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.

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.

Hong Kong-based luxury boutique resorts brand Anayara Resorts will make its debut in Thailand with two new openings in the pipeline.

Its first Thailand property, expected to soft-launch in December this year, is located along the Ao Yon-Khao Kad Panwa stretch of beach in Phuket’s south. Overlooking Chalong Bay, Anayara Luxury Retreat Panwa Resort will feature six bedroom suites, each more than 100m² in size.

Anayara Luxury Retreat Panwa Resort 

Private MPV transfers are available to guests, in addition to activities such as private yoga, taichi or Muay Thai sessions. Facilities include a spa and small fitness area, while F&B options include the Beachside Volcano Stone Grill and Sunset Bar.

The adult-only property can also accommodate receptions for up to 100 pax.

The second property, Anayara Luxx Panwa Phuket, is slated to open in 1Q2019. The retreat will feature one- and two-bedroom overwater pool villas, each with its own terrace, pool and garden. The three-bedroom pool villa features a living area, kitchen, master bedroom, three guest bedrooms and an outdoor terrace and pool.

On top of the wellness features like meditation sala’s, a spa and gym, facilities also include a library, meeting loft, cooking studios, organic herb garden, sky bar and cigar lounge adjoining a small beach club.

Following Phuket, Anayara Resorts has plans to expand in other Thai resort destinations including Koh Samui, Koh Lanta and Koh Lipe, as well as island destinations like Bora Bora and the Maldives.

Crystal AirCruises – the luxury private jet operator owned by Genting Hong Kong – has unveiled the inaugural itinerary onboard its soon-to-launch 86-seater Crystal Skye aircraft, the world’s only twin-aisle private plane.

Crystal Skye will depart from Hong Kong or Macau on September 30 on a eight-night voyage to Nairobi and Tahiti, priced at US$45,000 per guest and including hotels and accommodation, food, all beverages, entertainment, private plane transfers and butler service.

Plane interior

The plane also has the highest crew to passenger ratio of any twin-aisle aircraft, and offers 88 Crystal Exclusive Class seats designed for maximum personal space and convertible to 180-degree lie-flat beds. Features include a social lounge with stand-up bar, while cuisine will be prepared by an executive chef in two state-of-the-art galleys, and paired with an elegant premium wine list from the Crystal Skye Cellar.

Other comforts available onboard include Bose Noise Cancelling headphones, Apple iPads, complimentary global Wi-Fi, interactive TVs with on-demand programming and music library, individual USB ports and power outlets, and a live cockpit-to-ground listening channel.

Crystal AirCruises will take delivery of Crystal Skye on August 1 from Greenpoint Technologies in Washington and will be christened on August 12 during the Virtuoso Week in Las Vegas.

Crystal Skye will also be made available for private charters for one to 28 nights. With its ability to fly non-stop for 19 hours, longer than any commercial air flight (surpassing the current longest route from Singapore to New York at 16-17 hours), it affords guests a wide range of destinations to choose from on their private journeys.

The Crystal US offices and Genting offices will be the main sales points for the aircraft charters, while the aircraft will be operated for Crystal AirCruises by Comlux Aruba NV.

Amid the US market’s growing travel interest to Asia-Pacific, the Philippine Department of Tourism (DOT) is deploying a strategy to twin destinations at home with others in the region.

Addressing Asian-American travel agents and media during the Philippine business mission in San Jose, California this week, Philippine tourism secretary Wanda Tulfo-Teo said: “While destination twinning has already been an established programme of the DOT in the recent years, we have been working to expand the reach of this strategy to new emerging markets like Vietnam, Thailand and Malaysia, among others.”

Opening up secondary destinations; Colonial Plaza Salcedo, Vigan pictured

One of the immediate plans of the DOT is hence to strengthen its partnership with the travel trade in the US’ West Coast, which has already committed to bring US tourists to Manila and Bangkok in October this year.

Purificacion Molintas, DOT attache in San Francisco, said the tourism office in San Francisco recently started implementing the twin-destination promotions in collaboration with DOT Los Angeles targeting Thailand, Vietnam and Malaysia.

She added that California and Vancouver, being home to diverse Asian diasporas in North America, are perfect target markets for the programme.

With the significant improvements seen in the Philippines’ air connectivity in recent years, Teo is enlisting the support from various stakeholders in implementing the twin-destination tour packages, including Philippine Airlines; Eva Air, which flies to Cebu; Asiana Airlines; and Korean Airlines, which has just added flights from San Francisco to Manila.

The tourism chief is confident that twinning Philippine destinations will not only bring in foreign arrivals especially from North America, but also open up opportunities for domestic tourism and secondary gateways.

For instance, packaging Clark – a secondary gateway to Laoag, Vigan and La Union in the Philippines – with other Asian destinations could help bring the country’s lesser-known destination to prominence.

The US, second top foreign visitor market for the Philippines, contributing 428,767 arrivals in the first five months of 2017, up 12.8 per cent on the period last year.

Sri Lanka Tourism Promotion Bureau (SLTPB) plans to appoint PR agencies and its own marketing officers in key source markets, a change from its earlier move of having tourism offices in the UK, Germany and France which have since closed.

The first stage of this plan, SLTPB chairman Udaya Nanayakkara told TTG Asia, is to appoint representatives with experience in tourism marketing in Delhi, Mumbai and Chennai in India; Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou in China; and London, Frankfurt, Paris, Tokyo and Melbourne.

Galle 

The agencies will handle all areas of destination marketing and coordinate with the SLTPB officer in those markets, while decisions on ad placements will be made in Colombo.

Nanayakkara said all approvals are in place with the terms of reference to be finalised shortly by a ministerial committee, after which it will accept global tenders from creative, PR and advertising agencies. He hopes to increase the earlier estimated budget of U$3 million to US$6 million.

Following multiple postponements, the new US$1.3 million digital campaign is now scheduled for a December launch in the UK, Germany and France, followed by the global destination marketing campaign in May 2018.