Northstar

COUNTRY FOCUS www.travelweeklyweb.com Tune Hotels celebrates 2014 with new openings New hotels are located in Davao City and Bekasi Timur. KUALA LUMPUR – International value hotel group Tune Hotels has opened of two new properties – Tune Hotel Davao in the Philippines and Tune Hotel Bekasi in Indonesia. The 155-room Tune Hotel Davao, located at J.P. Laurel Avenue in Davao City, the Philippines welcomed its first guests on Tuesday 17 December 2013 while Tune Hotel Bekasi, with 157 rooms and located at Blu Plaza, Jl. Chairil Anwar 27-36 in Bekasi Timur, Indonesia opened for business Thursday 19 December 2013. Said Mark Lankester, Group CEO of Tune Hotels, "We have two hotels opening just days apart in two of the most vibrant economies in Asean and this surely is a big cause to celebrate for Tune Hotels. Both Indonesia and Philippines are great markets for us and our rapid expansion in both countries signifies their importance." Tune Hotels now has seven hotels in operation in the Philippines and six in Indonesia. Mark Lankester, Group CEO, Tune Hotels The group also plans to open three more hotels in Indonesia and another in the Philippines in early 2014. Elsewhere, Tune Hotels has 11 hotels in operation in Malaysia, four in Thailand, five in the UK and one each in Australia, India and Japan. It has a total of 40 hotels available for booking on its website www.tunehotels.com. Tune Hotels has so far hosted over five million guests. It pioneered the "pay-as-youuse" concept that has become hugely popular among smart travellers from across the world. Under the concept, guests only pay for room rates with the option of adding on other amenities like air-conditioning, towels and toiletries, in-room Wi-Fi and satellite TV service to keep costs down, reduce waste and save energy. All Tune Hotels feature space-efficient, streamlined rooms focusing on high-quality basics: 5-star beds and powerful hot showers. The strategically located hotels provide housekeeping services, electronic keycard access into rooms, extensive CCTV systems, and no access into the main lobby without a keycard past midnight for extra security. Tune Hotels is part of Tune Group, a lifestyle business conglomerate co-founded by Tan Sri Tony Fernandes and Datuk Kamarudin Meranun, who are the Group CEO and Executive Chairman respectively of Asia's largest low cost carrier AirAsia. Malaysian and Indonesian LCCs battle for supremacy Ten additional LCCs expected to launch in 2014. SINGAPORE – Malaysian and Indonesian airlines are racing through the skies at breakneck speed leading the charge to rule the Southeast Asia's Low Cost Carrier (LCC) market, translating into huge savings on airfares and a flurry of promotional offers for travellers. With more than 30 individual Asian LCC partnerships options currently displayed on Wego (the leading travel metasearch site in the Asia Pacific and Middle East), Chief Flights Officer Dean Wicks weighs in on the record boom in Asia's LCC sector. "Malaysia appears to be edging ahead with Air Asia and its six regional carriers that operate under the Air Asia brand, each of which are among the ten largest individual LCCs in the Asia Pacific," said Wicks. "Air Asia currently own 520 aircraft 10 | ■ TRAVELWEEKLY ASIA | JANUARY 2014 Dean Wicks, Chief Flights Officer, Wego (including orders) largest, however overtaken in fleet operated Lion Air and are currently the they're about to be number by Indonesian who have 721 aircraft (including orders)," he added. "While Lion Air is well known in Indonesia's domestic market, the carrier will require a huge investment commitment to grow its brand awareness and gain comparative market share in Air Asia's well established regions. It will be interesting to see who will get the lion share of air space in Asia." "Ten additional LCCs will launch during 2014 and with the planned expansion and additional aircraft by existing players, competition for South East Asian skies is about to become intense," observed Wicks. "All of which is very good news for the tourism and aviation industry in every region, and most of all, exciting times for the traveller as airlines battle it out to have you secure a seat on their new aircrafts." www.travelweeklyweb.com

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