FILIPINO real estate developer Ayala Land is hastening its foray into tourism business through the introduction of a new hotel brand, Kukun, which is targeted chiefly at business travellers.

Derived from the word ‘cocoon’, Kukun hotels will be self-managed by Ayala. Each property will be situated adjacent to a shopping mall development also operated by the group—to capitalise on efficiencies, according to Ayala Land senior vice president, Junie Jalandoni.

“Kukun is what we call an urban lifestylfe brand, and is in the three- to four-star category. We don’t want to compete with the large international brands in the five-star segment,” he explained, adding that average room rates for Kukun would be about US$100 per night.

Ayala currently has four Kukuns in the pipeline—one scheduled to open in Fort Bonifacio in 3Q2012, one each in Davao and Cagayan de Oro, Alabang in 4Q2012, and the last in Nuvali, Santa Rosa, Laguna by middle of next year. Each will offer about 150-200 rooms and a single F&B outlet.

Ayala, which owns the InterContinental Manila and the Cebu City Marriott Hotel, will also be opening the 347-room Holiday Inn & Suites Makati in 1Q2013.

JETWING Hotels will open seven new properties in Sri Lanka over the next three years to take advantage of the growing number of Asian visitors to the country.

According to Hiran Cooray, chairman, Jetwing Hotels, there were 333,023 Asian visitors to Sri Lanka last year, accounting for 38.9 per cent of total arrivals. Western Europe came in a close second, contributing 313,968 visitors.

“We will build exciting hotels where Jetwing is not already present, to tap the huge increase in inbound traffic from Asia,” he said, adding that India was the number one source market for Jetwing properties, while the South-east Asian and North Asian markets were growing exponentially.

The former Blue Lagoon in Negombo, designed by local architect Geoffrey Bawa in 1965 as the first purpose-built resort in Sri Lanka, is due to reopen as Jetwing Lagoon next month after undergoing a transformation. The four-star resort will offer 55 rooms and eight luxury villas, an outdoor pool, five dining outlets including a wine cellar, and a spa.

Jetwing Yala Safari will open in April 2013 with 66 rooms and 32 villas; Jetwing Colombo in April 2014 with 70 rooms and 28 serviced apartments; while Jetwing Yarl offering 76 rooms in Jaffna is already under construction.

Also in the pipeline are Jetwing Lake, Dambulla with 100 rooms; Jetwing Reef, Uppuveli offering 60 rooms and 20 villas; and Jetwing Kandy with 80 rooms.

Cooray plans to market the new properties through the Jetwing website and various online channels, advertising with travel trade publications, participation in overseas travel fairs, as well as through his business connections as PATA chairman.

Jetwing is also set to ramp up its distribution efforts by expanding partnerships with travel consultants and wholesalers, he added. Jetwing hosts fam trips for travel consultants in partnership with SriLankan Airlines on a regular basis.

Jetwing currently has 12 hotels in operation in Sri Lanka, representing some 520 rooms. The company also manages the 16-key Mai Chau Lodge in Vietnam, the 26-key Xiengthong Palace in Luang Prabang, Laos, and a 22-room four-star motel in Auckland, New Zealand.

PATINA Hotels & Resorts is keen to expand into China, particularly Shanghai, and has also set its sights on Thailand, Hong Kong, Europe and the US.

The expansion plans were unveiled by the fledgling luxury hotel chain’s CEO, Marc Dardenne, during a plenary session at the Hotel Investment Conference Asia Pacific (HICAP) UPDATE in Singapore.

Jaya International, the same design firm hired by parent company Pontiac Land Group to retrofit Capella Singapore, will be engaged to fashion Patina’s flagship 160-room property in Singapore, which is conceptualised to sit in the same category as Starwood’s W Hotels and Hyatt’s Andaz brands.

A spokesperson for Patina Hotels & Resorts told TTG Asia e-Daily that the chain was being positioned “as a lifestyle brand, with a focus on elegant interiors while offering discerning, personalised and discreet levels of service”.

Patina will be working with the Leading Hotels of the World for distribution. It will also utilise social media as part of its tactical marketing plans.

