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The point of view |
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The point of view |
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SouthEast Asia's hospitality TODAY ! |
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I believe in long term tourism! In the past I have written several articles for magazines and participated as a speaker on many conferences about hospitality development and environmental protection. My views about southeast Asian tourism have always been very bullish, and despite the serious crisis we have witnessed, the resilience of tourism in this area has in fact been useful at uplifting many economies out of recession. Tourism remains the largest worldwide industry and a prime hard currency earner for most countries. Even large economies such as the USA, France and the UK continue to regard tourism as a major source of revenue and employment. The tourism offerings in Southeast Asia and China are still being developed today. From natural surroundings to man made archeological and cultural wonders, the region offers a variety and a richness unequalled by any other. In addition, the warm climate enables most destinations to be visited year round. In 2004 my view that we would see a major explosion of tourism in Southeast Asia was fully vindicated and in fact the whole of Asia from the Arabian Gulf to China is building resorts like crazy. Some areas will get overbuilt, others will be discovered. For 2006, the boom of the Middle East should be thoroughly sustained as well as Vietnam and China. Malaysia will most likely see some revival of hotel development fuelled by recent increases in occupancies and room rates. 2007 and 2008 have confirmed our predictions that both in Vietnam and Malaysia both boomed. As for the Middle East, aside from the Dubai over leveraged desaster, most destinations dis very well. We saw the the next frontiers in South Cambodia and many of China's remote provinces. In 2010 and 2011 we foresee the stability in South Asia bringing Sri Lanka back to the forefront of hotel development. China of course will keep powering ahead with a big need for international standard 2 and 3 properties to accommodate the fast expanding domestic travel. Next big growth will be in ski resorts throughout North Asia and Russia |
Niche marketing : here to stay! When I completed and opened The Balé, a small private resort on the edge of Nusa Dua, I could not help but realize how well niche marketing can work. At barely 5 months old, our resort was already getting 60% occupancy with close to US$ 300 average room rate and of course breaking even (putting a smile on the owner's face!) The recipe our team crafted there was in fact pretty simple: focus on ultra quality personalized butler service, get top notch F&B to create a buzz in the market place and work the media, the travel agents and the internet. Results, over 40% of the bookings at The Balé were direct bookings on internet ! The web site (developed by Hostasia), was getting over 300 hits a day ! Not too bad for a little unknown hotel with no beach and on the side of a dead end road! Selling hip ! I handed over the management to Sanctuary Resorts mid 2002. It has been in good hands and has performed very well since then. We have recently embarked on several boutique developments in Vietnam and Philippines, with very motivated partners. Vietnam will soon become a major player in quality tourism. She has nature, ancient culture, beautiful beaches, great food and very smart people. Philippines has ever smiling people and the best beaches in the region.
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New generation of resorts. My work with resorts has become pretty extensive and I have done a fair amount of thinking about what will develop next in Asia. Basically quality Asian resorts used to have two types of customers : Asians (minority) and Non Asians.(majority) This has tremendously changed and now Asian tourists form the backbone of tourism within Asia. With the rise of globalization of leisure and activities, and the high growth of the Asian tourists, this large user group should now become the main marketing focus rather than the national/regional/race affiliation. So what is the ideal Asian resort today?
Large size resorts dominance is being challenged in many locations by smaller, very focused resorts. While large chains are now developing their "boutique" brands, small or private operators can provide authenticity and a closer connection to culture, nature and ethnicity.
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Articles by Dorian Landers (click on underlined articles to load) :
Conferences papers and presentations:
 | Turnaround in resort development (MIPIM Singapore) |
| Sensitive resort development (Grohe Business Forum) |
| Small Luxury Resorts for Sri Lanka ( March 2001- Colombo Tourism Conference) |
| Vietnam at the crossroads (May 2003) |
| Developing a luxury ecolodge resort - the pleasure paradox (2007). |
| Authenticity in resort development - reality checks in (2011) |
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