SPECULATION is mounting that the first Sofitel property will be unwrapped this Monday and it will be its newly-created sub-brand, So Sofitel.

And its address? According to sources: 35 Robinson Road.

The tender for the iconic building has been awarded to Royal Group Holdings, which is holding a signing ceremony on October 24. The project is being billed as a “transformation” and “THE address for a trendy cosmopolitan lifestyle”.

Sofitel Luxury Hotels Asia-Pacific senior vice president Markland Blaiklock, who is now based in Singapore, declined to comment.

So Sofitel is a trendy and design-led take on the core Sofitel brand. The first So has opened in Mauritius, while the final touches are being made to the second So, opening in Bangkok early next year.

The Bangkok property is a 30-storey urban design hotel created by a reputable Thai architect and no fewer than five Thai interior designers, with fashion designer Christian Lacroix adding a dash of French elegance.

Sofitel Luxury Hotels is now a separate business unit of the Accor group. In an interview late last year, Blaiklock told TTG Asia he was eager to plug the gaps in key cities such as Singapore and Hong Kong.

Aside from Sofitel and So Sofitel, there is now a Sofitel Legend sub-brand representing properties which have heritage and historical backgrounds.

TTG Asia understands that the iconic railway hotel, Sofitel Centara Grand Resort & Villas, will no longer be managed by Sofitel and is reverting to owner Centara’s management.

– Read more in ITB Asia 2011 Official Daily – Day 2 issue

INDIAN and Chinese luxury travellers are heading for Africa. Nairobi-based Holiday Bazaar, which specialises in wildlife tours and safaris in Kenya, Tanzania, South Africa, Botswana and Namibia, has seen a surge in FIT traffic from Asia-Pacific over the last few years, especially from India and China.

Thus, the sole purpose of Holiday Bazaar’s marketing director, Nishma Shah, here is to target India and China outbound players. She said the two countries had transformed into the company’s top two Asia-Pacific source markets, compared to eight years ago, when there was practically “zero traffic” from these areas.

“Indians are travelling like god knows what. Their middle class, in particular, has a lot of spare cash,” she said. “They also used to be last minute, but now they plan in advance.”

According to Shah, Holiday Bazaar’s FIT traffic from India has “increased by maybe 60 per cent or more” over the last four years. Its customer base from China, on the other hand, has seen a 20 per cent boost over the past two years.

“We cater to a lot of mid- to high-end FITs from India and China,” she said. “They tend to stay in four- to five-star accommodation and their budget is about US$4,000-US$5,000 per pax. Indians stay an average of two weeks, while Chinese stay about 12 days.”

Shah said the burgeoning outbound numbers from Asia-Pacific were in stark contrast to the shrinking travel demand from Europe.

– Read more in ITB Asia 2011 Official Daily – Day 1 issue

MALAYSIA Airlines (MAS) will be taking over the jet services of its subsidiary Firefly –which has been in the news for shutting its Johor Bahru hub with no advance notice (TTG Asia e-Daily, September 30) – by December 4 following heavy losses.

As a result, Firefly’s services from Kuala Lumpur to Kuching and Sibu in Sarawak, to Kota Kinabalu and Sandakan in Sabah, and to Labuan will cease by December 4.

In an internal circular released to employees on Tuesday, the Malaysia Airlines Group said the programme would be undertaken over a two-month period on a sector-by-sector basis.

“It will result in all Firefly jet aircraft being redeployed into Malaysia Airlines’ operations by December 4,” it stated.

Firefly will now concentrate on serving shorthaul turboprop operations to more than 13 destinations in Peninsular Malaysia, Singapore, Sumatra and Koh Samui, while MAS will focus on enhancing its premium full-service offering.

“The takeover of jet services is an important part of Malaysia Airlines Group’s business realignment exercise and is prompted by the need to address network and fleet restructuring plans for shorthaul jet services. With the consolidation of Firefly’s jet operations under the Group, Malaysia Airlines will focus on the business of growing our premium full-service segment,” said MAS Group CEO, Ahmad Jauhari Yahya.

He added: “Malaysia Airlines Group remains committed to Sabah and Sarawak and will continue to operate all services to Kota Kinabalu and Kuching. In addition, MASwings will also continue to operate all flights to the other points within Sabah and Sarawak that are currently being served.”

