Four Seasons Hotel Kyoto

A new crop of high-end accommodation options in Japan is changing the country’s image as a limited luxury destination, providing a boost to inbound tourism players.

High-profile luxury openings this year include Hoshinoya Tokyo, Prince Gallery Tokyo Kioicho and Four Seasons Hotel Kyoto. A JW Marriot Hotel is planned for Nara City and a luxury hotel is expected in rural Gifu Prefecture, both by 2020.

Ashley Harvey, manager at inbound tour operator Walk Japan, sees “potential” for luxury travel to boom in Japan, especially as upscale accommodation options are no longer confined to just major cities in the country. “The regional luxury market has very recently started to grow.”

To tap the rising luxury sector, Walk Japan will in 2017 expand its programme offerings sixfold and strengthen its partnership with Road Scholar, which offers educational trips for the high-end market.

Mark Wong, vice president Asia Pacific, Small Luxury Hotels of the World, added that the growing English-language support via transport signs and service staff would increase agents’ ability to sell Japan to the luxury market.

“The traveller can now explore parts of local Japan on their own, many of which are still unexplored by the foreign eye,” he said.

Hotel booking engine Traveliko is seeking to offer a new OTA solution for hotels that returns them pricing control and rebalances travel business ethics when launched in 1Q2017.

“Traveliko offers an alternative to the current OTA systems, which often see hotel operators crippled by high commissions and pressure to lower room rates to guarantee exposure on a handful of dominant travel websites,” said co-founder Yann Gouriou, formerly hotel general manager and CEO of Unicorn Hotels & Resorts.

“Traveliko not only promises the best available rate every time guests book a room online, it only takes a flat 10 per cent commission which is significantly lower than the OTAs currently dominating the market.”

With the lower fixed commission offered, the engine is optimised for selling additional hotel products, hence giving customers more options, according to Bjorn Harvold, chief technical officer.

As well, Traveliko will donate 20 per cent of the net commission to local charities selected by guests. Former Miss Universe Natalie Glebova has been appointed Traveliko’s brand ambassador.

Since starting on-boarding hotels last month, Traveliko has seen sign-ups from international companies like Absolute Hotel Services, Centara Hotels and Resorts, and Red Planet, and smaller chains and independent hotels in Thailand, Sri Lanka and the Maldives.

Hotels looking to join Traveliko may visit https://hotelier.traveliko.com.

Hop Inn Mae Sot

Thai hotel developer Erawan Group, driven by the fast-growing middle-class in Asia-Pacific, has taken an aggressive stance to expand its mid-scale, economy and budget chains.

As part of its five-year business plan, the group targets to operate 90 hotels with 10,000 rooms by 2020, up from 33 hotels with 5,676 rooms in 2015, said president Kamonwan Wipulakorn.

The expansion focus will be placed on Thailand and the Philippines, underscored by the former’s popularity as a travel destination and the latter’s strong domestic demand.

Budget brand Hop Inn, which shows the fastest growth potential among the brands under Erawan, is likely to reach a total of 50 properties in Thailand by 2020, Kamonwan revealed.

Following the launch of the first Hop Inn in the Philippines in Manila in 4Q2016, the group is targeting to inaugurate 19 more Hop Inns in the country within 2020, she added.

Hop Inns’ revenue contribution to the group is projected to increase from two per cent in 2015 to 16 per cent in 2020.

With these developments plus the country’s expected stable politics in the coming year, the Erawan Group is projecting its revenue to grow 15 per cent to 6.4 billion baht (US$179 million) in 2017.

A Four Seasons hotel is set to rise in Kuala Lumpur’s Golden Triangle district in early 2018 to become the second Four Seasons property in Malaysia after Langkawi.

The 209-key Four Seasons Hotel Kuala Lumpur is part of a 65-storey, mixed-use tower that will include 242 Four Seasons Private Residences, 27 serviced apartments and a five-floor, 27,900m² luxury retail podium, collectively known as Four Seasons Place Kuala Lumpur.

There will be four dining outlets, including a Cantonese restaurant, lobby and rooftop pool bars, and an all-day dining restaurant with views of the Petronas Twin Towers. The hotel will also offer an executive lounge, a spa, fitness centre and rooftop infinity pool.

Muslim travel contributed over US$138 billion to global GDP in 2015 and accounts for more than 10 per cent of tourism spend worldwide, according to the inaugural Global Economic Impact of Muslim Tourism Report 2015 by Salam Standard.

“To put this into perspective, the GDP impact is larger than the entire economy of Morocco or Kuwait,” said the report’s author, Faeez Fadhlillah, co-founder and CEO of Salam Standard and sister firm, Tripfez.

The US and EU emerged as top beneficiaries of Muslim travel spending, netting nearly US$64 billion of inbound expenditure in 2015, or around 44 per cent of the total. They also collect the most Muslim tourist-related tax – to the tune of US$12.5 billion, according to the report.

In terms of tourism spend overseas, the Middle East leads the pack to account for 60 per cent of all outbound Muslim tourism expenditure, worth some US$60 billion. The region also accrues the largest share of their tourism GDP from Muslim travellers (28 per cent).

Asia and Europe are the second largest markets in terms of outbound Muslim travel expenditure, each generating around 20 per cent of total spend.

In terms of direct employment, Thailand is the largest beneficiary, with more than a quarter of a million jobs supported by the Muslim travel sector. And overall, Asia has more than 2.3 million people employed in this sector, surpassing other regions.

Looking ahead, Fadhlillah said: “The sector is expected to grow by 50 per cent in volume and 35 per cent in value over the next five years, but its potential is yet to be unlocked.

“We advise governments and tourism entities in key markets worldwide to put strategies in place that will foster the growth of their Muslim travel sectors and drive demand that will benefit their economies immeasurably.”

Salam Standard, launched in October last year, is an online reference tool for Muslim travellers that categorises hotels according to their adherence to Muslim-friendly standards.

Ninoy Aquino International Airport

The implementation of recommendations by the Air Carriers Association of the Philippines (ACAP) has eased runway congestion at Manila’s Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) since September, but industry players are anticipating greater relief from a new airport.

The ban on small aircraft on non-commercial flights from NAIA during peak hours and their transfer to Sangley Point in Cavite has markedly improved airlines’ on-time performance from 55 per cent to 78 per cent.

“This very simple rule by the government is bringing big benefits,” said Alexander Lao, vice president passenger sales of ACAP member Cebu Pacific.

Lao added that the government hired British consultant NATS to increase NAIA’s capacity from 40 to 50 or more movements per hour.

But Maritess Pastofide, assistant general manager of Wayfair Tours, observed that passengers are not feeling the improved on-time performance. What’s needed, Pastorfide said, is a new airport that will serve metro Manila, especially with visitor traffic increasing.

And while airlines were expecting an announcement on a new airport by year-end, Roberto Lim, transportation undersecretary heading the aviation sector, was tight-lipped about when a decision can be made.

He however revealed that two proposals are being considered: the construction of an airport on a 1,600ha site in Bulacan, north of Manila, for four runways plus two more in the future and with a commitment to complete two runways within president Duterte’s term until mid-2022.

The second is an international airport and seaport on a 1,200-ha site in Sangley Point, Cavite – a few minutes away from NAIA by helicopter – for two runways with a provision for expansion.