THANYAPURA Phuket is investing US$10 million to build new sports facilities as part of its drive to become the sports hub of Asia.

A new five-lane, 100m swimming pool – double the length of an Olympic pool – is in the works. Other new facilities include four more tennis courts, a wellness centre and 114 accommodation units, doubling the current number of keys.

Philipp Graf von Hardenberg, president and CEO of Thanyapura, said the expansion will help the resort attract more professional athletes and active tourists.

According to him, the pool will be the first in the world of its size. He said: “We’re investing a lot more in sports science too, which plays an increasingly important role in training. In the new pool, there will be under- and above-water cameras every 5m to help (trainers analyse an athlete’s form and technique).”

Guests can rub shoulders with sports celebrities who train at the resort, ranging from Formula One champ Jenson Button to Olympic swimming teams from Australia, France, the Netherlands and Japan.

They can also join group classes or book private sessions with the complex’s 40-odd professional trainers, including the same professionals who train the international sport stars.

“We are also strengthening our sports medicine and wellness facilities to focus on the needs of sporting guests,” said von Hardenberg.

Thanyapura also recently teamed up with the Ministry of Sports and Tourism to strengthen the island’s position as the regional destination for athletic training and active holidays.

“We will also be organising 25 high-level sporting events in Phuket each year to attract athletes and tourists to the island and to Thanyapura,” he said.

The centre, which is already the official Asian training centre for FINA, the world governing body for swimming, trains a number of swimmers from the Thai national team.

SIHANOUK International Airport welcomed its third international air service when the maiden SilkAir flight connecting Singapore and Sihanoukville in Cambodia touched down on June 6.

SilkAir is operating services to and from the southern coastal city on a charter basis in order to test the market.

Three other flights are planned this December, a period during which outbound travel peaks due to the school holidays in Singapore.

Patrine Tay, marketing and sales director of Cambodia Airports, said: “We are convinced that this first of the series of charters will help seed demand in SilkAir’s market for Sihanoukville.”

The city is a popular beach destination within Cambodia for its white-sand beaches and has seen arrivals increase, said Tan Han Soo, manager Cambodia for SilkAir.

Tan said: “Although still modest, passenger traffic at Sihanouk International Airport has grown significantly. From January to May 2015, the total number of passengers has increased by 122 per cent to 39,000 from 17,500 in 2014, and we are glad that Sihanoukville has caught the attention of the Singapore market.”

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JAPAN is creating a series of awards to recognise excellence in public lavatories as the country ramps up its facilities for tourists to prepare for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.

The awards were unveiled just days after a panel set up by Haruko Arimura, the minister in charge of women’s empowerment, recommended that the government promote the charms of Japanese toilets as a way of attracting tourists.

“Japan’s toilet technology should serve as the perfect tool to spread our culture ofomotenashi,” the report said, using the term for the Japanese concept of hospitality.

The panel has outlined the Japan Toilet Challenge, seeking to acknowledge efforts by companies, operators of public facilities and municipalities across the country that keep their lavatories clean and safe.

Others that will be recognised include companies that develop environment-friendly toilets, organisations that draw up maps of public restrooms and organisations that seek to export Japan’s lavatory technology to foreign countries.

It has also called for clearer instructions in foreign languages to meet the needs of tourists.

Japanese toilets are synonymous with the application of technology and come with heated seats, built-in bidet functions and air driers. The devices are so popular that thousands of Chinese tourists take them home as souvenirs every year.

According to MyTravelResearch.com, the humble toilet is often a reason why a traveller stops at a destination and can help “stimulate the local visitor economy”.

BUDGET carrier Vietjet has introduced a new route linking Ho Chi Minh City and Seoul, which will take off on November 7.

With a frequency of seven return flights per week, the inaugural flight will depart Tan Son Nhat International Airport at 00.15 and arrive at Incheon International Airport at 07.35.

The return flight will leave Seoul at 11.20 and reach Ho Chi Minh City at 14.50.

The airline currently operates one return flight per day between Hanoi and Seoul.

