U.S. airport hotels are safest, most secure, Cornell expert finds

People who worry about traveling and spending time in public places may be relieved to learn that most U.S. hotels are pretty safe places to be, a study by a Cornell University hospitality-industry expert finds.

Hotels near airports offer the most safety and security features, with large hotels, luxury hotels of any size and new hotels also ranking high on the safety and security indexes devised by Cathy Enz, a professor at Cornell University’s School of Hotel Administration, and Masako Taylor, a Ph.D. candidate at the school.

Enz, who is director of the Hotel School’s Center for Hospitality Research, said: “A significant proportion of the 2,123 hotels included in our study rated 85 percent or higher on our indexes, which looked at such features as security camera monitoring systems, secured corridors, electronic locks and sprinkler systems. That news is reassuring now that we’re seeing a heightened concern among the general public about how safe we are in public buildings, including hotels.”

The study is published at http://www.hotelschool.cornell.edu/chr, the CHR web site. Hotel managers can actually take the survey online and measure their hotel’s safety and security performance against that of the hotels in the study.

Enz and Taylor used data from the 2001 American Hotel & Lodging Survey prepared by RealTime Hotel Reports, which is part of Smith Travel Research. The researchers checked for these five key safety features: sprinklers, smoke detectors, in-room safety information, safety videos and security cameras; and these five security features: electronic locks, interior corridors, security cameras, in-room safety information and a safety video. They gave a weighted score for each feature to create separate safety and security indexes, each with a potential perfect score of 100 (the features measured are listed above in descending weighted order).

In general, the newer the hotel, the higher its safety and security scores, the researchers found. “This is probably because electronic locks, sprinklers and interior corridors are relatively

less common in older hotels than in hotels built in the last decade,” said Enz. Luxury hotels are the exception, she noted. “Because they are renovated frequently, even the oldest ones are likely to have the latest safety and security features.” Accordingly, after airport hotels, luxury and upscale hotels had the highest scores for safety and security. All-suite properties and convention hotels also scored high.

While resorts scored low on the physical safety and security features, Enz attributed some of that result to customer demands for such amenities as rooms that open onto balconies overlooking such public areas as pools or the ocean. “It may be that what we want in a resort, we don’t want in urban hotel properties,” Enz said.

Motels had the lowest safety and security score, and bed-and-breakfast properties and condominiums also scored low, most likely because many lack sprinklers and electronic door locks, Enz commented.

In an earlier survey published in February 2002, Enz found hotel general managers reported few changes in safety and security measures or added security staff members following the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11. “While no place is immune to danger, taken together the two studies suggest that hotels had already implemented many of the safety and security features we found in our new survey and were fairly safe, secure places to begin with,” said Enz.

News@PATA

PATA BOARD OF DIRECTORS TO RECEIVE PRESIDENTIAL WELCOME

In the Philippines, the Office of the President has confirmed that President Arroyo will host a September 20 welcome reception at Malacanang Palace for the PATA Board of Directors, which meets September 20-22 in Manila. Mr. Richard Gordon, Secretary of the Philippine Department of Tourism said: "This is an extraordinary opportunity and we would like to extend our warm hospitality with a grand welcome to all delegates attending the meeting." The PATA meeting is being hosted by Philippine Department of Tourism and the Philippine Convention and Visitors Corporation. The official carrier is Philippine Airlines.

KITAPHANICH LEAVES PATA

It is with regret that PATA has accepted the resignation of Ms. Malinee Kitaphanich, PATA's Director-Southeast Asia, effective September 30, 2002. Mr. Peter de Jong, PATA President and CEO, said: "Malinee has been a gracious, trusted and dedicated member of our staff, whose professionalism and poise have contributed significantly to the development of PATA's Southeast Asian region. While she will be missed by her colleagues and our members, we wish Malinee every success." On October 15, Ms. Kitaphanich will join Templar International Consultants, the executive search arm for Adecco in Asia, as Director for Thailand. All PATA Southeast Asia members should contact se-asia@pata.th.com for membership services and inquiries, which will be managed by Mr. Stephen Yong, Mr. KC Sim and Mr. Peter Semone.

