Govt move to reduce functions won’t hurt hotels much

WHILE certain quarters in the hospitality sector are making a hue and cry over the Government's recent move to reduce its functions at hotels, the situation may not be as bleak as painted, judging from the views of industry observers.

According to the Malaysian Association of Hotels (MAH), three- and four-star hotels have lost about RM120mil in revenue up to the middle of July since the Government issued a directive on June 9 to its departments and agencies to reduce the number of events at hotels.

Executive director B. Sarjit Singh said the association was appealing to the Government “to be more relaxed” on the ruling.

“We have written to the Tourism Minister asking her to help rectify the circular to civil servants to stop using hotels for functions,” he said,

Kumar Tharmalingam

The minister indicated she would take up the matter, but there has been no result as yet, he said.

Something that may weaken MAH's argument is the huge growth in foreign tourist arrivals that has boosted hotel occupancy and average room rate growth this year so far.

Occupancy rates in Kuala Lumpur for the second quarter ending June 30 stood at 74%, up from 66.5% in the first quarter.

Average room rates have grown to RM221 per night for the second quarter from RM168 in the first quarter.

However, Sarjit Singh said three- and four-star hotels that depended on government functions for up to 70% of revenue were currently seeing a dilution in revenue.

If the situation were prolonged, he said there was a possibility of the industry reducing its manpower and not recruiting more staff.

At the same time, with high fuel prices and inflation, hotels were seeing a rise in operating costs.

For instance, electricity rates for hotels had gone up 26% in June, he said.

Inflation was also beginning to hurt domestic tourism that was also a substantial component of earnings, he added.

However, continuing high occupancy and average room rates have led property consultants to conclude otherwise.

Property and real estate consultants Hall Chadwick Asia Sdn Bhd chairman Kumar Tharmalingam sees only the “top 10 hotels” being impacted by the austerity drive.

Previndran Singhe

But even so, five-star hotels are currently benefiting from a tourism boom continuing from the past 18 months to two years.

“There isn't such a significant loss. Maybe a slight drop but not too severe,” Tharmalingam said.

“Despite the Government's austerity drive, it would still need to hold functions,” he said.

He added that a more likely scenario was for government departments to switch from five-star venues to three- and four-star venues.

“Of the 36,000 (hotel) rooms available in Kuala Lumpur, fewer than 10,000 are five-star,” Tharmalingam said.

“Three- and four-star, and older hotels in the city would be the beneficiaries,” he said.

At the same time, the private sector would still need to do business at hotels, he said.

Private sector conference budgets might rise, as companies need to spend more on marketing on concerns of a downturn.

Zerin Properties chief executive officer Previndran Singhe was equally bullish on the sector.

“Tourism and hospitality industries in Asia are growing at a whopping 10% annually, four percentage points higher than the world average.

“Among Asian countries, Malaysia recorded one of the highest growth rates at 20%.”

He said Malaysia was among the tourist magnets of the region with soaring tourist arrivals.

A survey showed that in the first five months this year, Malaysia registered tourist arrival growth of 23% compared with the previous corresponding period.

China showed a 5.6% increase, while tourist arrivals in Hong Kong, Singapore and Thailand were up 9.5%, 12% and 15% respectively.

Singhe said there were clear indications of future success of the hotels and resorts industry in Asia, with a projected 1.6 billion international travellers to the region by 2020, almost twice last year's figures.

“Although it is fair to assume that this rate of growth cannot be sustained due to the increases in fuel prices and other 'mega crises', the number of potential travellers is so huge that the long-term growth prospects will remain substantial by any measure,” he added.

What is also interesting to note, according to Singhe, is that tourism profitability in Asia has also improved significantly and is already exceeding that achieved in Europe and the Middle East.

“In addition, 18 Asia-Pacific countries are expected to receive US$110bil in additional tourism revenue over the next three years,” he said.

Source : STAR
[tags : malaysiahotelnews hotels malaysia resorts news travel tourism travel vmy2008]

InterContinental profit rises 29% in first half

The world’s largest hotelier InterContinental Hotels Plc reported yesterday a 29% rise in first-half operating profit, but said growth had slowed in the second quarter, particularly in the United States.

The British group, which operates InterContinental, Crowne Plaza and Holiday Inn hotels, posted first-half operating profit from continuing operations of US$284mil, in line with analysts’ range of US$281mil — US$290mil and a mean forecast of US$285mil.

