Thailand gets first halal hotel

March 10, 2016

Al Meroz Hotel Bangkok

RECOGNISING the immense potential of a market of 1.6 billion Muslims worldwide, the new 242-room Al Meroz Hotel, which soft-opened in Bangkok’s predominantly Muslim enclave of Ramkhamhaeng last November, has initiated efforts to establish its presence at this year’s ITB Berlin to get travel agents in Europe acquainted with Thailand’s first halal property.

“Our target markets are Muslims living in France, Germany and Scandinavia – European countries with significant Muslim communities – as well as Austria and Eastern European countries like Serbia,” said Sanya Saengboon, managing director & general manager of Al Meroz Hotel.

He said that despite the impressive growth figures involved with the lucrative Muslim travel market, European travel agents had yet to show an eagerness for this niche sector. “I expect Europe’s Muslim outbound market to grow, especially to South-east Asia, as the region is still perceived as an exotic destination,” he added.

The attention on Europe’s Islamic population is also part of the four-star property’s strategy to diversify its current Muslim market sources of Indonesia, Malaysia, Brunei and domestic travellers from Southern Thailand, Sanya told TTG Asia. Muslim guests currently make up 50 per cent of the hotel’s clientele.

Apart from ITB Berlin, Al Meroz Hotel will also be attending global travel trade shows such as the Arabian Travel Market and World Travel Market this year. Plans to conduct roadshows to the Central Asian nations of Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan and Azerbaijan are in the pipeline as well.

The hotel is certified as a Muslim-friendly hospitality provider by the UAE’s Gulf Halal Center. It offers halal restaurants, a women-only floor, separate prayer rooms and a rooftop swimming pool open at different timings for male and female guests. A copy of the Quran, qibla (direction to Mecca), prayer times and mat are also available in the rooms and suites.

Owned by the Thai-Muslim TS Family Group, the halal-friendly environment is part of Al Meroz Hotel’s values and not simply a business decision, said Sanya. A dry hotel is as lively as any other, he insisted, when questioned on the hotel’s alcohol-free policy.

And despite its halal-friendly label, Al Meroz Hotel is able to cater to non-Muslims as well. “We have a good mix of corporate and leisure tourists from Thailand and overseas. Our first few guests are from the non-Muslim Western world and we had many non-Muslim groups from China during the (recent) Lunar New Year period (in February),” commented Sanya.

A grand opening for Al Meroz Hotel has been scheduled for July 2016.

Read more stories from our ITB Berlin TTG Asia Show Daily here.

Le Meridien Kota Kinabalu wants larger slice of MICE

By S Puvaneswary

March 10, 2016

AFTER completing the renovation of its level 3 function spaces in September 2015, the 306-key Le Meridien Kota Kinabalu in Sabah is aggressively tapping key MICE markets such as Kuala Lumpur, Singapore and Hong Kong.

New features on the revitalised meeting floor include a permanent coffee and tea break station as well as a multipurpose pre-function area. The spruced-up ballroom now also features state-of-the art audiovisual equipment.

The property’s general manager, Fiona Hagan, said: “We have increased the level of sales calls and activities in our key markets, besides organising fam trips from these markets in partnership with the Starwood Sales Office in Kuala Lumpur.

“We also participate in roadshows organised by Tourism Malaysia and Sabah Tourism Board and organise personalised stay programmes for key MICE agents to introduce them to Sabah and Kota Kinabalu.”

Currently, Le Meridien Kota Kinabalu’s MICE, leisure and corporate business ratio mix stands at about 25: 25: 50, but Hagan is targeting a ratio of 30: 35: 35 by end-2017, when room renovations are completed.

ACTE picks new regional chair for Middle East, Afria

By TTG Asia

March 10, 2016

JULIA Sullivan has been appointed Association of Corporate Travel Executives’ (ACTE) regional chair for the Middle East and Africa, a role she will serve for two years, ending December 2017.

Commenting on the appointment, Greeley Koch, ACTE executive director, said: “Julia Sullivan has extensive experience as a buyer and a supplier, and as a committed ACTE volunteer.

“She understands the objectives of our membership and will energise this knowledge in a series of networking exchanges slated to begin this month. I’m confident her high-level engagement with travel managers and suppliers in the region will keep ACTE in the forefront of defining issues and solutions.”

As the business travel manager for Shell Corporate Travel MENA, Sullivan works closely with internal and external stakeholders across hierarchies to provide secure, safe and cost efficient travel solutions.

