SILVERNEEDLE Hospitality’s upper midscale hotel brand, Country Comfort, is offering a new franchising model, passing on all savings from negotiating the lowest possible costs for all furniture, fittings and equipment (FF&E) with its suppliers directly to franchisees.
The group’s Singapore-based executive vice president for brands, Sean Flynn, said: “As a franchiser, we take a long-term view of aligning our economic interests with the franchisees’ so we will be one of the few hotel franchisers that will not make any money off the franchisee’s capital expenditure.”

The FF&E cost of a Country Comfort room will be 25 per cent lower than the average FF&E cost of a midscale hotel room, according to the 2013/2014 HVS Hotel Development Cost Survey.

Quality fittings in the Country Comfort franchise include the SilverNeedle DreamWeave Sleep System comprising the highest quality pillow-top mattress with gel-infused memory foam, Egyptian cotton 300 thread count per inch linens and a selection of premium pillows.

Guests will also enjoy an energising high pressure shower experience and quality bathware from the high-end German brand, Bravat.

Meanwhile, SilverNeedle aims to take Country Comfort, already established in Australia and New Zealand, to other parts of Asia-Pacific, specifically South-east Asia, North and South Asia. The group is in discussions with interested franchisees in Japan, Malaysia, Macau, Vietnam and Australia.

WYNDHAM Worldwide has partnered Unique Mercantile India to bring American brand Howard Johnson, popularly known as HoJo, to India, with a plan to establish 35 mid-market hotels in the country by 2020.

The first HoJo is scheduled to open in 2Q2014 in Bengaluru, located near major corporate offices and offering 117 rooms and suites with an outdoor swimming pool, a spa, fitness centre and conference space.

HoJo is a 60-year-old brand with 500 properties worldwide. Unique Mercantile India will invest Rs20 billion (US$329.5 million) to grow the brand in India.

Unique’s director, Rahul Rai, said: “We aim to invest in both incomplete and existing hotels which are not performing very well, to convert them into HoJo properties with international standard services.

“We chose Bengaluru for the first property as the city has embraced all international brands enthusiastically.”

Smitha Prasad, regional manager for business development of Bengaluru-based Comfort Leisure, said: “HoJo is a very well-known American brand with good recall for the business traveller.

“Since the features of the HoJos in India will be designed to appeal to the local market, we expect to see a large number of Indian business travellers and North American travellers to India patronising this brand across the country.

“Credible mid-market brands like HoJo will be a resounding success in India.”

TRAVEL agencies Malaysia anticipate dampened demand for outbound tours during the upcoming MATTA Fair in Kuala Lumpur, which starts this Friday and runs through the weekend. However, none interviewed have seen cancellations.

Their projection follows the recent disappearance of Malaysia Airlines’ (MAS) Beijing-bound flight MH370, which went missing on March 8 after its departure from Kuala Lumpur (TTG Asia e-Daily, March 10, 2014).

Sedunia Travel business development manager for wholesale, Gary Oh, expects medium- and longhaul packages to be affected. “Since the incident, longhaul bookings have slowed down…However, outbound tours to regional destinations are still holding strong,” he said.

Apple Vacations & Conventions group managing director, Desmond Lee, added: “I anticipate our sales during MATTA Fair will be affected as some travellers may wish to defer their holiday plans. However, I don’t think there will be a drastic drop in package sales compared with the previous year.”

He noted a few enquiries from travellers who have booked MAS flights and wanted to change airlines. “They were concerned about their safety, but when they heard that had to pay a fee for changes, there was no further call for action. We have two full-board tours to Beijing next month and so far, no client has backed out.”

Similarly, Mayflower Acme Tours deputy general manager for channel management, Abdul Rahman Mohamed, anticipates a dampened mood for travel, but declined to predict the extent of the impact. His company has not received any cancellations of deferments so far.

“It shows Malaysians are confident about flying,” he explained.

Meanwhile, the search for MH370 is still ongoing. MAS issued a statement today saying that the Boeing 777-200 had undergone maintenance 10 days before its flight and no issues on the health of the aircraft had surfaced. Its next check is due on June 19.

