Face-to-Face: Gerard Guillouet, Accor
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Travel Daily Asia talks to Gerard Guillouet, Accor’s Vice President for Malaysia, Indonesia and Singapore, about the new Pullman Jakarta Central Hotel, which opens on Wednesday.
1) Pullman Jakarta Central Park opens its doors tomorrow; what can guests expect from your hotel?
Pullman Jakarta Central Park is the second hotel for the Pullman brand to be successfully launched in Indonesia this year, following the opening of the Pullman hotel in Bali in February. It offers a unique concept of hospitality by adapting contemporary art-style design, signature guest room and tranquil ambience through integrated mall, office and leisure entertainment.
The hotel is attached to the award winning shopping complex, Central Park, the Winner of the Highly Commended Award for the Best Retail Development category in the Asia Pacific Property Awards 2011.
All of 317 signature Pullman rooms are ornamented with contemporary urban art, stylish furniture, rain showers, LCD TVs, iPod docking stations, high-speed internet access/Wi-Fi and floor to ceiling windows with spectacular city views.
2) What do you envisage will be your main guest source markets, and do you expect any strong interest from the domestic market?
Pullman is Accor’s upscale hotel brand targeting business travellers and the location of Jakarta being the administrative capital and business hub of Indonesia, bodes well with the brand’s objectives for expansion in cities.
Due to its strategic location at Podomoro City Super Block area in West Jakarta, the hotel is an ideal base for both international and domestic business and leisure travellers.
We see strong demand of domestic market such as from Surabaya, Makassar and other major cities in Indonesia. Based on Accor Asia Pacific Business Traveller Research 2011, in the domestic market, almost three quarters of domestic business travel was to Jakarta. Therefore, yes, domestic market is very important for us.
3) Your hotel has a strong MICE element; how are your forward bookings looking for meetings and events?
With extensive meeting rooms (Axel, Blake, Drexler, Warhol1 and Warhol 2) and the ballroom as the second largest in Jakarta-wide area, Pullman Jakarta Central Park is able to cater to a multiplicity of events such as concerts, exhibitions and weddings. It positions Pullman as the venue for a wide spectrum of corporate and social functions.
Frequency of events at Pullman is very encouraging for us and positive word-of-mouth from our satisfied customers contribute significantly to our events.
4) Performance-wise, what are you targeting in your first year of operations?
We definitely aim high for Pullman Jakarta Central Park since it is a very important hotel for Accor. It’s the core of our upscale portfolio. Today, Pullman is the fastest growing upscale brand in Asia Pacific.
The opening of Pullman Jakarta Central Park does not only strengthen Accor’s leadership as the largest hotel operator in Indonesia but also reaffirms our continued ambitions for the country. It also reflects our view of the sustained growth and the importance of Indonesia for Accor Asia Pacific today. For sure, there will be another Pullman in the pipeline.