Rooks closes hotel

MAE HONG SON, 6 February 2012: Rooks Holiday Hotel and Resort, one of the oldest hotels in this far northwest province of Thailand, closed 1 February due to poor business.

The 114-room hotel opened in the 80s at a site on Khunlum Prapas Road in downtown Mae Hong Son, but like all of the town’s hotels, it fell on hard times.

According to a reliable source, the property never fully recovered from the 2008 to 2010 political crisis that cut into traditional tour group business. Read more

Bangkok hotel forecasts remain bleak

SINGAPORE, 6 February 2012: Bangkok’s hotel performance in 2012 were still bleak when compared to other destinations in Asia/ Pacific region with little improvement in occupancy and average daily rate (ADR), while Singapore and Hong Kong still ranked as the top performers for the two key performance metrics, according to the latest Horwath Hotel, Tourism and Leisure report.

In the Mekong Region section of the report excluded data from Myanmar and Cambodia as the information base was too small.

Bangkok showed a slight improvements in both occupancy and ADR with occupancy closing at 64%, up 20.75% (53% in 2010) and ADR at US$97, up 5.43% (US$92 in 2010). Read more

Brands open southern hotels

SAMUI, 6 February 2012: Two properties opened, last week, in South Thailand under the branding of InterContinental and Accor.

IHG has taken over the management of Samui Baan Taling Ngam Resort that has 79 rooms .

Accor was linked to a new Ibis Hua Hin, in Prachuab Khiri Khan Province, located on Khao Takiab beach with 200 rooms. Read more

PASSAGE

Died: Bert Lambrichs, Dutch national, 47, of a heart attack while on a business trip in Luang Prabang, Laos, 1 February.

He was visiting the popular world heritage destination on behalf of employer, Burasari Hotel Group.

He previously worked for Diethelm Travel as a vice president sales and marketing based in Bangkok from 2002 to 2010 and with Siam Express as director of sales also based in Bangkok from 2001 to 2002. Read more

Onyx signs Indian property

BANGKOK, 3 February 2012: ONYX Hospitality Group, a Thailand based hotel management company will step into the India market with a management contract with Apna Punjab Resorts company.

Located in Ludhiana, Punjab region, the hotel is the group’s first property featuring 127 rooms. It is due to open in the second half of 2012.

“This project will mark the entry of the Amari brand into India and it is a very significant milestone for us,” noted ONYX Hospitality Group president and chief executive officer, Peter Henley. Read more

Thailand awash with illegal hotels

BANGKOK, 3 February 2012: Over 300 unregistered hotels in Bangkok are being promoted heavily through internet hotel booking sites without service or security monitoring, Thai Hotels Association vice president, Surapong Techauvichit reported earlier this week.

He claimed hotels that failed to register and comply with the nation’s hospitality laws were a potential hazards and also deterred genuine investment in the industry.

He was speaking at a joint THA and Association of Thai Travel Agents meeting on Monday. Read more

Sofitel hires team for new hotel

BANGKOK, 1 February 2012: Sofitel Bangkok Sukhumvit announced, earlier this week, the appointment of its pre-opening team.

The new property is scheduled to open in the second quarter of this year with 345 rooms.

The three appointments are: Christophe Caron as general manager; Anthony Slewka director of sales and marketing and Virinya Maytheepattanachat director of marketing communications. Read more

Thai hotels off the pace

BANGKOK, 31 January 2012: Despite the flood crisis, Thai Hotels Association member hotels closed 2011 with a slightly higher occupancy nationwide, THA president, Prakit Chinamornpong, reported on Monday.

He made his 2011 business review at the association’s first meeting of the year, noting the performance was still off the pace when compared to  forecasts made half way through the year.

Nationwide hotel occupancy for 2011, based on data collected from 339 THA member properties, stood at 59.21%, up 12.45% from 52.65% in 2010. But it was still viewed as a disappointment, Mr Prakit told members yesterday, claiming the industry had hoped to reach 62% to 65%. Read more

Mekong in Accor’s spotlight

BANGKOK, 26 January 2012: Accor Hotels Group will open this year five more properties  in Vietnam and Laos adding over 1,000 rooms to the group’s inventory in the six-country Mekong region.

Accor Hotels Group outlined its new expansion plan to TTR Weekly late last week, stating it intends to manage four properties in Vietnam (two Novotels, one Mercure and Ibis) and one Ibis hotel in Laos. Read more

Dusit strengthens Swiss link

BANGKOK, 24 January 2012: Dusit International’ educational subsidiary, Dusit Thani College, has reached an agreement with Switzerland’s Ecole hôtelière de Lausanne to introduce a new hospitality curriculum in Thailand

Details of the agreement were announced by the hotel group last week. The new programme leading up to a Bachelor Degree on Hotel and Resort Management will start with the 2012 student intake.

Dusit executives said the partnership aims to raise the bar of hospitality education in Thailand and will be open for international students. Read more

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