Best Western Hotels & Resorts has appointed Venushe Wickramarathne as regional director of commercial – Asia.
Based in Best Western’s regional head office in Bangkok, Wickramarathne will oversee the sales and marketing activities for the group’s entire collection of hotels and resorts in South-east Asia and Japan, encompassing all 16 of the company’s brands.
The hospitality professional has obtained his work experience through a series of roles in Europe and Asia, rising from night manager at an AccorHotels property in Zurich to deputy head of sales – events & banqueting for the Cinnamon Grand hotel in Colombo, Sri Lanka.
In 2017, he joined Centara Hotels & Resorts, initially as area director of sales & marketing for Colombo, before moving to Thailand in January 2018 to become the company’s area director of sales & marketing for Krabi.
Chan Brothers Travel has unveiled its first Global Classroom Edition, a curated series of family educational tours to Australia, Dubai and New Zealand.
The Global Classroom Edition has been designed to foster education outside the bounds of the traditional classroom, and aims to cultivate learning through innovative and enriching experiences. Aside from promoting experiential learning with lots of hands-on opportunities, these curated tours are expected to offer bonding opportunities for families during the school holidays.
Children can learn about Australia’s flora and fauna during these trips
For instance, an edu-travel itinerary in New Zealand would include a farm experience at Walter Peak High Country Farm; a cable car ride and luge ride; and a guided tour at the National Kiwi Hatchery Aotearoa.
In Australia, travellers can either gain deeper insights into agricultural practices at Collingwood Children Farm in Melbourne, or learn how honey is made at Superbee Honeyworld in Gold Coast.
In Dubai, children will be treated to an Emirati cultural immersion at Sheikh Mohammed Centre for Cultural Understanding, and get to attend a henna painting lesson.
In its first step towards becoming a global DMC powerhouse, Buffalo Tours Asia has announced its merger with Olympus Tours Americas – an established ground operator for Mexico, Costa Rica and the Dominican Republic – to create an experience company named Discova.
Operating under the Flight Centre Travel Group (FCTG), Discova will focus on enhancing destination expertise and local guiding, delivering on-ground solutions to business partners around the world as well as rolling out more sustainability efforts on a larger scale.
Lee: keener focus on B2B partners with creation of new DMC
Speaking to TTG Asia in an exclusive interview ahead of the announcement, Discova’s managing director for Asia, Suyin Lee, previously managing director of Buffalo Tours, said: “Part of this brand change (involves) a strong refocus on our B2B partners. For a long time, we’ve noticed that a lot of DMCs look and feel a little bit B2C. If you look at their websites and offerings, they’re targeting the B2C market as well. But we’ve come to realise that for us, we can add the greatest value to our B2B partners.”
The new Discova brand entails providing stronger in-destination support for clients and their travellers by improving and maintaining consistent service standards, said Lee. Any subsequent DMC acquisitions by FCTG will also fall under this brand.
“The plan for the global DMC network is to continue to grow across the world through acquisitions or organic start-ups. When that happens, it’s very difficult to maintain so many brands across the world and it confuses our customers,” she shared.
Discova currently operates in 14 countries in Asia, Mexico, Latin America, and the Caribbean, with plans for further expansion to Sri Lanka, South Korea, the Philippines, within the Caribbean, Jamaica and Hawaii. Lee said that Discova has plans to establish a name in Australia and New Zealand where it currently has “no inbound presence at all”.
Greg Kitchen, managing director of Discova, said in a statement: “Discova is also able to create tailor-made in-destination solutions. The strong position Buffalo Tours has had in responsible tourism will be carried into the new brand and strengthened through further initiatives and implementations across Discova’s expanding number of destinations.”
“This will allow us to expand our global reach so that we can remain at the forefront of in-destination travel services and connect our partners and customers to a world of possibilities through discovery and adventure,” he added.
“Our knowledge base, our people and our love of travel is at the heart of our business. This merger is not about changing who we are – it’s about underscoring our core values and strengthening the alignment between our businesses,” Kitchen said.
The new brand positioning will be completed by end 2019 and showcased at the World Travel Mart in London in November.
