KUALA LUMPUR: Preferred Travel Group, the world's largest global provider of sales, marketing, and distribution services to independent luxury hotels, expects to onboard up to 20 hotels in Malaysia over the five years.
Preferred Travel Group chief executive officer Lindsey Ueberroth said it is looking into locations such as Langkawi, Pulau Pinang and Johor.
"It is about keeping the travellers engaged and intrigued to travel when the borders open up. So it's now nice that we've reopened and able to see our hotels start to flourish and succeeded...(we can) add a new hotel on the market, and start to focus on expansion.
"We're looking at a lot of the resort destinations such as Langkawi. There's a big hole in our portfolio right now, so it's really the location where we're hoping to have a hotel by the end of this year," she added.
Independent hotels in Malaysia are expected to continue its growth momentum as global travellers look for unique experiences, and shiftfrom franchised hotels.
Independent hotels outperform franchised hotels by about 10 percentage revenue per available room (RevPAR) points.
Ueberroth said independent hotels are now becoming prominent in Malaysia compared to the franchised hotels as it has the flexibility to create a unique brand, ambiance, and guest experience.
In fact, she said the company did not have to close any of the hotels under its portfolio during the pandemic, reflecting the industry's resilience.
Preferred Hotels & Resorts executive vice president of Asia Pacific Jonathan Newbury explained independent hotel offers authenticity and uniqueness where the experiences and services can be tailor-made and more bespoke for the guests, compared to standardised services provided by franchised hotels.
"So what we've seen, globally speaking, is a demographic shift towards preferring independent hotels.
"As a result, we see more owners now leaning in that direction, and more of the institutional investors will invest more in the brand.
"We see that on average in normal times, independent hotels outperform franchised hotels by about 10 percentage revenue per available room (RevPAR) points, which means that they are outperforming not just the market, but also these branded hotels," he told Business Times in an interview.
He emphasised the power of the internet, where photos and reviews shared help to create more certainty to travellers and they get more knowledge about a destination.
"Travelers have a lot more choices these days and it becomes less relevant to be a cookie cutter hotel because people just don't wanna stay in them any longer," he said.
Meanwhile, Ueberroth pointed out sustainable tourism as another trend that could boost hospitality industry where it has been encouraging in Malaysia as more hotels are starting to focus on sustainability.
"It's something that the hospitality industry needs to pay attention to but we're seeing it more in Malaysia. We are really starting to see that (sustainable tourism) is at the forefront in hotels that know of its importance and making it something that they're proud of and are investing in it," she added.
Preferred Travel Group represents four hotel brands including Preferred Hotels & Resorts, Beyond Green, Historic Hotels of America, and Historic Hotels Worldwide and two consultancy brands, PTG Consulting and Beyond Green Travel.
Under the four hotel brands, the company's portfolio currently comprises 1,100 hotels in 90 countries, with five of it in Malaysia which three in Kota Kinabalu, namely Borneo Eagle Resort, Bungaraya Island Resort and Gayana Marine Resort, while two more - EQ and One World Hotel - are in Kuala Lumpur.