Credit: Artyzen Hospitality Group

ARTYZEN Hospitality Group is set to bring its citizenM and Artyzen Habitat hotel brands into Shanghai come early 2017, marking the foray of citizenM in Asia and the global debut of Artyzen Habitat.

The two new properties – citizenM Shanghai Hongqiao and Artyzen Habitat Hongqiao Shanghai – are owned by Artyzen Hospitality Group’s parent company, Shun Tak Holdings, and will be co-located in the upcoming Shanghai MixC integrated project.

Robbert van der Maas, president of Artyzen Hospitality Group, said: “Shanghai is one of the most important cities in Asia and establishing our brand presence here first is key to our Asian regional growth plans.”

He added that the group is looking to expand into other Asian cities including Singapore, Beijing, Hong Kong and Jakarta.

Speaking with TTG Asia e-Daily, Allan Yip, vice president, marketing, distribution and brands, Artyzen Hospitality Group, highlighted the group’s strategy to stay on top of competition with the proliferation of lifestyle hospitality brands such as Hotel Jen and W hotels.

“What’s important is to constantly evolve with your target and consistently deliver on the ‘lifestyle promise’ or brand DNA that is relevant to your target customers at whichever point in time,” he said.

In addition to Shanghai, citizenM Taipei is currently under development and scheduled to open in early 2017.

Reporting by Samuel Ng

Yangon, Myanmar. Credit: 123rf

WHILE Myanmar has already attracted notable tourist traffic, official figures now show that the country is experiencing a sustained and exponential surge in footfall.

Compared to 2012, arrival numbers have tripled to three million in 2014, and is expected to soar further to at least four and a half million tourists this year, according to official statistics.

“I would say it has long taken off,” said Thomas Carnevale, managing director of Asian Trails Myanmar.

But the biggest benefit for hoteliers there is not the greater volume, but the diversification in tourist segments, thus lessening risks.

Scheduled to open in 2017, Sheraton Yangon Hotel will mark Starwood Hotels and Resorts Worldwide’s entry into Myanmar and is already raking up interest among the business travel segment.

“Although we are still in the pre-opening phase, we have already received enquiries on the hotel from our MICE as well as corporate clients,” said Lothar Pehl, senior vice president, operations and global initiatives at Starwood.

Meanwhile, Trafalgar Travel is expecting more well-heeled and seasoned travellers seeking localised experiences in Myanmar.

“They will be discerning, PMEBs, 35 to 50 year-olds who are looking for not just discovery, but to enjoy the best of the destination with enriched local experiences at the hands of an expert,” said Nick Lim, president of Trafalgar.

Credit: TTGAsia

IT&CMA and CTW Asia-Pacific 2015 came to a close today with over 100 business, education and networking sessions successfully concluded. Delegates gave their thumbs up to highly satisfactory outcomes across board, from business appointments, to knowledge fulfilment, and networking engagement.

Returning exhibitor Tourism New Zealand’s Business Events Manager South & South East Asia, Edward Kwek shared his positive experience about the high quality of buyers the team had met at the show. “We obtained fantastic leads with these buyers. The ability of IT&CMA and CTW Asia-Pacific to connect us with such buying potential is the reason why we chose to return to the event because this is the platform that enabled us to achieve our business targets.”

Paul Counihan, Cluster Director of Sales & Marketing of Anantara Riverside Bangkok Resort and AVANI Bangkok Riverside Hotel was elated with the impressive business leads he had garnered through this year’s exhibition. “We met with some interesting leads over the last two days; in total we had 37 business appointments. Hopefully we will be able to convert these leads into concrete businesses.”

On the education front, delegates expressed their satisfaction with this year’s stellar line-up of topics and speakers. First-time Association Buyer Dr. Edathil Vijayan, President and Emeritus Professor of Society for Biotechnologists India (SBTI) who attended both Association Day Forums and Campfire Knowledge Sessions, believed that the expertise and relevance of the speakers were very important. “The speakers were very articulate, and I gained new knowledge from each session I attended, which I can apply to my association.”

Corporate travel manager Maria Theresa Toralba, Travel Analyst of Convergys Philippines Services Corp shared the same sentiments, “This is my first visit to CTW Asia-Pacific, and I am hugely impressed with the quality of speakers and the topics they presented. I will be able to implement what I’ve learnt on this trip, and share it with my colleagues.”

The highlight of the last event day was the announcement of the 2015 IT&CMA and CTW Asia-Pacific Sticky Award winners, who were selected by their delegate peers for making an unforgettable impression with exciting exhibits, booths, functions, promotions, individual personalities and social media sharing.

