Castle Resorts Extends Reach Further Into The Pacific

<B> Castle Resorts Extends Reach Further Into The Pacific</B>

By Judy Jacobs

Honolulu-based Castle Resorts and Hotels has begun a Pacific expansion that will reposition it from a company concentrating primarily on Hawaii to an international hotel chain with properties across the Pacific. The expansion also will allow Castle to move more aggressively into the corporate market, with meetings and eventually incentives playing a growing role in the company's Pacific development plans.

Because of the downturn in the Hawaiian market, thanks in large part to Japan's economic crisis, Castle has seen the need to move into new territory.

"Hawaii has been a tough marketplace recently, so we looked at growth further into the Pacific Rim," said Alan Cambra, president of Castle Resorts and Hotels. "We're growing in a downward economy. This gives us a foothold in another area of the Pacific Rim. We'll move from a locally based management company into new areas, which will improve our image."

Castle opened its first hotel outside of Hawaii, the Aquarius Beach Tower, in late 1997 on the island of Saipan in the Northern Marianas north of Guam. The market mix at the 68-unit all-suite property turned out to be a surprise to Shari Chang, the company's senior vice president of sales and marketing. "Forty percent of the hotel's business is corporate travel," she said. "We certainly weren't expecting that." She predicted that the new hotel, the Royal Orchid Guam, which is scheduled to open Sept. 1, also will attract the corporate and meetings market, along with a high percentage of Japanese leisure travelers, the island's mainstay.

"We've seen such success in Saipan and will look for similar clients in Guam. Our Guam property will be more geared toward the corporate market than most other hotels in Guam.

The 207-room Royal Orchid Guam sits on a hillside overlooking Tumon Bay, Guam's main resort area. Facilities will include 3,600 square feet of meeting space, a business center and a full-service spa. Guam is a key destination in Castle's expansion into the Pacific. "Once the Royal Orchid opens, we plan to put a regional sales office for Micronesia on Guam with a director of sales and marketing for that region," Chang added.

Early this year, the company took over management of the Truk Blue Lagoon Resort on the island of Chuuk (formerly Truk), a destination in Micronesia popular with divers who come from around the world to explore the WWII wrecks in Truk Lagoon.

After Micronesia, the company's next step most likely will be Down Under. "We're looking in New Zealand and Australia, but have nothing near the contract stage yet. We're also interested in Rarotonga in the Cook Islands," Cambra said.