SINGAPORE-headquartered SilverNeedle Hospitality yesterday launched SilverNeedle Collection, an umbrella brand for its portfolio of independently owned boutique hotel and resort properties across Asia-Pacific.

With a brand proposition promising unique and authentic experiences, desirable locations and service excellence, the first three properties to be inaugurated into the collection are the 30-suite 137 Pillars House in Chiang Mai, 68-room Riva Surya in Bangkok and 24-key Kiridara Luang Prabang in Laos.

Iqbal Jumabhoy, managing director & CEO, SilverNeedle Hospitality, said: “As owners ourselves, we recognise the requirements and different business cycles within the independent boutique hotel sector in Asia-Pacific. It was with this understanding that we identified the need for such a platform.”

Joining the SilverNeedle collection allows boutique property owners to avail of the entire range of SilverNeedle Hospitality’s services including pre-opening, sales & marketing, distribution and hotel management expertise, said Jumabhoy.

“We can tailor solutions according to (individual properties’) specific needs while connecting them to our sales and marketing platforms including our recently launched GDS code (TTG Asia e-Daily, October 4, 2012) and booking engine, thereby maximising the potential of each property while allowing them to retain their individual identities,” he explained.

Jumabhoy said the goal was to reach fifteen hotels under the SilverNeedle Collection banner in Asia-Pacific by 2016.

THE opening of the Marina Bay Cruise Centre Singapore next Monday is expected to spur cruise infrastructure development in South-east Asia, the slowness of which has been the bane of the sector’s growth.

The eye-catching terminal, in the shape of a ship, was previewed by Asian travel CEOs last Tuesday and will officially open with two mega ships in dock – the Diamond Princess and Voyager of the Seas.

“Both are about 3,600-pax ships and we’re expecting an 85 per cent load on both ships coming in and going out of Singapore,” said Melvin Vu, CEO of SATS-Creuers, the terminal’s operator.

This translates to more than 6,000 pax, the kind of numbers cruise proponents believe will open the eyes of regional neighbours to cruise dollars.

“The new cruise centre is going to signal a new era in cruise infrastructure development in Asia, particularly South-east Asia,” said Kevin Leong, general manager, Asia Cruise Association. “This is what we need, for infrastructure development has not been fast enough for cruise lines, which are considering deploying ships here.”

Leong said the economic crisis in the West was making cruise companies more serious about Asia, where source markets such as China, South-east Asia and India are huge and growing.

“But what we need to work on is building the network of ports of call, as a cruise hub cannot survive on its own,” he said.

Vu agreed that the new terminal would be a catalyst for cruise development not only in Singapore, but also the region. “With such investment sunk in Singapore, neighbouring countries must be thinking, there must be something in cruising.

“We need our neighbours. Singapore or Hong Kong can have the nicest terminals, but they need other ports of call to form meaningful itineraries,” said Vu.

Vu expects 75 ship calls with about 200,000 visitors passing through the terminal in the first year.

Leong said South-east Asia in fact, could do with more cruise hubs. “There could be a southern hub in Bali, a northern hub in Vietnam, an eastern hub in the Philippines. Distances are vast in South-east Asia, while cruise lines need to cater to Asian demand for shorter itineraries.”

Asked if it was realistic to expect emerging economies to invest heavily on cruise infrastructure as Singapore has, he said: “They don’t have to build an expensive cruise terminal. They can use existing container ports, so long as they provide cruise-friendly facilities such as shaded tents for passengers to disembark, immigration, areas for groundhandlers to pick up passengers for sightseeing – these are not difficult to provide.

“Non-hubs benefit too, from cruise passengers spending on dining, shopping and sightseeing.”

MYANMAR’s local tour operators are urging buyers to give them a chance instead of using regional DMCs based in Thailand or Vietnam.

