THE BAIRD/STR Hotel Stock Index rose 1.1 percent in February to end at 2,313, outperforming the MSCI REIT (RMZ), which reported a 1.4-percent decrease over the same period.

“The hotel industry’s performance held steady during the first part of the year,” said Randy Smith, chairman and co-founder of STR.

“The ever-changing economic landscape may keep some investors at bay, but we are hoping to see continued interest with the steady performance of the industry.”

David Loeb, senior hotel research analyst and managing director at Baird, said: “We downgraded our hotel sector rating to market-weight in mid-February, as investor expectations were high and stock valuations were full heading into fourth-quarter earnings.”

He added: “Managements’ 2012 guidance has been conservative and investor expectations for the year have been reset lower. Fundamentals are still strong, however, and we remain bullish on the longer-term lodging recovery.”

The companies that comprise the Baird/STR Hotel Stock Index include Hyatt Hotels Corporation, InterContinental Hotels Group, Marriott International, Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide and Wyndham Worldwide among other international hotel chains.

ROYAL Brunei Airlines (RBA) is repositioning itself as a ‘boutique’ airline, having tided over a challenging period in the past couple of years.

“The whole industry went through challenging times and RBA is not immune to winds of the turbulence,” Dermot Mannion, deputy chairman, RBA told TTG Asia e-Daily in an exlusive interview.

“We have been restructuring our business in recent months, and are now refocused as a boutique airline with strong regional franchise and operating only to strategic longhaul destinations.”

In line with its revamped concept, Brunei’s flagship carrier will soon have its daily Dubai-London service linked via Bandar Seri Begawan to Melbourne, through the commencement of daily Melbourne flights.

“The daily and same-time (Melbourne) service through Brunei to the regional and longhaul networks will be an attractive product for Australia, the Middle East and London,” said Mannion, who hinted at plans to implement similar network extensions to destinations such as Manila, Singapore and Hong Kong.

Besides its new strategic longhaul product, Asian countries are also being targeted as key markets for RBA, which hopes to fly to Shanghai and expand its regional network over time.

Meanwhile, RBA has been undergoing a makeover that will see the carrier “rebranded, revitalised and refocused” with new customer service offerings based on Bruneian traditions, according to Mannion.

“Hospitality and tranquility attributes associated with Brunei traditions will be emphasised in our improved customer service,” he explained.

RBA also hopes to up the ante in the customer service stakes once it takes delivery of its first Boeing 787 Dreamliner in August next year.

“I am confident that as we migrate our longhaul product to the 787, we can offer a higher quality service to meet our passengers’ aspirations,” said Mannion.

Reporting by Jennifer Phang

BEST Western International has signed a deal with local developer Cong Ty Co Phan Du Lich Hoa Anh Dao to open a new hotel in Vietnam’s Ba Ria-Vung Tau province.

The 200-room Oceanami Hotel & Resort in Vung Tau will join the Best Western hotel collection when it opens in third quarter 2013.

The property will offer a range of facilities including a sports centre, a tennis court, an entertainment centre, a swimming pool, a restaurant, a sea sports club as well as healthcare services.

ORION II, whose inaugural call into Singapore last August marked the start of Orion Expedition Cruises’ foray into South-east Asia, will no longer fly the Orion flag come this November.

Sarina Bratton, founder and managing director of Orion Expedition Cruises, explained in a press statement that the cruise line had not been satisfied with some performance aspects of the vessel.

Orion II’s upcoming scheduled sailings to Borneo, the Russian Far East, Japan, Vietnam and China will continue as planned, but the ship will be handed back to its owners, Travel Dynamics International, in November.

Orion Expedition Cruises’ other vessel, Orion, will be redeployed to operate the cruise line’s South-east Asia itineraries in 2013, while the hunt is on for a new ship to replace Orion II.

Bratton told TTG Asia e-Daily in an email interview that she anticipates having “to resize Orion Expedition Cruises’ shoreside operations in Sydney to an appropriate level” once Orion II stops sailing.

Despite the anticipated scaledown in operations, Bratton remains optimistic owing to a healthy level of forward bookings.

“I remain bullish about the Asia-Pacific region and the opportunity it offers. We have invested significant resources in the development of destinations, and I believe this will not be wasted,” she said.

SCOOT, which recently unveiled Australia’s Gold Coast as its second destination, has given consumers a sneak insight into its future fare structure and onboard offerings.

In a press statement, Scoot revealed that passengers would have a choice of three economy fares. The entry-level fare, dubbed Fly, is just for the seat; FlyBag includes the seat and a 15kg luggage allowance; while FlyBagEat includes the seat, checked baggage and one hot meal.

Premium passengers can select ScootBiz, which offers 38-inch pitch and 22-inch wide leather seats, as well as onboard F&B and 20kg of check-in luggage.

Available add-ons include S-t-r-e-t-c-h, which affords passengers an extra four inches of legroom, as well as other frills to be selected a la carte.

