PREMIER Inn, the UK’s largest hotel chain with over 40,500 rooms and more than 600 hotels, is keen to extend its reach in Asia-Pacific beyond India.

Speaking to TTG Asia e-Daily during yesterday’s Hotel Investment Conference Asia Pacific (HICAP) UPDATE in Singapore, Paul Macpherson, managing director of Premier Inn’s parent company, Whitbread Hotels & Restaurants International, revealed that GVK Asia Real Estate Partners founder Erik Van Keulen had recently been appointed as its regional head for Asia-Pacific, to spearhead its expansion in the region.

“We are not ruling out any market at the moment and are examining all opportunities,” he explained. “There’s definitely room to build an economy brand here.”

Macpherson stressed that Premier Inn intends to grow its Asia-Pacific portfolio through new management contracts; in contrast to the owner-operator model it practices in the UK.

According to Macpherson, Whitbread has already agreed to a significant capital outlay to fund the chain’s expansion plans.

Meanwhile, two Premier Inn properties are currently in the pipeline in India, one in Goa and the second in Chennai. Both are scheduled to open in 2013, and will add to the chain’s Bengaluru Whitefield and New Delhi Shalimar Bagh properties.

FILIPINO real estate developer Ayala Land is hastening its foray into tourism business through the introduction of a new hotel brand, Kukun, which is targeted chiefly at business travellers.

Derived from the word ‘cocoon’, Kukun hotels will be self-managed by Ayala. Each property will be situated adjacent to a shopping mall development also operated by the group—to capitalise on efficiencies, according to Ayala Land senior vice president, Junie Jalandoni.

“Kukun is what we call an urban lifestylfe brand, and is in the three- to four-star category. We don’t want to compete with the large international brands in the five-star segment,” he explained, adding that average room rates for Kukun would be about US$100 per night.

Ayala currently has four Kukuns in the pipeline—one scheduled to open in Fort Bonifacio in 3Q2012, one each in Davao and Cagayan de Oro, Alabang in 4Q2012, and the last in Nuvali, Santa Rosa, Laguna by middle of next year. Each will offer about 150-200 rooms and a single F&B outlet.

Ayala, which owns the InterContinental Manila and the Cebu City Marriott Hotel, will also be opening the 347-room Holiday Inn & Suites Makati in 1Q2013.

JETWING Hotels will open seven new properties in Sri Lanka over the next three years to take advantage of the growing number of Asian visitors to the country.

According to Hiran Cooray, chairman, Jetwing Hotels, there were 333,023 Asian visitors to Sri Lanka last year, accounting for 38.9 per cent of total arrivals. Western Europe came in a close second, contributing 313,968 visitors.

“We will build exciting hotels where Jetwing is not already present, to tap the huge increase in inbound traffic from Asia,” he said, adding that India was the number one source market for Jetwing properties, while the South-east Asian and North Asian markets were growing exponentially.

The former Blue Lagoon in Negombo, designed by local architect Geoffrey Bawa in 1965 as the first purpose-built resort in Sri Lanka, is due to reopen as Jetwing Lagoon next month after undergoing a transformation. The four-star resort will offer 55 rooms and eight luxury villas, an outdoor pool, five dining outlets including a wine cellar, and a spa.

Jetwing Yala Safari will open in April 2013 with 66 rooms and 32 villas; Jetwing Colombo in April 2014 with 70 rooms and 28 serviced apartments; while Jetwing Yarl offering 76 rooms in Jaffna is already under construction.

Also in the pipeline are Jetwing Lake, Dambulla with 100 rooms; Jetwing Reef, Uppuveli offering 60 rooms and 20 villas; and Jetwing Kandy with 80 rooms.

Cooray plans to market the new properties through the Jetwing website and various online channels, advertising with travel trade publications, participation in overseas travel fairs, as well as through his business connections as PATA chairman.

Jetwing is also set to ramp up its distribution efforts by expanding partnerships with travel consultants and wholesalers, he added. Jetwing hosts fam trips for travel consultants in partnership with SriLankan Airlines on a regular basis.

Jetwing currently has 12 hotels in operation in Sri Lanka, representing some 520 rooms. The company also manages the 16-key Mai Chau Lodge in Vietnam, the 26-key Xiengthong Palace in Luang Prabang, Laos, and a 22-room four-star motel in Auckland, New Zealand.

PATINA Hotels & Resorts is keen to expand into China, particularly Shanghai, and has also set its sights on Thailand, Hong Kong, Europe and the US.

The expansion plans were unveiled by the fledgling luxury hotel chain’s CEO, Marc Dardenne, during a plenary session at the Hotel Investment Conference Asia Pacific (HICAP) UPDATE in Singapore.

Jaya International, the same design firm hired by parent company Pontiac Land Group to retrofit Capella Singapore, will be engaged to fashion Patina’s flagship 160-room property in Singapore, which is conceptualised to sit in the same category as Starwood’s W Hotels and Hyatt’s Andaz brands.

A spokesperson for Patina Hotels & Resorts told TTG Asia e-Daily that the chain was being positioned “as a lifestyle brand, with a focus on elegant interiors while offering discerning, personalised and discreet levels of service”.

Patina will be working with the Leading Hotels of the World for distribution. It will also utilise social media as part of its tactical marketing plans.