Last week, Mark Hoplamazian, president and CEO of Hyatt Hotels Corporation, spent time in Sydney and Melbourne and met with Singapore’s Kum family, which owns the Hyatt Regency Sydney through M&L Hospitality.
Hyatt Hotels won the management rights to that property from the Marriott-owned Starwood chain in June. The Hyatt Regency is reportedly the largest upscale, full-service hotel in Australia with approximately 900 rooms. Michael Kum has called the property “the jewel in the crown.”
Hyatt's growth trajectory, which Hoplamazian called “deliberate and purposeful,” is likely to include more properties in Australia. Hoplamazian told The Australian that further Hyatts would be added in Sydney, Melbourne and Perth.
And that meeting with the Kums could have something to do with the company's growth plans both in Australia and across the whole Asia-Pacific region. “I met them years ago in Singapore and maintained a rapport with them, and we have other opportunities with them, which I will be discussing with them,” he said.
Michael Kum said that he owns 14 profitable hotels in Australia, New Zealand, Asia and Europe, and will own 17 hotels in 11 major cities by the end of the year. Still, he said, he would continue to invest in Sydney and was developing another hotel in that city.