Following a dissertation project on demand management in travel management and procurement processes for EADS/Airbus, she joined American Express Business Travel in Europe in account management roles and moved to the Middle East in 2009 to build up and lead the account management function for Alshamel, then Carlson Wagonlit Travel’s partner in the Gulf.

“Serving as ACTE’s regional chair for the Middle East and Africa will not only broaden my own influence as an international travel management executive, it will help me empower those with a similar vision and a commitment to shared professional excellence,” said Sullivan.

Crowne Plaza Manila Galleria throws in value-adds for meeting groups

By Rosa Ocampo

March 10, 2016

A NEW promotion for business events at Crowne Plaza Manila Galleria in Ortigas district will see groups benefitting from a series of service add-ons that grow along with the size of attendance.

Called Meetings +, it offers complimentary upgrades, discount on business center secretarial services, dining vouchers, free hosted board meetings and others for a minimum number of persons guaranteed.

It also ensures power discussion with daily snacks ranging from nuts and chips to healthy alternatives including bottled tea drinks and themed infused water stations.

Meetings director Anmi Luna told TTGmice e-Weekly that “competition has always been there” in Ortigas district where a growing number of hotels were built in recent years. That has spurred Crowne Plaza Manila Galleria into always adding value to its MICE offerings.

The hotel is said to be a top MICE draw, having the biggest pillarless ballroom in Ortigas district for up to 1,500 pax and 11 fully equipped function rooms.

Luna said complementing Meetings + is the IHG Business Rewards, the MICE loyalty programme of Intercontinental Hotel Group. MICE organisers booking an event with Crowne Plaza Manila Galleria can earn points which can be used for air miles, hotel stays at any IHG hotel worldwide and gift items from its global catalogue.

BCD unveils flexible meeting management solutions

By TTG Asia

March 10, 2016

BCD Meetings & Events (BCD M&E) has launched Smart Meeting, a suite of flexible technology solutions with meeting management capabilities such as multi-audience invitation, meeting and spend reporting, and expense management.

“Our newest proprietary technology allows meeting owners to choose between using the full suite to support meetings management or the individual solutions that work best for them now – with the scalability for future needs,” said Ted Stone, BCD M&E’s senior vice president of global technology.

One part of the full suite is Smart Invitation, a multi-user invitation application that replaces the manual process of compiling customer lists and invitee contact information from multiple sources with an automatic invite process.

Another tool is Smart Registration, which simplifies attendee management with features such as attendee registration, opt in/out tracking, contract management, a document library as well as flexible meeting and spend reporting.

In addition, the company said the software provides specific functionality as well as service expertise in niche areas such as life sciences, something current meeting technology offerings lack.

For example, Smart Expense, an automated online attendee expense management tool, can meet the specific needs of meeting planners in the life sciences space by capturing domestic and international expenses as well as meeting spend with the capability to segment data.

“Given the complex compliance requirements in the Life Sciences vertical, Smart Meeting is a true value-add when considering operational efficiencies,” Stone said.

Users can use Smart Meetings as a plug-in and value-add to existing meetings technology.

Noku Kyoto

By Julian Ryall

March 10, 2016

AT the busiest times of the year – cherry blossom season and during the Gion festival – it is virtually impossible to get a hotel room in Japan’s ancient capital of Kyoto. The opening of the Noku Kyoto helps alleviate that shortage, and it does so in style.

Location The old adage ‘location, location, location’ holds true in Kyoto, even though it is a relatively compact and easily navigable city. Noku is located directly opposite the expansive grounds of the Kyoto Imperial Palace – a must-see for any visitor to the city – and a short stroll from Nijo Castle, the Kamo River and the bustling Teramachi shopping arcade.

Other sights – the golden pavilion of Kinkaku-ji, Kiyomizu-dera and countless others – are a little more distant, but a bus stop is close to the front of the hotel while the building sits atop Marutamachi Station, just four subway stops from Kyoto Station and the bullet train links to Tokyo and Osaka.

Rooms The rooms are light and airy, with contemporary pale wood interiors and artistic touches, such as the colourful bed headboards that incorporate traditional motifs that include fans, leaves or the needles of the red pine tree. The sense of space is enhanced in the premium rooms by a day bed alongside the window, many of which look out across the grounds of the palace.

In truth, Kyoto has been crying out for a boutique hotel that combines all the five-star amenities of the big brands with the intimacy and attention to service that marks out a traditional ryokan property. Noku fills this niche and guests are certain to like the combination of sleek, modern lines in the designs of the rooms and public areas with the traditional touches that are dotted throughout the property.

