SINGAPORE will welcome a second Sofitel hotel next year, the result of yet another partnership between Accor and Royal Group after the soon-to-open Sofitel So Singapore.

At a press conference last week, the partners announced that Royal Group’s newly purchased 215-key property on Sentosa island – formerly a Beaufort hotel that has temporarily been renamed The Singapore Resort & Spa Sentosa – will be rebranded Sofitel Singapore Sentosa Resort & Spa in 2H2015 (TTG Asia e-Daily, March 28, 2014).

Phased refurbishment of the property has commenced, with the existing Spa Botanica now closed for the purpose and to later reopen as So Spa, featuring 14 treatment rooms, six outdoor spa pavilions and a spa garden.

Tony Chisholm, general manager of The Singapore Resort & Spa Sentosa, told TTG Asia e-Daily the property will offer 1,300m2 of dedicated conferencing venues including two ballrooms, six meeting rooms for 20 to 400 people, as well as outdoor spaces for teambuilding activities and special dinners.

“MICE business will be well catered for with two refurbished ballrooms and a brand new pre-function room,” said Chisholm (TTG Asia e-Daily, March 18, 2014).

Asked what markets the property is targeting, he said: “We are a popular choice for guests from Australia, Japan, the UK and Russia. This constitutes more than 70 per cent in terms of nationality mix. Singapore is also one of our major source markets for staycations, especially during the holidays. About 40 per cent of our guests are here for business.

“During the week the hotel will predominantly focus on meetings and events, and on weekends it will target Singapore staycation guests as well as the leisure markets from across Asia-Pacific and the world.”

Chisholm added that Accor hotels in Singapore finished 2013 with 90 per cent occupancy and started 2014 well.

“Hotel supply will increase in Singapore this year but Singapore Tourism Board has set a target of five to eight per cent growth in visitor arrivals and we are starting to see some growth in business travel, so we believe 2014 will be a good year for hotels,” he said.

Bobby Hiranandani, Royal Group managing director, told TTG Asia e-Daily: “Choosing to work with Accor to bring Sofitel to Singapore is an important step for us and for Accor. We plan to contribute in providing tourists travelling to Singapore a differentiated luxury experience that borrows a lot of inspiration from the French cultural DNA.”

LOMBOK’S star is on the ascent with new airlines launching flights to the island, and a slew of hotel and commercial developments to spring up over the coming years.

Hospitality investment firm Tourism Solutions International (TSI) has predicted that room inventory in Lombok will double to 4,500 rooms by 2022 with international developers leading the boom.

TSI noted that upscale accommodations that opened within the last two years have been able to achieve the average occupancy rates on the market fairly quickly without compromising RevPAR growth. International arrivals have grown over 140 per cent between 2012 and 2013, quoted TSI.

Northwest Lombok is expected to be the development hotspot over the next two to three years due to existing restaurants and other support businesses. It also boasts convenient proximity to the Gili Islands, Mount Rinjani and other attractions that make the area a viable tourist destination.

TSI also foresees the Gili Islands off northwest Lombok experiencing an increase in hotel product and the redevelopment of existing hotel stock.

Luxury Spirit Resort and Royal Kamuela Resort should open next year, while three older hotels on Mangsit beach have been sold and will be redeveloped into upscale properties. The former Santi Resort will be launched this year.

However, within the next 10 years, TSI anticipates that the southern Lombok area will surpass the northwest in number of new hotel rooms.

The Mandalika project has finally gotten off the ground (TTG Asia e-Daily, October 23, 2013) and south Lombok will see new hotels opening by 2018. The southern islands are also expected to be a significant draw for investors.

Meanwhile, a handful of Asia-Pacific airlines have launched Lombok services in recent times, including Jetstar (TTG Asia e-Daily, June 18, 2013) and Tigerair (TTG Asia e-Daily, Spetember 11, 2013).

PANORAMA Tours Malaysia is guaranteeing 100 per cent halal tours under its series of new outbound tour packages named Marhaba, or ‘welcome’ in Arabic.

