July 2010
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It’s a jungle of new hotels |
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MICE planners are spoilt for choice when it comes to hotels, as the
hotel landscape in Asia-Pacific expands at impressive speeds. But being
new, bright and shiny is not enough to win over MICE planners who keep
an eagle-eye on what a new property can truly deliver, writes Karen Yue
Additional reporting by Sirima Eamtako, S. Puvaneswary, Mimi Hudoyo, Sharon Desker Shaw, Michael Hoare and Prudence Lui
The hotel landscape in Asia-Pacific is on a growth spurt, with major international hotel chains injecting a mind-boggling number of properties and rooms in not just major gateway cities but emerging destinations.
Starwood Hotels and Resorts will add 115 hotels – all new-builds except one which is a conversion – with 38,074 keys across the region over the next three years. The majority of openings will be in China and India.
InterContinental Hotels Group has so far opened 10 hotels in Asia-Pacific and will have another 37 by year-end.
Another hospitality giant, Accor, will open 40 to 45 hotels in the region this year alone. Of these, three are Sofitel properties, six Pullman, two Novotel and seven Mercure – brands that are popular with corporate and meeting clients.
Accor Asia-Pacific senior vice president sales and marketing Graham Wilson told TTGmice that “a number greater than this will open in 2011”.
Fairmont Hotels & Resorts will also add more properties in Asia-Pacific this year and next, with the Fairmont Peace Hotel in Shanghai, set to open this year, as its star attraction.
Established hotels in the region are not standing still while new MICE-friendly properties spring to life.
Carlton Hotel Singapore and Rasa Sentosa Resort in Singapore, and Movenpick Hotel Saigon in Ho Chi Minh City, for instance, are undergoing major reconstruction to spruce up their leisure and meeting products. The latter two have chosen to close temporarily for their makeovers and will reopen in early 2011 and on August 1, respectively.
But are MICE planners able to keep up to speed with all the new hotel openings?
Some MICE agents think so, but say new hotels must work very hard to stand out in a jungle of new hotels.
“Whether corporate clients are aware of new hotels depends on the extent of the hotels’ marketing efforts. Some clients may slip through the cracks, and for these clients, they have us. We will point out new hotels with facilities and prices that meet clients’ events needs and budgets. So new hotels have to make sure we are kept updated too,” said the head of MICE with a major travel management company in Singapore.
| “We
are...cautious of (new) hotels. It is important for new hotels to
impress us and show us that they are able to compete with the regular
brands or properties we are used to.”
KT Foo
Group general manager
Sri Sutra Travel |
Although clients are aware of new MICE-friendly hotels, not all are keen to try out the new properties right away, observed Singapore’s NSK@Work (Events & Tours) business development director Sabura Bagum.
“There tends to be a feeling of insecurity. Clients will be eager to visit a new hotel for a site inspection, but will not commit right away with an event there,” Bagum said.
The need for caution against taking an event to a new property resonates among various MICE planners. The high-profile law suits between Marina Bay Sands (MBS) Singapore and its first event client, Inter-Pacific Bar Association, only highlight the dangers. A group representing the association has now launched a counter-claim against MBS, saying its conference held there from May 2-5 was a “complete disaster”. MBS earlier sued the association for a remaining S$300,000 (US$214,373) in payments owed.
Malaysia’s Feature Tour manager Terence Chew said clients were willing to try a new property if it could offer better rates than existing ones in the vicinity, but on one condition – the hotel has to be at least three months old.
Malaysia’s Sri Sutra Travel group general manager KT Foo said location, facilities, services and introductory offers also play a major role when deciding on the venue. “We are also cautious of new hotels as there may still be teething problems and some room amenities may not be functioning. It is important for new hotels to impress us and show us that they are able to compete with the regular brands or properties we are used to.”
Familiarity with the new property’s brand helps, said Singapore’s Discover Holidays managing director Rodney Yew, who has so far sent five incentive groups to Sofitel Macau at Ponte 16, which opened in August 2008. “When the brand is trusted and known for quality, clients are more willing to have a go.”
So while the spanking new hardware is up and ready, it is only the start of the game for new hotels that have to find many ways to capture the hearts of MICE planners.
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