SIX Senses Hotels Resorts Spas has announced the opening of nine new hotel projects over the next 36 months, with more than half of them based in Asia.

“The rapid brand expansion of Six Senses Hotels Resorts Spas ignited in Asia, Europe, South America, Northern Africa and the Caribbean allows us to redefine ourselves on a global scale with the addition of our first ski resort, first urban hotel and three amazing resort projects located at UNESCO World Heritage Sites,” said CEO Neil Jacobs.

The new hotel properties to open include the:

• 113-suite-and-villa Six Senses Qing Cheng Mountain (2014) in the Chinese province of Sichuan
• 32-suite Six Senses Mont Blanc in the French Alpine area of Saint-Gervais-les-Bains (2015)
• 82-suite Six Senses Bhutan (2016)
• 50-suite Six Senses Wuma in south-eastern Taiwan (2016)
• 129-villa Six Senses Ninghai in China
• 73 suite-and-villa Six Senses Freedom Bay in St Lucia, one of the Windward Islands in eastern Caribbean (2016)
• 120-suite-and-villa Six Senses Uluwatu in Bali
• 100-room-and-suite Six Senses Cartagena on the northern coast of Colombia (2016)
• 67-suite-and-villa Six Senses Gammarth on the Mediterranean Coast near the capital of Tunis

On the wellness front, the company’s growth includes the Six Senses Spa at Esentai Tower opened this month in Almaty, Kazakhstan; Six Senses World One in Mumbai’s Worli district; Evason by Six Senses in Pune, India; and Six Senses Spa at Al Bustan Palace in Oman.

MANY Asian travellers due to travel to Bangkok during this season have stuck to their plans despite the political unrest, but agencies are reporting a drop in forward bookings.

Singapore-based Chan Brothers Travel marketing and communications manager, Jane Chang, said: “Our Bangkok tours are still operating as scheduled and we do have customers slated to return over these few days; none of them are requesting to return to Singapore earlier.”

CTC Travel Singapore has not received any cancellations too, but it is advising Singaporeans travelling there to be updated on the local situation and be “mentally prepared” so they can avoid the areas of conflict, said Kelly Toh, marketing and PR manager.

Over in Malaysia, New Asia Holiday Tours & Travel general manager, Raaj Navaratnaa, said his company has also not received any cancellations for FIT and group departures to Bangkok. “We are still getting new bookings for January and Chinese New Year but they are a lot fewer than usual.”

However, Malaysia-based RA Jits Travel & Tours managing director, Harminderjit Singh, said: “We have not received any bookings for leisure travel to Bangkok for this month as travellers fear for their safety. Last month, we saw a 70 per cent year-on-year drop in demand for Bangkok.”

Indonesian operator WITA Tour director of sales and marketing, Rudiana, said: “Some clients have been thinking of switching destinations, others who have not booked their trips are taking a wait-and-see stand.”

He added it is normal for Indonesians to make last-minute decisions when travelling to neigbouring destinations where no visa is required.

Meanwhile, Thai inbound operators have seen some cancellations.

“We’ve only had a few cancellations, mainly FIT travellers; no groups so far,” said Willem Niemeijer, CEO of Khiri Group. Producing regular communications and situation reports on the protests is essential in keeping overseas partners up to date, he added.

Diethelm Travel Thailand, as of Tuesday, recorded six cancellations in the past one-and-a-half weeks. The situation could be much worse on the ground, said managing director Hans van den Born, adding that hotels in Bangkok were badly affected, especially those dealing with risk-averse Asian markets.

Protests have been called off for King Bhumibol Adulyadej’s 86th birthday today, but many expect the rallies to start anew in the coming days, a move which would likely lead to higher levels of cancellations.

THE Qantas Group is bent on massive cost reductions for 2014 in response to “fundamentally changed market conditions”, it said in a market update today.

The group expects an underlying loss before tax in the range of A$250 million (US$225.4 million) to A$300 million for the six months ending December 31. Trading conditions saw a marked deterioration in November in particular, with both passenger loads and yields below the already negative trends for year to date.

For 1H2014, group yield is expected to be approximately 3.5 per cent lower and loads, 1.6 percentage points lower, while underlying fuel costs (excluding the impact of the carbon tax) will hit approximately A$2.27 billion, an increase of A$88 million.

The group will also make accelerated cost reductions across all areas of the business, to achieve total cost savings of A$2 billion over three years. Steps to be taken include head count reduction of at least 1,000 positions within 12 months, pay cuts for the CEO and Board, pay freezes and no FY14 bonus for executives, a review of spending with top 100 suppliers, network optimisation and improved fleet utilisation as well as further overhead reductions.

Additionally, it will conduct a review of all planned capital expenditure to achieve further substantial reductions to ensure that the business generates positive net free cash flow from FY15. An immediate review will be conducted to identify structural changes that could potentially unlock sources of capital and value for shareholders.

Qantas CEO Alan Joyce said in a press statement that the circumstances demand urgent action. “We cannot and we will not stand still in these extraordinary circumstances…We will focus relentlessly on cutting costs and improving productivity, while maintaining our competitive advantages as a business.

“As we take these urgent actions, we will continue to take the fight to the competition and strengthen our leading position in the domestic market, and we will continue the turnaround of Qantas International.”

FIVE months after emerging from a major renovation this year, Suntec Singapore Convention Exhibition Centre has released a sterling line-up of key events for 2014.

The company has announced 88 key events for its 2014 line-up, including 16 major medical events, 16 tradeshows, 19 consumer events and 37 international conferences and special events.

The events range widely from medical and technology to lifestyle and financial industries, including first timers such as Blueprint 2014, Asia’s Fashion Gateway, Prudential Eye Awards, Singapore Art Fair, AAMA-TEX, UROFAIR and Trans Asia 2014.

