| New Grand Hyatt in Mumbai | Return to Headlines |
| 08 March 2004 – Hyatt International announced the opening of the Grand Hyatt Mumbai in India. Owned and developed by Arun Saraf, the Grand Hyatt is located close to the new business district Bandra-Kurla Complex in Mumbai. The hotel is part of a mixed-use project, including the Grand Hyatt Residences, Club Oasis, a shopping mall and an entertainment centre. The hotel comprises 547 rooms including 35 suites and 3 presidential suites whilst the residences comprises of 147 serviced apartments. | |
| Accor to re-brand Century Roxy Park hotel in Singapore under Mercure brand | Return to Headlines |
| 08 March 2004 – The Century Roxy Park Hotel in Singapore, a four-star property managed by Accor, will be re-branded under the group’s Mercure brand and be renamed Grand Mercure Roxy Park Singapore on 1 April 2004. Accor has several other Mercure in the pipeline in Indoensia and Thailand. The former Raddin Sanur in Bali, will be rebranded Mercure Resort Sanur in October after completing a refurbishment program. Furthermore, the Nongkhai Grand in northern Thailand will become Mercure Nongkhai also later this year. | |
| Saville Hotel Group to develop apartment hotel in Brisbane | Return to Headlines |
| 08 March 2004 – Saville Hotel Group, a wholly owned subsidiary of Australia’s Stockland, has signed an agreement to develop a new A$90 million apartment hotel in Brisbane Australia. Adjacent to the Brisbane Convention and Exhibition Centre, the Saville Southbank Hotel will comprise 160 room including studio, one and two bedroom apartments. | |
| Visitor arrivals to Hong Kong up 13.1% in January | Return to Headlines |
| 08 March 2004 – According to the Hong Kong Tourism Board, visitor arrivals to Hong Kong reached 1,748,388 in January, a 13.1% increase over the same month in 2003. The growth was entirely driven by visitor arrivals from Mainland China (+48.5% compared to 2003), owing to the Lunar New Year holiday. However, arrivals from other feeder markets decreased during the period. | |
| Howard Johnson to expand in China | Return to Headlines |
| 09 March 2004 – Howard Johnson expects to increase its portfolio to 17 properties in China within the next four years. The group, which currently manages 5 hotels in China, has plans to open hotels in Beijing, Shanghai, Chengdu, Chongqing, Conghua (Guangdong), Hangzhou, Tianjin and Wuhan. In 2004, Howard Johnson will launch the 462-rom Howard Johnson All Suite hotel in Shanghai. | |
| CGH Earth to open three properties in Karnataka, India | Return to Headlines |
| 09 March 2004 – CGH Earth, a leading hotel chain in Kerala, plans to open three properties in Karnataka, India. One of the properties will be a 30-room hotel with a total investment between Rs6 and Rs7 crore. The hotel is scheduled to open in December 2004. The other two hotels will comprise approximately 20-30 rooms and are planned to be completed by the end of 2005. | |
| Harbour Centre Development reports HK$169.4 million net profit | Return to Headlines |
| 09 March 2004 – Harbour Centre Development Ltd., a Hong Kong property and hotel development company, reported a net profit of HK$169.4 million in 2003, a significant increase compared to last year’s HK$12.8 million in 2002. However, revenue, by contrast, slid to HK$308.7 million in 2003 from HK$335.2 million in 2002. The increase in net profit is largely due to the result of a contribution from an associated company's property sales. | |
| Amari H&R to manage new hotel in Trang, Thailand | Return to Headlines |
| 10 March 2004 – Thailand’s Amari Hotels and Resorts is set to launch one more property in Thailand following the opening of the Amari Trang Beach Resort in Trang. The 165-room Amari Emerald Cove Resort, located in Koh Chang, is scheduled to open in July this year. | |
| Royal Garden Resort targets THB8 billion in revenues for 2004 | Return to Headlines |
