We have experienced difficult times in 1998 and we anticipate that 1999 will continue to be a very challenging year. For our properties based in North America, this was a good year. However the Wall Street is beginning to show that the future is very unpredictable for businesses in North America in 1999. We must all be prepared for any potential changes in the global economies as the effect of turbulence in one area will indirectly affect others. Many expect the problems faced by Asian countries to ripple across the oceans and touch the west.

When business gets tougher, we have a great opportunity to show our strength and flexibility. As I have said before, a small ship is better able to change course and manouever in rough seas compared to large ships. Pan Pacific Hotels and Resorts is a small ship and in this current environment where circumstances change fairly often, we are able to quickly observe the changes and its implications to our company, then make an action plan to and swiftly execute it.

In 1998, we have to employ guerilla warfare tactics. In this case, we cannot make long term strategic plans as the unusual times requires short term solutions and quick actions. Recently, I held a telephone conference call with all General Managers and I called for you to come out with Acrazy ideas@, to make us different from the rest and tactics which will help us succeed in these turbulent times. Some of you have responded, to those who have not, I am reminding you now that this is an important initiative. If you do not respond, I can only think that you have no ideas. In this turbulent times, we need strong and clear leadership who understand the seriousness of the situation and is prepared to lead your team into success. Should you show a lack of leadership and initiative, than we need leaders who can come out with clear objectives, make plans and execute them.

The 1999 budget that most of you have prepared is our guidelines to achieving success. This is our promise to our owners that we will be able to achieve the target. What we must remember however is this, the goals are clear but the steps to reach the goal may and probably will change with the changing environment. At no time must we loose sight of the goal but we must be flexible and change and adapt to the circumstances in order to succeed.

We expect General Managers and steering committees to show real leadership in leading your teams to success in 1999 and show that even in turbulent times, Pan Pacific hotels are able to overcome the challenges and show great initiative and creativity to emerge victorious. To our associates, we look to you to be self-directed and show your initiative in executing your responsibilities.

I have already explained to some of our colleagues, we are already practicing Absolute Care in 1998. When we face challenges as we do in 1998, Absolute Care is the best tool to achieve a high return customer rate.

When we compete with the large hotel companies like the Hyatt, Hilton, Sheraton, Westin and Holiday Inn who have many hotels, our public awareness of the Pan Pacific name is not as strong as we only have 22 hotels. So we are not able to compete on the basis of number of hotels, however we can certainly compete using a different approach.

Being a small company, we are able to offer a more personalised and customised guest experience from our front line associates. From pre-arrival to post departure, the whole experience must be perfect for our guests. We can and must offer service beyond our guests expectations.

1998 is the year Absolute Care 1 (AC1) and 1999 will continue into AC 2. We must make Absolute Care our way of doing business, Absolute Care is the Pan Pacific standard.

The IHRA held its 36th World Congress recently in Manila. About 350 delegates from all over the world arrive in Manila to attend this important meeting. Pan Pacific Hotels and Resorts was awarded a US$3,500 donation in recognition of our efforts and achievement in the Youth Career Development programme in conjunction with UNICEF.

This programme was first started in The Pan Pacific Bangkok by Andrew McBurnie who was General Manager then and expanded by his successor Douglas Louden. This initiative has now attracted worldwide attention and the IHRA members worldwide have been given the opportunity to consider adopting this programme in their respective countries or areas.

During the congress, we offered the delegates an opportunity to visit our hotel in Manila and we were pleased to see that over 100 people took the time to make the visit. Not only that, some were so impressed that they checked out of their hotels and checked into ours. I applaud the team in The Pan Pacific Manila for their effort and the butlers for taking the initiative to play tour guides.

The culture and atmosphere of the hotel shows clearly the future direction of our hotels. Front line associates who take on the responsibility of making each guest experience the best possible resulting in happy guests. I am glad to see our 170 associates who are also our sales persons for The Pan Pacific Manila and the Pan Pacific style of work.

I had an opportunity to make a presentation to the congress attendees on the topic of AThe Value of Branding@. Three representatives of large companies also addressed the same topic and I must say that for them, branding is in a box with lots of beautiful things within. Branding must be done in a fixed way with very little deviation and allowance.

