EMIRATES Wolgan Valley Resort & Spa in the Greater Blue Mountains World Heritage Area in Australia will be rebranded a One&Only property, a coup for the Kerzner International brand but a possible death-knell for Emirates Hotels & Resorts, the airline’s hotel subsidiary which has not been making headway on its intention to expand globally.

Emirates Hotels & Resorts’ website, emirateshotelsresorts.com, has been rerouted to the Emirates Wolgan Valley website. Earlier, Emirates’ Al Maha Desert Resort & Spa, the forerunner conservation project from which the Wolgan property took a leaf, was also spun off to Starwood Hotels & Resorts’ The Luxury Collection.

Emirates could not be contacted for comment at press time on whether it has disbanded Emirates Hotels & Resorts.

In a press statement regarding the rebranding, Emirates Airline’s president, Tim Clark, said: “We are proud of all that the resort has achieved, but now we feel that it is time to work with a partner to expand the Wolgan experience and take the resort to new heights. We are confident that Kerzner International, under the One&Only brand, is the perfect partner for Emirates Wolgan Valley Resort & Spa. They not only have the same high service quality standards that we demand of ourselves, but are also innovation-driven, and most importantly, they share the same vision for the resort as we do.”

Clark added: “I recall all the support that we received in Australia – from the federal government down to the grassroots – when we first conceptualised and began operations in Wolgan Valley. I would like to reassure all stakeholders that the conservation and community principles that the resort began with, will stay unchanged.

“Although we will no longer directly manage the resort, Emirates remains firmly committed to Australia, and we will continue to do our part to support tourism through our flights that link Australia to major cities around the world, and our sponsorship of key attractions such as the symphony orchestras, and iconic events such as the Emirates Melbourne Cup.”

The move brings the number of properties One&Only manages in Australia to two, following the successful rebirth of One&Only Hayman Island in July. The Wolgan rebrand will be from early 2015. Emirates will continue to retain full ownership of the resort.

TAIWAN is looking at how it can better tap the region’s mega markets of India and Russia, which have shown promise in arrivals growth year to date.

From January to September 2014, Taiwan welcomed 23,298 Indians and 5,924 Russians, up 34 per cent and 9.3 per cent respectively.

Director of Kolkata-based Discovery Holidays, Sunil Narsaria, met five operators at the B2B mart yesterday. “They have not had any business with India before and this is simply an untapped market for them.”

He pointed out that Taiwan’s hot springs provide a cheaper alternative to those in New Zealand for Indian travellers, although hotel prices in Taiwan are high.

Kuoni Travel India, on the other hand, gets business traffic to Taiwan from Mumbai, but it plans to offer Taiwan to its clientele of mature leisure travellers looking for new destinations. “However, language is an issue (in Taiwan),” said senior executive Kinjal Shukla.

Meanwhile, Russian travel consultants like Rus-Tour are looking for local partners to develop travel to the island, remarked its inbound tourism department tourism director, Shi Lei.

“We hope to understand tourism resources here and will begin with group travel first. Visa application is the major stumbling block to us because it takes at least seven to 10 days.”

Teta Travel’s general manager, Vladimir Khritinin, shared the same view: “All visa applications are directed to Moscow and those residing in Vladivostok have to factor in an extra nine-hour flight time for passport delivery.”

He said Taiwan faces competition from neighbouring Hong Kong and China, which allow Russian nationals to enter without visas.

INDIAN state-run oil marketing companies announced a 7.3 per cent cut in prices of aviation turbine fuel last week, offering relief to the country’s carriers, though the industry says that more could be done to help airlines.

This is the fourth consecutive price cut since August as international oil rates tumble, the most recent being a three per cent drop last month.

Fuel costs are now US$1018.85 per kilolitre in Delhi as compared to US$1100.11 before.

Sanjiv Kapoor, COO, SpiceJet, commented: “Fuel prices are 40-60 per cent higher in India than rest of the world. The price cut will help reduce the bleeding of airlines.”

“Though fuel has become almost 20 per cent cheaper, its price has been cut around 11 per cent by oil companies. So, if oil companies pass the full benefit to airlines it will further help them to control losses,” said Rajji Rai, chairman, Uniglobe Swiftravel.

“Fuel in India becomes expensive because of the 20-30 per cent tax levied by state governments. There is a need to bring aviation turbine fuel under the declared goods category, which puts it in the tax bracket of a uniform four per cent,” said Ranjan Kumar Mishra, managing director of Eastern Voyage.

STARWOOD Hotels & Resorts this week launched SPG Keyless, an initiative that transforms the guest’s smartphone into a room key and enables guests to bypass the front desk when checking in.

SPG Keyless was rolled out this week to 10 properties under the Aloft, Element and W brands at the following hotels: Aloft Beijing, Aloft Cancun, Aloft Cupertino, Aloft Harlem, W Doha, W Hollywood, W Hong Kong, W New York – Downtown, W Singapore – Sentosa Cove and Element Times Square.

Available to SPG members who book a hotel room through one of Starwood’s channels, SPG Keyless requires SPG members to first register their phones through the SPG app and allow push notifications.

Guests will receive a push notification noting that they are checked in, and the app will update the guest with his/her room number and Bluetooth key when the room is ready. To use, guests simply have to hold their smartphone to the door lock, wait for a solid green light and enter the room.

