MILLENNIUM and Copthorne International has named Riaz Mahmood the general manager of Orchard Hotel Singapore.
The hospitality veteran of 20 years brings with him a wealth of international industry experience from his time with major hotels in Asia-Pacific and Middle East countries. His areas of expertise include the pre-opening and opening of luxury hotels and resorts.
He was most recently the general manager of the Sheraton Dammam Hotel and Towers, Saudi Arabia.
THE Travel Corporation (TTC) yesterday announced two key appointments for Robin Yap and Nick Lim.
It will welcome back Robin Yap as president – The Travel Corporation Asia from May 1.
Meanwhile, Nick Lim will take on an expanded role as president – Trafalgar Asia, and president – The Travel Corporation India.
Brett Tollman, CEO of The Travel Corporation, said: “Given the remarkable, much welcomed recovery of Robin’s health recently, his return to the day-to-day leadership of The Travel Corporation’s brands throughout Asia allows Nick to expand the footprint of our brands in India, and to focus on the continued, successful growth of Trafalgar in this very important region for the group.”
Yap added: “The last eight months of semi-retirement at TTC allowed me to look at the business from the different perspective of an ‘outsider’, and I plan to bring some fresh ideas to the markets in the coming months.”
STAR Cruises’ SuperStar Gemini has homeported in Singapore again, from where it will offer a new roster of itineraries.
This includes: a five-night cruise to Kuantan, Redang and Tioman; five-night cruise to Penang, Langkawi and Malacca; three-night cruise to Penang and Langkawi; three-night cruise to Kuantan and Redang; two-night cruise to Malacca; two-night cruise to Tioman; and two-night high seas cruise.
In celebration of SuperStar Gemini’s homeporting in Singapore, Star Cruises held a special cruise for passengers together with Singaporean filmmaker Jack Neo and the cast of his blockbuster movie The Lion Men, between April 4 and 6.
HILTON Worldwide and DoubleTree by Hilton have appointed Simon McGrath general manager of the DoubleTree by Hilton Johor Bahru, which is slated to open in July.
McGrath brings over 30 years’ experience in the international hospitality industry to his new position, having held several senior management roles in well-known hospitality brands.
He played a crucial role in the rebranding of DoubleTree Resort by Hilton Phuket – Surin Beach in Thailand.
The hospitality veteran has also worked in Australia, New Zealand, Vanuatu, Thailand, Singapore and Malaysia, and was the vice president of Tourism Accommodation Australia between 2011 and 2012.
A FINE-DINING pop-up restaurant will be setting up shop within Singapore’s historic Tanjong Pagar Railway Station in June, backed by Singapore Tourism Board (STB) through its Kickstart Fund that supports innovative lifestyle concepts (TTG Asia e-Daily, April 23, 2013).
Mooted by My Private Chef, a company that specialises in bespoke dining experiences, the first chapter of Stories: A Pop Up Restaurant will be held from June 26 to 29.
It expects to host a maximum of 120 diners for weekend lunch and 180 diners for daily dinner, with a thematic menu reflecting the history of the dining venue.
This coincides with STB’s second phase of its Tourism50 celebrations that urges locals to rediscover Singapore’s long-standing attractions and icons (TTG Asia e-Daily, April 20, 2014).
Tickets are priced from S$188 (US$150) to S$248 and will be available onwww.myprivatechef.com.sg from May 1, 2014. Advance reservations can be made at dine@myprivatechef.com.sg.
One celebrity chef will helm each chapter of Stories but the location of the second chapter has not yet been disclosed.
Crystal Chua, founder and director of My Private Chef, said: “The Tanjong Pagar Railway Station is an architectural treasure with a strong connection to Singapore’s colonial past and robust economy. When we determined the locations for Stories, we wanted places with rich history and character, convenient location and spaces conducive for our unique dining set-up. Iconic architecture like this plays the perfect backdrop for showcasing cuisines that are inspired by the country’s varied flavours and ingredients and brings a new dimension to the dining experience.”
Carrie Kwik, executive director of arts and entertainment, STB, said: “We are proud to support Stories through our Kickstart Fund, which is designed to support ideas for untested yet innovative lifestyle events that show tourism potential.”
The first two lifestyle events that were recipients of the Kickstart Fund are the Spot Art Festival and the Singapore Art Book Fair that took place late last year (TTG Asia e-Daily, September 26, 2013).
INDONESIA’S hospitality sector will see a streamlining in the number of hotel brands, especially in the budget segment, as land and construction prices increase in the next decade.
While Indonesia is experiencing a middle class boom and the number of domestic travel reached 245 million trips last year, hotel room supply has outstripped traveller numbers in pace of growth and travellers are also now more cost-conscious, putting downward pressure on rate growth.
Speaking during Hospitality Investment World Indonesia in Jakarta yesterday, Yanti Sukamdani, chairman of Indonesia Hotel and Restaurant Association, said: “There has been massive hotel development in the country in the last few years, especially in the economy and midscale categories, and of late, the upscale and luxury segments in major destinations as demand is there.
“However, hotel rates are considerably low compared to the neighbouring countries, even Vietnam.”
Marc Steinmeyer, president director, Tauzia Hotel Management, said: “With such a huge population there is actually room for every tier of hotel in Indonesia, but they cannot be all (concentrated) in one place.
“The key is to have the right allocation of budget, economy, midscale and upscale in different locations…In the last three years there has been a trend that everyone wants to build budget properties and everybody wants to build at the same place. ”
Presently many new operators are coming onto the market and there are about 60 brands in Indonesia. Steinmeyer predicted that there would be “a natural cleaning up” in the market and only about 10 brands left represented within a decade or so.