For a small company like us, we take a different approach. The Pan Pacific understanding of branding is to provide a set of guidelines or a framework within which there are many opportunities for individual characteristics and flavour to come through. We tailor make our campaigns rather than use a standard formula. An analogy is when we buy suits or clothes. When we buy something that is already made, we have to fit ourselves to the suit or dress, however when we custom or tailor make a suit or dress, we make the item to fit us.

As every guest is different and has different needs, our branding needs are different from one area to another, therefore we are flexible but yet always fitting within the framework of what the ultimate Pan Pacific brand should be. All our properties are different in character and offering, as we must capitalize on these differences, for example Filipinos who have a beautiful smile and are detail oriented. So, the butler service in The Pan Pacific Manila will be the dominant image of that hotel. We are not ready made, we must be custom-made hotels, with a framework and guidelines but flexible in contents.

This last month, we bid farewell to David Callaghan, ex-General Manager for The Puteri Pan Pacific Johor Bahru who has returned to Australia to pursue other opportunities. Leaving also at the end of his tenure is Paul Moreno, Resident Manager of The Pan Pacific Kuala Lumpur. We would like to thank both David and Paul for their invaluable contribution to Pan Pacific and wish them well in their future endeavors.

Thank you.

Rather than focusing on the doom and gloom of the now expanding global economic crisis, I have decided to commit some space over to discuss some initiatives we are undertaking here in Bangkok to improve service quality and service delivery.

Checklists with these standards have been written to allow any external party to enter the hotel and conduct an audit of the hotel services, based on our own standards. To avoid any ambiguity, every standard is listed with a yes no answer, there is no gray, maybe, area, either we meet the standard or we don=t.

AA beverage shall be offered within 3 minutes of being seated at a table@ Yes/No

AF & B Attendant will check guest satisfaction a minimum of two (2) times during the meal@ Yes/No

In the last 3 weeks a AMystery Shopper@ (an external hotel consultant) has checked into the hotel and audited all the front of house quality standards. Our expectations on this audit are not particularly high, the primary objective is to establish a base performance level, which will allow us to measure improvement over the next 12 months. Additional surprise inspections are scheduled to occur up until mid June 1999.

What Happens: Guest checks in and is not given the requested room type (e.g smoking or non smoking, single or twin) B occurs three times per day on average. Associates must then spend time sending apologies and fruit baskets and notes from Managers.

For those of you further interested in developing your own quality management programs, I would strongly urge you to spend some time with Lisa Mosher, who is the Ain house@ expert on this topic.

Glenmarie -- The Inter-Hotel "Hot Dog Eating" Competition saw winners from each participating hotel KLIA, KL & Glenmarie getting together for a 'show down' at the Traveller's Palm. Azlan Wafik (Glenmarie) emerged the overall winner, eating 9 hot dogs in 7 mins. 2nd - Bob (KL) and 3rd - Mohd Shafiq (Glenmarie). . . The Planning Committee & All Managers will assist associates at the Casa Marie kitchen. Each person has been scheduled daily to help with the food preparation. . . New Associates orientation was conducted by Lingam. . . A 'Handling Problems & Conflict' Program was attended by 20 Team Leaders and Asst. Managers. . . Activities/Training Programme by the F&B Department included: F&B outlet managers commence education on the "36 hours course in finance for non-financial mgrs". The training is conducted by Adrian Teow, Cenderawasih Rest. Mgr, as part of the "sharing of knowledge" innitiative to further advance the IBU endeavour.

Vancouver -- 40 management level associates attended a ASemi annual advance@ on career planning for themselves and their associates. This one and a half day programme was held on top of Grouse Mountain. . . The Housekeeping team begins their calisthenics programme in the mornings to loosen up their muscles and improve flexibility to prevent injuries at work. The group does warm up for 15 minutes led by either an instructor from the Health Club or one of the supervisors.

