Outrigger Enterprises Group has appointed Frederic De Marcy Chelin to the newly created role of area director of sales and marketing – Indian Ocean.
Chelin will continue as director of sales and marketing for the Outrigger Mauritius Beach Resort, a position he has held for four years, adding Outrigger Konotta Maldives Resort to his area of responsibility.
He will report to Franck Seguin, Outrigger Mauritius Beach Resort general manager; John Allanson, Outrigger Konotta Maldives Resort general manager; and Andrew Gee, Outrigger vice president of sales and marketing, Asia Pacific, based in Sydney.
Before joining Outrigger in August 2013, Chelin, a native of Mauritius, worked for Starwood Hotels and Resorts as director of corporate and group sales, and was responsible for three properties in Mauritius.
The new dual role is consistent with Outrigger Resorts’ strategic sales and marketing structure in the Asia-Pacific: Rory Campbell as area director of sales and marketing for Outrigger Laguna Phuket Beach Resort and Outrigger Koh Samui Beach Resort in Thailand; and Ben Johnson as area director of sales and marketing for Outrigger Fiji Beach Resort and Castaway Island, Fiji.
A fund affiliated with private investment firm Starwood Capital Group will invest US$250 million in Yotel, a hotel company known for affordable rooms and innovation, and acquire a 30 per cent stake in the company.
The partnership with Starwood Capital Group comes as Yotel celebrates its 10th anniversary, after a year that saw such openings as the Yotel Boston and Yotel San Francisco in North America and Yotel Singapore, which will open on October 1 to become the brand’s first hotel in Asia.
First Yotel in Asia to open in Singapore soon
Adding to an ongoing partnership, the investment is expected to further enable Yotel’s worldwide expansion, with a specific focus on Europe, North America and Asia.
At the point of the announcement, Starwood had already secured city centre sites in Edinburgh, Glasgow and Amsterdam which are expected to open as Yotels by 2019.
Barry Sternlicht, chairman and CEO of Starwood Capital Group, said: “Yotel has global appeal and can be easily scaled up with key strategic acquisitions and developments in desired city centre and airport locations.”
Hubert Viriot, CEO of Yotel, commented: “Yotel is growing rapidly with 15 hotels currently at various stages of development. We look forward to leveraging Starwood’s investment, design, operational and technological expertise to expand our platform, attract talent and enter additional markets whilst continuing to work closely with our existing partners and fostering new relationships as we take our brand to the next level.”
Cody Bradshaw, managing director, head of European hotels at Starwood Capital Group and Sarah Broughton, senior vice president, Starwood Capital Group will join the Yotel board of directors, alongside representatives of the company’s major shareholders including the Jassim Al Bahar Group, IFA Hotels & Resorts, United Investment Portugal and Aqarat which jointly own 65 per cent stake in the company.
Following news of big changes involving the AMEA operating region at InterContinental Hotels Group’s (IHG), it has been announced that its COO for AMEA Alan Watts will leave for a new position as executive vice president and president, Asia Pacific at Hilton, effective January 1, 2018.
In his new role Watts will oversee the operations of more than 200 Hilton properties across the region, as well as the company’s pipeline of over 375 hotels. Watts will be reporting to Hilton’s president & CEO Christopher Nassetta, and serve as a member of the executive committee.
Watts
Watts takes over from Martin Rinck, who in his nine-year tenure led Hilton in Asia-Pacific through the launch several of brands including Waldorf Astoria Hotels & Resorts, DoubleTree by Hilton, Hilton Garden Inn and Hampton by Hilton, and pursued an ambitious growth strategy that has resulted in more than 100 trading hotels in China alone.
Watts joins Hilton after a two-decade career at IHG, where he as COO for AMEA was responsible for the company’s operations in 280 hotels across six brands and 40 countries and territories, including materialising the group’s pipeline and brand introductions.
Osaki: South-east Asian travellers a target segment
Japanese hotel chains Okura Hotels & Resorts and Hoshino Resorts have both made gradual moves to expand beyond their home ground in recent years.
