HOTELIERS in Bali have been urged to be creative and cautious in their adjustment of rates for next year amid the hotel boom there.

According to the Bali Hotel and Branded Residences Update recently released by C9 Hotelworks and Horwath HTL, Bali will welcome 6,000 additional rooms this year, of which 4,000 rooms have already opened. While occupancy is down by four per cent, hotels have kept their rates steady.

C9 Hotelworks managing director Bill Barnett said: “New hotel rooms are opening at a faster pace, requiring developers and hoteliers to become increasingly creative to safeguard profitability.”

Indonesia’s domestic market continues to be the driving force behind Bali’s tourism fortunes – Indonesians account for 80 per cent of arrivals to the island – but growth is slowing, he added.

Barnett highlighted that while the burgeoning room supply in Bali is expected to outpace demand, it is important for hotels to “remain strong on room rates and tailor new supply to fill market gaps rather than using a scatter gun approach to development.”

Drawing a parallel to the closely connected real estate market, he said: “Indonesian buyers represent over 80 per cent of Bali’s property transaction market, but there are warning signs that sales pace is shrinking and the looming issue is that once guaranteed returns roll off, investors may see yields shrink.”

According to Barnett, one key segment to watch are the luxury hotel villas by brands such as Rosewood, Raffles, Fairmont and Jumeirah, which are progressively entering the market and have the potential to attract foreign buyers.

Separately, Sofitel is scheduled to open its first Indonesian hotel in Nusa Dua on December 20. Offering 17 villas, 22 suites and 376 rooms, the property has one of the largest meetings and function facilities in Bali, featuring a Grand Ballroom that can accommodate up to 600 guests theatre style.

THAILAND has been crowned as one of the main beneficiaries of the recent surge in Russian outbound travel, according to the Russian International Travel Monitor (RITM) released by Hotels.com yesterday.

In 2012, 35.7 million tourists from Russia travelled internationally, up from just 7.7 million in 2006. Thailand, in particular, has seen a sharp increase in Russian visitors in the past few years. This is reflected in the RITM, with two Thai destinations coming in the top 20 – Phuket at No. 11 and Koh Samui at No. 16.

The study also found that more than 75 per cent of hotels in Thailand experienced an increase in Russian visitors this year, and more than 90 per cent are expecting an increase over the next three years.

According to the Tourism Authority of Thailand, Russia is currently Thailand’s largest European source market. In 2012, 1.3 million Russians visited Thailand, and this is expected to increase by about 28 per cent per cent this year, to reach 1.7 million.

Johan Svanstrom, president of Hotels.com, said: “The meteoric rise of Russia’s outbound travel market is providing a welcome boost to hoteliers worldwide, with Russians among the highest spenders on hotel rooms globally.

“The rising size and spending power of middle class Russian travellers is a key driver behind this growth. Standing 104 million strong today, the group is set to account for 86 per cent of the country’s population by 2020, with a combined spending power of US$1.3 trillion.”

Apart from Thailand, Vietnam and Cambodia have also recorded stellar growth from the Russian outbound market this year (TTG Asia e-Daily, January 21, 2013).

According to Hotels.com, hoteliers are now gearing up to welcome Russian travellers with tailored services like Russian TV channels, Russian-speaking staff and translated welcome materials.

MALAYSIAN inbound travel consultants are gearing up to welcome a new market with AirAsia Zest’s four weekly services between Manila and Miri, commencing December 7.

The only other regional airline with direct flights to Miri, Sarawak’s second largest city, is AirAsia Singapore.

Saini Vermeulen, head of international sales, Panorama Tours Malaysia, said Miri would appeal to a very different profile of travellers from the Philippines, not “those who travel to Kuala Lumpur and visit Resorts World Genting or those who travel to Singapore and make a day or an overnight trip to Johor to experience the theme park attractions”.

He explained:  “We are targeting nature lovers aged between 20 and 40. To tap this market further, we plan to do sales calls in Manila in January.”

Meanwhile, the Sarawak Tourism Board is also working with AirAsia Zest on destination marketing and will host a group of 20 travel consultants from the Philippines next month.

Miri-based Planet Borneo Tours & Travel Services will target Filipino incentives with culinary tours, while promoting soft adventure, shopping and city tours to leisure travellers. However, it will also look at attracting longhaul clients.

Executive director, James Wan, said: “There are a number of agencies in Manila who specialise in European markets. We will work with them to offer extensions to Miri. We believe ecotourism products such as diving off Miri, caving and trekking will appeal to the European market.”

According to Sarawak Tourism Board CEO, Rashid Khan, the Philippines is currently one of Sarawak’s top 10 markets, and the new flights will further boost arrivals and promote tourism.

Neverthless, Borneo Adventure senior manager of sales and operations, Emong Tinsang, expects that the Filipino market would “take time to understand Miri”.

