Mutiara Hotels and Resorts sets out to increase tourism arrivals from Japan

Malaysia's, Mutiara Hotels and Resorts is making a concerted effort to attract increasing numbers of Japanese travellers to Malaysia by conducting sales calls to the key cities of Japan namely Tokyo, Fukuoka, Osaka and Nagoya this January 2003.

The hotel group will be sending a senior manager together with their marketing representatives in Japan to conduct this 3 weeks extensive exercise. These managers will represent all six Mutiara Hotels and Resorts in Malaysia.

Mr. Halim Merican, General Manager, Yield and Revenue Management with PERNAS Hotel Management (PHM), the Managers of Malaysia's Mutiara Hotels & Resorts, said after briefing the sales team recently in Kuala Lumpur: "This is a significant sales conference for all Mutiara Hotels & Resorts as this is where sales contracts for the coming year are confirmed."

He continued: "Japanese travellers are very important to the global travel industry and especially the Malaysian travel industry and economy. To some extent, they are a barometer of the travel industry and provide us with good indicators of the travel industry's health. Many are affluent travellers who tend to stay in upmarket accommodation and who spend well while they are here. 

 The benefits from Japanese travellers for the whole travel industry are immense and therefore our sales team will be negotiating even harder to see tourism arrivals increase over the next few months."

Mr. Halim added: "Sadly the tourism arrivals from Japan into Malaysia have declined significantly over the past year or so as a result of global economic uncertainty and security issues. We don't see these declines as a reflection upon Malaysia as a travel destination as Japanese arrivals into other Asian destinations have declined as well and probably at the same rate as they have in Malaysia."

He continued: "The challenge for our sales team is to reinforce with all the Japanese buyers and wholesalers at the travel mart that Malaysia remains an exciting, safe and value for money holiday destination. Nothing has changed in Malaysia to affect the quality of the travel experience. In fact, we have improved over the past year or so and still our rates remain constant so travellers to Malaysia have even better choice at excellent value for money prices."

"While travel professionals already know this, we still have to make our presence felt and to introduce the many new products that have been developed in our hotels and resorts over the past twelve months," Mr. Halim added.

One of the sales team, Mr. Yasuo Manki, the Senior Sales Manager, said after the briefing that Mutiara Hotels & Resorts is still a new brand to the Japanese market. He said: "Constant contact and sales calls to Japan is important for us as a hospitality group as we want to reinforce and continually promote the brand name Mutiara to Japan's leading travel buyers. We have set out to promote the brand as a truly Malaysian owned and developed concept, which we think is important to visitors who really want to fully appreciate the warm and professional hospitality that Malaysia has to offer."

Mr. Manki mentioned: "Within the group of hotels and resorts there are some excellent packages available, which our research suggests will appeal to both first time and mature travellers from Japan. Our properties have proven to be popular with the Japanese, especially Langkawi, Kuala Lumpur and Penang, and we shall be promoting the new developments at all properties so that agents realise they are getting many new value added services."

Mutiara Hotels & Resorts had a successful holiday period from Hari Raya through to early New Year with some resorts being fully booked for the peak festive holiday seasons. Mr. Halim commented: "We were very heartened by this especially when some sectors of the travel industry continue to suffer from recent destabilising world events. However, there is definitely no time for complacency as the current indicators suggest that next few months will be difficult as there is a lot of global uncertainty. We are always optimistic that while there are currently some barriers to global travel, there are always opportunities."

"Many of our guests are regular returnees and our staff know exactly how to pamper them to their every need. Hospitality is really about making every guest feel special and that's what Mutiara staff does well," Mr. Halim mentioned.

He added: "Many travellers know Malaysia and the hotel; it is really only a matter of reassuring them that nothing has changed in Malaysia except that we have new and better facilities. This is why it is important as it means we can speak to the Japanese travel buyers face to face to inform them of the new developments in our hotels and resorts." 

The big news that the sales team will take to Japan is the ongoing RM100 million redevelopment at the group's flagship property - the Mutiara Kuala Lumpur. The Mutiara Kuala Lumpur is destined to change the face of Malaysian hospitality with its emergence as a new-look luxury hotel in the coming months. 

The current renovations are some of the most comprehensive to have been undertaken in a Malaysian hotel and the finished product will introduce new standards for the Malaysian hospitality industry. The renovations affect much of the hotel and this has required most of it to be temporarily closed while the work proceeds.