CORDIS Hotels and Resorts is Langham Hospitality Group’s new upscale hotel brand, which the group intends to develop in key Asian and North American cities through a combination of new-build and conversion projects.

Cordis will consist of new-build designs, resorts and residences that will reflect the property’s location and culture. In a media statement, the group said it has signed management agreements and letters intents to add eight hotels in seven cities to the Cordis pipeline.

Langham Hospitality Group CEO, Robert Warman, said: “Building on the successes of Langham Hotels and Resorts, we saw the need to create a collection of international upscale hotels and resorts that will deliver what our guests desire: personalised and efficient services, seamless technology, and authentic experiences in the best locations around the world.”

Cordis hotels, which will be rolled out in the next three years, include five in China, and one each in Hong Kong (to open in May 2015), Bali and Colombo, according to Warman.

The group also hopes to plant the Cordis flags in the future in other key citiessuch as London, New York, Miami, Los Angeles, Orlando, San Francisco, Dubai, Singapore and Bangkok.

“We are very optimistic about the growth of this particular brand,” said Warman.

“As there are financial, cost-efficient benefits to developing hotels in the upscale tier, the time is right for us to enter high density markets such as North America and especially in China where there is a rising middle class, increasing domestic and international travel, and higher consumption levels. We see Cordis as complimentary to our existing portfolio and a real opportunity to have multiple properties in new markets in the coming years.”

INTERCONTINENTAL Hotels Groups (IHG) has announced its first two hotels in Greater China under Hualuxe, a luxury brand tailored specifically to Chinese travellers.

Hualuxe Nanchang High Tech Zone is due to come up in Jiangxi’s provincial capital of Nanchang in South-east China. It will occupy the 39^th to 56^th floors of one of the city’s tallest buildings, offering 281 guestroooms with 21 club rooms and deluxe suites, three restaurants and meeting facilities including a 800m² pillarless ballroom.

The property is owned by real estate developer, Greenland Group, in Shanghai.

The second, Hualuxe Yangjiang City Centre, is located in Guangdong’s Yangjiang city, overlooking Yuangyang Lake. The hotel will come with 282 deluxe rooms, including 76 club and deluxe suites, the largest pillarless ballroom in the city, and restaurants serving local and international fare.

Richard Solomons, CEO, IHG, commented: “The (Hualuxe) brand was built on over three decades of market insight, experience and leadership in China and epitomises the finest elements of China’s world-renowned hospitality.

“The brand has been well-received in the market since its launch in 2012 and we are on track with our vision of taking it to 100 cities in Greater China over the next 15 to 20 years. The first two hotels, in Nanchang and Yangjiang, are located in China’s heartland and working with our trusted owners, we are confident they will be welcomed by both Chinese and international consumers.”

Since the brand’s launch in 2012, IHG has signed 24 hotels into the pipeline in 20 cities across China, all of which will open in three to five years’ time.

The hotel company intends to bring the brand into key destinations such as London and New York.

CRUISE operator Carnival and Chinese state enterprise China Merchants Group (CMG) have signed an MoU to further the development of China’s cruise industry, including the creation of a new domestic cruise line.

The agreement, inked last week, outlines collaboration on two fronts: a ship-owning joint venture, and a port and destination development joint venture.

Under the first, Carnival and CMG are mulling the set-up of a domestic but world-class cruise line for the Chinese market that will own its own ships. Both companies will consider the possibility of acquiring existing ships as well as new ships designed and built in China.

The development of turnaround and transit ports in and around China forms the main agenda for the second potential joint venture, and will begin with Prince Bay Cruise Terminal in Shekou, Shenzhen, which CMG is currently developing.

Carnival and CMG will work together to have ships sail from this port and develop other cruise ship destinations across China and North Asia.

Alan Buckelew, COO of Carnival, said in a press release that the MoU was a chance to take Chinese cruising to the next level and address industry issues.

Costa Cruises line will bring Costa Serena to China in April, where Carnival already has three other ships homeported in China – Costa Atlantica, Costa Victoria and Sapphire Princess.

SINGAPORE Changi Airport has notched the highest number of passenger movements in a single year in its 33-year history, registering some 54.1 million in passenger traffic last year.

This is a 0.7 per cent increase over 2013, said an airport press statement. The airport’s busiest day in 2014 was the December 20, 2014 when 186,500 passengers passed through Changi.

Regionally, travel to South Asia and North-east Asia rose six per cent and four per cent respectively. However, such gains were buffered by poorer performances on routes to Europe and South-east Asia.

Nevertheless, travel to and from Thailand and China is on the mend, with both showing year-on-year growth of 6.6 per cent and one per cent respectively in December, which represents the third consecutive month of growth for both countries.

Flights to and from Thailand also returned to end-2013 levels in terms of capacity and frequencies.

Indonesia continues to lead in terms of passenger movements at Changi, with over 7.5 million passengers in 2014. It is followed by Malaysia, Australia, Thailand and China.

The top 10 busiest routes from Changi have not changed from last year with Jakarta leading the list, followed by Hong Kong, Kuala Lumpur, Bangkok, Manila, Tokyo, Bali, Taipei, Ho Chi Minh City and Sydney.

Among the 10 destinations, Bali has shown the most growth at 15.7 per cent year-on-year.

