Hotel industry and travel news from around the Asia Pacific region; Thailand tourism numbers seem to dive, but the Chinese still come, outlook for Macau grim, Trump trumps Asia and more...

Interest in travel to Chiang Mai remains high for Chinese traveler

According to the Association of Thai Travel Agents, the number of foreign visitors to Thailand had plunged by 5% after the bomb attacks in the city centre of Bangkok. Despite this, the number of Chinese visitors to Chiang Mai has only increased since the tragedy struck last week.  Several tour operators and guides in Bangkok claim that Chinese travellers still visited tourist attractions as planned and that no tour groups had cancelled. As China’s National Day celebrations are approaching during the first week of October, hotel room reservations in Chiang Mai already indicate a 70-80% average occupancy, and this is expected to reach over 90%.  During the same period last year, Chiang Mai hotels achieved between 40 to 50% occupancy. Owing to a rise in the number of Chinese tourists, coupled with an increase in direct flights to the city and tightened security measures, Chiang Mai’s tourism market will expand by 10-15% this year, forecasts theChiang Mai Tourism Business Association.

Outlook Remains Grim for Macau

The outlook for Macau’s hotel and gaming sector remains grim as the decline in gaming revenues persisted for the 14th consecutive month in July, falling 34.5% year-on-year to reach US$2.3billion, and 36.7% cumulatively for the first seven months of the year. In the same month, the tourism industry suffered a 3.8% year-on-year decline in visitor arrivals while the hotel sector saw a 7.7% and 9.5% decline in five and four-star hotel occupancies respectively, in the second quarter. With the Chinese visitor market representing 66% of total arrivals, Macau’s road to recovery from its persistently dismal performance, since the Chinese government’s anti-corruption crackdown last year, may be further hindered by the recent collapse of the Chinese stock market and devaluation of the Renminbi over the past month. Chinese governors have urged Macau to diversify its economy and tourism product, albeit to little effect thus far.

Trump Hotel Collection Announces New Development in Bali

Trump Hotel Collection has recently announced the signing of a deal to manage a new luxury resort and branded residence in the south-western coast of Bali. Construction for the property, which is to be owned and developed by Indonesian investment firm MNC Group, is expected to begin in 2016. With 11 existing hotels and 2 estates in locations across the USA, Brazil, Canada, Scotland and Ireland, the new resort in Bali will be the Trump Hotel Collection’s first foray into the Asian market. As one of Indonesia’s most appealing tourist destinations, Bali saw international arrivals at Ngurah Rai Airport surge from approximately 1.53 million visitors in 2004 to 3.39 million visitors in 2014, a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 8.3%, making the destination one of Indonesia’s fastest growing tourism markets. This immense demand for Bali, which has remained encouraging over the years, has drawn the interest of global and local hotels brands alike, manifesting in a hotel development pipeline of more than 14,500 rooms market wide, between 2015 and 2019.

Jin Jiang Hotels to restructure assets; potential joint investment with Plateno Group

Shanghai-based Jin Jiang Hotels Group has announced that it is making cash-based acquisitions of compatible hotel assets from third parties in a major restructuring. The scope and valuation of the assets involved have still not been confirmed, and all transactions are in the negotiation stage. In July, there were talks of Jin Jiang making a strategic investment in Plateno Group for a multi-level link up of loyalty membership schemes, information systems and procurement, with both parties retaining their independent operations and brands. This prospective merger bears the potential to transform China’s hotel industry landscape as the new group will become the biggest in the country, with a total of 476,000 rooms (Plateno and Jian Jiang currently have 298,000 rooms and 178,000 rooms respectively).

www.hvs.com