The difference between night and day at Oakwood Studios Singapore

August 22, 2017

oakwood-uniform — Day and evening uniforms

Oakwood Studios Singapore has introduced the Day & Night Curation initiative, which highlights different presentations of hotel spaces and staff uniform for day and night.

This is Oakwood’s latest effort to redefine the serviced apartment experience. Observing the “rise in bleisure, new age entrepreneurs and wander-lusters”, Oakwood Studios Singapore seeks to cater to the millennial minded with fresh and quirky elements.

The Curation will include day and night versions of front desk staff uniforms as well as signature scents and music in the common areas. Oakwood hopes this would simultaneously give guests a sense of familiarity and difference, in line with its tagline “kiss goodbye to the expected” and signature lip motif, according to a statement.

For example, the hotel’s common areas will be scented with notes of peach, jasmine and cedar in the day, before being replaced with a wild lavender fragrance at night.

Trade not giving up on Mindanao tourism

By Rosa Ocampo

August 21, 2017

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The Philippine trade is taking steps to rev up tourism in Mindanao, which has stalled due to the declaration of martial law and the three-month-long Marawi war.

On the airlines front, Cebu Pacific will connect Zamboanga to Sandakan, Malaysia in October while Philippine AirAsia will fly from Davao to Kuala Lumpur starting December. New inter-island connections will be launched including Cagayan de Oro to Boracay and Dumaguete for Cebgo and AirAsia’s Davao-Cebu service.

Mindanao still on the radar for airlines and the NTO

Tourism secretary Wanda Teo said the government will continue promoting Mindanao abroad, emphasising the need to build and restore roads especially in Davao.

Davao, Mindanao’s gateway and most popular destination, has suffered a decline in tourist arrivals of at least 10 per cent in recent months, a situation not unlike other destinations including Cagayan de Oro City.

Blue Horizons Travel and Tours still keeps Davao and Siargao in its brochures, although operations manager Gigi Jamiro advises clients to first check travel warnings issued by their embassies to ensure travel insurance coverage.

“We always tell clients what to expect… and explain that martial law in Mindanao will only be until December this year,” said Jamiro.

But even with the government stressing that governance in Mindanao is not in the style of Ferdinand Marcos’ dictatorship, foreigners are fazed by the sheer suggestion of martial law, said a tour operator requesting anonymity.

He is instead developing new and safer destinations, as Mindanao is a hard sell at the moment and its recovery is still uncertain.

Genting Hong Kong bites losses for expected future gain

By TTG Asia

August 21, 2017

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Genting Hong Kong has reported a loss of US$203.2 million in 1H2017, which it attributes mainly to the startup of new cruise brands and the MV Werften Shipyard readying for steel cutting two large ships in March 2018.

For the same period, it posted a total comprehensive income of US$165.1 million.

The group says the market has responded well to the Genting Dream (pictured)

“We are pleased with the market reception of the Genting Dream, (the company’s) first new-build ship in nearly 20 years. After a six-month startup period… Genting Dream achieved profitability standards comparable to global industry standards in the first seven weeks of 3Q2017,”said Lim Kok Thay, chairman and chief executive of Genting Hong Kong.

The World Dream arriving this November will replace the Genting Dream in the Pearl Delta. Genting expects the latter will homeport in Singapore with “much faster market acceptance” as travel agents and passengers have experienced Dream Cruises at the Pearl Delta homeport.

Cruise ship demand and supply growth of about six to seven per cent a year were generally in balance for the last 25 years. For China this decade, the demand for cruise ships has exceeded supply, with a historic high order book with deliveries announced as far as 2026.

“With the unavailability of slots for large cruise ships for nearly the next decade, we have taken the strategic step of buying MV Werften shipyards in order to build ships for our three cruise brands,” said Colin Au, group president of Genting Hong Kong.

“After delivering our first of four Rhine Class river ship this month, we are now focused on building the first 20,000 gross tonne Endeavor Class cruise ship by late 2019 and the first 204,000 gross tonne Global Class ship by late 2020 with steel cutting of the two planned for March next year”, he added.

