New | CDL launches campaign to woo Hong Kong and mainland China tourists

City Developments Ltd (CDL), a major developer in Singapore, is launching an aggressive push to market its joint-venture luxury hotel to lure travellers from Hong Kong.

Last week, the company kicked off a road show in Hong Kong to unveil the soon-to-be opened South Beach, which is part of a S$3 billion (HK$17.3 billion) mixed development in Singapore.

Aloysius Lee Tse-sang, the chief executive of South Beach Consortium, a joint venture CDL formed with Malaysian company IOI Corp, said the hotel was in the city centre and close to Suntec Singapore Convention and Exhibition Centre, which is popular with business and leisure travellers.

Besides Hong Kong, he said, "[mainland] China is a very good market for us to grow".

"Previously, Chinese travellers would join tours covering Singapore, Malaysia and Thailand. But now Singapore is the only destination," said Lee, who will head London-listed Millennium & Copthorne as its chief executive from March.

Millennium & Copthorne Hotels established its footprint in Hong Kong a decade ago. The company owns 50 per cent of New World Millennium (formerly known as Nikko Hotel) in Tsim Sha Tsui and 26 per cent of JW Marriott at the Pacific Place in Admiralty.

Located on Beach Road, South Beach has 654 rooms and is due to open in April.