STARWOOD Hotels & Resorts has announced that it will open four more hotels in China by end-2014: The St Regis Chengdu; W Beijing – Chang’an; The Azure Qiantang, a Luxury Collection Hotel, Hangzhou; and The Castle Hotel, a Luxury Collection Hotel, Dalian.

To open late summer, The St Regis Chengdu offers close proximity to Tianfu Square and Chun Xi Road. With 279 rooms, the hotel also offers six unique F&B options, meeting space of 396m² and the signature St Regis Butler Service for all guests. The St Regis brand will expand to Changsha, Haikou, Lijiang, Macau, Nanjing, Sanya and Zhuhai within the next three years.

The 353-key W Beijing is located in Beijing’s downtown diplomatic and commercial district and features four eateries, as well as 701m² of meeting space including a 158m² Great Room. Starwood also plans to debut W Hotels in Changsha, Chengdu, Macau, Shanghai and Suzhou.

The Azure Qiantang, a Luxury Collection Hotel, Hangzhou offers 205 guestrooms and suites with floor-to-ceiling windows for excellent views of Hangzhou’s West Lake. It comes with two restaurants, a lobby lounge, seven meeting rooms with abundant natural light and a 195m² grand ballroom. The hotel will open in autumn.

Also to reopen this fall, The Castle Hotel, a Luxury Collection Hotel, Dalian is still in the mid of a complete interior renovation. Overlooking Xinghai Square, Xinghai Bay and the Yellow Sea, the hotel has 292 rooms and suites and 67 residences. Guests can choose from three restaurants and two lounges, 790m² in versatile space including a 427m² grand ballroom and eight function rooms, and a 1,208m² open rooftop garden for social events.

Starwood will expand the presence of The Luxury Collection brand to Nanning, Xiamen, Nanjing and Suzhou.

PULLMAN Miri Waterfront will debut in 4Q2015 as the second international brand in Miri and the second Pullman hotel in Sarawak.

A mixed development project by local developer and owner Unique Harvests comprises the 328-room Pullman Miri Waterfront, 18 storeys of high-rise strata titled suites and 10 units of three-storey shophouses, all to be located at Miri Waterfront Commercial Centre.

Meeting facilities at Pullman Miri Waterfront include a ballroom with 1,000-pax seating capacity and six other state-of-the-art function rooms. The executive lounge on the 24th floor will offer panoramic views of Miri city and the South China Sea.

Unique Harvests project director, Alice Hu Yun Bin, said: “A new international presence is a continued indication that our city of Miri is both safe and secure, and that opportunities for international investment and business exist here. We know that international companies watch each other for signs of potential business opportunities and a new international presence here can mean an expected increase in the amount of international interest and planned projects for the future.

“The Pullman Miri Waterfront will not only create luxury accommodation for our guests and visitors, but also produce many new jobs for the local workforce with our human resource plan calling for training of local labour to work alongside international managers and staff.”

Adam Kamal, deputy president 2 of the Malaysian Inbound Tourism Association, said: “The additional rooms will help attract more affluent tourists from neighbouring countries. The big ballroom with banqueting facilities will also attract more small- to medium-size MICE groups to the destination.”

Miri’s other international hotel brand is a Marriott Resort & Spa.

SLOWING growth rate in the Chinese economy is giving rise to calls for more structured corporate travel management in order to obtain better cost savings.

This is according to HRG’s China Travel Trends Report released last week which said more Chinese companies are now opting to use online booking tools and company credit cards.

Commenting on the change, HRG China’s general manager, Yates Fei, said: “The corporate travel market has evolved rapidly in the past decade in the world’s second largest economy and fastest growing market.

“We have seen change in every part of the business – service configurations are moving away from on-site to off-site dedicated team set-up, the classic travel management model has evolved into the widespread deployment of online booking tools, invoice payment now employs various credit platforms, simple air spend management now includes the management of all T&E expenses, and simple relationship management is now a more value/objectives-focused business management.”

According to the report, the top five priorities for China-based multinational companies are: cost savings; standardisation of management; data management, traveller security; and alternatives to travel.

Said Fei: “China is currently experiencing a slower growth rate overall however, this is leading to an increase in demand for structured corporate travel management with more companies opting to use online booking tools and introducing company credit cards as they realise the vast benefits of doing so, especially controlling travel and related expenditure costs. Our clients, during this period, remain cautious and look to us to help optimise their travel programme.”

Despite cost savings being the top priority, companies studied were optimistic about China’s future economic developments and have committed to increasing expenditure in corporate travel.

They also said they would maintain or increase manpower in 2015 to meet increasing labour demands and economic growth.

Chinese corporate travel spend was US$223.5 billion in 2013, a figure that is expected to balloon 16.5 per cent in 2014 or double the increase of China’s GDP growth.

