The Lux Collective has unveiled four innovative projects launching in 2024 for its luxury flagship brand Lux* in destinations such as the Middle East, Vietnam and southern France.
In the Middle East, Lux* Al Jabal is a 45-key hillside retreat sitting atop the beaches of Khorfakkan and Luluya, overseeing the expansive Gulf of Oman. Located on 18.7 hectares of land, the resort will offer curated menus with high-quality local ingredients and the brand’s signature Keen On Green wholesome vegan cuisine.
Luxnam* Phu Quoc will open late 2024
It will feature one- to three- bedroom suites and even a royal suite with a private pool and butler service. Guests will have exclusive private beach access, dining options, spa and wellness treatments, children’s activities, and experiences to connect with the local culture and community.
Lux* Al Bridi will overlook 1,690 hectares of conservation in the Sharjah safari project in the city of Al Dhaid, the largest safari in the world outside Africa. It will comprise 35 tented safari-style private retreats, spa and conservation-focused discovery centre. There is even the city’s first petting zoo, Al Dhaid Farm.
Over in South-east Asia, a one-of-a-kind overwater retreat awaits with Luxnam* Phu Quoc in Vietnam. The 126-villa-only resort will perch above the waters and coral reefs of Kien Giang Biosphere Reserve with the brand’s sustainability DNA incorporated throughout the dragon-shaped resort.
With a choice of 109 overwater villas, 13 beach pool villas, two penthouses and two beachfront pool mansions, Luxnam* Phu Quoc will offer facilities such as restaurants, spa, fitness centre, four swimming pools and a children’s playground.
The Lux Collective will also turn its head to Europe with the opening of Lux* Marseillan, France in 2024.
“(Lux*) redefine(s) the modern style of luxury and (is) excited to expand our global footprints into new awe-inspiring destinations set in secluded nature. We will continue to create extraordinary experiences for our guests through elevated shining service, beautifully designed spaces, and aspiring escapes,” said Paul Jones, CEO, The Lux Collective.
The Langham, Hong Kong, together with Klook, has brought back the Van Gogh-themed Staycation Experience.
With guest rooms and suites transformed into living canvases of the artist’s three most famous works – The Starry Night, Irises and Sunflowers – guests can immerse themselves in the specially decorated rooms of the artist’s impressionist works as well as indulge in an afternoon tea experience at the hotel’s Palm Court.
The Langham Hong Kong’s Irises-themed Deluxe City View Room offers guests an immersive experience
A highlight of the staycation experience is the twinkling canvas of stars projected on the ceiling, allowing guests to stargaze before falling asleep – another is the augmented reality painting presented in the room.
There are also souvenirs such as a themed handbag, bottle of sparkling wine, and smart thermal vacuum flask for guests to bring home.
The Van Gogh Staycation is priced from HK$1,425 (US$183) per night and up, depending on the room chosen, and includes one night’s accommodation, breakfast for two at The Food Gallery and a special Van Gogh-themed gift.
The Van Gogh Afternoon Tea at Palm Court is HK$798 for two persons, and serves scones, clotted cream and rose petal jam with premium loose-leaf tea.
Both the staycation package and the afternoon tea are available from December 1, 2022 to February 28, 2023.
Olivier Monceau has been appointed as Club Med’s new general manager of Singapore and Malaysia.
His priorities will be to guide the team through the next phase of strategic brand growth within the region and lead his team to deliver effective and targeted end-to-end omni-channel experience to clients that synchronises consideration and conversion to grow top line and client acquisition.
The French national was previously general manager of Club Med Russia.
Asia-Pacific’s travel recovery has taken a slower pace compared to Europe and the US, allowing most destinations, airports and airlines in the region to avoid the chaotic scenes seen this summer at high traffic airports from Amsterdam to Miami, and to learn lessons on ramping up for the year-end travel peak.
Singapore Changi Airport is well acquainted with large crowds, having handled 68.3 million passengers in 2019. Since July this year, the air hub has averaged 3.4 million passengers per month compared to the 2019 monthly average of 5.7 million.
With sufficient manpower and the help of technology, the immigration process is a breeze for travellers; Suvarnabhumi Airport pictured (Photo: Michael Doran)
When asked how well prepared the airport was for the end of year and Lunar New Year rush, Changi Airport Group’s senior vice president airport operations management, Damon Wong, told TTG Asia that it is working with partners to ensure sufficient manpower is at every passenger touchpoint and that technology has a big role to play.
“The majority of our departing passengers can use our suite of self-service options, including automated check-in kiosks, bag-drop and immigration gates,” he said. “Our auto-clearance immigration lanes have a biometric system in place that uses face and iris recognition to match passengers with their travel documents.”
It is this combination of technology and trained staff that Singapore Changi Airport is relying on for the holiday season, when the airport expects to be operating at up to 80 per cent of its pre-pandemic levels.
