Radisson’s Luxury Brands Expand in Southeast Asia and the Pacific

Sentosa Island in Singapore has reported almost two-thirds of its pre-pandemic visitor volume and should recover to pre-pandemic numbers in one to two years. This is what the CEO of Sentosa Development Corporation said during the Trip.com Global Partner Summit that was held in Sentosa. The 1,236-acre island resort off the southern coast of Singapore currently holds 14 hotels and the Resorts World Sentosa IR. New projects they expect to drive visitation include a new Raffles Sentosa Resort & Spa, the second Raffles in Singapore, and Sentosa Sensoryscape. The new Raffles will have 62 exclusive villas and a multipurpose celebrations room, state-of-the-art meeting spaces, and a grand ballroom that can host up to 400 people. Sentosa Sensoryscape is a half-kilometer sensory walk through Sentosa Island, punctuated by five sensory gardens. Both projects are expected to be completed in 2024.

Visitor arrivals in the Macau SAR fell -28.6% month on month in September to 2.3 million. August visitor arrivals had been the highest monthly figure so far this year, although October may beat that. In September, the gaming hub received 534,755 visitors from Hong Kong, about 23% of the total. The number of overnight visitors to Macau totaled 1.17 million people in September, while same-day visitors totaled 1.13 million. In the first three quarters of 2023, the number of visitor arrivals totaled 19,928,168. Tourism authorities are expecting to receive 24 million visitors by year-end. We are not giving comparisons to 2022 because they are useless given the Zero-Covid policy from China that did not end until early this year. In 2019, Macau received 39.4 million visitors.

Accor said they now have more than 380 extended-stay hotels under 14 global brands, becoming the world’s largest player in the category outside of the United States with a high concentration of properties across Europe and Asia. Adagio is Europe’s market leader in the aparthotel industry. They are seeing robust demand for their premium to midscale brands, such as Novotel Living. The Novotel Living brand is now operating in Singapore, Bangkok, Ho Chi Minh City, and Kazakhstan, with more locations to follow. Accor also recently open Pullman Living Dongguan Forum in China and Adagio is celebrating its 15th anniversary in 2023 with the opening of 11 new aparthotels across five continents. Accor has several luxury serviced apartment projects underway, including the 250 key Sofitel Serviced Residences Riyadh.

Renaissance Kuala Lumpur Hotel & Convention Centre reopened its doors to the public on October 20th, after having closed down in June 2020 for renovations. The property will be part of Marriott International’s first dual-branded property in Malaysia as the hotel will be sharing an address with the Four Points by Sheraton Kuala Lumpur, City Centre, slated to also open its doors this current quarter. The Renaissance hotel will offer 406 redesigned guest rooms, including themed family suites, as well as family-friendly facilities on levels 3 and 4 such as a large outdoor pool with water slides and a wet play area, a 13,000 square foot Paradise Trails adventure zone, indoor Kids Club, a Stay & Play multipurpose function room and a 24-hour fitness center. The hotel is also home to Mandara Spa and three halal-certified restaurants named Evolution for all-day dining, R Bar, and H2O Bar & Grill poolside restaurant. The 52,000-square-foot convention center features an 1,800-seat pillarless ballroom, 26 function rooms and four pre-function lounges. The Four Points by Sheraton Kuala Lumpur City Centre will be the fourth hotel under the Four Points by Sheraton brand in the country.

Radisson Hotel Group said they expanded their lifestyle brands in South East Asia and Pacific with new openings and developments in key destinations. The group plans to introduce the Radisson RED brands in Danang, Vietnam; Phuket, Thailand, and Cebu City in the Philippines. Their luxury lifestyle brand, Radisson Collection, will soon enter the region with upcoming openings in Galle, Sri Lanka and Boracay, Philippines. The group also aims to grow its upper upscale Radisson Blu brand with new properties in Colombo, Sri Lanka and Hoi An, Vietnam. Radisson Hotel Group sees a lot of potential in the Philippines, Sri Lanka, and Vietnam as key markets for its lifestyle brands. Radisson is aiming to become the largest hotel portfolio in Sri Lanka.

Following hotel openings in China, Japan, and Thailand last year, Banyan Tree Group’s new minimalist brand Garrya is continuing its global expansion with the launch of Garrya Bianti Yogyakarta on Indonesia’s island of Java. The hotel is located on the banks of Denggung River in Gabugan Villagelocated in Yogyakarta’s Sleman Region. The resort will feature 24 modern villas, a residential two-bedroom villa with a full-size swimming pool, gazebo, Jacuzzi, and a spacious living room, as well as a signature Wellbeing Sanctuary Villa. The four-room 8lements Spa will specialize in indigenous wellness therapies rooted in Asian wisdom. There are various restaurants, lounges, and bars. Banyan Tree Group said by 2025 their Garrya brand is poised to open four resorts in Vietnam, in Mu Cang Chai, Da Nang, Hoi An, and Hoa Binh and two in China, in Xianju and Yangcheng Lake.

The land and buildings associated with Napier, New Zealand’s first 5-star international branded hotel, are for sale. Located on the corner of Munroe and Raffles Streets in the Napier CBD, the Art Deco-influenced modern hotel offers 52 premium rooms managed by Swiss-Belhotel International under a hotel management agreement for a 10-year term. The four-level office building was converted to hotel use in 2018, opening its doors in 2021 as Swiss-Belboutique Napier. The conversion to an upmarket hotel included development of on-site amenities including Saffron Social Kitchen restaurant, in-house gymnasium/fitness center and guest laundry. The current HMA does have a Termination on Sale clause. 36 Munroe Street, Napier South is for sale by tender via Bayleys Auckland Central, closing on November 16th, unless sold prior.

Chinese conglomerate Country Garden, which includes a division that owns and operates hotels, is the latest property developer in the country to accelerate their financial woes. The Financial Times said the company is heading for default after failing to make a payment on an offshore bond. The Hong Kong-based company reported more than US$7.5 billion in losses for the first half of 2023 and a few weeks after several executives from its wealth-management divisions were arrested, suspected of illegal fundraising.

Ucommune International Ltd, a co-working office-space manager and provider in China, announced it entered into a strategic cooperation agreement with Plateno Hotel Management (Shenzhen) Co., Ltd. to unveil its latest business model that combines hotels and co-working spaces. Both parties will leverage their brand names, industry resources, and industrial advantages to explore the diversified usage and integration of hotel amenities and co-working facilities. The two parties aim to merge conference rooms and small offices with hotel public areas and undertake hotel renovations and modernizations to improve overall customer experience.