BEST Western International (BWI) is bringing its midscale Best Western brand to Myanmar for the first time, having signed an agreement to manage the Green Hill Hotel in central Yangon.

The property will be rebranded Best Western Green Hill Hotel, said a BWI spokesperson, adding that the entire rebranding process was expected to take three months.

Located in Yangon’s Tamwe Township, the six-month old hotel boasts 189 guestrooms equipped with 32-inch flat-screen televisions with international satellite channels and free Wi-Fi. A restaurant serving Asian and international cuisine, and meeting room facilities, can also be found on the hotel’s premises.

Glenn de Souza, BWI’s vice president of international operations for Asia and the Middle East, said: “There is no doubt that Myanmar is one of the world’s hottest hotel markets at present, with a major increase in new hotel supply needed to cater for a huge influx of guests.

“BWI wants to form long and lasting partnerships in Myanmar; we want to be here for the long-term, to help grow the country’s tourism industry. Our partnership with the Green Hill Hotel is just the start of our plans for Myanmar,” de Souza added.

Meanwhile, Accor is said to be in talks with local company, Max Myanmar Group of Companies, to open a Novotel in Yangon within a property belonging to the latter (TTG Asia e-Daily, February 22, 2013).

INBOUND traffic from Taiwan to the Philippines has plunged and three airlines plying routes between the two countries have cancelled services, following Taiwan’s travel advisory against the South-east Asian country.

The announcement came on May 14, after a Taiwanese fisherman was killed by Philippine coastguards in disputed waters off Batanes.

Insisting on anonymity, the general manager of a top travel agency handling Taiwanese tourists, said since the advisory was issued, he has had “zero” FITs and groups from Taiwan.

He added that correspondence from the Department of Tourism shows that Philippine Airlines, China Airlines and ZestAir have all cancelled their flights between Kalibo – the gateway to Boracay, a popular haunt for Taiwanese tourists alongside Cebu ­– and Taiwan.

However, all Cebu Pacific flights to Taiwan are to proceed as scheduled, said the carrier’s booking office.

Another anonymous travel consultant whose company specialises in Taiwanese inbound reported that all FIT and group tour bookings until October had been cancelled.

Although hotels have waived the penalties for June to October cancellations, the travel consultant said his agency must shoulder the hotels’ penalty charges of 50 to 100 per cent of booking fees for May cancellations.

Tourism assistant secretary Benito Bengzon Jr held a meeting yesterday afternoon to address tourism stakeholders affected by the travel ban.

Taiwan is the Philippines’ fifth largest source market, accounting for 4.2 per cent of total inbound arrivals. In 1Q2013, Taiwanese arrivals dipped 6.7 per cent to 53,867 tourists.

STRONG growth in arrivals to Myanmar are likely to continue even after the country crossed the one-million mark in 2012, as evidenced by skyrocketing growth rates between January and April this year.

During the first four months of 2013, Myanmar welcomed 253,136 tourists or a 43.9 per cent increase over 2012’s 175,930 visitors, according to statistics from the Ministry of Hotels and Tourism.

Asians comprised over 60 per cent of total inbound, including 37,333 from Thailand, the largest single group by nationality, followed by Japan (21,779), South Korea (18,813) and China (16,041). From Europe, France led with 15,251, followed by the UK (13,119) and Germany (11,289).

Aung Myat Kyaw, chairman, Union of Myanmar Travel Association (UMTA), said: “Last year more than one million tourists visited the country. Since Myanmar is a popular destination and is increasingly in demand, I believe the arrivals (for 2013) will be 50 per cent more than last year.”

Frank Janmaat, managing director, Light House Hospitality Consultancy, said that for years the tourism industry had suffered because of negative reports in international media and that the expansion of tourism was good news for all related to the industry.

However, in reference to Yangon’s high room rates due to accommodation demand far outstripping supply (TTG Asia e-Daily, November 21, 2012), Janmaat cautioned that the industry should be careful not to go “killing the goose that lays the golden eggs”.

He added that he hoped “all involved (will) take responsibility and work for the long-term sustainability of tourism in Myanmar and not for short-term gains”.

Yangon received the overwhelming majority of international air arrivals, and FITs made up the largest segment of travellers, followed by package tourists.

TOURIST arrivals and US consumer confidence levels are two factors identified as always having a positive effect on a city’s RevPAR, though global trends exert a high influence on RevPAR rather than local ones.