Firefly’s turboprop operations out of Subang and Penang airports will be strengthened with the recent delivery of two additional turboprop aircraft. These aircraft will enable Firefly to reinstate services between Subang and Kuantan, scheduled for November, and also provide capacity to increase frequency of services on existing routes.

The Malaysia Airlines Group assured passengers it would honour all jet flight seats sold on Firefly. “The Group is committed to minimising the impact of any disruptions to the travel plans of Firefly jet passengers and will reassign all those affected to equivalent flights or better, at no additional cost, to ensure they reach their intended destinations,” according to a statement.

By N. Nithiyananthan

CIRCOS Brand Karma announced yesterday a free social media analytics tool for hotels, allowing managers to both receive and immediately respond to issues about them aired on three online channels: Facebook, Twitter and TripAdvisor.

The tool, Brand Karma Express, picks up mentions on brands or properties and presents them as emails in an inbox. Daily or weekly email notifications are also available.

An in-built feature allows posts to be assigned and sent to relevant employees for follow-up, allowing hotels to integrate social media feedback into their daily operations, explained CEO and co-founder Morris Sim.

Those who want to better diagnose their brand reputation and compare it against their competitors have the option to upgrade to the Brand Karma Standard Edition.

Sim said the company was also working with the Media Development Authority in Singapore to develop a similar analysis tool for local SMEs, which travel agents and other service providers could benefit from.

– Read more in ITB Asia 2011 Official Daily – Day 1 issue

SINGAPORE-based Park Hotel Group (PHG) is poised to reap the rewards of its five-year brand-building programme, with a planned doubling of portfolio in the next five years and an eventual IPO.

Senior vice president Mohd K Rafin would not comment on the IPO, only saying the group aimed to add eight to 10 hotels in the next five years.

Park’s director Allen Law was recently quoted as eyeing a dual listing in Singapore via a REIT (real estate investment trust) and a Hong Kong listing.

Park has been spending S$1.2 million (US$946,000) to S$1.5 million each year from 2007 to 2010, and S$2 million this year – its 50th anniversary – to build brand awareness among consumer and trade.

Separately, it also made strategic acquisitions, including the flagship Grand Park Orchard, and upgraded older properties. The group started with the lone Park Hotel Hong Kong in Tsimshatsui and now operates eight hotels, including three in Singapore, one each in Kunming, Xian and Wuxi, China; and one in Otaru, Japan.

In the past five years, the group also worked to foster a strong corporate culture among staff, culminating in the ongoing branding themed 50 years of loving hospitality. “What it means is, in everything we do – how we treat our customers and staff – we do it with love and passion,” said Rafin. “Corporate culture, leadership and right talent are key to consistency.”

Meanwhile, Rafin said the group was strengthening its sales and marketing by opening three new offices in the Middle East (Dubai or Jeddah), India (New Delhi or Mumbai) and Australia (Sydney).

It has seven regional sales offices now and the three planned openings reflect the markets which are fast growing for its hotels. Currently, its main markets groupwise are Europe, Australia, Japan, South-east Asia, Hong Kong/China and India, according to Rafin.

– Read more in ITB Asia 2011 Official Daily – Day 1 issue

THE GROWING traction of group-buying sites continues to be watched with close interest by the trade, and even online travel agents are feeling the heat.

Citing intense competition from deal sites as a threat to its business, Yatra.com co-founder and CEO, Dhruv Shringi, said the Indian OTA launched its own equivalent microsite, Steal-a-deal, two months ago.

“We don’t want the customer to have the perception that he can get a better deal elsewhere.

“We’re also in discussion with suppliers to make sure they don’t undercut us (when they sell to deal sites),” he said.

Shringi said Indian online players like Snapdeal.com were active in the short-break holiday market. Steal-a-deal publishes 20 to 30 deals a day, also providing an opportunity to manage distressed hotel inventory.

Not wanting to reveal specifics, Shringi would only let on that figures had “tripled month on month”.

He added that the OTA was also trying to grow its offline distribution network over the next 12 months. It currently has between 8,500 and 9,000 travel agent partners, and is working towards an initial target of 20,000.

