Accor takeover of Mantra on track; exterior of Mantra MacArthur Hotel in Canberra pictured
The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) has given the nod for AccorHotels’ A$1.2 billion acquisition of Mantra Group, after finding that two companies have little overlaps to give rise to anti-competition concerns.
ACCC chairman Rod Sims said: “The combined Accor-Mantra will still compete with other international and national hotel chains, as well as many independent hotels and accommodation providers.
Accor takeover of Mantra on track; exterior of Mantra MacArthur Hotel in Canberra pictured
“The combined Accor-Mantra will have a large number of properties in some areas, particularly in certain holiday destinations in Queensland. However, in each case and after a detailed review the ACCC has found that there are also sufficient other options nearby for visitors which will provide competition to Accor-Mantra,” Sims added.
Accor’s business is mainly focused on hotel-style accommodation and its brands include Sofitel, Novotel, Mercure and ibis. Mantra’s focus is on serviced apartments, which it offers through its Peppers, Art Series, Mantra and Breakfree brands.
The acquisition still requires approval from Mantra shareholders, as well as approvals from the Federal Court and the Foreign Investment Review Board.
Mövenpick Hotels & Resorts announced that it would rebrand and manage a luxury villa and suite resort in Hua Hin last year; the soon-to-reopen Mövenpick Asara Resort & Spa Hua Hin pictured
Mövenpick Hotels & Resorts moves forward with its expansion plans to open 11 new properties in nine countries by the end of 2018.
Out of the nine countries, the global hospitality firm will make its debut in five – Bangladesh, Iraq, Kenya, Malaysia and the Maldives. The remaining properties will be located in the UAE, Egypt, Tunisia and Thailand.
Mövenpick Hotels & Resorts announced that it would rebrand and manage a luxury villa and suite resort in Hua Hin last year; the soon-to-reopen Mövenpick Asara Resort & Spa Hua Hin pictured
In Asia-Pacific, Mövenpick’s upcoming hotels this year include Mövenpick Asara Resort & Spa Hua Hin – the brand’s seventh property in Thailand; the 105-unit Mӧvenpick Resort & Spa Kuredhivaru in the Maldives, Mövenpick Hotel & Convention Centre KLIA in Malaysia, and Mövenpick Hotel Sylhet in Bangladesh. The company will also bolster its cluster strategy in Thailand with the opening of Mövenpick Resort Khao Yai.
“In 2018, our global expansion drive really steps up a gear, with the 11 new openings planned, putting us firmly on track to meet our target of 125 properties by 2020 and introducing the Mövenpick brand in some very desirable locations,” confirmed Olivier Chavy, president & CEO, Mövenpick Hotels & Resorts.
Rooms The Westin Dubai Al Habtoor City stands 10 mins away from Dubai Mall, and 20 minutes from Dubai International Airport. The hotel opened in August 2016 with 1,004 rooms.
Deluxe Twin with Burj Khalifa View
My room was a deluxe twin room on Level 11 and came complete with Westin’s signature Heavenly Bed. I also had views of the iconic Burj Al Arab hotel in the distance and closer views of the busy Sheikh Zayid Road. Despite being so close to the action, I loved that I could not hear the sounds of traffic.
The room lighting was strong and there was a large study table, making it very conducive to work at night. There is also complimentary Wi-Fi throughout the hotel.
MICE facilities There are 16 function venues throughout the property, making the hotel an ideal venue for medium-scale meetings.
The 1,425m2 pillarless Al Joud Ballroom on the ground level has a separate entrance and a pre-function hall, and can cater to events for up to 850 guests in a banquet setup. The space is also divisible into three smaller ballrooms.
Al Joud Ballroom
Other meeting venues include 10 meeting rooms on level 2 which offer beautiful views of the Dubai Canal, as well as the four meeting rooms on level 1.
In addition, there is an outdoor space on level 7 which can be used to host evening cocktails and dinner events for around 300 guests. There are three swimming pools within the space, which can be used to enhance the event.
Within walking distance of the hotel are two other five star properties, the W Dubai Al Habtoor City and The St Regis Dubai Al Habtoor City. I love the fact that meeting planners can also integrate meeting and dining options at the other properties into their programme.
I would like to recommend that La Perle, Dubai’s very first live resident show, be added into your meeting programme as well. Created by Franco Dragone, it features 65 artistes performing a host of mind-boggling stunts. There are two night performances, starting at 19.00 and 21.30 at W Dubai Al Habtoor City.
Other facilities The 4,000m2 Heavenly Spa by Westin features 20 treatment rooms including two couple treatment rooms and a stimulating Hammam. In addition, steam room, sauna, hot tubs and speciality showers ensure a variety of options for total relaxation.
As in all Westin properties, The Westin Workout Fitness Studio is a fully equipped gym.
There is also a choice of six F&B venues. The all-day dining restaurant, Seasonal Tastes, has fantastic views of Dubai Creek and offers a variety of cuisines from Asian to Western to Arabic. I enjoyed the Indian selection and included idly (savoury rice cake) and thosai (Indian pancake) in my breakfast selection each morning.