These were some of the findings in the recently-published Common Global and Local Drivers of RevPAR in Asian Cities by Cornell University’s Center for Hospitality Research, which studied a host of global and local economic factors and their effects on RevPAR in eight Asian cities, namely Bangkok, Beijing, Hong Kong, Shanghai, Singapore, Taipei, Tokyo and Seoul.

According to the study, growth in US consumer confidence or tourist arrivals in any of these cities would produce corresponding growth in RevPAR.

Nevertheless, global factors such as the MSCI Asia stock index (used as a proxy for expected changes in the Asian economy), Chinese and US consumer confidence, the China-US exchange rate, Chinese real estate development and event-dummy variables representing major events such as the Beijing Olympics, were observed to play a bigger role in determining RevPAR than local factors.

Local factors under study were: international tourist arrivals, trade balance and inflation.

However, the extent of influence also varied between cities. In Seoul, global factors account for 93 per cent of RevPAR and local factors, seven per cent. At the other end of the spectrum, Bangkok’s RevPAR was 66 per cent influenced by local trends and 34 per cent by global movements.

The Cornell study said findings indicated that although investors took the alleged risk-minimising approach by buying assets in different cities within one region, cities were linked by global forces and would, therefore, rise and fall with the tide.

Hotel executives, it advised, could monitor the factors listed in the study and treat them as early warning indicators for a feel of how much RevPAR is likely to be affected in the present economic climate.

SAUDI ARABIA this year will begin allowing Muslim pilgrims to visit other Islamic and historical sites through its new ‘Umrah-Plus’ visa, in a bid to strengthen its tourism industry.

The new, month-long visa allows those on religious pilgrimages to participate in supervised tours of cultural sites besides Makkah and Medinah.

The Gulf state, which does not issue tourism visas, is also in the middle of restoring and building 30 museums and Islam-themed attractions in Makkah and Medinah, according to Prince Sultan bin Salman Al Saud, chairman, Saudi Commission for Tourism and Antiquities.

Heritage hotels are also under construction. The state was pursuing growth in tourism in the hopes of making it a major pillar of the economy, and aspired to become a travel hub like Dubai, said Al Saud.

Tourism revenue for 2012 rose 10 per cent to 61.8 billion riyals (US$61.5 billion), though arrivals were largely comprised of religious pilgrims and visitors from Gulf Cooperation Council nations.

Feroz Sheikh, managing director, Alkhuddam Travels, said: “There is great interest worldwide in Islamic history and the opening up of visas to other countries will create large influx of tourists and scholars to Saudi Arabia. Riyadh and Jeddah could become hubs for transit between the East and West in the near future.”

LOCAL hospitality brand Big Hotel has made its debut with the opening of its first property on Middle Road, Singapore, targeting design-conscious travellers.

The 308-room property is situated at the junction of Middle Road and Bencoolen Street, close to shopping district Orchard Road and attractions such as the National Museum. Converted into a hotel from an office building, the hotel features Scandinavian-inspired interiors.

Big Hotel offers free Wi-Fi and an in-room tablet throughout all its guestrooms. The tablet is installed with a software application that enables guests to customise room temperature, TV and lighting.

Andy Ong, chairman of ERC Holdings, which owns the Big Hotel brand, said the brand would provide travellers “a hybrid of business, luxury and design-boutique type hotels” and that the company has plans to grow the brand regionally.

To mark the opening of the inaugural Big Hotel, the hotel is offering stays in a Superior room for S$128++ (US$102) per night, available for booking on its website. The promotion is running for a limited time and special rates include free Wi-Fi, an in-room tablet, free movies on demand and access to satellite radio and Internet-protocol television.

ASCOTT has bagged a management contract to operate its first serviced residence, Ascott Olaya Riyadh, which is set to debut in 2015.

Rafal Real Estate Development will develop the 230-unit property, located near the King Abdullah Financial District.

Chong Kee Hiong, CEO, Ascott, said: “Saudi Arabia offers strong opportunities for serviced residences. It is the biggest economy in the Middle East and its GDP is forecast to grow by about five per cent per annum over the next few years.

Sym Lee, Ascott’s head for the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), commented: “There is a huge demand for quality accommodation in Riyadh but international-standard serviced residences is lacking.”

Ascott Olaya Riyadh offers a mix of apartments from studio to two-bedroom, each coming with a fully-equipped kitchen, separate work and sleeping areas, meeting rooms, a business centre and a health club comprising a gym, steam room and swimming pool.

The latest signing increases Ascott’s portfolio in the GCC to almost 1,300 serviced apartment units across seven properties located in Bahrain, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.