JETWING Hotels, Sri Lanka’s third largest hotel operator, is planning to add 720 rooms to its current stock of 530, through the construction of eight properties over the next few years.

The company, with 12 properties under its portfolio, is investing a total of eight billion rupees (US$72 million) on its upcoming projects, which will be branded under a new cluster called Jetwing Symphony. Half of this investment will come from the public sale of company shares, a move which is estimated to reap US$36 million.

Construction on four four- to five-star properties will begin over the next three to six months. This includes an 83-room boutique hotel in Colombo, the 98-room Yala Safari hotel being rebuilt in the country’s south, and hotels in Kandy and Jaffna in the north. According to Jetwing chairman, Hiran Cooray, these properties will open in late 2012 or early 2013.

Also on the cards are three hotels in Trincomalee and Arugam Bay on the east coast, and one in Dambulla in the north central region.

Meanwhile, Jetwing Hotels last week reopened Jetwing Blue (formerly Blue Oceanic) in Negombo, after a US$8 million refurbishment (TTG Asia e-Daily, April 1).

THE RISING hotel rates in Seoul, due to inadequate supply of business hotels, is making buyers edgy about selling the destination.

Some buyers at the ongoing Korea MICE Expo said current room rates for a four-star hotel could start from US$250 a night, while a full-day meeting package offered by a five-star international hotel could cost as much as US$100 per delegate.

When a major convention swings into Seoul, room rates offered by five-star hotels near the city centre and COEX can even hit the US$350 mark, according to WOW Corea Tour president, Elvis Lee.

The increasingly-stretched supply of MICE-friendly hotels in the South Korean capital is an issue the local government must address fast, said Kim Chulwon, president of Korea Convention Society.

“Room rates were already high to begin with, as land cost is high in the city,” he said. “The government must do something to attract investors to develop more hotels here, perhaps by offering tax breaks.”

Although several hotels, such as Conrad Seoul, are due to open in the city, Lee explained that Seoul’s successful destination branding, and the popularity of K-pop and South Korean dramas, which have fanned interest in Seoul as a leisure and MICE destination, meant that room rates were unlikely to soften much.

THE INCHEON Convention Visitor’s Bureau kicked off a campaign earlier this year to lure more international medical events to the city, and is offering a slew of financial, event-planning and execution support to event organisers.

Benefits under the Medical MICE City, Incheon scheme, which started in March, are offered in addition to the usual support afforded by the bureau. The added perks include a traditional performance at a welcome or closing dinner event, a cocktail reception, post-tour programme planning and execution, and all land transfers.

Cho Kangwook, Incheon CVB manager, said: “What we are offering medical event organisers is more than just financial relief. We are doing some of their work for them, freeing them up so they need only focus on developing the conference or exhibition content.”

Medical event organisers hoping to avail of the offer need to sign their event management contracts by December, although the event can be held at a later date.

Although some South Korean cities such as Daegu are also branding themselves as medical hubs, Cho said Incheon was the only city to offer benefits to such an extent.

Cho said: “We have had a number of enquiries since we started marketing the campaign, and will embark on an event bid very soon. I expect Incheon to see five medical events in the bag by the end of the year.”

“If the campaign is successful, the bureau will enhance the benefits and extend the campaign duration,” Cho added.

ALL international arrivals to Batam, Bintan, Karimun and Tanjung Pinang from tomorrow will be able to avail of a seven-day visa-on-arrival (VOA) for a US$10 fee. This is in addition to the existing 30-day VOA available for US$25.

Batam City Tourism Office head, Yusfa Hendri, was quoted by Antara News Agency as saying: “Currently, the seven-day visa is given only to groups with a minimum of four people travelling together. (As of July 1), it will be available to all travellers.”

The dual visa arrangement has been afforded to these gateway destinations in Indonesia’s Riau Islands, in response to an appeal by tourism stakeholders there.

Hendri said: “The new policy is good news for the tourism industry here, as it will attract more international tourists through (these gateway destinations).”

International visitors to these areas are mostly travellers from Singapore, Malaysia and South Korea, as well as tourists transiting through Singapore. The majority of them stay less than seven days.

For other gateway cities in Indonesia, only the 30-day visa for US$25 is available, which can be extended up to an additional 30 days.

THAI Airways International (THAI) will start a direct, thrice-weekly Phuket-Copenhagen service from November 11.

This comes shortly after the Thai national carrier unveiled Brussels as its 72nd destination (TTG Asia e-Daily, June 28).

The Phuket-Copenhagen service will be THAI’s first longhaul route between Phuket and Copenhagen.

The airline activated from today reservations for the flights, which will be operated using Boeing 747-400 aircraft.

Meanwhile, THAI is planning to increase the frequency of its Bangkok-Copenhagen service, from a daily flight to 10 flights per week, also using B747-400 aircraft.

SINGAPORE Airlines (SIA) is growing its fleet by leasing 15 new Airbus A330 aircraft, to be delivered between 2013 and 2015.

The aircraft will be used on routes within Asia, as well as to points in Australia and the Middle East, according to a press release by SIA.

