NEW Zealander Dominic Sherry will lead Hilton Worldwide’s sales force in Asia-Pacific as its new head of sales for the region, based in Singapore.
Sherry joins Hilton from Marriott International, where he has served in key leadership positions since 1992 including regional vice president, sales & marketing for Asia-Pacific.
He brings 21 years of experience spanning the UK, Ireland, Scandinavia, Australia and New Zealand.
GRAND Hyatt Hong Kong has introduced two new activities that will bring a touch of entertainment to meetings at the hotel.
Aimed at keeping meeting delegates refreshed and alert throughout the event, the Plateau Spa Rejuvenating Break offers a neck and shoulder massage or hand massage. Meeting planners who take this option will see the coffee break area transformed into a relaxing spa lounge, with aromatic candles and soothing music to set the ambience.
The Plateau Spa Rejuvenating Break is available at the supplement rate of HK$880 (US$113.40) for a 20-minute session, including two skilled therapists working in five-minute blocks.
The Wine Tasting Session aims to bond team-mates through a fun and educational wine appreciation activity led by the hotel’s own sommelier and wine ambassadors.
Held during meeting breaks, this 20-mimute activity includes two selected wines and is available at the supplement rate of HK$800.
All rates are subjected to a 10 per cent tax, and a minimum of six to a maximum of 12 guests is allowed for each activity.
JACQUES Arnoux, who founded Pacific World in Hong Kong in 1981, will retire from the company on March 31 this year.
Under his leadership Pacific World expanded across Asia becoming the leading MICE business in the region. Jacques was instrumental in Pacific World’s strategic development, selling the business to First Choice in 2006 (now part of TUI Travel).
Arnoux remained managing director until October 1, 2011 and became a member of the Non-Executive Board. In this role he accompanied the transformation of the company to a global player through a rebranding exercise in November 2011.
David Schelp, Pacific World chairman, said in a press statement: “Jacques is one of the icons in the MICE industry. He led the way 30 years ago, spotting the opportunities with the Pacific World brand. His long and successful career and wealth of expertise and knowledge is valued by all.”
Arnoux commented: “Seeing the business grow from one office in Hong Kong to having a presence in 16 countries has been a fantastic experience. I would like to thank the many colleagues, clients and suppliers that have contributed and supported me over the years. I am sure that Pacific World will have a prosperous and successful future.”
THE 532-key Ritz-Carlton Abu Dhabi, Grand Canal opened its doors on Tuesday, with facilities catering to both leisure and business travellers.
Inspired by 15th to early 17th century Renaissance architecture and the urban planning of the city of Venice, the hotel is located at the waterfront and consists of ten stately buildings arranged in a crescent formation.
Beautifully manicured lawns, unique water features and private beaches are some of the many highlights of the luxury property, which overlooks a 1,600m2 pool and is backed by the majestic Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque.
“We are delighted to open our first hotel in the United Arab Emirates capital of Abu Dhabi, a city we have waited to be in until finding absolutely the right location,” said Herve Humler, president and COO of The Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company, in a press statement.
Guests can choose to stay in rooms, suites or villas with one and two bedrooms, spacious outdoor terraces, separate arrival palazzo and private butler service.
The Ritz-Carlton Club Level provides a dedicated concierge, private check-in and five F&B offerings throughout the day within an exclusive lounge boasting panoramic views of the property, canal and city skyline.
Event planners can utilise the hotel’s 1,550m2 Roma Ballroom, which can accommodate up to 900 guests and is divisable by three. There are also two expansive marble foyers with natural daylight, 14 meeting rooms and a traditional majlis.
Other facilities include 10 restaurants and bars, including three signature restaurants created by award-winning Japanese designer Super Potato.
ALMOST nine months after the opening of Gardens by the Bay on June 29 last year, interest from organisers of private and public events are still looking strong, said a representative of the attraction.
Darren Oh, assistant director (business), Gardens by the Bay, said: “All new venues tend to be highly sought after in the first six months, and Gardens by the Bay was no exception. We were swamped with event enquiries at the start. But now, after passing the sixth-month mark, we are still very much in demand.
