W Hotels Worldwide has appointed Christian Metzner as general manager of the soon-to-open W Kuala Lumpur.
Metzner joins W Kuala Lumpur from The Andaman, a Luxury Collection Resort, Langkawi, where he has been general manager since 2014.
The German brings with him a wealth of experience, having been part of Marriott International for the past 15 years. His career first began in 1996 at the Arabella Sheraton Complex South Germany in Munich, and he has since held numerous positions within the company across two continents, including leadership roles in Beijing and Tianjin.
The bliss spa at W Hong Kong is launching The Mindful Touch Spa VR X-perience, which combines virtual reality (VR) with its extravagant diamond facials.
This wellness experience combines skin care rituals with virtual reality to achieve another level of wellbeing
The experience begins with an eight-minute VR video and audio track that invites the client to focus on their individual breathing and body sensations. After the short film, the session continues with a voice-over.
From now until the end of October, guests can enjoy the The Mindful Touch VR X-perience with purchase of bliss spa’s 90-minute Natura Bissé anti-aging diamond facials priced from HK$2,950 (US$376), with a choice of the Diamond Life Infusion Experience or the Diamond Multisensorial Lifting Experience.
The partnership is touted to yield the first blockchain solution in the vacation rental space
Cozystay Holdings has partnered Singapore-based Share Everything Lab (SEL) to bring blockchain technology to the vacation-rental sharing economy.
The Vancouver-based vacation rental platform, which has been operating since 2015, will be the first adopter of blockchain-based trust protocols currently being developed by SEL.
The partnership is touted to yield the first blockchain solution in the vacation rental space
SEL’s protocols intend to resolve four major pain points said to plague the vacation rental industry: double-booking, security and fraud, review reliability and high fees.
SEL said in a statement: “The success of our growth will come through proper technology and strategic partnerships to slowly evolve from an accommodation-sharing platform to a global sharing-economy website.”
Tujia and Chinese blockchain technology company Tai Cloud are among the existing partners for Cozystay, the first vacation rental platform targeting Chinese vacationers that is headquartered outside of China.
Cozystay, which has 60,000 users, 200,000 listings worldwide, has completed US$4 million in seed funding.
Six Senses has appointed Frans Westraadt as resort manager of Six Senses Yao Noi in Thailand.
Westraadt is no stranger to the brand as he brings his extensive experience in top-tier resorts and team management from Six Senses Laamu to Six Senses Yao Noi, where he will be in charge of the resort’s overall operations.
Throughout his career, he has been overseeing premium lodges and resorts in the Maldives, Namibia and the Seychelles.
Prior to joining the Six Senses family, Westraadt served as the executive assistant manager of Constance Ephelia in the Seychelles where, among his other responsibilities, he dedicated himself to the sustainability practices of the resort.
Fed up of hearing complaints about the quality of homestays in Vietnam, Bui Thi Nhan decided it was time to take the matter into her own hands.
With more than 15 years’ experience in the tourism industry, in 2012, Bui Thi Nhan – also director of Ecosea Travel – started running tours into Vietnam’s remote northern parts. With a focus on sustainable journeys, homestays formed an integral part of the experience. However, the quality was lacking.
Bui Thi Nhan (right) with the owner of a local homestay
She said: “The quality of homestays just wasn’t good enough. Tourists didn’t want to stay in hotels, they wanted the real experience, but the homestays were too basic.”
Nhan spent a year carrying out research, speaking to other tour operators, tourists and communities, and set about putting plans in place to elevate Vietnam’s homestay landscape.
Said Nhan: “Not all of the homestays are bad, some are good but need a bit of help, so we came up with a solution to work with them to upgrade their services, create activities and help them with their marketing.”
Nhan and her team of three set about finding potential homestays and working with the communities to create a collection of higher-quality offerings, as well as coming up with itineraries of activities for guests to do in the area.
“It’s not just about the homestay,” said Nhan. “There needs to be some sort of products that can be developed for guests to do in the area as well, such as cooking, carrying out activities with the family, and learning about the culture.”
That was the inspiration behind Ecohost, which aims to help communities behind homestays, who often have little experience in marketing and selling their products. Through the Ecohost website, all of the homestays are uniformly packaged and presented, with the option to book.
An Ecohost homestay option
Said Nhan: “Homestays and community-based tourism can be a sustainable income for some of these families that live in the countryside and mountains. We really want to help them be successful, have lots of guests and make money.”
