Dusit International has announced that 2013 will be a year of expansion for the company, with seven properties scheduled to open in the in the coming months.
Speaking at the ITB travel trade show in Berlin, Dusit’s Managing Director & CEO, Chanin Donavanik, welcomed a “new era” for the company, during which it plans to “reach far beyond Asia”, which has been the Bangkok-based company’s traditional home.
“This is an important year for the company’s future,” said Donavanik. “Five years from now, Dusit will own and manage more than 50 hotels in popular destinations across three or four continents, and our brand recognition will grow and be stronger as well. I believe Thais are naturally very strong in the hospitality business, and our aim is to be able to export this by continuing to launch quality hotels under the Dusit brand.”
Already this year Dusit has already signed a management agreement for its first hotel in sub-Saharan Africa – the dusitD2 Nairobi – and has also formed a joint venture with China’s Changzhou Qiao Yu Group, that will see it add a minimum of 10 properties in the country over the next five years, including locations in Shanghai, Kunming, Chengdu, Chongqing and Hainan.
Domestically, the company announced the signing of a 79-room dusitD2 hotel in Khao Yai, which is scheduled to open in the fourth quarter of 2014, while the Dusit Thani Abu Dhabi is expected to open in the second quarter of 2013. Dusit added that further new hotel announcements “will follow later this year”.
Dusit International currently operates 12 hotels in Thailand, plus others in Manila, Dubai, Cairo and the Maldives. It also has plans to launch its dusitD2 brand in the US and its luxury Deverana brand in India.