Scoot CEO Campbell Wilson told TTG Asia e-Daily that purchasing the luggage allowance and meal as part of a bundle would save customers up to 20 per cent versus buying a la carte.

“We all know the frustration of being presented a laundry list of choices when we already know what we want. Thus, we’ve bundled the most common choices so they can be selected at one click,” he said.

AIRASIA X will suspend its four-weekly services between Kuala Lumpur and Christchurch, New Zealand from May 31, as part of its ongoing network realignment.

The longhaul low-cost carrier will offer guests who hold bookings after these dates the option of a full refund, a reroute to another destination (Australia to Kuala Lumpur, or Kuala Lumpur to North Asia), or a rebooking of a return flight prior to May 31, 2012. All changes will be made at no additional cost.

AirAsia X’s suspension of Christchurch services follows its dropping of European and Indian routes earlier this year.

Back then, the carrier announced that it would continue to hold firm in its core markets of Australasia, China, Taiwan, Japan and South Korea, but this has now been whittled down to omit New Zealand.

AirAsia X CEO, Azran Osman-Rani, said: “Our Kuala Lumpur-Christchurch route has performed strongly in terms of demand since its launch in April 2011, recording close to 80 per cent loads in 2011. However, the route has been impacted by the spiraling cost of jet fuel.”

“The decision to withdraw was a difficult one, but was made taking into account our strategic focus in consolidating our network on markets where we have built up stable, profitable routes.”

THE SINGAPORE Tourism Board (STB) has unveiled a ‘Get Lost and Find the Real Singapore’ campaign designed to change Australians’ entrenched perception of Singapore as a stopover destination.

Second in a series of STB’s differentiated marketing branding, it follows the ‘New Discoveries’ campaign for China unveiled last December. Sources close to TTG Asia e-Daily said another campaign directed at the booming Indian market would revolve around “The Holiday You Take Home with You”.

The tongue-in-cheek ‘Get Lost’ plays on a common Australian colloqualism.

Sophia Ng, STB’s assistant chief executive of marketing, said in a press statement that the campaign was designed to showcase the city’s cutting-edge offerings, cultural heritage, multi-ethnic cuisines and niche attractions so as to appeal to Australians’ sense of adventure.

“In time to come, we would like Australians to associate Singapore with more than just chilli crabs and Singapore slings,” she said.

Advertisements in cinemas in Sydney, Melbourne and Perth have rolled out. Digital, social media and PR will be used in the coming months to sustain the momentum.

KINGFISHER Airlines sees no end to its woes, with the latest move by IATA to suspend the debt-laden carrier from its account clearing system for not paying its dues, the second time it has happened in a month.

The suspension has severely impacted the beleaguered airline, which can no longer code-share with other operators and use interline rights to issue tickets on other carriers.

Other airlines are also increasingly wary of helping stranded Kingfisher passengers. Japan Airlines has cancelled its pro-rate agreement with Kingfisher and more airlines are likely to follow suit.

With just 28 of its 64-aircraft fleet in operation, the struggling Indian airline had to cancel many flights, adding further uncertainty to its schedules.

The Indian tax department froze Kingfisher’s bank accounts on February 29 for the fourth time, after the airline failed to pay its dues to employees, vendors and airports. The airline is currently in talks with the authorities to free its frozen bank accounts.

Kingfisher CEO, Sanjay Aggarwal, urged its pilots to “not stay away from flying duties” and has pledged to pay salaries soon without committing to a date.

While the Indian government has announced it will not use taxpayers’ money to bail out the private airline, it has made concessions by allowing airlines to import fuel, thereby avoiding hefty taxes levied on aviation fuel, as well as relaxing stringent guidelines on international flights.

State-owned Hindustan Petroleum Corp had earlier stopped fuel supply to Kingfisher but has since resumed supplies following hectic negotiations with the airline’s management.

Vijay Mallya, Kingfisher founder and chairman, had repeatedly denied shutdown rumours.

TALKS between Qantas Airways and Malaysia Airlines (MAS) to create a premium joint-venture airline based in Kuala Lumpur have fallen through.

Qantas’ CEO Alan Joyce said it was “due to both parties being unable to reach mutually agreeable commercial terms”.

Joyce had previously branded this joint venture as a pivotal component of the recovery he sought for Qantas’ international operations, a move that was vehemently opposed by the unions.

In a statement issued today, Joyce emphasised that Asia remained a priority for the Sydney-based Qantas and the group would continue to explore opportunities in the region involving “capital-lite” investment, in view of the prevailing economic uncertainty and the need for Qantas to stem international losses.

Qantas was the sponsor for MAS’ entry into the oneworld alliance.

Qantas’ quest to set up a joint-venture airline in Asia began two years ago, with Singapore being most favoured for its extensive connections that also included Qantas, Jetstar and Jetstar Asia flights. Since talks with Singapore authorities were abruptly broken off in 2011, Joyce and his team turned to Kuala Lumpur for negotiations.