Current projections have forecast China’s travel market expenditure to hit US$309 by 2015.

WITH Chinese visitor arrivals into Asia-Pacific expected to reach 182 million by 2018, PATA is preparing the region’s travel businesses through a new training and accreditation scheme.

China Ready certification is meant to assure Chinese tourists and consumers that the establishment meets a pre-determined level of service quality.

Training combines the wisdom and experiences of cultural and business leaders in China, and that of industry experts from the market the trainee is based in.

Upon completion of the training, participants will receive a co-branded certificate, while PATA member organisations that meet the global criteria guaranteeing best business practice focused on quality assurance, safety and legal compliance will also get a co-branded PATA/China Ready & Accredited quality service certification.

PATA signed a master licence agreement with China Ready & Accredited during its annual general meeting in Zhuhai last month, which allows the association the right to promote and facilitate either face-to-face or online training to its members.

Martin J Craigs, CEO, PATA, said in a media statement: “Destinations and companies that want business from China can give themselves a real advantage by attaining China Ready accreditation. It’s one of the best investments in the future that a tourism body can make these days.”

DOUBLETREE by Hilton Jakarta – Diponegoro opened its doors to guests last week, the latest property in Hilton Worldwide’s Indonesian portfolio and the first DoubleTree by Hilton hotel in the country.

Located on a 1,400m² plot of land in Cikini, Central Jakarta, DoubleTree by Hilton Jakarta – Diponegoro offers 253 guestrooms including executive rooms and 11 suites. It also features three dining outlets, a ballroom and meeting rooms, an outdoor swimming pool with a kid’s pool, and 24-hour business and fitness centres.

Martin Rinck, president, Asia-Pacific, Hilton Worldwide, said: “The opening of DoubleTree by Hilton Jakarta – Diponegoro marks the addition of a third brand to our portfolio in Indonesia.”

Hilton Worldwide’s two other brands present in Indonesia are Conrad, in Bali, and Hilton, in Bandung.

Looking ahead, the group will launch its Hilton Garden Inn brand in the Bali airport in August/September and a second property in Kuta, Bali in 2016. In the pipeline is Waldorf Astoria, which will open in Jakarta and Uluwatu, Bali in 2017.

Speaking to TTG Asia e-Daily in Jakarta, William Costley, vice president of operations – South-east Asia, Hilton Worldwide, said: “In Indonesia we are looking at developing Waldorf Astoria, Conrad, Hilton, DoubleTree by Hilton and Hilton Garden Inn. We would love to have each brand in Jakarta.

“In fact, Jakarta is so large that there could be more than one Hilton Garden Inn here, for example.”

In a mature market like Bali, Costley also saw demand for hotels like DoubleTree by Hilton and Hilton.

Other cities the group is looking at are Medan and Balikpapan. “Medan is the second biggest city in Indonesia, and has a combination of business and leisure markets while Balikpapan has oil and gas businesses,” Costley explained.

“Both are not luxury destinations so it won’t be a Waldorf or Conrad, but could be Hilton or Hilton Garden Inn,” he said.

CANBERRA Airport will welcome the first international flights to the city within the coming year now that it is “all dressed up and ready to go” following the opening of its new terminal this April.

Stephen Byron, CEO of Canberra Airport, said the airport is setting its sights first on Singapore as it is the “pre-eminent hub” that will help Canberra connect to the whole of Asia.

According to Byron, there are currently approximately 7,800 passengers per week travelling between Canberra and Asia/Europe via other Australian cities, and Singapore contributes 50 per cent of this gateway traffic.

He said: “Singapore is the most obvious hub for us to connect to and we believe this gateway share (from Singapore) can increase by 40 per cent if there is a direct return flight to Canberra.”

Convincing Singapore Airlines to start a daily Airbus A330-300 service on the route requires some 3,000 passengers per week, a criterion Byron says Canberra has fulfilled. Discussions with the carrier are ongoing.

Canberra Airport completed its A$480 million (US$450 million) redevelopment plan last year, and now brandishes an international terminal zone with space set for aside for customs, immigration and quarantine facilities.

The terminal’s departure lounges and aerobridges are capable of switching from a domestic function to an international gate, with two of the existing 14 boarding gates earmarked for international flights and provisions for a further six international boarding gates.

Visit Canberra’s director, Ian Hill, said: “We are the capital city of Australia after all and there is just so much that we want to showcase from our arts and culture, to our outdoors and adventure, and food and shopping.”

Chan Brothers Travel senior product manager, Tevin Ong, agreed that Canberra has the potential to lure Singaporeans as it is an “unexplored city”.

He said: “We are always bringing Singaporean travellers to the popular cities like Melbourne and Sydney, and this will be good news for them to be the first to look at something new and different in Australia.”