INTERCONTINENTAL Hotels Group (IHG) will operate the 268-room Holiday Inn Busan Seomyun, the first IHG hotel in South Korea’s second-largest city of Busan.

Located in the city’s CBD Seomyun, the hotel is a short drive from the international airport, city hall and the Busan International Finance Centre.

When it opens in 2017, Holiday Inn Busan Seomyun will feature a fitness centre, a rooftop swimming pool, meeting rooms and a business centre, a lobby lounge and all-day dining restaurant on the 20^th floor.

The hotel is owned by SiLee and will be managed by IHG. Karin Sheppard, COO, Australasia, Japan and Korea and AMEA franchising, said: “There is thriving tourism across South Korea’s major cities and as its second-largest city Busan is also one of the fastest-growing destinations in the country.

“We’ve identified a number of opportunities for growth and are especially pleased to be entering Busan with one of our most well-loved brands, Holiday Inn.”

There are also plans for the redevelopment of the area surrounding the hotel to convert it into a lifestyle hub including Busan Central Park and SSH Boulevard Park.

IHG currently operates eight hotels and resorts in South Korea under its InterContinental and Holiday Inn brands.

GENTING Jeju Casino officially opened its doors yesterday as Genting Hong Kong’s first gaming facility in South Korea.

Located in the Hyatt Regency Jeju Hotel, Genting Jeju Casino is equipped with world-class gaming facilities that include 29 gaming tables and 16 slot machines.

The gaming facility is jointly owned by Landing International and Genting Hong Kong in a 50-50 split.

The casino is Landing International’s pioneer casino project.

Yang Zhihui, chairman of Landing International, said: “The opening of Genting Jeju Casino marks a big step forward on the company’s development of integrated resort and tourism properties in the global markets.

“As one of the most striking landmarks in Jeju, Genting Jeju Casino is expected to drive tourism and retail growth in the city, further enhancing Jeju’s leading position in South Korea’s tourism.”

SRILANKAN Airlines has halted all flights through the country’s secondary airport to “rationalise” scheduled operations, part of a wave of changes sweeping the Sri Lanka after a government overhaul earlier this month.

A statement issued by the airline said it would be able to save US$18 million by adjusting services to Mattala Rajapaksa International Airport (MRIA) – increasing Middle East flights while cutting “underperforming routes such as Moscow”.

Following incumbent president Mahinda Rajapaksa’s failed bid to secure an unprecedented third term, ceding his post to opposition candidate Maithripala Sirisena, Sri Lanka has seen an immediate shake-up in government and a probe on corruption.

Built in his hometown and taking Rajapaksa’s name, the airport has ended up generating a colossal loss. “(SriLankan) was losing massive amounts of money by operating flights to this airport (which was) built at a cost of nearly 27 billion Sri Lankan rupees (US$205.5 million) in an area of 2,000ha,” an aviation ministry official said, declining to be named.

Industry officials, who also refused to be named, said that Mihin Lanka, Flydubai and Rotana Jet are the other carriers using MRIA. “But this will stop now that SriLankan is not flying,” one official predicted.

With airlines set to stop using MRIA, officials said the facility could be converted into a flying school and used for capacity building in the aviation sector.

NORTH America is Myanmar’s next big target and the Myanmar Tourism Federation (MTF) last Saturday inked a three-year contract with US-based marketing agency, Solimar International, to attract more tourists.

Both parties will work to position the South-east Asian nation as an undiscovered destination for North American travellers and draw high-value, low-impact tourists to ensure tourism in Myanmar remains sustainable over the long term.

To achieve this, Solimar’s task is five-fold, said Phyoe Wai Yar Zar, joint secretary-general of MTF and chairman of Myanmar Tourism Marketing.

Solimar will run the recently launched MTF office in Washington DC to field inquiries from tourists, trade and media; promote Myanmar in the media and organise press trips for US media; develop strong relationships between Myanmar and North American travel operators; create an online presence for MTF; and attend trade events in North America on MTF’s behalf.

The contract is the first time Myanmar is promoting itself with support from an international tourism marketing agency, said Phyoe Wai Yar Zar.

THE Hotelplan Group has emerged as a suitor for Kuoni Switzerland.

CEO Thomas Stirnimann confirmed with TTG Asia e-Daily “we are looking at it” when asked if the company was keen to buy Kuoni Switzerland.

“I guess we would be the best owner by far,” he said when asked for his views on who would be the likely buyers of the outbound businesses Kuoni has put up for sale.

If the deal goes through, Hotelplan would consolidate its position in Switzerland, where it is the second-largest tour operating company after Kuoni.

Asked about the future of the tour operating business, Stirnimann said: “We can only say that it is working out well for us, but you needed to adapt a couple of years ago. Today there is no more B2B or B2C business but only business with which you serve all channels.”

Now that Kuoni has made known its intention to sell its outbound units, a few sources interviewed speculated that potential buyers could be the bigger players in the Middle East, private equity companies, or other non-travel related investors.

“I would be surprised if any of the larger travel groups in Europe purchased them given their current directions, although maybe Flight Centre might see value in their global expansion plans,” opined Chris Bailey, senior vice president sales & marketing Centara Hotels & Resorts Thailand.

On who they wished would buy, several Kuoni groundhandlers in the region are wistful.

“There are not many companies that invest in customer care and training like Kuoni does. Many talk about it but pass it to the ground agency to carry it out. Kuoni ensures the ground agency understands what the brand stands for, how important the customer is to Kuoni and why you should be proud to be part of the Kuoni group. The annual training for our staff looking after Kuoni customers are well organised and gives our staff a sense of pride to be a part of Kuoni,” said Judy Lum, group vice president sales and marketing, Tour East Singapore.

