Marriott and Eastern Crown Partner to Launch ‘Fairfield By Marriott’ in Mainland China

Marriott International and China’s Eastern Crown Hotels Group have signed an exclusive development agreement to bring the ‘Fairfield by Marriott’ brand to mainland China. The agreement targets having 140 hotels signed in the next five years, of which 100 are expected to be opened by 2021. Each Fairfield hotel will have between 100-150 rooms. According to an official statement, the introduction of the Fairfield brand is part of Marriott’s strategic plan to penetrate into the midscale hotel segment in China and expand rapidly across a broad spectrum of price tiers and locations across the country. ‘Fairfield by Marriott’ will be the tenth brand in the Marriott portfolio to be introduced in mainland China. The company currently has more than 80 hotels operating in the country with a presence in 25 cities.

IHG Signs First Intercontinental Property in Phuket

InterContinental Hotels Group announced the signing of a management agreement with Proud Resort Phuket Co., Ltd to develop the InterContinental Phuket Resort on Kamala beach. Comprising a mix of villas and hotel rooms, the resort will be a key component in the luxury mixed-use development, MontAzure. The entire 454-rai site includes 75 upscale beachfront branded condominiums, 13 exclusive private hillside estate villas, beach clubs, a lifestyle retail component, a medical and wellness centre and a 200 rai protected nature reserve. According to Pasu Liptapanlop, Executive Director of Proud Real Estate, “Following up on the success of our mixed-use developments in Bangkok and Hua Hin, including the InterContinental Resort Hua Hin, Proud Real Estate has envisioned a plan to replicate the mixed-use model in Phuket by developing the very first InterContinental Phuket Resort to cater to the growing number of luxury travelers to the region.” Slated to open in 2019, InterContinental Phuket Resort will be the sixth IHG property in Phuket and the 19th IHG property In Thailand.

Indian Navy’s Decommissioned Aircraft Carrier to be Converted into a Hotel

The world’s oldest aircraft carrier, INS Viraat, is all set to be converted into a luxury hotel, once it is decommissioned from service in June this year. The Defence Ministry has given its nod to a proposal from the Andhra Pradesh Tourism Development Corporation (APTDC) to convert the Centaur-class aircraft carrier into a hotel-cum-museum. According to the Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh, N. Chandrababu Naidu, the state government has drawn up plans to convert Viraat into a 500-room hotel, which will include a conference hall with a seating capacity of up to 500 people. The warship would be docked at the shores of Visakhapatnam to serve as a tourist attraction. The conversion will be jointly undertaken by the Indian Navy and Visakhapatnam Urban Development Authority (VUDA), and the central government would contribute for the project to be taken up under Public Private Partnership (PPP) mode. The 28,700-tonne British-built Centaur carrier will retire after 57 years of service, including 29 years in the Indian Navy.

More Self-Management of Hotels in the Philippines

With the huge supply growth in Metro Manila, hotels owners in the Philippines are increasingly tending towards developing their own brands as opposed to considering international operators for managing hotels. While a large inventory of approximately 10,700 international branded hotel rooms is expected to enter Metro Manila by 2019, domestic hotel operators too plan to enter the market more aggressively. Hotel investor, Ayala Land Hotels & Resorts aims to expand its business hotel brand ‘Seda’ to other accommodation products, such as resorts and serviced apartments, with 2,000 keys in the pipeline, slated for completion by 2018. Other hotel investors such as Robinsons Land and SM Hotels & Convention also plan to either grow room inventory or expand further into new potential markets across the Philippines, aiming to expand globally after successfully strengthening their various brands and products domestically. In future, domestic hotel brands are likely to dominate the hotel market in the Philippines.

Absolute Share Price Performance, as on 18 Feb 2016