LUXURY hotel group, ITC Hotels, is expanding its portfolio with a new golf resort and spa to be introduced this October.

The ITC Grand Bharat is set in the Aravalli Hills in Manesar, a 40-minute drive from Delhi.

Occupying 121ha, the resort offers 100 suites with either an al fresco terrace or private plunge pool, and four Presidential Villas with private pools and round-the-clock butler service.

The highlight of the resort is its Jack Nicklaus-designed, 27-hole golf course with three specialised courses, a golf club and a bar.

Another signature of ITC Grand Bharat is the Kaya Kalp – The Royal Spa. Built with nine treatment rooms, the spa also features yoga regimes from the Bihar School of Yoga, a fitness centre with personal trainers, and naturopathic cuisine – a special diet planned by Ayurveda practitioners and certified doctors.

There will be four dining outlets within the resort namely the all-day dining Aravalli Pavilion, the India Room serving European cuisine, The Peacock Bar & Cigar Divan and Camp Bharat, a poolside bar and lounge. Guests can also try their hand at cooking at ITC Hotels’ first culinary school.

The resort simultaneously caters to guests with a range of activities for adventure and nature lovers, from nature trails and bird watching, to canoeing, paragliding, swimming, cycling or watching a live performance at the open-air amphitheatre.

Besides its extensive facilities, ITC Grand Bharat promotes sustainable tourism, which can be seen through the water conservation facilities, on-site recycling plants and energy efficient lighting on hotel premises.

Meanwhile, ITC Hotels is preparing to open ITC Vilasa, the hotel group’s first beach resort and spa situated 25km from Chennai overlooking the Bay of Bengal, by mid-2015.

A further four hotels are scheduled to open by 2018, as is the ITC Hotel in Colombo, Sri Lanka.

The company currently has a portfolio of 10 business-focused hotels in top Indian cities.

LUX* Resorts & Hotels this week launched Lux Lijiang in the UNESCO World Heritage site of Lijiang, following a recent unveiling of adventure circuit, Lux Tea Horse Road.

Situated at the foot of the Jade Dragon Snow Mountain, the boutique hotel was constructed with traditional timber frames found in Naxi architecture. Its six Superior Rooms, two Deluxe Rooms and two Junior Suites offer views over tranquil courtyards and picturesque rooftops.

Lux Lijiang also comes with a tea house and library.

The hotel can act as a base for travellers keen to explore the Lux Tea Horse Road, which can be done on foot, bicycle or horseback. Traversing Yunnan and Szechuan provinces, the legendary trail once stretched from Pu’er, Yunnan to Lhasa, Tibet, and supported the trade of Chinese tea in exchange for salt and Tibetan horses. Lux tour guides can also arrange a private audience with Dongba shamans.

Paul Jones, CEO, Lux Resorts & Hotels, said: “In a comparatively short time, we have built a strong and growing Chinese customer base for our existing operations in the Indian Ocean. Our intention now is to create the journey of a lifetime for these guests in this most special part of their home country.”

INFINITE Luxury will open its flagship Kata Rocks on Phuket’s Kata Beach on November 28, its first luxury resort property and with more to come.

The resort is located on a hillside overlooking Kata Beach and the Andaman Sea, giving guests easy access to luxury shops, boutiques, bars and restaurants in Kata village.

Guests can walk out to the rocky headland, and during the high season, arrive at the resort’s own jetty on private yachts.

Kata Rocks has an inventory of 34 one-, two-, three-, and four-bedroom Sky Villas, all of which come with a private infinity pool. Each villa comes with an interactive iPad controller that allows guests to control mood lighting and order room service.

Other on-site facilities include an oceanfront restaurant, a 35m swimming pool and poolside bar, the Infinite Luxury spa with seven treatment rooms, and a gym equipped with the latest equipment.

All the villas at Kata Rocks are privately owned but managed by Infinite Luxury, a construction and residential development company founded more than 20 years ago in London’s Notting Hill.

Kata Rocks has launched a soft opening package from now until October 31, giving guests a 20 per cent discount on published rates and free airport transfers. Contact reservations@katarocks.com.

CHOOSE Chicago is promoting the city’s Lunar New Year celebrations, museums, outdoor activities and shopping to attract more tourists from China, its largest source of international visitors in 2013.

The tourism bureau this week met with travel agencies and airlines in Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou, with both sides brainstorming themed tours for Chinese visitors. For instance, promoting Chicago as a food capital to draw visitors from Guangzhou, China’s gourmet capital.

Chicago is also dangling exclusive discounts on airfares, accommodation and shopping for the second time, applicable for the Lunar New Year period that falls around February 17 next year.

Marketing wise, Choose Chicago has launched a three-month campaign to promote travel products such as hotels and flights through Chinese tour operators’ online channels. Chinese celebrity Qin Lan will also visit Chicago and share her experiences through the media.

In October, Choose Chicago will also launch a marketing campaign, promoting US brands that were once only focused on the domestic market to international audiences like China.

Choose Chicago established a new office in Guangzhou last year, the third in China after Beijing and Shanghai.

Don Welsh, president and chief executive of the tourism bureau, remarked that the city hosted numerous tradeshows and a US-China summit, which attracted a lot of Chinese inbound traffic.

Group tourists make up the majority of Chinese tourists to Chicago, while FITs are a small but steadily expanding faction. Interstate travel by car is also growing.

Last year, Chicago saw 1.8 million Chinese arrivals or a 22 per cent year-on-year increase. The US city expects to welcome more than 50 million international visitors in 2015.