Meanwhile, with the arrival of the Genting Dream in Singapore, SuperStar Gemini will move from Singapore to her new homeport in Bangkok. The SuperStar Libra will be repositioned to the homeport in Port Klang, while Star Cruise and Dream Cruise brands will have homeports and destinations across entire East Asia, including China, Japan, Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, the Philippines, Indonesia, Myanmar, Cambodia and Vietnam.

Expedia rolls out revenue management tool for hotels

By TTG Asia

August 21, 2017

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The Expedia group has launched a revenue management tool Rev+ in Thailand, as part of Expedia PartnerCentral (EPC), the company’s partner portal which helps hotels manage their properties and rates.

First launched end of last year, the tool comes at no additional costs for hotel partners and does not require additional sign-up.

Expedia’s Rev+ tool features price calendar, market updates and more

Current features include price calendar, which gives partners a view of pricing relative to their competitive set for the next 365 days; market alerts; daily snapshot, additional insights on daily happenings including forecasted demand; and competitive price grid, which surfaces a hotel’s pricing trends relative to their competitive set over time.

All data and insights provided by EPC are based on a competitive set customisable by every hotel partner.

Said Benoit Jolin, vice president of Expedia’s global product: “Our hotel partners see value in the data we provide and have expressed a need for additional support, insights and access to greater intelligence to help them more effectively refine their revenue strategy and make informed business decisions in less time.

“Rev+ was created from this feedback, along with months of testing that informed the first version of the product.”

Sedona Hotel Mandalay to become a Hilton

By TTG Asia

August 21, 2017

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Hilton Hotels & Resorts will relaunch The Sedona Hotel Mandalay as Hilton Mandalay come 4Q2017, the result of a management agreement signed with Eden Hotels & Resorts.

Hilton Mandalay will offer 251 guestrooms and suites and 401m² of event space, including a 256m² ballroom. The hotel will also be equipped with a business centre, pool, fitness centre and luxurious spa facilities.

View of Mandalay Hill from the hotel

The hotel will be located opposite the Mandalay Palace and is approximately 4km from Mandalay Hill and Mahamuni Pagoda.

“Tourism in Myanmar is on a strong growth trajectory, with plans for Mandalay Airport to be developed as a regional hub, and the introduction of our flagship Hilton brand demonstrates our confidence in this important commercial and cultural centre,” said Guy Phillips, senior vice president of development – Asia & Australasia, Hilton.

In 2016, foreign visitor arrivals into Mandalay was up almost 25 per cent from the previous year.

Norwegian Bliss will have biggest race track at sea

By TTG Asia

August 21, 2017

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Norwegian Cruise Line’s 16^th ship, the Norwegian Bliss, will feature “many first-at-sea” features including the largest competitive race track at sea and an open-air laser tag course.

Set to launch in June 2018, Norwegian Bliss will sail to Alaska and the Caribbean with select voyages to the Mexican Riviera.

Norwegian Bliss’ race track is touted to be bigger than the one onboard the Norwegian Joy

The 167,800 gross ton-ship will accommodate 4,000 guests in a variety of accommodations including suites in The Haven by Norwegian, Studio staterooms and new connecting staterooms.

The two-level electric-car race track, at 305m, is even bigger than the first race track on sister ship Norwegian Joy this summer. With four speed settings accommodating novice, intermediate and advanced drivers, the electric cars will run in silence and reach up to 48kmh.

In addition to two pools and six infinity hot tubs, the ship will also have an Aqua Park with two waterslides, while the tandem Aqua Racer slide allows guests to race side-by-side on inner tubes for more than 110m.

New dining concepts include à la carte speciality restaurant Q, for live pop country music Texas barbecue and à la carte dessert venue Coco’s. Further options include upscale Mexican restaurant Los Lobos, Cagney’s Steakhouse, the A-List Bar; and a chocolate-themed dessert restaurant; and Norwegian’s signature à la carte restaurants such as Le Bistro, La Cucina and Ocean Blue.

Mandara Spa will offer 24 treatment rooms, a full-service salon and barber shop, fitness centre and thermal suite. Guests seeking more fun and entertainment will have Vibe Beach Club and Spice H2O, in addition to the award-winning musical Jersey Boys.

For children aged three to 12, the Splash Academy youth programme offers supervised activities.

