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Dubai Australian hotel chain Park Regis, which entered the UAE market with its first Middle East footprint in Dubai’s Karama district, plans to roll out more hotels in the region, a top official said.
“We currently have one Park Regis in Dubai. We would like to have five or six hotels representing both our Park Regis and Leisure Inn brands,” Scott Butcher, General Manager of Park Regis Kris Kin Hotel Dubai, told Gulf News.
“We are interested in all the prime destinations and also we wish to introduce our mid-range Leisure Inn Brand. We wish to broaden our umbrella of hotels in the region and consider ourselves a long-term player in the market.”
He said the company is open to management contracts and equity participation in hotels.
“We are open to both suggestions, we currently have equity in 13 of our 26 hotels plus we have leases and management agreements. We are entirely flexible,
“Because we are a small group, we can tailor our hotels individually to the market environment and our customer mix. We do not have pre-conceived ideas on how hotels should function. At the end of the day all we want to ensure is that our guests are completely happy with our services,” he said. Park Regis is part of the hotel portfolio of Australia-based StayWell Hospitality Group (SWHG). It has a network of 26 properties in the Asia Pacific.
In an interview, he spoke on issues relating to the tourism industry. Excerpts:
Gulf News: What is your view of the global tourism and hospitality industry?
Scott Butcher: To say the least we live in interesting times. With the continued turmoil in Europe showing no signs of abaiting, a slow US recovery and uncertainty in certain parts of Asia.
It is extremely difficult to see how matters are going to pan out in the immediate future. There are opportunities from the emerging economies of China, India, Brazil and Russia and certain Asian countries.
There is also the projected growth in the cruise market which offers excellent possibilities. Countries which are affected by the economic uncertainty and which have not been aggressive in tourism, may also see tourism as an opportunity to boost their economies. This may lead to further competition in destinations.
How would the current economic situation — especially European debt crisis affect the global tourism industry?
Recent surveys from the UK indicate that the first thing that would be cut in expenses by travellers is overseas holidays, I think that this is indicative of Europe as a whole.
With the US there are some timid positive signs but it is too early to be upbeat about the situation there.
With Asia there are some positive signs but Japan has just released economic figures which were less positive than expected. China has also just released data which shows a jump in inflation although hopefully this is just due to the impact of Chinese New Year.
What is your view on the UAE’s tourism industry?
The UAE’s tourism industry has great potential but has not been fully utilised yet.
Courtesy: Park Regis
Optimistic look
Scott Butcher, General Manager of Park Regis, said the group would like to add five or six more hotels in the region.
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“We currently have one Park Regis in Dubai. We would like to have five or six hotels representing both our Park Regis and Leisure Inn brands,” Scott Butcher, General Manager of Park Regis Kris Kin Hotel Dubai, told Gulf News.
“We are interested in all the prime destinations and also we wish to introduce our mid-range Leisure Inn Brand. We wish to broaden our umbrella of hotels in the region and consider ourselves a long-term player in the market.”
He said the company is open to management contracts and equity participation in hotels.
“We are open to both suggestions, we currently have equity in 13 of our 26 hotels plus we have leases and management agreements. We are entirely flexible,
“Because we are a small group, we can tailor our hotels individually to the market environment and our customer mix. We do not have pre-conceived ideas on how hotels should function. At the end of the day all we want to ensure is that our guests are completely happy with our services,” he said. Park Regis is part of the hotel portfolio of Australia-based StayWell Hospitality Group (SWHG). It has a network of 26 properties in the Asia Pacific.
In an interview, he spoke on issues relating to the tourism industry. Excerpts:
Gulf News: What is your view of the global tourism and hospitality industry?
Scott Butcher: To say the least we live in interesting times. With the continued turmoil in Europe showing no signs of abaiting, a slow US recovery and uncertainty in certain parts of Asia.
It is extremely difficult to see how matters are going to pan out in the immediate future. There are opportunities from the emerging economies of China, India, Brazil and Russia and certain Asian countries.
There is also the projected growth in the cruise market which offers excellent possibilities. Countries which are affected by the economic uncertainty and which have not been aggressive in tourism, may also see tourism as an opportunity to boost their economies. This may lead to further competition in destinations.
How would the current economic situation — especially European debt crisis affect the global tourism industry?
Recent surveys from the UK indicate that the first thing that would be cut in expenses by travellers is overseas holidays, I think that this is indicative of Europe as a whole.
With the US there are some timid positive signs but it is too early to be upbeat about the situation there.
With Asia there are some positive signs but Japan has just released economic figures which were less positive than expected. China has also just released data which shows a jump in inflation although hopefully this is just due to the impact of Chinese New Year.
What is your view on the UAE’s tourism industry?
The UAE’s tourism industry has great potential but has not been fully utilised yet.
Courtesy: Park Regis
Optimistic look
Scott Butcher, General Manager of Park Regis, said the group would like to add five or six more hotels in the region.
[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]
