Dusit International has appointed Adrian Rudin as managing director of its flagship Dusit Thani Bangkok hotel, and Dusit Residences, which will launch in mid-2024 and early 2026, respectively.
The Swiss national brings with him over three decades of experience in leading luxury hotels. He served as general manager of Sindhorn Bangkok Kempinski and vice president of Operations for China and Southeast Asia at Kempinski Hotels before joining Dusit.
In his new role, he will be in charge of shaping the success of both upcoming properties, including securing future MICE business ahead of the hotel’s grand opening next year.
Hotel companies eager to rebuild a strong team to support revived operations and intensified portfolio expansion post-lockdown are coming up with new and improved ways to recruit, retain and upskill talents.
Hilton, which was recognised as one of the World’s Best Workplaces by Fortune magazine and Great Place to Work in Asia Pacific for the seventh consecutive year in 2023, has developed a recruitment procedure that allows candidates to use their smartphones to book interview slots and record a pre-screening presentation as well as implemented an AI-driven assessment tool that screens candidates who are a better fit for the job traits, Hilton culture, and the hospitality environment.
Hotel companies are coming up with new and improved ways to recruit, retain and upskill talents
Patsy Ng, vice president for human resources – Asia-Pacific, Hilton, said: “To attract talents to join us, we need to focus on delivering a great candidate experience and will leverage recruitment technology to achieve that. We have reduced the number of touchpoints for candidates’ online applications and introduced new tools such as HireVue and Traitify to enable same-day hires, which for high volume jobs has become a critical competitive advantage.”
Once talents are in, they are embraced by the company’s “environment of inclusion”, shared Ng.
Hilton has several Team Member Resource Groups (TMRGs) to support staff at work and at home. The Women’s TMRG, for instance, is a community of allyship where female team members can tap on different leaders for support and counsel.
Soon to come in early 2024 are Abilities TMRG and Generations TMRG, built to facilitate Hilton’s move to hire differently-abled individuals and retirees/matured workers, respectively.
Recognising that the talent war is a battle that involves every hotelier, not just Hilton’s leadership, the company has initiated two global recruitment campaigns to build brand equity for the hospitality industry.
In May this year, Hilton launched Every Job Makes The Stay, a campaign that “conveys the message that behind every magical moment a guest experiences in the hotel are hundreds of exceptional people working together to make that happen”, detailed Ng.
Supporting this campaign is Find Your Thing, launched in 2022 to inform talents that “hospitality is the place where you can have a global career, working in iconic places”.
Over at Onyx Hospitality Group, compulsory training will come into effect in 2024. All staff must complete 60 hours of training every year in order to advance on their personal career track in the organisation. This requirement is part of the new Onyx Academy, which will launch with instructor-led as well as online courses that are jointly developed with a range of partners such as eCornell and Harvard Business School Online.
There will also be cross-training opportunities, where staff may be assigned to work and learn at other properties.
Yuthachai Charanachitta, owner and CEO of Onyx Hospitality Group, said: “At the end of it all, they will be better ready to move forward on their career track.”
Completion of courses will earn participants certification with reputable institutions.
He believes the programme will appeal to the younger generation, as they “want to learn and rise up quickly in the company, and the academy provides such career development opportunities”.
Meanwhile, Pan Pacific Hotels Group (PPHG) has its eyes on the future of hotel work. It has engaged human resources consulting firm Mercer to study how work processes could be redesigned with practicality, staff well-being and resource considerations in mind. The project involves three beta-testing hotels and scrutinises all processes across departments, from front office to kitchens.
Choe Peng Sum, CEO of PPHG, emphasised that while innovation can help to create a better workplace, a strong work culture remains critical.
“To have a strong workplace culture, every team member needs to feel like they own the business,” Choe told TTG Asia.
Performance incentive schemes come in handy to encourage staff buy-ins. Across PPHG’s hotel operated restaurants, for instance, team members enjoy profit sharing.
“Some individuals can make up to 40 per cent more of their monthly income,” said Choe, who added that team members have become very motivated to come up with innovative ideas to excite and impress guests.
“We have 6,000 staff all over the world. If everyone feels that they own the business, I can sleep well at night,” remarked Choe.
