By TTG Asia
MILLENNIUM & Copthorne Hotels (M&C) has partnered Mitsui Fudosan to launch its first flagship hotel in Japan that is scheduled to open tomorrow.
Located in the heart of Tokyo’s Ginza 4-chome district directly opposite Misukoshi department store, the 329-key Millennium Mitsui Garden Hotel sports a striking Bottega-inspired façade mimicking the weave of a basket.
Millennium Mitsui Garden Hotel will cater to guests looking for luxury, featuring two special concept rooms designed by distinguished Japanese brands Mikimoto Cosmetics Ginza and Hakuza Nihonbashi, which specialises in the production of gold foil.
The Pearl Room by Mikimoto Cosmetics is bedecked with lighting and items themed on pearls. Guests can try Mikimoto Cosmetics products that contain the pearl protein conchiolin, and bathe with the special bath salts made with pearl essence that is kind on the skin. A 20 per cent discount on list prices for aesthetic treatments and cosmetics from Mikimoto Cosmetics will be available for staying guests.
Hakuza is name of the the traditional technique for producing gold leaves that are the central motif of the Hakuza Gold Leaf Room. Hakuza Nihonbashi is offering its gold leaf mask and luxury bath salt with gold leaf for hotel guests to try. Besides that, guests can receive one set of Hakuza cosmetics to use and also a complimentary tea ceremony experience.
In addition the hotel offers a restaurant in the basem*nt called All Day Dining Niko Ginza.
At a press conference held yesterday to mark the hotel’s opening, Wong Hong Ren, CEO of M&C, said the hotel was acquired at a good time as hotel property values have gone up since the purchase.
Mitsui Fudosan Group and Hong Leong Group have been pursuing collaborative residential projects and hotel operations through joint venture company TID for over 40 years.
While both companies have been long-time partners, Millennium Mitsui Garden Hotel will mark both groups’ first-ever joint business project in Japan.
By Rohit Kaul
TATA-SIA Airlines Limited, the joint venture between Tata Sons and Singapore Airlines, yesterday received its air operator permit from India’s Directorate General of Civil Aviation for Vistara.
The airline is now expected to announce its flight schedules soon.
“I am delighted that we have successfully cleared the final requirement and secured the flying permit. All our energies now are going to be concentrated towards fulfilling the Vistara brand promise,” said Phee Teik Yeoh, chief executive, Vistara.
The airline plans to run a fleet of seven A320s and 13 A320neos within the next five years, and was earlier expected to begin operations by this October.
“Vistara has received its flying permit when LCC SpiceJet is facing turbulent times and has cancelled flight numbers drastically. If Vistara begins operations in January, it will help to meet demand of the peak travel season,” said Ranjan Kumar Mishra, managing director, Eastern Voyage.
Vistara was started with an initial investment of US$100 million and will have its hub in New Delhi.
By TTG Asia
MARRIOTT International has rolled out its third Marriott Hotel brand property, the Sanya Marriott Hotel Dadonghai Bay, in Hainan, hot on the heels of the opening of Haikou Marriott Hotel.
“At Marriott International we are proud to be opening our 74th Marriott International Hotel across six brands in China, taking the total number of properties in China under the iconic Marriott Hotels brand to 18 properties. The fourth quarter of 2014 has been an exceptional time for Marriott in Hainan, with the opening of our first Marriott business hotel in the capital Haikou, and then this beautiful resort hotel at Dadonghai Bay in sunny Sanya,” said Henry Lee, Greater China CEO for Marriott International.
The 452-unit resort hotel rests at the foot of the Luhuitou Mountain, a short drive away from Sanya city and close to popular tourist sites such as the Nanshan Temple and Luihuitou Park.
The hotel’s New Wing offers 292 rooms and suites, each showcasing scenic views of the mountain or ocean.A refurbished Executive Wing will open in the last quarter of 2015, adding 160 rooms and suites with private balconies starting from 56m2.
Sanya Marriott boasts more than 1,747m2 of functional meeting space including a pillar-less Grand Ballroom that can accommodate up to 880 people, plus an outdoor terrace and an expansive seafront lawn. It also has a wedding pavilion on the seafront lawn with a backdrop of the tropical shoreline.
F&B options include five restaurants, a lounge bar and pastry shop, including the first Goji Kitchen in Southern China.
Sanya Marriott houses four swimming poolsas well as the biggest hotel kids’ clubin Sanya. Other amenities include a health club, fitness centre, sauna rooms, snooker room, table tennis room, spa and a water sports centre.
