BANYAN Tree Hotels & Resorts is taking over the operations of the Sheraton Grande Laguna Phuket, rebranding it as an Angsana Laguna Phuket when its current management contract with Starwood Hotels & Resorts expires on June 30.

The hotel will be closed from July 1 for a US$30 million renovation and refurbishment covering all rooms, meeting facilities and public spaces. It is scheduled to open by December as the largest resort under the Angsana brand with 384 keys. It would set the benchmark for 15 more Angsanas in the pipeline worldwide.

Laguna Resorts Holdings managing director Michael Ayling said Angsana was chosen to “draw a new segment of younger affluent travellers” that is currently not targeted by the existing hotels and resorts in the integrated resort.

The hotel will offer a destination beach club and introduce new concepts such as a tree house-inspired Kids’ Club and a Rice Bar featuring classic rice-based Asian favourites. Other facilities include an Angsana Spa, an Angsana retail gallery and a 358m² ballroom.

RAPHAEL Saw has filled the COO position at Singapore’s Far East Organization (FEO)’s hospitality division, a newly-created position that comes as the group made local headlines recently in snapping up Paramount Hotel and Shopping Centre, along East Coast Road, and a hotel site at Tanjong Pagar near the CBD.

TTG Asia e-Daily understands that Paramount will eventually be rebranded a Village hotel, an FEO brand that emphasises culture and heritage of local precincts. A new brand, Oasia, will also debut soon, the first hotel of which will be a 428-room Oasia Hotel in the Novena area, soft opening in mid-April and officially launched in July.

While the other FEO brand, Quincy, is boutique and personalised, Oasia hotels are larger, with meeting facilities. There are three Village hotels and one Quincy. The division also operates two independent hotels, Elizabeth and Orchard Parade, and service apartments. It is soft-launching The Clift Residences in Singapore, a loft concept, in May.

Saw said of the new COO position: “As we grow, the group has to build up its capability further.” He does not rule out regional expansion, but said: “First, we must run Singapore well, then look at opportunities to grow the brand.”

Saw joined the division two years ago as director of operations, a position he still holds. He previously held positions with Singapore Airlines, Millennium & Copthorne International and Jetstar Asia.

IATA, which is finalising a Vision 2050 that will turnaround a sick industry, believes Asia will be the game-changer of world aviation as the region accounts for the largest pie of the global passenger traffic (30 per cent) by 2014.

“With an increase in size comes influence and responsibility,” said IATA director-general and CEO Giovannin Bisignani at a briefing this afternoon to update the media about its Vision 2050 meeting last Saturday involving 35 strategic thinkers discussing the industry’s sustainable development.

Already this year, Asian airlines are expected to account for 50.5 per cent of global aviation’s profit forecasted at US$9.1 billion. Market capitalisation of the five largest airlines in the world also shows a shift eastward, with Air China at US$20 billion, merged Chile’s LAN and Brazil’s TAM at US$15 billion, Singapore Airlines at US$14 billion, Cathay Pacific at US$12 billion and Southern China at US$11 billion.

Bisignani believes China – and to a lesser extent, India – will “take the lead” in changing the rules of the game that were invented 65 years ago primarily with the leadership of the US and Europe. Restrictive policies and barriers to growth saw airlines making an average margin of 0.1 per cent, which he said was “the margin for a charity association, not a business”.

ASEAN was already taking regional leadership by removing barriers to market access and aiming for a Single Aviation Market by 2015, he said. “And even with the political barriers that exist, the region has also found solutions to allow multinational brands like Jetstar or Air Asia to grow. So I have great hope that Asia-Pacific will gradually take on a more vocal, proactive and positive role in driving aviation’s future,” Bisignani said.

IATA will consolidate opinions from the meeting and present the results at its next AGM in June. Four areas were discussed: an industry structure for financial sustainability, understanding the passenger of the future, aircraft and technology for the future and infrastructure for the future.

THAILAND’s Ministry of Tourism and Sports is seeking an additional 300 million baht (US$9.75 million) for the next fiscal year, starting October, to develop tourism in the country.

Permanent secretary Sombat Kuruphan said the funds would be spent on efforts including rehabilitation and development of attractions, and manpower training.

A total of 138 million baht has been earmarked so far for 21 projects across the country, including rehabilitation of four tourist sites, and development of four home-stay and community-based tourism initiatives.

The funding committee approved some 188 million baht in support of 57 projects, including rehabilitation of 19 tourist sites, for the current fiscal year.

By Sirima Eamtako

AIRLINES report a relative status quo for flights between Cambodia and Thailand, despite recent clashes between the two countries over UNESCO World Heritage Site, Preah Vihear Temple.

Only Thai Airways, which operates twice-daily on the Bangkok-Phnom Penh route, has recorded a one per cent fall in traffic this month, due to cancellations from 100 passengers scheduled to travel from Phnom Penh to Bangkok, and 40 passengers on flights from Bangkok to Phnom Penh, according to Narinthorn Prungupta, the airline’s general manager for Cambodia.

Neither Bangkok Airways, with four-daily Bangkok-Phnom Penh and five-daily Bangkok-Siem Reap services, nor Thai AirAsia, which has a daily Bangkok-Phnom Penh flight, has seen any cancellations.

Tour operators had previously reported no cancellations for bookings to both destinations (TTG Asia e-Daily, February 8).

By Steve Finch

ROYAL Caribbean Cruises has signed an agreement with shipyard Meyer Werft to build the first of its new generation of cruise ships.

The order calls for one ship to be delivered in Fall 2014, with an option for a second in Spring 2015.

Developed under the code name Project Sunshine, the 158,000 gross-registered-tons vessel will carry more than 4,100 guests, based on double occupancy. Estimated all-in cost per berth is €170,000 (US$230,074).

The new build, which promises “grand spectacular spaces to small intimate settings”, is a result of more than a year’s research and development.