SINGAPORE, December 12, 2011 /PRNewswire/ --

Meritus Hotels & Resorts emerged as the Most Popular Heritage Brand at the Singapore Prestige Brand Awards (SPBA) 2011. The distinction comes following a public voting to determine the most popular choice amongst this year's Heritage Brand Award recipients.

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Both the Heritage Brand and the Most Popular Heritage Brand awards were presented to Meritus CEO Michael Sengol by Mr Tharman Shanmugaratnam, Singapore's Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Finance and Manpower, who was the Guest-of-Honour at the prestigious award ceremony held at Raffles City Convention Centre on 8 December.

"This is an exciting win for Meritus Hotels & Resorts," said Mr Sengol. "It celebrates our proud 40-year heritage as Singapore's icon of world-class hospitality, and further enhances the value of our brand as we bring our presence to more locations around the world."

Now on its 10th year, SPBA continues to recognise and honour Singapore brands that are developed and managed effectively through various branding initiatives. With the increasing number of homegrown brands becoming established household names, achieving this esteemed mark of success is certainly a significant milestone in the branding journey of any local brand. The award also serves as a yardstick for organisations to benchmark their brand equity against their competitors. Having established itself as a prestigious branding award that local brand owners strive to attain, SPBA continues to be an effective platform for companies which aspire to become sterling brand names in Singapore to fuel their expansion plans abroad.

This year, a total of 44 established Singapore brands vied for top awards in the SPBA across five main award categories, namely SPBA - Promising Brands, SPBA - Established Brands, SPBA - Heritage Brands, SPBA - Regional Brands and SPBA - Special Merit.

The Heritage Brand category pays tribute to time-honoured homegrown brands which have embraced exceptional brand practices for more than 30 years. Entrants were judged by an esteemed panel based on brand heritage and identity, brand strategic blueprint, and brand development and performance.

SPBA is supported by SPRING Singapore, International Enterprise Singapore, and the Intellectual Property Office of Singapore.

Notes to Editors

About Meritus Hotels & Resorts

Meritus Hotels & Resorts is the hospitality division of Singapore Exchange-listed Overseas Union Enterprise Limited (OUE) which is amongst the key property players in Asia, and one of the few integrated developers in Singapore boasting a complete portfolio of prime assets across the retail, commercial, residential, and hospitality sectors.

As an award-winning hospitality brand, Meritus is synonymous with Asian hospitality and heritage, with luxury properties strategically located in key cities and idyllic resort destinations in Singapore, Malaysia, Mainland China, and soon -- in all parts of the world. Its current portfolio includes the flagship Mandarin Orchard Singapore, Marina Mandarin Singapore, Meritus Pelangi Beach Resort & Spa Langkawi, Shanghai JC Mandarin, Meritus Mandarin Haikou, and Meritus Shantou China.

For more information and to enjoy Best Rates by Meritus, visit http://www.meritushotels.com.

For further press information, please contact:

Janice Azupardo
Regional Vice President, Branding & Communications
Meritus Hotels & Resorts
Tel: +65-6831-6385
janice.azupardo@meritushotels.com

Grace Ho
Branding & Communications Executive
Meritus Hotels & Resorts
Tel: +65-6831-6054
grace.ho@meritushotels.com

SOURCE Meritus Hotels & Resorts