Come this summer, Oakwood Worldwide will open its first property in Japan outside of Tokyo, the Oakwood Hotel & Apartments Shin-Osaka.
Oakwood Hotel & Apartments Shin-Osaka offers 185 rooms and serviced apartments comprising 59 hotel rooms and 126 serviced apartments. The hotel rooms are furnished with a bed and a desk while the apartments come fully furnished with a kitchen.
The property also offers a guest concierge and front desk services, regular housekeeping, as well as high-speed Internet and a gym.
It is within walking distance to Shin-Osaka Station.
Oakwood currently operates eleven properties in Japan, with two other properties aside from Oakwood Hotel & Apartments Shin-Osaka opening this summer – the Oakwood Residence Shinagawa, Tokyo and Oakwood Apartments Nishi-Shinjuku, Tokyo.
Hilton opens outpost in Cabo Verde
Hilton has opened a new resort on the island of Sal in Cabo Verde, a nation on a volcanic archipelago off the north-west coast of Africa.
Each of Hilton Cabo Verde Sal Resort’s 241 spacious guestrooms features a 50-inch LED television, Wi-Fi and a balcony or terrace. All rooms span at least 39m2, while suites offer at least 75m2 of space.
Amenities include four dining options, a 24-hour fitness centre, spa with eight treatment rooms, and a nautical centre for diving and sailing enthusiasts. For event planners, the resort offers 1,000m2 of flexible meeting and events space, including a 300m2 ballroom.
Hard Rock goes to Switzerland
Hard Rock Hotels has opened its first hotel in Continental Europe, the Hard Rock Hotel Davos in the Swiss Alps.
Located in the circa 1882 Alexander House, the hotel features 110 rooms, including 31 serviced one- to three-bedroom apartments, all of which feature Sleep Like a Rock bed linen.
Facilities onsite include two bars, the brand’s signature restaurant Sessions, spa with five treatment rooms, workout facility, and a yoga studio (opens August 2018). For meeting planners, there are three conference rooms.
World Congress for Psychotherapy returns to Vienna
The World Congress for Psychotherapy will be returning to Vienna – its inaugural host – for its 10th instalment. It will be held at the Sigmund Freud Private University from July 25-29, 2023.
About 4,000 scientists and researchers are expected to attend the event which will focus on the latest trends in psychotherapy at a series of 500 lectures, seminars and workshops. For the first time, the event will feature “Freudian walks”, during which participants will discuss the latest scientific breakthroughs.
Scott MacDonald has been appointed general manager of Courtyard by Marriott Sydney – North Ryde.
He will oversee all areas of the hotel’s day-to-day operations, sales and administration, as well as associate development and team management.
MacDonald steps into the new role with more than 20 years of experience in the hospitality industry. His career commenced with Marriott International in 1998 at Sheraton Grand Mirage Resort, Gold Coast, followed by various roles in several Sheraton properties in Sydney and Fiji.
Wharf Hotels has appointed Walter Ng as group director business development.
Reporting to the vice president, finance and business development, Ng will lead the business development team to explore new business opportunities, leasing, investments, acquisitions and hotel management agreements.
A seasoned hospitality executive, Ng has 15 years of development experience and has directed numerous international real estate and hotel-focused mixed-use opportunities. His expertise includes hotel pre-opening planning and operations; acquisition and disposition; capital improvement and renovation; and contract negotiation.
He has held various senior positions in Hong Kong, Tokyo, Singapore and New York, including roles with Marriott, The Hongkong and Shanghai Hotels, and Far East Organization.
Princess Cruises/Cunard Line's Farriek Tawfik has a positive outlook for the next five years
Prices of cruise packages have dropped to the floor, removing one of the biggest misconceptions among Asian business events planners that events onboard are expensive, asserts Princess Cruises/Cunard Line’s South-east Asia director Farriek Tawfik during a Princess/TTGmice event on January 24.
Farriek said that due to increased capacity, Asian passengers could now enjoy cruising for half the price in 1994, when he started selling cruises.
