Pan Pacific Hotels Group, which announced plans in September to refresh its Pan Pacific and ParkRoyal Hotel brands, appointed Chris Ong as general manager of Pan Pacific Ningbo and Pan Pacific Serviced Suites Ningbo. Ong heads the pre-opening team and will oversee the launch of the 415-room Pan Pacific Ningbo and 195-room Pan Pacific Serviced Suites Ningbo. As general manager, he is responsible for the operations at the properties when they open in June this year.

Ong has more than 28 years of experience in Brunei, Australia, Malaysia, Indonesia, Myanmar, China and Taiwan. An Australian of Malaysian descent, Ong started his hospitality career with Starwood Hotels and Resorts at Sheraton Utama Hotel in Brunei and spent more than a decade at several Sheraton properties, including Sheraton Ningbo Hotel, China. In his last appointment, he led the opening of the 770-room Sheraton Hsinchu Hotel in Taiwan.

At Nirwana Gardens Bintan Island, Indonesia, where he served as general manager, Ong played a key role in the integration of four hotels into one resort. In addition to his responsibilities as general manager of Bintan Lagoon Resort and Nirwana Gardens, Ong was concurrently group general manager of 56 luxury villas, a 416-room upscale hotel, a 245-room mid-range hotel, an entertainment center, spa and two 18-hole golf courses. He also oversaw the rebranding of the resort’s golf course, water sports centre and spa.

“Chris’ experience in Ningbo and expertise in integrated developments will serve him well as he helms the group’s first joint hotel and serviced suites development in China.” said A. Patrick Imbardelli, president and CEO, Pan Pacific Hotels Group. “Managing a hotel and serviced suites property on the same site allows us to reap maximum synergies and we will optimize such opportunities to strengthen our brand presence across the portfolio.”

Located in the heart of a new commercial and upmarket residential enclave and next to the 600,000-square-meter Ningbo International Conference Exhibition Centre, Pan Pacific Ningbo and Pan Pacific Serviced Suites Ningbo are part of a mixed-use development and will feature aspects of the refreshed brand.