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www.travelweekly-asia.com | 3 Published by NORTHSTAR TRAVEL MEDIA SINGAPORE PTE LTD SINGAPORE 91 Bencoolen Street, #05-08 Sunshine Plaza, Singapore 189652 • TEL: +65-6801-0450 FAX: +65-6801-0469 BEIJING Room 024, Building 8, Qijiayuan Diplomatic Compound, No.9 Jianguomenwai Street, Chaoyang District 100600, China • TEL: +8610-8532 3611 | FAX: +8610-8532 5293 SHANGHAI Room 2553, The Headquarters Building, No.168 Central XiZhang Road, Shanghai 200001, China • TEL: +8621-5179 8360 | FAX: +8621-5179 8360 Travel Weekly Asia is published on a monthly basis by Northstar Travel Media Singapore Pte Ltd. Located at 91 Bencoolen Street, #05-08 Sunshine Plaza, Singapore 189652. All rights reserved. Volume 8 Issue 7 Please address all subscription mail to the above address, Fax +852 3020 5794, or email travelweeklyasia@asia-ad.net. 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Kemp CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER Lisa Cohen PRESIDENT, TRAVEL GROUP Robert G. Sullivan EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENT, DIGITAL MEDIA Thomas Cintorino EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENT/GROUP PUBLISHER David Blansfi eld SENIOR VICE PRESIDENT/EDITORIAL DIRECTOR Lori Cioffi SENIOR VICE PRESIDENT, EDITORIAL DIRECTOR Arnie Weissmann SENIOR VICE PRESIDENT, HUMAN RESOURCES Janine L. Bavoso SENIOR VICE PRESIDENT, PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT & PRODUCTION Roberta Muller VICE PRESIDENT, INFORMATION PRODUCTS GROUP Sheila Rice VICE PRESIDENT, IT INFRASTRUCTURE AND OPERATIONS Rich Mastropietro VICE PRESIDENT, DATABASE PRODUCTS Elizabeth Koesser TRAVEL WEEKLY EVENTS PRESIDENT, TRAVEL GROUP Robert G. Sullivan SENIOR VICE PRESIDENT, EVENTS, TRAVEL GROUP Alicia Evanko-Lewis TALKING POINT In love with laidback Lisbon Siew Hoon is a traveller who loves to write and a writer who loves to travel. She's combined her two loves into a career in travel journalism that has seen her launch several travel industry titles and conferences, including WIT. She loves the change and discovery that comes with travel and the business. It is funny how, like with handbags, destinations too have their trends. For example, these days, you will see people everywhere carrying Anello backpacks – these bags aren't particularly good to look at, they are unwieldy and cumbersome to use in my opinion, but suddenly it seems everywhere you look, they are on some traveller's back. Portugal fi rst came to my consciousness through social media. Suddenly it seemed all my "friends" were going there and posting lovely pictures of its buildings, streets and food. And so when I was thinking of a summer holiday this year, Portugal became the IT destination for me. And it seems everyone else's. Speaking to Luis Canto, whose family runs Presstur, the Portuguese travel trade publication, the tourism rush to his country began only about two years ago. "Suddenly we started seeing a growth in inbound tourism, from everywhere – the U.S., other parts of Europe and increasingly Asia," he said. (In 2015, tourist numbers broke a record. That year, according to Statistics Portugal, the number of foreign tourists reached 10.18 million, a rise of 10% on the previous year.) Indeed, the day Luis and I met, Portugal's tourism folks were in Macau promoting their destination ahead of the fi rst direct fl ights to be launched by Capital Airlines between Lisbon and Beijing on July 26. The three-times-a-week direct service will undoubtedly be the start of big changes for this relatively small country of 11 million people. In many ways, it felt like my fi rst trip to Europe all those years ago when I visited places like Bern and Milan – when being Asian was a novelty and people wondered where I was from and everyone spoke Japanese to me. In Lisbon, I stayed at the AVANI, the brand owned by Thailand's Minor Hotel Group. In February 2016, the group controlled by hotelier William Heinecke, made its biggest ever acquisition, paying 294 million euros (US$337m) to buy 14 Tivoli hotels – 12 in Portugal and two in Brazil – belonging to the collapsed Espirito Santo Group. It was the largest ever hospitality deal in Portugal. In the year past, they've renovated and upgraded the former Tivoli hotel to refl ect the AVANI look and feel – although there's still another hotel called Tivoli nearby. Hardware-wise, its public areas are contemporary and modern, but it is in no way comparable to the AVANI experience you get when you stay at the Bangkok property. It's a common challenge facing Asian hotel brands when they expand outside the region – how to recreate similar levels of service and experience and yet keep the sense of place specifi c to a location. There are a couple of theories as to why Portugal has become the IT destination for now. One, it is considered a relatively safe haven in Europe given all that's happening elsewhere on the continent; two, it is incredibly good value and three, it is relatively unspoilt and undeveloped. It is easy to fall in love with Lisbon. It's not only beautiful to look at, but it is also charming. It has a distinctly laidback feel, the people are friendly and welcoming, English is widely spoken, more than in Spain or Italy, and it is easy to get around – either by foot, bus, tram or tuk-tuks. My advice – go before it gets too hot. TALKING POINT

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