Hotel industry and travel news from around the Asia Pacific region; this week: Thailand based BHMAsia expands internationally, P&O Cruise return to Singapore, Bali gets a Courtyard and more...
BHMAsia Expands Internationally Based in Thailand, Bespoke Hospitality Management Asia grows portfolio aggressively locally and internationally with 30 more X2 properties by 2016. Currently the group has launched resort X2 River Kwai in Kanchanaburi, Thailand, and will open X2 Oasis Phuket Villa and X2 Mae Ping Villa in Chiang Mai in Q3 and Q4 of 2014 respectively. X2 Hat Yai Hotel is expected to open in 2016/2017. The X2 brand has a strong mixed-use "Hotel-Residence" model that provides exceptional returns for a property investor and the group hopes to use this to source for the right developer and investor for the project according to founder, Anthony McDonald.
P&O Cruises Returns to Singapore P&O Cruises – an Australian cruise operator – announced its return to Singapore since 2006. The company offers four roundtrip voyages as part of its 2015/2016 programme. The Singapore season will take travellers to destinations in Indonesia, Thailand and Cambodia and see the cruise line's maiden calls to Krabi, Sabang (Palau Weh), Koh Chang and Sihanoukville. Anne Sherry, CEO of P&O Cruises announced that Australia is the world's fastest growing cruise markets at nearly 834,000 Australian travellers in total last year.
Marriott Courtyard to Open in Bali Courtyard by Marriott Bali Seminyak, the second property in Bali under the brand was launched on the 6th August 2014. The 290-room hotel offers easy access to Seminyak beach and the Oberoi dining scene. Robert Stark, market vice president for Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore and Australia, Marriott International, announced to be delighted in opening the second Courtyard-branded property in Bali, in one of the most popular areas for business and leisure travellers – Seminyak. He also addressed that the growth in Indonesia is of great importance to Marriott International, and we look forward to expanding the presence of the Courtyard brand.
MAI Expands Routes in Japan and South Korea Myanmar Airways International (MAI) will release its thrice-weekly direct flights to Osaka and Seoul this October. The reason for this is due to the increase of Japanese travellers to Myanmar which was observed. Passengers flying via MAI's Japan and South Korea routes will also get visa on arrival at Yangon International Airport. This has so far been only applied to Cambodia and Guangzhou's routes by the airline. Meanwhile, plans are afoot for tie-ups with other airlines and to refresh MAI's fleet.
Bluewater Resorts Focus Expansion in Cebu Instead of Bohol and Palawan, Bluewater Resorts ventures for further expansions and development opportunities in Siguijor. Bluewater is planning to offer guests multi-resort stays amongst their properties in Cebu, Bohol, Dumaguete and Siquijor, if a common billing system could be worked out. In Bohol, Bluewater has altered its ambitious plans to expand its 54-room property on Panglao Island to 200 rooms and add meeting rooms and a convention hall. This is due to the occupancy rate performance of 40-45% caused by the earthquake which occurred in last October.
AirAsia Commence Flights from Johor Bahru to Bandung From 16th October 2014, AirAsia will fly directly three-times weekly from Johor Bahru to Bandung. Promotional seats have been directly offered on the airline's main website. The three times weekly direct flights will operate every Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday, marking AirAsia's fourth Indonesian destination connected with direct flights from the airline's southern hub, Johor Baru, apart from Yogyakarta, Surabaya and Lombok. Apart from AirAsia, only Citilink Indonesia currently flies to Johor Bahru, also out of Surabaya. In the past, Johor Bahru used also to be connected to Jakarta and Medan.
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