Abu Dhabi’s most anticipated event is revving up for its return! From 5th – 8th December, the 2024 Grand Prix will set the stage for an unforgettable weekend, and there’s no better place to immerse yourself in the exhilarating atmosphere than at W Abu Dhabi – Yas Island. Whether you’re relishing the high-speed action from the comfort of a luxurious hotel room or reveling in the vibrant ambiance at the renowned Garage restaurant terrace, W Abu Dhabi offers the ultimate vantage points for this iconic race weekend.
Perched directly on top of Yas Marina Circuit, W Abu Dhabi – Yas Island promises a weekend filled with unparalleled excitement. With seven high-octane venues pulsing with energy, guests can look forward to a mega lineup of entertainment, featuring world-class artists and the Island’s most thrilling parties and brunches. Those staying at the hotel during race weekend or attending the brunch will enjoy complimentary access to Yasalam’s after-race concert of the day showcasing global superstars like Maroon 5 on Friday, Eminem on Saturday, and Muse on Sunday. It’s set to be the hottest weekend of the year, making it essential to secure your spot now and gain exclusive access to the heart of the action!
B.I.G Race Weekend Brunch at Garage restaurant:
Get ready to rev up with the hotel’s four B.I.G brunches, perfectly timed to match each race session for the best experience! With unbeatable views of the track, these brunches are the ultimate way to celebrate in style. With five unique culinary hubs, guests can embark on a culinary journey like no other, all while enjoying spectacular views of the racetrack. Each brunch experience is enhanced with live entertainment, dynamic DJs, and electrifying beats that encapsulate the vibrant spirit of race weekend.
Savor a diverse array of culinary delights, from the finest cuts of meat and rich Middle Eastern aromas to bold Asian dishes and a selection of delightful desserts. With eleven beverage taps throughout the restaurant, guests can enjoy a wide selection of drinks as they cheer for their favorite teams!
The Sunday race day brunch features standout dishes like the Poached Maine Lobster with Dashi Hollandaise and Tobiko, along with a lavish Caviar Station, complete with Blinis and an array of gourmet condiments.
Experience an unparalleled stay
Want to be at the epicenter of the action? W Abu Dhabi – Yas Island offers an unforgettable experience with rooms and suites designed to immerse guests in the thrill of the race. Positioned perfectly overlooking the Yas Marina Circuit, enjoy unparalleled views of the Yas Marina Circuit from chic accommodations, with stunning panoramic scenery through floor-to-ceiling windows.
Wake up to the exhilarating sound of roaring engines and relish the excitement from a private balcony during practice laps, qualifying sessions, and the main race. With a host of luxury amenities at your fingertips, guests are guaranteed an unforgettable experience filled with comfort and adrenaline.
Get The Suite Experience:
Looking for the perfect setting to watch the race with friends or colleagues? W Abu Dhabi – Yas Island offers a range of exclusive hospitality suites featuring private viewing decks for spectacular views of the racetrack. Customize your experience with exclusive food and beverage packages, allowing you to unwind and indulge while enjoying the exhilarating four-day celebration.
The race weekend at W Abu Dhabi – Yas Island is an unmissable event!
Natural Language Processing (NLP) startup Aiello just announced its partnership with Millennium Hotels and Resorts (MHR).
This collaboration aims to redefine standards in the hospitality industry by deploying the AI-powered Aiello Voice Assistant (AVA) across six MHR’s properties in Singapore and Thailand, including Grand Copthorne Waterfront Hotel Singapore, Orchard Hotel Singapore, M Social Hotel Singapore, Studio M Hotel Singapore, M Hotel Singapore City Centre and M Social Hotel Phuket in Thailand.
Leveraging Aiello’s innovative AI technology, this strategic initiative aims not only to enhance the guest experience through personalized, voice-activated services but also to establish new benchmarks for operational efficiency and environmental sustainability.
MHR also unveiled an unboxing video of AVA, demonstrating the AI assistant’s innovative features alongside an interview detailing the collaboration with Aiello for the perusal of its stakeholders.