Facilities An important part of what the hotel aims to do, says Teo Hong Yeow, managing director of owner Roxy-Pacific Holdings, is to bring together guests with the people who live in the immediate vicinity of the property. Each room has a map of the surrounding streets, with restaurants, cafes and bars marked, along with traditional workshops making and selling everything from incense to handmade rope, lacquerware, sake and tea. That’s a nice touch.

F&B The basement level restaurant is clearly making the most of its Kyoto heritage, with locally grown vegetables used in the shabu-shabu and tempura dishes. The nine-course dinner menu – served in exquisitely prepared portions in a tatami mat room with sliding paper doors – also includes rice steamed in an earthenware pot, steak from locally-raised cow and beef wrapped in paper and fried.

The hotel also invites the master brewers from the Kizakura sake house to lead regular sake appreciation sessions. If you get the chance, sample the Junmai Daiginjo. Noku also has a close partnership with Maeda’s Coffee, a Kyoto institution that operates the ground floor cafe.

Service All too often, particularly in Japan, staff are too distant, too proper and too subservient. That’s apparently how Japanese hotel guests like their staff, but I do prefer a relaxed and genuine smile from the front desk, which I get here at the Noku.

Verdict Noku Roxy manages to successfully bring together the key elements of location, striking design and fine cuisine, adding to that the desire to gel well with the local community. It will be very hard to surpass this combination of features in this city.

Name Noku Kyoto
Rates House category rooms start at 28,384 yen (US$252) and rise to 33,264 yen in high season. Premium luxury rooms start at 33,264 yen in low season, rising up to 47,520 yen
Contact details 205-1 Okura-cho, Karasuma-dori, Nakagyo-ku, Kyoto 604-0861. Tel. +81 75 211 0222
Website https://www.nokuroxy.com

ITB China to debut in Shanghai next year

By Raini Hamdi

March 9, 2016

The city of Shanghai will host ITB China from May 2017

AGREEMENTS are being signed today for the birth of another ITB offshoot, an annual ITB China to be held in Shanghai in May from next year onwards.

At press time full details are not yet available but the China show is expected to be under the charge of Messe Berlin Singapore, which has been organising ITB Asia in Singapore since 2008.

An official press release dated yesterday only had the following details buried in the ninth paragraph: “Starting in May 2017, ITB China will take place annually in the pulsating mega city of Shanghai. The world’s leading travel trade show will provide China’s fast-growing travel market with its own platform, which is the combined product of strong partners. Corresponding agreements will be signed on March 9, day one of ITB Berlin.”

TTG Asia also understands that PATA is in discussion with Messe Berlin Singapore for a possible co-operation on the show, given the association’s strong ties and involvement in China’s tourism industry.

At press time, Singapore Tourism Board’s CEO Lionel Yeo did not respond to an email query on any likely impact ITB China might have on ITB Asia in Singapore.

Meanwhile, Messe Berlin said travel technology companies from China were well represented at this year’s show. A number of Chinese online services providers, including Baidu, newcomer Tuniu, Marco Polo Travel and hotel consolidator Shenzen Dida Travel are at the show.

As well, more and more Chinese companies are having independent stands in Hall 26, where China is, including for the first time China Southern Airlines and several Asian tour operators. ITB Berlin is organising an ITB Chinese Night, a networking event.

See the latest update on this story here.

Starwood expands, debuts St Regis in Malaysia

By S Puvaneswary

March 9, 2016

Artist rendering of St Regis Langkawi

STARWOOD Hotels & Resorts will add nine new hotels to its portfolio in Malaysia over the next four years, translating to an additional 2,406 keys in the country.

The St Regis brand will make its debut in Malaysia this year with the opening of two luxury properties, The St Regis Langkawi, opening in April, followed by The St Regis Kuala Lumpur in June.

Arokia Das, senior manager at Luxury Tours Malaysia, thinks this will attract high-end travellers. “Nothing states luxury as St Regis does and it is well known for its service and hardware. The brand will make it easier to attract luxury travellers to Malaysia.”

The 208-room St Regis Kuala Lumpur is looking at a 60:40 ratio of FITs and groups/corporates to fills its rooms, said Christopher Chung, regional director sales & marketing, South-east Asia.

Meanwhile, Starwood’s Le Meridien Putrajaya is scheduled to open in June, featuring 350 guestrooms and a combined function space of 3,800m² made up of 16 flexible meeting rooms.

Hotels scheduled to open next year include W Kuala Lumpur in March; Sheraton Petaling Jaya Hotel in July; and The Westin Desaru Resort in December.

