New hotels: The Hari Hong Kong, Pullman Khao Lak Resort, and more
The Hari Hong Kong, Hong Kong
Straddling the two vibrant districts of Causeway Bay and Wan Chai, The Hari Hong Kong is the second hotel to open under The Hari brand, following the launch of The Hari London in 2016. The hotel features 210 guestrooms, with all standard King Rooms and Twin Rooms boasting a two-seater sofa, while each of the more spacious Corner Rooms comes with a dressing room. A trio of rooftop suites, including the opulent The Hari Suite, each houses a five-piece bathroom, a separate sitting room and its own private terrace. Dining outlets include Italian restaurant Lucciola; as well as Japanese restaurant and terrace bar Zoku.
Pullman Khao Lak Resort, Thailand
Nestled on the soft sands of Bang Muang Beach, in the north of Phang Nga province, Pullman Khao Lak Resort features 253 rooms, suites and villas, all of which boast high-speed Wi-Fi, a sofa bed, and balcony. Every Family Suite comes with bunk beds and direct garden access, while each of the six Beachfront Pool Villas boasts a private plunge pool.
Guests can dine and unwind at a choice of two restaurants, two bars and a beach club, which focus on Thai dishes, fresh seafood and street food-inspired bites, alongside international favourites and craft beverages. Wellness facilities include a spa, 24-hour fitness centre, tropical pool, cycling trails, and beachfront platforms usable for outdoor activities such as yoga. For team-building activities, social soirées and weddings, the resort is also home to a 260m2 ballroom and two breakout rooms.
Higashiyama Niseko Village, Japan
Higashiyama Niseko Village, the newest resort in the Ritz-Carlton Reserve portfolio, has opened in the country’s northernmost island of Hokkaido. The YTL Hotels-owned resort, positioned at the base of Mount Niseko Annupuri in the heart of Niseko Village, is an integrated all-season alpine resort. The resort is set within the Niseko United ski area that offers 886ha of skiable terrain and access to extensive backcountry skiing. The area also has an international ski school, chairlifts and gondolas, a dining and retail venue, an outdoor activity park and two golf courses.
Higashiyama Niseko Village features 50 guestrooms and suites appointed with refined amenities. Guests can expect cuisine that mirrors the seasons with locally sourced produce at Yukibana, or quintessential dining experiences at Sushi Nagi that observes the omakase tradition. Customised cocktails, single malts and local brews may be savoured at Ume Lounge, with an array of Izakaya-style dishes. Wellness seekers can indulge in tailored treatments at the bespoke spa, work up a sweat at the fitness centre, or enjoy a soak in the mineral-rich waters of Niseko’s natural underground hot springs at the traditional Japanese onsen.
Sheraton Hong Kong Tung Chung Hotel, Hong Kong
Located atop T-Bay in Tung Chung, Lantau, Sheraton Hong Kong Tung Chung Hotel features 218 rooms and suites, all fitted with modern amenities including 49-inch LCD televisions and high-speed Wi-Fi. Four dining venues on offer include the Sunset Grill, a rooftop grill restaurant; Yue, a Chinese restaurant offering Cantonese and southern Chinese fare; Lobby Lounge for artisan coffee; and all-day diner Cafe Lantau.
The hotel also features a 24-hour fitness centre with a swimming pool deck, and the Kids Playroom with a wide range of activities to keep the young ones entertained. Designed to cater to MICE and wedding planners, the hotel boasts 3,400m2 of indoor and outdoor meeting spaces. For large-scale events, the pillar-free Grand Ballroom can accommodate 1,300 guests, and is divisible into three separate areas. For more intimate events, there are two outdoor terraces, including one with 270-degree ocean views, ideal for weddings; and four multi-function meeting rooms.
