Press Releases

Pan Pacific Hotels Group to reinvent brands websites

Singapore, 31 May, 2012 – Pan Pacific Hotels Group will launch new websites for both its Pan Pacific Hotels and Resorts and PARKROYAL Hotels & Resorts brands in 2013.

It is currently in the process of appointing a web agency to undertake a million-dollar initiative which will see a rebuilding of the panpacific.com and parkroyalhotels.com websites from the aspects of technology, customer experience and performance.
The initiative follows the launch of the refreshed Pan Pacific Hotels and Resorts and PARKROYAL Hotels & Resorts brands in September last year.

When launched, the new panpacific.com and parkroyalhotels.com will feature:

• A new infrastructure that will improve the way customers and guests interact with both brands in the online space
• An immersive online experience that supports the refreshed Pan Pacific and PARKROYAL brand propositions that will create greater customer engagement
• User-generated content that will help customers make informed decisions about Pan Pacific and PARKROYAL hotels
• A mobile optimised website compatible with major mobile and handheld electronic devices today which will improve customer experience and increase revenue

These features are in line with what hotel customers want and expect today, and are a result of the findings from a global customer survey that Pan Pacific Hotels Group participates in with international market research company, BDRC Continental.
Comprising over 15,000 interviews in just close to 40 markets globally, BDRC Continental’s Hotel Guest Survey provides brand performance benchmarking, market behaviour and customer insight for the hotels sector.

The 2011 Hotel Guest Survey showed that:

• 87% of travellers visited a hotel website in the last 12 months with 65% going on to make a booking. This represents a conversion rate of 75%, reiterating the importance of the hotel website as a booking channel.
• In Asia Pacific, smartphones are used to a much greater degree for hotel related activities than elsewhere. But bookings remain more common through websites than through apps.
• An increasing number of business travellers are seeking advice on hotel choice through social media websites. Of those who used a review site, over half were influenced to use a different hotel.
• Social media sites are regularly accessed by three out of four of all Asian business travellers – with over half engaging more than once a day.

“The customer has always been the starting point of anything we do,” said A. Patrick Imbardelli, CEO and President of Pan Pacific Hotels Group.

“The research is telling us that this is the way customers want their information, this is the way they would like to book their hotel stays, this is the way they want to engage with and experience a brand – and we want to be able to do all of this for them with our new websites.”

The new Pan Pacific and PARKROYAL websites will be an extension of the work Pan Pacific Hotels Group has invested in both brands. Last year, the Group unveiled refreshed propositions for both its Pan Pacific and PARKROYAL brands. 

Pan Pacific’s ‘Your refreshing Pacific experience’ highlights the brand’s focus on providing enriching experiences that draw on a diversity of landscapes and cultures along the Pacific Rim; and relevant choices that convey freedom and individuality. Meanwhile, PARKROYAL’s ‘Your Trusted Local Companion’ conveys its commitment towards providing the best local knowledge and connections, as well as a welcoming setting where guests can explore their surroundings.

Said Imbardelli, “We are looking forward to the new websites embodying these propositions so that guests and customers, from the get-go, way before they step foot through our doors, can engage and interact with our brands and our hotels – in the way that matters to them.”

About Pan Pacific Hotels Group
Pan Pacific Hotels Group is a listed hotel subsidiary of Singapore-listed UOL Group Limited, one of Asia’s most established hotel and property companies with an outstanding portfolio of investment and development properties. Based in Singapore, Pan Pacific Hotels Group owns and/or manages  over 30 hotels, resorts and serviced suites with over 10,000 rooms including those under development in Asia, Oceania and North America. The Group comprises two acclaimed brands: Pan Pacific® and PARKROYAL®. Pan Pacific ® is a leading brand in Asia and the Pacific Rim with hotels offering premium accommodations and services.  PARKROYAL® is a collection of comfortable leisure and business hotels and resorts located in the heart of cities and interesting locales across Asia Pacific. For more information, visit pphg.com.

Media contacts: