NH Collection's Venezia Palazzo Barocci in Venice, Italy
Thailand-based Minor International (MINT) has increased its stake in NH Hotel Group, Europe’s sixth largest hotel chain with 382 hotels and resorts spanning 59,350 keys across 30 countries in Europe, the Americas and Africa.
The 192 million euros (US$224 million) purchase of 30,000,000 shares, which together with its existing shareholding, will increase MINT’s stake in NH Hotel Group to 8.6 per cent.
This investment is a further push into Europe by Minor International, following its earlier expansion into Portugal and Brazil through the acquisition of Tivoli Hotels & Resorts in 2016.
NH Collection’s Venezia Palazzo Barocci in Venice, Italy
Dillip Rajakarier, CEO Minor Hotels, said that the latest investment is “a significant milestone”. “Over the past few years, NH Hotel Group’s board of directors and management team have reinvigorated the business and delivered strong business performance in line with its five-year strategic plan,” he stated in a statement.
“As a key shareholder in the business, we look forward to supporting the management team as a strategic shareholder to continue this success and build long-term shareholder value for NH Hotel Group and its shareholders including MINT. MINT can also support the NH hotels with its food & beverage expertise where appropriate to maximise financial performance and enhance customer experience.”
Following the investment, the properties will continue to operate under NH Hotel Group’s brands, including NH Hotels, NH Collection Hotels, nhow Hotels and Hesperia Resorts.
No management changes at NH Hotel Group are expected in connection with this investment.
Azizan Noordin, CEO of Langkawi Development Authority (LADA) and a key member of PATA, has been appointed the new vice chairman of PATA and the chairman of the association’s Government Destination Sub-Committee.
His appointment, announced at PATA’s annual summit in Gangneung, South Korea, is valid for the period of 2018 – 2019 and will automatically place him in line as the chairman for the next period (2019-2020).
Prior to his position at LADA, Azizan was deputy director general for the Malaysia Tourism Promotion Board (Tourism Malaysia) and was responsible for the operations of the organisation and the promotional efforts of all 44 Tourism Malaysia offices overseas.
He started his career in tourism back in 1978, and has since served in various leadership roles including heading the Tourism Malaysia offices in Seoul and Jeddah.
Best Western Hotels & Resorts is ramping up its portfolio in Vietnam with the signing of a new upscale beach resort in Cam Ranh, just weeks following its announcement to launch its first Premier Collection property in the country in the coastal city of Vung Tau.
Slated to open on Vietnam’s south-central coast in 2020, Best Western Premier Cam Ranh Seahorse Beach Resort will overlook the East Sea, located just five minutes from Cam Ranh International Airport and 20 minutes from the resort town of Nha Trang.
A rendering of Best Western Premier Cam Ranh Seahorse Beach Resort
The beachfront property will feature a total of 376 rooms and suites, and boast facilities such as a restaurant, spa, tennis court and outdoor pool. For corporate clients and event planners, there will be an adjacent convention hall outfitted with state-of-the-art audio-visual technology.
The Singapore Tourism Board (STB) has today revoked Baba Travel’s travel agent license (number 01409), in accordance with the Travel Agents Act (Chapter 334).
A screenshot of Baba Travel’s current website
Baba Travel’s licence was revoked as it had falsified the identity of its key executive in its application for renewal of licence. STB has also received complaints from Baba Travel’s industry partners and customers regarding outstanding payments owed by the company.
Wow Air picks Delhi as first Asian destination
Icelandic LCC WOW Air will launch flights between nine major US states to the capital of India, New Delhi, this December.
The flights will depart from Newark (EWR), Boston (BOS), Baltimore (BWI), Chicago (ORD), Pittsburgh (PIT), Detroit (DTW), San Francisco (SFO), Los Angeles (LAX) and St. Louis (STL).
LOT Polish Airlines links Singapore and Warsaw
LOT Polish Airlines (LOT) has begun flights between Warsaw and Singapore, the first non-stop link connecting the Asian city-state to Central and Eastern Europe. The 12-hour service is operated on a Boeing B787-8 aircraft, with a capacity of 252 seats in a three-class configuration.
The flight schedule is as follows:
New HK-Moscow service takes off
Hong Kong Airlines has begun a seasonal thrice-weekly service between Hong Kong and Moscow, marking the carrier’s entry into Europe.
On Tuesdays, HK2019 takes off at 16.15 and arrives in Moscow at 21.25. The return leg, HX2018, will depart Moscow at 00.20, and arrive in Hong Kong at 15.00 on Wednesdays.
On Fridays and Sundays, HK2019 takes off at 15.00 and arrives in Moscow at 20.10. The return leg, HX2018, will depart Moscow at 00.35, and arrive in Hong Kong at 15.15 on Mondays and Saturdays.
AirAsia connects Hua Hin and KL
AirAsia (Malaysia) has launched direct flights from Hua Hin in Thailand to the Malaysian capital of Kuala Lumpur.
