HYATT Hotels Corporation yesterday announced that an affiliate had entered a management agreement with Bangkok-based Grande Asset Hotels and Property Public Company Limited, to develop Hyatt Regency Bangkok, Sukhumvit as the first Hyatt Regency-branded hotel in Bangkok.

The property, expected to open in 2017, will join Grand Hyatt Erawan Bangkok.

Hyatt Regency Bangkok, Sukhumvit will feature 288 guestrooms, inclusive of 26 suites, and over 1,000m² of meeting space which also entails a ballroom.

It will also offer amenities such as a six treatment room spa, a fitness centre, swimming pool and club lounge.

HVS Global Hospitality Services has opened an office in Jakarta as part of HVS Asia, and appointed Arief Gunawan as vice president Indonesia to oversee business development, strategic consulting, valuation and investment services across the region.

The opening of the Indonesian office is in line with growing interest from investors in developing properties in the country, not only in major cities but also in secondary destinations.

Chairman, HVS Global Hospitality Services China & South-east Asia, David Ling, said: “There has been growing interest in Indonesia’s second and third-tier markets, with many market players taking note of their massive potential.

“Stakeholders such as hotel operators, investors, developers, hospitality consultants and government sectors are hovering about the new investment hotspots of Indonesia.

“Economy to midscale hotel properties are key target segments for many stakeholders’ growth expansion plans in the coming years.”

Data from the Ministry of Tourism and Creative Economy showed that until end-September 2012, foreign investments in Indonesia’s tourism sector have doubled to US$7.3 billion. In contrast, the same period in 2011 saw US$ 2.5 billion in investments.

The Indonesia National Tourism Masterplan – which identifies 88 strategic destination clusters and 88 destinations, of which 16 will be given priority development in the next three to five years – has also given more reason for the opening of an Indonesia office.

HVS Global Hospitality Services is multi-skilled in the real estate and hotel industries, and well exposed to markets across Asia including hotels, resorts, serviced apartments and other hospitality related properties.

TRAVEL industry recruitment specialist TMS Asia-Pacific has been sold to a joint consortium consisting of its current CEO, Helene Taylor, and Asia-based entrepreneur Steve Hamblin, who founded the Parker Bridge Group in 1988.

“This newly forged partnership will inject new seed capital to feed TMS’ growth and expansion plans in Australia, New Zealand and Asia, as we strive to make TMS the leading recruitment specialist in the hospitality and tourism field for the Asia-Pacific region,” said Taylor. She rejoined the company this year as general manager, and also has a background in business development and coaching.

One of the new consortium’s first priorities, as outlined by Taylor, is to increase TMS’ headcount. She said: “At the moment, we are taking things step by step. First we will focus on re-establishing TMS’ presence in Bangkok, before heading to New Zealand, where the office in Auckland is scheduled to reopen.” TMS will continue to operate under its current branding.

Taylor also confirmed that there are no plans to relaunch the office in Singapore, which shuttered in September. “We will probably service Singapore out of Bangkok for the time being,” she said.

Clients were not informed of the change of ownership prior to Monday’s official announcement, but Taylor reaffirmed that TMS would implement measures for a smooth transition.

Announcing the news in a press release, TMS founder Gary Marshall said making the decision to sell the company he established in 1994 had proven to be a very difficult one.

He said: “The reality is, I have been standing very much on the sidelines for the last five years, becoming more of an inactive shareholder along with Phil Hoffman rather than having a day-to-day hands-on management role in the business.

“I found myself even less involved when Mark Rizzuto came on board as managing director last January. I knew it was time to move on and focus on the other business interests that tend to dominate my time these days.”

HANS-PETER TUGGENER, a pioneer of tourism to Thailand from Western Europe, died last Friday in Switzerland after a long battle with cancer.

Tuggener, or ‘Tuggi’ to friends, was general manager of Diethelm Travel Thailand in the early days when the country was just on the cusp of tourism growth.

Peter Diethelm, former managing director of Kuoni UK, recalled: “On a hot and humid day in April 1968 in Tuggi’s office at Diethelm Travel in Bangkok was where my love affair with Thailand began. We debated a crazy idea that Kuoni would start a weekly charter flight from London to Bangkok and I promised that if he helped me get the right product at the right price we would send thousands of passengers from the UK to Thailand and use Diethelm Travel as our inbound agency.

“Next day, we started a 14-day site inspection trip together and checked out hotels in Bangkok, upcountry tours to Chiangmai and the beach resorts of Pattaya which only had two reasonable hotels, Nippa Lodge and the new Pattaya Palace. I was bowled over by the beauty of the country, its smiling people, the unique experience, not to mention the exotic nightlife.

“Thanks to Tuggi’s instant enthusiasm and support for our project, Thailand became the flagship destination for the fledgling Kuoni UK tour operation and, in a matter of a few years, we were the undisputed leader of package holidays from UK to Thailand, carrying more than 20,000 passengers to this lovely destination year after year.”

Luzi Matzig, CEO of Asian Trails Thailand, said: “He was the man who recruited me in November 1971 to join Diethelm Travel where he was the GM till 1989, when I took over from him till 1999.

