PTT Family, the group behind Potato Head Beach Club, will mark its entry into the hotel space with the opening of Katamama in Bali next month.

The all-suite property will be located in Seminyak, featuring design elements created by local craftsmen and finished with materials such as Balinese bricks, teak, handmade tiles from Java and terrazzo made on-site.

All of Katamama’s 58 suites will boast outdoor spaces such as balconies, gardens or pools, while the two-storey Rooftop Suites, measuring 268m2, includes additional luxuries such as ocean views, spa baths, rain showers, dining and lounge areas, and a bar.

The hotel’s two F&B establishments are already in operation, comprising Spanish restaurant MoVida as well as Akademi, a bespoke bar that makes use of local tropical ingredients.

Two more hotels under the PTT Family banner will open in 2018 and 2019.

Arief Yahya, Minister of Tourism, Indonesia

THE Indonesia Ministry of Tourism and Baidu Indonesia are collaborating to offer online marketing workshops for industry players in a bid to boost arrivals from mainland China to Indonesia.

In a press conference following the MoU signing between the ministry and Baidu Indonesia, Arief Yahya, Indonesia Minister of Tourism, said: “Arrivals from China to Indonesia last year reached 1.1 million, nearly 17 per cent higher than that in 2014. We are targeting two million arrivals this year and president Joko Widodo has given me a target of 10 million arrivals in 2019.”

“This is not an impossible thing as the number of outbound traffic from the country is huge,” said Yahya, adding that 83 per cent of travellers from mainland China are planning their trips through the internet and reaching them through that medium will be essential.

Bao Jianlei, managing director of Baidu Indonesia, concurs, saying that the new generation of travellers from mainland China are more independent than before and rely heavily on information available online.

Among the programmes that will come out of the collaboration are workshops for the Indonesian travel industry on how to present information, and on the kind of products that will appeal to travellers booking online.

FCM Travel Solutions has expanded its Travel Club corporate employee benefit scheme to better suit the needs of business travellers who are increasingly combining their work and leisure trips.

Travel Club was first launched to market in 2010 and provided corporate clients benefits and concierge services such as 20 per cent off travel insurance and free lounge access.

With the relaunch, the scheme now includes a range of perks and offerings to help clients make the most of leisure travel, whether as an individual, group or family, while on work-related trips.

Perks include access to thousands of discounted holidays, hotels, flights and tours, as well as health and wellness activities that integrates with a client’s business trip schedule.

There is also a monthly ‘star’ perk for members, such as a free two-night stay at Intercontinental Seoul when booking the 5D4N F&E Seoul package.

Bertrand Saillet, general manager, FCM Travel Solutions South-east Asia, said: “As the corporate travel industry continues to evolve, diversifying in line with what’s trending is a priority for us. The need to tie in leisure travel with corporate travel has become an increasingly popular request and we are tailoring our services to meet the needs of our clients.

“Our focus is to maintain regular contact with our customers and ensure we provide an experience that fits in with their lifestyle.”

The latest Travel Club services are now available to all employees from companies that are partnered with FCM Travel Solutions.

THE Sun & Moon Hotel Company has announced the opening of Sun & Moon, Urban Hotel in the heart of the Cambodian capital of Phnom Penh.

Situated within walking distance from the city’s major attractions and just a few hundred metres from the busy riverside, the hotel positions itself as an affordable hotel that carries modern design elements.

As well, it aims to meet emerging demands of the global traveller by basing its design and services on modern and international standards.

Covering a total construction area of 7,200m2, the property was designed by Adrien Desport Architects (ADA). It takes the form of a T-shape with eight facades, two of which face the outside streets. The remaining facades look out to low-rise neighbouring properties.

“Our strategy was also to consider how to configure the layout of the hotel, bearing in mind potential future high-rise construction density in the surrounding area,” ADA’s principal architect, Adrien Desport, said. “This resulted in a three-block structure (the three branches of the T-shape) built around a central distribution atrium, which links the various part of the hotel.”

SOUTH Korea will be adding a US$165 million international cruise terminal to the west coast port of Pyeongtaek-Dangjin, which will include four docks and a terminal building complex, set to be completed by 2020.

