Centara Hotels & Resorts enters China

Centara Hotels & Resorts announced the signing of a management contract with Zhaoqing Yuhao Properties Development Company Limited to open Centara Resort Zhaoqing, the Thai hospitality group’s first property in China. The 250 rooms resort is scheduled to open in the fourth quarter of 2017 with extensive facilities including a water park, swimming pools, a pool bar, an all-day-dining restaurant, a Chinese restaurant, and a specialty-dining restaurant. The resort will also feature the award-winning Spa Cenvaree, a kid’s club, a fitness center, and meeting facilities including an 800m2 ballroom. Located in Guangdong Province, Zhaoqing City is a well-situated travel hub for visitors to southeastern China as it is in close proximity to China’s most dynamic areas including Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Hong Kong, and Macau.

Japan Outbound Tourism in decline? Blame the Yen (then the Economy)

Japanese outbound tourism is in decline again. From a record year in 2012, markets around the world are adjusting to a new normal and are orienting themselves towards the Chinese market. Old hat! Japanese tourism has significant declines before, particularly in 2003 (SARS) and 2009. What is different this time is that despite a very strong stock market performance visitor arrivals are down. Quantitative easing has forced the yen down, driving capital into the market propelling the stock market to record heights despite zero GDP growth in 2014. Further supported by domestic tourism campaigns, Japanese travellers who are suffering under the poor economy are finding more value at home. How long is this to stay? It is anyone’s guess for how long the Bank of Japan will hold on to its monetary policies. But the message is clear, do not forget about Japanese tourists just yet – their relatively higher spending power provides attractive yield opportunities in particular for high-end hotels.

Master Plan for Indonesia’s Aviation Industry

Indonesia’s Ministry of Transportation has announced plans to expand and upgrade the nation’s aviation infrastructure over the next 5 years. With a budget of US$5.4billion, authorities target to open 62 new airports while expanding current ones. New destinations include natural disaster hazard areas, remote locations, and bordering cities and towns. According to IATA, Indonesia's airports are in urgent need of additional capacity as forecasts point towards a 183 million increase in passengers by 2034 – three times the country’s current capacity. In December 2014, total air traffic recorded a year-on-year growth of 5.6%, with domestic and international passenger figures increasing 5.8% and 5.4% respectively. Key Indonesian airports which recorded the highest rate of overall traffic growth included Jakarta Soekarno-Hatta Airport (13.09%), Surabaya Juanda Airport (8.67%), Medan Kualanamu Airport (3.98%) and Bali Denpasar Airport (3.11%). By working out agreements between government bodies to improve accessibility between regional and international destinations, the Indonesian government seeks to open 217 pioneering routes in 28 provinces by the end of 2015.

HVS Releases ‘In Focus: Maldives’

Maldives continues to possess a strong destination image as an island getaway for many people across the world. Much of it is attributed to its unique geographical layout characterized by more than a thousand small islands. Unlike many destinations, tourists choose the Maldives for an once-in-a-lifetime experience to commemorate moments in the serenity of an island paradise. For this reason, hotel operators must be mindful of potential environmental threats and its implications to a segment tend to be more sensitive to risks. Hotels in the Maldives have performed exceedingly well and achieve high margins, as they command rate premium over other destinations in the world. The Maldives has benefited from the strong destination branding and will continue to retain its appeal in the coming years.

Absolute Share Price Performance, as at 9 April 2015