Radisson Hotel Group outlines plans for more hotels in Thailand

His commitment corresponds with the global hospitality industry's growth trend, which is expected to continue for the next decade. The major expansion will come from emerging markets, led by China and India. 

Younes gave an interview to two Thai media outlets, including The Nation, on Tuesday while attending the South East Asia Hotel Investor's Summit 2024 (SEAHIS 2024) in Bangkok.

Citing the hotel industry's continued strong growth as a result of people's continued desire to travel, he pointed out that the scenarios present both opportunities and challenges for RHG and other hotel operators. 

"People like to travel. Do you know somebody who doesn't like to travel? The industry is going to grow because everybody likes to travel and the industry is going to grow by another 1 billion in the next 5 - 10 years," he said. 

Given the positive growth, he has no doubts about laying out an expansion plan. 

With the goal of increasing the chain’s spread by approximately 200 hotels in Asia-Pacific each year, he said that 150 hotels will be located in China, while the remaining 50 hotels will be spread throughout Asia, including India, South Korea, the Philippines, Indonesia, and Thailand. 

"Our plans for Thailand are ambitious. Radisson RED will come in the next year. We will have a Radisson at the airport next year. And we hope to open five more hotels in Bangkok in the coming years. Of course, we have two or three hotels in the works for Phuket. And we are looking into more hotels in Krabi, Samui, Chiang Mai, and Khao Yai," he said. 

Radisson RED has rebranded from the former Park Plaza Bangkok Soi 18. The hotel is scheduled to open in the fourth quarter of 2025. The new hotel will have 125 redesigned rooms, all with super-comfy RED Beds, power showers, and cutting-edge technology like high-speed Wi-Fi and smart solutions. 

"Park Royal is a strong and reliable partner. Radisson RED will add a new dimension to Bangkok's upscale hospitality sector, standing out from the crowd with its fresh and bold approach. This rebranding demonstrates the power of our brands to meet the unique needs of each market," Younes said. 

The collaboration between Radisson and Park Royal reflects the group's key business strategic expansion by bringing together the right partners. 

"Partnerships are critical for us because they allow us to have people who can scale, deliver on what they say, and keep their promises. To succeed in this business, you must do what you say, say what you do, and have a long-term perspective," he said. 

Challenges remain

Accepting that there are still many challenges to overcome in the industry, Younes stated that managing these issues is part of the company's work cycle. 

In addition to financial investment, construction costs, inflation, interest rates, health concerns, sustainability, and other factors, he identified people as one of the most significant challenges facing the hospitality industry. 

He noted that finding good people is difficult, and attracting good talent as time passes is becoming increasingly harder. He stated that RHG is unparalleled in terms of talent recruitment and retention because it always values its employees.

"We hold seven core values. One of them is, ‘We grow talents; talents grow us’. It is critical to prioritise working with and developing your employees. We try to attract people by having the right culture, the right growth plans, and opportunities for people to have a career with us, not just a hobby, in order to grow people and their careers. We do invest in people," he said.

To invest in people, the group offers business schools and courses to help its employees improve their skills at all levels, from executives to housekeepers. These development programmes enable people to always learn. 

"That's extremely important. We help people grow and be innovative." And I believe these people appreciate it," he stated. 

Meanwhile, despite the importance of people, there is always a scarcity of them, and it is becoming increasingly expensive to hire a single good talent. As a result, it is inevitable for RHG to adopt and implement its Business Intelligence with cutting-edge hospitality-related technologies to help hotel owners operate their properties more effectively. 

"We must overcome and respond to this challenge. We try to make it cheaper for our owners to build hotels. By value engineering hotels, we try to automate them so that fewer people are required to work in them," he said. 

This RHG business strategy has already demonstrated its success. According to the group, 65% of its hotel owners own more than one property with RHG. The reservation system accounts for one out of every two hotel bookings. RHG's system influences three out of every four bookings. 

"We bring in more and more business for our owners. We believe that this [hospitality] business serves two customers: the guest and the owner. Everything we do must be relevant to both the guest and the owner. In the last three to four years, we have invested $400 million in our hotels, both existing and leased,” he said, adding that the group will continue to invest in hotel expansion and backend operations.

Meanwhile, to remain relevant to both the guest and the owner, he promised to always respond to the challenges that come with simplifying brand architecture.

Radisson Hotel Group is an international hotel group that operates in EMEA and APAC, with over 1,360 hotels in operation and under development in over 95 countries. The international hotel group is rapidly expanding, with plans to significantly increase its portfolio.