Hotel industry and travel news from around the Asia Pacific region; Asian tourists lead Thailand’s recovery, Hilton signs sixty property in Kanto - Japan, Oberoi Hotels appoints new MD and more...

Hotel Nikko Tokyo to be rebranded to Hilton Tokyo Odaiba

Hilton Worldwide announced the signing of a management agreement with Tokyo Humania Enterprise Inc. to re-brand Hotel Nikko Tokyo and manage the hotel as Hilton Tokyo Odaiba. On October 1, 2015, the property will be converted and unveiled as a new Hilton hotel, joining Hilton Worldwide’s existing portfolio of 11 hotels in Japan, including operating hotels and those in the pipeline, and expanding the global hospitality brand’s footprint in the country. The 15-storey Hilton Tokyo Odaiba will offer 453 guest rooms and suites, each with a private balcony that offers beautiful panoramic views of Tokyo Bay and the famous Rainbow Bridge. The hotel offers 10 food & beverage outlets including an all-day dining restaurant, a bar and eight specialty restaurants. Hilton Tokyo Odaiba has meetings and events facilities including a ballroom spanning 1,200 square meters, a business center as well as two wedding chapels. The hotel also features a fitness club, a spa and an indoor pool. Hilton Tokyo Odaiba will become Hilton Worldwide’s sixth property in the Kanto area when it opens in October 2015

Vikram Oberoi to take over as Managing Director of East India Hotels (Oberoi Hotels)

East India Hotels (EIH) which operates the Oberoi and Trident brands, announced the appointment of Vikram Oberoi, son of Chairman PRS Oberoi, as its next Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer from April 1, 2015. In his new role, Vikram Oberoi will be responsible for day-to-day management of the company.  Additionally, Vikram’s cousin Arjun Oberoi will become Managing Director â€" Development at EIH Limited. Currently, both Vikram and Arjun are Joint Managing Directors. The present CEO SS Mukherji, will step down due to personal reasons and will assume the role of Executive Vice Chairman under this changed structure.   PRS Oberoi will continue in his position as Executive Chairman and there will be no change to his designation or terms of appointment.

Uga Escapes opens the Residence in Colombo, Sri Lanka

Uga Escapes, a boutique Sri Lankan hotel group, has opened its fourth property, Residence, an all-suite hotel in Colombo. Situated in Colombo 02, Residence by Uga Escapes is the erstwhile family home of Sheikh Salehboy Moosajee and was designed to host his guests and entertain them. The property, which has been completely revamped with an investment of LKR200 million, remains reminiscent of the Ceylon era, featuring 11 suites, a restaurant, a private dining room, a bar, a gymnasium, a swimming pool, and a garden. In addition to the newly opened Colombo hotel, Uga Escapes, a fully owned subsidiary of the Finco Group, owns boutique hotels in Anuradhapura, Trincomalee and Passekudah. They also plan to open a hotel in Yala this year, in an effort to offer a complete Sri Lankan itinerary while staying exclusively at Uga properties.

Sheraton to rebrand existing resort in Samui

Starwood Hotels & Resorts expands its presence in Thailand with the opening of Sheraton Samui Resort. The agreement with TCC Hotels Group, one of Thailand’s most well-known conglomerates, marks the conversion of the existing 141-room Imperial Samui Beach Resort to Sheraton. On completion of the rebranding, the resort will feature Sheraton’s popular amenities and services including the signature ‘Sheraton Sweet Sleeper Bed’, as well as the Sheraton’s signature ‘Shine Spa’. In addition, the resort will include a well-equipped gym, a Kid’s Club, Sky Light Lounge, Tara Restaurant and Feast, an all-day dining restaurant. Located on Chaweng Noi Beach, Sheraton Samui Resort marks the seventh property managed by Starwood under the ownership of TCC Hotels Group.

Asian tourists lead Thailand’s recovery in January 2015

Thailand’s tourism industry is showing promising signs of recovery in the first month of 2015, following a disappointing year where international visitor arrivals experienced a 6.66% decline from 2013 to 2014. Signs of recovery began emerging in the last quarter of 2014, where growth in year-on-year visitor arrivals peaked in December 2014 at 11.76%. In January 2015 alone,international arrivals have surged 16.3% since January 2014 to reach 2.7 million. This was largely attributed to a 43.25% growth in East Asian arrivals, which account for the biggest market share at 58.23%. Despite several European source markets such as Germany, France and Italy recording encouraging growth, arrivals from the European region fell 14.23% overall as a result of the continuous decline in Russian arrivals. As plunging oil prices, economic sanctions and a low rouble continue to plague the Russian economy, the traditionally important source market of Russia has declined 46%, falling behind Japan. The top 5 source markets in January 2015 includeChina, Malaysia, Japan, Russia and Korea.  

HICSA 2015: Complimentary Pre-Conference Seminar on Hotel Valuation

A special feature at HICSA this year will be a Pre-Conference Seminar on Hotel Valuation that will take place on the morning of DAY 1 â€" 7th April 2015. This 90-minute interactive seminar will provide participants an opportunity to learn about lodging valuation and market dynamics from two of the world's foremost experts in hotel valuation - Prof Jan A. DeRoos, HVS Professor of Hotel Finance & Real Estate, Cornell University School of Hotel Administration and Steve Rushmore, Founder, HVS. The seminar will focus on how real estate investors, lenders and appraisers/chartered surveyors develop hotel market studies & valuations, and the multitude of factors, especially supply-demand dynamics and capital markets, which influence hotel valuation. The seminar will explore both theory and practice of hotel valuation, to create an understanding of global hotel asset markets. The forum will also draw special emphasis on how hotel valuations are approached in the South Asian lodging market, with two regional experts - Achin Khanna, MD Consulting & Valuation, HVS South Asia and Kaushik Vardharajan, Partner Managing Director, HVS Asia Pacific, sharing their thoughts and inputs.

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