THE Singapore International Festival of Music (SIFOM) is returning for its second edition this year under a new theme – Myths and Legends.

The festival, which debuted last year to give rising young musicians in Singapore a platform, runs from October 13-30 this year at various concert venues and public spaces around the city-state, featuring more than 20 free and ticketed performances and workshops

This year’s ensemble of performances include showings by opera stars from the Musical Olympus Foundation (Moscow) and performing artists and composers from Europe, Asia, Russia and Ukraine, among many others.

The Chamber Orchestra of Europe (reportedly the world’s best orchestra by critics), Norway’s Ensemble 1B1, local Chinese music group Ding Yi Music Company and Ikan Girl by the Bhumi Collective will also be making appearances.

SIFOM was first conceived and curated by internationally-renowned conductor and grammy-nominee, Darrell Ang, who is also the artistic director of SIFOM.

Gary Khan

INDIA’s first regional convention bureau, Hyderabad Convention Visitors Bureau (HCVB), turns five years old this year with flying colours and is charting the course to put Hyderabad further on the global MICE map in the next five years.

Gary Khan, CEO of HCVB since its formation in 2011, can now count a “very good track record” of winning 19 association bids out of the 36 HCVB had put in since the bureau’s inception.

HCVB’s strategic marketing plan for the next five years will see the bureau focusing its efforts on the European region because that is the “crux of associations”.

It plans to increase its participation in roadshows in Europe from once to twice a year, and maintaining presence in tradeshows.

It will also focus on the IT, healthcare, pharmaceutical and biotechnology sectors which are Hyderabad’s strongest suits. While the Telangana state currently brandishes India’s only purpose-built convention and exhibition centre that can accommodate up to 6,500 delegates, Khan admitted that this infrastructure might still pale in comparison to other cities’ convention facilities that can host up to 20,000 guests.

However he pointed to the presence of a huge Indian market as Hyderabad’s winning factor.

“The strength we have is in our numbers (people) because we can provide a huge attendance number that no other country can offer. We are not talking about just 20 or 50 more people, but a few hundreds. We also give associations the opportunity to increase their membership,” he said.

Pointing to the ICANN Congress, which will be held in November with 4,000 delegates, Khan said these big international names that are descending upon Hyderabad are a “testimony” to the destination’s capability to host large-scale events.

ADDITIONAL airports around Asia will be home to more than 40 TravelersBox kiosks by the end of 2016.

These kiosks allow travellers to deposit their leftover foreign currency into online accounts such as PayPal, Skype, iTunes and Starbucks gift cards. There is also a donation button for travellers to donate to a preferred cause.

Tokyo’s Narita International Airport is the second airport in Asia to receive the physical-to-digital currency convertor kiosks after Manila’s Ninoy Aquino International Airport.

Tomer Zussman, co-founder and CEO of TravelersBox, said: “For the Asian market we’ve given specific attention for each of the local travellers’ nationalities. Solutions such as Nets Flash Card for Singaporeans, Lazada for South-east Asian travellers and more, will soon be available.”

The company has also entered into a partnership with Baidu wallet, tapping the Chinese market.

TravelersBox currently have over 75 kiosks located in airports around the world.

The Glasshouse, Edinburgh

MALAYSIA’s YTL Hotels is expanding its portfolio with the recent acquisition of three properties, one each in Edinburgh, Berkshire and London.

The Glasshouse Hotel, located in the heart of Edinburgh, is part of Marriott International’s Autograph Collection.

This acquisition reinforces YTL’s partnership with Marriott, which began in 1995 through the ownership, management and future development of seven properties including JW Marriott Kuala Lumpur and The Ritz-Carlton Koh Samui.

The second property that will come under YTL’s hotel portfolio is Monkey Island in the village of Bray in Berkshire, renowned as the only village in the world with four Michelin-star restaurants and pubs.

YTL also acquired the Academy Hotel in London’s West End. The hotel comprises five restored Georgian townhouses and is a stone’s throw away from The British Museum.

With these, YTL’s global portfolio has increased to 29 assets across Australia, Japan, Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand, China, France, Spain and the UK.

ACCORHOTELS has brought the co-living concept into the hospitality space with the launch of new brand Jo&Joe.

