BEST Western International has opened its first property in the Japanese city of Kagoshima.
THE new 199-room Best Western Rembrandt Hotel Kagoshima Resort, located in southwest Japan’s Kyushu Island and overlooking Kinko Bay, features rooms all offering views of the Sakurajima volcano.
The hotel is also equipped with an outdoor swimming pool and Jacuzzi, restaurant and 230m2 of meeting space.
A TRAVEL guide cum discount booklet known as Super Pass was launched yesterday to promote Malaysia as a tourist destination.
The booklet highlights Kuala Lumpur’s tourist attractions, nightlife, restaurants and shopping malls and at the same time, act as a discount voucher book with savings of up to 70 per cent on retail, F&B and attractions.
Ministry of Tourism and Culture Malaysia secretary-general, Ong Hong Peng, who launched the booklet, said: “Merchants will benefit from increased exposure and market reach while tourists will be able to enjoy the best of Malaysia for less, and with the savings, be able to extend their holidays.”
Alex Wong, senior manager – global marketing at Apollo Knight, publisher of the booklet, said there are more than 70 merchants currently and more will come onboard in the coming months.
While most merchants are located in the capital city of Kuala Lumpur, the company will intensify its efforts to get more merchants on board from other areas such as Malacca, Ipoh and Langkawi.
Overseas visitors can better plan their holidays in Malaysia with the booklet, which can be purchased via a link provided in MyFest 2015 website. Upon arrival in Malaysia, the booklet can be collected at designated counters in the airport and at 7-Eleven outlets.
According to Tourism Malaysia statistics, shopping contributed to 30 per cent of tourist expenditure in 2014.
FRHI Hotels & Resorts has announced George Wee’s appointment to regional vice president, on top of his role as general manager for Fairmont Peace Hotel in Shanghai.
Wee will have increased responsibility for all the other operating Fairmont properties in China – Fairmont Beijing, Fairmont Nanjing and Fairmont Yangcheng Lake – and will work closely with the hotels to develop strategic business practices.
Before joining the company in 2013, he held senior management positions with hotel brands such as Shangri-La, InterContinental and Sheraton in China, Malaysia, Singapore and Australia.
SHANGRI-LA Hotels and Resorts in the Philippines will host its first MICE fair next week, enticing corporate decision makers and meeting organisers with special rates and concession, made-to-order events, innovative MICE ideas and extensive facilities.
Dubbed Experience Shangri-La, Experience MEET, the fair is timed with the opening late this year of the group’s sixth property, 576-luxury key Shangri-La At The Fort (in the new business hub Bonifacio Global City).
The group’s National Sales Office explained that local and international MICE clients have become more demanding “in terms of value for money, efficient service, variety in F&B choices, unique offerings, security and overall appeal of the venue”.
It added that the group tries “to deliver creative solutions that meet the demands of the evolving MICE market”.
Thus, aside from special rates and concessions available during the fair, the group will also promote Bonus Miles that event organisers could earn with 27 participating airlines when booking group events; Signature Events which provides streamlined and specialised service delivery with a selection of new bonus options from a minimum of 25 hotel rooms booked; and Sunglasses at Work concept combining corporate meetings with social event experiences.
THE new Genting Hotel Jurong, which will soft-open end this month, is confident of courting corporate clients who are seeking a respite from the typical CBD area.
As the first major hotel in Singapore’s growing Jurong Lake District, the 557-key hotel is a 15-minute drive from Tuas Checkpoint, which connects Singapore to Johor Bahru in Malaysia, and a 40-minute drive from Singapore Changi Airport.
Launched by the Resorts World Sentosa (RWS) primarily to drive greater visitorship to the resorts, Chow Keng Hai, vice president of rooms at RWS, said the hotel has been receiving “enthusiastic interest” from the corporates situated in the vicinity so far.
Chow said: “This strategic location is also ideal for corporates as we are near international business parks, there are many multinational corporations (MNCs) around and we are probably the only property here with well-equipped meeting facilities.”
Apart from MNCs, Chow said local educational institutions are also expressing interest in holding talks and seminars in the hotel.
A key venue in the hotel is its pillarless 427m2 Genting Ballroom that can be partitioned into three rooms, features a high ceiling with ample natural light, and seats up to 300 guests.
There are also five additional meeting rooms with flexible layouts, while the rooftop sky lounge with an adjoining lawn is suitable for intimate events like sunset cocktails for 75 guests overlooking the Jurong Lake District.
As the first major hospitality product in the district, Chow said: “The Singapore government’s development plans to revitalise the area into a stunning lakeside destination for business and leisure bode well for the hotel.”
Business travellers will likely account for 50 per cent of occupancy during weekdays, while leisure guests will dominate during weekends. “We expect the most leisure traffic to come from Malaysia given our proximity to the Tuas checkpoint, and the next two markets are probably Indonesia and Thailand,” Chow said.
A free shuttle bus service will also operate 24/7 to ferry guests between Genting Hotel Jurong and RWS.
AS TECHNOLOGY continues to disrupt the exhibitions industry, the new president of Reed Exhibitions Greater China (RXGC), Hu Wei, plans to turn it to his advantage in engaging the Millennial generation.
