Hotel industry and travel news from around the Asia Pacific region: New cruise piers and five-star hotel to open in Yokohama, Millennium Hotels and Resorts signs China distribution agreement with Ctrip and more...
Two New Cruise Piers and Five-Star Hotel to Open in Yokohama
Yokohama will welcome two new cruise piers, Daikoku and Shinko Piers, in April and November 2019 respectively, in order to better handle increased calls and bigger cruise ship. The five-story Shinko Pier, known as "Yokohama Pier 9", will span an area of 30,290 square metres on a site footprint of 17,700 square metres. The complex will feature dining, entertainment, and a five-star hotel to be operated by Yokohama Grand Intercontinental. The land adjacent to Shinko Pier will be developed into Hammerhead Park and Promenade. The opening of these two piers, in addition to the existing Osanbashi International Passenger Terminal, will propel Yokohama port to be the largest in Japan in terms of capacity with 400,000 cruise ship passengers to be anticipated annually. Approximately 20 minutes’ drive to Haneda Airport, Yokohama is the second largest city in Japan after Tokyo and is the most frequently visited Japanese port for English-speaking passengers. Currently, Yokohama port is surrounded by various retail and recreational components, including shopping centres, a convention centre, amusement park, several museums, parks and gardens.
Garuda Connects Jakarta and Nagoya with New Flight Offering
Garuda Indonesia’s (“Garuda”) new four-times weekly direct Jakarta-Nagoya route will encourage business travel between the two cities. Given that Jakarta, Indonesia’s key business and administration centre, is where many Japanese companies are headquartered, the new route is expected to boost investment and trade opportunities as well as attract more Japanese outbound travellers to Indonesia. Nagoya in Aichi Prefecture, Japan’s fourth largest city, is one of the busiest industrial cities in Japan. Starting 23rd March 2019, the route will be serviced by an Airbus A330 which offers 36 business class seats and 186 economy class seats. Garuda is the national airline of Indonesia and connects 83 destinations worldwide to various cities and exotic locations in Indonesia through more than 600 daily flights and a fleet of 196 aircrafts.
Millennium Hotels and Resorts Signs China Distribution Agreement with Ctrip
Singapore-based hospitality group, Millennium Hotels & Resorts (“MHR”), has announced the signing of its china distribution agreement with China-based integrated travel service company, Ctrip.com International, Ltd. (“Ctrip”), at ITB Berlin. Having recently launched the new My Millennium Guest Reward Program, the new agreement will allow Ctrip to develop a global distribution strategy promoting MHR properties to Ctrip’s 300 million strong customer base and also benefit from Ctrip’s influential ranking system. Ctrip will be able to market MHR’s portfolio of hotels in the USA, Europe, the Middle East, Asia, and Australasia to its China-based business and leisure clients. Both companies will work towards customer initiatives including the launching of a flagship store on Ctrip’s digital platforms, joint marketing campaigns as well as knowledge sharing and cross exposure programmes for team members. As of 2018, MHR’s portfolio consists of 139 properties with over 40,000 rooms, distributed across 28 nations.
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More Asian news:
Singapore tourism sector shows third consecutive year of growth in 2018
2018 marked another strong year for Singapore's tourism sector, with both tourism receipts and visitor arrivals achieving new highs, the core tourism industries of BTMICE, Hotels, and Cruise also posted strong results.
Tourism receipts (TR) rose 1.0 per cent to S$27.1 billion, mainly due to growth in Visitor Arrivals (VA) across almost all of the top 15 markets and higher visitor spending from all top five TR markets. Record arrivals from seven markets helped boost overall VA by 6.2 per cent to 18.5 million.
Chief Executive of Singapore Tourism Board (STB), Mr Keith Tan, said, "We are pleased that Singapore's tourism sector performed well in 2018 despite some economic uncertainties. We were fortunate to have benefited from a confluence of positive factors such as strong Asia-Pacific travel demand, increased flight connectivity to Singapore, and various high-profile events. It is also heartening to see our marketing efforts and collaborations with industry partners bearing fruit."
Read the full story here.
