Although Asia’ borders were amongst the slowest around the world to reopen post-pandemic, the region’s hotel groups have been in dynamic growth mode ever since, more than making up for those extra months of closure. While success stories have been reported from India to Singapore, one of the most interesting take-offs is taking place in Thailand. “Hotel groups including Minor, Dusit International and Centara are now considered global players, but all started locally 10-20 years ago,” says Mauro Gasparotti, head of Savills Hotels Southeast Asian operations. “These companies often learned from managing other brands initially, and then moved on to grow their own flags.”
Minor signalled its global expansion ambitions in October 2018, when it upped its stake in Spain’s NH Hotels Group to 94%, adding the NH flag to its slate of growing brands, which includes Anantara, Tivoli, Avani, Elewana and Oaks. The group numbers nearly 550 hotels worldwide, in an asset-heavy model, owning or leasing around 80% of the properties.
Anantara expansion
In the past five years, luxury Anantara hotels have been popping up all over Europe, with the latest openings including Rome and Nice. Anantara first launched in 2001 and has expanded to 47 properties in 27 countries today. At the same time, Minor has taken the NH name to China and Asia as it leverages the European brand’s reputation. “To grow, our number one imperative is to cross-develop our brands between Europe and Asia Pacific,” says Ian Di Tullio, Minor’s global chief commercial officer. He notes that Minor plans to add another 75 hotels globally by the end of 2025, but it will move away from its typically asset-heavy model to sign more management deals. He also recounts how a number of properties in Southeast Asia have seen their total keys reduce due to affluent travellers demanding suites.
Another firm in growth mode is Dusit, with some 56 existing hotels and another 60 in the pipeline, plus around 240 villas under the Elite Havens flag. Dusit’s brands lean heavily on the group’s name, including Dusit Thani, Dusit Suites, Dusit Princess, Dusit Collection, Devarana – Dusit and Retreats. Notes Gasparotti: “Dusit is one of the fastest growing brands in Thailand and is incredibly strong in Asia as a whole. It’s considered one of the few Thai hospitality groups that can compete on an international level.” At the end of last year, Dusit signed to manage its first hotel in Malaysia within the ambitious Gamuda Cove development, backed by giant Malaysian property developer, Gamuda Land. It also signed to manage four new wellness-focused properties in India, another territory with a huge appetite for room growth. Slated to open in mid-2026, all four properties will have a ‘holistic wellness’ focus and will operate under Dusit’s midscale brand, Dusit Princess, which seeks to integrate local culture and character.
Management ambitions
Says Gasparotti: “Centara Hotels & Resorts is another group snapping up hotels across Asia, in expanding markets such as Vietnam.” Centara currently has over 90 hotels in its portfolio, both in operation and in the pipeline, in 14 countries. Beyond Asia, it has also reached the UAE, Qatar and Turkey with its brands. Backed by Thai multinational Central Group, Centara has declared its ambitions to become one of the “top 100 hotel groups in the world” with a plan to win many more management contracts over the next five years. “To do this, we probably need another 5,000 to 6,000 rooms. A quarter of this anticipated growth is going to be owned, while the rest are managed,” says Michael Henssler, chief operations officer. Centara owns around a third of its hotels, which Henssler described as an advantage when bidding for contracts, as it showed “empathy” for other landlords. Recent openings include the COSI Vientiane Nam Phu, Laos, with 100 rooms, marking the first steps outside Thailand for affordable lifestyle brand COSI. Other 2024 launches include the the 145-key Centara Mirage Lagoon Maldives, part of The Atollia by Centara Hotels & Resorts, a brand-new multi-island wonderland set for completion in 2025.
Gasparotti credits the Thai groups rapid expansion in Asia with a natural affinity for the market’s foibles. “They are very skilled at understanding the Asian traveller mindset and property owners’ preferences,” he says. “Hotel operators in Asia tend to sign third party management agreements rather than leasing the property, as often happens in Europe. This gives them an enormous amount of flexibility and speed when it comes to growth and contrasts with the approach of the major US hospitality businesses in the region.” He cites the rapid growth of the Erawan Group’s Hop Inn brand, a two-star budget business hotel. After amassing nearly 50 hotels in Thailand, it has added another 10 in the likes of Japan and the Philippines, and is targeting Vietnam next. Meanwhile, Vietnamese management company Fusion Hotel Group is exploring wellness resorts, with growth plans for Thailand and Cambodia. “The commercial terms and their flexibility in terms of design allows them to steal a march on other operators,” he notes.
Growth stories
Of course, not all of Asia’s growth success stories are coming out of Thailand. The Ascott Limited, the lodgings arm of Singapore’s CapitaLand, is one of the fastest growing firms in the serviced residence segment, boosted by its acquisition of Oakwood 18 months ago. Purchased with some 15,000 units, Ascott has already grown this to 18,000 by expanding Oakwood’s presence to 48 cities, entering new destinations including Busan in South Korea, Batam and Bali in Indonesia, Penang and Kota Kinabalu in Malaysia, Visakhapatnam, Chennai and Navi Mumbai in India, as well as Ha Long in Vietnam. The company reports driving revenue uplift as a result of the takeover.
Meanwhile, China’s H World has unveiled plans to accelerate its global expansion, just four years after acquiring Deutsche Hospitality. The five-year plan will include renaming the German unit as H World International, to underline its global ambitions. H World CEO Oliver Bonke says that the group is committed to further growth “outside our two home markets, China and Germany”. The sleeping giant has about 9,400 operating hotels, placing it in the same arena as the world’s largest hotel chains, although 98% of its footprint is currently in China.