| City Developments Limited, Istithmar PJSC And ELAD Group Singpore Private Limited Won Bid For Beach Road Site In Singapore | Return to Headlines |
| Singapore's Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) has announced that the consortium, consisting of City Developments Limited, Istithmar PJSC and ELAD Group Singapore Private Limited, has successfully won the bid for a 3.5 hectare, 99-year leasehold site at Beach Road for a mixed-use development for approximately US$1.11 million. Scheduled to be completed by 2012, the proposed mixed-use development is expected to cost approximately US$1.65 million and includes two towers (45-storey and 42-storey high) housing two luxury hotels, offices and apartments, as well as the restoration of four conservation buildings on the site for retail and hotel-related uses. With URA's adoption of a two-envelope tender system of evaluating the development concept before monetary consideration, the environmental-friendly design of the development, such as the slanting facades for the towers to catch winds and direct airflow to ground-level spaces, solar panels and waste-water collection features, was the key reason for winning the bid against six other bidders. | |
| Solare Hotels & Resorts Adds Three New Hotels In Japan | Return to Headlines |
| Japan's Solare Hotels and Resorts has announced the development of three hotels, namely the 98-room Chisun Inn Kurashiki Mizushima in Okayama Prefecture, the 92-room Chisun Inn Iwate Ichinoseki Inter in Iwate Prefecture and the 98-room Chisun Inn Nagano R18 in Nagano Prefecture, which are scheduled to open in the second half of 2008. The common features of these hotels are the large unit bath, speedy check-in and check-out system and personalised guestrooms, along with other facilities. To capture the growing demand for accommodation along major expressway interchanges, Solare has expanded to 17 hotels of similar concept, totalling approximately 1,610 rooms, and aims to open at least 50 hotels by 2010 through direct operations and its franchise programme. | |
| Hong Kong Hospitality Industry Continues To Grow | Return to Headlines |
| Despite the opening of the Venetian Macau casino in August 2007, according to statistics, total arrivals to Hong Kong have increased by 6.8% in the first half of 2007 as compared to the same period in 2006, driven mainly from the mainland Chinese market which made up 54% of new arrivals, as well as from long-haul markets such as America, Europe, Australia and New Zealand. The expected appreciation of the Chinese currency against the US dollar is anticipated to spur the arrivals of more Chinese tourists and this is translated into a strong rebound of the Hong Kong hotel sector in recent years. With limited supply of five-star hotels entering into the market in the near future, average room rates of high tariff A hotels or the five-star and four-star hotels are expected to rise by 25% year-on-year to US$271 in 2007. | |
| Nepal Tourist Arrivals Show Strong Growth In August | Return to Headlines |
| According to the Nepal Tourism Board (NTB), Nepal's tourism industry saw robust growth in August 2007, mainly driven by strong arrivals from European nations, despite the summer months being the tourism industry’s traditional low season. Preliminary data released by NTB showed tourist arrivals via Nepal's Kathmandu airport increase 17.8% in August 2007, pushing total arrivals to 220,076 in the first eight months of 2007. This translates an increase of 33.1% from the same period of 2006. The figure did not include overland arrivals from India and Tibet. Major European markets like the UK (32.5% growth), Germany (38.9%), France (32.9%), Italy (34.2%) and Spain (46.4%) all registered strong growth in the month of August 2007. Asian countries like China, Japan, South Korea and Taiwan accounted for nearly 12% of all visitor arrivals. The NTB expects nearly 500,000 people to visit the country in 2007, the highest in nearly six years as peace returns to the Himalayan nation after a Maoist insurgency and political turmoil. | |
| Raffles To Manage Luxury Resort In Bali | Return to Headlines |
| Raffles Hotels and Resorts has announced its agreement with PT Asia Pasifik Properti, a subsidiary of the Rekso Group, to manage a luxury resort located along Jimbaran coast in Bali, Indonesia. Bordered by a cliff above the beach and an 18-hole golf course, the Raffles Amartha is a 15-minute drive from Bali's Denpasar International Airport. Scheduled to open in 2010, the 11-hectare resort will feature approximately 90 villas and 25 residences for sale, all with its own private plunge pools and views of the ocean or golf course. The resort is designed to resemble a water palace in classical Javanese-Hindu architecture and will also feature a common infinity swimming pool, an all-day dining restaurant, a specialty restaurant, a lobby bar, a cave bar, a cliff-top wedding pavilion and a 2,000-square metre spa facility offering Raffles' signature RafflesAmrita Spa services. | |
| Dawnay Day Hotels To Invest US$1.2 Billion In India | Return to Headlines |
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UK-based Dawnay Day Hotels India (DDHI) has announced its plans to invest US$1.2 billion to develop and manage a chain of four-star hotels in India. DDHI will make an initial investment of US$200 million and has already acquired four properties in the Indian cities of Ahmedabad, Pune, Lucknow and Jaipur in this regard. The company has also signed MOUs in Hyderabad and Bangalore. Other greenfield sites for acquisition in Delhi-NCR, Chandigarh, Mumbai, Kolkata, Kochi, Vishakapatnam, Coimbatore, Dehradun, Bhubaneshwar, Agra have also been identified, and negotiations are on at various levels. Development of mid-priced hotels at these sites is expected to bring DDHI's total investment to US$1.2 billion. With the first 115-room hotel scheduled to open in Jaipur in the third quarter of 2008, the hotel chain is expected to target the corporate and leisure segments. |
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| Absolute Share Price Performance, as at 14 September 2007 |
