TRAVELPORT has reached an agreement to sell its Gullivers Travel Associates (GTA) business to Kuoni for US$720 million in line with plans to focus on its core business.

Jeff Clarke, CEO & president of Travelport, said: “This is a positive opportunity for us to accelerate our plans. We will apply the net proceeds from this transaction to pay down our bank borrowings.”

For their part, Kuoni is planning to use the GTA acquisition to expand its online destination management business. “In acquiring GTA, Kuoni is investing in one of the fastest-growing business segments within the tourism industry,” said Peter Rothwell, CEO of the Kuoni Group.

The transaction, advised by Blackstone Advisory Partners LP and UBS Investment Bank, is scheduled for completion in May.

STARWOOD Hotels & Resorts is eyeing more room for growth, even as its entire brand portfolio arrives in Bangkok with upcoming openings of its St Regis, aloft and W Hotels.

Starwood’s vice-president and area managing director for Thailand, Vietnam and Cambodia, Wayne Buckingham, said the group would continue to look for opportunities to expand its mid-scale brands in the Thai capital, such as Four Points by Sheraton.

The group opened the 268-room Four Points by Sheraton Bangkok Sukhumivit on December 15 last year, joining its existing inventory of five hotels and 2,164 rooms under the Sheraton, Westin and Le Meridien brands.

Starwood will open the 224-room St Regis Bangkok in April, the 297-room aloft Bangkok-Sukhumvit 11 in October and the 414-room W Bangkok in May 2012.

Buckingham said that despite growing supply in the Thai capital, demand would soon level up as long as the political situation remained calm.

He added that Starwood’s Bangkok hotels are expected to run at 60 to 65 per cent occupancy this year, up from last year’s 55 to 60 per cent. Average room rates are seen to increase by three to four per cent.

By Sirima Eamtako

BALI’s upscale property market is getting a boost this year, with more than 600 rooms and 80 villas being added in Legian and Seminyak.

Indo Journey managing director Agus Winarko said: “The entry of upmarket properties is positive for Bali, as they bring more choices of such accommodation to clients.”

He added that new properties in Seminyak would emphasise its reputation as an upscale destination. On the other hand, the entry of upmarket international brands in Legian would add a new type of accommodation to predominantly mid-class properties there.

After some postponements, Accor’s Pullman Bali Nirwana finally opened its doors on February 28. The resort has 353 rooms and suites and is targeting leisure, corporate and MICE travellers, according to general manager Philippe Battle.

The W Retreat & Spa Bali – Seminyak, which had also postponed opening a few times, finally welcomed guests on March 1 to its 158 rooms and suites and 79 villas.

Amadea Resort & Villas, opening in Seminyak by the second quarter, will add 93 rooms and suites and seven pool villas to Indonesia’s Prime Plaza Hotels & Resorts’ inventory.

CAMBODIA’s passenger service charge (PSC) on international departures will be included in airfares from April 1, according to Société Concessionnaire des Aéroports (SCA).

SCA operates the country’s three international airports in Phnom Penh, Siem Reap and Sihanoukville.

Passengers who booked flights on or after January 21 intending to fly in April or beyond already have the PSC – US$25 for adults, US$13 for children under 12 and free for babies under two – included in their fares. Cambodian nationals are charged US$18 for adults and US$10 for children.

Passengers who travel after April 1 but bought their tickets prior to January 21 will still have to pay the fee at the airport.

According to SCA, airlines serving 80 per cent of passengers at Cambodia’s international airports have already implemented the new charges, while the remaining carriers are in discussions to join.

MYANMAR Airways International (MAI) is widening its regional reach with the March 3 launch of twice-weekly flights between Yangon and Guangzhou.

MAI assistant marketing manager Aye Mra Tha said the airline would add an extra “six to nine charter flights a week” on the route to cater to high demand during the gem emporium in Nay Pyi Taw this month.

The service operates on an Airbus A320 that can accommodate up to 160 passengers.

MAI is the second airline to operate flights between Yangon and Guangzhou. China Southern Airlines offers a twice-weekly service on the route.

BANYAN Tree has a slew of hotel openings, developments and refurbishments scheduled this year for Phuket, Macau, Shanghai, Hangzhou, Mauritius, the Maldives and Bintan.

Angsana Laguna Phuket, rebranded from a Sheraton, will open on December 1 after a US$30 million makeover starting in July (TTG Asia e-Daily, February 15).

Banyan Tree Macau is expected to open in the second quarter as part of integrated resort development Galaxy Macau. The resort will have 246 suites and 10 pool villas, a grand ballroom for up to 1,200 pax, two conference rooms and four restaurants.