Tourism stakeholders speaking at Seatrade Cruise Asia Pacific 2023 say Hong Kong’s continued investments in events and activities for tourists are helping to position the destination in a positive light among cruise travellers.
Felix Chan, general manager, business development, Hong Kong Tourism Board (HKTB), said Hong Kong’s ramp up of its event calendar is helping to “maintain our competitiveness”.
From left: moderator Dickson Chin, HKTB’s Felix Chan, WKCDA’s Christine Chow, HKDL’s Anita Lai, and Ocean Park’s Johnny So
“For instance, the four-day Hong Kong Wine & Dine Festival on Thursday at Central HarbourFront is set to feature more than 300 exhibitors (food and wine) from around the world. Moreover, we are working closely with travel trade partners on (developing) green tours and authentic neighbourhood (Old Central Town/Sham Shui Po and Yau Tsim Mong) experiences,” Chan said.
As one of the largest cultural projects in the world, the West Kowloon Cultural District Authority (WKCDA) is constantly diversifying its offerings to attract travellers arriving on cruise ships. WKCDA’s general manager of marketing and customer experience, Christine Chow, believes that cruise travellers prefer heading to a one-stop destination.
She said: “Our harbour-side location is made up of different cultural and performing centres, with museums like M+ and Palace Museum, open-air art park, retail facilities, as well as more than 30 restaurants and food trucks, all under one roof. There is also a line-up of international exhibitions, like the astounding new archaeological discoveries from China’s Sanxingdui, currently (on display) at Palace Museum. Additionally, we envisage to offer various themes of products, (such as) nature tours since our cultural cluster is home to more than 100 kinds of trees and more.”
The Southern Landing Facility is set to open in 2025 in the West Kowloon Cultural District, which will elevate accessibility, allowing water taxi services.
WKCDA has already secured an eventful March/April 2024 line-up, which will include the International Cultural Summit in March 2024, an Art Basel event, and Rugby Sevens.
Theme parks in Hong Kong are also investing in new draws. Ocean Park has crafted new programmes, like hiking along the Cable Car Rescue Trail, the ecological Island South Discovery Tour, a night tour on stargazing to learn about light pollution, and well-being activities like yoga.
Over at Hong Kong Disneyland (HKDL), Sleeping Beauty Castle has been transformed while night-time fireworks and soon-to-launch World of Frozen await. Its vice president, communications and public affairs, Anita Lai, shared: “There is a big push on culture and we have been working with the Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra for an orchestral performance at the castle stage. Recently (we had a) crossover with Hong Kong Ballet.”
Lai believes that collaboration with different stakeholders will lead to creative ideas “that will bring excitement and surprises to attract visitors back”.
Chinese tourist arrivals have nose-dived following the shooting incident at Bangkok’s Siam Paragon shopping mall earlier this month, with more than 60,000 trips to Thailand being cancelled by Chinese tourists.
According to data from the Airports of Thailand, arrivals from China have fallen from 650,000 to 590,000.
The Siam Paragon mall shooting incident has resulted in more than 60,000 trips to Thailand being cancelled by Chinese tourists (Photo: MeSamong)
The shooting dulled the shine of Thailand’s red carpet roll-out for the Chinese travel market, which included a visa waiver for extended stays and reduced paperwork and financial commitment associated with long-term visas applications for tourists from China between September 25 and February 2024. These initiatives were introduced to help boost arrivals to pre-pandemic levels.
The shooting, alongside other issues, such as China’s stuttering economy, has caused trepidation about the immediate future of Thai tourism.
Personal safety while travelling abroad is paramount for Chinese holidaymakers, and despite the Thai government’s insistence that the effect of the shooting on arrivals is normal, travel and tourism stakeholders have called on lawmakers to establish clear legislation to prevent similar outbursts of violence in the future.
The Siam Paragon tragedy is not the first serious occurrence of gun violence in Thailand. In October 2022, a former police officer killed 36 people, including young children, using weapons he had acquired because of his status as an ex-law enforcer. Existing and former members of Thailand’s police and armed forces have special permission to access firearms and are able to purchase guns from the government with little or no oversight.