Whistler -- All associates will undergo a training update programme which is designed to further sharpen the associate=s skills in taking telephone calls, reservation and up selling, and also overviews of areas that each associates is interested in. . . Esther Tan, PPHR Marketing Communications Manager visited the resort for a familiarisation tour and conducted a session on the importance of branding and how to build and maintain the Pan Pacific brand name. . . An Associate outing day saw team members participating in an all terrain vehicle tour throughout the mountain followed by dinner and dancing.

KLIA -- Two "Educate the Leader" Programmes have been completed and at the end of this month, there will be 34 new "Educators" on the team when they finish their assessment. For their skills lesson, the group was brought for Ice Skating which puts them in the position of being a new learner. Everyone now has to plan a skill lesson and teach their associates before receiving their certificate and giving their pledge.

Bangkok -- 289 associates attended a 2 hour session on a Fire Evacuation drill. . . 113 guest contact associates attended a 3 hour classroom session on basic selling skills. . . 12 Supervisors from various departments attended Train the Trainer classes. . . 7 associates attended 5 days classroom training on First Aid.

Malacca -- An associate gathering was held to celebrate October birthday babies as well to update all associates on current hotel happenings. Each birthday baby received a birthday gift from Mr Lloyd Daser, General Manager (Acting). . . The Legacy Team turned up in full force to clean the 5th, 12th and 13th Floors of the hotel. Team members from various divisions contributed their strength and time towards effort. . . Conversational English classes are conducted twice weekly for 28 frontline associates from room stay services and the IBU team. . . The Orientation Programme was conducted for 4 new associates and a management trainee from the Flamingo Institute of Further Education.

Jakarta -- To celebrate the hotel's 22nd anniversary and encourage togetherness among associates, a Karaoke competition and Fun-Bike are being organised. About 40 associates have registered to participate in each event.

Mauna Lani -- .A Seminar on ACreating an effective business plan@ was attended by all managers. . . A general associates meeting was held to introduce the new General Manager Bill Sayce and also provide an update on the financial status and upcoming events. . . The Housekeepers Week was celebrated.

Yokohama -- The Board of Operations Members (steering committee) spent two days of advanced planning workshop at Tokyu Training Centre. The focus of the workshop was improving teamwork and action planning for 1999. A trip to Tokyo Disneyland after the session allowed the team to get to know each other better.

San Francisco -- The People Innovation team arranged for free flu shots administered by nurses. More than 1/3 of the associates took up the offer.

Singapore -- Associates and families were invited to a 1 day tour of factories in Singapore which produce ceramics, diamond jewellery and otah (fish cake) and hydroponic vegetables, fish and frogs. . . For the benefit of associates who work split-shift, the People Innovation department has arranged a monthly movie screening.

Kuala Lumpur -- With the forthcoming implementation of Pacific Floor Butlers, room service and housekeeping associates have been undergoing cross exposures in housekeeping, room service, laundry and front office. This is to ensure that our associates are familiar with their new roles to be multi-skilled. . . Catherine Ng attended the IMPRO 98 - Quality Conference by Juran Institute to pick up tips on enhancing her facilitation skills to improve upon teamwork. . . Basic and Intermediate English classes were conducted to ensure that our associates are equipped with basic and intermediate conversational English skills. . . Bullet Proof Managers Series - Managers and Department Heads to equip the managers with knowledge to handle conflicts and present effectively. . .Front Line Associates attended the Malaysia Host - Frontliners programme. . . Basic Lotus Skills were taught to associates . . . Norah Nongchik and Mohd Fadzli attended the Diploma in Hotel Management - Tourism Statistics. . . Other courses included basic Supervisory Skills and Grooming.

Johor Bahru --The inter-department sports carnival continued with the sepak takraw tournament and the 7-aside football tournament. In sepak takraw, it was a tie for first place for Admin.. & General and Kitchen & Stewarding. In the football tournament, Engineering walked away with the champion's trophy.

Dhaka -- Training sessions conducted included fire fighting and safety procedure for housekeeping, Medicare for F&B, English language for front office, computer training for all, Spirit of Hospitality for all, Team leader monitoring and Executive image for all. . . An educational fair was also held for all associates and managers to share information about the new Career Development Institute. . . Eight trainees from the Travel and Tourism Institute of Bangladesh underwent practical training in F&B production.