The hotelier, which earns nearly 70% of its profit in the United States, said revenue per available room (RevPAR), a key industry measure, grew 4% in the first half, but then slowed to 3.4% in July and only 1.5% in the United States.

“Generally, RevPAR growth slowed through the second quarter, and market conditions have become more challenging, particularly in the US,” said chief executive Andrew Cosslett in a results statement.

The InterContinental Hotel, Park Lane in London - Reuters

Last month, US-based hoteliers warned of soft US demand in 2008 and into 2009 with Marriott International and Sheraton-owned Starwood seeing a slowing US economy leading to US weakness in the second quarter.

InterContinental, which operates just over 4,000 hotels around the world, said it had exceeded its three-year rooms growth target six months ahead of schedule with 60,490 rooms added since June 2005.

Its half-year dividend rose 6% to 12.2 US cents.


Source : STAR
[tags : malaysiahotelnews hotels malaysia resorts news travel tourism travel vmy2008]

Kota Kinabalu International Airport to open tomorrow

The RM1.4bil makeover of the Kota Kinabalu International Airport is one step closer to completion – the new main terminal will become operational tomorrow.

Malaysia Airports senior general manager Datuk Azmi Murad said operations at the existing terminal would be transferred to the new RM720mil building at 12.01am.

He said the new Terminal 1 is capable of handling up to 3,200 passengers per hour during peak periods as it has 64 check-in counters for international and domestic flights as well as 17 aircraft parking bays.

An interior view of the new Kota Kinabalu international airport terminal that include elements indigenous to Sabah such as a column heads resembling the traditional wakid baskets.

Azmi noted that elements indigenous to Sabah had been built into the interior of the terminal with the design of column heads inspired by the wakid or traditional baskets used by the Kadazandusun and Murut communities.

“Ethnic patterns of the Rungus and Bajau communities have also been incorporated into the way the floor tiles were laid out,” he told a media briefing at the new terminal building yesterday.

He said the old terminal that had been used since the 1980s would be demolished and rebuilt by mid-2009. It will be integrated with the new building, doubling the floor space to more than 100,000 sq m and be used mainly for domestic arrivals and departures.

Azmi said 4.3 million passengers used the airport last year, making it one of the busiest after KL International Airport. In comparison, the number of passengers passing through the Kuching and Penang airports last year was about three million.

For this year, Malaysia Airports was expecting up to 4.6 million passengers would pass through Kota Kinabalu International Airport, which has the capacity of handling up to nine million passengers annually.

“Going by an average growth of between 5% and 8% in passenger volume annually, we expect the terminal to reach its capacity in about eight to 10 years,” Azmi said, adding that there was still room for expansion.

The airport's redevelopment also included the construction of a low-cost carrier terminal that opened last year and the extension of the runway to 3,780m and a full-length taxiway scheduled to be completed next year.

Source : STAR
[tags : malaysiahotelnews hotels malaysia resorts news travel tourism travel vmy2008]

Firefly takes delivery of new ATR72-500 aircraft

Firefly has taken delivery of its new ATR72-500 turbo-propeller aircraft with its first flight between Subang airport and Kota Baru.

The airline is hoping that the aircraft, which arrived here yesterday after a four-day flight from Toulouse in France, will boost its efficiency.

Firefly, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Malaysia Airlines (MAS), is replacing its three Fokker-50s with ATR72-500 planes which run on 40% less fuel and are more cost-effective.

Its managing director Eddy Leong said he hoped to reduce cost by 20%.

“This would be primarily due to fuel efficiency.

“The 72-seater ATR will also be able to carry 22 more passengers than the Fokker-50, even though most of the charges for both planes (such as landing charges and parking charges) are almost the same,” he told reporters.

Also present to welcome the new aircraft was Transport Minister Datuk Ong Tee Keat and MAS managing director and Firefly chairman Datuk Seri Idris Jala.

Leong said another five were expected to arrive next year, and a further 10 in 2010.

Leong also announced the launching of new routes from Penang to Medan and Banda Aceh, and from Subang to Pekanbaru, Johor Baru and Koh Samui in October.

Source : STAR
[tags : malaysiahotelnews hotels malaysia resorts news travel tourism travel vmy2008]

CIMB links up with MAS

CIMB Group and Malaysia Airlines System Bhd (MAS) have teamed up to enable customers of the country’s second largest commercial bank to pay for their flight tickets directly through the CIMB Clicks, the bank’s Internet portal.