DORSETT Hospitality International has entered into four new management contracts with Mayland Group Malaysia and Far East Consortium International, which will inject over 1,000 rooms into its Malaysian inventory.

Slated to open next year in the first and third quarter respectively are the 319-key Dorsett Cheras, Kuala Lumpur and the 218-key Dorsett Putrajaya.

In 2015, the 317-room Dorsett Hartamas, Kuala Lumpur and 154-room Sri Jati Hotel are targeted to open in the third and fourth quarter respectively. The latter is a boutique hotel in Kuala Lumpur that will come under Dorsett’s d.Collection brand.

Winnie Chiu, president and executive director for Dorsett Hospitality International, said: “With the addition of these four properties, we will have a portfolio of 29 hotels, giving us a room inventory of over 8,500.”

In Malaysia, the group owns, manages and operates five hotels under the Dorsett Grand, Dorsett Regency and Silka brands.

AS POLITICAL tensions in Bangkok continue to escalate, more countries have issued or revised travel warnings to their citizens visiting Thailand.

Singapore updated its travel notice yesterday, noting that the Thai government has expanded the Internal Security Act to all districts of Bangkok, Nonthaburi, Pathum Thani’s Lardlumkaew district and Samut Prakarn’s Bang Pli district, including Suvarnabhumi Airport.

It stated: “Political demonstrations have now expanded beyond the main protest area at the Democracy Monument along Ratchadamnoen Avenue and are taking place in various locations within Bangkok, including at some government buildings.

“Protest areas may also include popular tourist areas like Silom Road and Ratchaprasong intersection, and new locations for street protests could be announced at short notice.”

This is in contrast to earlier this month when demonstrators mainly gathered at the Democracy Monument (TTG Asia e-Daily, November 5, 2013).

According to a report in the Bangkok Post, 23 countries have issued travel advisory notices, such as the US, the UK, France, Japan, China, Taiwan and South Korea.

However, many tour operators are still reporting business as usual.

In an email to partners yesterday, Destination Asia Thailand said: “Largely these demonstrations are of a peaceful nature and do not affect our day-to-day operations.

“Our daily sightseeing programmes are operating as normal – on some tours we have substituted the bus with river transport where possible in order to avoid the traffic congestion.”

A check with major outbound agencies by Singapore broadcaster Channel NewsAsia also found no cancellations at press time.

Chan Brothers Travel’s manager for marketing communications, Jane Chang, was quoted as saying: “As we all know, the protests… are almost an annual affair in Bangkok so that could be the reason why customers are adopting a wait-and-see approach to their Bangkok trip.”

THE recent political tension between Indonesia and Australia over the tapping of President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono’s phone conversation with the First Lady has not impacted tourist traffic between the two countries, according to trade sources.

Indonesia’s minister of tourism and creative economy, Mari Elka Pangestu, said: “We have not seen any impact so far. Arrivals from Australia are as usual and we have not heard of any cancellations due to the issue.”

Meanwhile, Indonesian outbound traffic to Australia is also reported to be intact.

Elok Tour managing director, Pauline Suharno, said: “The (Christmas and New Year) holiday packages were sold and payments finalised when the issue came up. So far, we have not had any cancellation.”

Similarly, Australia Centre director, Rudy Prasetyadi, said: “We have not seen any negative response for travel to Australia, but then, Australia is not at the top of Indonesians’ list as a year-end holiday destination, so the number of travellers is not big.

“In December, hotels in Australia are expensive. In Sydney, for example, hotels require a minimum stay of three nights during the year-end period. This causes high tour prices. Besides, it is summer in Australia.”

The busy season for outbound to Australia is during the June-July school holidays and Lebaran, Indonesia’s biggest holiday season.

INTEGRATED resort developer Las Vegas Sands last week announced a partnership with Beckham Ventures to develop dining, retail and leisure concepts at Sands China properties in Macau and Marina Bay Sands in Singapore.

“We are very excited about the partnership and we fully expect it to grow in the years to come, especially as we aggressively explore opportunities to further expand our presence in Asia,” said Michael Leven, president and chief operating officer of Las Vegas Sands Corp.

Sands China president and CEO, Edward Tracy, said: “David Beckham’s well-known personal values and his endeavours in both business development and community outreach make a perfect match for our two brands to come together in a way which is sure to positively impact the Asian market.”

Marina Bay Sands president and CEO, George Tanasijevich, added: “He was involved in our very successful Sands for Singapore community festival and his participation was inspiring to the young people he met with as well as the local charities which benefitted from his generosity. We greatly look forward to further promoting our partnership with David in a variety of exciting and creative ways at Marina Bay Sands.”