Okura Hotels & Resorts’ focus is on South-east Asia, evident from the five properties that are opening over the next few years. They are the Hotel Nikko Bangkok (2018), Hotel Okura Manila (2020), The Okura Prestige Phnom Penh (2020), The Okura Prestige Saigon (2020), and Hotel Nikko Hai Phong (2020). In comparison, there’s only one hotel opening in Japan in 2019, the 216-room Hotel JAL City Nagoya Nishiki.
Osaki: South-east Asian travellers a target segment
When asked why most of the openings are in South-east Asia, Yuichi Murata, senior sales manager, international sales office, Okura Nikko Hotel Management, explained that the region is where many Japanese companies are establishing or growing their businesses and Okura plans to go where the business travellers are to offer a “bleisure” product.
“It will be weekdays for business and weekends for leisure for this segment there. For instance, the Hai Phong property is located close to factories,” said Murata.
“Compared to other five-star hotels, our brand is not so well-known in the overseas market yet. So our first target is to make it more well known in the Asian market,” he added.
In addition, he shared that in 2020, Okura’s target is to have 100 hotels in Japan and overseas. Currently, the number stands at 75. Moreover, the company’s overall aim is to become the first Japanese global operator within the luxury hotel space.
As for Hoshino Resorts, overseas growth will come with continued focus on expansion in Japan, noted Hiroki Osaki, area manager, global marketing unit.
When asked if the company had a target, Osaki said: “None. This is because the opening of a Hoshino depends heavily on the owner, as Hoshino is first and foremost, a management hotel company.”
Moreover, Osaki elaborated that each hotel is tailored to the location it stands in, and every property has a different concept that emphasises strongly on the local culture. Owners have to be agreeable to the concept as well.
Travellers they are targeting are from Mainland China, Taiwan, South Korea and Hong Kong, and Hoshino also hopes to “promote the brand more to South-east Asia markets”.
Hoshino’s most recent overseas property opened in Bali in April 2017, while in Japan, the Hoshino Resorts Kai Alps will have its grand re-opening on December 21, 2017, after an extensive refurbishment.
An extended season in Singapore for the Sapphire Princess
Since establishing operations in Singapore in 2012, Princess Cruises is now announcing it will homeport in the city-state for a fifth consecutive season with the deployment of Sapphire Princess and her twin sister ship Diamond Princess, its first dual homeport deployment at the country’s Marina Bay Cruise Centre.
For the upcoming 2017-18 season in Singapore, Sapphire Princess will make three- to 13-night sailings in South-east Asia, bringing over 40,000 international guests to the region from November 2017 to March 2018. The 2,670-guest Sapphire Princess will visit the ports of Bali, Penang, Langkawi, Kota Kinabalu, Port Klang, Phu My (Ho Chi Minh City), Nha Trang, Phuket, Ko Samui, Laem Chabang (Bangkok) and Sihanoukville (Cambodia).
An extended season in Singapore for the Sapphire Princess
From late November 2018 to March 2019, guests will have the option of cruising on both Diamond Princess and Sapphire Princess from Singapore. Diamond Princess will be deployed in Singapore with 10 to 11-day voyages in December 2018 and January 2019.
Nearly 70 per cent of guests are expected to come from overseas to depart from Singapore, according to a Princess Cruises statement.
“Singapore is a thriving and attractive cruise hub, with world-class berthing facilities and proximity to a wealth of cruise destinations in the region. We are seeing increasing demand among Singaporean and South-east Asian travellers, opting for cruise travel to explore the region,” said Farriek Tawfik, director of South-east Asia, Princess Cruises.
He added that a series of events will be planned this coming November to celebrate the fifth anniversary in the region and kick-off Princess Cruises’ upcoming homeporting season in Singapore.
For the 2018 and 2019 homeporting seasons, Diamond Princess and Sapphire Princess will feature the new sleep expert-designed Princess Luxury Bed in all cabins.
Both ships also feature an open-air poolside amphitheatres; a spa; 24-hour room service; Princess Theatre; internet café, duty-free shopping among many other amenities.
Hong Kong Disneyland Resort (HKDL) held the Marvel 10K Weekend this month with a record-breaking 10,000 runners, among whom were travel industry professionals and 600 corporate guests running alongside their colleagues.
They ran in four races: Captain America 10K, Thor 5K, Spider-Man 3K and Kid Races, with leaders from various sectors, including the travel industry, participating in the first ever Leadership 3K.
