LANGHAM Hospitality Group yesterday announced it will open its maiden hotel in Indonesia – the Langham, Jakarta – in 2017.

The hotel is owned by Agung Sedayu Group and sits in the District 8 complex in the Sudirman Central Business District.

Designed by the Singapore office of Smallwood, Reynolds, Stewart, Stewart, the Langham, Jakarta will feature 170 guestrooms and 30 suites starting from 42m², with elegant and contemporary interiors reflecting the brand’s heritage as one of Europe’s premier grand hotels.

F&B outlets at the property include Palm Court for signature afternoon tea modelled on The Langham, London’s offering; T’ang Court for Cantonese cuisine; a sake and sushi bar; a 120-seat, all-day dining restaurant serving international fare; the Sky Bar and Lounge; a poolside bar; and a Club Lounge.

Guests can also enjoy the Chuan Spa, use of a fitness centre and indoor swimming pool, and 2,100m² of flexible space for events and meetings, including a 900m² ballroom and 11 meeting rooms.

“The Indonesian capital has long been a key aspiration for Langham Hospitality Group and we have waited a long time to find the perfect opportunity to add to The Langham collection,” said Brett Butcher, CEO of Langham Hospitality Group.

Complementing the hotel will be The Langham Residences with 57 apartments set over 19 floors in the same tower.

MARCO Polo Hotels (MPH) has announced it will roll out a new sub-brand to draw sophisticated young travellers and launch nine more hotels between 2014 and 2017, mostly in China.

MPH president, Eric Waldburger, shared: “We are creating a premium brand linked with the mothership, Wharf Holdings, which also owns stylish Lane Crawford. It will be attractive, upscale, classy and luxurious to draw those who have taste and money, and are hardworking and young at heart.”

“We recruited an outsider to handle this new sub-brand. MPH’s advantage is always in the scale of development with a maximum of 250 rooms per property and (placing the new hotel) in the mixed-use developments funded by Wharf, which can easily draw a volume of people from offices and retail,” he explained.

The first hotels to come under the new sub-brand will be located in Chinese cities including Chengdu (233 rooms, 2014), Wuxi (222 rooms, 2015), Chongqing (218 rooms, 2015), Suzhou (98 rooms, 2017) and Changhsha (242 rooms, 2017) .

The other four hotels will debut in destinations including Ortigas in Manila (2014), Guiyang (300 keys, 2015), Tianjin (335 rooms, 2015), and Changzhou (271 rooms, 2014).

MPH will launch a new website with a new booking system next year. Last week, Wharf Holdings subsidiary Harbour Centre development won a tender to convert former government office building, the Murray Building, into a hotel.

THE Globus family of brands has seen a year-on-year increase of over 50 per cent in business from Malaysia, making the country its second largest market in Asia after the Philippines.

The brands are Globus, for first-class guided tours; Cosmos, for value guided tours; Monograms, for independent travellers; and Avalon Waterways, which sells river cruise vacations.

Raymond Smith, GSA business development manager for the Globus family of brands, said the profile of the brands had grown since Sedunia Travel Services took over as GSA for Malaysia in November 2012.

He noted: “Previous marketing efforts in Malaysia had not been as strong.”

Sedunia Travel Services’ executive director, Teoh Leng Lan, said the Globus family of brands appeals to the Malaysian FIT and family segment.

According to Teoh, next year’s marketing strategy would target consumers from big cities such as Kuala Lumpur, Penang, Ipoh, Johor Bahru, Kota Kinabalu and Kuching through the company’s network of travel consultants and direct mailers.

Sedunia also plans to further tap the corporate segment, especially for incentives.

Avalon Waterways saw over 100 per cent year-on-year growth for the Malaysian market, albeit starting from a small base. Teoh said river cruising is still a new product among Malaysians and has strong potential for growth particularly among seniors, ocean cruise regulars and those wanting to experience cruising for the first time.

Sedunia will continue to push popular itineraries such as the 13-day The Blue Danube Discovery Cruise from Budapest to Prague, the eight-day Romantic Rhine cruise from Amsterdam to Basel, as well as new itineraries such as cruises down the Mississippi and Amazon rivers.

Well-received Cosmos tours include the 10-day European Jewels itinerary, covering Holland, Germany, Austria, Italy, Switzerland and France; as well as the eight-day Six Countries, Venice and Paris, featuring Belgium, Germany, Austria, Italy, Switzerland and France. Globus’ eight-day European Highlights, touring France, Switzerland and Italy, is also popular among Malaysians.