Article by Yvonne Chang. Translated by Ong Yanchun  from the original TTG China e-Daily, September 9, 2014 article.

OKINAWA is set to welcome more arrivals from Singapore with 14 direct charter flights operated by SilkAir and Jetstar, slated to operate from this month through to January 2015.

SilkAir will operate 12 flights via the 162-seat Boeing 737-800. From September 9 to October 13, flights depart Singapore at 10.00 to reach Naha at 16.15; from November 20, 2014 to January 3, 2015, flights depart Singapore at 10.00 to reach Naha at 16.05.

Jetstar will operate two services via the 182-seat Airbus A320.

Francis Loi, acting head of commercial, Jetstar Asia, told TTG Asia e-Daily the roundtrip flights will take off on November 20 and 24, and are likely to be morning and late-night services.

Both airlines’ tickets will be sold via travel agencies.

The announcement to the Singapore media yesterday follows the MoU inked between Changi Airport Group (CAG) and Okinawa Prefecture Government (OPG) in March, in a bid to promote the Lion City as a hub to Okinawa.

Wong Woon Liong, senior advisor, CAG, said: “With the elimination of a stopover, the total air journey will be almost halved from 10 hours to slightly over five…CAG and OPG will support airlines, travel consultants, and trade partners in establishing more non-stop charter services, towards the common and eventual goal of scheduled services in the future.”

Yoshihisa Kawakami, vice governor of the prefecture, explained: “Charter services can be used to test market demand, and their conversion to scheduled services typically follows at least six months after commencement.”

RESORT destinations Phuket and Koh Samui have been not been spared by this year’s political instability, and the market is becoming increasingly vulnerable to its dependence on mass tourism, new research from C9 Hotelworks reveals.

Performance in Phuket and Koh Samui had been relatively strong for most of 1H2014 – while street protests and travel advisories severely dampened business in Bangkok ­– but took a hit from the ensuing coup, curfews and imposition of martial law.

Bill Barnett, managing director of C9 Hotelworks and author of both the Samui and Phuket market updates, told TTG Asia e-Daily that the situation started to improve after the curfew was lifted. However, the negative trend will clip performance throughout peak season, resulting in a relatively static year for both markets.

Thailand is exposed to further vulnerabilities from its dependence on mass tourism, especially in Phuket where Chinese and Russian visitors accounted for 47 per cent of international arrivals from January to June, rising six per cent and 14 per cent year-on-year, respectively.

The effects of domestic crises can also be exacerbated by external factors such as Russia’s conflict with Ukraine and rising oil prices, he said.

“Thailand has gone well past the vanishing point on mass tourism; there are simply too many hotels beds to fill and mouths to feed,” said Barnett.

“This is not the worst thing in the world as the country’s location and appeal are undeniable. What’s concerning is segmentation becoming too narrow. This is the most present trading danger today.”

C9 Hotelworks’ research shows hotel occupancy in Phuket fell four percentage points to 72 per cent in 1H2014, while average daily rates (ADR) declined from last year’s US$165 to US$159.

Passenger arrivals through the airport were up 13 per cent during the period with 5,810 flights. The proportion of direct international flights rose to 55 per cent, up from 38 per cent in the first six months of 2013.

The top three source markets are China (29 per cent), Russia (19 per cent) and Australia (seven per cent).

There are 4,582 new rooms in 23 hotels in the pipeline, 40 of which are tabled to come online next year with another 22 per cent in 2016.

The Koh Samui market was more diverse, led by for the first time by Russia (12 per cent), followed by Thailand (12 per cent) and Germany (11 per cent). Market-wide occupancy was down three percentage points at 70 per cent though ADR rose US$8 to US$162 when compared to the same period the year before.

The island’s development pipeline will see three hotels open from now until the end of 2016, adding 203 keys.

THE Azure Qiantang started welcoming guests this week in Hangzhou, capital of Zhejiang province, as a member of Starwood Hotels & Resorts’ The Luxury Collection.

Designed by renowned architect Pierre-Yves Rochon, the property boasts a blue glass structure with design elements paying tribute to the Qiantang River, along the bank of which The Azure Qiantang is located. It takes its name from Memories of the South, written by Tang Dynasty poet Bai Juyi.

The hotel offers 205 guestrooms and suites, all coming with river views. Notable amenities include the hotel’s swimming pool, spa with seven treatment rooms and three massage rooms, and the 24-hour fitness centre.

Culinary offerings at The Azure Qiantang include: Lan Ting Chinese Restaurant and its 14 private dining suites and main dining hall, serving Hangzhou cuisine; Panorama Restaurant & Fare dishing up favourite local snacks; the Riverview Terrace on the 22^nd floor for cocktails; and the Lobby Bar where guests can have local afternoon tea.

In terms of meeting spaces, the hotel provides a 650m² Grand Ballroom with a 312m² foyer and six other rooms. All venues are fitted with floor-to-ceiling glass windows to allow natural light in.

The Azure Qiantang has introduced an opening package valid from now until December 31. Deluxe rooms are priced at RMB1,300 (US$212) a night. Guests who book consecutive nights will receive free breakfast for two. Prices are subject to a 15 per cent service charge.

Its opening brings Luxury Collection’s portfolio to six hotels in China, including the Astor Hotel in Tianjin, Twelve at Hengshan, The Hongta Hotel in Shanghai, The Royal Begonia in Sanya, and the recently opened The Castle Hotel in Dalian.