Future fair: (From left) Tan, Gandhi and Goi show the future plan for a bigger-scale MIFF in 2018 during the MIFF 2016 pre-show press conference in Kuala Lumpur. Malaysia will stand to benefit from the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPPA), as there would be fewer barriers for the export of Malaysian-made furniture to the United States, said United Business Media (M) Sdn Bhd (UBM) managing director M Gandhi. “The good thing about the TPPA is that it is not in conflict with the other free trade agreements (FTAs). “It is an addition to what we already have. “One of the biggest buyers of Malaysian furniture is the US, and it is part of the TPPA. “In fact, most furniture exports are to countries that are a part of the TPPA “Besides that, one of our competitors is China, and China is not part of the TPPA. So, Malaysia will be more competitive in exporting to the TPPA countries,” added Gandhi. The upcoming Malaysian International Furniture Fair (MIFF) 2016, which is t...
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| Meeting demand: Goh (right) and Song Eu Jin at the briefing. Nida Rooms aims to have 1,200 rooms in the country by May. |
Budget hotel operator Nida Rooms aims to expand its operations to 5,000 hotels regionally by May, and 10,000 by the year end.
Currently, the company, which began operations seven months ago, has about 3,000 hotels through various collaborations in South-East Asia, of which 700 are in Malaysia.
“We aim to have 1,200 hotels in the country by May,” its chief commercial officer Song Eu Jin told reporters at a media briefing. For now, the operator has a capacity of 450,000 room nights.
Last week, the company signed an agreement with SelecTV, a company providing prepaid TV services in 5-star hotels, to provide quality entertainment and free TV at Nida Rooms.
“There’s no reason that budget room guests should be deprived of quality entertainment when they check in. For the 12-hour period that the guest is in the room when they get in for the night, they should have a relaxation window of about an hour an a half, where they unwind and watch some TV catered to their interest,” Song said.
“It is still too early for us to mention the investment amount involved in the implementation of the entertainment platform but for now, both companies will leverage on each other’s resources as we focus heavily on the South-East Asian market in the mid-term. In the long term, we will expand into South America,” SelecTV chief executive officer C.S. Goh said.
In November, Nida Rooms had a capital injection of US$1.3mil (RM5.41mil) by private investors.
Nida Rooms was introduced in Indonesia as a virtual hotel operator by parent company Global Rooms Ltd to ease booking of hotel rooms, providing maximum services at affordable prices in South-East Asia.
The budget hotel focuses on six priorities – clean rooms, comfortable beds, air-conditioned rooms, complimentary Wi-Fi, hot shower and functional amenities.
source: theStar
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