According to managing director Richard Vuilleumier, some 70 per cent of Panorama’s outbound bookings are for its Marhaba packages since they were launched in September last year.

Marhaba full-board packages to Asian destinations including South-east Asia and North Asia were performing the best, although Panorama also offers such tours to Europe, the Middle East and other parts of Asia.

Said Vuilleumier: “Many agencies in Malaysia sell tours that are Muslim-friendly which include pork-free meals, but we go a step further and ensure that the dining outlets we use do not serve pork and the preparation of meat dishes is halal.”

To further this market segment, Vuilleumier plans to increase the number of Muslim frontline staff at its retail outlet and spend more on advertising to reach out to Muslim travel consumers in Malaysia.

Vuilleumier is also in the midst of creating a consortium of outbound travel consultants throughout Malaysia to sell the Marhaba products.

THE Bali and Beyond Travel Fair (BBTF) 2014 is on track for a successful show with the number of buyers already exceeding the target for its inaugural edition, scheduled to take place from June 10 to 14.

At a press conference last Thursday, BBTF’s organising committee reported that some 360 buyers from South-east Asia, Indonesia, Europe and India represented have signed up, with each region represented by between 40 and 90 buyers each.

Tanto Ruwiyadi, deputy chairman, BBTF organising committee, said: “This is higher than our initial target of 300 buyers. Even then, registration is still on until we reach a maximum of 400 buyers or nearly equal with the number of sellers.”

BBTF is organised by the Association of the Indonesian Tours and Travel Agencies (ASITA) Bali Chapter and Bali tourism stakeholders, supported by the Ministry of Tourism and Creative Economy. Comprising two days of B2B sessions at Bali Nusa Dua Convention Center and a two-day B2C travel fair at BeachWalk shopping complex in Kuta, the show aims to draw 450 sellers.

The travel fair is meant to promote travel around Indonesia with Bali as a gateway. However, only 10 per cent of the total 441 sellers currently registered are from outside Bali.

I Ketut Ardana, chairman of ASITA Bali Chapter and counsellor of BBTF organising committee, said: “Therefore, we are inviting more participants from other parts of Indonesia to achieve the goal. There is still time to register.

“We have carefully selected the buyers and many of them are buying Bali and beyond products.”

Tanto explained that buyers were divided into three tiers according to how many travellers they send to Indonesia each year, each tier coming with different privileges and conditions.

“This way we can guarantee the quality of the buyers, and they include the big names like TUI and Meyer,” Tanto said. So far there are 33 fully hosted buyers.

BANGKOK’S hotels, which have suffered low occupancies in recent months, will not be able to fully recover until a peaceful resolution is found to the country’s political crisis. In the meantime, traveller confidence in the destination must be restored, said industry leaders at the Thailand Tourism Forum yesterday.

Dillip Rajakarier, CEO of Minor Hotel Group, which saw occupancy slide to 20 per cent at its worst affected properties in Bangkok, questioned the effectiveness of Tourism Authority of Thailand pumping millions of baht into publicity campaigns.

“What’s the point of marketing Bangkok when people are worried about travelling here?” he said. “We need something like an insurance scheme, underwritten by the government, so we can reassure guests that if something happens while they are staying with us, they will be put on a flight back home without having to pay for it.”

Jesper Palmqvist, Asia-Pacific area director at STR Global, said occupancy across Bangkok hotels fell to 54 per cent during February and March, the sector’s worst performance in 15 years.

However, while occupancy had plummeted, hoteliers said they had managed to maintain rates. “Rates were higher than we thought they would be in Q1,” said Peter Henley, president and CEO of Onyx Hospitality Group.

Clarence Tan, COO Asia Australasia at InterContinental Hotels Group, said lowering rates would not persuade tourists to return to Bangkok if they were avoiding the destination due to perceived safety risks.

“The only thing we can do is to constantly send out consistent messages that Bangkok and Thailand are safe,” he said. “If we do not do that we are dead.”

Nevertheless, David Shackleton, COO of Dusit International, said: “I’m a firm believer that Thailand will bounce back… However, key markets such as the Chinese will not return to Bangkok until the protesters leave Lumpini Park.”