Lum wished Kuoni would reconsider. “I had hoped they would synergise the model of GTA with Kuoni tour operating and be the first to be able to give the consumers what they expect as a holiday, yet deliver the efficiency in the booking process for the customers of today. I know the business models of GTA and Kuoni are different worlds but they serve the customers of the same planet who expect a lot from each,” she said.

A source lambasted Kuoni for the sale announcement. “I do not think that it is wise to announce a sale of a company when you have no buyer.

“Firstly you demoralise your own staff, secondly you discourage existing and new clients to book with you, and thirdly you devalue your own company image/share value,” said the source.

Centara’s Bailey shared some of that sentiment. “All situations like this have an impact on the staff (I have seen a few myself [as a tour operator before]), however upbeat the message from management. It’s the fear of the unknown and potential change that always disrupts people’s attention to their day job.

“On the other hand, as I said before, if staff can be engaged with the change and kept in the loop with regular updates, then they can go the extra mile during this transition period.

“The other threat is of course from the competition as it’s often an opportunity to cherry pick talent and or commercial arrangements in such times.”

Kuoni contracting managers contacted by TTG Asia e-Daily on the impact on them did not respond at press time.

DESTINATION Asia said it does not see a huge account fly by overnight, rather is prepared for the eventuality when Flight Centre switched to Buffalo Tours following the joint venture between the two to establish a regional DMC.

Flight sends around 300,000 clients to Asia a year, an immediate boost to Buffalo which, in Vietnam, Cambodia, Thailand and Myanmar, handles 120,000 pax a year, according to CEO and founder Tran Trong Kien.

With the JV, which saw the opening of Buffalo in Singapore yesterday, Kien expects to handle more than 500,000 pax a year throughout Asia, where Buffalo will also sprout in Bali in two weeks’ time and in Malaysia, Hong Kong, China and Japan within eight weeks, he said.

However, a source believed some of these offices might be delayed due to sticky travel agency application processes. Still, Buffalo said it handled Flight in countries like Thailand from October 1 last year, now Singapore and “the rest from April 1”.

In Singapore alone, Flight sends 55,000 to 60,000 pax a year, said Buffalo’s regional general manager Singapore & Malaysia, a former executive of Pacific World.

Asked the impact of the account movement on Destination Asia, which handled Flight for five years, James Reed, CEO/group managing director, said Flight had given it a year’s notice that it would be moving the business, enabling the firm to source other markets.

Said Reed: “Firstly, I have the deepest respect for Flight Centre and I wish them well. Graham Turner is a true entrepreneur and a great Aussie.
“Flight Centre was very generous and gracious in letting us know that they would be transferring their business to a new ‘inbound DMC’, so we had 12 months’ notice. This long notice period enabled us to source new business via our ISO (international sales offices) network in New York, Chicago, London, Sydney, Johannesburg, Auckland, Dusseldorf (and a new office in Brazil this year).”

Reed said Flight’s business, though high volume was “at a very low price point per pax”. While the new business Destination Asia has secured could not replace Flight’s volume it has higher margins, he said, adding “2015 will be an excellent, near record, profit year for the Destination Asia Group”.

No offices are closed as a result of the loss of Flight Centre, Reed added.

Rather, staff count is now over 630, compared with 575 when the DMC handled Flight, due to new business.

“Our ‘three legs’ business model – MICE , tour wholesalers /tour operators and cruise ships – continues to deliver significant cross-selling among the 33 operating offices in the 11-country Destination Asia network . In addition to an almost record 2015, we are signing further new business customers and 2016 will be an additional 25 per cent growth over 2015,” Reed said.

“Our outbound business ex Destination Asia China and our new inbound India division have also added substantial new dollars to the bottomline profit of the Destination Asia Group.”
Meanwhile, a major new “partnership” in a major US city will expand Destination Asia’s American presence. Reed is expected to announce this tie-up next Thursday.

FOLLOWING its aggressive expansion across Asia, Vietnamese carrier VietJet Air has announced it will be making its IPO available by the end of this year.

At a media conference this morning, VietJet managing director Luu Duc Khanh, confirmed: “The IPO is a big step in our plans for development because it will help us gain greater trust of the public by being transparent.

“This will ultimately benefit both our investors and customers.”

Highlighting Vietjet’s order of 100 Airbus aircraft to be delivered over the next 10 years, with the first delivery having taken place just last month, Khanh said VietJet is ready to expand its flight network and increase the frequency of existing routes.

“We have very strong demand from the shorthaul market and we have decided to concentrate on them first. Why would you want to move away from what you are doing very well in? (Moreover) we do not have enough resources to spread around,” he said.

Since VietJet started operations three years ago, the airline has doubled its commercial fleet, currently operating 28 domestic and international routes from destinations within Vietnam to Singapore, Thailand, South Korea, Taiwan, and Cambodia.

Last month, it announced plans to launch flights connecting Russia’s Vladivostok with Vietnam’s Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City, Danang, Hue and Phu Quoc.

Khanh said the company will celebrate welcoming its 10-millionth passenger this month, reflecting its ambitious target to double its number of passengers every year.

THE 372-key Royal Cliff Grand Hotel officially reopened last Saturday following five months of refurbishment and substantial product upgrades.

Apart from a new entrance and driveway with a seaside backdrop, suites have been refurbished with a more contemporary design, large marble bathrooms with separate walk-in shower, and a room control system that manages lighting, room temperature and motorised blinds.

F&B options include the redesigned Chamu, Chrysanthemum and Larn Thong serving Japanese, Chinese and Thai cuisine respectively. At the end of February, the remodelled Rossini and Cigar Lounge will open featuring an upgraded outdoor terrace and an elegant cigar lounge.

Another rejuvenated facility is the two-level infinity-edge pool which features a heated pool and offers breathtaking views of the Gulf of Thailand.