BEST Western International has opened the BEST WESTERN Mangga Dua Hotel and Residence in Jakarta, the chain’s first property in the Indonesian capital, and its third in the country.

Offering 148 rooms and 20 suites, the hotel is situated in the Mangga Dua shopping area, close to major shopping malls WTC Mangga Dua and Mangga Dua Square. Also in the vicinity are the Jakarta Convention Center, corporate offices and banks.

Facilities at BEST WESTERN Mangga Dua Hotel and Residence include an outdoor swimming pool, a restaurant serving international food, a lounge bar, a steam room/sauna, a convenience store, massage service and eight meeting rooms with a capacity of 550 people.

THE BURGEONING hotel sector in the Middle East and North Africa is both a boon and bane to tourism, with oversupply threatening to derail overall profitability, according to a presentation at the World Travel Market Vision Conference – Dubai on Tuesday.

Euromonitor International travel and tourism industry analyst, Nadejda Popova, warned that oversupply was a pressing issue, with Abu Dhabi and Dubai the most exposed.

“Although arrival numbers are growing in these cities, supply is outpacing demand, resulting in lower than expected occupancy rates and RevPAR figures,” she said.

Popova pointed out that the Middle East benefits from some of the highest RevPARs worldwide, and “may be undergoing a small structural change post-crisis, as the luxury price proposition corrects itself”.

Popova also revealed new hotel development in the region had slowed as a result of the global downturn. However, she said the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Qatar and Jordan all have more than 3,000 rooms each in the pipeline, based on studies by hospitality research firm STR Global.

Asian hotel chains such as Dusit, Shangri-La, Banyan Tree and Anantara are all contributing to the expansion, opening properties in the UAE, Egypt and Oman. Budget hotels are also expanding, with Accor leading the way with four Ibis-branded hotel openings in the region by 2012.

World Travel Market exhibition director, Simon Press, said: “The Middle East and Africa are now an integral part of the global travel and tourism industry. The region’s inbound tourism numbers are growing, but hotels need to balance the expected increase in demand with the number of rooms available.”

UAE-based Islamic hospitality group Lootah Hotel Management (LHM) will launch the first shariah-compliant resort in the Maldives by 2013, having signed a memorandum of understanding with Maldives’ Kalaidhu Investment this week to undertake management of the resort.

The US$85-million property in the Maldives will comprise 50 luxury villas with private swimming pools, an exclusive beach, a restaurant, a recreation centre, a spa, and a marina.

Shariah-compliant hotels and resorts, operated based on Islamic principles, are fast becoming popular in the Arab world with their no alcohol, halal-prepared food policies and range of separate facilities for males and females, including gyms and spas.

MALAYSIA Airlines (MAS) expects to sell some six million seats – two million for travel within Malaysia and four million on international routes – during its Global Deals, Dream Getaway sale, which previewed last week in Jakarta (TTG Asia e-Daily, April 26).

MAS regional vice president Azman Ahmad told TTG Asia: “It is still early to derive the numbers, but the response so far has been very encouraging. We are targeting an estimated RM108 million (US$36 million) in revenue for the 16-day campaign period from May 3 to 18.”

The promotion, offering discounts of up to 95 per cent on economy-class seats and up to 75 per cent on business-class seats until May 18, is valid for travel from May 3 to March 31 next year to destinations in Asia, the Middle East, Africa and the Americas.

Hot seats on routes to Bangkok, Hong Kong, Shanghai, Ho Chih Minh City and London are being snapped up quickly.

Bookings made under MASHolidays’ Free and Easy programme are entitled to the discounts.

By Ellen Chen

KUONI has completed its takeover of Gullivers Travel Associates (GTA) as planned (TTG Asia e-Daily, March 7).

With its acquisition of GTA from Travelport, which will be integrated into the Division Destinations arm of the Kuoni Group, Kuoni will become one of the leading global providers of online destination management services.

The new CEO of GTA is Rolf Schafroth, a member of the Kuoni Group executive board and responsible for Division Destinations. He will also continue to serve as CEO of the Kuoni Destination Management unit.

HOLIDAY Inn last week relaunched the Holiday Inn Chiangmai, Holiday Inn Resort Regent Beach Cha-Am and Holiday Inn Resort Phi Phi Island, completing the Thailand phase of its US$1 billion global brand refresh programme.

“We are delighted to complete the Thailand phase of the refresh project,” said Alan Watts, vice president of operations, South-east Asia, InterContinental Hotels Group.

“Although tourism in Thailand dipped in recent years due to unprecedented internal events, 2011 sees the country re-emerging strongly once again as a business and leisure destination of choice for local, regional, and international travelers,” he added.

Holiday Inn’s refresh programme creates a more contemporary brand image as part of the brand’s drive to increase quality and consistency across its global portfolio.

Aside from the introduction of modern amenities and facilitie, and improved room fittings and standards, its revamped hotels also offer an up-to-date sensory experience (look, feel, and scent), including a new logo and signage.

LUFTHANSA has resumed normal operations in Japan following the tsunami, earthquake and nuclear crisis there.

Having reduced capacity on its Japan routes by 25 per cent in the immediate aftermath of the disaster to maintain load factors of about 80 per cent, the airline’s services to Osaka, Nagoya and Tokyo (Narita) are now back on full schedule.

Speaking at a media gathering yesterday to announce the stewardship transition of the German national carrier’s Asia-Pacific operations, outgoing Lufthansa vice president Asia & Pacific, Uwe Mueller, said that many Japanese were starting to book air tickets again, ending a six-week period where the airline had been experiencing cancellations and a downturn on its Japanese routes.

Meanwhile, Lufthansa’s operations in the rest of Asia, excluding Japan, has seen a double-digit increase in business for the first quarter of the year, compared to the same period in 2010.

“Our yearly outlook in Asia, excluding Japan, is going as planned,” said Mueller. “We are confident we will achieve our target of 14 to 15 per cent increase in capacity through employing larger aircraft and increasing frequencies.”

Incoming Lufthansa vice president Asia & Pacific, Steffen Harbath, said expansion in the region would focus on the key markets of China and India. “Asia-Pacific profitability is the backbone of Lufthansa profitability,” he said.

Harbath added that the airline was not planning to launch any new destinations in Asia-Pacific this year.