Yokohama -- Welcome to new team members Mr. Ken Ide, Assistant General Manager for Operation, Mr. Manabu Komatsu - Director of Rooms and Mr. Asami Takasawa - Director of Education.

Mauna Lani -- Changes in the sales department : Laurie Jo Rogers is now Director of Group Sales, Lescia Shaver is Director of Travel Industry Sales and Susan Bredo is Director of Marketing Communications. The new National Sales Manager is Jack Brushert.

Palau -- Mr. Rinaldo Boscaro joins as the new IBU Culinary Chef. . . Chris Clark, the former Executive Chef, has been appointed as the new IBU Floor Manager. . . Lucy Sugiyama has been promoted from Director of Rooms to Director of Operations effective August 1, 1998.

Vancouver -- Genio Pirri is the new Manager for Education and Development. . . Jeri-Lynn Osayande has been promoted to Catering & Conference Services Manager. . .Phil Wonnacott is the temporary Guest Services Manager whilst John Mayne is acting Duty Manager.

KLIA -- Security Manager- Ahmad Bahari has joined the team. He has experience in hotels and also fire and safety.

San Francisco -- Ryan Sieroty is the new Group Sales Manager. Ryan, a graduate of the University of San Francisco School of Hotel Management brings 8 years hotel experience from the Kimpton Group. . . The new MIS manager is James Krider who joins from the KLA-Tencor where he headed the tech team. James will be a key player when the new property management system is installed and offices are upgraded to Windows.

Whistler -- Evangeline Imperial has joined a the new Director of Sales. Evangeline brings with her extensive knowledge of the Whistler area. . . Paul Scanlon has been promoted from Team Leader to Guest Service Manager.

Glenmarie -- Amin - Al Rashid Hj. Ali (EDP Manager) received accolades from hotel guest Peter Ball (General Manager - Resins, Hunstman Chemical). Amin had Agone the extra mile@ to assist the guest with a presentation which was held up due to technical faults. Well done Amin.

San Francisco -- Celebrity guests included : Bob Mackie - fashion designer, singers Liz Phair, Grace Slick, Lionel Richie and Jimmy Buffett; Steven McEvoy - Editor of George Magazine= actress Giselle Fernandez; Oprah Winfrey, Gayle King - TV hostess, Joan Lunden - TV news anchor, bands Phish and Massive Attack.

Singapore -- Executive Chef Yuji Wakiya of the Turandot Chinese restaurant at The Pan Pacific Yokohama visited with a contingent of 20 affluent ladies who are VIP customers of Isetan Yokohama. The group was in Singapore to shop and enjoy the cuisine. They were treated to a feast by Master Chef Chan Chen Hei at the Hai Tien Lo restaurant. . . The World Economic Forum which met in Singapore is an independent, impartial and non-profit organisation with an objective to tackle the Asia economic crisis issue. 800 delegates attended the Forum including the President of the Philippines, Governors of the Reserve Bank of Australia and New Zealand, China=s Vice Minister of Finance amongst others. . . For the third year running, the hotel hosted the Heineken Tennis Open 1998 with players like Marcelo Rios, Goran Ivanisevic, Michael Chang participating. This year, the event took on a more festive atmosphere with a Heineken Open carnival offering food, drinks, entertainment and games.

Dhaka -- The Wills International Cricket Cup (Mini World Cup) with nine test cricket playing nations participating. All players, officials and guest stars including star players Sachin Tendulkar, Brian Lara, Wasim Akram, Curtly Ambrose and the Waugh Brothers staying in the hotel. . . The Bangladesh Apparel and Textile Exposition (BATEXPO)=98 , the biggest ready made apparel show was organised by the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association at the hotel. This event was graced by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina. 79 local and international firms participated in the event. . . Both the Saudi and Spanish national days were celebrated in the hotel ballroom with local and foreign dignitaries in attendance.

AThe only thing that stands between a man and what he wants from life is often merely the will to try it and the faith to believe that it is possible...@

Jakarta -- In support of the local heritage, an exhibition of AWayang@ paintings and handicrafts was officiated by the Ambassador of Japan, H.E. Mr. Takao Kawakami. Proceeds from the sale will be donated towards local Awayang@ theatre in Jakarta.

