Erawan Group executives meet investors

Kamonwan and Kanyarat, who are hosted by institutional equities broker Decker & Co, have begun with meetings in New York and are continuing with visits to other US cities, to conclude in California at the end of the week. 

They are sharing details regarding the hotel group’s five-year growth strategy, to include expansion outside Thailand for the first time. 

That foreign expansion is slated to begin late this year with the opening of the company’s first HOP Inn hotel in the Philippines, with 10 more to open in that country in the following year. HOP Inn is the company’s own fast-growing budget brand. 

The company operates hotels ranging from budget to luxury throughout key destinations in Thailand, with a diversified portfolio of more than 5,300 rooms of both its own brand and global brands of operators such as Hyatt, Marriott, Accor, IHG and Starwood.

The two executives are also discussing with US-based global investors the company’s plans to establish a real estate investment trust, the company’s first, to be called the Erawan Hotel Growth Property Fund.

“These investor meetings are an opportunity for institutional money managers to learn about The Erawan Group’s operations and expansion strategy as well as to discuss overall trends in Thailand’s hospitality industry, which reached new highs in 2015 thanks to arrivals totalling nearly 30 million,” Mark Decker, founder and president of Decker & Co, said yesterday.