Service could be further improved, especially during breakfast time at Seasonal Tastes. It seemed understaffed while I was there, as tables were not cleared fast enough for guests that were constantly arriving for breakfast. There was also no one to show me to my table.
Aditya Shamsher Malla has been appointed general manager of DoubleTree by Hilton Pune – Chinchwad.
In his new role, Aditya will focus his efforts to deliver year-on-year growth, be responsible for staff engagement activities and spearhead corporate social activities.
An industry veteran with more than two decades in the business, Aditya has been a part of global brands such as Marriott International, Hyatt Hotels, Oberoi Hotels and Resorts, Starwood Hotels and Resorts, Shangri-La International, and Taj Hotels Resorts and Palaces.
Marriott International has appointed Brad Mercer as complex general manager of The Westin Brisbane and Four Points by Sheraton Brisbane.
In his new role, Mercer will oversee the opening of the 298-room Westin Brisbane (November 5, 2018), and take helm of all aspects of both hotels’ operation and performance.
Mercer will report to Sean Hunt, Marriott International’s area vice president, Australia, New Zealand and the Pacific.
Mercer steps into the role with 22 years of industry experience. He joined Marriott International in 2007 as executive assistant manager of The Westin Denarau, Fiji, before transferring to the Sheraton on the Park, Sydney in 2010 as hotel manager. In 2013, Mercer was appointed opening general Manager of Four Points by Sheraton Brisbane.
What would you say is your most critical responsibility in this position?
That will be ensuring that we create highly participative, digital and data-driven meetings and events experiences for our clients in China.
Sam Li
With better Internet connectivity and more people using (smart devices and apps), there has been a noticeable shift from people just attending an event to active participation. The technology available today allows us to create an attendee experience that is far superior to what was possible even five or seven years ago.
Name three things you hope to achieve for clients this year.
First, I want to grow our Strategic Meetings Management (SMM) business in China. While the concept of SMM is still relatively new here, the interest we’re seeing in these programmes from Chinese companies is very encouraging. We are now seeing a greater union between events and SMM, enabled by data.
Second, I want to increase awareness and uptake of our integrated solutions for small meetings among local and multinational companies in China. Often, companies have little or zero visibility over the number of small meetings they host and over the expenditure associated with these meetings.
Third, I want to focus on further building our capabilities in creative events and incentive travel.
Which tradeshow will you be attending soon?
In March, I will be attending Corporate Travel World China in Shanghai, co-organised by CWT China and TTG Events. I’ve attended this conference over the past few years. It’s a great event to learn more about the latest trends and developments in China’s meetings and events and business travel industry, and also to network with industry colleagues.
Rooms
Before the InterContinental opened its doors in June 2013, Osaka suffered from a dearth of luxury hotels. New developments are slowly righting that wrong, but the InterContinental Osaka has emerged as a favourite for being conveniently close to Osaka Station as well as retail, dining, entertainment, meeting and conference facilities.
The hotel has a total of 270 guestrooms, ranging from 49m2 up to 166m2 three-bedroom residential suites, complete with kitchen facilities.
Notably, the larger guestrooms in the hotel have been designed to incorporate areas that can be used for small meetings. One of the residential suites is in demand with local companies every summer because of its expansive outdoor deck overlooking the Yodo River – which hosts the city’s largest fireworks festival.
MICE facilities
The hotel has its own selection of banquet and meeting rooms, but also works closely with other facilities in the adjoining Grand Front Osaka “Knowledge Capital” for larger events.
The hotel’s large ballroom, Hinoki, covers 400m2 and can accommodate 200 people for a banquet and 250 for cocktails, although that expands significantly when the spacious lobby area is incorporated. The area can also be partitioned into smaller spaces.
The Sakura room is 193m2 and comfortably seats 90 for a banquet and 100 for a cocktail reception, while the Amber meeting space is suitable for board meetings.
The Capital Congres Convention Center in the same block offers a range of meeting and conference facilities, with the largest space available covering 1,700m2.
Other facilities
The Noka Roast & Grill provides all-day dining options, while the hotel’s signature restaurant, Pierre, boasts a Michelin star and an impressive selection of over 400 wines.
The neighbouring Adee offers fantastic evening views across the city and makes for a great space for after-work drinks.
The hotel also features fitness equipment, a 20m indoor pool, a Japanese-style bath and a spa.
Amid a polarisation of views on the practical value of cryptocurrency, TravelKoin is positive it can alleviate persistent travel industry pain points – think many thousands of dollars in unneeded costs annually – according to Fabian Bartnick, TravelKoin’s head of strategic partnerships.
TravelKoin, which offers payment and loyalty applications for the travel industry, will launch an initial coin offering next month.
TravelKoin allows travel suppliers to transact with one another without bank charges
A familiar problem for travel companies is the substantial amount of bank fees that come with international transactions.