KL -- Associates from Front Office and Room Service assisted in the housekeeping operations due to shortage of associates. . . The parents of two associates passed away recently and the Ahat@ was passed around to collect monies. Another Associates=s home was robbed and another collection was set up.

Johor Bahru -- All F&B outlets had to reprint their menus recently to accommodate the new nett prices. All the menus were printed in-house resulting in a huge cost-saving as the total amount spent was only RM500. Printing the menus in-house also means that the outlets can change their menus more regularly to give guests a more exciting variety.

Yokohama -- Halloween at Cafe Tosca saw pumpkin lanterns with a candle inside as decorations and a special menu with pumpkin soup or pumpkin pie will be offered. . . A Black Tie Dinner with Chef Wakiya was held on October 8th and 9th. A total of 240 guests generated a revenue of Yen7,200,000 for the 2 days.The delectable dinner party was presented by Chef Wakiya and Honorary Chef Ishinabe serving special Chinese delicacies including passion fruits mousse set in the swan ice carving for dessert. . . . An "All-you-can-drink wine promotion: Selection from the world" will be held at Lounge, Somerhouse, from October 1 till November 30. For this promotion, wines are from 11 countries-mainly those from so-called "new world wines" of Chili, Argentina, Hungary, Bulgaria, and Greece, in addition to those well-known wine producing countries of Germany, France and Italy. . . The Autumn Special Dishes prepared by Honorary Chef Ishinabe and Executive Chef Kawai at Cafe Tosca were available for the month of October. The two special courses respectively consist of 5 items inclusive of Salad, Main Dish and Dessert using a lot of seasonal ingredients and materials to feature their characteristic menus. . . At the Japanese restaurant, Oshidori, starting in October, a Yen2,500 lunch menu is available. Oshidori is a branch of famous Kaiseki restaurant in the Kansai district and is serving to attract local clientele in Yokohama.

Palau -- The "Sunday Buffet Breakfast Special" at $10 inclusive per person for the month of October only was created to entice the local market.

Whistler -- The Whistler Oktoberfest festival was a huge success with Bavarian dancers and music galore. There was also a root beer garden for the kids and a Munich-style beer hall for adults. . . The Whistler Food & Wine celebration CONUCOPIA will be held in November with the region=s leading chefs and wine makers offering gourmet dining , food and wine seminars, tastings, workshops and demonstrations.

KLIA -- The Pacific Market has been operating successfully with its new cuisine. This restaurant gives diners the opportunity to sample three entrees in one. . . The Catering Team provides outside catering for Thai Airways and the Thai Embassy when they welcome guests to Malaysia..

Kuala Lumpur -- In conjunction with the Commonwealth Games, the bi-monthly Wine makers Dinner showcased food and wine from the Commonwealth nations. The room was stylishly set up using the Games colour - white, blue, yellow and red. The Games flag was used for the chair backs, while the centrepiece was an ostrich egg with all the flags of the Commonwealth nations inscribed on the egg. To complement the table setting, 3 wira (soft toy) mascot held a flag each which bears the evening=s menu. . . Hai Tien Lo and Selera are among 50 top restaurants in Malaysia to participate in the Electrolux Star Restaurant contest which ended on October 18, 1998. The spirit of the competition was to give top local restaurants an opportunity to demonstrate their popularity among their customers. The contest, was organised by Electrolux, the world=s leading home appliance manufacturer. During the month long contest, diners will vote for their favourite restaurant by depositing voting cards in boxes located in all participating restaurants. The top 30 restaurants that receive the most votes from the public will be designated as the 30 Electrolux Star Restaurants.

Jakarta -- An AAnything but rice@ promotion was introduced to offer replacement dishes that are also high in carbohydrates.

Johor Bahru -- All prices in the hotel are now quoted in nett terms from October 1st, 1998. Room rates and F&B prices are stated inclusive of the government tax and service charge. This has been implemented throughout the country. What this means for guests is that what they see is what they pay.

