MALAYSIAN hospitality group YTL Hotels is going all out to transform Niseko Village, Hokkaido, into a mountain resort destination that will set the benchmark for ski resorts worldwide.
Owned by YTL, the 462ha destination will see three new local and Michelin-starred F&B options, as well as eight luxury retail outlets, opened by December 1 to “deliver an experience that is on par with the best (ski) resorts in Europe and North America”, said Luke Hurford, YTL Hotels’ vice president of sales and marketing.
“Niseko has evolved into Asia’s hottest ski destination over the past 10 years, and it excites us to push it to even greater heights with Kasara Niseko Village Townhouse and Asia’s best après ski experiences.”
Set at the foot of Mount Niseko Annupuri in Hokkaido, Niseko Village currently houses two luxury hotels – the 506-key Hilton Niseko Village and 200-key The Green Leaf Niseko Village.
YTL will add to the inventory with the global debut of its Kasara brand on December 1, when Kasara Niseko Village Townhouse opens (TTG Asia e-Daily, July 17, 2014). This injects another eight 240m2 three-bedroom townhouses. Guests can enjoy in-residence ski or snowboard boot fitting among a host of personalised services including a resident concierge and complimentary driver-on-call.
According to Hurford, while 50 per cent of the guests in Niseko Village are local, there is growing demand from the Australia, Singapore and Hong Kong markets.
He said: “We see that families are increasingly looking for winter holidays and we want to offer them this memorable experience in Asia…We want to create our own unique DNA of an alpine town to raise the bar of what is already available. “
While YTL’s top sales tool is its brand website, Hurford said the company is working closely with tour operators in its key markets like the UK, Australia, Singapore, Hong Kong, Malaysia, Thailand and Indonesia to promote Niseko Village.
