FAIRMONT Hotels and Resorts aims to double its portfolio from its current strength of 114 properties within the next five years – with the spotlight largely on Asia-Pacific and particularly China.
According to Wayne Buckingham, senior vice president Asia of Fairmont Raffles Hotels International (FRHI), the company has 39 new projects underway, of which 23 are in Asia.
China, he said, continues to be a key growth market for the luxury hotel brand, with a number of developments scheduled to open in the coming years, including Chengdu (2015), Changsha (2017), Hangzhou (2018), Suzhou (2018), Taiyuan (2019) and Nanning (2019).
Speaking to TTG Asia e-Daily, Jennifer Fox, president, FRHI International and Fairmont brand, said: “We are seeing rapid growth in the Chinese market and every other hotel is going in because there are huge opportunities there.
“Although there are so many of us (hotels in China), there is an equal amount of demand there so it works out very well for the market.”
Admitting that the issue of manpower is a challenge, she said: “We are always looking out for talent and training them but the problem comes with retention because we need to ensure that they will continue to stay with us.
“We have to ensure an attractive working environment and we have one of the lowest turnover rates among hotels (anyway).”
Apart from Asia-Pacific, she said FRHI is accelerating expansion in the Middle East. In addition to a Raffles property that opened in Istanbul last year, FRHI is planning a Raffles property in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia; Fairmont properties in Riyadh, Istanbul, Amman, Jeddah and Fujairah and Ajman in the UAE; and two Swissôtel properties in Bodrum, Turkey and more properties in Jeddah and Dubai.
