IPOH, Jan 24 — Flagship hotel brand TUI Blue marked its entry into the Malaysian tourism sector through a strategic partnership with The Haven Resort Sdn Bhd, establishing one of Ipoh’s international hotel-branded resorts. 

The Haven Resort Sdn Bhd (The Haven) chief executive officer, Peter Chan, told Bernama recently that the collaboration is centred on a hybrid “five-star hotel-cum-residence” model, a hospitality trend gaining global traction among high-quality developments.

The objective is to leverage TUI Blue’s extensive international marketing network to promote The Haven’s uniqueness globally. TUI Blue is the hotel arm of German-based conglomerate TUI Group. The Haven is their first Malaysian hotel-resort partnership.

“We are not a big company; we don’t have the resources for extensive global promotion. TUI Blue was most impressed with our hybrid model, that of a five-star hotel-cum-residence and our management,” he said.

According to Chan, integrating TUI Blue’s global branding and operational standards with The Haven’s local management expertise would help attract a diverse demographic of travellers from Europe and across Asia.

He said TUI Blue had the ambition to expand to Singapore and Malaysia over the last few years, with Kuala Lumpur and Penang being its expected locations.

The Haven Resort management in Ipoh, however, convinced them to collaborate with them, based on Chan’s philosophy of good operations and management, contribution to society, uniqueness, tenacity, creativity and branding.

The management emphasises a “sincere service” philosophy and is committed to healthy, natural culinary offerings. For example, it is against the use of artificial additives like monosodium glutamate (MSG) in their food preparation.

Chan said the resort distinguishes itself through an all-inclusive concept catering to multi-generational families, from toddlers to grandparents, while remaining accessible to all races and nationalities.

“Furthermore, the site is disability-friendly. You can use a wheelchair around the entire property. Very few developments in this world have this facility. At the same time, we have facilities for badminton, tennis, squash, table tennis and pickleball. Again, very few developments have such a range,” he said. 

Located about 15 minutes from the Ipoh city centre, the resort is within a 200-million-year-old virgin forest and features a 280-million-year-old rock formation.

Its unique geographical setting earned the property the “Best Geopark Hotel + Residence Award” at the Green and Geopark Excellence Awards 2025, highlighting it as one of the few urban-adjacent geo-sites in the world.

Looking ahead, Chan said the partnership is a launchpad for broader regional expansion, with plans already underway to replicate the model in Bintan Island, Indonesia.

The management has called on the local authorities to support its long-term mission of making Ipoh an international tourism hub.

“We want to promote our physical closeness to nature, and at the same time, we are expanding to Bintan and other parts of Asia,” Chan said. — Bernama