The Ascott Limited, a lodging business unit that’s wholly-owned by CapitaLand Investment (CLI), has appointed hospitality industry veteran Serena Lim as its chief growth officer on Jan 10.
Lim was most recently the vice president of development, Southeast Asia and Korea at the Intercontinental Hotels Group (IHG) where she was responsible for leading the group’s development strategy and extended growth teams in the region.
In her new role, Lim will lead Ascott’s global business development team and will be responsible for steering and managing the company’s growth in management and franchise contracts globally, excluding China.
She will also help to drive the group’s development ambitions through an asset-light growth strategy that will deliver strong fee recurring income.
Lim will report directly to Ascott’s CEO, Kevin Goh.
“We believe in investing in the right talents to support our growth ambitions while strengthening our lodging management capabilities. Serena joins us with over two decades of industry experience, and her wealth of knowledge and experience in establishing long-term owner relations is key for us as we seek new opportunities to extend our geographic reach across key growth markets,” says Goh.
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“With her in-depth expertise in building and leading large development teams in global hospitality groups and her track record in delivering tangible results, I am confident that under her leadership, we will grow the business to new heights of success as we continue the rapid expansion of our property portfolio across all brands over the next few years,” he adds.
“I am excited to join Ascott and play a key role in its next stage of growth. The pandemic has since brought about a shift in the needs and expectations from asset owners and our priority now is to deepen our engagement with existing owners whilst pursuing added opportunities to establish new owner relations,” says Lim.
She adds: “Ascott’s portfolio of global brands such as Ascott, Citadines, Somerset, lyf and Oakwood caters well to the evolving expectations of guests across both the short and long stay markets. In keeping to the core strengths of each brand spanning our diverse accommodation options including hotels, serviced residences and co-living, we have been able to exercise flexibility in our offerings so as to optimise returns based on market demand.”
“With a resilient business model backed by decades of disciplined growth Ascott has established through operational excellence, the ability to drive premium rated business and outperform the market through our robust distribution systems will put us in a highly competitive position that will ultimately deliver the value that our owners seek,” she continues.
