Pan Pacific Hotels Group has announced the appointment of Gary Moran as General Manager of PARKROYAL on Kitchener Road in Singapore, conveniently located within the vibrant cultural district of Little India.
Evening in Singapore. The scent of frangipani and the soft hum of conversation drift across the Palm Court at Raffles Hotel. Is it 1887 or 2012? The doormen, looking crisp in their distinctive Gieves & Hawkes uniforms, welcome arriving travellers. Somewhere deep in the hotel a butler swoops in from a teak veranda and as the grandfather clock in the airy lobby strikes eight, the piano strikes up…"I'll see you again" (Noel Coward would approve) - and outside, the Travellers' Palms rustle in the breeze.
ZDirect is expanding its global operations with the opening of a new office in Singapore. The world leader in hospitality eCRM and eMarketing has hired industry veteran Martin Chua as director of sales to lead its business development effort in the Asia Pacific region. Today more than 2,000 hotels spanning six continents are successfully communicating with their guests and prospects via ZDirect.
Chua comes to ZDirect with extensive business development experience in hotel brand and technology sales. Previously, he served as vice president of business development (Asia) for iBAHN Singapore Private Limited. He held similar roles with interTouch Pte Limited as sales director - South East Asia and Fastbooking Asia Pte Limited as vice president, business development. Before moving into the hotel technology sales realm, Chua was instrumental in the business development efforts for several Asia hotel chains, including: regional director of sales and marketing for Carlton Hotels; regional director of sales - Singapore for Century International Hotels; and, regional director of sales for Sol Melia Asia Pacific. He also held sales positions with Albert Court Hotel and Concorde Hotel Singapore/Concorde Hotels. He is a graduate of Marketing Institute of Singapore and is fluent in English and Mandarin, Bahasa Malay/Indonesia, and speaks the Teochew, Hokkien and Cantonese dialects.
Oakwood Worldwide has announced the promotion of Lisa Rauch to director of sales for its Asia Pacific region. Rauch will be responsible for setting the regional sales strategy in alignment with the company’s global strategy.
Fairmont Raffles Hotels International (FRHI), the parent company of Fairmont Hotels & Resorts, Raffles Hotels & Resorts, and Swissôtel Hotels & Resorts, today announced the appointment of Jeff Tisdall as Vice President, Residential Development, Asia Pacific and India.
In the context of the brand's significant expansion in Asia, including the opening of a Sofitel So label property in Singaporecity, Sofitel Luxury Hotels has commissionedKarl Lagerfeldto design the emblem of the new Sofitel So Singapore. The emblem will symbolise the hotel's new and original style, unique to Sofitel So Singapore, and appear on a range of exclusive objects available for clients during their stay.
Pan Pacific Hotels Group has announced the opening of PARKROYAL on Pickering in Singapore, the latest addition to its 13 PARKROYAL hotels, serviced suites and resorts across Asia Pacific. Pan Pacific Hotels Group is part of UOL Group Limited, an established developer which has won numerous design and other accolades for its diversified portfolio of residential, office, retail and hotel properties. The 367-room PARKROYAL on Pickering was conceptualised with UOL and designed by internationally acclaimed Singapore architectural firm WOHA. It features a stunning hotel-in-a-garden concept with energy-saving elements incorporated throughout the building. Its 15,000 square metres of lush sky gardens, planter terraces, waterfalls and cascading vertical greenery comprise twice its land area. The hotels green features include rainwater harvesting, automatic sensors to regulate energy and water usage, and solar cells that power landscape lighting.For its innovative and sustainable design, the S$350-million PARKROYAL on Pickering has received the BCA (Building and Construction Authority) Green Mark Platinum certification, Singapores highest rating for green buildings, and the Solar Pioneer Award for being one of the first in the countrys hospitality sector to utilise a solar energy system.The 16-storey hotel is also home to Lime, an all-day dining restaurant with an open-kitchen concept; a dedicated wellness floor with an infinity pool, a fitness centre, a 300m garden walk and the award-winning St Gregory spa; as well as the exclusive Orchid Club Lounge on the top floor that offers spectacular 360-degree views of the city skyline. PARKROYAL on Pickering is a PARKROYAL Collection hotel, a further expression of the PARKROYAL brand. A PARKROYAL Collection hotel is distinguished by its unique architecture and design elements while embodying the intrinsic PARKROYAL characteristics of modern comfort, uncomplicated service and authentic local connections. The launch of PARKROYAL on Pickering follows the heels of recent significant enhancements at some of the Groups managed