Exhibitions continue to form the core of the business with events such as HR Summit, Beauty Asia and Asia PCR/SingLive that have signed multiple-year deals with Suntec Singapore.

Suntec Singapore’s efforts to be a PhRMA-code compliant venue are also paying dividends, having attracted many of the country’s major medical trade events such as Occupational Safety & Health Asia, Medical Fair Asia and IDEM Singapore, Asia’s leading dental trade fair and scientific conference, with 6,000 delegates attending over three days.

The centre will also host international conferences such as International Symposium on Pediatric Neuro-Oncology, 7th Annual Congress on Glaucoma Surgery, IDF Western Pacific Regional Congress and International Conference on Co-ordinated Chemistry.

Returning consumer shows include COMEX 2014, Bookfest@Singapore 2014, Food and Kitchen Expo as well as Food and Beverage, while new consumer events include SG Tech Show.

CEO Arun Madhok said: “I fully expect 2014 to be a very successful and busy year. Having said that, we are not just looking to fill the Centre for the sake of it. We are looking to foster long-term collaboration with events and clients who can use the full potential of our Centre for our collective success.”

In the five months since re-opening in June 2013, the centre ran 196 events with a total of 780,000 visitors. This included 56 exhibitions and 124 conferences and meetings, including first-time events to Singapore such as the International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions, which brought in 3,890 international and local delegates from 122 countries.

New exhibitions included Cloud Expo Asia and Data Centre World, while repeat customers included ad:tech, ICMAT, Singapore Gifts and Stationery Show, IMCAS Asia, Singapore Chinese Chamber of Commerce SMEs and Spikes Asia.

WITH the prevalence of precarious situations like protests, terrorist attacks and natural disasters around the world, a robust travel risk management (TRM) strategy is key for corporates to ensure fulfillment of their duty of care to employees, according to GBTA vice president, operations, Asia, Welf J Ebeling.

Urging companies to implement effective TRM strategies to improve traveller well-being and reduce trip-related stress, especially in view of the current political situation in Bangkok, Ebeling, said: “TRM means the duty of care, the liability companies have when sending travellers into the field. Many companies still don’t understand what type of corporate liabilities there are.

“Controlling of expenses and creating efficiency is just half of the story, while travel welfare is the other half,” he added. “There are potential risks even at home markets…Companies have not just a moral obligation but also a legal responsibility for their travellers.”

Several companies revealed that business travel to Bangkok has been unaffected by the current political unrest as they already have in place TRM policies to assess and cope with such situations.

Said an MNC’s corporate travel manager who declined to be named: “We review travel advisories by governments, but our travel security department will provide our own warnings. For example, we understand that protests are currently restricted to certain parts of Bangkok, so we will advise our employees on the areas to avoid while on business in Bangkok.”

Likewise, Scandinavian Airlines director and general manager, South-east Asia, Australia and New Zealand, Niels Henrik Hansen, commented: “For the (cabin) staff currently in Bangkok, we will update them daily of the political situation in the city – where to go, where not to go, etc.”

Warakorn Sinthuwongsanont, administrator executive/travel Thailand, Ikea Trading (Hong Kong) shared that the Thailand office is reporting on the Bangkok situation to its headquarters, which in turn disseminates constant updates to staff across its global offices.

JONES Lang LaSalle’s Hotels & Hospitality Group (JLL) has exchanged contracts for the sale of luxury resort, Jumeirah Dhevanafushi, in the Maldives to Singapore-based CDL Hospitality Trusts for US$59.6 million.

The sale of the prpoerty, which comprises 19 beach villas and 16 over-water villas, includes the benefit of a long-term management agreement with Jumeirah Hotels & Resorts.

It also marks CDL Hospitality Trusts’ second acquisition in the Maldives in 2013, following its purchase of the Angsana Velavaru earlier this year.

JLL senior vice president for investment sales Asia, Nihat Ercan, said: “We are delighted to announce this landmark sale, the first arm’s length third-party managed resort sale in the Maldives and the second acquisition in the country by a major regional institutional investor during 2013.

“With sound trading fundamentals and enduring strength of visitor demand, the Maldives has certainly captured the attention of the investment community across Asia and the Middle East. We are seeing significant interest and weight of capital from private investors, owner-operators, listed companies and institutional investors, and we expect this trend to continue into 2014 as further opportunities in this unique market unfold.”

Since 2012, JLL has brokered five resort transactions in the Maldives, representing over 350 rooms and more than US$330 million in transaction volume, underscoring the island destination as one of the most liquid investment markets in Asia.

TRAVEL website TripAdvisor yesterday disclosed the winners of its 2013 Travellers’ Choice Awards for Destinations on the Rise.

Highlighting 54 spots globally based on the consolidated reviews and opinions of TripAdvisor travellers, topping the list for Asia is Kathmandu in Nepal, and for the world, Havana in Cuba.

The top 10 Asian destinations are:

1. Kathmandu, Nepal
2. Sapporo, Japan
3. Hanoi, Vietnam
4. Siem Reap, Cambodia
5. Hua Hin, Thailand
6. Kota Kinabalu, Malaysia
7. Sanur, Indonesia
8. Macau, China
9. Jaipur, India
10. Busan, South Korea

The top 10 destinations in the world, which includes three Asian desitnations, are:

1. Havana, Cuba
2. La Fortuna de San Carlos, Costa Rica
3. Kathmandu, Nepal
4. Jerusalem, Israel
5. Crusco, Peru
6. Ambergris Caye, Belize
7. Sapporo, Japan
8. Hanoi, Vietnam
9. Corralejo, Spain
10. Fortaleza, Brazil