Singapore Hotel Group Pursues Expansion Despite High Interest Rates

This story is part of Forbes’ coverage of Singapore’s Richest 2023. See the full list here.

Choo Chong Ngen hasn’t expanded his empire to fit its name Worldwide Hotels—as yet—but he has had big success growing it in the budget and midtier markets in Singapore and parts of the region.

The 70-year-old former fishmonger, who made his early fortune from budget chain Hotel 81 in Singapore’s red-light district, saw his rank climb to No. 17 as his net worth rose 8% to $2.6 billion, helped by booming post-Covid-19 travel.

By end-2023, unlisted Worldwide Hotels will add about 2,000 rooms at home, bringing its total there to 8,671, making it one of the city-state’s largest hotel groups along with French hospitality group Accor and Far East Organization, controlled by billionaire brothers Robert and Philip Ng (No. 2).

Led by his daughter, Carolyn, Worldwide Hotels CEO and managing director, the group agreed to purchase 542-room Parkroyal on Kitchener for S$525 million ($389 million) in July. Worldwide Hotels has signed a MOU with Accor for the hotel to be branded Novotel Singapore on Kitchener, she says. This will be the group’s first Singapore hotel to carry an external brand name.

By year-end, the group will open two newly constructed Singapore properties—Hotel Mi Rochor, a 530-room midtier offering built for S$390 million, and Icon Hotel, a 989-room upper midtier property costing S$735 million. Icon Hotel will be the group’s seventh Singapore brand. Since 2017, Worldwide Hotels has acquired a total of nine hotels in Thailand, Malaysia, South Korea, Japan and Australia. All are managed by brands like Holiday Inn, Travelodge and Ibis.

“The outlook is very positive,” says Carolyn. “It’s just that with the high interest rates, a lot of investments will need a very long-term horizon.” For now, the CEO adds, the group remains “very focused only on Asia-Pacific. We are not looking for any new markets.”