HILTON Worldwide yesterday signed an agreement with Pekah Hotels to manage the Hilton Kota Kinabalu, which will open in 2015.

The fifth Hilton Hotels & Resorts-branded hotel in the country is situated in Kota Kinabalu’s central business district along Jalan Tunku Abdul Rahman.

Offering 313 guestrooms, including 17 suites, Hilton Kota Kinabalu will also feature an all-day dining restaurant, a specialty rooftop restaurant adjacent to the rooftop pool and lounge bar, a business centre, a health club and a spa.

Event space at the hotel spans 2,500m², including a 1,000m² ballroom.

Hilton Kota Kinabalu is the ninth Hilton property in Malaysia.

THE Westin Singapore rolled out the red carpet to guests this morning, marking the brand’s comeback to the city-state following a decade-long absence  (TTG Asia e-Daily, September 23, 2013).

Occupying the 32^nd to 46^th floors of the new Asia Square Tower Two development, the 305-key hotel which overlooks Marina Bay comes with floor-to-ceiling windows in all rooms for unobstructed views of the city.

With its claim as the highest hotel lobby in Singapore at level 32, the Westin is also the first integrated upscale hotel to be located within an office building in Singapore.

Speaking to TTG Asia e-Daily, Lance J Ourednik, general manager of the Westin Singapore, said: “With our ideal location in the heart of Singapore’s financial district, we are definitely looking at attracting the corporates.”

Ourednik said about 85 to 90 per cent of guests will likely be business travellers, largely from countries in Asia such as Indonesia, Malaysia, Hong Kong and China. “Travellers spend a lot of time commuting from one country to another such that when they are on the ground they will want to minimise the amount of travelling between where they meet and stay.”

The Westin Singapore will welcome an 80-pax global corporate group this weekend, helping to bump up occupancy to 40 per cent – a “very encouraging” number given that the hotel is the latest kid on the block.

While the year-end period is normally a quieter season for business, Ourednik said meeting spaces in November have been taken up “very quickly” for one-day corporate meetings.

When asked to compare between the new and old Westin, Ourednik said: “In all fairness, you cannot make a comparison given that they are two generations apart. The brand has since evolved and it now has quite a different look and feel in today’s world.”

The hotel features a range of F&B venues, including the signature Seasonal Tastes offering five interactive kitchens and lunch and dinner buffets, and gastro pub Cook & Brew. Other facilities include a spa, a fitness studio and an outdoor infinity pool on level 35.

For business meetings and events, The Westin Singapore has 10 individual meeting rooms spanning 1,350m² of space.

THE ancient temple of Preah Vihear has been declared as belonging to Cambodia in a ruling by the International Court of Justice yesterday.

According to the ruling, which was an interpretation of an older 1962 court ruling that awarded Cambodia ownership of the temple, the promontory falls under Cambodia’s jurisdiction and Thailand must withdraw military forces from the area.

The decision is final and cannot be subject to appeal.

Dating back to the ninth century, Preah Vihear temple is situated on a promontory of the same name in the eastern part of the Dangrek range of mountains, in an area contested by both Thailand and Cambodia.

Preah Vihear promontory and its surrounding lands were the scene of bloody clashes between Thai and Cambodian forces in 2009 and 2011 in a territorial dispute.

SOLUTIONS provider Amadeus today launched its Consulting Services initiative in Asia-Pacific, aiming to help travel consultants improve their services and boost their bottom line.

Amadeus Consulting Services is made up of two components – the Amadeus Discovery Workshop and Project Management Services.

Travel agencies that take the Discovery Workshop will have Amadeus engineers conduct an on-site assessment of its workflow tools and operations, to come up with a list of recommendations on how to maximise business and operations.

Project Management Services provides travel consultants with on-site support in managing complex technology developments or migrations. Amadeus experts can also manage the project on the consultant’s behalf.

Bruno des Fontaines, vice president, customer solutions group, Amadeus said: “Asia-Pacific is a vast region, but our customers here all face similar issues – they need to improve productivity, but they don’t always know the right way to go about it.

“Amadeus Consulting Services makes personalised, manageable recommendations that really reduce the stress of changing business processes. So, ultimately our team can do the hard work on behalf of our customers.”

