Melia Hotels plans to open ten hotels in Indonesia over the next two years, adding 2,000 rooms to the group’s current offering.
These will include: Melia Surabaya, Innside Yogyakarta, Gran Melia Bintan, Melia Bintan, Melia Ubud, Sol House Jimbara, Melia Bandung, Melia Lombok Tangkong, Sol House Bali Legian and Melia Pekenabaru.
“Indonesia has always been closely linked to our global expansion strategy – we opened our first international hotel in the country more than 30 years ago and it is our most important market in the Asia-Pacific region,” said María Zarraluqui, Meliá Hotels International’s vice president of global development.
Beyond Indonesia, the group has 11 properties planned for the rest of Southeast Asia, with particular focus on Vietnam, Thailand and Myanmar.
“We maintain that the outlook for Asia-Pacific as a region is a positive one and we’ve embarked on our strategic vision by strengthening our presence with the opening of Melia Yangon and the Sol House Phu Quoc in Vietnam (December 2016),” added Zarraluqui.
The growth spurt encompasses the introduction of two brands to the Asian market to target industry trends and new consumer groups. The Innside brand, characterised by “urban hotels with individual characters and design”, will debut with the opening of Innside Zhengzhou in March 2017 followed by Innside Yogyakarta in July.
Innside has been developed to tap into the “bleisure” trend: “The line between business trips and leisure breaks has faded considerably as more business travellers complement their work time with dining experiences, wellness or sport, social interactions and discovery in the destination. Melia continues to adapt to best capture this growing demand from consumers,” said Zarraluqui.
Meanwhile Sol Hotels, a collection of stylish resort properties aimed at millennials, was first introduced with the Sol Beach House Bali Benoa and will continue to gain traction with the aforementioned Vietnam property this month, followed by the Sol house Bali Legian in March 2017.
“Millennial travellers are having an increasingly important impact on the hospitality industry. As such there is a growing need for hospitality brands to adapt current amenities and create new offerings to cater directly to this segment”, said Zarraluqui.
