UOL’s Pan Pacific Hotels expands presence in Japan with Tokyu Hotels deal

PAN Pacific Hotels, a member of Singapore-listed UOL Group, has launched 2 new hotels in Japan through a marketing partnership with hotel chain operator Tokyu Hotels. The move will more than double the hotel group’s Japan inventory and represent 6.4 per cent of its entire portfolio, said chief executive Choe Peng Sum in a statement to The Business Times. At present, the group has around 408 keys in Japan through Cerulean Tower Tokyu Hotel, a Pan Pacific partner hotel.  Pan Pacific Hotels is looking to catch the wave of new travellers as Japan relaxes its Covid-19 restriction measures. The country recently removed the need for pre-departure PCR tests and may potentially raise the daily entry cap on travellers to 50,000 from 20,000.  “We anticipate further relaxations over the following months and by the time we open in Q2 2023, we will be well-positioned to capture the returning demand,” Choe added.  The 2 hotels - Bellustar Tokyo and Hotel Groove Shinjuku, will be located within Tokyu Kabukicho Tower, a new skyscraper complex located in the Shinjuku ward in Tokyo. They are slated for opening in the first half of 2023.  Bellustar Tokyo, a Pan Pacific Hotel, will occupy the 39th to 47th floors of Tokyu Kabukicho Tower. The 97-key project will have rooms ranging between 42 square metres (sq m) and 277 sq m, the largest being a penthouse with a personal spa treatment room.  Meanwhile, Hotel Groove Shinjuku, which falls under the Parkroyal brand, will sit on the 18th to 28th floors with 538 rooms ranging between 21 sqm to 61 sqm. The hotel will have access to Tokyu Kabukicho Tower’s entertainment facilities like its live performance venue Zepp Shinjuku, Theatre Milano-Za and 109 Cinemas Premium Shinjuku, Pan Pacific said.  “We have confidence that when the destination fully opens, we will be able to capture the same level of occupancy that Japan once enjoyed – in 2019, average occupancy rates across Japan were more than 80 per cent. Hence, we remain bullish in Japan,” Choe added.