Wyndham Hotels and Resorts Vice President of Development, South East Asia and Pacific Rim, Matt Holmes, discusses the power of boutique hotels and the opportunities that lie ahead through the company’s partnership with Ovolo Hotels.

The demand for boutique hotels is stronger than ever, driven by a new generation of travellers seeking not just a place to sleep, but a unique and authentic experience that reflects the local character of a destination. This shift presents a significant opportunity for owners: the ability to command premium rates and foster intense guest loyalty through distinctive design, personalised service, and strong F&B concepts. However, the segment also presents distinct challenges. The key for a group like Wyndham is to balance that creative autonomy with the powerful backend support owners need. This was the genesis behind our groundbreaking partnership with Ovolo Group. Through this partnership, we are combining the best of both worlds – a distinctive brand that’s been lovingly curated over many years, now with the backing of a global distribution network and extensive loyalty program.  We are looking forward to having the Ovolo hotels across Melbourne, Brisbane, Canberra and Sydney join the Wyndham systems in November this year. Scaling a boutique brand has always been a challenge. The very definition of “boutique” implies individuality which can be at odds with delivering scale, however with our collaborative approach and our industry leading franchise development team across Asia Pacific, we are confident of selectively growing the Ovolo brand to hotels within prime markets that are excellent representations of the Ovolo culture and ethos. We are also excited about the considered growth of our upscale lifestyle brand – Tryp by Wyndham. By the end of this year, we will have opened our first Tryp in Laos’s capital Vientiane, as well as broke ground on not one, but two beautiful Tryp hotels in the Philippines.  In addition to this, we have two Tryp by Wyndham hotels currently well under construction in both Kuala Lumpur and New Zealand which we anticipate will be in a position to open by end of next year or early the following.