Singapore-headquartered homesharing platform Roomorama.com has stopped accepting bookings worldwide, citing a challenging environment due to “increasing competition and regulatory headwinds”.
Roomorama was founded in 2009, and in 2012 moved its headquarters from New York to Singapore to focus more on Asia-Pacific. It also merged with European rival Loftly in 2012, before launching B2B arm Bridge Rentals and partnering Ctrip, Tujia and HomeAway in subsequent years.
It however continued facing competition from homesharing giant Airbnb and leading hotel booking sites, in addition to regulatory challenges worldwide.
The startup said in a statement that all existing bookings will be honoured. Customers can email info@roomorama.com for assistance.
Taipei-based luxury hospitality company Regent Hotels Group has unveiled a trio of mixed-use developments comprising hotel and branded residences in Vietnam, Indonesia and Montenegro.
In Indonesia, Regent Hotels & Resorts is collaborating with KG Global Development to launch Regent Jakarta and Regent Residences Jakarta. Scheduled to open in 2018, Regent Jakarta will form part of the new Mangkuluhur City mixed-use development in the capital city.
The group last month sealed a management contract with Vietnamese property developer BIM Group to develop a mixed-use development in Phu Quoc. Regent Phu Quoc is expected to open in 2019 to feature a luxury resort and branded residential units.
Opening this month is the Regent Pool Club Residences at Regent Porto Montenegro, which has direct access to the facilities and services to the existing Regent Porto Montenegro hotel next door.
Steven Pan, chairman of Regents Hotels Group, said the mixed-use business model reflects the group’s “commitment to maximise owner return through innovative concepts and entrepreneurship” as it continues its global expansion.
Hong Kong-based LCC HK Express and online travel activities booking platform Klook have teamed up to launch U-Explore, an online travel activities planning tool.
The partnership is expected to give HK Express guests greater flexibility in booking tours, them park visits, airport transfers and Wi-Fi device rentals.
HK Express’ Andrew Cowen (left) and Klook’s Eric Gnock Fah
The deal will see HK Express customers given a hyperlink to a U-Explore webpage (www.klook.com/hkexpress), from where they can book activities in their destination, upon purchase of tickets via the airline’s website or mobile app.
Six Senses is expanding in Europe with the signing of its first hotel in Switzerland, the 47-room Six Senses Crans-Montana, scheduled for opening in 2020.
Located in the canton of Valais about two hours from Geneva by car and train, the resort will feature 47 guest rooms and suites, a 2,000m2 spa specialising in alpine treatments, two restaurants, a sun terrace and bar, gyym and fitness studio, as well as retail space.
The Bangkok-based hospitality company currently houses two other hotels in its Europe portfolio – Six Senses Douro Valley in Portugal and Six Senses Residences Courchevel in France – and seven spas – in Paris, Crete (Greece), Mykonos (Greece), Marbella (Spain), Gstaad (Switzerland), Courchevel (France) and in Etihad lounges at London’s Heathrow Airport.
K-pop, competitive video gaming, a 3D light show and other activities will crank up the volume during the 2017 Hong Kong Summer Party happening in August.
From August 4-6, pro-gamers hailing from North America, Taiwan, Hong Kong, China and Europe will vie for the title of World Champion in a League of Legends mega-tournament, The Return of the Legends.
The renowned SM Town Live Tour will stage its first concert in Hong Kong on those same days, featuring popular K-pop groups and artistes such as D&E (Super Junior), EXO, Luna from f(x), NCT127, NCT Dream, Red Velvet, SHINee and Yesung(SuperJunior).
In addition, the skies above the Victoria Harbour will light up in rainbow colours and neon lights during the Lights, Music, Action! light show taking place from August 11 to September 2.
Dusit International has appointed Prateek Kumar as regional vice president – Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA), responsible for strengthening the company’s operations and supporting development efforts in the region.
For the past two years Kumar was area general manager heading Dusit’s operations in Dubai. In his new role, he will continue to serve as general manager of Dusit Thani Dubai while also linking with the company’s head office in Bangkok to supervise operating and pre-opening properties in EMEA.
Kumar
Kumar’s appointment is part of Dusit International’s strategy expand in the EMEA region and balance its hotel portfolio by having half of its operations outside of Thailand by 2022, according to Lim Boon Kwee, COO of Dusit International.
Within the GCC region, Dusit International already operates five hotels, with another five confirmed in the pipeline. The Thai hospitality company earlier this month announced the launch of the 195-key dusitD2 Seef Bahrain, which is scheduled to open in the capital city of Manama next year to mark its first hotel in the country.
London bookings for the period between July 1 and October 31 are 14 per cent ahead of where they were at the beginning of July last year, with the increase led by markets in the Americas (+21 per cent) and Asia-Pacific (+14 per cent), according to ForwardKeys.
ForwardKeys noted that the growth trend, evident from the first half of 2016, was further sparked by the sterling exchange rate falling to its lowest level in 30 years against the dollar in mid-October last year.
