Sorry no compensation from Excellence Holidays

Travellers who have paid up for tour packages to travel agents that later go bust cannot hope for compensation.

Malaysian Association of Tour and Travel Agents (Matta) president Ngiam Foon said local insurance companies could not offer this type of insurance called financial guarantee because it was a Bank Negara directive.

“This means there would be no recourse for travellers caught in such a situation,” he said.

Ngiam was commenting on the recent case of a group of 20 travellers who lost their money when their European tour package was cancelled on the day they were to leave as the travel agency had gone bust.

“There is professional liability insurance that most of our members have and that covers negligence by the agent but not for financial collapse,” Ngiam said.

Meantime , Police have started tracking down the directors of the Excellence Holidays Sdn Bhd that went bust and left at least 20 travellers “high and dry.” The Malaysian Association of Tour and Travel Agents (Matta) has been told to take responsibility for the conduct of the companies, which take part in its fairs.

“We are investigating the case as cheating,” City Commercial Crime chief Asst Comm Mohd Aris Ramli said yesterday.

It is our duty to keep tourists happy

Audrey Edwards wrote an interesting article on The Star today dated 8th May 2007.

The writer emphasize that the foreign visitors bring in valuable tourist dollars, so the responsible is on all Malaysians to welcome them and please them . For more please log in Ths Star .

So when Arab tourists were unhappy , it caused some buzz within the tourism industry.

"We need their business," the minister Datuk Seri Tengku Adnan Tengku Mansor pointedly said.

The target has been set at getting 20.1 million tourists who are expected to spend Rm44.5 bil this Visit Malaysia Year.

Current Trends in Tour Operator by Formula Travel

For the Tour Operator, the fast paced world of managing thousands of tasks at the same time can be daunting.

Current trends in the integrated / travel agency software and systems designs have led to far-reaching conclusions about the now and future direction of tour operator systems. Many agree that full integration, automation and simplicity are the only reasonable strategies to boost tour operations life cycle efficiency. Using single data entry to generate multiple documents to customer & vendors, reduce or eliminate capital burden in investing on new software or upgrading your existing software, or upgrade software to fully integrate and customize your specific operation. If efficiency and profitability are goals, then a commitment of moving forward, into the future of simple clarity and intelligent integration must be made. If that commitment has been made, either long ago or even right this minute, it would be wise to consider TOPAX Management.

Based on state-of-the-art technology, TOPAX Management provides technically advanced concepts in software design and practical expertise in the tour operators industries. Offered from the industry leader, Formula Travel Solution (FTS), TOPAX Management is the cutting-edge technology end-to-end system solution for your Tour Operator System. It is fully integrated, offers real-time sales support from experts that have worked in the Industry and offers many encompassing service managerial tools including reservations and management of planning, quoting, booking, costing, pricing, inventory, allotment, document printing, accounting and reporting.

A virtual one-stop-shopping platform for your customers, the system allows full access to make bookings, receive confirmations, process online transactions, print documents and much more. All performed with minimal entries and full automation. Building a PNR has never been so forthright, as all services are available from a single user screen. This allows constant updates to your customers with new products, special offers and price changes. As a result, they can offer truly independent comprehensive service to their clients, no matter if it is charter or schedule flights, individual or group packages, late availability or special prices.

As a fully integrated system, developed especially for travel experts, that covers all the phases of operational business, TOPAX Management provides the full spectrum of Tour Operator functions necessary for efficient, high-quality and profitable operation; from product planning through inventory management, sales activities, distribution, communications and accounting, to post-sale analysis. TOPAX Management handles both inbound and outbound operations in a single software package, tailor-made to suit your needs. It provides extensive pricing, costing and quotation generation capabilities. Multiple levels of taxes and commissions can be calculated automatically and special price lists can be produced for specific customers.

