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set aside for resort development. Examples include Okinawa, Cheju Island in Korea, Bali
in Indonesia, and Phuket in Thailand. The Pacific Rim was exceptional as it showed many
differences in the composition of trade and source. The comparison of world trade, the
position in the Pacific Rim, and the average Freemantle customer composition is shown in
Table 12E.
Another major change in the way in which hotels were organised concerned the increasing
level of government regulations. Though Freemantle operated modern hotels, and all of
the existing regulations had been incorporated into the design and construction, there
were a number of new regulations introduced as a result of major incidents in Australian
hotels. The first consisted on new rules on flammability of materials, requiring the
complete replacement of existing curtains, bedding, floor coverings and other materials
over a 3 year period. It was estimated by Freemantle that this would cost around
$300,000 per hotel. The second was more serious. It concerns the recent outbreaks of a
new strain of Legionnaire's disease which demanded, in the view of the local health
authorities, a major re-design of the air conditioning system. Instructions had been sent to
all the major hotels in Australia which used central air-conditioning systems to introduce
these changes over a 5 year period. Freemantle estimated that the costs of re-construction
would be around $500,000 in each of their hotels as they would have to close floors to
complete the necessary re-routing of the air conditioning system.
Table 12E .Comparison of global trade, Pacific Rim hotels, and Freemantle average over
the past 5 years.
World
Pacific
Freemantle
Domestic
56
37
60
Foreign
44
63
40
Repeat business
42
40
75
Official guests
5
4
10
Business
37
41
62
Tourists
24
19
5
Tour groups
11
16
2
Conference
13
9
18
Other
8
11
3
Advance reservations
83
84
87
Direct reservations
36
34
27
Internal transfer
25
28
37
Travel agents
27
30
25
Other
11
9
11
At the top end of the market, technological investment in controlling customer flow and
finance had become more and more important. Freemantle had invested heavily in this
area as Table 12F shows.
Table 12F. Technology, Guest Services and Guest Room Activities
Pacific average
Freemantle
Computerised reservation
65
100
Computerised guest accounting
70
100
Computerised accounting
71
100
Computerised energy management
20
100
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