Mandai to be Transformed into an Integrated Nature and Wildlife destination

The Mandai nature precinct will be home to two new wildlife parks - a Bird Park and Rainforest Park, adding to the existing attractions comprising of the Singapore Zoo, River Safari and Night Safari.  The Singapore government is also considering the addition of hotels, leisure amenities and F&B establishments in Mandai as part of its strategic plan to develop the area as a nature tourism hub. The hospitality scene in Singapore is set to evolve with the forecasted increase in tourism arrivals and the provision of a wide range of eco-accommodation options, such as permanent tented structures, cottages and family rooms for visitors to have a more holistic wildlife experience. Subject to approvals, the new developments at Mandai will be completed in phases from 2020 onwards

Shangri-La Announces the Opening of Shangri-La Hambantota Resort & Spa in Sri Lanka

Hong Kong based Shangri-La opened the Shangri-La Hambantota Resort & Spa in Hambantota, Sri Lanka. Spread over 145 acres with an investment of US$120 million, the beach front resort features 300 rooms, including 21 suites, four restaurants, a spa, a health club, three swimming pools, an 18-hole golf course and approximately 1,603 square meters of meeting space. Base category rooms measure 48 square meters while suites range from 96 to 240 square meters. Located 35 kilometers southeast of Hambantota’s Mattala Rajapaksa International Airport, the resort is the first of the two Shangri-La hotels scheduled to open in Sri Lanka and the group’s third Indian Ocean resort.

Bangkok’s Compass Hospitality Group Signed Its First Hotel Management Contract in Scotland

Headquartered in Bangkok, Compass Hospitality Group, has secured its first hotel management contract in Scotland and its ninth property in the United Kingdom. The group has signed a 10-year management agreement to operate the 82-room Columba Inverness Hotel. The hotel is owned by Singapore-based Seacare Hotel Group. Compass Hospitality Group entered the United Kingdom in 2015 and has since expanded its portfolio to nine hotels with funding support from the Royal Bank of Scotland. According to Harmil Singh, President and CEO of Compass Hospitality, “We are gaining a strong foothold here in the United Kingdom as we strengthen our strategy of securing further management contracts and acquiring a number of reputable hotels that are evenly spread across the United Kingdom.” Last month, the group signed an agreement to run the Hawkwell House Hotel in Oxford. Compass Hospitality Group also operates a total of 40 hotels in Thailand and Malaysia.

Sarovar Hotels Opens the Seyfert Sarovar Portico in Dehradun, India

Sarovar Hotels launched the Seyfert Sarovar Portico in Dehradun earlier this week. Located approximately 32 kilometers northwest of Dehradun’s Jolly Grant Airport, the hotel features 68 rooms, an all-day dining restaurant, a swimming pool and a fitness center. The hotel also features a 10,000 square feet ballroom in addition to a 25,000 square feet lawn – the largest in the city. Dehradun, located in the Doon Valley on the foothills of Himalayas, is the capital of Uttarakhand, and is famous for its scenic landscape. The city serves as a gateway to other destinations in the state and houses a number of Public Sector Units (PSUs) and renowned educational institutions.

Cambodia’s Top Three Source Markets to Get Better Visa Facilities

Tourism industry leaders in Cambodia welcomed a move by the Ministry of Tourism that will allow Chinese, South Korean and Japanese visitors three-year multiple-entry visas. The visas are valid for 30-days per visit and are expected to be introduced later this year. The move is part of the government’s initiative to promote tourism by offering longer visas to the top three tourist source markets of Cambodia. Kimhean Pich, Founder and CEO of Discover the Mekong, noted that even though the move will result in lower income from visa fees for the authorities, there is a potential for financial gain to be reaped through taxes on higher revenue generated by the tourism industry.

EIH Ltd. Writes Off Stake in Two Hotels in Hyderabad, India

EIH Ltd. has decided to write off its investments in a special purpose vehicle (SPV) for the development of two hotels – the Oberoi and the Trident in Hyderabad. The company has decided to write off its 16% stake, valued at INR41.86 crore, in the joint-venture (JV) company Golden Jubilee Hotels. No reasons have so far been cited for the same. The majority stake in the SPV (83.4%) is owned by Core Hotel Ventures Pvt. Ltd., which in turn is a JV between property developer LN Sharma & Associates, Basil Infrastructure Projects, and Private Equity investors JP Morgan India Property Mauritius Co and Indus Hotel Realty (Mauritius) Ltd. While the Trident hotel in Tower 1 commenced soft operations from September 2013, the Oberoi Hotel was converted into a five-star business hotel-cum-serviced apartment, with the project completion date postponed initially to 2014 and then to 2015. The soft run for a portion of the retail area in Tower 2 started in September 2015, with delays leading to significant cost overruns – from an initial envisaged cost of INR828 crore to INR1,088 crore, and later to INR1,148 crore.

China’s Hotel Pipeline Shows Second Consecutive Quarter of Year-on-Year Decline

According to the latest ‘China Construction Pipeline Trend’ report by Lodging Econometrics (LE), the China pipeline at Q1 2016 stands at 2,448 projects with 549,222 rooms, indicating a decline in projects by 8% and rooms by 1%, on a year-on-year (YOY) basis. Hotels under construction (1,789 projects with 375,638 rooms) constitutes 68% of the pipeline and is down 9% YOY. Reflecting concerns about the slowdown in the economy and the availability of financing, announced projects are evidently slow to commence construction. As a result, the number of projects scheduled to start in the next 12 months (294 projects/71,471 rooms) and those in early planning stages (365 projects/102,113 rooms) have hit new cyclical highs.

Absolute Share Price Performance, as on 2 June 2016