THE Park Lane Jakarta is marking its 16th anniversary by joining the Worldhotels global alliance in a bid to strengthen its brand and reach out to new markets in the face of increasing competition.
Jon Richards, general manager, said: “We wanted to join (Worldhotels) earlier, but we have been doing renovations and it has taken a few years to finalise.”
According to Richards, the hotel has renovated guestrooms, revamped the Riva grill bar and restaurant, built new meeting rooms, and is currently constructing two more meeting rooms.
Renovations will be completed by the end of 2014, a “very appropriate” time to join Worldhotels, he said.
Noting the heightened competition in Jakarta’s hotel sector, Richards explained: “With so many hotels coming into Jakarta, we want Worldhotels’ support system and sales offices to help strengthen our brand image internationally, create new market opportunities and in conjunction with the newly established Peakpoints loyalty programme, drive increased demand to our hotel.”
He said The Park Lane Jakarta’s sister hotel, The Park Lane Hong Kong, signed on with Worldhotels eight years ago and has been enjoying substantial business from it.
Luc Bollen, area director of Park Lane Hotels International, said: “New business brings different clientele, different business spending power and demographics.
“We saw the global distribution network (of Worldhotels) work for us, and it has brought us the right client, the right price, at the right time.”
Meanwhile, Worldhotels executive vice president, Roland Jegge, stated that Jakarta was an important destination for the alliance due to the many Fortune 500 companies moving to the city, with the proximity of The Park Lane Jakarta to historic areas a boon.
“We look forward to bringing in guests of many nationalities to The Park Lane Jakarta from the markets they have no received guests from yet,” said Jegge.