Catering to the modern traveller, Marriott Hotel offers a mobile app which pushes notifications to Marriott Rewards members, alerting themwhen they can check-in or check-out, and automatic confirmation when their room is ready.
By TTG Asia
A SYMPOSIUM for Lao tourism stakeholders last week illuminated how the industry can improve tourism and prepare for the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) in 2015.
Organised by the Lao National Institute of Tourism and Hospitality (LANITH), the symposium was opened last Friday by Lao National Tourism Department director general, Saly Phimphinith. It was held at the Luang Prabang View Hotel.
The symposium featured keynote presentations and a panel discussion that threw up a number of central themes, including the need for more clout for the National Tourism Department in the government; a streamlined, efficient system of regulations for the industry; a sustainable pace for the evolution of Lao tourism; and for the industry to keep up to date with digital trends.
PATA special advisor, John Koldowski, said: “To act fast, Laos really needs a separate ministry dedicated to tourism, but it must move at a pace it is comfortable with to achieve sustainable growth.”
He also said that technology is key for the AEC platform, and Laos needs to accrue and monitor tourism statistics, while also communicating such information to stakeholders.
Lao public and private sectors need to collaborate for a circular economy that allows communities like Luang Prabang to maintain its identity while harnessing the benefits of tourism, opined Koldowski.
Likewise, TripAdvisor’s destination marketing senior sales manager, Sarah Matthews, emphasised cooperation with the private sector. She said both private sector and the tourism board must agreement on target markets and products, and develop brand awareness by engaging in the digital environment.
Other topics raised were Laos’ approach to the ASEAN Open Skies policy, importance of air travel to Luang Prabang from mid- to longhaul markets and marketing content on websites.
By TTG Asia
THE longhaul arm of Asian LCC giant, AirAsia X, has firmed up an MoU signed at Farnborough Air Show last July and placed an order for five more aircraft, for a total of 55 Airbus A330neos.
This is the single largest order for the A330 model to date.
In a statement to the press, co-founder and director of AirAsia X, Tony Fernandes, said that the deal allows the airline to consolidate growth rate in 2015-2017 before the delivery of the new aircraft.
“The A330 has proven itself to be exactly the right aircraft for our business model as part of our continuous efforts to drive cost down. With the new fuel efficiency, its engine will allow us to optimise utilisation while flying to new long-range destinations,” said Fernandes.
Deliveries of AirAsia X’s A330neos will begin in 2018.
By TTG Asia
FUJITA Kanko has signed an agreement with South Korean real estate company Haesung Industrial to open a hotel in Seoul, its first overseas property since 2002.
The as yet unnamed property is expected to become fully operational in summer 2018 and will be located in popular shopping area Myeongdong.
A unique feature of the hotel is that each guestroom will be equipped with a Japanese-style bathroom. Construction on the building will commence in summer 2015.
“We are truly excited about opening our hotel in Seoul, which demonstrates our firm commitment to expansion in Asia,” said Akira Segawa, Fujita Kanko’s president and CEO.
“Our campaign to aggressively globalise our clientele and properties is the beginning of a new chapter for us. South Korea has been a top destination for Japanese travellers, but we intend to cater to an international clientele and will feature the cultures of both Japan and Korea,” he added.
Fujita Kanko opened four international offices in Seoul, Shanghai, Singapore and Taipei within the past few years to develop business within the region.
By Sim Kok Chwee
EMIRSYAH Satar resigned as president director of Garuda Indonesia on December 8 and has been succeeded by Arif Wibowo.
During his term of office starting March 2005, Emirsyah transformed an ailing Garuda into a profitable airline with a modern fleet of 160 airplanes and ushered the carrier into Skyteam.
Through his Quantum Leap 2011-2015 initiative, its fleet will grow further to 194 strong with an average age of under five years.
Garuda was also inducted into Skytrax’s league of five-star airlines a day before Arif took office, an accolade that is bestowed on only seven airlines worldwide.
Arif’s first year in office will be marked by the transfer of operation at Jakarta Sukarno Hatta International Airport to the newly built Terminal 3.
At an extraordinary general meeting last week, Arif and his team committed to focusing on the company’s core strategies of opening promising new routes, leveraging Skyteam membership and codesharing agreements to extract maximum benefits, reviewing the airline’s existing routes and increasing revenue, improving productivity throughout the organisation, and managing costs.
Arif joined Garuda as an aircraft maintenance engineer in 1990 and rose through the ranks to eventually being appointed as its vice president of sales and marketing before joining Citilink in May 2012.
By TTG Asia
SHANGHAI Spring International Travel (Spring Travel) is rolling out 15 charter cruises in 2015 as the market outlook for cruising next year is decidedly upbeat.