He said the challenge for budget hotels is the increasing land cost especially in major cities like Jakarta and Surabaya. “Cost of construction is increasing more and more, and on the other hand, room rates are not increasing. Honestly, Indonesia has the best quality of hotel for the cheapest in Asia.
Norbert Vas, vice president sales & marketing, Archipelago International Indonesia, pointed out that investors build budget properties on lands they have had for many years that are too small for bigger hotels or apartments.
PHILIPPINE Airlines (PAL) and Etihad Airways have sealed a landmark MoU that will see the national flag carriers of the Philippines and UAE collaborate on codesharing, frequent flyer reciprocity, airport lounge access, air pass agreements and cargo cooperation.
Etihad president and CEO, James Hogan, noted: “Etihad Airways and PAL have a history of successful cooperation on the Abu Dhabi-Manila route.”
PAL president and COO, Ramon S Ang, said: “This relationship will go a long way in providing our combined customer base a much more enhanced set of travel options. This also comes at an opportune time for PAL which is in the thick of a fleet modernisation and expansion programme that will see the flag carrier pushing further not only into the Middle East but also on other parts of the globe using a modern fleet of aircraft.”
Etihad operates twice-daily Boeing 777-300ER flights between Abu Dhabi and Manila, which was its second busiest route in 2013.
Both Hogan and Ang expressed hopes that a closer partnership between the two airlines would make them the first choice for the more than 700,000 Filipinos who live in the UAE and make up a substantial amount of traffic on the Abu Dhabi-Manila route.
More tourists to the Philippines from the Middle East and Europe can also be expected. Said Hogan: “The Philippines is one of the world’s best kept secrets with great appeal to travellers from overseas. We are committed to working with the PAL team and the Philippines tourism industry to bring more overseas visitors to their country and to increase the economic benefits of tourism.”
PENANG is likely to set up a state convention bureau by the end of 2014, but this is subject to the hiring of a consultant to start work in August on its structure and funding.
If all goes well, this will be almost two years since the Penang chief minister, Lim Guan Eng, mooted the idea in January 2013.
The convention bureau is to be known as Penang International Convention & Exhibition Bureau (PICEB).
Plans now hinge on getting the approval of the chief minister and the board of directors of Penang Global Tourism to hire a consultant who will be tasked with drawing up a structure and a sustainable funding model for the bureau to fund its team as well as marketing and promotions, and to support the travel trade in bidding for business events to Penang.
The state government will not provide financial assistance to the bureau but will support it by other means.
Ooi Geok Ling, managing director of Penang Global Tourism, said the delay in setting up the bureau was because the pro-tem committee, comprising local private players in the MICE industry, and the government could not agree on a sustainable funding model for PICEB.
“The hotel room levy in Penang will be taken under consideration for the funding structure of PICEB,” said Ooi.
The state government will be collecting RM2 (US$0.62) levy per room, per night on three star hotels and below, while a RM3 levy is charged on four-and five-star hotels (TTG Asia e-Daily, May 22, 2014).
BEST Western International has opened Best Western Premier The Haven, Ipoh, one of the first properties in Malaysia that uses 100 per cent sustainable energy.
The resort offers 100 rooms and suites all equipped with flat-screen TVs and free Wi-Fi.
Guests can also make use of other amenities such as a four-level lagoon-style swimming pool, tropical gardens, a jogging track, barbecue and picnic areas, a gymnasium, badminton and tennis courts, a children’s playground, café and restaurant.
Best Western Premier The Haven, Ipoh boasts environmental credentials such as 100 per cent renewable energy harnessed from the power of the wind and sun, and harvests rainwater for use elsewhere in the property.
“We are delighted to have been entrusted with the running of this stunning, environmentally friendly resort,” said Glenn de Souza, vice president of international operations for Asia & Middle East.
The hotel is Best Western’s fourth hotel in Malaysia, following existing properties in Kuala Lumpur, Kota Kinabalu and Sandakan.
Cotai Strip Resorts Macao introduced a DreamWorks Experience last year
DREAMWORKS Animation is about to unveil its new indoor theme park in China, which will be a six-hour experience featuring some 32 attractions that can operate year-round.
Highlighting this in an interview at the summit, DreamWorks CEO and co-founder/director, Jeffrey Katzenberg, said: “We now have enough characters and stories to create what we think would be a very unique theme park experience. We’ve been working on it for one-and-a-half years or so.
“We’ve just spent time touring Hainan; this is one of the places that we will expect to be building one. It’s an exciting new opportunity for us, and it gets us highly engaged in the tourism business.”
The company is already investing heavily in China, partnering with Hong Kong’s Lan Kwai Fong Group to open DreamCenter in Xuhui District in Shanghai, an integrated development featuring multiple entertainment venues, including a 500-seat IMAX Cineplex tailor-made for movie premiers and red carpet events; retail outlets; and upscale restaurants and bars. The project was kicked off last month, and is scheduled to open in 2017.
Pointing out that much of his team’s inspiration for new works were born out of their travel experiences, Katzenberg said DreamWorks is in the midst of developing a Ramayana-inspired Bollywood musical, which would “celebrate the culture of India”.
“Everything we do for animation is from our imagination, so inspiration can come from many different places,” he explained, adding that filmmakers are sent on research trips to get inspiration, while travel is also used as a way to reward talent.
Katzenberg himself has a voracious appetite for travel, known for making the most of his holidays, such as covering the whole of South America in eight days.
“Sleep is for when you finish the trip…I just want to see as much as I possibly can. I find that the more you can take it, the more exciting it is,” he quipped.
The former chairman of The Walt Disney Studios said The Lion King was inspired by his trip to Africa, falling in love with Chengdu’s pandas resulted in Kung Fu Panda, and the amazing landscapes of Madagascar were what he wanted to bring out in the eponymous movie.
