Phuket during the Christmas season last year

Demand indicators continue to be strong in Phuket with Russian arrivals rebounding and curbing a growth decline in Chinese arrivals, according to key findings in C9 Hotelworks’ Phuket Hotel Market Update for February 2017.

With total airport arrivals surpassing 7.5 million passengers, Phuket experienced a sharp year-on-year rise of 18 per cent compared with 13 per cent the previous year.

This is largely attributed to the 51 per cent increase from the Russian source market, which C9 said was prompted by the strengthening of the rouble against the Thai baht and political volatility in the Middle East that shifted Russian tourists to the island during high season.

For mainland China, Phuket’s top source market, growth rate for 2016 plunged from 35 to 11 per cent after a national-wide government crackdown on zero-baht tourism in September of last year. This impact is expected to soften in early 2017 with more Chinese travellers arriving this Chinese New Year.

The balance between two major source markets – with China declining two per cent in market share while Russia grew to 13 per cent – saw Phuket ending 2016 on a positive note as hotel RevPAR rose by four per cent.

RevPAR was propelled by a 6.3 per cent uptick in market-wide occupancy, according to data from STR. Overall, Phuket hotels achieved slightly more than 75 per cent annualised occupancy for the year and 3,804 baht (US$108.60) in ADR.

The Phuket market continues to attract new developments, with a total of 5,584 keys across 32 new hotels expected to come online by 2020.

Meanwhile, the Department of Tourism and Sports has revised hotel supply data collection to include both registered and unregistered tourist accommodation in late 2016, and Phuket now shows a total 81,727 keys in 1,744 establishments.

This shift, according to C9’s managing director Bill Barnett, demonstrates the Thai government’s focus on addressing the widespread proliferation of unlicensed accommodation, and the provincial administration has also issued an ultimatum for illegal hotels to either register or face legal action.

W Hotels Worldwide, now a subsidiary of Marriott International, is slated to open W Melbourne in 2020, developed in partnership with Daisho Development Melbourne and Cbus Property.

W Melbourne will be located in the heart of the city’s trendy shopping and entertainment district, 447 Collins Street, as part of the A$1 billion (US$ 767 million) mixed-use luxury development Collins Arch.

The brand’s expansion into Melbourne marks the second W Hotel coming to Australia, following W Brisbane scheduled to open its doors in 2018.

With 294 guestrooms, including 40 suites and an Extreme Wow Suite (the brand’s take on the traditional presidential suite), W Melbourne will be designed by New York’s SHoP Architects, global design practice Woods Bagot and interior design specialists Hachem.

The new hotel will also feature nearly 1,208m² of conference, ballroom and meeting space.

W Hotels is on track to reach 75 hotels by 2020, and soon-to-open properties include W Panama, W Shanghai and W Tel Aviv.

King’s Cup Elephant Polo Tournament 2016

The 15^th edition of the King’s Cup Elephant Polo Tournament, organised by Anantara Hotels and Resorts, will take place on March 9-12 this year by Bangkok’s Chao Phraya River.

The 2017 event boasts 10 teams encompassing over 40 players, including Thai celebrities, supermodels, professional horse polo players and New Zealand All-Blacks rugby players. It also includes an impressive Opening Parade, Children’s Educational Day and Ladies Day known as The Bangkok Ascot.

The tournament has become one of the biggest charitable events in South-east Asia with over US$1.3 million raised and donated to such programmes as the Thai Elephant Assisted Autistic Therapy Project, which better the lives of Thailand’s wild and domesticated elephant population.

The four-day event will also benefit 30 unemployed former street elephants, giving them full veterinary checks and care, much needed food and drink and essential vitamin supplements.

Anantara has in place strict rules for the tournament to protects the well-being of all participating elephants and has imposed a “no micro-chip, no game” rule to ensure that the elephants have been domestically bred and not captured from the wild or smuggled.

AccorHotels and Qatar Airways have linked arms to allow points conversion between their respective Le Club AccorHotels (LCAH) and Privilege Club loyalty programmes.

Privilege Club members can now convert their Qmiles into Le Club AccorHotels points at the rate of 4,500 Qmiles for 1,000 LCAH points. With these points, they can purchase free nights and get discounts on their next stay in over 3,400 hotels as well as access the multiple rewards – Elite Experiences, Dream Stays, La Collection e-boutique, etc – offered by LCAH.
As well, the 30-million-plus members of LCAH who have already notched up 2,000 points can also convert these into Qmiles and access Qatar Airways’ network of over 150 destinations.

To do so, they need to log in to their Le Club AccorHotels account, provide their Privilege Club membership number and choose the number of points for conversion.

Similarly, Privilege Club members can proceed with the conversion by logging in to their account and from the My Dashboard page, click the Redeem Qmiles tab. They then select Convert Qmiles from the Redemption with Partners section and complete the request, and Qmiles will be converted to LCAH points within 10 days.

Gyeongbokgung Palace in spring

South Korea’s missile-shield spat with China is casting a pall over inbound tourism, causing a sharp plunge in Chinese group tour arrivals and prompting travel firms to seek out alternative inbound markets like South-east Asia.

South Korea welcomed 17.2 million foreign tourists in 2016, of which nearly 8.1 million were from China. According to a Korean Tourism Organization spokeperson, an increase in FIT and business travellers propped up Chinese arrivals to South Korea in 2H2016 but group and package tours had fallen through. Further statistics were not available at press time.

The Chinese government had refused to permit South Korean airlines to operate charter flights during the Lunar New Year, and the Chinese Embassy had also earlier notified South Korean travel agencies of new rules imposed on Chinese travellers to make the visa application process more laborious.

The Yonhap News agency quoted travel agencies as saying that Chinese visitors have also declined by as much as 50 per cent during the Lunar New Year (January 27 to February 2) period.

“The Chinese government is pushing their agents not to sell packages to (South) Korea, and many other travel companies have seen lots of groups cancelling trips,” said Daniel Kim of Seoul-based HaB Korea Tour.

“We have to develop new markets and find clients from other countries,” he lamented.

David Won, manager of One Day Korea Tourist and Travel, estimates that Chinese bookings are down as much as 30 per cent in recent months.

“We have to change our strategies and are increasingly looking at travellers from Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia and Japan for our tours,” he told TTG Asia.

To celebrate its 10^th anniversary, Royal Plaza on Scotts’ Carousel is hosting a Pay-As-You-Wish buffet lunch on on February 18 from 12.00 to 13.30.

Two hundred seats are available for the Pay-As-You-Wish buffet lunch, worth S$76 (US$54) per person. Reservations are not required and guests are invited to join in for lunch on a first-come, first-served basis. Table sharing will take place during the event as diners come together to celebrate the occasion.

Guests are encouraged to donate any amount they wish for their meal and all profits will go to The Straits Times School Pocket Money Fund, which supports more than 13,000 children and youths a year in providing them with monthly school pocket money.

This is the first time an international buffet restaurant in Singapore is giving guests the opportunity to pay any amount they deem fit for their meal, said the hotel in a press statement. The celebration will be topped off with a 10kg cake specially designed and crafted by the chefs of Carousel.

Chief experience officer and general manager of Royal Plaza on Scotts, Patrick Fiat, commented: “This is a significant achievement for Carousel as we enter our tenth year. We hope that our guests will come with an empty stomach and leave with a full heart by giving back to the less privileged in the community.”