Olivier Berrivin, Best Western Hotels & Resorts’ managing director of international operations – Asia, signs an agreement with Sajja Chairattivech, president of Thai Bedding, for the establishment of Bangkok’s second Vīb Hotel. The newly built Vīb Sathorn Hotel will offer 180 rooms when it opens in 1Q2019. Construction will get underway in June 2016.
Photo of the Day: Best Western signs second Vīb Hotel in Bangkok
Royal Brunei appoints CEO
DERMOT Mannion has announced that he will shortly step down as deputy chairman of Royal Brunei Airlines (RB) on completion of his term.
Succeeding him in the capacity of CEO is Karam Chand, who was previously chief commercial and planning officer at the airline. Chand has over 20 years of experience at various flag carrier airlines and at Virgin Australia.
Mannion had served at RB for the past five years, successfully completing recent restructuring and rebranding efforts for the flag carrier.
Datai Langkawi offers retreat package for SE Asia travellers
THE Datai Langkawi is introducing a new package – comprising a hotel stay, guided nature walks, use of equipment and discounts – exclusively for guests from ASEAN member countries.
The Datai ASEAN Retreat package features a stay in a Canopy Deluxe room that boast views of the rainforest plus guided morning or evening nature walks led by nature guide Irshad Mobarak.
The package also includes daily breakfast, complimentary use of non-motorised water sports equipment, a 15 per cent discount on non-package spa treatments at the newly relaunched Datai Spa, a 10 per cent discount on F&B as well as complimentary use of the mini bar.
Prices start from S$328 (US$234) per night in the Canopy Deluxe room and is valid from April 1 to July 5 and September 1 to December 23.
The package is exclusive to residents of Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.
Komodo set to get new diving resort
THE 50-villa Sudamala Komodo Villas & Dive Resort will be the first locally owned and operated luxury resort on Indonesia’s Sebayur Island when it opens in 2017.
Located on the edge of the Komodo National Park in East Nusa Tenggara, Sebayur Island is a prime jumping off point to diving sites in and around the UNESCO Heritage Site.
“We expect around 80 per cent of our guests will be divers,” said Sudamala’s resorts director, Emily Subrata.
“We are talking about very pristine and protected dive sites that offer sightings of marine life such as sea turtles, manta rays and sharks. We have established our dive centres at Sanur and Lombok and this will be the extension of that as well as the jewel in our crown,” added Subrata.
Sebayur Island, which is about 30 minutes by boat from the nearest domestic airport of Labuan Bajo, is still remote, with the biggest resort on the same island having only about 25 rooms.
The new property will feature owner Sudamala group’s signature touches of art and craftsmanship highlighted in its other two properties, the Sudamala Suites & Villas, Sanur, Bali as well as the Sudamala Suites & Villas, Senggigi, Lombok.
Roomorama shares inventory with China’s Tujia
Homepage of www.tujia.com
VACATION rental and short-term accommodation aggregator, Roomorama.com, is adopting a new strategy to strengthen its market penetration in the region.
They have recently announced a partnership with China’s Tujia, one of a number of partnerships the Singapore-based US company will establish, according to Nina Kubik-Cheng, Roomorama’s vice president, partnerships.
Roomorama currently aggregates 300,000 properties globally and Tujia is a leading apartment rental website in China, equivalent to Airbnb.
Commenting on China, Kubik-Cheng said: “We see a trend between popular destinations and direct flight connections from China. For example, apartments in London and Milan as well as villas in Phuket and Pattaya are popular among Chinese travellers, who spend an average of US$1,200 per booking.”
With the partnership, she said Tujia would have a large range of instantly bookable and professionally-managed vacation rental options in longhaul and regional destinations; for example, apartments in New York, Paris and Dubai as well as villas in Phuket and Bali.
Kubik-Cheng added: “In building our partnership with Tujia, a localised site makes it China-ready. We are also looking at enhancing our Chinese language website capability.”
Variety of rewards key for travel loyalty programmes
MEMBERS of travel loyalty programmes will have an improved redemption experience, increased loyalty and will spend more if presented with a greater variety of reward options, according to research by loyalty solutions provider Collinson Latitude.
