Senior Contributor
Singapore Hotel Group Pursues Expansion Despite High Interest Rates I cover Asia’s wealth makers & next-gen business leaders
Singapore Hotel Group Pursues Expansion Despite High Interest Rates Although Choo Chong Ngen hasn’t yet grown his empire to match the name Worldwide Hotels, he has had great success doing so in Singapore and other sections of the region’s budget and midtier markets.
With the aid of a thriving post-Covid-19 travel industry, the 70-year-old former fishmonger, who got his early money from the low-cost chain Hotel 81 in Singapore’s red-light district, saw his rank rise to No. 17 as his net worth increased by 8% to $2.6 billion.
Unlisted Worldwide Hotels plans to add over 2,000 rooms domestically by the end of 2023, increasing its total to 8,671. This will place it among the major hotel groups in the city-state, along with the French hospitality firm Accor and the Far East Organization, which is under the control of the billionaire brothers Robert and Philip Ng (No. 2).
Under the direction of his daughter Carolyn, CEO and managing director of Worldwide Hotels, the business decided to pay S$525 million ($389 million) in July for the purchase of the 542-room Parkroyal on Kitchener. She claims that Novotel Singapore on Kitchener would be the hotel’s new name thanks to an MOU that Worldwide Hotels and Accor have signed. This will be the first hotel in the group to use an outside brand name in Singapore.
The business plans to unveil two newly built buildings in Singapore by the end of the year: Icon Hotel, which will cost S$735 million and have 989 rooms, and Hotel Mi Rochor, a 530-room midtier property built for S$390 million. The group’s seventh Singapore brand will be Icon Hotel. In all, nine hotels across Thailand, Malaysia, South Korea, Japan, and Australia have been acquired by Worldwide Hotels since 2017. All are run by companies such as Ibis, Travelodge, and Holiday Inn.
Carolyn states, “The outlook is very positive.” “Many investments will require a very long-term horizon due to the high interest rates.” The CEO continues, “As of right now, the group is very focused only on Asia-Pacific.” We’re not trying to break into any new markets.