Langham Hospitality Group is enjoying its best winter in Australia since 2019, according to Regional Vice President, Operations – Pacific and Managing Director The Langham, Melbourne, Jeffrey van Vorsselen.
Speaking to media in Sydney on Tuesday, van Vorsselen reported that the group’s Australian hotels are experiencing strong demand from both domestic and international travellers.
“We are having our best winter post Covid,” van Vorsselen said.
“We’re seeing that in all of our hotels in Australia … and it’s not just [Melbournians escaping to the Gold Coast], there is a lot of international business coming through.
“We typically struggle a bit during winter in Australia, in these big cities, but this year it’s going to be a record.
“This is helped by concerts, sporting events, and very strong domestic leisure and domestic MICE.”
Van Vorsselen also flagged that the highly anticipated return of the luxury China market to Australia is not far away.
Commenting on the refurbishment of The Langham, Melbourne, van Vorsselen said the group has “pushed reset”, revealing that it has gone back to the drawing board on room design.
“We are going to completely redo the guest room design. We’re going to complete that within this year.
“We will continue with the renovation of the ballroom and event space, and we believe all going well, that will be complete by the end of next year.”
The regional operations leader also pointed to discussions on a development opportunity in Australia, with Alison Hulm taking the lead on this as Director, Development Australasia and Pacific.
Cordis Auckland will be one of the first five-star hotels in New Zealand to introduce check-in kiosks, van Vorsselen revealed.
“We’ve decided to roll out kiosks, and we believe that that’s going to be a great initiative that’s going to be much loved by all of our guests in that hotel,” he said.
Global Head of Marketing and Communications, Shelley Tso, highlighted upcoming openings including the Langham in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia (2029), Venice (early 2027), Bangkok (Q4 2026) and Kuala Lumpar (2028/2029).