Far East Hospitality eyes regional expansion amid mid-tier market boom

SINGAPORE — Homegrown Far East Hospitality (FEH) is stepping up its expansion plans as it looks to bring more properties in key cities in the region, including those in Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia as well as Australia and New Zealand, into its fold.

In Singapore, it is in talks with developers to have another three to four more hotels under its management in the next three years.

“Our thrust for the next five years is to really expand our Oasia brand in Asia. We are in the process of identifying properties across key gateway cities ... In Singapore, we will have a pipeline of three to four hotels by 2020. For now, China is off our radar,” Mr Arthur Kiong, chief executive of FEH, told TODAY.

FEH is the hospitality arm of Far East Orchard, the listed subsidiary of Far East Organisation, Singapore’s largest private property developer.

At present, FEH targets mainly the burgeoning global mid-tier tourist market with 10 brands for its portfolio of hotels, serviced residences and apartment hotels. These include Oasia, Quincy, Rendezvous, Village, Far East Collection, Adina Apartment Hotels, Medina Serviced Apartments, Travelodge Hotels, Vibe Hotels and TFE Hotels Collection, its website showed.

The growth potential of the mid-tier market is huge, given the growing affluence in South-east Asia and North Asia, said Mr Kiong. “But the mid-tier market is incredibly diverse, and cannot be simply put in a box as the number of stars or the price point. It is not so simple. We need this diversity of brands to cater to different categories of the mid-tier market,” he said.

FEH opened three Oasia properties last year, including Oasia Downtown and Oasia Residences in Singapore and Oasia Suites Kuala Lumpur — the only property under this brand outside Singapore.

Mr Kiong said FEH is open to acquisitions and is currently is in talks with property owners across Malaysia, Thailand and Indonesia. It is scouting for either new or extensively retrofitted properties with at least 300 rooms for extending its Oasia brand.

Back home, FEH is also planning an all-new sub-brand under Oasia, marking the hospitality company’s entry into the upscale market. In addition, two of FEH’s properties in the city-state — Orchard Parade Hotel and The Elizabeth Hotel, grouped under Far East Collection — will be re-branded soon, Mr Kiong said.

“We are also keen on bringing into Asia two of our brands in Australia — Adina and Vibe. Given its unique propositions, apartment hotels brand Adina has resonated very well in Germany. We have two new Adina properties to be redeveloped in Sydney and Brisbane ... We are looking at bringing Vibe to Singapore and having the opportunity to rebrand some of our non-branded hotels under the Far East Collection,” Mr Kiong added.

FEH’s current portfolio consists of about 100 properties from just 18 hotels five years ago. It has a combined portfolio of close to 14,000 rooms under management across 90 hotels and serviced residences in seven countries — Australia, Denmark, Germany, Hungary, Malaysia, New Zealand and Singapore, its website showed. It also owns more than 10 hospitality assets in Australia, Denmark and Germany.