Face to Face: Mark van Ogtrop, Managing Director, Golden Tulip South East Asia
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1) In 2009 following the alliance with Louvre hotels, Golden Tulip Group placed eighth in the world hotel ownership rankings. Do you plan to continue expansion and deploying what strategies?
Starwood Capital has acquired the brand Golden Tulip with indeed the objective to strongly grow the brand. The main focus will be to grow the economy business brand Tulip Inn and the superior first class brand, Golden Tulip. The main growth markets are in Europe, Middle East, Africa , South America and of course Asia.
2) Do you have plans for expanding your brand beyond your current limited presence in India and China?
The Asian continent is the last continent where the company has started to develop and at the same time it is also the most promising and where the expectations are high. For Asia we have three regional offices: New Delhi covering the Indian continent with a group of 12 hotels going up; Shanghai covering the Greater China Area, with eight hotels in the pipeline; and in Bangkok we have our regional office covering South East Asia, being the 10 ASEAN countries. For South East Asia we have at present seven hotels that are scheduled to open in Thailand in 2010 and we have entered in to far reaching negotiations with a group of hotels to be developed both in Vietnam and Indonesia. Our strategy is two fold: firstly to develop economy business hotels, Tulip Inns, in the main capital cities of ASEAN and in particular the emerging countries in SE Asia, i.e. Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam. Secondly we wish to position ourselves in the main resort destinations with Golden Tulip Resorts, in Bali, Phuket, Pattaya etc.
4) What criteria do you use in evaluating whether new hotels and resorts will fit into the Golden Tulip brand portfolio?
We have a very strong tagline: “International standards, local flavours”, meaning we do not adhere to a common design, whereby all hotels have to be alike. What is important indeed that the hotels have a certain minimum level of standards, that the guests expect from our brand. In addition the hotels have to have modern and trendy design and a fresh and clean look. In taking over hotels we implement these standards and details, while repositioning the properties. Furthermore the product of the hotels should in most instances cater to both the business and leisure traveler.
5) Can you please tell us about your recent take over of the management of the Mangosteen Resort and Spa in Phuket and your plans to develop it as an Ayurveeda Centre of wellness?
We are very excited about the take over of the Golden Tulip Mangosteen Resort & Spa. The hotel is more of a boutique hotel, with very high quality guest rooms and villas. Because of its location, which is quiet and with beautiful views, we have chosen to reposition the hotel into a destination spa resort. We have teamed up with a special Ayurveda Spa and with the unique Ayurveda treatments and packages we will attract a very specific market segment. These guests are looking for multi day treatments after having received special consultation from an Ayurveda therapist.Ayurveda is still relatively new to Thailand and we believe that it is a very interesting a growing niche and globally there is a strong demand for these type of treatments.
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