LEADING Spanish hotel chain Iberostar Hotels & Resorts is expanding into Asia, after signing a management and consultancy agreement with Corbis Group, a private equity, corporate investment and development firm based in Barcelona.

As part of the deal, 10 properties will enter Iberostar’s hotel portfolio, include five under the Casas y Palacios de España brand in Spain, and The Royal Phuket Yacht Club and yet-to-be-opened Hotel Summer Palace in Phuket.

Iberostar is expected to take over the management of the 110-room Royal Phuket Yacht Club in 4Q2012, with Hotel Summer Palace and several other new build properties set to join over the next two years.

Iberostar’s global footprint already extends across 15 countries, including in Europe, North and West Africa, Brazil and the Caribbean, but with no further plans for Asia at present.

Corbis, which recently launched Arcus Corporación to encompass its hotel and property interests, said the agreement with Iberostar would enable it to tap the “support and experience of an international (hotel) chain” to improve the quality of its hotel investments.

SWIRE Hotels is planning to unveil EAST, Beijing towards the end of next month, following up on the launch of EAST, Hong Kong – the maiden property under the brand – in January 2010.

Situated within INDIGO, a mixed-used development by Swire Properties and Sino-Ocean Land in Beijing’s Chaoyang District, EAST, Beijing will offer 369 rooms, including 23 suites.

Targeting business travellers looking for a relaxed, convenient and contemporary environment, EAST hotel brand standards include a paperless check-in and check-out experience, and a one-stop front desk service team.

“We’re very excited about the opening of EAST, Beijing,” said Brian Williams, managing director of Swire Hotels. “Continuing with what we’re doing in Hong Kong, our philosophy for the EAST brand is to create a lifestyle business hotel that is going to rejuvenate you when you are tired; energise you when you are in search of fun; and support you when it’s time for business.”

All rooms at EAST, Beijing will come equipped with a built-in array of international power points, iPod touch technology and WiFi broadband Internet connectivity. Facilities will include a gym, a swimming pool and an outdoor splash pool, while the executive floors and executive lounge will be located on the 24th and 25th levels of the property.

Dining and entertainment will be provided by Feast (Food by EAST), an all-day dining restaurant serving up international favourites; Hagaki, a Californian-inspired Japanese eatery; and Xian, a multi-element bar, lounge and music venue on the ground floor.

MICE facilties will be available at The Workshop, the hotel’s meeting and events space on the third floor.

After The Opposite House at Sanlitun Village, EAST, Beijing will be Swire Hotels’ second hotel in the Chinese capital and fourth in Asia.

CENTARA Hotels & Resorts has appointed Complete Travel Marketing as its regional sales representative for Australia and New Zealand, effective August 1, 2012.

“We are very pleased to be appointing Complete Travel Marketing to act for us in these two markets, which are of increasing importance to us,” said Chris Bailey, senior vice president for sales & marketing at Centara Hotels & Resorts.

“(Complete Travel Marketing’s) senior management personnel represent a total of more than 40 years’ experience in the travel and hospitality industry, and enjoy international respect,” he added.

Based in North Sydney, Australia, Complete Travel Marketing was founded by Jonathan Milburn and Charlie Ridout, who was previously a sales manager for Trailfinders and head of product for Cox & Kings in the UK.

THE INDIAN government has approved the construction of a high-speed rail link between the western cities of Mumbai and Ahmedabad, the first of seven such rail connections in the pipeline, according to The Straits Times.

To be built at the cost of 630 billion rupees (US$11.3 billion), the 492km rail link is expected to cut the travel time between Mumbai and Ahmedabad from 7 hours to 2.5 hours.

The project is envisaged to take about eight years to complete.

Similar high-speed rail connections are being mapped out between Chennai and Hyderabad in the south; New Delhi, Amritsar (Punjab) and Patna (Bihar) in the north; and Ernakulam and Trivandrum in Kerala.

AIRASIA officially unveiled in Jakarta today its new regional nerve centre, AirAsia ASEAN, as part of a strategy to focus on regional growth  (TTG Asia e-Daily, June 14, 2012).

With AirAsia group CEO, Tony Fernandes, and deputy group CEO, Kamarudin Meranun, based at the new office, AirAsia ASEAN will oversee the expansion blueprint for the carrier’s six subsidiary airlines – five anchored in ASEAN and one in Japan.

By focusing on regional growth, AirAsia will expand its market base to 600 million people and bring ASEAN closer – within four-hour flight radii – to mega populations in China and India, as well as in Japan and South Korea.

“Shifting AirAsia’s emphasis to regional strategy is, we believe, not just good business, but also a move that will keep us ahead of the inevitable competition that is heading our way,” said Fernandes.

He added that establishing AirAsia ASEAN in Jakarta would also allow the airline to ride the wave of increasing regional integration due to the impending implementation of ASEAN Open Skies and ASEAN Economic Community initiatives.

“One of the reasons for locating the office in Jakarta is to help us engage more closely with the ASEAN Secretariat, which is headquartered here. AirAsia ASEAN will help ensure that our voice, our concerns and appeals are heard much more clearly in the corridors of power with ASEAN,” he explained.

Quizzed by TTG Asia e-Daily on what the airline was expecting from ASEAN member governments, Fernandes said: “I hope that (our new office and growth strategy) will spur ASEAN governments into further integration. For example, in Europe there is one open sky, one aviation authority to regulate jobs…”