Interestingly, pilots had been conducted with middle-class housewives, an untapped segment because of the social structure, he said.

“These are currently not travel agents, and we are trying to get them to be our affiliates.”

When asked if Yatra had plans to expand overseas, Shringi said the focus was still to serve the Indian mass market, riding on growth in tier-two and tier-three cities.

“Where there are physical barriers, people will take to online faster,” he said.

Shringi added that the grim economic outlook had not put a dampener on outbound bookings, though Indian inbound was starting to see a slowdown.

– Read more in ITB Asia 2011 Official Daily – Day 1 issue

THE EURO’s depreciation is prompting longhaul buyers such as Agora Occasions US and Van der Vegte Travel Consultancy Netherlands to look at Asia as a possible venue for their conferences and incentives.

Both are at ITB Asia for the first time to test the waters and find possible destinations and venues for clients.

Agora Occasions’ programme manager-government and association contracts, Tisa Nava, said: “My clients usually organise conferences in Europe, but with today’s currency (depreciation), we are looking at possible destinations in the Far East.”

Nava demonstrated that with a US$100,000 budget, conference delegates could get five-star facilities and services such as hotels, tours and restaurants in Asia, which they are not able to enjoy anymore in Europe at current currency rates.

Nava however sees the challenge of getting clients to Asia due to long flight durations.

“You need to have at least two or three stops, and that is tiring and they need to go to a meeting the next morning with jetlag,” she said.

Nevertheless, this is not a dead end, according to Nava. She praises Asian destinations such as Thailand for being proactive in easing the shortcomings.

“Thailand, for example, assists with measures such as speeding up immigration and customs services. Once the delegates get to the hotel, keys are ready, a massage is even offered. This really helps.

“Americans love to be pampered.”

Van der Vegte Travel Consultancy, meanwhile, is handling pharmaceutical conferences and incentives, and is seeing growing interest in Asia among clients.

Managing director Tony van der Vegte said: “They are planning for 2013 programmes and I’m here to find out possible venues and programmes to present to them.”

– Read more in ITB Asia 2011 Official Daily – Day 1 issue

THAILAND is taking a hit from the ongoing flood crisis in the country, with buyers and sellers at ITB Asia saying that media coverage exaggerating the extent of the disaster has impacted both leisure and MICE traffic.

Despite the Tourism Authority of Thailand saying attractions in key destinations such as Bangkok, Pattaya, Hua Hin, Chiangmai, Phuket and Koh Samui continue to operate as per normal, the country’s tourism industry is feeling the effects of the crisis.

Eric Hallin, general manager, Rembrandt Hotel & Towers Bangkok, said his hotel had already suffered “a few hundred roomnights worth of cancellations” by the time he left Thailand to attend ITB Asia. “It will probably be more like in the thousands (of roomnights) over the coming weeks,” he said. “Europe, Asia, business, leisure, you name, it is all being cancelled.”

Hallin added that not only were cancellations pouring in, the booking pace had slowed considerably. “Many people are writing in to ask about the situation before they even consider coming to Thailand,” he said.

John D Owens, senior vice president, global sales, Pegasus Solutions, also reported a drop in bookings for Thailand properties, which include those under Utell Hotels & Resorts.

“People are still shopping around for Thailand, but the number of confirmed bookings has definitely dropped,” he said.

Owens attributed the sudden drop to the lack of updated media coverage on the floods.
“We heard some news about the flood when it first happened, but have received no updates since then,” he explained. “Because of a lack of media coverage and updates, most people don’t know if the situation has recovered, or what’s being done to fix it.”

Ewan Gray, director Asia Pacific, Skyscanner, reported a 19 per cent dip in the number of searches via its websites for international flights into Thailand over the last five days, over the same period in September.

Patrick Lee, regional director, Best Travel Deals Singapore, had to relocate four incentive and meeting groups, scheduled for Bangkok over the next three months, to Jakarta, Bandung and Bali in Indonesia.

“The news is not helping, and clients would rather be safe than sorry. At least business is still there and you don’t lose the groups entirely,” he said.

– Read more in ITB Asia 2011 Official Daily – Day 1 issue