The board of directors of Philippine Airlines (PAL) yesterday confirmed the appointment of Gilbert Santa Maria as president and COO, replacing the widely respected Jaime Bautista who retired on June 30 after a 26-year career with the flag carrier.
This follows the earlier short-lived appointment in June of Vivienne Tan, daughter of the airline’s owner Lucio Tan, as the officer-in-charge. The younger Tan is currently the airline’s executive vice president and chief administrative officer.
A handpicked nominee of PAL chairman and CEO Lucio Tan, the 53-year old Santa Maria has no prior aviation industry experience but has three decades of executive management and leadership experience gained across multiple industries in companies around the world.
According to a press release issued by PAL, Maria was a contributor in the Philippines’ business process outsourcing (BPO) industry for the last 15 years. Until early 2018 he was COO of Washington, DC-based BPO company Ibex Global. Before IBEX, he was COO and CFO of IQ BackOffice, a California-based Finance & Accounting outsourcer that was an investee company of LiveIt Investments, Ayala Corporation’s BPO holding company.
He supported the governance of LiveIt’s investee companies as a member of the boards of IQ BackOffice; Integreon, a London-based KPO; and Stream, a Massachusetts-based global Call Center company. Before this, he led corporate development for Stream, having joined its leadership after its 2009 merger with Arizona-based eTelecare Global Solutions, where he led corporate development and eTelecare’s 11,000-employee Philippine Operations through the integration of the two companies. He joined the startup eTelecare in 2004.
Prior to joining the BPO industry, Santa Maria led a Singapore-based Internet 1.0 startup called Similan.com. He was executive director of Argosy Partners, which was organised by Filipino business leaders in the wake of the Asian financial crisis in 1998 to be the Philippine affiliate of global private equity funds. He was also one of the youngest general managers of Pepsi Cola Products Philippines’ Manila operations.
Santa Maria was also a management consultant at Booz Allen & Hamilton in New York where he led various strategy and operations consulting engagements for global clients. The Mindanao native started his career as a management trainee in production and engineering at Unilever in Manila.
Construction is poised to begin this year for the Philippines’ first-ever dedicated cruise pier and terminal, which stands adjacent to the Solaire Resort and Casino in the Entertainment City hub along Manila Bay.
Targeted for an August 2021 opening, Solaire Cruise Centre Manila is designed for the world’s largest vessels, including Royal Caribbean’s Oasis of the Seas and Genting Cruises’ Global Class. It can berth two ships of heights 348m and 310m at one time, Guillaume Lucci, senior adviser of cruise operator Bloomberry Cruise Terminals, told TTG Asia.
An artist’s impression of an aerial view of the Solaire Cruise Center
The cruise and marina complex is a “milestone” and “game-changer” crucial to the advancement of the Philippine’s cruise tourism, said Jing Esmana, Department of Tourism’s (DoT) head, cruise team, office of product and market development.
It is understood that all Philippines ports are built for cargo operations, including Manila’s Pier 15, the current port of call for cruise ships, which is 75 to 85 per cent utilised for cargo operations.
The lack of cruise facilities led the DoT and the Tourism Infrastructure and Enterprise Zone Authority to eye having a cruise port within the Cultural Center of the Philippines complex. But a feasibility study noted certain challenges owing to other proposed developments in the area, including a huge reclamation project.
There was also a proposal to build a cruise pier within the Manila Yacht Club but Bloomberry Cruise Terminal beat it by being the first to submit the Solaire Cruise Center plan, and there cannot be two cruise ports in Manila.
An artist’s impression of the arrival plaza of Solaire Cruise Center
After obtaining its Environmental Compliance Certificate from the Department of Natural Resources and Environment in May, Solaire will begin construction of two linear berths totalling 685m and an additional two mooring dolphins.
“The wider berth close to shore is designed for homeport vessels (and) the second berth designed for port of call (international) vessels,” Lucci said.
The next phase in the construction of the cruise centre involves the development of the terminal building for homeport passengers and a yacht marina. Planning is underway in terms of demand and the timeline is dependent on the planning process.
Upon completion, Solaire Resort and Casino will also be home to a marina with yacht and charter boat facilities. The yacht marina will complement the tourism offerings with the eventual provision of yachts for shore excursions to nearby islands.
