Marriott International has appointed Bernhard Langer as general manager of Four Points by Sheraton Sydney, Central Park, effective February 1, 2018.
Langer will oversee and manage all aspects of the hotel’s operations, including financial performance, business strategy development and implementation of the Four Points service philosophy to ensure guest satisfaction. He will also assemble the hotel’s management team.
Langer will report to Sean Hunt, area vice president, Australia, New Zealand and Asia Pacific, Marriott International.
Previously the hotel manager of Sheraton on the Park, Sydney, Langer has 18 years of experience working across the Westin, St Regis, and Sheraton brands in countries such as Fiji, Singapore, Thailand, China and Japan.
Four Points by Sheraton Sydney, Central Park will open in August 2018. The property features 297 guestrooms, a bar and lounge with an outdoor terrace, an all-day dining restaurant, 550m2 of function space and a fitness centre.
Reporting from Expedia Partner Conference 2017, Las Vegas
A combination of robust growth in global travel and a digital revolution sees Expedia’s new CEO Mark Okerstrom being hugely optimistic of the company’s future despite its recent stock plunge and a third-quarter loss of US$8 million.
Addressing more than 5,000 partners attending Expedia Partner Conference 2017 in Las Vegas, Okerstrom trained their eyes on the longterm and what Expedia intends to do to grow.
He outlined three priorities: harnessing the local markets Expedia is already in rather than expanding into new ones, being more customer-centric and speeding up the pace of innovation.
The basis of Expedia’s new priorities under Okerstrom, who replaced Dara Khosrowshahi as CEO on August 29, is the combination of continued growth in travel and the digital revolution. In an “act of defiance” against terrorism, travel bans, natural calamities, people are travelling more than ever before, he said, chalking up US$1.6 trillion in travel spend in 2017 and growing six per cent year on year. International markets are growing, with countries like China, Indonesia and India showing absolutely phenomenal growth rates and bypassing laptops straight to mobile which has everything they need.
“So more innovations (are needed). The shift to mobile is almost old news now. We’re moving into voice, chatbots, machine learning, artificial intelligence and driverless cars,” he said.
On being global but locally relevant, Okerstrom said: “The land grab for being present across the world is largely complete and it’s time to turn our attention to be locally relevant in every market,” he said.
Okerstrom: speeding up pace of innovation
If it’s Malaysia, that means having all the local inventory, including places where Malaysians go for the weekend, being translation-perfect and speaking in their tone of voice, so “you feel you are actually working with a Malaysian travel agency”, said Okerstrom.
Expedia also recognised the need for Expedia to be more customer-centric. “In the first 10 to 20 years of travel, we’ve taken the green screen of the GDS, turning around to customers saying ‘here, you do the research, you book’, and we’ve gone from desktop to mobile,” he said.
The future sees the task going back to Expedia to anticipate customer needs. He cited an example of notifying a family while they are still in the air that they have missed their connection, re-booking them on a different flight, taking care of their accommodation needs. Egencia, the group’s corporate travel management company, is already doing this. “We want to bring more of this to leisure travel,” said Okerstrom.
Or, getting much closer to personalisation using artificial intelligence to help customers find the perfect trip. He said he takes two trips a year, one during the February school break and the other in August with a group of friends, always in the same destination and hotel – he’s just waiting for an email from Expedia recommending something different based on the use of artificial intelligence.
In man versus machine, so far man has won. In future, machines can win, he said, and Expedia wants to speed up the pace of innovation internally, he said.
But it’s no longer OTAs innovating on one side, then talking to partners, he said. The future is about joint innovations, joint success. “We are better together. You with us, we’re unstoppable.”
He said since 2010, some US$62 billion funding has been put into travel technology, half of that in the last two years. Since 2005, there have been 1,500 digital travel startups, fewer than 100 a year, but last year there were almost 250. “The pace of change is absolutely accelerating. Of course Expedia, and you, are a part of that,” he said.