Farriek: Holding corporate events onboard or chartering cruise ships are not as costly anymore
The lead-in price for Alaska back in the 90s was around S$2,000 (US$1,531) per pax, excluding air, and today it’s S$1,000. Add to that the greater availability of air links and promotional rates in the market now, he pointed out.
As prices fall, cruising’s value-for-money proposition rises among Asian corporate event organisers and planners of business events. Princess recorded a whopping 40 per cent increase with this segment in 2016, and the same again last year, according to Farriek. It has just received a full charter booking for a seven-night incentive to Alaska for 3,000 pax, being organised from Asia although the company is international (name withheld), and the conference will be attended by worldwide participants.
Changing demographics is also helping turn the tide among planners to jump onboard.
“In those days, the demographics were usually wealthy retirees who would spend S$5,000 to S$10,000 by booking higher grades like balconies and mini suites, and take premium carriers and business-class seats. Today, the demographics have changed; we’re looking at younger sets that are economically and travel savvy in looking out for promotional rates and don’t mind the more affordable cabins like the ‘insides’ and ‘outside’ grades,” said Farriek.
“As cruise ships get bigger, lines have to work harder in filling them. Therefore, they usually throw up promotions, especially during the low season.”
That’s ideal for corporate clients, who do not need to meet and build teams during the high season, and for the ships, which desperately need to fill their cabins during off-peak.
Falling prices are also helping to bait planners to switch from domestic destinations to cruise ships. “In places such as Jakarta, for instance, we’re seeing that the big companies are realising that it often costs more to meet in a domestic location than to take a four-day all-inclusive package with us,” said Farriek.
Meanwhile, Farriek made a call to “develop cruising together” to the 100 corporate and business events planners who attended the event, saying this would have a positive effect on the broader Asian cruise market, and travel and tourism.
He referred to a large Indonesian incentive group that sailed with Princess as an example. Comprising grocery shop owners from the Surabaya countryside, the event opened “a whole new world for them” and many said they would come back to cruise on their own and with their families.
“If you don’t promote MICE onboard, you will lose out, as cruising really offers good value for money. So let’s develop the MICE cruise market together, and by doing so, you’ll also help the overall Asian cruise market to grow further,” he said.
TTG Asia Media’s managing director, Darren Ng, was among the line-up of international thought-leaders on travel and tourism featured at the Panorama Mega Conference in Jakarta last week.
He brought the audience through an overview of Asia-Pacific’s business and association events development, underlining this niche industry’s wider and deeper contribution to the host destination that goes beyond tourism benefits.
Ng speaking at the Panorama Mega Conference
He said: “In Asia, there is increasing awareness about the deeper impact of business events, i.e., the fact they do not just bring in delegates and generate receipts for the destination. Business events, particularly association meetings, are increasingly recognised as a facilitator of international trade, national intelligence advancement and a catalyst to social improvement.”
Mövenpick Suriwongse Hotel Chiang Mai’s Classic Room
Mövenpick Hotels & Resorts has unveiled grand expansion plans for Asia.
Having made its debut in the Thai city of Chiang Mai in November, the company is gearing up to add 1,200 rooms across its eight hotels throughout Asia in 2018, including in Hua Hin, the Maldives, Kuala Lumpur, Vietnam, Bangladesh and Khao Yai.
Mövenpick Suriwongse Hotel Chiang Mai’s Classic Room
Noting a shift in demand from the international market, the company is now breaking turf in secondary locations.
Said president of Asia, Mark Willis: “Historically, if you go back five to 10 years, international travellers went to typical Asian destinations, such as Bangkok, Singapore and Honk Kong. This has changed and people are exploring perhaps two sites, coming into a major city and then carrying on to a secondary resort.”
Vietnam is one example, where six resorts are slated to open by 2020, adding to its current Hanoi offering and covering a vast expanse of the coast – Phu Quoc, Cam Ranh, Quy Nhon, Quang Binh, Danang and Lang Co.