An anonymous independent travel agent in Bangkok spoke strongly about the rules, insisting that for people from China, a country with some of the world’s most stringent gun control regulations, the relatively easy access to firearms in Thailand is most off-putting.
“Most of my clients are from China, and I have been inundated with customer questions about the potential for more violence in the future, and many have postponed or cancelled their trips,” she told TTG Asia.
The agent also expressed her concerns about the immediate future.
“I don’t think this kind of thing will happen again soon, but it might. Even though there are laws preventing gun ownership in place, there are also many loopholes in the paperwork that must be closed or more people will die. This is usually one of my busiest times of the year, but now I am very worried about the next couple of months,” she added.
This caution was reflected in comments by the Northern Thai Hotel Association, which announced more than a third of all hotel bookings in the region had been cancelled or delayed. Its president Paisarn Sukcharoen told the Bangkok Post: “Gun control measures will restore a certain amount of confidence, but what matters is how the government executes them.”
Arival co-founder and CEO, Douglas Quinby, shared the main trends impacting the tours, activities and experiences sector, during his opening keynote at this month’s Arival 360 Conference in Orlando.
Recent Arival research presented by Quinby during the keynote showed that the average number of activities people take on each trip is now seven.
Douglas Quinby sharing the top five trends during his opening keynote
Quinby remarked: “There has never been a better time to be in travel experiences – there are more high-quality trips now, and people are spending more on those trips.”
He shared five major trends that the experiences sector should take note of:
The affluent traveller: there is a need to understand the audience as they are now more diverse than ever. The affluent traveller – those with incomes of US$150k and up – account for a fifth of all travellers, yet are responsible for nearly half of experiences spend.
TikTok as a booking channel: it was predicted last year that TikTok may surpass Instagram and Facebook as an experiences inspiration and booking channel for 18-34 year olds. This year, it has surpassed those channels and is now only second to Google for this age group.
Future of weather: this will certainly impact businesses and personal lives. The weather conditions happening now will only get more extreme. So, it is crucial to ask how this will impact travel, where people will go, how to adapt tours, and how this will impact cancellations.
Future of tech: according to Arival’s research, as many as half of all tour and activities operators are still not using modern software that connects them to the global ecosystem. It is clear where growth is going to come from – OTAs. OTA’s have experienced more than 250 per cent growth between 2019 and 2025. So, the experiences industry will need to adopt the right technology to reach the right people.
Future of experiences: while older travellers plan and book experiences when at the destination itself, younger travellers think about experiences early and plan their trips around these experiences. Nearly half of Gen Z and Gen Y travellers say experiences are influencing where they go.
Recognising a significant surge in traveller interest in wellness travel and sustainable tourism, Onyx Hospitality Group has developed a new upscale spa brand as well as comprehensive environmental-focused programmes for its portfolio of properties.
Maai Spa, which debuted in August at two properties, Amari Raaya Maldives and Amari Pattaya, is now gearing up for expansion into more locations. Maai Spa caters to the luxury lifestyle segment, offering a wide range of treatments, including Swedish and sports massages, Indian head massages, Chinese reflexology, and a unique jade stone massage designed to improve blood circulation and reduce stress.
Maai Spa first debuted at Amari Raaya Maldives
Onyx’s CEO Yuthachai Charanachitta told TTG Asia that Maai Spa will be introduced to Amari Bangkok and Amari Phuket by 2025.
The company’s existing spa brand, Breeze Spa, will be phased out over the next three to four years and be replaced by the Maai Spa, in line with Onyx’s strategic shift toward a higher price positioning. Currently, Breeze Spa is offered in seven Amari properties, including Amari Johor Bahru and Amari Koh Samui.
Furthermore, in response to the growing attention on responsible tourism among travellers, Onyx has implemented comprehensive programmes that work to reduce environmental impact, support local communities, and promote eco-conscious practices. The programmes are rolled out across all Onyx properties.
Onyx will sign a Memorandum of Understanding with UNESCO Asia-Pacific in the coming year, which will make the hotel firm UNESCO’s first Cultural Sustainability partner in Asia-Pacific. The goal is to safeguard and promote cultural and natural heritage. Onyx will co-develop and implement projects that support local communities and suppliers.
