Pauline Ng
SINGAPORE Marriott Hotel has picked Pauline Ng to drive the hotel’s sales and revenue as its director of sales.
In her new role, she will work closely with the hotel’s director of marketing, Elaine Kum, as well as train young talent in the ways on the industry.
Ng first joined industry in 2000 and was last assistant director of sales – MICE at Mandarin Oriental, Singapore.
SINGAPORE Airlines (SIA) has finally inked a memorandum of understanding with Tata Sons for a full-service airline, completing the carrier’s quest for a foothold in India that began almost 20 years ago.
Under the terms of the MoU, Tata will put in US$51 million for a 51 per cent stake in the joint venture, while SIA will invest US$49 million for a 49 per cent stake. A proposal for the new airline, to be based in New Delhi, has been sent to the Foreign Investment Promotion Board for approval.
Tata Industries’ director, Prasad Menon, will helm the airline as chairman, while SIA’s executive vice president, commercial, Mak Swee Wah, has been appointed SIA’s nominee to the board.
Goh Choon Phong, CEO of SIA, said in a media statement: “We have always been a strong believer in the growth potential of India’s aviation sector, and are excited about the opportunity to partner Tata Sons in contributing to the future expansion of the market.”
Analysts believe that the vacuum left by Kingfisher Airlines’ grounding will be filled by the new joint venture airline.
SIA and Tata attempted a joint venture in the 1990s, only to be struck down by the Indian government. However, a recent change in government policy allowing foreign direct investment in aviation paved the way for this latest foray, as well as the formation of AirAsia India (TTG Asia e-Daily, July 4, 2013) and the Etihad Airways-Jet Airways collaboration (TTG Asia e-Daily, December 4, 2012).
Rajendra Churiwala, director – eastern region, IATA Agents Association of India, welcomed news of the joint venture, saying: “Given the cost dynamics of running an airline in India, investors with very deep pockets are needed to keep the aviation industry afloat in India.
“With the high state taxes levied on aviation turbine fuel, it will be a challenge for anyone to carve a healthy bottom line in the business.”
SINGAPORE-BASED LCC Scoot will launch a Hong Kong service on November 15.
The new service will commence five times weekly, to be ramped up to daily in December.
The flight departs Singapore Changi Airport at 01.30 and arrives at Hong Kong International Airport at 05.25. Return flights leave Hong Kong at 06.50 and touch down in Singapore at 10.35, subject to government approval.
Tickets for the new service go on sale from 09.00 on September 23.
IN LINE with the changing demographic of the business traveller, companies are now authorising hotel Wi-Fi as one of the top two ancillary services for their travellers.
According to The real impact of mobile on the corporate travel program by Travelport and the Association of Corporate Travel Executives, hotel Wi-Fi and extra baggage are the two add-on services most commonly allowed by companies, each garnering 57 per cent polled.
Advance boarding (45 per cent), hotel breakfast where breakfast is not included (45 per cent) and flight upgrades (39 per cent) also made the list.
However, of all the companies surveyed, 26 per cent did not allow employees to book any ancillaries for corporate travel trips.
“We are seeing the range of destination services and ancillary options grow increasingly more complex,” said Patrick Andres, vice president and regional managing director Asia-Pacific, Travelport. “Within the ancillary mix, it becomes further segmented by organisations offering options such as upgrades and lounge access only to select groups of employees.”
“Travellers’ needs are evolving. Generation Y and millennials expect customised content, intelligent itineraries and easily bookable ancillary content,” he added.
The report also stated that 39 per cent of companies provide employees with mobile devices for business use, while 51 per cent gave employees the choice of bringing their own device or making use of the company’s mobile phone.
However, 16 per cent of employers around the globe give employees non-smartphone mobile devices. The report notes: “By not providing employees with a smartphone, they have no means to access the Internet or travel apps – making it much harder for (employees) to manage their travel experience.”
Read more on what the new generation of business travellers want in Business meets pleasure by Gracia Chiang
PATA’S regional director – Greater China, Kate Chang, has resigned her position after eight years with the association.
During her tenure with PATA, Chang initiated and launched the China Responsible Tourism Forum and was instrumental in partnering with the Chinese government to host PATA events in China, including the association’s 60th anniversary celebrations in Beijing in 2011, and the 2009 and 2013 editions of PATA Travel Mart.
She has also been in charge of PATA’s tourism development projects covering planning, brand and product development, marketing and crisis management of Chinese destinations in Shanghai, Dalian, Hangzhou and Chengdu.
Chang completes her service with PATA at the end of October 2013, after which she will assume her new role as director of the Los Angeles Tourism & Convention Bureau’s Beijing office.
SIX Senses Qing Cheng Mountain, an upcoming all-suite resort in Chengdu, has attracted steady interest from both domestic and international travellers ahead of its slated opening in May 2014.
The property, which marks the debut of the Six Senses brand in China, will appeal to an increasingly sophisticated Chinese clientele keen to experience the slow living lifestyle, remarked Ricko Zhang, director of sales and marketing at Six Senses Qing Cheng Mountain.