San Francisco -- The upsell programme being implemented at the Reception Desk has been successful with revenue reaching nearly $100,000. The September up sells totaled more than $13,000 with an average upsell of more than $45 per night. The winner receives a percentage on a sliding scale up to 15% of his or her total.

KLIA -- When flight delays happen, the hotel becomes busy especially in the early hours. Reception is busiest from 1700hours until 0100 hours. Sometimes there is only 5 minutes notice that 200 people are on the way to the hotel for an overnight stay. It is all hands on deck to ensure a smooth check-in. . . Travel agents from Osaka and Korea have made visits to the hotel. . . The newly opened Pacific Floor caters to business clients and features evening cocktails, continental breakfasts, check-in and check out on the floor. . .

Whistler -- The 1998/99 ski season kicks off on November 25th when both Whistler and Blackcomb Mountains will be in full operation. . . The Men=s world downhill and Super G will be held in December. The best Downhill racers in the world will compete on Whistler Mountain when racers can reach up to 130 kph. . . The 1998 FIS Snowboard world Cup will also bring the world=s best snowboarders competing in the Halfpipe, Super G and Snowboard Cross. This is the event where Whistler=s own Ross Rebagliati won a gold medal in the Winter Games in Nagano, Japan. . . The lodge and The Pan Pacific Vancouver have joined forces in their new season of advertising whereby both property locations, amenities and specials will be featured.

Kuala Lumpur -- The hotel hosted 20 top supporting travel consultants who purchase PPHR facilities through Kuoni Dorking, a travel agent in United Kingdom. This first-time visit was commemorated with a special cocktail followed by dinner arranged on the night of their stay. During cocktails, each of our male guest received a Asarong pelekat@ while the ladies were presented with beautifully embroidered Aselendang@ (scarf). To give them a further taste of Malaysia, an Iban warrior demonstrated the art of using the tribe=s blow-pipe. The guests had their hand in trying out the blow-pipe, and they proved to be sharp shooters despite being first timers. . . Ananth Ganesh and Mathew Mani made sales trips to Penang and Kedah whilst Dee Dee Pok and Khariah Ikhwan visited Singapore. . .Hotel Inspections for Travel Agents from Holiday Tours UK Ltd and Inter Pacific Travel (for Russian Travel Agents) were conducted.

Mauna Lani -- The Pan Pacific worldwide sales and marketing conference was held at the hotel. It was an excellent opportunity for the sales team to share their challenges and success stories whilst working on new ideas for the new millennium. . . Over 300 travel agents visited the hotel for familiarisation tours.

Yokohama -- The Yokohama Bay Stars baseball team became champion of the Central League after 38 years. Celebrating this team and event, a discount of 46% off rack rates was offered, since the pitcher, Mr. Sasaki's saved point was 46. A total of 120 bookings have been received from the moment the game was won until 11:00 a.m. the following day. A target of 250 room nights by the end of the valid period, November 30 has been set. However, bookings to date total almost 300 room nights. . . The New Year's Eve party will see the lobby floor converted into a dance floor with Rock'n Roll music. The front desk will be the bar counter with a count down celebration at 12:00 midnight. The theme for Christmas is "A Five Star Christmas". On December 24th, a Five Star Christmas Party will be held at the Queen's Grand Ballroom with Honorary Chef Ishinabe, Executive Chef Kawai and Chef Wakiya. This party will include a parade by 20 chefs for cutting service as well as talk show by those 3 popular chefs. . . As part of the Christmas package, Christmas gifts will be given to guests who book this package such as upgrade to a Pan Pacific Suite Room, night cruise by helicopter, driving with stretch limousine and etc. . . Another package is the Christmas Concert Package inclusive of a ticket to Ms. Kathleen Battle Concert held at the Minato Mirai Hall adjacent to our hotel. A variety of 3 set meals offering a choice of appetizer, cocktail or dinner before or after the concert will also be available. . . The First Anniversary package result reached 2,000 R/N for 3 months period with total revenue of Yen 69,315,965.

