Park Hotel puts Hong Kong at heart of growth plans
Partnerships and management contracts are favoured over acquisitions in strategy to boost presence in city as more rooms come on market
Park Hotel Group, controlled by Law Kar-po, is expanding in the city 10 years after it bought the four-star Park Hotel in Tsim Sha Tsui at a bargain price during the Sars outbreak.
The group made its first foray into the hotel industry after it paid HK$522.5 million for the 16-storey Park Hotel in 2003.
Given limited opportunities in the city's hospitality industry, the group set up the chain's headquarters in Singapore in 2005 and expanded aggressively in the region, buying properties in Singapore, mainland China and Japan.
In Singapore, the group expands through acquisition and partnership. It owns three hotels and will secure two management contracts by 2015.
"Our expansion plan in Singapore will be completed when our portfolio comprises eight hotels. Hong Kong will be our next growth engine," chief executive Allen Law said.
Allen Law is the son of Law Kar-po, who ranked 18th on Forbes' list of Hong Kong's 50 richest people in January. Besides Park Hotel, the family's assets also include a luxury development on the site of the former popular Yucca de Lac restaurant in Tai Po.
Instead of acquisitions, Allen Law said the group preferred to expand through partnership or securing management contracts for existing hotels in Hong Kong.