| 10 March 2004 – Royal Garden Resort Plc (RGR) expects to generate THB8 billion revenues this year, an increase of 100% from last year’s Bt4.67 billion. According to The Nation, quoting chairman and CEO William E Heinecke, this year’s income sources would differ from previous years as 55% of total revenues would now come from the firm’s food business, whilst 32% would be derived from its hotels. The changes are a result of RGR’s takeover of the Minor Food Group Plc (MFG) in the second half of last year. Furthermore, RGR has plans to open at least two new projects, namely the Anantra Resort & Spa Samui and the Four Seasons Tent Camp, also on Samui. Both projects are scheduled to open in the fourth quarter this year. | |
| P&O Australian Resort to open resort in Queensland, Australia | Return to Headlines |
| 10 March 2004 – P&O Australian Resorts and the Authentic Outback Experience entered into a partnership to open an A$4.1m outback resort in Australia’s Queensland. The Wrotham Park Station, located 186 miles west of Cairns, will be transformed into a resort comprising of a homestead with a swimming pool and ten guest quarters. The resort is scheduled to open in August. | |
| Hilton International to launch four new resorts in Asia | Return to Headlines |
| 11 March 2004 – Hilton International is set to launch four new resorts in Asia. The Phuket Arcadia Beach Resort will be transformed between May and September, 2004 to become Hilton Phuket Arcadia Resort & Spa. The refurbishment programme will include the upgrading of 462 of the resort’s 685 rooms, as well as improvements to the convention facilities, main lobby area, lobby lounge and some of the restaurants. Moreover, the Conrad Bali Resort & Spa is set to open in April 2004 on the southern coast of Bali. Furthermore, the Conrad Phuket Resort & Spa (formerly the Panwaburi) is scheduled for the first quarter of 2005 after completion of a refurbishment program including the addition of 31 new luxury villas. Finally, the Hilton Krabi Resort & Spa is scheduled to open in 2005 and will comprise 200 rooms. | |
| Visitor arrivals to Macao up 20.4% in January | Return to Headlines |
| 11 March 2004 – According to the Macao Statistics and Census Bureau, Macao's hotels welcomed 292,249 guests in January, an increase of 20.4% compared to the same period 2003. The increase was primarily driven by arrivals from Mainland China and Hong Kong which accounted for 50.6% and 38.3% of total arrivals. Market-wide hotel occupancy recorded 66.8% compared to 60.6% in January 2003. | |
| Hilton Maldives Resort & Spa to undergo US$20 million renovation programme | Return to Headlines |
| 12 March 2004 – Hilton Maldives Resorts & Spa will undergo a US$20 million renovation plans between April and December. The renovation will involve the closure of one of the twin-islands that the hotel operates in the South Ari Atoll, on Ranglifinolhu Island. The hotel will add an over-water Spa Village and 80 spacious Beach Villas (42 deluxe and 38 standard). Furthermore, the pool, gym pavilion, shopping arcade, a wine bar and the restaurants will also be upgraded. | |
| Central Plaza Hotel implements stock-split and dividend payment plan | Return to Headlines |
| 12 March 2004 – Thailand's Central Plaza Hotel PCL said its board has approved a 2-for-1 stock-split and dividend payment plan. Following the stock-split plan, the company's par value will fall from current THB10 to THB5 per share, and will increase its total shares from 90 million to 180 million shares. Furthermore, the board approved to pay a dividend of THB1.50 a share for its 2003 earnings. The dividend will be paid for 90 million shares before the stock-split. | |
| MFS group acquires Victorian ski resorts in Australia | Return to Headlines |
| 12 March 2004 – Australia’s MFS Group acquired major Victorian ski resorts Falls Creek and Mt Hotham in Australia. The group had entered into agreements to acquire Australian Alpine Enterprises from joint owners Australian Retirement Fund and Retail Employees Superannuation Trust. The two ski resorts have a combined 26% share of the Australian market. MFS beat off bidders which included the Macquarie Leisure Trust, ski resort entrepreneur Rino Grollo, US hospitality operator Delaware North and former manager BCR Asset Management. | |