“Hans and I were among the early discoverers of upcountry Thailand as we went on many pioneering trips together to the north, travelling on dirt bikes and staying in remote tribal villages. We had some really good times together. He was good at telling stories from the ‘olden days’. Playing the Guggitaler Jass, a Swiss card game, was a monthly affair for us until not too long ago when cancer started to wear him down.”

Kurt Rufli, former managing director of Amari Hotels & Resorts, said: “During his decades-long tenure as boss of Diethelm Travel, Hans not only played a major role in developing Thailand’s tourism industry, he became an essential and highly-respected member of the trade fraternity. On every occasion, his quiet presence, ready smile, interesting conversations and gentle mien endeared him to many.

“During his long battle with cancer, we watched with admiration as he submitted himself to surgery and debilitating chemotherapy, yet still retained his sense of humour and caring concern for others. I salute Hans for his courage, and I am most grateful for the friendship I was privileged to share with him over many years.

Said Basil McCall, then vice president sales and marketing who negotiated room allocation and rates with Diethelm: “Hans Tuggener was a gentleman, and a gentle man. Affable, quiet spoken and always pleasant company, he concealed a subtle sense of humour which often took you by surprise.

“Although he commanded a high position in Thailand’s travel industry, and played a major part in its development over many years, Hans became an endearingly down-to-earth person out of his office chair and enjoyed the simple things in life most. Months before the Superhighway to Don Muang airport was opened, early mornings often saw Hans pedalling his bicycle along stretches of the virgin road. He would often describe to me the sheer pleasure of doing that, long before the city was awake.”

The funeral service will be held on November 16 at 2 pm at the Roman Catholic Church of Siebnen in the Zurich region of Switzerland.

GARUDA Indonesia is planning to launch services to London, Brisbane and Auckland in 3Q2013 with the delivery of 24 new aircraft next year.

Speaking at the Garuda Indonesia Travel Fair (GATF) in Jakarta last weekend, Garuda president and CEO, Emirsyah Satar, said: “Next year we will receive 24 new aircraft comprising four B777-300ER, 10 B737-800 NG, two Airbus A330-200, one A330-300 and seven Bombardier CRJ-1000 NG. This will allow us to ­­expand our domestic and international network to support the Indonesian tourism (industry).

“With the arrival of our B777 aircraft, we are planning to start (the) Jakarta-London (route) next year. We also plan to (to fly) to Brisbane and Auckland (with A330s).”

The airline plans to fly to London four times a week initially, according to Garuda’s executive vice president of sales and marketing, Elisa Lumbantoruan.

Welcoming Garuda’s potential new services, Indonesia’s deputy minister of tourism and creative economy, Sapta Nirwandar, said: “Tourist arrivals will grow much higher than they are today if we have more direct flights. Depending on other airlines means (having a) limited seat allotment. Therefore, we are looking forward to new route openings and capacity increases from our national carrier.”

At GATF, Garuda also introduced the concept of a mobile ticketing counter. A converted minibus will be parked in public places such as shopping malls at stipulated times.

Satar said: “The service will provide convenience for our passengers in areas like South Jakarta, where we do not have a sales office, allowing them to make reservations and check-in to get their boarding pass. They only need to drop their baggage at the airport.”

The airline will first roll out the mobile ticketing counter in Jakarta, followed by other major cities. Schedules will be available on the airline’s website, according to a Garuda spokesman.

INDIA’S Ministry of Civil Aviation has approved flights to a host of new destinations for Indian carriers. As a result, they can operate 1,526 flights a week during summer 2013, up from 1,074 this year.

Permission has been granted for destinations such as Macau, Jakarta, Ho Chi Minh City, Zurich, Sydney, Melbourne, Moscow, Barcelona, Madrid, Rome, Nairobi and Al Najaf (Iraq) with immediate effect. No Indian carrier currently flies to these cities.

The ministry will also begin talks with Singapore, Oman, Abu Dhabi and Dubai for increased flights.

On top of that, it will start fresh dialogues with several countries on mutual increases in entitlement. Although some foreign carriers are utilising as much as 98 per cent of their allocation, Indian carriers are not using even half.

Gulf-based carriers such as Etihad Airways and Emirates have upped flight capacity to 54,000 seats per week and Qatar Airways, 18,000, but Indian carriers are only taking up 4,000 seats to Doha, for example.

Rajendra Churiwala, director-eastern region, IATA Agents Association of India, said: “Indian carriers flying to new destinations in Asia and Europe are a big boost to tourism. Many countries like Spain, Italy, Vietnam, Indonesia and Macau are popular international tourist destinations, but were not getting enough traffic from India due to a lack of direct flights. Now, outbound volume should improve greatly.”

B T Ramnani, director, Vensimal World Travel Agents, said: “Opening up new cities for Indian carriers will help fulfil India’s target of 12 million tourists by 2015. Direct flights from these destinations will help bring more tourists into the country.”

SEVERAL resolutions covering the areas of environment, taxes, passenger services, passenger facilitation, safety and security were passed at the conclusion of the Association of Asia Pacific Airlines (AAPA) 56^th Assembly of Presidents on Friday.

