Tomorrow is a public holiday in Singapore, where TTG Asia Media is based. It marks Good Friday.
News will resume on Monday, April 17.
We would like to wish our Christian readers a blessed Easter.
Have a Good Friday and blessed Easter 2017
Hyndman leaves Mandarin Oriental, Bangkok
Amanda Hyndman, the first female general manager of the grand old dame Mandarin Oriental, Bangkok, is leaving the hotel to return to her family in Scotland.
Replacing Hyndman effective May 1 will be Greg Liddell, who was general manager of the former Mandarin Oriental Dhara Devi in Chiang Mai, subsequently Landmark Mandarin Oriental, Hong Kong and Mandarin Oriental, Barcelona.
Amanda Hyndman
Hyndman has helmed the iconic hotel for close to five years. Observers said her genuine love for the property and her “innate grace” are among factors that make her synonymous with the hotel, an honour usually reserved for Kurt Wachtveitl, the first general manager who was with the property for over 40 years.
In a letter to loyal guests, Hyndman paid tribute to the staff: “The delicate balance of staying true to our heritage and preserving the mystique of a bygone era while being sensitive to our customers’ evolving needs has been the key to the hotel’s success for many decades. But what truly differentiates The Oriental is our people, affectionately known as The Oriental Family. They understand legacy and preservation because they live and breathe it every day, as our colleagues before us have for the past 141 years.”
Renovated X2 Kui Buri Resort has a new GM
BHMAsia has appointed Steve Lockhart as the general manager of X2 Kui Buri Resort.
Lockhart will be responsible for providing a whole new range of upgraded service standards at the recently renovated resort.
Prior to this, he spent over 20 years in the hospitality sector with AccorHotels.
Have a splashing good Water Festival
Credit: Myanmar Tourism Marketing
TTG Asia would like to wish our readers in Thailand, Laos, Cambodia and Myanmar happy celebrations for Songkran, Pi Mai, Choul Chnam Thmey and Thingyan.
A Happy New Year, Suksan Wan Songkran (Thailand), Sokdee Pi Mai (Laos), Suor Sdei Chnam Thmei (Cambodia) and Mingalar hnit-thit mhar shwin lan chan myae par say (Myanmar)!
PATA brings first event to UAE
Come 2018, the PATA Adventure Travel and Responsible Tourism Conference and Mart will take place in Al Ain, Abu Dhabi, the first PATA event to be held in the UAE.
The three-day event will include both conference and travel mart components, plus elements of environmental protection and social sustainability with special focus on empowerment of local communities.
Al Ain Convention Centre
PATA CEO Mario Hardy commented: “Connectivity is easy via the Abu Dhabi International Airport. Al Ain, together with the surrounding landscape, has so much to offer travellers of all ages. This event provides an exceptional platform for travel trade professionals to learn more about this compelling city and region.”
Saif Saeed Ghobash, director general of Abu Dhabi Tourism & Culture Authority, added: “Abu Dhabi has experienced significant growth in guest arrivals from countries within the PATA region in recent years, especially from India and China.
Known as the heritage heartland of the Emirate of Abu Dhabi, Al Ain is an increasingly popular business events destination, boasting 18 hotels and hotel apartments with over 2,000 rooms and dedicated facilities at the Al Ain Convention Centre, said PATA in a press release.
For more information or to register for the event, please email ATRTCM@PATA.org.
New ASEANTA committee begins term
ASEAN Tourism Association (ASEANTA) has announced its management committee for the 2017-2019 term, following elections at its recent AGM in Kuala Lumpur.
Devinder Ohri, president of National Association of Travel Agents Singapore, and Sam Cheah, president of Malaysian Association of Hotels, will continue serving as president and deputy president respectively.
Margaret Heng, executive director of Singapore Hotel Association, is ASEANTA’s new secretary general, replacing Datuk Hamzah Rahmat, president of Malaysia Association of Tour & Travel Agents.
Retained as treasurer for another term is Supawan Tanomkieatipume, president of Thai Hotels Association.
Newly elected committee members include Sabli Arsad, president of the Association of Travel Agents Brunei; Charlie Yu, consultant, Philippine Airlines; and Jackie Thet, president of Union of Myanmar Travel Association.
ASEANTA is currently focusing on VisitAsean@50 initiatives such as developing a website on ASEAN Tourism Honours List and the ASEAN Sky Caravan & ASEANTA Excellence Awards 2017 event, which will be held on August 8, 2017 (ASEAN Day) in Jakarta.
IHG regains footing in the Philippines
InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG) will add two Holiday Inn properties in the Philippines this year, a coup for the group, which was left with just three hotels in the country after losing InterContinental Makati to the wrecker’s ball and Holiday Inn Clark to a rebrand.
