STARWOOD Hotels and Resorts Worldwide’s hotels in Japanese cities unaffected by the tsunami, earthquake and ongoing nuclear scare are “doing alright”, according to Sheraton Grande Toyko Bay Hotel’s general manager, Akira Osada.

Osada was talking to TTG Asia e-Daily on the sidelines of the Starwood Expo Singapore roadshow yesterday, where he was representing the group’s 15 properties in Japan.

Osada said that apart from the new The Westin Sendai, now closed as a result of utility shortage and other operational difficulties resulting from the disaster, other Starwood hotels in the country were experiencing “business as usual”.

Illustrating the sense of normalcy elsewhere in Japan, Osada said the 238-room Sheraton Hiroshima Hotel had gone ahead with its March 28 opening and was “doing well” in terms of occupancy. “In the south, where Osaka is, hotels are also busy because many foreign companies that were based in Tokyo have relocated to the Kansei region. The St. Regis Osaka, opened last October, is doing well.”

“However, in general, occupancy in hotels in Tokyo is very low,” said Osada. “What will truly help Tokyo’s tourism get back on its feet is the reopening of Tokyo Disneyland. The people want it to reopen to bring tourists back and to feel that life is normal again.”

“Its reopening is important to Sheraton Grande Toyko Bay Hotel, as it is just next to the park and 90 per cent of our guests are Disneyland visitors,” he added.

THE TOURISM Authority of Thailand (TAT) is planning to include Japan as one of the exhibiting countries at Thailand Travel Mart (TTM) Plus 2011, despite suspending promotions to the Japan market this month.

The NTO is planning to offer the Japan National Tourism Organisation a six-booth exhibition space. If all goes as planned, it will be the first time the mart will feature an exhibiting country beyond Thailand and the Greater Mekong Subregion.

TAT’s deputy governor – international marketing for Asia and South Pacific, Sansern Ngaorungsi, said some 280 international buyers had already registered for the mart in Bangkok from June 8 to 10, almost hitting TAT’s target of more than 300 buyers.

Meanwhile, Sansern explained that the temporary halt of marketing promotions targeting Japan was in anticipation of the market there slowing down due to ongoing nuclear woes.

Japanese arrivals to Thailand are expected to drop by about 10 per cent this year. Last year, Thailand recorded 993,674 Japanese visitors, 1.07 per cent fewer than in 2009.

Sansern said the trade was expecting the Japanese market to pick up during the May Golden Week. The TAT would then reinstate its promotional activities targeting Japan, as well as kickstart new initiatives like hosting 60 Japanese buyers to attend TTM Plus 2011, another smaller mart in Bangkok and post-event tours to Bangkok, Phuket and Krabi.

By Sirima Eamtako

SIX Malaysian Visa Facilitation Service (VFS) centres will open in India over the next two months, which will further facilitate Indian arrivals to the country.

Tourism Malaysia’s director India, P Manoharan, said VFS Global, which administers the two centres opened last year in Hyderabad and Mumbai, would manage the new centres in Cochin, Delhi, Chennai, Ahmedabad, Kolkata and Chandigarh. This brings the total number of VFS centres in India to eight.

Manoharan added that Tourism Malaysia would also continue to aggressively promote the country to metro and second-tier Indian cities such as Pune, Ahmedabad, Madurai, Tiruchirappalli and Cochin. The NTO will be focusing on experiential tours to Peninsular Malaysia’s east coast and Sabah and Sarawak.

India was the fastest-growing market for Malaysia last year, with a 17.1 per cent growth in tourist arrivals over 2009. This year, Malaysia’s tourism ministry has set a target of 700,000 Indian visitors, an increase over last year’s 690,849.

VIETNAM will welcome a new economy hotel chain in three months when the M²Boutique Mekong opens with 34 rooms.

Described by its creator, Serenity Holding co-owner Louk Lennaerts, as “an ibis with emotion”, the brand name highlights the attention paid to every square metre of its rooms, which average 15m². Average rate will start at around US$45.