QT Auckland, Australia
Complementing QT Queenstown and QT Wellington, the 150-key QT Auckland is the third QT property in New Zealand and has been designed with the natural, wild beauty of the city’s surrounding landscape in mind. With public spaces bursting with local artwork and private function space steps from the water, QT Auckland will also boast a signature dining concept in collaboration with celebrated international chef Sean Connolly and a rooftop bar that offers sweeping views of Viaduct Harbour. Located at 4 Viaduct Harbour Avenue, QT Auckland is being developed in partnership with Russell Property Group and Lockwood Property Group.
Gordon Ramsay Bar & Grill to open first Asia outpost in Malaysia
Gordon Ramsey will be bringing his Bar & Grill concept to Sunway Resort, the flagship of Sunway City Kuala Lumpur, in what will mark his Malaysian debut and the brand’s first outpost outside of London.
Set to open in June 2021, Gordon Ramsay Bar & Grill forms part of Sunway Resort’s ongoing revamp. Upon the resort’s reopening in April, guests can expect new family facilities, specialist rooms and suites, and exclusive lounges empowered by technology, such as smartphone key entry, motion sensors, live online fitness coaching, and chromotherapy showers.
Boasting floor-to-ceiling windows overlooking Sunway Lagoon, Gordon Ramsay Bar & Grill will be available for all-day dining, with private dining options. Diners can select from a menu which includes prime cuts of the finest meat, locally sourced and dry-aged in-house, as well as the very best elements from Gordon Ramsay’s signature dishes.
Guests staying in Sunway Resort’s specialist suites will have daily breakfast at Gordon Ramsay Bar & Grill included in their rate. Private rooms, booths and family areas will also feature in the restaurant.
Ramsay, a world-renowned chef and restaurateur, boasts a collection of acclaimed restaurants in the UK, Europe, the US and beyond, and holds seven Michelin stars. He is also the star of popular shows such as Kitchen Nightmares, Hell’s Kitchen, and MasterChef US.
IHG’s Holiday Inn bound for Riyadh
With sights firmly set on growing its presence in Saudi Arabia, IHG Hotels & Resorts has signed a management agreement with Lina Snacks Foods Company to open Holiday Inn Riyadh The Business District.
Expected to open in January 2022, the 138-room property will form part of the mixed-use development, The Business District, which will also comprise 20 offices, a coffee shop, mosque and a nursery. The hotel will be located close to King Khalid International Airport and the Riyadh Front, the new leisure destination of Riyadh developed in line with Vision 2030.
Holiday Inn Riyadh The Business District will feature two F&B outlets, an outdoor pool, a gym, business centre, and six meeting rooms spanning 1,216m² with the largest room boasting a capacity of 310 guests.
IHG currently operates 95 hotels across seven brands in the Middle East, with a further 42 in the pipeline due to open within the next five years.
Jeju Air, Travelport extend content deal
Travelport has signed a multi-year renewal of its content agreement with Jeju Air, Korea’s largest LCC, which will give more than 68,000 agencies continued real-time access to search, sell, and book the airline’s content and inventory.
Under the agreement, Jeju Air will also continue to use Travelport’s Rich Content and Branding merchandising tool, which gives travel agents a graphically rich experience when searching for and booking its branded fares, as well as greater access to its ancillary offers.
Myungsub Yoo, managing director, Jeju Air, said: “Looking to the future, it will be more important than ever to showcase the full range of our products to agencies across the breadth of our route network, as travel recovers.”
A 25hours hotel is coming Sydney’s way
Accor is set to debut its 25hours brand in Sydney, with development work to be undertaken by CEBH, a joint venture between Sydney-based developer Central Element and property investor Boston Global.
Set to open by end-2022, 25hours Hotel Sydney will be located in the heritage building of 1-11 Oxford Street, Paddington. The building first opened in 1911 as the West’s Olympia Theatre and sits on one of Sydney’s best known and busiest intersections.
25hours Hotel Sydney will be situated in Oxford Street Village Centre, in an area close to retailers, restaurants and parklands.
