Mövenpick Hotels & Resorts has appointed Simon Dell as general manager of Mövenpick Asara Resort & Spa Hua Hin, a seafront resort opening later this year in Thailand.
Prior to joining Mövenpick, Dell was vice president & area general manager for Onyx North Asia.
During the course of his two-decades-long career, the seasoned hotelier has also served in senior management roles with hotel groups such as InterContinental, Raffles, Swissôtel and The Savoy Group. He has spent the last decade in Asia-Pacific, with several years based in Thailand.
The UK national first moved to Asia in 2007, initially as director of rooms at The Mandarin Oriental, Hong Kong, before moving on to Amari Hotels & Resorts, now part of Onyx Hospitality Group.
Mediterranean and North European cruise destinations popular with Malaysians
Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings (NCLH) saw double-digit growth in the Malaysian market across all three of its brands last year, while also observing a shift towards longer cruises.
According to Felix Chan, vice president of sales Asia, NCLH, bookings from Malaysia were in part boosted by a dip in the US currency.
Mediterranean and North European cruise destinations popular with Malaysians
Cruise destinations popular with Malaysians are the Mediterranean, Baltics and Northern Europe. “Hotel rates, transport and dining in these places are expensive, which is why cruising is a popular alternative and seen as value for money,” he shared.
More Malaysians were also opting for longer cruises of up to 14 days, up from seven to 10 days previously. Chan remarked that the availability of Wi-Fi onboard, which allowed guests to stay connected while cruising, was the key reason driving this trend.
Regent Seven Seas Cruises and Oceania Cruises tend to attract couples whereas Norwegian Cruise Line attracts multi-generational travellers from Malaysia. “We also see more families with children taking cruises during the school holidays,” said Chan.
Malaysian cruise travellers are also booking their cruises earlier last year, at least six months in advance, from two to three months previously.
For 2018, Chan expects continued growth in Malaysia. “Forward bookings look positive and I am sure we will see another double-digit growth this year (over 2017),” he said.
Food the way to the hearts of visitors to Macau in walking tours, international festivals
Food is taking the spotlight in Macao Government Tourism Office’s (MGTO) destination marketing campaigns this year as the destination celebrates its designation as a UNESCO Creative City of Gastronomy.
In mid-January, MGTO kicked off the 2018 Macao Year of Gastronomy campaign, one of the highlights in Macau’s four-year plan to strengthen its reputation for good food.
Food the way to the hearts of visitors to Macau in walking tours, international festivals
Several activities are lined up, including the hosting of Asia’s 50 Best Restaurants 2018 awards ceremony from March 25 to 27. A gastronomy zone will be set up within the 6th Macao International Tourism (Industry) Expo, where cooking demonstrations of Macanese dishes will be conducted.
Food-related films will also make a mark at the 3rd International Film Festival & Awards through the Food Special Presentation.
The heightened food focus will also be seen in the existing Step Out, Experience Macao’s Communities – Walking Tour Routes programme. New in-depth walking routes will stress culinary experiences.
According to an MGTO spokesman, culinary tour packages will be jointly launched with overseas travel agencies, while additional support from the bureau will be given to local catering businesses.
The MGTO spokesperson added: “ The (UNESCO Creative City of Gastronomy) designation can reinforce a stronger international brand identity on top of The Historic Centre of Macao.”
Bruno Simoes, executive director of destination expert smallWORLD Experiences, said gastronomy tourism is gaining traction worldwide, and “food and wine-related services and events attract greater numbers of tourists each year”.
“The recognition of the uniqueness of Macanese cuisine is only good news for us, as is the focus on gastronomy. It’s another selling point for Macau (in European markets),” Simoes added, pointing out that European travellers are not lured by huge integrated resorts and prefer “authentic and modest things”.
For his European clients, smallWORLD Experiences is launching a two-hour long Macao Walking Tours as well as a variant food tour.
The new MGM Cotai is making inroad in Europe, having locked in a few groups from the region. It will be working closely with MGTO to promote Macau as a city of gastronomy.
Vice president of resort sales, Victoria Fuh, told TTG Asia that her resort is a gastronomy heaven in itself, with “nine dining concepts covering a wide range of regional Chinese cuisines” as well as four resturants helmed by globally acclaimed chefs.
Rutger Verschuren, Artyzen Hospitality Group vice president and general manager for Grand Lapa Macau, believes that Macau’s compact size makes the destination a perfect one for gastronomy exploration.
“Macau is so small that it takes only a few minutes to travel from point A to point B and try all kinds of different food around town,” he remarked.
Grand Lapa Macau, too, dangles new, delicious draws. “We have renovated and reopened our Western and Chinese restaurants and bar, and we have hired new chefs and a mixologist to deliver the finest cuisine and drinks,” he said.
Destination shapes up for more luxury adventure and business event visitors
It’s time to rethink Mongolia’s image as a destination solely for rugged explorers and adventurers, with the market mix changing along with improving air access from Europe and a “modernising” of the country’s visitor infrastructure.