Frits van Paasschen, Starwood’s president & CEO, said: “Not only does SPG Keyless alleviate a perennial pain point for travellers, but it also transforms the first interaction with our guests from one that is transactional to something more personal.

“This is just the beginning because through mobile we have the opportunity to marry high tech and high touch to transform the hotel experience in many exciting ways.”

Starwood will rapidly roll out SPG Keyless through its international network to make it available on 30,000 doors in 150 hotels around the globe by early 2015, across Aloft, Element and W hotels, said a press release.

STARWOOD Hotels & Resorts has signed an agreement with Browns Hotels and Resorts to manage the latter’s new resort on the southern Sri Lankan coast under the Sheraton brand.

The 172-room, five-star resort is Starwood’s second Sheraton in the country after the 308-room Sheraton Colombo, opening in March 2015.

Opening in mid-2015, Sheraton Kosgoda Turtle Beach Resort is adjacent to a turtle hatchery, one of the must-see tourist sites in the south.

Browns last month also signed to develop a four-star property in the Maldives, its first foray overseas. The agreement with Alpha Kinam Holdings and NPH Investment involves a resort with 150 rooms and 100 apartments.

A spokesperson from Browns said the company is actively looking at other investments in the Maldives.

JAKARTA is Regent Hotels and Resorts’ latest signing, in a deal that will see the luxury hotel group manage KG Global’s property and the return of the brand to the Indonesian capital.

Regent Jakarta, to be part of mixed-use development Mangkuluhur City, is scheduled to begin welcoming guests in early 2018 with 126 hotel rooms and suites and 107 Regent Residences.

Hotel amenities include an all-day dining restaurant, a signature specialty restaurant, library bar, Regent Spa, wellness facilities, and meeting rooms and function venues such as the Grand Ballroom.

“As Regent Hotels and Resorts expands its global footprint, we continue to seek growth opportunities that align the right partners with good locations in gateway cities,” said Arjan De Boer, senior vice president of development of Regent Hotels and Resorts.

“Regent Jakarta will reflect this combination and is an important milestone in the international growth strategy for the Regent brand. The reintroduction of the Regent in Jakarta gives us great pride and we are extremely excited about the future expansion of the brand in Indonesia.”

KAZAKHSTAN is throwing its arms open to tourists in the run-up to Expo 2017 through the relaxation of visa policy and development of tourist-friendly infrastructure.

Rapil Zhoshybayev, first deputy minister of foreign affairs and commissioner of Expo 2017, said 15-day visa-free access had been granted to 10 countries – the US, UK, Germany, France, Italy, Malaysia, the Netherlands, UAE, South Korea and Japan for a one-year period beginning July 15, 2014. Since July 26, Hong Kong passport holders could also enjoy up to 14 days of visa-free stays.

Speaking to TTG Asia e-Daily on the sidelines of the third Global Tourism Economy Forum Macau last week, he added: “We’ve just signed with the EU for diplomatic service passport holders (to enter without visas), and will negotiate with the UK and Schengen.

“In Asia, an agreement has been made with South Korea for 30-day access and we are preparing for a (unilateral) 15-day visa-free access with Japan. Both Vietnam and Indonesia are on our wishlist. We are also preparing an agreement with China to become the next destination with approved destination status.”

Air ticket prices will also be reduced and tour packages created for tourists, said Zhoshybayev.

He explained: “We can be reached by train, but for visitors from distant countries, we would have to wait for them to come by air. Presently, there are five zones singled out in our country for tourists, and they cover sports, hiking, environmental tourism and historical place

Kazakhstan is also investing in infrastructure including new railway lines, roads and hotels – about 40 new properties will be completed by 2017.

AIRPORTS globally will focus on improving passenger processes over the next three years, with 80 per cent planning new self-service and mobile projects, according to the 2014SITA/ACI Airport IT Trends Survey released this week.

Sixty-three per cent of CIOs expect to spend more on technology in 2014 compared to last year, and total spend is estimated to reach US$6.8 billion.

Multi-service kiosks, self-bag drop and self-boarding services are already gradually taking root in airports and by 2017, nearly three-quarters of airports expect the majority of their passengers to use self-service check-in.

Other trends to manifest in the coming years include more airports offering flight status notifications (from 50 per cent now to 90 per cent by 2017) and services through the mobile app including customer relationship management (78 per cent by 2017), way-finding (72 per cent), security wait time notifications (73 per cent) and retail services (65 per cent).

Airports will also increasingly offer customer support via social media. Already 30 per cent do so, but this is set to jump to 70 per cent over the next three years.

Some 60 per cent of airports plan to have geo-location programmes, which allows airports to provide services in relation to where the passenger or staff is at a particular time, over the next three years.

New innovations are also making their appearance, with 49 per cent investing in near field communications, 33 per cent planning iBeacon programmes and 16 per cent investigating wearable technologies.

Francesco Violante, CEO, SITA, said: “This is the age of the connected traveller with nearly all passengers carrying mobiles, tablets and other devices. It is vital that airports invest in the infrastructure to support the changing expectations of these passengers.”

The SITA Airport IT Trends Survey is based on responses from participants at airports across the world through which 2.4 billion passengers travelled last year.