Las Vegas Sands Corp, which opened the US$265 million Sands Macau in 2004, may spend about US$2.75 billion to build a casino resort and finance the development of three hotels in Macau. The company originally planned to finance two hotels along the 200-acre Cotai Strip. Macau, a Chinese territory that ended a 42-year monopoly for casino owner Stanley Ho in 2002, surpassed Atlantic City, New Jersey, to become the world's number two casino market last year.

Accor will become the only international hotel operator to be able to offer accommodation in every State and Territory, and every capital city across Australia, following the announcement that it had secured a prime hotel in the heart of Hobart. Accor was appointed to manage the former Corus Hotel Hobart following its sale by Corus Hotels to Lanco Hobart Holdings Pty Ltd. - a Melbourne based investor group. Conveniently located in the heart of Hobart's Central Business District on Bathurst Street, the Mercure Hobart is just 15 minutes drive from Hobart international airport and within easy walking distance to Hobart's major attractions including the Salamanca Markets and Constitution Dock.

Hong Kong has reached agreements with four countries, including Singapore and Germany, to increase the number of passenger flights to and from the city as the government seeks to liberalise its aviation market. Airline groups from Singapore, Germany, Bahrain and Mexico will be given unlimited passenger flights to Hong Kong, while Hong Kong's Cathay Pacific Airways Ltd will be given reciprocal entitlements. The Hong Kong government has been negotiating new air services agreements around the world to open its market and promote competition. The city also wants to encourage low-cost airlines to use Hong Kong's Chek Lap Kok airport as a base.

The joint venture between Unimat Holdings, one of the first Japanese investors to return to the Australian hotel sector, and high-profile developer David Marriner will double the size of its Turtle Point Hotel and Spa redevelopment in the Whitsundays. The size of the US$15 million project at Laguna Whitsunday Resort, near Airlie Beach, is to be increased in the wake of Medallist Developments committing to a nearby site in a separate venture with Mr Marriner. Unimat Holdings made a US$7.5 million commitment to what was said to be the first large Japanese commitment in a decade. The five-star hotel builds on the original lodging, into which another Japanese group poured about $38 million. During the first stage, the hotel will contain 126 rooms and an additional 120 rooms will be sold during the second stage. The hotel is due to open in September 2006.

The Ascott Group is one of 42 companies worldwide that have been recognised as being 'forward-thinking companies (that embrace) the ever-increasing demands for greater transparency'. Ascott, the service residence arm of CapitaLand, is the only Singapore company to be included in PriceWaterhouseCoopers' book, Trends 2005: Good Practices in Corporate Reporting, which is into its sixth annual publication. Other companies included this year are Unilever, Xerox Corporation, and UBS. Last year, Ascott won the Best Annual Report and Best Operating and Financial Review at the Singapore Annual Report Awards. It was recently ranked first (out of 1,000 service apartments) in the Top 100 Service Residences in China. Ascott CEO Cameron Ong also received the Hospitality Excellence Award, conferred at the China Hotel Investment Summit, hosted in April by HVS International in Shanghai.