A high-powered collaboration
Millennium’s interim chief operating officer Saurabh Prakash said: “Millennium Hotels and Resorts distinguishes itself by leveraging cutting-edge technology and is committed to delivering exceptional guest experiences with a Blue Ocean Strategy mindset.
He added that, by embracing Aiello’s AI technology, Millennium takes on a data-driven approach that allows it to better understand guest preferences in order to deliver personalized services whilst unlocking new revenue opportunities.
Aiello co-founder and CEO Vic Shen added, “Through this collaboration, we have demonstrated how our AI solutions can transform hotel management. By creating a bespoke AI database for MHR, alongside a property and corporate dashboard that visualizes AVA and TMS user behavior data, we empower hoteliers to monitor and understand guest interactions anytime and anywhere.
Shen added that, with the addition of a multi-hotel view, MHR gains a comprehensive understanding across properties, enabling data-driven strategies and truly personalized service.
He concluded with: “Together with MHR, we’re leading the digital transformation of the hospitality industry, creating more intelligent and intuitive hotel environments.”
Sparklo, a leader in cleantech solutions, has significantly expanded its production capabilities at its Ras Al Khaimah production unit to meet soaring demand for its revolutionary reverse vending machines, known as Sparklomats. With this expansion, Sparklo’s facility located at Al Hamra Industrial Zone in Ras Al Khaimah Economic Zone (RAKEZ) since 2022 has ramped up to its full planned production capacity of 1,500 units per year, supporting the company’s ambitious growth targets both regionally and globally.
In a record-setting year, Sparklo grew its network installing less than 100 to over 300 Sparklomats across the MENA region, achieving significant expansion from 2023 to 2024. This growth aligns with a staggering 300% increase in app installations and a 1,000% surge in bottle collections, with over 50 million bottles collected in the MENA region to date.
The Ras Al Khaimah facility remains the cornerstone of Sparklo’s global operations. The technology developed here is not only revolutionising recycling across the MENA region but also setting a global standard for sustainability. This expansion is a testament to the emirate’s position as a hub for sustainability and innovation.
Founder and CEO of Sparklo Maxim Kaplevich commented: “We’re proud to be part of RAKEZ as we present Sparklo’s innovative recycling solutions on a global scale. RAKEZ provides an ideal environment for our production facility, enabling us to make an impact both locally and globally in regions without established deposit systems. Our partnerships with key players like ADNOC, Lulu, Dubai Municipality, Carrefour, and the Environment Agency Abu Dhabi demonstrate the UAE’s exceptional ability to unite private and public sectors in pursuit of a more sustainable future. Together, we are driving the world toward a cleaner future, reinforcing the UAE’s role as a leader in sustainable innovation.”
RAKEZ Group CEO Ramy Jallad said, “Sparklo’s expansion is a shining example of how RAKEZ supports innovative companies in achieving remarkable growth and impact. We are proud to be a part of their story and are committed to continuing our support as they work towards making recycling accessible and engaging worldwide.”
The UAE’s commitment to fostering innovation has also been instrumental in Sparklo’s rapid growth, and the company is poised to push the boundaries of what is possible in recycling technology. Currently collecting over 200,000 bottles and cans daily, Sparklo has set ambitious goals to install over 100,000 Sparklomats worldwide by 2030, aiming to collect 5 billion bottles annually. This includes plans to deploy 5,000 Sparklomats across the UAE alone, ensuring comprehensive recycling coverage nationwide. While the MENA region remains its primary focus, Sparklo is also exploring markets in Asia and CIS, with active operations in India, Thailand, Vietnam, Kazakhstan, and Georgia.
The opening discussions of Crew Connect Global, the event currently being held in tandem with Seatrade Cruise Asia in Manila, seek to delve into the different aspects of maritime crewing, as well as the need for cruise and shipping firms to properly invest in human resources.
These discussions were made possible through the partnership between Seatrade Cruise and Seatrade Maritime.
As Seatrade Maritime group director Chris Morley put it: “[It is] said it is a great pleasure to have two parts of the same family back in the same room in a ‘bumper edition’ of these two events.
Along with an overview of the crewing sector in general, discussions also delved into key issues like mentoring, long-term retention, bottlenecks affecting talent acquisition and retention, as well as travel optimisation.
