Northstar

14 | www.travelweekly-asia.com Olivier Berrivin, Managing Director, International Operations - Asia BEST MID-R A NGE HOTEL Best Western International Your thoughts on winning the award? It was both a real surprise and, at the same time, the confi rmation and the industry's acknowledgment that Best Western International has been delivering with consistency what our customers, members and partners expect. It's been actually our third award this year and we certainly hope to keep that trend over the years with your support and encouragement. The one thing you want to do to improve your business in 2016? The various brands we have introduced this year (Vib, Executive Residence, Best Western Premier Collection and, very recently, Glo) will give us the opportunity to focus more aggressively on development in the South-east Asian region and propose new products that are very much in line with the expectations of the new generations of travellers. Increasing our footprint with diversifi ed and quality products adapted to each location and market is one of our top priorities. In an age when people are fi ckle about loyalty, what are the keys to retaining guests and attracting new ones? Brand loyalty is a very subjective concept. If genuine brand-loyalty was a reality, companies such as Agoda, Booking.com and other OTA's would not exist. Customers today are very much focused on price and value for money together with the user-friendliness of the various online options and it's up to the international hotel chains to be creative in the selling approach, ease of the reservation process and ways of comparing offers quickly so we can guarantee that our clients will book our properties through our respective booking engines. It's been actually our third award this year and we certainly hope to keep that trend over the years. Photo: Gaynor Reid, Vice President, Communications, Asia Pacifi c, of Accor Hotels. (ON BEHALF OF SOFITEL BALI) Marcel Thoma, General Manager BEST BOUTIQUE HOTEL The Upper House Your thoughts on winning the award? Since our opening in 2009, we have been very lucky to have won many prestigious awards. This meaningful recognition further solidifi es the reputation of The Upper House as the preferred home away from home of business and leisure travellers. The one thing you want to do to improve your business in 2016? We always work hard to go beyond guest expectations and to make every guest feel at home. Sylvain Pasdeloup, General Manager BEST RESORT (ASIA PACIFIC) Sofi tel Bali Nusa Dua Beach Resort Your thoughts on winning the award? It was truly an honour for us to receive The Travel Weekly Readers Choice Award as Best Resort in Asia Pacifi c because the people who vote in these awards are experts in the industry and have the highest standards. This award serves as motivation for the team to further excel in providing all our guests with the highest standards of welcome and we are very proud to be recognised amongst the best in the industry. John O'Shea, General Manager BEST BUSINESS HOTEL The Langham Shanghai, Xintiandi Your thoughts on winning the award? We are thrilled to have won the Best Business Hotel Award. In fact, it is an excellent recognition of our continued efforts made in the last fi ve years. The one thing you want to do to improve your business in 2016? We would like to let more people know about our perfect location - Xintiandi is Shanghai's entertainment hub. Photo: Josephine Lim, Managing Director, Southeast Asia, Preferred Hotels & Resorts. (ON BEHALF OF THE UPPER HOUSE) Travel Weekly Asia Readers Choice Awards 2015 Photo: Derek Tay, Assistant Director of Sales, Langham Hospitality Group.

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