Photo credit: Nicole England 

HONG Kong-based Ovolo Hotels has partnered with international design practice Hassell to launch the Ovolo Woolloomooloo hotel in Sydney, which began operations in December last year.

Sited at a harbourside on the historic Finger Wharf, the 100-key, 10,500m² property, formerly the Taj Blue Hotel, is designed to appeal to design-conscious guests and provides technology and amenities that caters to work, rest and leisure needs.

Rooms and suites feature free Wi-Fi and snacks, flat-screen TVs, tea and coffee facilities, iPod docks as well as work desks. Suites come in two-level loft designs, with or without skylights, and include lounge areas and sofabeds.

Amenities include the Lo Lounge restaurant and bar, an indoor pool and fitness centre.

Ovolo also independently operates the Ovolo 1888 Darling Harbour in Sydney, Ovolo Laneways in Melbourne, as well as six other properties in Hong Kong.

KOREAN Air is launching a new codeshare agreement with India’s Jet Airways starting March 1, increasing connectivity between Incheon and Seoul with cities in India through gateway destinations such as Singapore and Bangkok.

Along with the codeshare agreement, a new frequent flyer partnership programme will take effect. This reciprocal scheme will enable members of both airlines’ frequent flyer program, Skypass and JetPrivilege, to earn and burn mileage on the combined networks of both airlines.

The South Korean flagship carrier currently operates an A330 aircraft from Incheon to Mumbai three-times weekly.

Korean Air also intends to expand more codeshare routes with Jet Airways by end-2016.

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.