A local tour operator, speaking on the condition of anonymity, expressed frustration that overseas tour operators, particularly in Europe, tended to deal with regional FDI (foreign direct investment) players instead of directly with local players because they perceive the regionals as “safer” and “more reliable” than small and medium-sized Myanmar operators.

There are about seven or eight local operators at the Myanmar stand who are eager to maximise the inbound boom that has been a long time coming.

But the bulk of the business may be going to FDI players. Though arrivals in Yangon rose 45 per cent to nearly 260,000 from January to September, as official statistics shows, local player New Motion Travels & Tours, expects to handle only 600 to 700 pax this year, albeit this represents a doubling from last year.

Another local agency, Interconnection Travels, expects to handle 1,000 pax this year and 1,200 pax next year, from 500 pax last year.

Asked how many passengers it could handle a year, New Motion’s marketing manager, Marlar Kyaw, said “as many”.

“It is good for overseas partners to deal directly with local operators as tourism is our main income and it helps livelihoods. They get better prices, while correspondence with local operators is quicker now. A few years ago, yes, it’s difficult to communicate, but now, there is Internet and the country is really changing – we are able to deal with overseas tour operators. This is why we attend trade shows such as ITB Asia and ITB Berlin, so that we can penetrate the market.

“We have to share the business of course, but if the overseas tour operators pick the small businesses, they can help these companies become bigger.”

Interconnection’s director of sales, Thant Sin Oo, said the regional tour operators were pioneers, therefore, it was understandable they had long-standing relations with partners. “It is up to us to fight for the business,” he said.

Asked what advantages local operators offered, he said: “The FDIs are big volume, group series. Local operators are able to give a more local experience as we understand our country better, plus, the groups are smaller, so we can specially tailor the programmes, unlike the fixed and less private packages of the FDIs,” he said.

Regional players such as Khiri Group said local players need not necessarily lose out as small operators. “In fact, a small player in Myanmar can become a niche player – there’s a lot of interest in that right now,” said co-founder & CEO, Willem Niemeijer.

“Right now, the Internet in Myanmar is getting more accessible. As long as you are creative, say, even with a three-person team, you can still get a business going with the Internet. Business in Myanmar is all about being small now – the (major) hotels are not even represented in the country now – unlike Thailand where it’s more about bargaining power in an established tourism industry.

“I feel that in Myanmar, small players stand as good a chance as the big players. There is certainly a lot of room for growth for all, and now is the time to start.”

Frank Hasso Wiegand, managing director, Focus Asia (Europe), said: “The advantage of regional DMCs is they operate across the region. Their strength lies in client knowledge, so Western operators know the needs of Western clients better.

“But the Burmese know their country better, so the country knowledge and client knowledge come together at a DMC. Focus Asia Myanmar is headed by only one expat, while the rest of the staff are local – we try to limit the number of expats in each office.”

Additional reporting by: Liang Xinyi

CARLSON is hopeful it can get an agreement from the Missoni family to bring the lifestyle luxury Hotel Missoni brand to Asia-Pacific, even as its priority remains on the upper upscale and mid-market brands Radisson, Radisson Blu and Park Inn by Radisson.

In an interview with the Daily yesterday, Trudy Rautio, the new president and CEO of Carlson (which comprises Carlson Rezidor Hotel Group, TGIF Fridays and Carlson Wagonlit Travel), said the contract with the Missoni family was only for Rezidor (in EMEA) and Carlson would have to get an agreement from the family to expand it to Asia-Pacific or the US.

“We are looking at that right now. Simon (Barlow, president Asia-Pacific of Carlson Rezidor Hotel Group) has some opportunities in Asia that are prime and we think the brand has great potential.

“We’re hopeful that we can get that agreement and move forward,” she said.

The equivalent of Bvlgari or Versace hotels, Rautio said the brand was unique in its design elements, with the Missoni family being very involved in the portrayal of the brand and hotels.

Barlow said in Asia, lifestyle and fashionable cities such as Singapore, Tokyo, Hong Kong and Shanghai would be ideal locations for Hotel Missoni.

