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.

HOSPITALITY group Worldhotels is giving away a six-night vacation in Vietnam for two persons, inclusive of airfare and accommodation, for travel agents who take part in its Hug an Agent themed social media campaign, running till March 4.

Accommodation includes four nights at the Caravelle Hotel Saigon and two nights at the Cam Ranh Riviera Beach Resort & Spa Nha Trang.

To participate, upload a photo onto Instagram reflecting the theme Hug an Agent, and include the hashtags #worldhotels_ag and #hugagent in the post. Contestants then need to allow Worldhotels to follow them on Instagram to verify the participation.

Concurrently, Worldhotels is offering special travel agent rates for selected member hotels during the length of the campaign.

The winner will be informed latest by March 18.