Trip.com Group said Chinese tourists flocked to the Middle East during the eight-day Golden Week holiday. After rolling out free visas and increasing flight capacity, Dubai was a big beneficiary. Trip.com told Bloomberg that year-on-year visitation to the region climbed three digits, again a comparison we don’t understand why it gets so much traction since the Zero Covid policy from China had 2021 and 2022 not even worth comparing to. Trip.com also said Thailand was a popular destination as they granted free visas to Chinese tourists. Singapore, leading the region in flight capacity recovery, was also popular during Golden Week.
Plans were unveiled for a hotel to be developed on the former Canberra Bowling Club site in Braddon, Australia, showing a design inspired by the natural form of a canyon. Bulum Group bought the 8,732 square meter site and wants to build a hotel up to six stories tall on part of the site, with the rest to be developed later.
Accor plans 30 new properties in India over the next three to five years. New Delhi, Chandigarh, Mohali, Bhubaneswar, and Amritsar are some of the locations named by the company’s VP of Operations for India and South Asia. They are looking at tier 2 and tier 3 cities as Accor believes the rates in smaller cities are better than those in the big cities. Currently, Accor has nine of its brands in India, covering 61 hotels and 11,500 rooms. But it plans to introduce more, including their Swissotel, Movenpick, and Handwritten Collection brands.
Suba Group of Hotels announced the opening of their third hotel in Madhya Pradesh, Click Hotel in Pithampur. Devi Ahilya Bai International Airport is less than an hour away from the hotel. Click Hotel, Pithampur is a boutique luxury hotel that includes 63 contemporary rooms and suites and an in-house multi-cuisine restaurant.
Lemon Tree Hotels signed a license agreement for a 60-room property in Jamnagar, Gujarat, India, under their Lemon Tree Hotel brand. The hotel is expected to be operational by FY 2025 and will be managed by Carnation Hotels, the management arm of Lemon Tree Hotels. The Lemon Tree Hotel, Jamnagar, Gujarat, will feature 60 well-appointed rooms, restaurants, a fitness center, a conference room, and other public areas. The hotel is located about 101 kilometers from the Rajkot airport.
Lemon Tree Hotels also announced the inauguration of Aurika, Mumbai Skycity, the latest addition to its Aurika Hotels & Resorts upscale brand. This is India’s largest inventory hotel in India with 669 aesthetically designed rooms and suites. It’s near Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport (Terminal 2).
The latest in the moves OYO Hotels is making include a report that they are in talks with Apollo Global Management about refinancing a $660 million loan that is due in 2026. Bloomberg had said OYO is trying to extend its debt reduction timeline.
21 Carpenter, a heritage boutique hotel, is slated to open its doors late in the fourth quarter. The property is located between the nightlife of Clarke Quay and the old-world charm of Chinatown. The property is being developed by conservation specialists 8M Real Estate. The hotel is a member of Design Hotels, affiliated with Marriott Bonvoy.
DoubleDragon Corp from the Philippines is gearing up for the opening of its Hotel101 Global hotel headquarters in the heart of Singapore’s financial district. Located in the PLUS Building in Raffles Place, the Hotel101 Global office will serve as the group’s main hub for its ambitious plans to build hotels in over 100 countries by 2040.
The stock market watchdog of Bangladesh has approved Best Holdings’ proposal to collect Tk 3.5 billion through an initial public offering. Best Holdings is the owner of Le Meridien Dhaka. They plan to use the proceeds from the IPO to extend their hospitality business outside the capital. They will invest the proceeds in a project called The Muslin, a chain resort of Marriott’s Luxury Collection in Bhaluka.
