H2O Ventures, the developer of Manila Ocean Park, will launch a five-star water-themed hotel in Makati in mid-2013, and is planning to expand its Hotel H2O brand to Palawan, Boracay and Cebu.

Situated in the Makati CBD, the 401-room Worldhotel & Residences Makati will feature a 400m2 acrylic swimming pool suspended above Makati Avenue, and a five-level 3,600m2 spa with more than 120 massage beds.

H2O Ventures founder, Lim Chee Yong, said the successful operations of Manila Ocean Park and the adjoining Hotel H2O Manila were behind his decision to leverage on the aquatic theme for his expansion strategy.

Antonette Mitschiener, Hotel H2O Manila director of sales & marketing, said: “Hotel H2O’s strongest selling point is its unique water-themed facilities, where guests can interact with fishes and other marine creatures – beyond the usual meeting agendas for MICE travellers and visits to the park for individual travellers.”

Mitschiener added that Hotel H2O Manila and Worldhotel & Residences Makati would eventually be cross-sold with the group’s future properties in Palawan, Boracay and Cebu, to encourage guests to extend their visits to multiple destinations.

THE PHILIPPINE Civil Aeronautics Board (CAB) has revised its regulations to prevent domestic airlines from overbooking planes and selling non-rebookable, non-refundable tickets, following mounting complaints from passengers unable to board flights even on high frequency routes.

Starting June 15, CAB Resolution No. 28 will hit carriers with overbooked flights a sum of PHP5,000 (US$115) multiplied by the number of passengers bumped off or denied boarding.

In addition, the amended CAB Economic Regulation No. 7, effective June 5, entitles domestic and international passengers to PHP3,000 (US$69) and PHP5,000 in compensation, respectively, plus the value of the unflown flight sector.

The revised regulations also allow passengers to rebook or avail of refunds for low-cost fares within one year of issue, subject to the carrier’s conditions of carriage, even if they are ‘no-shows’ for the flight.

The changes have prompted appeals from domestic LCCs, who fear that their business models will be affected. The CAB has promised to review their concerns.

“We understand the need to protect the consumer, but (our business) works on the premise that seats are expirable – they are not a commodity that you can reuse over and over again,” said Philippines’ AirAsia CEO, Marianne Hontiveros. “Once an aircraft flies…once the counter closes, those seats are gone.”

“If passengers can refund and rebook at any time, we’re going to have to make allowances for that, which means we have to build it into our pricing structure, and that kills the whole low-cost concept,” she added.

AMADEUS, in partnership with AirAsia, launched today a new travel booking tool, Amadeus LCC Smart, which allows travel consultants to book AirAsia content using a web-based graphical user interface within the Amadeus GDS.

The release of Amadeus LCC Smart follows the commencement of Philippines’ AirAsia’s domestic services earlier this year.

Marianne Hontiveros, CEO of Philippines’ AirAsia, said: “This partnership provides easy access not only to Philippines’ AirAsia destinations, but to AirAsia’s (entire) network that spans more than 20 countries and 75 destinations across Asia and Australia.”

Developed to add value to Amadeus Ticketless Access – a solution that displays real-time fares and flight information from LCCs, Amadeus LCC Smart reduces the complexity of the booking process by simplifying the number of keystrokes required to finalise a booking.

Travel consultants can also book AirAsia flights and ancillary services at one go, reducing the time spent on click through, and can even add, remove or modify ancillary services, seats and passenger information after pricing.

David Brett, president, Amadeus Asia Pacific said: “Amadeus LCC Smart optimises workflow for travel (consultants) with the familiar AirAsia website interface, but without the need to learn different commands or leave the Amadeus Selling Platform.”

Amadeus LCC Smart is available free-of-charge to travel agencies utilising the Amadeus Selling Platform distribution system in the Philippines, Japan, Malaysia and Vietnam. The solution will be offered to additional markets in Asia-Pacific later this year.

