BEST Western International has soft launched its 129-room Best Western OJ Hotel Malang, marking the first of more openings to come in East Java.

A two-hour’s drive from Surabaya, the hotel is expecting to grab a slice of the growing corporate and leisure pie Malang is enjoying, thanks to the expansion of the regional and national economy.

Best Western OJ Hotel Malang general manager, Agus Anom Suroto, said: “Malang is a tourist destination (part of Java overland tours and as a weekend getaway from Surabaya) and education city (due to the number of prominent universities) with a growing (corporate) MICE scene.

“These are the markets we are after, balancing the leisure and corporate segments, and we are expecting to reach 60 per cent occupancy in the next six months.”

The hotel is located in Malang city centre, 25 minutes from the airport, and has four room categories, five meeting rooms seating between 50 and 320 seats theatre-style, an indoor swimming pool, restaurant, lounge and free Wi-Fi throughout the entire hotel’s premises.

A roof top café with indoor and outdoor spaces is under construction and expected to be ready next month, offering views of Malang city and the surrounding volcanoes of Semeru, Arjuna and Panderman.

The hotel’s introductory rate starts from Rp360,000 (US$37) per room per night, including breakfast for two.

Hotel owner Mintarjo said some Rp100 billion had been invested into the hotel, including the cost of land.

In the meantime, Best Western International’s area development office Indonesia corporate general manager-new property, Adrianus Pangarso, said another hotel was under construction in Surabaya for completion by end-2014.

The area development office was also looking at Madium, Bojonegoro and Tulung Agung for expansion in East Java.

JAPAN’S Wakayama Prefecture will play host to the second edition of the ASEAN Tourism Association (ASEANTA) Board Members Meeting from today until August 1.

ASEANTA president, Mohd Khalid, will lead the 30-strong delegation from the 10 ASEAN countries for the second ASEANTA meeting for the year, to be held in Shirahama City.

The agenda includes a table-top discussion and networking session with key representatives of more than 30 organisations from the local travel trade in Wakayama, a tour around the city for inspection and the annual fireworks festival.

The association meets four times a year, with the goal of looking at ways to form partnerships and work closely with industry, public sector and other private businesses within and outside of ASEAN, to promote the ASEAN region as a destination of choice for both business and leisure travel.

Said Mohd Khalid: “With the existence of the ASEAN-Japan partnership, ASEANTA has also set its sights on further developing and enhancing tourism-related services between ASEAN and Japan.

“There is tremendous potential, not only in marketing and promoting travel and tourism, but also (for) investments within ASEAN by investors from Japan. Certainly, there is a possibility of exploring joint opportunities in travel and tourism between ASEAN and Japan.”

INTERCONTINENTAL Hotel Group (IHG) will enter into a series of franchise agreements with international investment company, Pro Invest Group, for the development of 15 Holiday Inn Express hotels across Australia.

Pro Invest Group has established a US$150 million fund to build and operate the hotels, which together offer approximately 2,100 rooms in cities such as Sydney, Melbourne, Perth and Brisbane.

The first hotel, the 190-room Holiday Inn Express North Ryde in Sydney, has been confirmed and is slated to open in the autumn of 2014.

Ronald Barrott, principal of Pro Invest, said: “My previous experience in the UK tells me this partnership with IHG will be a long and successful one, and that there is plenty of opportunity to grow this initial portfolio of 15 Holiday Inn Express hotels to become many more in the years to come.”

IHG Asia, Middle East and Africa CEO, Jan Smits, commented: “The announcement of this investment fund comes at a great time for IHG in Australia. Our current hotel brands here, InterContinental, Crowne Plaza and Holiday Inn, are already well-known and regarded by our hotel owners, and Holiday Inn Express is a welcome addition.”

He added: “We announced our first signing under this brand earlier this year and that hotel will open in Perth, Western Australia, in 2015.”

Separately, IHG is teaming up with Singapore-based Royal Hotels to transform the renowned Double Bay Hotel into the InterContinental Sydney Double Bay.

Royal Hotels will undertake a multimillion-dollar refurbishment of the hotel, after which the property will reopen as the InterContinental Sydney Double Bay in January next year.

Facilities at the new hotel will include a ballroom for up to 300 pax, meeting space, an all-day dining restaurant, Club InterContinental, café, lounge and bar, rooftop pool and bar. A ground-floor arcade could be developed into a health club or day spa as well as retail space.

THE Tourism Corporation of Gujarat (TCGL), the state tourism organisation of Gujarat, will next week invite bids to run its accommodation so as to scale up service standards.

The tourism body owns 17 properties across the state under the Toran brand name, ranging from budget to three-star accommodation.

Sanjay Kaul, managing director, TCGL, said: “We are looking at inviting private sector investment in infrastructure in a very big way. The tourism corporation is inviting bids from private players to manage our 17 properties in order to improve the quality of service. Private parties have the expertise to run hotels.”

The state tourism department has also identified spare land that it plans to lease out to private entities for the development of hotels on a long-term basis.

Furthermore, TCGL had approached the government of India to fund a major convention centre in Baroda to be constructed in a public-private partnership, revealed Kaul.

Gujarat’s tourism budget was increased to Rs3.8 billion (US$64.5 million) for 2013-2014, up from Rs2.4 billion for 2012-2013.

Last year, the state welcomed 600,000 foreign tourists. Main source markets were France, Italy, Spain, Germany, the UK and the US.

Kaul said: “The major draws for international tourists are the Kutch region and Gir National park.

“For the year 2013-2014, we expect 12 per cent growth in tourist arrivals. But, even though we are looking to attract more international tourists, the domestic market remains our backbone.”

CATHAY Pacific Airways has announced that it will commence four-times-weekly flights to the Maldives on October 27, subject to government approval.

The route will be operated with an Airbus A330-300 aircraft and run on Wednesdays, Thursdays, Saturdays and Sundays.

Flights depart Hong Kong at 17.15 and arrive at Malé’s Ibrahim Nasir International Airport at 21.25, local time. Return flights leave the Maldives at 23.35 to land in Hong Kong at 08.55 the following day.

Cathay Pacific’s chief executive, John Slosar, said: “The Maldives is the perfect getaway for holidaymakers from Hong Kong and around the world.”

ALL Nippon Airways (ANA) will increase the frequency and capacity of its Tokyo (Narita)-Yangon route beginning September 30, from thrice weekly to daily.

Nyo Nyo Khaing, manager at the Yangon-based ANA office, said that seat capacity on the route would be increased through the deployment of a new 202-seater Boeing 767-300ER aircraft.

“Currently, the schedule is three flights a week on Mondays, Wednesdays and Saturdays, using B737-700ER aircraft that can accommodate just 34 seats, comprising 24 business-class seats and 10 economy-class seats,” she said.

“We hope that the new aircraft with more economy seats will attract more passengers between the two countries.”

Flights departing Tokyo’s Narita International Airport leave at 10.30 and arrive in Yangon at 15.10. On the return leg, Tokyo-bound flights take off at 21.45 and touch down in the Japanese capital at 06.50 the next day. Ticket sales for the new daily service have started.

ANA aims to capitalise on the projected increase in demand for both direct and indirect flights between Japan and the rest of Asia, and between North America and Asia.

The airline was among the first to launch direct services between Japan and Myanmar. Its maiden Tokyo-Yangon flight took off in October last year (TTG Asia e-Daily, October 12, 2012).

ANA will also increase seat capacity for flights out of Narita to Chengdu from October 1.