PATA’S NEW BANK DETAILS

Following the integration of the United California Bank into the Bank of the West, PATA’s bank account details have changed, effective September 16, 2002. The new information is as follows: Bank of the West, 505 Montgomery Street, San Francisco, CA  94111. New account no: 773003470; new ABA no: 121100782. For the next six months payments to the old account will be automatically transferred to the new account, but PATA recommends members to start using the new account immediately. PATA also recommends members to include membership number, organisation name and purpose of payment on any wire transfer chits, which should be backed up by an explanatory e-mail to PATA Manager-Accounting, Ms. Tes Yabut. E-mail: tes@pata.org.

2001 ANNUAL STATISTICAL REPORT NOW AVAILABLE

PATA’s Strategic Information Centre has released the 2001 PATA Annual Statistical Report, which is the only publication which brings together visitor arrivals data of Pacific Asia countries. The report also includes outbound travel statistics of selected Pacific Asia countries and other tourism-related data such as length of stay, visitor expenditure, hotel occupancy rates, national tourist organisation budgets, and more. The 2001 Annual Statistical Report is an invaluable tool for planning marketing strategies and conducting competitive analyses. The report costs US$250 for PATA members and US$350 for chapters/non-members. To place an order please contact Ms. Patcharin Hongprapat. Tel: (66-2) 658-2000 ext. 121. Or fax: (66-2) 658-2010. E-mail: publications@pata.th.com.

BUSINESS OPPORTUNITIES IN SPAIN

In order to tap the Spanish market, the PATA Europe Division will hold a sales mission in Madrid on November 5 and Barcelona on November 7, 2002, ahead of WTM 2002 in London, November 10-13. Space is limited, so early registration is advised. For more information and to register, please contact the PATA Europe Division. Fax: (377) 92 05 61 33. E-mail: europe@pata.mc.

NEW PRODUCT NEWS? PUT IT IN "WHAT’S NEW"

PATA members should send their latest product news to PATA for inclusion in What’s New in Pacific Asia, the Association’s monthly e-newsletter to more than 400 travel journalists informing them of PATA members’ latest news, special offers, packages, arrival statistics and appointments. Items for inclusion should be e-mailed to paveena@pata.th.com. Or fax: (66-2) 658-2010.

PATA STRATEGIC INFORMATION CENTRE WORLDWATCH

** In the battle for market share, domestic airfares in India have fallen with Sahara Airlines recently auctioning seats on its Mumbai-Delhi route for one Indian rupee. The gimmicks are likely to continue during the July-September low season.

** The Singapore Tourism Board (STB) has appointed two riverboat operators to shuttle passengers along a 2.6-kilometre stretch of the Singapore River. The river taxi fleet will run between Esplanade Drive jetty and the Jiak Kim Bridge jetty, with 16 stops along the way. An express service which makes only five stops is also available.

** Amtrak, the US-based train operator, will provide passengers between Philadelphia and New York with a new wireless interactive network system which allows them to watch movies and television shows, check e-mail or shop online using interactive touch screens. The network will incorporate Global Positioning System technology which can tailor adverts to the geographical location of the train.   

J.D. Power’s Highest Ranked Hotels In Guest Service

As business travel remains on the decline, leisure travelers have taken an increasingly important role in the lodging world, that combined with the added competition that follows a sluggish economy has made guest satisfaction a critical aspect of brand loyalty and driving revenue.

According to the J.D. Power and Associates 2002 North America Hotel Guest Satisfaction Study, the industry has stepped up to the plate this year, increasing overall guest satisfaction in five of six segments.

The study evaluated customer satisfaction in business and leisure travelers at 52 major hotel chains across six segments. It found significant industry improvement with two key guest satisfaction elements in the departure factor – accuracy of billing and the speed of checkout. Guest room satisfaction, hotel services, food and beverage and pre-arrival/arrival were also evaluated in the survey.

“It’s noteworthy because, despite everything that has happened in the industry, there is still greater guest satisfaction than there was a year ago, and that is a positive sign,” said Dennis Galbraith, Director of Research of the Hotel Practice at J.D. Power and Associates.

