Park Hyatt Set for Thai Launch

After a delay of 18 months, Thailand’s first Park Hyatt is set to open in the second half of 2016. Both Central Group, the owner of the Park Hyatt Bangkok, and Chicago-based Hyatt Hotels Corporation envision this to be the flagship property of the Park Hyatt brand. Located on the top floor of the Central Embassy, the hotel will have 222 rooms, three restaurants, four bars and a ballroom.  Michael Golden, General Manager of the Park Hyatt Bangkok, believes that the property’s F&B operations will generate half its revenue. Mr. Golden further added that the Park Hyatt brand is very optimistic about Thailand’s tourism industry, and 2016 will be a good time to open the hotel  and to welcome a full tourism recovery after the Erawan Shrine bombing that affected the industry for a short period.

Worldhotels Announced the Opening of Sokha Phnom Penh

Worldhotels announced the opening of its 450th independent hotel ─ the Sokha Phnom Penh Hotel & Residence, in the capital city of Cambodia, Phnom Penh. This is Worldhotels’ second property in Cambodia after the Sokha Angkor Resort in Siem Reap. The 523-room hotel offers an outdoor pool, a gym, spa facilities, five restaurants, 36 private karaoke rooms, a night club and nine conference rooms totalling over 3600 m². Between January and August 2015, Cambodia welcomed 3,032,411 international arrivals – a 5% increase as compared to the same period last year. Phnom Penh and its surrounding regions in particular are increasingly gaining popularity among international travellers, as the number of foreign visitors into the region increased by 23.5% in the eight months of 2015 – exceeding foreign arrival numbers to the Siem Reap–Angkor region, which saw a 10.2% decline. In the near future, however, the influx may stabilize and the number of arrivals into the two most prominent regions in Cambodia may be on par with each other.

Jeju Island to Get A Second Airport

South Korea announced its plan to construct a second airport in Jeju Island to cater to the rise in passengers fuelled by tourists from China. The KRW4.1 trillion (US$3.5 billion) project is scheduled for completion in 2025. The island is currently served by Jeju International Airport, the country’s second busiest airport after Seoul’s Incheon airport, which has been overcrowded in recent years as low budget airlines have triggered a surge in passenger volume. Jeju Island received approximately 2,860,000 Chinese travellers in 2014, up 58% from 1,810,000 in the previous year. This number also translates to 46.7% of total Chinese arrivals in South Korea last year, thanks to the 30-day visa-free policy for most nationalities, including Chinese, effective only within the island. Despite the setback caused by the outbreak of Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) earlier this June, with a robust CAGR of 63% between 2010 and 2014, the island is expected to welcome even more Chinese travellers in the future.

SSAW Hotels and NARADA Hotel Group Complete Share Reform

In order to be better aligned with the capital market and improve the corporate governance structure, China’s leading midscale hotel brand ─ SSAW Hotels has become an independent listed company from NARADA Hotel Group ─ Zhejiang SSAW Hospitality Service Co. Ltd. After this split, SSAW Hotels will focus on the midscale select service positioning while the NARADA Hotels & Resorts will continue to target the high-end hotel and resorts market. Established in 2007, SSAW Hotels has established a good reputation for itself in the midscale select service space and the company earned more than 0.2 billion of revenue in 2014. By the end of 2015, SSAW plans to have 20 hotels with 3,280 rooms across Austria, Shanghai, Zhejiang, Jiangxi and Hainan.

HVS to Host THINC Sri Lanka Conference in February 2016

The ‘Emerald Isle’ is increasingly gaining significance in the global hospitality market as a key emerging destination in South Asia. Tourism in the nation holds tremendous potential for regional and global investors, owners, operators, lenders, developers, and other industry players. HVS is pleased to announce its inaugural conference in Sri Lanka, which aims at attracting global attention to the country and creating value for all industry stakeholders with business interests in the region. The conference will emphasize on the country’s strong tourism potential by showcasing its growth and investment opportunities, while also addressing some of its critical challenges. Tourism, Hotel Investment & Networking Conference (THINC) Sri Lanka is scheduled to be held on February 10 and 11, 2016 at the Galle Face Hotel, Colombo, and will be co-hosted by the Sri Lanka Tourism Development Authority (SLTDA).  
REGISTER NOW FOR EARLY BIRD | VIEW THINC SRI LANKA.
(URLs: www.THINCSriLanka.com/register and www.THINCSriLanka.com)

Absolute Share Price Performance, as on 12 November 2015