Once the flight booking has been confirmed at MAS website, customers will be directed to the payment page and from there they can select their CIMB account to pay for the purchases.

Payments made via the portal are ­debited automatically from the customer’s savings or current account in real time, said Peter England, CIMB Bank Bhd head of retail banking.

“We are not charging any interest nor service fees for this convenience,” he said.

To date, CIMB has over 250 bill payment facilities available on the portal, which its customers can access anywhere in the world, 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

Source : STAR
[tags : malaysiahotelnews hotels malaysia resorts news travel tourism travel vmy2008]

More tourists visiting Malaysia

MALAYSIA saw an increase in tourist arrivals for the first half of the year compared with the same period last year.

Tourism Malaysia recorded 10.9 million tourist arrivals from January to June compared with 10.7 million last year.

“The target given to us was 7%. Even though we only achieved 2%, there was still an increase in the number of tourists arriving,” Tourism Malaysia director-general Datuk Mirza Mohd Taiyab said during a press conference announcing the upcoming Malaysia International Travel Mart (MITM) Travel Fair.

Mirza said although there seemed to be fewer Middle Eastern tourists, the numbers had grown by 3%.

A team: (From left) Tourism Malaysia domestic promotion division director Musa Yusof, Mirza, Ng and MCTA committee members David Lai and Tai Poh Kim at the press conference.

“Over the last four years, we have encouraged Arab tourists to go to other parts of Malaysia other than Kuala Lumpur. We also encourage them to come at other times and not only during summer,” he said.

Tourism Malaysia would be taking up 10 booths at the fair organised by the Malaysian Chinese Tourism Association (MCTA).

Mirza said visitors would be able to find out more about the Xcape holiday packages that were part of the Zoom! Malaysia campaign.

This campaign aims to zero in on specific places of interest in the country to encourage people to travel within Malaysia instead of visiting other countries.

MCTA president Chay Ng said almost 75% of the products at the fair would focus on domestic and inbound tourism.

Tourism organisations from Turkey, Uzbekistan, Macau, Hong Kong, Taiwan, South Africa, China and Hangzhou would also take part.

A new attraction this year would be the bridal corner and soon-to-be-wed couples and newlyweds can check out honeymoon packages.

The fair will be on from Aug 15 to 17 at the Putra World Trade Centre, Kuala Lumpur, from 10am to 9pm.

Entrance fee is RM3 per entry for adults. Senior citizens and children under 12 enter free.

For more information, visit www.mcta.com.my.

Source : STAR
[tags : malaysiahotelnews hotels malaysia resorts news travel tourism travel vmy2008]

Malaysia's MICE bureau to operate end-2008

MALAYSIA'S Convention & Exhibition Bureau (MYCEB) is scheduled to be operational by the end of this year.

The bureau is expected to play a big role in bringing more international MICE (meetings, incentives, conventions and exhibitions) business to Malaysia through focused marketing and promotional efforts.

Tourism Malaysia director-general, Datuk Mirza Muhammad Taiyab, said it would help to identify and bid for suitable and lucrative events for Malaysia.

The bureau will comprise members of the private and government sector. It will also lend support and give confidence to local associations and MICE planners to bid for international conferences and congresses.

DiscoveryMICE president and CEO, Mr Lee Choon Loong, said: "The bureau, comprising both private and public sectors, is the perfect platform for companies to work on some common strategies and directions to stimulate the MICE business in Malaysia."

World Avenues executive director, Mr Ally Bhoonee, said the bureau would add credibility to Malaysia as a MICE destination. He added: "A professional establishment such as this one will help the country bid for big congresses four to six years down the road. With dedicated staff, there will be a chance of developing working relationships and continuity in serving foreign MICE organisers and incentive houses."

Source : TTG
[tags : malaysiahotelnews hotels malaysia resorts news travel tourism travel vmy2008]

US pastor paints Beijing hotel rooms in protest

An American pastor checked into upscale hotels in the Olympics host city this week, filmed himself painting two of his rooms with slogans like "Beijing 2008 Our world Our nightmare'' and then disappeared. Without paying.

Eddie Romero's unusual protest, now making the rounds on YouTube, shows that foreigners can still sneak through the tight security measures China imposed to keep potential troublemakers away from the games, which start Friday.