The study showed that most hotel chains are providing a higher level of customer satisfaction despite the events of September 11th, and the economic difficulties that industry was faced with in 2001.

“It certainly is a function of the industry responding in a fabulous way to the increased competition brought on by 9/11,” said Galbraith. “The real exciting thing is that guest satisfaction is going up overall. The industry is recognizing the importance of guest satisfaction and its relationship to brand loyalty.”

At the top of the luxury segment, is Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts, who ranked highest in overall guest satisfaction for the second consecutive year, with strong performance in the arrival, departure and hotel service factors. Ritz-Carlton followed closely behind ranking second in the segment.

Embassy Suites Hotels also held its position for the second year in a row, ranking highest guest satisfaction in the upscale segment with a 5% gain over 2001. Renaissance, Westin, Hyatt, Marriott and Omni Hotels came in right behind Embassy in the sector.

Hilton Garden Inn leads the Mid-price full food service segment followed closely by Courtyard, with Holiday Inn Select and Holiday Inn Hotels and Resorts ranked next, respectively.

Country Inns and Suites is the new guest satisfaction leader in the Mid-priced limited food service segment, replacing Hampton Inns and Suites, which ranked second, followed Drury Hotels and Holiday Inn Express, respectively.

“There was a great deal of stability in the luxury and upscale markets with Four Seasons and Embassy remaining first,” said Galbraith. “Hilton Garden and Courtyard just switched positions, but the real change was that Country passed up Hampton, and surpassed them quite nicely.”

Residence Inn ranked the highest for the extended stay segment, trailed by Hilton’s Homewood Suites.

Despite the promising news for those five segments, the economy/budget segment has suffered decreases in both guest satisfaction and room rates, compared to 2001. Room rates have weakened by 5%, while satisfaction is down an average of 4% among the chains analyzed in the segment.

“The widely publicized predictions of dramatic and sustained declining room rates and a move toward trips closer to home after 9/11 generally have not come to pass,” said Linda Hirneise, Partner and Executive Director of the Hotel Practice at J.D. Power and Associates.

The study also found that the Internet is playing an increasing role in the way consumers’ book hotel reservations. Over the past year, Internet bookings have near doubled in every segment.

“Consumers can find bargains on the Internet by comparing both independent travel Websites and hotel brand sites,” said Hirneise. “As much of the travel industry is quickly realizing, the popularity of Internet booking reveals a new kind of consumer. The hotel industry needs to pay close attention to this growing trend.”

Australian Tourist Commission  reviews its trade events

The Australian Tourist Commission is undertaking a comprehensive review of its trade events calendar which will determine the future of its own events as well as participation in third party events.

Executive general manager-marketing and business development, Stephen O’Neill, said results of the study, being conducted by KPMG, would be out by the end of this week.

Responding to a question posed at the media briefing on the future of Dreamtime, O’Neill said the study would take input from state tourism bodies as well as convention bureaus.

The study would cover ATC’s own events, Dreamtime and ATE (Australian Tourism Exchange), its road shows and participation in trade shows such as ITB or EIBTM.

"We’ve seen a significant decline in interest in third party events. We want to see the value of that," said O’Neill.

Dreamtime started life as a biennial event until 2001 when it became an annual show. Asked if it was a possibility that Dreamtime would revert to a biennial format, O’Neill said that an announcement would be made shortly as soon as the review was complete.

In all, a total of A$1 million (US$547,861) has been invested into Dreamtime although O’Neill said the cost to ATC was only in the region of A$100,000.

Malaysia records surge of West Asian tourists

Tourists from West Asia to Malaysia rose to a record high last month due to continuing concerns of these visitors to holiday in the US and Europe.

After the September 11 terrorist attacks in the US, visitors from West Asia to these countries had to face strict security checks and hostile reception.

In 2000, Malaysia received 53,370 tourists from West Asia. Last year, it rose four fold to 114,776.

This growth is mainly due to the aggressive promotion of Malaysia by Tourism Malaysia and the Culture, Arts and Tourism Ministry.