TIGERAIR content will be bookable through the GDS for the first time following a new distribution partnership between Travelport and the low-cost carrier, which has also become the first airline in Asia-Pacific to adopt the technology provider’s new aggregated shopping technology.

As part of the agreement, Tigerair’s three Asian airlines – Tigerair Singapore, Tigerair Philippines and Tigerair Mandala in Indonesia – will be made available to all Travelport-connected agencies worldwide.

Additionally, travel consultants can now book optional add-ons such as checked-in bags, pre-allocated seating and meals through the Travelport Merchandising Platform.

The partnership will also see Tigerair participating in the aggregating shopping component of the merchandising platform. Travelport Aggregated Shopping consolidates within the same screen shopping results from traditional carriers connecting through ATPCO with those from Tigerair and other LCCs which prefer to connect with Travelport via an API connection.

Alexander Knigge, group chief commercial officer, Tigerair, commented: “Travelport’s merchandising platform allows us to display our fares alongside those of traditional carriers and reach the travel agency community more easily.

ASIA-WIDE revenue growth of hotel markets could soften this year, but a positive turn is expected in 2014, according to a report newly released by Cushman & Wakefield.

Akshay Kulkarni, regional director of Cushman & Wakefield’s hospitality sector group across South Asia and South-east Asia, said: “Several hotel markets have had a large supply influx of rooms in the past year or so. This has led to region-wide RevPAR levels falling in the first half of 2013 due largely to declining occupancy levels. However, we expect much of the excess supply to get absorbed soon on the back of strong tourism demand. As occupancy starts increasing, we will see room rates rising upwards in most markets.

“RevPAR growth in Asian hotel markets is expected to turn positive in 2014. The only exception is likely to be Seoul, which is seeing an unprecedented pipeline of least 15,000 rooms over the next two to three years.”

Most hotel markets across Asia saw positive RevPAR growth in 2012, except Mumbai and NCR, India. Bangkok (19.3 per cent), Hong Kong (10.1 per cent) and Jakarta (9.8 per cent) were the top markets benefiting from increases in occupancy and average daily rates. Declining markets included Bali (-4.6 per cent), Ho Chi Minh City (-7.0 per cent), Mumbai (-15.1 per cent) and NCR region (-21.6 per cent).

In 2013, the dramatic influx of new hotel rooms in recent years has led to some price relief in markets such as Singapore and Shanghai. Yet emerging markets like Dhaka, Yangon and Colombo with limited high-end hotel stock amid strong tourism demand are enjoying strong revenue growth. Overall, Asia-wide RevPAR is expected to fall below 2012 levels, although performances will vary across markets.

As for investment volumes, Cushman & Wakefield expects to reach US$10-12 billion this year, making 2013 a record year for hospitality investment post-GFC.

Said Kulkarni: “Expect 2014 to equal or come close to this year’s level in terms of transactional activity. Japan’s investment market will undoubtedly improve further and lead the pack, due to strong corporate demand and greater investor optimism arising from Abe’s economic reforms. Less transactional activity is expected for Singapore after a busy year.

“Similarly, levels in China could come down due to a pricing mismatch and differences in buyer and seller expectations. India, Thailand, Indonesia and to some extent, the Philippines could see more exciting times ahead with some major transactions to be closed. Emerging countries such as Myanmar and Sri Lanka have recently become viable investment destinations due to improved political stability.”

KUONI Group Travel Experts and Crescentrating, which promotes Muslim travel through its rating system, have announced a partnership in which the travel provider will market halal-friendly group travel arrangements and packages for Muslim families, leisure and MICE groups.

The partnership was launched at the Global Islamic Economy Summit in Dubai from November 25 to 26.

Besides launching their first brochure – aimed at businesses selling travel to Muslim clients – in Asia next month, Kuoni and Crescentrating will also co-develop new group travel products and enhanced travel booking and management services for the Muslim travel market.

Dany Bolduc, COO of Crescentrating, said: “Crescentrating, together with Kuoni Group Travel Experts, is committed to establishing a leadership position in Muslim group travel, a huge and underserved market worth US$130 billion in 2013.”

Indonesia, Pakistan, India and Bangladesh have the largest Muslim populations, according to the Pew Research Center’s Religion & Public Life Project.

Reto Kaufmann, Kuoni Group Travel Experts Head of MICE Sales Asia, said: “Last year, we saw room nights booked by group travellers from these four countries rise, particularly Indonesia and India which enjoyed double-digit increases, while Bangladesh quadrupled. And it’s not just leisure travel, more and more of Asia’s businesses…have large numbers of Muslim delegates with specific halal or religious requirements.”

In Asia, China, Malaysia, the Philippines and Thailand also offer significant numbers of potential Muslim travellers. For example China, with a Muslim population numbering 23 million, saw room nights booked with Kuoni rise six per cent last year.