Australian expansion back on StayWell agenda

Australian expansion back on StayWell agenda
By admin


After a two-year period of focusing on overseas projects, the parent firm of the Leisure Inn and Park Regis brands has once again turned its attention to Australian expansion.

Lack of supply in Australia saw StayWell Hospitality Group focus on international growth, with projects in China, Indonesia, India, the Middle East, the UK and, most recently, Africa.

However, chief executive Simon Wan told Travel Today that the situation has changed, with local expansion now much more attractive.

“The property development market in Australia is now much better than it was,” he said. “There’s a lot of investment in Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane that wasn’t there before so not there are a lot more opportunities.”

As a result, the company’s focus for the last 12 months has been on extending its network of properties into Darwin, Perth, Adelaide and Canberra.

“We’ve been trying to look at opportunities in those capital city markets that would complement our network in Australia and give much better brand exposure to customers and a wider network to protect the business,” Wan said.

Although StayWell’s Australian portfolio still stands at 17, Wan highlighted a number of potential deals in those markets, with a Perth deal in the advanced stages of negotiation and a signed agreement in Adelaide. However, Darwin and Canberra are proving a little more problematic, he admitted.

However, he expects StayWell to open “at least 12 properties this year”, an increase on the nine opened in 2013.

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