Genting Hong Kong’s new shipyard in Warnemunde

GENTING Hong Kong has acquired Nordic Yards’ three shipyards in Wismar, Warnemunde and Stralsund, Germany for 230.6 million euros (US$260.6 million) and is now better equipped to fulfil ship orders for its growing global cruise fleet.

The newly acquired yards, together with the previously purchased Lloyd Werft shipyard in Bremerhaven, will be managed as part of the Lloyd Werft Group.

“Ownership of the yards provides certainty that we can build a fleet of high quality cruise ships at a pace dictated by our growth rather than constrained by supply,” said Lim Kok Thay, chairman and CEO, Genting Hong Kong.

Explaining the supply-side constraints, he said the “cruise ship order book continues to reach all-time highs with orders placed as far out as 2026, 10 years from now”.

Built originally at over one billion euros, the three shipyards have covered drydocks and building halls, allowing for high labour productivity and completion quality as cruise ships can be constructed regardless of weather conditions.

Wismar and Warnemunde shipyards are capable of building cruise ships of 200,000 gross tons each, the prevailing size of the new generation of cruise ships currently being ordered, while Stralsund facility has a ship lift to launch completed cruise ships and megayachts.

Genting Hong Kong will further invest about 100 million euros in thin steel fabrication facilities, cabin module factory and other improvements.

The upgraded yards will be able to support the building of two mega cruise ships and a mid-sized cruise ship or megayacht a year by the next decade.

Genting Hong Kong will also be signing a significant new multi-ship order with the Lloyd Werft Group on May 10, shared Rüdiger Pallentin, managing director of Lloyd Werft, adding that these orders will help support the German and European shipbuilding industrial sector and employment during the current shipping downturn.

As well, the company will open the new Lloyd Werft Design Center in Bremerhaven on May 9, which will house more than 250 designers.

The Haven restaurant in Cathay Pacific’s The Wing lounge

PLAZA Premium Group has been appointed to operate and manage three additional Cathay Pacific lounges for First and Business Class passengers at Hong Kong International Airport (HKIA) with effect from May 1, 2016.

The group will start providing hospitality, bar, catering, front-of-house and housekeeping services at The Wing, The Pier and The Cabin, in addition to its current operation and management of The Bridge and The Arrival at the same airport.

With this move, Plaza Premium Group will serve all First- and Business-Class lounges at HKIA.

Plaza Premium Group has also been providing airline lounge operation and management service to Cathay Pacific in the airports of Bangkok, Kuala Lumpur, Manila, Penang, and Taipei.

Beach holidays were ranked the most popular holiday type

SINGAPOREANS reported a surge in happiness when they travel, according to Hotels.com’s inaugural Travel Happiness Index survey.

The survey revealed that their happiness level rose from 69 points out of 100 before their trip, to 85 points while they are on holiday, a 23 per cent increase.

However, upon their return home, respondents indicated a drop in happiness to 68 points. While a majority of them felt refreshed after their holiday (48 per cent), one in 10 said they felt exhausted.

While on vacation, one-third of respondents said they were happiest when indulging in delicious food, while 17 per cent prefer a comfortable bed and 13 per cent enjoy alone time most.

The survey, which also looked at the possible situations that could ruin a trip, showed that the loss of a wallet (32 per cent) or being down with food poisoning (30 per cent) ranked higher than bad weather (17 per cent).

The top holiday type for respondents was the beach with 59 per cent indicating their preference, followed closely by family trips coming in at a close 57 per cent.

Almost half of the respondents said they planned one to three months in advance for their holiday (47 per cent), while only 0.6 per cent revealed that they spontaneously went on trips.

CHINA surpassed the US as the world’s highest-spending business travel market, having ended 2015 with US$291.2 billion in business travel spending as compared to the US$290.2 billion recorded for the US in the same year, according to a Visa-sponsored report by the GBTA Foundation.

