SINGAPORE’S Solis Hotels & Resorts will open its third property in China by the end of 2013.

The 260-room Solis Guangzhou, which is currently under construction, will feature a cultural centre, four restaurants, a library, a spa, a fitness centre, an executive club lounge and a rooftop infinity pool. It also offers 1,780m2 of meeting space, including a Grand Ballroom that can seat up to 350-pax, a VIP stateroom and a VIP private banquet room.

Solis Guangzhou is said to be the only five-star hotel along the Pearl River and the only one with its own jetty and docks.

The property is a partnership between the Singapore-based hotel group and Guangzhou-based Jiachuang Investment Group, a hotel, commercial and retail real estate company.

YUNNAN’S Kunming Changshui International Airport has started operations today, replacing the aging Wujiaba Airport.

With 66 aerobridges and more ramp space, the new hub will enable airlines to deploy aircraft larger than the Airbus A330 that China Eastern Airlines, Dragonair and occasionally Hainan Airlines operated into Wujiaba. The new airport is also certified to be capable of handling the Airbus A380.

The RMB23 billion (US$3.6 billion) facility boasts a current annual throughput of 38 million passengers, while plans to expand its throughput to 65 million are in the pipeline. The airport has two parallel runways located at 2,100m above sea level and an initial handling capacity of 303,000 flights.

Located 24.5km from the city centre, the airport features a gilded curvy roof resembling a golden bird in full flight. A highway and rail service connect the airport to downtown Kunming.

SOUTH Korea will relax visa regulations for Chinese tourists from August 1 to attract more arrivals from China during the summer vacation season.

“Such plans are expected to boost tourism in (South) Korea when we are hosting international events such as the Yeosu Expo,” Bahk Jae-wan, the minister of strategy and finance was quoted by The Korea Herald as saying.

Travellers eligible for multiple-entry visas will be expanded to include medical tourists, as well as executives of foreign investment firms and state-owned corporations in China.

The maximum length of stay for multiple-entry visas will be increased to five years, up from the current one year, while the application process will be simplified for those who have previously been issued South Korean visas.

From October, visa-free entry will also be granted to all foreign tourists visiting the country for less than 12 hours or those transiting their flights to Jeju Island from Seoul’s Incheon International Airport.

A SHORTAGE of skilled workers will hinder the growth of Indonesia’s emerging tourism industry as the country sees rapid development of infrastructure and facilities.

Speaking at the recent Singapore Tourism Board’s (STB) TravelRave 2012 Media Roundtable in Jakarta, Panorama Group CEO, Budi Tirtawisata, said: “Indonesia’s asset is its 250 million population, 40 per cent of which are in their productive age.”

He added: “It is very difficult to find skilled manpower in the rapidly developing tourism sector in Indonesia, and it will become even harder if we do not do something now.”

“We need to develop formal education, but more importantly, we need to create awareness of the tourism industry. The media and television stations in Indonesia have run tourism and culinary tour programmes, which have helped to encourage people to pursue a career in the hospitality sector,” said Budi.

To that end, Panorama is collaborating with tourism schools to offer vocational and diploma programmes.

For Tauzia Hotel Management, a greater challenge lies in retaining workers as it loses some 20-30 per cent of its staff to competitors who chose to “buy human resource” instead of investing in their development, according to president director, Marc Steinmeyer.

He said: “I believe that companies that (poach) skilled staff will soon lose them to others (who offer higher salaries), therefore we choose to spend more time, money and energy to develop our people.

“Indonesians are humble and loyal, with a natural sense of hospitality. I’m sure if we develop 10 employees, at least five will remain loyal to us.”

STB executive director, conventions & meetings and exhibitions & conferences, Jeannie Lim, pointed that manpower shortage is not unique to Indonesia. This issue will be addressed in the upcoming TravelRave 2012 Asia Travel Leaders Summit in Singapore in October, she added.

ACCOR is ramping up its presence in Vietnam with the debut of its first ibis property in the country and the addition of 16 new hotels by 2015.

The newly opened ibis Saigon South in Vietnam rounds off the group’s portfolio that caters to all market segments from economy to luxury. The 160-room hotel offers flat-screen TVs and Wi-Fi Internet access and facilities such as a restaurant and a bar.