Six new carriers made their debut at Changi in 2014, namely MIAT Mongolian Airlines, Uzbekistan Airways, Jetstar Pacific, Malindo Air, Tigerair Taiwan and VietJet.

The airport also now offers links to seven new destinations: Ulaanbaatar in Mongolia, Tashkent in Uzbekistan, Lanzhou and Xi’an in China, Okinawa, Seattle, and Phu Quoc in Vietnam.

While 2014 was a challenging year for aviation, Singapore Changi Airport introduced theGrowth and Assistance Incentive programme to aid airline partners with costs and also broke ground on its upcoming mixed-use complex Jewel.

Said Lee Seow Hiang, CEO, Changi Airport Group: “We are hopeful that 2015 will be a better year for aviation in the region. Travel demand is recovering steadily for markets like Thailand and China. Lower fuel costs will also help to alleviate cost pressures for airlines. The new year has started on a positive note for Changi Airport, with Air New Zealand commencing its services to Singapore on January 6.”

TRAVEL sellers at the recent ASEAN Tourism Forum in Nay Pyi Taw have introduced special tour fares for Malaysian buyers as the ringgit continues to depreciate against the US dollar.

Andy Carroll, global head of sales & marketing of Vietnam-based Exotic Voyages, said: “Malaysia is a new market that we started to develop in the middle of 2014. To encourage more Malaysians travel, we offer packages to Vietnam and Myanmar 15 per cent less than what we offer to other regional markets and it has resulted in good growth, partly because this market is so new.”

Hanoi-based VNHolidays CEO and director, Tony Tran, said his company is working with hotels to create special packages for the Malaysian market for the upcoming March school holidays.

He said: “Malaysia is a price-sensitive market. Customers may change suppliers for as little as a US$5 difference. However, we don’t want to compete on pricing and we’d rather concentrate on service quality.”

Meanwhile, inbound Malaysian travel consultants report that Malaysian companies have already started cutting travel budgets and are choosing domestic and regional destinations for business-related travel.

Adam Kamal, CEO of Rakyat Travel, said some business travellers are purchasing air tickets of a lower fare category, where no changes can be made after the ticket has been issued.

“Clients from the banking industry who used to book single rooms for business travel are now getting rooms on twin-share basis and are opting for local hotel brands instead of international hotel chains,” he added.

Nanda Kumar, managing director at Hidden Asia Travel & Tours, said: “Malaysian companies are trimming budgets by downgrading hotels, cutting down on the length of stay, and the destination for company outings, which will be done before the close of company accounts in May for submission of 2014 income tax, by opting for local destinations.”

Thailand and Indonesia are popular choices, while some are venturing to Siem Reap as a new destination, he said. “Inbound travel consultants (in Cambodia) may quote us in US dollars but it is still a value-for-money destination. I am selling 4D3N packages at US$150 per person based on twin-share in three-star accommodations.”

TWO homemade time bombs detonated outside of Siam Paragon Shopping Centre last evening prompted an emergency evacuation, and one man was slightly injured.

According to the Bangkok Post, the bombs were concealed behind a transformer at BMA Express Service and exploded on a walkway between Siam BTS station and Siam Paragon at 20.00.

Civilians were evacuated from Siam Paragon and the surrounding areas and police closed off roads in the vicinity, said the daily.

BTS train services were stopped at 20.10 after the explosion but resumed at 20.38, said The Nation.

The police were quoted by the Bangkok post as saying that the bombs “were not intended to kill”.

Siam Paragon is a popular mall for tourists and shoppers that garnered it the title of the world’s most Instagram-med place in 2013.

LUXURY travel show ILTM says it will field 200 new China buyers at its Shanghai edition in June as reports indicate that travel has become the leading leisure pursuit for China’s wealthy.

ILTM Asia senior exhibition director, Alison Gilmore, told TTG Asia e-Daily that the buyers will be sourced not only from first-tier Chinese cities but emerging second and third tiers, including but not limited to Chengdu, Wuhan and Guangzhou.

“We will also ensure translators are on hand at ILTM Asia to help with communication for any luxury travel buyers attending,” she said.

According to Gilmore, the show aims to introduce at least 30 per cent new buyers each year. Last year, for instance, 42 per cent of a total of 468 buyers, from 21 countries, were first-timers to the event. This year’s show targets an increase in buyer numbers to 500-550, of which 48 per cent will be new buyers to ILTM Asia.

“But this year we will focus on Hong Kong and China as the region from where we will be hosting the majority of our new faces,” said Gilmore. “At last year’s ILTM Asia Global Forum, travel was cited as the leading leisure pursuit for China’s wealthy. By 2020, we understand the number of foreign trips made from China will double.”

She added: “Other key target regions for us to source both the new and the established will include Singapore, Australia, Indonesia, Taiwan and Japan.

“With increasing numbers of wealthy travellers seeking new experiences across all four corners of the world, there are also increasing numbers of specialist buyers who are creating their bespoke itineraries.”

Another report, the 2015 China Luxury Forecast, by Ruder Finn and IPSOS Group, also shows travel is now the number one category of luxury for Chinese consumers, and spending by Chinese travellers is expected to drive more growth in luxury markets outside China.

This year’s ILTM Asia is the ninth edition of the show and will be held from June 1-4.

Read more in TTG Asia Luxury June 2015