HOTELS G will open six properties under its lifestyle brand Hotel G within the next three years, part of the Hong Kong-based hospitality management group’s expansion and development plans.

This year, the company will open Hotel G San Francisco in October and the high-end serviced apartment Residence G in Hong Kong, towards year-end.

Residence G Shenzhen and Hotel G Suzhou will debut in 2014, while Hotel G Guangzhou and Residence G Pattaya in Thailand will open in 2015. Hotels G has a further three more projects in the pipeline, located in Shanghai, Seoul and Taipei.

“We are targeting a gap in the market for young, savvy travellers and guests who are keen on design and looking for cutting-edge experiences…There are many standardised international hotel brands and local brands, but nothing like us in between,” Christophe Vielle, CEO, Hotels G, said.

“Our guests are mainly aged between 25 and 60, working in the media, design, architecture, fashion and entertainment industries, looking for different atmospheres, concepts, services and experiences that match their lifestyles,” he added.

According to Vielle, while Asia is a major point of interest, the group intends to grow the Hotel G brand internationally in destinations such as Europe and the US, which has seen demand for lifestyle properties continue to climb.

TRAVEL demand for China and South Korea, two traditionally popular destinations for the Malaysian school holiday period that begins today, has fared poorly this year, according to outbound tour operators.

Malaysian Harmony Tours & Travel CEO, Cooper Huang, has seen a 30 per cent year-on-year drop for China, with some clients who had booked packages before the H7N9 avian flu reports changing destinations. Bookings for South Korea were also down by 20 per cent due to tensions between North and South Korea.

On the other hand, tours to Europe grew 30 per cent as airlines dangled competitive fares.

Likewise, Abdul Rahman Mohamed, deputy general manager, channel management, Mayflower Acme Tours, said outbound travel to China and South Korea had fallen 20 per cent.

“We’ve had cancellations or deferments for China. With South Korea, I think the hype is over. Malaysians are no longer romanticising about South Korea. I think this is the main reason, rather than tensions between North and South Korea.”

Sedunia Travel Services’ business development manager, Gary Oh, also saw slow pick up for the two countries, but noted increased demand for neighbouring destinations such as Thailand, Singapore and Indonesia.

However, Malacca-based Bel Travel & Tours managing director, Goh Hock Gin, said the H7N9 bird flu reports in the media had not affected demand and noted that growth in bookings for Greater China tour packages had climbed by 10 per cent year-on-year on promotional airfares. Bookings for customised tours, especially from repeat travellers, were also rising.

Furthermore, demand to South Korea increased “easily by 20 per cent”. Goh attributed strong sales of 4D/3N family packages to AirAsia X’s affordable airfares, saying North-South Korean tensions had not affected his sales.

THE Hong Kong Tourism Board (HKTB) is investing more to bait the “new white collar” travellers and families from the growing Indonesian outbound market.

HKTB executive director, Anthony Lau, said: “We have put resources (into) marketing Hong Kong in Indonesia. We have appointed a director of projects for Indonesia, an Indonesian representative and launched our Bahasa Indonesia website.”

Future plans include a programme on Jakarta radio beginning next week and a treasure hunt, where the winner will travel to Hong Kong to compete against others in the next round.

Speaking to Indonesian outbound travel consultants during the HKTB/Cathay Pacific Airways fam tour in Hong Kong recently, Lau said he wanted Hong Kong to be a top-of-mind destination for Indonesia’s young, who have the money to travel. He added that Hong Kong would continue to meet the needs of Muslim travellers with more halal-certified restaurants.

Indonesian arrivals to Hong Kong in 2012 numbered 500,000, and grew 16 per cent year-on-year between January and April 2013. In comparison, Hong Kong’s overall footfalls for the first four months of this year grew only two to three per cent.

He said the market was likely to grow further should airlines boost Hong Kong-Indonesia services, while the SAR would add between 10,000-12,000 rooms by next year, mostly in the three- and four-star categories.

THE one-day shut down by travel agencies across India early this month in protest against airlines’ zero commission policy is yielding small seeds of hope, with movements in the trade suggesting that both government and trade stakeholders are addressing the situation.

Two days after the nation-wide protest, (TTG Asia e-Daily, May 7, 2013) the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) met with Iqbal Mulla and Sunil Kumar, president and honorary secretary general respectively of the Travel Agents Association of India (TAAI), the body behind the May 7 movement.

The DGCA promised to act as an intermediary and has since approached India’s Ministry of Civil Aviation, while TAAI and the Travel Agents Federation of India are holding off appeals to the Supreme Court against the ruling that airlines were not to charge a transaction fee in any form.

TAAI and TAFI have also convened with Jet Airways’ chairman, Naresh Goyal, who has appointed two key senior officials to sort out the commission issue. Jay Bhatia, chairman – Western region, TAAI, said that Goyal “promised to work out a viable solution” to the situation.

Jet Airways has also assured consultants that web parity would be maintained so that online fares offered by the carrier would not undercut those sold by consultants.

Separately, SpiceJet has reinstated its one per cent annual productivity bonus for travel consultants, which was withdrawn on May 1.

However, the protest has not stopped Air India and Jet Airways from unbundling their services on May 13. Free baggage allowances were cut and excess baggage tariff was increased.