Accor describes Jo&Joe as “a brand that blends the best of private-rental, hostel and hotel formats” that caters to the needs of millennial travellers seeking community living, such as shared kitchens and sleeping areas.

Plans are for 50 properties to open by 2020 in destinations popular with millennials, such as Bangkok, Warsaw, Budapest, Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo, with openings in the cities of Paris and Bordeaux first in 2018.

All Jo&Joe venues will take root in bustling city-center locations that are close to public transport and in proximity to major points of interest, said Accor.

Giving an idea of how the pioneering concept might work in a hotel setting, Frédéric Fontaine, senior vice president, global marketing innovation lab at AccorHotels, said: “More than just an accommodation solution, Jo&Joe has been conceived as an experience enhancer thanks notably to its offbeat design, innovative digital ecosystem and catering offerings.

“With its ‘open house’ concept, the brand diversifies the customer journey by welcoming guests as well as locals, who treat Jo&Joe venues as an annex of their living room.”

The concept is designed to promote interaction and foster community living thanks to common areas that are open to both guests and public, where activities such as a concert, yoga class or workshop can be held.

Room formats are also unconventional and caters to different needs. The Happy House, for instance, is a private area where travellers can relax, work, cook or wash their clothes, while Together, the brand’s flagship room type, is a modular sleeping area with recreation spaces and bathrooms that guests share without sacrificing privacy.

Jo&Joe’s concept is co-conceived by UK design company Penson, known for creating spaces for brands such as Google, YouTube, Playstation and Lotte World Tower.

Local Cambodian seller at a floating market

CAMBODIAN agents are favourable towards a new ecotourism legislation currently being drafted.

Cambodia’s Ministry of Tourism revealed that the law, now in an early developmental stage, aims to better tap into the global ecotourism trend by keeping tourist offerings competitive while at the same time protect natural resources and boost conservation efforts.

The legislation is being developed with the help of the French University of Toulouse and Acting for Life, an NGO which specialises in sustainable tourism, to identify necessary criteria to govern and support the growth of the sector.

Tourism minister Thong Khon said: “Ecotourism is a new tool to attract foreign tourists and it is a trend that should be focused on to develop our tourism industry. Ecotourism can benefit local people directly and play an efficient role in reducing poverty.”

He added that arrivals for ecotourism and community-based tourism (CBT) are growing by almost 20 per cent year-on-year.

Somborath Dy, operations manager at Cambodian Rural Development Tours, which promotes ecotourism in Northeast Cambodia, said: “Cambodia has the potential to develop ecotourism because it not only has rich cultural resources but also diverse natural resources.”

He adds that It is essential the plan encourages private and public bodies to work together to enhance training, capacity building and financial backing to promote sustainable growth and overcome challenges such as insufficient infrastructure, illegal hunting and excessive logging.

Heng Vuthy, general manager of Mekong Dreams, which focuses on CBT, said: “Cambodia has many sites that are perfect for ecotourism to be developed, helping provide authentic experiences while providing support to many struggling communities.”

For 1H2016, 37,385 international tourists visited Cambodia for ecotourism, an increase of six per cent compared to the same period last year.

PRELIMINARY traffic figures for August released by the Association of Asia Pacific Airlines (AAPA) showed an increase in international air passenger demand, albeit with a decline in load factor and projections for moderation of growth rates in the near future.

Andrew Herdman, AAPA director general, said: “For the first eight months of the year, Asian carriers registered a healthy 6.5 per cent increase in the number of international passengers carried to a cumulative total of 196.3 million, on the back of continued strong demand for both business and leisure travel.”

The region’s airlines carried a total of 25.9 million international passengers in August, 4.1 per cent more than the same month last year. Measured in revenue passenger kilometre terms, international passenger demand grew by 4.2 per cent, supported by traffic growth on both regional and longhaul routes.

However, capacity expansion of 6.2 per cent outpaced the growth in demand, resulting in a 1.5 percentage point decline in the average international passenger load factor to 81.5 per cent for the month.

Looking ahead, Herdman concluded: “Asian economies are still growing, and demand for air travel has been boosted by rising incomes and the widespread availability of affordable airfares, but growth rates may moderate as oil prices have now stabilised, adding to competitive pressures.”