To celebrate this occasion, Vietjet is giving away up to 50,000 flight tickets for all routes to Seoul. Promotional tickets will only be up for grabs from 13.00 to 15.00 (Singapore time) from June 18 to 25.

The travel periods for the Ho Chi Minh City-Seoul route and Hanoi-Seoul route are November 7, 2015 to March 27, 2016 and July 7, 2015 to March 27, 2016 respectively.

Terms and conditions apply.

CRUISING is a fledgling tourism segment in South Korea but the outlook is optimistic with industry leaders and the government committed to developing the country’s cruise potential, which will be discussed this week.

Industry leaders are meeting in a dedicated workshop at Seatrade Cruise Asia this Friday to talk about the challenges and opportunities for the region.

Robert W Guy, managing director – Singapore & Malaysia for Destination Asia, will moderate the session. He commented: “South Korea provides near-ideal conditions for cruise ship calls, with many ports offering attractive close-by points of historic, scenic and cultural interest.”

Joining the discussion will be: Michael Hackman, executive vice president, marine operations and new ship building, Genting Hong Kong; Helen Huang, general manager, China, Costa Crociere; Chan-Young Jun, director general, port research division, Korea Maritime Institute; and Sonchung Yong, executive director, cruise infrastructure department, Korea Tourism Organization.

South Korea is set to welcome 610 cruise ship calls and 1.1 million passengers this year. Korea Tourism Organization’s 2015 projections has identified 12 ports for cruise calls, and found that cruising is already worth over US$1.1 billion.

To match the growth in cruising, the government plans to construct additional cruise terminals nationwide to enhance facilities from the current three terminals to nine by 2020, plus a new cruise information centre and customs and immigration facility. The Busan International Cruise Terminal is also set to undergo renovation works from 2016-2018.

INTERCONTINENTAL Hotels Group’s (IHG) China Ready programme is in full swing as its various properties around the world lay out the welcome mat for Chinese visitors.

Rolled out in April, China Ready is meant to prepare IHG hotels to meet growing Chinese arrivals and covers 85 hotels in more than 24 countries to date.

It includes hiring trained Chinese chefs, providing cultural awareness training to staff, adding a UnionPay payment option, tailoring F&B offerings, and bringing in Mandarin-language television channels in hotel rooms.

For instance, one-third of employees at Holiday Inn Resort Waikiki Beachcomber are fluent in Mandarin and Cantonese.

InterContinental San Francisco publishes Mandarin-language brochures and its area creative director, Connie Perez, said: “We target Chinese MICE groups opting for destination outside Asia as they want new experiences and something different in US and Europe.”

IHG also launched Hualuxe Hotels and Resorts in 2012, which it plans to introduce to 100 cities across Greater China over the next two decades and to key international destinations, said IHG Greater China, CEO, Kenneth Macpherson.

A new sales office was opened in Taiwan last month to serve its properties in Greater China and increasing outbound demand from the region.

AN AUSTRALIAN hotel group has seen staff and guest engagement soaring in six weeks by simply turning the concept of online hotel reviews upside down.

Between April 17 and May 31 this year, Art Series Hotels gave hotel staff at its six properties in Victoria and South Australia free rein to rate their guests and post their reviews online.

Guests who opted in were judged by individual staff’s assessment with no specified criteria, but those who earned four or five stars could win complimentary stays.

The campaign was by all measures, a resounding success, with 750 reviews generated and 210 guests winning five stars and a free night’s accommodation.

Group marketing director, Ryan Tuckerman, said the reverse reviews campaign was implemented to lift staff morale and showcase the Art Series Hotels’ unique edge.

“We had such huge engagement with staff and it really helped to create a good culture and ethos around the office. You see the positive interaction with guests and a lot more chatter,” said Tuckerman.

“This type of initiative also helps to explain what Art Series Hotels is about. We’re left of centre and think outside the square. That’s how we want to come across to consumers. We’re not your everyday hotel experience; we’re the new breed of properties.”

The majority of guests who participated in the campaign were leisure travellers, he said, concluding: “We’re thrilled with the campaign and are looking into how we can implement this on an ongoing basis.”