Fun times with family
Travel agents also brought more than 800 guests from Australia, Japan, Thailand, Taiwan and Mainland China to the race.
Cheering runners on were Marvel Super Heroes including Captain America, Thor, Spider-Man, Star-Lord and, for the first time at HKDL, Black Widow, Hawkeye, Gamora and Doctor Strange. Many runners also dressed up as their favourite Marvel Super Hero.
The Marvel 10K Weekend 2017 was co-organised by the Hong Kong Amateur Athletic Association, and the official results of the Captain America 10K will be recognised in members’ Hong Kong rankings.
Air China to launch new Beijing-Brisbane route
Air China will begin non-stop flights between Beijing and Brisbane from December 11, 2017. Served with an Airbus 330-200 aircraft, flights depart Beijing at 02.30 for arrival in Brisbane at 15.10 on Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays. On the same days, flights depart Brisbane at 07.30 and arrive in Beijing at 04.45 the next day.
At present, Air China already operates direct flights from Beijing, Shanghai and Chengdu to Sydney and Melbourne. The addition of the Beijing-Brisbane route will bring the number of weekly flights between the two countries to almost 40.
Thai AirAsia X ups frequency on Bangkok-Osaka route
Thai AirAsia X will increase the frequency of services from Bangkok (Don Mueang) to Osaka (Kansai) route to twice daily starting December 1. The new flight will depart Don Mueang International Airport at 01.15 and arrive Osaka at 08.40 daily, and return from Osaka at 09.55 for arrival in Bangkok at 13.55.
Hong Kong Airlines codeshares with WestJet
As part of a new codeshare agreement that builds on an interline deal introduced this year, Hong Kong Airline will place its HX marketing code on WestJet-operated flights, extending its network in Canada beyond Vancouver and towards Edmonton, Calgary and Toronto.
Two flights depart Vancouver for Edmonton International Airport daily. WS0166/HX3608 departs Vancouver at 17.55, arriving in Edmonton at 20.21, while WS0180/HX3612 leaves at 12.30 for a 14.56 arrival. On the return, WS0135/HX 3609 departs Edmonton departs at 08.00 to arrive in Vancouver at 08.36.
Further details on the codeshare flights, including are below.
Schedule for Calgary and Toronto flights from Vancouver, Thai
Air NZ extends seasonal HCMC service
Air New Zealand will continue to operate its seasonal non-stop service from Auckland to Ho Chi Minh City, introduced in 2016, following strong customer demand.
For its 2018 season running from June 23 to October 23, the airline will operate twice-weekly services between Auckland and Ho Chi Minh City on Tuesdays and Saturdays, using its Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner.
Helsinki brings its strength as a smart destination together with product services and technologies of Tencent
Helsinki will serve as an “intelligent tourism model” for China outbound tourism, as part of a tripartite agreement signed by Chinese-founded internet giant Tencent, Helsinki and World Tourism Cities Federation (WTCF).
Signed at the WTCF Los Angeles Fragrant Hills Tourism Summit 2017, the cooperation seeks to help Helsinki reach out to Chinese travellers by utilising network broadcasts, a Helsinki WeChat account set for launch by year end, mini programmes, AR techniques, panoramic maps, big data and other related product services.
Helsinki brings its strength as a smart destination together with Tencent services and technology; photo credit: Helsinki Marketing
In particular, a Helsinki mini application for travellers will be made available to almost one billion Tencent users, giving them access to important information about the destination and local services, in addition to pictures, videos, maps, intelligent translations, one-touch SOS function and even online tax returns.
Laura Aalto, CEO of Helsinki Marketing, said the deal represents a huge opportunity for Helsinki to be seen on the biggest digital platform in China. She added: “Helsinki is the shortest and fastest route between Asia and Europe, which has helped (the destination) become the leading longhaul airport in Northern Europe. (The programme) will help make Helsinki and its attractions more accessible to Chinese travellers.”
Helsinki has become increasingly popular among Chinese tourists in recent years. The number of overnight Chinese visitors in the city has more than doubled in the past five years, reaching almost 90,000 in 2016. And in the first six months of 2017, the number rose 43.6 per cent year-on-year.
