Hotel Istana: Leveraging Its Name and Location

Praba G Menon, Area General Manager of Hotel Istana Kuala Lumpur discusses:

--  How guests have become more decerning over the years, especially astravelling has become easier and with more exposure to quality services in other countries

--  How price-sensitive are guests nowadays

--  Hotel Istana's refurbishment exercise, due to be completed next year

--  Hotel Istana's contributor to Tradewinds Corps' earnings

--  His approach towards recruiting talent and 'staff-pinching' from other hotels, as well as how he looks to retain talent

--  Hotel Istana's quirky campaign "Come Sleep with Us" andother branding moves

--  What the hotel is doing to keep competitive in this industry

--  If there is discrimination against Middle Eastern tourists within thehotel industry

--  Why Malaysia is said to have one of the lowest average room rates inthe world

--  Why China and India is the fast-growing source market for the country

--  How Malaysia stacks up in terms of the convention and expo circuit, compared to other big players like Singapore and Hong Kong

--  How the economic headwinds have hurt the hospitality business