Rautio said her biggest challenge, however, was to expand Radisson Blu fast enough in key cities in the US and Asia-Pacific. “If I had unlimited capital, I could grow faster. We look to our Carlson Wagonlit Travel team to work revenues into our hotels. It’s difficult for them to do that if we don’t have a property in Hong Kong or Singapore, so we need those assets. Our single largest challenge is to make sure we get distribution in those key cities,” she said.

In Asia-Pacific, Carlson Rezidor Hotel Group operates 83 hotels with a further 75 in development, many in Chinese and Indian cities. It made its first financial investment to grow Park Inn in India recently with a joint venture with Bestech Hospitalities.

Rautio, who is one of two female professionals to head a global hotel chain as CEO, said one of her goals was to help women advance in the industry.

When asked how she felt being in a capable, but all-men club, she said: “This industry is particularly difficult for women. There is a lot of shift work and mobility requirements and when women want to start a family, it becomes a difficult career to stay in.

“We need to figure out more creative ways to make it possible for women to stay in the industry and to advance in it, because women are naturally hospitable.”

– Read more in View from the Top with Trudy Rautio, TTG Asia, soon

INBOUND specialists in Singapore are seeing a raft of promotions offered by upscale and luxury hotels in the country, which are believed to be a preemptive move to shore up revenue as the global economy continues to shudder.

Alex Chan, director and general manager, Hong Thai Travel Services, told the Daily: “Business has slowed down since July. The corporate market is starting to slow for five-star properties. Next year seems even more challenging because of the uncertainty in Europe. Hotels are offering promotional rates, they are more aggressive and there are more discounts. (As a result), we’ve managed to upgrade customers from four-star to five-star hotels.”

Helen Goh, director of marketing (inbound), Vacation DMC, surmised that hotels are slashing their rates by as much as 20 per cent during promotional periods, including Chinese New Year and weekends.

“On top of special rates, more four- and five-star hotels are offering value-adds such as free Wi-Fi and late check-outs. In addition, many properties are rolling out their promotions a lot earlier than they normally do so that DMCs have a longer lead time to secure bookings,” she said.

However, according to Goh, most of the promotions are aimed at Asians, especially those from ASEAN, who are shunning Singapore for less expensive destinations such as Thailand.

She added: “On the flipside, there are hardly any promotions offered to long-haul markets despite the fact that we’ve seen a sizeable lapse in demand from Europe and the US, probably because hotels believe that even with promotions in place, this would not stimulate significant volume, given the dire economic state of these markets.”

Luxury Tours & Travel’s assistant manager for B2B reservations, Cindy Chin, stated that hotels along the Orchard Road belt were the most active in pushing promotions. “Hotels there have been feeling the heat in recent years, as more corporate and leisure arrivals have gravitated towards properties in the Marina Bay area,” she said.

Chan highlighted that hoteliers will have to up the ante next year, especially with more room supply coming online in Singapore.

Goh also warned: “A flood of new properties coming up in the Iskandar region of Johor and in Bintan pose a real danger to Singapore’s hotels too, and this could radically alter how they price or promote themselves in the near future,” she said.

Representatives of high-end hotels at ITB Asia 2012, however, painted a different picture. The Daily was told that performance was still robust. Mandarin Oriental Singapore and Capella Singapore have both seen growth in leisure and MICE bookings.

BUOYANT inbound traffic is driving hotel rates in Bali skywards, despite limited airlift and a slew of rooms set to flood the market by 2014.

Research by property consultancy Knight Frank shows that Bali will have 10,466 new hotel rooms by 2014. As many as 3,922 of these rooms – or 37 per cent – will be operational by the second half of 2012.

“Hotel rates in Bali have been on the rise even with additional supply underway. There is at least a 10-20 per cent increase (in rates) every year,” said Richard Vuilleumier, managing director of Panorama Tours Malaysia.