Eleven of the 15 charter cruises will depart from Shanghai and the remaining four from Tianjin, including an ancient Rome-themed cruise on Costa Serena and Royal Caribbean International’s Quantum of the Seas, which boasts robot bartenders and bumper cars on board.
It aims to increase the number of quality itineraries, such as the Princess Cruises charters, anddevelop more themed cruises like the little sea explorer series that has found popularity among children.
This continues Spring Travel’s operations in China this year, consisting of themed travel in partnership with Royal Caribbean Cruises, Princess Cruises, and Costa Cruises. An itinerary based on wildly popular South Korean reality show, Running Man, was developed this year as was a themed cruise for singles seeking partners.
Spring Travel’s 2015 charter cruise dates will take into consideration winter and summer vacation periods and national public holidays in China.
General manager Zou Qingling noted that the industry remained optimistic about prospects for 2015.
The Asia Cruise Association predicted that the number of passengers for the Asian cruise market will hit 3.8 million in 2020 with 43 per cent coming from China.
Meanwhile the Cruise Lines International Association has forecast that international cruise passengers for 2015 and 2020 will climb to 25 million and 30 million respectively.
But for the moment, the association stated, cruise travel is capturing a mere 0.05 per cent of the Asia-Pacific’s 3.5 billion-strong market.
Article by Jessie Liu. Translated by Ong Yanchun from the originalTTG-BTmice China e-Weekly, December 9, 2014article.
By TTG Asia
UP TO 400 new Accor brand hotels will open in China within the next five years under Huazhu Hotels Group, which has been named the exclusive master franchisee in a newly sealed alliance that will create one of the largest hotel groups in the country.
Huazhu, also known as China Lodging Group, will operate and develop Accor’s Ibis, Ibis Styles, Novotel, Mercure, and Grand Mercure brands in mainland China, Mongolia, and Taiwan.
It will also take a 10 per cent share of Accor’s luxury and upscale business in China and offer support to the French hospitality giant.
With hotels spanning the entire market spectrum, Huazhu comes to the table with over 1,900 hotels of its own.
At the same time, the two companies have agreed to grant Accor a 10 per cent stake in Huazhu and a seat on the board of directors.
Ji Qi, chairman and CEO of Huzahu Hotels Group, said in a statement: “With an extensive brand portfolio, and strong distribution and loyalty platforms, Accor and Huzahu share a lot of common values. By combining forces we can facilitate growth and attract more customers to the expanded network.”
The agreement will also allow customers of both loyalty programmes – a combined market of 47 million – access to a network of more than 5,600 hotels internationally.
Sebastien Bazin, chairman and CEO of Accor, said: “This major step is key to our digital transformation as the agreement will link the power of both groups’ reservation and loyalty platforms, providing an expanded distribution capability.
“China today is the largest outbound tourism market in the world; in that context, creating one of the largest hotel groups in China will lead to growth globally as those travellers come to recognise Accor and Huazhu’s brands and expand their travel internationally.”
He added: “This agreement will also help us better anticipate customers’ expectations and strengthen our leadership in the Chinese market over the long term.”
By Rosa Ocampo
A MASSIVE marketing campaign forming the centrepiece of Bohol’s recovery efforts will offer hefty discounts, new attractions, and activities for trade and consumer alike in the new year.
Coming up first under Visit Bohol 2015 is the Bohol Travel Fair in Manila from January 9 to 11, where savings of up to 60 per cent on accommodation, tours, and travel essentials will be featured. There will also be a B2B component for trade.
The new campaign will feature and promote new attractions such as the white beaches of Anda; Lamanok Island; Banacon, Asia’s largest mangrove forest; a dive festival; two international music festivals; geo-science tours covering the change in Bohol’s land mass following the earthquake; among others.
These initiatives fall under the Bohol Tourism Recovery Programme, which was spearheaded by the Philippine Department of Tourism, together with the US Agency for International Development, UN World Tourism Organization, and PATA.
Bohol Tourism Council chair, Lucas Nunag, noted that the foreign market is growing faster than the domestic market, and that investors are already coming in as construction on the new airport begins next year.
“I expect additional supply of 1,000 high-end rooms with in the next two years, including the 2015 opening of 400 rooms and 12 villas at Henann Resort Alona Beach; a 200-key property being built by Be Hotels in Panglao; additional 60 rooms at Amorita Resort; and South Palms Resort which took over two-thirds of the 60ha Bohol Beach Club,” said Nunag.
Bohol tourism stakeholders went to Thailand’s Chiang Mai to learn more about developing homestays, ecotourism, and community-based tourism in the province, he added.
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