Far East Hospitality to expand brands portfolio in Singapore, Australia

SINGAPORE — Far East Hospitality is expanding its brands portfolio in two key markets, to tap into a growing Asian middle class and its appetite for leisure travel, bringing its Australian brands into Singapore while taking its prime home-grown brands Down Under.

On the cards are plans to import its two Australian brands — Vibe and Adina — into Singapore, and export its Singapore brand Oasia into Australia.

Far East Hospitality has a combined portfolio of more than 13,000 rooms under management across close to 90 hotels and serviced residences in seven countries — Australia, Denmark, Germany, Hungary, Malaysia, New Zealand and Singapore. Its stable of nine brands comprises Adina Apartment Hotels, Medina Serviced Apartments, The Marque Hotels, Oasia Hotels, The Quincy Hotel, Rendezvous Hotels, Travelodge Hotels, Vibe Hotels and Village Hotels & Residences.

Vibe and Adina are managed by TFE Hotels, a joint venture between Australia’s Toga Group and Far East Hospitality Holdings.

“We are very established in Australia. So, we want to bring these (Singapore) brands to Australia. We also want to bring the Australian brands to Singapore. We are exploring bringing Vibe and Adina out of Australia and we want to bring Oasia into Australia,” Mr Arthur Kiong, Far East Hospitality CEO, told TODAY.

“The question is whether it will be through hotel management agreements or through ownership, and the answer is both. It is usually easier if it’s through ownership.”

The hotel operator, meanwhile, is also tweaking its business model from owning and operating hotel properties to managing third-party owned properties under its own brands.

“While it’s our intention to push the Oasia brand, people have shown interest in your Quincy brand. People want to take that brand and transplant it in their own geography,” said Mr Kiong, adding that there will be a Quincy opening in Bintan, Indonesia, either by the end of next year or early 2018. When Quincy opens in Bintan, it will be the first property in Far East Hospitality’s portfolio that it does not own.

The burgeoning Association of South-east Asian Nations (Asean) market, according to Mr Kiong, is producing fresh opportunities for hotel operators in the region.

“There is a rising market in South-east Asia for regional travel. With the rise of the new airport terminals and budget airlines making travel very accessible to the masses, the regional destinations will become pretty buoyant. So places like Indochina, Malaysia, Indonesia, there still are opportunities for growth in terms of hotels.”

A report by Boston Consulting Group and TripAdvisor showed that one billion people in the Asia-Pacific (Apac) region will have annual income levels of more than US$15,000 (S$20,320) by 2030. Due to the rise of disposable income and travel, 49 per cent of all global passenger traffic will be within the Apac region or between Apac and the rest of the world by 2030. More than 50 per cent of the growth in global travel traffic will also come from Apac, noted the report.

To tap into this, Far East Hospitality plans to launch several properties in the next five years. In April, it opened two hotels simultaneously — the Oasia in Kuala Lumpur and the Oasia Downtown in Tanjong Pagar. Next month, the hospitality giant will open serviced residences in the west coast of Singapore — Oasia Residences — with 140 keys.

Far East Hospitality’s parent company, Far East Organization, is also planning to build an 839-room resort in Sentosa, as well as a hotel called The Clan in Far East Square.

CORRECTION: In an earlier version of this report, we wrote that the hospitality company will open Oasia Residence in the west coast of Johor next month. This is inaccurate. Far East Hospitality will be opening Oasia Residence in the west coast of Singapore next month. We apologise for the error.