Thursday, March 15, 2012

TUNE HOTELS LAUNCHES FIRST OF FOUR MANILA HOTELS

Manila key growth centre for regional expansion, says GCEO

Tune Hotel Ermita in Central Manila.

More pics can be downloaded from www.flickr.com/tunehotels

MANILA, 15 March 2012 – Visitors and travellers seeking comfortable, quality accommodation at highly affordable rates in this capital city need not look any further as Tune Hotels, the international value hotel chain, is now in town.

Mayor of the City of Manila Alfredo S Lim did the honours by officially opening Tune Hotels’ first Manila hotel in Ermita recently. Located in Central Manila, Tune Hotel Ermita offers 167 rooms comprising 117 double, 48 twin sharing and 2 wheelchair-friendly rooms.

Group CEO of Tune Hotels, Mark Lankester said: “We are very excited with the opening of Tune Hotel Ermita, our very first hotel in the capital city. With three more Tune Hotels coming up in Manila this year and next, Manila will be a very important growth centre for our regional expansion. With its international city stature and coupled up with the rigorous economic landscape, Manila attracts tourists and business travellers from across the world and Tune Hotels is proud to serve them all.”

Tune Hotel Ermita is a short drive away from the old city of Manila where centuries old monuments and heritage buildings like the Intramuros, Manila Cathedral, the National Museum and Rizal Park are located. It is also a stone’s throw away from Roxas Boulevard, famous for its row of alfresco restaurants overlooking the Manila Bay. Conveniently located right at the centre of the bustling business and entertainment joints, Tune Hotel Ermita is a perfect choice for travellers who wish to experience both old and modern Manila.

Mark noted that Tune Hotels will also be enticingly appealing to the Filipina diaspora or ‘Balikbayan’ who make their annual trips back to their hometowns via Manila every year.

“Manila and the Philippines as a whole are indeed an important market for Tune Hotels. With the rise of budget travel packages from airlines and increase in business travels, there’s a high demand for no-fuss hotels that would provide affordable, safe, clean, convenient and comfortable accommodations and that’s precisely what Tune Hotels is all about,” added Mark.

Tune Hotels had earlier in February opened Tune Hotel Angeles City in Pampanga that serves as an airport hotel for the Diosdado Macapagal International Airport in Clark, followed by Tune Hotel Cebu on the resort island of Cebu. Tune Hotel Ermita, Manila is the third for the whole of Philippines.

Tune Hotels will further expand its operations in the Philippines with Makati, Ortigas and Quezon City in Manila, as well as Cagayan de Oro, Mindanao within this year and 2013. They are part of Tune Hotels’ aggressive expansion plan in collaboration with its Bangkok-based partner Red Planet Hotels, which also include locations in Thailand and Indonesia.

Tune Hotels is part of Tune Group, a lifestyle business conglomerate co-founded by Tan Sri Tony Fernandes and Dato’ Kamarudin Meranun, who are the Group CEO and Deputy Group CEO respectively of Asia’s largest low cost carrier AirAsia.

Apart from hotel establishments by Tune Hotels, AirAsia’s Philippine subsidiary AirAsia Inc. (Philippines) will also be commencing its maiden flights this month from its hub at the Diosdado Macapagal International Airport in Clark.

Tune Hotels has successfully pioneered a branded value hotel brand with the concept of pay-as-you-use that has become hugely popular amongst travellers from across the world. Under the concept, guests only pay for room rates with the option of adding on other amenities like towels & toiletries, air-conditioning, in-room wifi and satellite TV service at selected hotels. Tune Hotels has received over three million guests since the opening of its first hotel in downtown Kuala Lumpur in 2007.

Apart from enjoying great value, great savings at Tune Hotels, guests can also enhance their benefits and privileges by becoming a member of the BIG loyalty programme, of which Tune Hotels is a global partner. BIG enables card members to accumulate points when travelling and shopping with BIG partners worldwide, and redeem the accumulated BIG Points for exciting rewards including flight seats on the world’s best low cost carrier, AirAsia.