Small Luxury Hotels of the World Opens Regional Office in Singapore

Small Luxury Hotels of the World has officially opened its Asia Pacific Regional Office in Singapore. The addition of the new office will strengthen the luxury hotel brand's network in the Asia Pacific region, complementing the existing offices in Sydney, Tokyo and Hong Kong.

Paul Kerr, CEO of Small Luxury Hotels of the World said, "The opening of the Singapore office is a key strategic move for us as a brand. We are investing in this region to fuel growth - both in terms of growing reservations through the SLH channels, particularly www.slh.com, and building our portfolio which currently stands at 100 properties in this region. Since establishing the brand in 1991 with 70 hotels in 12 countries we have built a very strong base of loyal guests in Europe and the US where brand awareness is high. We want to mirror this success in the Asia Pacific region which holds huge potential for us as a global brand. With over 500 independently-owned hotels in 75 countries worldwide, we are in an excellent position to cater for the demand from discerning travellers in this region."

Small Luxury Hotels of the World has already established its core team in Singapore with the key appointments of Mark Wong as Area Director and Brandon Chan as Director of Sales. Mark Wong will oversee all areas of operation in the region, reporting directly to Paul Kerr. Bryony Gammon, PR Manager for the Asia Pacific region, has relocated to Singapore from the Sydney office. Anita Chan, Director of Development, Asia Pacific, is based in Hong Kong.

With 508 hotels in the portfolio with an average of 49 rooms at each hotel, SLH has over 25,290 rooms in total worldwide. Despite the global recession over 65 hotels were accepted into the brand in 2009. The brand recently added two properties in Japan where it previously did not have a presence - Hoshinoya Karuizawa and Hoshinoya Kyoto.

 The brand is also committed to strengthening its presence in markets where demand is high. For example, in Malaysia Small Luxury Hotels of the World has just welcomed three new properties in the Sari Pacifica Resort & Spa family - Redang Island, Lang Tengah Island and Sibu Island. Other new hotels include Crystal Resort Sun Moon Lake in Taiwan and Serene Pavilions in Sri Lanka. The development team will be focusing on China, India and Japan over the next 12 months.

As well as building its portfolio of hotels, Small Luxury Hotels of the World is committed to ensuring that the brand is accessible to key markets within the region. Within the next two months the corporate pages of slh.com will appear in Simplified Chinese and Japanese. An iPhone application will be launched by April 2010. The long-term goal is to offer a completely multi-lingual end-to-end website and booking solution. Small Luxury Hotels of the World provides toll-free numbers for key markets in the Asia Pacific region and guests are assisted by trained reservation agents who are fluent in Mandarin, Cantonese and Japanese. The Club of Small Luxury Hotels of the World was also recently relaunched with additional benefits for members including complimentary upgrades, late check-out, breakfast and access to a Club Concierge.

The brand will also be increasing its presence at key trade shows this year including ALTM in Shanghai, ITB Asia in Singapore and Blossom in Tokyo. Brandon Chan will be responsible for building relationships with key agents in the region.

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