“We find ourselves having to limit the number of events here to three a week, so as not to overload our operations team.”
Oh added that the horticulture attraction was able to maintain its popularity among event organisers due to its proximity to many quality hotels and convention centres, as well as “good word of mouth”.
He said: “Moreover, there is nothing else like Gardens by the Bay in Singapore. Our venues are different in nature, so we are able to cater to a wide range of events.”
Gardens by the Bay’s largest event space, The Meadow, with standing capacity for 30,000 people, has been booked for family day carnivals, sports events and concerts. Silver Leaf, an outdoor space surrounded by towering Supertrees, has hosted several private corporate parties and banquets.
Corporate demand for the indoor Flower Field Hall within the iconic Flower Dome is strong too, with many clients choosing to feature a tour of the chilly conservatory, which replicates the cool-dry climate of Mediterranean regions, with their banquet or award ceremony.
Event organisers who rent the Flower Field Hall for functions with at least 300 guests can purchase entrance tickets to the Flower Dome at a discounted rate of S$10 per pax.
“As the Flower Dome closes at 21.00, events that start late can have the entire venue to themselves,” said Oh.
Oh revealed that Gardens by the Bay “has many venues with the potential to host private events” and there are plans to “open more for commercial use eventually”.
MALAYSIA Convention and Exhibition Bureau (MyCEB) is developing a mobile application as part of its support programme for conferences in the country with at least 500 international participants.
Set to be launched in Kuala Lumpur in May, the technology will comprise two components: a conference application and a conference delegation welcome kit.
The conference application will contain updated conference information and features that allow delegates to vote and respond to surveys on their smartphones.
The conference delegation welcome kit will include listings of places of interest and dining privileges, as well as public transportation details and street maps.
MyCEB general manager sales & marketing, Ho Yoke Ping, said the mobile application would add value to international conferences secured in Malaysia and attract more international conferences to the destination.
Other Malaysian states, such as Sarawak, Sabah and Penang, will get their hands on the mobile application at a later stage.
TOP officials at Clark International Airport Corporation (CIAC) have indicated their willingness to twin Clark International Airport with Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA), a system representing one possible solution to address critical congestion at the latter.
In a statement, CIAC president and CEO, Victor Luciano, said: “We support the development of a twin-airport system that is the overall development of both Clark airport and NAIA. Both airports will have a symbiotic relationship that will be beneficial to the travelling public.”
CIAC adviser Benjamin Solis noted at last month’s Clark Aviation Conference that a twin-airport system made sense in addressing capacity issues. NAIA would serve as the “catchment” for traffic to south Metro Manila and the regions in southern Luzon, while Clark would handle traffic to north Manila and northern Luzon.
AirAsia Group CEO, Tony Fernandes, whose LCC Philippines AirAsia is based at Clark, has also thrown his weight behind the twin-airport system.
“Clark has a very big future…In the end, Clark will be one of the main hubs,” he said. “In Japan, it’s very clear. You have Haneda – which is like NAIA – and you have Narita, which is much farther away, but Narita is the main airport.”
Transportation and communication secretary, Emilio Abaya, is expected to make a formal recommendation on whether to adopt a single or twin airport international gateway system soon, to be submitted directly to Philippine president Benigno Aquino III.
Clark has grown in importance as a gateway, welcoming slightly over one million international passengers in 2012 or 39.7 per cent more arrivals than in 2011. The Department of Tourism (DoT) expects Clark to bring in 1.7 million foreign arrivals by 2016 – 17.2 per cent of the country’s total, making the airport Philippines’ third largest for international arrivals, said DoT undersecretary Danny Corpuz.
CIAC has submitted plans for a new gateway terminal, budget terminal and additional navigational equipment to the Department of Transportation and Communication, which upon completion will expand the airport’s capacity to 2.5 million visitors annually.
MALAYSIA Airlines (MAS) is upping frequencies and capacities on routes out of Kuala Lumpur to Asia-Pacific destinations for the summer season.
