The latest hotel openings and announcements made this week

Hoshino Resorts KAI Anjin
Named after English sailor Anjin Miura, the waterfront hot spring inn in Ito, Shizuoka, Japan, offers 45 Western-style guestrooms. Each nautically-themed room boasts an ocean view and KAI’s luxury beds, as well as a separate living area with a sofa. The property’s piece de resistance is the grand outdoor bath on the top floor that overlooks the Pacific Ocean. As well, both the men’s and women’s areas feature granite indoor baths and stone outdoor baths. Other facilities include the San Buena Deck, built to resemble an actual ship’s deck.

Hilton Garden Inn Shanghai Hongqiao
The opening of Hilton Garden Inn Shanghai Hongqiao in Qingpu District marks the brand’s debut in the city. Part of the New Hongqiao CBD, the property offers 226 guestrooms complete with 43-inch HDTVs, complimentary Wi-Fi and ergonomic chairs. Amenities include two restaurants, a bar, pantry open 24/7 for snacks or a quick meal, gym and a self-service laundromat. As well, the property offers 500m² of meeting and banquet space for events that can accommodate up to 200 people.

Hyatt Place Rameswaram
Located in Rameswaram – one of India’s holiest pilgrimage destinations – the 101-key is the first Hyatt Place to open in the state of Tamil Nadu. Each room comes with a swiveling 42-inch HDTV, Hyatt Grand Bed and Cozy Corner sectional sofa. Facilities on-site include a restaurant, poolside bar, complimentary Wi-Fi throughout the hotel, 24-hour gym, outdoor swimming pool, as well as more than 440m² of function space.

Swiss-Belhotel Lampung
Swiss-Belhotel International has taken over the management of The 7th Hotel & Convention Center in Bandar Lampung, Indonesia. The rebranded property features 167 guestrooms, with recreational facilities spanning a swimming pool, fitness centre, spa, bar and lounge, and the Swiss-Café restaurant. For events and meetings, the property has a ballroom which can accommodate up to 1,200 guests, and nine meeting rooms for up to 100 people.

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Credit: Myanmar Tourism Marketing

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Come 2018, the PATA Adventure Travel and Responsible Tourism Conference and Mart will take place in Al Ain, Abu Dhabi, the first PATA event to be held in the UAE.

The three-day event will include both conference and travel mart components, plus elements of environmental protection and social sustainability with special focus on empowerment of local communities.

Al Ain Convention Centre

PATA CEO Mario Hardy commented: “Connectivity is easy via the Abu Dhabi International Airport. Al Ain, together with the surrounding landscape, has so much to offer travellers of all ages. This event provides an exceptional platform for travel trade professionals to learn more about this compelling city and region.”

Saif Saeed Ghobash, director general of Abu Dhabi Tourism & Culture Authority, added: “Abu Dhabi has experienced significant growth in guest arrivals from countries within the PATA region in recent years, especially from India and China.

Known as the heritage heartland of the Emirate of Abu Dhabi, Al Ain is an increasingly popular business events destination, boasting 18 hotels and hotel apartments with over 2,000 rooms and dedicated facilities at the Al Ain Convention Centre, said PATA in a press release.

For more information or to register for the event, please email ATRTCM@PATA.org.

InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG) will add two Holiday Inn properties in the Philippines this year, a coup for the group, which was left with just three hotels in the country after losing InterContinental Makati to the wrecker’s ball and Holiday Inn Clark to a rebrand.

The first addition is Holiday Inn Express, which will be launched as a rebrand of Remington Hotel at Resorts World Manila.

Remington Hotel lobby

Leanne Harwood, IHG’s vice president operations, South-east Asia and Korea, told TTG Asia that 623-room and 89-apartment Remington Hotel has been part of the IHG portfolio since December 2016 while undergoing a rebranding.

As well, the 180-room Holiday Inn Baguio Center will be launched in 2H2017, the first foreign brand to open in Baguio City in 15 years.

Harwood explained that IHG’s expansion is anchored on “strong fundamentals of the Philippines hotel market given its strong and sustained economic growth in recent years, and with strong foreign investment into the country, including further interest from China in recent months”.

Having set ambitious arrival targets for the coming years, Indonesia’s Ministry of Tourism will offer airlines promotional support to entice them to fly into the country while work gets underway to ease the bottleneck at congested airports.

“To reach the 15-million mark this year, we need nearly four million additional seats,” said I Gde Pitana, deputy minister for international tourism promotion development, Ministry of Tourism, who revealed that the government has adopted a WAR (winning, acquiring and retaining) strategy to achieve its goals.

Ngurah Rai International Airport, Bali, Indonesia

“We are working to retain the current 7.5 million seats (a year), win 6.5 million (more) and acquire around 1.5 million from airlines currently flying to the neighbouring destinations,” he added.

“On the other hand, we are facing the reality of such airports as Jakarta, Denpasar and Yogyakarta having no more slots for additional flights, while Solo, Lombok and Medan, for example, still have many.”

The way to go, according to Pitana, is to entice airlines to open routes to Indonesian airports, especially those that still have the capacity, through joint promotions.

Pitana elaborated: “The joint promotions can be in different forms, such as sales missions, advertisements in the destinations or through the ministry’s online platform.”

The offer will be eligible to Indonesian airlines and carriers flying into the country for the first time.

Pitana estimates the ministry would allocate around US$10 per potential passenger for promotions.

Meanwhile, airports such as Tanjung Pinang (Bintan), Silangit (near Lake Toba) and Belitung could soon get gateway status.

“We are inviting the travel industry to give us inputs on which gateways they want us to open next,” Pitana said.

Centara Hotels & Resorts has signed a management agreement for its fourth resort in the Maldives – Centara Grand Muthaafushi Resort & Spa Maldives – slated to soft-open in 4Q2018.

Located in the south-western portion of Baa Atoll, the five-star resort will comprise 24 land villas and 77 water villas. Facilities include an underwater restaurant, floating cinema, Thai spa and a fitness centre.

Signing ceremony

Baa Atoll, approximately 123km north-west of Malé International Airport, consists of 75 islands dotted around three separate natural atolls and has held the status of UNESCO World Biosphere Reserve since June 2011.