and owned hotels in Singapore. In the first quarter this year, the Group is set to open Pan Pacific Serviced Suites Beach Road, its second Pan Pacific Serviced Suites in Singapore and a reflection of its confidence in the countrys draw as a regional business hub providing a steady stream of extended stay travellers. The opening of PARKROYAL on Pickering and Pan Pacific Serviced Suites Beach Road this year brings the Groups Singapore portfolio to eight hotels and serviced suites, reaffirming its standing as one of the countrys largest international hotel operators.Singapore continues to offer a healthy operating climate for our hotels and business and we believe it provides good prospects for long term demand growth, said A. Patrick Imbardelli, President and Chief Executive of Pan Pacific Hotels Group. In the past year, we have made substantial investments to strengthen and align our refreshed Pan Pacific and PARKROYAL brands. Our recent hotel enhancements, landmark openings and pipeline projects put the Group in a strong position to build upon the foundation of our past successes and to capitalise on the growth opportunities in Singapore and around the region. Outside of Singapore, the PARKROYAL brand is set to debut in China with the opening of PARKROYAL Serviced Suites Green City, Shanghai later this year.
Prior to his recent arrival in Singapore, Watkins was at Four Seasons Hotel Los Angeles at Beverly Hills, where he was Director of Sales and Marketing since 2010. Previous stints in the company included two years in Four Seasons Resort Whistler in British Columbia and four years at Four Seasons Hotel San Francisco.
An Australia, Dean has more than 20 years of industry experience in Malaysia, Australia, United States and United Kingdom, where he oversaw diverse operational units at luxury hotels, covering the areas of Sales and Marketing, Reservation and Revenue, Rooms Division as well as Operations.
CWT Meetings & Events, a global leader in events and meetings management, announced that Steven Smith is appointed senior director, CWT Meetings & Events, Asia-Pacific. Smith will be part of the CWT regional leadership team, based in Singapore and the global CWT Meetings & Events team. Kelly Kuhn, president CWT Asia Pacific said, “The meetings and events market represents increasing business opportunities and significant growth potential in the Asia-Pacific region. With a strong global focus on this sector, we are committed to investing in our meetings and events organization through both people and technology”.
RB Capital Hotels has appointed Park Hotel Group to manage its latest hotel at Farrer Park. The proposed full-service hotel, to be operated under the upscale 'Park Hotel' brand synonymous with convenience, personalised services and high standards of amenities, will comprise 300 rooms and is slated to open in the first half of 2015. Situated above Farrer Park Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) station, the new-build Park Hotel Farrer Park is in the heart of Little India, a bustling lifestyle enclave that has traditionally been the focal point for Singapore's local and expatriate Indian community. In recent years, Little India has seen a vivid transformation with boutique hotels, bespoke cocktail bars and international restaurants sprouting up, attracting a larger audience of tourists, business travellers and Singaporeans alike.
The best may be over for Singapore's booming hotel market as tightening corporate budgets and bank job cuts leave more luxury rooms empty, crimping profits at firms such as CDL Hospitality Trusts. Singapore runs neck-and-neck with Hong Kong for the title of the world's busiest hotel market, with both boasting occupancy rates that exceeded 85 percent for 2011, according to the two cities' tourism boards. That's higher than in global tourist hot spots such as New York and London.
Luxury developer KOP Properties has announced the promotion of Dalip Singh to Senior Vice President and head of its hotels and resorts division, KOP Hospitality.
Marina Mandarin Singapore is the first hotel to use a fully integrated mobile technology to enhance Customer Experience At Their Food & Beverage Outlet. Called the 'OneGuest Mobile Solutions', it fully integrates order-taking, customer service management and real-time updates to provide customers faster service and more accurate information on their menu selection items. Service staff are also able to receive real-time updates from inventory stock level to customers' dish preferences, which allow them to better cater to their customers. The mobile solution, comprising the iPad, iPhone and a cloud-based content management system, is fully integrated with the hotel's point-of-sale system. This solution is developed in partnership with SPRING Singapore as part of Marina Mandarin's Customer-Centric Initiative (CCI), supported by Singapore Hotel Association (SHA), and initiated under the IDA Mobility Solutions Call-for-Collaboration (CFC) in collaboration with the Singapore Tourism Board and Employment and Employability Institute (e2i).
