Hong Kong hotel chain seeks big footprint in Australia

Hong Kong-based hotel chain Swiss-Belhotel International is looking to make its mark in Australia with plans to operate 10 hotels here within five years and as many as 40 within 10 years.

The company will open its first Swiss-Belhotel in Australia on Brisbane’s Southbank in October to add to more than 135 hotels spread across the Pacific, Asia, the Middle East and Europe.

The new 134-room, four-star hotel on Vulture Street near the Gabba sits below a 40-apartment development called Peak Penthouses. As part of its long-term lease agreement, Swiss-Belhotel will also manage and let the apartments and provide concierge services to residents. Hotel guests will pay around $250 a night.

“We’ve been looking in Melbourne for a while, as well as in Perth and Cairns – all the obvious places for a four-star international hotel,” Swiss-Belhotel chairman and joint-owner Gavin Faull told The Australian Financial Review.

Gavin Faull: Big plans for Swiss Belhotel in Australia. Photo: Supplied

The New Zealand-born chartered accountant learnt the hotel trade from the late, legendary Swiss hotelier Peter Gautschi, who managed the Peninsula in Hong Kong for 30 years.

This was followed by a seven-year stint in the eighties as chief executive of then ASX-listed hotel management company Kingsgate International.

In 1990, he joined Mr Gautschi at his new hotel venture Swissbel International before buying the company with a Hong Kong partner ten years later, when it operated just three hotels.

New budget brand

Apart from expanding the flagship brand in Australia, Mr Faull said he is also developing a new brand called “Zest” – a designer, experiential hotel for the budget market.

“These would be 100-150 room properties in good locations, charging about $40 a night so our guests can spend their money on other things like drinking decent wine.”

“We’re looking at pod style and prefabricated modular room types and see great potential in Australia. We could easily have 20 of these hotels in Australia, no problem. There’s great interest from investors,” he said.

Mr Faull said he saw great opportunities for hotel expansion globally, given that only 5-10 per cent of the world’s population have travelled and one billion people in China and India have yet to have their first holiday.

“There’s also been a huge resurgence of the budget airlines – 20 years ago they were a disaster – and a huge resurgence in the cruise business because of Baby Boomers.”

But, he said it was important for all hoteliers to remember that all markets go in cycles. “It can take five years to build a new hotel from inception so you always end up with supply and demand not matching up at some stage.

“But, tourism is a global growth industry. The biggest challenge is learning to think differently. Things like Airbnb are a challenge but also an opportunity.”