Singaporean travellers are eschewing traditional favourites in Central and Western Europe in favour of more novel destinations in the Balkans, observed travel agents at the Travel Revolution fair last weekend.

The recent terrorist attacks in popular cities such as London and Paris are driving the demand for exotic locations elsewhere in Europe, said Alice Lai, assistant general manager of CS Travel.

According to Stavri Cifligu, product manager of Balkans destination management company Albania Experience, travellers are starting to venture even further into South-eastern Europe to countries like Romania and Montenegro in what he describes as a “domino effect”.

A big draw of this region, said Cifligu, is its abundance of filming locations for popular shows such as Game of Thrones and Star Wars.

Capitalising on this trend, CS Travel rolled out low rates for its popular 10-day Europe itineraries at the fair to target family year-end travel from Singapore, said Lai.

Agency Travel Star is also providing more customised land tours and translator-guide services for these destinations, said marketing & HR manager Zheng Lingna.

“The trend now is that customers are adding land tours to their free-and-easy itineraries,” said Zheng. “They prefer to buy their own flight tickets online, then come to us with their own set of itineraries and plan their tour with us.”

Held from August 4-6, Travel Revolution also featured a line-up of Turkey, Finland, Norway and Eastern Europe specialist speakers to meet the climbing demand for the Balkans, as well as persisting interest in Scandinavia.

Vietnam’s southernmost island will welcome the Wyndham Garden Phu Quoc come 2020, adding to Wyndham Hotel Group’s growing portfolio in the country, which includes the newly-opened Wyndham Legend Halong Bay and the 3,200-key Wyndham Soleil Danang opening in 2018.

The 150-villa resort will be located in Phu Quoc’s Duong To Commune, with close access to Bai Truong, the longest beach on the island; Phu Quoc International Airport; and Duong Dong Town.

Wyndham Garden Phu Quoc

Operating under a franchise agreement with Hong Phuc Land, the resort will be South-east Asia’s first Wyndham Garden to feature the brand’s new prototype design, which will feature the use of natural materials, lush colours and abundant natural light to evoke a serene environment.

Wyndham Garden Phu Quoc will feature lush landscaping throughout the resort, with an emphasis on environmental sustainability and eco-friendly materials such as wicker and wood complemented by neutral-toned textiles. The resort’s open-concept architecture will also integrate design and function with full-length windows letting in natural light to create an inviting ambience while cutting back on energy use.

The villas will be modelled to evoke the Vietnamese village-style experience, with clusters of five to seven villas sharing a large courtyard. The two- and three-bedroom villas each come with its own private pool and patio, ideal for larger groups.

Other on-site facilities include a restaurant, lounge bar, pool, gym, spa, commercial centre, and function rooms that can host up to 300 guests for meetings and events.

Penang’s George Town Literary Festival (GTLF) will return for the seventh edition this year from November 24-26 with the theme Monsters & (Im)Mortals.

The three-day festival will see panel discussions, book launches, workshops, a poetry marathon, readings, conversations, spoken word performances, dance and film screenings.

Literary luminaries from aroind the globe such as Icelandic poet and children’s book writer Gerður Kristný, Belgian cultural historian David van Reybrouck, and Burmese poet and artist Maung Day will be in attendance, as well as local talents from Malaysia such as novelist Fahmi Mustaffa and fantasy author Zen Cho.

This year’s GTLF is accompanied by a fringe festival and a free public screening of the movie You Mean the World to Me, set in 1970s Penang and the first Malaysian film to be filmed entirely in Penang Hokkien.

The festival is the largest international literary festival in Malaysia and is funded by the state government of Penang, with support by the Penang Convention & Exhibition Bureau as festival producer.

Destination Asia has launched Agent Hub, a password-protected online platform partner that agents can use to access up-to-date itineraries, sales tools, training presentations and factsheets, country information and more.

“Our partners are now able to view and download the latest information from each destination they work with us in – and as the site is regularly updated, you no longer need to spend time contacting each country for specific details or updates,” the DMC said in a statement.

Moreover, having agents accessing the same data can help “eliminate confusion or miscommunication between our partners, reservation teams and product departments”.

Also available is a professional quality photo library and the Destination Asia Video Suite. Agents can download high-res images and HD (also 4K option when available) videos for use in their own marketing tools.

Agents currently working with Destination Asia and would like to request an account can email sales@destination-asia.com.

Wyndham Worldwide, which operate brands such as Travelodge, Ramada and Days Inn, has announced plans to spin off its hotel business and combine its timeshare businesses, a strategic move to allow the two separate companies to focus on their core business and growth opportunities.

