New Pullman head upbeat revenue will grow by 5-8pc

By Sharen Kaur
Published in NST on April 28, 2014

KUALA LUMPUR: The new head of Pullman Kuala Lumpur Bangsar is upbeat the hotel will break even on a revenue of RM50 million in its first year of operation.

“It is a tough target, and it is given to motivate and drive the team,” said Eric Tan, the hotel general manager who came on board last month.

Tan told Business Times recently he is upbeat that revenue will also grow by between five and eight per cent on a yearly basis.

Pullman Bangsar, which is the Accor Group’s largest hotel in Southeast Asia by rooms, started operations five months ago.

The hotel has 513 rooms but only 350 are open at the moment. Based on that count, the hotel’s occupancy is at 60 per cent.

Tan has no qualms of achieving 50 to 55 per cent occupancy once all the rooms are opened and to raise that to over 65 per cent from the third year of operation.

He said the light rail transit (LRT) line extension and MRT projects, and the KL Sentral transport hub in Brickfields, which is linked to the Kuala Lumpur International Airport and the Kuala Lumpur International Airport 2 will help the hotel to grow.

“Many people see this area as very secluded and not central but I take it as a plus point. If you look at the city hotels, their location is quite congested because of the on-going LRT and MRT works.

“That is a plus point for us as many local and foreign leisure travellers are now coming over to this side. We have a LRT station within walking distance from the hotel, which is connected to KL Sentral, and it is attracting a lot of corporate and MICE business for us.”

Meanwhile, Tan said the building owner, Cygal Development Sdn Bhd, will invest between US$4 million and US$5 million (RM13 million and RM16 million) to improve the facade and open two new outlets.

“We are adding two iconic outlets, including a Skybar on the 28th floor. All these improvements will be completed by the first or second quarter of next year,” Tan said.

Accor, which is a French hotel operator, is managing and operating Pullman Bangsar for Cygal Development.

It also manages seven other properties in Malaysia, including Pullman Putrajaya Lakeside, Pullman Kuching, Novotel Kuala Lumpur City Centre and ibis Styles Kuala Lumpur Cheras hotel.