Glenmarie -- 7 Travel Agents on a fam trip, organised by Travel Specialists Sweden visited the hotel recently. They were travel agents who handle hotel bookings for Ericsson. . . Sandra Morris, our new team member of the London RSO team made a brief visit during her fam trip to Asia. . . Mei May and Charlotte Tan were invited for a fam. visit by the local Chinese daily newspaper, Sin Chew Jit Poh. The visit included the various departments and its function. They were also briefed on the history of the company & introduced to all the key personnel. . . A Children=s art competition jointly organised by the hotel, the Pandy Panda Kids Club & sponsored by Aetna Universal, Wall's Ice Cream, Nestle & PPHR was held at the Ballroom. There was a total of 115 participants.

Palau -- 40 associates and managers visited 125 local companies, offices, travel agents, and schools to promote up coming functions for Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year. . . Continental Airlines, Palau Visitors Authority and Palau Pacific Resort combined forces in accommodating a US FAM trip that consisted of 24 participants from Continental Airlines and various key travel agencies, who stayed for 5 nights. . .

Malaysia -- The directive to give tourism a 'shot in the arm' is timely and appropriate, given the fact that it is the country's second largest foreign exchange earner after the manufacturing sector. It is expected to play a major part in efforts to revive the economy.

Malaysian Association of Tour & Travel Agencies have been aggressively promoting the country overseas, saying new markets such as Russia, Africa and China have been identified. Efforts are being made to promote M'sia as a shopping paradise, timeshare holiday, sports tourism and health tourism concepts. Governments should play a smaller role in tourism and technology a much larger role.

Deregulation of telecommunications is another critical step towards achieving efficient gains and growth. The Internet is a key opportunity to reverse the trend, noting that the number of Net users increased by 20 million to 50.5 million in 1997.

Traveller's were increasingly using the Internet to research and arrange their trips, esp. frequent travellers. M'sia has to put it's heart and soul into it's efforts, only then can the objective for 12.5 million tourist arrivals by the year 2000, generating RM15.7 billion in revenue, can be met.

A total of 6.8 million tourists are expected to visit Malaysia by the year end, contributing RM12.8 billion to the national revenue, Culture, Arts and Tourism Minister Datuk Sabbaruddin Chik said. This, he said, was an increase from last year=s figures when 6.2 million tourists visited Malaysia contributing RM10.5 billion to the national coffers. Sabbaruddin said the government was confident of achieving the targeted 6.8 million visitors this year as recent major events were attracting tourists, like the Commonwealth Games which attracted 70,000 foreign visitors. There there is also the coming Apec Summit in November.

Our workers appear, by and large, to be reconciled to the lack of prospects involving incomes and benefits, because of the economic turndown. This can be gauged from the number of trade disputes which have decreased from 258 in the first six months of last year compared to 213 this year. The number of trade disputes relating to collective bargaining involving wages, terms and conditions of service and monetary benefits have also declined from 193 in the first six months of last year to 136 this year.

Human Resources Minister, Datuk Lim Ah Lek said that the downtrend shows that workers and trade unions are concerned about the economic situation. For the first eight months of this year, the number of collective agreements stood at 151, of which 91 registered lower percentage increases that under previous agreements. Seven were at status quo while those registering an increase stood 53. The average yearly collective agreements nationwide is about 400.

He said the fact that there are increases in wage adjustments shows that the economy of the country is still fundamentally strong.

Johor Bahru -- The hotel took up a booth at the Special Children's School's annual Charity Bazaar to help raise funds for the school. The booth was manned by volunteers from the Sales & Marketing department and the Hospitality Institute including Director of Education Innovation, Khalid Mat Din. The volunteers sold pastry items such as Danish pastries,doughnuts, curry puffs, muffins, croissants and cakes. The booth did such brisk business that all items were sold out within half a day! . . . In response to the General Hospital's SOS for blood, the People Innovation Department organised a Blood Donation campaign together with the hospital for associates and guests. This effort helped to boost the supply at the hospital's blood bank.

Kuala Lumpur -- The hotel donated 15 units double decker beds and mattresses to Rumah Anak Yatim Sabak Bernam. A simple presentation ceremony headed by General Manager Christo Diamandopoulos to Encik Amir bin Shair, the Home=s representative, was held in the Pacific Ballroom. Approximately 60 children from the Home and officials from the Selangor Welfare Department attended the event. Guests and members of the press were later feted to a magical clown entertainment and lunch. Cash donations were also contributed by hotel associates and presented to the Home. In addition, the colleagues presented the Home with 140 kg of rice.

