Daily News & Opinion

Next month’s Asia Pacific Incentives and Meetings Event (AIME) has been infused with a little luxury, with a series of premier luxury travel exhibitors expected to showcase their venues and destinations. Among the exhibitors are One & Only Resorts, Daydream Island Resort and the Belmond. On the new additions, director of Talk2 Media & Events Matt Pearce said “Our 2019 event will be a true representation of the growth of luxury travel, as well as the perfect platform to showcase some magical locations.”

Luxury resort Al Baleed Resort Salalah has unveiled a series of bespoke wellness retreats with a unique ‘a la carte’ concept. Led by the resort’s new wellness guru Ratheesh Krishnan, Balance Wellness by Anantara is designed to offer a transformative experience over three, five or seven days. Guests can choose from a wide array of cuisine created by renowned Italian vegan chef Valeria Agnelutto as well as activities such as yoga and hiking the mountainous coast of Salalah.

The results are in and legions of online reviewers have spoken: Ovolo Wolloomooloo is the number one hotel in the country. The design-led hotel was crowned the #1 Hotel in Australia and South Pacific at the TripAdvisor Travellers Choice Awards for Hotels 2019, based on the website’s millions of reviews. On the win, Ovolo CEO and founder Girish Jhunjhnuwala was the picture of joyous gratitude. “I’m all shook up! …A great start to the year”, he said.

For the second year in a row, AccorHotels has taken up the title of Accommodation Partner for the Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras Festival. To celebrate the continued partnership, Pullman Sydney Hyde Park’s associate director of sales and marketing, Gavin Loveday, aka Shebeast, will paint a rainbow across the hotel’s driveway. In addition, AccorHotels will host an array of Mardi Gras Festival talent at its hotels and invite all its Sydney CBD hotels to animate their lobbies with activations.

Less than a year since the launch of its upscale brand voco, IHG has signed the first new-build hotel under the brand in South East Asia: voco Bangkok Sukhumvit 11. The 300-room hotel, which is set to open in 2021, will offer a rooftop restaurant and bar, swimming pool and meeting facilities that can accommodate up to 400 guests. The lively Sukhumvit area offers easy access to an array of dining and entertainment options.

Five general managers have been appointed across some of Marriott International’s newest Australian properties. The appointments include Damon Page, who will head up the hotly anticipated W Melbourne, Stephen Morahan, who will venture south to lead The Tasman, a Luxury Collection Hotel, Hobart, Dario Orsini, who will go west to work at The Ritz-Carlton Perth, Harry Singh, who will take up the post at Element Melbourne Richmond and Andrew Wright, who will join the team at Aloft Perth.

The Cairns Convention Centre was responsible for generating more than $80 million towards the regional economy last year, a study of delegate spending and travel patterns has found. Additionally, more than 133,784 room nights were created, and delegate spend averaged $3500. The study also found that 81 per cent of delegates from overseas had not been to Cairns before, and that 66 per cent vowed to return to the region for a holiday within the next five years.

Following the launch of its Sydney office in October 2017, global live brand storytelling agency INVNT, the creative force behind events such as Xerocon Brisbane and TEDxSydney, has announced the opening of its second APAC branch in Singapore. On the expansion, CEO of INVNT Scott Cullather said “We are committed to continuing to create a global infrastructure for our clients so that our tribe of wicked smart INVNTrs can strategically, creatively and logistically support them to achieve their objectives.”