The growth has been supported by Finnair’s Asian strategy, which sees Helsinki enjoying connections from six major Greater China cities (Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Hong Kong, Chongqing and Xi’an). The airline will launch Helsinki-Nanjing direct flights in May 2018.
Juha Jarvinen, chief commercial officer at Finnair, remarked: “Travel planning and decision-making in China have already moved onto mobile platforms, and the Finnish tourism industry should utilise this.”
Meanwhile, WTCF, founded in Beijing in 2012 to provide a platform for international tourism cooperation, has selected Helsinki as host city of its 2019 summit.
Bangkok still winning city, but others are catching up fast
Bangkok clinched top spot in the Mastercard Global Destination Cities Index of most visited cities for the second year running in 2016.
The leading city attracted over 19.4 million international visitors last year, followed by London (19.1 million), Paris (15.5 million), Dubai (14.9 million), Singapore (13.1 million), New York (12.7 million), Seoul (12.4 million), Kuala Lumpur (11.3 million), Tokyo (11.2 million) and Istanbul (9.2 million).
Bangkok still winning city, but others are catching up fast
Among the top 10, Tokyo is projected to see highest growth (+12.2 per cent), followed by Dubai (+7.7 per cent), Kuala Lumpur (+7.2 per cent) and London (+five per cent).
Meanwhile, New York (-2.4 per cent) is the only city in the top 10 expected to experience a dip in international visitors this year.
Across the top 20 destination cities, Mastercard observed that the majority of travel was conducted for leisure purposes, except in Shanghai where nearly half (48.4 per cent) of visitors were travelling on business. Conversely, Kuala Lumpur had the greatest percentage of visitors on vacation (92.2 per cent).
The index also shows that dining consumed the greatest percentage of visitor spend in Seoul (47 per cent), Istanbul (33.6 per cent) and Prague (29.3 per cent).
People spent more on shopping while in London (46.7 per cent), Osaka (43.4 per cent) and Tokyo (43.1 per cent), while lodging was the most expensive part of the trip when visiting Paris (44.8 per cent), Milan (40.4 per cent) and Rome (40.4 per cent)
And with efficient transport systems in place, less was spent on transit in London (4.3 per cent), Singapore (4.6 per cent), & Hong Kong (4.6 per cent).
While not in the top 10 in terms of visitor arrivals, Osaka is showing to be a strong contender, with top growth performance (for 2009-2016 period) at 24 per cent. Chengdu is in second place showing 22.7 per cent growth, followed by Colombo (20.3 per cent), Abu Dhabi (18.9 per cent), Jakarta (18.2 per cent), Tokyo (17.7 per cent), Hanoi (16.4 per cent), Riyadh (15.9 per cent), Lima (15.2 per cent) and Taipei (14.5 per cent).
Forty-five per cent of international travellers say the terror threat will have an influence on their travel plans this year, up six percentage points over last year, according to IPK International’s latest Terror Threats and Tourism survey.
Though not majorly quelling the hunger to travel, IPK International stated that the fear of terror attacks is affecting destination choice, with travel flows expected to continue shifting from “unsafe” to “safe”.
Turkey perceived as least safe
Sixteen per cent of international travellers polled said they will not travel in the next 12 months or will only go on domestic trips within their own country. A further 29 per cent indicated they will continue to travel abroad, but only to countries they consider “safe”.
Compared to 2016, the safety perception of some travel destinations has declined. For example, the proportion of respondents rating Turkey as “unsafe” rose to 76 per cent from 64 per cent in 2016.
Overall, IPK International said destinations with the weakest safety image are Turkey, Israel, Egypt and Tunisia – whereas Canada, Switzerland, Australia and Scandinavia were perceived as safest.
However, results from the survey show regional differences between source markets in Europe, Asia as well as North and South America.
IPK International revealed that travellers from Asian source markets such as South Korea, China and Japan as well as Russia are more likely to let instability and terror warnings influence their travel plans. In contrast, travellers from European source markets such as Denmark, Sweden and Finland are less sensitive to the threat of terror attacks.
Singles are also relatively unimpressed by terror warnings, whereas people travelling with children are more cautious, according to IPK International.