Though small, the rooms are meant to surprise and evoke a cosy feel, with unconventional design and unusual multi-functional uses, Lennaerts explained. For example, some rooms may be used for a one-hour lunch package, where guests can have a meal in 20 minutes, a spa session in 20 minutes and snooze the rest of the time.

Another 40-room M²Boutique will open in five months in Hue, while the brand will also be in locations such as Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City, Dalat, Danang, Phu Quoc and Sapa in two years.

When asked why they chose Vietnam, Lennaerts said: “Vietnam is a green area. Everything you do here, you are new. We want to be a real trendsetter.”

Serenity, based in Ho Chi Minh City, manages the M²Boutique brand, as well as other hotel properties such as the newly-launched five-star Fusion resorts (see Fusion Maia puts a new spin on all-inclusive).

FIVE-month-old Fusion Maia Da Nang in Central Vietnam is attempting to shake up the luxury resort scene with its all-inclusive spa concept, said to be the first of its kind in Asia.

The five-star beach resort offers 87 pool villas and breakfast service at any place or hour, with all spa treatments included in the room rate. It also has two bars, a restaurant and a meeting room for small-to-mid-sized groups.

Fusion Maia general manager Michelle Ford said the resort had been attracting many Germans, Australians and Asians, and would be running at 100 per cent occupancy during Easter weekend. Most of its business comes through agents, she added.

Introductory rates start at US$260 nett per room per night for agents, US$270++ for corporates and US$290++ for Internet bookings, said Serenity Holding director of sales and marketing Timothy Lai.

Serenity, based in Ho Chi Minh City, manages the Fusion brand, together with other hospitality projects such as the soon-to-launch M²Boutique (see M²Boutique enters economy hotel market).

Serenity co-owner Louk Lennaerts said: “We took something luxurious and made it free. When there are no limitations, people feel they are treated very well. I believe in five years’ time, 15 to 20 per cent of hotels will be all-inclusive.”

Drawing a comparison to Club Med, he explained that while Club Med was more group-centric, Fusion was tailored to individuals.

Five to six all-inclusive Fusion resorts will come up across Vietnam, in places such as Dalat and Phu Quoc by end-2012, said Lennaerts.

JONES Lang LaSalle is selling the Crowne Plaza Changi Airport hotel in Singapore. The sale of its interest in the property by international tender was launched yesterday.

Jones Lang LaSalle Hotels’ managing director investment sales, Mike Batchelor, who is leading the sales process, said: “The hotel is expected to receive strong interest from a diverse cross sector of both regional, as well as global investors.”

The 320-room Crowne Plaza Changi Airport, which opened in 2008 as part of Singapore Changi Airport’s Terminal 3, is being sold with the benefit of a long-term management agreement with InterContinental Hotels Group under their Crowne Plaza brand.

Jones Lang LaSalle Hotels’ senior vice president investment sales, Tom Oakden, said: “The profile of investors of most of Singapore’s key hotels remains local families, family-controlled public companies or foreign-owned sovereign wealth funds that typically hold assets for extended periods of time.”

“With a tightly-held hotel market in Singapore, on average, only one internationally branded hotel has been offered for sale each year over the past 10 years.”

SINGAPORE hotels will pop the champagne on June 9 to mark the 50th anniversary of the Singapore Hotel Association (SHA), a milestone that comes as the industry sees record-level occupancies and earnings.

Revenue of gazetted hotels in the country rose nearly 22 per cent to S$1.9 billion (US$1.5 billion) last year, with all hotel tiers posting growth in AOR, ARR and RevPAR.

Some 700 guests from the industry are expected at a gala dinner at the Shangri-La Hotel Singapore on June 9, with Singapore’s Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Defence, Teo Chee Hean, gracing the event as guest-of-honour.

A commemorative book, The heritage of hospitality – a history of the Singapore hotel industry, will be launched during the dinner.