Bruno Huber, general manager and director of operations Vietnam, said: “We can see an increase in arrivals to Vietnam, infrastructure is growing, there are more airports. It is very positive.”
Melbourne’s Avalon Airport will become an international gateway when AirAsia moves its operations from Tullamarine Airport later this year.
AirAsia X Malaysia will operate twice-daily flights between Melbourne and Kuala Lumpur as the first international carrier at the airport. Half a million international passengers are projected to move through Avalon Airport in the first year of operations.
Avalon will soon become an international airport
AirAsia X Malaysia’s CEO Benyamin Ismail said in a statement: “Melbourne and Victoria are important markets to us and this new service with 560,000 seats annually will provide a significant boost to business and tourism.”
Justin Giddings, CEO of Avalon Airport, commented: “This is a 10-year agreement structured to accommodate AirAsia X’s significant growth. It is the first such deal in Australia, and provides a unique low-cost opportunity for people and businesses to access over 130 destinations throughout Asia.”
In operation as a commercial airport since 2004, Avalon is currently only serviced by Qantas’ low-cost arm Jetstar flying to Sydney, Adelaide, Hobart and the Gold Coast, according to a report by The Sydney Morning Herald.
The Victorian and federal governments are expected to help fund the necessary infrastructure and services at Avalon Airport, which is owned by the logistics giant Linfox, the same report added.
The SIA Group says its KrisFlyer programme will launch the world’s first blockchain-based digital wallet for frequent flyers.
Scheduled for rollout in about six months, the app will allow KrisFlyer members to use digital KrisFlyer miles for point-of-sale transactions at participating retail merchants.
New app will allow KrisFlyer members to use digital KrisFlyer miles for point-of-sale transactions
The digital wallet app will be enabled through blockchain technology, using an SIA-owned private blockchain involving only merchants and partners.
The group says it has seen success in its proof-of-concept exercise carried out in collaboration with KPMG Digital Village and Microsoft. It will go on to sign new retail merchant partners for KrisFlyer, initially in the Singapore market.
Hosted buyers attending AIME 2018 will get a taste of Melbourne’s history, at the Uncover Melbourne: Hosted Buyer and Media Cocktail Evening event, taking place at Old Melbourne Gaol.
Presented by Showtime Event Group on February 18, the event will also be the launch platform for Showtime Event Group (SEG), the new brand for the company which also encompasses the external catering arm of the business as well as SEG’s recent appointment by the National Trust Australia (Victoria) as the exclusive caterer of Old Melbourne Gaol and Old Magistrates Court.
Melbourne Convention Bureau’s CEO Karen Bolinger emphasises it is important to form strategic partnerships with event innovators such as Showtime Event Group
The Uncover Melbourne: Hosted Buyer and Media Cocktail Evening will be SEG’s first event as the venue’s exclusive caterer.
Showtime Event Group general manager, Brad Dabbs, shared that the business events sector has driven the growth of the business.
“We identified nearly seven years ago that the biggest growth opportunity for our business was in the business events sector, and we developed a 10-year strategy to leverage this insight.
“Showtime Event Group has aligned with several unique spaces in and around Melbourne, including art galleries, distilleries, exhibition spaces, warehouses and yacht clubs, to build a portfolio of venues to cater within, giving us the capability to cater from five to 5,000 people,” he said.
Behind the imposing, Brutalist concrete that defines Zurich’s Oerlikon district lies a surprising secret. While its exterior honours the neighbourhood’s industrial roots, stepping inside Mama Shelter reveals a vibrant, neon-soaked world that is a far cry from its rigid shell
A polished urban retreat designed for business travellers, Hyatt Regency Kuala Lumpur at KL Midtown combines thoughtful design, seamless service, and exceptional facilities.
MacDonald steps into the new role with more than 20 years of experience in the hospitality industry. His career commenced with Marriott International in 1998 at Sheraton Grand Mirage Resort, Gold Coast, followed by various roles in several Sheraton properties in Sydney and Fiji.