INTERNATIONAL tourism industry stakeholders should act now to secure a greater share of the burgeoning Islamic travel market, said Fazal Bahardeen, founder & CEO of Crescentrating, a Singapore-based travel company catering to halal-conscious Muslim consumers.

According to Bahardeen, the Islamic travel segment is expected to churn out US$200 billion in global tourism receipts in 2020, double the US$100 billion generated in 2010.

Based on his extrapolations, Islamic travel will contribute 14 per cent of international tourism revenue in 2020, up from 10 per cent in 2010.

Bahardeen urged tourism stakeholders to increasingly consider Muslim travellers in their market segmentation and product differentiation strategies, such as catering to their need to stay aligned with cultural and religious practices when travelling.

“They look for halal or halal-friendly services when planning their trips. This includes (convenient access to halal) food, prayer (facilities) and washrooms (with conservation features),” he explained.

“Among the destinations (and facilities) reacting well to this demand are the Gold Coast, Munich Airport and Thailand,” he added.

Tourism New Zealand regional manager – South East Asia, Mischa Mannix, said: “We have seen an increase in Muslim travellers to New Zealand, especially from Malaysia. We are keen to find out what more we need to do to meet the expectations of this market segment.

TTG Asia Media has appointed five hotels in the Delhi NCR as its official hospitality partners for the inaugural IT&CM India, scheduled to take place at India Expo Centre & Mart from August 21 – 23, 2012.

The five hospitality partners, Hilton Hotel – New Delhi, Doubletree by Hilton – New Delhi, Fraser Suites – New Delhi, Jaypee Greens Golf & Spa Resort – Greater Noida and Radisson Blu Hotel – Greater Noida, will provide more than 400 rooms as accommodation for international hosted buyers and media.

So far, some 330 international and Indian buyers, and close to 90 international and Indian media have registered for the MICE and luxury travel show.

Exhibitors signed on include Abercrombie and Kent, Abu Dhabi Tourism Authority, Creative Travel, Egypt Tourism Authority, Malaysia Convention & Exhibition Bureau, Meetings & Exhibitions Hong Kong, Singapore Association of Convention and Exhibition Organisers & Suppliers, and Tourism of Cambodia.

IT&CM India 2012 will be held in conjunction with India Convention Promotion Bureau’s 7th Conventions India Conclave.

PAN Pacific Hotels Group will introduce revamped websites for both its Pan Pacific Hotels & Resorts and Parkroyal Hotels & Resorts brands in 2013.

The hotel group is currently in the process of appointing a web agency to rebuild the panpacific.com and parkroyalhotels.com websites based on the aspects of improved technology, customer experience and performance.

The website remodelling follows a refresh of the group’s Pan Pacific & Resorts and Parkroyal Hotels & Resorts brands last September.

Once online, the new panpacific.com and parkroyalhotels.com will boast new features that will facilitate greater online interaction with customers, and provide avenues for access via mobile devices and smartphones.

HILTON Worldwide has signed a management agreement with Chengdu Yincheng Property to open western China’s first Waldorf Astoria in Chengdu, capital of Sichuan Province.

Scheduled to open in 2Q2016, the 300-room Waldorf Astoria Chengdu will be the fifth Waldorf Astoria in China, following the launch of Waldorf Astoria Shanghai on the Bund in 2011, and the planned openings of Waldorf Astoria Beijing (2013), Waldorf Astoria Baoting (2015) and Waldorf Astoria Sanya (2016).

Located in the Chengdu Tianfu New Area, opposite Chengdu Tianfu International Financial Center, Waldorf Astoria Chengdu will occupy the top 15 floors of a mixed-used development, with service apartments in the lower part of the building.

Hilton Worldwide has three other hotels in the pipeline in Chengdu: Hilton Chengdu, Conrad Chengdu and DoubleTree by Hilton Chengdu Longquanyi.