WYNDHAM Hotel Group will introduce two new brands and 15 more properties to its portfolio in China.

Leo Liu, managing director, China, Wyndham Hotel Group, said TRYP by Wyndham and Planet Hollywood will join the group’s network of Days Inn (55), Howard Johnson (44), Ramada (56), Super 8 (560), Wyndham (10) in China.

Planet Hollywood is a lifestyle, entertainment-based brand catering to business and leisure travellers, while TRYP by Wyndham is an urban hotel brand located in cosmopolitan cities. TRYP is present in cities such as New York, Barcelona and Paris.

Liu added: “China is a priority market, and Wyndham aims to bring innovative and well-established hotel brands to further strengthen our presence in the country.”

“For TRYP in China, we are targeting the emerging middle class which takes frequent vacations, while Planet Hollywood is aimed at both international and the more affluent Chinese travellers,” he said, adding that both brands are “stylish, modern, sophisticated” and differentiated in terms of product offerings.

Wyndham is also set to debut 15 new hotels between now and 2017, adding a total of 5,300 rooms in locations such as Hangzhou, Xi’an, Sanya, Huangshan, Chongqing and Zhangjiajie under brands including Wyndham, Wyndham Grand and Ramada.

As to the challenges and opportunities influencing Wyndham’s China expansion, Liu noted: “There are many non-first tier cities that are ready for hotels and it’s very exciting to see that. But lack of qualified hotel workers is a challenge for the entire industry.”

SECURITY forces in the Eastern Sabah Security Zone (Esszone) are getting a boost to increase safety and restore confidence among tourists and the local population.

Malaysian daily The Star reported that three General Operations Force and three armed forces battalions have been assigned to the high-risk area to enable a swift response to security threats.

The number of police stations has also been increased, while Sabah is studying the feasibility of upgrading its radar system for a security boost.

Shahidan Kassim, minister in the prime minister’s department, was quoted as saying: “We have deployed 31 high-speed and bulletproof boats to enhance monitoring under various maritime agencies along Sabah’s waters.”

Arokia Das, senior manager of Luxury Tours Malaysia, welcomed the measures as a “good start” to recovering tourist traffic in the affected areas, but is not taking the risk of sending visitors there.

“We still prefer recommending tourists to go to Tunku Abdul Rahman Marine Park in Kota Kinabalu for sea activities. We don’t want to take chances.”

The extra boost in security follows a number of high-profile kidnapping cases including one that saw Chinese national and fish farm manager Yang Zai Lin kidnapped from his workplace, Wonderful Terrace on Pulau Baik (Baik Island), about 30km south of Lahad Datu (TTG Asia e-Daily, May 7, 2014); and the murder of a Taiwanese tourist and abduction of his wife at Pom Pom Island Resort on Pom Pom Island, a 45-minute boat ride from the town of Semporna, Sabah, last year (TTG Asia e-Daily, November 18, 2013).

SEREENA Supa’at has been named director of sales and marketing at the 157-key, ultra luxury hotel The Patina, Capitol Singapore.

As director of sales and marketing, Sereena will formulate, implement and drive all sales and marketing initiatives.

She brings with her more than 15 years of expertise in luxury hospitality, having worked for hotels such as Capella Singapore, St Regis, Mandarin Oriental, Fullerton and Banyan Tree hotels.

The Patina, Capitol Singapore will be the fourth pre-opening hotel Sereena is involved with.

INDONESIA is fertile ground for hotel investment, but pushing rates up will remain a challenge for investors and hotel operators.

Speaking at the Second Annual Indonesia Hotel Investment Conference in Bali last Friday, Yanti Sukamdani, chairman of Indonesia Hotel and Restaurant Association shared that within the hotel investment space, Indonesia will welcome 288 new hotels by 2016 including 17 projects in Jakarta, 12 in Bogor, 12 in Jogjakarta, 15 in Cirebon, 19 in Surabaya, 15 in Makassar, and 67 in Bali.