Beginning March 31, MAS will increase weekly Manila flights from 25 to 28 while bumping up Yangon and Colombo services to ten times weekly.
From April 1, the airline will double flights to Dhaka for twice daily operations and on the same day, swap one Boeing 737-800 aircraft for a larger B777-200 on the Denpasar route to hike capacity by 20 per cent.
Flights to Brisbane will be increased from five times weekly to daily on June 17, adding 566 seats in each direction.
Capacity on the four times weekly route to Bandar Seri Begawan will rise 11 per cent when the currently deployed B737-400 is replaced by B737-800 aircraft, effective August 15.
Frequencies on domestic services are also set to increase.
Beginning June 15, Langkawi services will grow from 42 times a week to 49. The Johor Bahru sector, currently plied 27 times a week, will be increased by a further five on July 15.
MAS is due to expand flights to Kuching from 49 to 77 times weekly by August 15, starting with the mounting of 19 more flights on March 31.
Similarly, the number of Kota Kinabalu connections will go up from the current 68 weekly to 82 by July 15, with an initial six additional weekly flights to be introduced on March 31.
Links to Miri will soar with an upgrade to daily services on April 15, followed by three more weekly services beginning July 15 and one more on August 15.
The present seven weekly services to Tawau will also be doubled from June 15, while the 14 weekly Labuan flights will be boosted to 20 a week on the same day.
SINGAPORE has emerged as the top destination that Myanmar travellers want to visit, with shopping, sightseeing and experiencing different cuisines being the main motivations.
According to a survey by MasterCard Worldwide, the city-state trounced popular destinations such as New York, Bangkok, Seoul and Paris to take the crown.
The survey was based on interviews conducted with 411 residents with bank accounts in Yangon and Mandalay between December 2012 and January 2013.
MasterCard also reported that although less than one in five Myanmar residents had travelled abroad for leisure in the last 12 months, an overwhelming majority of people who did travel intend to do so again over the next one year.
Within Myanmar, 73 per cent of respondents had travelled domestically over the last 12 months. Top local destinations were Taunggyi, Mandalay and Pathein.
Four out of five of those who had travelled domestically plan to do so again over the course of the next year.
The survey stated that Myanmar’s travellers spend an average of 200,000 kyats (US$230) per person on domestic holidays. For international holidays, the amount was six times higher.
Consumers in the South-east Asian country reported high levels of optimism when it came to consumer confidence, according to the latest MasterCard Index of Consumer Confidence.
Myanmar’s liberalising economy has seen inbound tourist numbers shoot past one million in 2012 and arrivals are expected to grow another 30 per cent in 2013 (TTG Asia e-Daily, January 25, 2013).
VISITOR arrivals to Indonesia in January 2013 showed a 5.9 per cent year-on-year decline to 614,328.
The fall was led by China with negative 37.2 per cent growth, followed by Taiwan with 28.8 per cent and Singapore with 15.5 per cent.
Ministry of Tourism and Creative Economy spokesman, I Gusti Ngurah Putra, blamed the Lunar New Year, which fell in January last year and in February this year, for hurting January arrivals to Indonesia.
While arrivals from Australia also crept into negative territory with a 1.9 per cent decrease, Japan and South Korea showed healthy growth of 14.7 per cent and 6.6 per cent respectively, while Malaysian footfalls rose by 8.2 per cent. Emerging markets India and the Middle East also booked an increase of 3.6 and 7.9 per cent.
Ngurah Putra remarked that the positive growth in arrivals had balanced out the fall in visitors from China, Singapore and Taiwan.
On the longhaul front, arrivals from the Netherlands decreased by 11.8 per cent while arrivals from the rest of Europe were up by between 0.3 and 6.6 per cent.
Ngurah Putra expects Indonesia’s role as the official partner country of the recently-concluded ITB Berlin, to boost inbound figures not only from Europe but also other markets.
The country is gunning for nine million arrivals this year, targeting South-east Asia, especially Singapore and Malaysia, and China as major source markets.
