Singgahsana Lodge sets precedence in mushrooming local homestays
BizHive Weekly chatted with the owner of Kuching’s first budget guesthouse named Singgahsana Lodge that became the talk of the town when it opened its door for travellers some years ago.
Q: Knowing that both of you are avid travellers with vast experience and information about the countries you have visited, how did you come up with the idea of setting up Singgahsana Lodge? What was the main focus in this niche accommodation business?
A:As travellers, we constantly complain about guesthouse facilities especially here in Asia and regularly discuss how things can be done so much better if only more thought was put into them in the first place.
After years of gelling ideas and thoughts on the ‘perfect guesthouse’, we decided to walk the talk and take on this challenge.
With our deep interest and understanding of the arts stemming from our first business endeavour inARTrageously Ramsay Ong – The Art Gallery of which we were partners with the uncle, we set ourselves the challenge to start a guesthouse that exuded the feel of Sarawak and Singgahsana Lodge came into existence.
Singgahsana Lodge was established to cater to the needs of the Free Independent Traveller (FIT) who might be classified to as the backpacker/fl ashpacker segment of the market.
Perhaps the most savvy of the travel market segment, these travellers have researched their destinations thoroughly and know exactly what their money can get them.
Our main focus is to deliver the best value for money experience to our guests.
That includes not only bed and breakfast but also an all-encompassing Borneo experience in the heart of Kuching.
We are honoured to still be listed as ‘Our Pick’ in the latest edition of Lonely Planet Guidebook as well as others such as The Stefan Loose Guide and Rough Guide.
Tripadvisor.com also recently awarded Singgahsana Lodge the Certifi cate of Excellence and our Sarawak Ministry of Tourism accorded us with the State Hornbill Tourism Award in the Guesthouse Segment.
All these we take as testimony to our continued high standards of hospitality.
Singgahsana Lodge is and remains after all, our base to engage with fellow travellers the world over making us feel as though we are travelling vicariously whilst at home.
Q: There are now a lot of affordable, comfortable and conducive lodging for travellers in Kuching per se, how do you see the growth of this business?
A: We like to think that Singgahsana Lodge was the catalyst for the mushrooming of the many guesthouses of high standards in and around Kuching.
We are pleased that Kuching now has some of the best guesthouses in Malaysia and we sincerely believe competition is key to maintaining and elevating standards.
To survive and thrive in this industry, one really needs to understand and be passionate about travels and travellers.
As lucrative as it may appear, every cent is hard earned and well deserved as you are providing the highest levels of service every time.
The budget accommodation market is burgeoning and there will be more and more travellers seeking such options but for this industry to really grow, we need our tourism promotion agencies to continue to reach out even more to these market segments and try to secure greater connectivity especially from regional hubs such as Bangkok, Bali, Hong Kong and others in addition to existing ones.
It is also imperative that our tourism promotion agencies understand the reasons why travellers fly all the way to Kuching/ Borneo to ensure that their promotional strategies match these.
Q: What is your opinion of this ‘grassroot tourism business’? Is it a very competitive business with many players wanting the same share of the market pie? (players referring to the mushrooming of homestays, cheap lodgings, inns)
A: It is a highly competitive business and we are constantly striving to maintain our market share.
It is not a case of just building the hardware and then the business automatically comes, one really has to immerse oneself into the business and ‘get your hands dirty’ so to speak before you can ensure a steady income stream.
This means infusing creativity into the marketing, guest services and also upgrading of the hardware.
We hope the government will continue its efforts to play its role in elevating tourist arrivals so that we each will have adequate patronage in a booming tourism industry.
Q: How does the emergence of all these niche travel lodgings affect the tourism industry in Sarawak? Has it been able to justify the increase of tourist arrivals every year?
A: Since our establishment, Kuching seems to be flooded by new guesthouses, hotelsand other lodging facilities.
Whilst this is certainly a boon if the tourism arrivals grows accordingly but this has not been the case.
A good example is when certain properties are not even able to sell out their rooms during our only so called ‘peak period’ which is the weekend of the Rainforest World Music Festival where previously rooms got sold out at the start of each year.
This year, rooms were still available in the Damai area during the festival weekend.
This gives a good impression on the state of the hotels and guesthouse accommodations industry.
Right now, we believe the rise in the total number of rooms on offer in Kuching cannot be justified as yet unless more efforts are taken to garner a marked increase in tourism arrivals.
The emergence of these niche travel lodgings are definitely a positive step for our tourism industry in Sarawak as it provides more options for the traveller.
Flash-packers usually stay at star rated hotels during their business travels but much prefer the setting of guesthouses when they travel for leisure.
Thus with more properties such as Singgahsana Lodge, Kuching and Sarawak become all the more attractive as a travel destination for these long staying, high spending travellers.
Q: It is obvious that tourism-related businesses (affordable lodgings, homestays) are gaining acceptance and popularity among travellers, be they on holiday or business purposes. What is the economic impact and spin-off effects from this ‘grassroot-tourism’ business?
A: The guesthouse segment is primarily locally owned and in most cases employ from the local talent pool, as well as outsource associated services such as laundry, food and beverage, transportation, etc to local enterprises.
These contribute tremendously to the local economy.
Also there has always been a pre-conceived notion that travellers donning a backpack are on real tight budgets and do not spend.
From our experiences thus far, this couldn’t be further from the truth.
Flash packers have been travelling with a backpack all their lives and now even though they have attained success in their careers, they still choose to travel this way when on holidays.
Q: How is Singgahsana Lodge’s daily/ yearly occupancy? On the fi nancial side, has Singgahsana Lodge achieved break even. How long did it take for Singgahsana Lodge to be profitable in the business?
A: Singgahsana Lodge was the pioneering guesthouse property in our market segment and we were able to maintain our status over the years we have been in existence.
Although we were able to achieve returns, much has also been re-invested back into upgrading and maintenance.
Q: What are your expansion plans moving forward?
A: Currently, we are in the process of documenting our processes to establish our Standard Operating Procedures so that the Singgahsana Lodge model can be replicated easily into a multi property business concern that still exudes the ‘Singgahsana Lodge feel’.
Locally, we would like to see ourselves make in roads into Sabah and Penang both of which we have direct air connectivity to.
Q: Are there any issues that you would like to highlight? Kindly also highlight any other aspects that may be of interest.
A: Both Marina and I are travellers first and foremost and Singgahsana Lodge and all it’s associated travel related businesses have been established from our passion for travels and the many ideas inspired from the many fabulous destinations we’ve visited.
We are also deeply passionate about our beautiful homeland of Kuching, Sarawak and the whole island of Borneo.
After all our sojourns overseas, we have always realised what great tourism products we have here and take great pride and joy to showcase these to our visiting guests.
The guesthouse business is a great avenue to engage with travellers at home and when this is done well, it will also secure you a source of well-deserved income.
For anyone thinking of establishing one, make sure that you enjoy engaging with people always and be ready to work hard towards delivering the best service to your guests.