INTERCONTINENTAL Hotels Group (IHG) has reported a 22 per cent spike in operating profit and a global RevPAR growth of 6.2 per cent based on preliminary results for 2010, with Asia-Pacific’s RevPAR jump being the largest of all regions at 12.4 per cent.

Within Asia-Pacific, Greater China was the group’s strongest market with RevPAR up 25.8 per cent for the year, boosted by the World Expo held in Shanghai.

Said chief executive Andrew Cosslett: “2010 was an excellent year for IHG. After a slow start to the year, the industry staged the sharpest recovery in its history, exceeding all expectations.

“We signed more rooms into our pipeline than in 2009, and despite the planned exceptional number of removals to drive up quality, we grew the number of rooms in our system, led by a 12 per cent increase in China.”

Some 24 properties were opened across 17 Chinese cities in 2010, while new hotels sprung up in key locations such as India, Vietnam, Thailand and Singapore.

IHG also signed 319 deals in 2010 – one for every working day – and now claims to have the world’s largest development pipeline with an 18 per cent share of all new hotels.

WITH new routes and fresh capacity, Bangkok Airways is anticipating a 27 per cent increase in business this year, with a revenue of 10.5 billion baht (US$340 million) from handling 3.1 million passengers.

CEO, Puttipong Prasarttong-Osoth, said the airline recorded around seven to eight billion baht in revenue last year, having handled 2.6 million passengers.

“After a few turbulent years, business has returned to growth last year and is expected to continue to grow further this year,” he said.

Flight capacity is slated to grow by 20 per cent in 2011, aided by the carrier’s six-weekly Bangkok-Mumbai service starting on March 2 (TTG Asia e-Daily, January 28) and a daily Bangkok-Dhaka flight from March 27.

It is also expected to take delivery of a new Airbus A319 or A320 at year-end, joining its fleet of 17 aircraft.

By Sirima Eamtako

IN order to avoid confusion among consumers and the trade, RajaMICE.com has decided to postpone its Indonesia Travel and Holiday Fair (ITHF) by two weeks to April 14 to 17, giving up its originally planned dates to newcomer ASTINDO International Travel Fair (AITF) (TTG Asia e-Daily, February 17).

RajaMICE CEO, Panca Sarungu, said: “(The new date) is also a better timing for customers to decide on buying a holiday package (as it is closer to the school holidays) compared to the beginning of the month.”

He added that ITHF had partnered Indonesian bank giant BCA, specially created a day for trade visitors and was holding the event at Central Park Mall in West Jakarta, where the majority of Chinese travellers reside.

On the other hand, AITF organising committee chairman Elly Hutabarat said having its fair earlier would give travellers more departure dates to choose from.

She said: “Twelve world airlines are participating at our show; some will have booths and others will throw special promo fares to agents. The major travel agents are also participating. Besides, location plays an important role, and the Jakarta Convention Center is best.”

Panorama Tours president director Royanto Handaya said: “Each show seems to have its own advantages so the best for us is to participate in both.”

HILTON Worldwide has signed management agreements with Thailand-based TCC Land Group for two properties in Bangkok’s Sukhumvit area: a new-build Hilton Hotels & Resorts hotel and a conversion project to be rebranded as a DoubleTree by Hilton, both to be completed in 2012.

This will mark the chain’s introduction of the DoubleTree by Hilton brand in Thailand and its second Hilton Hotels & Resorts property in Bangkok. Hilton Sukhumvit Bangkok will offer 287 rooms including 35 suites while the DoubleTree by Hilton, Sukhumvit Bangkok will feature 182 rooms, complete with 12 suites.

THAILAND-based Dusit International plans to expand its Dusit Thani and dusitD2 brands to Europe and Australia and within Asia over the next three years.

The hotel chain operates 17 hotels in Thailand and six abroad, and has a further nine in the pipeline—eight across Bahrain, China, India, Saudi Arabia and the UAE, and one in Thailand.

Dusit CEO, Chanin Donavanik, said the expansion was part of plans to have an equal number of properties in Thailand and overseas, particularly in Europe — which forms 50 per cent of the group’s clientele.

Chanin expects performance at Dusit’s hotels in Thailand to improve by 10 per cent this year. Dusit properties in Phuket and Pattaya have been recording 80 to 90 per cent occupancy so far, though properties in Bangkok and Hua Hin have managed just above 60 per cent.

Occupancy rates are expected to drop during the low season, and tacticals will then be needed to draw bookings, Chanin added.

Meanwhile, Dusit launched its new US$335,000 website yesterday, in a bid to increase online bookings to 25 per cent of total business this year from 10 per cent in 2010.

CENTRAL Java is knocking on its neighbours’ doors to grab a share of burgeoning intra-ASEAN travel, especially from Singapore and Malaysia.

Led by Central Java governor Bibit Waluyo, a delegation held a roadshow in Singapore last weekend, meeting with the local travel trade and businessmen to promote tourism and investment in the destination.

A campaign was also launched with promotional livery to be displayed on SMART taxis to increase awareness of Central Java among Singaporeans. The campaign will run for at least a year.

Familiarisation trips for Singapore agents and media will be organised in the future.

The roadshow marks the first regional tourism efforts of the Central Java provincial government outside of travel marts and fairs.

A series of programmes is also being planned for Malaysia.

Central Java Tourism Promotion Board chairman Andhy Irawan said: “Singapore and Malaysia are more feasible to tap compared to other ASEAN countries and beyond, as accessibility is one of the issues Central Java is facing.”

Batavia Airlines flies direct between Singapore and Semarang thrice a week. The carrier plans to eventually launch a Semarang-Kuala Lumpur service.

THE DESIGN ARCHITECT of Marina Bay Sands (MBS) Singapore, Moshe Safdie, has warned Asian destinations against using eye-popping architecture to draw attention, a phenomenon dubbed ‘starchitecture’ or ‘The Bilbao Effect’ after the Guggenheim Museum designed by Frank Gehry catapulted the Basque region in Spain as a must-visit destination.

Interviewed by TTG Asia e-Daily ahead of the official opening of MBS and its lotus flower-inspired ArtScience Museum tomorrow, Safdie warned: “If architecture is treated purely as a spectacular sculpture, we’re in for trouble, no question about it.”

He said it was not enough for architecture to be sensational; it had to be uplifting, making people feel better about themselves and improving the quality of life in the city.

“What is definitely true about Asia – true of China, the Emirates and so on – is, architecture is seen as an opportunity. Now opportunity for what – if it’s the mayor of a city, it’s an opportunity to put the city on the map. So they want a 100-storey, 200-storey tower buildings that are going to draw attention. If you talk to a commercial entity, they want an architecture that is good for business…The more architecture is being treated as a tool towards certain end, the more the question becomes urgent,” he said.

But he added it was “inevitable” for fast-growing economies such as China to make mistakes in the urbanisation process. However, he noted a “reawakening” in China to ecological issues.

SafdieArchitects is masterminding a high-density residential development in Qinhuangdao, China.

– Read the full interview in From the Top with Moshe Safdie, TTG Asia, March 11 issue