Tune Hotels awards a boost for Sarawak tourism sector

0
TOP 15: Photo shows Tune Hotel Waterfront Kuching, which was ranked among Malaysia’s top 15 bargain hotels by TripAdvisor.

TOP 15: Photo shows Tune Hotel Waterfront Kuching, which was ranked among Malaysia’s top 15 bargain hotels by TripAdvisor.

KUCHING: Tune Hotel Waterfront Kuching and Tune Hotel Bintulu in Sarawak being ranked among Malaysia’s top 15 bargain hotels by TripAdvisor was just the affirmation needed by the group that signalled its growth on the right path.

Mark Lankester

Mark Lankester

Tune Hotels chief executive officer Mark Lankester in an email interview with The Borneo Post said an expanding tourism industry was always of great assistance to tourism industry players like hotels.

“So, the Tune Hotel Waterfront Kuching and the Tune Hotel Bintulu have been beneficiaries of what the state and national tourism boards were able to do to encourage tourism into Sarawak,” he noted.

“Apart from the natural tourist opportunities, both our hotels in Sarawak have benefitted from the business travel sector, which we see as an increasing part of our business.”

Lankester noted that Tune Hotels was always very appreciative of awards from TripAdvisor.

“TripAdvisor, as you may be aware, is an online forum where hotel guests are able to provide their candid reviews and experiences, good or bad, at hotels that they have stayed in and all reviews are open for viewing to the public,” he noted.

“These type of awards are a result of a collection of user generated reviews over the last year that have pointed to our Sarawak Tune Hotels as being outstanding value.”

Speaking on the group’s expansion plans in the near future, Lankester noted that Tune Hotels had interest in expanding into several countries and regions around the world.

“Much of what is coming through this year and in the future, is a realisation of that strategy,” he enthused.

“Last year in 2012, the focus was the openings of hotels in Thailand, Indonesia, the Philippines and further hotels in the UK and of course Malaysia.

“This year, and beyond, India will see a fair amount of activity from Tune Hotels starting with our first hotel opening in Ahmedabad, Gujarat in April,” he added.

“In the plans are further hotels to open in the major capital cities of India, as well as Tier 2 and 3 cities across the country.”

Adidtionally, AirAsia have just announced plans to enter into a joint venture in India and that bodes well for Tune Hotels’ activity in the country.

“As mentioned, we’ve been in the UK for a few years now with five hotels across London and Edinburgh. The brand and our business model is strong and within the UK, we’ve enjoyed the custom of tens of thousands of guests from Europe.

“That has given us the impetus to begin taking steps to begin expansion plans into Europe. Our first European hotel should open next year.”

Meanwhile, Lankester said the Middle East was a region that it has been engaging with for some time now and was poised for good growth, both from a tourism and business perspective.

Africa was also another exciting continent with many countries finally reaping the rewards of minerals, commodities, oil and natural gas, he added. “The opportunities are there and we will have activity in the next couple of years.

“North Asia in Japan and China, again have been on our radar screens for a few years now and the fruits of labour are coming to fruition and potentially as soon as this year,” he concluded.