Conrad Bali raised its rates by eight per cent in 2012, and is targeting a 10 per cent increase next year, according to director of sales Caroline Chrysdy, who noted that average occupancy was about 78 per cent this year.

Likewise, board member of The Seminyak Beach Resort & Spa, Herdy D Sayogha, said the hotel plans to raise room rates to US$308 in 2013, from this year’s US$270.

Although rates are set to rise further, some hoteliers in Bali feel that a meatier increment could be had, if not for the wave of hotel developments. Sayogha said: “Most hotels in Bali should be able to raise their rates, but the incoming developments mean that rates are not increasing as much as they should.”

Vuilleumier said huge inbound traffic from Australia, Vietnam, China and Japan were keeping demand strong in Bali. “Rates are on the uptrend because there is more demand than supply – construction of additional hotels takes time. Direct connections may be insufficient, but visitors also have the option of flying via Jakarta,” he added.

Moreover, the domestic market has evolved into a force to be reckoned with. Domestic bookings grew 20 per cent a year over the last two to three years, said Gede Parmita, corporate director sales & marketing, Paridiso Bali Hotel, attributing the dramatic growth to the middle-class boom and the strong Indonesian economy in recent times.

“In fact, the domestic segment now generates about 40 per cent of our annual bookings, compared to just around 10 to 20 per cent five years ago,” he said.

Paridiso Bali Hotel intends to raise rates for locals by 10 per cent in 2013, compared to just eight per cent for overseas markets.

Nyoman Santiawan, vice chairman of Rama Hotels & Resorts, which operates seven properties in Bali, said room rates were expected to rise by five to 10 per cent in 2013 despite new room supply, mainly due to the flourishing domestic market.

But Santiawan said not all hotels would be able to hike rates. “Those in the main tourist strip will have more leeway than those off the beaten track,” he said.

Additional reporting by Linda Haden

ENCOURAGED by closer business ties between Asia and South America and the maturing of tastes among leisure travellers in this region, Peru is looking East to tap high-growth markets.

In the last three years, the Peruvian government inked free trade agreements with South Korea, Japan and China – significant because what usually follows is the opening of air routes, PromPeru account manager – Asian markets, Rocio Florian, told the Daily.

She explained that this was the case for Korean Air, which started operating cargo flights last year and is now preparing to mount passenger flights in December via the US.

Last year, tourist arrivals from Asia to Peru climbed 26 per cent, surpassing the growth from traditional markets such as Europe (six per cent) and the US (one per cent). Japan, in particular, jumped by 47 per cent, and has the highest expenditure per day. However, Asia still represents 3.8 per cent of overall arrivals, which stood at 2.6 million.

In the pipeline is a consumer advertising campaign in Japan, fam trips and the appointment of a PR agency in South Korea, as well as door-to-door visits to Chinese tour operators, Florian said, adding that other markets showing potential were Hong Kong and India. PromPeru will also be back at ITB Asia next year with a bigger contingent.

Also noting a rise in Chinese and Indians was Guru Sharma, managing director, Travel Group Peru. “Besides the lack of direct flights, visa issues remain a challenge, especially when cross-country tours are popular. Indians often combine Brazil, Argentina and Peru,” he said.

Florian shared that marketing efforts in Asia had been concentrated in Japan thus far, where there have been initiatives such as promotion subsidies, training and roadshows. As a result, tour operators there now offer options for Peru as a mono destination, compared to only combined packages back in 2004.

“Machu Picchu is a strong icon, but gastronomy is becoming important. Lima has been declared the gastronomic capital of South America. Now, people stop for at least a day in Lima,” said Florian.

Additional reporting by Liang Xinyi

ASIAN travel leaders remain excited over opportunities in the region despite a slowdown of powerhouses China and India, which saw the Asian Development Bank recently lower its growth forecast for the region next year to 6.7 per cent, from 7.3 per cent.