SIA CEO, Goh Choon Phong, said: “The A330s will enable us to add more capacity on regional and medium-range routes, and further strengthen SIA’s network offering.”

“We cannot say at this early stage which specific routes they may be used on,” an SIA spokesperson added.

The A330s, leased for a minimum of six years, with an option to extend, will join 19 other A330-300s already in service.

The aircraft will seat customers in a two-class configuration, but the number of seats has yet to be determined.

VIRGIN Australia will be dissolving ties with Malaysia Airlines (MAS) as it seeks regulatory approval for its recently forged alliance with Singapore Airlines (SIA) (TTG Asia e-Daily, June 7).

Virgin and SIA intend to formalise the partnership, established earlier this month, through an application lodged with the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC).

The two carriers have requested the ACCC’s approval for an initial 10-year term to “ensure adequate time to achieve a return on investment”.

Virgin is also looking to cease its reciprocal frequent flyer and interline arrangements with MAS, and launch new arrangements with SIA.

Virgin and SIA have agreed to codeshare and cooperate on pricing, scheduling, marketing and sales on Australia-Singapore routes, as well as international and domestic connecting flights.

MAS will be joining the oneworld alliance in late 2012 (TTG Asia e-Daily, June 6) and intends to seek closer cooperation with Qantas.

CONCERNS have been raised over Malacca’s status as a heritage destination, with its latest tourism offering, a Hard Rock Café, set to open in 2012.

The F&B outlet will be located on Jalan Hang Jebat, directly facing the national heritage-gazetted Stadhuys and Christchurch buildings, built in 1650 and 1753, respectively.

Ahmad Sarji Abdul Hamid, president of Heritage of Malaysia Trust, said: “A new single-storey building in a UNESCO World Heritage Site would not normally raise any red flags, but how well can Malacca’s cultural history mix with a cafe representing American rock ‘n’ roll?”

“The sustainability of Malacca’s future is based on its ability to continue to draw visitors because of its status as a UNESCO World Heritage Site, as well as its heritage values and cultural authenticity,” he said.

“We have reservations that even if the presence of the Hard Rock Cafe Melaka draws in large numbers, both in terms of visitors and revenue generation, the authenticity of this unique historical city will be surely compromised.”

The balacing act between heritage preservation and tourism development in Malacca has recently come under scrutiny.

The local travel trade is opposed to a “heritage conservation tax” that will be levied on all hotel guests from September (TTG Asia e-Daily, May 3).

A planned 15.9 million ringgit (US$5.2 million) monorail service has also been criticised as being unnecessary for such a small area, and a 10 million ringgit rollercoaster ride with one kilometre of track will soon be launched as a tourist attraction.

LE RICHEMOND hotel in Geneva will join Dorchester Collection’s growing portfolio of luxury hotels from August 1.

Set on the banks of Lake Geneva, the 109-room property will be London-based Dorchester Collection’s first third-party management agreement, and follows a change in ownership of the hotel.

Francois Delahaye, Dorchester Collection’s COO, will be responsible for the property, and will oversee the integration of Le Richemond into the Dorchester Collection brand.

The hotel will undergo a refurbishment, primarily of its public areas including the restaurant and bar, as well as its suites. It will remain open during this time.

Le Richemond will be Dorchester Collection’s eighth hotel when the management agreement commences.

The group will open its ninth hotel, 45 Park Lane, London, in September, and re-open Hotel Bel-Air, which has been closed for major renovations, in October.

TRAVEL buyers will have a new hotel booking platform to shop on when Travelport Rooms and More rolls out progressively in markets worldwide from July.

The one-stop site pulls together content from over 20 aggregators and online travel agents, with more than 200,000 properties represented.

A new and improved version of existing online leisure portal Travelport Leisure, Travelport Rooms and More allows agents to compare deals across aggregators – thanks to meta-search technology from Sprice.com, which was acquired by Travelport last May.

The site can also be accessed via a single sign-on, with commissions from multiple sources collated and paid out monthly. Commissions are roughly between five and over 10 per cent.

When asked how the online platform compared to its GDS offerings, group vice president, global hospitality, Niklas Andréen told TTG Asia e-Daily that although the GDS served the business travel community well, leisure and mixed travel agents needed a tool that offered efficient access to information on amenities, consumer reviews and pictures.

“It is not one replacing the other, but rather each solving different problems,” he said.

Andréen said the classic GDS product was only meeting 10 to 15 per cent of the hotel needs of leisure and mixed travel agents, while the figure was 60 per cent for business travel agents.

Agents do not have to be Travelport GDS subscribers to use the new service. GDS users, however, would have the added benefit of integrating their air bookings with hotel purchases.

Travelport expects to have as many as 50 aggregators by year-end, having already secured a range of leading hotel and car content providers. These include Agoda, Kuoni Connect, LateRooms.com, Transhotel, Ctrip, Zuji, Cleartrip and TUI Cars. An arrangement with GTA, which Travelport sold to Kuoni, is being worked out.

This move is part of Travelport’s drive to grow its hospitality arm, having recently invested in a larger, dedicated team and created new helpdesks for hotel and car supplier customers (TTG Asia e-Daily, March 18).