More boutique hotels are entering the market, but Small Luxury Hotels of the World (SLH) maintains a strict selection process that prioritises quality and ensures new additions help spread tourism to emerging and lesser-known destinations, says Mark Wong, senior vice president, Asia-Pacific
SLH crossed its 35th anniversary last year. What are some interesting milestone achievements that will define the company’s growth in the years forward?
We hit a couple of interesting milestones along the way, and one of them is our achievement of more than 700 member hotels across over 100 countries. We are really proud to be going into very new destinations as a result of this membership growth.
It is clear that the pie of independent hotels has grown – there are more boutique hotels coming into the marketplace, better products are being built, and people are increasingly interested in staying in such properties all over the world.
This has resulted in us getting a lot of good leads (for potential new members), but we remain very strict on our membership and have had to turn away a lot of hotels.
The thing is, there are also more boutique hotels turning up in certain destinations, resulting in a saturation of lodging. For such destinations, we will not accept any new members until one leaves. We are accountable to our owners. Bringing on too many hotel members in a single destination means slicing the pie thinly for our owners.
So, SLH continues to be very conscious about growth.
Another milestone is our distribution partnership with Hilton, forged two years ago. We are aware of our limitations as a small company, so we have to look for the right partners to help us grow and better support our hotels commercially. We now have over 500 hotels listed on the Hilton platform.
Well, it isn’t just Hilton; we are partners also with Capital One (which allows cardholders to book SLH properties through its travel portal) and American Express (which allows cardholders access to exclusive property perks), and they help us to fill up our hotels.
We will continue to look at ways to support our owners. Happy owners, happy life!
In our conversations years ago, you spoke passionately about responsible development and wellness tourism, and then both became crucial product segments that hotels and resorts went on to invest in. What’s next in luxury tourism that will influence how people travel?
Well, I think luxury travel is coming back to prioritising things that are small and personalised. And when you take this approach, you have to consider all the different segments of guests that you may serve.
For this reason, inclusivity is especially close to my heart. Inclusivity in this context refers to offering a warm welcome to everyone, from travellers with special needs to solo female travellers to faith-based travellers.
Take our approach to faith-based travel as an example. We are going into the GCC (Gulf Cooperation Council) market and need to be conscious when selling and serving this market. We need to know if our hotels are able to provide halal menus, spaces for privacy, and other amenities that faith-based travellers expect.
This is where SLH’s Private Collection becomes our strength because every property, from Africa to Australia, promises utmost privacy. Our GCC guests get their own accommodation, private pool, private kitchen, and have the choice of spacious units for the whole family.
We recognise that not all hotels fit everyone. So, if we are lacking in a certain area and that justifies bringing in another new hotel because it serves a particular segment, we will do it.
Is it easy to find hotels that check all the right boxes for SLH?
My development team and I go into every destination and property to vet their potential. This is something we do not compromise on.
When assessing the potential of a hotel, we send a mystery inspector to conduct an inspection and produce a report to the owner that outlines areas of improvement. The feedback is science-based and aligned with our quality assurance programme, which is applied to all SLH member hotels.
This reality check is important for both SLH and the owner because some owners may feel that their property is good enough and they are reluctant to make changes. It is wiser to be clear with quality alignment before the hotel joins the network, than to have to end the relationship down the road.
This year, we signed on 17 new hotels in Asia-Pacific. One of them is Dolkhar Ladakh in India. This is a fantastic place on the Indian border, rather unexplored and very nature-driven.
We are also expanding in Japan, going into places outside of the typical Tokyo, Kyoto and Osaka. Our latest addition is The Pasona, located on the coast of Awaji Island.
In China, which is gaining popularity as a tourism destination, we are joined by Longting Vineyard Hotel in Penglai. It stands up in the halls, with a vineyard that looks very much like a French Chateau. This hotel produces award-winning wines that compete in international competitions.
SLH’s sustainability efforts include being conscious about where we add new member hotels. We want to spread the tourism load while inspiring travellers to consider places they may never have thought of before.
That’s the exciting part of travel, don’t you think?
Affluent travellers are becoming increasingly reliant on travel advisors for various reasons, one of which is the growing complexity of travel arrangements and the overload of travel information. Is SLH seeing this trend too? Does it translate into more bookings through travel advisors?
Well, yes. Travel advisors are always an integral part of our booking ecosystem. They contribute 80 per cent of our bookings. And that is why SLH continues to be present at travel tradeshows, like the ILTM series.
One reason for the strong travel advisor contribution is that not all our destinations are point-to-point, and that makes it hard for guests to get to certain places. Travel advisors ensure that everything is planned ahead for the guest.
Two, high-net-worth customers don’t really want to do their own planning. They have no time to consult AI and look into suggestions. They have their secretary or travel advisor to do all that. They simply pass on instructions that they want to go to this place this weekend, and the secretary or travel advisor will have to make it happen.
Third, with all that is happening around the world, especially coming out of the pandemic, a lot of people are unsure about flight schedules and if certain places are still in operation. Travel advisors have proven to be more reliable than information available online. Furthermore, if something were to happen during the journey, customers can rely on a human to get them out of the situation.
What is SLH doing to ensure travel advisors are well supported and able to drive bookings for your hotels?
We have a pre-qualified, by-invitation-only preferred partner programme that is designed for top-tier luxury travel advisors and agencies. This is called SLH withIN, and to qualify, they have to book a minimum of US$25,000 with us. SLH withIN travel advisors can access various inclusions and benefits for their guests.