Vacation rental supplier RedAwning clinches US$40m funding

By TTG Asia

August 21, 2017

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RedAwning.com, which supplies vacation rental properties to major online booking sites including Booking.com, has secured US$40 million from Boston-based Silversmith Capital Partners in exchange for a significant minority equity.

The funds will be used to expand in existing markets in the Americas, Europe and Asia as well as new global territories.

Funds secured by RedAwning.com will be channelled into development and expansion

An amount will also be channelled to accelerate development of its technology platform which is said to enable property managers to beat competitive property booking results through a combination of listing optimisation, marketing algorithms, dynamic analytics, and targeted distribution.

Additionally, the company plans to more than double its staff and secure a larger office space.

RedAwning is the world’s largest branded network of vacation rental properties. With over 100,000 unique rental properties in over 10,000 destinations, it is the leading supplier of vacation rentals to every major online booking website, including Booking.com, Expedia, HomeAway/VRBO, FlipKey/TripAdvisor and Airbnb.

Silversmith is RedAwning’s first institutional investor, according to principal of the growth equity firm, Sri Rao.

CWT appoints new APAC head

By TTG Asia

August 21, 2017

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Carlson Wagonlit Travel (CWT) has named Bindu Bhatia the new managing director, Asia-Pacific, effective September 1. She succeeds Kai Chan, who will leave the company on August 31.

Bhatia will relocate to CWT’s Asia-Pacific headquarters in Singapore, and will oversee 3,000 people across nine countries. She reports to Kelly Kuhn, chief customer officer.

Having been with the company for more than 20 years, Bhatia was most recently its senior vice president, global programme management.

Meanwhile, Ann Marie Stone will take over Bhatia’s current role, also effective September 1, reporting to Cathy Voss, executive vice president, global programme solutions. Ann Marie was most recently the vice president, global programme management.

Pullman KLCC welcomes new GM

By TTG Asia

August 21, 2017

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PR_Portrait_-_Lyndon_DISCOMBE_GM_of_PKLCC-(1) — Lyndon Discombe

Lyndon Discombe has been appointed general manager of Pullman Kuala Lumpur City Centre Hotel & Residences (Pullman KLCC).

He was most recently the regional resorts director at Vivo Resorts in Mexico. Previously in 2012, Discombe was appointed CEO for Toronto-based Royal Equator where he spent four years leading its franchise operations.

Discombe has over 30 years experience in hospitality, including strategic roles in various hotels and resorts across Asia-Pacific. In 2005, he was the general manager of the former Prince Hotel & Residence Kuala Lumpur, which was rebranded into KLCC in 2015.

Royal Caribbean names new China-bound Quantum Ultra ship

By TTG Asia

August 18, 2017

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steel-cutting-spectrum-of-the-seas — (From left) Royal Caribbean's Sebastian Brunilla, Meyer Weft's Stephan Schnees and Carsten Pengel commemorating the start of construction of Spectrum of the Seas

Royal Caribbean International has marked the start of construction of its first Quantum Ultra ship in a steel cutting ceremony at the Meyer Werft shipyard in Papenburg, Germany.

Along with the steel cutting, the ship also got its official name – Spectrum of the Seas.

(From left) Royal Caribbean’s Sebastian Brunilla, Meyer Weft’s Stephan Schnees and Carsten Pengel commemorating the start of construction of Spectrum of the Seas

Set to debut in 2019, the ship is expected to be the next evolution of the Quantum class and will “feature cutting-edge and unprecedented experiences and amenities”, said the cruise line in a statement.

Like sister ships Quantum of the Seas and Ovation of the Seas, Spectrum of the Seas is designed for guests in China and Asia-Pacific.

The difference between night and day at Oakwood Studios Singapore

Trade not giving up on Mindanao tourism

Genting Hong Kong bites losses for expected future gain

Expedia rolls out revenue management tool for hotels

Sedona Hotel Mandalay to become a Hilton

Norwegian Bliss will have biggest race track at sea

Vacation rental supplier RedAwning clinches US$40m funding

CWT appoints new APAC head

Pullman KLCC welcomes new GM

Royal Caribbean names new China-bound Quantum Ultra ship

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