Ho Kwon Ping, executive chairman of Banyan Tree Holdings, said ‘event’ risks were far more worrying for tourism than economic crises. “Tsunami, SARS, bird flu, 9-11, Fukushima, riots in Bangkok – those things really dry up tourism as the perception of risk has a strong negative impact on tourism, whereas economic recessions generally cause business overall to come down gradually, but all of us in the industry are able to deal with it by (using) various strategies; it’s part of the business cycle.

“We’ve been lucky that China was big when European business declined. Now of course we’re a bit worried as China outbound is beginning to slow down, but we all have to take it in our stride and work hard.”

Group CEO of Panorama, Budi Tirtawisata, said he was cautious, but the industry remained promising.

“Indonesia’s economy has been centred on energy and mining, but now it’s consumer products and services. Demand from the middle-class, affluent consumer has reached the momentum that we’ve all been waiting for – it keeps increasing and we need to keep the supply up. The opportunities in Indonesia alone are vast, thanks to infrastructure development and increased connectivity. We have to tap the momentum.”

He expects the group, whose business is tourism, transportation and hospitality, to grow 20 to 25 per cent this year, as it did last year. It is building 20 to 25 hotels in Indonesia in the next five years, its three brands catering to the affluent middle class – The BnB (budget), The 101 (three star) and The Haven (four star).

Another CEO who expects high growth to continue is Madhavan Menon, managing director of Thomas Cook (India). “In India, the middle class is not affected by the economy. Travel demand is growing faster than the slowdown in the economy. New travellers are emerging all the time, while the priority for holidaying has increased.

“I see India as an outbound country, while domestic travel is picking up and we’re getting into it. Domestic is localised, specialised; as a national and international player, we don’t have the ability but I’m going to do it. I’m not one to let opportunities go just like that.”

TOURISM suppliers in Asia are taking a more serious approach to woo lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) travellers, attracted by the high spending power of this fledgling segment.

ITB Asia debuted the Pink Corner for gay and leisure tourism suppliers this year. Said ITB Asia executive director, Nino Gruettke: “The LGBT market is a highly attractive niche market, so we are using the Pink Corner as a test to find out more and listen to the needs of this market.”

Thomas Bömkes, managing director of Munich’s tomontour.com, appointed LGBT consultant for ITB Berlin, remarked: “LGBT travel has been around in South-east Asia for ages, but nobody paid much attention to it until recently. While Thailand and Bali are traditionally popular with the community, Cambodia, Vietnam and India are also emerging as hotspots.”

Several regional hoteliers told TTG Asia e-Daily that they are taking discreet steps to target this niche segment.

Bali’s Le Jardin resort, which listed itself on a local LGBT tour operator website early this year, has recorded a 20 per cent increase in LGBT bookings so far.

The Kunja Villa & Spa Bali’s general manager, Mangku Suteja, estimated gay travellers to constitute about five per cent of the resort’s guests and predicted that the segment would grow stronger on the back of Bali’s accommodating culture and supply of high-end private villa resorts.

Since W Singapore Sentosa Cove’s opening, the LGBT demographic has already become a “significant niche market that cannot be ignored”, said director of sales & marketing, Rosmalia Hardman.

She added: “We do not differentiate or track the numbers of gay guests at our hotel nor do we intentionally target our promotion efforts at this segment, but W hotels’ design-oriented approach has always drawn these travellers.”

Hotel Fort Canning (HFC) in Singapore, which has been officially marketing itself as a gay-friendly property since September 2011, is encouraged by the growth of this segment, said assistant director of sales, Pansy Long.

She explained: “We want to tap the gay market as they have high spending power. We have seen a five per cent increase in LGBT bookings since last year till now. Furthermore, we (send out) regular email blasts as well as tie-ups with Worldhotels (which HFC is a member of) to roll out gay-friendly promotions.”

Furama Resort Danang has also differentiated itself as a LGBT-friendly property in Vietnam, said executive assistant manager Nguyen Duc Guynh, who observed a rise of 15 per cent in LGBT bookings compared to three years ago.