This initiative joins other sustainability-driven projects undertaken by Onyx. One of them is a partnership with Youth Wildlife Guardian, Environmental and Social Foundation, and World Wildlife Fund in Thailand to launch the Environmental Education Tour, aimed at raising environmental awareness among youths in the country.
The tour runs from June this year to February 2024.
Thai Airways International Public Company (THAI) has launched the new uniform for female cabin crew during its From Purple To Purpose press conference yesterday.
The Thai Ruean Ton, Thai national dress globally recognised for its grace for over six decades as worn by THAI flight attendants, is now woven with synthetic thread made of recycled materials and Thai silk.
Female THAI flight attendants in the new Thai Ruean Ton uniform
The new look presents a combination of the national identity and sustainable development, offering both aesthetic and utility purposes – it is easier to look after and has also passed the safety standards.
The new Thai Ruean Ton uniform will be worn by female flight attendants from January 1, 2024.
Regent Hong Kong, China
Regent Hong Kong has undergone a transformation and will welcome guests in November.
It features 497 guestrooms, which include 129 suites, as well as the new Presidential Suite, which offers a private terrace and infinity swimming pool.
Onsite are restaurants, lobby lounge, bar, outdoor pool, infinity pool, fitness centre, and event venues.
Amora Beach Resort Phuket
Amora Beach Resort Phuket, Thailand
The 264-room Amora Beach Resort Phuket reopens this December after an extensive refurbishment, and will feature newly-built facilities.
Situated on a private 80m stretch on Bang Tao Beach, each renovated room and suite will have a private balcony or terrace boasting either garden or sea views.
The beachfront resort will introduce facilities such as a new beach club, wellness centre, new all-day dining restaurant, kid’s club, two pools, a ballroom and four meeting rooms.
The George Penang by the Crest Collection
The George Penang by the Crest Collection, Malaysia
George Penang by The Crest Collection is nestled in the heart of George Town, Penang. Featuring 92 rooms and suites, the hotel draws inspiration from Penang’s rich cultural heritage, seamlessly blending old-world charm with contemporary elegance.
There is a restaurant which serves an array of multi-cultural cuisines, and a bar for afternoon refreshments or an evening cocktail.
Its prime location offers easy access to George Town’s historical sites, street markets, and cultural attractions.
Club Med Urban Oasis Xianlin Nanjing Resort
Club Med Urban Oasis Xianlin Nanjing Resort, China
Club Med Urban Oasis Xianlin Nanjing Resort, has opened in China. It is located among Nanjing’s four major scenic areas – Purple Mountain, Qixia Mountain, Tangshan Mountain, and Yanziji.
The resort features a 1,200m² indoor-heated water park, an outdoor water screen light show, an outdoor explore park, sports activities, and a bar.
Just 30 minutes from downtown Nanjing and Nanjing South Railway Station, it is also just 500m from the Huitong Road Station of Nanjing Metro Line 4.
Tourism that invests more in the education of stakeholders, frontline staff and consumers can help deliver a better model post-lockdown, according to an analysis at World Tourism Day (WTD) 2023.
Speakers opined that if people had a greater understanding of conscious travel, which contributes to the betterment of society and the environment, the tourism industry could grow sustainably and responsibly.
Pololikashvili: a job in tourism is the first step towards economic empowerment (Photo: Kathryn Wortley)
WTTC CEO Julia Simpson pointed out the importance of tourism to the global economy – of 10 jobs on the planet, one comes from travel and tourism; global tourism will be worth US$9.5 trillion by the end of 2023; and tourism lifts people out of poverty and contributes to less of the world’s carbon emissions than people expect, at only eight per cent.
Now, as global travel recovers, there is an urgency to invest in the industry’s sustainable future, said Anita Mendiratta, special advisor to the UNWTO, adding that tourism has the power to connect people and help them learn about themselves and others.
“We need to respond with the same energy on climate change as we did on Covid,” she said.
Saudi Arabia’s vice-minister of tourism Haifa Al Saud said attendees had “a collective responsibility” to commit to tourism that supports “planet, peace and prosperity”.
Speakers hailed education as a way to inform the public and private sectors on how to deliver sustainable development, to equip staff in travel and hospitality with key skills, and to persuade consumers to travel more responsibly.
