JW MARRIOTT Hotel Zhengzhou yesterday opened its doors in China’s Henan Province under a long-term management agreement with owners Greenland Group.

Located from the 41^st to 55^th floors of the Millennium Royal Plaza in Zhengzhou’s CBD, the 416-room hotel is the first Marriott property in Henan as well as the seventh JW Marriott hotel in the Greater China region.

Simon Cooper, president and managing director, Marriott International Asia-Pacific, said: “This is a significant property as it is our first hotel in Zhengzhou which is an important transportation, business and convention hub in central China.

“We are on the course of opening new JW Marriott hotels in Macau, Chongqing, Kunming and Shenzhen over the next 12 months.”

The new hotel is located in the heart of Zhengdong New District and positioned between the Zhengzhou International Convention & Exhibition Center and Henan Art Center.

Each room offers floor-to-ceiling windows, luxurious JW Marriott bedding and ergonomic work spaces, while the 2,500m² function and event space includes the 1,000m² JW Grand Ballroom with an LED wall panel, six meeting rooms and a spacious pre-function ballroom foyer.

F&B offerings on the 38^th and 39^th floors include The Grill, specialising in both Chinese and Western dishes; Man Ho, featuring Cantonese classics as well as Henan and Sichuan delicacies; Zhengzhou Kitchen, boasting dedicated Western, Chinese and Japanese live-cooking sections; and The Lounge, featuring a four-tier stand of tea treats.

ACCOR will be introducing its Ibis and Novotel Suites brands in Manila in the coming years.

The economy Ibis is part of the company’s master plan to redevelop the commercial and entertainment hub Araneta Centre in Quezon City.

The Ibis property is currently at the design stage and will likely break ground next year, said a spokesperson for the Araneta Group of Companies. Further information on the number of rooms and opening date are not yet available at press time.

Accor will also manage its first Novotel Suites in Asia, a 150-room property at the Acqua Residences in Mandaluyong City, in 2018.

“Novotel Suites Manila at Acqua is a new generation of hotel that recreates a ‘home’ away from home with its spacious and flexible design, plus the benefits and security of hotel services,” said Patrick Basset, COO for Accor Thailand, Vietnam, South Korea, Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar and the Philippines.

“It will fill a gap in the market for a modern, functional longer-stay accommodation conveniently located in Metro Manila,” he added.

In addition to the existing Sofitel Philippine Plaza, Accor will open Novotel Manila Araneta and Mercure Ortigas next year and turn the Admiral Hotel into an MGallery Collection in 2016.

ASIA is setting new trends in longhaul, low-cost air travel, with China poised to become a key regional player in the near future, according to OAG Aviation Worldwide’s new report,Generation X – Long Haul Low Cost Comes Of Age.

The report observes that although low-cost air travel originated in Europe and North America to connect destinations typically within four hours’ flying time, Asian LCCs are adapting the model for locations up to eight hours apart.

LCCs are now seeking to expand their route networks to better connect the rapidly growing travel markets of South-east Asia, North-east Asia, South Asia, Australia and New Zealand.

Although LCC growth has been slow in China, it will be pivotal to the sector’s future development, given that China’s Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) recently abolished the minimum pricing requirement for airlines, and introduced new measures and incentives designed to encourage the development of China-based LCCs.

“Given the potential impact of the recent changes made by CAAC, the opportunities are now available for a major Chinese LCC to emerge or for a major Chinese carrier to make a play for regional markets,” said Mark Clarkson, business development director Asia-Pacific, OAG.

An analysis of the region’s top 20 country pair markets for total seat capacity between June 2010 and June 2014 saw China in eight of the fastest-growing routes.

The average annual growth in seat capacity between Australia and China was 11.4 per cent, while 20 per cent was recorded between China and Thailand.

Further room for expansion is evident, with only three routes from China – Shanghai-Singapore (ranked fifth), Bangkok-Shanghai (19^th) and Beijing-Singapore (23^rd) – listed in the report’s top 25 low-cost, longhaul routes in Asia-Pacific.

The other top routes are Bangkok-Seoul, Perth-Sydney, Singapore-Sydney, Singapore-Taipei, Hong Kong-Tokyo, Seoul-Singapore, Melbourne-Singapore, Bangkok-Tokyo (Narita), Kuala Lumpur-Melbourne, Manila-Tokyo, Perth-Singapore, Brisbane-Perth, Tokyo (Haneda)-Singapore, Jakarta-Hong Kong, Brisbane-Singapore, Tokyo (Narita)-Singapore, Denpasar-Hong Kong, Bangkok-Tokyo (Haneda), Kuala Lumpur-Sydney, Kuala Lumpur-Taipei, Hong Kong-Sydney and Chennai-Singapore.

Soon to join the low-cost, longhaul sector are Indonesia AirAsia X, Thai AirAsia X and NokScoot, while Spring Airlines and Cebu Pacific are expanding their networks for the sector. More airlines seem likely to follow in the coming years.

Meanwhile, new airport infrastructure is being developed to support the expansion of the pan-regional LCC sector, with Kuala Lumpur’s recent opening of the world’s largest LCC airport terminal.

The large populations, multiple airports and ongoing air transport liberalisation in India and Indonesia mean these countries are also poised to drive growth in Asia’s longhaul LCC market.

PRINCESS Cruises yesterday announced that it will welcome a new ship in 2017.

The yet-to-be-named 143,000-ton ship will be the only new order parent company Carnival Corporation anticipates for 2017, according to Princess Cruises president, Jan Swart.