The airline also said it is working closely with the government of China to expedite the issuance of passports for the families of the missing passengers who intend to travel to Malaysia, as well as with the immigration of Malaysia on the issuance of their visas into Malaysia.

MAS will deploy an additional aircraft to bring the families from Beijing from Kuala Lumpur today. Oneworld partners have also been engaged to help the families from other countries to travel to Kuala Lumpur.

TOURISM New Zealand (TNZ) yesterday announced the launch of its new trade website, which has been streamlined and simplified.

The site’s redevelopment was initiated to provide current and relevant training tools and resources, such as TNZ’s online modules and the 100% Pure New Zealand Specialist programme.

Based on research conducted with travel consultants and product managers in three key offshore markets, the site’s content was streamlined and top-selling tips added from TNZ’s Essential New Zealand mobile app, as well as links to newzealand.com to reduce duplication on destination content.

The product database was also simplified, while new suggested itineraries were developed and added for each region.

The website, http://traveltrade.newzealand.com, is now available in English, Korean, simplified Chinese and Japanese, and will be translated into French, Portuguese, Latin American Spanish and Bahasa Indonesian in the coming months.

LAST year was the strongest year since the global financial crisis in 2007 in terms of hotel investment growth in Asia, according to the latest figures from JLL’s Hotels & Hospitality Group.

Investment volumes in the region reached US$7.5 billion at the end of 2013, up 218 per cent over 2012 and defying all industry expectations.

JLL forecasts 2014 to be a similarly stand-out year, although transactions volumes are likely to fall on the back of limited supply, despite strong demand.

Singapore, Japan and China dominated in terms of transaction volumes. Japan topped overall investment volumes at US$2.7 billion, up 480 per cent over 2012, as hotel trading performance improved in line with the expansion of the domestic economy and renewed growth in corporate and leisure travel.

Capital values reached new records for the Singapore hotel market, resulting in transaction volumes of US$2.0 billion, over 10 times that recorded in 2012. This was predominantly supported by the sale of Grand Park Orchard hotel and Knightsbridge retail, the City’s largest single asset transaction to date.

China accounted for around 13 per cent of total investment activity, recording US$1.1 billion of transactions, as recent government announcements to improve access to financing drove investor sentiment over 2H2013.

Other markets that experienced strong growth in the region as a result of improved connectivity and burgeoning outbound travel from China include Hong Kong (US$486.7 million, up 19 per cent YoY), Thailand (US$337 million, up 31 per cent YoY) and the Maldives (US$267.6 million, up a huge 614 per cent YoY).

Mike Batchelor, managing director investment sales, Hotels & Hospitality, JLL, said: “Strong investor sentiment and, importantly, the availability of quality hotel assets were key reasons behind Asia’s impressive sales volume in 2013, which was hindered only by the availability of additional stock as many owners increasingly hold off selling assets in anticipation of further market growth.

“Mature hotel markets such as Singapore continue to be governed by well-capitalised, inter-generational investors and as stock becomes increasingly limited, investors are now starting to look further afield once again at new and emerging markets in the region.

“There remains no shortage of capital to be invested into the sector in 2014 (mostly from interregional Asian investors). However, improved trading performance and the tightening of cap rates have elevated the expectations of the region’s sellers.

“The resulting restricted supply will shape activity this year and, while overall deal flow will remain robust, we expect volumes to moderate in 2014 because of fewer landmark transactions and portfolio deals in the key gateway locations.”

On markets that will receive the most investor attention throughout 2014, Frank Sorgiovanni, vice president, research and strategic advisory, Hotels & Hospitality, JLL, said: “Japan, Indochina and the Indian Ocean may account for the majority of transaction volumes in 2014.

“Investors are gradually considering emerging hotel markets such as Myanmar and Sri Lanka where deals will be opportunistic. The Singapore and China markets will also remain strong on the back of robust investor appetite.”

GLOBAL passenger traffic for January 2014 showed a strong increase in demand, according to the International Air Transport Association (IATA).

