US-based Dream Hotel Group (DHG) will be renovating the Dream Hotel Bangkok as it expands Dream and its other brands in Asia to ensure that properties keep with their models.

To some, DHG is having a ‘re-start’ in Asia. For 10 years, there has been just the Dream Bangkok, then Dream Phuket Hotel & Spa which opened two years ago, although this isn’t managed by the group but is a licence agreement with Singapore-based Castlewood Group which owns the property.

Dream Bangkok lobby

The deal with Castlewood, announced in September 2015, was to develop up to 20 Dream Hotels over the next 10 years. However, DHG recently set up its own Asia-Pacific development team in Bangkok led by managing director Kevin Wallace. This was part of the company’s new shift to expand globally through management than ownership. It now has development teams in Europe, Africa and the Middle East.

DHG’s CEO Jay Stein, interviewed on the sidelines of the International Hotel Investment Forum in Berlin recently, said the group would not be doing any more licence agreements going forward. He declined to comment on the partnership with Castlewood in the future, only saying “there are discussions going on”.

Stein said Wallace to-date had opened new areas for DHG. Vietnam is a good example. Opening this summer or fall is a 351-villa Dream Oceanami in Long Hai Beach, Ba Ria province. DHG had also signed an Unscripted hotel in Danang and a Chatwal hotel in a location south of Ho Chi Minh City. Both are new constructions.

Two properties in the Maldives, Chatwal Maaga and Dream Gasveli, are slated to open in 2019 and 2020 respectively.

Stein: no more licence agreements for DHG

DHG’s four brands, Chatwal, Dream, Time and Unscripted, are positioned at upscale and upper upscale. Chatwal, named after the founder, is the group’s topmost brand, followed by Dream, whose model rests on a large number of F&B offerings. It launched Time to target hotels that want a Dream brand but are unable to have the vastness of F&B. Unscripted, as its name suggest, does not need to follow a script and lends itself to secondary markets such as Danang.

But it all started with Dream, recognised as an early lifestyle hotel brand which tries to inject life and excitement back into hotels, with the antics of Vikram Chatwal, the founder’s son, adding celebrity notoriety. The first Dream opened in 2006 in New York as a standalone hotel, followed by Bangkok in 2006 and Dream Downtown New York in 2011, which “created the new format of Dream”, said Stein.

Diverse, long-standing F&B and nightlife partnerships with such established names as TAO/Strategic Group, Jay Zhous, Geoffrey Zakarian are integral to Dream and have generated a consistent revenue stream over the years. Dream Hollywood, which is opening in a couple of weeks, has six to seven high-end, large-scale F&B concepts.

Stein admitted that Dream Bangkok wasn’t built to the current Dream ideal but a complete renovation would change that. Plans are to add another building to the existing two buildings of the hotel, which DHG owns. The hotel already has significant F&B, he said, including a rooftop bar, a second floor bar and restaurant, and full meetings and banquet space. “We’re looking at bringing an Italian concept into the first floor which will give a lot more energy to the lobby level,” said Stein.

The project is expected to span over 1.5 years.

Read more in the upcoming Analysis on new hospitality models in TTG Asia May 2017 issue

Tokyo-based discount travel agency Tellmeclub has filed for bankruptcy with liabilities of around 15 billion yen (US$134.9 million), affecting as many as 90,000 corporate and leisure travellers.

Speaking at a press conference on Monday, Tellmeclub president Chikako Yamada said customers should not go ahead with their trips as they were not guaranteed accommodation at their destination.

She added that applications for packages would be cancelled but the company was not able to refund payments already made. An estimated 36,000 tour contracts for around 90,000 individuals are affected, worth some 9.9 billion yen, local media reported.

A spokesperson for the Japan Association of Travel Agents told TTG Asia: “Those customers are protected because Tellmeclub was our member and subscribed to our insurance.”

“It is a complicated situation – and also a legal issue now – but we are doing everything we can to help customers and also its partner companies and operators.”

The failure of Tellmeclub is “much more complicated than simply a question of intense competition,” the official said, suggesting that the “strategic decisions and policies” that the company took to grow rapidly played a part in its downfall.

“We issue guidelines to member companies, but we cannot guarantee that a situation like this will not happen again,” the official said. “We are however looking at the causes and will do what we can to protect customers and other companies in future.”

Delta Air Lines and Korean Air have come together to establish a joint venture to share costs and revenues on flights and coordinating schedules for better-timed connections amid greater competition in the aviation sector.

The two also agreed on joint growth in the trans-Pacific market with co-location at key hubs, which will see both airlines boasting a combined network of more than 290 destinations in the Americas and more than 80 in Asia.

(From left) Korean Air’s Walter Cho and Yang Ho Cho; and Delta Air Lines’ Ed Bastian and Steve Sear

Frequent flyer benefits will be enhanced to allow customers of both airlines to earn and redeem miles on Delta’s Sky Miles and Korean Air’s Skypass programmes.

Delta will launch a new service between Atlanta and Seoul in June 2017, while Korean Air will introduce a third round-trip service between Los Angeles and Seoul, as well as a second flight between San Francisco and Seoul.

After 11 years in operation, New Majestic Hotel, part of the Unlisted Collection group, will close its doors on June 1, 2017 to make way for new developments.

The Singapore hotel is housed in a traditional conservation shophouse, featuring 30 individually-designed rooms that emphasises on design, local culture and arts. Opened in 2006, it is the brainchild of Loh Lik Peng, director of the Unlisted Collection.

“New Majestic Hotel holds great sentimental value to me. It is one of my first hotel ventures and, in many ways, Unlisted Collection’s flagship hotel. But when a golden opportunity comes up at the perfect time, you have to take it. To grow, you have to be open to change,” said Loh.