The 3,560-passenger vessel will be built by Italian shipbuilder Fincantieri. It will boast a design platform introduced by sister ships Royal Princess in 2013 and Regal Princess, which entered service in May.

The new ship will feature the cruise line’s signature elements such as central atrium hub with multiple dining, entertainment and retail venues; the adults-only Sanctuary; Movies Under the Stars cinema experience; and 80 per cent of all staterooms with balconies. Some brand-new innovations can also be expected.

Specific features and amenities for the ship, along with deployment details, will be revealed in the coming months.

SINGAPORE Airlines (SIA) put on a poor showing for the first quarter of financial year 2014/2015, reporting a 71 per cent year-on-year depression in net profit on the back of intensified competition, “unforeseen events” and the performance of associated companies.

In a statement released to the press yesterday, the SIA umbrella group reported an operating profit of S$39 million (US$31.3 million), a 52.4 per cent drop over the same period last year.

Discounting non-operating and exceptional items costs, SIA’s profit plunged further to S$35 million, or 71.3 per cent less than the first quarter of the previous financial year.

The airline cited the continued “weak revenue environment” as a factor, compounded by the results from associated and joint venture companies, which contributed S$16 million in losses from last year. Out of this, S$14 million was attributed to Tiger Airways Holdings.

Tiger Airways Holdings shut down its Indonesian offshoot Tigerair Mandala – in which it held a 33 per cent stake – to no one’s surprise after persistently poor results (TTG Asia e-Daily, June 19, 2014).

SIA’s press release did not identify the “unforeseen events” depressing travel demand, though the mysterious disappearance of Malaysia Airlines’ (MAS) MH370 and Thailand’s tourism-crushing military coup would understandably have shaken traveller confidence.

The Singapore flag carrier said: “The outlook for the air transportation industry has become more challenging with the continuing uncertain global economic climate, geopolitical concerns in the region and elevated fuel prices.

“Load factors in the current quarter are expected to be stable year-on-year. Aggressive fares and capacity injections from competitors will continue to place pressure on yields.”

Events of the recent past promise no relief for the industry with the gunning down of MH17 that dealt a second blow to the ailing MAS, and the crashing of TransAsia Airways and Air Algerie, all mere days apart.

PREDOMINANTLY Catholic Philippines is gradually expanding its limited inventory of halal travel products to capture more of the small yet steadily growing Muslim market.

The Department of Tourism (DoT) and the Philippine Travel Agencies Association regularly conduct seminars, trainings and meetings with their Middle Eastern counterparts on meeting the needs of this high-yielding market, while DoT supports the Islamic Da’Wah Council of the Philippines (IDCP) to grant more establishments halal accreditation.

IDCP president Abdul Rahman Linzag said there are only a “handful” of halal-certified hotels and restaurants in Manila, the latest being Makati Shangri-La, Manila, but the number is increasing.

Observed Ine Faustino, general manager of CCT 168 Tours: “With the dearth of halal food, some Muslim travellers choose serviced apartments where they can prepare and cook their own food.”

To woo this market, DoT launched Eid Play Love travel packages on July 14 in Saudi Arabia and the UAE for the long holidays after Ramadan this month and the Eid al-Adha in October.

A take on the popular book and movie Eat Pray Love, the packages promote Philippines, heretofore known as labour export market, as a “Muslim- and family-friendly destination”, said Verna Buensuceso, DoT’s overall in charge for market development group.

Partners in the packages will be asked to send reports to DoT to gauge the success of future promotions planned for the Middle East.

The Philippines is still slowly beefing up facilities needed by Muslim travellers. Manila’s airport has a Muslim prayer room and footwash, while hotels such as Fairmont Makati and Raffles Makati include Qurans, prayer spaces, and Arabic-language TV channels.

The underserved Muslim market is estimated to have been worth some US$130 billion in 2013 (TTG Asia e-Daily, November 26, 2013), and the world’s first international conference on Muslim tourism will be held this September in Spain, bringing together the global travel industry to share how it can cater to this fast-growing segment (TTG Asia e-Daily, July 1, 2014).

HILTON Worldwide this week opened the DoubleTree Resort by Hilton Hainan ­– Qixianling Hot Spring within the Qixianling Hot Spring National Rainforest Park on Hainan Island, China.

The 254-room hotel, owned by Hainan Gold Phoenix Hot Spring Resort, is situated 90km from Sanya Phoenix International Airport. Each guestroom comes with a private sitting area, 42-inch LCD TV and a private balcony offerings views of rainforest gardens and mountains.

In terms of F&B offerings, the hotel features Yuxi restaurant serving Hainan dishes and Cantonese cuisine; Open Restaurant dishing up Asian cuisines, Western grill items, barbecue selections, fresh seafood and deserts; NoDu that recreates popular Asian street food; Shu Lounge in the lobby for tea and light snacks; and the Cigar Bar.

Planners will be glad to know the hotel is equipped with a grand ballroom, three flexible meeting rooms and an outdoor courtyard that collectively provide some 603m² in meeting and event space.

Other amenities include free Wi-Fi throughout the entire hotel, a 24-hour business centre, a 24-hour fitness centre, a luxury spa, two outdoor swimming pools, and the largest hot spring on Hainan Island.

To mark the opening of the hotel, members of Hilton’s HHonors loyalty programme will receive 1,000 bonus points per night on best available rates at the hotel until December 30, 2014. The bonus is capped at 5,000 extra points per stay.