Marking an inflection point in the destination’s evolution, a new airport – thrice the size of the existing one – is scheduled to open at end-2018, shared Gantemur Damba, president of the Mongolian Tourism Association.
Destination shapes up for more luxury adventure and business event visitors
“This creates huge opportunities to increase the number of international flights, especially from Europe, to Mongolia,” Damba told TTG Asia at the recent ITB Berlin.
He added that the destination could soon be getting more connections from Germany, a strategic hub between east and west Europe, with Munich-Mongolia flights slated for early 2019 and plans for Lufthansa to introduce feeder services.
Traditionally, European visitors mainly arrive in Mongolia in two ways – via the Trans Siberian rail and on one of three airlines: Mongolia Airlines, Turkish Airlines and Russia’s Aeroflot.
While many Europeans prefer the Trans Siberian route, they are part of a niche and transient segment of travellers that spend just three to five days in the country, he pointed out.
On the other hand, flights bring in longer-staying travellers with stronger luxury leanings. A typical package for European travellers spans 12 to 21 days.
With improving air access, business events and luxury segments are looking set to become a bigger part of Mongolia’s visitor mix. Moreover, visitor infrastructure is maturing, with about 15 international hotel chains – such as Shangri-La and Kempinski – already in Mongolia.
He said: “In 2016, Mongolia hosted the Asia Europe Meeting, a high-level ministerial summit of 55 countries. (Through it) we showed that Mongolia has the potential to be the next big destination for (business events) and luxury (travel).”
Damba said these developments are also setting Mongolia up as a key transit hub, with the country being well-positioned to connect Asia and Europe in an “economically efficient” way.
Meanwhile, the destination intends to vie for business events with its unique features – modern amenities without the the appearance of being a concrete jungle, remarked Damba.
Rebrand complete at three properties, including Fox Harris Hotel Pekanbaru (pictured)
Tauzia Hotels has launched its newest Fox Harris Hotels brand, with a trio of openings – all rebrands of existing properties – in Pekanbaru, Bandung and Bali and five more in the pipeline.
Stefano de Champeaux, brand manager Fox Harris Hotels, said: “Fox Harris Hotels is the latest brand from Tauzia Hotels, positioned as a midscale hotel. It is a non-standardised contemporary brand.
Rebrand complete at three properties, including Fox Harris Hotel Pekanbaru (pictured)
“The strategy of Fox Harris Hotels is to take over existing hotels and to plug in the Fox Harris Hotels mood and signature collage artworks. It hence requires minimum investment to refurbish or to revamp hotels (in terms of) rooms, staff uniforms, public areas, collaterals and F&B etc.”
Fox Harris Hotels is targeted at the midscale leisure and business markets in primary and secondary cities, he shared.
De Champeaux added that the Harris Hotels brand will evolve in the next few months into its third generation, Harris Connect Hotels.
Harris Connect Hotels would represent connectivity both in a technological and social sense, he revealed.
Red Planet Japan, subsidiary of Bangkok-based budget chain Red Planet Hotels, has announced a 11.8 billion yen (US$110 million) sale-and-leaseback transaction with Goldman Sachs.
The transaction includes Red Planet’s hotels in Asakusa, Naha and Nagoya as well as a forward purchase of the Susukino Central development project in Sapporo, resulting in gains of nearly 2.6 billion yen.
Nagoya property (pictured) among three others sold
Under the terms of the transaction, Red Planet has sold ownership rights to the four hotels and simultaneously entered into a lease-and-operate agreement with Goldman Sachs for an initial period of 20 years.
“We anticipate a long and fruitful relationship with Goldman Sachs over the coming years as we recycle capital at competitive cap rates,” remarked Yoshi Ikurumi, CFO, Red Planet Japan.
Red Planet Hotels is reinvesting the sales proceeds into new hotel developments across Japan. The hotel chain has two hotels under construction in Sapporo and seven more in its Japan development pipeline.
According to Tim Hansing, CEO, Red Planet Japan, the transaction will enable the company to “accelerate the roll-out of Red Planet Hotels” in Japan, its “fastest growing market”.
Red Planet Hotels currently owns and operates 29 hotels in four countries.
The Phuket Hotels Association Benefit (PHAB) will take place on April 28, 2018 to raise funds for over 20 hospitality scholarships and traineeships for local residents.
Organised by the Phuket Hotels Association, the Glam, Glitz and Glitter event will take place at the Latitude Marquee, Laguna Phuket from 19.00 until midnight.
Last year’s gala raised about US$130,000
Last year’s PHAB gala drew 300 guests and raised over four million baht (US$130,000) for the scholarship fund. The association is targeting a similar figure at this year’s event, where 400 guests will participate in an evening of cocktails, dining and entertainment, including a live, silent auction.
Among the auction items are a chef’s degustation menu by two Michelin-starred Gaggan, as well as three-night stays in a number of Accor, Anantara, Hyatt, Dream Group and Marriott Group hotels worldwide.
All proceeds from the benefit will be used to support the education of 20 plus young scholars and trainees from Phuket, who would otherwise be unable to fund their education. The training will last from three to four years and cover vocational and degree courses, as well as overseas learning, helping to pave the way for a new generation of hospitality managers, chefs and other key personnel for the island’s tourism sector.
