Berjaya to invest RM60mil to upgrade facilities: Berjaya Land Bhd’s hotels and resorts division has spent over RM60mil to upgrade its facilities in preparation for the influx of tourists.

Berjaya Hotels and Resorts senior general manager Foo Toon Kee said last year the average occupancy of its hotels and resorts Malaysia was about 60%.

For this year, he is confident that revenue would rise by 10% to 15%, largely thanks to more tourists being attracted to better facilities and upgraded services. Vice-president of sales and marketing Lynn Oh said: “We’ve been doing some extensive marketing overseas for our Langkawi resort and also added rooms and upgraded some rooms at Berjaya Langkawi Beach and Spa Resort. We've also upgraded our chalets on land and over water. We invested RM28mil for this.” At its Pulau Redang resorts, the company is adding 112 units, costing RM35mil, as well as putting in more efforts into their maintenance. All upgrading works are expected to be completed by June. “We’ve also seen growth in business for the resort in Pulau Tioman as well as in our flagship Berjaya Times Square Hotel & Convention Centre, which has a 70% occupancy rate now,” Oh said.

Major plans are also underway, including building a convention centre cum spa and resort in Bukit Tinggi, loosely called Chateau Spa Resort for now.

The convention centre is to fit from 800 to 1,000 people, and through that, Berjaya Hotels and Resorts plans to enter deeper into the highly competitive but potentially lucrative convention and conference market.

Oh said that she was confident of its success, following the success of its Langkawi property as a popular choice for large-scale conventions.

Berjaya Hotels and Resorts spends about 5% to 8% of its annual revenue on marketing in each financial year, according to Foo.

One major marketing effort involves its e-business. “It is a strong source of bookings of rooms,” Foo said, “As such, we are expecting to expand our e-business this year.”

The company also uses a global distribution system, getting ticketing agents to use dynamic pricing to help manage occupancy surges and low seasons each year.

Berjaya Hotels and Resorts’ Malaysian properties receive 30% of its total foreign guests from Europe, 10% from the Middle East and the remainder from the Asean region.

After the upgrade of its facilities, Foo believes the division will achieve a 10% to 20% growth in revenue this year, while margins are expected to improve from 35% to 40%.