What does the sector look like at the moment?
Holland America Line’s senior director for maritime operations and people Eric Visser pointed out that, when it comes to sourcing for crew members, Southeast Asia is where it’s at.
Visser said: “The Philippines and Indonesia are our main [source] market, [as in these countries the] whole infrastructure is present from training centres to flag state approvals, and more.”
Royal Caribbean Group AVP for talent acquisition Cherece Vina presented a similar opinion, though she pointed out that India and Indonesia were the centres when it came to recruiting crews in the Asia-Pacific. Vina was quick to point out that, in recent years, quite a number of crew members have been recruited from Thailand, Vietnam and South Africa.
For his part, Bernhard Schulte Cruise Services general manager for India Sanjay Kushwara remarked that there are around 90,000 of his countrymen presently working on cruise ships. The Indian government wants to augment this by 20 percent through the opening of more maritime institutes and colleges in the country.
Philippine Transmarine Carriers (PTC) executive director for business development and shipping Katherine Avelino concluded by saying: “Asia will continue to be a good source of talent.”
Training remains an issue
Avelino, however, pointed out the issues presently affecting the talent acquisition process. She cited the crucial difference between life on land and the more hectic life at sea.
She said: “Cruise jobs are [not for those who are overly concerned about work-life balance and mental wellness. They may find] long hours away from their families far from attractive.”
Oceanic Hospitality Training Centre’s training director Michael Wiesner likewise discussed how jobs requiring lower skill competencies are easily filled, but some highly specialised occupations, particularly those aligned with hospitality, wellness, and food & beverage service, can be difficult to fill. In which case, he recommended that cruise lines consider training up staff or work closely with colleges and universities offering aligned courses.
There is also something of a generational clash when it comes to much younger applicants, some of whom are fresh out of school.
Royal Caribbean’s Vina said: “Younger generations are looking for faster progression…and a readjustment is necessary to take into account the increasing importance of artificial intelligence, digitisation, and how the industry has changed since 20 years ago. In an era of TikTok, ‘bite sized learning’ is the optimum way for younger generations to absorb new information.”
Sweden is stepping up to protect its identity and has applied to the European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO) to protect its name from international duplicates that might confuse unsuspecting travellers who want to experience the original Sweden. It is calling on people around the world to support its application to prevent travel mix-ups by signing the online petition.
The trademark application aims to ensure no one packs for the Swedish lakes and forests only to find themselves in a far-off town with the same name but none of the Scandi charm. British travellers have, at some point, been caught out by two places having the same name—from Edmonton in North London versus Edmonton, Canada, to the legendary Liverpool football fans who wound up in Lille, Belgium instead of Lille, France**.
According to Visit Sweden research*, almost half (45%) of travellers in the UK admitted to finding it confusing with destinations having the same names when planning their travels and 7% have even confessed they travelled to the wrong place. With over 7.4 million British travellers interested in Sweden as a travel destination, there’s the potential for over 595,000 travellers to end up in the wrong Sweden.
“It’s flattering that others want to be called Sweden, but we’d prefer if there was only one. Our Sweden. The one with the lakes, islands, forests, and the world’s best flat-pack furniture,” says Susanne Anderson, CEO at Visit Sweden. “We want everyone to join us, sign the petition, and help travellers discover the one and only, and original, Sweden.”
Trademarking Sweden – Seriously?
Visit Sweden is levelling up its fight by applying to the European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO) to trademark the country’s name. This will ensure that when someone says “Sweden,” everyone knows they mean the real deal – the one where you can catch the Northern Lights, enjoy fika, take home some iconic design and possibly meet a moose or two. And *35% of Swedes support the idea too.
And it’s not just the Swedes who agree. Almost half (45%) of younger travellers aged 20-32 in the UK support the idea of trademarking names to prevent location mix-ups. With multiple Germanys, dozens of Americas, and at least 34 duplicate London’s globally, it’s not hard to see why a little clarity might be in order, ensuring a little less geographical guessing for everyone.
How to Know You’ve Arrived in the Real Sweden
Travellers should look out for the following signs that they’ve made it to the Original Sweden:
Free blue gems (we’re talking blueberries, not sapphires!)