As well, TTG Asia is producing TTG Asia’s Special Edition: 50 years of the Singapore hotel industry, in its June 10 issue for the region’s travel trade. The Special Edition will be a purposeful and interesting guide, tracing the evolution of Singapore hotels and discussing the industry’s future amidst changing customer mix and distribution.

For more information on the SHA 50th Anniversary Dinner, contact SHA at secretariat@sha.org.sg or 6513-0233. For more information on TTG Asia’s Special Edition, contact (editorial or marketing opportunities) ttgnewsdesk@ttgasia.com.

AMERICAN Airlines (AA) and Expedia agreed on Monday to a memorandum of understanding that will allow the companies to resume doing business together with immediate effect.

Access to fares and schedule information of AA and its subsidiary American Eagle has been restored for search and ticketing on Expedia and Hotwire sites worldwide via global distribution system (GDS) technology.

This brings to a close their three-month-old dispute over the airline’s plans to force agents into using its Direct Connect booking system rather than their GDS (TTG Asia e-Daily, January 6).

EXPEDIA is launching its Travel Agent Affiliate Programme (TAAP) in South-east Asia, beginning with the Singapore market, which it recently entered (TTG Asia e-Daily, February 23).

It has forged a sales and marketing partnership with Discover the World Marketing to market TAAP to agents in Singapore and Malaysia. Agents who join TAAP earn in general a 10 per cent commission on non-air bookings and one per cent on air, with other commission rates applied for special promotions and packages.

TAAP is an eight-year-old programme launched in the US and Europe, as well as in Asia-Pacific, where it was introduced only last year in Australia/New Zealand and India. Apart from Singapore and Malaysia, it will also be launched in Thailand, the latter two being the markets Expedia will be entering in the next two months.

Stuart Udy, manager Expedia Travel Agent Distribution APAC, said that while agent contribution to Expedia’s bookings in mature online markets such as North America was small, it was “significant” in markets such as Asia-Pacific. He declined to cite revenue figures booked by agents in Asia-Pacific markets, but said direct consumer bookings would always be the bigger share to agent bookings in any market.

In New Zealand, 50 per cent of agents are Expedia TAAP agents, with 20 per cent in Australia. In India, 900 agents have signed up.

“If we were a retail group, we would be the biggest in terms of the number of agents using the product,” said Udy.

When asked about competition with B2B inventory sites such as Gullivers Travel Associates, Udy said Expedia’s competitive pillars were its attractive rates – “a buying power second to none”, he said – availability, wider inventory and service/training support provided to agents.

Sites such as Agoda, on the other hand, do not have a travel agent affiliate programme, said Tony Lim, Discover the World Marketing managing director Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, Brunei, Hong Kong & China.

Udy said that even without TAAP, some agents were using Expedia’s global inventory of more than 130,000 hotels and over 300 airlines to get preferential rates. “They then either charge a service fee or it’s part-and-parcel of their service to clients. With a commission, they have even more reason to book with us,” Udy said.

Asked why Expedia needed agents, Udy said: “Our position is we’re a seller of inventory and we’re also in a position to offer agents a commission when they work on our site. Why not be partners?”

TWO Malaysia-based inbound agents strong in the Indian market are predicting an increase in forward bookings for the upcoming peak summer season, from end-April to mid-June, compared to the same period last year.

Red Apple Travel & Tours’ managing director, Arokia Das Anthony, is projecting a 30 per cent increase in advanced bookings, while Tina Travel & Agencies’ managing director, Adam Kamal, is anticipating a 15 per cent hike.

Adam said the increase will be due to Indian travellers switching destinations from Japan, Taiwan, Hong Kong and China over fears of radiation exposure resulting from the ongoing nuclear crisis in Japan.

Meanwhile, Arokia Das has noticed an increase in number of younger travellers from India, which he attributes to low-cost carrier (LCC) AirAsia launching budget services between the two countries. “They used to be in their 30s and above, now we’re seeing more travellers in their late 20s.”

Arokia Das added that he was seeing increasing demand this year for tours combining traditional destinations, such as Kuala Lumpur and Malacca, with Sabah or Sarawak.