An appreciation party will be held for all hotel staff and their families. A memory wall will also be set up in the hotel lobby for members of the public to share their memories and pen their thoughts from April 28 to May 20, 2017.

Business operators on Khao San Road are bracing for a subdued Songkran this year after the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration requested for entertainment and festivities to be toned down during Thailand’s annual Water Festival from April 13 to 15, in observance of the passing of the Thai king Bhumibol Adulyadej.

The director of Phra Nakhon district, which oversees Khao San Road, reaffirms that traditional water sprinkling and merit-making will be permitted but disallows beauty pageants, water-gun and powder fights, sexy attire and alcohol. The backpacker street is traditionally a popular spot for Songkran celebrations in Bangkok.

Thammarat Rattanaphibal, general manager of the 76-room Buddy Lodge Hotel on Khao San Road, believes that guests, a majority of which hail from Europe, will make cancellations upon knowing the latest policy and move elsewhere in the city for celebrations.

On the other hand, Benchawan Pholpituke, manager of Mama Travel & Tour, thinks that tourists will understand the situation in Thailand and still buy tours from her company.

The Khao San-based agency has started informing customers about the toned-down Songkran celebrations this year so that they will come without expectations and have time to adapt their travel itineraries.

Meanwhile, a Bang Rak district officer that TTG Asia spoke with at press time could not confirm if Silom Road will continue its Songkran festival celebration this year.

Prasartpon Aksharamat, general manager of Silom Village, reckons that Silom Village will not be affected and is expecting to welcome more customers as usual.

Many travel agents in Indonesia remain unwavering in their beliefs that there is still room for growth in the offline space, even as the country’s tourism chief warns of competition from OTAs and emerging players like Airbnb and Uber in an increasingly connected digital landscape.

“I would like to warn the travel companies in Indonesia that if you all do not transform your business to the digital platform, I assure you that one day your customers will leave you,” said Arief Yahya, Indonesia’s tourism minister, at the opening of ASTINDO Travel Fair in Jakarta last weekend.

“You have little choice. Even (some) big international travel companies have gone bankrupt because they were too late in anticipating the customer behaviour,” he cautioned.

For travel companies, especially the smaller ones, that lack resources to digitalise their businesses, Arief said they have available to them the Indonesia Travel Exchange, a free online platform belonging to the ministry, while ASTINDO members can utilise the ASTINDO Hub platform.

Despite the growing trend of customers booking online, Rudiana, director of sales of WITA Tour and ASTINDO board member, thinks it’s still a long way to go before Indonesians will “embrace the digital world totally”.

“Many Indonesians, including the haves and digital savvy, still like to rely on travel consultants for their trips. They find it troublesome to search and compare products online themselves,” he added. “What we need to do in Indonesia is to become digilog, maintaining our analogue system and embracing the digital system at the same time.”

Royanto Handaya, CEO of Panorama Tours Indonesia, said: “I believe that the number of outbound travellers who book through (offline) travel companies will continue to grow, as travellers, apart from the affordable prices, seek seamless experiences.”

While OTAs provide instant confirmation, travellers still need consultants to change bookings, hotels or even their itineraries during a trip, Royanto added.

Furthermore, travellers flocking to travel fairs and queueing to buy holiday packages is a sign that offline travel consultants are still in demand, according to Royanto.

AccorHotels and Edmond de Rothschild Investment Partners are now at the negotiation table to acquire Potel & Chabot Group, a French company specialising in high-end corporate and major events.

The proposed transaction will see Edmond de Rothschild and AccorHotels respectively holding 51 per cent and 40 per cent of the share capital.

This transaction will also provide Potel & Chabot to leverage AccorHotels to jointly develop new F&B offers for MICE and local guests through personalised concierge services.

Founded in 1820, Potel & Chabot generates revenues in excess of 100 million euros (US$107.5 million) and counts key events such as the French Open at Roland Garros, the Biennale des Antiquaires, 24 Hours of Le Mans and the Saut Hermès among its portfolio.

The group also has the exclusive management of venues in Paris – Pavillon Vendôme, Pavillon Seine, Pavillon Kléber, Pavillon Gabriel, Hôtel d’Evreux, Pavillon Cambon Capucines and Pavillon Dauphine.

Chinese real estate developer Shimao Property Holdings and Starwood Capital Group will establish a new hotel joint venture based in China.

The joint venture, which will be owned 51 per cent by Shimao and 49 per cent by Starwood Capital Group, plans to focus on developing, operating and branding assets via management contracts and leasing agreements.

Starwood Capital Group will also provide financial and operational support for Shimao Hotels and Resorts’ future hotel expansion plans in China and other key Asia-Pacific regions, particularly markets that have witnessed unprecedented levels of Chinese arrivals.

By catering to the value-conscious yet increasingly discerning Chinese traveller seeking a differentiated lodging experience, the partnership’s ultimate goal is to develop one China’s most recognisable hotel companies.

“The close cooperation with Starwood Capital Group will help our growing hospitality platform and exciting new brands take advantage of the tremendous opportunities that exist in China, allowing the group to fulfill its potential,” said Tyrone Tang, general manager of Shimao Hotels and Resorts.

“The joint venture will focus on maximising the benefits that can be derived from the intangible assets, consolidating the group’s sustainable commercial development while ensuring profitability, and providing the most effective support for partners.”

Starwood Capital has invested in approximately 2,900 hotels since its inception. The firm created and built Starwood Hotels & Resorts into the largest hotel company in the world before exiting its stake in the company.