A similar combination was in plain sight at Bangkok’s Suvarnabhumi Airport. When TTG Asia recently caught an international flight from the airport, it took just 20 minutes to complete the check-in, immigration and security checks process.
While not every passenger used the automated check-in and bag drop units, their impact on the traditional check-in desks was obvious. Check-in queues were almost non-existent, and when technology got the better of some travellers a helpful staff member appeared to render assistance.
Parashos: having a mix of both (staff help and self-check-in) allows travellers to choose how they want their service delivered
In October, Australia’s Melbourne Airport handled 2.57 million passengers and reached 78 per cent of pre-pandemic traffic numbers. Australia’s main airports are bracing themselves for an exceptionally busy holiday season, the first restriction free travel peak since 2019.
After Saturday’s launch of Qantas’ nonstop Melbourne to Dallas route, TTG Asia met with the airport’s chief of aviation Jim Parashos. He said the airport has rebuilt its workforce and will have extra staff rostered on during peaks to ensure passengers get smoothly through the airport.
“We’re also working with the airlines on gate allocation to spread arrivals and departures across each terminal and reduce the likelihood of crowding,” he added.
Security screening is often a pinch point, and Melbourne has revamped its Terminal 3 and 4 facilities with new technology, allowing passengers through without the need to remove laptops or aerosols from their bags.
Self-check-in kiosks are important, both for people wanting to do it themselves and for taking heat off the traditional check-in desks. Parashos said Melburnians were early adopters of the technology as it has been used on domestic flights for some time.
“Some people expect the service and the red carpet but others want to get through as quickly as possible, so having a mix of both allows travellers to choose how they want their service delivered,” he said.
Having a fully functioning airport is a good start but airlines also have a role to play in frictionless travel. Singapore Airlines (SIA) has bounced back quicker than most airlines, seizing opportunities to restart services as soon as border restrictions are eased.
Majority of passengers at Singapore Changi Airport can use its suite of self-service options
SIA told TTG Asia that SIA and Scoot combined are operating about 68 per cent of their pre-pandemic capacity. This is expect to rise to around 76 per cent in 1H2023. Karl Schubert, SIA’s regional manager public affairs and government relations, told TTG Asia that SIA has reduced many of the touchpoints along the journey.
SIA has installed self-check-in kiosks and automated bag drops at selected airports, including for flights from Singapore. Passengers departing Singapore on a single-sector flight can also generate their bag tags through the SingaporeAir Mobile app (subject to regulatory requirements).
“Passengers can view the inflight menu on the app or online before travel or onboard via the inflight Wi-Fi,” he explained.
“They can also use their devices to connect to and navigate the KrisWorld IFE to set up their list of favourite movies, TV shows and audio before travelling.”
IHG Hotels & Resorts has partnered with VietHarvest for a twofold purpose – to provide food to communities most in need in Vietnam using the surplus food from its hotels, and in doing so, prevent food wastage, as well as educate the communities on food security and sustainability.
Committing 15 of its hotels in the country, with another 22 in the pipeline, IHG will support VietHarvest’s Food Rescue programme via a charity network starting in the Hanoi area.
IHG will support VietHarvest in reducing food waste and hunger among communities in Vietnam
IHG has also pledged funds to enable VietHarvest to expand logistics and operational support in Hanoi, scale up food rescue and its charitable operations, and enable it to deliver more than 10,000 meals to underserved communities.
This working relationship is an extension of an ongoing partnership between IHG and OzHarvest in Australia which was formed in 2019.
Jimmy Pham, co-founder, VietHarvest, said: “Our mission at VietHarvest is to reduce food waste and hunger and we need partners such as IHG to embark on this journey with us. Our approach is unique in Vietnam, providing businesses with a solution to divert waste from landfill, reduce carbon emissions and tackle social challenges.
“We believe that through strong partnerships, we can minimise the social and environmental impact of food waste and build awareness of this important topic.”
Rajit Sukumaran, managing director, IHG Hotels & Resorts, South East Asia and Korea, commented: “Our new partnership with VietHarvest will help us in two important areas – improving the lives of 30 million people in our communities around the world, and transforming to a minimal-waste hospitality industry.”
IHG’s Hanoi-based hotels – InterContinental Hanoi Westlake and InterContinental Hanoi Landmark72 – are already actively involved and supporting VietHarvest.
Metaverse travel service provider ANA NEO has teamed up with stakeholders in Hokkaido to promote digital and in-person travel to the northern Japanese prefecture.
The Tokyo-based company aims to offer new travel experiences in the metaverse and has announced its plan to build the Hokkaido content following its successful digitisation of Kyoto on its digital platform, ANA GranWhale, earlier this year.
