DUSIT Fudu Hotels and Resorts will open Dusit Thani Dongtai, Jiangsu in 4Q2014 this year, having signed an agreement with Jiangsu Renda International Hotel for management rights.

Located in Dongtai city’s newest economic development zone, the hotel is two hours from Shanghai Hongqiao International Airport.

Dusit Thani Dongtai will offer 160 rooms, Dusit’s Devarana Spa, an all-day dining restaurant, a Chinese restaurant with 11 private dining rooms and a lobby lounge.

Meeting facilities available for guests include a 600m² pillarless ballroom for up to 700 guests and 11 meeting rooms with state-of-the-art audiovisual equipment.

Dusit Fudu opened dusitD2 Fudu Binhu Hotel Changzhou last year (TTG Asia e-Daily, July 24, 2013).

The company is a joint venture between Thailand-based Dusit International and China-based Changzhou Qiao Yu Group (TTG Asia e-Daily, January 24, 2013).

CHINESE travel agency Ctrip officially launched an online booking website and mobile app for the Hong Kong market last week.

Cindy Wang, CFO of Ctrip, said: “The Hong Kong market is no stranger to us as we set up a branch office here in 1999. We are positive about the Hong Kong market as its (outbound) departure rate is the top for Asia and the penetration rate of mobile phones is high, over 60 per cent, when compared to other Asian countries.

“In China, more than 50 per cent of our hotel bookings are generated by mobile apps. This explains why our business model has kept on evolving in the last few years, from OTA to MTA (mobile travel agency).”

Although Ctrip.com.hk’s content mirrors the China version, the Hong Kong version is in traditional Chinese, offers special discounts and waives transaction fees. The app will feature mobile-only hotel prices dangling discounts of up to 50 per cent off. A Cantonese hotline will be added in April.

From February 17 to April 18, users will earn a HK$40 (US$5) coupon rebate for their first booking on the site via both WAP and app, or HK$20 on desktops.

Asked if the new website and app pits Ctrip directly against sister OTA Wing On Travel, Wang said: “Wing On deals with group tours and is locally well-known for its leisure products but Ctrip…focuses more on business travel. The two will complement each other as brother and sister.”

GARUDA Indonesia will upgrade the current Jakarta-Abu Dhabi-Amsterdam to a direct service as of May 30, making the Dutch capital its hub for Europe and beyond.

The airline will swap the Airbus 330 for the Boeing 777-300ER for the direct flights.

Garuda Indonesia passengers will thus be able to purchase tickets for all major destinations in Europe as well as the Americas on a single Garuda ticket, combining flight itineraries with connecting flights from its SkyTeam partners including KLM, Air France, Delta Airlines, Air Europa, and others.

In the meantime, the airline, which originally planned to also fly direct between Jakarta and London (TTG Asia e-Daily, February 5, 2013), will now serve London (Gatwick) through the Amsterdam hub from September 8.

Garuda was scheduled to start London flights in June, but was unable to secure take-off and landing slots at Gatwick for the peak summer season.

Emirsyah Satar, president & CEO of Garuda Indonesia, said: “Following Garuda’s official joining of SkyTeam (TTG Asia e-Daily, March 6, 2014), the opportunities presented by the established SkyTeam hub at Amsterdam are too significant to pass up, as it will be an alternative gateway for passengers who wish to travel beyond Europe.

“They will be able to choose from 1,064 destinations in 178 countries served by the SkyTeam member airlines.”

ENVIRONMENTAL management and certification programme EarthCheck is placing a ‘Disaster HQ’ in the pockets of travel industry professionals with today’s roll-out of the EarthCheck Research Institute (ERI) Risk App, which helps tourism businesses prepare before, during and immediately after a natural disaster.

Available both on Android and iOS smartphones, the Risk App is the result of three years’ and over A$300,000 (US$273,495) worth of research investment.

Based on preparatory action plans loaded during normal operating times, the app will prompt users to capture time-stamped imagery, provide status updates, track unfolding events, communicate with stakeholders and map out recovery. This gives users access to emergency information in times of crisis.

The white label Risk App can be modified for individual hotel clients.

“The world is at a tipping point and the type and impact of climatic events of the last few years like the super storms in the US and the tsunamis in Asia are likely to increase,” said EarthCheck CEO, Steward Moore.

“It’s not so much about if, or when, a disaster will strike. Today it’s about continuity plans and how fast a business can bounce back. And that means adopting new technologies and operational procedures to help build resilience.”

“The ERI Risk App is an evolution of technology that puts the paper-based crisis management practices we’ve been preparing for years into a smartphone and into the hands of operators; no matter where they are,” he added. “Effectively it’s a ‘Disaster HQ’ in your hip pocket.”

OUE consortium is the latest Singapore entity to declare intentions on South Korea, where it will construct the first internationally branded integrated resort in the country.

This comes one month after casino operator Genting Singapore and Chinese partner Landing International Development announced plans for a US$2.2 billion casino resort on Jeju Island, targeting Chinese gamblers.

A statement released on the Singapore stock exchange yesterday stated that South Korea’s Ministry of Culture, Sports and tourism had granted pre-approval to the consortium, which is comprised of property developer OUE Limited, Lippo Limited and US-based Caesars Entertainment Corporation.

Expected to be finished in time for the 2018 Winter Olympics in South Korea, the integrated resort will feature a hotel, retail and convention and residential properties, as well as a foreigners-only casino to be run by Caesars or one of its affiliates.

The project will be developed on a 4.3-hectare site and cost 855 billion Korean won (US$798.2 million).

Once approved, OUE consortium will receive the first casino licence given to foreign investors, according to Singapore daily The Straits Times, which also said the development will be located on Yeongjong island, close to Incheon International Airport.

TRAVEL specialists have welcomed the termination of the state of emergency in Thailand, but remain unsure as to whether this will enable them to claw back business lost during the months-long political crisis (TTG Asia e-Daily, January 24, 2014).

Willem Niemeijer, CEO of Khiri Travel Group, told TTG Asia e-Daily: “It will be good if it leads to the lifting of negative travel advisories.”

“It would be better if the state of emergency would be lifted without conditions, such as the Internal Security Act (which the caretaker government has implemented in Bangkok and surrounding provinces from today). The confidence of Thailand on the whole can only improve over time, with sustained peace and the political process not taking place on the streets.”

The move by Thailand’s caretaker government should provide a shot in the arm for the MICE sector that had suffered a raft of cancellations, according to Max Jantasuwan, managing director of Events Travel Asia.

“We want to see business and the political situation return to normalcy,” he said. “(Lifting the state of emergency) will help a lot with event clients that are still deciding whether they should risk coming to Thailand or not…especially (for) shorthaul MICE groups from Asia who work on very short lead times.”

In an official statement, Thawatchai Arunyik, governor of Tourism Authority of Thailand, said: “(The lifting of the state of emergency) is a sign that things are fast returning to normal in Bangkok and visitors can look forward to travelling round the Thai capital with ease, as well as to the provinces for next month’s Songkran festival.”

The caretaker Cabinet yesterday resolved not to renew the 60-day emergency decree which was deployed on January 22 to tackle increasingly violent anti-government rallies, which have now disbanded.