SCIENTISTS in Japan have sounded the alarm bell for a possible volcanic eruption in the hot spring resort destination of Hakone and has prohibited access to a hiking trail near the Owakudani volcanic vent.

Japan’s meteorological agency had on Tuesday issued a warning to limit access to the popular destination after two minor quakes of magnitude 2.0 and 2.4 were recorded that morning at a nearby volcano, south-west of Tokyo, reported the AFP.

In an advisory the agency stated that “activity at Hakone … is in a state of uncertainty”, and warned of “a possibility that a minor eruption may suddenly occur…Please do not enter dangerous zones”.

The agency upgraded the warning yesterday, forbidding access to a hiking trail involving areas around the Owakudani volcanic vent after seismologists detected minor but more frequent volcanic tremors at the popular hiking site, an official of the agency was quoted as saying. “We raised the warning to level two after detecting the tremors getting relatively bigger and hitting deeper points.”

The town of Hakone has ordered evacuation from the Owakudani area and also closed nearby roads and cable car operations, according to AFP.

Although increasing seismic activity had been observed over the last few days in the Mount Hakone region, the agency said researchers have not seen any signs of magma rising, which could necessitate a major evacuation for local residents.

The announcements are expected to impact tourism to Hakone, which sees some 20 million people, including foreign tourists, visit every year.

HOTELS looking to attract more Singapore guests can bait them with free Wi-Fi, found by Hotels.com to be the top hotel amenity whether for leisure or business stays for Singaporeans.

Some 62 per cent of leisure travellers and 78 per cent of business travellers from Singapore said Wi-Fi was the “die die” must have hotel amenity that decided which hotel they booked with.

This put free Wi-Fi ahead of other amenities including free breakfast, high-end linen, proximity to public transport and shopping outlets.

About 67 per cent of Singaporeans said free Wi-Fi is the tech amenity they wish would be uniformly available at all hotels, compared to the global average of 60 per cent.

Furthermore, about 29 per cent of Singaporean travellers would fork out for in-room Wi-Fi, while 26 per cent said free use of power adaptors and free bottled water are the simple amenities they appreciate the most.

Katherine Cole, regional director, Hotels.com, said in a media release: “Singapore travellers have always been highly tech-savvy and the findings of the survey clearly show the importance of such an amenity in improving guest experience.

“While travellers are willing to pay for Wi-Fi connectivity, hotels can leverage these findings and insights to incorporate this amenity in their package to remain competitive among leisure and business travellers.”

However, hotels should beware: Singaporeans are the second nationality in the world most likely to pinch things from rooms. Roughly 29 per cent of Singaporeans said “nothing” in response to being asked if they have ever taken and never returned something from a hotel room.

This puts Singapore in between champion Spain (30 per cent) and Argentina (27 per cent). In comparison, about 67 per cent of Norwegians, South Koreans, Hong Kong nationals and Danes say they have never.

Hotels.com’s survey was conducted by email from March to April 2015, polling over 4,700 respondents from 28 countries.

PREMIER Inn has secured its first hotel in the popular beach destination of Phuket as the UK’s largest budget hotel chain further grows its Asian portfolio.

The 350-key hotel will likely open doors in early 2017 close to tourist attractions like Patong Beach and Jungceylong shopping centre.

Premier Inn Phuket will feature an all-day dining restaurant, destination bar, swimming pool, a fully equipped gym and meeting space.

It is the latest of five hotels that Premier Inn intends to open in partnership with Rayaburi Group, totalling around 1,250 rooms by 2020.

The hospitality company will open its first hotel in Thailand, the 224-room Premier Inn Bangkok Soi 11 in mid-2016, with others to come up in key Thai tourism spots such as Chiang Mai, Hua Hin, Koh Samui and Pattaya.

“Premier Inn Phuket is an important addition to our fast-expanding Asia property portfolio and marks a significant milestone for the Premier Inn brand. We are confident that the hotel will set a new benchmark in Phuket’s hospitality sector, becoming the preferred choice for value-conscious travellers,” said Erik van Keulen, senior vice president development, Premier Inn Asia Pacific, in a press release.

Premier Inn intends to open 10,000 new rooms in India, Indonesia, Singapore, Thailand and the Middle East by 2020 across key cities including Bali, Bangkok, Chennai, Doha, Dubai, Goa, Jakarta, Jeddah, Mumbai, Muscat, Phuket, Singapore, Surabaya and Yogyakarta.

BEST Western International has reached further into Myanmar with the opening of its first hotel in Mandalay, taking over the management of the existing Hotel Shwe Pyi Thar.

The property, repositioned as Best Western Premier Hotel Shwe Pyi Thar, currently offers 91 rooms and suites, and expects major expansion including a brand new wing and 200 more rooms by 4Q2016.

There will also be an array of amenities, including a restaurant, bar, swimming pool, fitness centre, spa services and boutique retail outlets. Event spaces include a 660m² ballroom, separate conference room for large functions and 4,200m² lawn for outdoor events.

Olivier Berrivin, Best Western International’s managing director of international operations – Asia, commented: “Best Western International has identified Myanmar as a key market for our future expansion in South-east Asia.

“Having recently opened our second hotel in Yangon, Best Western Chinatown, I am thrilled that we have been able to follow this up so quickly with the launch of our first hotel in Mandalay.”

HONG Kong-listed Emperor Hotels Group’s new mid-scale brand, Inn Hotel, will open its first acquired and rebranded property in Macau in the next two months.

The group had in December 2013 acquired the 285-room Best Western Hotel Taipa Macau, which is currently undergoing major revamp and will be officially rebranded this June or July to the 287-room Inn Hotel Macau.

The property’s assistant sales manager, Cherry Zhang, said: “The makeover will be completed in late 2015 or early 2016. All rooms will don a new look and the presidential suite will be replaced by two guestrooms. The property is positioned as a boutique hotel.”

Last month, the brand’s second property, the 199-key Inn Hotel Hong Kong, opened in Mongkok.

Separately, Langham Hospitality Group’s Cordis Hotels and Resorts will rebrand the Langham Place Hotel in Mongkok to become its first flagship hotel in town this summer. The property is undergoing extensive renovation this year for its rooms, meeting spaces, club lounge and restaurant.

IN A push to position Kuala Lumpur as the gastronomic hub of Asia, Kuala Lumpur City Hall will be organising the inaugural Big Kitchen Festival 2015 from May 29 at Dataran Merdeka (Independence Square).

The three-day food festival will showcase cuisine from all the Malaysian states, and feature live cooking demonstrations and workshops hosted by local and foreign celebrity chefs.

Other highlights include cooking competitions and daily food-related talks on a range of topics, such as the similarities between Malaysian and Indonesian cuisine.

Kuala Lumpur mayor, Ahmad Phesal Talib, said the food festival is the ideal platform for introducing the city as a haven for foodies around the world.

“Our culinary style is primarily a combination of traditions from Malay, Chinese, Indian, ethnic Malaysian and state specialties, making Malaysian cuisine highly complex and diverse,” he added.

To amp up promotion efforts, City Hall is collaborating with Malaysia Airlines and Tourism Malaysia to bring in international travel consultants, media and bloggers to experience the event.

Other initiatives have also been launched to promote Kuala Lumpur as a gastronomic destination.

Five street food trails were introduced in the city last year and restaurant ratings started this year. UK-based Malaysian chef, Norman Musa, was also appointed the country’s food ambassador to promote its cuisine to the European market.