Ascott nabs 7 new properties in China

It has added more than 2,700 units across 15 properties year to date.

CapitaLand’s wholly-owned serviced residence business unit, The Ascott Limited (Ascott), has clinched seven new contracts to manage over 1,300 apartments across six cities in China.

These properties mark Ascott’s first foray into Kunming and Yichang while deepening its presence in Chongqing, Dalian, Shenzhen and Xuzhou. To date, Ascott has added more than 2,700 units across 15 properties in China this year. This is a 56% increase compared with the more than 1,700 units and 10 properties secured in the first half of 2016.

“China remains Ascott’s biggest market and we are excited to be surpassing our 100th property milestone in China this year. Chinese are amongst Ascott’s top customers at our properties globally with revenue surging by 35% year-on-year. Awareness of Ascott has also grown significantly in China," Ascott CEO Lee Chee Koon said.

He furthered, "In 2016, about 62% of our guests in China are Chinese. With close to 19,000 units in 104 properties across 29 Chinese cities, Ascott will achieve our target of 20,000 units in China well ahead of 2020. With this momentum, we are confident of exceeding our target of 80,000 units globally by 2020.”

In addition, Ascott has listed about 15,000 serviced apartments on Alibaba’s online travel service platform Fliggy, covering its properties in more than 20 destinations most popular amongst Chinese travellers, such as Singapore, Bangkok, Tokyo, Paris and London.

“China’s rising incomes are driving domestic travel and making it the world’s biggest outbound travel market. Besides boosting our number of properties in China, Ascott is sharpening our competitive edge by having a stronger online presence. We now have one of the largest serviced apartment listings on Fliggy, which has more than 200 million users. Our penetration of the Chinese market both offline and online is already contributing to Ascott’s business worldwide,” Lee added.

Of the seven new serviced residences, Tujia Somerset Garden City Chongqing is already operational while Ascott Yulian Plaza Dalian, Citadines Gaoke Liangjiang Chongqing, Citadines Three Gorges Yichang and Somerset Q Plex Shenzhen are slated to open in 2018. Citadines Dianchi Time Plaza Kunming and Tujia Somerset Yunlong Lake Xuzhou are expected to open in 2019.