Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. is spending about $457 million to buy a 15% stake in a Beijing-based company that provides hotels with technology software and services, as the Chinese e-commerce giant continues its acquisition spree after its record-breaking $25 billion initial public offering in the U.S.
It's intriguing to see so many real estate firms getting into hospitality services and expanding in that arena, especially as generating returns are much more difficult as compared to office space or apartments. Several realty firms, in fact, have lost value over their hotel investments. The Brigade group ventured into hospitality in June 2004 with serviced residences, and over the last ten years has expanded into lifestyle membership clubs like Woodrose, Augusta, Galaxy and Regent, MLR convention centres and the more recently, a standalone restaurant HIGH Ultra Lounge. Brigade Hospitality also has two operating hotels – Sheraton Hotel Bangalore at Brigade Gateway and Grand Mercure, Bangalore and 8 in the pipeline. BW| Businessworld's Chitra Narayanan quizzed Brigade Hospitality Services CEO & Executive Director Vineet Verma on growth plans...
China is not just influencing the travel industry these days—the country is beginning to dictate it. And if you work in the travel industry and you’re not keeping abreast of the latest travel technology, you are doing yourself a disservice. According to the third annual Hotels.com Chinese International Travel Monitor (CITM), published today, more than half of Chinese travelers surveyed said they now book their hotel room via the Internet or mobile apps, up from 45 percent in 2013. On top of that, just under half go through online accommodation websites and online review sites, and one-third even check social media during their trip planning process.
IT has been over a year and a half since Dusit Thani Manila welcomed a new general manager, Alex Colin Willats, to the landmark hotel in Makati City. Though a first-time expatriate to the Philippines, the Englishman fell right at home in the five-star premises since he had just come from the same posting at the international chain’s flagship hotel in Bangkok, Thailand. Dusit Thani, after all, has truly become this world traveler’s home —and family—away from home. Family, according to the respected hotelier, has always been a priority in his life, even if it has taken him all over the world even at a very early age. In fact, in embracing his professional family at Dusit Thani, so have his lovely wife Claire and sons Thomas and Henry, whom he brings with him from posting to posting.
the ‘hive-inn’ is a hotel structure designed by hong-kong-based OVA studio that allows containers to travel in and out of it. offering maximum flexibility and mobility, the project envisions possibilities for applications such as emergency housing or medical care units. the rooms can be shipped to whatever location is required and used for multiple functions such as offices, leased to various individuals or companies who temporarily need space. focusing on sustainability, recycled containers are used for the modular pieces that are then slotted and plugged in independently of what is above or under them – enabling the building grow and or decrease in relation to demand.
You may have noticed that Chinese travelers are everywhere. Almost 100 million Chinese traveled out of China in 2013, and this number is expected to reach 200 million by 2018. These staggering figures can be attributed to China's growing middle class, more annual leave, easier visa applications to more countries and increased air travel routes to overseas destinations. A lot more can be done to understand and court this fast-growing demographic. By Martin Rinck. Martin Rinck is the President, Asia Pacific for Hilton Worldwide.
A new combined study between TripAdvisor China and The Boston Consulting Group (BCG) has yielded significant insights into the future of global travel traffic from the Asia-Pacific (APAC) region. The study, “Winning the Next Billion Asian Travelers—Starting with China,” specifically focuses on the market that will be largest contributor to growth in the region: China.
Capt. C.P. Krishnan Nair, a war veteran and founder of the Leela Group of hotels, passed away Saturday morning following a brief illness, an official said here. Capt. Nair, 82, is survived by his wife and sons, including Vivek, who heads the 28-year-old hotels chain with eight prime properties across the country.
Hotel Leelaventure Ltd is in talks with sovereign wealth funds of Abu Dhabi, Qatar and Malaysia to sell its prime properties in Delhi and Chennai for around Rs 1,850 crore to pare debt. The firm, which owns, operates and manages hotels, palaces and resorts, is likely to hive-off the two properties into separate entities. While the foreign investor may pick up 74% interest in the hived-off entities, Leelaventure will retain 26% stake and continue to manage the five-star hotels, industry sources said.
Find out who's who in the hotel industry. Singapore Business Review celebrates the best young business minds in the city with this list of 40 and under hotel managers. Check out and identify who is "on the rise" in the hotel industry from backpackers to luxury five-star hotels. The list includes a young achiever in the field at the age of 27.