With design to be helmed by Australian architecture firm Tonkin Zulaikha Greer, the 25hours Hotel will cover some 5,550m² and comprise 105 guestrooms, a central courtyard to host live events, rooftop bar, a restaurant and café, fitness centre and conference facilities.
25hours Sydney is the second 25hours Hotel to be announced in Australia, after plans for 25hours Melbourne were revealed last year.
Crowne Plaza expands Vietnam presence
InterContinental Hotels Group has signed a management agreement with Minh Dong Travel Service and Trading Company, a member of PGT Group, to open the second Crowne Plaza in Danang come 2023.
Located on Vo Nguyen Giap street, the 300-room, 38-storey Crowne Plaza Danang Waterfront will complement the existing low-rise Crowne Plaza Danang, situated further south along the beachfront and linked to the integrated resort.
This expansion of Crowne Plaza is part of the rejuvenation of the brand in Vietnam. The hotel will feature the brand’s signature Social Workspace lobby concept that allows guests to transition from work to play.
There will be 1,500m² of dedicated space catering to meetings and events, ranging from corporate functions to weddings for up to 400 people. Recreational facilities will include a rooftop infinity pool, three restaurants, a gym and spa.
In Vietnam, IHG has 14 hotels operating under four brands, with another 17 in a pipeline which includes brand entries for Regent and Hotel Indigo.
Mandatory vaccinations “discriminatory”, says WTTC chief
Setting Covid-19 vaccination mandates for travel is akin to workplace discrimination, claimed a high-level tourism official, who instead called for low-cost testing and better G20 and bilateral coordination.
Gloria Guevara, president and CEO, World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC), speaking at a Reuters Events webinar titled Tourism in a Changed World, said accepting testing-on-arrival was not happening, and it was clear testing protocols were not being shared among countries.
Agreeing, AirAsia Group CEO Tony Fernandes said global testing protocols remained key to unlocking travel and the issue is how to get governments on board, adding that a quick 30-second breathe test would be the game changer.
He quipped: “Treatments are coming up and testing is getting better. What is most important is that people want to get out and are not afraid. We are seeing ourselves promoting domestic destinations we have never heard of.”
In the case of India, panellist Rajesh Magow, co-founder and group CEO, MakeMyTrip, said “revenge travel” and end-to-end testing was picking up, and cited domestic travel bouncing back to 80 per cent of pre-Covid levels.
He also highlighted a strong demand for India-Maldives/India-Saudi Arabia bilaterals, with the number of Indian arrivals in the Maldives surpassing that of pre-Covid, facilitated by the travel bubble arrangement forged between the two countries.
Fernandes said leisure and shorthaul trips will bounce back the fastest, with travellers favouring destinations within four to eight hours of flight time, with five hours being the sweet spot.
While travel demand is present, Guevara questioned how long recovery and coordinating bilateral agreements would take. She expressed hopes for a V-shaped recovery, but admitted it was hard to say which country would recover first as the situation is still fluid.
In the meantime, amid the rollout of Covid-19 vaccines at varying pace across the globe, IATA’s Alexandre de Juniac has called on global governments to replace quarantines with testing.
He said: “A more balanced public policy approach is needed – one that is based on testing as a replacement for quarantines so that we can begin addressing the severe side-effects of Covid-19 policies.
“Science tells us that travellers will not be a significant factor in community transmission if testing is used effectively. But most governments have tunnel-vision on quarantine and are not at all focused on finding ways to safely reopen borders – or alleviate the self-imposed economic and mental health hardships of the lockdowns.”
Continued infections test Asian agents’ resilience
By Suchat Sritama and S Puvaneswary
New year, new hopes for post-pandemic travel recovery, but infection surges and continued travel restrictions have provided little relief for many travel agents across Asia. In this three-part series, we find out how the travel agent community in key Asian markets are coping.
THAILAND
A second wave of Covid-19 infections in Thailand has caused travel movement to plunge ahead of the New Year break, smashing hopes of a business uplift.