View of London’s financial district
Only the Middle East is lagging, currently 20 per cent behind July-October in 2016, due mainly to a fall in oil price hurting Middle Eastern economies and the timing of Ramadan, which fell earlier this year.
Benchmarked against its European competitor cities, London has the biggest market share of longhaul bookings for arrivals between July and October at 12 per cent, versus nine per cent for Paris and seven per cent for Rome.
Bookings from BRIC (Brazil, Russia, India and China) are returning. All show double-digit growth in forward bookings for London and, with the exception of India, their citizens are showing greater interest in London than the rest of Europe, ForwardKeys observed.
Looking at the more significant origin markets, i.e. those with a share of 0.5 per cent or more, Chile is the one showing the greatest growth in forward bookings, 67 per cent ahead. It is followed by Brazil (48 per cent ahead), Taiwan (43 per cent ahead) and China (35 per cent ahead).
Olivier Jager, ForwardKeys co-founder and CEO, said: “This is an obvious and clear demonstration of how currency fluctuations affect travel, even in the face of other significant factors. London is great value at the moment and people are springing at the opportunity for a holiday, costing less than they might have anticipated.”
Ascott's Lee (middle) with Synergy Global Housing's Henry Luebbert (far left) and Jack Jensky after signing the deal
Following its investment in Quest Apartment Hotels earlier this month to become the largest serviced residence provider in Australasia, the Ascott has now turned its sights to the Americas where it will acquire an 80 per cent stake in Synergy Global Housing for US$33.7 million to expand its portfolio from over 1,000 units to about 3,000 units in the US.
Headquartered in San Ramon, California, Synergy has a strong foothold in the US where it leases apartments from partners and property owners to rent to corporate clients, in addition to Global Solution Centres in Dublin, Hyderabad and Singapore.
Ascott’s Lee (middle) with Synergy Global Housing’s Henry Luebbert (far left) and Jack Jensky after signing the deal
Lee Chee Koon, Ascott’s CEO, said: “The US is Ascott’s third largest source market for guests. This acquisition will give us direct access to Synergy’s corporate customers in the US that include world-renowned technology brands in the Bay Area and beyond. In addition to providing Ascott’s corporate customers with more accommodation options in the US, we will also be able to immediately fulfill demand from Synergy’s corporate customers when they require accommodation outside of the country.
“The US is a key market for Ascott and we see potential for us to expand further in cities such as New York, Boston, Los Angeles, San Francisco and Washington DC,” he added.
Having been a partner of Synergy to cross-sell units since 2013, Lee believes that taking up a majority stake in Synergy will expand Ascott’s global cross-selling and distribution network as well as enlarge its talent pool.
Said Lee: “Ascott will also get an uplift by over 2,000 units located predominantly in the US and increase our global portfolio to close to 70,000 units. We are confident of surpassing our target of 80,000 units well ahead of 2020, as we look at more opportunities to grow through investments, management contracts, franchises and strategic alliances.”
Undaunted by uncertainties in Mindanao, AirAsia will connect Davao to Kuala Lumpur beginning December 21, with plans to develop the city into a hub for the BIMP-EAGA initiative that comprises Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia and the Philippines.
The 180-pax, four-times weekly services will be the second carrier to connect Davao to South-east Asia after Singapore’s SilkAir service, despite efforts from the Philippines to attract foreign carriers to Davao.
Speaking to TTG Asia on the sidelines of the Davao Investment Conference last Friday, AirAsia Group CEO Tony Fernandes said: “Life is all about taking risks… (it comes down to) how you market Davao. I really hope the airport supports us (in terms of) incentives and marketing.”
This would not be the first time AirAsia is opening a route that “nobody dreamt of doing”, Fernandes said, referring to the airline’s Macau services, the first from South-east Asia, and other pioneering routes including to Bandung, Langkawi and Clark.
AirAsia Philippines CEO Dexter Comendador added that the airline is planning flights from Davao to Miri, Kota Kinabalu, Brunei and other destinations in the BIMP-EAGA corridors.
Comendador said Davao’s airport is willing to waive airport landing fees and other charges while BIMP-EAGA doesn’t charge travel taxes, making it feasible for the carrier to serve the region.
This would help alleviate a key challenge for LCCs, as he said that airport fees constitute one of the biggest costs for budget airlines, even higher than passenger fares in some instances.
London-based Worldwide Events will hold its romance trade travel event, Amour, in Bangkok from February 14-17, 2018, following the show’s debut in Venice this year.
The three-day programme will comprise one-to-one meetings, networking activities, gala dinners and after parties. It will bring romantic destinations and hotel suppliers throughout Asia-Pacific together with global buyers of romance travel such as destination wedding planners, concierge & lifestyle management companies and private travel designers.
Both the supplier and hosted buyer lists are capped at 100 each.
Richard Barnes, CEO of Worldwide Events, commented: “We know that B2B events work better when there’s a smaller group, which is why we curate an exclusive guest list to create an intimate environment, with everyone staying in one property. It allows us to host fun, interactive events designed specifically to help build strong and lasting relationships with potential clients.”
Besides Bangkok, Amour will also be rolled out in Monte Carlo next year.
