The one tune that Mark Lankester needs time to hum, uncharacteristically, is the one of his friendship with Air Asia figurehead Datuk Sri Tony Fernandes.
The newly fashioned Tune Hotels.com group chief executive officer gives a reflective sigh when asked how and why the giant leap from music to hotels came about.
It’s the only time in this interview that the clear-minded and laid-back entrepreneur doesn’t really have an answer off the cuff but has to sit back and sift through his memory before replying.
When the answer does come, it’s quite clear that these two share a brotherly-like bond, one that starts from childhood when Tony was Mark’s senior at Alice Smith International School here as well as at boarding school, Epsom College and London School of Economics in the United Kingdom.
The two also crossed paths thanks to their senior positions at Time Warner, specifically at Warner Music. While Tony was the South East Asian regional vice-president for Warner Music Group from 1992 to 2001, Mark was the group’s North Asia chairman and chief executive officer from 1998 to 2002 as well as his positions prior to ‘98.
“It took me maybe all of five seconds to think about his offer of heading Tune Hotels.com when he came to see me back in 2006,” says the 44-year old.
Four years on, the limited-service hotel chain is growing by leaps and bounds but the ambitious man behind it all thinks the company has a long way more to go.
Driving force
Some may wonder what the secret is between the success of the hotel among locals and tourists especially as Mark, like the Air Asia icon, is someone who’s only had experience in the music industry but this tag is something that is shrugged off without concern.
“Working at senior management level at Warner Music meant we got tough training from the group. We’re taught to pre-plan everything and expect the unexpected. After all, when we say something we have to deliver it as well,” he says.
He said that the one of the things that he values from his 20 year stint at Warner Music is that strategic planning is key to success to delivering numbers.
With the company opening up 15 hotels in the United Kingdom as well as 44 hotels across Southeast Asia and 30 throughout Indonesia, also on schedule is a 50 percent increase of their staff.
“As a company, there’s always the prospect of stumbling when starting in new markets. The important thing is to learn from it and move forward,” he says.
Learning is also something that happens from time to time with his interaction with the roomful of people working for Tune Hotel.com
The hotel chain’s team work in a relatively open space together with Mark and he recounts an incident with a wide smile.
“I wanted to say something to one of my team leaders and I looked up, saw him on the other side of the room and gave him a shout. It was effective but a couple of people jumped in their seats too. So now, I message people on their computers even if they’re in the room,” he says.
Budget or not?
Mark shakes off the notion that Tune Hotels.com is a budget hotel quite emphatically.
While people may think it fitting to lump the hotel in the category because of its price, the fact is that what goes into the boxy rooms are actually quite not of budget quality.
In fact, with the chain’s latest hotel in Danga Bay, Johor, guests can find bedding equal to that of a four or five star establishment.
“If you make your bookings just before your trip, you’ll find that the prices are about a fifth the price of a 3-star hotel,” he says.
The heavily hands-on man still considers Tune Hotels.com to be a start up business and feels that things are moving along slowly for the chain, not fast like how people think.
“If you break down our progress, you’d find that Tune Hotels.com has only set up 7 (typo!) hotels in its name the last two years. The rest of the chain, be it in Indonesia, Southeast Asia or the United Kingdom, are still either in development or planning stages,” he says.
When looking at planning their hotels from location to accessorising the rooms, there are five factors that the powers-that-be definitely include in the checklist.
These factors — a great night’s sleep, power shower, key locations for our hotels, security and black-out curtains— came from a survey sent around to Air Asia customers back in 2006.
The survey basically asked them to list down what was important to them for under USD$30 (RM99.15) a night which was used to get an idea on what to focus on for the Tune Hotels.com brand image.
Not many people are probably aware that the company genuinely looks forward to hearing what their guests have to say about the rooms.
“A fact that rarely gets mileage is that our rooms are custom-designed by our guests.
“When we get our hands on the comment forms, we pick up on the comments and try to improve ourselves.
“For example, when we designed our flagship hotel, it was done so with the vision that it was to be hip and trendy. That’s why we fitted the bathroom area with black tiles but that was one of the things that our guests commented on.
“We learnt from it and now our hotel bathrooms all boast of a white interior,” he said.
The key thing, though, is to get the right feedback from guests.
Breakdown of guests
According to Mark, Tune Hotels.com is not just frequented by backpackers but also single people and families.
Statistics from their survey around this time last year show that about 67 percent of their customers are people under the age of 35. About 40 percent of their customers earn less than US$ 500 (RM 1657) a month.
He says that the chain allows people to take more weekend breaks than they normally do and lets them enjoy far more for the same cost, thanks to their prices.
He gets a slight gleam in his eye when he talks about the two categories of backpackers— the professional backpackers and the “flashpackers”.
“Everyone knows and can spot professional backpackers. They are the ones who routinely travel on the cheap, and are prepared to go all the way to get as much from their travels.
“Flashpackers” is a term used to describe kids who are used to a certain level of lifestyle and whose parents possess platinum credit cards.
While pro backpackers have no qualms about sleeping six to a room and sharing a bathroom with an entire floor, “flashpackers” need hot water to shower with and personal space is quite important.
“It’s currently the trend for these kids to take a year off university and do a gap year traveling etc. They are also the kind of people who do enjoy crashing at our hotels as we allow them the benefit of all that for an unbelievable price.
“The function of the hotel is such that we want all our guests to go out and enjoy the sights of the place,” he says.
Last words
Be sensible, firm up your travel plans in advance and you’ll get fairly cheap prices.
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