ALILA Hotels and Resorts is set to open its first property in China on June 1, located in Anji, Zhejiang Province, the country’s first national ecological county.

Alila Anji will overlook a lake and features 74 villas and rooms decked out with bamboo and native wood. Facilities include a conference centre comprising meeting rooms, a ballroom and a VIP lounge, one restaurant and its signature Spa Alila.

To celebrate its opening, Alila Anji is offering a WKND Experience Package which includes a destination experience with one lunch and dinner as well as daily breakfast. The package is based on twin share for a minimum of two nights and is available for booking from now until August 31 for stays from June 1 to December 31.

Prices start from 2088 yuan (US$322) per night for a Lakeview Room or 2888 yuan for a villa.

(From left) Osamu Sakuta, general manager, JTB Singapore; Shinya Kurosawa, president and CEO, JTB Asia-Pacific; and Gino Tan, general manager, Pan Pacific Singapore

JTB has opened a lounge in Pan Pacific Singapore, its second in the Lion City, to assist tourists with enquiries and provide other hospitality services.

The result of a collaboration between JTB Singapore and Pan Pacific Singapore, the lounge was launched along with an adjacent JTB gift shop on the second level of the hotel.

The lounge will be an addition to JTB’s existing JTB Orchard lounge and bring an enhanced focus on hospitality. For example, coffee and tea will be served and complimentary Wi-Fi will be made available in the new lounge.

“The lounge is for all JTB customers and in-house (hotel) guests to relax and enjoy their private time. We want to make them feel important and satisfied with their stay in Singapore,” said Osamu Sakuta, general manager of JTB Singapore.

Gino Tan, general manager of Pan Pacific Singapore, said: “The gift shop also complements what the hotel does not have,” adding that Japan is “a very keen market” for the hotel.

The launch is taking place in the midst of SJ50 celebrations to commemorate 50 years since Japan and Singapore signed a memorandum of cooperation.

“2016 is the 50th anniversary of Singapore and Japan’s friendship treaty. There will be lots of events and projects held in Singapore,” Sakuta said.

“And for JTB, we will be offering (products such as) student tours, group FIT tours and group MICE incentive tours.”

Genting Highlands

THE state government of Pahang has launched its Visit Pahang 2017 campaign in the state capital yesterday, aiming to break past arrival records with 15 million visitors and 14 billion ringgit (US$3.5 billion) in receipts targeted by next year end.

Sharkar Shamsudin, chairman of the state tourism and culture committee, said the main target markets for this campaign are domestic, ASEAN, China, India, Japan and South Korea.

The state is also looking at attracting travellers from Europe and the Middle East for long-stay, high-income arrivals and will be joining Tourism Malaysia to promote at Arabian Travel Mart taking place next week.

The last time Pahang held a tourism campaign was in 1994, according to Sharkar, who said: “Considering it has been 22 years, we believe it is time we are more aggressive in our efforts to promote Pahang.”

Key attractions in Pahang include Genting Highlands, Cameron Highlands, Fraser’s Hill, Taman Negara National Park, Tioman Island and Cherating Beach.

The campaign will promote all of Pahang’s 11 districts through events and a newwebsite which includes videos and travelogues as well as social media activities via Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. The state government will also participate in international trade shows and media outreaches.

Mario Hardy, CEO, PATA

FOREIGN arrivals into the Asia-Pacific is forecasted to grow at an average rate of 4.6 per cent annually from now till 2020 to reach more than 657 million visitors yearly, according to PATA’s Asia Pacific Visitor Forecasts 2016-2020 report released yesterday.

“Actual foreign arrival numbers into Asia-Pacific at the aggregate level have been within two per cent of predictions made in the last few PATA forecasts, so we know that the numbers are realistic, reliable and valid,” assured Mario Hardy, CEO, PATA.

Asia is expected to maintain its dominance as a destination, and will likely increase its relative share of Asia-Pacific arrivals from 72 per cent last year to more than 73 per cent by 2020.