Okerstrom’s address was followed by senior Expedia executives spotlighting ‘better together’. Ariane Gorin, senior vice president Expedia Affiliate Group Brand, used a Formula One analogy. In F1, the driver gets the attention, decides when to accelerate, when to overtake the competition. The race cars are masterpieces with the power to thrust them forward, and the team is the support before and during the race. “You our partners are always in the driver seat. Marketing campaigns and our platforms are the race cars and the team are the engineers that support the race – all are truly better together,” she said.
Scott Jones, Expedia vice president design and user experience, demonstrated how Expedia Innovation Lab tries to understand what customers want through electromygography. Planning travel is one of the most complicated, joyless tasks because of the time, money, uncertainties if it’s the right travel experience, plus it can’t be returned unlike other online purchases, he said. Planning isn’t the trip, making moments and memories is the trip. “There’s more we can do to put more anticipation and aspiration into experiences. I do believe we can make better memories together. We got the technology, we can mine it,” he said.
In outlining the massive growth of travel and how Expedia is positioning itself to harness that growth, Okerstrom indirectly addressed the concern of Expedia’s stock plunge and earnings loss, which it had described as short term arising from the impact of hurricanes and earthquakes, increased marketing spend at Trivago and increased technology costs at HomeAway.
Wharf Hotels has introduced a new leadership programme for its senior teams, meant to serve as a road map to help it stay viable as hotel groups become more commoditised.
The Red Ring Philosophy aims to instil a way of thinking to help leaders create an “inclusive and aspirational culture” for associates.
Wharf Hotels introduces a new leadership programme for its senior teams
According to a Wharf Hotels statement, current trends of hotel commoditisation has meant that “the growing plethora of hotel brands cannot be differentiated other than on price”, hence the strategy to be bold and seek alternative markets and initiatives that will develop new business streams.
Leaders – including general managers, executive committees and department heads – are navigated through the Red Ring Leadership Competency Model to build a creative, results-driven, collaborative and agile culture.
Explaining the two Red Ring principles, Jennifer Cronin, president, Wharf Hotels, said the Live Bold statement is applied to leadership, innovation, vision and experiences for customers; while Stay Sharp encompasses being sustainable, holistic, authentic, relentless and true to the company’s vision and mission.
“Our leaders took the principles of Live Bold, Stay Sharp beyond classrooms with Town Hall Meetings, team building activities, pre-shift briefings and problem resolutions based on the mantra of Red Ring,” Juliette Lim, vice president human resources, Wharf Hotels.
The 2017 Associate Engagement Survey results released last week have shown record employee engagement levels since the exercise began in 2010, highlighting the success of a shared leadership mindset in driving loyalty and defining the right culture, she added.
The programme has rolled out across all 16 of the group’s hotels in China, Hong Kong and the Philippines led by its headquarters leadership team, with over 400 leaders being educated on its guiding principles and competencies.
Managing director Slethaug (third from right) at the TMC's rebirth
The Swire Travel name has lived out the last days of its 69-year legacy with the regional TMC officially rebranded to Connexus by the company’s new owner.
On the decision to drop the legacy of Swire, Connexus Travel managing director Gloria Slethaug said: “It was not an issue of whether to give up the brand, it is about providing Connexus Travel with the right platform and resources, i.e. a new brand name to excel into the future. Since the change pertains only to the name we operate under, we will retain our license number (350001) and remain the first travel agent registered in Hong Kong.”
Managing director Slethaug (third from right) at the TMC’s rebranding ceremony
Without a recognised brand name, the company’s key challenge today is building up brand awareness and brand performance, added Slethaug.
“We have already launched a series of campaigns since early November, which includes print and outdoor advertisements, online banners, etc. to build up our brand awareness,” she explained.
She also stressed that management teams, as well as the company’s core values of customer centricity and professional service remain unchanged.
“So far, there is no loss of corporate accounts due to change of ownership. In fact, we continue to have new clients using our service. Moreover, we are also enabled with Concur, and have been supporting a lot of clients in rolling out corporate online booking solutions in the region.”