January’s international passenger demand rose 7.8 per cent year-on-year, with airlines in all regions recording growth and the strongest gains in the Middle East. Capacity rose 6.8 per cent and load factor climbed 0.7 percentage points to 78.3 per cent.

Asia-Pacific carriers’ year-on-year eight per cent traffic increase is partly distorted by the timing of the Lunar New Year in January, a month earlier than in 2013. Comparisons with December 2013’s traffic suggest a continuation of the slower growth seen toward end-2013, likely in line with a slowdown in the Chinese economy. Capacity climbed 7.5 per cent year-on-year, while load factor rose 0.4 percentage points to 78.2 per cent.

With regards to domestic passenger markets, demand rose 8.2 per cent in January year-on-year, with several markets reporting double-digit growth. Total domestic capacity was up 6.5 per cent, and load factor rose 1.2 percentage points to 77.7 per cent.

Domestic traffic expanded at double-digit rates in China, Japan and Russia. China recorded 20.1 per cent growth, easily the highest for any market, while Brazil’s airlines posted the highest load factor of 81.5 per cent.

While the air traffic growth is “in line with generally positive economic indicators”, IATA director general and CEO, Tony Tyler, nevertheless cautions: “Aviation remains highly vulnerable to external shocks. Rising geopolitical tensions around the world have the potential to cast shadows on this optimistic outlook.”

INDIA is pushing golf tourism with the inaugural Incredible India Golf Tourism Summit, to be held from October 8 to 10 in Delhi NCR.

The event is jointly organised by India’s Ministry of Tourism, Federation of Indian Chamber of Commerce and Industry as well as India Golf Tourism Association. Specialist golf tourism operators from 30 countries will be invited as hosted buyers to interact with India’s golf course owners, tour operators, hotels and airlines.

Apart from 12 hours of business meetings, the event will comprise knowledge sessions, Golf Tourism Awards, Incredible India Golf Tournament and familiarisation trips.

Parvez Dewan, secretary – Tourism, Government of India, said: “Golf tourism as a niche but important segment is growing at 9.3 per cent annually. An estimated 1.6 million golfers travel around the world. The oldest golf courses outside of the UK are in India.”

Dewan added that while Japan, Taiwan, South Korea, Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand and Hong Kong are golf-playing countries, shortage of golf courses and long waiting time for approval of membership are problems they face.

Brandon De Souza, president of golf event organiser Tiger Sports Marketing, said: “Increasingly, tourists visiting India are seeking a round or two of golf. Since India does not have any public courses, we have to arrange the game with private clubs upon payment of green fees and guest charges.

“Even then it is a fraction of the cost in other countries. The redeeming feature is that being private golf clubs, the courses are of very high quality as various professional tournaments are hosted here.”

Anand Kumar, joint secretary – Tourism, Government of India, opined that India’s strategic location, domestic and international connectivity, competitive pricing, ability of its citizens to communicate in English, are key advantages as a golf destination.

Kumar added: “The Ministry of Tourism cannot do this alone. Private stakeholders have to join in to realise the potential.”

Koushik Goswami, general manager of Kolkata-based Travelcorp, said: “Kolkata has the oldest golf club outside the British Isles and a long golfing tradition with three great golf courses and one more being built.

“We get guests from Japan, South Korea and China keen to play two or three rounds of golf even during a very short stay. To compete as a golfing destination is very tough, as incentives offered and efforts made by golf tourism havens like Malaysia and Thailand are a hard act to follow.”

INDIAN tourist arrivals to the Philippines registered good growth of 12.5 per cent last year, the highest growth among all South Asian source markets despite the lack of direct flights to Manila from any Indian gateway city.

A total of 52,206 Indians visited the destination, compared with 46,395 in 2012, as per data released by Department of Tourism, Philippines (DoT).

Philippines Airlines withdrew its thrice-weekly service from New Delhi to Manila via Bangkok in 3Q2013. No announcements have been made so far of any carrier being awarded the flying rights on a route to India, although trade sources reported interest from Cebu Pacific.

