Jones Lang LaSalle Hotels has reinforced its position as Asia`s market leader in hotel investment banking services, announcing a series of staff appointments and promotions to be effective immediately.

In Singapore, Mr Craig Collins has been appointed Senior Vice President. “Mr Collins brings nine years of industry experience to the Singapore team, significantly strengthening Jones Lang LaSalle Hotels` global leadership in providing specialist hotel investment services to its clients,” announced Mr Scott Hetherington, Executive Vice President, Asia, Jones Lang LaSalle Hotels.

Most recently, Mr Collins was employed at a boutique investment bank in Sydney. Prior to that, he held the position of Vice President of Jones Lang LaSalle Hotels, where he was directly responsible for hotel and tourism property sales. Mr Collins holds a Bachelor degree in Business from the University of Western Sydney.

Mr Collins joins Mr David Ling, who was recently promoted to Senior Vice President. They will both be responsible for investment sales throughout the region. Also recognised for their individual contribution to the firm were Mr Troy Craig, promoted to Senior Vice President and responsible for the day-to-day management of the advisory team, and Ms Corinna Toh, promoted to Vice President.

In North Asia, hot on the heels of opening its 18th global hotels office in Tokyo, Jones Lang LaSalle Hotels has reaffirmed its expansion with the appointment of Mr Yasokazu Terada as Vice President.
“We are receiving a growing number of requests to handle hotel lease negotiations on behalf of our clients, and to provide advisory services to potential purchasers. Mr Terada`s experience in the areas of loan asset management and foreclosure and bankruptcy law will be invaluable,” continued Mr Hetherington.

Most recently, Mr Terada was employed at Goldman Sachs Realty Japan Limited where he was responsible for the management and disposal of secured and unsecured non-performing loans purchased by the Goldman Sachs Group. Mr Terada has a Bachelor degree in Law from the University of Tokyo and Masters of Management in Hospitality from Cornell University, USA.

Tokyo remains the most sought after destination in North Asia with 46.2% of investors nominating acquisition as their preferred activity, according to Jones Lang LaSalle Hotels` recently released Hotel Investor Sentiment Survey (second edition). In 2001 transactions are most likely be driven by legal proceedings and note sales, with the opportunities provided by the recently legislated J-REITs heating up the market.

“The transaction process currently suffers due to a lack of experts who are able to conduct due diligence in a Western manner within the Japanese business environment,” said Mr Tomohiko Sawayanagi, Senior Vice President, Jones Lang LaSalle Hotels, Tokyo. “By increasing our qualified, dedicated resources in Japan, we aim to overcome this obstacle for our clients. Another of Mr Terada`s responsibilities will be our latest initiative - an industry benchmarking project, set to be released in April.”

“We are continuing to strengthen our foothold in Asia. These appointments, coupled with our recent promotions, reinforces Jones Lang LaSalle Hotels` commitment to offer both global and Asia clients a superior range and quality of hotel investment banking services,” concluded Mr Hetherington.

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