The entertainment highlight will be live music from Mark Zitti ei Fratelli Coltelli, a seven-piece swing band flying in from Italy to support the event for the second year in a row. DJ Benjamin Jenkins (Ben Jay) will also take to the stage.
Tickets to the PHAB fundraiser start from 3,900 baht.
Anam invites guests to experience romance of the matchmaking show, away from the eyes of cameras and crew
After being selected as the filming location for the grand finale of the German spinoff of The Bachelor, Vietnamese beachfront resort The Anam is unveiling a package inspired by the reality TV series.
The 10-night Following The Bachelor’s Trail package includes limousine transfers, couples massage, bubblies and a bouquet of roses in a villa, in addition to a Vespa trip through the countryside that concludes with a gourmet picnic and wine by a waterfall.
Anam invites guests to experience romance of the matchmaking show, away from the eyes of cameras and crew
On the same beach captured in Der Bachelor, the couple is also treated to a seafood BBQ dinner under the stars. The couple is split up at one point, with one half heading for the resort’s Sri Mara Spa for a three-hour massage, manicure and pedicure, and the other to the kitchen and the tutelage of professionals. He then decorates the table for two on the edge of the lawn fronting the sand before a private waiter serves the five-course seafood feast.
At the resort’s cinema, the couple can enjoy a private movie screening of either the grand finale or Hollywood films such as La La Land, Forever Love and Pretty Woman, complemented with champagne, popcorn and ice-cream, and access to the Anam’s Colonial Club Lounge where high tea is served. The couple also takes home two plush bathrobes.
Dileep, a self proclaimed 'pracademic', believes in marrying research with practice
The successful debut of the first Broadway theatre production in Sri Lanka, which saw the legendary Sound of Music performed to full houses every day, marked a significant milestone in the country’s entertainment industry – and another feather in the cap for tourism veteran Dileep Mudadeniya.
“There was a lot of planning that went into it,” recalled Dileep, head of brand marketing at Cinnamon Hotels and Resorts, a key figure at the hospitality company tasked to transform the capital Colombo into a vibrant events destination in South Asia.
Dileep, a self proclaimed ‘pracademic’, believes in marrying research with practice
Dileep’s entry into the private sector – moving from the public sector to John Keells Holding (JKH), owing company of Cinnamon Resorts – has not only transformed the company but made Cinnamon a driving force in Colombo’s entertainment scene.
He has brought in foreign musicians, artistes, celebrity chefs including Australia’s MasterChef judge George Calombaris, as well as contestants from the Miss UK, Miss China and Miss India beauty pageants in the past two years to profile them as signature events in Sri Lanka.
The 45-year old, also a key member of the national tourism task force under the Prime Minister’s Office, sees branding as an asset for the tourism sector.
“Destination marketing is one of the (most) complex marketing (types) in the world. People can get easily lost; there are many stakeholders, a lot of egos are around, (and) money can be wasted by overdoing things,” he opined.
When he joined JKH in 2012, he brought with him a brand of research-driven decision-making that has helped take the conglomerate to new heights.
“I was able to convince John Keells on a forward-thinking approach and they became involved in destination marketing as a result of our research and they saw the benefit. We have built a powerful brand and come up with cutting-edge marketing campaigns,” he said, alluding to the many events that the Cinnamon brand has organised in Colombo.
Prior to joining the company, he had already started the non-profit organisation, Research for Sustainable Studies in Tourism. “We did a lot of social research. We want to bring together academia and practitioners through research and are developing an employer value proposition for tourism,” he said.
A non-believer of traditional promotion platforms like print ads or a TV commercials, Mudadeniya is strong proponent of user generating content. “People believe what is said on social media, which they are most accustomed to relate to. Brand and development comes through these platforms,” he said, referring to the annual Asian Travel Bloggers conference that Cinnamon launched in 2014.
While Sri Lanka has struggled to launch a marketing campaign since the war ended in 2009, Mudadeniya has engaged bloggers from around the world, organised innovative treasure hunts for writers, run best photography, video and blogging competitions to promote the Cinnamon brand and, in the same breadth, the Sri Lankan product.
“One good thing that has come out of the (Cinnamon) campaigns is that we were able to rally everyone in the industry to agree on the destination positioning strategy. That is kind of carved in stone,” he remarked.
A firm believer that the private sector should take the lead, Mudadeniya cited New Zealand’s private sector-led success in tourism as an inspiration, and hopes to develop similar “industry maturity” for Sri Lanka.
Hilton Kuala Lumpur has appointed Gagan Talwar as hotel manager, replacing Linda Pecoraro who has been promoted to general manager of Hilton Kota Kinabalu.
In this new position, Talwar will support regional general manager Jamie Mead by overseeing the operations and leading the management at Hilton Kuala Lumpur.
Talwar returns to Malaysia after six years from leading the operations and business development team in Hilton Hanoi Opera and Hilton Garden Inn Hanoi.