Budhy Bok, president of Costa Cruises Asia-Pacific and China, finds the addition timely as the current port is already operating at capacity. “(With the new cruise terminal), which can offer more berths, we can add new ports of call and itineraries,” he said.

The current port has three piers and operates ferry routes to five cities in China. In 2008, some 280,000 travellers used Pyeongtaek-Dangjin port, and in 2014, that figure had soared to 490,000.

“We anticipate the demand for cruise holidays will continue to increase, especially among the most promising and burgeoning middle to upper-middle class,” said Bok.

The Shah Mosque in Isfahan, Iran

IRAN successfully concluded its inaugural International Travel and Hospitality Conference, which took place from February 20 to 22, the nation’s first attempt at facilitating public and private investments into the tourism industry there.

“As Iran seeks to lower its economic dependence on oil, exploiting the incredible potential of tourism becomes a must,” said Ahmad Reza Nikkar Esfahani, CEO of Atiyeh Saba Investment Company, a subsidiary of the Civil Servants Pension Fund (CSPF), organiser of the conference.

“This conference is a new chapter in training and upgrading the tourism, transportation and hospitality industries,” he added.

Deals announced at the conference included a MoU signed between the renowned Swiss hospitality school Ecole hotelière de Lausanne and Atiyeh Saba to open an affiliated campus in Isfahan.

UAE-based Rotana Hotel group also announced further development plans in Iran with the company set to open four hotels there within the next two years.

Opportunities to develop hybrid car systems, as well as a high-speed rail link between Tehran and Isfahan that can cut travel time between the cities to less than two hours was also discussed at the conference.

Iran seeks to increase its stock of four and five star hotels from 130 to 400 and plans to build seven new international airports over the next decade.

THAI Airways will not be investing in airlines anytime soon, the national carrier clarified, ending speculation that it would acquire a stake in budget airline Thai AirAsia.

Narongchai Wongthanavimok, executive vice president in the airline’s finance and accounting department, in a letter to the Stock Exchange of Thailand (SET), stated: “Thai Airways has not yet considered any investment in any airlines for the time being. Should there be any development on this front, Thai Airways will properly notify SET as soon as possible.”

Tassapon Bijleveld, CEO of Thai AirAsia, in a letter to SET confirmed this. “Only a discussion of the strategic planning for the aviation industry with other Thai registered airlines (took place) without any discussion on stock acquisition from Thai Airways,” it stated.

However, THAI acknowledged in the letter that it was looking to formulate strategies for the aviation industry along with other Thai-operated airlines to help bolster Thailand’s transport and tourism sectors.

Still, the statement quashes reports that the airline had been on the verge of acquiring a stake of at least 20 per cent in Thai AirAsia, valued at five billion baht (US$140 million).

Despite raking in four billion baht in profits in 4Q2015, THAI has reported an overall loss of 14 billion baht in 2015, a small improvement from the airline’s 15 billion baht loss in 2014.

Tirtawisata: Indonesian tourism to remain healthy

INDONESIA’s Panorama group is targeting a revenue increase of 15 per cent and a net profit of 30 per cent this year, confident that the strengthening rupiah and government initiatives will keep the nation’s tourism climate strong amid the global economic slowdown.

Budi Tirtawisata, group CEO of Panorama Group, stated why he was sanguine when speaking at the annual Panorama Management Conference in Malang last weekend. He said: “We see that the global economy is (affected) by China’s economic slowdown, however, the Indonesian rupiah is strengthening as the US dollar stabilises.”

“The government has a promotional budget of 5.2 trillion rupiah (US$385 million), four times bigger than last year’s. They are doing the country’s brand and product management. There is also growing awareness of regional destinations.”

Tirtawisata added that the group should also accelerate growth in the first quarter of this year, despite it traditionally being a low season.

“(In 2015) we achieved 18.5 per cent of the full year target in 1Q and 48 per cent by 2Q. This year, we are targeting 22 per cent and 52 per cent respectively,” he said, adding that margins, not just sales, should increase.

He further identified inbound travel, MICE, hotels and bus transportation as having strong growth potential this year, while its taxi business will still be receiving headwinds from the likes of Uber and Grab Car.