Taking two hours per way, there will be four flights weekly on Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays.
AK830 will depart Kuala Lumpur at 10.00, and arrive in Hua Hin at 11.00. The return flight, AK831 will depart Hua Hin at 11.30, and arrive in Kuala Lumpur at 14.35.
Scoot to Pekanbaru from next month
Scoot has launched ticket sales for its new four-times weekly Singapore- Pekanbaru services commencing June 4, 2018.
Operated with a A320 aircraft, flight time will take 35 minutes one-way. Flight schedule will be as follows:
Phuket-based Aksara Collection has promoted Matthew C Hindmarch to director of hotels and resorts.
In this role, Hindmarch will oversee the operations of all three properties – The SIS Kata, Phuket, Kata Sea Breeze Resort and Patra Mansion, as well as the recently formed Aksara Collection Office, which comprises business development, overseas representative offices, public relations and marketing.
An experienced hotelier, Hindmarch has spent nearly three decades in Thailand. He first joined the company as general manager for Kata Sea Breeze Resort and was also part of the development team at The SIS Kata Phuket.
Crowd of people at a terrace of the Kiyomizu dera Temple in Kyoto on January 02. 2017 in Japan
Industry speakers at the Pacific Asia Travel Association (PATA) and United Nations World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO) joint debate last week outlined several key challenges the global travel industry is currently facing.
Held at the PATA Annual Summit in Gangneung, South Korea, the debate addressed two imminent challenges in tourism: insufficient resilience to natural disasters, and the need for tourist limits and redistribution in over-visited destinations.
Tourist pollution is becoming a problem in popular destinations around the world; a large crowd on Kiyomizu-dera Temple’s terrace in Kyoto pictured
“There is growing concern about high cost of living, traffic congestions and the overall deteriorating quality of life because of overcapacity. We need to desperately deal with how cities can accommodate tourists, otherwise, we are not delivering the optimal visitor experience,” said Maria Helena de Senna Fernandes, director, Macao Government Tourism Office.
UNWTO projects that international tourism arrivals will grow by an annual average of 4.8 per cent between 2018 and 2020. China registered 130 million outbound trips in 2017 and India 21 million in 2016. Last year, Japan received 28 million foreign arrivals, contributing to what the locals call “tourist pollution”.
These numbers call for more vigilant strategies by tourism stakeholders to control their inbound traffic and redistribute travellers to second- and third-tier cities, expressed Fernandes.
Macau has had discussions with China – its major source of tourism – to adopt “annual controlled growth to limit the increase” of tourists to the territory, she shared.
She advised that up-and-coming destinations that are not yet at capacity can take a leaf from larger destinations to adopt “adequate infrastructure” in anticipation of a tourism influx.
Faeez Fadhlillah, CEO and co-founder of Malaysia-based Tripfez, added that countries should remember to promote the cultural aspect of other cities and make tourism work for the local people, so as to prevent overtourism that disturbs local culture, creates wastage and nuisance, such as in the case of Langkawi.
Meanwhile, Edmund Bartlett, Jamaica’s minister of tourism, argued that a greater challenge is many countries’ lack of resilience in the face of natural disasters.
He proposed that governments needed more “public policies for mitigation” as well as “financial resources and public and private partnerships to build knowledge capacity”.
Abdulla Ghiyas, president of the Maldives Association of Travel Agents and Tour Operators, shared that this is especially critical in the Maldives, as a single tsunami had wiped out two-thirds of the country’s GDP – which is largely reliant on tourism – and it took more than 10 years to prepare shelters and for local communities to bounce back.
Bartlett chimed in: “We need to balance human and natural resources so that both can be sustained. This calls for innovation, new ideas and capacity building.”
Investor confidence in the Malaysian hospitality sector has surged following the appointment of Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad, who has made clear that he would foster a business-friendly administration, and welcome foreign direct investments from all over the world.
Business outlook has climbed with Mahathir’s assurance for a pro-business environment in Malaysia, as well as the setting up of a special taskforce to probe into the 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB) scandal and retrieve assets from the misappropriation of funds under former leader Najib Razak, Zerin Properties CEO and founder, Previndran Singhe, told TTG Asia yesterday on the sidelines of the Hospitality Malaysia Conference in Kuala Lumpur.
Kuala Lumpur (pictured) is one of two locations drawing strong investor interest from the hospitality sector
He commented: “We are getting enquiries from foreign investors in Asia-Pacific looking for greenfield and brownfield investment opportunities to build hotel properties of 150 keys upwards.”
According to Previndran, Kuala Lumpur and Kota Kinabalu are two key destinations drawing strong investor interest; the former because it is the capital, while the latter is favoured for its good infrastructure and air connectivity to North Asia, alongside its diversity of natural attractions.
