CARLSON Rezidor Hotel Group and Panorama Group have deepened their collaboration, committing to develop 20 new hotels in Indonesia within seven years under the midscale brands of Radisson and Park Inn by Radisson.

Partners since Carlson Wagonlit Travel Indonesia was set up as a joint venture in 1999, the new company, Carlson Panorama Hospitality, will manage hotels in key cities like Jakarta, Surabaya, Jogjakarta and secondary locations like Manado, Makassar, Palembang and Medan. It will have a representative office in Jakarta.

Marking the re-entry of Carlson’s hotel business into Indonesia after its venture with Salim Group ended in 2003, Carlson Rezidor Hotel Group’s Asia-Pacific president, Simon Barlow, said the timing was right to return to Indonesia as it was booming.

Citing figures from McKinsey Global Institute’s 2012 report, he pointed out that Indonesia was poised to become the world’s seventh largest economy by 2030, with 135 million consumers representing a US$1.38 trillion market opportunity.

Said Barlow: “We saw the first wave of five-star hotels (sweep) across Asia, and in the last four to five years, we have seen the emergence of international three- and four-star hotels, which has now gathered pace.”

As such, Carlson would be focused on importing its midscale brands to capture the growing domestic market, he explained.

Also eyeing the growing number of middle-class travellers, Budi Tirtawisata, group CEO, Panorama Group, remarked that the market was big enough for everyone to get a slice of the pie, adding that he did not see Carlson’s expansion as being in conflict with Panorama’s own line of hotels by PHM Hospitality.

“If we see an opportunity to manage a 400-room hotel, for example, I don’t think (PHM) has the capacity for it and I will leave it to Carlson Panorama. On the other hand, PHM has products that cater to certain markets such as surfers, and such a property would not fit Carlson’s brands,” said Budi.

– Read more about Panorama Group’s emerging businesses in TTG Asia March 8-21, 2013

HILTON Worldwide today signed an agreement with LP Holding to manage Hilton Yangon in Kyauktada Township, the brand’s first-ever property in the country.

The 300-room Hilton Yangon is scheduled to open in 2014. The new hotel is part of Centrepoint Towers, a mixed-use development, which includes high-end retail boutiques and offices.

Amenities include an all-day dining restaurant, two specialty restaurants, a sky bar, lobby lounge, an executive floor, a fitness centre, a business centre, a pool and a spa. Meeting facilities cover 1,400m² of space, including a 850m² ballroom.

In a separate development, the hotel group this week also opened Conrad Beijing, the brand’s flagship property in China’s capital and its fifth hotel in China.

Located close to the CBD and embassies, Conrad Beijing has 289 rooms, including 17 suites, restaurants, lounges, a swimming pool, a fitness centre, a spa and a business centre.

MANDARIN Oriental Hotel Group will open Mandarin Oriental Pudong, Shanghai in the second quarter of this year, comprising a 362-room hotel and 210 serviced executive apartments.

Situated within Harbour City – a new 25-hectare, mixed-use development on the east bank of the Huangpu River – the hotel will offer 318 guestrooms and 44 suites, including a 788m² Presidential Suite, alleged to be the largest and most expensive in the city.

F&B outlets include a contemporary French restaurant, a Chinese restaurant serving Jiang Nan cuisine, an all-day kitchen, a bar, a lobby lounge and a cake shop. Amenities include a spa, a fitness and wellness centre, an indoor swimming pool and a thermal bathing facility.

For meeting planners, the hotel comes with a 500-pax Grand Ballroom, 250-pax Oriental Ballroom, eight versatile meeting rooms and access to Shanghai’s largest outdoor riverside event space covering 5,000m².

TRAVELLERS to Myanmar now have an additional option for transactions, after MasterCard and Co-operative Bank (CB Bank) began a rollout of 500 point-of-sale (POS) terminals throughout the country, to be completed by end-2013.

