THE 50-villa Sudamala Komodo Villas & Dive Resort will be the first locally owned and operated luxury resort on Indonesia’s Sebayur Island when it opens in 2017.

Located on the edge of the Komodo National Park in East Nusa Tenggara, Sebayur Island is a prime jumping off point to diving sites in and around the UNESCO Heritage Site.

“We expect around 80 per cent of our guests will be divers,” said Sudamala’s resorts director, Emily Subrata.

“We are talking about very pristine and protected dive sites that offer sightings of marine life such as sea turtles, manta rays and sharks. We have established our dive centres at Sanur and Lombok and this will be the extension of that as well as the jewel in our crown,” added Subrata.

Sebayur Island, which is about 30 minutes by boat from the nearest domestic airport of Labuan Bajo, is still remote, with the biggest resort on the same island having only about 25 rooms.

The new property will feature owner Sudamala group’s signature touches of art and craftsmanship highlighted in its other two properties, the Sudamala Suites & Villas, Sanur, Bali as well as the Sudamala Suites & Villas, Senggigi, Lombok.

MEMBERS of travel loyalty programmes will have an improved redemption experience, increased loyalty and will spend more if presented with a greater variety of reward options, according to research by loyalty solutions provider Collinson Latitude.

The survey of 2,250 airline and hotel loyalty programme members across the US, UK, Middle East and Asia showed that 77 per cent of members who redeemed on non-core rewards inventory continued spending with the brand, while a smaller 71 per cent of members who redeemed on core inventory (flights, rooms etc.) carried on doing so.

“When the breadth of rewards is expanded beyond the core product offerings of flights and hotel stays, we see that member loyalty and spending increases,” said Guy Deslandes, e-commerce sales director, Collinson Latitude.

The availability of a broader choice of rewards is also a key factor when choosing which programme to join.

For 61 per cent of survey respondents, more choice of rewards is specifically sought after, while 71 per cent of respondents indicated that the value of loyalty programmes are diminished if offered a limited range of rewards.

Additionally, almost half (42 per cent) believe that programmes offering only core inventory rewards are dated and old-fashioned.

The study further showed that if members enjoyed their redemption experience, it could turn them into brand advocates with 40 per cent of respondents indicating they would tell friends and family about a programme following a positive redemption experience, while 33 per cent would actively encourage them to join up.

The W Hong Kong, part of Starwood’s portfolio

CALLING the Anbang consortium’s bid for it a “superior proposal”, Starwood Hotels and Resorts’ board of directors has informed Marriott International that it intends to terminate their merger agreement, giving Marriott until 23.59 ET on March 28 to review Anbang’s proposal and negotiate revisions to the existing agreement.

Marriott is under a lot of pressure, with the Anbang group increasing its bid from US$76 to US$78 per share, even prior to Starwood’s decision to choose Anbang’s offer over Marriott’s. Anbang’s initial bid of US$76 per share had already carried a premium over Marriott’s offer.

In a statement last Friday, Marriott said they were “in the process of reviewing the Anbang consortium’s proposal and is carefully considering its alternatives”, adding that they still believed the merger is the best course of action for both itself and Starwood.

Experts keeping a close watch on the developments said however, that an Anbang-Starwood deal might actually be preferable.

Starwood will owe Marriott US$400 million in termination fees if the deal indeed falls apart.

SINO Hotels, the hospitality management arm of Sino Group, has launched The Olympian Hong Kong, a 32-room contemporary boutique hotel in the heart of West Kowloon.

The property is located in Kowloon’s ‘Golden Circle’ and close to Olympic Station and the shopping and residential complex of Olympian City. It is also minutes away from the business hub of Tsim Sha Tsui.

Rooms and suites range from the 43m² Deluxe Olympian Room to the 75m² Olympian Suite. All guestrooms feature a 3.3m ceiling height and full-length windows, maximising the view over Victoria Harbour and the city skyline.

Amenities include a fitness centre and a private lounge where guests can have cooked-to-order local and international meals round the clock.

The hotel is currently offering a special introductory room rate from HKD1,600 (US$206) per night excluding service charge, available until June 30.

ROYAL Caribbean International has introduced customisable shore excursion itineraries for guests across the cruise liner’s 288 ports of call in 77 countries.

Named Private Journeys, the concierge-style planning service, offered on top of Royal Caribbean’s existing 3,000 excursions worldwide, connects guests with an expert who will help design journeys tailored to the guests’ budget, interests, experience and travel style.

“Private Journeys is a natural evolution of Royal Caribbean’s renowned shore excursions programme that allows us to offer guests the bespoke travel destination experience of their dreams, even if they don’t know exactly what that is yet,” said Roberta Jacoby, managing director, global tour operations, Royal Caribbean International.

To make a custom booking, guests must complete and submit a request form online at least 30 days before their sailing date.

In celebration of the new programme, Royal Caribbean is waiving the mandatory US$100 deposit for bookings finalised before March 31, 2016.

Cape Town, South Africa

WITH the dust settled following the World Health Organization’s declaration of Liberia to be Ebola-free in January this year, African specialists are eagerly targeting Asia’s travellers again.

Asia arrivals in Africa had taken a big hit since the 2014 Ebola outbreak in West Africa caused widespread death in the region, which led to the abstinence of travel to the entire African continent.

The avoidance of the whole of Africa, even though the virus only spread in the western regions, was ostensibly understandable given this was the deadliest occurrence of the disease in history with over 11,300 confirmed dead.

Now with Ebola out of the picture, Johan Groenewald, managing director of Royal African Discoveries, a DMC, has led a contingent of eight suppliers to South-east Asia for the first time to update travel agents on new product offerings, but more importantly to educate and to let everyone know that Africa is now, and had always been, a safe destination.

The roadshow, which first stopped in Singapore yesterday, will also make its way to Indonesia, Malaysia and Vietnam – the three fastest growing source markets for them in the region.

“Asia is key for our business and we will keep investing in the region,” said Groenewald, adding that working with trade partners has always been the preferred option rather than approaching consumers directly.

He is also hoping to ride on the momentum of 4Q2015, which saw Asia arrivals make its first positive turnaround since numbers plunged on Ebola fears.

Business for Asia-based outbound operator A2A Safaris is also making good progress. It’s managing director, Kim Nixon, said: “If you look at the first two and a half months of this year, we are 35 per cent of the distance to our entire 2015 performance. This is a very clear indicator of where this market is going.”

He attributed the promising numbers so far to pent up demand for Africa now that the “hangover of Ebola is gone”.