Quiet luxury (think more nature, less bling)
Your own private island (yes, really!)
Hotels for eight seasons (eight!)
Freedom to roam, and fabulous fashion to boot
Whether you’re after a serene nature retreat or cutting-edge design, Sweden is making sure travellers arrive at the right destination – The Original Sweden.
FinMont, a global payment orchestration platform, is pleased announces its partnership with The Lufthansa Group, one of the world’s leading airlines. The Group works with FinMont on its innovative payment platform, enhancing B2B payment processes.
This new partnership will also incorporate Camino Network’s blockchain solution built specifically for the travel industry to document all transactions. This advanced solution is facilitated by Chain4Travel and will be an integral part of the payment processes through the FinMont payment ecosystem.
The founders of German airline, Hahn Air, launched FinMont to offer the travel industry a unique solution that, unlike other options available, streamlines not only B2C payments but also B2B payments. Combining both payments into a single view will help decision-makers identify and fix inefficiencies in their current payment processes.
The Lufthansa Group is an aviation group with operations worldwide. It plays a leading role in its European home market. With 96,677 employees, the Group generated revenue of EUR 35,442m in the financial year 2023. The Group comprises the Passenger Airlines and Aviation Services segments.
With this new partnership, The Lufthansa Group plans to integrate FinMont’s payment orchestration platform into its global payment system, helping enhance and streamline its B2B payment processes in Non-BSP markets. FinMont’s payment ecosystem will provide robust support for the airline’s global operations, optimising and helping improve the efficiency of its existing payment workflows.
Suby Valluri, CEO of FinMont, commented on the partnership, “We are excited to welcome The Lufthansa Group as a valued client and partner. This collaboration underscores our commitment to revolutionising payment orchestration within the travel industry. Our advanced payment ecosystem is designed to offer a truly unique solution for global providers like The Lufthansa Group, delivering seamless, efficient payment processes that meet their complex needs.”
A Lufthansa spokesperson added, “Our goal at The Lufthansa Group is always to improve operational efficiency while maintaining the highest level of service for our customers. FinMont’s payment platform allows us to simplify complex payment processes, saving time and reducing the risk of errors. We look forward to a successful collaboration that enhances our B2B payment processes in Non-BSP markets.”
Cirium has just revealed Europe’s most punctual airlines for October 2024, revealing SAS, Austrian Airlines and Finnair as the top three performers this month.
The report also reveals that flight cancellations across Europe decreased by 8% in October, with 7,121 cancelled flights compared to 7,731 in September.
Europe:
SAS continued to hold the title of Europe’s most punctual carrier in October, with 86.64% of flights arriving on-time
Austrian Airlines followed closely in second position, with 84.74% of all flights arriving on-time
Finnair, Norwegian and Transavia France also made the top five, offering customers punctual service on over 80% of flights
No UK airline featured in the top 10 of most punctual European carriers.
Globally:
Aeromexico lead the pack with 91.88% of flights arriving at their destination on time, being named the most punctual airline globally
The second spot was taken by Delta Air Lines, securing an 90.53% punctuality score, followed by Saudia with 89.69%
United Airlines and Hainan Airlines took fourth and fifth spot, with 88.13% and 87.14% respectively.
Cancellations:
Global flight cancellations were down by 8% in October, with 43,484 flights cancelled compared to 47,324 in September
Flight cancellation across Europe also decreased by 8% in October, with 7,121 cancelled flights compared to 7,731 in September.
Lee is big fan of community led tourism; it provides much needed tourism revenue for development. On the other hand, trends indicate that people want more immersive, unique and cultural experiences. The two can be blended by developing new tier-2 destinations to provide sustainable tourism that defeats overtourism and crowds. In an interview with TDM, Suyin Lee, Managing Director, Discova shares more…
Travel Daily Media (TDM): Kindly tell us a little bit about your contingent here at ITB Asia 2024.
Suyin Lee (SL): This is the first year that we have put up a separate booth for Discova at ITB Asia 2024 since the pandemic. We go to ITB Berlin and WTM every year, so that has got a very different foot traffic, more from Europe or the US. Asia is not that strong a source market for us, and we are building on that. Last year we came with STB, which had worked well for us. We had received so many queries that we decided to have our own booth.