As Covid-19 infections doubled from about 5,000 cases for the whole of 2020 to more than 10,000 by mid-January 2021, approximately 60 per cent of 10,000 registered travel operators in the country had to hibernate their business while 20 per cent threw in the towel.
Vichit Prakobgosol, president, Association of Thai Travel Agents (ATTA), told TTG Asia that the remaining 20 per cent could continue to face calamity throughout 2021 and that the outbound sector would be the most vulnerable.
It is estimated that one third of workforce in Thailand’s travel agency community – or 150,000 people – have lost their jobs.
“There’s still no future and no hope for the first and the second quarter this year,” said Vichit.
Although most travel agencies have moved to domestic travel or non-travel-related business alongside cost-cutting measures such as retrenchment and releasing office space, efforts have not been enough to cover expenses.
InSpirit Holidays has reduced its headcount and asked remaining staff to work from home. However, managing director Den Mahawongsanunt said the company is not out of the woods. It is now crafting and selling premium packages to target high-spending Thai residents who are unable to travel overseas.
Glory Travel (Thailand) has chosen to trim expenses by relocating the office from a rented space to the home of owner Suthiphong Pheunphiphop.
While the government has various financial packages to aid hotels, restaurants, tourist guides and shop owners, travel agency owners have been left out of the programmes.
To save businesses and staff, Vichit has called for further government assistance, particularly for job creation. Easier access to financial assistance is also critical for small-and-medium-sized agencies. – Suchat Sritama
MALAYSIA
Malaysia’s tourism sector is estimated to have lost more than RM100 billion last year due to the Covid-19 pandemic and border closures since March 18, 2020.
Uzaidi Udanis, president, Malaysian Inbound Tourism Association (MITA), expects many tourism players to not “survive beyond the first quarter of this year, as their businesses are already haemorrhaging”.
Dayangti Transport & Tours director, S Jayakumar, told TTG Asia that his business has been “suffering ever since the government closed the border in March 2020”.
The agency is now dependent on domestic business, but it accounts for only 10 per cent of what it used to make from international customers.
“We have had no choice but to downsize, with more than half the workforce retrenched. With business being so bad, we are also considering selling some of our tour buses and vans,” said Jayakumar.
On the upside, Jayakumar has turned his passion for biking into a business – he now conducts biking tours around Malaysia. To keep staff motivated, he has kept pay cuts at bay and allowed for more flexibility within the organisation due to reduced workloads.
“As long as their work is done, we allow them to come into the office when they please, and take leave whenever they want,” he said.
Business has also been bad for Asian Overland Services Tours & Travel, one of the most prominent travel agencies in Malaysia. Managing directorYap Sook Ling said: “But we are trying our best. We keep staff motivated by encouraging them to go for training and to pick up new skills. We also keep them busy in the office by giving them a variety of assignments.”
Malaysia’s tourism industry is supported by government-issued wage and electricity subsidies, as well as targeted loan moratoriums.
The Ministry of Tourism, Arts and Culture (MOTAC) has also rolled out initiatives such as exemption of licence fees for tour operators and guides, discounts and deferment of compounds for all tour operators and guides, and an online platform, www.malaysia.travel, for industry players to promote their products and services for free, plus other incentives to help tourism players survive.
MITA’s Uzaidi said: “The government has acknowledged the importance of the travel industry and has introduced numerous incentives and programmes to assist the industry. However, we cannot simply depend on the government to see us through this. We have encouraged our members to be resourceful and to leverage on networking opportunities with their peers.
“On our part, we have conducted various programmes to help members through these challenging times. For example, MITA worked closely with Tourism Productivity Nexus to provide online one-to-one consultation services to provide personalised advice and implementable recommendations in the areas of finance, business operations and industry structure to small and medium sized tourism related enterprises.
“We also helped members to explore new business opportunities and new business models as this new norm will bring about a shift in tourism practices.”
One of the changes in tourism, according to Uzaidi, is group tours falling out of favour, which will require tour bus operators and retailers to adapt to the new reality.
