Read the latest news from around the Asia Pacific region.

The six-month-long, $100-million renovation of the 510-key Mandarin Oriental Singapore is complete, HNN's Dana Miller reports. The project focused on the property's public spaces and guest rooms.

"Guest rooms take cues from the scenes outside their windows — dappled batik patterns and a cooler color palette blend with the undulating water of Marina Bay-facing rooms, while those looking onto the South China Sea are bathed in warm tones reminiscent of the morning sun. City-facing rooms are infused with Singapore’s verdant greenery through lush botanical prints, bringing the outside in," according to a news release.

The Travel Trends 2024 report by metasearch engine and travel agency Skyscanner found that American travelers will likely continue to seek out international destinations in 2024, continuing a trend from this year, reports HNN's Trevor Simpson and Rachel Daub.

Among those surveyed, 85% said they would travel internationally next year the same amount as, or even more than, this year. The locations that saw the largest year-over-year increases in search volumes were mostly island destinations, such as the Cayman Islands and French Polynesia. Searches for locations in Taiwan and Japan increased year-over-year by 177% and more than 200% respectively.

During third-quarter earnings calls held by publicly traded hotel brand companies, executives shared their optimism over the rebound of China's economy and how that is translating into hotel performance, reports HNN's Trevor Simpson.

“Cross-border travel continued to strengthen, helping drive RevPAR growth in the third quarter. Asia-Pacific, again, saw the most meaningful quarterly increase in international visitors, aided by global events like the Women’s World Cup and improved airlift," said Tony Capuano, president and CEO of Marriott International. "The percent of global room nights from cross-border guests was about 1 percentage point below 2019 levels of approximately 20%.

“The most upside is still expected to come in Asia-Pacific as international airlift to China improves. International airlift in Greater China was roughly 50% of 2019 capacity at the end of the third quarter and is expected to improve to around 60% by the end of the year.”

Prithvi Raj Singh Oberoi, who served as executive chairman of New Delhi-based hotel company Oberoi Group from 1984 to 2022, died Nov. 14 at the age of 94, reports HNN's Terence Baker.

Under his leadership, the Oberoi Hotels & Resorts brand grew from 11 hotels to 21 owner-operated properties. The company also owns and operates 10 Trident hotels in India and the 55-room Maidens Hotel Delhi. It also has an alliance partnership with Mandarin Oriental Hotel Group.

• CapitaLand Ascott Trust will sell two hotels in Sydney, Australia, for 109 million Australian dollars ($71.5 million): the Courtyard by Marriott Sydney-North Ryde and the Novotel Sydney.
• Singapore-based hotel group Amara Holdings received a voluntary cash offer from a consortium led by Amara CEO Albert Teo, his family members and Dymon Asia Private Equity, to go private with price of 60 Singapore cents (45 U.S. cents) per share, a 53.8% premium over its share price on June 15.
• Indonesia-based Sinar Mas plans to open a high-end hotel in the country's new capital of Nusantara.
• IHG Hotels & Resorts debuted its Hotel Indigo brand in Sydney with its 105-room Hotel Indigo Sydney Potta Point.
• IHG Hotels & Resorts returned the Regent brand to Hong Kong with the reopening of the 497-key Regent Hong Kong, which has operated under the InterContinental brand since 2001.
• Hilton named Zubin Saxena as its senior vice president and head executive in India, effective January 2024.
• Marriott International debuted its Edition brand in Southeast Asia with the 204-room Singapore Edition.

Read more news at Hotel News Now.