SH Group, the hotel brand management company of Starwood Capital Group, has named Francis Killory as Vice President, Development - Asia Pacific, for the company. In this role, Killory will lead and manage the acquisition and development of the company’s two new hotel and residence brands, Baccarat and 1 Hotels, throughout the Asia Pacific region and particularly in China. Killory will also establish and manage the company’s Asia regional office in Singapore. Killory brings nearly 30 years of development experience in the Asia Pacific region to SH Group. Most recently he was the Vice President, Development of Asia Pacific for Jumeirah with prior roles in development with Carlson and Meridien. Killory has a Bachelor of Science in Journalism/Communications, as well as a Master in Business Administration from Cornell University. He also holds a Master of Science in e-Commerce from Hong Kong University of Science & Technology. Killory is fluent in Mandarin Chinese. In 2006, Starwood Capital Group created SH Group, a hotel brand-management company that owns the environmentally-focused 1 Hotels & Resorts brand and holds the Baccarat Hotel license, as well as other potential future hotel brands. SH Group provides Starwood with significant proprietary investment opportunities and maximizes returns on hotel investments in the firm’s dedicated hotel funds. Professionals within SH Group also act as Starwood Capital’s in-house design and hotel operations experts.
Over a 3-day period, this course will be fast track knowledge sharing into the fascinating and dynamic world of Hotel Technology. The curriculum has been carefully engineered so as to take individuals with a keen interest in the Hotel Industry and Technology and provide them with essential knowledge of how IT is used in that industry sector. Specialised professionals will impart tremendous knowledge about the business and how IT interacts with all aspects, giving the student a solid foundation from which to either apply for a Hotel Technology related role, or enhance their existing position within the business.
IHG (InterContinental Hotels Group) took home 18 accolades at the 2012 World Travel Awards (WTA), which took place at the InterContinental Singapore last night. IHG took home the title for Asia's Leading Business Hotel Brand, as well as a slew of awards across its brands for properties across Asia, Australasia and the Pacific.Shantha De Silva, Director of Operations, Singapore, Indonesia, Malaysia and the Philippines, who accepted the award on behalf of IHG said: "We are thrilled to be Asia's Leading Business Hotel Brand and also to have received so many other awards across categories. The recognition from our guests and customers reflect the people and the brand promise that these properties deliver, and we are very proud of this achievement. A big thanks to WTA for the recognition."The WTA also honoured the award's host venue, InterContinental Singapore as Asia's Leading Meetings & Conference Hotel. IHG also recorded notable country-specific wins in categories such as the Leading Hotel in Australia, Vietnam, Japan, South Korea, Nepal and Kazakhstan.The awards IHG received for the first time at the WTA 2012 ceremony are:
The award is recognised as one of the ‘Oscars’ of the travel industry in Asia and Mr Pérès was selected for his “outstanding achievement in transforming Mövenpick Hotels & Resorts into an inspiring success story”.When Mr Pérès joined Mövenpick Hotels & Resorts in 1999 he inherited a portfolio of 36 hotels. Now there are 76. By 2015 he aims to have 100 properties open worldwide with more than half of the company’s 30 new hotels in development opening in Asia.
Carlson Rezidor Hotel Group, one of the world’s largest and most dynamic hotel groups, today announced the appointment of Franck Courmont as general counsel, Asia Pacific with effect on November 1. Based in Singapore, Franck will report directly to Simon Barlow, president for Asia Pacific. Prior to this appointment, Franck was vice president, legal, at Rezidor Hotel Group in Brussels for seven years. At Rezidor, Franck successfully negotiated more than 100 management agreements and licences for Radisson Blu, Park Inn by Radisson and Hotel Missoni in EMEA. He was also responsible for setting up and managing joint ventures for real estate investments in emerging markets. He has 20 years of legal experience and has previously held positions including global head of legal at AXA Investment Managers and legal team leader at the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, based in London. He also worked at Willkie, Farr & Gallagher; White & Case; as well as Arthur Andersen International in Paris.