Wyndham Hotel Group, based in Parsippany, will become a new publicly traded pure-play hotel company; while Wyndham Vacation Ownership, with headquarters in Orlando, Florida, will be combined with Wyndham Destination Network, home to RCI, the world’s largest timeshare exchange company.

The two public companies intend to enter into long-term exclusive license agreements to retain their affiliation with Wyndham Rewards, as well as continued collaboration on key inventory sharing and customer cross-sell initiatives.

The transaction is expected to be completed in 1H2018. The corporate names of the post-spin public companies have not yet been decided.

Following the separation, both companies will have significant scale and leadership positions within their industries, strong cash flows, rich portfolios of brands, and existing relationships in place to drive attractive growth and shareholder value.

The transaction will be effected through a pro rata distribution of the new hotel company’s stock to existing shareholders.

The two companies will have separate boards of directors, both of which will be helmed by Wyndham Worldwide CEO and chairman Stephen Holmes as non-executive chairman.

Wyndham Hotel Group CEO Geoff Ballotti and Wyndham Vacation Ownership CEO Michael Brown will each continue to lead the respective companies as president and CEO, and Gail Mandel, CEO of Wyndham Destination Network, will also retain his post.

Tourism officials in Kyoto are implementing initiatives to address complaints about tourist overcrowding, termed by local media as “pollution by tourism”.

Over 56.8 million tourists visited the city in calendar 2015, a record high, spending nearly one trillion yen (US$9.12 billion).

However, the vast tourist volume is putting pressure on transport infrastructure, while demand for accommodation has led owners of vacant properties to lease out properties – often illegally – according to Shuhei Akahoshi, managing director of the city’s Department of Conventions & Tourism.

Moreover, foreign tourists are often unaware of local customs such as separating trash, hence creating friction with some locals.

The city’s tourism authorities have taken measures to reduce discord.”We have several ongoing advertising campaigns that promote better manners among tourists. We partnered TripAdvisor to release a guide on this and regularly release information on etiquette online and in tourist information magazines,” Akahoshi said.

He added that the city is dispersing crowds by promoting events beyond peak hours and popular parts of the city as well as encouraging visits in the less-congested months of January, May and June.

Matthew Stevens, conventions and conferences specialist, Kyoto Convention and Visitors Bureau, said travel operators and hotels are “the ideal way to get the message across” as the primary touch points for first-time visitors.

“We are also working very closely with travel companies and hotels to promote these ideas and have so far released three booklets that we distribute to travel firms for their customers,” Stevens said. The most recent is a ryokan guide that also instructs foreign guests on etiquette.

The Ascott has announced a S$170.3 million (US$125 million) investment to develop the Singapore flagship of its co-living, millennial targeted concept, lyf, scheduled for opening within the Funan integrated development in 2020.

Made through its serviced residence global fund with Qatar Investment Authority, the investment comprises S$90.5 million allocated to acquiring land and $$80 million to developing the concept.

The nine-storey serviced residence will form part of Funan, located in Singapore’s City Hall area close to the CBD and attractions such as the National Gallery, comprising a mall and two office towers offering retail outlets and co-working spaces.

lyf Funan Singapore will offer 279 units and up to 412 rooms, spanning about 1.1ha in gross floor area. Unit types include Big Bed studio units and All-Together business suites ranging from three- to six-bedrooms. The business suites offer smart display screens for video conferencing and discussions while a large table doubles up as a collaborative working zone and dining area.

The property will offer Connect social zones such as co-working spaces and an arena for activities such as hackathons, talks and workshops, as well as the Bond social kitchen for guests to prepare meals and take cooking classes. Other facilities include a gymnasium and Wash & Hang laundromat, where guests can play a round of Foosball while waiting for their laundry.

The acquisition also cements Ascott’s fast-growing portfolio as a serviced residence operator in Singapore, with close to 2,000 units in 12 properties. Within a span of two months, the company has added about 1,000 units across four properties in Singapore; which includes securing a contract from Low Keng Huat (Singapore) to manage a 166-unit Citadines Balestier Singapore (opening in 2021), featuring studios and one-bedroom units, a swimming pool, gymnasium with a running track, social pavilion, children’s playground and barbeque pit.

This follows Ascott’s recent addition of the 240-unit lyf Farrer Park Singapore that was also awarded by Low Keng Huat, as well as a prime 299-unit serviced residence at CapitaLand’s landmark integrated development at Raffles Place. Both serviced residences are also slated to open in 2021.

Ascott is working towards its target of achieving 10,000 units under the lyf brand worldwide by 2020.