Dusit’s key Bangkok property, which is located opposite Lumpini Park where the remaining government protesters are encamped, saw occupancy fall below 30 per cent from January to March.

IN A bid to give back to the community and encourage sustainability, The Westin Singapore is inviting guests to join in its efforts to save energy through its Green Rooms.

Green Rooms refer to the 56 guestrooms on the hotel’s 38th and 39th floors that have been specially equipped to monitor and track energy consumption via a meter on the in-room IPTV system.

The meter ranks the guest’s energy consumption according to three different categories: green (energy consumption is 20 per cent below average), amber and red.

For every guest whose energy usage falls within the green zone, The Westin Singapore has pledged to donate US$1 to UNICEF.

Lance J Ourednik, general manager of the property, said: “For The Westin Singapore, we believe sustaining the environment and sustaining communities creates value for everyone and we are excited to invite our guests to be a part of this unique opportunity to improve our community and minimise our impact on the environment.”

The hotel’s other green initiatives include a green limousine, eco-friendly cleaning chemicals, room sensors for auto shut-offs, energy-efficient lighting and water-conserving low-flow plumbing and sanitary fittings.

EIGHT hotels along the Chao Phraya River have come together to promote the riverside within Bangkok, and will launch a campaign and other marketing activities.

The members of the Bangkok Riverside Marketing Partnership as stated in a media release are Anantara Bangkok Riverside & Spa, Chatrium Hotel Riverside Bangkok, Mandarin Oriental Bangkok, Millennium Hilton Bangkok, The Peninsula Bangkok, Ramada Plaza Bangkok Menam Riverside, Royal Orchid Sheraton Hotel & Towers, and Shangri-La Hotel Bangkok.

Bangkok Riverside Marketing Partnership aims to strengthen the positioning of the Chao Phraya Riverside as a sub-destination in Bangkok; further promote the riverside for leisure and MICE markets; enhance awareness among tourism stakeholders of the partnership; and complement ongoing tourism recovery activities by local authorities.

The body will implement a range of activities such as a campaign for better positioning, training for MICE sales staff and CSR initiatives.

Speaking to TTG Asia e-Daily, a spokesperson for the partnership said: “The original idea (for the partnership) goes back to 1986 and was executed between The Oriental, the Shangri-La and the Royal Orchid, and resulted in an European, Australian and American incentive travel ‘boom’ for all three hotels in 1988-89.”

He noted that a second attempt in 2004 failed due to claims of exclusivity by one tour operator.

Asked why it was necessary for hotels to jointly promote the riverside destination specifically, the same spokesperson said: “The key for success for hotels in the leisure and MICE markets has always been ‘Destination First’, and the riverside destination within Bangkok is clearly a unique selling point.

“It is also an effort by those eight hotels to enhance the various recovery programmes by Thailand Convention & Exhibition Bureau, Thailand International Development Cooperation Agency and Tourism Authority of Thailand, and highlights the positives of Bangkok.”

PATA and the Japan Association of Travel Agents (JATA) have signed a new MoU, committing to bilateral promotions to develop the regional tourism industry.

Said Martin Craigs, CEO of PATA: “Japan is a giant of tourism, long valued for its high-quality outbound sector. In recent years we have seen the rise of destination Japan as an inbound entity too. This is a desirable and sustainable trend that PATA is keen to support.”

This year, PATA regional director – East Asia, Ivy Chee, will moderate a panel session at the JATA Tourism Expo Japan 2014 in September, on the theme The Rapidly Growing Asian Market and Its Significance for the Tourism Industry. Craigs will also give a presentation on the fast-growing Asian travel market and sustainable growth.

JATA Tourism Expo Japan 2014 will be held at Tokyo Big Sight, September 25-28.

Meanwhile JATA will continue to participate in PATA’s programme of work.

Jungo Kikuma, chairman of JATA, said: “After the next 10 years, Asia will become the new centre of gravity of tourism in the world. Taking this time’s partnership opportunity and joining hands with PATA, we would like to make every effort for tourism vitalisation as a driving force in the world tourism market.”