MINOR Hotel Group is focusing on building its footprint within Asia, Africa and the Middle East with a key focus on expanding city properties, said William Heinecke, CEO and chairman of Minor International.

While the company last December announced plans to double its size within five years, it currently does not intend to move into traditional western markets.

“Growth for us is international now,” said Heinecke. “We’re already the largest hotel company in Thailand. But we’re remaining focused. We’re not trying to go to Europe. We’re not trying to go to America. We’ve always said it’s (expansion) about scale.

“If you’d asked me three years ago if we’d go into Australia, I’d have said ‘no’. We didn’t have scale back then. We needed 40 to 50 hotels to get the tipping point, which we did through acquiring Oaks (Hotels & Resorts).”

City hotels are the fastest-growing segment for the group, which has more than 80 properties. Anantara is slated to open its first Dubai property this month with two Avani properties due to come online before the year-end.

Anantara recently acquired a property in Siem Reap, Cambodia, marking the brand’s first foray into the country. However, the group is adopting a wait-and-see strategy for Myanmar.

“There’s a huge rush into Myanmar now. The prices are astronomical and no one really knows how it’s going to pan out with the laws,” said Heinecke.

Meanwhile, Anantara has signed a deal to manage a five-star luxury resort in Tangalle in southern Sri Lanka, offering 154 keys including private villas with their own plunge pools. Due to open in February 2015, the name of the US$40 million property has not been finalised.

Back in Thailand, Heinecke said intense competition in Bangkok’s hotel market, especially at the high end, is healthy but hoteliers need to ensure they deliver value to raise rates in the long term.

He said he was “confident” of getting high rates in destinations such as Chiang Rai and Chiang Mai, where costs were much lower.

Additional reporting by Feizal Samath

AGORA Fukuoka Hilltop Hotel & Spa marked its grand opening on September 1 and is now welcoming guests.

Perched on a hilltop in downtown Fukuoka and 30 minutes from Fukuoka Airport, the 48-key hotel offers a panoramic view of the city, a post-modernist design and Japanese-style tatami mat rooms.

The property boasts natural hot spring baths on the third floor, a fitness room, a library and the Hilltop Spa, run by world-class spa manager Kazuko Sendo who has worked for overseas companies such as Six Senses Hotels Resorts Spas.

Within hotel grounds are also the Hilltop Suite where guests can receive spa treatments on an open-air sun deck; the multi-purpose The Marcus Square Fukuoka including a bar, two wedding chapels, and event spaces able to accommodate between 90 and 250 guests; and F&B options Garden Restaurant K and Koyomi, which serves Japanese cuisine.

Agora Fukuoka Hilltop Hotel & Spa is the eighth facility in the Agora Hotel Alliance and fourth Agora brand hotel. Other Agora brand hotels are Agora Regency Sakai and Hotel Agora Osaka Moriguchi, both in Osaka, and Agora Place Asakusa in Tokyo.

CARLTON Properties (Singapore) has opened its second hotel in the Lion City and is seeing “satisfying” demand from corporate travellers, a segment the new Carlton City Hotel Singapore is keen on.

Within the first few days of its soft opening on August 5, the 386-room upscale business hotel in the Tanjong Pagar business district saw more than 100 rooms occupied, according to general manager Mark Bulmer.

“It is difficult to define how occupancy has been since our soft opening, as our rooms are coming online progressively. However, we are impressed with the speed at which bookings are picking up along the way. There is now a steady flow of business from the offices nearby.

“All facilities are open, and by the end of this week we will have 300 rooms operational,” said Bulmer.

Bulmer believes that the hotel’s prime location and inventory of “functional and good-sized rooms compared with other new hotels in Singapore” will win the favour of business travellers.

The hotel’s Deluxe, Executive and Carlton Club rooms all measure 32m², while the Carlton Suite offers 64m² of space. A three-metre high ceiling further enhances the spaciousness of all rooms. Besides presenting clear views of the harbour or the city through large windows, the rooms are also furnished with plush carpets, quality bedding, a large work desk with an ergonomic chair, a roomy bathroom with a separate bath and standing shower.

Complimentary Wi-Fi across the hotel is available to all guests.

Other facilities include a stylish Club Lounge on the 28^th floor, four dining outlets including a rooftop bar that is available for private event hire, and an outdoor pool with a Jacuzzi.

“I would like to see 75 per cent of the business coming from corporates. Although we will primarily target the offices around the central business district, Singapore is small so we will also reach out to offices elsewhere in the country,” he said, adding that his team has been working with travel consultants to garner weekend bookings from leisure FITs.

Jacqueline Ho, director of sales and marketing with the hotel, said: “Although the hotel is in a business district, it is a short walk to the train station (Tanjong Pagar MRT Station) and close to Chinatown. This location is gaining popularity among leisure travellers.”

Bulmer also expects the hotel to do well during the coming F1 race season, which will see Deluxe rooms going for S$350++ to S$400++ per night. This compares with the current opening promotion corporate rate of S$258++, inclusive of breakfast.

TOURISM Malaysia has set its sights on the relatively untapped Middle East market, having identified tourists from this region as notching the highest spend and staying the longest at an average of 8.1 nights.

Mirza Mohammad Taiyab, director-general of Tourism Malaysia, said the Middle East market has huge potential for growth. According to projections by the United Nations World Tourism Organization, outbound travellers from the Middle East will soar from 38 million tourists in 2010 to 57 million in 2020 and 81 million by 2030.

In light of such a favourable outlook, the NTO is aiming to draw 295,000 Middle East arrivals this year and 332,000 next year.

Mirza said Tourism Malaysia’s ongoing campaign in the Middle East, Feel At Home, has mobilised the private sector in the construction of more residential accommodation for Arab families.

“Some opened restaurants serving Middle Eastern cuisine, while others created special events such as the Arab Cultural Week during the peak Middle East travel period which coincides with the summer holidays.

“To showcase the moderate face of Muslim Malaysia, homestay programmes are promoted to this market as it provides tourists to Malaysia with an insight into the authentic way of life in a typical village and they get to stay with a Muslim family. This programme fosters a greater understanding of Malaysians and closer relations between the host family and guest,” he explained.

He also remarked that the NTO’s Malaysia Truly Asia brand has been a success as it has made tourists, regardless of faith or sexual orientation, feel comfortable about visiting Malaysia, knowing that they would be accepted and not discriminated during their time there.

Tourism Malaysia’s other promotion efforts in the region include the presence of offices in Dubai, Jeddah and Tehran, and participation at the annual Arabian Travel Market.