The UNWTO used WTD as a platform to launch Tourism Opens Minds, a global initiative designed to promote travel to new destinations following recent research revealing that only a minority of tourists intend to visit new or different destinations when they start travelling again. Under the scheme, people will be encouraged to diversify their travel habits in a bid to combat over-tourism and level-up tourism development.
“We want to teach the world that every country is the best destination. Authenticity is what attracts people to a place,” said Saudi Arabia’s minister of investment Khalid Al-Falih.
The concept is being adopted by nations. In South Africa, where most inbound tourism is focused on the western cape, including Cape Town, efforts are underway to diversify offerings while educating travellers on “the hidden gems all over the country”, shared South Africa’s minister of tourism Patricia de Lille.
The power of educating consumers is evidenced by eco-conscious travellers who are already driving change in global tourism.
“More tourists are making decisions based on how sustainable a destination might be,” opined Gregory Djerejian, head of investments and legal at developer Red Sea Global. The company is driving the Red Sea Project, a tourism destination along Saudi Arabia’s west coast that Djerejian said would not simply preserve the community and environment, but also improve it.
Eduardo Carmona, CEO of Chile-based private capital fund Sudamerik, agreed that developers “need to be less invasive in nature” as consumers want green options that are also less crowded.
Today’s travellers also want to see where their money is going, and that their money is reaching local communities, added UNWTO’s Mendiratta.
UNWTO secretary-general Zurab Pololikashvili described education in tourism as “the number one priority for UNWTO”, noting that in many countries, a job in tourism is “the first step towards economic empowerment”.
Still, more needs to be done to ensure education equips talent with right skills, explained Leo Wang, CEO of private educator Swiss Education Group: “Where are green (sustainability) skills? The future will be in green skills and we want a green skills standard in education.”
Sports tourism is enjoying a strong revival in Bintan, Indonesia, with the return of Bintan Ladies Golf Retreat in July and Bintan Triathlon by TriFactor 2023 on October 21 and 22.
Abdul Wahab, chief operating officer of Bintan Resorts Cakrawala, the organisation that manages tourism development and promotion for the destination, said sports tourism has been an important segment for Bintan to boost arrivals and contribute to the local economy.
This year saw the return of Bintan Triathlon by TriFactor to the Indonesian island
In 2019, sports tourism contributed 20 per cent of Bintan Resorts Cakrawala’s 500 billion rupiah (US$32,000) tourism tax payable to the Bintan Regency. The amount was nearly half of the regency’s direct revenue of 1.2 trillion rupiah, according to Wahab.
The sports events are organised with the aim of boosting arrivals to Bintan, so they welcome mass participation instead of specifically professional athletes.
However, these events could eventually be elevated to professional championships, said Wahab.
Bintan Resorts Cakrawala has been developing sports tourism since 2004, as the organisation saw the value these events could bring to the destination, such as visitor numbers and global media exposure.
“Events like Bintan Triathlon, for example, attract some 1,500 participants from 50 countries and they come with their family. The marathon attracts up to 6,000 participants. Along with spouses and children, that number easily triples, said Wahab.
In terms of infrastructure, Wahab said Bintan Resorts is a gated zone that makes events logistics easy to manage.
“We can organise a marathon without having to block streets, unlike in other cities,” he added.
According to Wahab, Bintan Resorts is still in “honeymoon mode” in terms of tourism recovery. He expects to achieve between 500,000 and 600,000 visitors this year.
Looking ahead, he has set a goal of one million visitors for 2024, and will achieve that through two new events – Moon Run night marathon, which is set for 2Q2024 with a target of 400 to 500 runners, and Bintan Regatta Triangle (Singapore-Bintan-Johor Bahru) at the end of the year.
He is confident that sports tourism potential for Bintan Resorts will continue to strengthen on the back of the new Bintan International Airport, which is now under construction, as well as the addition of three new hotels with 1,000 to 3,000 keys by 2025.
“In anticipation of growth, we are also training more staff and improving their capability to ensure the delivery of professional events services,” he said.
In his new role, he will be in charge of shaping the success of both upcoming properties, including securing future MICE business ahead of the hotel’s grand opening next year.