Ecohost has currently developed four “ecohost” offerings, with several others slated to be operational this year. In 2019, franchise options will be rolled out, with Nhan currently developing a set of standards that lay out strict criteria hosts must adhere to.
Ecohost has already been inundated with requests from existing homestays and tour operators wanting to partner up. Plans are in the pipeline to start connecting with online tour operators and push the product there, and in June the company landed a spot as a finalist in this year’s Mekong Innovative Startups in Tourism.
Nhan said: “We were very excited to hear this because it means people care about this project. We hope to benefit more communities and families in the future.”
In a sea of more than 1,000 schools offering hospitality courses in metro Manila, Dusit Hospitality Management College (DHMC) stands out as an institution that offers hotel courses designed for supervisory and management levels.
The graduates will also have the potential to continue learning and progressing into a senior management position in five to seven years, said Lars Eltvik, managing director of the school. Six years ago, Eltvik was also at the helm of Dusit’s first tourism college in Bangkok.
Dusit’s soon-to-open hospitality college in the Philippines dares to be different
DHMC will be a fully-integrated hotel school with “high-tech, high-touch balance”, occupying the first nine floors of Dusit D2 – The Fort Hotel and Serviced Residences. While the school starts operations next month, the hotel – which features 135 Scandinavian-designed rooms and 129 serviced residences of 40m2 to 80m2 – will soft open in January 2019.
Eltvik, who will also manage the hotel – one of the eight that Dusit International has signed in the Philippines – said that to guarantee its “relevance”, DHMC will try “to fill the gap between what the industry needs and what the schools are producing” as “the academe is slow but the industry is moving fast”.
Eltvik: school will be as relevant as possible in this fast-moving industry
Ecole Hoteliere de Lausanne will certify the four-year bachelor degree in hospitality management, while Institut Paul Bocuse is the partner for bespoke culinary programmes. There will also be short courses teaching English and French languages, and maybe Mandarin for the fast-growing China market, elaborated Eltvik.
Marco Polo Ortigas Manila’s director of sales and marketing Pearl Peralta-Maclang noted that aside from producing a more qualified pool of young talents that the industry needs, it is also more affordable for students to study at DHMC in Manila as compared to Europe.
“It is also an opportunity to attract foreign students to study in the Philippines… so that is good for the economy,” said Peralta-Maclang.
Golden Phoenix Hotel Manila’s director of sales and marketing, Christine Urbanozo-Ibarreta, agreed that the industry as a whole stands to benefit from the opening of DHMC, as graduates are not limited to working at Dusit only, but at other hotels as well, in the future.
“It is the best of both worlds combining Thai and Filipino hospitality,” Urbanozo-Ibarreta remarked.
Guests can now redeem experiences with World of Hyatt points, or earn points when they buy experiences
Hyatt Hotels has launched Find, an extension of the World of Hyatt loyalty programme that allows members to earn and redeem points on experiences.
Eligible members can earn 10 World of Hyatt Base Points for every US$1 cash spent on experiences, or redeem World of Hyatt points for experiences worldwide.
Cycling tour in Siem Reap among the experiences available on Find
Find offers over 100 local experiences across categories of eat and drink; fitness and relaxation; and tours and adventure. This collection will continue to evolve in the US and international markets such as Sydney, Delhi, Siem Reap and Ho Chi Minh City.
In Ho Chi Minh City, guests may choose a Vietnamese cooking class with a focus on well-being. Another example is a calligraphy session with local hero Qamar Dagar in Delhi.
Find is the latest in a series of wellness initiatives by Hyatt. In 2017, Hyatt acquired the Miraval brand, which caters to self-improvement. World of Hyatt members are able to enjoy their loyalty benefits at Miraval Arizona Resort & Spa through the World of Hyatt programme.
In addition, through Hyatt’s acquisition of Exhale, Hyatt guests and World of Hyatt members can access boutique fitness classes and restorative spa therapies.
Last month Hyatt also launched the World of Hyatt Credit Card, which includes a fitness Bonus category that rewards members for well-being purchases on fitness club and gym memberships. More Hyatt well-being initiatives will be unveiled in the near term.
Find offers over 100 wellness-centric local experiences including food and exploration. This collection will continue to evolve in the US and international markets such as Sydney, Delhi, Siem Reap and Ho Chi Minh City.