South-east Asia too, will continue to welcome more visitors, improving its relative share from just under 20 per cent in 2015 to around 22.5 per cent by the end of the decade.

As a source market, PATA expects Asia to also generate increasing international arrivals into the Asia-Pacific, upping its count from 355 million visitors in 2015 to around 448 million by 2020, an increase from 66 per cent to 68 per cent of total arrivals.

Meanwhile, northeast Asia is expected to generate 333 million in international arrivals into Asia-Pacific by 2020, adding to the zeitgeist that intra-regional tourism is set to remain strong going forward.

Further afield, the Americas is expected to generate around 113 million arrivals into Asia-Pacific by 2020, driven largely by north America which will contribute close to two-thirds of that volume.

Lastly, the 47 million arrivals from Europe expected in 2020 will come foremost from west Europe (19.5 million) and north Europe (14.7 million). Combined, these two sub-regions will account for close to two-thirds of the total arrivals from Europe by the end of the forecast period.

“This last series of predictions again highlights the rapidly approaching need for aggressive and appropriate visitor management processes to be installed and operational before we literally destroy our destinations with our love and desire to interact with them,” cautioned Hardy.

Kurt Ekert, CEO, CWT

KURT Ekert is replacing Douglas Anderson as president and CEO at Carlson Wagonlit Travel (CWT), effective immediately.

Ekert most recently spent more than five years at Travelport as executive vice president and chief commercial officer, with another nine years in other roles at the company including being COO at GTA, a subsidiary which Travelport had since sold to Kuoni Travel.

According to a statement from CWT, Anderson has left the company to “pursue other opportunities” without elaborating further.

Under Anderson’s leadership, CWT has grown as a business travel agency and made significant strides in technology, including the acquisition of WorldMate.

STAR Cruises’ SuperStar Virgo will commence a new three-month Vietnam and Sanya itinerary with Shenzhen Tai Zi Bay as the homeport from November 12.

The ship will depart every Saturday for a 8D7N voyage to Halong Bay, Danang, Nha Trang and Ho Chi Minh City. There will also be departures every Thursday and Saturday for the 6D5N itinerary calling at Nha Trang, Danang and Sanya, Hainan.

In addition, the 5D4N Halong Bay itinerary will depart every Tuesday with ports of call in Halong Bay and Sanya.

Ang Moo Lim, president of Star Cruises, said: “Tai Zi Bay is located in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macau Big Bay, which enjoys excellent geographical advantages and allows travellers from the Pearl River Delta and the southwest area to cruise from a convenient location.”

SAFETY concerns during business travel are not being adequately addressed by corporate travel policies, according to a recent study by ACTE and Business Traveller Magazine in association with American Express Global Business Travel.

The research finds that only 25 per cent of companies have changed destination policy as a result of a terrorist act or threat, even though 56 per cent of travellers have changed their attitude about visiting the destinations.

It is also apparent concerns are not being addressed with 67 per cent of respondents stating that there is a psychological effect on them or their families when travelling to a region where they may not feel safe.

Only 10 per cent of business travellers say they are “utterly fearless” regarding terrorism while 25 per cent say they have “very little fear”.

Meanwhile, 65 per cent of business travellers indicate that they have varied fears, including being stranded in a security lockdown, in-flight terror incidents, and the threat of medical health risks.

However, a majority of business travellers fear mugging and traffic accidents while on the road more than the possibility of a terrorist attack.

Also significant is the finding that travel managers have a higher estimation of their policy’s effectiveness in addressing risk as compared to more skeptical business travellers.

Specifically, travellers wanted more access to up-to-date risk management tools and specific safety briefings for various destinations.

Compounding on the issue is the response of 31 per cent of travellers in the sample saying they worry that a reluctance to travel could hurt their careers.

The study, whose results were revealed during ACTE’s global conference held in Dallas earlier this week, is gathered from a poll of 605 business travellers and 270 corporate travel executives over a two-month period, prior to the attacks in Belgium.