Palau -- A "plant collecting" day was held on with Mr. Uemura, General Manager and 6 associates going up Ngeremlengui State to collect wild flower plants to beautify the resort. . . A "Coastal & Beach" clean-up day was held with 16 associates volunteering. This is the resorts way of recognizing this year, as being the "year of the ocean. . . The resorts softball team is participating in the Softball Tournament, which started early October for 2 months period. . . In celebration of Palau's 4th Independence Day on October 1st, an estimated 90 associates and managers participated in Track & Field, Softball Event, Outrigger Canoeing Event, 3 km walkathon, and traditional dancing event. The resort was proud to be the only private company participating in this Government sponsored competition. . . Palau Visitors Authority along with local operators, agents and hotels are launching the annual Tourism Awareness Week with this year's theme of "Sustainable Tourism Development: For you, For me, and For Palau", during period of October 19th to November 19. 14 associates will participate in the "Out-Reach" Program, where they will travel to the neighboring 16 States of Palau to speak to students on awareness of this year's theme.

KLIA -- A collection box for the Salvation Army has been set up to collect clothes, canned foods, toys and other salable items. It is a great chance to sort through those cupboards and to send away all those clothes that no longer fit. . . Pacific Market has begun a collection of Aluminum Cans and the money collected will go to charity.

Jakarta -- As part of the Green and Cleanliness campaign, a project on beautification of the pedestrian walk along Thamrin Boulevard in front of the hotel is in progress. This campaign was officiated by the Governor of Jakarta, Mr. Sutiyoso.

Mauna Lani -- The hotel participated in the 1998 Aloha Week Festivals Parade with a pau unit - a princess and her court on horseback.

Malacca -- The Community Care Committee will attend the Children's Day Celebration at the school bearing sandwiches for the children. . . The hotel hosted a childrens art competition at the Pacific Ballroom in conjunction with the Pandy Panda Kids Club and AETNA Universal Insurance. There were 210 participants in both age categories. Pandy Panda made an appearance to distribute Pandy Panda Kids' Club badges and balloons to kids. YB Datuk Nasir bin Hj Yaani, Malacca Family Development, Youth and Sports Chairman was guest of honour.

Yokohama -- 10% of the Suite Celebration package revenue will be given to charity. This contribution will be given to Kanagawa Welfare Association. Total revenue of this suite room package was Yen2,888,886. Adding the money which we collected at the 1st Anniversary event, the total charity amount became Yen296, 874. This contribution will be used for disabled people.

Dhaka -- The Flood Aid Concert was jointly sponsored by the hotel, the Bangladesh Musical Band Association (BAMBA) and Nestle Bangladesh to raise funds for the victims of the recent flood. The two day show was performed by BAMBA at the hotel ballroom and was attended by 2000 guests. A total of 5,74,500 taka was raised for the Prime Ministers Relief fund. . . The hotel also donated 25 boxes of garments - trousers, t-shirts, jackets, socks etc to the Prime Ministers Relief godown for flood victims. . . Operation Oasis A Greener Tomorrow Begins Today a beautification and environmental programme was recently launched. Joint sponsors include the hotel. Nestle Bangladesh provided 200 Milo caps and Maggi noodles whilst Coca Cola contributed Coke, Sprite and Fanta for the participants. About 150 associates and management cleaned and painted grills, road dividers, zebra crossing and road markings around the hotel.

History of Tokyu=s Overseas Hotels (Part One)

Pan Pacific Hotels & Resorts was the first Japanese hotel chain to operate a hotel outside Japan. Tokyu had a strategy of expanding overseas and the hotel had its special role. In an area that was new to Tokyu they would first develop a hotel first. Hotel is a place where people gather and a lot of information can be obtained there. These information can be used for other Tokyu=s business to follow in the area.

Robert Burns had a lecture in the University of Michigan and one day he asked his students what name they would use if the were to incorporate a new hotel management company. The word ARegent@ was selected as the most suitable name at that class.