Ascott Targets Resort Acquisitions to Enhance Loyalty Program

Ascott, the Southeast Asian hotel group, says it’s actively seeking resort acquisitions to round out its portfolio of extended-stay travel lodging as it seeks to double its overall property count by 2028.

“We certainly would want to be acquiring resorts,” said Wong Kar Ling, its chief strategy officer, at the Skift Asia Forum last week.

Wong, who led Ascott’s acquisition of Oakwood in 2022, said corporate travelers accumulating loyalty points in Ascott’s rewards program often want more fun vacation redemption options.

“A lot of our [loyalty members], when they are working in a corporate [setting], want to burn [points] for leisure,” Wong said. “If you don’t have a good burn platform, we may be unable to retain them. Resort is an important space that we are targeting.”

Doubling Its Portfolio by 2028

Ascott, a unit of CapitaLand Investment, set a new goal last week of opening more than 300 new properties worldwide by 2028. It currently has roughly 600 properties open.

Beyond resorts, Ascott, with head offices in Singapore and Malaysia, is looking to strengthen its presence outside Asia Pacific, where roughly 80% of its units are presently.

“M&A will help us accelerate,” she said, though she noted the company would also pursue organic growth, especially outside of Asia.

‘Global Living’ Brand

Wong said Ascott is evaluating opportunities in the Middle East and Africa while maintaining “a question mark about the U.S. “

“If you look at the map and where our presence is versus our competitors and the addressable market, there are obvious gaps,” Wong said. “We want to be much bigger in Europe.”

While Ascott began as a service residential owner and operator 41 years ago, it has evolved into what it calls a “global living” provider over the past 14 years.

Its “flex-hybrid” model lets guests stay by the night, by the month, or by the year. It increasingly accommodates leisure travelers and families in its apartment hotels, not just corporate consultants on extended stays.

A Push to Grow Quickly

Wong, who before working at Ascott helped manage the integration between Starwood and Marriott properties in Asia Pacific, argued that expansion of the portfolio provides significant advantages in advertising and distribution costs and in negotiating better prices for operational inputs, such as furniture and equipment.

“Hospitality is very much a scale game,” she said, explaining Ascott’s push to expand quickly. “A dollar that you spend on marketing carries a lot more mileage when you have a broader offering.”

Last year, it generated fee-related earnings of over $250 million (343 million Singaporean dollars), reflecting a 12% year-on-year increase on a recurring basis. This performance was driven by a 6% rise in revenue per available unit and the opening of 11,700 units.

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