KUALA LUMPUR, April 16 — Guocoland (Malaysia) Bhd will invest RM50 million to refurbish its two hotels — Guoman PD and Hyatt Johor Baharu.
Upon completion in June, the hotels will be rebranded as Thistle Port Dickson Resort and Thistle Johor Baharu, respectively.
“It is our first foray outside the United Kingdom, starting in Malaysia,” Thistle Johor Baharu general manager Philip Skitch told reporters today.
The expansion is part of Thistle’s two-year strategy to introduce the Thistle brand internationally.
Thistle is part of Guoman Hotel Management (UK) Ltd, owned by Guocoland Malaysia, a subsidiary of Hong Leong Group.
Thistle Hotels has 34 hotels across the United Kingdom, in most of the major cities, including 11 in central London.
“We are looking at an average 70 per cent occupancy in the first year in Johor Baharu and 65 per cent in Port Dickson,” Skitch said.
Guocoland Managing Director Paul Poh said the chain of hotels would be expanded to other Asian countries.
Currently, the group plans to open two new hotels in Beijing and Shanghai by year-end.
He also said Guocoland was planning to develop a piece of land in Damansara Heights for mixed development.
“We haven’t start construction yet. We are looking at 2011 or 2012,” he added. — Bernama
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