United Kingdom
United States
Asia Pacific
Langham Hotels signals global expansion
Thursday, 25 Sep, 2009
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Langham Hotels has set out plans for $1 billion expansion through new hotels mainly in North America and Asia.
The signing of a management agreement for a 224-key Langham Place, Resort and Spa in the Bahamas, means the company has more than doubled the number of properties which are open or in development from 10 to 21 in the last 12 months.
Memorandums of Understanding have been signed on 13 others. These include plans for a hotel in Liverpool and a conference and spa resort in France.
There are now 3,577 rooms in the Langham and Langham Place portfolio.
When the current projects come to fruition there will be more than 10,000 rooms in 34 locations from the UK to the US and New Zealand to South Korea.
Langham Hotels intends to invest $1 billion (£612 million) in new hotels, primarily in North America and Asia.
The Langham, London has finalised an £80 million refurbishment to help it re-establish itself among the elite of London’s five star hotels.
Langham Hotels International, the Hong Kong-based company which owns and manages The Langham, Langham Place and affiliate brands around the world, has adopted a three tiered strategy to grow through managing assets for other developers, partial equity in an asset and then managing the asset or pure acquisition.
CEO Brett Butcher said: “Building or acquiring hotels during a recession is a sensible investment strategy.
“The construction costs are lower and it allows us to bring new product to the market when it recovers.
“We have weathered the global economic downturn well, helped by a portfolio which is strong in robust markets in Asia and marketing tactically in parts of the world which have been worse affected.
“We see huge potential in China which is a relatively young hospitality market. Our aim is to establish anchor properties in the primary cities of Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou in prime locations while exploring opportunities in the secondary cities with most potential.
“We expect to grow our brand around the Asia Pacific region from China through to Australasia.
"We’re establishing a strong footprint in Thailand and we’re looking for major gateway cities from Singapore to Sydney and Tokyo to the Middle East and beyond. Today we are announcing a new development in Port St George, Bahamas.”
by Phil Davies
Phil Davies
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