The private sector has also come up with new ways to woo the tourists and make their stay in Malaysia more agents. Some travel agents and hotels have trained a few of their staff to be conversant in Arabic. Malaysian restaurants are serving kebabs and other Arabic food. Malaysia’s private satellite TV station, Astro, had a daily news broadcasts from Qatar's Al-Jazeera network and also opened a new channel featuring Arabic movies, dramas and music.

There is also a website www.arab-malaysia.com for West Asian tourists to check up on information, including business opportunities, about Malaysia.

West Asian airlines serving Malaysia have also increased their flights. They are Emirates, Qatar Airways and Saudi Arabian Airlines. Carriers, such as Syrian Airlines and Kuwait Airways, may launch new services to Malaysia.

Outlook Bright For Korea As A Convention Destination

AsiaPacificNews.com  -  Korea’s Meeting, Incentive, Convention & Exhibition (MICE) sector has seen an average annual growth rate of more than 10% over the past 10 years. Fresh from the successful co-hosting of the 2002 World Cup to the up-and-coming 14th Asian Games Busan 2002, continued increases are expected for this sector in the near future.

In a recently released report by the Union of International Associations (UIA), Korea ranked 18th (25th in 2000) globally and recorded 134 (109 in 2000) international conventions or meetings in 2001. Overall, more than 450 regional and international MICE events are already booked in a range of venues throughout Korea to 2010. Three of Korea?s four major convention centres opened in the past two years; Seoul in 2000 with Daegu and Busan in 2001. The fourth, ICC Jeju, is due to open March 2003. Goyang is scheduled to open in 2004 with Suwon and Daejeon following in 2009. For MICE planners it ultimately provides state-of-the-art facilities in ideal settings throughout Korea.

In addition to the convention centres and numerous other facilities such as resorts and a wide variety of hotels, Korea has the transportation infrastructure to handle groups of any size is to be enhanced in the future. The newly established Incheon International Airport, opened March 2001 will be further serviced by a rail link to downtown Seoul in 2006. To augment the existing local and express rail system a high-speed route between Seoul and Busan will be half done and opened by the end of next year with completion scheduled for 2010. Opened in December 2001, the West Coast Highway provides a direct unimpeded route from Incheon to the southwestern city of Mokpo.

To assist MICE planners, KNTO has just released their ?Meeting Planner?s Guide 2002-2003?. This all-in-one guide includes detailed overviews and contact information for a range of venues in Seoul, Busan, Gyeongju, Jeju Island and other areas throughout Korea. The planner includes an extensive list of support services for conventions and exhibitions as well as services provided by the KNTO Convention Bureau.

Shanghai gains popularity

Everybody wants a piece of the action in the vibrant city as China opens up
 
The Business Times Singapore  -  SHANGHAI is probably the most mentioned Asian city these days, especially in the context of a China that appears to have been unscathed by the current global economic slowdown.

But it wasn't always this way. Like most other cities and economies, Shanghai, which means 'on the sea', has had its share of ebbs and flows.

When I first visited the city in May 2000, with a group of Singaporeans planning to invest in a night spot, the aircraft were only two-thirds full and you could always get a room at one of the many hotels.

Most of the foreigners in town were either Hongkongers or Taiwanese (technically Chinese as the Beijing government considers them part of China), and although there were others, they were not as visible.

In fact, Shanghai was just emerging from a downturn that had caused property prices to plunge more than 50 per cent and the building boom to stall.

A friend who had paid US $ 450,000 for an apartment in Puxi, the older part of Shanghai (literally 'west of the river', the river being the Huangpu that divides Puxi from the more recently built Pudong, meaning 'east of the river') saw its value drop by more than half. Luckily for him, rents had held up and he was still getting a yield of more than 6 per cent on his investment.

As you drove from Hongqiao airport to the city centre, on either side of the highway lay many partly-finished buildings, their tower cranes like silent sentinels in the sky.

Still, I was pleasantly surprised by Shanghai's modernity, its skyscrapers with their unique designs and its relative cleanliness, despite an almost permanent haze in the sky. Johnson Tan, the-then resident manager of the JC Mandarin - which is part-owned and managed by the operator of the Singapore Mandarin group of hotels - remarked with just a little exaggeration that he had yet to see a completely blue sky after more than a year in Shanghai. The sheer size of the city, both in area and in population, can also take your breath away. At 6,400 square kilometres, it is 10 times the size of Singapore, with a population of more than 18 million, including a floating population of about three million.

