Business opportunities in the hotel industry across Asia Pacific are substantial and that has attracted a significant number of investments to the region, while Asian-based hospitality groups continue to expand beyond their home turf.
US-based Tourico Holidays, a global leader in wholesale travel brokerage, has increased its hotel inventory in Asia by 20% this year to increase its influence in the region, with an additional US$15 million to be spent by year-end.
In the last five years, Tourico has more than doubled its hotel partnerships in the market, amassing 5,000 hotels in Asia Pacific.
"Asia is a region demonstrating incredible travel growth, punctuated recently by a very strong first half to 2016, so our primary goal now is to double our hotel inventory again in the next five years," said Steve Skidgel, executive vice-president of global product development.
Thailand-based Onyx Hospitality Group is developing the Shama Luxe Aurora Melbourne Central, a 252-unit hotel and serviced apartment property as part of the 92-storey Aurora Melbourne Central complex. Photo courtesy of Onyx Hospitality Group
"In addition to bolstering our hotel partnerships, we've also shifted the focus to building out our pre-purchased hotel inventory in the market, growing our ancillary inventory, and continuing to add offices and personnel on the ground."
The company's bookings of pre-purchased hotel rooms, or "ExclusiveDeals", have more than doubled in Asia from a year ago. Over the past 20 years, Tourico has pioneered the practice of purchasing room blocks on a massive scale, a driving force behind its growth in Asia.
In Thailand, Tourico has pre-purchased room blocks at the Ambassador Hotel in Bangkok and Siam Bayshore in Pattaya. Its bookings in the country have surged 51% this year. Pattaya (up 85%) is the fastest-growing market, followed by Phuket at 76% and Krabi at 72%.
The company also aims to pre-purchase another $15 million in hotel inventory in Asia before the year-end, targeting primary cities in China, Japan, Korea, Singapore, Thailand and Australia, according to Mr Skidgel.
To facilitate growth and to support existing partners in the region, Tourico recently opened a new office in Shenzhen, and plans to open offices in Seoul and Sydney within the next six months. They will work closely with existing offices in the region --in Beijing and Shanghai, Hong Kong, Tokyo, Bangkok, New Delhi and Brisbane.
Tourico has also made a commitment to contracting ancillary products to help its distribution clients and travel agents increase their margins. In the past month, the wholesaler has partnered with Thai Rent A Car in Thailand, and Hawk Rent A Car, its first car-rental partnership in Malaysia.
Onyx Hospitality Group, meanwhile, continues to expand its presence across the region with the signing of its first property in Australia.
The Thailand-based international hotel company has been appointed by Singapore-based Ascendas Hospitality Trust (A-HTRUST) to manage a new serviced apartment complex in the Melbourne city centre under its award-winning Shama brand.
Shama Luxe Aurora Melbourne Central will be a 252-unit property located within the iconic 92-storey, mixed-use Aurora Melbourne Central development. The serviced apartments will be located on levels 10 to 32, with a dedicated street-level entrance, lobby and elevators, as well as facilities including a restaurant, executive lounge, swimming pool and fitness centre. Construction is scheduled to be completed in the second half of 2019.
"We look forward to a successful and long term partnership with A-HTRUST as we work toward bringing the Shama brand to life in the Australian market," said Peter Henley, president and CEO of Onyx Hospitality.
Tan Juay Hiang, CEO of A-HTRUST, said: "This partnership with Onyx will help further diversify the group of operators we work with, and enlarge the pool of knowledge and expertise we can draw from."
Onyx has 10 Shama properties operating in China, Hong Kong and Thailand, with eight additional Shama properties under development in locations such as China and Malaysia. Shama has been named Best Serviced Apartment Operator of Asia by the AHF Asia Hotel Awards in the past four years.
In total, Onyx has 41 properties in seven countries and territories under the Amari, OZO, Shama and Oriental Residence brands, and 25 properties in the development pipeline. It will also be entering new markets in Vietnam and Malaysia in the coming year
A-HTRUST has a strategy of investing, directly or indirectly, in a diversified portfolio of income-producing real estate used predominantly for hospitality purposes across Asia, Australia and New Zealand, as well related real estate assets.
Its portfolio comprises 11 hotels with more than 4,000 rooms across key cities in Australia, China, Japan and Singapore; and located close to central business districts, business precincts, suburban centres, transport nodes as well as tourist landmarks.