A spokesperson of the Swire Group said: “John Swire & Sons (H.K.) Limited completed the sales transaction of Swire Travel Limited and its wholly owned subsidiaries to JMI Global Limited in May 2017. The decision is in line with the strategy to refocus management resources on Swire’s core businesses, including property, aviation, beverages, marine services and trading & industrial.”
Swire Group had handed the reins of Swire Travel to new owners as part of a strategy to refocus resources on core businesses and maximise the TMC’s growth potential. Swire Travel shareholdings have been transferred to a private company owned by the founder and chairman of KWG Property Holdings Limited, Kong Jian Min.
Japan Airlines (JAL) and Boom Supersonic have partnered to bring commercial supersonic travel to passengers.
As part of the agreement, JAL has made an investment of US$10 million in Boom, which is developing a new-generation supersonic aircraft said to be able to fly at Mach 2.2 and cut flight times in half.
Japan Airlines invests in US supersonic flight startup Boom
JAL also has the option to purchase up to 20 Boom aircraft through a pre-order arrangement.
In addition, the Japanese airline will collaborate with Boom to refine the aircraft design and help define the passenger experience for supersonic travel.
“We’ve been working with Japan Airlines behind the scenes for over a year now,” said Blake Scholl, founder and CEO of Boom Supersonic. “Our goal is to develop an airliner that will be a great addition to any international airline’s fleet.”
“Through this partnership, we hope to contribute to the future of supersonic travel with the intent of providing more time to our passengers while emphasising flight safety,” said Yoshiharu Ueki, president of Japan Airlines.
AccorHotels will bring the Raffles Hotel & Resorts brand to Dubai’s Palm Jumeirah beach in 2020.
The outcome of a management agreement with Dubai-based developer Nakheel, PALM 360 will be a two-tower development on Palm Jumeirah comprising the Raffles The Palm Dubai Hotel and Raffles Residences PALM360.
(From left) AccorHotels’ Sébastien Bazin and Nakheel’s Ali Rashid Lootah
AccorHotels says the 260m-tall towers will be the tallest structure on Palm Jumeirah, with a 155m-long sky pool connecting the towers 170 metres above ground.
The hotel component will offer 125 hotel rooms and suites, while the 359 branded residences – including 16 branded penthouses that will each have their own private infinity pool, gym and cinema – will be available for purchase.
PALM360 will feature two rooftop restaurants, a speciality restaurant, lobby lounge, private beach club, fitness centre, the Raffles Spa, a health club, tennis court, and a fully-supervised children’s club. Guests will also be given direct private beach access.
Residents will also be able to enjoy services including concierge, private transportation and in-residence dining, in addition to enjoying global VVIP status through an exclusive Ownership Benefits Program.
Located on Palm Jumeirah’s 11km crescent Boardwalk, PALM360 is close to upcoming attractions such as The Palm Promenade, The Pointe and Nakheel Mall.
Raffles The Palm Dubai and Raffles Residences PALM360 joins 11 Raffles Hotels & Resorts around the world, including Raffles Dubai.
Best Western Hotels & Resorts recently concluded it 11th Asian Members’ Meeting, which gathered the company’s executives, hotel managers and owners from across Asia for two days of meetings, discussions and networking opportunities.
Running under the theme BW & Beyond, this year’s event cast a look into Best Western’s future, with the company having launched eight new brands since 2015.
The meeting allowed executives, owners and managers to come together to share ideas to drive the business forward
At the upscale Montien Riverside Hotel in Bangkok (which will soon become a Best Western Premier hotel), Ron Pohl, Best Western’s senior vice president and COO, delivered the opening address; while Olivier Berrivin, managing director of international operations – Asia, provided updates about the company’s ongoing regional expansion.
Delegates were also given an update on technological developments by guest speakers from Google and Agoda.com. Best Western’s hotel owners and procurement company also addressed the meeting.
The meeting concluded with a glittering farewell dinner in the hotel ballroom, and an award ceremony to honor Best Western’s best performing hotels in Asia.
Hotelbeds buys way to bedbank dominance Hotelbeds Group swoops in on its rival, Kuoni GTA, for an undisclosed price, which together with its recent acquisition of Tourico Holidays, will make it the dominant global B2B bedbanks player.
