Hotel industry and travel news from around the Asia Pacific region: New Four Seasons Hotel opens in Kyoto, Japan, new international airport for Seychelles, Sing Holdings acquires Travelodge Docklands and more...
Sing Holdings Acquires Travelodge Docklands
Property development group, Sing Holdings is acquiring its first hotel asset, Travelodge Docklands in Melbourne for A$107 million, marking the Singaporean group’s first foray into the Australian property market. The 290-key freehold property is located at Aurora Lane, in the immediate vicinity of Southern Cross Railway Station and within minutes’ walk to the Etihad Stadium, the Melbourne Convention & Exhibition Centre and Crown Casino. The limited service hotel is currently leased long-term to Medina Property Services, part of the TFE Hotels group, one of Australia’s largest hotel companies. On the completion of the acquisition, the existing lease agreement will continue to be in effect, and the hotel will also continue to operate under the Travelodge brand. The acquisition is conditional upon Sing Holdings obtaining a statement from the Treasurer of the Commonwealth of Australia by 31 January, 2017. Under thisconditional sale agreement with GL Investment Co Melbourne, Sing Holdings will put up an initial deposit of A$5.35 million, with the balance payable in cash upon the completion of the acquisition.
New Four Seasons Hotel Opens in Kyoto, Japan
Set on an 800-year-old Ikeniwa Pond and magnificent gardens dating back to the 12th century, the Four Seasons Hotel Kyoto opened its doors last week. The new luxury hotel, located in Kyoto’s temple district, features 123 rooms " including 110 standard rooms, 12 suites and a 2,600-square-foot presidential suite, and 57 residential condo units. The hotel’s food and beverage offerings include a brasserie, a lounge, a tea house and a high-end sushi restaurant that exclusively serves only 10 guests per seating. The property is developed by Berjaya Kyoto Development Kabushiki Kaisha, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Malaysian group Berjaya Land Berhad, which in turn is a subsidiary of Berjaya Corporation Berhad. This is Four Seasons’ second property in Japan, after the Four Seasons Hotel Tokyo at Marunouchi. The company also recently announced plans for a third hotel in the country, in Tokyo’s Otemachi business district.
Lemon Tree Hotels Opens New Properties in Goa and Madhya Pradesh
Lemon Tree Hotels announced the opening of two new hotels earlier this week " the Lemon Tree Hotel, Candolim in Goa and the Lemon Tree Wildlife Resort, Bandhavgarh in Madhya Pradesh. The Lemon Tree Hotel Candolim is the group’s second property in Goa. The hotel offers 34 rooms, with base category rooms measuring around 27 square meters. It also features an all-day dining restaurant, a terrace-top bar, a rooftop swimming pool and a conference room of approximately 800 square feet. The Lemon Tree Wildlife Resort, Bandhavgarh is located in close proximity to Tala Gate, the most tiger inhabited zone of the Bandhavgarh National Park, and marks the group’s entry into the wildlife resort segment. Spread over five acres, the hotel features 11 cottages measuring approximately 34 square meters, an all-day dining restaurant, a swimming pool and a 480-square-foot conference hall.
Tujia Acquires Homestay Businesses of Ctrip and Qunar
Tujia " a leading accommodation sharing platform, often dubbed the AirBNB of China " recently announced that it has entered into a strategic agreement with Ctrip and Qunar to acquire their homestay businesses. It represents another strategic move by Tujia after its purchase of the short-term rental platform Mayi.com, earlier this year in June. Through this acquisition, the homestay channels of both Ctrip and Qunar's websites and mobile apps, along with their operation teams and the entire business, will be merged into Tujia. Upon the completion of the deal, Tujia will receive a wide range of benefits from Ctrip and Qunar, including inventory, traffic, branding and operations support. The purpose of the deal is to ensure that all users, guests and hosts can gain sustainable benefits, as well as for Tujia to further strengthen its dominant position in China's accommodation sharing market.
New International Airport for Seychelles
Seychelles is expecting a new international airport in the next three to four years, as the island nation strives to keep pace with rising demand and growing expectations of the travel market. Following more than three years of discussion between the Seychelles' government and the Abu Dhabi Airports Company (ADAC), Seychelles Foreign Affairs and Transport Minister, Joel Morgan signed an agreement last week with Ali Majed Al Mansoori, Chairman of ADAC, whose expertise has been sought for the airport upgrade project. According to Joel Morgan, “Discussions on the approach, start date for development, all other details needed for such an elaborate and truly huge investment in the Seychelles, opening opportunities for local employment " during the development and after completion " is still about a year away or more before starting.” Visitor arrivals to Seychelles neared almost 280,000 tourists in 2015. The archipelago is increasingly gaining popularity as a holiday destination for tourists from the UAE as well as from around the world. The current airport is struggling to handle the surge in air traffic, which is mostly generated by tourism, and hence a new international airport will help the country remain competitive in the global travel market. The new airport will be located north of the existing airport, and will cost approximately US$150 million to build.
HICSA Returns to the Gateway of India " Mumbai on 5 and 6 April, 2017
HVS is pleased to announce the 13th edition of Hotel Investment Conference - South Asia (HICSA), scheduled to take place on 5 and 6 April, 2017. After a short stint at the nation’s capital, HICSA will move back to its home ground " Mumbai, with the conference being held once again at the Grand Hyatt Mumbai. Recognized as the one of the most premier industry events in the region, HICSA brings together more than 500 delegates each year from over 20 countries. Notable speakers at the 2017 conference include Amitabh Kant, CEO, NITI Aayog;Ashish Jakhanwala, CEO, SAMHI; Arun Saraf, MD, Juniper Hotels; Binod Chaudhary, Chairman, CG Corp Global; Chris Nassetta, President & CEO, Hilton Worldwide; David Scowsill, President & CEO, World Travel and Tourism Council; Jonathan Vanica, MD Asian Special Situations Group, Goldman Sachs; Kapil Chopra, President, The Oberoi Group; Kavin C Bloomer, Executive Director, Morgan Stanley; Mark Hoplamazian, President & CEO, Hyatt Hotels Corporation; Michael Issenberg, Chairman & CEO - APAC, AccorHotels; Peter Henley, President & CEO, Onyx Hospitality, and Rakesh Sarna, MD & CEO, Taj Hotels Resorts & Palaces, to name a few.
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