HOTEL Clover 33 Jalan Sultan will debut in the Singapore market by 3Q2014, offering a total of 88 rooms housed within a row of 17 two-storey shophouses.

Close to Singapore’s vibrant Bugis district, the hotel boasts a rich, dark brown colour palette for a rustic feel with additional quirky touches. It offers six categories starting with the Select Queen to the top-end Garden King Suite.

All rooms and suites come with free mini bar, coffee- and tea-making facilities, and unlimited local calls and Internet access.

Facilities at the hotel include a gym, a lounge on the ground floor and the all-day dining restaurant Clover Garden.

ASIA-Pacific hotels turned in an uneven report card for the first half of 2014 – occupancy increased marginally, while average daily rate (ADR) and RevPAR dropped when calculated in US dollars.

According to STR Global’s figures, occupancy rose 0.9 per cent to 66.9 per cent. However, average daily rate (ADR) fell 3.1 per cent to US$118 and RevPAR decreased 2.3 per cent to US$78.90.

Despite Asia-Pacific’s positive occupancy growth, occupancy in South-east Asia fell 4.7 per cent, driven by Thailand. However, ADR in South-east Asia increased by 6.5 per cent.

Elizabeth Winkle, managing director of STR Global, said: “Asia-Pacific is such a diverse region that there is a lot of occurring from a political and/or economic perspective. While growth is muted, the region is still reporting increases in the three key performance industry metrics for the first six months of the year, when measured in US dollars in constant currency (converted with the exchange rate as of January 31, 2014).”

Solely looking at the month of June and calculated in constant currency, occupancy in Asia-Pacific dropped 1.4 per cent to 66.4 per cent. ADR crept up 0.5 per cent to US$112.44 and RevPAR inched downward 0.9 per cent to US$74.61.

Auckland posted the biggest leap in ADR, jumping 20.7 per cent to US$122.90. Bali reported the only double-digit ADR decrease, falling 10.5 per cent to US$126.50.

In terms of RevPAR, three achieved growth of more than 10 per cent namely Auckland (37.6 per cent), Shanghai (15.5 per cent) and Osaka (11.2 per cent).

Thailand continued to see a fallout from the political crisis, with Bangkok (-39.3 per cent) and Phuket (-20.8 per cent) registering the largest RevPAR decreases within Asia-Pacific.

THE IATA Agents Association of India (IAAI) and Enterprising Travel Agents Association (ETAA) are setting up a joint working committee, which would address issues facing the trade such as airline commissions and service taxes.

With each association fielding three members, Rajendra Churiwala, director-eastern region, IAAI, explained: “We wish to set an example in the travel trade in India that individual agendas of various associations do not supercede the higher good of the industry. Each stakeholder’s concerns and problems must be represented and addressed. We need unity, and IAAI and ETAA are leading by example.”

Biji Eapen, president of IAAI, added: “We are also planning to interlink IAAI and ETAA websites. This will help leverage the membership pool of both associations.”

Eapen also revealed that IAAI will hold its annual convention in New Delhi in February 2015, but the two associations may propose a joint event instead.

INDIA’S skies could get more competitive with the entry of six new airlines, which are lining up for lift off within the year after receiving approval from the Ministry of Civil Aviation.

The six include: the New Delhi-based Zexus Air and Air One Aviation, the latter already runs charter operations with business jets and helicopters; Premier Air, to operate out of Bengaluru; Hyderabad-based Turbo Megha that now operates charter flights; Air Carnival from the south; and Zav Airways that will offer services from the relatively untapped region of the north-east.

The airlines must now obtain air operators’ certificates from the Directorate General of Civil Aviation before beginning services.

Anil Kumar, managing director of Acma Travel Tours Bengaluru, commented: “Smaller airlines with lower overhead costs will rationalise air fares, bringing sanity to the highly fluctuating market. There must be parity and value-for-money offers (from these airlines) to stabilise a rocky aviation industry.”

Padmini Narayanan, managing director of Akshaya India Tours & Travels Chennai, said: “Indian aviation needs more airlines both at the national as well as the regional level. Many smaller cities have airports that are unutilised or grossly underused. Business travel is growing exponentially and these sectors have sufficient demand to fill planeloads.”

CARLSON Wagonlit Travel (CWT) will integrate a score-keeping functionality to its mobile app CWT To Go in order to encourage corporate travellers to adhere to company travel policy.

Travel Gamification is a game-style loyalty scheme for companies in which employees earn points for compliance and track their position on the company’s gamification leader board.

Joel Wartgow, senior director, CWT Solutions Group, Americas, said in a press release: “Travel Gamification is a tool travel managers can use to positively reinforce behaviour compliant with their travel programme. Providing travellers access to the tool via CWT To Go will help them understand the impact of their purchasing decisions, providing travel managers further opportunity to educate and influence their travelers to support the goals of their travel programme.”

Each company’s Travel Gamification programme is customised to the client’s needs.

Wartgow added: “As supplier pricing appears likely to increase through 2014, it’s more important than ever for travel managers to find innovative solutions to drive savings. With Travel Gamification now available and optimised for CWT To Go, we are offering even more ways for companies to encourage traveller buying behaviours that will drive programme performance.”

HOSPITALITY and restaurant group Samadhi Retreats has signed a long-term management agreement to brand and manage The Blue Mansion, A Cheong Fatt Tze Legacy.

The boutique hotel is one of three heritage buildings in Penang to have won awards from UNESCO. It was built by renowned Chinese tycoon Cheong Fatt Tze just before the turn of the 20^th century.

Under the helm of Samadhi Retreats, The Blue Mansion’s 18 rooms have been restored to reflect the tycoon’s opulent lifestyle. Each room is individually themed and furnished with luxurious amenities alongside precious heirlooms from the family’s private collection.

A new addition to The Blue Mansion is the Cheong Fatt Tze Restaurant, serving modern Cantonese cuisine. Other facilities include a swimming pool surrounded by Chinese gardens, and a Samadhi Spa.

The Blue Mansion will be the group’s third property in Malaysia after Japamala Resort Tioman Island, a 13-chalet jungle-luxe resort that opened in 2004, and Villa Samadhi, a 21-room urban retreat in Kuala Lumpur that opened in 2011.

Samadhi Retreats is poised to open a fourth hotel, a 22-room colonial escape in Singapore’s Labrador Park, at the end of 2014. This will be the company’s first hospitality foray outside Malaysia.

Federico Asaro, founder and owner of Samadhi Retreats, said in a press release: “Samadhi Retreats is thrilled to be associated with The Blue Mansion, which holds great cultural value and is such an integral piece of Penang’s historical fabric. Its iconic status makes it a perfect match with Samadhi Retreats properties, which are identified by their unique locations that are true to its strong sense of place.”