Then came the buzz on China's entry into the World Trade Organization (WTO) and things began to move - fast.

By last October, it was getting harder to get a seat on a plane - either on Shanghai's China Eastern or Singapore Airlines. Hotels, too, began to fill, and rooms for which we had been paying S$ 100 a night began to get more expensive as thousands of foreigners poured into China in search of their own El Dorado.

Today, you can't get a room at any of Shanghai's five-star hotels for less than US$ 100 a night - and that too with much difficulty. SIA has had to put on additional flights to the city to meet the demand. In fact, China - and, in particular, Shanghai - is one of SIA's most lucrative routes.

It seems everyone wants to be around to get their hands on the gold that will apparently pave the streets when China fully liberalises its trade and investment regimes with the implementation of WTO regulations.

The tower cranes are also busily whirring once more, as property developers rush to complete projects to take advantage of a new hunger for real estate.

Singapore developers, led by government-linked companies like CapitaLand and Keppel Land, have poured millions of dollars into new residential projects. Other Singapore companies, like First Capital Corporation, Centrepoint Properties, the family of late contractor Lim Kah Ngan and the Teos who control Amara Hotel have also rushed in, lured by the rising price of housing. Apartments that were selling for less than 6,000 renminbi (S $ 1,270) a square metre two years ago now fetch more than twice that. Rental yields have also soared - to as much as 12-14 per cent, depending on location. However, it appears the Chinese like their apartments new and there is not much of a resale market in major cities, including Shanghai.

It's not just foreigners who are contributing to the real estate boom, but also a growing class of Chinese nouveau riche. In Singapore and Hong Kong, tourists account for most purchases of luxury brands like Etienne Aigner, Cartier, Celine, Ermenegildo Zegna, Burberry's and Hugo Boss. But in Shanghai and other big Chinese cities, it's the locals who are the main patrons. Obviously, and perhaps paradoxically in a communist state, there are different classes of people - the haves and the have-nots. But in Shanghai, and even Beijing, it's rare to see anyone in a Mao jacket these days.

It's worth taking a stroll through Shanghai's new upscale shopping area called Xintiandi, where several Singapore developers are putting up luxury apartments. Just three years ago, the area was a collection of workers' dwellings surrounding a mansion built long ago by a man who manufactured calligraphy brushes. The 50 or so families living in the area were moved out and, with their compensation of as much as US $ 10,000 each, later figured among the buyers of the fancy new apartments. The old stone walls of the workers' flats were magnificently restored by a Hong Kong developer, and now it's one of Shanghai's hottest luxury retail and restaurant areas.

On the negative side, the traffic is getting heavier, and access to the restaurants and pubs around the US Embassy is more difficult because traffic on lanes leading to the compound was restricted after last year's Sept 11 shock.

The changes are continuing apace - an indication of the vitality and dynamism of a city on the go. From next month, all international flights have to be via the ultra-modern Pudong airport, more than 40 km from the city centre. But soon this distance won't be a problem, because passengers will be zoomed in comfort to the city centre within 20 minutes on the world's most modern commercial maglev (magnetic levitation) trains. For now, the cab ride takes more than an hour.

At a cost of billions of dollars, the present three-line city train system will be expanded to 17 lines with a total length of almost 800 km by 2030. And a new port - reputed to be Asia's largest - will handle Shanghai's burgeoning trade in 2005. The world's longest bridge and its tallest building are also being built.

Sure, the Shanghai bubble will again eventually burst. But, for now, this has to be the hottest city on the planet. As someone said: 'Come see this last festival of irrational exuberance - before it goes the way of Tokyo and Wall Street.'

Thai hotels set to increase rates but the question is when.