We have got a good mix of all different segments and channels here. Rhydian James, my Chief Commercial Officer, came up from Brisbane. Jayne Reddie’s come from Singapore, she looks after meetings and events and education groups. I have got Quynh Din there. She is from Vietnam originally, but she is based out of our UK sales team, and we have got Pimpawee Nopakitgumjorn here, who has come from Thailand, and she is the head of Ecommerce.
TDM: Which are the main source markets for Discova? Which destinations are the most popular right now?
SL: Our main source markets would be Australia, New Zealand, North America, predominantly the US, and then UK, Europe. In Europe, it is mainly Western, Northern Europe, so Netherlands, Germany, Scandinavia.
Japan is a popular destination right now; she sells herself and is high demand. We are seeing some good pull for Indonesia, Bali, we also operate in Thailand. And Vietnam, you know, it was a bit of a slow start for us, but it is starting to get some good traction and is a great touring destination.
So, from a Discova perspective, they are our key markets and destinations: Thailand, Vietnam, Japan and Indonesia. We have refocused the investment in Asia, which is growing so fast. We are looking at leisure as well as the corporate segment. We have decided to do more around blended travel in the future, working with Flight Centre Travel Group’s (FCTG) corporate brands like FCM and Corporate Traveller to provide all ground services including leisure extensions.
TDM: What kind of growth are you expecting? How are you managing destinations with huge demand?
SL: Our financial year is July to June, so we operate on the Australian financial year. This coming year we are expecting a 30% growth vis-a-vie last year. Last year was obviously a much bigger growth year, because we were just coming out of the pandemic.
I think for us, it has always been the challenge of capacity in our destinations, because for example, take Japan, you have got huge demand, but the supply chain is very constrained, not enough hotel rooms, not enough guides, not enough vehicles.
So, you have got to really balance the supply and demand aspects of these destinations. Through pre buy and contacts, by working more proactively with our partners to get forward outlooks and projections. We may do block buys of certain properties where we know there is going to be high demand. We have got a vast number of channels to source inventory. We have great relationships with certain hotels.
TDM:How do you manage demand and supply to prevent overcrowding of a destination and facilitate beautiful holidays?
SL: I think it is about influencing our clients to not go to these very crowded destinations. And it is a hard sell, I know, because everyone wants to go to Tokyo and Kyoto, right? But looking to see if we can get people to go to second tier cities; spend one or two days in the main hub, but then go outside of the main cities where it is just as beautiful, and less crowded, less expensive, and it is also helping, overcome a bit of the over tourism challenges that we are seeing.
In general, I think if you look at Bali, it is very congested, and it is very busy in Bali right now. So again, it is like, how do we direct tourism to less congested, hot spots? We have this beautiful rural village in Manggis, Bali’s lesser-known eastern coastline, where we have created some amazing community, immersive experiences, where you can still really get to understand the culture, the people, the place, the food.
TDM:So, are there any other such destinations that you would like to talk about, which you are promoting, which you think are undiscovered and need to be discovered?
SL: I am a big fan of community led tourism, because I think many communities need tourism revenue for development. Now we are seeing the trends that people are wanting more immersive, more unique, more cultural experiences. So, it is a perfect opportunity for us to do that, for example, in Bangkok, or outside of Bangkok in central Thailand, we are working with a community there to really develop some very authentic, local, immersive experiences.
It is only an hour and a half or two hours out of Bangkok. These new destinations, new experiences are what we want to promote, where people can really get, a genuine sense of, what that destination is about. They get to know the lives of people, the stories of these people, develop that destination in a positive way, rather than flood a certain location.
TDM:Which tourism product, is becoming popular? As a company how are you evolving to cater to that?
SL: There is a high volume of solo travellers, we are definitely seeing much smaller groups, more private groups, a lot more tailor-made groups than we have traditionally. People want more intimate groups, and that is great for us, because we have got a wider choice about where we take them. We can take a much smaller vehicle, and it gives us better access to a lot of destinations.