The GBTA BTI Outlook – China 2016 H1 report projects the trend to persist – with China’s business travel spend forecasted to grow 10.1 per cent to US$320.7 billion, compared to an increase of 1.9 per cent to US$295.7 billion in the US market.

Despite heightened concerns about a potential hard landing for China as a result of the early 2016 volatility in its financial markets, there has been continued investment in travel infrastructure in the country.

A plan to open 82 new airports has been underway since 2011 and hoteliers are also continuing to increase their presence in China. Over 70 per cent of the hotel construction pipeline in Asia-Pacific can be attributed to China.

Economic pressures are however, expected to slow the rate of growth of the Chinese domestic market, which accounted for 95 per cent of total business travel spend in 2015. Nevertheless, domestic business travel spending is expected to grow roughly 10 per cent from 2016 to 2017.

“Despite a relative slowdown, China’s business travel market remains one of the fastest growing in the world,” said Michael McCormick, executive director and COO, GBTA.

“China surpassing the US in business travel spending marks a major inflection point and truly demonstrates the global nature of today’s economy.”

Annie Chng-Luchau, regional director of sales, Asia-Pacific, Design Hotels

ANNIE Chng-Luchau, a veteran with 15 years of sales experience in the hospitality industry, has joined Design Hotels as regional director of sales, Asia-Pacific, based in Singapore.

In her new role, she will be in charge of developing and implementing sales strategies for the hotels under Design Hotels’ portfolio in order to maximise opportunities, drive revenue and boost brand awareness in the region.

Most recently, Chng-Luchau was regional sales director at The Collektion, a sales representation company for independent hotels.

Some of her other prior hotel experiences include serving as assistant director of sales at The Lanesborough in London, global director of group sales at Preferred Hotel Group and regional group sales manager at The Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company in London.

KUALA Lumpur City Hall has unveiled a new destination brand for the city yesterday, as well as committing to between two million ringgit (US$512 thousand) and three million ringgit in funds on advertising to promote the brand in Malaysia first, before going global.

Titled Kuala Lumpur a City of Contracts and Diversity, the branding seeks to represent the diverse populace, architecture, cuisine, accommodation and shopping options that can be found in the capital of Malaysia.

“The branding exercise will help expand our marketing capabilities with promotional campaigns and eye-catching logos to set Kuala Lumpur as the region’s forefront destination for business and leisure,” said Mohd Amin Nordin Abdul Aziz, mayor, Kuala Lumpur City Hall.

He added: “By successfully branding Kuala Lumpur, we will be able to stimulate an increase in tourism, investment, job opportunities, business development and events hosting.”

According to Amin, the campaign hopes to boost three key indicators – visitor arrivals, average spend per night and average length of stay.

In the government’s Kuala Lumpur Tourism Masterplan 2015-2025, targets are for Kuala Lumpur to reach 16 million foreign arrivals and to generate 79 billion ringgit in receipts by 2025. This translates to about five to six per cent annual growth.

Branding of the city is also in line with the masterplan which had prescribed that to position Kuala Lumpur competitively, it needed to have a distinctive brand.

QATAR Airways is celebrating 10 years of Hong Kong operations with a series of events and the launch of new flights.

A sale took place in late March offering promotional fares to 10 destinations worldwide, and Qatar will be holding the sale again in this year-long celebratory affair, according to Chan Cheong Eu, greater south China country manager, Qatar Airways.

Other consumer engagements are also in the works, including street performances throughout the city.

Additional flights from Hong Kong are set to launch as well, with this year’s first, a Doha route, established since February after Cathay Pacific gave up the slot, stated Chan, adding that a Boeing 787 Dreamliner is being used to ply the daily service.

He further said that more route launches can be expected later this year, including to lesser-known European destinations.

Hong Kong was Qatar’s 70th destination when it launched its maiden flight there a decade ago. The Doha-based carrier currently operates the second largest fleet of Boeing 787 aircraft with 27 on hand and 16 more on order.