CITY Developments Limited (CDL) is making its foray into integrated developments with South Beach, which will see a 654-room designer hotel conceptualised by Philippe Starck, luxury residences, offices, a private club and shops coming up at the former Beach Road Camp and NCO Club in Singapore.

To be unveiled in early 2015, London-based Foster + Partners is the lead architect for South Beach, consisting of two high-rise towers and four heritage buildings sitting close to the ground. This is a joint venture with Malaysia’s IOI Corporation.

AMERICAN Airlines and US Airways will proceed with a planned merger to form the world’s largest airline after making concessions to ensure more competitiveness in the US market.

The tie-up was first announced early this year (TTG Asia e-Daily, February 15, 2013), only to be blocked by a lawsuit filed by the US Justice Department on fears that the concentration of domestic routes in the hands of the two heavyweights would hurt consumers and result in less competition (TTG Asia e-Daily, August 15, 2013).

According to Reuters, the two airlines have agreed to give up 52 pairs of takeoff and landing slots at Washington DC’s Reagan National Airport, where the two collectively hold 69 per cent of slots. The concession reduces the airlines’ stake to 57 per cent.

US Airways and American Airlines will also forsake 17 pairs at New York’s LaGuardia Airport.

The news agency said that as part of the settlement, the US Justice Department would give selected airlines the chance to purchase the slots.

INDONESIA’S Ministry of Tourism and Creative Economy this week launched a Mandarin website as part of its new China-Indonesia Tourism Year 2014 campaign that aims to boost arrivals from China.

Mari Elka Pangestu, minister of tourism and creative economy, said: “The site is specially designed for the Chinese traveller and not just translated from the ministry’s existing Indonesian or English-language website.”

The site, cn.indonesia.travel, includes details on the country’s tourist destinations, tour programmes for group and individual travellers, and general information about Indonesia.

“We are partnering with Indonesian and Chinese travel companies who create and run the package tour (contents) on the website,” Mari said.

The launch of the website is expected to foster the growth of arrivals to the country in the coming years.

“Visitor arrivals from China have shown double-digit increases in the last two years. We expect the number will reach 800,000 this year,” she commented. “Indonesia and China have agreed that by 2015, tourist traffic between the two countries will reach two million.”

THE liberal bilateral air service agreement hammered out between the Philippines and Japan in September is already bearing fruit, while travel consultants are hoping that the increased frequencies and competitive airfares will stimulate the market.

Under the terms of the pact, flight allowances have soared from 119 to 400 a week. These services will be mounted by route newcomers PAL Express, AirAsia Zest and Tigerair Philippines, in addition to Philippine Airlines (PAL) and Cebu Pacific Air (CEB), which already fly to Japan.

The agreement also clears flights from points outside Manila such as Clark, Cebu and Kalibo, to new destinations like Tokyo-Haneda, Hiroshima, Sapporo and Okinawa.

PAL commenced seven additional weekly Manila-Tokyo (Narita) flights on October 27, while CEB will add three weekly Manila-Osaka flights on December 20. The rest of the approved flights will begin in 1H2014.

Noting that it is “expensive to go to Japan”, Mita Custodio, operations manager of King of Travel, hopes the agreement will pave the way for more competitive fares, cheaper hotels and tour packages. A hotel in a less popular location can still cost US$180 a night.

While PAL currently dominates Manila-Japan routes, more airlines and more non-stop flights mean more travellers, he concluded.

Josie Santos, counter manager for Asia International Travel, added that the Manila-Tokyo/Osaka route is underserved.

An incentive group had to fly to Japan via Hong Kong as non-stop flights from Manila were not available, Santos shared.

Japan is the Philippines’ third largest source market for tourists.

PLANNED strikes by the Finnish Flight Attendants’ Association and the Finnish Aviation Union from tomorrow will “paralyse” Finnair’s flights.

The Finnish carrier today released a media statement warning that strikes on alternate days between November 15 and November 23 would “paralyse Finnair’s traffic almost completely”.

“Negotiations are still ongoing and Finnair is hoping to reach an agreement and avoid the strike. However, Finnair already now has to cancel many flights to avoid congestion at Helsinki Airport in the event of a strike,” it said.

The two unions have also announced intentions to continue industrial action from November 27 to 30, and the airline is still analysing the present situation.

Passengers are advised to keep track of flight information on Finnair’s website and follow instructions given in the event of a cancelled flight.