Students from Xiamen University welcome officiating guests to the ceremony

A NEW hotel dedicated to training hospitality students at a tertiary level has been unveiled yesterday at Xiamen University in China.

The property, established with a donation made by Genting Hong Kong, is named Lim Goh Tong Building, in honour of Tan Sri Lim Goh Tong, the late founder of Genting Group.

The three-storey building, located at the south entrance of the university, is now also the academic and research centre of Xiamen University’s School of Management’s Tourism and Hotel Management Department.

It houses approximately 82 demonstration hotel rooms offering students hands-on experience and training in a real-world setting.

“Through the establishment of China’s first teaching hotel in a top level tertiary educational institution, we hope to support Xiamen University in cultivating the next generation of tourism professionals and talent to further contribute to the development of this industry sector in China and in the region,” said Tan Sri Lim Kok Thay, chairman of Genting Hong Kong, who attended the opening ceremony of the building.

Also commenting at the ceremony, Zhang Yan, secretary of party committee, Xiamen University, said: “The Lim Goh Tong Building is of great significance to Xiamen University because this marks the establishment of our very own academic and research centre for the Tourism and Hotel Management Department.

“It is our vision for Xiamen University’s School of Management to learn from Genting’s great experience and long history in hotel management and turn this facility into a platform to nurture a new wave of tourism students to better serve the community and to contribute to China’s economy.”

NOK Air is in desperate need of an internal shake-up if it is to keep its remaining credibility with passengers and travel agents, a leading analyst has warned.

Endau Analytics aviation analyst Shukor Yusof said while the airline had attempted damage control and rebranding after the pilot strike and mass cancellations earlier this year, “the damage has been done”.

“In my view they took a while to realise the gravity of the situation and the problems,” Yusof said.

“It’s an airline under the aegis of Thai Airways – the flag carrier – so it retains some form of credibility. But only just.

“Nok needs a real shake-up internally. Unless that happens it will continue to struggle to face the competition judging from its recent US$10 million losses.”

The airline was hit with another public relations headache this week as a co-pilot joked on social media about crashing a plane carrying former prime minister Yingluck Shinawatra.

The Civil Aviation Authority of Thailand is seeking clarification after the Nok Air co-pilot described passengers as “victims” and wrote “do a CFIT”, or controlled flight into terrain, in a Line group chat.

Nok Air also last week changed its slogan from “We Fly Smiles” to “Smiling Across Asia” as it moved to capitalise on joining the Value Alliance.

CEO Patee Sarasin said the slogan reflected the airline’s efforts to raise its profile from a national to a regional level. However, Nok Air did not respond to questions about steps it had taken to avoid a repeat of the mass cancellations seen in February and March.

Yusof said Nok Air was hoping to piggyback on stronger partners through the Value Alliance, but it had always played second fiddle to Thai AirAsia.

Asked if the new slogan would help, Yusof said: “No, but a new CEO might.”

Daly: Yotel Singapore will showcase to Asia the Yotel concept

YOTEL, pioneer of sleek, digital-driven ‘cabin’ accommodation, is confident of expanding rapidly in Asia following the opening of the first Yotel in the region in Singapore early next year.

The 610-cabin Yotel Singapore, located on Orchard Road next to the Thai Embassy, is looking to charge a rate of S$200 (US$148) to S$240, according to its newly-appointed general manager, Brendan Daly.

The Yotel concept is new to most Asian customers. Currently, there are only four properties in operation, the flagship Yotel New York and three Yotel Air at London Heathrow and Gatwick and Amsterdam Schipol. The company’s CEO, Hubert Viriot, unveiled this new brand architecture to TTG Asia e-Daily, saying going forward, the brand Yotel will comprise city hotels while Yotel Air will be airport hotels. A third brand, to be announced, will cover serviced apartments.

Viriot and Daly are going all out to ensure Yotel Singapore will showcase Yotel as the best-in-class provider of affordable luxury accommodation. Said Daly: “As it is the first Asian property, it has to showcase the Yotel concept, which is about giving people the experience they want.

Affordable hotels have been around but other brands tend to dumb down. Our room may be 14m2, but we make it count and our R&D is on guest comfort for the 21st century traveller – mattress, monsoon rain shower, no long queues, high technology, etc. It appeals to the digital-driven, smart traveller of any age, both leisure and corporate clients.”

The first hotel will set the tone for the brand in Asia and open the eyes of Asian consumers to the brand, added Viriot, who is confident it will be the catalyst for more Yotels in the region once consumers and the investment community see and experience it.

Viriot said the company was eyeing 50 hotels by 2020 and “not less than a quarter of this will be in Asia”.

Currently, Yotel has a pipeline of 12 hotels, two of which are Yotel Air (one at Paris Charles de Gaulle opening next month and the other at Changi Airport to open in 2018). Of the 10 Yotels, four have just been signed – in Dubai, Riyadh, Geneva and London – and the other six are being developed in Boston, San Francisco, Williamsburg Brooklyn, all opening in 2017; Miami (2018), Yotel Singapore and Yotel Dubai opening in 2018, which will also be its first serviced apartment product.

Wanda Tulfo Teo

A TRAVEL agent will helm Philippine tourism beginning next month, a move enthusiastically welcomed by those in the trade.

Replacing tourism secretary Ramon Jimenez Jr., whose five-year tenure is hallmarked by the successful It’s More Fun in the Philippines slogan, is Wanda Tulfo Teo.

She has 22 years of experience as owner and president of Mt Apo Travel and Tours as well as being the president of the National Association of Independent Travel Agencies (NAITAS) Philippines since 2015.

Teo is currently based in Davao City, alongside Philippine president-elect Rodrigo Duterte, who personally appointed her.

The trade is positive that someone recruited from the agency ranks will bode well for tourism instead of having an outsider, such as a politician, to be appointed to the plum post.

“She’s not a politician. My main worry was that the president might appoint a politician,” said Arnie Bayag, consultant at Travelexperts.

Bayag said Teo’s edge is that she knows the industry and what it needs and having come from Davao, she is expected to tackle order and infrastructure issues that are crucial to tourism.

“Secretary Jimenez sells the Philippines very successfully. Teo should maintain the marketing initiatives that Jimenez had and build on it, though not necessarily the same marketing slogan” added Bayag.

The Discovery Leisure Company’s corporate director of sales and marketing Odette Huang is hopeful that Teo, “as an experienced member of the travel industry”, “will provide continuity in enlivening the image of the Philippines”.

“The resonance of the It’s More Fun in the Philippines campaign is one of the hallmarks of secretary Jimenez. It created a positive buzz associated with the promise that Filipinos can deliver from the heart,” said Huang.

Eugene Tamesis, director of sales and marketing, Raffles and Fairmont Makati, while concurring that Jimenez did wonders for tourism, is hopeful that Teo’s appointment will be a “change for the better.”

Another travel agent, who requested anonymity, said Teo seems capable and her appointment should be fine so long as she gives up her interests in Mt Apo Travel and Tours to avoid a “conflict of interest”.

Sources indicate that Teo is planning just that and NAITAS will be meeting this month to discuss her replacement.