Some have also been unsympathetic to the cause. Mario M Hardy, vice president – Asia-Pacific, UBM Aviation, said: “In North America and Europe, practices of airlines paying commissions stopped a long time ago…The smart (agencies) will adapt, the ones that don’t will just disappear.”

The protest took place during the peak travel month for India and saw about 2,500 IATA and 10,000-12,000 non-IATA travel agencies keeping their shutters down to show support. Confirmed losses for IATA airlines in Mumbai alone stood at Rs2.25-2.45 million (US$40.5-44.1 million).

By Renuka Vijay Kumar

DESPITE visa challenges, a lack of French NTO presence and no direct flights, France’s charms have not worn off for Indonesia as travel consultants report growing demand for the European destination.

Elok Tour managing director, Pauline Suharno, said Paris was “still a favourite” destination for Indonesian travellers.

Genta Tours’ owner, Dharmawan Rahardja, pointed out: “Many travellers, who have visited Paris as part of a Europe tour, come back again, spending a few days just in France to see more of the country…The destination has also attracted incentives.”

Paris Convention and Visitors Bureau (CVB) managing director, Paul Roll, called Indonesia a discrete market, as it had grown significantly despite obstacles. “Four years ago, we tried to bring a Parisian delegation to Indonesia but we failed (because there was not enough interest from the industry). This year, we came with Parisian companies led by large department stores (Printemps and Galeries Lafayette).”

“Indonesian tour operators and retailers have told us their market (to France) has been growing 20 per cent (in the last couple of years). Value added tax (receipts) has shown double-digit growth and the department stores list Indonesia (as a) top 10 (source market). All this shows that the Indonesian market is growing well,” he explained.

The CVB estimates Indonesians accounted for 65,000 arrivals last year, out of the total 29 million arrivals to Paris.

Asked if the CVB had a target for Indonesian arrivals, Roll said the bureau would focus on quality not quantity. “Paris is a small city and we want to keep the city lively, so we don’t want a city (full of) tourists and no locals. It is a challenge to develop business while at the same time preserving our personality…We want visitors that fit our culture, prices and what we have to offer.”

Meanwhile, Elok Tour’s Pauline said: “The one thing we would like from the French government is to facilitate travellers’ needs by easing the visa application process at the Jakarta embassy.”

CEBU Pacific (CEB) has announced it will commence a new thrice-weekly direct service linking Manila and Phuket on August 16.

Phuket-bound flights depart at 20.00 and arrive at 23.00, while return flights leave Phuket at midnight and arrive in the capital of the Philippines at 05.05.

Phuket will become CEB’s second Thai destination after Bangkok, where CEB operates 12 weekly flights from Manila and twice-weekly flights out of Cebu and Clark.

CEB is also slated to launch Cebu-Masbate flights on June 1, Cebu-Taipei flights on July 5, and its first longhaul service between Manila and Dubai on October 7.

CHINA’S Shanghai Jin Jiang International Hotels is debuting in the Philippines with two Jin Jiang Inns in prime Metro Manila locations, due to launch by 2014.

The 95-room Jin Jiang Inn Ortigas, located beside Richmonde Hotel in the Ortigas CBD and shopping area, will open this year while the 70-room Jin Jiang Inn Greenbelt will open in late 2014 opposite New World Makati Hotel at the Makati CBD and shopping centre.

Oishi snacks manufacturer Liwayway Group, Injap Investments and Simon Paz Steniel Realty and Development own the two properties.

Oliver Rey-Matias, vice president of Liwayway Group, said the two budget hotels would be marketed to Chinese and domestic travellers as “value-for-money boutique business hotels near the CBD” and noted that guestrooms would not be “the usual Spartan kind”.

“Long-term, we expect tourists from South-east Asia and China. They are getting richer, have (higher) disposable incomes and want to travel often. We see the Philippines as an alternative to Phuket, Hainan and Vietnam,” he added.

Rey-Matias shared that there have been applications from several investors in the provinces of the Philippines to franchise the brand. Local company CSI Hotels is the master franchisor of Jin Jiang Inn in the Philippines.

“Once the Jin Jiang Inns are operational and we feel there is a demand for an upmarket hotel, then we will consider adding a Jin Jiang Hotel,” he said, referring to Jin Jiang’s five-star brand.

Asked why the Chinese hotel company chose to establish in the Philippines, Rey-Matias remarked that it could be because Jin Jiang is familiar with Liwayway Group, which has had snack factories in Shanghai since the early 1990s.

SWISSÔTEL Hotels & Resorts has secured a contract with Shaanxi Puyu Industrial for the management of Swissôtel Xi’an, which will begin welcoming guests in 2016.

The 350-room hotel will be situated in the business area within the Xi’an National Civil Aerospace Industrial Base that will boast over 300,000 residences and more than 30 medium to large-scale enterprises when completed.

Guestrooms at Swissôtel Xi’an will range from 40m²-50m² and offer four restaurants, function and banqueting space and recreational facilities, including a Purovel Spa.

“This is a welcome addition to our current portfolio in China, and will complement our upcoming projects in Chengdu, Changsha and Sanya. Xi’an is a strategic step in our plans and puts us on track with our goals to expand in emerging markets,” said Meinhard Huck, president, Swissotel Hotels & Resorts.