bodyType

customContents

entityId

entityUuid

articlePageQuery

filter

article

articleBaseAdvertisingInfoArticle

articleListArticle

articleSeoArticle

hooksArticleAcknowledgementGateOverlayArticle

hooksTrackPageViewArticle

hooksContentInterestArticle

articleLinkingDataContent

hooksAmpRedirectArticle

articleSchemaContent

liveArticle

advertZone

sentiment

contentLock

topics

types

sections

paywallTypes

createdDate

publishedDate

urlAlias

moreOnThisArticles

sponsorType

commentCount

authorLocations

authors

corrections

displaySlideShow

multimediaEmbed

printHeadline

seriesContainer

articleSpeeches

socialHeadline

headline

images

flag

firstTopic

glossary

flattenTypeIds

image

relatedLinks

relatedNewsletters

__typename

sponsor

pdfFiles

seriesReverseOrder

series

disableOffPlatformContent

published

updatedDate

summary

subHeadline

body

keywords

readingTime

customTimezone

liveContents

Sandy Li

Wharf Holdings' hotel arm Marco Polo Hotel Group is to team with four Asian groups to form an 80-hotel alliance to raise its presence in the region, according to a source.

Details of the strategic alliance will be announced next Friday.

The source said it had became a trend for hotels to form alliances in a bid to strengthen their competitiveness and their market share in the hospitality industry.

The coalition would enable customers to have more choices and to receive privileges offered by alliance members.

A Web site would also be launched to promote the alliance.

Through joint marketing, analysts said, the hotel alliance could help to reduce expenses and strengthen efficiency amid an economic downturn.

Marco Polo Hotel has 2,644 rooms in seven properties in China, Hong Kong, China, the Philippines and Vietnam.

Another 300-room hotel in Beijing - Marco Polo Beijing - will open at the end of the year.

The source believed the new hotel would benefit from China's successful bid for the 2008 Olympic Games.

Performance of Marco Polo hotels was helped by the regional economic recovery, the company said at its 2000 annual report.

The sustained economic recovery in Asia had resulted in an increase in tourist arrivals in Hong Kong.

According to the Hong Kong Tourist Association, tourist arrivals last year were 13.06 million, an increase of 15 per cent over the previous year. The growth came from the mainland, Taiwan and Southeast Asian countries.

The occupancy rate for Marco Polo's three hotels in Hong Kong was 87 per cent last year.

At the end of last year the group had 1.25 million square feet of hotel properties, which accounted for 8.5 per cent of its investment portfolio.



Marco Polo joins 80-strong alliance to boost share and competitiveness