MANILA — With medical tourism on the rise throughout Southeast Asia, Sofitel Philippine Plaza has jettisoned the traditional spa playbook, teamed with one of the country’s most renowned wellness experts and opened the doors on a health and aesthetic institute, the first inside a hotel in Asia. “Manila is a tremendous destination for international travelers...
TOKYO — Palace Hotel Tokyo joined elite company this month after Travel + Leisure recognized the Marunouchi property as ‘Best Hotel, 100 or More Rooms’ in its annual Design Awards. Citing the hotel for its “understated luxury,” its “traditional grandeur” and “sense of sophisticated restraint,” the hotel won top honours in its category and is...
URI, Switzerland — GHM, the hospitality management group that pioneered some of Asia’s top luxury hotels and beach resorts, this week announced that its first ski resort is on track for a Winter 2013/2014 opening in Uri, Switzerland. Nestled in the Urseren Valley at the foot of some of the country’s most exhilarating ski slopes,...
SINGAPORE — Upscale hotel management group GHM has reinforced its sales and marketing foundation by adding a pair of seasoned industry professionals to the mix. Last week, Katharina Kustos assumed the role of director of sales and marketing for both The Chedi Club Tanah Gajah and The Legian on Bali, while Debbie Chee took over...
Duke University’s Fuqua School of Business says you, hoteliers, are going to spend one of out every five marketing dollars on social media within five years. Right now, you’re spending almost one of every ten dollars on social media. Coca Cola’s spending, for example, is going to jump from 10% to 25% within five years....
BEIJING — Ahn Luh, a Chinese hotel management group with plans to open luxury properties in key cities in China, including Chengdu, Shenzhen, Beijing and Tibet, over the next few years, has appointed its first CEO. Akira Moreno, currently the Vice President of Development and Pre-opening Services for GHM, takes on the new responsibility while...
LUANG PRABANG, Laos —Luang Prabang's Villa Maly and its upstream sister property, Kamu Lodge Experience, welcomed a new general manager last week as parent company Apple Tree Group put Axel de Boynes in charge of the group’s Laotian hospitality properties from Feb. 14. Since 2009, the group has also operated a lunch and dinner cruise...
CHIANG MAI, Thailand – Three years after joining GHM as executive assistant manager at The Chedi Muscat, Andy Kunz is trading the sands of Arabia for a riverside perch in one of Thailand’s most compelling destinations Kunz succeeds Stefan Noll as general manager of the GHM property when Noll departs for cooler climes and a...
The publisher of a prominent magazine once sketched out for me the ways and means of a PR agency he once knew. Describing the principals at a cocktail party, he described “her in that corner with a glass of white” and “him in that corner with a glass of red.” I was thinking about this...
HANOI, Vietnam — The Sofitel Legend Metropole Hanoi appointed a new executive assistant manager this month, hiring Julie Marie-Anne Bruley to head up its rooms division. Bruley’s post at the Metropole comes after a two-year sabbatical during which she achieved her Executive MBA from the European School ESCP. She complemented those studies with additional coursework...
