Mumbai skyline

The US embassy in New Delhi issued a security message for US citizens in India yesterday citing local reports of plans by ISIS to launch an attack in the country.

“Recent Indian media reports indicate ISIL’s desire to attack targets in India,” stated the advisory, using a different acronym to refer to the jihadist group.

It continued: “The US embassy warns of an increased threat to places in India frequented by westerners, such as religious sites, markets, and festival venues.

“All US citizens are reminded to maintain a high level of vigilance and take appropriate steps to increase their security awareness.”

Winnie Chiu (center), president of Dorsett Hospitality International; Anita Chan (fifth from right), general Manager of Dorsett Wanchai Hong Kong; and hotel staff

The Cosmopolitan Hotel Hong Kong has been rebranded as Dorsett Wanchai Hong Kong in a bid by Dorsett Hospitality International, a subsidiary of Far East Consortium, to better consolidate its branding efforts.

The property, located between Wanchai and Causeway Bay, has also given its 454 guestrooms, lobby and other facilities a major revamp to suit the midscale Dorsett positioning.

Dorsett Wanchai Hong Kong now offers eight room categories ranging up to 48m2 in size. The highlight remains its signature Grand Deluxe Course View Room which offers views of the famed Happy Valley racecourse located in front of the hotel.

Dining Place Restaurant that serves Chinese cuisine, the 3T Bar, a gym room and various meeting spaces have been given a facelift.

“The name change is more than just an upgrade of the hotel infrastructure. Our new credo comes with a new motto. ‘Delivering What Matters To You’ reflects our commitment to creating a unique experience by giving extra services to meet every individual’s needs while travelling,” said Anita Chan, general manager of Dorsett Wanchai Hong Kong.

The rebranding officially took place on October 29.

South Korean soldiers stand guard at the Demilitarized Zone

South Korean travel companies have welcomed reports that a new four-storey facility for tour groups will be built overlooking the DMZ bordering North Korea.

It is to replace the existing Dorasan facility which is now old and run-down. Officials also cited the old venue as being unable to handle the growing number of domestic and foreign visitors.

“Dorasan is always one of the most popular parts of the tours that we run at the DMZ every day,” said Amy Park, sales manager of Korea DMZ Tour.

“I believe (the new facility) would be a very good thing because the present observatory is quite old and too small for all the tourists who want to go there,” she said, adding that her company sends around 100 visitors to the facility daily.

Jenny Chun, spokesperson for DMZ Tours, also welcomed the news and emphasised the need for more viewing areas and parking lots for coaches.

“Yes, we think it will help solve some of those problems, but we are still waiting to hear the details of the plan, such as information on access,” she said.

Some 800,000 tourists visit the Dorasan observatory every year.

The new observatory will be built on a site 160m from Dorasan and covers nearly 3,000m²of space when completed. Officials hope to open the new observatory before the end of 2017.

Ha Long Bay, Vietnam

Travel industry players in Vietnam are increasing their investments in the country in hopes to better capture rising demand for the destination.

International arrivals to Vietnam have increased 25 per cent year-on-year in the first nine months of 2016, reaching nearly 7.3 million visitors, with relaxed visa policies set to boost arrivals even further.

Tran Gia Bach, general manager of Buffalo Tours, highlighted major projects taking place across the country that will help absorb future visitor increases. These include “significant infrastructure investments such as the improvement works at Noi Bai and Da Nang international airports”, he said.

“In addition, the government is undertaking a feasibility study for a new airport in Phan Thiet and preliminary work at Long Thanh near Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC),” added Bach. Tan Son Nhat, HCMC’s current airport, is also being expanded, with a new terminal set to open next year.

Bach also pointed to the new highway between Hanoi and Ha Long, which will open in 2017 and cut travel time between the two cities to three hours.

Leanne Harwood, vice president operations, South East Asia and Korea at InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG), agrees that Vietnamese authorities are keeping pace with tourism arrivals. “Recently, we’ve seen a strong push by the government to boost tourism to drive economic growth,” she said.

