Serviced apartments
natural process. She thinks more TMCs should be more forthcoming about accommodation options. “If they [the TMC] came to me and said: ‘We’ve done your hotel programme, but we have some better options with serviced apartments that will save you money,’ then I could communicate that to my travellers and make sure they knew they should book serviced apartments for a certain length of stay. I think I could be putting more pressure on TMCs to include serviced apartments, too.” Bridgestreet’s Layton thinks
some TMCs book hotels instead of apartments because the process is less time-consuming. She explains that to ensure TMCs adhere to booking apartments, the buyer needs to be contracted to the apartments. “We are working with a great number of brilliant TMCs and they know how to use us. If the buyer is contracted then the TMC becomes very astute in the booking process. It is an education process.”
BUYER’S VIEW
“WITHIN VOLVO GROUP, serviced apartments are most common for our short-term assignments and extended business trips. They are mainly requested for our top destinations, where we have a relatively high number of travellers. Asia seems to be the region where a serviced apartment is most frequently selected for short-term stays. “For longer assignments, we have a dedicated international
team within Volvo Group, who take care of issues such as lodging, insurance, schools and so on, and they don’t usually apply the regular travel ordering process.”
Stephan Hylander, global travel manager at Volvo Group
SACO’s Redman says there needs to be even more joined-up thinking within the industry. She explains that for newcomers, using serviced apartments can seem so complicated that they stick to hotels, and this behaviour is passed down to the traveller. But the sector is working hard to change this. “Education is an on-going challenge for the industry, both nationally and globally,” says
Redman. “ASAP [the Association of Serviced Apartment Providers] and other providers recognise this and are working to try and address it, but buyers in the UK definitely have serviced apartments on the radar. ” Buyers’ awareness is good news for serviced apartments, and the increased demand for the sector is having a positive effect on its growth across the UK and Ireland. A survey in January by ASAP quizzed its 56 members about 2013, and 74 per cent of them expected their business to increase overall. It’s not just a small increase either. Half of those with positive outlooks expected an increase of up to 10 per cent and only ten members expected their business to stay the same level as last year.
“A lot of extra stock was brought on in 2012 to support the potential demand for the Olympics, so 2013 is quite hard to predict”
84
CAPITAL GAINS SACO’s Redman, however, points out that 2012 was not a normal year. “A lot of extra stock was brought on to support the potential demand for the Olympics, so 2013 is quite hard to predict – but London, being London, is a busy city, so the supply of apartments will continue to increase.” London’s stock of serviced
Bridgestreet
apartments was recently the focus of a 2012 report by Savills and Go Native. According to the report, there are 8,200 apartments in central London, with known future supply
IN BRIEF
■ Ascott launched Citadines Suites in Paris early this year. Located close to the Louvre, it is the first property under Ascott’s new category of boutique serviced residences (an upper tier to the existing Citadines Apart’hotel and Citadines Prestige labels in Europe).
■ Bridgestreet opened 2 Suffolk Lane, in London, last September. The Grade II- listed building houses 24 studios and three one-bedroom apartments, and is a five-minute walk from Cannon Street station.
MARCH/APRIL 2013
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