Northstar

FEATURE | COVER STORY 22 NOV-DEC 2017 meetings & conventions • mcmag-asia.com MARRIOTT INTERNATIONAL Marriott International, which already has 600 properties in Asia Pacific, has hundreds more in the pipeline, and all of the company's brands tout MICE as a core part of their strategy, with the company feeling optimistic for 2018. "Our aim is to operate over 1,000 hotels by 2020. The combined APAC development pipeline includes over 510 hotels with over 132,000 rooms, of which nearly 28% is already under construction," said Ramesh Daryanani, Vice President, Global Sales, Asia Pacific (Excluding Greater China), Marriott International. Two new Marriott brands in Asia this year include MOXY, touted as a next-gen boutique hotel brand for the 'always on' INTERCONTINENTAL HOTELS GROUP (IHG) IHG recently announced plans to expand its resort portfolio, with an emphasis on growth in Asia. The four new properties will span IHG's various brands, including the first Kimpton Hotels & Restaurants in Southeast Asia – opening in Bali, 2019. However, Kimpton's growth won't stop there as IHG has indicated plans to open two more properties in China by 2021. On top of this, IHG is also launching the first four of its EVEN ® hotels in Shanghai, Sanya, Chongqing and Jinan between 2019 and 2022. Vietnam will see the first Hotel Indigo at the Starbay district in Phu Quoc, as well as an InterContinental Resort and Holiday Inn Resort in Vietnam's Sapa region. All this follows the opening of InterContinental Singapore Robertson Quay earlier this year. Said Leanne Harwood, Vice President, New Hotels AMEA, IHG: "In Asia, we recently announced our first signings for Kimpton Hotels & Restaurants in Bali, Indonesia, and Shanghai and Sanya in China, as well as the expansion of our EVEN ® Hotels brand into Greater China… These are massive moments for IHG as our aim of making these brands global is really taking off." Across AMEA, IHG currently has 42 resorts in operation, accounting for 15% of its total property portfolio, and 25 resorts in the development pipeline. "In Asia, we recently announced our first signings for Kimpton Hotels & Restaurants in Bali, Indonesia, and Shanghai and Sanya in China..." – LEANNE HARWOOD, VICE PRESIDENT, NEW HOTELS, AMEA, IHG A cosy ambience in Kimpton DeWitt Amsterdam

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