MasterCard holders will be able to use their cards at restaurants, retail outlets and hotels in Yangon, where the rollout begins. Credit card acceptance will reach Nay Pyi Taw, Mandalay and Bagan in 2Q2013.

MasterCard cards have also been accepted by ATMs in Myanmar since November last year as part of a tie-up with CB Bank.

Separately, it has also announced two new bank licence agreements with Kanbawza Bank, which owns the largest branch network in Myanmar and 46 ATMs, and United Amara Bank for the acceptance and issuance of MasterCard cards in the country.

Antonio Corro, country manager & chief representative, Indochina, MasterCard Worldwide, said: “This rollout of POS acceptance for all MasterCard cards will help manage the huge demand that new visitors and new businesses are placing on the country right now, and is especially timely given the influx of foreign visitors expected during the upcoming SEA Games in December, 2013.”

Since January 31, Visa cardholders have also been able to make transactions at POS terminals at selected merchants in Myanmar, through a collaboration with Myanmar Oriental Bank. Visa established a nationwide network of ATMs in December last year.

TOURISM New Zealand (TNZ) is intensifying its trade engagement efforts through an overhaul of its Kiwi Specialist training programme and increased incentives.

The NTO has renamed its training scheme to 100% Pure New Zealand Specialist Programme, made it easier for travel consultants to become specialists and tweaked the criteria required to remain specialists after qualifying.

To encourage sign-ups, the first 50 who meet the module completion criteria and attend TNZ’s training by December 31 will be given a chance to win a place on the South and South-east Asia mega fam trip in March 2014, where participants will be taken to both North and South Islands.

The 100% Pure New Zealand Specialist Programme will be launched in South and South-east Asia on June 1, while the mega fam trip promotion runs from June 1 to December 31.

In addition, the two companies with the highest number of qualified consultants will receive free registration for Tourism Industry Rendezvous New Zealand in 2014, the country’s top tourism trade event.

MAJOR Philippine outbound operator, Rajah Travel Corporation, has soft launched a new website selling both inbound and outbound products. Offering both B2C and B2B functionalities, the site is expected to be fully operational by June.

“We’ve created a website that’s not just for the outbound market, because it didn’t make sense for us to be online and cater only to the Philippines,” said Aileen Clemente, president, Rajah Travel Corporation.

Managing director, Maria Bernadette Marin-Arnaiz, said the site would first sell flights, inbound and outbound packages, tours from brands such as Insight Vacations and Contiki, land arrangements and specialty products like Uniworld boutique river cruises.

It would also eventually have a real-time chat facility for enquiries, a hotel booking engine and online payment options.

Travel consultants can access products through a separate B2B login.

The site will also carry themed, special interest tours from the company’s new tour brochure which was launched late last month. “This is something of a first – a history- and culture-based compilation of tours which goes beyond sun, sea, and sand, released in the Philippines by a tour operator,” Clemente pointed out.

Funtastic Vacations Philippines features tours like Heroes Trail, taking the visitor to World War II landmarks, and adventure itineraries such as volcano trekking to Taal Lake. The brochure also highlights getaway staycation deals with Rajah’s partner hotels and resorts across the Philippines.

GENTING Group has completed the purchase for a piece of the glitzy Las Vegas Strip with intentions to establish Resorts World Las Vegas on the 35-hectare property.

News agency AFP reported that Genting had paid Boyd Gaming Group US$350 million in cash for the land, where work on Boyd’s Echelon project had ceased in 2008 due to the financial crisis.

According to a Genting press release, the hotel-casino complex will offer 3,500 rooms, 16,258m² of total gaming space across several floors, and a number of luxury dining and retail amenities in the first phase of launch. The resort will also include additional convention space for Las Vegas tradeshows.

Resorts World Las Vegas marks Genting’s first destination resort in the city. “This is an unparalleled opportunity to showcase what has made the Resorts World brand a globally recognised success for the past several decades,” said KT Lim, chairman and CEO, Genting Group.