Erawan plans to double hotel portfolio by 2020

“The company continues expanding in high-growth markets and high-growth segments,” Kamonwan Wipulakorn said.
Under the group’s five-year investment plan, Kamonwan said the company would outlay Bt10 billion, 55 per cent of which would be spent in Thailand and 30 per cent in the Philippines, with 15 per cent used for asset improvement. The spending is booked from 2016.
For 2017, the group is developing 22 hotels at Bt2.2 billion for a total of 2,680 rooms. These include four mid-market and economy hotels branded Mercure, Novotel, ibis, and ibis Style in Thailand. Under the Hop Inn brand, it will build six economy-level properties in the Philippines and 12 in Thailand.
Kamonwan said the 2020 goal of 95 hotels would provide 10,000 rooms, up from the existing 41 hotels with 6,385 rooms.
In the Philippines alone, the company is expected to have a total of 20 hotels, mostly at the mid-market level. Vietnam is also in the frame for overseas investment.
With the planned new investment more on the mid-market and economy segments, the group forecasts that revenue from its luxury properties will fall to 42 per cent of the total in 2020, with the remaining share coming from the lower-priced segments.
For the final quarter of 2016, Erawan's revenue increased 3 per cent despite a slowdown in the tourism industry in the final months of the year – in an otherwise bumper year for arrivals. Net profit of Bt103 million was recorded for the three months. Full-year net profit of Bt367 million was a record high for the hotel group.
"With the country having a record high of 32.6 international arrivals last year, despite a tourism slump in the fourth quarter, we still managed to earn a record high record," said Kamonwan.
The company aims to boost revenue by 10 per cent this year, thanks to expectations of 34.4 million foreign tourists arriving in 2017.