“We expect this facility to play a role of catalyst for the expansion of sustainable cruise tourism in the Philippines. A high-end world-class mega yacht marina is long overdue in the region. We fully expect that the combination of the luxury of Solaire Resort and Casino and a world-class mega yacht facility will be a successful combination that will serve the fast- growing Asian yachting market”, Lucci explained.
He added: “The cruise market in Asia homeported from Shanghai, Beijing and Hong Kong is growing, and the cruise lines need more destination traffic. The market to and from Manila is already growing, and having a dedicated berth for cruise lineswithout having to compete with cargo and traffic will be a significant step forward.
“In regional terms for cruising, the increased demand for a world-class cruise facility between the two cruise regions centered around Singapore to the south and Shanghai/Hong Kong to the north makes the timing of the development of Solaire Cruise Center ideal not only to enhance the offering of the existing world class facility, but also for the Philippines as a whole.”
Having attracted growing interest from both overseas and Japanese large-scale investors, soaring property prices in Japan’s Niseko has led to the emergence of a new tourism storyline with numerous luxury hospitality resorts coming soon to the alpine resort destination.
Besides the soon-to-open Park Hyatt Hanazono, the incoming development pipeline includes the ultra-luxury Aman in Moiwa, Ritz-Carlton Niseko Village and Pavilions Hirafu, according to C9 Hotelworks’ new Niseko Tourism and Property Market Review.
Niseko in Japan
Research into the alpine real estate sector this past high season by C9 revealed that pre-sales of condominiums topped US$1.3 billion and house and/or land plots edged close to a quarter of a billion US dollars. One clear sign of the times is a new entry from top Singapore property group SC Global with their mixed-use Setsu project on the main street of Hirafu.
Shifting tourism demand is demonstrated in a three-year CAGR of 13 per cent for mainland Chinese, with direct flights to the gateway New Chitose airport numbering eight. Overall, the key airlift metric has seen the introduction of new international routes to Taiwan, Russia, Finland and the Philippines.
Bill Barnett, managing director of C9 Hotelworks, said: “Emerging regional buyers from Taiwan, Thailand and Malaysia reflect the new Niseko reality. Meanwhile, domestic buyers, especially from outside Hokkaido, are targeting investments in hotel branded projects and family-friendly properties. We are seeing Hirafu’s spillover demand radiate to peripheral areas including Higashiyama, Annupuri and Hanazono, while broader alpine real estate development is spreading to farther away areas such as Furano.”
He added: “Niesko has become Asia’s fastest appreciating resort real estate markets. We are seeing premium pricing levels in prime projects attain levels of US$15-20,000 per square metre. Alpine property is becoming more of an object of desire for high-net-worth Asians versus the legacy tropical pool villa asset class.”
Moving towards 2020, C9’s forecast sees larger new hotel-type projects coming into the pipeline in areas such as Hirafu, Hanazono and Moiwa. In a growing sign of market maturation, the large legacy of real estate condominium properties and stand-alone chalets looks to be challenged by bigger year-around full-service hotels.
Sabre Corporation has appointed Brett Thorstad as vice president sales management, South-east Asia and Asia-Pacific joint ventures.
In this role, Thorstad will oversee sales performance and drive the retention and growth of agencies across South-east Asia. He will also be responsible for the strategic development of distribution partners across Asia-Pacific.
Having joined Sabre in 2013, Thorstad has held high-profile roles within the organisation, previously serving as vice president & associate general counsel for Sabre.
Before joining the team in Singapore, Thorstad was responsible for leading Sabre’s legal support of global M&A activity, corporate finance and other corporate transactions.
Prior to that, Thorstad was a senior corporate associate at the Dallas office of Weil, Gotshal and Manges, an international law firm.
China’s aviation data technology provider, VariFlight, has partnered with Amadeus to integrate Dynamic Flight Schedule, a move that is expected to benefit over 300 million air travellers and significantly expand its services beyond its dominant home market in China.
VariFlight currently offers airline schedules, live flight status and real-time service data for airports and aircrafts in China, covering more than 94 per cent of global commercial flights. Travellers are kept updated on flight schedules, including delays.