BETTER known for its shopping and culinary delights, Hong Kong is holding the fifth edition of the Great Outdoors Hong Kong campaign to raise awareness of the city’s natural attractions, featuring new elements such as guided cycling tours.

The campaign kicked off yesterday and is scheduled to run from now until February 21, 2014, offering 10 guided tours along six themed hiking trails available for visitors on weekends. Previously five weeks long, this year’s promotional period will last about three and a half months.

In addition, organiser Hong Kong Tourism Board (HKTB) has introduced guided cycling tours spanning 16km between Shatin to Tai Po. Held in collaboration with a local cycling group, cycling tours take place once a month and give tourists a new way to enjoy Hong Kong’s scenery.

HKTB has also published a new Great Outdoors Hong Kong activity guide that details hiking trails, cycling tracks, outlying islands and guided tours for the traveller.

The guides will be available at major ports of entry, HKTB visitor centres and hotel concierges for the duration of the campaign.

LUFTHANSA plans to ramp up capacity in South-east Asia in the coming year, beginning with the launch of a new direct Kuala Lumpur-Frankfurt flight in summer.

The carrier will commence the five-weekly service on March 30 using an Airbus A340-600 aircraft with eight seats in first class, 48 in business class and 270 in economy.

The new service marks the first time Lufthansa offers a non-stop connection between the two cities. A Jakarta leg will be tagged on to the itinerary, providing longhaul travellers access to the Indonesian capital via Kuala Lumpur.

Previously, Kuala Lumpur was connected to Frankfurt only through a four-times-weekly flight via Bangkok. This service will be dropped as a result of the new direct flight from Frankfurt to Malaysia.

The existing Bangkok-Ho Chi Minh flight run by Lufthansa will also be axed, with daily connections between those cities operated by partner airlines instead.

Furthermore, flight timings of Lufthansa Group airlines Lufthansa, Swiss International Air Lines and Austrian Airlines into the Star Alliance hub airport in Bangkok will be adjusted for better flexibility for passengers. Lufthansa flight LH773 Bangkok will be brought forward to 12.00 for arrival in Frankfurt at 18.30, while LH772 will depart Frankfurt at 17.35 to touch down in Bangkok at 09.35.

Steffen Harbarth, area manager Asia-Pacific at Lufthansa, commented: “With the current service extensions and flight schedule measures, we are improving the offer for our customers in South-east Asia. Indonesia will now be connected with the Lufthansa network once again and for the first time, our European network can be reached non-stop from Malaysia.”

“With our new flight we are extending the offer to our customers in South-east Asia by 27 per cent compared with the same period last year and will thus grow next year at an above-average rate in this part of Asia.”

TOURISM in Malaysia has been spared the wrath of super typhoon Haiyan as the cyclone diverted from its original course to make landfall in Vietnam today, although the Malaysian Meteorological Department has maintained its high seas warning.

The warning is in effect for Sabah, Labuan, Kelantan, Terengganu, Pahang and east Johor until tomorrow even as immediate danger from typhoon Haiyan has passed, said the weather authority.

Tour operators interviewed said tourism activities have not been affected.

Ganneesh Ramaa, manager of Luxury Tours Malaysia, said: “We are monitoring the situation in Sabah carefully. If there are heavy rains and choppy sea conditions, we will avoid sea activities. Tours to Kota Kinabalu and Sandakan are running as normal.”

Another inbound travel consultant, Alex Lee, CEO of Ping Anchorage Travel & Tours, shared: “We are keeping our partners overseas informed of the situation. Due to the annual heavy rains this time of year, beach resorts on islands off the coast of Terengganu such as Redang, Perhentian and Lang Tengah are closed until early next year. However, our tours along the coast of Terengganu and Pahang are running as usual. There have not been any cancellations.”

Nicolas Reschke, group director of sales and marketing at Sutera Harbour Resort, said the resort is running at high occupancy and there have been no cancellations.

Super typhoon Haiyan, which has been called the year’s strongest typhoon, hit the Philippines last week and is feared to have left over 10,000 dead (TTG Asia e-Daily, November 8, 2013).