To further expand its network in Vietnam, Accor has signed three additional hotels in Danang, including the rebranded 186-room Pullman Danang Beach Resort, the 90-room Ba Na Hills, a member of the MGallery Collection, and the 372-room Mercure Danang French Village Ba Na Hills.

Gaurav Bhushan, chief development and investment officer, said: “Vietnam provides continued promise for Accor, (which) has operated in the (country) for 21 years and have developed a sound portfolio of hotels. With healthy growth prospects, we will see the network expand to just short of 30 hotels by 2015.”

When completed, the 16 new properties will add another 4,047 guest rooms to Accor’s Vietnam hotel network.

BEST Western International (BWI) will open Best Western Plus Grand Howard in August, its sixth property in Bangkok and 15th across Thailand.

The debut of the upper mid-scale Best Western Plus brand in the Thai capital adds to the earlier launch of Best Western Premier Sukhumvit, the company’s first upscale Best Western Premier hotel (TTG Asia e-Daily, May 14, 2012).

Located in the capital’s financial district of Sathorn, Best Western Plus Grand Howard boasts 256 suites, each overlooking the city skyline or Chao Praya River. In addition to the brand’s standard amenities of free Wi-Fi, local calls and breakfast, Best Western Plus Grand Howard guests will have access to bathrooms with separate bathtubs and rain showers, LCD TVs with satellite channels, and iPod docks.

The hotel features a restaurant, a cocktail bar, a swimming pool, fitness centre, limousine services and free shuttles to the BTS skytrain network, as well as conference facilities spanning professional services, audio-visual equipment and meeting spaces.

Glenn de Souza, BWI vice president, international operations – Asia & the Middle East, said: “BWI is completely committed to the long-term future of Thailand’s tourism industry, and by offering a full range of accommodation options, we are proud to be able to cater to every type of tourist visiting this dynamic city.”

TOUR operators in the Philippines are lining up packages with charity elements such as repairing rice terraces and building houses for needy communities to promote volunteer tourism.

The packages, which can be woven into other itineraries such as tours of Manila, Palawan, Bohol and Cebu, will first be launched at the Philippine Travel Mart from August 10-12, with the domestic market being the target audience. They will then be introduced to the international market at the PATA Travel Mart later that month.

Cesar Cruz, president of the Philippine Tour Operators Association (PHILTOA) said a consortium of 14 tour operators, with the association playing the role of secretariat, would operate the programme that involves repairing the Banaue Rice Terraces, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Details of the programme are being finalised and guaranteed departures will be offered.

The Department of Tourism and PHILTOA are also discussing a programme that will allow volunteers to join Gawad Kalinga, a non-profit organisation, in building houses for the poor.

As well, tour operators will market the Cagayan de Oro Fun Help Package, offered by the Cagayan de Oro Tours and Travel Association, which reaches out to victims of a typhoon that had killed over 800 people in southern Philippines last November. Participants can contribute cash donations, go on city tours and sign up for optional activities such as whitewater rafting.

APPLE Group of Companies is expanding its tours and accommodation portfolio to include tourism-related educational courses in tour guiding, ticketing, cargo and hotel management.

The company recently received a license from the Ministry of Tourism to set up Apple Institute of Tourism in Kuala Lumpur, and courses are scheduled to commence in April 2013.

Programmes offered include the IATA/ UFTAA Foundation and EBT (Electronic Booking Tools) Diploma, the IATA/FIATA Cargo Introductory Course, a tour guide course and language courses in Korean, Japanese and English, according to group managing director, Desmond Lee, who said he wanted to provide skilled human capital for the tourism industry.

Meanwhile, Apple Aviation, a subsidiary of the group, was appointed sales and marketing agent for Air Logistics earlier this month.

FOLLOWING a successful debut in the UK, Travelport has brought its ViewTrip Mobile, the first fully integrated GDS-powered mobile travel itinerary app, to Asia-Pacific.

Developed in partnership with mobile travel services provider, Mantic Point, the new iPhone- and Android-compatible app enables users to be in control of their travel arrangements at any time.

Features include live flight alerts, airport and city guides, location-aware services such as restaurant offers and bank locations, weather forecasts, currency conversion and itinerary management.

ViewTrip Mobile will be available to customers in Australia, Singapore, Hong Kong, India and Thailand initially, before being rolled out to the rest of Asia-Pacific.

Travelport is also offering a chargeable white-label version of the app for travel experts. It will allow travel companies to brand the app, control content and manage communications with their travellers.