Country Comfort to be overhauled in SilverNeedle Asia bid

Country Comfort to be overhauled in SilverNeedle Asia bid
By admin


Australia’s Country Comfort hotel brand will be completely overhauled as its Singapore-based owner SilverNeedle Hospitality seeks to drive it into Asia, with the expansion of Chifley next on the cards.

The new concept for the 28-year old brand was unveiled at ITB Asia in Singapore, and is about “much more than just a new logo”, according to SilverNeedle chief executive Iqbal Jumabhoy.

“Country Comfort has a rich heritage and a strong brand,” he told media. “We wanted to broaden its appeal and take it into North Asia, South Asia and South East Asia but to be successful we realised it needed a refreshed look and feel to keep it relevant.”

While the old kookaburra logo has been replaced, with the new badge featuring just one kookaburra feather instead as a nod to its heritage, there is also a new brand promise with the tagline, Rest today for a more productive tomorrow, with its target “road warrior” market firmly in mind.

To boost its appeal to that mid-market business traveller, free wifi, high quality showers, beds and sheets will be introduced, with many properties to be refreshed with interior and exterior design elements. Each property will have two meeting rooms each catering to up to eight people with video conferencing facilities.

A new franchise model also forms part of the rebrand, replacing the mix of management and license agreements which currently underpin the 20-strong network.

The next 12 months will see SilverNeedle tackle each property on a “bespoke” basis to incorporate the new brand elements and ensure the standards of the new concept are met, according to executive vice president brands Sean Flynn.

“The time has come,” he told Travel Today. “You’ve got to keep fresh and relevant – when we purchased the Constellation group it was clear that this investment needed to be made.”

Properties that do not fit the bill could be reassigned to another of SilverNeedle’s brands such as Sundowner or Australis, or where owners are reluctant to invest in upgraded standards, the agreements may simply not be renewed.

“We owe it to the rest of the owners to ensure those standards are met,” he said, adding that the reaction so far from owners has been one of “great excitement”.

Chifley will be the next SilverNeedle brand to be taken into Asia, but Flynn revealed that, while the brand concept will remain the same, it will be given a new name for use outside Australia.

“Chifley’s relevant in Australia – it has brand equity,” he said. “Outside of Australia, that won’t resonate.”

Details of the new name will be revealed in the coming months.

Meanwhile, Jumabhoy confirmed that talks with a number of parties are already underway regarding the Asian debut of the revamped Country Comfort brand, with its location not yet settled.

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