{"id":392031,"date":"2025-11-20T10:47:13","date_gmt":"2025-11-20T10:47:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/392031\/"},"modified":"2025-11-20T10:47:13","modified_gmt":"2025-11-20T10:47:13","slug":"shangri-la-ceo-kuok-hui-kwong-on-asian-hospitality-not-silver-candlesticks-but-attention-to-detail","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/392031\/","title":{"rendered":"Shangri-La CEO Kuok Hui Kwong on Asian hospitality: Not \u2018silver candlesticks,\u2019 but \u2018attention to detail\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"

Most prominent hotel groups don\u2019t actually own their hotels. Instead, when you stay at a Marriott or a Hilton<\/a>, the building is often owned by someone else\u2014usually a developer\u2014while the hotel company handles the operations.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s not the case for Shangri-La Hotel and Resorts, founded by Malaysian tycoon Robert Kuok in 1971, and now led by his daughter Kuok Hui Kwong. The chain operates over 100 properties worldwide, over 80 of which are owned by Shangri-La.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Kuok Hui Kwong, speaking at the Fortune Innovation Forum on Tuesday, recalled why her father chose this asset-heavy model. \u201cNo one else was doing it. Land was very affordable, and I took a risk,\u201d she recounted her father as saying.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The Shangri-La hotel chain has its roots in Asia, starting with its first hotel in Singapore. Around 80% of their hotels are still based in the Asia-Pacific region.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Kuok said the company\u2019s success comes from the core tenets of Asian hospitality. \u201c[Asian hospitality is] not white linen tablecloths, it\u2019s not sterling silver candlesticks\u2014it\u2019s warmth and attention to detail,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Asia\u2019s ballooning economy has also translated into more regional luxury hotel guests, Kuok observed. \u201cMost of our guests today are no longer just people coming from North America or Europe\u2014they\u2019re coming from the [Asia] region,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Fifty-six Shangri-La properties are in mainland China, which Kuok called one of the world\u2019s fastest-evolving economies.\u00a0\u201c[That\u2019s] a market that has seen unparalleled economic growth in the last 30 years\u2014which is a lot of wealth creation,\u201d Kuok said. Yet companies need to be adaptive and number to stay ahead of the economy\u2019s constant changes, she added.\u00a0<\/p>\n

For instance, to cater to China\u2019s burgeoning middle class, Shangri-La opened a dual-brand hotel in Hongqiao in October. The development had two brands\u2014the luxurious \u201cShangri-La\u201d brand for more discerning business travelers, and Traders Hotel, which caters to more price-conscious tourists.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cWith these sorts of flexible models, we\u2019re able to compete in this market where there\u2019s a lot of demand. We just launched and we\u2019re seeing very, very optimistic occupancy rates already,\u201d Kuok said.<\/p>\n

According to a report by UN tourism<\/a>, international tourism rebounded to pre-COVID levels in 2024, with most destinations exceeding 2019 numbers.<\/p>\n

Yet in some markets, like Hong Kong, tourism spending remains suppressed as travelers opt for experiences rather than pricey shopping and expensive hotels.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cConsumers of luxury hospitality are no longer looking for the traditional trappings of luxury. They\u2019re looking to experiences that give them that sense of comfort,\u201d Kuok said. Also, they want to connect with things that feel authentic (i.e. local experiences), rather than \u201cstandard international hospitality\u201d.<\/p>\n

Shangri-La reported a slight 0.7% increase<\/a> in revenue year-on-year for the first half of 2025, hitting $1.0 billion. Profit, however, slumped almost 40% to $57 million. Shares in Shangri-La Hotels and Resorts, a subsidiary of the Kuok-owned Kerry Properties, are down by around 13% for the year thus far.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u2018To strive\u2019<\/strong><\/p>\n

Kuok, No. 36 on this year\u2019s Most Powerful Women Asia list, pointed to her father as the source for her approach to business. Robert Kuok, born in 1923, is one of Malaysia and Southeast Asia\u2019s richest tycoons, with interests in plantation agriculture, oil, hospitality, property development and, at one point, ownership of the South China Morning Post, Hong Kong\u2019s leading English-language newspaper. (Kuok Hui Kwong briefly served as the newspaper\u2019s CEO.)<\/p>\n

She said the Chinese phrase fen dou\u2014\u201dto strive\u201d\u2014was her guiding principle. \u201cIt\u2019s the recognition that nothing is easy, but you should fully commit and go all in and never give up,\u201d Kuok said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cFor me, I feel really, really fortunate that I grew up with a great teacher.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Most prominent hotel groups don\u2019t actually own their hotels. Instead, when you stay at a Marriott or a…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":392032,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5123],"tags":[1582,276,186380,12034,17054,2961,224,5337],"class_list":{"0":"post-392031","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-los-angeles","8":"tag-ca","9":"tag-california","10":"tag-fortune-innovation-forum","11":"tag-hospitality","12":"tag-hotels","13":"tag-la","14":"tag-los-angeles","15":"tag-losangeles"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115581632254376743","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/392031","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=392031"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/392031\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/392032"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=392031"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=392031"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=392031"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}