Naresh Mohan, CEO of Grand ION Delemen Hotel in Genting Highlands, said during the ‘Unveiling the Investment Road Ahead for Malaysia’ forum session that foreign hotel investors are also attracted to Malaysia due to robust growth projections in the tourism industry, driven by a new crop of attractions such as the 20th Century Fox World Theme Park in Genting Highlands.
“Once the theme park opens, demand for rooms in Genting will outstrip the supply,” he remarked. Currently, there are more than 10,000 rooms at Resorts World Genting.
But to keep foreign investor momentum high, the new government has to look into “improving air connectivity especially to tourist destinations”, Previndran urged.
“Langkawi, for instance, has the highest average room rates in Malaysia but there are not enough business class seats on domestic flights to Langkawi. Langkawi also attracts tourists from Russia during the year end, but there are no direct, scheduled flights from Russia to Langkawi and Malaysia,” he continued.
Malaysian Association of Hotel Owners executive director Shaharuddin Saaid, said the new government should focus on attracting more high-end hotel brands. He said: “We need to focus on increasing tourist receipts by attracting high-income tourists rather than tourist numbers.”
Founder and managing director of investment property company 8M Real Estate, Ashish Manchharam, has an affinity with shophouses, having grown up in one and now is in the business of buying them and injecting new life into these heritage properties.
The Jones Lang LaSalle alum’s interest in such niche investment is no surprise, as his family was behind the gentrification of Singapore’s Haji Lane, converting a row of nine shophouses into retail boutiques in the early 2000s. The wave of independent retail businesses opening in the district has since continued over the past 15 years.
Ashish: an affinity with heritage shophouses
Manchharam’s first shophouse acquisition was made five years ago when he noticed that interesting neighbourhoods and ground floor frontage were growing in popularity as venues for F&B concepts. Shophouses in CBD locations, where population and infrastructure had been growing, were especially coveted.
In the last few years, Manchharam noticed a growing interest in people wanting to live in such locations. This eventually led developing part of the portfolio for accommodation purposes, which culminated in Base Residences, offering four apartments, and Ann Siang House, which opened in March 2018 with 20 rooms. A Keong Saik Road property is also slated to open later this year.
“In general, there was a gap in the market for all of the above. F&B operators want independently accessible space within cool neighbourhoods, without being in a traditional mall or bottom of an office building, constrained by opening hours, etc. For accommodation, the focus was on hotel use. We noticed there are people who want to experience living close to the CBD within these neighbourhoods but longer term.” Manchharam said.
“We converted part of our office space at Hongkong Street to test the market in 2016. Noticing the pick up in demand, we have started to focus on providing accommodation space within our properties. We are seeing more people wanting more flexibility when it comes to being able to stay short- or long-term,” Manchharam told TTG Asia.
The said shophouse at 31 Hongkong Street was acquired in July 2015. Named Base Residences, the building was converted into serviced residences, comprising a studio and three two-bedroom apartments.
Manchharam expects demand for longer-term stays in such locations will eventually pick up over time, as demand to be in these locations increases as more infrastructure (i.e. MRT) increases.
Exterior facade of Ann Siang House
When asked about space constraints within the shophouses, as well as the lack of facilities such as gyms, he remarked: “Generally, we feel that today’s travellers do not always require all the traditional services in a hotel or serviced apartment. We are focusing on what is important such as a good bed/shower, reliable Wi-Fi, cooking/laundry facilities, and handy phones to remain connected locally.”
To increase Base Residences’ range of offerings for instance, Manchharam partners with nearby gyms and yoga studios. He indicated that this is one way to provide “high-quality, best in class operators”, and allowing them to focus on providing the service they know best.
Manchharam’s F&B establishments move to the same beat, evident in his latest venture – Ann Siang House – where there are three F&B brands currently occupying the spaces around the hotel lobby.
The space on the right is currently occupied by coffee bar Cult (daytime)/and contemporary eatery The Guild (night-time), while the space on the left is home to Italian restaurant Perbacco.
“The F&B (spaces act as) a meeting point for people throughout the day, which we think is important in driving people to stay with us. In addition, our properties are located in well-sought after locations for F&B operators. F&B will be an important part in all our properties,” he shared.
8M Real Estate’s S$500 million (US$375 million) portfolio currently spans more than 30 locations – most of which are in Singapore’s CBD – such as Ann Siang Road, Keong Saik Road, Boat Quay, Circular Road and New Bridge Road. This is in addition to previous acquisitions in like Gemmill Lane, Amoy Street, Tanjong Pagar Road, Neil Road, Craig Road and Hongkong Street.
Dusit International has appointed Marc Hediger as senior vice president – development to oversee the development team’s global operations except China.
Prior to joining Dusit, Hediger was CEO of Lanson Place Hospitality Management in Hong Kong.
The Swiss national brings more than 30 years of years of development and operational experience to the table, having worked as general manager for Hyatt Hotels, spent eight years as senior vice president and director of development Shangri-La Hotels & Resorts in Hong Kong, as well as two years as senior vice president – property development – for New World Hospitality, also in Hong Kong.
