FAR East Hospitality (FEH) has named Melvin Lim area general manager, Orchard cluster to oversee the performance of FEH’s hotels in the Orchard district.
This includes The Quincy Hotel, Orchard Parade Hotel and The Elizabeth Hotel.
Lim has over 20 years of experience in the hospitality industry under his belt and was most recently vice president of an international hotel group.
William Haandrikman
SOFITEL Bangkok Sukhumvit has appointed William Haandrikman as general manager, effectively immediately.
The Dutch national brings to Sofitel’s flagship property in South-east Asia 21 years of experience in the hospitality industry. He was previously general manager of Sofitel Shanghai Jing’an Huamin.
Haandrikman joined Accor in 1992 and has since worked at the senior management level in eight countries across three continents.
THE Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has formed technical teams in Mumbai and New Delhi airports to perform random safety checks on aircraft belonging to foreign airlines, imposing penalties for lapses.
Checks will cover aircraft hardware and mandatory documents such as the Air Operating Certificate and cabin crew licences, according to a checklist based on ICAO recommendations.
Penalties range from warning the airline to comply within a specified time frame and grounding the aircraft to denying the airline the right to fly into India for major safety violations.
The move comes after the US’ Federal Aviation Administration downgraded India’s aviation safety ranking two weeks ago (TTG Asia e-Daily, February 4, 2014).
Rajendra Churiwala, director-east, IATA Agents Association of India, said: “Safety checks are quite normal, it is the intensity of such checks that could determine what kind of impact it will have on international carriers flying to India.”
Ariana Afghan Airlines, All Nippon Airways and SriLankan Airlines were most recently penalised for safety lapses, said a DGCA source.
MALAYSIA may have taken the top spot as the best destination for Muslim travellers but Japan has demonstrated the most commitment to bettering its facilities for this market segment.
Singapore-based Muslim travel specialist Crescentrating yesterday released its annual ranking of destinations that cater best to the needs of Muslim travellers, which saw Malaysia in pole position again (TTG Asia e-Daily, January 21, 2013). Main criteria taken into account include the suitability of the destination for family holidays, service levels, Muslim-friendly facilities and marketing initiatives aimed at Muslim travellers.
Japan rose from 50th spot last year to 40th currently, showing the greatest improvement of all countries surveyed.
Singapore’s The Business Times quoted Crescentrating chief executive, Fazal Bahardeen, as saying: “Japan has definitely been the most active destination during the last year to focus on this segment of travellers”
“It has launched a number of initiatives – from awareness programmes to the local industry to releasing the Muslim travel guide to Japan (TTG Asia e-Daily, March 19, 2013).”
Crescentrating’s release also noted that a number of airports in Japan now offer halal food and prayer rooms.
This year’s survey ranked 60 destinations, 10 more than in 2013.
For countries within the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), the United Arab Emirates took second place followed by Turkey, Indonesia and Saudi Arabia to round up the top five.
Singapore leads as the number one halal friendly destination outside the OIC for the second year running. South Africa, Thailand, the UK and Bosnia & Herzegovina made up the rest of the top five.
LONG-STANDING political tensions were no barrier for Chinese travellers looking for sun, surf and gaming as arrivals from China to the Philippines surged a dramatic 69.9 per cent year-on-year in 2013.
Travel consultants said this affirmed the Philippines’ appeal as a top beach destination. Oliver Sison, general manager at Far Eastern Travel Agency, said Chinese travellers love the beach and “primarily Boracay and (its) party atmosphere”.
China was the Philippines’ fourth biggest source market according to Department of Tourism (DoT) statistics, totalling 426,352 arrivals and a 9.1 per cent total market share in 2013.
DoT attributed this to better air connections and more cruise itineraries, which together supported the NTO’s “aggressive marketing activities” in cities such as Guangzhou, Shanghai, Xiamen and Beijing.
Gambling is also proving to be a strong attraction, especially in Manila. Said Sison: “Resorts World Manila is (in Manila), Solaire (Resort & Casino) has just opened, and City of Dreams is under construction. That’s a step in the right direction if we want more of the Chinese market.”
Miggie Macasinag, general manager of Roman International Travel and Tours, concurred, sharing that two fully booked charters from Xiamen to Legazpi City in Bicol were organised recently for Misibis Bay Resort, with the main draw being the resort’s newly added gambling facilities.
The Philippines welcomed 4.7 million foreign visitors in 2013, surpassing the 4.3 million recorded in 2012 by 9.6 per cent despite the devastating earthquake and super typhoon that hit late last year.
Taiwan’s travel ban on the Philippines cut arrivals by 35.8 per cent, particularly from June to September. Taiwan became the Philippines’ seventh largest source, down from fifth place in 2012.
MANTRA Group today announced that Sentosa Seminyak in Bali will be rebranded as Peppers Sentosa Seminyak in March.
The rebranded property is Mantra’s second in Indonesia after the Mantra Nusa Dua, which debuted in late 2012.
Peppers Sentosa Seminyak comprises 39 three-, four- and five-bedroom luxury villas, each featuring a private pool, kitchen and living areas. Other facilities on-site include Luke Mangan’s signature Salt tapas and bar, and a spa.
Another two Peppers and Mantra properties in Indonesia are in the pipeline and will be announced in 1H2014.
SOLO’S Adi Sumarmo International Airport has been denied clearance for take-off once again as volcanic ash from the Mount Kelud eruption continues to linger, forcing authorities to push its reopening to tomorrow.
