Genting sees value in operating world’s largest hotel

GENTING HIGHLANDS: Genting Malaysia Bhd, which is on track to meeting the demands that the Genting Integrated Tourism Plan (GITP) will make on it next year, sees value in reclaiming the Guinness Book of Records title for operating the world’s largest hotel.
On June 20, 2015, First World Hotel was recognised as the world’s largest hotel again, with 7,351 rooms, beating The Venetian and The Palazzo (7,117 rooms) as well as the MGM Grand Las Vegas (6,852 rooms), both in Las Vegas, Nevada, the US.
First World Hotel first won the recognition in 2006, and continued to hold the title until 2013 when it had 6,118 rooms.
Now, it is the world’s largest hotel again on the back of a new tower, dubbed “Tower 2 Annex” that has 1,286 rooms with an average size of 179.7 sq ft.
Genting Malaysia senior vice-president of hotel operations Edward A. Holloway said it should be able to retain the coveted title until a bigger hotel comes up, and if it applies for the certification.
It is expected that The Abraj Kudai hotel with 10,000 rooms in Mecca, Saudi Arabia, to be completed in 2017, may be the next to win the title.
“There’ll always be somebody who will try to break the record, whether the biggest, the highest or the longest … but right now, we’re the biggest, according to the Guinness Book of Records. It might not be the fanciest five-star hotel, but it’s the largest and there’s some value in that,” Holloway said, adding that the notoriety of it on social media brings with it a marketing aspect that it can capitalise on.
It has received over 35.5 million guests over the nine years since its first record in 2006. Holloway said the Guinness Book of Records brand has helped to attract visitors from international markets.
Currently, visitors from Malaysia and Singapore make up the bulk of its customers.
Meanwhile, Holloway said the RM5 billion GITP, will help its hotels see a lot of demand for room bookings next year.
Resorts World Genting, which has 10,044 rooms in five of its hilltop hotels currently, is still running at an average of 88% to 92% occupancy throughout the year.
Resorts World Genting’s hilltop hotels include First World, Genting Grand, Maxims/Crockfords, Resort Hotel and Theme Park Hotel. At mid-hill, it operates Awana Hotel.
“With our new assets (GITP) coming on line from the middle of next year onwards, there will be more and more demand for rooms. We will increase our profitability with demand,” Holloway told SunBiz in an interview last week.
Hotel and food & beverage (F&B) is currently the second biggest contributor to the group after casino operations, but Holloway said this may change when the GITP becomes operational.
“When we’re talking about an integrated resort, we don’t equate room revenue to what the room sells for. We equate the revenue of what the customer in the room is willing to pay for all the facilities that we have here.
“Unlike a hotel downtown, where they look at room yields, we have the power of the overall yield, like how much a person can spend in our restaurants, theme parks and shows,” said Holloway.
At any given year, he said, the group would on average renovate or refurbish 1,000 rooms, but he declined to reveal the capital expenditure.
Resorts World Genting received 18.1 million visitors in 2014 with 28% of them making up hotel guests and the remaining 72% being day-trippers, posting an occupancy rate of 91% .