He also urged members to innovate their products to cater to the domestic market while readying for the reopening of international borders.
“We have to learn to live with Covid-19 and look at best practices on how to open up safely, such as what Dubai has done,” said Uzaidi.
Besides the support schemes, it is vital for the government to continue talks with foreign counterparts to allow cross-border travel in a safe manner should the country desire a real recovery. – S Puvaneswary
Further East 2021 gains Japan backing
The organisers of Further East 2021 and the Japanese National Tourism Board (JNTO) have come together to bring unique digital and physical content to the high-end travel trade event when it takes place from November 15 to 18 this year.
Said to be the first NTO collaboration for the annual Further East event, the partnership will kick off with a cross-platform digital trade campaign throughout 1Q2021, including four newsletters to the invaluable Further East database, each showcasing a unique experience of Japan’s world-renowned hospitality offering; a week-long JNTO takeover of all Further East social channels; and targeted content in official publications, TTG Asia and TTG Asia Luxury.
In an interview with TTG Asia, Ito Kazuhiro, executive director, global projects department at JNTO, said the collaboration materialised on JNTO’s desire to “expand our relationships and partnerships with international organisations that can assist in the future market development of luxury travel and new markets”. He viewed this approach as critical, given that the Covid-19 pandemic had stifled promotional opportunities.
He said: “For Japan to continue to be a future luxury travel destination, our key objective is to further expand recognition of Japan’s allure to the Further East community and their clients, specifically in relation to its natural wonders, gastronomic experiences, traditional culture, lifestyle customs and history.
“Particularly in regional parts of Japan, there’s a myriad of hidden gems. Through Further East’s marketing channels, such as their newsletter and social media, we hope to increase brand awareness of Japan as a true luxury destination.”
The mutually beneficial effort will see Further East supporting JNTO’s marketing goals through carefully curated experiences and installations at the physical event come November in Bali, Indonesia.
Sophia Asghar, sales manager of Further East, said: “Japan continues to be one of the most requested regions from our cohort of Further East buyers.”
While details of the physical installations are not available at press time, Asghar confirms that Further East “is excited to work with JNTO to increase the presence of Japanese products at the 2021 show”.
When asked for his views on luxury travel recovery potential for Japan, Kazuhiro acknowledged that it was a “difficult question” to answer. However, he noted that “counter measures against the spread of the virus, such as the availability of treatments and vaccinations were the top-ranking triggers that would encourage international travel”, as determined by JNTO research on post-pandemic trends and changing traveller needs.
He added: “Given that vaccinations have begun in an ever-increasing number of countries, this is encouraging. We believe what is most important is to act with the tools we have available at present and to prepare for the international luxury travel market to recover.”
To this end, JNTO remains keen on participating in other international luxury travel trade shows while marketing undiscovered destination content.
“In addition, discussions facilitated by Japan’s Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism on the development and facilitation of world-class accommodation facilities by public and private sectors are ongoing, and we believe this will improve our preparedness to welcome international luxury travellers to Japan in the near future,” Kazuhiro concluded.
A plan to allow foreign tourists arriving in Thailand to serve their quarantine in one of the country’s golf resorts is currently in the works, as the government seeks to boost the coronavirus-battered tourism industry.
According to a Bangkok Post report, Thailand’s tourism minister Phiphat Ratchakitprakarn recently told reporters that discussions are underway with the Public Health Ministry and the country’s coronavirus taskforce to “offer hotel and golf quarantine for tourists with medical certificates”.
If the plan is green-lit, foreign tourists would be able to spend their 14-day quarantine at a designated resort, roaming freely and playing golf on the premises, rather than just isolating in their rooms.
The plan comes as Thailand finds itself in the throes of a second wave of Covid-19 infections, after relative success in controlling the virus spread for months. As of January 12, Thailand has reported 10,834 Covid-19 infections, with a death toll of 67.