Asia

No doubt the story of this success was already being written when Bernard Mignard and Michel Vincent decided to dedicate their hotel brand to the god of travel and trade, Mercure. How could a hotel with such a name not prosper around the world? Since the first hotel opened in 1974 in Saint-Witz,...

South-East Asia has the wind in its sails on the French market. And at the IFTM trade show, which is fast approaching, the aisles of the Asia zone could well be buzzing even more than at previous editions, surfing on the good news that is coming one after the other for both business travellers and...

Malaysia Airlines has been a loyal customer of Paris airports for decades. The Malaysian airline opened its Paris CDG-Kuala Lumpur DC10 service in 1976. Forty years later, in 2016, the carrier discontinued its service due to financial difficulties and a painful restructuring. All its European routes had been...

Malaysian airlines will now have to refund passengers in full for flights delayed by five hours or more, the country's transport minister, Loke Siew Fook, said a few days ago. These measures are part of the amendments made to the Malaysian Aviation Consumer Protection Code...

Forever the first. And probably for some time to come. Swissôtel Nusantara is the first hotel to open its doors in the new Indonesian capital, which was inaugurated on 17 August. The celebration of the 79th anniversary of the country's independence gave President Joko Widodo the opportunity to put flesh on the bones of his...

Laos has long suffered from being landlocked between China, Vietnam, Thailand and Cambodia. This situation has contributed to its slow economic development. But it has also probably protected it from the throes of forced modernisation on the Asian continent since the 1980s. This can still be seen today in the streets of Vientiane, one of the...

The Hilton group will be signing a number of firsts in the third quarter of this year, with the arrival this summer of its first hotels in Nepal, Laos and East Timor. From July onwards, business travellers to Kathmandu will find a 173-room Hilton hotel designed for corporate meetings, with...

After Geneva recently, and with London to come in early June and the first appearance in Europe of YotelPad, its aparthotel offering, the Yotel brand will be continuing its expansion into the world's major cities in early 2025 in Tokyo, in the Ginza district. It's almost a return to its roots for this concept, which was initially based on the idea of capsule hotels,...

This is a financial sleight of hand by Capital A, the holding company that owns AirAsia, but it will have an impact on the business of all the airlines. And in turn on its customers. Capital A has just approved the transfer of all its airline activities to a new entity: AirAsia Group Sdn Bhd ("AirAsia...

One year after Marriott, IHG has just passed the symbolic milestone of 1,000 hotels in Asia-Pacific, including more than 700 in Greater China alone. Rajit Sukumaran, the British group's managing director for East Asia and the Pacific, hailed this as a "fantastic achievement". To achieve this result, IHG has been able to rely on the attractiveness...

Last year, AAPA reported an increase of 161.0 % in the number of international passengers carried by airlines in the Asia-Pacific region. This represents a combined total of 278.5 million passengers. In terms of revenue passenger kilometres (RPK), demand rose by 131 %, reflecting in particular the strength of short-haul markets. The increase in demand...

How many trips do you make a year? Jean-Benoît Lasselin- I travel almost every week, mostly to destinations within Cambodia or to neighbouring countries. Twice a year I travel to Italy to meet my suppliers. After the Covid period, there was a very strong...

On 13 February, the European Commission announced its agreement to the merger between Korean Air and Asiana Airlines. This decision follows that given by the Japan Fair Trade Commission (JFTC) on 31 January. At that time, the JFTC approved the integration of Asiana into Korean Air on condition that competition was preserved. The JFTC considered that...

At the last ASEAN (Association of South-East Asian Nations) tourism trade fair, tourism ministers, hoteliers and tour operators regularly voiced one criticism: the lack of air capacity and connectivity. This is a factor that affects flight prices and the ease with which travellers can...

Will China end up giving lessons to the rest of the world for opening its borders to travellers? Practically every month, China's leaders announce new measures to simplify entry for international travellers. China recently abolished the requirement for visas for a period of one year for a dozen...

AUSTRALIA Melbourne 1 Hotel Melbourne (2024)Set on the banks of the Yarra River, this new hotel embodies the arty, eco-friendly spirit of the 1 Hotels chain. By way of regeneration, the luxury brand launched by former Starwood boss Barry Sternlicht is taking part in the Seafarers project. In other words, the metamorphosis of a former industrial...

2024 could see the creation of a mega-airline on the Asian continent, a player that would be the equivalent of a few American or Chinese behemoths. This is what the CEO of Capital A Bhd, Tony Fernandes, revealed earlier this week. Capital A Bhd is the holding company that brings together - in a nutshell - all the airlines...

What is your assessment of tourism in Asia Pacific in 2023, and how do you see 2024? Peter Semone - The effects of the Covid pandemic will have taken longer in Asia Pacific than elsewhere in the world. Not least because many Asian countries didn't really reopen up to foreign tourism until the...

2023 will have confirmed the recovery of air transport according to the consultant OAG, which analyses air capacity in terms of the number of seats offered. As the year draws to a close, OAG reports that airlines will have marketed 5.54 billion seats. This represents a total capacity that is only 3.7% lower than the previous year.

A new Grand Mercure in Bangkok and the debut of the Handwritten Collection in Thailand for Accor, for example, and the arrival of new brands in South-East Asia for Radisson: the Far East remains fertile ground for the major hotel groups. "From mid-range to luxury to lifestyle, Asia offers a wide range of...