ROSEWOOD Hotels & Resorts is marking its entry into Indonesia with a first property in Bali in 2017, with a second to follow in Jakarta the year after.

Belonging to Indonesia’s prominent developer Ciputra Group, Rosewood Tanah Lot, Bali will be located near Lot temple on Bali’s West coast.

Occupying an area of 12ha, the ultra-luxury property will feature 80 suites, 27 villas and 29 Rosewood Residences for sale.

Asked why Rosewood was entering Bali with an ultra-luxury product at a time of market oversupply, Symon Bridle, COO of Rosewood Hotels & Resorts, told TTG Asia e-Daily at ILTM Asia last week: “Is there ever good timing? I think the reality is if your brand is right, the offer is right, you will find the market you want.”

He said a new destination, like the area close to Tanah Lot, could appeal to travellers looking for a slightly off-the-beaten-track address that is still not too far away from the popular areas.

The second hotel, Rosewood Jakarta, will be located in the Ciputra World Jakarta mixed-use development in the Indonesian capital’s CBD. It will offer 200 guestrooms and 160 Rosewood Residences for sale.

These developments in Indonesia are part of the group’s plan to operate 50 hotels by 2020.

Following the brand’s arrival in China with the opening of Rosewood Beijing in October 2014, the company will manage the 148-room Rosewood Phnom Penh and Rosewood Phuket, which will have 80 villas and 32 residences in 2016, with a property in Bangkok to open in 2017.

Two more properties in China, the 251-room Rosewood Guangzhou and 229-room Rosewood Sanya, will arrive in 2017.

THE Netherlands Board of Tourism and Conventions (NBTC) has named Aviareps its marketing and PR representative in South-east Asia as the NTO looks to establish, widen and strengthen its brand engagement and awareness in the region.

The main focus of Holland’s promotional activities in the region will be centred on the Indonesian market, and secondly, Malaysia.

Aviareps Indonesia will act as Holland Tourism’s representative office and promote Holland Tourism among leading travel professionals and consumers through a number of marketing and public relations activities, with Aviareps Malaysia providing support locally.

The launch of a Destination Holland campaign in South-east Asia is scheduled for July 2015.

Andrew van der Feltz, NBTC Holland marketing, manager business development & operations, said in a release: “We are thrilled to introduce Holland to South-east Asia as a unique destination that combines genuine warmth and a welcoming environment for visitors who appreciate culinary and cultural experiences along with exciting shopping and family attractions.”

THE 271-key Qliq Damansara in Petaling Jaya City is targeting female business travellers with its new all-girls floor.

Although the hotel itself opened in March, the women-only floor debuted last month, comprised of 13 rooms in two categories offering a full range of ladies’ amenities.

The area is only accessible by key card and is cleaned and staffed only by female talents.

Bennet Chang, general manager at Qliq Damansara, said in a release: “We saw a need (for a ladies-only floor) given that female guests make up over 40 per cent (of clients), and we wanted to be the first hotel in Petaling Jaya city to provide a dedicated floor for ladies.

“We are particularly trying to appeal to female business travellers, who are moving up the career ladder and hitting the road more often. Research done by Cornell University School of Hotel Administration has identified that safety, empowerment and pampering influenced women business travellers in deciding on their choice of accommodation.”

Guests on this floor are also entitled to lounge facilities offering free Wi-Fi, free refreshments and finger food, and use of the gym.

SABAH Parks has cancelled all climbing activities on Mount Kinabalu after a 6.0-magnitude earthquake hit early this afternoon.

Striking 54km from Kota Kinabalu, the earthquake loosened rocks and boulders on one of the state’s most popular tourist attractions, leading to a cancellation of all climbing there, according to Bernama.

About 100 climbers and rangers have been stranded at the summit plateau of Mount Kinabalu and the Royal Malaysian Air Force has been activated to evacuate them, saidAFP.

Aside from that, Destination Asia Malaysia said in a statement that “all other travel in the region remains unaffected at present”.

L CAPITAL Asia’s Ku De Ta, perched atop the SkyPark of Singapore’s Marina Bay Sands, now sports the name Ce La Vi.

An abbreviation of the French phrase “C’est la vie,” which means “This is life”, the restaurant, bar and nightclub will also be renovated in phases from this month until September.

This follows the conclusion of Ku De Ta’s five-year-long legal tussle with a Bali beachfront club with the same name, which saw the court weighing in favour of the Bali outfit.

Speaking to TTG Asia e-Daily at the brand’s launch yesterday, Ce La Vi’s CEO Kirk Martin said plans for the name change had already been in the works before the court ruling.

