W HOTELS Worldwide has opened its second hotel in China after W Guangzhou in the capital city of Beijing, also its 45^th hotel internationally.

Situated on Chang’an Avenue, W Beijing – Chang’an is close to many of Beijing’s important monuments and buildings such as the Forbidden City and Tiananmen Square.

The hotel consists of 349 rooms and suites with rooms containing a digital tablet that manipulates the room’s lighting and mood, while suites sport a JBL home theatre system and Bose portable speakers.

W Beijing – Chang’an also has a common area, the Living Room which features a LED-lit catwalk that leads to a bar and a DJ booth hanging from the ceiling.

For F&B options, guests can choose between X25, a lounge with DJs mixing beats and serving handcrafted cocktails, YEN, a Chinese restaurant that serves Canton province fare, and the Kitchen Table which serves casual, home-style food.

Amenities in the hotel include 1,500m² of space to hold events and meetings; noteworthy would be The Great Room which is 518m² with a ceiling height of 7m. The hotel also houses a spa, fitness centre and a heated indoor pool.

Within the next five years, W Hotels is on track to open seven more properties in Changsha, Chengdu, Shanghai, Suzhou, Sanya and Shenyang. They will join Starwood Hotels and Resorts’ growing portfolio of hotels in China.

W Beijing – Chang’an is offering special rates to celebrate its opening from November 1, 2014 to April 30, 2015. More information available at www.whotels.com/beijing

AMAN Tokyo, the brand’s first city property and also its first hotel in Japan, is set to open on December 22.

Located on the top six floors of the recently built Otemachi Tower, the 84-unit hotel overlooks the financial district of Otemachi.

The centrepiece of the hotel’s lobby, soaring nearly 30m high, is an architectural feature resembling the interior of a paper lantern which rises six floors through the centre of the building, diffusing sunlight during the day to illuminate the lobby while at night, the ambience evolves via a series of orchestrated lighting scenes.

Aman Tokyo will also have three F&B options for guests to choose from: The Café by Aman which sells Mediterranean-inspired fare featuring the hotel’s signature sake; The Lounge by Aman, offering drinks and snacks; and fine-dining The Restaurant by Aman, serving Asian- and Japanese-inspired dishes.

The hotel also houses a glass fronted walk-in wine cellar that has over 1,200 wines. A Cigar Lounge and a Resident’s Library that includes books on Japanese art and culture is also available.

Aman Tokyo’s rooms and suites all contain a deep soaking tub, which is a core part of the Japanese ritural of bathing. The 71m² Deluxe Rooms are the largest entry-level rooms in the city, followed by the Premier Rooms and the Suites which start at 141m².

Over two floors of space have also been used to house wellness facilities which includes a fitness centre, a yoga studio, a pilates studio, a swimming pool and traditional japanese hot baths.

Guests will also find on site an inner garden, an Aman Spa and a swimming pool.

Vladislav Doronin, majority shareholder at Aman, said: “Aman Tokyo is the first of a new generation of Aman properties in cities that appeal to discerning luxury consumers such as New York, London, Paris and Singapore, where we are already in active discussions.”

STAR Cruises’ SuperStar Aquarius has introduced three new itineraries for its second-ever season deployment to Kota Kinabalu that began this month.

Moving from Taiwan’s Keelung port, the ship will be homeported in Malaysia for the winter season spanning November 2014 and March 2015 as the only international cruise line to homeport a ship in Kota Kinabalu.

For this period, SuperStar Aquarius offers one-night weekday and weekend cruises, two-night high seas cruises on alternate weeks, and a 4D3N cruise to Puerto Princesa on Palawan Island, Philippines.

SuperStar Aquarius was last stationed at Kota Kinabalu from November 6, 2013 to March 30, 2014.

Ang Moo Lim, executive vice president, sales, marketing and hotels of Genting Hong Kong, the owning company of Star Cruises, said the variety of itineraries provide options to clients with different budgets and schedules.

Star Cruises senior vice president sales, Michael Goh, said he is aiming to have 30 per cent of SuperStar Aquarius’ passengers come from the business events segment and the rest from leisure.

Pang Yuk Ming, assistant minister of tourism, culture and environment, Sabah, said: “The clientele who chooses to cruise are from the middle and upper income brackets, thus their spending power is big.”

Mohd Rafy Atan, manager, corporate account at Popular Express Travel based in Kota Kinabalu, said SuperStar Aquarius would generate more awareness and interest in cruising among the local population, for whom cruising is a new option.

Ganneesh Ramaa, manager, Luxury Tours Malaysia added that this is a new product for Sabah, which is known for soft adventure and beautiful beaches.

He added: “We will promote the (ship’s) itineraries as well as pre-and post tours in Kota Kinabalu and its surroundings. It is a good product for the Indian market who likes to cruise, but in the past it has always been difficult to persuade them to visit Borneo. This cruise may do that.”