While the Tourico deal will strengthen its footprint in North America, the GTA buy will give Hotelbeds significant presence in the fast-growing Asia-Pacific and Middle East markets. GTA sells around 40,000 room nights per day online, and these are particularly sourced from fast-growing markets in Asia, the Middle East and Africa.
Hotelbeds Group was bought over from the TUI Group last year by a consortium led by Cinven and Canada Pension Plan Investment Board.
At the time, the new owners emphasised they were keen to consolidate the highly fragmented wholesale accommodation market.
Myanmar safe for travel: local trade
While areas such as Rakhine, Kachin and Northern Shan are off-limits, Myanmar Tourism Marketing circulated a map showing tourist hubs of Yangon, Mandalay, Bagan and Inle Lake within safe parameters.
Mount Popa in Myanmar
Edwin Briels, managing director of Khiri Travel Myanmar, said: “It is impossible to accidentally travel to a restricted area. I think Myanmar continues to be one of the safest places on earth to travel.”
However, an anonymous tour operator, said: “If the situation continues, we will see visitors for this high season drop. Also, travellers might not commit to a Myanmar trip next year in this booking peak.”
More than just honeymooners for Maldives
The Maldives needs to market to tourism segments beyond honeymooners and couples to give arrivals a boost, as the destination faces room oversupply and falling rates, industry players said at the inaugural Travel Trade Maldives show in July.
“Two years ago, a room in a five-star property in Maldives was sold from US$700 with breakfast. Now, five-star room rates start from US$500,” Suresh Dissanayake, corporate general manager – sales & marketing, Adaaran Resorts in the Maldives, said.
He added: “The Maldives should look at organising international sporting events and entertainment events using international celebrities to promote Maldives.”
As well, Haikal Idris, head of business development, Tripfez, suggested that the Maldives could also look at attracting Muslim tourists.
Meanwhile, Asian millennials are driving a boom in budget travel to the Maldives, with the islands located within a three-hour speedboat ride from Malé, the biggest beneficiary of this new market force.
IHG shocks with Asia HQ shift to Europe
InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG) announces the creation of a new mega operating region combining Europe, Middle East, Asia & Africa (EMEAA) based in the UK, effectively relegating the current regional office in Singapore covering AMEA (Asia, Middle East and Africa) to a subdivisional office.
This is the first major move by IHG’s new group CEO, Keith Barr, who rose to the top in July.
Given the challenges of managing Asia from Europe, Robert Williams, partner and head of hotels & hospitality Asia-Pacific, Withers Worldwide, said: “Strong and empowered management on the ground in Asia and a clear mandate for them to execute strategy will be key.”
Choe Peng Sum, CEO, Frasers Hospitality Group, is concerned that this spells to IHG-managed hotel owners a deprioritisation of Asia.
IHG’s Barr however assures that the EMEAA region will operate through strong subregional divisions based in locations including Singapore to keep business “close to hotel owners, guests and colleagues”.
JTB swoops in on Kuoni Travel Services
Hot on the heels of Thomas Cook India’s purchase of Kuoni Global Travel Services’ DMC network in Asia, Australia, the Middle East, Africa and the Americas, JTB Corporation has acquired all shares of Kuoni Global Travel Services for an undisclosed price.
The move is part of JTB Corporation’s ambitions to become a top global DMC, as the partnership is expected to strengthen the inbound business services and increase its market share in Europe. It will also support the expansion and strengthening of the global MICE services in Europe and the US markets, which is complementary to existing JTB MICE business.
Thomas Cook’s acquisition does not include Kuoni Destination Management Europe and Kuoni Destination Management US, which remain in the portfolio of Kuoni Global Travel Services.
Kuoni Global Travel Services said in a statement it will continue efforts to be a neutral land operator to work with many companies other than JTB, paying full attention to the protection of any sensitive information.
Cambodia finally gets tourism marketing body
A central tourism marketing and advertising council has been launched to help Cambodia achieve its target of seven million visitors by 2020.