In Ho Chi Minh City, guests may choose a Vietnamese cooking class with a focus on well-being. Another example is a calligraphy session with local hero Qamar Dagar in Delhi.
Find is the latest in a series of wellness initiatives by Hyatt. In 2017, Hyatt acquired the Miraval brand, which caters to self-improvement. World of Hyatt members are able to enjoy their loyalty benefits at Miraval Arizona Resort & Spa through the World of Hyatt programme.
In addition, through Hyatt’s acquisition of Exhale, Hyatt guests and World of Hyatt members can access boutique fitness classes and restorative spa therapies.
Last month Hyatt also launched the World of Hyatt Credit Card, which includes a fitness Bonus category that rewards members for well-being purchases on fitness club and gym memberships. More Hyatt well-being initiatives will be unveiled in the near term.
Best Western Hotels & Resorts has sealed an agreement with Numchai 2014 to manage a new property in Pattaya.
Slated to open in 4Q2019, Best Western Plus Speech Pattaya Hotel will feature 163 design-led guestrooms furnished with wooden floors, low-slung beds, working desks with international power outlets, mood lighting and complimentary Wi-Fi.
A rendering of Best Western Plus Speech Pattaya Hotel and its pool
The hotel will also feature a range of facilities, such as an all-day restaurant specialising in modern Thai and international cuisine, a bar, state-of-the-art fitness centre and an outdoor infinity pool.
Located on Pattaya 3rd Road, Best Western Plus Speech Pattaya Hotel will be within easy reach of many local attractions, including the Terminal 21 and Central Festival lifestyle malls, Alcazar Cabaret Show and Art in Paradise gallery.
A new partner for TBO, an online travel distribution business from India
Standard Chartered Bank’s private equity arm, Standard Chartered Private Equity (SCPE), will acquire Naspers’ stake in TBO Group, an online B2B travel distribution company in India for an undisclosed sum.
Ankush Nijhawan, co-founder of TBO Group, said in a statement: “We are very happy to have SCPE as our partner as we embark on the next stage of TBO’s growth. Through leveraging SCPE’s extensive network and business planning expertise, we would be able to strengthen our position as a leading B2B travel distribution player in the global landscape.”
A new partner for the online travel distribution business from India
Gaurav Bhatnagar, also a co-founder, said: “The overall B2B travel distribution landscape is ripe for consolidation and we believe that in partnership with SCPE, we can leverage our strengths in technology and scale to drive this consolidation.”
TBO, also known as Travel Boutique Online, was founded in 2006 and has since expanded its operations to more than 90 countries.
South African company Naspers first invested in TBO in 2012.
Business Suite at Swiss-Belhotel Airport (Jakarta)
Swiss-Belhotel International has signed a partnership agreement with Citilink – Garuda Indonesia’s LCC – to promote Indonesian tourism destinations.
Travellers who book accommodation at Swiss-Belhotel International properties in Indonesia using with their Citilink boarding pass will receive a promotional code that entitles them to a special discount of 30 per cent from Best Flexi Rates at swiss-belhotel.com. The promotion rate is valid through March 2019.
Business Suite at Swiss-Belhotel Airport (Jakarta)
This cooperation also applies at all Zest Hotels, the group’s budget brand. Citilink passengers can fly and stay at Zest Hotels in Jakarta, Bogor, Bandung, Yogyakarta, Surabaya, Bali and Batam for Rp550,000 (US$38) per room for two nights by using a Citilink promo code and showing the valid boarding pass upon check in.
Swiss-Belhotel International operates 64 hotels and Citilink flies to more than 30 cities across the Indonesian archipelago.
Cozystay Holdings has partnered Singapore-based Share Everything Lab (SEL) to bring blockchain technology to the vacation-rental sharing economy.
The Vancouver-based vacation rental platform, which has been operating since 2015, will be the first adopter of blockchain-based trust protocols currently being developed by SEL.
SEL’s protocols intend to resolve four major pain points said to plague the vacation rental industry: double-booking, security and fraud, review reliability and high fees.
SEL said in a statement: “The success of our growth will come through proper technology and strategic partnerships to slowly evolve from an accommodation-sharing platform to a global sharing-economy website.”
Tujia and Chinese blockchain technology company Tai Cloud are among the existing partners for Cozystay, the first vacation rental platform targeting Chinese vacationers that is headquartered outside of China.
Cozystay, which has 60,000 users, 200,000 listings worldwide, has completed US$4 million in seed funding.