RESORTS World Sentosa (RWS) has rolled out new products for travellers looking for a different experience, including getting up-close with marine life and unwinding at the spa.

RWS’ Marine Life Park began introducing three new programmes yesterday, beginning with the Open Ocean Dive, which allows certified divers to explore the S.E.A Aquarium’s Open Ocean habitat through a designated dive route, led by dive masters.

The 150-minute programme takes place once a day at 10.30, with four slots open only to divers aged 15 or above, and costs S$1,280 (US$1,010).

For travellers without diving certification or swimming skills, the once-daily Sea Trek Adventure is a one-hour long programme that climaxes with a 20-minute underwater helmet diving experience. Five participants are allowed each day for the Sea Trek programme, which begins June 30 at S$238.

The new Shark Encounter programme is slated to begin June 15 at the Shark Seas habitat, where guests can descend inside a cylindrical acrylic enclosure to get close to the 200 sharks inhabiting therein. Lasting 30 minutes, the event happens thrice-daily and will accept two guests each time. Ticket price is S$88.

Earlier, ESPA at RWS also unveiled a range of spa holidays coupling stays at RWS’ latest hotels – the Equarius Hotel and Beach Villas – with a personalised programme that includes ESPA spa treatments, fitness activities, spa cuisine and use of ESPA’s facilities such as hot and cool pools, the gym and the lounge.

Guests can choose an additional goal for the retreat, from getting fit and weight-managing to detoxing and de-stressing.

ESPA at RWS’s Lifestyle Retreats packages start from S$718 for a one-night retreat for one person, inclusive of room, spa treatments and three meals.

MELIÁ Hotels International and China’s Greenland Group have launched Qube Frankfurt as part of a pact to target inbound Chinese travellers to Europe.

Formerly run under Meliá’s Tryp brand, the 177-room, four-star Qube Frankfurt was launched on May 14, marking the first joint-venture hotel between Meliá and Greenland.

Situated in the centre of Germany’s financial capital, alongside the city’s international exhibition centre, the hotel was refitted to cater for Chinese travellers, with services including Mandarin-speaking staff and Chinese cuisine.

Meliá plans to open hotels in major European cities with air connections to China. Although no calendar has been drawn up, potential cities include Munich, Berlin, London, Paris, Madrid and Barcelona. “The intention is to continue with the Qube brand,” said a Meliá spokeswoman.

Greenland Group president, Zhang Yu Liang, has touched on possible openings in Spain to help attract more Chinese.

But the agreement – signed last December – also leaves room for opening five-star properties under Greenland’s Primus brand or “to operate jointly with Meliá brands”.

At the same time, Greenland-owned, Meliá-managed hotels will be rolled out in China, with the first to launch in Jinan this October and another in Tianjin in 1H2014.

Zhang said that Meliá’s decision to expand in China would influence the Chinese tourist’s decisions when he travels to Europe or other destinations and “have a major effect on the brand”.

Greenland Group already boasts some 60 properties in its hotel portfolio, including projects in Australia and South Korea, with plans to reach 100 hotels in the next three years.

COME September 2013, Royal Brunei Airlines (RBA) will be the first airline in South-east Asia to take delivery of its Boeing 787 Dreamliner order.

The second Dreamliner is scheduled for delivery in October, while the third and fourth will arrive in February and March 2014 respectively. No date has been fixed for the fifth Dreamliner, which will also be delivered next year.

Said Dermot Mannion, deputy chairman, RBA: “The (Dreamliner) will replace the current B777 aircraft on the daily Bandar Seri Begawan-London route via Dubai from December 1.

“From March 1, 2014, it will replace the B777 aircraft on daily services between Bandar Seri Begawan and Melbourne.”

The Dreamliner has a seating capacity of 255 and is 25 per cent more fuel efficient than the 285-seater B777.

RBA has also enhanced its web check-in facility on May 15, giving passengers the option of printing out their boarding passes. Currently in the pilot stage, it is available only to passengers departing from Bandar Seri Begawan, said Mannion.

From July 1, iPad Minis will be part of the carrier’s in-flight entertainment for all RBA business class passengers travelling on regional routes; the service will be rolled out on long-haul routes later.

ABU Dhabi-based Rotana Hotel Management will hoist its flag on Indian soil in 2016, as it plans to open some 20 hotels in the country within the next decade.

The group plans to open its first property in Delhi NCR in 2016 under its Arjaan Hotel Apartments by Rotana brand, followed by the debut of its mid-market Centro Hotels shortly after. Rotana expects India’s low RevPAR to improve by the time its Arjaan property is commissioned.

Rotana has also set up an office in June last year in Delhi NCR, and will invest in marketing and brand-building activities in India over the next three years.

Aman A Sachdev, senior vice president, Rotana Hotels and Resorts, which comes under Rotana Hotel Management, said: “With the increase in flight capacity between Abu Dhabi and India, and also with more flights from the Middle East, this is an opportune time to make our presence felt in India.”

Welcoming the news, Ashis Das, director of Mumbai-based The Wanderers, said: “Rotana’s entry into the Indian market will be good for MICE groups as they have a variety of F&B options and meeting spaces in their hotels. We also expect (Rotana) to open (properties) in Tier Two cities, making inroads into a vast but relatively unexplored market in India.”

Rotana has a portfolio of 46 hotels in 10 countries within the Middle East, and plans to almost double its business with another 44 hotels in 10 more countries by 2016.