Stepping into his new position this month, Hu said: “To capture emerging market trends through digital strategies, RXGC strives to fit the needs of younger and tech-savvy customers.
“The ever-growing online audience is hungry for information. This is why we have launched such a wide variety of e-marketing tools and digital platforms,” he said.
Raising Axon, a bilingual and multi-channel marketing platform, as an example, Hu said this has helped to increase brand recognition and improve customer value in Greater China.
To keep up with the “young and talented” workforce as well, the Tianjin native said he hopes to achieve a higher level of employee engagement by getting them involved in decision-making. “I will take personal responsibility to allow them the leeway to make decisions and create opportunities for them to grow professionally.”
Hu’s career spans over nearly 20 years in China and the US, having spent 10 years at Best Buy where he rose to the rank of director of international merchandising.
He also spent four years at Ace Hardware Corporation; initially as director of global merchandising in Chicago, and ultimately as general manager for Asia.
GLOBAL wellness and beauty company, Forever Living, has brought 7,000 top distributors from 55 countries to Singapore for its annual Global Rally incentive this week.
Arriving between April 19 and 21, the delegates have so far participated in a dinner at the Gardens by the Bay, an all-expense-paid day trip to Sentosa that concluded with a beach party, and training sessions.
The highlight of the trip – the Global Rally Show at the Marina Bay Sands’ Sands Grand Ballroom – will take place from April 23 to 25.
Aidan O’Hare, executive vice president of marketing and Europe, Forever Living, told TTGmice e-Weekly the event could have welcomed more delegates if the venue was bigger.
“We were able to have 20,000 people over two days in London last year. We are only having 7,000 pax this year because there is no more room (in the ballroom). We are here to celebrate the Global Rally Show, so when all 7,000 seats are filled, there’s no reason for more to come,” explained O’Hare, adding that 99 per cent of delegates are accommodated in the integrated resort (IR) while the rest are placed at Four Seasons Hotel Singapore.
Despite the capacity constraints, O’Hare said Singapore was chosen because “it is one of the most important destinations in Asia” and Marina Bay Sands was selected as the main venue as the IR is “one of the most spectacular buildings in the world” that offers a combination of “luxury, space and great service”.
On choosing the right destination for an incentive, he remarked: “The destination enhances the experience… but sales will not grow any faster if our incentive goes to an exotic destination. However, we see a spike in sales in the local region because people are excited to attend the event. We saw more sales activity in Asia because the locals wanted to qualify and be here.”
Forever Living organises two incentives annually ¬– the Global Rally and the Eagle Manager Programme. The former draws up to 20,000 people while the latter sees 2,000 to 3,000 pax. They are planned six and three years in advance respectively, and rotate worldwide.
The last Forever Living incentive in Singapore was in 2009.
FRENCH hospitality giant Accor is getting serious in its digital approach and this week announced the buyout of Fastbooking.
The latter, also French, provides support to almost 4,000 hotels mainly in Europe and Asia.
Services rendered include hotel website development, distribution channel management solutions, digital marketing campaign management, revenue management optimisation tools and competitive intelligence.
Fastbooking will continue to serve existing clients while operating independently as an Accor company.
“The takeover of Fastbooking will help speed up the implementation of our digital strategy,” said Sébastien Bazin, chairman and CEO of Accor, in a press release this week.
“Following the acquisition of Wipolo last October, this new transaction enables us to further expand our capabilities and strengthen our digital expertise for the benefit of our hotels.”
IN A newly signed agreement, HotelRez Hotels & Resorts will join hands with Singapore-based Peak Hospitality Solutions (PHS) to extend its hotel representation services to Asia.
After announcing its entry into the US market last month, HotelRez’s plans in Asia includes recruiting independent hotels and resorts and signing on new regional corporate booking agents, travel management companies, and OTAs.
Jansen Low, a senior hospitality executive with years of experience in the region, will be heading operations in Asia as vice president for business development, Asia-Pacific.
He was most recently assistant director of sales at Sheraton Macao, Cotai Central.
THE best islands are in South-east Asia and that is not an empty boast, with the region having monopolised TripAdvisor’s list of the top 10 Travellers’ Choice islands in Asia.
Thailand’s Koh Tao was named the number one island in Asia, despite the deaths of two British tourists there last year. It is followed by Bali and Phuket, which were named second and third respectively.
Coming in fourth to 10th place respectively were: Koh Samui, Lombok, Koh Lanta, Koh Phangan, Boracay, Palawan and Langkawi.
Koh Tao and Bali were also among the top 10 islands in the world, placing fifth and seventh respectively.
Topping the list of the world’s best islands was Providenciales in Turks and Caicos, followed by Maui in Hawaii at second place, and Roatan in Honduras at third.
The awards took into consideration over 100 islands worldwide and are based on millions of reviews on TripAdvisor from travellers across the globe. Award winners were determined using an algorithm that took into account the quantity and quality of reviews and ratings for hotels, restaurants and attractions on islands worldwide, gathered over a 12-month period.
