Fairmont Maldives Sirru Fen Fushi, Maldives
Located on the Shaviyani Atoll in North Maldives, Fairmont’s latest opening offers 120 luxury villas, each with a private pool. The villas are categorised based on the island’s topography and include Beach, Water and Tented Jungle Villas. Facilities on the island include an art studio, three restaurants, three bars and a 2,000m2 Willow Stream Spa complete with Jacuzzi. Families are also catered for with a kid’s club, toddler’s play garden and a dedicated Teen Town. Activities include snorkelling the nine kilometre-long house reef; cooking classes with a Maldivian chef; sunset dolphin tour; and turtle release programmes.
The resort is accessible by domestic flight in 50 minutes from Male International Airport followed by speedboat from Hanimaadhoo Airport to the resort. Alternatively, guests can book a 50-minute scenic seaplane flight directly to the resort.
Kyukaruizawa Kikyo, Japan
Kyukaruizawa Kikyo, the first Curio Collection by Hilton hotel in Japan, features 50 guestrooms furnished with a seating area with sofa, 50-inch HDTV and Wi-Fi, while many rooms also have a balcony. Located in Karuizawa in Nagano Prefecture, the mountain village hotel offers amenities such as a spa, traditional Japanese public bath, sauna, fitness centre and French restaurant Sonorite. Event and meeting spaces include three meeting rooms and a chapel that can accommodate between eight and 80 guests.
Hui Yue Boutique Hotel, China
Part of the Small Luxury Hotels of the World, this boutique property on top of a mountain overlooking Jinlong Lake in Xuzhou comprises five villas and 28 guestrooms. Facilities on-site include a Chinese restaurant with five smaller function rooms equipped with karaoke systems, a teppanyaki restaurant, meeting room, multifunctional hall, gym and spa. A French a la carte breakfast can also be arranged in the mornings.
Novotel Kochi Infopark, India
Featuring 128 rooms including eight suites, the first Novotel property has made its debut in the commercial capital of Kerala. Aside from the three F&B options, recreational facilities include an infinity pool, gym and a dedicated kid’s corner. For weddings, meetings and events, the hotel boasts three meeting rooms that can accommodate up to 200 guests. The hotel is a 40-minute drive from the Kochi International Airport and 30-minute drive to the Ernakulam Railway station.
Tourism spend is on the rise globally, with the Chinese coming in as the top spenders and Russia and Brazil making strong recovery last year, according to the latest UNWTO World Tourism Barometer.
All top 25 source markets, comprising emerging and advanced economies, in the barometer reported higher spending on international tourism in 2017.
The BRIC economies are a standout. China consolidated its leadership as the biggest spender in travel abroad in 2017 with US$258 billion in expenditure (+5 per cent in local currency). The other BRIC economies also all substantially increased expenditure in 2017.
Rebounding from weaker spending in previous years are Russia, which climbed three places to re-enter the top 10 at eighth place with US$31 billion (+13 per cent), and Brazil, which moved up eight places to number 16 with US$19 billion (+20 per cent).
India, another key emerging outbound market, continued its rise with nine per cent growth in spending to US$18 billion, moving up four places in the ranking to 17th.
Advanced markets also reported robust performance in 2017, led by the US as the second largest outbound market to spend US$135 billion (+ nine per cent).
Expenditure from Germany (the third largest market) and the UK (fourth) both increased three per cent, and France (fifth) saw a one per cent increased.
Australia (sixth) reported seven per cent growth and Canada (seventh) a nine per cent increase. Completing the top 10 are South Korea (ninth), where expenditure grew by nine per cent, and Italy (10th), which increased by six per cent.
Beyond the top 10, notable increases in tourism spending were seen in Sweden (+14 per cent) and Spain (+12 per cent).
These strong results in outbound tourism are consistent with the seven per cent increase in international tourist arrivals in 2017. Demand for travel was particularly high in Europe, where arrivals increased eight per cent last year.