Superstar Virgo

Star Cruises will increase the length of SuperStar Virgo‘s Shanghai homeport cruises to 8D/7N voyages when the new cruise season begins.

From July 6 until November 30, the 8D/7N Golden Sea Route will depart Shanghai every Thursday aboard SuperStar Virgo, visiting ports of calls including Tokyo, Mount Fuji, Osaka (with land tour options to include Kyoto) and Kagoshima.

In addition, Star Cruise guests can also opt for a 4D/3N Sea-Land-Air holiday that departs from Shanghai. Upon disembarkation in Tokyo, guests can enjoy the city at their leisure and return to Shanghai by air. Alternatively, guests can also fly to Tokyo for a 5D/4N cruise to Mount Fuji and Kagoshima, with disembarkation in Shanghai.

“The average cruise length from China tends to be short, at four to five nights, with calls to secondary port cities. The cruise ship itself is the primary attraction,” said Ang Moo Lim, president of Star Cruises.

“Star Cruises’ new 8D/7N cruises will provide a step-change forward in the Chinese cruise experience with calls to four famous ports and bringing the cruise length to international standards where more than 50 per cent of cruises are of seven-night duration. The extension of our itinerary to 8D/7N will bolster its appeal to the overseas market, which we believe will attract more International cruise travellers to Shanghai.”

Prices for the 8D/7N cruise start from US$4,999 per person based on twin occupancy.

Source: Star Cruises

Azerai Hotel reception

Amanresorts’ founder Adrian Zecha, who lost the defining brand to Russian billionaire Vladislav Doronin, is back in hotels, this time attempting to redefine the affordable luxury space with a new brand called Azerai.

The first Azerai has opened in Luang Prabang. Its website said the hotel is “the first chapter of a new story and brand of hotels that offers guests simple elegance, refined design, discreet and attentive service in places of unique beauty and cultural interest”.

It targets “experienced urbane individuals, couples and families looking for distinction, quality and comfort at affordable prices”.

The name Azerai is influenced by Adrian Zecha’s initials and a Persian word, caravanserai, a resting place with a central courtyard for travellers.

Azerai Luang Prabang has its roots as French officer’s quarters. It became the Phousi Hotel in 1961 until it closed in 2014 whereupon work on Azerai began.

The new hotel has 53 rooms between 35-85m², and rates starting from US$250⁺⁺.

This isn’t the first time Zecha has his eyes now peeled on the affordable luxury hotel space. At GHM, which he co-founded and is a director of, the mid-tier brand Tin Hotels was launched recently, with the first hotels opening in Dubai and Oman in the next few years.

At age 84, Zecha shows he can’t get hotels out of his veins. Or luxury. He also launched Maha Yacht Club recently, which aims to bring hospitality excellence aboard superyachts.

Nicolas Sarkozy 

Former French president Nicolas Sarkozy might had suffered a humiliating defeat in the presidential primary last year, but he has found a new job in the hospitality industry as a director of AccorHotels.

The appointment of Sarkozy demonstrates Accorhotels’ intention to pursue implementation of its strategy and promote its brands worldwide and French know-how in tourism, the group said in a statement.

Sarkozy was named independent director to succeed Nadra Moussalem, who had stepped down as AccorHotels’s director following Colony Capital’s decision to sell its shareholding in the company. He will hold the appointment for the rest of Moussalem’s term.

Sarkozy will also chair AccorHotels’ newly-formed International Strategy Committee to focus on the development of the group’s network and brand portfolio throughout the world, as well as on the promotion of French tourism.

Inbound agents have welcomed Malaysian tourism and culture minister Mohamed Nazri Abdul Aziz’s announcement to set up Tourism Malaysia offices in Kolkata and potentially Amritsar to increase visitors from India’s eastern region.

“Setting up an office in Kolkata is a good idea as it is the gateway from East India to Malaysia,” said Adam Kamal, secretary general of Malaysian Inbound Tourism Association.

Tourism Malaysia currently has offices in three Indian cities, namely Delhi, Mumbai and Chennai.

The new offices will enable Tourism Malaysia to tap the swelling ranks of middle-class travellers in Kolkata and Amritsar, noted Arokia Das, senior manager at Luxury Tours Malaysia.

“There should be full-fledged Tourism Malaysia offices in major metros like Hyderabad and Bengaluru and smaller offices in second-tier cities. We’ve got to get Malaysia into everybody’s minds. There should also be more carriers between Malaysia and second-tier cities in India,” he urged.

With 188 flights weekly providing 35,915 seats between Malaysia and India, air connectivity between the two countries can be improved still, agents pointed out.

Adam said: “Malaysia Airlines should also open new routes between Malaysia and India as it did with China recently. It is a good way of attracting more tourists, and will also complement the e-visa facility introduced in April 2016 for Indians residing in India.”

Starting July 1, Emirates will commence a daily Dubai-Phnom Penh service via Yangon, becoming the first airline to offer a connection between Yangon and Phnom Penh.

At the same time, Emirates will also introduce a direct Dubai-Hanoi service after removing the Yangon stopover from this route.

Operated with a Boeing 777-300ER aircraft in a two-class configuration, flight EK388 will depart Dubai at 09.15 and arrive in Yangon at 17.25. It will then depart Yangon at 18.55, before arriving at Phnom Penh at 21.25.

The return flight EK389 will depart Phnom Penh at 23.10 and arrive in Dubai at 05.40 the next day, after a short stop in Yangon.

Six Flags Entertainment and Riverside Investment Group have signed more formal agreements to build more Six Flags-branded parks in China.

The latest parks – a theme park and water park – will be located in Bishan, a district of Chongqing, with opening scheduled for 2020.

China’s first Six Flags-branded theme park and water park is sited in Haiyan, Zhejiang province. Located near Shanghai, they are scheduled to open in 2019 and will feature rollercoasters, live shows and water attractions.

Hong Kong Disneyland Resort (HKDL) achieved record high per capita spending at the park and its second highest number of international guests in FY2016, but continues to net a loss for the year.

HKDL reported that it welcomed 6.1 million guests in FY2016, contributing to a total guest count of 64 million since it opened in 2005. Local visitors accounted for 39 per cent of total attendance, while mainland and international visitation made up 36 per cent and 25 per cent respectively.

Hotel occupancy was similar to last year’s at close to 80 per cent.

Meanwhile, the resort generated revenues of HK$4.8 billion (US$618.5 million) with a net loss of HK$171 million, after being impacted by “a slower Hong Kong tourism market and an unfavorable comparison against fiscal 2015, which benefited from an additional week of operations”, according to HKDL.

A year-over-year decline in attendance was also observed both halves of the year, but this eased in 2H2016. HKDL stated that park attendance benefited from the launch of the Star Wars: Tomorrowland Takeover attraction and marketing and sales initiatives.

The resort’s improved performance continued into FY2017, with first quarter financial results above the prior-year period.

In 2Q2017, the resort opened Iron Man Experience, which helped boost Chinese New Year Holiday attendance 13 per cent above the prior-year period – with growth in local, Guangdong and international guests – and occupancy 97 per cent.

The 750-room Disney Explorers Lodge will open on April 30.