He said: “(But) the lawsuit accelerated our plans to introduce a new name. We thought this was the right way to go as we are still young, and we can build a new brand. With the previous history (as Ku De Ta), it is also confusing for the customers as we may have different goals with the previous brand name.”

Ce La Vi aims to be “the international titan of lifestyle and sophisticated hedonism” through five core pillars: an iconic rooftop location, inspirational architectural design, a modern Asian menu, innovative cocktails, and entertainment by renowned DJs.

A new Ce La Vi venue will open next month in Hong Kong on the top three floors of California Tower, right in the heart of the Lan Kwai Fong dining and entertainment district.

Martin said: “With each venue occupying a distinctive soaring site with 360º views at iconic locations in key cities, Ce La Vi reimagines and reinvigorates the concept of the adult playground.”

Work is already underway to open the next Ce La Vi within the next five years in key cities such as Dubai and Taipei.

FOLLOWING the success of the inaugural Travel Revolution 2015 in April, a second edition has been confirmed for July 24 to 26.

The exhibition will take place at Marina Bay Sands Expo Halls D to F and spans 17,000m², with more than 70 exhibitors participating.

The event will see a 20 per cent increase in booth take-up rate compared to its April instalment, with pioneer exhibitors taking up bigger spaces and new exhibitors coming on board.

Admission to the event is free and the show runs from 10.00 to 21.00 over three days.

Organised by the newly formed Singapore Outbound Travel Agents Association after a number of big-name travel agencies broke away from NATAS’ eponymous travel fair, Travel Revolution is thought to have impacted the performance of the last NATAS Travel Fair 2015.

NATAS has since announced it is bringing two tourism veterans, Steven Lek and Yap Puay Beng, on board to get the association back on the right track, and hopefully fill its vacant outbound chairman position.

The next NATAS Travel Fair is scheduled for July 31 to August 2, 2015.

MALAYSIA Tourism Council (MTC) has been given a RM1 million (US$269,000) grant by the government to hold programmes and development projects to attract more tourists to the country.

“The grant will be spent on capacity building, education, research and tourism development programmes to improve the industry as well as marketing programmes overseas,” said MTC president, Mohd Sharkar Shamsudin.

Formerly known as the National Tourism Council Malaysia, MTC is the umbrella organisation for private sector associations, destination marketing organisations and regional tourism organisation, such as the Malaysian Inbound Tourism Association.

Two international events that are set to benefit immediately from this grant are the National Cycling Tourism Summit 2015, taking place in Kuantan this Saturday, as well as the upcoming Community Homestay World Summit 2015.

The National Cycling Tourism Summit 2015 is full-day programme of talks on organising cycling events, marketing cycling packages and the health benefits of cycling.

On the other hand, the Community Homestay World Summit 2015 will be held in Kuala Lumpur from November 26 to December 2, jointly organised by MTC, the Homestay Association of Malaysia and the Australia-based International Community Homestay Tourism Network.

Gathering community homestay hosts and partners from Malaysia and overseas, the event will see exhibitions, forums, workshops and networking opportunities.

Sahariman Hamdan, president of Homestay Association of Malaysia and vice president of MTC, said: “The objective of this world summit is to promote Malaysia and strengthen relationships between different communities in the world who are engaged with community homestay tourism.”

THE spectre of terrorism perpetuated by groups like ISIS is unlikely to impact on global travel as the number of travellers is forecast to rise from 1.1 billion last year to 1.8 billion by 2030.

Addressing reporters this week on the sidelines of UNWTO regional meeting at the Bandos Resort and Spa in the Maldives, UNWTO secretary general Taleb Rifai said: “We will continue to travel because this is the antithesis of terrorism and the forces of darkness.”

Travel is no longer a luxury or secondary activity in people’s lives, he explained, and the impression that there is more instability in the world than before comes from being better informed today.

The Maldives’ deputy tourism minister, Hussain Lirar, concurred, saying his country has had its share of political unrest but this has not adversely impacted tourism. “Tourism will grow despite all problems.”

Likewise, Hiran Cooray, chairman of Sri Lanka’s Jetwing Leisure Group and former PATA chairman, commented: “People have short memories, and within a month I’m sure visitors will go to Nepal, which suffered a devastating earthquake recently.”

But Sri Lanka Tourism Development Authority’s managing director, Malraj Kiriella, warned: “Nobody wants to go to a place where there are life-threatening problems. My take is in case of a major crisis, they will go elsewhere.”

His comments reflect how Sri Lanka’s 30 years of civil conflict kept tourists away until its resolution in 2009.

According to UNWTO, the number of inbound travellers to Asia could hit as high as 560 million by 2030. The world’s main source markets are also shifting to Asia, especially China, from Europe and North America, commented Rifai.