THE MYANMAR Investment Commission (MIC) has put four buildings in Yangon up for tender in a bid to ease the capital’s shortage of hotel rooms.

The properties which have been made available for conversion into hotels include the Yangon Region Government office on Strand Road, an empty land parcel on the corner of Pyidaungsu Yeiktha and Pyay Road, a government housing complex on the junction of Ahlone Road and Khayaypin Road, and the five-storey Myanma Railway building on Merchant Street.

The tender, which closes on January 31, is open to both foreign and local companies. While details have not been released, the properties are likely to be leased for 20-30 years.

“We have received a lot of applications from both local and foreign companies, especially from around the region, to convert these properties into hotels,” said a spokesperson from MIC.

“We still need to negotiate with the different ministries, such as Hotel and Tourism, Home Affairs and Railways. After that, we will give approval to possible companies.”

Meanwhile, two historically significant buildings – the Secretariat and High Court – are due to put up for tender as potential museums, while the former Foreign Minister’s office on Pyay Road will be made available for conversion into serviced apartments.

GRAND Mercure Roxy Singapore has unveiled a host of revamped offerings, including 11 new deluxe poolside rooms, and renovated recreational and MICE facilities.

The deluxe poolside rooms feature private terraces and direct access to the swimming pool, which has been redesigned in a contemporary style. The gym has become more spacious, and features floor-to-ceiling windows, mirrored walls and a new suite of exercise equipment.

There is also an additional F&B outlet, breez bistro.bar, offering both local and international cuisine.

The hotel’s function rooms – Roxy 1 and Roxy 2 – now sport a marble style décor, and can be converted into a single function room (223m2), suitable for a 10- to 30-pax meeting.

TAIWAN and Hong Kong signed a civil aviation agreement in December, which will allow both sides to boost the number of regular scheduled flights between their main airports from 170 to 198 per week.

With the revised flight allocation scheduled to take effect from March, charter services from Taiwan to Hong Kong, already operated from Taoyuan, Taichung and Kaohsiung, will also be expanded to smaller local airports, which will be allowed to operate up to 28 charter flights per week.

Linda Wu, marketing and PR manager, Hong Kong Tourism Board (HKTB), based in Taipei, said: “Right now, the agreement is signed, but they still need to work out the allocations of flights between Taiwan and Hong Kong airlines.”

“Naturally, HKTB hopes this will mean more Taiwanese will be flying to Hong Kong.”

Last year, inbound numbers from Singapore to Taiwan jumped 24.1 per cent to 299,000, compared to the year before, according to figures from the Taiwan Tourism Bureau. Inbound from Hong Kong and Macao to Taiwan grew 2.9 percent to 818,000 over the same period.

Spicer Lee, general manager, inbound department, of Taipei-based Phoenix Tours, attributed the strong growth from Singapore to increased flight frequencies, which were a result of an open skies deal signed last February (TTG Asia e-Daily, October 10, 2011).

“More airlines fly the (Singapore-Taiwan) route now,” said Lee. “There are the national carriers and budget airlines, like Tiger Airways, as well. They are all promoting the route.”

Meanwhile, HKTB’s Wu is anticipating a drop in airfares on the Hong Kong-Taiwan route once the agreement takes effect. “If flight frequencies increase, one would expect a drop in price due to supply and demand,” she said.

Wu added: “Lower prices would help (attract traffic from Taiwan), but last year, Hong Kong hotels raised rates by 30 per cent, and Taiwanese are still flying there. They know they can’t expect Hong Kong to be cheap. Instead, we believe they are looking for value.”

Reporting by Glenn Smith

ACCOR has taken over the management of Hotel Nikko Jakarta, which had been run by Nikko Hotels International for the past 39 years, and rebranded it as Pullman Jakarta Indonesia.

The property becomes the third Pullman hotel in Indonesia, joining the Pullman Bali Legian Nirwana and Pullman Jakarta Central Park, which opened last February and November respectively.

Accor vice president Indonesia, Singapore & Malaysia, Gerard Guillouet, said: “We are very excited with Pullman Jakarta Indonesia, as it offers not only a wider choice for Accor guests, but also strengthens our presence in the upscale market (in Indonesia).”

The hotel will receive a major upgrading of its recreation and meetings facilities, as well as its executive rooms, to enable it to target upscale and MICE travellers.

According to Franky Montung Setjoadinata, president director of the property owner, Wisma Nusantara International, renovations are estimated to cost in the range of US$5 million-US$10 million, and are scheduled to finish by mid-2013.

“We finished renovating 317 out of 427 rooms last year. What are left are the executive tower rooms, and the public and meeting facilities,” he said, adding that the average room rate was expected to increase by 30-40 per cent.

Setjoadinata attributed the management switch to “(identifying) a growing business opportunity in the MICE segment in Jakarta, and we felt that Pullman would be able to leverage in this area”.

He added: “Accor has managed our Novotel Bali Tanjung Benoa for many years, so we are familiar with the network, with the management team, locally and regionally. That was a major factor in us choosing Accor.”

Asked if the hotel would continue targeting the Japanese market, which makes up 50 per cent of its clientele, Guillouet said: “The Japanese will continue to be important for the hotel, but we need to create a balanced mix with other (domestic and overseas) markets.”

RAFFLES Hotels & Resorts has ceased management of the Raffles Tianjin due to irreconcilable differences with the owner, according to a statement released yesterday by the hotel group.

“Raffles Hotels & Resorts continues to place high importance on the China market. The group continues to operate Raffles Beijing Hotel and is on track to open Raffles Clearwater Bay, Hainan later this year,” the statement added.

Checks by TTG Asia e-Daily revealed that Raffles Hotels & Resorts has already removed all traces of the Raffles Tianjin from its website. However, the original landing page for the property is still reachable via search engines like Google, albeit with a disclaimer attached: “Raffles Hotels & Resorts is no longer managing Raffles Tianjin with immediate effect”.

The Raffles Tianjin, opened in March 2010, was Raffles Hotels & Resorts’ second property in China after it opened the Raffles Beijing Hotel in 2006.

BANGKOK Airways will begin a new direct daily Koh Samui-Kuala Lumpur service from March 31, which will boost connections between the two destinations to 13 flights per week (TTG Asia e-Daily, September 27, 2011).

The carrier will deploy an all-economy 138-seat Airbus A319 aircraft on the route, which will be operated out of Kuala Lumpur International Airport.

Existing direct air links between Koh Samui and Kuala Lumpur consist of Firefly’s four-weekly services using a 70-seat ATR72 aircraft and Berjaya Air’s twice-weekly flights using a 48-seat Dash 7 aircraft, both operated out of Subang Airport in Malaysia.

The route expansion is part of Bangkok Airways’ efforts to expand markets for Koh Samui, which has direct links to three other Asian cities – Bangkok, Singapore and Hong Kong.