Tourism minister Thong Khon said the council’s main aim is to promote Cambodia to the international market through campaigns and initiatives, and also encourage the private sector to market and advertise the destination.
Khon added that the tourism industry is a vital economic pillar for the country, with the seven million visitor target translating to an estimated revenue of US$5 billion, and more than one million direct jobs.
A five-year tourism masterplan has also been developed, focusing on the creation of new tourism products and keeping resorts and their surroundings clean.
Other elements include infrastructure development, promoting green resorts, building new roads to reach resorts, and increasing quality and manpower within the sector.
Liquor ban leaves Indian hotels high and dry
A ban on liquor sales at establishments within 500m of state and national highways, effective April 1, has struck a serious blow to India’s hotel industry.
Hotel sources said about 50 per cent of hotels in the country come under the ambit of the ban. This includes the Oberoi Gurgaon, Westin Mumbai, Le Meridien Kochi and Radisson Guwahati, to name a few.
The Federation of Hotel & Restaurant Association of India estimates it would result in the closure of more than 100,000 establishments and a loss to both states and the industry to the tune of 20,000 crore rupees (US$3.2 billion).
The impact on banquet business is expected to be massive. Sudesh Poddar, director, Nataraj Group of Hotels, said half of a hotel’s revenue comes through F&B sales. “We expect that 60-70 per cent of the banqueting business of hotels close to the highways will be gone,” he said.
S M Shervani, managing director of The Shervani Group, foresees many hotels will be forced to close down.
The industry has seen wave after wave of small and large investors, some seeing good results and others failing. It’s important to remember that the principle of investing in hotels remains the same – Right Time-Right Place.
Large corporations, pension funds, REITs, private equity, wealthy families and others have all invested in hotels and brands. While some have a short-term exit strategy, others have a longterm objective.
Angelini: travel is constantly evolving
In the past, the industry has also seen investors from countries and regions with ‘global aspirations’ such as Japan during the ’80s, the Middle East and lately from China:
– Japan’s hotel asset buying spree was carried out with too much debt and questionable company valuations, and all the investments in hotels incurred huge losses. A big lesson learned.
– Investors from the Middle East went after trophy assets (mostly done when the price of oil was very high) and in most cases overpaid for the assets. Will those properties and/or the investors face liquidity issues?
– Chinese investors also went after brands and prime properties and overpaid in some cases. Will they continue like this? Indications are that there are new capital controls and the Chinese government is cracking down on large deals/investments outside China. It must be noted that Chinese investors typically focus on the long term.
Looking towards a fascinating (or disturbing?) future, with our imagination at play, evolution just keeps getting faster with no signs of stopping. We now live in a world of smartphones, smart controls, beacons, virtual reality, 3D printing, cloud-based technology, facial recognition, infrared body scanners, mobile biometric cards and Bitcoin. It is also a world of more demanding guests and hotels, anxious lenders and fewer employees. (And we can’t forget the effects of climate change, natural disasters and rising sea levels.)
The hospitality industry is and will remain an integral and indispensable part of the worldwide market. Travel demand is expected to remain strong. A very large percentage of the population likes to travel, and they will always find the time and money to do so.
Travel itself, however, is changing, and trends in technology, science, energy and entertainment may change the hotel experience for travellers.
How will future travellers choose a destination and hotel? Are we anticipating what’s to come?
Under increasing cost pressure and the need to differentiate their product, hotel operators will have to explore everything that’s available in order to stand out. Technology has to be aligned with the hotel’s overall strategic positioning and with the competitive advantages of the brand. Again – are leaders anticipating all of this? Are they prepared for bold decisions, bold actions and serious budgets?
Will the traditional form of hospitality change? And what can we expect?
In all probability, we will have to plan to introduce virtual reality in many parts of the hotel, as well as 3D printers, artificial intelligence, morphing technology for special effects, gesture-controlled interactive walls, ubiquitous touchscreens, hyper connectivity, robofying cars, my travel avatar and much more.
Hotels will have to implement new systems to search, explore and book destinations and hotels (my travel avatar), as well as introduce DNA mobile and/or virtual payments. Multimodal systems complete with one step booking capabilities will become mainstream.