ANA NEO aims to promote tourism in Hokkaido using the metaverse; Otaru Canal pictured
ANA GranWhale allows users “to see and study cities and regions in Japan, as well as make online purchases from the localities they explore”, said a spokesperson of ANA Neo, adding that other regions are set to be launched on the platform.
The Hokkaido content is designed to introduce users to the island’s unique nature, culture and cuisine by showcasing various cities, each with their own distinctive appeal. One key focus will be on seasonal tourism content, so potential visitors can better understand which time of year would best suit their travel plans.
Short-term, the aim is for more people to enjoy the wonders of Hokkaido and promote the prefecture via word of mouth, while the long-term goal is to increase in-person visitors throughout the year.
“Our effort will focus on promoting tourism in Hokkaido and will benefit the revitalisation of various regions in the prefecture by allowing first-time visitors to experience online the regions’ benefits and beauty,” the spokesperson explained.
Selected digital destinations range from the well-known cities of Sapporo, the prefectural capital, and Hakodate, Hokkaido’s south-eastern port, to the more remote coastal city of Abashiri, home to drift ice in the Sea of Okhotsk and native Ainu culture, and Lake Akan, where its Akan Mashu National Park is home to some of the rarest plant species in the world.
To bring the places to life, Hokkaido Broadcasting Co. is contributing images and video materials from their archive, while Hoshino Resorts’ Risonare Tomamu and other companies will support the development of online attractions.
Pan Pacific Hotels Group will introduce its next flagship hotel, Pan Pacific Orchard to Singapore’s commercial district of Orchard Road. The new luxury destination hotel is slated to open in May 2023.
The hotel is one of the 13 new properties in the group’s global expansion plan.
Pan Pacific Orchard will feature four high-volume, open-air terraces when it opens in May next year
The 347-key property showcases four high-volume, open-air terraces – Forest, Beach, Garden and Cloud – brimming with more than 7,300m² of foliage that covers more than 200 per cent of the hotel’s land area.
The Forest Terrace greets guests at the lobby with rich greenery and a 120m-tall green column featuring curling vines and flora that spans the first three storeys of the hotel, with the hotel’s signature restaurant on the second and third floors.
The fifth to tenth storeys will transport guests to the Beach Terrace comprising an outdoor pool across the fifth floor, sandy shores, tropical foliage and a pool bar – complete with an overhead mirrored ceiling extending across the entire terrace to create the effect of the sky.
The Garden Terrace is from Levels 11 to 16, featuring private cabanas and an outdoor lawn that stretches beneath the guest rooms. Here, guests will discover Pan Pacific Orchard’s specialty destination bar.
At the highest levels, the Cloud Terrace occupies the 18th to 23rd storeys, boasting the city’s only space for “meeting in the clouds”. On the 18th floor is the pillarless ballroom with a 420-seat capacity.
Driven by the sustainability agenda of the group, Pan Pacific Orchard is BCA Green Mark Platinum-certified for its sustainability features, such as a renewable solar panel technology, an in-room filtered water system, and a bio-digester system transforming food waste into cleaning water.
Jetstar Asia (3K) and Jetstar Airways (JQ) have confirmed they will operate from Singapore Changi Airport’s Terminal 4 (T4) from next year.
The first Jetstar Asia flight to arrive at T4 will be from Manila at 00.40 on March 22, 2023, with the return flight taking off at 06.15.
On the same day, the first Jetstar Airways flight to operate out of T4 will be depart Singapore to Melbourne at 22.10, while the return flight will arrive in Singapore the following day at 20.10.
Jetstar Asia and Jetstar Airways will operate from Changi Airport’s Terminal 4 from March 22, 2023
Jetstar Asia will initially operate more than 200 weekly services in and out of T4, to and from key destinations in South-east Asia including Bali (Denpasar), Bangkok, Jakarta, Kuala Lumpur, and Phnom Penh.
Jetstar Airways will continue to fly between Singapore and Melbourne up to six times a week.
For easy connection, Changi Airport provides free shuttle bus services between T4 and the other terminals. Passengers transferring to or from T4 can approach the transfer desk for assistance.
Night Safari has unveiled a brand-new amphitheatre and a refreshed version of its popular Creatures of the Night show.
After a year’s transformation, the 1,000-seat amphitheatre is now in a new fully sheltered location near the park entrance, and boasts enhanced stage features like an LED wall, surround sound and lighting, as well as water features and thematic trees to bring out the natural behaviours of the animals.
The new amphitheatre offers a more immersive and multi-sensory Creatures of the Night experience (Photo: Mandai Wildlife Group)
The renewed Creatures of the Night will include new animal species additions, such as an Indian Crested Porcupine, Raccoon Dog and Bearded Pigs. There are daily 19.30 and 21.00 shows, and guests are advised to reserve their seats online – bookings are open two hours prior to the presentation time.
The French national was previously general manager of Club Med Russia.
He was most recently general manager of Crowne Plaza Bandung in Indonesia.