From FIT hotel room, flight or package, to any other travel product, including group booking and complex trips, TOPAX Management is a powerful and robust solution, offering operators unparalleled functionality. Through its remarkable ease of use, intuitive graphical user interface and automated process and workflow, it makes all of your employees travel experts. A trip-centric, multiple reservation display and a flexible relational database, significantly increases your operators' productivity. The system also contains Customer Relationship Management (CRM) functions and comprehensive hotel and destination information, including on-line brochures.

TOPAX Management has proven to be an essential tool and a critical refinement for operation in an increasingly dynamic market. With the highest technology application available in the industry today, it enables expeditious and effective augmentation of existing and future operations. It is, in fact, the current and future trend in Tour Operator Systems today.

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This article was written by http://www.formula-travel.com/. Formula Travel Solutions is the leading technology provider of advanced tour operator software and Airline Systems. Formula Travel offers the most comprehensive technology solutions for Tour Operators, Wholesalers and Airlines.

Tourism Malaysia Big Contract "Colours of Malaysia"

News Straits Times dated 7th May 2007 reported MST Ad Suria ; the operator of the Giant Ferris Wheel - EYE ON MALAYSIA has been awarded Colurs of Malaysiaor Citrawarna project by Tourism Ministry of Malaysia.

• According to Adam Yong Abdullah (Executive Chairman of MST Ad Suria) ," We won the contract because of our ability to bring in the world's best and married it with Malaysian human resourse and put up a show equivalent to world's best" .


• MST Ad Suria was established early this year for the Eye Of Malaysia project under Visit Malaysia Year 2007.


• It is an associate company of Ad Suria an event cmanagement comapany.


• The event which is seventh year will be held at Putrajaya on may 26 this year.


• It features colourful parades, dance and music performances that showcase Malaysia culture.

Can't wait for this great show!

Medical Tourism is BIG

• Do you know that the United States has the dubious distinction of having the highest healthcare costs in the world, by some accounts twice as high as those in other comparable nations.
  


• In fact, over the last five years healthcare costs in America have risen an average of $2,500 per family.
  


• Following in the footsteps of their European cousins, a growing number of Americans are turning to medical tourism for their surgical procedures
  


• Every year more and more people travel to countries such as Malaysia, Thailand and India, where they can save up to 70% off their surgical procedures. Simple cosmetic surgery costing over $8,000 in the United States can be as low as $3,000 in other countries, for exactly the same procedures and often with better service and care.
  


• medical tourism has become the only option for a growing number of those in desperate need of life saving procedures.

• Recently a 73-year-old British man was told he would have to wait six months for heart bypass surgery covered by the National Health Service or pay $36,000 for immediate surgery. He chose neither, instead traveling to India for the procedure at a savings of $27,000.
  


• We hope our members to take advantageon this growing area as our mainstream product.

Malaysia Tourism Articles-How To Live Like A King In Malaysia- by James Vanderbildt

How to live like a king in Malaysia by James Vanderbildt

Malaysia My Second Home: a 10 year multiple entry (tourist) visa to Malaysia can be granted to people who: - have a fixed savings account in Malaysia - have health insurance in Malaysia

HEALTH INSURANCE Applicants to the Malaysia my Second Home must have a valid health insurance from any insurance company in Malaysia.

FIXED INCOME OR FIXED SAVINGS ACCOUNT
Since April 2006 : * applicants under 50 need a savings account or fixed deposit of US$75,000 or RM300,000 in a bank in Malaysia * applicants over 50 need a savings account or fixed deposit of US$40,000 or RM150,000 OR they need to show evidence of a monthly income over US$2500 or RM10,000.

Applicants placing fixed deposits in a savings account can withdraw part of the money of the savings account after one year, but the money needs to be spend again inside Malaysia: * to buy a car in Malaysia, * to buy a house in Malaysia * to buy shares in Malaysia. Be aware: during your stay under the Malaysia My Second Home Visa, you are not allowed to work anywhere in Malaysia unless approved by the government.

As long as your Malaysia My Second Home Visa is valid, at least US$15,000 or RM60,000 has to be in your savings account.

About the Author
The Author lives in Malaysia under the Malaysia My Second Home program. Most updated info will be available at http://www.malaysiamysecondhome.org