She urged hoteliers and industry stakeholders to consider the challenges that continue to plague the industry. “When we build more hotels, we need more water, electricity, food and beverage, (things that the tourism stakeholders) need to consider about.”

She pointed out obstacles such as increasing land costs, not only in Bali but other Indonesian major destinations as well.

“Hotel rates in Indonesia remain low compared to other countries and this adds to the challenge both investors and hotel operators are facing,” she said.

The average room rate of four- and five-star hotels in Indonesia is about US$100 with RevPAR of US$70, while one- to three-star hotel rates stand at US$50 with RevPAR of US$38.

“While the tourism authority, the Indonesia Tourism Promotion Board (of which Yanti is chairman) and the tourism industry need to work harder to improve the product and services of our hotels, it is important for investors to calculate well the pay-back period,” Yanti said.

Nevertheless, the country’s tourism sector is doing well according to statistics from the Ministry of Tourism and Creative Economy.

Yanti said: “Tourist arrivals to the country up to April showed a (10.6 per cent) increase from 2.7 million in 2013 to 2.9 million.”

Domestic tourism is also rising. “The number of movements during this period was 55.9 million and the target for the whole year this year is 255 million,” she added.

Tourism receipts grew 6.9 per cent in 1Q2014, outstripping national GDP growth of 5.2 per cent, while investment in tourism during the same period soared 256.4 per cent from US$36.5 million to US$130.1 million.

SINGAPORE’S travellers appear unfazed by political tensions in Bangkok, with the Thai capital emerging the second most-searched destination after Hong Kong in the run-up to the peak June holiday period.

According to TripAdvisor’s aggregated results of searches made by Singapore’s travellers on TripAdvisor during March and April 2014, Singaporeans prefer to travel to short- to medium-haul destinations, stay in four- and five-star hotels, and are interested in outdoor and cultural activities as well as shopping.

Said Jean Ow-Yeong, spokesperson for Asia-Pacific, TripAdvisor: “With the increase in supply of low-cost airlines serving the local market, many of the top searched destinations by Singaporeans are just a short flight away.

“Given Singaporeans’ love for food and shopping, it is no wonder Hong Kong, Bangkok and Taipei are among the favourite destinations of Singaporeans.”

Hong Kong was the most searched destination by Singapore travellers, followed by Bangkok, Taipei, Seoul, Kuala Lumpur, Bali, Batam, Johor Bahru, London and Malacca.

London was the sole longhaul and non-Asian destination in the list.

ORGANISATIONS that want to engage with delegates attending this year’s PATA Travel Mart can take part in PTM Talks, a series of power seminars making its debut at the annual tradeshow.

A new initiative by PATA, PTM Talks gives organisatons two 20-minute slots over the course of the two-day programme to conduct power workshops for between 35 and 40 delegates.

Sessions can be used for exposure, PR, brand positioning and lead generation, and held either in theatre style or workshop style. They will be held in a small seminar area within the main trade hall.

Companies interested in this sponsorship opportunity can download the PTM Talks Sponsorship Brochure.

PATA Travel Mart 2014 will run from September 17 to 19 in Phnom Penh and is poised to attract over 1,000 delegates from about 60 countries around the world.

Separately, PATA has also released the Annual Tourism Monitor 2014 Early Edition that provides readers with a five-year perspective on travel flows into and around the Asia-Pacific region.

The report’s findings cover 42 destinations across 11 sub-regions in the Asia-Pacific, and show that annual growth in international visitor arrivals averaged 6.3 per cent yearly from 2009 to 2013, before moderating to 5.3 per cent in 2013.

Destinations receiving the most Asia-Pacific travellers are China, the US and Hong Kong, while those that saw the highest annual growth in percentage of arrivals are Myanmar, Niue and Sri Lanka.

Hong Kong, China and the US were the biggest source markets for inbound traffic into Asia-Pacific, while China, Russia and Vietnam boasted the greatest annual increase in volume between 2012 and 2013.

Fore more information on the report, contact publications@PATA.org.