Bagan, Myanmar

BAGAN’s famed pagodas appear to be the greatest casualty in the tourism sector after a powerful magnitude 6.8 earthquake struck central Myanmar on Wednesday.

The US Geological Survey said the quake hit near Chauk, a town 120km from Bagan. At least three people were killed and some 185 brick pagodas were damaged, the state newspaper reported.

Hotels in the destination are generally unscathed and tours to Bagan are continuing to operate as usual, although the interiors of several temples are off limits for the time being, according to feedback from DMCs and tour operators in Myanmar.

Natalie Scott, sales and marketing manager at Myanmar Polestar, told TTG Asia e-Daily: “We are currently receiving updates on the extent of damage caused to temples in Bagan and to the surrounding area.

“There are over 3,000 temples and pagodas in Bagan and of these 171 have been affected. Most of the damage (was confined to) a small area of the stupas or parts of the buildings, while the main structures remain intact.”

Some temples in Mrauk U, another major tourist destination in Rakhine state, were also destroyed in the quake, said Lynn Zaw Wai Mang, general manager and executive director, Unique Asia Travels & Tours.

“Most of the affected areas are heritage sites, so people are saddened,” he said.

Seeing a “silver lining” amid the unfortunate event is Khiri Travel Myanmar general manager Edwin Briels.

“(The Bagan temples) were built over 800 years ago and there has been little funding since then to maintain the structures,” he said. “Yesterday’s earthquake has shown that all ancient temples are still standing strong even after a big earthquake.

“The majority of the bricks that fell off were the new bricks added during the renovations over the last decades,” Briels added, reflecting trade sentiments that proper repair and restoration of Bagan’s ancient architecture is critical to its sustainable development.

Myanmar is currently seeking UNESCO World Heritage Status for Bagan, after its first bid for recognition in 1996 was rejected due to poor management plans and legal frameworks.

Screenshot of QTA’s new website

THE Qatar Tourism Authority (QTA) has launched a new corporate brand and web portal, unifying its leisure and business branding efforts, initiated in November 2015, under a single online domain, VisitQatar.qa.

QTA hopes to bolster the consistency of image and voice across all platforms with this digital integration, which extends to a similar domain change of all QTA email addresses and websites.

Meanwhile, the first phase of a new corporate website has been unveiled to better grant access to the public and media up-to-date information about QTA’s efforts to plan, regulate, promote and develop a sustainable tourism sector in Qatar.

Work is also underway to make VisitQatar.qa pages available in multiple languages including French, Italian and German.

STAR Cruises will be homeporting the SuperStar Libra in Penang from September 23 through to December 31, 2017.

It will offer three itineraries during this period, a one-night ocean cruise, and two different three-night sailings with calls at Krabi and Phuket for shore excursions.

The ship offers over 718 staterooms and amenities including a karaoke lounge, spa, gym, beauty salon, outdoor pool and an array of F&B offerings and duty-free shops.

Onboard entertainment and leisure programmes such as a magic show and themed parties are also available.

A MAJORITY of hotel general managers in Singapore believe that occupancy and the average daily rate (ADR) will both grow in 2017 compared to end-2016 results.

According to a poll conducted with hotel general managers this month by hospitality investment firm Tourism Solutions International (TSI), 65 per cent of respondents indicated that occupancy in 2017 will increase over 2016.

However, most believe the increase will be tepid with 53 per cent of hoteliers believing that the increase will range between zero and five percentage points. The remaining 12 per cent believe occupancy will grow by more than five per cent next year.

For ADR, 59 per cent of hoteliers indicate that it will increase for 2017 with a 47 per cent majority predicting a minor positive change of up to five per cent.

The upper upscale segment meanwhile accounts for most of the negative outlook, forecasting slight decreases in both occupancy and ADR.

Overall, in terms of gross operating profit (GOP), 59 per cent of hoteliers responded positively with a majority predicting a slight increase of up to five per cent in 2017.

Of the remaining 41 per cent, slightly more than 20 per cent believe profits will take a slight dip of up to five per cent while the others feel that there will be no variance.

A separate TSI forecast resulted in conflicting expectations of flat to minor decreases for all three measures (occupancy, ADR and GOP) in 2017.

TSI explained that despite extremely strong 2016 visitor arrival growth of 12.5 per cent through June, lower growth rates in visitor arrivals, shorter average length of stay and expected supply increases (3,961 rooms) will provide a challenge for hoteliers next year.

Beyond 2017, TSI expects the hotel supply to remain relatively stable for a period due to the lack of available land parcels released by the government in recent years. In addition, Changi Airport’s new Terminal 4 will open next year, facilitating significant growth in future visitor arrivals.

Makan Kitchen at DoubleTree by Hilton Kuala Lumpur

F&B operations are increasingly bolstering the profit margins of hotels with Hilton Worldwide properties in the Asia-Pacific owing over 40 per cent of revenues to its food and beverage businesses.

According to Markus Schueller, vice president of F&B operations, Asia-Pacific, the importance of F&B for hoteliers cannot be understated.

Apart from certain markets such as India, revenue derived from F&B had traditionally been incomparable with revenue derived from rooms. Between 2010 and 2014, the average revenue derived from F&B operations at full-service properties accounted for 25.3 per cent of total hotel revenue, according to research by CBRE.

It seems that for hotel operators such as Hilton, the food and beverage component of the business is increasingly vital.

“Across the Asia-Pacific, over 40 per cent of our total revenue comes from F&B. It is an integral part of our business,” said Schueller, adding that as a company, F&B also helps with aspects such as building rapport with the local community through weddings and banqueting.

“We have some hotels having over 50 per cent of revenue coming from F&B now. It really depends on the scale of the hotel and the F&B operation,” he explained.

When asked if a majority of customers are hotel guests or walk-ins, Schueller said most come from those who live and work in the city. The restaurants and bars have to appeal to them in order to be commercially viable, because while room occupancy is seasonal, those that dwell in the city are always there and a constant source of revenue.

“(However), you can never alienate your hotel guests. It’s a very fine line you have to walk to be different enough in order to attract external customers but cater to in-house guests as well,” he added.

The challenge for Schueller, who manages the entire F&B operation across all 13 Hilton brands in the Asia-Pacific, is to know what to do today what is needed in a few years’ time in order to future proof the concept.

“You need to know what will remain relevant five years, ten years from now,” he said.

He further revealed that while Hilton tends to create and operate their own F&B concepts in the Asia-Pacific, there are instances of commercial success found with third-party operators as well.

Schueller is currently working with a team in Shanghai on a brand new concept that will come out “fairly soon”. While not able to reveal details, he pointed to how Makan Kitchen – a hawker-style dining establishment with live show kitchens – at DoubleTree by Hilton Kuala Lumpur has found favour with locals.

“Last time, hotels built restaurants because there are none nearby. But that has obviously changed. Now, the first reason why people come is because of great concept,” he opined.