TAUZIA Hotel Management has expanded into the island of Sumatra with the opening of Pop! Hotel Tanjung Karang last week.
The 168-room hotel in the heart of Bandar Lampung, the provincial capital, is the group’s ninth property and the first chain budget property in Lampung. Rooms at the hotel come only in one category with an opening rate of Rp328,000 (US$29), and its two meeting spaces can be further split into two.
Pop! Hotels brand director, Irene Janti, is targeting an average occupancy of above 70 per cent for the property. “Lampung (province, in the southernmost part of Sumatra) is a transit point for land travellers from Java to destinations like Padang and Palembang.
“Lampung itself is rich in plantation crops and tourist attractions, so the destination offers multi-market segments to tap on for our hotel, be it business, meeting or leisure,” Janti said.
Asked why Tauzia had opted to start its Sumatra expansion with the Pop! brand, Tauzia Hotel Management’s president director, Marc Steinmeyer, said: “Our expansion strategy is to work with the right investors, before choosing location and brand.
“Here, the owner wanted to do a Pop! Hotel and there is a market potential, so we started with the budget brand.”
Steinmeyer added that Lampung has potential for a midscale Harris brand hotel as well.