China’s aviation data technology provider VariFlight has partnered with Amadeus to integrate dynamic flight schedule, which will benefit over three hundred million air travellers.
These services are provided through VariFlight’s own app, which has accumulated over 180 million downloads on iOS and Android platforms, as well as partners such as Baidu and Wechat.
Following this partnership, VariFlight is gearing up for global expansion and adding on ancillary services like airport transfers and online travel bookings.
Hongfeng Zheng, founder and CEO of VariFlight, said the integration of Amadeus flight schedule data into the VariFlight database will enrich the “content and data accuracy” for its members. “With this partnership, we’ll be able to further develop our services and expand globally,” he said.
Crowne Plaza Hotels & Resorts has announced plans to open six flagship hotels around the world by early 2020, two of which will be in China.
These new properties will be a reinvention of the upscale hotel brand, and will mark “the global rollout of new hallmark design innovations and the brand’s latest standards across public spaces, guest rooms, F&B, technology, service and more”, said Crowne Plaza in a statement.
How Crowne Plaza’s new lobbies are envisioned to look like
Each flagship property will feature new designs for public spaces and guestrooms to meet the continued guest demand for flexible spaces. The lobby design and guestrooms will include distinct areas embedded with technology, while some properties will also feature on-demand meeting spaces in the lobby areas as well.
China will see the launch of two flagship properties, Crowne Plaza Shenzhen WECC and Crowne Plaza Wuzhen, by the end of this year.
Crowne Plaza Shenzhen WECC will be located near the Shenzhen Bao’an International Airport and next to Shenzhen World Exhibition & Convention Centre, the largest of its kind in the world. This hotel will also be the first Crowne Plaza in Greater China to tout a modernised guestroom design and flexible spaces. The property will feature 1,400m2 of meeting space with five meetings rooms, including a grand ballroom that seats up to 500 guests.
In Zhejiang, Crowne Plaza Wuzhen will offer 216m2 of flexible event space in three meeting rooms, and another 500m2 banquet room that seats up to 260 guests. The new flagship hotel will be located near Hangzhou International Airport and close to the World Internet Conference Center. It will feature a full-service restaurant, Cai Feng Lou, and Tong Café for all-day dining.
Outside of China, the US has opened the 495-room Crowne Plaza Atlanta Perimeter at Ravinia in Atlanta, with three more properties due to open in Europe – the Crowne Plaza Paris Republique in France; Crowne Plaza Hamburg in Germany; and the Crowne Plaza London in the UK.
At of March 2019, there are 427 Crowne Plaza properties around the world.
Under the settlement agreement, Genting Malaysia has been granted a license to use certain Fox intellectual properties. The company is currently updating its development and construction plans to complete the outdoor theme park utilising both Fox and non-Fox intellectual properties. The outdoor theme park will also be renamed.
A rendering of the theme park
This is part of the restated memorandum of agreement, Genting Malaysia said in a Bursa Malaysia filing last Thursday.
“The settlement will serve as a big boost to investors’ confidence on future earnings, which would otherwise be clouded by the litigation. In our opinion, the long-term positive implication is much more important than the US$1billion counterclaim against the defendants,” said the group.
The Malaysian casino operator took action against both Disney and Fox in November last year, alleging that the Hollywood pair failed to honour a 2013 deal to license intellectual property for the park outside Kuala Lumpur.
The planned reopening of the outdoor theme park is music to the ears of inbound players, as the repeated delays and uncertainty surrounding the Fox-branded theme park have affected promotion plans of Genting Highlands in overseas markets.
Uzaidi Udanis, Malaysian Inbound Tourism Association president, said: “It will be easier for our overseas counterparts to convince their clients who have been to Malaysia before to revisit the country. Getting repeat visitors to revisit the country and see new destinations and experience new products is a less expensive process as compared with finding new tourists, which involves more advertising and marketing. The theme park will also attract more business event visitors as Genting also has big convention facilities.”
Arokia Das, director, Luxury Tours Malaysia commented: We had earlier forecasted a minimum 30 per cent increase from Asian markets because of the planned opening of Twentieth Century Fox World Theme Park. Now we project the same with the opening of the new theme park, even though it will not be a full Fox theme park.”