The group also has a number of other hotels scheduled to open this year, including Banyan Tree Riverside in Shanghai, Angsana Hangzhou and Angsana Balaclava in Mauritius.

Elsewhere, 24 DoublePool Villas have been added at Banyan Tree Phuket and Angsana Velavaru in Maldives has introduced new activities and programmes for its guests, while Angsana Bintan is currently undergoing a major refurbishment, to be completed in phases by middle of the year.

REAL Madrid are the newest brand ambassadors promoting Spain as a tourist destination in a groundbreaking, sports-focused marketing strategy.

The three-year agreement with the professional Spanish football club will allow Turespaña (Spain Tourism Board) to promote the country and Madrid to an estimated worldwide audience of over 300 million people with the slogan Visit Spain, Visit Madrid.

Aside from using Real Madrid’s main players as brand ambassadors in international advertising campaigns, the agreement also grants Turespaña access to advertising space during league matches.

With the partnership, Turespaña is hoping to tap into Asia, where Real Madrid has a strong fan base. The NTO launched its new campaign I Need Spain in 2010, using Asian faces in its creatives for the first time.

The NTO has so far engaged the Spanish Football Federation, Spanish MotoGP riders, the Spanish Basketball Federation and professional kiteboarder Gisela Pulido in its drive to brand Spain as the home of leading Spanish athletes and sports stars.

INDONESIA AirAsia (IAA) plans to expand its fleet with the US$200 million it expects to raise from an IPO in the third or fourth quarter of the year.

Jakarta-based IAA, which currently operates 16 Airbus A320s and four Boeing B737s, intends to have 30 aircraft by 2015.

The fleet expansion will support the airline’s domestic and regional route development, with plans to establish a new Makassar (South Sulawesi) hub to launch services to Singapore, Kuala Lumpur, Brunei and Hong Kong.

IAA currently uses Jakarta, Denpasar, Surabaya and Medan as its domestic and regional hubs for 26 routes.

The airline’s president Dharmadi said: “There is still a lot of potential, both domestically and regionally.”

IAA will be the second airline listed on the Indonesia Stock Exchange this year after Garuda Indonesia, which went public on February 11 (TTG Asia e-Daily, January 13).

Another Indonesian carrier, Lion Air, is also planning an IPO for either 2012 or 2013.

THAILAND’S Ministry of Tourism and Sports (MoTS) recently received Cabinet approval for its 6.65 billion baht (US$218 million) tourism development plan from 2012 to 2014 (TTG Asia e-Daily, March 1), with beach resorts getting the biggest allocation.

The tourism plan covers 385 tourism development projects in eight tourism clusters for the upgrade of basic infrastructure, landscaping and convenience at tourist sites nationwide, according to MoTS permanent secretary Sombat Kuruphan.

Beach resorts will receive 3.98 billion baht to fund 141 projects in 20 provinces. This includes the active beach cluster (770 million baht for 44 projects in four eastern coastal provinces), the royal coast cluster (859 million baht for 24 projects in four upper southern provinces) and the two-sea cluster (2.35 billion baht for 73 projects in 12 lower southern provinces).

The Lanna civilisation cluster will get 983 million baht for 46 projects in seven northern provinces, while the E-sarn civilisation cluster has been allocated 230 million baht for 26 projects covering six north-eastern provinces.

The UNESCO World Heritage Sites cluster will receive 475 million baht for 57 projects in eight provinces, while 612 million baht will be pumped into 60 Mekong River lifestyle projects in six provinces. In the central plains cluster, 454 million baht will be spent on 55 projects in 14 provinces.

MINOR Hotel Group will be rebranding its 413-room Bangkok Marriott Resort and Spa as Anantara Bangkok Riverside in November, growing the brand’s portfolio in the Thai capital to three properties.

Anantara Hotels, Resorts and Spas senior vice president Peter Carmichael said there would be an official announcement of the changes at ITB Berlin next week. “The moves are part of plans to establish the Anantara brand in key cities worldwide and compete with big-name players,” he said.

According to an industry source, the upgrading of Bangkok Marriott to Anantara is seen as Minor’s attempt to drive rates more aggressively and avoid dilution, given the growing number of Marriott-branded properties in Bangkok.

Minor manages four properties and owns 12 in Thailand, including the soon-to-be-launched 224-key The St Regis Bangkok. Of the 16 properties, eight are branded Anantara.

Anantara also manages the 79-key Anantara Baan Rajprasong Serviced Suites Bangkok and 425-room Anantara Bangkok Sathorn. The latter, initially launched as a Radisson hotel in late-2009, joined Anantara’s network yesterday.

By Sirima Eamtako