Hike inevitable but first, the mind games

Thai hotels look set to increase rates but the question, aside from how much, is when. “We would like to gradually increase hotel rates because this will allow our hotels to upgrade the quality of their infrastructure and service further,” says Juthamas Siriwan (Juthamas@tat.or.th), governor of the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT). “However, the increase will depend very much on the level of competition among hotels in Bangkok as well as in competing regional destinations. In short, while an increase can be expected, more importantly, we know we need to maintain our position as a value-for-money destination.”

Hoteliers agree that occupancy rates in Bangkok hotels have in general remained “predominantly good”, even with the global travel downturn. They are unanimous in the view that rates should go up, but are less resolute with regards how or when this should be realised. Quality- and service-wise, Bangkok hotels are still perceived as “anomalously priced” below hotels in other major Asian tourist destinations.

Unfortunately, the clamour for rate hikes is nothing new. Many Thai hoteliers have long openly clamoured, and continue to clamour, for increased room rates. Few are willing to lead the charge, fearful of losing their affordable edge. “Bangkok remains a very competitive destination but increasing the average room rate remains a challenge,” admits Duncan Webb (webb@amari.com), vice-president for sales and marketing of Amari Hotels & Resorts. “Regrettably people globally are increasingly becoming sensitive to pricing. They often make their holiday decisions on the basis of what they think the best value is.”

Jones Lang LaSalle Thailand revealed last February the five-star hotel market in Bangkok registered a 20 percent increase in average daily rate (ADR) to 4,840 baht (US$111) in 2001, and only experienced a five percent drop in average occupancy (to 63 percent). But things in the four-star category were not as rosy. This segment closed with an ADR of 1,563 baht, down 16 percent from 2000. The occupancy rate of 74 percent was below 2000’s by two. The latest figures are not immediately available.

But just this month, some executives from five-star hotels asserted Bangkok room rates have fallen, partly because of the effects of post-September 11, and also because of the strengthening of the Thai baht. Most room rates, especially those in the five-star range, are quoted in US dollars.

Anne Marie Arrowsmith (anne.arrowsmith@fourseasons.com), The Regent Bangkok’s director of marketing, says that the city’s hotel rates are holding year-on-year, but “they’re flat”. The hotel is running an occupancy rate of 66 percent notwithstanding “corporate business is not growing”.

Industry-wide, TAT puts the annual average occupancy rate in Bangkok hotels last year at 60.26 percent, up 3.09 percent from 2000. TAT says January to March 2002 figures are still being tabulated.

What’s becoming disturbingly clear among industry executives is that travellers are increasingly looking for cheaper hotels, while still expecting the best service. The latest available statistics from TAT indicate that while 49.57 percent of visitors staying in Bangkok hotels in 2001 chose properties priced at 2,500 baht and above, those who opted for hotels costing between 1,500 and 2,499 baht a night registered a strong increase of 11.35 percent.

Meanwhile, the Thailand Hotel Association (THA), together with the TAT and the Association of Thai Travel Agents (Atta), is continuing its work on the standard and ratings of Thai hotels to further strengthen the industry.

LA confidential

Hollywood has always loved the face-lift, reinvention, the classic comeback and Hollywood hotels are enjoying just that, luring travellers with celeb workouts, glamorous new digs and freshly repainted old faces.

The Roosevelt Hotel, the 75-year-old original home of the Academy Awards, unveils a multimillion-dollar renovation. Uplifts nearing completion include redesigned guest rooms, public space, a new restaurant and an on-property spa. Focus is on “harmony in space” and a “sense of well-being.” Part of the plan is to display over 200 cement celeb handprint blocks around the hotel and on the walls of each tower guest room.

The Hotel Sofitel Los Angeles is offering a “Get Fit Now” package that lets road warriors train for combat Russell Crowe-style. The hotel’s Club Sofitel is a favourite fitness destination for local celebs. The Get Fit Now package for $249 plus tax offers an overnight stay single/double occupancy, training and nutrition sessions, a “healthy breakfast” and a special basket of fitness amenities. Guests receive tips for “Working Out on Tour” (how to keep fit on the road), as well as training by local fitness experts who are bound to know juicy body gossip like who’s on steroids in Tinseltown and who’s headed for Elvis-like blimpdom.