IHG plans to take advantage of this push by increasing its investment in the country. “Our presence in Vietnam spans six hotels across the country and we plan to double our presence over the next few years,” revealed Harwood. The upcoming Crowne Plaza Phu Quoc, for example, will add 300 rooms to the popular island destination next year.

Meanwhile, Buffalo Tours is also pursuing strategies to reap the benefits of Vietnam’s ongoing tourism growth. “(We) will expand our trade sales network to grow end-markets such as Scandinavia, China, Japan and South Korea to capture a greater share of arrivals to Vietnam,” said Bach.

They will also expand their network of tour desks, with 17 currently located in Hanoi and HCMC, to take advantage of demand for high-quality domestic and outbound travel services, a segment which Bach feels has been underserved.

Ribbon cutting to celebrate the new route at Noi Bai International Airport

Vietjet has launched two new connections from Hanoi, with flights heading to Taipei having commenced since October 30 and a domestic service to Hue starting today.

The flight to Taipei takes off from Hanoi at 14.05 and lands in the Taiwan capital at 18.00. The return leg then departs Taipei at 19.10 and arrives in Hanoi at 21.20.

This is the LCC’s third Vietnam-Taiwan connection, after Taipei-Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC) and Tainan-HCMC. A route from Kaohsiung to HCMC will be in service from December 12.

Meanwhile, the new domestic flight departs from Hanoi at 12:35 and arrives in Hue at 13.45. The flight then returns at 14.20 and arrives in Hanoi at 15.30.

With the additional services, Vietjet now offers more than 20 routes connecting Hanoi with key destinations in Vietnam and Asia.

SriLankan Airlines will be flying to 11 new destinations in Asia and the Middle East, mostly replacing the operations left behind by its now defunct LCC subsidiary Mihin Lanka.

The destinations replaced are Lahore-Pakistan, Jakarta-Indonesia, Dhaka-Bangladesh, Muscat-Oman, Bahrain, Seychelles, as well as Kolkata, Madurai, Varanasi and Bodh Gaya in India.

The 11^th destination, Gan island in the Maldives, was announced last week with four-weekly flights starting December 1.

Mihin Lanka was officially scrapped yesterday to lower burgeoning costs dragging down its parent national carrier. Most of the LCC’s 300 staff will be absorbed by SriLankan Airlines.

The addition of Kolkata, Madurai, Varanasi and Bodh Gaya makes SriLankan Airlines the foreign airline with the largest network there.

Services to Lahore commenced on September 27 and since October 30, flights began to Jakarta, Dhaka, Madurai, Muscat and Kolkata. On October 31, flights began to Bahrain, Seychelles, Varanasi and Bodh Gaya.

Gan Island brings the total number of destinations served by SriLankan Airlines to 102 in 47 countries.

Swissôtel Merchant Court in Singapore has completed an extensive renovation that saw a complete refurbishment of all its 476 rooms and suites, added meeting rooms, transformed F&B venues and a new in-house spa brand.

The revamp took 18 months to complete and was done in phases. In terms of design, all rooms have now taken on a brighter tone while maintaining the hotel’s mixed Swiss-Peranakan features. Similarly, corridors have taken on a lighter hue.

A key difference is the increase in the number of lead-in category rooms while maintaining the same total keys as before, as well as the addition of three new meeting spaces (adding roughly 150m² of space). This brings the total number of event venues to eight, and includes a renewed 680m² ballroom.

Peranakan restaurant Ellenborough Market Café, lobby lounge Crossroads Bar and poolside diner Blue Potato have also been revamped, with Ellenborough seeing the most striking change as it takes on a turquoise interior.

Pürovel Spa & Sport, an in-house Swiss spa brand, has been newly introduced as well, replacing the former Amrita brand by parent company FRHI Hotels & Resorts.

When asked what the biggest changes were, Rainer Tenius, general manager of Swissôtel Merchant Court, pointed to the bathroom upgrades.

“The bathrooms are completely new. We’ve replaced the bathtub showers with standing showers, for instance, in most of the rooms,” he said, adding that some bathtub showers remain to better cater to families and Japanese guests.

The last time the property underwent refurbishment was in 2008, revealed Tenius, who also took on the role of general manager at the hotel in that same year.