UPCOMING hotel developments in Sri Lanka by Shangri-La Hotels & Resorts and ONYX Hospitality Group will add a bevy of international branded offerings to the destination’s room inventory.

The US$625-million Shangri-La Hotel, Colombo will offer 661 keys, including 43 suites, and 4,780m2 of meeting space spread across three floors when it opens in mid-2015.

Shangri-La is also developing a 315-key property in the southern city of Hambantota, scheduled to open in 2014.

Meanwhile, Thailand’s ONYX Hospitality Group will open three OZO-branded three-star hotels in Sri Lanka for a total investment of US$380 million.

The first property, the 150-room OZO Colombo is due to open in 2013, while construction on a 140-room hotel in Galle and 120-room property in Kandy is scheduled to start within the next three months.

OUTBOUND travel companies interviewed at today’s NATAS consumer fair were optimistic about business growth this year, expressing hopes in mid- and longhaul travel in particular, which are seeing robust demand due to a range of factors.

Anthony Chan, group managing director, Chan Brothers Travel said the company was gunning for a 10 per cent increase over S$9 million (US$7.2 million) generated last year, a similar growth rate as 2011’s.

This does not seem unattainable, going by the 10 per cent jump in sales the firm recorded at its pre-NATAS fair.

Said Chan: “Demand for longhaul destinations has been particularly good due to favourable currency exchange rates. At the same time, Japan has made an excellent recovery, and we are quite upbeat.”

Chan’s World Holidays, the company’s first self-owned franchise and bespoke travel agency, also reported brisk business. Chan Brothers Travel’s director of business development, Mary Kheng, said: “By year-end, we expect sales to rise by 50 per cent.”

Another major outbound player, CTC Travel, also had high hopes for farther destinations. Senior vice president, marketing & PR, Alicia Seah, said: “For Eastern Europe, for instance, we expect to see a jump of around 15 to 20 per cent.” Evergreens like China and Taiwan continued to do well, while Japan showed signs of revival, she added.

Business at CTC’s pre-NATAS fair was an estimated 30-50 per cent higher compared to last year.

This year’s NATAS Travel fair saw some 158 exhibitors, including 22 newcomers.

ANDRE Horner, founder of one of Thailand’s first travel agencies, passed away last Friday in Bangkok after a brave battle with cancer.

The Swiss-born owner and managing director of Asian Tours Centre is survived by his wife, Chalita, and two children.

Horner first discovered Thailand as an intrepid backpacker, after which he decided to make it his home and established Asian Tours in 1967.

Recalled Basil McCall, former vice president sales & marketing of Amari Hotels & Resorts: “His knowledge of the tourism industry was unmatched, and the newsletters he sent out to colleagues and friends over decades must now form one of the richest records of Thailand’s tourism history. These monthly masterpieces blended subtle humour with informative, often hard-hitting comments about hotels, airlines and national tourist offices, including descriptions of the many colourful personalities who formed part of the whole.”

“Andre was as highly respected for his integrity and honesty as he was for his observations and critiques on tourism and travel. He was held in equally high esteem for his sincerity, for he never displayed the false affections and cosmetic greetings that are so much a part of the travel scene. He made friends slowly, but all those who shared in his friendship came to know him as a warm-hearted, generous and wonderful man, whose curiously grumpy exterior somehow made him more endearing.”

A funeral service will be held for Horner at 10:30 on Tuesday, February 28 at the Holy Redeemer Church in Soi Ruam Ruedee.

IN A radical departure from its traditional model of not investing in real estate, Carlson Rezidor Hotel Group in Asia-Pacific will soon announce several property deals which sees it pumping in cash alongside partners, as it brings the midscale Park Inn brand to India, China, Thailand, Indonesia and the Philippines.

Speaking exclusively to TTG Asia e-Daily, Carlson Rezidor Hotel Group’s Asia-Pacific president, Simon Barlow, said the company would launch the next iteration of Park Inn in India on April 2 through the first of such business deals in the region.

The “fresh, fun, colourful, lively and funky” three-star Park Inn brand would be “positioned between a Holiday Inn and Holiday Inn Express and between an Ibis and Novotel from both an investment and consumer perspective”, he explained.

Said Barlow: “We’re introducing a very successful brand in Europe to Asia-Pacific. We think the timing is absolutely right because of the burgeoning middle-class wealth that is causing so much more domestic travel in India and China.”

While most of Carlson Rezidor Asia-Pacific’s pipeline today is in the upper upscale segment (Radisson Blu), its future growth will slowly lean towards the midmarket.

Going forward, Barlow listed three broad ways the group would invest in Asia: through joint ventures that deliver multiple hotels, single strategic hotels, and leases or income underwrites.

“We are investing because we need to in order to grow and catch up with large competitors,” he said.

Barlow added that Carlson had traditionally been a franchise organisation. However, following its recent marriage to The Rezidor Hotel Group, its contract make-up is now mainly 60 per cent franchised and 40 per cent managed/leased. Going forward, the group intends to focus more on management.

