Proptech

Southeast Asia’s First Proptech Blockchain for Hotels and Retail Malls

SGX-listed Hatten Land and home-grown proptech startup FundPlaces Pte has unveiled Southeast Asia’s first hospitality blockchain platform that will potentially integrate more than 3,400 hotel rooms and 5,000 retail outlets in Melaka as a springboard for regional expansion.

Tokens for Malaysian Tourists

The StayCay platform will leverage on Hatten Land’s position as the leading developer in the historical Malaysian tourist city of Melaka to offer digital utility tokens and rebates to tourists and shoppers via a private distributed ledger developed by FundPlaces, the two companies said in a joint announcement.

Hatten Land’s property developments comprise the Hatten City Phases 1 & 2, Harbour City, Satori, Vedro by the River and Hatten Place Hotel, which collectively have over 2,500 hotel rooms and 4,500 retail shops. Hatten Land’s major shareholder, the Hatten Group conglomerate, separately manages various hotels and malls such as the Dataran Pahlawan Megamall, Hatten Hotel, Estadia Hotel as well as DoubleTree by Hilton Melaka which it owns.

Under the strategic partnership, FundPlaces will develop for Hatten Land a dedicated blockchain platform, StayCay, to offer digital utility tokens that can initially be used in hotels, hospitality services and retail shops in Melaka, which hosted 16.7 million tourists in 2017 – the second most visited state in Malaysia.

Through StayCay, Hatten Land will be able to issue Hotel Tokens, which guests can exchange for discounted hotel packages in the hotels managed by Hatten Land and the Hatten Group.

Blockchain Reward Programme

Separately, StayCay will operate a blockchain-based rewards programme offering hotel guests and shoppers StayCay Points that can be used in the Hatten group’s portfolio of assets such as retail, food and beverage as well as wellness/hospitality outlets.

The blockchain platform will facilitate unalterable transactions in an efficient and cost-effective manner and allow StayCay to scale up transactions as it expands to other Malaysian states and across Southeast Asia.

Hatten Land and FundPlaces will form an 85:15 joint venture to operate StayCay. Barring unforeseen circumstances, StayCay is expected to go-live by December 2018.

Dato’ Colin Tan, Executive Chairman and Managing Director of Hatten Land, said:

Dato’ Colin Tan

“StayCay is a groundbreaking platform which we believe will disrupt traditional hotel booking methods while enhancing consumer experience through seamless integration of hospitality and retail services within a blockchain-based ecosystem.”

“This initiative represents a strategic shift by Hatten Land to incorporate leading technologies and open new frontiers in hospitality, retail and e-commerce. We believe this will not only boost tourism in Melaka but also in the region,”

Dato’ Colin Tan added.

Dato’ Edwin Tan

Dato’ Edwin Tan, Executive Director and Deputy Managing Director of Hatten Land who will lead Hatten Land’s initiative in the technology space, said:

“Technology is changing all facets of our life as well as disrupting how companies do businesses. For Hatten Land’s future growth, it is crucial that we embrace technology in our businesses.”

Mr. Brian Wee, CEO of FundPlaces, said:

Brian Wee

“We are excited to partner with Hatten Land to develop StayCay on our FUDA[1] network, an enterprise grade blockchain for business to quickly deploy and scale asset digitisation solutions. We believe that StayCay represents an innovative leap forward in the hotel booking experience and are confident that users will find it a compelling proposition.”

“Hatten Land is a highly innovative developer that has adopted new technologies to deliver a world-class experience for their clients. StayCay underscores the forward-looking approach of Hatten Land’s management team in re-imagining the consumer experience,”

he added.

As announced on 3 May 2018, Hatten Land launched a new mall management arm as part of its strategy to complement its core property development business and drive recurring revenue. Hatten Land currently has two completed malls in Melaka – Elements Mall and Vedro by the River. It is also building three other malls in the city.

Featured image: Harbour City in Melaka