TUI BLUE Hotels & Resorts has made three new hires based in the Hong Kong office, as the brand rolls out its expansion plans in Asia-Pacific.
Born and raised in Hong Kong, Jacqueline Cheng has been appointed as team head overseeing the team in brand development in the region.
She has extensive hospitality experience working with international hotel players such as InterContinental Hotels Group, Maritim Hotelgesellschaft, Webin International, sales & marketing, project development, pre-opening and operations.
Next, Bob Jiang has been appointed as managing director, Greater China, where he is responsible for hotel development, pre-opening as well as operations management.
Jiang possesses 30 years of extensive industry experience involving asset management, hotel design, pre-opening and operations across different corporate levels to owners in China.
Lastly, Wipawee Peamsilpakulchorn has joined TUI BLUE Hotels & Resorts as head of business development, South-east Asia. She has extensive knowledge on hotel development, having worked with well-known corporations in the region such as Singapore’s CapitaLand Development, and Thailand’s TCC Capital Land.
Prior to her move, she was assistant vice president business development and asset management with The Ascott Limited in Bangkok, overseeing business development in Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam and Laos.
The Emirate of Ras Al Khaimah expects to Indian arrivals to return to pre-pandemic levels this year, as healthy demand makes a comeback as soon as travel curbs were eased in India.
According to Ras Al Khaimah Tourism Development Authority (RAKTDA), which was in New Delhi and Mumbai from April 4 to 7 with destination roadshows, there have been hotel buyouts in Ras Al Khaimah for Indian weddings this year.
“India is one of our top five source markets for international tourist arrivals. As a nature-based Emirate, we offer a variety of experiences for different segments, from solo travellers to family groups. We are already noticing a strong demand from wedding and MICE segments. Considering the short flight duration from India, we also promote Ras Al Khaimah as a weekend destination for Indians,” said Iyad Rasbey, executive director, Destination Tourism Development & MICE, RAKTDA, while addressing a press conference in New Delhi earlier this week.
As part of its travel trade engagements, RAKTDA brought hospitality representatives from the destination to showcase their leisure, business event and wedding offerings to Indian buyers.
Prior to the in-person roadshows, RAKTDA organised a webinar on March 22 for 100 travel partners and business event operators from across India.
Ras Al Khaimah recorded 1.1 million international tourist arrivals in 2019, of which about 70,000 were from India. The tourism board is targeting three million international tourist arrivals as part of its 2030 vision.
“We will continue to leverage our partnerships with travel agents to promote Ras Al Khaimah as a tourist destination in both metro and non-metro cities in India,” added Rasbey.
At present 85 per cent of international tourists to Ras Al Khaimah arrive through Dubai airport. Low-cost carrier SpiceJet is the only airline that operates direct flights between India and Ras Al Khaimah.
“We are in talks with another Indian airline to strengthen direct air connectivity with Ras Al Khaimah. We expect these direct flights to be operational in 3Q2022,” said Rasbey.
Apart from its nature-based experiences, Ras Al Khaimah will promote new products like Jais Sledder – the region’s longest toboggan ride – to the Indian market.
The destination will expand its hotel room inventory with 3,000 more keys over the next two years. It now has 7,720 keys.