TDM:As a case study, can you share one trip you really enjoyed arranging for some group and what it was about? SL: We have opened some beautiful community village experiences in East Bali, in Manggis. It is all run by the villagers who we have trained. A myriad of experiences from village walks to spending a day in the life and understanding how the villagers do their farming. They are predominantly rice farmers. You could do a bike ride from this village down to Virgin Beach. You could be doing a jamu workshop and a health and wellness experience in the spa. You are really engaged with the local villagers and the women run a beautiful cooking class out there. It is a great way to understand the local culture.
I think what our guests love is the connection to not just a place, but to people that is meaningful, that has left a lasting impression on them, because they have learned something, and they feel good about where their dollars are going, and how it is helping this community.
TDM: Being a woman and being in this field, what has your journey been like?
SL: I have been in this business for about seven years. So I was on the agency, corporate travel and leisure travel outbound side. This segment, for sure, is very male dominated, if you look at all my competitors, they are generally male, in the CEO, MD positions. But to be fair, Kanchan, I do not think about gender very much. I have grown up in a family of three girls. And we have all just always been brought up to believe that we can do anything.
But certainly, a lot of my female leaders have expressed quite often that it is great to have a good role model, because it has given them, optimism, a belief that they can have very good careers, and that they can become business leaders in this industry or in this sector.
I have never let gender become a roadblock to anything. I do not think about gender too much, but I do believe in the importance of female empowerment and for us in our business at Discova we have very strong diversity and inclusion values. Over 70% of my middle management and below are female. In my senior leadership team, we are 50:50 male and female, and then at our country management level, I would say about the same, and 95% of all Discova workforce are local. We have really tried to localise most of our country leadership roles.
TDM:Anything you would like to say or add to this interview?
SL: Travel is in an exciting space right now, but it is also facing some big challenges around sustainability and mass tourism and over tourism. I think that as a sector, we need to be working better together, in a more collaborative way. I think everyone has this aspiration to make their businesses more sustainable, but it is a big challenge. It will be great for the industry leaders, whether it is the public sector, or the private sector, to work together more collaboratively to solve some of these goals.
AI travel planner Speakspots.com announced the launch of real-time flights packages for its users. Travellers visiting the Speakspots.com platform will be offered the option to receive fully personalised flight packages – tailored to their individual preferences and requirements – calculated and displayed in under 1 minute, as part of Speakspots.com’s bespoke itinerary planning services.
Over the last 12 months, Speakspots.com has already seen a 1000% year over year increase in traffic, with users visiting the platform in search of personalised tourism recommendations for over 175 global destinations. In December 2023, the company began offering ticketing services for attractions via leading Spanish online travel operator Civitatis and saw conversion rates 3x the industry standard. Last month Speakspots.com launched in the UK market, announcing the inclusion of accommodation inventory to its trip planning services, via a partnership with Booking.com.
Flights integration
Now, Speakspots.com is adding flights to its platform, made possible via global travel leader Skyscanner’s flights API, bringing the startup one step closer to offering travellers a smart, highly personalised and dynamic trip planning functionality.
“At Speakspots.com, our ambition is to create the most intelligent and efficient trip planning assistant. Since 2019, we have been laser focused on building a fit for purpose AI and collaborating with the best in travel for access to industry leading APIs to help us deliver against that vision. Today’s announcement brings us one step closer to offering travellers truly smart trip planning, via a single platform that can connect travellers to personalised recommendations from across the travel ecosystem – not just discovering what to do and where to eat in a destination, but also how to get there and where to stay,” said Speakspots.com founder Andres Martinez Artal.
“Speakspots.com eliminates the countless hours spent trawling through hundreds of websites and social media feeds, as well as the inevitable choice overwhelm that follows. Instead, we generate an itinerary that is entirely personalised to you, which takes into account not only your personal preferences and requirements, but also real-time data that could impact your trip. That’s our secret sauce,” concluded Martinez Artal.
