AUSTRALIAN hotel company Mantra Group has partnered MJB Hoteliers again for the launch of its second Bali property, the BreakFree Sing Ken Ken.

Opened as the Sing Ken Ken Boutique Hotel in late 2012, the hotel will be rebranded as the first BreakFree brand property in Asia in early October.

“Mantra Group is focused on growing our presence in Bali across all three of our brands and we are confident that BreakFree’s combination of great service and cost-effective quality accommodation will work well in this region,” said Bob East, CEO, Mantra Group.

“We have concentrated on getting the product right for the BreakFree brand over the last few years, which has meant divesting hotels that weren’t within our brand standards.

“As a result, we have a solid network of good quality hotels in Australia and the BreakFree brand is ready to be taken to a market like Bali,” he said.

The three-and-a-half-star BreakFree Sing Ken Ken is located on the Legian beachfront and within walking distance to Seminyak and Kuta beaches, offering 80 deluxe rooms, junior suites and executive suites.

Featuring three dining outlets including a 24-hour bistro, rooftop terrace restaurant and pool bar, the hotel also comes with conference space for meetings of up to 150 pax theatre-style or 250 pax cocktail-style.

Mantra Group expects to add six more hotels to its inventory by end-2013, and a further 20 throughout the region by end-2014.

SINGAPORE Tourism Board has named Lynette Pang, currently executive director for arts & entertainment and F1 & sports, as the NTO’s new assistant chief executive marketing group.

She replaces Sophia Ng, who steps down from the post on October 1 after a two-year tenure with STB.

THE global adventure travel market has grown at 65 per cent annually since 2009 and is estimated to have been worth US$263 billion last year, excluding airfare, reported a new study.

The consumer report 2013 Adventure Tourism Market Study, produced by The George Washington University conducted in partnership with the Adventure Travel Trade Association (ATTA), studied the three key outbound regions of Europe, North America and South America, which account for almost 70 per cent of overall international departures.

According to the study, the exponential growth in adventure tourism over the years reflects the surge in international tourism and can also be attributed to the increase in the percentage of European and South American travellers classified as adventure travellers.

An increase in average spend by adventure travellers globally – from US$593 per trip in 2009 to US$947 in 2012 – and the emergence of new source markets also boosted the adventure tourism market.

The report also highlighted the following trends:

– 45 per cent of adventure travellers intend to use a tour operator on their next trip, compared to 31 per cent of non-adventure travellers

– Almost 54 per cent of travellers plan to take up an adventure activity on their next trip; a rise from the present 42 per cent

– The average length of a soft adventure trip was 10 days in 2012, up from eight in 2009

– 73 per cent of adventure travellers plan to do a new adventure activity on their next trip, while 22 per cent will participate in the same activity

ATTA is calling for more travel consultants who deal with adventure travel products to sign up as association members (TTG Asia e-Daily, July 17, 2013).

Thailand is also seeking to tap the growing segment, having promoted itself as an adventure travel destination at this year’s Thailand Travel Mart Plus (TTG Asia e-Daily, June 11, 2013).

DESPITE recent reports of further radioactive leakages at Tokyo Electric Power’s Fukushima nuclear plant, Malaysian travel consultants spoken to have recorded no cancellations or postponements in year-end travel bookings to Japan.

Cooper Huang, CEO, Malaysian Harmony Tours & Travel, said: “The (affected area) is far from popular tourist spots such as Hokkaido and Osaka.”

Instead he noted: “We’re getting new bookings for tour packages to these destinations, and also more enquiries from the Muslim segment for our autumn and winter tour packages to Japan.”

Huang also expected that AirAsia X’s conversion of its four-times-weekly Kuala Lumpur-Osaka flights to a daily service (TTG Asia e-Daily, August 23, 2013) would further stimulate the FIT segment, as the company would “benefit from selling ground packages to them”.

At the same time, Apple Vacations & Conventions’ group managing director, Desmond Lee, reported that the company had not received any enquiries from customers regarding safety issues.

Japan continues to be a hot-selling destination for high-income groups looking for a leisure destination as well as for the incentives market due to the visa waiver in that came into effect in July (TTG Asia e-Daily, June 26, 2013), he said.

To capitalise on growing demand for Japan tours, the company has organised six charters to Hokkaido between December 4 and 29 to coincide with the year-end school holiday period.

Meanwhile, one hotel company TTG Asia e-Daily spoke to said its hotels in the Tokyo area continue to see strong rates and bookings.

Kenji Goto, representative director of Hotel Okura, said: “Our group is on target to see at least a 10 per cent year-to-date increase in revenue versus the same time last year. Higher occupancies (rather than higher room rates) are definitely a factor as we have seen more overseas visitors (this year).”

The group, whose stable of brands comprise the four- to five-star Okura Hotels & Resorts and Nikko Hotels International and the three- to four-star Hotel JAL City, has posted strong occupancies of between 75 and 97 per cent at its Tokyo properties.

Additional reporting by Hannah Koh

THE regional hospitality sector has remained resilient in the face of tumultuous global financial conditions, with ARR increasing in 31 out of 35 of Asia-Pacific’s top 50 cities during the January to June period.

