Ying Chia
BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN

Thursday, August 5, 2010
The Empire Hotel and Country Club has recorded a stellar occupancy rate of eighty per cent during the the recently concluded Brunei Open Golf Tournament, according to the hotel’s general manager, Desmond Acheson.

“It’s been a busy three days,” he said of the jump in visitor numbers, pointing out that the hotel saw a significant hike this year in both the number of people watching the Brunei Open and visitors to the hotel.

Acheson said the majority of foreign visitors had come from China, which he said contributes about 18 to 20 per cent to their yearly tourist arrivals.

“There’s a great interest in golf from China,” he said, adding that the hotel has seen an increase in arrivals from the Chinese and South East Asian markets. The US$300,000 tournament at the Jack Nicklaus-designed course is the main event in Brunei’s nascent sports tourism market.

The director of the Brunei Tourism Board praised its impact, saying: “Since the successful launch of the Brunei Open in 2005, we have witnessed a transformation in the local golf scene here,” Sheikh Jamaluddin Sheikh Mohamed was quoted as saying in an Asian Tour media release.

“The success of local golf pro Seruji Hj Setia in playing in all four rounds in the 2008 edition was a tremendous milestone in the history of golf in Brunei and we are confident that a local player will lift the title at the Brunei Open in the near future.”

The seven-star property has also recently added “Fifth Best Luxury Golf Resort” awarded by the World Luxury Golf Resort Awards to its growing curriculum vitae of regional awards.

Acheson was previously quoted as saying that the “key to the resort’s success in consistently improving in its ranking has been focusing on improving, or at the very least maintaining, the high quality of its star attraction, the golf course, as well as improving on its value-added services, such as the quality of service delivered by its staff… (Our) goal is to focus on the course quality and maintenance, and also to re-emphasise on the importance of service training”.

In 2007, The Empire Hotel & Country Club ranked ninth in the Best Destination in Asia category in the Asian Golf Monthly Awards but climbed to second place just one year later as the Best Golf Resort in Asia.

But what does the rest of the year hold for the luxury hotel now that the country’s biggest sporting event is over?

Acheson says they have a host of food festivals in the pipeline but does admit the hotel will be experiencing a slowdown in business once Ramadhan and the Hari Raya festivities arrive.

“We’ve got a Chocolate Festival coming up on September 24th”, Acheson said, which would see the Empire bringing in a world class Austrian chef alongside a Bruneian pastry assistant to create desserts that will trump even the most discerning food connosieur.

Also tentatively in the pipelines is a Wedding Expo this coming October, to showcase how the property would cater for wedding celebrations.

Although weddings do not generate a large amount of revenue as yet for the hotel, Acheson was optimistic that it could be a significant revenue generator.

“It’s just to make people aware of how we would handle a wedding celebration,” he said, adding that it would also help increase awareness of wedding-related businesses such as florists.

The Brunei Times

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