Outrigger Resorts is progressing with its plan of developing a network of absolute beachfront resorts in Asia’s most desirable holiday destinations.
The Hawaiian hotel group has created a vision of building a portfolio of resorts in some of Asian and the Indian Ocean’s foremost beach locations. And speaking to Travel Daily at ITB Asia on Wednesday, Outrigger’s executive vice president and chief marketing officer, Sean Dee, said the plans are still on track.
“About 75% of our portfolio is still based in Hawaii; we’d like that to evolve to about a 50-50 split between Asian and Hawaii by the end of the decade. Our intent is to open one-to-two new properties in Asia Pacific per year. This year we opened our newest property in the Maldives, and the reviews on that property have already been fantastic. About a month prior to that we acquired the Outrigger in Koh Samui, our third property in Thailand,” said Dee.
In terms of new destinations, Dee confirmed that Outrigger is “actively looking” for opportunities to own and operate properties in Indonesia, the Philippines, Vietnam and the Seychelles.
Australia however, is proving more complicated for the company. Outrigger sold its four resorts in the country to Mantra Group as they did not fit the criteria of being absolute beachfront destinations. But finding such locations in Australia is not proving easy.
“One of the downsides is that our development opportunities are somewhat narrow. There’s not a ton of iconic tropical beachfronts that are available and when they are incredibly competitive,” Dee admitted.
The company’s planned resort in Sanya is also becoming a “slow process”, according to Dee. This property will be managed by Outrigger, rather than owned, which is causing its own complications.
“It is somewhat out of our control, but we hope to be part of that development. We like to own and operate, which gives us more control over our own destiny.”
And Outrigger will continue to invest in its existing owned properties, including its two resorts in Fiji, which will be upgraded in 2016, and the Outrigger Laguna Phuket, which has recently completed a renovation and will continue to be improved in the coming years, with plans for a new spa and more restaurants.
“We remain committed; we believe that Outrigger can and will be the premier beach resort brand in Asia Pacific and we want to invest and grow,” Dee concluded.
Comments are closed.