The integration of flights via Skyscanner’s API also allows Speakspots.com’s AI to enhance the platform’s “Smart budgets” feature; this enables budget optimisation of each of the various trip components. How it works: a traveller has stated they are going to a city for two days, and want to spend £500. The algorithm takes this into account to recommend possible accommodation upgrades, or alternative flight options or attractions to visit, to help users get the most value out of their trip budget. The AI also factors in a hotel’s proximity to the city centre, flight times and who you’re travelling with, alongside price. Once an itinerary has been generated, it is shared with the traveller via Whatsapp, where they have access to a chatbot assistant for any additional questions or changes.
Funding roadmap
Following on from a successful pre-seed round at the beginning of the summer, Speakspots.com is preparing for its next funding round; this time, a seed round. Speakspots.com already counts two heavyweights from the Spanish tourism sector amongst its advisors: Manuel Butler, former executive director of UNWTO, and José Guillermo Montañés, current president of Thinktur, and former president of CEHAT (Spanish Confederation of Hotels and Tourist Accommodations).
The startup remains intent on accelerating the adoption of more sustainable and conscious tourism by the mainstream. Speakspots.com’s AI defaults towards walking whenever possible, encouraging travellers to discover a destination on foot, as well as prioritising hotel recommendations, to counter concerns around rises in self-catering accommodations leading to increased rents for local residents. Over 90 percent of travellers who plan trips with Speakspots.com choose to include hidden gems, off-the beaten path experiences and visits to nature and green spaces in their itineraries. And so far this year, 95% of the itineraries generated via the platform have been entirely unique.
Currently, Speakspots.com is available in 36 languages and can plan itineraries in 176 destinations across 37 countries around the world. The company is nominated in the Startup of the Year category for the prestigious Travolution awards, with CEO Andrés Martínez Artal shortlisted for Rising Star of the Year. Martinez Artal was also included on Forbes’s list of the 100 most creative professionals of 2024.
Chroma Hospitality announced that two of its properties under the Crimson brand won accolades at this year’s Condé Nast Johansens Awards for Excellence.
This year’s much-anticipated awards gala dinner was held at Kimpton Fitzroy London, and assistant vice-president of sales Cecille Kimpo represented the properties to receive their respective awards.
This is the third consecutive year that Crimson Resort & Spa Boracay has been lauded, and the second time for Crimson Resort & Spa Mactan in Cebu.
Crimson Resort & Spa Boracay was named the property with the “Best Breakfast” while Crimson Resort & Spa Mactanreceived the “Best Value Spa” accolade.
Condé Nast Johansens’ Charlotte Evans said of the awards given to the two Filipino properties: “We are delighted to celebrate new and returning establishments across the globe. The 2025 Condé Nast Johansens Awards for Excellence continue to acknowledge, reward, and honour luxury hospitality from our carefully chosen collection of recommended properties.”
With these prestigious honors, Chroma Hospitality, Inc., hospitality management arm of Filinvest Hospitality Corporation, reinforces its leadership in the Philippines’ luxury hospitality sector.
Both Crimson Resort & Spa Boracay and Crimson Resort & Spa Mactan continue to set new standards, offering unmatched experiences in two of the country’s top destinations.
These accolades highlight the properties’ commitment to exceptional service, luxury, and raising the bar in hospitality. Crimson Hotels & Resorts remains a symbol of world-class luxury in the Philippines.
Mactan in the Guide Michelin
Aside from the Best Value Spa award, Crimson Resort & Spa Mactan also earned itself a place in the new Michelin Guide for Hotels.
The sprawling 6-hectare beach resort and spa located in the Queen City of the South is the only property in Cebu to gain this recognition, and one among only six award recipients in the Philippines.
With its breathtaking landscape and an exceptional dining experience crafted by Michelin-trained and award-winning chefs like Chele Gonzalez and Javier Loya, this milestone reaffirms Crimson Resort & Spa Mactan as one of the world’s leading luxury destinations.
will set the stage for an unforgettable weekend, and there’s no better place to immerse yourself in the exhilarating atmosphere than at W Abu Dhabi – Yas Island. Whether you’re relishing the high-speed action from the comfort of a luxurious hotel room or reveling in the vibrant ambiance at the renowned Garage restaurant terrace, W Abu Dhabi offers the ultimate vantage points for this iconic race weekend.