In the second half of this year, Carlson Rezidor Asia-Pacific will also reintroduce the four-star Radisson brand. Having rolled out Radisson Blu in the region last year, it now hopes to draw attention to a refreshed Radisson, which counts the Crowne Plaza, Novotel and Four Points by Sheraton among its competitors.

INDIA-based Kingfisher Airlines hit rock bottom yesterday with the cancellation of an additional 48 flights, bringing its current schedule to 120 flights. It is operating only 28 of its once 64-strong aircraft fleet.

Meanwhile, the reduction of seat capacity has led to a sudden rise in airfares across the board, including a Rs5,000 (US$102) increase on one-way business class fares on the Delhi-Mumbai sector. Since December, fares have gone up by 18 per cent since the fallout from Kingfisher and Air India flight cancellations.

The debt-ridden airline started its winter schedule of 418 flights last October with all 64 planes, but truncated its operations in November to 269 flights following accumulated losses due to high taxes on jet fuel and freezing of its bank accounts resulting from outstanding tax liability. Since then, several leased aircrafts have been released because of cash flow problems.

Although the airline was seeking restructuring of its debt with a consortium of Indian banks, earlier this week the banks have refused to supply more capital to the struggling carrier unless it offers more equity and pumps in sufficient funds of its own.

“If the banks find it good business, they will loan money (to Kingfisher). At the same time, the government is not going to ask banks to loan money to any private industry,” civil aviation minister, Ajit Singh, has been reported as saying. However, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation may seek punitive action against the airline for failure to adhere to its flight schedule.

To add to its woes, 30 senior pilots have quit – dissatisfied with delay in salary payments – to join IndiGo. The LCC is said to be India’s only profitable airline.

JETSTAR and Jet Airways have signed an interline agreement, aimed at making flight transfers between India and Asia-Pacific destinations more seamless.

By flying through Jetstar’s hub in Singapore, Jet Airways’ passengers travelling from locations including New Delhi and Mumbai can easily connect to destinations in Japan, China, Vietnam, Australia and New Zealand.

Through this partnership, Jet Airways customers will be able to book a single combined ticket on Jetstar, Jetstar Asia or Jetstar Pacific flights as part of a single integrated transaction and travel itinerary sold on a Jet Airways e-ticket. This applies to customers who purchase via travel consultants or through Jet Airways’ reservations call centre.

Jetstar will accommodate the existing baggage allowance offered on Jet Airways’ flights. For international-international flights, bags will be through-tagged. Complimentary offerings such as meals and comfort packs will be provided on connecting Jetstar longhaul services.

Jet Airways COO, Sudheer Raghavan, said passenger loads between India and Asia-Pacific were “growing”.

Added Jetstar Group COO, David Koczkar: “India is one of the region’s strongest travel markets and a top inbound market for both Singapore and Australia. This innovative agreement will allow both airlines to cater for the growing appetite for air travel from the emerging Indian middle class.”

THE WEST Indian state of Gujarat is undergoing a transformation, with international brands turning up in succession and a tourism marketing body that is making its presence felt at major marts around the world.

Inaugurating the second edition of the Gujarat Travel Mart, Vipul Mittra, principal secretary – tourism, civil aviation and pilgrimage, Government of Gujarat, said: “We are embarking on a large-scale promotion of Gujarat as a tourism destination. We have invited buyers and media to avail of several post-event tours for familiarisation with our diverse products: deserts to wildlife, culture to beaches and medical tourism to Buddhist trails.”

A large number of erstwhile palaces and princely homes have been turned into hotels in Gujarat; chains including Starwood, Marriott, Ramada and Banyan Tree have expanded here; and several more hotels are in the pipeline.

Sajan Gupta, director, Vayu Seva Tours & Travel said: “Gujarat is developing multiple new tourism attractions and packaging them very well. Connectivity and infrastructure are good; we hope to get substantially more inbound tourists this year.”

Sanjay Kaul, managing director of the Tourism Corporation of Gujarat said: “We are employing the largest promotional budget for tourism in the country, and our initiatives will yield very rich results soon. We will be present in all major international travel marts to showcase our tourist attractions to the world”.

The state NTO is also banking on its latest commercials featuring Indian movie icon Amitabh Bachchan, which have grabbed eyeballs both in India and overseas.

Held at the new Mahatma Mandir Exhibition and Convention Centre, this year’s Gujarat Travel Mart saw 124 sellers attending compared to last year’s 64. It also attracted 200 buyers from 30 countries and 100 Indian buyers.

SINGAPORE’S Chan Brothers Travel has established a new department – Convention & DMC – catering to luxury inbound and outbound leisure as well as MICE clients.

The department is currently in the midst of negotiating with a range of transport providers, hotels and restaurants to develop experience-based products.

Headed by Jennifer Tan, a former event sales senior manager at Wildlife Reserves Singapore, Convention & DMC is currently building up its team. Tan envisions that the department will be fully operational by mid-2012.

She told TTG Asia e-Daily: “The new department will act as a one-stop shop for discerning clientele. For now, our main target markets will be China, Indonesia and Hong Kong for both inbound and outbound.” She was not able to estimate how the department would do, sales wise.

Chan Brothers Travel is also in talks with the Singapore Tourism Board to garner marketing support for the services its new department will provide.