The net tightened even more Thursday.

A Hong Kong lawmaker said immigration officials deported three U.S.-based Chinese democracy activists after denying them entry to the territory, which is the site of Olympic equestrian events.

A second protest by three Americans in Tiananmen Square, including anti-abortion activist the Rev. Patrick Mahoney, was stopped by security agents who led them away.

Locals who threaten to take some of the shine off the games get tougher treatment.

At least two women who have protested being evicted from their homes near Tiananmen were rounded up late Wednesday and early Thursday and taken to a police station, one of them told The Associated Press.

In a telephone call, Zhang Ma said she was being held with the other woman, Zhang Wei, and several other residents but could not give other details.

She hung up quickly, saying she was being watched and was not supposed to talk to reporters.

Romero's friends said the preacher was in hiding, but planned to surrender to Chinese authorities as soon as the Olympics end Aug. 24.

They said he began thinking about his elaborate, one-man protest of China's human-rights abuses when Beijing was selected as the host for the 2008 Olympics seven years ago.

On Tuesday, in a sometimes unsteady hand - he had to teach himself how to paint - the California-based pastor splashed the walls of his two hotel rooms with demands for the release of five Chinese activists.

He slashed pillows and staged mock killings with stuffed people propped on the bed, red paint spattered like blood on the headboard. "One down,'' Romero whispers, looking into the video camera.

Bespectacled and gray-haired, he holds up a finger in his transformed Novotel Peace Hotel room. "One down.''

Romero, who appears to be alone, tells the camera he doesn't want to disrupt the games.

He talks about religious freedom for groups that remain highly sensitive with the Chinese government - Tibetan Buddhists, Uighur Muslims, the Falun Gong spiritual movement.

"Freedom's a scary thing for them, and by them I mean the Chinese communists,'' he says.

Before starting work on the second hotel room, he prays.

After finishing his protests, Romero, who is a part-time philosophy professor at Mt. San Antonio Community College in Walnut, California, taped the door keys to the rooms' "Do Not Disturb'' tags, hung them outside and had supporters tell journalists by e-mail where to find them.

The four-star Novotel and the Traders Hotel, both part of international chains, said the case was in the hands of police.

A Beijing police spokeswoman said she knew nothing of it.

"We really don't understand why he did this,'' said Lanny Liu, communications manager at Traders. Romero apparently slipped out of room 417 before dawn Wednesday, leaving damage that Liu said cost nearly US$1,500 (euro978) to clean up.

"We just want to find the person and ask him to pay the bill.''

At the Novotel, room 1602 already was restored Thursday afternoon, with machines drying the carpet and a smell of cleaning fluid in the air.

Downstairs, manager Marc Cherrier spread his hands and shrugged hugely. "I have no idea,'' he said of what happened.

Romero's friends said he had planned to paint four hotel rooms, but skipped two because of security concerns.

At one hotel, he found the lobby full of security agents and left after telling officials he had walked into the wrong building.

At the second, he found two security agents searching his room, but convinced them there was nothing suspicious about the paint he had.

"That was a close one,'' he says later into his camera.

The protest is heartfelt, said Bob Fu, leader of the Texas-based China Aid Association, which is among a group of Romero supporters monitoring the protest from California.

"This is not like middle-age crisis, craziness,'' Fu said.

"He's very genuine, a caring, loving pastor. And very creative.''

Another friend, British-based pastor Tony Thomas, said Romero had no special connection to China, but he had a vision for the project in 2001 after watching Beijing win the right to host the games.

Thomas said Romero hatched the protest plan - which he eventually named "The Gadfly Project'' - after consulting with a few close friends at his Hacienda Christian Fellowship church and talking with American activists who campaign for Chinese rights.

"It's gone quite amazingly well,'' Thomas said.

"From the outset, it was considered an almost impossible thing to happen unless God was in it.''

The friends said Romero was occasionally logging on to make blog posts while in hiding.

He speaks little Chinese, but has dodged authorities so far, and even managed to shop at a Wal-Mart.

"Can you believe it? I'm in Sam's Club in Beijing!'' Romero says in one Internet posting.

"Will be relieved when all is complete,'' he says in another.

Watch the Video of him paiting his Room below:

His Blog : http://exodus8one.org/blog/


Source : STAR
[tags : malaysiahotelnews hotels malaysia resorts news travel tourism travel vmy2008]