THE Indonesian Hotel and Restaurant Association is urging the government to review its order for all official meetings to be held in offices rather than hotels.

The move hurts hotels especially in regions where government meetings contribute 40-50 per cent of business.

Yanti Sukamdani, association chairman, said: “Hotel business is an agent of economic development in a region. Hotel and restaurant sectors contributed up to Rp50 trillion (US$4.2 billion) of tax revenue in 2012, the second biggest source after oil and gas.

“The government has set a high target of 20 million international arrivals and 75 million domestic travellers. One of the sectors that will contribute to this is MICE.”

As part of efforts to trim the state budget, Indonesian president Joko Widodo (Jokowi) instructed government officials to hold meetings on their own premises instead of hotels.

Hariyadi Sukamdani, IHRA vice chairman, said that while the new regulation creates the impression that hotel meetings are wasted expenditure, this was not necessarily the case. “Out-of-town participants still need to stay in a hotel and need transport to travel to and from the government offices. Is it really (cost- and time-) efficient?

Meanwhile Indonesia’s vice president, Jusuf Kalla, last week reiterated the need to cut unnecessary expenses and maximise existing assets in organising meetings. “A meeting with 100 participants does not need to take place in a conference hall or a hotel,” he said.

However, he commented: “Of course, if the meeting is big, for example, the minister of internal affairs is conducting a meeting with governors, mayors and regency heads from around the country for 1,000 people, and the office does not have a venue to fit, then they can hold the meeting outside the office.”

TOURISM New Zealand (TNZ) is eyeing a bigger share of Indian arrivals, and is banking on the ICC Cricket World Cup 2015 and a new visa arrangement for corporate travellers to do so.

The NTO has partnered India’s travel agencies such as Cutting Edge Events, Fanatic Sports, Sports Konnect and TUI-ICE to sell event packages, as well as recruited New Zealand cricket captain Stephen Fleming to participate in promotions in India.

David Craig, general manager Asia, TNZ, said: “We expect high double-digit growth from India after the World Cup. We are looking to tap youth, family and MICE segments.”

TNZ expects to attract 10,000-15,000 Indian arrivals during the tournament, which is co-hosted by neighbouring Australia and starts in February.

Separately, Tourism NZ is easing visa applications for Indian business travellers. Joining hands with six travel agencies – namely Thomas Cook India, Kuoni India, TUI-Le Passage to India, Cox & Kings, Zenith Leisure Holidays and Club7 Holidays – in an MoU last week, the one-year scheme came into effect on November 6.

Visa processing now takes three days, and existing requirements to provide evidence of funds and employment are to be satisfied via a letter of support from the travel consultant.

Naveen Rizvi, senior vice president – India & head, TUI-Le Passage to India, said: “This effort will showcase New Zealand as a stand-alone dstination rather than a combination with Australia, for MICE and events.”

From September 2013 to September 2014, New Zealand recorded 35,000 Indian arrivals, up 17 per cent year-on-year.

EMIRATES Wolgan Valley Resort & Spa in the Greater Blue Mountains World Heritage Area in Australia will be rebranded a One&Only property, a coup for the Kerzner International brand but a possible death-knell for Emirates Hotels & Resorts, the airline’s hotel subsidiary which has not been making headway on its intention to expand globally.

Emirates Hotels & Resorts’ website, emirateshotelsresorts.com, has been rerouted to the Emirates Wolgan Valley website. Earlier, Emirates’ Al Maha Desert Resort & Spa, the forerunner conservation project from which the Wolgan property took a leaf, was also spun off to Starwood Hotels & Resorts’ The Luxury Collection.

Emirates could not be contacted for comment at press time on whether it has disbanded Emirates Hotels & Resorts.

In a press statement regarding the rebranding, Emirates Airline’s president, Tim Clark, said: “We are proud of all that the resort has achieved, but now we feel that it is time to work with a partner to expand the Wolgan experience and take the resort to new heights. We are confident that Kerzner International, under the One&Only brand, is the perfect partner for Emirates Wolgan Valley Resort & Spa. They not only have the same high service quality standards that we demand of ourselves, but are also innovation-driven, and most importantly, they share the same vision for the resort as we do.”

Clark added: “I recall all the support that we received in Australia – from the federal government down to the grassroots – when we first conceptualised and began operations in Wolgan Valley. I would like to reassure all stakeholders that the conservation and community principles that the resort began with, will stay unchanged.

“Although we will no longer directly manage the resort, Emirates remains firmly committed to Australia, and we will continue to do our part to support tourism through our flights that link Australia to major cities around the world, and our sponsorship of key attractions such as the symphony orchestras, and iconic events such as the Emirates Melbourne Cup.”

The move brings the number of properties One&Only manages in Australia to two, following the successful rebirth of One&Only Hayman Island in July. The Wolgan rebrand will be from early 2015. Emirates will continue to retain full ownership of the resort.