Fairmont Century Plaza concept art

Century Plaza Hotel in Los Angeles is slated to reopen in 2018 as the massive mixed-use Fairmont Century Plaza, Los Angeles, after Fairmont Hotels & Resorts signed an agreement with Next Century Associates for the revitalisation and management of the historic property.

The approximately US$2.5 billion redevelopment project will bring about 394 guestrooms and 63 branded residences within the original iconic tower, along with two new 46-storey residential towers with 290 residences, plus approximately 9,290m² of boutique high-street shopping and expanded parking facilities.

Built on the former backlot of 20^th Century Fox Studios, the hotel faces the famous fountains at the intersection of Avenue of the Stars and Constellation Boulevard, and is surrounded by prime offices, residences, entertainment, dining and retail venues.

Said Kevin Frid, chief operating officer, North & Central America, AccorHotels: “The Fairmont brand was born in California in 1907 and now, after more than a century of building an international portfolio… we are thrilled to return to our roots and expand our presence in the Southern California region.”

Fairmont Century Plaza will join Fairmont’s US portfolio including the flagship Fairmont Miramar San Francisco; Fairmont Sonoma Mission Inn & Spa; Fairmont San Jose in Silicon Valley; Claremont Club & Spa, a Fairmont Hotel in Berkeley; and Fairmont Heritage Place Ghirardelli Square, San Francisco.

Fairmont continues to expand globally with recent openings including Fairmont Quasar Istanbul, Fairmont Chengdu and Fairmont Fujairah in the Middle East. New Fairmont hotels scheduled to open in 2017 in Amman, Jordan; Riyadh, Saudi Arabia; and Austin, Texas.

Hotel distribution and services provider SHR, which has established its foothold in America’s hospitality sector, has set its sights on expanding into Asia-Pacific with the launch of a new Singapore office in October last year.

The company currently holds a market share of “five to 10 per cent” in Asia-Pacific and aims to join the likes of Sabre to become a major player in the region’s distribution scene, said Dave Chan, vice president, finance and corporate development, Asia-Pacific.

However, Chan admitted that it is an especially tall order to convince hotels in Asia to adopt a new system, attributing this to “culture” and resistance from “old-timers” in certain markets.

He told TTG Asia: “Japan and South Korea are very unique because they are so nationalistic. If you don’t speak their language or have local support, they won’t sign up with you.”

Plans are already afoot to set up an office in Japan solely to take care of the market, hire more sales staff and expand in the region.

SHR offers hotels easy control of the back-end system as well as its own chain functionality feature, stressed Chan. “Hotel chains can control the rates, marketing (message) and policy from the corporate office and push this down to all their hotels,” he added.

“You don’t need one team in every hotel (to take care of this) – just one in the corporate office will do. It’s a way for hotels to cut costs and streamline operations.”

Chan indicated that the system still allows hotel chains “leeway to change certain things” at the property level to take into account market or regional specificities.

He said: “Take Millennium & Copthorne (one of SHR’s clients) for example. They have 120 hotels in four continents, and can send out different policies for Europe and Asia from their corporate offices in London and Singapore.”

Genting Dream

From April 2, 2017, Genting Dream will sail from her dual homeports of Hong Kong and Nansha, Guangzhou, on six-day, five-night voyages to Okinawa (Naha and Miyakojima) in Japan.

The Okinawa journeys will visit Naha, a thriving urban centre with myriad restaurants, hotels, bars and shops, as well as Shuri-jō, a beautifully restored castle that was once the home of Ryūkyū royalty and a UNESCO World heritage site. The itinerary also includes Miyakojima, the main island in the Miyako group, which is fringed by white-sand beaches and clear waters.

Dream Cruises has also curated a range of programmes such as lectures on the historical ties between Okinawa and China on board Genting Dream. The luxury cruise ship also offers two state-of-the-art submersibles, which can carry one pilot and four guests under the Okinawan waters to marvel at marine life and seascapes.

As well, the Summer 2017 cruise itinerary will include two-night weekend cruises from Hong Kong to the waters of South China Sea.

Hong Kong Airlines’ abrupt suspension of its twice-weekly services between Hong Kong and Kuching effective February 25 has taken the Sarawak trade by surprise.

The airline’s chief commercial officer/director, Li Dian Chun, had issued a notification last month about the cessation of service, although a reason was not stated.

Gracie V Geikie, Sarawak Exco for Malaysian Inbound Tourism Association (MITA) expressed shock at the announcement as the route was just inaugurated nine months earlier in May 2016.

She said: “This is a great loss as the (Sarawak) business community has just started inking collaborations and MoUs to spur trade and business development. It’s a pity the airline did not seek industry engagement before calling off this route.

“We will have to go back to the drawing board and look at linkage strategies again to put on our destination profile for organisers planning their meetings and conferences in Kuching,” she added.

Geikie also voiced her concerns if other airlines would still be inclined to mount services to Sarawak, a culture and nature destination, as opposed to other beach destinations that tend to attract travellers faster.

Taking a more acquiescent stance, Mary Wan Mering, director at Sarawak Tourism Board, commented: “Our initial agreement with the airline was to service the route for three years. However, the airline has made a commercial decision and we have to accept it. It will not upset our overall marketing strategy for China which is to attract charter flights.”