HOTELIERS in Singapore are confident that room rates will continue to rise, even with the latest Hotels.com index showing the destination already has the priciest accommodation in Asia-Pacific and a supply pipeline of more than 4,000 keys.

Speakers at this morning’s Hotel Investment Conference Asia Pacific (HICAP) UPDATE panel discussion on ‘Betting big on Singapore!’ projected rate hikes of between four per cent and eight per cent this year.

“There is still room for growth,” said Mohd K. Rafin, senior vice president, Park Hotel Group. “Singapore has reinvented itself and, if we can sustain that, plus the growth of regional traffic and further expansion by low-cost carriers, I think we can still get a good upside to the RevPAR.”

Asked if Singapore rates would eventually hit a ceiling, Tan Kim Seng, executive vice president, Meritus Hotels & Resorts, said: “I don’t think so. Singapore may be an expensive place to stay, visit and invest, but there is value in high-priced (investment), and if you need to come here and see your money grow (referring to increased wealth management in Singapore), you just have to pay the room rates.”

Paul Logan, InterContinental Hotels Group senior vice president development AMEA, said: “I would go along with the national projection of a four per cent increase in rates in the coming year, provided demand remains and supply growth is low.

“Singapore has a unique set of attractions – no other regional competitor has the range it has,” he added.

OCBC Investment Research last month projected “solid hotel room demand growth (for Singapore) at 6.4 per cent per annum, which would exceed overall room supply growth of 3.8 per cent per annum”.

The report added: “The hospitality landscape (in Singapore) continues to have positive developments with upcoming attractions and the opening of the International Cruise Terminal in 2Q12, which should boost the business of the integrated resorts and cruise operators.”

“The government has also just announced that it will inject S$905 million (US$718 million) into the Tourism Development Fund. Visitor arrivals should grow at 6.6 per cent per annum to reach the Singapore Tourism Board’s target of 17 million in 2015.”

WYNDHAM Hotel Group (WHG), which has acquired exclusive rights to franchise and manage Chatwal Hotels & Resorts’ Dream and Night boutique hotel brands, is keen to grow the brands in Asia.

The two boutique brands come on top of WHG’s license agreement with Planet Hollywood Resorts International to franchise the Planet Hollywood Hotels brand, and its acquisition of the Tryp Hotels brand from Sol Melia Hotels & Resorts—both of which will be pushed out in Asia, according to president and managing director Asia-Pacific, Ken Greene.

This brings the total number of brands WHG has in its portfolio to 15.

When asked why 11 brands were not enough, Greene, speaking to TTG Asia e-Daily during the Hotel Investment Conference Asia Pacific (HICAP) UPDATE in Singapore today, explained: “Each of our acquisitions plays a strategic role for us. Planet Hollywood, for example, is a unique destination-within-a-destination type of product, not unlike Hard Rock Hotels, and there is just one in Las Vegas, which has a couple of thousand rooms.”

“We’ve announced the first Planet Hollywood in Asia in Boao, Hainan (350 rooms) and are working on other deals.”

Greene added: “Dream and Night—again, we didn’t have the five-star and three- to four-star (respectively) boutique type of properties. Likewise, Tryp by Wyndham, which is a type of hotel brand that helps guests to experience the city in the best way possible through city centre location, use of technology and enhanced concierge services, etc…it will be an interesting brand for China.”

India will be a focus of expansion for Dream and Night, according to Greene. “We just got back in India with them (Chatwal Hotels’ Sant Singh and Vikram Chatwal), and our CEO Eric Danziger, CFO and head of HR were there as well to do a PR tour,” he said. There are four Dream hotels in operation—two in New York, and one each in Bangkok and Cochin.

Greene, meanwhile, has hit pay dirt with management agreements in Asia, from none three years ago to over 20 managed deals today under the Wyndham and Ramada brands. “In Thailand, for instance, we have executed six deals—four in Bangkok, all different tiers of Ramada, including the first Ramada Encore in Asia, a Days Hotel in Phuket and a Wyndham in Khao Lak,” he said.

WHG will also be opening two managed hotels in Singapore—a Ramada this December, and a Days Hotel soon after.