Tune Group Hotels cut by half, asset sale planned

PETALING JAYA (July 6): Tan Sri Tony Fernandes’ Tune Group has slashed the number of its Tune Hotels worldwide, ended its partnership with Bangkok-based Red Planet Hotels and put several of its assets up for sale, reports The Edge Malaysia in its current issue.

The report highlights that the number of Tune Hotels has fallen from 45 at the end of last year to 22 currently. This reduction is largely attributed to the dissolution of Tune Hotels’ franchise partnership with Red Planet Hotels as well as the closure of at least two of its own hotels.

The collaboration with Red Planet Hotels in 2012 allowed Tune Hotels to operate Red Planet Hotels under the Tune Hotel brand. These hotels in Thailand, Indonesia and Philippines have since been rebranded as Red Planet. This means that there is no Tune Hotel representation in Thailand or the Philippines. There is only one Tune Hotel in Indonesia.

Notably, 10 Philippine hotels listed and available for booking on Tune Hotels’ website until July 1 were moved to the Red Planet Hotel website the very next day.

On the sale of its assets, Tune Hotels CEO Mark Lankester was quoted as saying that land value in Bali has shot up since the company acquired its land parcels there in 2008.

Lankester did not address the question on whether the Tune Hotels brand does not work in resort island destinations but is more suited for cities.

“We were getting a lot of enquiries from the market, so we decided to engage in an official process to see what the market would offer for the site,” he said. He also added that its land in Langkawi will be put on sale soon.

According to sources, Tune Hotels is asking for US$9 million (RM34.3 million) for both its hotels in Bali or US$6 million each, while the price tag of the 60,000 sq ft parcel in Langkawi is said to be around RM6 million.

Lankester had previously said several years ago that Tune Hotels had a target of 100 hotels by 2016 and and a revenue of RM100 million. Fernandes had said Tune Hotels Regional Services was looking at listing on Bursa Malaysia in 2015.

However, with only 22 operational hotels, that listing may take time to happen.

For the full report read the July 6 issue of The Edge Malaysia. Subscribe here for your personal copy.