Andre Balazs has just opened his new L.A. Standard Hotel. The 1956 building is a Beaux Arts beauty featuring black-and-white marble and including finely detailed stainless-steel spandrels. Guest rooms include platform beds, free T-1 connections, travel candles and mood lighting. “Flint” is a gentlemen’s club-inspired barbershop and cigar lounge. A fully equipped 24-hour fitness centre keeps you in close-up shape.

All set for Chefs on Parade 2002 

BusinessWorld - The Chefs on Parade (COP) culinary competition has grown to become an event anticipated by and participated in by hotels, restaurants and an increasing number of culinary schools.

This year marks the 50th founding anniversary of the Hotel and Restaurant Association of the Philippines (HRAP), organizer of the COP, and the 25th anniversary of the COP.

Hundreds of chefs, kitchen artists, bartenders and Hotel and Restaurant Management (HRM) students are expected to take part in the various on-the-spot contests during the three-day event set for Sept. 19 to 21 at the Philippine Trade Training Center (PTTC) along Roxas Blvd., Pasay City.

In the professional division, there will be a total of 20 competitions with 207 participants coming from nine hotels, seven restaurants as well as a provincial contingent from Cebu.

There are six competitions open to students, with a total of 485 participants from 49 schools from as far north as Baguio City to as far south as Davao City vying for a number of awards.

Among the most awaited segments is the Market Basket competition (classical and Filipino) which is a test of speed and creativity. Basically, a team of three members will be given three hours to prepare and cook a three-course meal for five persons. The three courses should consist of one appetizer (hot or cold) or soup, one main course and one dessert. Teams have 30 minutes to pick up their respective market list of ingredients prepared the day before.

The competitions include the Dim Sum Live Cooking Freestyle competition where participants are required to prepare eight types of dim sum; the New Asia Cuisine competition where in an hour the contestants must be able to prepare and present a main course for four with seafood as the main ingredient.

Other competition categories include On-the-Spot Cake Decoration, Cocktail Mixing, Table Decoration, Flambe Preparation, Dessert Preparation and Ice Carving.

The competitions during the three-day affair will be judged by over 40 local and international industry experts.

Aside from their judging responsibilities, the experts will also conduct debriefing sessions for participants of all the competitions to discuss both the good and the bad points in their respective entries.

In addition to the on-the-spot competitions on food preparation and presentation, beverage service and culinary artistry, there will be a seminar on food writing, food styling and photography and wines.

There will also be a new competition on food writing - the Doreen Gamboa Fernandez Award for Food Writing - which is open to HRAP member school HRM teachers and students.

There will also be a book and magazine fair on culinary arts, and booths by purveyors of food, beverages and culinary equipment.

Chefs on Parade is open to the public. A season pass valid for three days is priced at P350 and P600 for students and professionals, respectively. A one-day pass is priced at P225 and P300, again for students and professionals, respectively.

Thailand's last pristine islands falling victim to tourism assaults

ENN  -  Koh Chang, Thailand — It's almost like a military operation. First come the reconnaissance teams: the backpackers. They're followed by the light infantry: the local tourist operators.

Then the last wave storms ashore: the Thai and international resort developers.

Just like that, one tropical island after another in Thai waters has been overrun in the onslaught of the tourism industry. Phuket, Samui, Phi Phi, Samet: All these once idyllic islands have suffered through unbridled, profit-first development.

Now Thailand's cash-starved government has its eye on the last large piece of paradise, aiming to transform the island of Koh Chang into a theme park for rich foreigners.

"The island would generate huge revenue for the country if it were fully developed," said Plodprasop Suraswadi, who heads a special body to oversee this development. And this time around, the government promises, Koh Chang will be done right.

Set in the Gulf of Thailand 170 miles southeast of Bangkok, Koh Chang is indeed a jewel. A national park covers about 75 percent of the island, helping preserve a rich evergreen forest that clothes hillsides rising from a narrow coastal strip. Beaches, waterfalls, coral gardens, and bird life abound.

A master plan has not yet been completed, but officials already are talking about hotels for guests willing to pay $1,000 a night. Smaller islands in the Koh Chang archipelago would be set aside for golf, water sports, exclusive jungle safaris, and a casino.

Plodprasop says that proper infrastructure and zoning, strict regulations on building and transport — an electric train is being held out as a possibility — and a focus on eco-tourism will be given high priority. An environmental impact assessment is promised. "However," he said, "I cannot guarantee that Koh Chang will not end up like Phuket, which has been extensively damaged by tourism."

No matter how good the government's intention, Thailand's freewheeling economic forces are already ahead of the planners.

A feeding frenzy erupted as soon as Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra announced his vision for Koh Chang last October. As prices soared, speculators and developers scooped up land held by villagers for generations. Racing to beat new regulations going into effect in coming months, developers are now engaged in soon-to-be forbidden, already illegal, or simply inappropriate activities.

A lagoon is being dredged, mangrove swamps cut down, national park land violated. One upmarket resort dumps untreated sewage into the sea. Cookie-cutter bungalows are being hastily marshaled on beaches and once-forested slopes.

A parliamentary committee is investigating alleged encroachment on public land by the Aiyapura Resort, the island's most luxurious, as well as obstruction of its probe by the prime minister's deputy secretary-general, police Lt. Gen. Preecha Suwannarat. Preecha has close ties to the hotel.

"It's probably wishful thinking that Koh Chang will be different," said Chayant Pholpoke, an environmentalist who monitors tourism in Thailand. "I see a repetition of Phuket in many ways, but it's going to move faster here."

High-rises have gone up on Phuket's beaches despite regulations that say buildings can be "no higher than the tops of coconut trees." On other resort islands, the story is much the same.

Tourists complain about garbage and water pollution on the once pristine beaches of Samui, and authorities fear water shortages due to unplanned growth. Samet and Phi Phi, both national parks, have sprouted dense construction, bars, and pizza parlors through legal loopholes or outright violations of park laws.

The campaign to develop more remote, still untouched islands in the Andaman Sea and Gulf of Thailand continues.

Koh Chang, Thailand's second largest island, was like many spots "discovered" by foreign backpackers in the 1980s. Access then was by fishing boat. There was no electricity, just strips of dirt road and basic bungalows put up by friendly islanders. This year the government's Tourism Authority of Thailand expects 400,000 visitors, and by the time Koh Chang becomes a special administration zone on Oct. 1, a broad, paved road should circle the island. Internet cafes now flourish.

Along with entrepreneurs, migrants from all over Thailand are flocking in to set up stalls or work in the tourism business. They could soon outnumber the island's native population of 6,000.

"The development is too fast. The people here are just farmers and fishermen," said Wittaya Noppawan, the son of a fisher who runs a small, simple bungalow resort. "They have no business experience. They don't know how to cope with the smart outsiders."

But it is unlikely that brakes will be applied. Tourism is the shining star in a bleak economy still trying to rebound from the 1997 Asian financial crisis. Government policy is to go all out for tourist revenue.

Wittaya and other islanders say some have profited from their sale of land and are pleased to see more cash flowing into Koh Chang. Other residents, now landless, have squandered their windfalls through drink, gambling, and dubious schemes and are forced to work for minimal wages as hotel employees or laborers.

Inhabitants are being consulted about the future of their island, government officials say. But critics are skeptical. "It's David versus Goliath. Villagers say they don't know what is happening. They don't know their rights. They are afraid to express their opinions," said Anita Pleumarom of the Tourism Investigation and Monitoring Team, a nongovernmental organization.

Anita says Koh Chang's culture is being rapidly eroded just when plans are being laid to attract "sun-plus" visitors who want authentic culture along with their beach time.

To provide one cultural experience, the Tourism Authority of Thailand has put money and know-how into Bang Bao, a traditional fishing village built on stilts set in a lovely bay. One enters the village near the Smile Karaoke bar, then proceeds along a newly constructed concrete walk that allows easy viewing inside the living rooms and bedrooms of residents.

One guesthouse resembles a Swiss chalet, while a number of other houses have been converted to seafood restaurants, where owners count their gains and relax after the last lunch customers leave. Nearby, fishers repair nets under the sweltering sun.

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