According to Hogg Robinson Group’s (HRG) latest HRG Interim Hotel Survey, Tokyo was the top performer in terms of rates in the local currency, with ARR jumping 19 per cent year-on-year to soar from 22,281 yen (US$226) to 26,514 yen. However, the increase was muted by exchange rates and registered a mere one per cent rise in the British pound.

Meanwhile, rates in Mumbai and Bengaluru strengthened both in the Indian rupee and British pound, growing nine per cent and six per cent respectively. HRG credited growth in Bengaluru to the lack of new openings, and Mumbai’s growth to strong demand from the outsourced IT sector and growth of the SME sector using best available rates.

Rates in Beijing rose three per cent when measured in yuan and doubled in pounds. Meanwhile, Singapore remained flat in the local currency while inching up four per cent in pounds.

Hong Kong and Singapore also maintained their positions within the top 20 most expensive hotel room cities, despite not being megacities.

Overall, the survey stated that Asia posted modest growth in 1H2013, which masked the large swings each way in key cities. The regional ARR shifted from 165 pounds (US$257) to 167 pounds.

Margaret Bowler, director, global hotel relations, HRG, said: “The early sign of recovery in hotel prices is encouraging; what is a surprise however, is that in certain key cities the rates are not as high as the market had expected – in many cities this is attributed to new supply.

“On the whole, occupancy is increasing faster which, coupled with continued high demand, means we will be likely to see rates climbing in certain markets in the second half of the year and beyond.”

TRAVEL solutions provider Amadeus today launched the Amadeus Notification Suite, reducing the need for travel consultants to monitor booking changes or deadlines manually by sending automatic notifications.

Comprising Amadeus Flight Notification, Amadeus SMS Solution and Amadeus Ticketing Timeline Advisor, the product is available at a single price.

Amadeus Flight notification alerts the travel consultant/traveller whenever a major change to a booking takes place; Amadeus SMS Solution keeps travellers posted on their travel itineraries, e-ticket information and more via SMS; and Amadeus Ticketing Timeline Advisor monitors, notifies and moves up ticketing deadlines so consultants do not miss ticket issuance deadlines.

Bruno des Fontaines, vice president customer solutions group, Amadeus Asia-Pacific, said: “Today, our travel agency customers are constantly competing with online booking options, so the ability to deliver a timely and highly personalised service for a seamless experience is a key differentiator.”

MARRIOTT International officially launched Courtyard by Marriott Pune Chakan last week in the automobile and manufacturing hub of Chakan, making it the city’s maiden international business hotel.

General manager Ritu Chawla said: “There are a number of high-profile delegates who visit Chakan. Earlier, there was no property of international standards that could serve the luxury business traveller, but with the opening of our property, this gap has been filled.

“This belt has great potential for F&B too as presently there are no outlets that can serve corporate clientele. The all-day dining restaurant (in our hotel), Momo Café, offers an interesting mix of international, Indian and local specialties.”

The brand’s 10^th property in India features 175 rooms including 12 residential suites and 1,089m² of indoor and outdoor meeting space.

Rates at the hotel start from Rs6,000 (US$95), and the hotel’s management hopes to exceed 50 per cent occupancy by next year.

Rajeev Menon, area vice president, South Asia, Marriott International, said he expects up to 65 per cent of business to be driven by foreign guests, with domestic travellers making up the rest.

“However, we expect the domestic share to increase as we move ahead. As we sit today, 67 per cent of (Marriott’s) business across the country is driven by Indian customers. We foresee Indian consumers accounting for 70 to 80 per cent of business for the Courtyard and Fairfield brands in the near future,” he shared.

Marriott is planning fam trips for travel trade partners as part of its marketing strategy.

Pune has seen hotel supply surge in the last four years and now has the fourth-largest supply of rooms in the country. Occupancy has also grown year-on-year, rising 12 per cent between 2011 and 2012, said Chawla.

The group is aiming to have 23 operating hotels in India in its portfolio by end-2013 and 50 by 2017. It also hopes to introduce the Edition brand to the country and is mulling the debut of Autography.

THE Ascott will open the first Citadines Apart’hotel in Hangzhou in late 2014, hot on the heels of new contracts announced for Hefei, Chongqing and Xiamen (TTG Asia e-Daily, August 15, 2013).

To debut as Citadines Intime City Hangzhou, the 100-unit property is situated in West Hangzhou, close to three major central business districts in the city and part of the mixed-use development Intime City.

Kevin Goh, managing director for North Asia, The Ascott, said: “Citadines Apart’hotel, which provides independent travellers with flexible services to suit their lifestyle needs, has been enjoying very healthy occupancy since we launched it in China in 2006.

“With a fast-growing demand for serviced residences in Hangzhou, we are confident that Citadines Intime City Hangzhou will perform well. As the capital city of Zhejiang Province, Hangzhou’s economy and foreign direct investment have grown respectively by an average of more than 10 per cent and 12 per cent annually in the last five years.”

Citadines Intime City Hangzhou will offer residents a range of studio to two-bedroom apartments with a fully equipped kitchen and separate working and sleeping areas.

Other facilities include a business centre, meeting room, laundry room, gym, sauna, as well as breakfast and residents’ lounges.