Speaking at a media conference in Solo, Muhammad Alwi, head of airport authority area three, Ministry of Transportation, said the air around the Solo airport was not free of ash yet, which could affect aircraft engines.
This is the second time the Solo airport’s reopening has been postponed. It was originally scheduled to resume operations today, alongside Adisucipto International Airport in Jogjakarta (TTG Asia e-Daily, February 17, 2014), which opens at noon.
Separately, Garuda Indonesia has announced it will recommence services to and from the Jogjakarta airport today, with the first flight scheduled to depart at 12.05 for Jakarta.
From Jogjakarta, Garuda has 20 flights daily to Jakarta, six to Bali and two to Balikpapan, all roundtrip.
ACCOR will replace InterContinental Hotels Group in managing the reknowned Crocodile Hotel and Cooinda Lodge in Australia’s Kakadu National Park, Northern Territory and put greater emphasis on the indigenous tourism experience.
The hotel operator has signed an MoU with the owners of both properties to take over management duties effective from April 1 this year.
Both the 110-room Crocodile Hotel and 48-room Cooinda Lodge were the first major tourism properties developed by an indigenous organisation in Australia.
Rex Wild, chairman of Kakadu Tourism, commented in a press release: “What particularly attracted us to Accor is its championing of indigenous employment, which is a fundamental objective of the operation of the two properties.
“We already have extensive involvement of indigenous Australians in our tourism operations, but we believe we can increase the development of long-term, sustainable careers as a result of our association with Accor.”
Wild noted that the stronger Australian dollar and Asia’s rise in popularity for tourism have impacted traffic to Kakadu, but believes “Kakadu is one of the world’s most significant tourism destinations and there is vast potential to grow visitation from both overseas and locally”.
The current managers of the two hotels will continue under Accor management.
TWO upcoming major sports events will give the Gold Coast a significant boost in its branding as a business events destination, said Gold Coast Tourism Corporation chief executive, Martin Winter.
The Australian city will host the 2014 Pan Pacific Swimming Championships in August and the 2018 Commonwealth Games in April.
“(These games) give us a big opportunity to attract a myriad of business events in allied activities, such as sports science and sports medicine meetings and conferences,” Winter said, adding that tourism and related businesses in the city and its surroundings will benefit from “big teams that come to the Gold Coast in the lead up to the games for training and acclimatisation”.
Although athletes participating in the Commonwealth Games will be housed in a Games Village equipped with some 8,000 dwellings, hotels in the destination will benefit from these advance teams, said Winter.
“There are approximately 65,000 beds in the Gold Coast – more than what’s available in most other capital cities – which will provide sufficient accommodation (for the advance teams),” he explained.
Although Winter acknowledged that the city will be packed out and accommodation capacity stretched during the games, he believes the impact on business events will be minimal as events unrelated to sports and the games will likely be held “at a different time”.
Winning the games’ hosting rights also presents the Gold Coast with new opportunities to market itself to international consumers.
“The Gold Coast is given an 11-minute opportunity during the Glasgow 2014 closing ceremony to promote the destination and the next Commonwealth Games. Besides that, we will have ground presence in central Glasgow where people can go and get information on the 2018 Commonwealth Games,” he said.
“A string of activities” will be rolled out to promote the destination and the 2018 Commonwealth Games, but details can only be revealed after the conclusion of the Glasgow edition, which will run from July 23 to August 3.
THE second Business Events Week opened yesterday with the Melbourne Convention Bureau (MCB) releasing results of new research, which finds that the value of international conferences to the local economy has significantly increased and Asians now form the largest proportion of international delegates.
The Melbourne Convention Delegate Study 2013, now in its fourth edition, was commissioned to examine the conference delegate’s experience in Melbourne and the economic value driven from their attendance to the state’s economy.
The study covers the period from May to December 2013 and contains data gathered from 3,846 surveys completed by delegates from 150 countries, attending five major conferences in Melbourne.
Sharing findings from the study at a press conference, Karen Bolinger, CEO of MCB, said: “Delegates are spending more than A$1,019 (US$920) a day on accommodation, dining out, domestic air travel and recreational activities in Melbourne, representing a 28 per cent increase from the 2010 study.”
“Much of this spend is going straight into Victoria’s small to medium businesses and delivering business into the tourism sector in traditionally off-peak periods,” Bolinger added, offering the World Diabetes Congress 2013 in December as an example.
“The event generated 50 per cent of occupancy for hotels and Melbourne Convention Exhibition Centre (in December), which would otherwise be quiet at that time of the year,” she explained.
The study also revealed that the majority of international delegates – 71 per cent – were new visitors to Australia and half would not have visited the country in the next three years had they not been attending a conference in Melbourne.
Asian delegates formed 49 per cent of total international attendance, while China and India were the largest source markets for Melbourne.
Bolinger also shared that 28 per cent of all international delegates were accompanied on their trip to Melbourne, with the average number of accompanying persons standing at 2.8 delegates, as well as that delegates and their companions had extended their trip beyond Melbourne city.
Thirty-eight per cent of respondents explored regional Victoria before or after the conference, and a close 36 per cent visited other parts of Australia. Sydney was most popular for extensions, garnering an 83 per cent vote.
Respondents also said that event content was most crucial in their decision to attend a conference in Melbourne.
Concluding the presentation, Bolinger said: “Major conferences may be overshadowed by sexier consumer events like the Australian Open (Tennis Championships), but their economic value is on par with consumer events and maybe even more.”