The first addition is Holiday Inn Express, which will be launched as a rebrand of Remington Hotel at Resorts World Manila.
Remington Hotel lobby
Leanne Harwood, IHG’s vice president operations, South-east Asia and Korea, told TTG Asia that 623-room and 89-apartment Remington Hotel has been part of the IHG portfolio since December 2016 while undergoing a rebranding.
As well, the 180-room Holiday Inn Baguio Center will be launched in 2H2017, the first foreign brand to open in Baguio City in 15 years.
Harwood explained that IHG’s expansion is anchored on “strong fundamentals of the Philippines hotel market given its strong and sustained economic growth in recent years, and with strong foreign investment into the country, including further interest from China in recent months”.
Indonesia beckons airlines to launch flights its way
Having set ambitious arrival targets for the coming years, Indonesia’s Ministry of Tourism will offer airlines promotional support to entice them to fly into the country while work gets underway to ease the bottleneck at congested airports.
“To reach the 15-million mark this year, we need nearly four million additional seats,” said I Gde Pitana, deputy minister for international tourism promotion development, Ministry of Tourism, who revealed that the government has adopted a WAR (winning, acquiring and retaining) strategy to achieve its goals.
Ngurah Rai International Airport, Bali, Indonesia
“We are working to retain the current 7.5 million seats (a year), win 6.5 million (more) and acquire around 1.5 million from airlines currently flying to the neighbouring destinations,” he added.
“On the other hand, we are facing the reality of such airports as Jakarta, Denpasar and Yogyakarta having no more slots for additional flights, while Solo, Lombok and Medan, for example, still have many.”
The way to go, according to Pitana, is to entice airlines to open routes to Indonesian airports, especially those that still have the capacity, through joint promotions.
Pitana elaborated: “The joint promotions can be in different forms, such as sales missions, advertisements in the destinations or through the ministry’s online platform.”
The offer will be eligible to Indonesian airlines and carriers flying into the country for the first time.
Pitana estimates the ministry would allocate around US$10 per potential passenger for promotions.
Meanwhile, airports such as Tanjung Pinang (Bintan), Silangit (near Lake Toba) and Belitung could soon get gateway status.
“We are inviting the travel industry to give us inputs on which gateways they want us to open next,” Pitana said.
Centara to open new Maldivian resort in UNESCO reserve
Centara Hotels & Resorts has signed a management agreement for its fourth resort in the Maldives – Centara Grand Muthaafushi Resort & Spa Maldives – slated to soft-open in 4Q2018.
Located in the south-western portion of Baa Atoll, the five-star resort will comprise 24 land villas and 77 water villas. Facilities include an underwater restaurant, floating cinema, Thai spa and a fitness centre.
Signing ceremony
Baa Atoll, approximately 123km north-west of Malé International Airport, consists of 75 islands dotted around three separate natural atolls and has held the status of UNESCO World Biosphere Reserve since June 2011.
Borneo Youth Leadership Conference to triple in size this year
The fourth edition of the annual Borneo Youth Leadership Conference, taking place September 13 -16, will be the largest to date with 500 delegates being targeted – thrice the size of the last three conferences.
While the previous editions were held at Curtin Sarawak in Miri as part of a student council programme, the coming event will move to Sarawak’s capital Kuching to accommodate a larger audience.
Vinodh Menon
Borneo Youth Leadership Conference was created by Vinodh Menon, a Curtin graduate who is passionate about empowering youths. This year’s edition will be organised by Vinodh’s company, Phoenix PR, of which he is the COO.
Vinodh is confident of achieving the targeted number of delegates with the support of Sarawak Convention Bureau which is assisting with delegate boosting activities, marketing and promotion support and speaker support.
Tan Wei Ni, business development manager at Sarawak Convention Bureau, said the bureau was supportive as the conference is essential for human capital development, The conference is also supported by the Ministry of Youth and Sports Malaysia and Leaderonomics, a training provider based in Malaysia.
This year’s conference takes a new approach, providing opportunities for delegates to apply themselves through engagement and leadership simulations and to learn the traits required to pursue their dreams in line with the conference theme, Pursuing Your Passion, explained Vinod.
He added: “We have pushed the envelope with our speaker panel, comprising 25 young, successful personalities.”
The list includes Zee Avi, Malaysian singer and songwriter; Phat Fabes, radio DJ and television host; and Shanjhey Kumar Perumal, a Malaysian director and writer who produced the documentary, The Day That River Ran Red, which won the Jury Award at The KOMAS Freedom Film Festival Southeast Asia in 2013.