Jet Airways’ request for a day-time landing slot in Manila airport was turned down last year.

DoT welcomed a total of 4.7 million international visitors in 2013, surpassing the 4.3 million recorded in 2012 with growth of 9.56 per cent.

Arjun Shroff, managing director, Manila-based Shroff International Travel Care, said: “The Indian market is now very aware of the beauty of Philippines as a leisure destination and we are bullish on the growth prospects from this market.

“We have seen steady 25 per cent growth year-on-year for the last three years. DoT is very pro-active in their promotional effort in the Indian market. The introduction of a direct flight will see exponential growth as Indian tourists are looking for new destinations in Asia beyond South-east Asia.”

Glen Augustin, DoT chief tourism operations officer for market development, said: “India our focus. The results of our effort are very evident. We expect very high growth from this market with increasing awareness about the destination.”

Ankur Khanna, managing director, New Delhi-based Tristar Travel Services, said: “Philippines is still a niche destination but is quickly moving into mainstream for Indian leisure travellers. Tourists who have already experienced Thailand, Malaysia and Indonesia are now craving for Boracay, Palawan and Cebu, and of course the shopping in Manila.

“We have managed to work out economical flight itineraries with minimal transit time with AirAsia, Malaysia Airlines, Thai Airways and Cathay Pacific. Philippines will be a very popular, long-stay destination shortly.”

THE search for Malaysia Airlines’ (MAS) flight MH370 bound for Beijing enters into its third day today, with the search widening from the waters off Vietnam to include the Straits of Malacca.

The authorities are looking at the possibility of the aircraft deviating from its course to Beijing and making a turn back.

At least 80 aircraft and ships from Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, Indonesia, the Philippines, Vietnam, China, Australia and the US have been deployed to the South China Sea and the Straits of Malacca for the search and rescue operation.

Flight MH370, operated on the B777-200 aircraft, departed Kuala Lumpur at 00.41 on March 8 carrying 227 passengers and 12 crew members, and was expected to land in Beijing at 06.30 the same day.

Subang Air Traffic Control reported that it lost contact at 02.40 (local Malaysia time). The plane has since been missing and has not sent any distress signal.

At a press conference yesterday, Malaysian prime minister Najib Razak said all air travel security procedures at Malaysia airports will be reviewed and further enhanced, if deemed necessary, after the discovery that two passengers on the plane had travelled with stolen passports belonging to an Italian and an Austrian.

It was also learnt that the two passengers had bought their tickets from China Southern Airlines and the ticket numbers were contiguous, which meant that the tickets were issued together. It is still not known how the two had obtained visas to travel to China.

At press time, solid connection between the stolen passports and the missing plane has not been established.

In a media statement today, MAS said its primary focus is to care for the families, providing them with timely information, travel facilities, accommodation, meals, and medical and emotional support. The costs for these will all be borne by the airline.

The airline has provided initial financial assistance to all families over and above their basic needs. At least one well-trained caregiver is assigned to each family.

The airline is also working closely with the Chinese government to expedite the issuance of passports for the families as well as with the immigration of Malaysia for their visas into Malaysia.

When the aircraft is located, a Response Coordination Centre will be activated within the vicinity to support the needs of the families

SRILANKAN Airlines will become a full member of oneworld with effect from May 1, the first carrier from the Indian subcontinent to become part of any global airline alliance.

The national carrier of Sri Lanka received clearance to board oneworld after successfully completing a thorough review of its readiness conducted by Cathay Pacific Airways, which is sponsoring its entry into the alliance, with the oneworld central team.

Its addition will bring two new destinations on to oneworld’s network – Sri Lanka’s new Hambantota International and India’s Tiruchirapalli.

With the alliance, members of SriLankan’s FlySmiLes loyalty programme will have their frequent flyer privileges extended to whenever they fly with any oneworld member airline.

FlySmiLes Platinum cardholders will have Emerald status in the oneworld programme. FlySmiLes Gold will be equivalent to oneworld Sapphire and FlySmiLes Classic will be oneworld Ruby.