Bartnik, who is also with revenue management firm Lodgiq, shared that a US$500 service can come with US$20 in bank fees, resulting in US$520 being paid by the hotel and US$480 received by the technology vendor, and that’s not taking into account currency exchange.
For DMCs, which deal with many layers of payment, the siphoning effect is even more severe, explained Sandor Levai, CEO of ICS Travel Group, which last month became an early integration partner of TravelKoin.
Frictional costs also come into play. “(Some banks charge) a flat fee of US$80-100 per transaction, so we have to wait until we (get bulk) so it makes more sense to pay the bank fee than to fly (to another country) to deliver payment,” Levai said.
Levai added that transactions can take up to five days to process, while TravelKoin offers a near instant solution. For him, quicker turnaround could well mean greater business volumes.
And when it comes to certain countries, “sometimes payment doesn’t arrive, or gets blocked”. Take for example Myanmar, “a politically incorrect country… for a lot of banks”, but in the travel industry represents a big emerging destination, Levai pointed out.
Bartnick said TravelKoin solves such problems by removing the bank intermediary from the equation and having the same currency on both sides, with users charged only a small fee for currency to be mined.
For many travel service providers however, a new currency isn’t a total alternative until the many parts of the supply chain – down to the smaller tours and activities provider – get on board.
But Bartnick said TravelKoin could be an easier sell than one would expect. Regardless of the industry’s track record of technology inertia, savings and convenience are ideas that resonate.
“Every start-up has to get over a hump, but it’s only as big as its limitations of value creation,” he said. If transacting in the new currency requires a simple click of a button, and results in thousands in savings, “then the value creation is already bigger than the hump”.
Even for providers of tours and activities, who may lack organisational resources, the same applies. “They (may not understand the technology) but they understand savings, convenience and reach. The heavy lifting is already done by the DMCs and all (the activity supplier) has to do is sign up,” he reasoned.
If a future where cryptocurrency payment is the norm is still a remote idea, Levai points to history. “We used to (barter trade). Someone came along and said why don’t I give you a coin in exchange. Suddenly people started having these coins, then credit cards which people also initially didn’t trust. But at some point everyone is using them – because it was the logical next step,” he said.
The Penang Convention & Exhibition Bureau is intensifying its efforts to go after the Indian meetings and incentives market starting this year, as it is among the Malaysian city’s top five markets for business events.
This comes off the back of the Malaysian government’s initiative to introduce the free e-visa facility in 2017.
Ashwin: India is a huge market and holds potential for PCEB
PCEB’s CEO, Ashwin Gunasekeran, said its inaugural roadshow in January to four Indian cities – Kolkata, Delhi, Mumbai and Bengaluru – with 18 Malaysian partners including hoteliers, PCOs and event management companies was “very fruitful and positive”.
He added: “It was an eye-opener for many Indian agents we met as they did not know Penang had so many interesting and diverse products to offer for incentives and post tours. We have heritage attractions, hills, shopping, food and beaches. They were amazed. We will soon be organising a media and agent fam trip for Indian agents from those cities.”
“In 2018, we plan to do a repeat of the Indian roadshow. We will invite new partners, as well as extend our reach to new cities in India. India is a huge market and we are just scratching the surface,” he revealed.
Next month, Subterranean Penang International Convention and Exhibition Centre will be the venue for the V-Conference. It will bring in approximately 20,000 participants, a majority of whom are from India.
Acomodeo bconnects long-stay accommodation with the global travel market
Acomodeo, a marketplace for serviced apartments, has received a mid-seven-digit investment volume for global expansion.
As a first step, three international offices will be opened to expand business in India, South-east Asia and the US. The new offices in Mumbai, Singapore and on the American west coast will initially start with procurement. In a second step, the internationalisation of sales and the expansion of global market leadership will be initiated.
Acomodeo connects long-stay accommodation with the global travel market
Currently, about 170,000 professionally managed serviced apartments in more than 100 countries can be booked online via the marketplace. Acomodeo’s software ecosystem now covers five solutions along the value chain between apartment operators and corporate customers.
The goal is to aggregate 50 per cent of global supply by the end of 2018, and 90 per cent by 2020.
To achieve this goal, Acomodeo developed the “Acomodeo AMS” (Apartment Management System), an administration software for apartment operators. With the AMS, serviced apartments cannot just be offered online for short stay, but for several months or even years. The system replaces the traditional manual booking processes which is still predominant in the market of long-stay accommodation.
“By digitising supply and bundling demand, we were able to reduce our customers’ overnight accommodation costs in the long-term segment by up to 35 per cent in 2017,” explained Eric-Jan Krausch, CEO and co-founder of Acomodeo.
In 2016, Acomodeo had already received 2.5 million euros (US$3.1 million) in financing for developing of the first marketplace for serviced apartments.
The newly-opened Ritz-Carlton, Bangkok anchors the One Bangkok development with cosmopolitan elegance. Featuring the city's largest ballroom and a spectacular new penthouse suite, it delivers exceptional hardware and deeply authentic, soulful service for business and leisure travellers alike
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