PARK Hotel Group will mark its entry into South Korea with the debut of Park Hotel Yeongdeungpo in Seoul next year.
At a press conference last Friday, the group signed a hotel management contract with developers K2 Group to manage the property. The investment from K2 is said to be about US$36 million and marks the credit card authorisation company’s first hotel project.
Scheduled to open in early 2017, the new-build will feature 150 rooms and suites, an all-day dining option, gourmet coffee deli, a gym, and a rooftop restaurant and bar. There will also be function rooms, which Mohd Rafin, Park Hotel Group’s chief corporate officer, said would be able to cater to pax of between 30 to 50.
The property is located just outside the Seonyudo subway station, and is 10 minutes away from the Yeouido financial hub, and 45 minutes away from Incheon International Airport.
Rafin added that the target market for the property will be “focused on business travellers, but the leisure market is also very strong”.
On why the group chose South Korea, Allen Law, Park Hotel Group’s CEO, said: “In 1H2016, South Korea recorded about 8 million foreign visitors, which translated to over 20 per cent increase year-on-year. That is a tremendous growth record. It is a fast-growing market, and we want to be there early enough.”
When asked about Park Hotel Group’s expansion plans, Law said that the group’s immediate focus for expansion will be within the Asia-Pacific region.
He elaborated: “Hong Kong is one area that I’m looking at. For the last 10 years, I’ve been trying to grow the Hong Kong portfolio and it has been unsuccessful. But now is the right time to grow due to favourable market conditions.
“In Australia we’ve just signed Adelaide and we’re looking to grow our Australian hotels in key cities like Sydney and Melbourne. The other country (we’re looking to grow in) is Japan. It is one of the top-performing hotels for the past two years and in the next three years it’ll continue to grow in double digits.”
With this signing, Park Hotel Group now owns and manages 14 properties in Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, Hong Kong, China, South Korea, Japan and Australia.
Other properties in the pipeline include their fifth Singapore hotel, Park Hotel Farrer Park, to open in 1Q2017, followed by its first hotel in Australasia, Park Hotel Adelaide, in 2018, and Malaysia Park Hotel Melaka, in 2019.