Longevity wellness programmes and neuro-dream (choose your own dream) are expected to become industry standards. Self-sustainable eco-hotels will also become an expectation. The continual desire for something different in food and beverage will continue, particularly in line with a balanced diet, creativity, attractive new concepts, less uniformity and more value.
Delivering a highly personalised and memorable hotel experience in the future will become increasingly challenging. Training programmes need to be intensified to prepare employees to perform multi-functional roles.
Markets are driven by consumers, and choice and better value is what they expect now and in the future. The hotel industry has traditionally valued longterm relationships and this value and practice should be strengthened.
The best competitive advantage, for any organisation, is to have things that cannot be copied by competitors, such as brand recognition, market position, quality standards/consistency and, most importantly, people and culture. Changes can be integrated as part of company culture in order to increase the value and competitiveness of a hospitality organisation.
Mövenpick Resort & Spa Boracay
Mövenpick Hotels & Resorts has opened a new beachfront resort overlooking the Punta Bunga Cove on Boracay’s north-west coast. Offering 312 keys, the low-rise property is designed to blend with the natural environment. Aside from its 200m-long secluded private beach, the resort also boasts a 3,300m2 multi-level swimming pool, spa, fitness centre, seven F&B options from Italian to Korean, the Sol Marina Beach Club, and indoor and outdoor event venues. Families will be well catered to with connecting rooms and suite options, a children’s pool, kids’ club, and recently-launched Mövenpick Family Programme.
Aloft Jakarta Wahid Hasyim
The first Aloft-branded hotel in Indonesia features 180 urban and locally influenced design-led rooms. All rooms are furnished with Aloft’s beds, amenities by Bliss Spa, flatscreen TVs, and complimentary Wi-Fi. The brand’s signature W XYZSM Bar and re:mix Lounge will be present, as well as the Nook restaurant, Re:fuelSM by Aloft, the brand’s signature 24/7 grab and go eatery. Other facilities include a fitness centre, outdoor pool, and eight conference rooms.
Regent Chongqing
Regent Hotels Group has opened their second hotel in Chongqing, China, located within the Jiangbeizui CBD. The property features a total of 202 rooms and suites, each with views of the river and city skylines. This includes 136 deluxe rooms and 66 rooms and suites with complimentary access to Regent Club facilities. Recreational facilities include a gym, steam and sauna room, a 25m-long heated indoor pool, a spa with six treatment rooms and a reflexology lounge. Other amenities include three restaurants, two bars, and a ballroom and six function rooms for events.
Le Méridien Xi’an, Chanba
The first Le Méridien has opened in the ancient city of Xi’An with 291 guestrooms and suites. Each room is furnished with the signature Le Méridien bed, Malin+Goetz bathroom amenities, and boasts floor-to-ceiling windows. Amenities on-site include four F&B venues, an indoor swimming pool, health club, and an outdoor riverside jogging track. Meetings and functions can be hosted on the property’s 1,500m2 of available space, which includes six meeting rooms and a 700m2 Grand Ballroom. The hotel is approximately a 30 minute drive from Xi’an Xianyang International Airport and the famous Terracotta Warriors, or a 20 minute drive to the Bell Tower and Muslim Street.
Holiday Inn Express Suwon Ingye
A 14-storey new build, the 249-key Holiday Inn Express Suwon Ingye, has risen 30km south of Seoul’s capital. The Great Room dining area offers a free Express Start breakfast daily for guests, or they can choose a Grab & Go option instead. Meanwhile, a 24-hour gymnasium allows guests to maintain their fitness routine, offering a variety of machines in a large sun-lit studio, while when business calls, a dedicated meeting room is available and can seat up to 20 people boardroom-style. There’s also a coin-operated laundry room onsite.
Hotelbeds Group swoops in on its rival, Kuoni GTA, for an undisclosed price, which together with its recent acquisition of Tourico Holidays, will make it the dominant global B2B bedbanks player.
Mövenpick Resort & Spa Boracay
Regent Chongqing
Holiday Inn Express Suwon Ingye