“We are going to roll out more serious efforts to target the LGBT market, with the intention to launch special promotions and packages while advertising in local magazines read by the LGBT community,” he added.

Meanwhile, Luxury Travel Vietnam is keen to reap “the first mover advantage” by identifying the firm as an LGBT-friendly tour operator, CEO Pham Ha said.

“This market segment is growing very fast – we have recorded a 20 per cent surge in word-of-mouth recommendations from past clients,” noted Pham, whose main sources of LGBT travellers hail from Australia and the US.

When asked about the outlook of LGBT travel in South-east Asia, tomontour.com’s Bömkes replied: “Thailand and Bali are already attracting a lot of LGBT travellers without NTO support, so there is certainly plentyof room to tap this niche market.”

WITH a successful REIT listing now in the bag, Singaporean hotel group Far East Hospitality’s (FEH) plan is to double its size over the next five years, which will include exporting some of its brands to South-east Asia and Australia.

Operating eight hotels and nine serviced residences in Singapore and one serviced residence in Malaysia, the “internal target” is to achieve 17 hotels and 17 serviced residences by 2017, said FEH CEO, Arthur Kiong.

He told TTG Asia e-Daily that besides two confirmed hotels that will be coming online next year – the 229-room Peranakan-inspired East Village Hotel at Marine Parade and the boutique 37-room The Amoy Hotel, built within shophouses at Far East Square and its lobby being the Fuk Tak Chi Museum – at least four more properties under development by parent company Far East Organization (FEO) were likely to be managed by his team.

“FEO already has a pipeline of hotel projects that it intends to open and guess who is going to manage them…It’s pretty obvious that if FEO has a hotel, is it going to give that to somebody else and not its own?” said Kiong, who is also FEO’s executive director.

Among the stable of FEO’s local projects are Oasia Downtown Hotel (2014), The Outpost Hotel (2016) and Oasia West Residences (2016). The first will be a 318-room business hotel in the Tanjong Pagar area with additional small office/home office units; the second a 292-key business hotel with a strong heritage theme at Far East Square; and the third, 120 one-bedroom apartments that will function as hotel residences catering to individual business travellers from shipping industries, as well as nearby science and technology hubs.

Both The Amoy and The Outpost will join the newly created Far East Collection due to their architectural attributes and unique locations; their sister properties being The Elizabeth Hotel, Orchard Parade Hotel and Sri Tiara residences.

Despite these stand-alone properties, Kiong said FEH would continue its focus on mid-tier and upscale properties, while ensuring brand discipline. It currently has three brands: three-and-a-half to four-star Village, primarily driven by the cultural appeal of a particular enclave; four to four-and-a-half-star Oasia, serving a business clientele; and four-and-a-half to five-star Quincy, with an all-inclusive boutique concept.

Overseas expansion is also on the cards. “We have a lot of prospects knocking at our door because we have raised our profile with our REIT, and we also leverage a lot of FEO’s expertise and business acumen,” said Kiong.

An Oasia Kuala Lumpur is slated to open by 2014, while there are talks for a Quincy in Bali and Phuket, and a Village in Bintan, revealed Kiong. He added that FEH was also looking at bringing its brands to other strategic locations in Indonesia, as well as Myanmar and Vietnam.

Kiong explained that because the above were high-growth markets, FEH was also looking to balance its portfolio with low-risk deals in Perth, Sydney and Melbourne.

“We will have a significant commitment in Australia to establish a large presence because you can’t do it without scale. It would be either an acquisition or partnership,” said Kiong.

He explained that while China and India were hot markets, they were slightly too far away for FEH to leverage its home base in Singapore, while there were already plenty of profitable opportunities in its own backyard.

Kiong said that currently 50 per cent of FEH’s bookings come from travel consultants, a ratio it is intending to keep despite having recently relaunched its own website for direct sales. Overall volumes, however, will increase phenomenally given its planned growth.