This year saw a total of 12 winners, with Korea Tourism Organization and Thai Airways taking the gold title of Stickiest National Pavilion and Stickiest Corporate Booth. Other booth winners include Resort World Sentosa (Corporate Booth, Silver), Centara Hotels & Resorts (Corporate Booth, Bronze), Thailand Convention & Exhibition Bureau (National Pavilion, Silver) and Tourism Promotions Board (TPB) Philippines (National Pavilion, Bronze). TPB Philippines took home double honours for also winning “Stickiest Function”, while Taiwan Convention & Exhibition Association walked away all smiles with the Stickiest Marketing & Promotion honour.

Henry Waltz, CEO/ Owner, Gecko Incentives & Events, Germany; Abhimanyu, Global Head, MICE & Travel Procurement HCL Technologies, India; and Hugo Slimbrouck, Director of Strategic Partnerships, Ovation Global DMC, Belgium were named Stickiest Buyer, Corporate Travel Manager and Guru respectively.

Hospitality News Philippines was named IT&CMA and CTW Asia-Pacific’s first-ever Stickiest Social Sharing winner. Louies Paolo Abellanosa, Associate Editor shared his joy, “The social media landscape is so dynamic. We are able to update our readers with the constant happenings at trade shows on-the-go. Being the first Stickiest Social Sharing winner at IT&CMA and CTW Asia-Pacific 2015 is an honour. We are proud to be the pioneer.”

For more information, log on to www.itcma.com | www.corporatetravelworld.com/apac

Credit: Sedona Hotel Yangon

SEDONA Hotel Yangon has today soft-launched its new 29-storey Inya Wing during an event which was attended by U Htay Aung, Myanmar’s minister of hotels and tourism.

The hotel is a 20-minute drive from Yangon International Airport and the city centre, and is also situated within close proximity to the Shwedagon Pagoda and Inya Lake.

The new wing features 431 guest rooms and suites, designed by renowned Singapore firm Forum Architects and US-based Studio HBA, bringing total room capacity at Sedona to 779. Inya Wing is linked to the existing hotel block via a connector which comprises a new retail arcade.

Credit: Sedona Hotel Yangon

A new elevated podium also connects the two blocks, and houses a terrace featuring a swimming pool, the Real Fitness Signature Club and D’Cuisine, an all-day restaurant offering South-east Asian, East Asian as well as Western cuisine.

As part of its launch celebrations, the hotel is offering the Inya Experience package from now until December 31, 2015. The offer entails a minimum two-night stay and includes daily breakfast, Wi-Fi, return airport transfer and buffet dinner for one at D’Cuisine.

Credit: 123rf

HONG KONG-LISTED Travel Expert has ventured into the wedding travel segment by acquiring a 60 per cent stake in I’m Yours Wedding since April 2015, establishing a spin-off from the brand now named Take My Hand, a full-service wedding agency.

According to Iras Ko, CEO of Travel Expert, the group adopts an aggressive expansion strategy by widening its portfolio of services. She said: “What sets us apart is the expertise of our team. Instead of mobilizing internal staff to run the business, we invested into a wedding planning company and leverage on their professionalism as well as resources.

“We’re planning to have three to five wedding concept stores up in next six months and the first one will be situated in Central,” added Ko.

According to her, both overseas photography and wedding trips showed a similar pace of growth. “Seoul is the most popular destination among overseas pre-wedding photography packages while Bali, Okinawa and Guam remain hot for weddings,” she said.

The brand is currently positioned to tap mid to upscale clients, in both local and overseas markets. “In fact, both markets complement each other. I had a client who staged a small overseas wedding but later realised the need to celebrate with friends and siblings back in Hong Kong,” said Tim Lau, general manager of Take My Hand.

Dotonbori, one of the main tourist destinations in Osaka, Japan. Credit: 123rf

KINKI Nippon Tourist has teamed up with leading Japanese technology firm FueTrek to develop voice recognition technology, designed to aid Japan’s tourism industry.

Together, the companies are planning to launch a new service in early 2016 that will provide small robots capable of acting as translators, as well as tablet computers and wearable devices that will be able to translate speech in a number of languages.

They are aiming to market the service to small businesses such as hotels, restaurants and attractions that are increasingly coming into contact with customers from around the world.

Many companies in Japan’s travel sector admit they are struggling to find sufficient staff with the right language skills to communicate with the booming number of inbound tourists.

“We do not get too many foreign tourists and I wonder if that might be because our website is in Japanese and they are put off by the idea that we do not speak English,” said Shinobu Shimabukuro, spokesperson at the Aqua Blue Spa in Okinawa.

“There is a free service in Okinawa where we can phone an interpreter to help us communicate with guests, but that is not very convenient,” she said.

However, not everyone is convinced that the new service will be an asset.

“We are always up for new ideas to help people get the most out of this wonderful country and culture, but I am not sure a little robot and tablet will do it,” said James Mundy, PR manager at Inside Japan Tours.

“I think Japanese people will still appreciate a foreigner making the effort to actually speak their language with the use of a phrasebook,” he added. “The effort goes a long way and makes for more meaningful interactions with the people of Japan.”