Japan’s Niseko Village to get slew of upgrades

By TTG Asia

March 9, 2016

NISEKO Village, YTL Hotels’ integrated all-season ski resort located in Hokkaido, is undergoing major upgrading works to include two new modern ski lifts, a 1.2km ski run and improved connectivity within the premises by December.

The Village Express will be an 830m long high-speed detachable lift. This will be the first gondola and chair mixed lift in Japan, comprising six-seater chairs and eight-seater gondolas on the same line.

The other new lift at the resort is the Upper Village Gondola, a pulsed gondola that stretches 300m. It will allow guests from Kasara Niseko Village Townhouse and The Green Leaf Niseko Village properties to access a beginner ski area on the mountainside that will also undergo enhancements in time for the 2016/17 winter season.

Guests also get greater access to shopping, entertainment and dining outlets via Village Express’ new mid-point station, which the Upper Village Gondola will also connect to through the top station of the Village Express route.

From the top station down to the base, a completely new 1.2km ski run will be created. The course will start midway down the existing Shaky Knees course with a turn to the skiers’ right, running from The Green Leaf Niseko Village and Kasara Niseko Village Townhouse down the fall line of the mountain.

It continues alongside the central village retail and dining area, traversing a ski-over bridge across the road that accesses Hilton Niseko Village with no impact to the current road system.

As well, two magic carpet surface lifts will be constructed between the Village Express lift base and the Niseko Kids beginners area to create a learning area for new skiers.

The new lift infrastructure will run throughout the year. From 2017 onwards, Pure, a nature and adventure park, will be open to guests during the summer period.

Asia keeps faith in German market despite booking shortfalls

By Raini Hamdi

March 9, 2016

Bailey: Shift to online?

ASIAN players are hopeful of a strong German market this year despite summer bookings at travel agencies in Germany in January – traditionally the strongest month for summer bookings – showing a sea of red.

GfK, which analyses some 340,000 bookings made at 1,200 travel agencies, shows a 12 per cent YOY fall in sales in January, wiping out 260 million euros of revenue for tour operators and travel agents. The drop followed an eight per cent fall in December. Summer 2016 sales are around 8.6 per cent behind last year’s cumulative total.

Asian sellers interviewed however suggest that the region is holding up as a destination. For some, GfK’s data also points to a shift – or the start of one – by German travellers to book online than using the traditional tour operating booking system.

Centara Hotels & Resorts’ COO, Chris Bailey, said: “Germany is a mature market to a destination like Thailand, so it is quite feasible that with the right communications and inducements, customers are booking online, thus the decline.

“As I view various data, all suggest that German outbound is actually set to grow, although small, from 1.5 to four per cent. The point here is it’s growing, so the question is: does the traditional travel sector in Germany still deliver what the customer wants to buy, in terms of product, flexibility, price and speed to market?

“Many European markets have changed, just look at Scandinavia, where the majority of customers are now booking online through one channel or another.”

Centara is seeing a five per cent rise in German bookings YTD. Tourism Authority of Thailand also shows a 7.14 per cent rise in German arrivals in January, over January 2015, to 86,428.

“That communicates that business is still out there but certainly the market has become much more late-booking as customers are prepared to wait for the best deal. The introduction of low-cost longhaul Eurowings and aggressive online air deals, also fuel a different booking mechanism,” added Bailey.

AccorHotels Asia-Pacific’s chief marketing & distribution officer Graham Wilson said terror attacks in Bangkok and Paris last year might have dampened bookings during December and January.

“Our key German market hotels in Thailand, Australia and Bali actually saw some increase in December and January,” said Wilson. “This is backed by figures from the Indonesian Ministry of Tourism showing German arrivals into Bali were up 14.11 per cent last year, including a stronger December, and Tourism Australia figures showing German arrivals into Australia were up 1.7 per cent in 2015.

Wilson: Confidence will return

“Last year was an extraordinary year for travel to Thailand because most of the main operators had hedged a good rate on the baht to the euro, which gave them a competitive edge when the baht dropped. While the slump in the euro has dampened market sentiment, Asia still represents great value for German and European travellers.”

“There is a lot of change in Germany at the moment which may be impacting travel sentiment but we believe confidence will return through the year.”

Judy Lum, senior vice president sales & marketing of Tour East Group, did see a slowdown in Germany/Swiss markets by 3Q and 4Q2015 after a slight improvement at the start of last year, which for Tour East was offsetted by a spike in UK arrivals.

“While Germans are known to value their holidays, issues of an unstable euro, several unstable European economies still, the threat of terror attacks and then the Zika pandemic are just too much to ignore. Nevertheless, we are optimistic of the European market overall and are confident of a slight improvement at the close of the 2015/16 season.”