this period, was ranked 8th.

The top spot went to New Zealand (NZ) to with 1,142,748 arrivals. NZ also won the top ranking in terms of total business arrivals with 201,040 as well as convention or convention arrivals (42,436).