StayWell Hospitality Group is planning to expand further across Asia, with a focus on regional gateway cities.
Speaking to Travel Daily on Tuesday (3 December 2013), the Australian hotel company’s CEO, Simon Wan, said that StayWell is looking at opportunities in several Asian destinations, including Kuala Lumpur and Bangkok, and expects to announce deals in the near future.
“[Being based in Sydney] we’re sitting at the edge of the world, looking up at Asian gateway cities,” Wan said. “We launched our first Park Regis in Singapore in 2010… [and are] now looking at opportunities in Thailand, Malaysia and Indonesia.”
“In the coming years, our growth will come from these areas,” he added.
Specifically, Wan said StayWell was “looking closely at opportunities in KL”, and is “still negotiating” on a project in the Malaysian capital. In terms of Thailand, Wan added that he would “love to get into Bangkok in the next 12 months”. Meanwhile, the CEO also revealed that he is talking to hotel owners in Indonesia with “multiple properties”.
This strategy of signing multi-hotel contracts with the same owner was recently out into practice in New Zealand, where StayWell sealed contracts with the CP Group for its first five hotels in the country. These included the Park Regis Auckland, Park Regis Dunedin, Park Regis Picton, Leisure Inn Wellington and Leisure Inn Rotorua. And Wan revealed that the company’s entry into New Zealand was the result of many years of planning.
“[As an Australian company] it was natural for us to find additional hotels in New Zealand,” said Wan. “We tried in 2009 but the negotiations were unsuccessful, so we’re lucky now to be entering New Zealand with five hotels in one transaction. It gives us a great platform to build on.”
StayWell currently operates its Park Regis and Leisure Inn brands in Australia, New Zealand, Singapore, India, Indonesia and the UAE, but will launch its first hotels in China and the UK next year. In terms of the Asian expansion, Wan said the region’s growth was likely to be driven by the Park Regis brand, which generally offer 300-400 rooms and full-service facilities including restaurants and meeting space.
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