ACOMMODATION - Jumeirah aims for East Asia

TTGasia, Oct 6 - 12,2006 / No.1498

HONG KONG – Dubai-based luxury hotel group Jumeirah is planning for aggressive expansion, and East Asia is key.

Hong Kong is seen as a “must have” location. By 2009, the group aims to have 40 properties. Senior executives were at a recent roadshow in Asia to reveal these plans and introduce new Asia-Pacific vice-president of development, Mr Francis Killory, and senior Asia-Pacific vice-president, Mr Serge Zaalof, both based in Shanghai.

Mr Killory said: “We made a significant step last February when we assumed management of 338-room Han Tang Jumeirah Shanghai at Xintiandi. The city is a major corporate market and it will be positioned at the top end.” The hotel is scheduled to open in mid-2008 before the Olympic Games.

“We are looking at Guangzhou seriously because of its new and different market. The new CBD at Tianhe district has drawn luxury brands such Ritz-Carlton. We are interested in Pudong in Shanghai and are in talks with an owner in the Chaoyang district of Beijing. We are keen on Hangzhou and perhaps Lhasa in Tibet and Lijiang in Yunnan province.