THE opening of several new Shangri-La Hotels and Resorts properties around the globe in 2012, will be leveraged on by its sister property in Penang to draw more visitors to the island state.

Shangri-La’s Rasa Sayang Resort and Spa general manager Elaine Yue said the expansion of the group’s properties, especially in South Asian countries like India and Sri Lanka will be used to brand the Penang property as a preferred site for weddings.

Among the new properties slated for opening this year include Shangri-La hotels in cities like Mumbai in India, Doha in Qatar, Toronto in Canada, while several other new properties have been announced for opening in China like Qufu, Changzhou, Haikou, Haikou, Sanya and Shanghai.

A new Traders Hotel Puteri Harbour at Iskandar in Johor is also expected to open in the fourth quarter of this year (2012).

“We plan to piggy-back on the openings of these new properties,” she told Business Times in an interview.

Yue was recently appointed Shangri-La’s Rasa Sayang Resort and Spa Penang’s first female general manager, after she spent three years in a similar position in Chiang Mai, Thailand.

Prior to that, Yue was the general manager of Traders Hotel in Penang in 2006.

The 304-room Rasa Sayang resort located in the Batu Ferrringi tourism belt on Penang island, is Malaysia’s first five-star resort which opened its doors in 1973.

On what lies ahead for the sector this year, Yue said: “We see a lot of growth in Southeast Asia – notably in Malaysia and Singapore – and expect companies to hold more meetings and conventions closer to home.

This will enable us to tap into the corporate market since the global economy may not see many firms holding corporate retreats and such further away from their bases”.

Yue said two new markets which Shangri-la’s Rasa Sayang Resort and Spa will target would be weddings, especially for guests from India.

“The Chinese market is another one we are eyeing for travellers who will be keen to explore destinations which offer value-for-money,” she added.

Hong Kong-based Shangri-La Hotels and Resorts currently owns and/or manages 72 hotels under the Shangri-La, Kerry and Traders brands, with a room inventory of over 30,000.

In Penang, the group also has its presence at the Shangri-La’s Golden Sands Resort and Traders Hotel.

SOURCE: Business Times