Market Trends in APAC Post-Pandemic: A Note from Dwellworks CEO Bob Rosing
Dwellworks CEO - Bob Rosing
Dwellworks CEO Bob Rosing recently returned from a trip to Singapore and other locations in APAC. He reports here on the progress our company has made in the region, including opening a new office in Singapore. Off his first trip to Asia since the COVID-19 pandemic, he shares his excitement for the region’s future.
“The market’s got huge potential. Like we’ve always done, we’ve put the right people in the right place, at the right time, we’ve done that. We’re going to win.”
When asked about my biggest take away from my recent travels, that quote above is what comes to mind. I visited several cities in APAC, including Dwellworks Living’s regional headquarters in Singapore, a client visit in Kuala Lumpur, and the FIDI Conference in Bangkok. I firmly believe our team is well positioned to take full advantage in this bustling sector.
Welcome to Singapore - Showing Off the New Dwellworks Office
A highlight of this trip was visiting the recently opened Dwellworks regional headquarters at 111 Somerset Road in one of Singapore’s key commercial areas, as you see in the photo below. In 2022, we managed nearly 200% more corporate housing bookings there than in 2021. Our trend for 2023 reflects a continually expanding need for short term accommodations for business travel and relocation-related customers in Singapore and throughout Asia Pacific and hence our investment in talent and office space.
Singapore is our regional hub for managing corporate housing across APAC, but it’s also our largest single market, responsible for nearly a third of our bookings in the region. In Singapore, we have a team of 20 servicing all of APAC with supplier development, account management, financial services, and accounting for 40+ regional and global clients. Many of these employees already worked together at another major corporate housing provider, meaning they already have great rapport and have hit the ground running. I am excited to see these veterans and their new colleagues learn from each other, as we’ve done at Dwellworks time and time again.
Post-Pandemic Trends: Hong Kong Grows as Commuting Becomes Popular
This was my first visit to Asia since the COVID-19 pandemic surged across the region. While across Asia Pacific cities are opening back up in many ways, the trends within global mobility have changed. Clients and their customers are thinking carefully about where to do business and where to live in APAC. Places like Singapore and Hong Kong are benefitting from this trend with fewer restrictions in place. This year, we’re seeing more requests for housing information in Hong Kong, and are setting our sights on the growing need in China as more people live in cities like Hong Kong, and travel to their work site destinations and assignments across China.
Corporate employers in the region are also seeing fewer traditional, long-term assignments for expats and their entire families. Before the many changes brought on by the pandemic, it was more common practice for professionals being relocated for work to bring their entire families and establish 'work and daily life’ in their destination city. Coming out of COVID-19 conditions, fewer companies are initiating this traditional arrangement, both for reasons of cost and for supportive management of key talent. Employees in the region are also choosing to travel from their hometowns rather than disrupt their families. This means more short-term assignments, extended business travel, and project-based work and a greater need for temporary accommodations recognizing multi-week or multi-month stays.
The Importance of Duty of Care
Though Dwellworks always puts duty of care at the forefront of the services we provide, this trip showed me just how important that requirement really is. While we manage the service experience overall, our local suppliers are an extension of Dwellworks and Dwellworks Living, and they are the ones working day-in-and-day-out with our customers. Similarly, at the FIDI Conference in Bangkok that I had the pleasure of attending, the business focus was on international moving but the customer focus on duty of care was center stage.
Our supplier network in Singapore and across APAC is particularly strong. In the past two years we’ve added 24 corporate accommodations partners in Singapore, Sydney, Shanghai, Tokyo, across India in Bangalore, Hyderabad, Chennai and more. I had the pleasure of joining our Singapore-based regional supply chain manager Devi Vibin and several of our team in presenting a Partner of the Year Award to our service partners at Frasers Hospitality. There are so many partners worthy of this award, but the pride on the faces of those at Frasers was very cool to see.
Speaking of hospitality, I could not have fully appreciated these updates in APAC without the care of so many people during my visit. One of the best meals I had on the trip was courtesy of Po Kay Garber, the wife of Regional Director, Scott Garber, who made a multi-course traditional Singaporean meal that I am still savoring. Living like a local, from taking the subway to trying chilli crab, were also highlights for me. I promise anyone with the opportunity to visit Singapore, for work or leisure, an experience they will not forget.
About Dwellworks:
Dwellworks is the world’s largest provider of destination-related services and temporary living solutions for the globally mobile workforce and business travelers. We provide business-to-business solutions for Fortune 1000 and emerging companies directly and through their relocation management partners. Whether a company needs to relocate its employees across the world or the country, we provide a range of support services to help employees and their families transition successfully from their home location to a new destination.
Dwellworks operates according to our core values of Integrity, Teamwork, Performance, Innovation, and Fun. These are the root of everything we do – from the Teamwork aspect of sourcing and supporting our helpful local Consultants to assist any relocating employee in hundreds of cities worldwide with their move, to the Integrity of our highly-trained Intercultural experts who are here to help transferees adjust to new cultures and confidently settle into their destination locations, to the Innovation of our myDwellworks® technology platform that familiarizes employees on assignment with their destination and enables customized conversations on properties, schools, and situation-specific needs.
Dwellworks supports the diversity of our clients’ globally mobile workforce with personalized destination solutions in 16 countries, covering major relocation markets. Dwellworks has consistently responded to the mobility services and needs of our global clients. In 2020, Dwellworks launched Dwellworks Living to expand our original portfolio of corporate housing markets into a full-service corporate housing operation, offering alternative accommodations for relocation and business travel customers in 125 countries. Our full-service real estate brokerage, Station Cities, supports home rentals, sales, and purchases in the Tri-State New York area and Chicago. Visit our homepage, learn about our services, and read our blogs to learn how we can help with your relocation and business travel needs.