She said: “The Six Senses brand is well-received among the Chinese, many of whom have been to other Six Senses properties in Thailand and the Maldives and are now keen to experience the brand in China.”
Domestic travellers are likely to make up the bulk of guests at Six Senses Qing Cheng Mountain, although the resort has already garnered several FIT bookings from Asia as well as the US for stays from May 2014 onwards, said Zhang. Several Chinese companies have also expressed interest in organising their events at the resort, she added.
Upcoming tradeshows in Asia-Pacific are in the pipeline to drum up awareness of the new property, according to Zhang.
Nestled amid the Qing Cheng Mountain near the UNESCO World Heritage site of Dujiangyan, the resort is home to 111 suites, including 76 Six Senses Suites, 24 Courtyard Suites, six two-bedroom Courtyard Suites, and three two-bedroom Garden Villas and a pair of two-bedroom Pool Villas.
The resort will also offer an all-day restaurant, a Chinese restaurant specialising in Sichuan flavours, a tea lounge and a deli, with fresh produce harvested from the organic gardens sited within the resort.
Recreational facilities include an outdoor swimming pool, an indoor heated pool, a spa, a gym, two tennis courts, a library and bicycles for guests to explore the surroundings, while meeting spaces take diverse formats, from a 20-pax board meeting room to a 200-pax banquet room.
INDIA-BASED Taj Hotels and Resorts, which has been in Sri Lanka since 1983, is expanding its portfolio of three hotels and eyeing investment projects in the country’s emerging north-east region.
The north-east region bore the brunt of a civil war between 1983 and 2009, but has been drawing many tourism investors since the end of the conflict.
“We are looking at existing properties or those under construction to offer (our) input on design,” said Rohit Khosla, area director for Sri Lanka, Taj Hotels and Resorts.
Khosla said the group is planning to focus on managing rather than owning new hotels, and aims to establish three properties in the north-east region with a total of 300 rooms in the first phase of expansion.
Currently the group has three hotels in Sri Lanka – the 300-room Taj Samudra in Colombo, the 162-room Vivanta by Taj at southern Bentota, and the 100-room Gateway Hotel, Airport Garden on the west coast.
Taj’s properties are being given a facelift following Sri Lanka’s tourism boom, and ahead of the biennial Commonwealth Summit in Colombo to be held from November 15 to 17 and attended by 52 heads of state.
The refurbishment of Vivanta by Taj ended last year, while that of Taj Samudra and Gateway Hotel is scheduled to complete next month.
Khosla said the group is upbeat about the potential for tourism, which is rapidly growing.
“While traditional markets have suffered due to the eurozone crisis, emerging markets such as China, India and the Middle East have been the mainstay of the current growth. We are also seeing a slow but definite recovery from Europe,” he said, adding that the Commonwealth Summit was timely as “it helps to spread the word about the new, peaceful Sri Lanka”.
W GUANGZHOU is offering a promotion for meetings until the end of this year.
Mix & Mingle Package, available for half- and full-day meetings, includes use of a studio space, high-speed Internet access, signature mocktails, recess and flower arrangements to complete the lavish ambience.
Mix It Up Package is available for groups that book up to 20 Wonderful rooms for a night’s stay. It includes breakfast, triple Starwood Preferred Planner reward points and unlimited Internet access.
Visit www.WGuangzhou.com for more details.
THE 4th Global Entrepreneurship Summit (GES 2013) in Kuala Lumpur next month will feature a keynote address by US president Barack Obama.
The two-day summit, which was launched in 2009 by the president to spur job creation through entrepreneurship by connecting young innovators with resources and ideas, will be held at Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre from October 11.
Chairperson of the event’s steering committee, Mohd Irwan Serigar Abdullah, who is also the secretary general of treasury at the Ministry of Finance, said there would be at least 93 speakers representing over 90 organisations from more than 26 countries speaking at this year’s summit. Notable speakers include W Chan Kim, co-author of Blue Ocean Strategy and Joel A Barker, futurist and author.
Some 3,500 attendees are expected.
AOS Conventions & Events is the appointed PCO for GES 2013.
HOSTING rights to two healthcare conventions and a youth empowerment conference have been secured by the Malaysia Convention & Exhibition Bureau (MyCEB).
The 9th Asia Pacific Clinical Nutrition Society Conference 2015, jointly organised by the Nutrition Society of Malaysia and Asia Pacific Clinical Nutrition Society, is estimated to attract some 1,000 delegates from Asia between January 26 and 29. This event is projected to contribute approximately RM10 million (US$3 million) in economic impact and RM6 million in visitor expenditure.
Also taking place in 2015 is the Asia Pacific Conference of the Junior Chamber International 2015, organised by the Junior Chamber International, a non-profit organisation with more than 200,000 youths from 100 countries in its membership. The event will take place from May 22-25, 2015 and is expected to generate approximately RM55.8 million in economic impact and RM33.8 million in visitor expenditure.
Malaysia’s third recent MICE win is the five-day Spine Week 2016, which will be hosted from May 16-20. A collaboration of seven societies including the North American Spine Society and the European Section of the Cervical Spine Research, the convention is targeted to yield more than RM57 million in economic impact and RM35 million in visitor expenditure.
