Hotel Nikko Kuala Lumpur (KL) general manager Michael Borostyan said the first quarter was expected to be quiet due to the holiday season and the slowdown in the global economy.
Hotel Nikko, however, might be little affected as it was less reliant on long-haul markets, he said.
Parkroyal Hotels & Resorts, Malaysia, vice-president and Parkroyal Kuala Lumpur general manager Ian McKie said business growth next year would likely be on a reduced scale.
“Currently, our corporate business remains steady but we are seeing a slight softening in long-haul leisure business particularly from Britain,” he said.
Parkroyal’s business in September was below expectations due to the fasting month. However, there was a strong pick-up from the second week in October especially from the corporate segment.
Corporate meetings business also did well in October, McKie said.
“With the integration between Parkroyal Hotels and Pan Pacific, we will be a stronger and more dynamic entity in 2009,” he added.
Meanwhile, Borostyan said Hotel Nikko’s occupancy in the second half of 2008 was marginally lower than in the previous corresponding period.
“The only market that evidenced a significant drop was from the Middle East,” he said, adding that guests comprised 75% business travellers and 25% on leisure.
Hilton KL saw occupancy decline to 77% in the first half year from 81% in the previous corresponding period on “concerted effort to drive rates, “ said general manager Paul Hutton.
Occupancy in the second half was 75% from 85% a year ago due to on-going refurbishments of meeting rooms that prevented the hotel from catering to large business groups.
Hutton said the key trend in the present environment was the shorter length of stay. “The length of stay at our hotel averaged 2.3 days up until August but this has now dropped to 2.1 days from September to date,” he said. This was more obvious for holiday visitors paying their own way.
Hutton believed the introduction of Hilton KL’s new meetings and conventions offerings from December would make the hotel more attractive and competitive than others.
Source : STAR
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