From rooms kitted out like medical clinics where couples can play "doctors and nurses" to grottos where it is permanently Christmas, Japan's "Love Hotels" cater to almost every taste, offering a few hours of reasonably-priced privacy in a crowded country. And with the kind of occupancy rates that most hotels can only dream of, even during economic hard times, they are an almost recession-proof business.
Less than nine months after opening the first hotel in Mumbai under its brand, Hong Kong luxury chain operator Shangri-La Asia handed the keys back to the owner. Now, United States-based Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide is in talks with the same owner to take over management of the property under its St Regis brand, people familiar with the matter said, as part of a shake-out in the luxury segment of India’s ailing hotel industry.
A hotel price war is expected in Bangkok once the political turmoil ends. Tourism-related businesses expect to see losses from the anti-government protests that began last November at the start of the high season. However, when the political unrest ends and the hotel sector starts to bounce back, hoteliers will probably use pricing to grab a larger slice of the cake.
Is Japan the next development boom? Numbers sure don't lie. Last week, government data showed that a record 11.25 million tourists visited Japan last year, up 22.7 percent from a year earlier. Why the boost? Analysts say a combination of factors are involved, including a weaker yen, cheaper air fares, less strict visa requirements in the region and an overall boost to Asia-Pacific tourism, which has seen tourist visits double since 2,000. Hoteliers are taking note. For one, Red Planet Hotels, the major shareholder of budget brand Tune Hotels. It's CEO told CNBC it plans to open up 20 hotels by 2020 in Japan to benefit from this growing trend.
When David Beckham was spotted in the Macau crowd at last weekend's Manny Pacquio vs. Brandon Rio fight -- his handsome mug given a nice share of screen time -- most of us assumed he was there just as a boxing fan. Turns out there was a little deal in the works as well. Global resort developer Las Vegas Sands (LVS) and Beckham Ventures just announced a partnership that will have the retired footballer team up with the brand's integrated resort properties in Macao and Singapore.
Prostitution is illegal in China, but the BBC has uncovered evidence of organised prostitution at independently run spas located inside a number of well known, Western-brand hotels, as John Sudworth reports for Newsnight. The Kempinski Hotel chain calls itself Europe's oldest luxury hotel group. Founded in Germany, now based in Switzerland, it operates more than 70 five-star hotels around the world, including one in the city of Qingdao on China's east coast. But following the signs to the spa in the basement, along a gloomy corridor, we found little luxury, just a small room from which more than 10 women are bought and sold for sex.
The International Olympic Committee has made a safe choice in naming Tokyo the venue for the 2020 summer games. For a start no city in the world boasts a hotel industry better equipped to accommodate a sudden influx of foreigners. Indeed, contrary to Tokyo’s image as an impossibly expensive place, hotel rates are actually quite modest compared to major American cities.
The value of Indian Hotels Company's (IHCL) six-year old stake in Orient-Express Hotels has reduced by two-thirds, further narrowing the options India's largest hospitality chain has for the British hotels-to-trains group. IHCL, known best for operating the Taj chain, holds about 7% stake in Orient-Express, which is now worth $86 million based on the NYSE-listed firm's Friday closing price. According to IHCL's latest annual report, its cost of acquisition towards Orient-Express shares was $262 million.
According to John Tisch, Chairman of Loews Hotels, and quite possibly the biggest advocate for the travel industry, the global tourism market will be booming for decades to come, and China will be one of the largest suppliers of new tourists. “Between 2000 and 2012, international trips by Chinese travelers grew more than eight-fold. By 2016, China will add another 34 million international passengers to the market,” said Tisch during a speech last month at the 35th Annual NYU International Hospitality Industry Investment Conference. “Last year alone Chinese travelers spent a whopping $102 billion, making China the largest spender in the international tourism market.”
A thief who pretended to be a guest at the luxury Peninsula hotel coolly tricked staff into opening a safe and escaped with HK$50,000 in foreign currency and valuables, police revealed. The man, a foreigner, approached the front desk of the hotel in Salisbury Road, Tsim Sha Tsui, at about 4am on Sunday, claiming to have lost his room key. The room number he gave was occupied by a French businessman, whose name and birth date he gave as proof of identity. The real guest and his wife were in bed in the room at the time.