The survey of 2,250 airline and hotel loyalty programme members across the US, UK, Middle East and Asia showed that 77 per cent of members who redeemed on non-core rewards inventory continued spending with the brand, while a smaller 71 per cent of members who redeemed on core inventory (flights, rooms etc.) carried on doing so.
“When the breadth of rewards is expanded beyond the core product offerings of flights and hotel stays, we see that member loyalty and spending increases,” said Guy Deslandes, e-commerce sales director, Collinson Latitude.
The availability of a broader choice of rewards is also a key factor when choosing which programme to join.
For 61 per cent of survey respondents, more choice of rewards is specifically sought after, while 71 per cent of respondents indicated that the value of loyalty programmes are diminished if offered a limited range of rewards.
Additionally, almost half (42 per cent) believe that programmes offering only core inventory rewards are dated and old-fashioned.
The study further showed that if members enjoyed their redemption experience, it could turn them into brand advocates with 40 per cent of respondents indicating they would tell friends and family about a programme following a positive redemption experience, while 33 per cent would actively encourage them to join up.
Starwood accepts Anbang’s proposal, Marriott reviews options
The W Hong Kong, part of Starwood’s portfolio
CALLING the Anbang consortium’s bid for it a “superior proposal”, Starwood Hotels and Resorts’ board of directors has informed Marriott International that it intends to terminate their merger agreement, giving Marriott until 23.59 ET on March 28 to review Anbang’s proposal and negotiate revisions to the existing agreement.
Marriott is under a lot of pressure, with the Anbang group increasing its bid from US$76 to US$78 per share, even prior to Starwood’s decision to choose Anbang’s offer over Marriott’s. Anbang’s initial bid of US$76 per share had already carried a premium over Marriott’s offer.
In a statement last Friday, Marriott said they were “in the process of reviewing the Anbang consortium’s proposal and is carefully considering its alternatives”, adding that they still believed the merger is the best course of action for both itself and Starwood.
Experts keeping a close watch on the developments said however, that an Anbang-Starwood deal might actually be preferable.
Starwood will owe Marriott US$400 million in termination fees if the deal indeed falls apart.
Gavin Smith takes on SVP role at Royal Caribbean
ROYAL Caribbean has appointed Gavin Smith as senior vice president international, effective immediately, taking over the role of Dominic Paul, who is leaving the cruise liner on May 1.
Smith’s new role sees him responsible for all sales, marketing and commercial operations for the cruise brands Royal Caribbean International, Celebrity Cruises and Azamara Club Cruises in South-east Asia, Europe, the Middle East, Latin America, the Caribbean and Australasia.
He reports directly to Michael Bayley, president and CEO, Royal Caribbean International.
During his time with Royal Caribbean, Smith was responsible for opening the company’s first Australian office in December 2008 as its managing director.
Millennium Hilton Bangkok names GM
HEIDI Kleine-Moeller, formerly the hotel manager at Millennium Hilton Bangkok, has been promoted to general manager, effective since January 1, 2016.
The industry veteran with 20 years of experience in the hospitality industry, 10 of which are with Hilton Worldwide, was promoted to her present role in recognition of her capability where she helped the property exceed business targets, grow market share and increase its revenue.
Prior to joining Millennium Hilton Bangkok, she had worked in many other countries including the US, Germany, Dubai and Kenya.
Photo of the Day: Industry veterans dinner hosted by M&C
(From left) Alex Chan (Hong Thai Travel), Michael Chow (TTG Asia Media), Yap Puay Beng (TMIS), Tony Lim (Discovery the World), Aloysius Lee (M&C Hotels), Mohd Rafin (Park Hotel Group), Wong Soon Hwa (Blacklane), Anthony Chan (Chan Brothers Travel) and Ricky Ong (The South Beach), at a dinner for travel industry veterans last week at Grand Shanghai Restaurant, Singapore, hosted by Aloysius Lee, CEO of Millennium & Copthorne Hotels.
