Marriott International has entered into a long-standing collaboration with Japanese real estate developer Sekisui House to open 12 Fairfield by Marriott hotels across five prefectures in Japan – Kyoto, Wakayama, Mie, Gifu and Tochigi – with an anticipated 15 hotels to be signed by next year.
All properties are expected to open by 2021, with the first dozen hotels scheduled to open in late 2020.
The partnership with Sekisui House will enable Marriott to tap the “growing trend” of more visitors to Japan exploring its lesser known destinations by offering travellers access to remote destinations through the new Fairfield by Marriott properties planned, according to Craig Smith, president & managing director, Asia-Pacific, Marriott International.
He said: “We see that, while there is increasing demand to explore destinations outside of the popular gateway cities, there is currently a limited amount of accommodations in these more remote areas.”
The upcoming Fairfield by Marriott hotels will be situated in convenient locations near popular roadside rest stations called “Michi-no-Eki”, which number more than 1,000 across Japan.
These newly-built standalone properties will offer between 49 to 96 rooms, and will be sited near key attractions in the five prefectures of Kyoto, Wakayama, Mie, Gifu and Tochigi.
Opening in Kyoto and its surrounding area by late 2020 are Fairfield by Marriott Kyoto Miyazu (85 rooms), Fairfield by Marriott Kyoto Kyotamba (75 rooms) and Fairfield by Marriott Kyoto Minamiyamashiro (51 rooms).
There are two hotels planned by 2020 in Mie prefecture, namely Fairfield by Marriott Mie Mihama (50 rooms) and Fairfield by Marriott Mie Odai (70 rooms).
The Wakayama prefecture will have three Fairfield hotels open by 2021: Fairfield by Marriott Wakayama Chikatsuyu (50 rooms), Fairfield by Marriott Wakayama Susami (50 rooms) and Fairfield by Marriott Wakayama Kushimoto (96 rooms).
By 2021, four Fairfield by Marriott Hotels are expected to open in the Gifu prefecture in the Chubu region, including Fairfield by Marriott Gifu Mino (53 rooms), Fairfield by Marriott Gifu Gujo (90 rooms), Fairfield by Marriott Gifu Takayama Shokawa (60 rooms) and Fairfield by Marriott Gifu Seiryu Satoyama Park (67 rooms).
As well, Kanto region’s Tochigi prefecture will be home to Fairfield by Marriott Tochigi Utsunomiya (87 rooms), Fairfield by Marriott Tochigi Nasushiobara (79 rooms) and Fairfield by Marriott Tochigi Motegi (49 rooms) by late 2020.
He will replace Ignatius Ong, who joined Malaysia Airlines (MAS) as group chief revenue officer in June 2018. Ong has since then worn double hats.
Data from the jetliner showed that the pilots appeared to struggle with an automated system designed to keep the plane from stalling – a new feature in the 737 Max family.
The Boeing 737’s nose was repeatedly forced down over two dozen times during the 11-minute flight, even when the plane was not stalling – possibly due to a faulty sensor, the report stated.
It is, however, unclear why the pilots did not turn off the automated system.
The report, which did not give a definite cause for the deadly incident, also added that it was too early to conclude if the anti-stall system had contributed to the crash.
KNKT is continuing investigations, with a more detailed report expected to be completed within 12 months.
Boeing, in response to KNKT findings, said it is “deeply saddened” by the loss of Lion Air flight 610.
“As our customers and their passengers continue to fly the 737 MAX to hundreds of destinations around the world every day, they have our assurance that the 737 MAX is as safe as any airplane that has ever flown the skies,” Boeing said in a statement.
Meanwhile, KNKT has recommended that Lion Air improve its safety culture and should ensure the operations manual is followed “in order to improve the safety culture”.
It also urged the Indonesian carrier to ensure that “all operations documents are properly filled and documented”.