In the area of environmental conservation, AAPA called on the European Union to postpone the inclusion of international aviation in the European Union Emissions Trading Scheme, pending international agreement.

AAPA also pleaded for governments to refrain from increasing aviation levies in any form, which would put financial strain on travellers and the aviation industry.

Andrew Herdman, AAPA director-general, said: “The bold initiatives being taken by Asia-Pacific carriers to change the competitive landscape offer great promise to the travelling public, but governments seem oblivious to the counterproductive impact of never ending new legislation and taxation.”

On passenger services, AAPA wanted governments to recognise the role of a competitive marketplace in motivating airlines to respond to passengers’ needs and service expectations, and to steer clear of legislation that would act as a disincentive.

Government agencies were also asked to consult widely with the aviation industry to strike a better balance between national border control objectives and the need for efficient passenger facilitation, and to ensure that sufficient resources are allocated towards passenger processing at checkpoints.

For safety, AAPA said air transport remained the safest form of travel because of cooperation between the industry and governments, coordinated by the International Civil Aviation Organization, urging governments not to impose punitive measures and restrictions on foreign carriers.

Lastly, to ensure security, the association encouraged governments to develop and implement intelligence-led, outcome-based security measures that realistically balance risks against the costs and inconvenience posed to travellers.

– Read more in TTG Asia, November 16-29, 2012

JAPAN’S Prince Hotels Inc has charted a growth strategy of expanding in Asia, particularly China and South-east Asia, in the next few years.

Part of the Seibu Group, Prince Hotels was established in 1956 and is Japan’s largest domestic hotel company by number of rooms. However, through those decades, its overseas footprint only comprises three hotels and three golf courses in Hawaii, which it owns, and four franchised hotels, three in Taiwan and one in Malaysia.

But following a focus on cost-control in the past seven years, the time is now ripe to revisit its Asian expansion plan, particularly as its main domestic focus has now been established, according to Masahiro Sekine, corporate director-managing administrator.

It intends to expand through management and franchise agreements and has already secured two management contracts in China, one a ski resort and the other a hotel, opening in December 2013 and in 2014 respectively.

The hotel management arm, Prince Hotels & Resorts, operates three brands, The Prince, Grand Prince Hotel and Prince Hotel.

Sekine and other Prince Hotels senior executives were at the Hotel Investment Conference Asia-Pacific in Hong Kong last month to study the market and seek opportunities.

Stan Brown, corporate director-executive adviser business management division, said opportunities in South-east Asia would include locations with a strong presence of Japanese factories, such as Vietnam.

“Prince Hotels is so established in Japan. It has years of experience in managing hotels and is a brand that can bring Japanese business to you,” he said.

A capital investment of 10 billion yen (US$125.8 million) has also been set aside to upgrade existing key properties in the portfolio.

BANGKOK Airways is on a trail to expand its regional destination network as well as ink more codeshare agreements, hot on the heels of its new Bangkok-Vientiane daily services, beginning next month.

Bangkok Airways senior vice president of network management, Peter Wiesner, said: “It is our policy to fly to two destinations in neighbouring countries, and we are already flying to Luang Prabang.”

The airline will also add a new destination in Myanmar – Mandalay being among the possibilities – to its network next year, he added. The airline currently operates three daily flights to Yangon.

As for its Koh Samui-Kuala Lumpur service, which commenced on April 12 with Malaysia Airlines as a codeshare partner (TTG Asia e-Daily, March 27, 2012), Wiesner described this route as “doing well” and “better than expected”.

He said: “The next step is to work on a frequent flyer programme with Malaysia Airlines next year.”

Wiesner revealed that the airline is also looking at launching four to five new codeshares in 2013 with partners such as Qatar Airways and British Airways.

The Thai airline recently embarked a codeshare tie-up with Japan Airlines (JAL) on selected flights between three airports in Japan and Bangkok operated by JAL, as well as between Bangkok and four points within the region operated by Bangkok Airways (TTG Asia e-Daily, November 7, 2012), effective November 15, 2012.

QANTAS has dealt the industry a painful one-two punch as it seeks to restructure its operations and tackle rising fuel costs, slashing 400 jobs and increasing international fares by three per cent.

According to news agency AFP, the airline announced it was slashing the jobs of 150 staff and 250 contractors, after axing hundreds of maintenance posts six months earlier.

Lyell Strambi, chief of Qantas’ domestic operations, said: “The Qantas group fleet age is at its lowest level in 20 years, with 122 new aircraft joining the fleet in the past four-and-a-half years.

“I believe we have some of the most highly skilled and capable engineers in the world. Unfortunately, we just have too many for the work we have right now and the work we expect to have in the future.”

Meanwhile, news has also been circulating about a fare hike by Qantas.

According to the website of Corporate Travel Connections, an Australian TMC, fares for Qantas’ international first, business, premium economy and economy cabins will increase by around three per cent. The new fare levels will apply to Qantas International core tariff fares from Australia for tickets issued on or after November 21.

This has also been reported by local broadsheet The Australian.